Image of the Day

Cubs playing, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Endangered Snow Leopard Cubs At UK's Marwell Zoo Take Their First Steps Outside (VIDEO)

Posted: 07/18/2013 

It's been a big week for the snow leopard cubs of Hampshire's Marwell Zoo in the UK. After months living in a den with their mother Irina, three 12-week-old cubs poked their fuzzy heads out into the sunshine for the first time.

The adorable trio, one female and two male cubs, have received their vaccinations and were recently cleared to venture into a larger enclosure, according to the BBC. Zoo staffers said the cubs are already full of personality.

"We are really looking forward to watching these cubs explore their new home," Marc Fox, team leader of carnivores, told the BBC. "It's great fun watching them play together."
We can't help but agree.

Two of the cuddly cubs have been given names, but the zoo is now looking for help in naming the third. According to the zoo's website, the female is called Animesh, which means ‘bright’ in Nepalese, and one of the males has been named Ariun, which means ‘pure’ in Mongolian. You can submit your suggestions for the second male's name to Marwell up until July 22, when the zoo will open voting to the public.

The three cubs are part of the global captive snow leopard population that is helping sustain the endangered species. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that there may be as few as 4,000 left worldwide.

H/T: The Daily Mail

source 

Image of the Day

Just cute!, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Jaguar cub

Wonder cats: Play-fighting lions perform spectacular martial arts moves in display of strength

• Big cats came to blows at the Madikwe game reserve in South Africa
• A lucky group of tourists on safari were the only ones to witness the tussle
• Photographer Gavin Tonkinson said he'd never seen lions jump so high

By Helen Lawson
PUBLISHED:  21 July 2013

Two leaping lions gave a safari tour group something to remember by letting off steam in a spectacular show of kung fu play fighting.
The big cats were fast as lightning during the airborne tussle at the Madikwe game reserve in South Africa.
One executed a kung fu kick while the other slashed at the air before they tumbled to the ground.

Two lions at the Madikwe game reserve in South Africa indulged in some kung fu play fighting to the delight of tourists on safari

The fight began when the pair locked eyes and charged towards each other in a burst of energy

The big cats leaped into the air during their clash - but the pair were only letting off steam

Gavin Tonkinson, 35, a manager at the Tuningi Safari Lodge, caught the encounter on camera as he led a group of tourists around the reserve.

Mr Tonkinson said: 'They were in a really playful mood that particular morning and definitely in the mood for some aerial acrobatics.

'Only the guests and I got to witness their amazing strength and we were all mesmerised at their jumping powers.

The lions fell back to the ground, watched by a group of tourists on safari led by Gavin Tonkinson, who photographed the encounter

One lion came off worse than its friend in the fight, landing on its back while its opponent looked on

'They do this to hone their hunting skills as well as build their eye muscle co-ordination for the real deal some day.

'Lions are my favourite animal to photograph on safaris especially when they are in this type of mood. They must have jumped around two metres into the air.
'I have never seen them jump so high before and I have been living in the bush for the last 13 years.'

source

Antibiotics, All-Nighters And Affection: The Quest To Save The Big Cats

Credit In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Educational Center

Harley was the most recent victim of canine distemper in Wylie.

Volunteers and staffers at an animal sanctuary in Wylie are on round-the-clock “cat watch” as they desperately try to control a canine distemper outbreak.  So far it’s killed four big cats and sickened 18 others.

Listen

3:07

KERA radio story

Roaring that rattles the fences and vibrates your toes is the norm at In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center. The Collin County sanctuary is far off the beaten path; home to everything from 600 pound white lions to a one-eyed lynx named Trooper.

Trooper and his pals spend their time in large, shaded enclosures. They lounge on raised platforms, woven out of fire hoses, bat plastic barrels around during playtime, and when the sun gets too hot, cool off in a paw shaped pool.

Staff members love their daily big cat soundtrack. But as she shows me around the sanctuary, Lisa Williams says it’s the quiet hovering over certain spots that’s really jarring.
“Before the distemper outbreak we had 61 cats. 32 of those are grouped as big cats, which is lions, tigers and leopards,” Williams said. “Of those 32 cats, 22 got sick with the distemper. Of those 22, we’ve lost four.”

Credit Courtney Collins / KERA News

A memorial set up outside Apollo's enclosure.

It started with Apollo, a striking male tiger who died July 7. Williams says he was his happy affectionate self the night before, but things went downhill fast.
“About 1 a.m. he had a seizure, and it was the first seizure he had had, and it was a doozy. What was going on inside his body was so bad that it twisted his intestines up. It twisted his insides up so they had to do emergency surgery and untwist them,” Williams says.

“And then they brought him back home and they thought the surgery was going to be successful. But just about 10 minutes later, he stopped breathing.”
Lioness Layla died a few days later, followed by two more tigers, Abrams and Harley.
Eighteen animals are still sick, some of them critically. And because canine distemper is a virus, all staffers and volunteers can do is help the cats ride it out.
“We’re doing supportive care, the sick ones are on antibiotics to ward off any secondary infections, and then they’re on a ton of vitamins, supplements, minerals, things like that,” says Williams.

She says the virus was most likely brought into the sanctuary by raccoons that run along the top of enclosures.

Volunteers take turns spending the night to keep constant watch over the sickest cats and try to get them to take their pills.

“We love these guys so much and it’s heartbreaking to watch them go through this. And there’s just not a lot we can do about it,” says Williams. “I mean we can do what we can do, and we are doing it. But, you know you can sort of overpower a toddler that doesn’t want to take their medicine, or y0u can reason with a teenager? You can neither overpower, nor reason with a tiger. You don’t get a tiger to do what a tiger doesn’t want to do.”

Click here for a list of supplies on the sanctuary's wish list.

source 

Big cats demystified

By Ranjit Lal

21st July 2013

• 
  Romila Thapar tackles the part played by the lion in history, culture, and literature and how its “regality” was acknowledged and admired by rulers virtually the world over. (File/PTI)

For anyone interested in Indian wildlife, it’s probably always been a question that has lurked in the dim recesses of the mind: why has the tiger done well in India and not the lion? Why are there leopards everywhere, while cheetahs are extinct?

In this very elegantly produced book, the three authors clarify why. Their thesis is simple: Both the animals are exotic aliens from Africa, who have never quite settled into the Indian wild because the “natives” (read tigers) were unfriendly, or the habitat unsuitable. This theory might make many people very hot under the collar — after all the lion sits on top of the Ashoka pillar, so it has to be Indian. And the poor cheetah only went extinct because its habitat was destroyed.

Meticulously, step by step, the authors back up their claim with facts, quoting copiously from a vast amount of past literature. Romila Thapar tackles the part played by the lion in history, culture, and literature and how its “regality” was acknowledged and admired by rulers virtually the world over (who then of course had to go and slaughter the beast in “hunts” that only emphasised their inherent cowardice). In India, they were imported from Africa by maharajas and princes — and the Mughals — to massage their egos — they were “tamed” and allowed to roam around in palace courtyards, to impress and cow down the subjects (this tameness remains with Gir’s lions).

The cheetah was imported for hunting chiefly blackbuck, and was also “domesticated” so that it became completely used to human presence. For both animals, huge areas were set aside as “hunting parks” — where lions could be held at bay and killed, and where cheetahs could sprint after blackbucks. Yusuf Ansari mentions that Akbar was said to have a collection of 9,000 hunting cheetahs — a figure which is unsustainable, as they would require nearly 5 million blackbucks to keep fed and fit!

Another point that the authors make repeatedly, is that neither the lion nor the cheetah were ever found in good numbers outside the hunting parks. Both were often clumsily depicted in art — in contrast to the tiger, where every stripe was in place — showing that few people (and artists) had ever actually seen the animal in the flesh. The lion remained an animal that was more emblem than living wild carnivore.

The few animals found outside the park were escapees, who tried — not very successfully — to breed. Cheetahs, of course, would not breed in captivity, so fresh animals had to be regularly imported. Valmik Thapar’s round-up at the end of the book states the case for both animals succinctly. It has been said that the cheetah went extinct because the vast grasslands it need to hunt in were taken over and used for other purposes. Thapar postulates that the “grasslands” were created by the ruling elite precisely so that imported cheetahs could hunt in them — they were in fact nothing but hunting parks.

Perhaps the most unsettling parts of the book — and there are a lot of them — are the accounts of the “hunts” of the past. Wildlife was slaughtered wholesale by so-called “royalty” and the British in a manner that can only make you want to throw up. Some of these hunts went on even after Independence until the princely purses were withdrawn and new laws made. Certainly, there was no risk (for the royal hunter) involved. Besides, a lion hunt that was unsuccessful and considered an ill-omen, so everyone made damn sure that the king got his lion, even if the animal had to be turned into an opium addict so that it would turn up in the right place for its regular “fix” (and to be shot/speared or both). Charming!

This book is very relevant, especially since there are plans to transfer lions out of Gir and to reintroduce cheetahs into India from Africa. As the authors wryly put it, this is like history repeating itself. If we do accept that — no matter where they came from — the lions in Gir are now “naturalized” – perhaps it is wise to move some elsewhere. As for cheetahs, amongst the more finicky of the cats — they’re going to have a very, very tough time trying to stretch their legs in the India of the 21st century.

source

Image of the Day

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

Simply stunning!

Image of the Day

Two lynxes II, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

O.C. Boy Attacked by Ocelot on Vacation in Belize

• 22 hours ago
  by Kellan Connor
  Web Producer
   
  ORANGE, Calif. (KTLA) — A young boy was recovering at a local hospital on Friday after he was attacked by an Ocelot while on vacation in Central America.
  

  
  

  Ronald Altender, 10, is receiving treatment at Children’s Hospital Orange County.
  

  Ronald Altender, 10, was on vacation with his family in Belize when they stopped to visit a zoo.
  Ronald reached out to pet the wild cat behind a fence, and that’s when his mother said she heard screaming.
  “I just lightly touched the fur that was over the fence and it bit my thumb and pulled on it,” Ronald said.
  “I heard, ‘Mommy! Mommy! Help me!’” Holly Altender said.
  “The cat just pulled the arm through the fence and got ahold of his finger, and it would not release,” she said.
  Ronald was rushed to a hospital, and is now receiving additional treatment at Children’s Hospital Orange County.
  Despite the incident, he said he is not afraid of cats, and he even wants to raise money to make the zoo safer for other kids.
  Anyone who wants to donate to the animal sanctuary can visit: www.belizezoo.org.
  
  source 

NEW Bobcat Kitten! (Video)

NEW Bobcat Kitten!
Meet Khaleesi the bobcat kitten, she arrived at Big Cat Rescue on June 24th from another rehab facility. She will remain at Big Cat Rescue until spring 2014 when she will be released back into the wild where she belongs!

source

Image of the Day

Funny looking puma, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Fourth big cat dies of distemper at Wylie sanctuary

by SHELLY SLATER / WFAA

Associated Press and WFAA reports

Posted on July 18, 2013

WYLIE, Texas -- A fourth big cat at In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center in Wylie — a white tiger named Harley — died Wednesday of distemper. The sanctuary's Facebook page reported the tiger had been sick for weeks, and they had decided to put him down.

About 45 minutes before a vet was scheduled to arrive, Harley died peacefully.

The North Texas animal sanctuary has reported an outbreak of canine distemper that previously took the lives of three big cats.

Also dead are Abrams and Apollo, two 12-year-old Bengal tigers; and an African lioness called Layla who would have been 18 years old on Wednesday.

Officials with In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center in Wylie say about 20 other big cats have shown symptoms, but the exact number suffering from distemper is not known because all of the blood test results have not come back.

Details on the group's website indicate the ailments range from runny noses to seizures.

“We've got a cat now that is down for two weeks," said Justin Marshall with In-Sync Exotics. "He just sleeps."

Several of the big cats don't seem to want to eat, which is making it difficult for volunteers to get them to take medicine.

“They get fed up with us trying to do it, but we're trying to help them," Marshall said. "Sometimes it's more frustrating for them than it is us."

With the loss of two of the cats, every vitamin and supplement is a full-on fight to stay healthy.

Wildlife officials are working with veterinarians to deal with the outbreak.

“The vitamins they get will help boost their immune system to fight off the distemper,” said In-Sync intern Ania Cudzewicz.

Center authorities say the cats get annual vacations for feline distemper but the animals are also susceptible to a canine branch of the disease. Experts believe the canine distemper was transmitted by wild raccoons.

“There's just not enough research behind this for these animals, so we don't know the right direction to take, compared to the wrong direction," Marshall said. "It's a black-and-white situation with a lot of gray."

The animals that are really sick are grouped together under 24-hour supervision. Volunteers come at night to help; struggling to understand how animals with such strength could be brought down this fast.

To be updated or to help the animals, go to In-Sync’s Facebook page or web site.
A bake sale to raise funds for In-Sync will be held Thursday, July 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Preimier Place Office Building at 5910 North Central Expressway in Dallas.

source

Images of the Day

Lying female caracal, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Pallas Cat by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr

Big cat spotted near Sea Lake, Victoria

Sandra Godwin |  July 16, 2013

SEA Lake's Nic Harrison so far been spared a direct ribbing after speaking about his daytime sighting of a big cat while spraying crops.
"People just say they'll have to keep their eyes out for it," he said.

"But it will probably be pretty hard to see again because they're nocturnal. I'd be lucky to see it again I reckon."

Mr Harrison, who is widely regarded as a reliable bloke, said was about 30m from the large feline when it ran into bush near a rabbit warren one afternoon as he was driving a tractor along a fenceline.

His story was reported on the front page of Swan Hill newspaper, The Guardian, accompanied by an image of a yawning spotted leopard.

A survey in yesterday's edition, asked six people if they thought there might be big cats in the area.

Two said yes, one said anything was possible, and others said "If I see it then I'll believe it" and "Depends on how many stubbies you've had".

Mr Harrison said he had personally received only positive feedback from the story.

"There's been a lot of people that have seen things that haven't been game to say anything," he said.

"It's encouraged a few more people to talk about things.

"One farmer has lost a lot of stock and was sure it wasn't a wild dog and there's a couple of people around Nandaly that have seen big cats in the past."

Mr Harrison said the leopard-like creature had a body the creamy colour of a lion, with dark spots, and a long tail with a dark tip.

It was solid, with stumpy legs.

"I couldn't take a photo at the time because I was spraying," he said.

"I was concentrating on not hitting the fence with the sprayer and by the time I could get the (smartphone) out it was gone into the bushes.

"How it would get to the Mallee I have no idea.

"It was a bit of a shock to see it. It was way bigger than anything else I've seen."

Mr Harrison said weekend rain would probably have eliminated any footprints, but he planned to go back to the area to look for droppings and other evidence that might help identify the cat.

A Victorian Government "desktop study" last year into the existence of big cats in Victoria found it was highly unlikely.

 source

3rd big cat dies at North Texas animal sanctuary

Posted: Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Associated Press

 

A third big cat has died at a North Texas animal sanctuary where officials are trying to stop the spread of canine distemper.

A spokeswoman for In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center in Wylie says a male tiger named Abrams died Monday. Lisa Williams says a 12-year-old male tiger named Apollo and a 17-year-old lioness called Layla died earlier this month.

More than 20 exotic cats at the center have been diagnosed with canine distemper in recent weeks. Symptoms range from runny noses to seizures.

Wildlife officials are working with veterinarians on the outbreak. Experts believe the canine distemper was transmitted by wild raccoons.

Wylie is 20 miles northeast of Dallas.

source

Sariska Tiger Reserve in a sorry state

By Sudhanshu Mishra
PUBLISHED: 6 July 2013 

Tiger in trouble: The big cat named ST-6 was pictured with a tumour on its nose

Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) where the tiger translocation programme - the first of its kind in the world - was taken up in 2008 at prime minister Manmohan Singh's behest, is in a shambles, with its tigers under threat. 

In all the reserve has 9 big cats, including 2 cubs and five females relocated from Ranthambhore.

Illegal grazing in the critical tiger habitat by cattle from the 28 villages falling inside the reserve and its satellite areas has increased of late. Illegal plying of commercial and non-commercial vehicular traffic on the two state highways bisecting the core area has added to the problem. 

These highways were converted into forest roads by a Supreme Court order in 2009 with heavy vehicular traffic on them being banned last year. 

Needless to say, official apathy towards the management of the reserve has made things worse for the big cat. This has encouraged cattle breeders to intimidate forest staff.

In one recent incident cattle breeders beat up the staff, including the deputy conservator of forest Mahendra Sharma, who tried to stop the illegal grazing.
In an earlier incident a group of villagers had attacked foresters and other staff. Shockingly, the police failed to act despite half a dozen persons being named in the FIR. On the contrary, sources said, the police had threatened forester Ram Prasad who had filed the FIR. 

Pleas to the state authorities for better security had fallen on deaf ears, said Sunayan Sharma, acting president of the Sariska Tiger Foundation, an NGO. 

Referring to the recent incidents in a letter to chief wildlife warden AS Brar, Sharma had demanded corrective measures. Incidentally, Sharma is retired project director of Sariska. 

Instead of backing its employees, the state government transferred them. Mahendra Sharma was replaced by Manoj Parashar while Ajay Gupta took over as field director from RS Shekhawat. Understandably this has demoralised the staff. 

Illegal: Cattle grazing continues unhindered in the Sariska Tiger Reserve

The situation has worsened as the dedicated field staff that was selected from across the state and posted at Sariska has been shifted out. After villagers killed ST-1 by poisoning in November 2010 then assistant conservator of forest (wildlife) Mukesh Saini was suspended for a year. This happened due to the intervention of then union minister for environment and forest. 

Surprisingly, the government not only promoted him but posted him as deputy conservator of forest (village relocation) at Sariska two months back, sources pointed out. 

Initially the forest authorities had claimed that 5 year old ST-1 had died in a territorial fight with another tiger. But forensic examination subsequently revealed that it was a case of poisoning. 

Tiger ST-6 of the reserve has developed a tumour on its nose. This was detected last month but no treatment has been done so far. Parashar said that the disease was not confirmed and the matter had been referred to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
However, a doctor with the WII Parag Nigam told Mail Today that the matter was serious. 

"If necessary, an operation would have to be performed. This is an unprecedented case", he opined. 

As if all this was not enough, illegal mining inside the critical habitat and "legal mining" on the periphery continues. 

There are 63 marble mines in a radius of one km from the STR. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority advisory to states senior officers posted at tiger reserves must have undergone 9 month training conducted by WII. But two top Sariska officers - Gupta and Saini - haven't undergone this training. 

Retired principal chief conservator of forest R N Mehrotra, who initiated the tiger population programme, said: "Sariska authorities seem least concerned about the well being of the big cat." 

source 

Image of the Day

Walking blacky II, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Expert: Paramyxovirus Not Canine Distemper Killing Tigers

Monday, July 15, 2013

 In-Sync Exotics Apollo (left) and Layla (right) both died last week.

They were both being treated for “canine distemper.”

 20 Big Cats Dead: 20 Sick in Wylie, TX; More getting sick/dying around the world. 

The foremost expert in the world on canine distemper virus–or CDV–Dr. Alson Sears–and my source–is emphatic that the Big Cats getting sick around the world, including the ones in Wylie, TX and the subjects of a recent Nat Geo article that was brought to my attention–are ill (more than likely) from the paramyxovirus NOT canine distemper.

“CDV is only found in DOGS–hence the name! Now, if the vets want to save the Big Cats (and maybe the other mammals dying suddenly and inexplicably–like whales), they should begin testing–and vaccinate–those who are not sick for the paramyxovirus, and make serum from a well-cat or same-species animal blood donor to save those who are sick, bringing no harm to the donor animal.

“Unless this is taken seriously–and stopped–it could wind up being a near-extinction event for these animals.”

All the game wardens have to do is dart the cats or mammals with vaccines–several types would work and are readily available but they are not feline vaccinations. There is not one on the market at this time to my knowledge, Dr. Sears said.

Dr. Alson Sears, who discovered the protocols to treat this disease more than thirty years ago, is willing to consult with any medical agent who is working on this quandary. “Instead of looking at dogs and raccoons, why not examine some true sources–fomites left from say, infected bats, which spread urine, feces and other bodily secretions. “No bite is needed to spread this disease…just exposure.”

Dr. Sears’ protocols have saved thousands of animals world-wide and locally. It is his hope that this entry reaches the ears that need to know a very experienced resource, in my opinion, worthy of a Noble Prize (hopefully in his lifetime), is just waiting for a return call or a hand reaching out for help.  He simply wants to save the animals.

Thank you for listening, for stopping by and for caring.  Especially for caring. I hope that my readers take the time now to reach out to the people working to save the sick animals…time is running out. (There are plenty of names listed in the articles below.  Plus, you can share/post this URL far and wide/copy:  http://blog.chron.com/fromunderthebridge/2013/07/expert-paramyxovirus-not-canine-distemper-killing-tigers/

Jane

Dr. Sears can be reached initially by emailing me: hopeformany@gmail.com. I will forward serious inquiries. Thank you.

Photo credit:  In-Sync Exotics

source

Image of the Day

Pretty young leopard, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Do BIG Cats Like Catnip? *PART 2 - The "Science"