Image of the Day

Khan in the grasses, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Khan, the black leopard

Almost 5 Months Old, Bronx Native Makes Zoo Debut

All images by Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

By LISA W. FODERARO

Published: August 26, 2013

A 17-pound snow leopard, born this spring at the Bronx Zoo, is now on display, the first son of an orphaned snow leopard from Pakistan.

The cub, still unnamed, is the offspring of Leo, who was brought to the zoo after his mother and siblings were killed in 2005 in Pakistan. Snow leopards are tricky to breed in captivity since there is a brief window of fertility each year. Leo’s first attempt was not successful. But earlier this year, zoo officials paired him with Maya, a proven breeder, and the match took.

The new cub was born on April 9; officials at the zoo wanted to make sure that he was healthy and well adjusted before officially putting him on display. Until now, the cub and Maya have been kept out of public view. (In the wild, snow leopard fathers leave the scene after mating and play no role in rearing their young; so Leo, who weighs 83 pounds, is in a separate enclosure in the same exhibit, Himalayan Highlands.)

On Friday, ignoring a reporter, the cub tumbled over a rocky outcropping, playfully stalked his 66-pound mother and rubbed his face against a log. The cub is still nursing, but he has started eating solid food, primarily raw chicken.

“We let the mother do all the work,” said Lacy Martin, a senior wild animal keeper. “She’s doing an excellent job, so there’s no reason to interfere. He’s gotten much more brave and has a lot of spunk.”

Nadeem Hotiana, the press attaché at the Pakistani embassy in Washington, said in a telephone interview that the country had decided to send Leo to the Bronx Zoo because Pakistan lacked an “appropriate facility” to care for the orphaned cub.

The Bronx Zoo is the acknowledged leader in snow leopard care and husbandry. In 1903, it was the first zoo in North America to exhibit snow leopards. Since then the zoo has bred more than 70 of them. They are among the planet’s most endangered large cats, with a range limited to the remote mountains of Central Asia and parts of Bhutan, China, India, Mongolia and Russia. The Bronx Zoo now has 10 snow leopards in its collection, a sizable fraction of the total of 137 snow leopards in accredited zoos in North America.

The cub’s birth is part of the Species Survival Plan, a cooperative breeding program meant to maintain genetic diversity and demographic stability in zoo populations of threatened and endangered animals. Patrick Thomas, the zoo’s general curator and associate director, said the birth represented a “significant boost to the genetics” of the snow leopard program.

In the wild, snow leopard cubs stay with their mothers for about two years. “Right now that cub’s whole world revolves around its mother,” said Dr. Thomas, who was part of the team that traveled to retrieve Leo from the Naltar Valley in Pakistan in 2006. “He relies on her for food and companionship.”

In Pakistan, the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo, has worked with local officials on a number of conservation efforts, training more than 100 rangers to monitor snow leopards and other wildlife and to stop deforestation and poaching.

“While Leo is on loan to the Bronx Zoo, we hope that his presence in the United States and ongoing bilateral cooperation on conservation efforts will help deepen the links between the people of Pakistan and the United States,” Richard G. Olson, the United States ambassador to Pakistan, said in a statement.

Dr. Asad M. Khan, Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Washington, also issued a statement: “It’s heartening to learn that Leo had his own cub, a male, this summer. Leo has served as a symbol of deep friendship and abiding good will between our two countries.”

 source

Mountain Lion Reported Near School in Altoona, IA

August 28, 2013, by Sam Hoyle and Aaron Brilbeck

A big cat caused a big scare at a metro elementary school Wednesday. The playground at Clay Elementary School in Altoona was unusually quiet Wednesday during recess.  Kids were kept inside the building amid fears over a mountain lion.

A witness told school officials she saw a mountain lion cross the street about a mile away from the school.  Police checked out the area, but didn’t spot any sign of a big cat.
On Monday the manager of an apartment complex on East Hubbell Avenue reported seeing a mountain lion.  The complex is about three miles west of the school.  Experts say it wouldn’t be surprising for a mountain lion to travel that far.

“Absolutely because those big cats can move 30, 40, 50 miles a day pretty easily.” says Kevin Baskins with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, ”Sometimes greater distances.”
This wouldn’t be the first time a big cat was spotted in the area.  Des Moines police shot and killed a mountain lion near the east mixmaster last October.

Experts say mountain lions rarely attack people.

source

Is this photo proof of the big cat in Tamworth?

Tamworth Herald

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

By Helen Machin

A PHOTOGRAPH sent in by a Herald reader could be the final proof that the big cat is living in the local countryside.
Or it could be a clever hoax.

<SNIP>

To read the rest of this article and to see the complete list of sightings in the area, go to the following link:
 http://www.tamworthherald.co.uk/photo-proof-big-cat-Tamworth/story-19718206-detail/story.html

Three Big Cats Poisoned to Death at Indonesian Zoo

 Aug 28, 2013

 

 

JAMBI, Indonesia (AP) - An investigation is under way after authorities determined that an endangered Sumatran tiger and two African lions found dead at an Indonesian zoo had eaten poison-tainted meat.

The male tiger and the lions - a male and a female - were found dead Aug. 17 at Taman Rimbo Zoo in Jambi province on Sumatra island. The animals were around 3 years old.

Nurazman, an official with the local Conservation and Natural Resources Agency, said Wednesday that autopsies showed they died from poison.

Nurazman, who uses a single name, said they were believed to have eaten meat tainted with a chemical used to kill rabies-infected dogs.

He said a 2-year-old female tiger also consumed the meat but survived.

Zoo officials have questioned six people, and police have also launched an investigation.

source

N. Australia goes to war with feral cats

By Wendy Syfret

Photo by Jake Weigl 

The animals in Australia’s Northern Territory tend to be bigger and stranger than wildlife elsewhere, so when reports emerged in June that thousands of feral cats, reportedly weighing up to 45 pounds, were roaming around and tearing apart anything smaller and less mean than them, it wasn’t exactly a shock. But it is a problem—the cats are growing bigger and bigger and killing so many small critters, they’re damaging the biodiversity of the ecosystem.

Graeme Gillespie, the director of terrestrial ecosystems for the Northern Territory Department of Land Resource Management, didn’t seem terribly worried about the size of the cats when I called him—he said they aren’t really much bigger than the biggest domestic cats—but he acknowledged there was a problem. “Even a small cat will eat several birds, reptiles, or mammals in a 24-hour period,” he said. “So you do the math on that, one cat might be eating 2,000 animals a year.”

Georgia Vallance, a researcher who has seen the stomachs of these cats cut open for analysis, agreed. “The amount of animals inside these cats is staggering,” she said. “One that was culled had the remains of two sugar gliders, a velvet gecko, a bird, and some insects—that’s just one cat, over one day.”

Tracking and studying the massive felines is much harder than you’d think, given their size. “They’re very secretive, very cryptic, they’re solitary animals, and mostly nocturnal,” Graeme explained. “They’re very hard to trap, and if you trap a feral cat once, that cat will remember it and avoid traps in the future.” 

So, following what might be described as basic Warner Bros. cartoon logic, the scientists are bringing in dogs. Dean Yirbarbuk, the chairman of the Warddeken ranger group, told a local news website that the canines “specialize in cats… They chase the cats, they catch them in the tree so we can tranquilize them or catch them somehow, so we put a radio collar on them and track them with a beacon.” 

Graeme stressed that these cat-trapping dogs needed to be the best of the best. “Not all dogs can do it,” he said. “Certain breeds of dogs can do it, and certain individual dogs within those breeds can do this. You might train three or four dogs, and only one of them works, so it’s quite specialized.”

I asked him if there weren’t more sophisticated ways to kill a cat—can’t you use drones for this?—and he reminded me that canines were bred over thousands of years to hunt like this. “They’ve got a sense of smell and a sense of taste that is more than 100,000 times more powerful than ours, so they can follow tracks extremely effectively.”

The project has been met with universal enthusiasm, not only as an ingenious way to tackle an environmental concern, but also as a showdown between two of history’s greatest rivals.

source 

Image of the Day

Mandalay looking a bit upwards, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Clouded Leopard

Lion cub causes uproar

You've bitten off more than you can chew!

• The older lion sees the funny side at first... but not for long!
• Photographs taken at National Zoological Park in Washington, Columbia

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 29 August 2013

This is the moment an attention seeking cub annoyed his father once too often.
The cheeky cub can be seen tugging on his father's mane, chewing on his fur and even smacking him on the end of the nose in a bid to entice him to play.
But while the father initially returned his son's affections, he soon lost patience with the playful cub and snapped - baring his teeth at the startled cub.

I warned you, boy... Luke the lion makes it clear he has had enough of his son's fun and games

The images were taken by photographer Paul Sutherland, 54, at the National Zoological Park in Washington, Columbia, US.
He said: 'I'm connected with a number of people at the zoo and they invited me to come along when the lion cubs were born.

 

'Having been an editorial photographer I like to create images which tell a story or send a message.
'I spent a lot of time photographing the cubs, I went whenever I could. Every time the cubs came out there was a question mark over what they would do.

The cheeky cub can be seen tugging on his father's mane, chewing on his fur and even smacking him on the end of the nose

So much for my lie-in: Luke's nap is a no-no as far as the youngster is concerned

Seriously, son, take the hint: Luke looks like he is enjoying a cuddle...but that out-stretched paw is getting ready to swipe

'When the adult male lion, Luke, is in the yard the cubs come out with the female lions.
'Interestingly many of the cubs head straight for dad, they're like "hey dad look at me."

'The cubs would jump on Luke to try and get his attention, just being playful really.
'But if Luke is grumpy he'll roar and as he does the mother lion gives him a telling off. He's a bit of a wimp compared to other lions so if he gets a telling off he'll tolerate the cubs a little longer.

'They would get five to ten minutes' interaction with dad before he would get tired and there'd be a roar. 
'And if one of the cubs would make the mistake of grabbing his tail, Luke would get really angry.

'It's really just nature in action. Humans do it too. You annoy your dad that much, he'll snap and be like "that's enough".'

Right, that's it! The cub takes a bite out of Luke's chin... and he's not happy about it

Fine, I'll leave you alone! The cub retreats to safety... still with a look of mischief about it

source 

Protect Corridors to Save Tigers, Leopards

Research by Clemson University scientists shows that big cats would be better served by extending conservation efforts beyond source habitats to a larger landscape scale. (Credit: Sandeep Sharma

Aug. 29, 2013 — Research by Clemson University conservation geneticists makes the case that landscape-level tiger and leopard conservation that includes protecting the corridors the big cats use for travel between habitat patches is the most effective conservation strategy for their long-term survival.

Sandeep Sharma and Trishna Dutta, with colleagues from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, reveal their findings in articles in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences and Evolutionary Applications. Their articles say that forest corridors play an essential role in maintaining the flow of genes between tiger and leopard populations in central India and are paramount for sustaining the genetic variation required for their long-term persistence.

In the first ever gene-flow analysis of these big cats, Sharma and Dutta analyzed the genes of the estimated 273 tigers and 217 leopards living in four distinct populations in the 17,375-mile Satpura-Maikal region of central India, then used computer modeling to compare contemporary and historical gene flow among the region's tiger and leopard populations.

The genetic data showed that the region's tiger population divided rapidly twice in history: First into two clusters about 700 years ago, when great swathes of central India's forestland were cleared for agricultural use during the early Mughal era; then into four clusters around 200 years ago when the British Empire cut vast tracts of timber to build railroads and ships. This period also corresponded with a huge increase in tiger hunting.

Today these big cats live at high densities in the four protected areas. Some of the areas are connected by relatively contiguous corridors of forest, while others are connected by sparse and fragmented corridors.

The genetic data assembled from nearly 1,500 hair and fecal samples indicates that while the flow of genes between the four tiger and leopard populations has decreased over time, clusters linked by contiguous forest corridors have maintained a high rate of gene flow. Reserves that have lost connectivity between them have seen the greatest decline in gene flow.

The research suggests that given the fact of limited financial and human capital, the big cats would be better served by extending conservation efforts beyond source habitats to a larger landscape scale.
"The viability of the forest corridors connecting tiger habitats has a direct affect on a tigers' chance of finding an unrelated mate and on the ability of tiger populations to maintain genetic diversity," Dutta said. "As we know, genetic diversity allows species to survive disease and habitat stress and encourages long-term survival."

Currently, central India's tiger corridors have no legal protection and the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests recently gave permission for coal mining development in a key forest corridor connecting two of the habitats in the study.

"Mining brings with it many ancillary habitat disruptions," Sharma said. "There are settlements, roads and infrastructure that will have an inevitable impact on the corridors and possibly obstruct the flow of genes between the habitats."

In cases where habitats become islands and a genetic bottleneck occurs, dramatic human intervention is required to save isolated populations of cats from the perils of inbreeding.

Wildlife biologists are sometimes forced to move animals from one population to another. In places where breeding and migratory patterns have been disrupted or populations have been cut off, costly humanmade corridors have been required.

In Northwest Montana, for example, the Montana Department of Transportation built 41 fish and wildlife crossing structures, 16 miles of wildlife fencing, 39 jump-outs and many wildlife-crossing guards to mitigate the expansion of U.S. 93 and prevent habitat isolation.

"Moving animals is inefficient, costly and stressful for the animals. There is also no guarantee that the animals will mate," Sharma said. "And building manmade corridors is very expensive and logistically challenging. Since we now know that the existing corridors play such a vital role in long-term survival, the best way to enable their success is to take a landscape-scale approach to conservation and protect the corridors from further damage."

---

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Clemson University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. O. Ou, K. Allen-Redpath, D. Urgast, M.-J. Gordon, G. Campbell, J. Feldmann, G. F. Nixon, C.-D. Mayer, I.-S. Kwun, J. H. Beattie. Plasma zinc's alter ego is a low-molecular-weight humoral factor. The FASEB Journal, 2013; 27 (9): 3672 DOI: 10.1096/fj.13-228791

Clemson University (2013, August 29). Protect corridors to save tigers, leopards. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/08/130829110425.htm

Image of the Day

Sumatrant tiger posing well, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Images of the Day

Akin, the male Amur leopard strikes a pose and Tambako the Jaguar is there to capture it.

But then, he gets a little bored with it all. :-)

Detroit Big Cat, Giant Savannah Breed Animal Named 'Chum', Shot And Killed

Posted: 08/27/2013

Reports of a giant cat stalking the streets of Detroit made national headlines for a few days.
But now an animal group says that the big cat of Detroit, who was rumored to be the size of a Doberman, has been shot and killed.

Paws for the Cause Feral Cat Rescue told WXYZ-TV that the cat met an untimely end. They had been trying for the last several days to rescue the animal.

The Detroit Free Press found out more about the cat. For starters, the feline had a name: Chum.
Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek, founder of Paws for the Cause, told the Free Press that the cat was three years old and weighed 25 pounds. It was a Savannah cat, a cross-breed between an African serval and a domestic house cat that was first introduced in the 1980s.

The cat also wasn't a stray. The owners, who lived in Eastpointe, which borders Detroit, said Chum had escaped through a bathroom window about a month ago. They hadn't micro-chipped their pet.

The animal's remains were found in a trash can on Detroit's east side Monday evening. WIlhelm-Bruzek said that a resident living just south of Eight Mile Road had shot and killed the feline days ago. Neighbors in the area had reportedly asked the Detroit Police and the Michigan Humane Society to investigate reports of the animal, but action wasn't taken quick enough to save Chum's life.

“I think people can’t just go around shooting things they don’t understand,” Wilhelm-Bruzek told the Free Press. “I think we need to be a little bit more respectful of the animals and human beings around us."

The news has shaken up animal lovers, many of whom condemned the shooting on Twitter, though a few saw an opportunity for dark humor as the situation unfolded.

source

Have I photographed a panther or giant moggy?

Monday, August 26, 2013

Derby Telegraph

By Martin Naylor

A MAN has snapped these pictures of what could be a big cat up to two metres long near the garden centre where he works. Lewis Edwards spotted the "panther-like" animal in a field next to Derby Garden Centre, in Little Eaton.

1. ​
   Lewis Edwards and the photograph of a large black cat on his mobile phone and, inset, a close-up of the animal as it stretches itself on a tree near the garden centre.
   
   
2. ​
   Lewis Edwards next to the tree the cat climbed and, right, another shot of the animal as it walked through a field.
   
   
   3. ​

4. ​

"It looked like a panther and must have been one to two metres long. It didn't seem bothered by anything, although there weren't a lot of people around. It just wandered up to a tree, got on to its hind legs and put its paws on there to stretch. Then it walked off and back into the bushes. It just kept itself to itself."

Mr Edwards, who lives in the Five Lamps area of Derby, has worked at the Alfreton Road centre for 18 months. He took the pictures at about 11.30am last Monday. The teenager said it was the first time he had spotted a big cat at the garden centre.

But he claims to have seen one in Derbyshire before. He said: "When I was younger, I was walking my dog in a field on the outskirts of Derby when I saw a massive black cat. I remember my dog going mad and barking at it until it ran away. The one I saw this week was similar but a bit bigger."
Big Cats In Britain, a group founded to look into their existence, said there had been a number of sightings in Derbyshire over recent years.

There were dozens of sightings of the Beast of Carsington – so called because the first one was in the village – in the 1990s. Sue Pocock, from Big Cats In Britain, was sent Mr Edwards' photographs. Mrs Pocock, 47, of Swadlincote, said: "Opinions within the group are that the pictures look promising, but I would have to get a few more details and go out and take some measurements. "We can't say if it's a big cat or a hoax but, judging by what we have been given, it warrants further investigation."

In February 2011, police were called to investigate reports that a puma was spotted near a paddock in Valley Road, Overseal. A woman told officers she was tending to horses when she saw a big black cat skulk on to the paddock and sit on a water pipe.

Four sightings of big cats were reported to Derbyshire police in 2010. The sightings were made in Mickleover, Littleover, Nether Heage and Overseal.

source

Eighth Big Cat Dies at Wylie Sanctuary

By Greg Janda

|  Monday, Aug 26, 2013  |

In-Sync Exotics

Photo from In-Sync Exotics of Tacoma, a tiger that passed away after contracting the canine distemper virus.

An eighth big cat that struggled with health issues this year has died at a Wylie animal sanctuary from complications from canine distemper.

In-Sync Exotics in Wylie revealed that a tiger named Tacoma had died Sunday night just before he was scheduled to be euthanized due to failing health.

Tacoma was diagnosed with hip dysplasia earlier in 2013 and was taken to Canadian veterinarians who performed surgery on the tiger. During his recovery, he contracted the canine distemper virus which has been involved in the deaths of multiple big cats at the Wylie sanctuary.

In-Sync posted on their Facebook page that, despite Tacoma's distemper treatments and water therapy for his injured hips, the tiger continued to weaken.

source 

Image of the Day

Shaking serval, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Serval (Leptailurus serval)

Image of the Day

Walking male serval, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Move over UK; the US has their own Big Cat sightings

Readers share cougar, bobcat photos, sightings

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

This large wild cat was photographed on Thursday, Aug. 22, near Park Hill in San Jacinto. Dolly Moreau, who submitted the picture, believes it was a mountain lion. Could be a bobcat. 

 

DOLLY MOREAU/CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

a Big wild cat, which could be a mountain lion or a bobcat, is seen near Park Hill in San Jacinto. 

 

MARY MORELAND/CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

A bobcat saunters through Mary Moreland's back yard atop Sprague Heights in Valle Vista. 

 

MARY MORELAND/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

A bobcat visits Mary Moreland's back yard in Valle Vista. 

 

MARY MORELAND/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The backyard bobcat is a regular visitor at the home of Mary Moreland in Valle Vista.

BY BOB PRATTE

I am receiving lots of reports and photos from readers about wild cat sightings this summer.

Pat Walsh saw what he is confident was a mountain lion while riding his mountain bike alone up the dirt Rouse Hill Truck Trail above the Cranston Ranger Forest Service station in Valle Vista.
Hemet High teacher Pat Smith also saw a big cat on Rouse Road during two solo rides.

Smith crashed when the cougar crossed the road in front of him, then got back on his bike and rode away. Smith and Walsh urge people to be wary when riding the route.
Mary Moreland has seen a bobcat on several occasions in her back yard. She lives atop Sprague Heights in Valle Vista and sent me photos.

Dolly Moreau sent me a photo of what she believes to be a mountain lion that crossed a San Jacinto street near her Park Hill area home. I hope I am correct thinking it is a bobcat. That's a settled neighborhood.

source

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Big cat has Detroit neighborhood on edge

Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press  August 24, 2013

A Humane Society officials said it's unclear whether the cat is feral or domesticated and what breed it is.

(Photo: Detroit Free Press)

DETROIT -- Ambling down the block a couple of weeks ago with his 1-year-old daughter perched on his shoulders, Antwaun Asberry sensed something was behind him.
He turned around and spotted a tall creature that appeared to be a cat, only a lot bigger.
"His tail is longer than my arm," Asberry, a 6-foot-5 Detroiter with a lanky build, said of the cat. "I was like, what the (expletive) ... I don't know what it is. I just want it gone."

So do other residents in the northeast Detroit neighborhood, who said they're unnerved by this supersize cat roaming the streets in recent weeks. They've tried calling Detroit police and Animal Control, but have gotten no response. On Friday, the Michigan Humane Society said it will investigate the case and try to find the cat.

"We're going to put some effort into this," said Nancy Gunnigle, a director with the Humane Society. Cats this size, she said, are "not easy to catch."
The area around Joann Street south of 8 Mile doesn't have roaming dogs — an issue publicized in news media reports this past week.

It's the cat that has bothered residents.

In some places, people might buy exotic cats illegally as a way to show off, said Tom McPhee, executive director of the World Animal Awareness Society, based in Ann Arbor.
"It's part of the culture," McPhee said. "You're showing off your exotic cat because you can and you have the money."

It's unclear whether the cat is feral or domesticated and what breed it is, Gunnigle said. A photo taken by Nathan McGuire, 47, of Detroit, shows the cat to be gray with black marks.
Last Saturday, his 12-year-old ran into the house screaming after spotting the big cat, McGuire said. McGuire rushed out to find the cat, but it scampered away. A few days ago, he spotted it outside his home, its yellow eyes starting back at him.

"I've never seen a cat that big — even on TV," McGuire said.
Paul Hatley, 14, ran into the cat a few days ago while walking down Joann, where St. Raymond-Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church anchors the block.
"It wasn't normal," he said of the big cat. "It didn't run away like a normal cat. It just stared at you. ... It was scary."

The cat was about 4 feet tall, Asberry said. Others said it was shorter than that. It's on the skinny side and arched its back when approached by his mother, Asberry said.
A leader with the neighborhood association where the cat is roaming said several residents have contacted him after seeing the big feline.

"I'm really concerned," said Vondell Boyer, 55, vice president of the Greenbrier Council. Boyer and other residents said they're worried that if the cat runs out of rabbits, squirrels and other small critters to eat, it will target small kids.
McPhee, who is helping conduct a study of stray dogs in Detroit, said there are about 10-20 stray cats in the city for every stray dog. A recent report said there are 50,000 stray dogs, but he said the actual figure is much lower.

Detroit Animal Control could not be reached for comment Friday. Cities and counties, such as Oakland County, have discontinued programs aimed at rounding up stray cats in recent years because of tightening budgets.
While stray dogs are usually seen as the bigger threat, this cat is the problem for now for residents on Joann Street.

"When I first seen it, he looked at me," Asberry said. "I looked at him. He walked like he ain't scared of nothing.
"This thing is out here, bro."

Antwaun Asberry of Detroit talks about a large cat that has been roaming his neighborhood . Neighbors are unsure what type of animal it is.(Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)

source 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Image of the Day

Akin lying on his platform, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Akin, the Amur leopard

Image of the Day

The Sumatran tigress, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Neighbors don’t want big cats in Ventura County

2013-08-23

Trainer is asking to keepve white Siberian tigers on property

By Anna Bitong

A woman’s plan to keep Siberian tigers on a property in unincorporated Ventura County, east of Camarillo, has upset a few neighbors who fear the animals could escape.

This month, animal trainer Irena Hauser requested a conditional use permit from the county to keep up to five of the big cats—which are used in films and television—on her 19-acre property at 11077 Pacific View Road in the Deer Creek Canyon area of Malibu. Although Hauser’s application does not say where the tigers are kept now, the animals are reportedly at a facility in Santa Clarita.

The request will be con- sidered by the Ventura County Planning Commission in late October. Approval will hinge on whether “the commission is satisfied the tigers are secure and safe,” according to Brian Baca, county planning manager.

The commission’s decision can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors.

The proposal calls for the Siberian tigers, which are the largest cats in the world, to be kept in three enclosures with 8-foot-high chain-link fences and roofs. The cages would be encircled by a fence 8 feet high and more than 2,000 feet long, a county staff report said.

The proposed animal enclosures would cover about 6,144 square feet, case planner Jay Dobrowalski said.

Within the fenced-in area Hauser wants to build a 432-square-foot pool and an arena used for training covering less than an acre, with a chainlink fence 16 feet high and 556 feet long.

Hauser and her immediate family would take care of the tigers but would not stay overnight on the property. No employees would be brought to the site, and no one from the public would be allowed to view the tigers.

Veterinarians would tend to the animals at the site once a year. The tigers would enter and leave the property in a vehicle.

The land, zoned open space, contains a house, guest home, garage and barn. A private well and water tank that together hold more than 10,000 gallons provide water for the property.

Threat of escape

Despite the safety precautions promised by Hauser, who did not respond to requests for comment, some local residents are worried about having the wild cats nearby. Baca said the county has received about a dozen letters from people opposed to the plan.

Lisa Sideman, who owns Deer Creek Ranch, which is adjacent to the proposed tiger facility, said keeping tigers 200 feet from her horses and close to other wildlife would be dangerous for the community.

“There couldn’t be a more ludicrous idea,” she said. “The horses are obviously a stimulus to the tigers. I don’t think the tiger owners are aware that the sight, sound and smell of a horse will cause the tiger to want to escape his cage. The tigers would be within reach of breakfast at all times.”

In addition to threatening her horses and wild animals, the proposed facility could put nearby residents in danger, Sideman said.

“It’s a neighborhood. It’s not like it’s out in the middle of nowhere. Families are within 700 feet of the property,” she said.

She also said that Hauser lives in Beverly Hills and does not plan to move to Deer Creek Canyon.
“That could be a problem,” she said. “I don’t even leave my horse ranch without leaving someone here.”

Sideman, who counts PETA and actress Tippi Hedren among the plan’s opponents, joined a protest against the tiger facility in front of the Government Center in Ventura on Tuesday.

Supervisor Linda Parks said she has been receiving emails about the proposed tiger enclosure every 10 minutes.

“It is staff’s objective to see that it is done safely,” Parks said. “I’m not sure whether that can be accomplished completely. We have had past instances where wild cats have gotten loose in Ventura County.”

In 2005, a couple who operated a nonprofit animal sanctuary were moving their animals from Temecula to their new home in Moorpark when a Siberian tiger escaped. The cat ran loose in Ventura County for four weeks before it was shot and killed.

“I can understand the residents’ concerns for their safety,” Parks said. “It’s a very emotional issue. When talking about concerns of your personal safety and your family I think they have a legitimate concern. I don’t think I’d want to live next to tigers. . . .Certainly there are more remote areas where (the tigers) can be.”

source

Belize’s Global Cooperation Safeguards Big Cat Survival

Chaa Creek’s Belize Natural History Centre reports that recent attention in international media about Belize’s jaguar sanctuary is an important reminder of the need for international cooperation in protecting the world’s shrinking population of big cats.

That’s what real ecotourism is all about - showing people how beautiful and precious Belize’s natural environment is, and at the same time educating them about what can be done, and is being done, to protect it.

San Ignacio, Belize (PRWEB) August 22, 2013

The Belize’s jaguar sanctuary’s recent attention in international media is an important reminder to Belizeans and nature lovers everywhere of the need for international cooperation in protecting the world’s shrinking population of big cats, according to naturalist guides at Chaa Creek’s Belize Natural History Centre.

Brion Young, whose work keeps him near Belize’s jaguars’ natural habitats, said he was heartened to see a feature on Belize’s jaguar protection initiatives in an August 19 2013 article in the online edition of Global Post titled, "Cockscomb Basin: Where the big cats are."

"The title immediate caught my eye because the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is very special to those of us connected with the Belize Natural History Centre, not only as another adventure option we offer to Chaa Creek’s guests, but because it’s an integral part of a biological corridor that’s becoming essential to the survival of these beautiful animals, and we’re proud that Belize plays such a major role in it," Mr Young said.

The Global Post feature, with the tagline, "Jaguars roam Belize’s tropical Cockscomb forest, the heart of a pioneering plan to carve a green corridor linking the big cat species across the region" describes an ambitious project to create a biological corridor across several nations, from Mexico down to Argentina, to protect the jaguars’ natural range.

Spearheaded by the US organisation Panthera, the project is aimed at preventing the big cats’ natural corridor from being further disrupted by roads, towns, farms and other human infrastructure. Limiting the jaguar’s natural range impacts on their breeding diversity and has dire consequences to health and their long term chances of survival.

The Global Post article describes how Belize’s 128,000 acre Cockscomb Basin is an important link in that corridor and protects the solitary cats’ natural environment of virgin jungle and rivers as well as a the animals essential to a healthy big cat diet; such as peccary, gibnut, armadillos ,and other animals otherwise threatened by human intrusion.

Mr Young said that Belizeans are proud that their country still retains 60 per cent of its original jungle cover, and that many individual, agencies and private entities cooperate to maintain it. "Chaa Creek, for instance, maintains its own 365 acre private rainforest nature reserve, and we’re just one eco resort. When you add up all the protected land in Belize, private and public, it represents a sort of Noah’s Ark for many species."

"That’s a heritage handed down from our Maya ancestors that we’re taught from a very early age to respect. Tourism only really took off in Belize about 30 years ago, but it’s always been along the lines of eco-tourism, and that’s a pretty unique situation," he said.

According to the Global Post article, which interviewed Bart Harmsen, a Dutch expert who previously lived inside Cockscomb for five years and now teaches jaguar ecology at the University of Belize, the Cockscomb Sanctuary is home to some 80 breeding age adult jaguars, but due to the elusive nature of the big cats and their excellent natural camouflage, exact numbers are impossible to determine.

But there is no doubt that the efforts of Belizean environmentalists and international groups like Panthera are making a difference. In June of this year, according to Global Post, Panama signed on as the fifth Latin American nation on the biological corridor, making the corridor a model of international environmental protection efforts.

"We see a large number of overseas guests at the Natural History Centre each year, and it gives you a good perspective on what a global concern environmental issues are. And now, to show people how countries in our region work together to ensure the health of not only jaguars but many other species provides a real-life model of how it can work."

"That’s what real eco-tourism is all about," Mr Young said, "showing people how beautiful and precious Belize’s natural environment is, and at the same time educating them about what can be done, and is being done, to protect it. We try to promote caution as well as hope."

source

Big Cat Habitat to Sarisota county: Stop the flooding

Big Cat Habitat to county: Stop the flooding

 

Date: August 21, 2013
by: Nolan Peterson | News Editor

Tigers are one of a variety of species of big cats and other exotic animals housed at the Big Cat Habitat, located at 7101 Palmer Blvd., Sarasota.

 

For more than three years the Big Cat Habitat has been trying to get the county to do something about an ongoing flooding problem.

Kay Rosaire, owner of the Big Cat Habitat, brought the problem to the attention of the county in September 2010, after land-use changes in the area, including construction of the celery fields adjacent to the Big Cat Habitat grounds, affected rainwater drainage. Flooding at the popular tourist attraction, which features a wide variety of exotic cats including lions, tigers, tigons and ligers, worsened in the wake of county drainage improvement projects meant to control stormwater runoff from the celery fields and other sites adjacent to the Big Cat Habitat property.

In a series of email exchanges, Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Barbetta expressed frustration with the county’s inaction on the issue and said that unless the county steps in and fixes the drainage problem, a valuable Sarasota tourism destination could be in jeopardy.

“Here we are three years later with the problem still existing, and the county having done nothing,” Barbetta wrote in an email. “This is unacceptable.”

According to county emails, former Sarasota County Surface Water Manager Warren Davis first addressed this issue in 2010, proposing the installation of a relief pipe to allow faster drainage of the Big Cat Habitat.

The relief pipe was never built, and mobile stormwater pumps have been used as a temporary fix.

According to an email from County Administrator Mark Cunningham, the pumps are insufficient, and a more permanent, sustainable solution is needed.

Barbetta pushed for the county to take action immediately.

“It appears to me there have been enough meetings and studies and hard data,” Barbetta wrote. “Let’s just get the corrective action completed.”

Barbetta is set to receive a detailed memo from Cunningham this Friday regarding potential corrective actions by the county and plans to address the issue at the Aug. 27 Sarasota County Commission meeting.

source

Special task force to protect big cats

Riyan Ramanath V, TNN Aug 22, 2013

 

BHUBANESWAR: Big cats in Similipal Tiger Reserve, the fourth largest tiger reserve in the country, would now be under watchful eyes. The wildlife authorities on Tuesday decided to set up a Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF), a dedicated force to track the animals' movements round the clock.

This is the second STPF in India after Bandipur tiger reserve in Bangalore, sources said. National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has sanctioned about 112 dedicated forest staff for carrying out regular vigilance. Following NTCA's letter to the state government in February this year to set up the STPF, the government has agreed to depute the required number of foresters and forest guards for the task.

"The STPF started its work with the joining of 17 foresters and 45 forest guards. The staff, who will be given special training, will trek in the forest in the sanctuary's core area to monitor the big cats' movements," said regional chief conservator of forest Anup Naik. He said forest staffs were deputed from Baripada, Karanjia, Rairangpur and Similipal Tiger Reserve divisions to form the STPF.

The tiger reserve is spread over 2,750 sqkm, with a core of area of over 1,195 sq km and a buffer 1,550 sqkm. A Naxalite attack in 2009 had paved way for poachers to enter the sanctuary and kill tigers' preys.

Following this, the wildlife authorities apprehended a fall in the number of tigers and evolved special measures, such as setting up of 94 protection camps, introducing foot patrolling during monsoon season and prosecuting poachers.

Principal chief conservator of forest, wildlife, J D Sharma said as of now temporary staff would manage the STPF till the state government gives a go-ahead to the recruitment process. "About Rs two crore will be spent on the force's operation. It will be fully funded by the central government," said Sharma.

He said, as per NTCA (2010 Census), there are about 23 tigers in the sanctuary. The state government in 2004 claimed that the reserve had 64 tigers.

 source

Dog donates blood to cat dying after eating rat poison

• John Hall
• 22nd Aug 2013

STEROTYPES suggest dogs and cats rarely get on, but pet owners usually disagree, stating their beloved pooches show nothing but affection towards the felines they encounter.

One domesticated double-act took this nonconformist stance to inter-species relations even further, when a dog in New Zealand donated blood to save the life of a cat that was dying after eating rat poison.

The pioneering cross-species blood transfusion, reportedly among the first of its kind, took place after cat owner Kim Edwards noticed her ginger tom Rory go limp and collapse.

After a quick investigation established the cat had eaten rat poison, Ms Edwards raced her dog to veterinarian Kate Heller in the nearby town of Tauranga on New Zealand's north island.

With Rory fading fast, Ms Heller realised there wasn't enough time to send a sample of his blood for analysis and find a suitable blood donor for the transfusion he so desperately needed.

She instead decided the best course of action would be to contact her friend Michele Whitmore, who volunteered her black labrador Macy as a doggie blood donor.

Without knowing if their blood types matched, Ms Heller decided to make a potentially fatal move to press ahead with a transfusion.

Had Macy and Rory not had the same blood type, the cat would have died instantly. Fortunately the blood was a match and Rory quickly recovered.

Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, Ms Heller said: "People are going to think it sounds pretty dodgy - and it is - but hey, we've been successful and it's saved a life."

Ms Edwards was equally positive about the operation, adding that Rory hasn't picked up any canine habits since he got his new blood.

She said: "The vets just went above and beyond... it's incredible that it worked."

She added: "Rory is back to normal and we don't have a cat that barks or fetches the paper."

paste

Image of the Day

Patan lying on the rock, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Image of the Day

Asiatic lion profile, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

The Bear Film by Jean Jacques Annaud

Image of the Day

Another pallas cat portrait, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Cougar taken in by Lincoln County couple

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 19, 2013

TRYON, Oklahoma — A 150-pound cougar in Lincoln County spends part of its time amid a farm's dairy cows.

The animal doesn't mingle, but its cage is in sight of the cattle on U.S. Highway 177 at Tryon.
Leah Aufill says she and her husband, Bob Aufill, believe it's their duty to provide for displaced wild cats.

Leah Augill also told The Oklahoman (http://is.gd/8jflwg ) she lets the cougar sleep in her bed.

The Aufills have been taking in cougars at their home since 2004, when they were given their first cougar cub, Zinnia. Bob Aufill says he worked with large cats for more than 50 years and wanted to get back into the groove when he married Leah.

Once Leah held the cub, Bob says she was hooked.

source 

Cockscomb Basin: Where the big cats are

Simeon Tegel  - August 19, 2013 

Jaguars roam Belize’s tropical Cockscomb forest, the heart of a pioneering plan to carve a green corridor linking the big cat species across the region.

COCKSCOMB BASIN, Belize — As humans increasingly destroy big cat habitats around the world, this breathtaking Central American wilderness offers conservationists a rare piece of good news.

Compared to the dire fate of lions and tigers, jaguar numbers remain relatively healthy. And nowhere has a denser population of the Western Hemisphere’s largest feline than the sprawling, primeval landscape of Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary.

This 128,000-acre expanse of tropical forest — reminiscent of a scene from Jurassic Park — offers the solitary cats their perfect environment of virgin jungles and rivers in which to hide and a rich diet of peccary (a pig-like mammal), paca (a rodent the size of a large terrier), and armadillos.

Just as importantly, locals largely respect the laws prohibiting hunting jaguars — other than farmers on those rare occasions when the carnivores attack their livestock.

No wonder, then, that scientists believe Cockscomb is home to as many as 80 breeding-age adults, with others regularly coming and going from neighboring protected areas in Guatemala and Mexico.

Now the reserve is at the heart of a pioneering new plan to create a “corridor” linking jaguar populations across their range, from Mexico all the way down to Argentina. 

The project, launched by US big cat group Panthera, aims to prevent these apex predators from being split up by roads, towns, farms and other human infrastructure into ever smaller and more isolated subpopulations.

Without a corridor to move along, each jaguar subpopulation will become increasingly inbred, with genetic mutations that make them vulnerable to disease and handicap them as hunters.

Yet saving the jaguar is complicated by how little it has been studied. Basic questions such as how the species mates remain unanswered.

Highly elusive and rightly wary of humans — and with the famous spotted coat blending perfectly into the forest floor’s dappled sunlight — even confirming the presence of the cat can be tricky.

“Many communities don’t realize there are jaguars around them,” says Panthera CEO Alan Rabinowitz, who helped found Cockscomb. “People tell us that their grandfather can remember coming across a jaguar but they are all gone now. But then we discover traces of jaguars and realize they are still there.”

Although wide swathes of pristine forest are ideal, the corridor does not need to be a place where jaguars can live. Ranches and other stretches of land used by humans can also suffice, as long as it will allow the occasional animal to pass across it under cover of darkness. 

But finding that space isn't simple. It involves Panthera in the laborious work of bringing on board local landowners and communities, as well as governments. In June, Panama became the fifth Latin American country to sign up for the corridor initiative.

Meanwhile, Cockscomb remains the project’s poster child. Few people know the reserve better than Bart Harmsen, a Dutch expert who previously lived inside Cockscomb for five years and now teaches jaguar ecology at the University of Belize.

As he hikes through the sweltering jungle, Harmsen tells GlobalPost about the first time he bumped into one of Cockscomb’s big cats in the wild.

“My heart was pounding,” he says, as he scours the ground for jaguar traces. “It was curious and kept coming in my direction. I now know that I was never in danger. Just making a little noise and waving my arms around would have scared it.

“It was the first time I looked into the eyes of a truly wild cat. It is different than any cat in a zoo. There is a wildness in there that shines, an alertness and readiness that any zoo cat does not have.” 

Since then he has bumped into jaguars nearly 20 more times — and never witnessed aggressive behavior — although nothing to compete with the sustained intensity of that first five-minute stare-down.

Within a couple of hours of poking around in the forest, Harmsen has managed to find both scat and tracks. 

That's the most compelling proof I am likely to get of just how prevalent the carnivore remains in Cockscomb. Witnessing a jaguar in the wild usually requires a large dose of luck and, even more importantly, putting in the hours, like Harmsen, deep in the jungle.

Monitoring the cat is therefore largely done remotely, with a network of camera traps across the reserve. But state-of-the art GPS collars would yield far more information. They each cost $4,000 and Harmsen estimates he would need 100 — a dream that may never be realized given the limited conservation funding.

Once hunted on a near industrial scale for their trademark pelts, jaguars have been protected since 1975 by the CITES international conservation treaty. Nevertheless, in many areas, particularly in the Amazon, poaching continues.

Meanwhile, growing populations and economies across Latin America are leading to the continuing destruction of jaguar habitat. One of the reasons Cockscomb, and Belize generally, retains a relatively healthy population is that the country still has some 60 percent of its original jungle cover.

The difference is painfully obvious at the border with Guatemala, where Belize’s lush forests contrast starkly with its neighbor’s open fields.

As a result, Jaguars are now classified as “near threatened.” Yet they continue to exist across some 70 percent of their original 3.4 million-square-mile range, much of that in the Amazon.

The habitat starts in the southern United States, where lone animals continue to stray, occasionally crossing the border from Mexico, and runs all the way down to northern Argentina.

Meanwhile, jaguars have been completely wiped out in Uruguay and Central America’s most deforested nation, El Salvador. 

“People don’t really hunt the jaguars but they do kill the pacas, agouti and deer,” says Goldino Pau, 54, a former park warden who now has a citrus farm on Cockscomb’s borders. “The jaguar lives from those so if they go, then the jaguar will be in trouble.”

“It is not the people from around here. They know that the jaguar needs to be protected. But they come from other parts of Belize. I saw a pickup truck just the other day with guns and hunting dogs.”

Nevertheless, overall the jaguar remains in a much healthier state than lions and tigers, in particular the latter, now down to just a few thousand individuals in the wild and officially classified as “endangered.”

jaguars and their larger African and Eurasian cousins is that — despite the myths and fear among some local communities — it is almost unheard of for jaguars to attack humans.

The few killings that have ever taken place have usually involved injured or cornered jaguars giving their assailants some of their own medicine.

Jaguars are also outstanding swimmers, meaning that the Panama Canal — and a new, wider waterway proposed in Nicaragua — will not stop the carnivores from passing back and forth.

“A mile of water would not be a problem,” Rabinowitz says. “What worries me far more is what is on either side of the canal; is it built up or relatively jaguar-friendly?”

If the corridor succeeds, then the answer to that question will be habitat that the jaguar may not be able to live in, but will at least be able to cross.

And that would mean that jaguars would continue to be the largest big cats still surviving in healthy numbers across much of their original range.

source