Monday, November 30, 2015

Your Daily #Cat

Louis in all his beauty! 

Louis in all his beauty! by Tambako The Jaguar

It looks like ultimate male bonding, but can it last?

By The Siberian Times reporter
30 November 2015
Odd couple are 'inseparable' as safari park keepers resist calls to split Timur the goat from Amur the tiger.
'Amur and Timur are friends, not a predator and a victim.' Picture: Dmitry Mezentsev

Last week we disclosed the remarkable story of how the goat - meant to be the tiger's lunch - ended up staying alive and bossing the big cat. After eyeballing the tiger, the goat took over the predator's shelter, with Amur seemingly content to sleep on the roof to allow Timur to rest in comfort in the predator's bed.

Today we go back to the Far Eastern Safari Park at Shkotovsky, Primorsky to find their relationship blossoming one week after the goat was thrown into the Siberian tiger's enclosure as live prey.
These pictures and videos show the warmth of a relationship nature never intended.

But messages from worried Russians have called for the brave Billy goat  to be rewarded for his courage - and to be urgently removed from any risk of Amur suddenly turning on him.

In fact the keepers have now given them separate night shelters, but allow them to roam together during the day. They insist that Timur is perfectly safe, and that he has had a calming psychological effect on the big cat.

Amur and Timur

Amur and Timur
These pictures show the warmth of a relationship nature never intended. Pictures: Dmitry Mezetsev, V. Ankov

Dmitry Mezentsev, Safari-park director, insists: 'Amur and Timur are friends, not a predator and a victim. The situation is, of course, unusual, amazing and quite phenomenal. I would have not believed it if someone told me. But this is a reality. They are friendly and they are inseparable. Look at these pictures and say who do you see: are they a victim and a predator, or are they the best friends?'

The tiger has begun protecting his new comrade from unwanted human attention, too.
'Yesterday evening during meal time Amur waited until the goat finished his food and entered the shed,' explained the director. 'He even hissed at a member of staff who has always fed the tigers.
'It was like a 'Don't get too close to my friend!' message. He was never before aggressive with the park members. When the goat finished his food and came inside the shed Amur sniffed Timur.'

This is not the only sign of a deepening friendship. 'They started eating together,' said Mr Mezentsev. 'Amur is feeding on meat, Timur is having hay, oats and wheat.'

Not to confuse matters, the safari park keepers are no longer sending live goats for Amur's lunch, but he is still getting live prey - rabbits.

Amur and Timur

Amur and Timur
Normally big cats don't think twice about eating the live prey placed helplessly in their enclosures. Pictures: Dmitry Mezentsev

'We have now stopped feeding Amur with goats altogether. He will continue getting live prey twice a week, but it will be only rabbits.' And these he is killing and eating without a second thought, while preserving the life of his friend.

'Yesterday they slept in different night enclosures, and then did a morning walk around their territory together. The animals will continue being together and will not be separated. The goat is in no danger.'

This does not convince many people who are fascinated by the relationship.

'Many experts say that this union is not going to last. Please rescue Timur!' demanded Irina, in one of many messages on the safari' park's website. 'Please keep him safe, he deserves a separate enclosure and love from Safari park visitors,' added Sergei.

Amur and Timur

Amur and Timur

Amur and Timur
'Yesterday they slept in different night enclosures, and then did a morning walk around their territory together. Pictures: Dmitry Mezetsev

Olga wrote a personal plea to Mr Mezentsev: 'Dear Director: you must notice that the majority of people are asking you to move the goat to another enclosure. Why don't you take their voices into account? And make a special plate for Timur the Hero. This friendship and the whole situation should have a good end. Don't tempt fate and don't make it that poor Timur ends up eaten. People will never forgive you.'

Anna urged: 'The park had good PR, now everyone knows about them. It's time to guard the goat from the inevitable. Everyone understands that it is only a matter of time, and then all the positive PR will turn negative. Why are you stretching it to the limit. End it well.'

Another Olga expressed similar sentiments.

'The goat's and tiger's lives are not well-arranged. The tiger has to live on the roof open to all winds. The goat is out in the night in conditions that domestic animals are not used to. They both might get cold as a result of that. You must be having night time temperatures as low as minus 35C. Prove that you are caring by solving this issue responsibly.'

The safari park keeper sees things differently.

Tigress Ussury
Will the tigress-bride Ussury as caring to her husband's best friend? Picture: Dmitry Mezentsev

'If earlier Amur was going out in the morning and immediately leaving to walk around the territory, now he waits until the goat joins him.' said the director. 'We believe that it is unlikely that Amur might attack the goat. We think he doesn't perceive the goat to be his prey but rather takes him as an equivalent to himself.

'We are not afraid of the goat's life because if Amur wanted to eat him, it would have happened a while ago. Amur is a strong predator, he dealt with prey much bigger than Timur. We think that brave Timur proved that he can live with the tiger and so be it, he will stay with Amur. They even started drinking water together.'

Before the friendship began, the tiger often roared day and night. Now, say keepers, he has become 'calmer and more balanced'.

Still, the safari park has a plan to pair the tiger - he is an Amur big cat native to eastern Siberia - with a tigress which arrived recently at the park. They will not be put together for another year or more, but will the tigress be as caring to her husband's best friend?




source

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Your Daily #Cat

Mia closely looking at me! 

Mia closely looking at me! by Tambako The Jaguar

With 35 big cats dead, Florida sets new record for documented panther deaths

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS



NAPLES, Florida — Florida set a new record for documented panther deaths after two males were hit by cars and killed.

The Naples Daily News (http://newspr.es/1jnPtvW) reports that 35 big cat deaths have been recorded this year, with 25 of those being road kills, which ties a state record.

The Florida panther is one of the most endangered species on the planet, with FWC biologists estimating there are 100 to 180 in the wild.

There are certainly more cats in Florida now than there have been in decades, and biologists say the higher number of overall deaths and road kills is partially due to the growing population.

Two male panthers died Monday. The first is thought to have been 8 to 10 months in age, with the second cat nearly 3 years old.


Information from: Naples (Fla.) Daily News, http://www.naplesnews.com

source

The Leopards of Mumbai (stunning image!)

The breath-taking photograph was shot by Steve Winter.

It depicts two leopard cubs walking up the steps of a shrine in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai, India, to drink at a watering hole. The caretaker of the shrine, who lives close to the watering hole, normally allows his goats and chickens to drink there during the day. At night, he brings them into his home for safety and allows the Leopards to take over.

Click on image for wallpaper size.

source 

 

Friday, November 27, 2015

Your Daily #Cat

Portrait of Mia 

Portrait of Mia by Tambako The Jaguar

The Lost Book of Genesis (A Fun Read)

And Adam said, "Lord, when I was in the garden, you walked with me everyday. Now I do not see you anymore. I am lonesome here and it is difficult for me to remember how much you love me." 

And God said, "No problem! I will create a companion for you that will be with you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will know I love you, even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how selfish and childish and unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourself."

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased.


And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and he wagged his tail. And Adam said, "But Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom and all the good names are taken and I cannot think of a name for this new animal." And God said, "No problem! Because I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you, his name will be a reflection of my own name, and you will call him DOG."

 
And Dog lived with Adam and was a companion to him and loved him. And Adam was comforted. And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged his tail.


After a while, it came to pass that Adam's guardian angel came to the Lord and said, "Lord, Adam has become filled with pride. He struts and preens like a peacock and he believes he is worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught him that he is loved, but no one has taught him humility."


And the Lord said, "No problem! I will create for him a companion who will be with him forever and who will see him as he is. The companion will remind him of his limitations, so he will know that he is not worthy of adoration."


And God created CAT.


And Cat would not obey Adam.


And when Adam gazed into Cat's eyes, he was reminded that he was not the supreme being. And Adam learned humility.


And God was pleased. And Adam was greatly improved. And Dog wagged his tail.


And Cat did not care one way or the other.


--Anonymous-- HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Monday was bad enough; let's take today off! (video)

Beware of the ... POTATO (video)


Cats vs. Potatoes
Beware of the ... POTATO.
Posted by The Dodo on Thursday, November 26, 2015

The Cougar Next Door

A new documentary reveals that mountain lions are not the solitary killing machines we’ve always thought. 



Photo: Neal WightA mountain lion wears a radio collar as part of the Teton Cougar Project.
Americans don’t hear pumas howling in the night or find them rooting through garbage cans, but tens of thousands of these big cats are out West, living among us in secret. At most we may see a blur of tawny movement, a shadow shifting on the ridge, a faint rustling in the dark that might raise the hair on our necks and set our hearts pounding in fight-or-flight mode, but in the end, we’re left wondering whether anything was there at all.

“The mountain lion is a species that can live like ghosts in between us,” says Mark Elbroch, a staff scientist for the Teton Cougar Project, which is run by the conservation group Panthera. “Most people never even know they’re there.”

Elbroch is the human star of Cougars Undercover, which airs tonight, kicking off Nat Geo Wild’s annual Big Cat Week. The film features never-before-seen footage captured by Panthera documenting the longest, most intense study of mountain lion mothers and their cubs ever to take place in the United States. The inimitable David Attenborough may narrate the film, but the cats, of course, steal the show.

Photo: Anna Place/BBCMark Elbroch (left) and a colleague examine a mountain lion kitten.
Puma, panther, catamount, cougar, mountain lion—this tawny, 100-pound cat, one of North America’s few remaining large predators, goes by many names. Somehow, after more than 200 years of hunting, trapping, poison campaigns, and development, these fierce felines still prowl much of the West in numbers scientists can only begin to guess at. In the East, the species has been almost entirely eradicated from more than half of its historical range. Though the big cats maintain a lone stronghold in Florida, that population is struggling mightily against habitat loss, reduced genetic diversity, and speeding cars.

Every once in a while, a mountain lion will make local headlines for taking out a steer or a pet labradoodle—or, even more rarely, a hiker (in which case the killing makes national news). But for the most part these carnivores slink through the landscape like specters.

The cats are so secretive that scientists are only now getting a feel for how they behave in the wild. But not for lack of trying. In the years since biologist Maurice Hornocker first began studying Idaho’s cougars, back in 1964, every Western state has launched programs to catch, tag, and track mountain lions. In California alone, scientists have been monitoring cougars in San Diego, Los Angeles, Mendocino, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Sierra Nevada. After 51 years studying this species—and for all the hundreds of cats that have been captured, collared, marked, and measured—we know little about the ways of the mountain lion, says Elbroch.

Exonerated Cub-Killers

“Every time a camera comes into the office, we see something that blows us away,” says Elbroch. “Almost everything we’ve learned in the last 5 years has contradicted what we thought we knew for the last 20.”

It has long been assumed, for instance, that mountain lions are strictly solitary creatures that meet up only to reproduce. Males were thought to be hyperaggressive, killing any cubs they encounter to spur females to mate with them.

Photo: Jeff Hogan/Hogan FilmsMountain lions share a meal.
But remote video footage has captured adults of both sexes gathering to share a meal without any fighting or spilled blood (well, other than that of their prey). Cameras have revealed that males accompany females with cubs—both of their own siring and not—without even a hint of infanticide. And they’ve found that the cats will even sleep together near a carcass for days on end, showing a social side that had never been seen or studied before.

“It’s just not supposed to happen,” says Elbroch. “They’re supposed to be solitary killing machines.”

Conserving Cougars

Our management practices are partly to blame for our lack of knowledge about mountain lions, says Elbroch. Only Florida has listed the cats as endangered, granting them federal protections under the Endangered Species Act. Everywhere else, each state decides how, or whether, to conserve mountain lions.

“Research is driven by wildlife managers, and all they care about is how many deer and elk [mountain lions] eat,” he says. “They’re not interested in the conservation of the species for the species’s sake. It’s about deer and elk, and nothing to do with mountain lions.”

Unfortunately, most states manage mountain lion populations from the point of view of hunters and livestock owners, who see the animals as competition. Outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Elbroch works, the biggest threat to mountain lions is a bullet.

Photo: Mark Elbroch/PantheraMountain lion hunts take place in the winter.
“Forty-six percent of the adult and subadult animals we’ve followed on our project over the last almost 15 years were killed by legal hunting,” he says.

An estimated 4,000 mountain lions are killed through state-sanctioned hunting each year in the western United States and Canada, but Elbroch says it’s impossible to say what percentage of the general population that might represent.

We’re only just starting to learn what crucial and often unexpected roles these predators play in maintaining the health of ecosystems. There’s evidence that the presence of mountain lions can affect everything from plant diversity to the abundance of butterfly populations. Whether pumas allow themselves to be glimpsed or not, we can, it seems, see their influence on the forests they inhabit.

Photo: Duncan ParkerA mountain lion takes cover in a tree.
Elbroch says he hopes Cougars Undercover will give viewers a better picture of these fascinating predators and highlight a species that has tended to “slip through the cracks.” More than most, mountain lions are predators that have shown themselves to be adaptable to diverse habitats and circumstances—thriving both on remote, rocky cliffs and the edges of suburban backyards.

Perhaps now that we can get to know this animal as never before, we’ll be willing to give the cougar a second chance to show us its softer side—before it vanishes forever. For as a great man once said, “Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.”
(Hint: He might have been a wizard.)

Anna Place/BBCPhoto: Anna Place/BBCA mountain lion kitten shows its soft side.

Aberdeenshire Council backs project to save Scottish wildcat

by Blair Dingwall

Six areas of north and north-east have been identified for priority action to help save Scottish wildcats.
Six areas of north and north-east have been identified for priority action to help save Scottish wildcats.
Aberdeenshire Council has backed a project to save one of Scotland’s most iconic creatures.

The local authority got behind the Scottish Wildcat Action Project in an effort to save the dwindling species at its infrastructure services committee yesterday.

However, one Scottish wildcat conservation group said the project could endanger the animals by taking them out of their natural habitat.

The council will now support the work the Wildcat Action Project it is doing to reduce the threats to the remaining wildcats in the area.
This includes creating a trap, neuter and release programme on feral cats which prevents disease and inter-breeding with wildcats, educating the public and a conservation breeding programme.

Scottish wildcats are dying out as a consequence of loss of habitat, interbreeding with feral and domestic cats and feline diseases.

They are found in the Highland border of Aberdeenshire, including Strathbogie and areas of Upper Deeside and Donside.

Councillor Peter Argyle said: “This is a hugely important project, one I totally support. The Scottish wildcat is in an extremely perilous state. “Anything we can do to support this, recognising the Cairngorms is one of the last areas where wildcats are surviving, I am fully supportive of.”

Chairwoman of Scottish Wildcat Action, Eileen Stuart, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Aberdeenshire Council to this national project to save our native wildcat. “We now have 23 partners who are committed to helping protect this iconic species.”

source

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Belgian tourist authorities release cat-filled promo video


Capitalising on social media hit, surreal film depicts cats at Brussels landmarks including Grand Place and Atomium

Belgium’s tourist boards have latched on to a social media craze that gave Brussels light relief during a tense five-day security lockdown in the wake of militant attacks in Paris.



The #BrusselsLockdown cat video.
Images of the city’s streets deserted as security forces hunted suspected Islamist militants have dealt a blow to Belgium’s tourism industry, with hotels reporting many cancellations.

When police on Sunday asked the public in Brussels not to share details of their operations on social media, Belgians responded by tweeting each other pictures of their cats. 

Capitalising on the social media hit, Belgium’s three tourist authorities have now released a 20-second video showing cats at Brussels landmarks such as the historic Grand Place or the Atomium, which they said was filmed at the height of the lockdown.

The video depicts cats dancing all over the city, some wearing black bowler hats or with green apples in front of their faces in a nod to paintings by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte.

In the background, a saxophone is heard, an invention of the Belgian Adolphe Sax. The original trend drew a warm response on social media, and the tourist authorities said they wanted to show how proud they were of Brussels and its residents for their good-humoured response to the crisis.

Belgium’s capital has been on maximum alert since Saturday over the threat of a possible Paris-style attack. A coordinated assault in which 130 people were killed in Paris on 13 November was claimed by Islamic State.

Brussels, home to the European commission, reopened its metro system and schools on Wednesday, albeit with armed police and soldiers still patrolling.

“Tourism Flanders, Visit Brussels and Wallonia-Brussels Tourism are proud of the people of Brussels and wanted to give them an extra boost,” they said. “Their winking cats evoked great sympathy at home and abroad.”

source

This goat was meant to be the tiger's lunch, but now it bosses the big cat

By The Siberian Times reporter
26 November 2015
Brave Timur moved into the Siberian tiger's cage, and took over his bed.
Normally big cats don't think twice about eating the live prey placed helplessly in their enclosures. Picture: A. Fedoseev

The case has stunned keepers at a Russian safari park where normally big cats don't think twice about eating the live prey placed helplessly in their enclosures. But this goat showed no inkling of fear, eyeballed the tiger, and took over his shelter. Pictures show the obedient big cat reduced to resting on the roof of the shelter while the goat languishes inside on the tiger's bed.

'Our tigers get live prey twice every week,' said a keeper. 'Tiger Amur knows very well how to hunt goats and rabbits. But recently he came across a goat that he refused to hunt.'

Amur and Timur

Amur and Timur
Tiger Amur knows very well how to hunt goats and rabbits. But recently he came across a goat that he refused to hunt.' Pictures: A. Fedoseev
The goat, as the staff at the Far Eastern Safari Park at Shkotovsky, Primorsky region, was 'very brave'.
'We think that the goat never came across tigers and no-one taught him to be scared of them,' said the keeper. 'Amur the tiger is quite cautious by his nature decided not to go to the trouble of hunting Timur.
'The brave goat not only saved his own live. He kicked the tiger out of his bedroom and is sleeping on Amur's 'bed' for the fourth night. We named the goat Timur - he was just a nameless prey at the point when he entered the cage - out of respect his bravery.'

Amur and Timur

Amur and Timur
 Pictures show the obedient big cat reduced to resting on the roof of the shelter while the goat languishes inside on the tiger's bed. Pictures: I. Petukhov

Every day, the tiger and goat take walks together, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
'It looks like they are friends,' said one of the staff. 'Timur the goat has taken Amur for a leader and follows him everywhere.'
Somehow the relationship seems the other way around. 'Timur's bravery and Amur's cautiousness got them to this paradoxical situation.'
Unusual friendship occured in Far Eastern Safari Park at Shkotovsky, Primorsky region. Picture: The Siberian Times

Map 


NGW's ‘Cougars Undercover’ Review: Cats Dwelling in the Realm of High Drama

An intimate look at creatures living on the edge. You can have your “Shark Week,” and your “Tornado Week” and even your “Meat Week,” which probably isn’t something we need to contemplate right after Thanksgiving. The preference here: “Big Cat Week,” on Nat Geo WILD, which kicks off with “Cougars Undercover,” which is not just first-rate nature programming, but dwells in a realm of high drama. Even tragedy.

‘Cougars Undercover’: Four month old mountain lion kitten. 
‘Cougars Undercover’: Four month old mountain lion kitten. Photo: National Geographic Channels

‘Cougars Undercover’

Nat Geo WILD, Friday, 9 p.m.
It may well be that homo sapiens responds affectionately to other species in direct proportion to how much they resemble humans. Cougars—a.k.a. pumas, panthers, catamounts—are ferocious, even ruthless. But they have soulful faces, and the kind of grace people can only dream about unless they’re Misty Copeland. We admire them for their self-reliance, alpha temperament and preference for solitude. Yet what’s being discovered by Mark Elbroch, our human intermediary with the cats—and the senior scientist of the Teton Cougar Project (part of the Panthera organization)—is that they’re far more social than we thought. Through the use of tracking collars, GPS and long-range cameras, what the team discovers over its yearlong study of two cougar families is a complicated network of social interaction that goes beyond sex and fighting to a sharing of food, even a sharing of mates (the females in a puma ménage à trois are described as “using the male like a resource”).

Like their human admirers, no two cougars are alike: One female cat is sort of the tiger puma mother, cuffing a misbehaving cub in the head, snarling with reprimand. Another is described by Dr. Elbroch as a hippie—“lots of love, but not necessarily all the sustenance.”

The fate of the cubs is less about nurture, though, than nature. The discouraging word from “Cougars Undercover,” narrated by David Attenborough, is that the population in the study area north of Jackson Hole, Wyo., is estimated to have dropped by half over the past seven to eight years. The presumed causes: brutal weather, an evaporating food supply, other cougars and wolves (which were reintroduced in the mid-’90s and have flourished at the cougars’ expense). Mountain lions aren’t considered endangered, it seems, and hunting them remains legal. Which is an additional note of urgency in a program whose subjects are already living on the edge.

 source

Nat Geo Wild's 'Big Cat Week' includes live African safaris


This 2015 photo provided by Nat Geo Wild shows a cheetah during “Big Cat Games” in Busch Gardens Tampa. From extreme speed to bone crushing bites, Big Cats are some of the most impressive predators on the planet. Host Boone Smith creates testing challenges for these Big Cats - cheetah’s, tigers and lions line up for a unique competition. Nat Geo Wild airs a live safari as part of its Big Cat week, airing Nov. 27-Dec. 2, 2015. Nat Geo Wild via AP Bob Croslin
As a chaser to the Thanksgiving feast and football, consider heading out on an African safari.
There's strictly armchair travel involved for Nat Geo Wild's live telecasts from Sabi Sands, a private game reserve in South Africa's Kruger National Park that's likely to dazzle even from a distance.

The no-sweat safaris, which begin Friday night, will offer "a real-time experience transporting viewers to a place they all want to go but may not have the opportunity," said Geoff Daniels, head of Nat Geo Wild. "That we can beam audiences half a world away into the African bush is magical and stunning," said Daniels.

It's hard to fault his enthusiasm. Painstaking planning, skillful use of technology and helpful time zones will combine to bring one of Africa's largest game reserves, home to lions, leopards, elephants and more, to U.S. viewers.

Safaris typically are conducted at dawn, when the sun is coming up and animals are most active, and at dusk, Daniels said, making the telecasts relatively easy to schedule.
The excursions will air 11 p.m. to midnight EST Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with two-hour daytime specials at 9 a.m. EST daily from Saturday to Friday, Dec. 4. "It's 100 percent live," Daniels said. "We've got two safari vehicles going into the bush with microwave transmitters and cameras placed on the back of the jeeps."

The camera deployment will allow viewers to see everything they would if physically in the reserve, and in "full-blown HD" to boot, Daniels said. Drones will add overhead camera angles to add "a sense of the scale, scope and of action ... from a different perspective."

There's an online component as well, including the opportunity to ask questions via Twitter of the safari guides, who will respond during the telecasts, and an online bingo game with an actual safari as the prize.

Nat Geo, with producing partner Wild Earth, has been showing live safaris online for the past year and fine-tuning the process, Daniels said. They've attracted an enthusiastic following that includes shutterbugs taking photos of animals and sharing on social media.

Pieter Pretorius, a veteran guide who's handled the online safaris, says he's delighted with the expansion to TV. "It's hugely exciting," he said by phone from Namibia, which borders South Africa. "We're opening up beautiful areas to potentially millions of people, and those people will form bonds with the environment because they're experiencing it in such a real way."

While Daniels calls the safaris the cherry on top of Big Cat Week, there are other notable programs.
The annual event kicks off with "Cougars Undercover," 9 p.m. Friday, which showcases the Teton Cougar Project in Wyoming, a study by the wild cats conservation group Panthera.

As with the safaris, technology is key to "Cougars Undercover." Sophisticated cameras provide access to the cats in a "non-invasive way," Daniels said, following two mountain lion moms and their cubs and documenting the cougar population's challenges.

Other Big Cat Week programs include "The Lakeshore Killers," 9 p.m. EST Saturday, about a trio of male African lions coming of age, and "The Ultimate Predator," 10 p.m. EST Sunday, a look at who rules among the dozens of cat species.

Nat Geo Wild's goal is to entertain and enlighten, Daniels said. "It's our mission to deliver things like this (safari) experience ... and transport people into areas we really want them to care about," he said. "We're trying to get people to fall in love with animals and do a better job of taking care of them around the world."
---
Online:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/wild/

source

Your Daily #Cat (Happy Thanksgiving---NO fighting, okay?)

Cougar cubs fighting 

Cougar cubs fighting by Tambako The Jaguar

Tiger Matriarch at Alpine Exotic Animal Rescue Dies

By Andie Adams\
November 26, 2015

Lions, Tigers and Bears Facebook
Natasha the tiger
 
Exotic animal rescue Lions, Tigers and Bears announced Wednesday that the matriarch of their clan, a 19-year-old tiger named Natasha, has died.

Natasha and her late mate Raja were the first to be adopted by the Alpine-based shelter more 13 years ago, caretakers wrote in a Facebook post.

"Natasha was the epitome of the old saying 'that's one tough cookie', as she had more than her fair share of struggles over the course of her life, but always came out on top," the leaders said.
In 2002, the two young tigers were rescued from an owner in Texas who was keeping them in a 6-foot by 12-foot, chain link cage with no shade or protection from the elements.

One month after arriving in Alpine, an area in east San Diego County, Natasha gave birth to two cubs, Sitarra and Tabu. Thanks to a grant given to Lions, Tigers and Bears, the rescue’s leaders were able to build the Tiger Trails habitat with grass and a waterfall pool for the big cats.

Because she was declawed by her private owner, Natasha suffered from arthritis for most of her life, and in 2011, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. However, she made a full recovery after surgery.
Age continued to wear on the large cat. Earlier this year, Natasha had surgery to treat her glaucoma, but veterinarians soon realized they had to perform an enucleation, which meant the tiger’s right eye had to be removed, according to the caretakers.

Then two months ago, vets found a lesion in Natasha’s mouth during an oral exam. They discovered the lesion was noncancerous, but blood tests revealed signs of chronic renal disease — a common problem among aging cats.

The matriarch’s health continued to decline until Wednesday when she passed away.
“Natasha’s passing is the end of an era for LTB, but one that will live on in her remaining daughter, Tabu — and forever in our hearts,” caretakers wrote in the Facebook post. “Natasha — you will be missed by so many, our precious girl. Rest easy and run free.”

The rescue is planning a memorial, open to LTB members, family and friends, to honor the tiger.

Britain's cleverest cats!

They can open tins, knock on doors, play hide and seek, even walk children to school. Meet the moggie masterminds... 

  • Two-year-old cat Pinky has worked out how to get the lid off her treat tin 
  • Meanwhile, Honey plays with her family and Kuffa can knock the door
  • Test Your Cat: The Cat IQ Test by E.M. Bard is a bestseller on Amazon
  • FEMAIL now challenges you to test your cat with a five-question quiz 
Are you convinced your cat is a genius? Clearly many of us are, because an intriguing book — Test Your Cat: The Cat IQ Test by E.M. Bard — has become a bestseller on Amazon, with a second volume by Simon Holland Fknock just released. 
So what’s it like living with a moggie mastermind? LORRAINE FISHER asked four proud owners — plus there’s five questions to test if your pet’s a clever puss. 

SHE'S A FELINE EINSTEIN AT TRACKING DOWN TREATS

Carol Hack, 54, runs a scuba-diving centre and lives with her husband Dave, a 57-year-old scientist, in Middleton, Cumbria. She says:
Within a few weeks of getting Pinky as a kitten two years ago, I knew she was special. I’ve had Somali cats (a long-haired breed) for 15 years — I owned eight at one time but now I’m down to six — and she’s by far the most intelligent.
For one thing, she can open zips. I have a zipped washbag where I keep cotton buds, which Pinky loves to play with. Sure enough, she learned to open it. At first she could only do it when I’d left the zip slightly open — she’d put her nose in the hole and push the zipper along. But then she started biting the zipper and pulling it along. She’s incredible.

Scroll down for video 

What a treat: Pinky, who’s small but incredibly athletic, leaps onto a rubbish bin and bounces off it to get on to the shelf, which is about 5ft high. From there she nudges the lid off with her nose before tucking into the spoils
What a treat: Pinky, who’s small but incredibly athletic, leaps onto a rubbish bin and bounces off it to get on to the shelf, which is about 5ft high. From there she nudges the lid off with her nose before tucking into the spoils

We first learned about her clever ways one night when I heard a crinkling sound in the kitchen. I investigated and found Pinky wolfing down a packet of cat treats.
I was confused — the packet had been in a biscuit barrel on a high shelf — but figured I must have left the top off accidentally. But after it had happened a few times I kept an eye out and saw Pinky, who’s small but incredibly athletic, leaping onto the rubbish bin and bouncing off it to get on to the shelf, which is about 5ft high. From there she nudged the lid off with her nose before tucking into the spoils.
So I put a couple of boxes on top of the biscuit barrel to stop her. It didn’t. She looked at them for a while — you can actually see her thinking and working it out — then pushed both boxes off with her nose and paws before opening it again as normal.
We got a new container, with a seal around the neck which makes it hard to get open. She simply pushed it over and hit it against the wall with her nose and paws until the top popped off.
Pinky’s treats are now hidden in a drawer that’s too heavy for her to open — although for how long we don’t know. We thought she’d never work out how to open the fridge.

But after a few months of studying the problem, she realised that if she got on top of it, she could swing the door open with her paws. Nowadays we have to put things on top of the fridge to stop her climbing up.
She’s the smartest cat I’ve ever known. I did some of the IQ tests from E.M. Bard’s book with her — such as covering her food to see if she could find it — and she passed with flying colours. Other than that, like all Somalis, she’s very vocal and loves to follow you round, but she’s also very affectionate and loves tummy rubs.

Feline finder: Honey checks in every room and in every nook and cranny until she finds her family once someone shouts 'hide and seek'
Feline finder: Honey checks in every room and in every nook and cranny until she finds her family once someone shouts 'hide and seek'

WE PLAY HIDE AND SEEK TOGETHER

Sophie Fletcher, 40, lives in the Cotswolds with her children, Gabriel, nine, and Oliver, seven, and her husband Mike, 41. Both Sophie and Mike are writers. She says:
Growing up, my family always had dogs, so when my husband wanted a cat, I wasn’t sure. But when a litter of Maine Coons became available locally and I discovered they were friendly and curious like dogs, rather than aloof like some cats, I was sold.
Honey, now three, hasn’t disappointed. She’s the boss of the house, while being affectionate, interested in everything and with enough energy to rival the Duracell bunny.

It’s always been obvious she’s clever. She favours her right paw (which shows she’s aware of her own body), loves miaowing along to all kinds of music and pounces on everything, which, according to E.M. Bard, shows she’s highly intelligent.
We play games with her all the time. It started with ‘fetch’ — and whatever we threw, she’d bring back to us.
How that evolved into the hide and seek we now play, I’ve no idea. But if any of us conceal ourselves behind doors or curtains — or in the children’s case, under the bed — and then yell ‘Honey — hide and seek!’ the game is on.

Her ears prick up and she immediately starts off in search of us. She checks in every room and every nook and cranny until she finds us. When she does, she freezes for a moment with her eyes wide open, then leaps about 3ft in the air before turning and running off to hide herself.
Then we have to find her. Only it takes us much longer because she can conceal herself in the smallest of places — her favourite is between boxes under the bed.
When you do find her, her eyes flash and she miaows to tell you that you have to go and hide again.

The other thing she loves is to play golf. She sits on top of a scratching post — a tall cylinder covered in carpet — and bats balls off it with her paws, which we have to bring back to her so she can do it again.
My sons’ friends are absolutely fascinated by her — I don’t think they’ve ever met a cat like Honey before!

Loves a game: Sophie Fletcher (left), 40, lives in the Cotswolds with her children, Gabriel, nine, and Oliver (right), seven. They are pictured with their cat, Honey
Loves a game: Sophie Fletcher (left), 40, lives in the Cotswolds with her children, Gabriel, nine, and Oliver (right), seven. They are pictured with their cat, Honey

IS YOUR CAT A GENI-PUSS? 

Think your Tigger can rival these four clever cats? See how he does with this special quiz, adapted from Test Your Cat 2.
1. Place a pencil on an empty table and see how long it is before your cat bats it off.
  • No response: No points
  • 5 minutes: 1 point 
  • 1 minute: 2 points 
  • 30 seconds: 3 points 
  • 10 seconds: 4 points 
  • Less than 5 seconds: 5 points 
2. When presented with a range of boxes and containers, your cat:
  • Takes one look at them and then retires to the couch: 1 point
  • Checks each box for traces of food before going into one and curling up: 2 points 
  • Slips into the box or case that has the most luxurious lining: 3 points 
  • Chooses the smallest receptacle and doesn’t leave it alone until it has succeeded in pushing its whole body into it: 4 points 
  • Tries each container until the optimum cat-to-box comfort ratio is identified: 5 points 
3. How good is your cat at leaping on to a surface?
  • He can only land safely on an uncluttered surface: 1 point
  • If he skids or falls off a table, he leaves that table alone for several days: 1 point 
  • He often skids and falls off tables but always tries again: 2 points 
  • He often climbs to a better vantage point to assess the landing conditions: 4 points 
  • He’s the Neil Armstrong of landers — undaunted by the state of any surface: 5 points 
4. Drop five objects of various sizes, shapes and colours in front of your cat. What does he do?
  • Shows no interest: 1 point
  • Follows the objects with his eyes: 2 points 
  • Instinctively pounces at the objects or bats them away: 3 points 
  • Starts playing with the objects and won’t stop: 4 points 
  • Notices, but assesses the nature of the objects before deciding whether or not to engage: 5 points 
5. Hide some scrunched up balls of foil around areas of the house and garden your cat frequents. What does he do?
  • Nothing. I had to pick them up when they started gathering dust: No points
  • Noticed them after a while, but wasn’t really interested: 1 point 
  • Started to pull out or uncover them, but soon got bored: 2 points 
  • Discovered one or two shiny prizes, but abandoned the others because he was too busy batting the first ones around the room: 3 points 
  • Soon got the idea and eventually discovered all of them: 4 points 
RESULTS:

Now add up all your scores:
3-11: Put a dunce cap on your cat’s head and send him to sit in the corner. If he can find it.
12-21: A purrfectly normal puss — just don’t go booking him on to University Challenge just yet
22+: Einstein would be proud — you have a geni-puss!
Test Your Cat 2 by Simon Holland, £4.99, exclusive to Waterstone’s.

KNOCK KNOCK, WHO’S THERE?

Hayley Toyne, 40, is a food consultant who lives in Lincoln with her project manager husband Andy, 48, and daughters Poppy, 12, and Scarlett, seven. Hayley says:
My 10-year-old black-and-white moggie, Kuffa, has to be fed in the porch because our greedy dog Eddie steals her food the moment we put it down.
It’s not a problem — the moment Kuffa’s finished, she knocks on the door to come back inside. And I don’t mean that she taps the window with her paw.
For even though our heavy metal knocker is at human waist height, Kuffa gets up on her hind legs, slips her paw underneath it and knocks.

Let me in! Kuffa knocks on the door to come back inside once she's finished her meal
Let me in! Kuffa knocks on the door to come back inside once she's finished her meal

How she finds the strength to do it, I’ll never know. We were so shocked the first time we opened the door and it was her. She was barely more than a kitten.
When we have visitors and we hear the door being knocked, we send them to open it. You should see their amazed faces as Kuffa slips in and they realise it was her doing the knocking. They’re flabbergasted.

But then Kuffa’s clever in so many ways and fell into the ‘genius’ category when we tested her with E.M. Bard’s book. Not only can she stand on her hind legs for more than five seconds — gaining her maximum points, according to the book — she knows we find it adorable and uses it to great effect when there’s some chicken in the fridge for a reward.
She’s also aware of the passing of time, another key intelligence test. Kuffa’s fed three times a day — at 8am, 5pm and 10pm — and knows exactly when it’s time to eat.

If I get up from my seat at 4.30pm, she won’t move a muscle. But if I do it at 5pm, she leaps up and runs expectantly into the kitchen with me.
PUSS WHO DOES THE SCHOOL RUN
Victoria Dutton, 35, is a stay-at-home mother who lives in Sandy, Bedfordshire, with her husband Simon and their children, William, four, and Amber, 22 months. 

Victoria says:

We’ve had Milly Moos, a tortoiseshell/Persian crossbreed who’s now eight, since she was a kitten and for the first few years she was a pretty normal cat. Yes, she showed all the official signs of being clever — keeping her tail on the floor while eating, turning her whole head round to see what’s going on — but she kept herself to herself and only really came to see you if she was hungry.
But then I got pregnant with William and everything changed. Night after night, she would lie next to me with her paws on my tummy.
After he was born, she’d secretly slip into the nursery and curl up in the rocking chair or fall asleep in his empty Moses basket. For years, she was his little shadow.

Furry pal: Milly Moos has walked with Victoria Dutton and her son William to school every day for the last 18 months
Furry pal: Milly Moos has walked with Victoria Dutton and her son William to school every day for the last 18 months

Last year, William, who’s normally a happy little boy, began to get very nervous about starting school. On his first day, as he reluctantly put on his shoes in the hallway, Milly Moos sat next to him, watching him intently. Then, as we left, she followed us out of the door and walked the whole half a mile to school with us — she’d never followed us before.

It was a brilliant move — not only did it make William laugh and take his mind off things, it also broke the ice with his new classmates. They’d all seen the boy with the cat and wanted to talk to him about it.

I thought it was a hilarious one-off but come midday, as I was about to leave to pick him up, she joined me again. That was 18 months ago and she’s done the school run with us every single day since then. She’s so in tune with us emotionally. I lost my mother Margaret to breast cancer this summer. She was just 64 and the whole family was devastated.

IS YOUR CAT BETTER? 

Think your cat is brighter than these moggies? Email femailreaders@dailymail.co.uk 
Every time I got upset, Milly Moos would come up, rubbing round my legs or purring on my lap, trying to comfort me. William was also bereft and would often tearfully talk about Nanny at bedtime. Sure enough, every time he did, Milly Moos would saunter into his room, leap on his bed and cuddle up to him to help him drift off to sleep.

Test Your Cat 2 — Genius Edition: Confirm Your Cat’s Undiscovered Genius by Simon Holland is published by HarperCollins at £4.99. To order a copy at £3.99 (offer valid to December 28) call 0808 272 0808 FREE or visit www.mailbookshop.co.uk (p&p is free on orders over £12).

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Your Daily #Cats (Little cougars)

Marlon stretching on the log 

Marlon stretching on the log by Tambako The Jaguar


Mia stretching and yawning 

Mia stretching and yawning by Tambako The Jaguar

German shepherds befriend Siberian tigers at a Slovakian wildlife sanctuary


  • Suria the Siberian tiger lives at a Slovakian wildlife sanctuary along with her four-month-old cub, Sunny 
  • The two-year-old tiger is close friends with a pack of three German shepherds called Blacky, Hugo and Jenny
  • The animals were all born at the Oasis wildlife sanctuary in Senec, Slovakia run by big cat expert Yveta Irsova
  • According to volunteers, the sanctuary is part of a breeding programme to help save the Siberian Tiger  
This is the amazing friendship which has developed between three German shepherds and a pair of endangered Siberian tigers in a nature reserve. 
The dogs, Blacky, Hugo and Jenny - are inseparable from big cat Suria and new-born tiger cub Sunny.
Suria and Sunny were both born at the Oasis of the Siberian Tiger, in Senec, Slovakia - a protected area that breeds Siberian tigers.

Suria the Siberian tiger was bred at the wildlife sanctuary and has grown up alongside Jenny the German shepherd, right
Suria the Siberian tiger was bred at the wildlife sanctuary and has grown up alongside Jenny the German shepherd, right

According to workers at the wildlife park, the tigers and the dogs are inseparable, despite a believed animosity between cats and dogs
According to workers at the wildlife park, the tigers and the dogs are inseparable, despite a believed animosity between cats and dogs

The dogs and the tigers enjoy playing with each other and often engage in play fights, but never inflict any damage on each other
The dogs and the tigers enjoy playing with each other and often engage in play fights, but never inflict any damage on each other

The older tiger - Suria - has been inseparable from the dogs since she was born two years ago.
Incredibly, the Oasis's newest addition - four-month-old cub Sunny - seems to be following in her footsteps and has struck up a friendship with the canines too.
The playing dogs and tigers were spectacularly captured by Lucia Zustakova, who was visiting the Oasis, and also Martin Ziman, a volunteer at the oasis and regularly takes videos of the amazing scenes.

Their daily playtime allows the group to interact, sometimes getting quite rowdy as the boisterous animals play-fight and chase after each other excitedly.
Lucia, 29, said: 'It is nice to see it all and it is so amazing when you are so near these beautiful animals.

Suria the tiger was born in the wildlife reserve in Slovakia some two years ago and grew up alongside the the German shepherds
Suria the tiger was born in the wildlife reserve in Slovakia some two years ago and grew up alongside the the German shepherds
Suria, left, and Hugo, right, were introduced to each other soon after they were born some two years ago
Suria, left, and Hugo, right, were introduced to each other soon after they were born some two years ago
Sunny, the four-month-old cub is already friendly with the dogs and seems highly likely to continue the unusual friendship
Sunny, the four-month-old cub is already friendly with the dogs and seems highly likely to continue the unusual friendship
Since first being introduced, the dogs and the tigers have been the best of friends much to the delight of visitors
Since first being introduced, the dogs and the tigers have been the best of friends much to the delight of visitors
'Suria plays with the dogs every day and they just love her.
'I love animals and love the oasis - it's a great project to help these tigers that are facing extinction.'
The oasis is run by Yveta Irsova, who also owns the dogs. It opened in 1999 and houses 28 tigers, 23 of which were born there.
The sanctuary aims to rescue a small population of tigers from extinction and contribute to the genetic pool for the breeding of the critically endangered lions.
With several species of tigers already extinct, Yveta and her staff are completely passionate about trying to stop the same fate happening to Siberian tigers, who are victims of intense poaching and habitat loss.
Martin said: 'The dogs are almost same age as Suria and have grown up together. They spend most of the time together.
'They are really like siblings and play together all day long. They never hurt each other.'  
Suria's cub Sunny, who is four months old, seems also to be calm around the dogs and appears willing to continue the unusual friendship
Suria's cub Sunny, who is four months old, seems also to be calm around the dogs and appears willing to continue the unusual friendship
Suria, right, playfully uses her powerful left paw on one of her canine friends, in what in the wild would have been a killer move
Suria, right, playfully uses her powerful left paw on one of her canine friends, in what in the wild would have been a killer move
The unusual friendship has developed at the Oasis wildlife sanctuary in Senec, Slovakia over the past two years 
The unusual friendship has developed at the Oasis wildlife sanctuary in Senec, Slovakia over the past two years
 The oasis is run by Yveta Irsova, who also owns the dogs. It opened in 1999 and houses 28 tigers, 23 of which were born there
 The oasis is run by Yveta Irsova, who also owns the dogs. It opened in 1999 and houses 28 tigers, 23 of which were born there
The sanctuary aims to rescue a small population of tigers from extinction and contribute to the genetic pool for the breeding lions
The sanctuary aims to rescue a small population of tigers from extinction and contribute to the genetic pool for the breeding lions
Yveta and her staff are completely passionate about trying to stop the Siberian tigers from becoming extinct with her breeding programme
Yveta and her staff are completely passionate about trying to stop the Siberian tigers from becoming extinct with her breeding programme
The dogs and the tigers have no problems socialising with each other because they spent such an amount of time growing up together
The dogs and the tigers have no problems socialising with each other because they spent such an amount of time growing up together
The Siberian tiger is facing extinction because of hunting and a loss of its natural habitat in its native home in far eastern Russia
The Siberian tiger is facing extinction because of hunting and a loss of its natural habitat in its native home in far eastern Russia
The breeding programme hopes to scientifically spread the genetic diversity of the remaining Siberian tigers across the world 
The breeding programme hopes to scientifically spread the genetic diversity of the remaining Siberian tigers across the world
Workers at the park believe that the dogs and the tigers behave more like siblings rather than rival species 
Workers at the park believe that the dogs and the tigers behave more like siblings rather than rival species



source