Of Cats

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2012-08-05T03:30:00.007-07:00

Hey everybody! It has been over two years. Much has changed, around the world and in all of our lives. I hope it has all been for the best, for all of us, but I suspect there have been some bitter sweet times, alongside moments of joy and despair for all of us, much like everything else in life. Still I hope that everybody fared better than how our planet's wild animals have done during this time. While there have been some encouraging news, it appears that on the whole wildlife in general, and wild felines in particular have continued to disappear and give away to man's depredations. Poaching, habitat destruction, illegal wildlife trade and despicable practices like canned hunting and farming of top feline predators have inexorably brought the population of most big cat species closer to extinction..

Poaching continues to be the biggest threat to wildlife around the world. I'm sure many of you would've come across news of rampant rhino poaching in South Africa, where over twelve hundred rhinos have been poached since the beginning of 2008, including over 300 this year so far! This is a staggering number, for a species that is so close to the brink of extinction. The other top target for poachers is the tiger, the world's most popular animal and sadly amongst its most endangered. Relentless demand for nearly all of its body parts in Southeast Asia and China, coupled with an illegal wildlife trade with profits running into billions of dollars annually has resulted in a persistent decline of wild tiger numbers across most of its domains, despite the fervent effort of many conservationists. In the first half of this year, India lost nearly fifty of its wild Royal Bengal Tigers, many of them owing to poaching. This is close to the number of tiger deaths for the entire year of 2011. As can be seen, the trend is definitely for the worse. To read more about the above news, and the catastrophe of rhino poaching in South Africa, click here and here respectively.

And it's not just poaching. While tigers have been competing with humans for space in their habitat, giving rise to perennial man-animal conflict, they also have to compete with them for resources. In India, large swathes of tiger terrain are home to coal reserves. And as mining for coal is undertaken in these forests, it will have a devastating impact on the dwindling tiger numbers in these parts. A recent report by Greenpeace alludes to that. This is not much different from the fate Sumatran Tigers face in the southeast, as their habitat is systematically destroyed for pulp and paper. The smallest of tiger subspecies, Sumatran Tigers also face a grave threat from poachers who continue to set traps and evade rangers in their game of hide and seek in forests of Indonesia. Sadly the tiger numbers have continued to dwindle, as have those of Indochinese tigers, another endangered tiger subspecies, across their range. The farming of their 'domesticated' cousins doesn't do these wild tigers any good, as a recent news about tiger farms in Vietnam acting as trafficking hubs for illegal tiger part trade revealed. Vietnam was also identified as the epicentre of illegal global trade in rhino, elephant and tiger parts in the recent meeting of CITES and instructed to explain measures it has taken to curb black market trade of rhino horns. To read more about the above you can go here, here, here, here, here and here.

Still there are some encouraging news for the future of tigers. The annual meeting of core partners in Global Tiger Initiative in December last year commended the positive steps taken by member nations for tiger conservation during the previous year, with identification of challenges and setting up of goals for the future. A positive resolve was also seen at the above mentioned CITES meeting. And as World Bank outlined its intentions to protect tigers, WWF displayed it too, by recently releasing prey animals for Amur Tigers in China's northeast. WWF also marked this year's World Ranger Day by launching Cards4Tigers initiative, an innovative way to display gratitude to the forest rangers around the world who risk their lives every day under harsh conditions and minimum wages to protect our wildlife. To thank these brave men and women in the field click here. To read more about the above click here, here, here and here.

Perhaps the most encouraging news is about the species of tigers that had been declared extinct in the wild by experts, the South China Tiger. But thanks to the resolve and tireless efforts of a dedicated Chinese conservationist by the name of Li Quan, it appears that this oldest of tiger subspecies has been brought back from the brink of extinction. A bunch of South China Tigers are today flourishing under the South African sun in Laohu Valley Reserve, with plans to reintroduce these magnificent animals into the wild in China on the card. To read more about this amazing success story click here. To visit Li's blog and learn about her precious tigers, click here.

Some good news about Asiatic Lions too. While their cousins in Africa continue to dwindle owing to poaching and habitat loss, the Asiatic Lion numbers have on the whole been on the up. A recent breakthrough came when after years of dragging its feet the Gujarat government finally conceded in principle to allow some of its lions to be relocated to a separate reserve in Kuno Palpur Madhya Pradesh. This will allow the creation of a new population base of the endangered Asiatic Lions, increasing genetic biodiversity and reducing the risk of extinction of the subspecies through disease or a natural catastrophe. To read more about this click here. And to read about the factors driving poaching and loss of forest cover in East Africa click here and here.

Finally to Snow Leopards, perhaps the most beautiful of all wild cats. And again there is some mixed news. Recent research work conducted by WWF scientists shows that climate change is likely to have a harmful influence on the habitat of these majestic felines as the warmer conditions in Himalayas are believed to eventually cause an upward treeline shift of forests and subsequent progressive shrinking of Snow Leopards' habitat. Still there are some bright news, including the one of recent collaring of Snow Leopards in Afghanistan, demonstrating the will and perseverance of wildlife scientists and conservationists in the harshest of environments. And while you visit these two links here and here, also have a look at the video of adorable Snow Leopard cubs in their den in Mongolia here!

And that's it. Hope everybody is having a great weekend, and enjoying the Olympics in London, on or off site. And if you are all looking forward to seeing Usain Bolt tonight as I am, you would want to view this video before tonight's main event as well..

ps. I do apologize for this long leave of absence from blogging. The last two years have been spent in working to pursue a postgraduate career that I had dreamed of for long. Having finally achieved that goal, I find myself able to return to this cause of conservation of wild felines that is the passion of my life. Earlier this year I had the good fortune to visit some of the famous wildlife reserves in East Africa, as my lifelong dream to see these magnificent animals came true. I've shared the images from this memorable trip here and here. Have a great weekend guys!

Feline News for Aug to Nov '09

2009-12-07T03:02:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody. I so regret that I've been unable to blog for the past four months. Various professional and personal engagements have kept me away from the blogosphere and the world of wild cats. Having passed the licensing exam that allows me to practice as a doctor in Australia, I've been looking for opportunities to further my career prospects in medicine. Time spent with family and friends, though precious, had also curtailed my aptitude towards blogging to an extent. Fortunately I do find some free time now and can present the news related to cats for the past few months. Most of it is quite distressing actually and this fact has spurred me into preparing this post and continuing with this blog to get the word out about the plight of the wild cats...

Starting with tigers - the news is negative for most of the individual subspecies. Siberian tigers, the largest of the wild cats, have suffered from a forty percent decrease in their numbers in the wild in the past twelve years according to a recent study in Far East Russia's Primorye region. This comes on the back of a report in July that indicated a severe shortage of diversity in the gene pool of these tigers, making them susceptible to diseases. Previously thought to be the only tiger subspecies on the rise, these great cats now face an uncertain future, threatened by rampant poaching and logging. More here, here, here and here.

The news related to Bengal tigers is equally distressing. They continue to face a threat from poaching, driven largely by a demand for their skin and body parts in China. This fact has become increasingly established recently with emergence of several reports pointing to a well organized criminal enterprise operating freely in parts of India, China and Southeast Asia. Exploiting porous borders, weak legislation and corruption the illegal wildlife trade amounts to billions of dollars annually. There is a constant demand (in China) and supply (from India) that is unfortunately not being checked at either end effectively by authorities. To make the matters worse, it has recently emerged that China has quietly changed rules that could allow the sale of products derived from body parts of endangered animals. The legislation, enacted in 2007 but kept secret to prevent uproar in the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, could ring the death bell for the tiger. China is also lobbying in global wildlife forums for lifting the ban on trade of tiger parts and continues to refuse to shut down the tiger farms that keep this business alive while slaughtering the magnificent cats for their parts. To learn more about this illegal wildlife trade, view this must-watch video below. To read more the background of this video and related news, go here, here, here, here, here and here.

Moving to India now where more than sixty tigers have died in the forests this year, a third of them due to poaching, the recent news is not very promising either. Conservationists were shocked in September when the country's top court ordered the release of Sansar Chand from police custody. Indicted in numerous crimes and featured in several documentaries, Sansar Chand is the most notorious kingpin in the annals of wildlife crimes in India. He has singly been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of tigers and leopards in the country over the past few decades. What impact will this ruling have on India's last remaining big cats, only time will tell. A number of articles have appeared over the past few months detailing the current status of tigers in India and the dire circumstances that they face. You can read them as well as more about the above news here, here, here, here, here and here.

To Sumatran tigers now, the smallest of the tiger subspecies who are fighting for survival in the face of rapid habitat destruction and unchecked poaching alongside many other endangered species in the Southeast Asian islands. Recent reports have revealed an alarming surge in deforestation of their habitat. Forty percent of lowland forests in the region have been cleared in the past fifteen years. Illegal logging continues as well and lax legislation coupled with the vicious demand and supply cycle listed above continues to take its toll on the endangered tigers of Sumatra. Recently the island was shook with a crime as barbaric as it was daring. Sheila, a tigress that was part of a conservation program and had been living in a zoo in Jambi, Indonesia, for the last twenty years was brutally murdered inside her cage. Her body parts were mostly removed and thought to be sold later in black market. Even though the killer was later apprehended, the thought that tigers are unsafe even in zoos now must be chilling for the conservationists in Sumatra. To read more about the above you can go here, here, here and here.

Moving to Malayan tigers, the newest of the tiger subspecies that reside solely in Malaysia. The authorities here too are fighting an uphill battle against the many threats to their big cats. While the authorities plan to double the number of tigers in the wild to one thousand animals by the next decade, tigers keep getting snared and poached from the forests and the smuggled parts keep appearing in other parts of the world. Following is a heartbreaking video of such an incident, that might be a little graphic for some to view. To read more about all of this go here, here and here.

Moving to leopards now. While the spotted cats often fare better than their larger feline cousins in the wild owing to their well developed stealth and survival skills, not all leopards are safe from man. Amongst them are the Snow leopards that continue to suffer from the same threats as the tigers. Their skins are in high demand in Tibet and China where they are often worn or adorned as symbols of beauty and prestige. To read a report exposing the trade of tiger and snow leopard skin, go here.

To Cheetahs, and they are facing a unique threat as well. This is in the form of a species of thorn bush that is ravaging through the habitat of the big cats in Namibia, Southern Africa, causing great damage to the ecosystem and loss of millions of dollars of annual revenue. To learn more about this danger to the sleek felines and the efforts underway to control it, go here.

And finally lions. Unfortunately they too are facing a grave danger in Africa. Kenya, home to tens of thousands of lions in the past, is now down to its last two thousand. And even these might be lost in the next couple of decades. The danger here is chiefly conflict with humans. As population grows and people and their cattle compete directly with lions and their prey for resources, the predators increasingly come into conflict with people. In the end the lions lose out, getting speared, shot and of late.. poisoned. Furadan, or Carbofuran, is an extremely toxic pesticide that has been sold over the years to farmers in Kenya for usage in their fields. However, people have found this tasteless and odourless chemical to be extremely effective in killing lions. Carcasses of their prey are sprinkled with this poison and the lions returning to feed are subsequently killed, alongside other scavengers. Entire prides of lions have been killed this way and the whole population of the big cats in the country is under direct threat from this substance. Even as the sale of Furadan to Kenya was stopped recently by the manufacturing company, the product continues to be available for sale in stores throughout the country. Below is a video detailing the crisis. To read more you can go here, here and here.

In spite of all this gloomy news, there are some positive developments too. In September a fourteen month old cub was successfully released into the wild in the Russian Fareast. It had accidentally wandered into a village in March and was found to be in a state of starvation upon its capture. After months of being nursed back into health it was eventually released to the wilderness. A police boss was sacked in Siberia over accusations of complicity in poaching, in a sign of stricter enforcement of wildlife laws. Several of the tigers are to be relocated to Northeastern China to aid in the recovery of tiger population that used to survive there in the past. And prime minister Vladimir Putin is set to chair a summit in Vladivostok to launch a global campaign to save the tigers from their current state of decline and double their numbers in the wild over the next thirteen years. More on the above here, here, here and here.

Authorities in India are planning to set up a tiger protection force in several of the reserves. Some of the reserves have been provided with significant amount of funds to assist them in supporting and relocating people that dwell inside and around the periphery of forests. There have been several recent high profile arrests including that of the brother of Sansar Chand. There is talk of introducing tigers and lions to new sanctuaries and also to set up a new tiger sanctuary in India. A proposed mining as well as scientific venture in proximity of tiger habitat has been overruled. Plans are also underway to improve the legislation in favor of protection of tigers. Nepal is planning to sign agreements with China and Thailand to control smuggling of endangered animals across its borders. Bangladesh has come up with its first formal plan to protect the wild tigers. To read more about all of the good news vis-à-vis bengal tigers, you can go here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

For the Sumatran tigers too there is hope. Authorities have successfully raided and arrested people involved in killing and trading tigers and their parts. Despite the multitude of challenges facing them dedicated conservationists persevere in their efforts to protect their fauna and flora. To read more about their brave and tireless efforts, as well as the news above, go here, here, here, here and here.

And there are efforts underway to protect the Malayan tiger too. Scientists believe there is still hope for the big cat and the proposed plans to double its number might well bear fruit provided the undertaking of committed endeavors occurs over the coming months and years. For more go here, here and here.

For the leopards too there comes some good news with the recent seizure of several of their skins alongside nearly two tons of ivory in Kenya. Sixty five people were also arrested in the three month long operation that will hopefully serve to deter future poachers and smugglers. And the snow leopards get some help too. This time from one of my favorite brands: Apple. With the release of its new operating system 'Snow Leopard', Apple is not only serving to raise awareness about the beautiful cat, it is also promoting the sale of adoption kits to raise funds for conservation. Full reports about the above here and here.

The cheetahs also have their share of good fortune. India is planning to reintroduce them into its grasslands decades after their extinction in that country. The world's fastest man, sprinter Usain Bolt is aiding the launch of a program to conserve the world's fastest land animal. A game reserve in South Africa recently welcomed two male cheetahs after they were recovered from a cattle ranch. And in Namibia a farmer called the conservation fund set up for cheetahs to rescue the animals after they wandered on to his farm, instead of shooting the animals as has been the practice in the past. More on these here, here, here and here.

For the lions too there are some positive news. After years of delay the rare Asiatic lions are set to be moved to a new home in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The king of beasts have also found good friends in the Jouberts, National Geographic's explorers and photographers who aim to promote conservation while raising awareness through their work. And Kenya's parliament is moving forward to ban Furadan as the prime minister is being pressed to act urgently in this regard. Hopefully there will be news to celebrate soon for the majestic cats. To read more you can click here, here, here and here.

Finally there are some very exciting news for two of the smaller wild cat species. First ever video footage of the Bornean Bay Cat has emerged. Residing solely in the island of Borneo the reclusive feline is amongst the least studied of the feline species. However, recently it was captured on film by scientists working in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. This has come on the heels of another exciting discovery for researchers. The rare African Golden Cat has been photographed by a camera trap in the forests of Uganda in East Africa. To date only a single known photograph of the secretive cat exists. This is therefore quite a significant discovery that will not only help in the understanding of this feline but also encourage others in their efforts to study and better understand these and other rare cats. To read more about these and see the captured images go here and here.

That is all for the cat-related news of the past four months. I hope this was not all sobering. To cheer up, watch this video of the mean kitty . Have a great week!

Weekly Feline News

2009-08-06T04:34:00.000-07:00

Whoa!! It's been a while.. Finally I'm back from Sydney and can now present the cat-related news of past couple of weeks. Thank you all for your kind wishes. The trip was a thoroughly enjoyable one and I've included a couple of pictures from Taronga Zoo in Sydney in the post below. For more images and videos, you may go here.

First lions, and as always it is a mixed bag of news for Asiatic lions of Gir forest in western India. The good news is that the state government there has embarked on a landmark move to relocate nearly one hundred families of local forest dwellers out of the sanctuary. They are providing a sum of one million Indian Rupees to each family as compensation, and it is expected that the process will be completed by the end of next year. However, there is a caveat - the last time a similar move was undertaken by the government - it didn't go entirely as planned. The land allocated to the locals as part of the relocation program was sold illegally by nearly half of the migrating families. It is hoped that a similar situation doesn't evolve this time around. More on the above here and here.

And in other good news, the Wildlife Institute of India has recommended the development of Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh as a second home for the endangered Asiatic lions. This will aid in diversification of gene pool of these lions and prevent them for being wiped out by a natural catastrophe or epidemic in Gir. There is even talk of moving some tigers to Gir forest as part of an overall conservation strategy for tigers. However, the authorities in the state of Gujarat, that houses the Gir sanctuary, have been reluctant to go along with either move and relieve their monopoly as the sole sanctuary for these rare lions on earth. This is despite the fact that the lion population in Gir has surpassed the carrying capacity of the park and lions are increasingly moving out of the forest to move close to villages and human habitations, thus coming into conflict with people. To read more about this you can go here, here and here.

And to make matters worse the state government of Gujarat has agreed to allocate protected forest land to eight firms for commercial development. Hundreds of hectares of wildlife territory from various sanctuaries is being offered to the companies. This is sure to disrupt the delicate ecosystem of these jungles and hamper the natural lifestyle and movement patterns of predator and prey species. As a result, the animals may move further out of the parks and come into conflict with people. As always, there are several reports this week too, of conflict between people and animals in and around Gir. To read these and more on the above development, you can go here, here, here, here, here and here.

To the African lion now and it seems that the king of beasts is facing quite a unique situation in certain parts of Cameroon. Apparently the big cat has of late had to deal with one more scavenger in the food chain, even smarter than its traditional adversary - the hyena. I'll say no more. You can just visit this BBC report and be astonished, here.

To tigers, and the news unfortunately is largely negative this week. First is the sobering new research evidence that suggests that Amur tigers, largest among all cats, face very little genetic diversity in their population. Decades of hunting and persecution in the past in Siberia has meant that the biodiversity in the tiger population has dwindled significantly. And even though recent good conservation strategies have resulted in the rise of tiger numbers to around five hundred individuals the effective population, scaled in terms of genetic diversity, remains at thirty five animals. And even as there is some evidence of genetic variation in the captive Amur tiger population, the long term survival of this majestic big cat in the wild appears somewhat imperiled by this new discovery. Full report here.

The news is not positive for other tiger subspecies too. The Bengal tigers in South Asia are suffering from rampant poaching and habitat loss. Starting in Nepal where border disputes with India in certain parts are posing a threat to the tiger through illegal activities caused a vacuum of law enforcement agencies from either country. In Valmiki Tiger Reserve two tigers have been killed recently by poachers operating in this expansive no man's land. The authorities in Nepal have also released the results of a recently concluded census that indicate a slight decrease in tiger numbers in the country over the past six years. More on the above here and here.

To Bangladesh now and here another horrible practice is emerging that foreshadows a dark future for the tigers - the beating of big cats to death by villagers. Owing to climate change, tigers are increasingly straying close to human settlements in Bangladesh. And here they are being attacked by angry mobs. Several reports have emerged that indicate a growing pattern of this practice across the country. Bangladesh has already lost its tigers from all but one reserve - the Sunderban. And here too, the tigers are having a difficult time, owing to conflict with locals. More here, here and here.

To India, and there is a combination of good and bad news here too. The good news is a proposed change in legislation that will introduce tougher sentences for poachers. There is also word of a special tiger protection force being set up to guard the big cats in thirteen tiger reserves across the country. Another significant move is the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the chief tiger conservation body, state governments and field directors of tiger reserves in India. The memorandum indicates penalties for the field directors in case a single tiger or its habitat is lost from the forests under their authority. More on the above here and here.

The bad news continue to come in too though. Reports of several incidents of poaching and recovery of tiger parts alongside the news of arrest and indictment of poachers continue to emerge from India and other parts of Asia including Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia where the Indochinese, Malayan and Sumatran tigers are facing an uphill battle for survival. Following are some of the links of these arrests and poaching incidents, and one insightful interview from a leading tiger authority, Valmik Thapar: available here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

To leopards now and like the other big cats, there are also encouraging and adverse developments here. For the Indian leopard it has been a bad week, with news emerging of the recovery of several leopard skins during a raid in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand. For the Snow leopard too this was not such a good week, with a decline in its number reported by the recent Nepalese census. More on these here and here.

The only leopard species that had a good past couple of weeks, is the Clouded leopard. A clouded leopard cub was spotted in Bangladesh after four years, raising hope for the bright prospect of this beautiful cat's survival in the South Asian country. And the Smithsonian's National Zoo in the US reported its success in breeding a clouded leopard couple. Great news since clouded leopards are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity owing to the propensity of male leopards to kill females. To read more about these news you can go here and here.

Finally Cheetahs, and the most fragile yet athletic of the big cats is facing a bright future in Asia with reports emerging that India plans to reintroduce the spotted cats into its grasslands, decades after they were reported to have gone extinct in the country. The plan is still in its formative stages and is an ambitious one with several challenges. However, if it can be pulled off, it will be a major development for these majestic felines. There are also reports of scientific research of cheetahs that may assist in the understanding and study of these cats in the wild. More on these here, here and here.

That's all the news for the past few weeks. Before you go though, you may want to take a passing glance at how cats control our lives, here.

Hope you like the new blog template. Have a great week :)

A little break

2009-07-14T01:07:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Just wanted to say that I won't be able to blog this week, since I'm going to Sydney today and won't be back until the 22nd. I did get the opportunity to write a guest post this past week, on Marina's wonderful site Travel Expert(A), where she blogs about life and travel in Central America. You can view it here.

So take care all. I hope to return to the blogosphere some time next week. Have a good time until then :)

A Wildlife Sanctuary

2009-07-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

Something different this week. Instead of the regular news update, this week I'm proud to host a guest post from Tammy Quist Thies, director of The Wildcat Sanctuary, a no-kill rescue facility that provides home to a number of wild and big cats. Many of these wild cats have lived a life of neglect or mistreatment and are rescued by this wonderful facility that gives them shelter, care and the love that they deserve. Please take some time to read the following lines by Tammy about the sanctuary...

I’d like to introduce you to The Wildcat Sanctuary, a 501(c) (3) non-profit, located in Sandstone, Minnesota. My name is Tammy Quist Thies and I am the founder and Director of the sanctuary.

The Wildcat Sanctuary is a no-kill rescue facility that provides for the humane rescue and sheltering of unwanted, mistreated, and neglected privately owned wildcats that pose a risk to public safety. We do not buy, breed, trade or sell animals. TWS is committed to public education about the captive wildlife crisis; offering veterinarian training opportunities; and supporting legislative solutions to the public safety issues created by private ownership of wild animals.

At TWS, animals are never bought, sold, bred, traded, or mistreated in anyway. Each resident is given every opportunity to behave naturally in a wonderfully humane environment for life. We provide habitats not cages for the cats complete with pools, perches and temperature controlled buildings. The Sanctuary is the only accredited big cat sanctuary in the Upper Midwest. The vision and need for The Wildcat Sanctuary has garnered endorsements from the Minnesota Zoo and the University of Minnesota’s Veterinary Care Program.

TWS has earned a national reputation for excellence in rescuing and housing captive wildcats while providing a unique service to animal control officers, local sheriff departments, humane societies as well as the Department of Natural Resources and the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Unfortunately, hundreds to thousands of exotic cats are sold to roadside zoos and to individuals as pets. A surprising number of people are buying these wild animals as cubs, without understanding the difficulties involved in caring for and containing them properly as they mature into adults. The results can be tragic for the owner, the public and the animal. The exotic pet trade causes more suffering for big cats than poaching, loss of habitat and all other atrocities combined.

Meet Liberty, a cougar rescued from a rural farm. Liberty was no larger than a lynx. She was emaciated and dehydrated. We couldn't get over how small in stature this cougar was. The owner who was a vet technician explained that she had fed only milk to Liberty her first year of life and that Liberty had fractured both of her back legs which had gone untreated. Liberty cannot extend her back legs completely; she has a severe curvature of the spine and pelvis. The tops of her ears were dangling by a small amount of flesh but were about to fall off. She had urine burns on both sides of her tail.

The owner said Liberty wasn't eating or drinking very well. But Liberty ate four times the first night she arrived at TWS and eight additional meals the next day. She continues to love her food and has put on weight each day. Liberty weighed 45 lbs. upon arrival at TWS. This is the size of a six- month-old cougar - Liberty is six years old.

Though Liberty's journey has been rough, she finally has a life that will ring true to her name. She has become such a social cougar and her chirp can be heard constantly. For a small girl, she sure shows Raja her cougar cage mate, who is boss. She has become a favorite at The Wildcat Sanctuary and she reminds us everyday how important our work is.

Our sanctuary relies solely on public donations. Individuals and businesses can get can help support the cats through different sponsorship, donation, and volunteer programs. Our motto is they will never know freedom, but with your help, they can know compassion. Visit Wildcatsanctuary.org today to learn more and to meet all the cats that call The Wildcat Sanctuary home.

Tammy Quist Thies
Director
http://www.wildcatsanctuary.org
PO Box 314
Sandstone, MN 55072
(320) 245-6871

Thank you all for reading about this great facility that is doing so much for abandoned and abused wild felines. Through our interaction, I've felt that many of you fellow bloggers and readers care deeply for the threatened cats and want to make a difference by helping them out. Here is an opportunity to do so. If you find time, kindly do visit the website of The Wildcat Sanctuary and maybe even help out the magnificent cats they are caring for by going here.

I'll be back next week with a regular news post. Until then, have a great time and take care :)

Weekly Feline News

2009-06-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Here are the cat-related news for this past week..

The news is largely good this week. Starting with tigers.. India plans to set up four more tiger reserves in addition to the thirty seven it already has. The new reserves will be established in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. This was announced recently by the Union Minister of State for Forest and Environment. He also expressed hope for the future of Indian tigers and forests and outlined a plan for their conservation through integration of economic prosperity with environment's sanctity. Let's hope that the vision of the newly elected official translates into better protection for India's wildlife in the coming months and years. More on this here, here and here.

There are reports of other innovative methods that authorities in India are implementing to protect tigers. One involves initiation of eco-development activities in the villages bordering one of the parks, the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve. This will involve and employ the local communities in conservation of their forests. Certainly quite a positive move that is likely to have good long term consequences for the preservation of the native tigers. Another move, that is being proposed in Manas National Park in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, involves isolating and breeding tigers in a controlled environment to ensure survival of cubs. The idea is to protect the young cubs during the most vulnerable part of their life before releasing them into the forest at an age when they can fend for themselves. This is being contemplated after tiger numbers in Manas fell to seventy recently from the reported number of one hundred and twenty five animals a decade ago. There are counterarguments to this proposal too, with doubts being raised on its possible efficacy in conserving the tiger population in Manas. More on these methods here and here.

In other good news the Smithsonian Institute and World Bank Group have decided to collaborate to launch a global initiative for tiger conservation. The plan that was launched initially last year, involves setting up a worldwide network of scientists, policy makers and other nongovernmental organizations working for conservation to save the tigers in the wild. The move comes in time as tiger numbers are dwindling across the globe with reports of poaching coming in almost every week from various corners of the world. Just a few days ago as a court in India sentenced a seasoned tiger poacher to three years of imprisonment, police in Indonesia apprehended two people suspected of killing several Sumatran tigers. So let's hope that this global initiative as well as the local ones by conservationists worldwide, come in time for the tiger. More on the above here, here and here.

To lions now. And the news here is not so good as regards the big cats of Gir in India. Four separate reports of attacks on people have emerged over the past couple of weeks. And in one incident a leopard was killed by a lion in Maliya Taluka in Gir in an apparent case of interspecies conflict. To learn more about these reports of attacks by lions, you can go here, here, here, here and here.

The only good news, for lion enthusiasts this week, is that Tsau! White Lion Conservation Project is looking for volunteers for assistance in the world's first ever relocation of white lions into the wild. The project, based in the Greater Timbavati region in South Africa, is offering thus a very unique opportunity for any animal lover from across the globe to take part in this rewarding experience. To learn more about this, and to find out how to apply, go here.

Jaguars - and some good news regarding their habitat. According to Brazilian Environment Minister, the deforestation in Amazon was the lowest this year since record-keeping began for logging activities. While the fate of Amazon is by no means certain or secure, this news is a positive one for Amazon and its denizens, including the Jaguar and in some parts, the Cougar. And in other good news related to Amazon, Marfrig, the world's fourth largest trader of beef announced that it will no longer buy cattle raised in newly deforested areas within the Brazilian Amazon! So positive developments, both of these, for the threatened rain forest. More here and here.

To leopards, and some good news for Snow Leopards. The population of Snow Leopard is said to be on the rise in Kyrgyzstan. This was reported by Kyrgyzstan's National Academy of Science. The good news was followed more recently by an even better one - the first reported sighting of a Snow Leopard in Kashmir in over a decade! More on the two items here and here.

Cheetahs now and to learn how a conservation group in Namibia has been working for years to bring back these animals from the brink of extinction in that part of the world, go here.

The wild cat that is nearest to extinction among felines in the world is the Iberian Lynx. And owing to the dedicated efforts of conservationists and scientists it appears that it also is making a comeback. To learn more about how the lynx is surviving against all odds, go here and here on this wonderful blog.

And finally some good news for the domestic cat too! A city in the US is taking steps to save its homeless pets. The program, that has been going on for several years in Kansas City, has been given the name 'Ray of Hope'. And it has indeed been a ray of hope for the many stray pets across the city who have been saved from euthanasia and given a chance to live a happy life. To learn more about this remarkable effort and how it can be emulated easily across the globe, click here.

Also, I was given these wonderful awards recently...

One Lovely Blog Award

by Stacey at Stuff for Kitty and You

International Bloggers Community Award

by Ellen at Katz Tales

and the Interesting Blog Award

by Duni at Lovely Purses

Thank you all so much for your appreciation and your kind comments, about my brother's health and this blog in general. I'd like to pass these awards to the following blogs..

Black Cat Follies

Flamingo Musings

Kitty Drawings

Casper, Cleo, Patches and Gizmo

Maria Michelle's Furkids and Animal Rescue

Hope you all have a great week. Take care :)

Images

Top - Zoe the Tigress at Shambala Preserve © Bill Dow.. Billdowphotography.com

Center - Asiatic Lionesses at Gir © Kishore Kotecha.. Asiaticlion.org

Bottom - Leo and Fairy, my two cute kitties.. Purrrrs.com

Weekly Feline News

2009-06-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

I so regret that I haven't been to blog lately. Things have been a little hectic over here, compounded by the recent diagnosis of my elder brother with Multiple Sclerosis. The presentation is relatively mild in his case and we hope that the unpredictable illness doesn't pursue a relentless course. A lot of news needs to be reported though for the last couple of weeks, from the world of wild cats, and here it goes..

The news is mostly good this week. Starting with lions - the king lions to be more precise. The majestic white lions of Timbavati, South Africa are about to reclaim their lost land in that part of the world as a family of these beautiful cats prepares to be relocated back into the wild. The historic move, which involves a lion, lioness and three cubs is going to be a major step towards the conservation of these extremely rare big cats. Even as these white lions do not constitute a separate subspecies of lions and are the result of a genetic mutation in tawny lions, these great cats have historically been sighted all across Timbavati whose scorched grass and white sands form the perfect habitat for these unique animals. However, in the past, these white lions suffered owing to trophy hunting and trapping for a lifetime in captivity. As a result all of these felines were lost from the wild. Now after years of dedicated efforts the Global White Lion Trust is releasing these animals back into the wild, in a thousand hectare enclosure that is said to contain a variety of prey species. Let's hope for the best for the proposed move, and for the future of these stunning felines. More about this here. And you can reach the website of the Global White Lion Protection Trust here.

And there is more good news coming out of South Africa. After years of protests and misgivings by conservationists from across the world, a court in Bloemfontein, South Africa, has finally outlawed the practice of canned hunting of lions. A despicable act, canned hunting involves captive breeding of lions and their eventual shooting as defenseless trophies in private enclosures. For long it had tarnished South Africa's reputation as the rich and soulless from across the world flocked over there to bag themselves a lion for decoration of their lounges. Thankfully now it appears that this terrible practice has finally been put of business. However, it remains to be seen as to what happens to the nearly four thousand captive lions who had been bred for this purpose. They can't fend for themselves in the wild and are likely to be victim of foul play or neglect if the authorities don't seize and rehabilitate them soon. More on this here.

Canned hunting still goes on in some other parts of the world. Surprisingly for some, even in United States. And even though a number of states have taken measures to curtail it, the practice continues to flourish in certain parts of the US. A new congressional bill now aims to address it. Let's hope that it goes through and this unethical hunting practice is outlawed also in the US. More about this in the 'Post'.

Something else of concern from the States. Bobcats are being trapped widely across the US as the demand for their coat goes up in Asia. The price for bobcat pelts is going up across Russia and China as it becomes a 'fashion statement' in two of the world's biggest economies. And even as bobcats exist in significant numbers across the US, concern is being raised about the rapid rate of their trapping for fur. Bobcats are very secretive animals and it's difficult to assess their population or their rate of decline from an area. That is why vigilance and monitoring of their numbers is needed as the demand of the soft skins of these beautiful cats goes up. More here.

Coming back to Africa. Parliament in Kenya is contemplating a ban on the pesticide Furadan. The chemical has been responsible for the death of numerous lions, hyenas, vultures and other wild animals after farmers have used it to avenge the killing of their cattle by predators. Recently its manufacturing company FMC placed a partial ban to its export to Africa. Now the government in Kenya is considering outlawing the pesticide altogether, which is deemed too dangerous and unsafe by Environmental Protection Agency in the US. More on this here.

To India now. Some good news for Asiatic Lions in India as their population goes up in the Gir forest, their sole sanctuary. The rise is attributed towards a significant number of healthy cubs that are being reported in Gir this year. More good news from Gir is that the government there has doubled the grant money for covering up of the wells across the forest. Numbering in thousands across the reserve these abandoned wells have been responsible for the death and injury of dozens of lions who have succumbed by falling into them. Fortunately they are being covered at an increasing rate now, thanks to money raised by conservationists and provided by the government, and hopefully will be fully covered by the end of this year. More on the two positive developments here and here.

There's some negative news coming from Gir too. Barda wildlife sanctuary in the proximity is being threatened by mining. A number of mining projects have been set up in the reserve's periphery, perhaps not in full accordance with laws. The news has emerged only recently, not long after government announced an initiative to shift some of the lions from Gir to there. Disconcerting news therefore for the lions and wildlife of Barda, that will certainly be affected adversely if the mining ventures continue in the sanctuary. More here.

To tigers now. And there is a mix of good and bad news here. First the good news. The Indian government has taken some major initiatives recently for protecting its Bengal Tigers. The first involves drastically altering the travel itineraries of tourists across its forests. The authorities are attributing the decline of the striped cats partly to the visitors' interference in tiger's breeding grounds. As a result the movement of tourists across the core areas of tiger reserves is now being restricted. However, it remains to be seen if the move will play a decisive role in saving the tiger in the long run, for there are some counterarguments against it too. To read them and more about this move go here and here.

Another significant move for tiger conservation in India is the announcement by officials there to relocate away from the forests nearly one hundred thousand families who are residing in and around tiger reserves in India. A landmark move, this will entail nearly a decade of work and one hundred billion Indian Rupees, or roughly two billion US Dollars. Let us hope that this bears fruition for the tigers and wildlife in due time across India. The full report here.

In some forests across India though, government is currently employing the tribal population to help protect the wildlife. One example is that of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve near Udhagamandalam, one of the best preserved sanctuaries in the region. Here the wildlife department is employing the locals to patrol the forest and help the authorities protect the fauna and flora. A unique and somewhat refreshing approach towards conservation that may be sustainable in the form of development of ecotourism and employment of the natives. More on this here.

In more good news, the relocated tigers in Sariska have mated, leading to the possibility to a litter by the coming rainy season. Just a few years ago Sariska tiger reserve was wiped clean of all its tigers by poachers. Over the course of past few months a male and two female tigers were relocated there to repopulate the forest. And now it appears that a new generation indigenous to Sariska may soon reappear. More here.

Some bad news now. A decline in tiger number has been reported from forests in the Indian states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. In Bihar tiger numbers fell from fifty six to just thirteen over the past seven years, a significant decline attributed largely to poaching. And in Madhya Pradesh five tigers have been lost in the past year or so. In Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in the state of Maharashtra, twenty tigers have been lost in the past five months alone. An alarming rate of decline. It appears that despite the best efforts and apparent good intentions of authorities, the great Bengal Tiger continues to disappear from forests. More on these sad news here, here and here.

Another threat to tigers in India - a national highway that is being constructed through the world's largest tiger habitat in Satpura, central India. The road will have quite an adverse impact on the wildlife and ecosystem of the reserve. The conservationists have already lodged their protests against this to the central government. More on this here. And to read an article on tiger conservation and how you can help, go here.

To Indonesia now where tigers and other wildlife is coming under threat from a major logging venture that is about to commence across their habitat. Undertaken by the paper giant APP (Asian Pulp and Paper) the move will lead to deforestation of fifty thousand hectares of Sumatran land. Sumatran tigers, who are already coming into increasing conflict with the locals owing to loss of habitat will be affected, as will be one hundred orangutans who only recently were released into the wild there after decades of hard work and study by scientists. More on this here.

To neighboring Malaysia now where authorities recently made another seizure of tiger parts and birds. The parts are said to belong to a two year old tiger. Three men were also arrested in the process. Full report here.

Quite sad news. To lighten your mood you can read the heartwarming story of a tiger cub that was saved and not destroyed for a change, owing to the actions of humans. Click here.

Finally to an unlikely place for big cats. Afghanistan, where Snow Leopards are perhaps making a comeback. This is being hoped after some of these elusive cats were captured on camera traps in Wakhan Corridor in the northeast of the war-torn country. Nearly a hundred Snow Leopards had previously been thought to exist in Afghanistan. Now in the light of this new evidence scientists are optimistic that the number might be higher. To read more on this and see some more of the captured images, click here.

And in China a female Snow Leopard was released into the wild after being treated for a respiratory infection. According to details the big cat had moved into a village in a state of ill health nearly six weeks back in Zhangye City, northwestern China. She was then tranquilized and moved to a research facility where the staff nursed her back to health. Last week the leopard was successfully released back into her natural habitat. More here.

That's all the news for now. Hope everybody has a great week. Take care :)

Images © William Dow - Billdowphotography.com

Weekly Feline News

2009-06-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

Here go the cat-related news for this past week..

Last week witnessed a major environmental catastrophe strike a critical habitat of the endangered bengal tigers. Cyclone Aila - a tropical storm that struck eastern India and southern Bangladesh is feared to have caused significant damage to the mangrove forests of Sunderban, one of the last bastions of truly wild tigers in the world. Over a dozen tigers and numerous herbivores are thought to have been swept away by the cyclone winds of up to 75 mph. Over two million people were also affected by this tragedy, with reports of significant damage to the life and property of many of the poor dwellers of Sunderban. While water level in the forest has now dropped considerably from the initial twenty feet reported at the time of the cyclone, the extent of damage is still not clear with doubts being raised on the number of tigers that were able to swim to higher grounds. Many of the tigers' drinking spots have been flooded with saline water and lots of prey animals are thought to have been lost, raising prospects of straying of tigers into human habitats for their survival. In one incident a tiger swam into a village where it was later tranquilized and safely relocated. Let's hope for the best for the people and wildlife of Sunderban in these tragic times. More here, here and here.

There is also some good news for the striped cats this week. The Indian state of Madhya Pradesh recently got close to ten million Indian rupees (over two hundred thousand US dollars) to help it in its efforts to combat poaching and conserve tigers. Madhya Pradesh is also close to raising a special tiger protection force to patrol its forests and guard the tigers. More on these positive developments here and here.

Meanwhile in Malaysia officers arrested two people over charges of smuggling, and seized five skins of Malayan tigers from their possession. Malayan tigers are amongst the most endangered of the tiger subspecies, with only a few hundred individuals remaining in the wild. More on this here.

In other news, two people were killed this past week when they came in contact with tigers in captivity. In the first incident a man committed suicide by jumping into a tiger enclosure in Næstved Zoo in Denmark. In the other case a keeper was mauled by a white tiger at Zion Wildlife Gardens in New Zealand. Unfortunately both the employee and the tiger lost their lives in the latter incident. More on the above two here and here.

Zion Wildlife Park is already under controversy over reports of animal abuse and an ensuing legal battle of custody between 'Lion Man' Craig Busch and his mother Patricia Busch. Recently reports have emerged that, if true, point to horrible acts of cruelty towards animals on part of Mr Busch. These include, but are not limited to, declawing of the big cats at the park and killing of the cubs. To read more about this and how the animals at Zion suffered for commercial gain of man, go here, here and here.

To lions now. Whereas one lion was unfortunately lost in Kenya's Masai Mara the news otherwise is good for the king of beasts. The unfortunate lion was apparently poisoned by villagers over alleged killing of their cattle. Quite a regrettable occurrence. More here.

The population of Asiatic Lions is on the rise in Bhavnagar, Junagadh, India. The number of lions has almost doubled there recently, from fourteen to twenty five individuals, and the forest department is considering the declaration of this area as a conservancy. The presence of this pocket of lions, nearly a hundred kilometres away from their original home in Gir, gives an indication of how far the adaptable big cats are venturing out of the forest to establish new homes as their population rises in the limited Gir forest. More on this here.

Meanwhile in Gir, an individual was arrested at a check post when he was found wearing a necklace of claws. The claws, that could belong to a lion or a leopard, have been sent for forensic analysis while investigations are underway with the person apprehended. A lucky break that could unveil some poachers. In another 'lucky break' in Gir, a man was able to survive an attack by two lions who were attempting to carry him away. According to details the villager was asleep in his hut when two male lions showed up and began to drag him from his bed by his leg. Fortunately his family members woke up and their cries scared the lions away. Apart from minor injuries the man survived largely unscathed. So did his two young children who were sleeping on the same bed with him! Full report of the above two incidents here and here.

That's all the news for this past week. Have a great time over the next few days :)

Images are of the tigress Zoe and the lion Freedom at Shambala Preserve in California © William Dow - Billdowphotography.com

Weekly Feline News

2009-05-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

Here go the cat-related news for this past week..

The first and perhaps most shocking news of this week comes from an unlikely place. La Reunion island in the Indian Ocean. A French island of roughly a thousand square miles in size, La Reunion is located a couple of hundred miles off the eastern coast of Africa. And it is here that a horrible act is being practiced by amateur fishermen - use of cats and dogs as live bait for sharks! The poor animals have hooks passed through their snout or body and then tossed into the sea where their struggle attracts sharks, that are subsequently hunted by the fishing party. A gruesome and immoral practice, this has been outlawed by the French law, and yet goes on in this island. The issue has apparently been going on for the past several years. Now the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a global marine wildlife conservation group, is offering a reward of one thousand Euros for the policeman who arrests and brings to conviction the first fisherman involved in this horrendous practice. Rewards of two hundred Euros have been announced for each subsequent conviction. Let's hope that this move helps in bringing an end to this cruelty. You can learn more about this by going to the Sea Shepherd website here. To read a National Geographic article from 2005 that highlights this practice, click here.

To tigers now. Some good news first. Paw prints of a tigress and cub have been spotted in Mhadei wildlife sanctuary in Goa, India. This is the first time evidence of a tiger family has been found in this forest that has been devoid of the striped cats in recent past. So very encouraging news, and let's hope that the reserve gets repopulated by the endangered bengal tigers in the coming years. Full report here.

And in other good news, the government of Uttar Pradesh in India has approved the allocation of one hundred and fifty square kilometers of area around Dudhwa National Park to a buffer zone around the park. This will allow greater freedom of movement to the big cats and the prey that inhabitate the reserve, and lessen the incidence of conflict between people living around the periphery of the park and the straying tigers. More here.

And, as if to emphasize the point above, a straying tiger in Uttar Pradesh killed an elderly woman and mauled several others this past week. The tragic incidents occurred when a tiger strayed out of Katarniyaghat forest reserve in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, Sunday night and attacked the people of a neighboring village. A total of nine people have been injured to date and authorities are trying to drive the tiger out of the village. More on this here.

The sad news above comes on the backdrop of an announcement by an official in Bangladesh that thirty six people have been killed by tigers in past four months in Sunderban forest in the country. Sunderban, the world's largest mangrove forest, is home to nearly five hundred tigers that frequently come in contact with poor fishermen and honey collectors who venture deep into the jungle for their livelihood. This results in conflict between man and beast, with adverse consequences for both the species. More on this issue here.

And in India government has ordered the transfer of directors of three main tiger reserves in the Madhya Pradesh state. Long known as the 'tiger state' Madhya Pradesh has been suffering from the effects of poaching and habitat loss that have been resulting in decline of tiger populations all across the country. This move is aimed to perhaps bring a fresh approach and impetus towards the conservation of tigers in this critical state. Full account here.

To Cheetahs now. And here the involvement of new technology is set to benefit the conservation efforts for protection of these felines. An advanced DNA laboratory has been set up at the headquarters of the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Otjiwarongo, Namibia, with collaboration of Applied Biosystems, a segment of Life Technologies Corporation. Owing to evolution from a limited number of ancestors, cheetahs suffer from limited diversity in their genetic makeup. This makes them particularly vulnerable to diseases. This new laboratory will aid in the study of genetics and population numbers of cheetahs, and thus aid in proposition of future steps for the protection of these beautiful cats. More on this here.

Now Leopards. And they have been involved in two separate incidents of attacks on people in Gir Forest in India. One on a young man and another on a child. Fortunately none of the attacks were fatal. More on the above here and here.

And leopards have been in limelight again for the wrong reason, this time for trespassing the property of the prime minister of Pakistan! Pakistani premier, who is already under threat from Taliban fighters in the northwest of the country, now has to contend with a leopard that has sneaked into his official residence. According to details, the panther apparently scaled the walls of the tightly guarded compound last week and has been evading its trappers ever since. Hopefully it will be tranquilized soon, before orders are given for it to be shot. More here.

That's all for this week. I'll be back on Sunday. Have a great week, and don't forget to enjoy this video of a 'provocative kitty'...

Images © William Dow - Billdowphotography.com

Weekly Feline News

2009-05-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

Been busy this past week but fortunately found time enough to post the feline news today. So, here they go...

First tigers and there's report of a very disturbing incident here. Naval officers in Thailand were shocked when they found grisly animal remains after making a recent smuggling bust. According to details a gang of eight was trying to illegally transport animals across the border into neighboring Laos when it was apprehended by the Thai Navy. The authorities found carcasses of two dead tigers and pangolins as well as forty three live pangolins - who were undoubtedly destined for a terrible fate had they not been rescued. So a very sad incident which highlights the continuing menace of poaching and illegal animal trade in Southeast Asia that is threatening the endangered species of cats and other mammals. You can find more about this and other similar incidents in the past by going to the website of TRAFFIC, the organization that monitors wildlife trade, but be warned of the graphic nature of images there.

Staying with tigers - there is good news too. Two of the states in India have reported a rise in the number of their bengal tigers. In Jaipur, there has been an overall increase in the number of wild animals including tigers, leopards and sloth bears. And in Kerala, ten new tigers have been sighted in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. Positive signs amid desperate times for the tiger. More on the above here and here. And for an interesting and realistic look at the state of tiger conservation in India, go here.

To the mangrove forest in Sunderban, Bangladesh. Two separate attacks on people by tigers. Whilst in one account the tiger was able to make away with a fisherman who was collecting firewood deep in the forest, in the other case a father and son bravely fought off a maneating tiger - a very rare and fortunate occurrence indeed. More on the two attacks here and here. And to learn more about the tigers of Sunderban and an analysis of the ongoing conflict between them and people, go here.

In Kaziranga National Park a boat has been donated by David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation to combat wildlife poaching and smuggling. Kaziranga has been recently hit by a spate of tiger and rhino poaching incidents. The provision of this new boat, which will patrol the adjoining river in search of poachers, is set to aid the authorities there in helping wildlife. The full report here.

Lions. And the news is good here. The Asiatic Lions in Gir, India, are set to benefit from over a hundred water holes that have been dug there by the local authorities. It's summer there and the lions are increasingly venturing outside the park to establish new territories. The water holes will help the big cats in sustaining themselves. More on this here.

And the Asiatic Lions will now be tracked through modern GPS collars in India. This has been recommended by a task force there. The tracking system is to receive a general overhaul that will help in the study of lions as well as minimize conflict with people. The full recommendations of the task force here.

For Jaguars - there is both good and bad news, relating to their habitat. While the US government has approved the funding of over one hundred million dollars for the rain forests that make up the home of these great cats in South America, the government in Brazil is taking steps that do not bode well for the Amazon, and the environment in general. Whereas the US law aims to check deforestation and climate change by providing debt relief to tropical nations in exchange for their commitment to conserve forests and coral reefs, the law proposed by Brazil will grant land rights for illegally occupied property in the Amazon. This will pave way for further clearing of the forests and irreparable damage to the ecosystem there. More on the two laws here and here.

To the leopards. The Snow Leopard Trust is set to benefit from the sale of alcohol! This has come about after Whyte & Mackay, the Glasgow based makers of world's first 'ethically distilled' vodka decided to donate fifteen percent of their profits to the trust. More on the above here. And you can reach the website of the Trust here.

And a woman has been arrested and sentenced in Oregon over charges of violating the Endangered Species Act. The woman, a Ukrainian National, had imported three leopard skins from the Democratic Republic of Congo but unfortunately for her, an error by the shipping department resulted in her undoing! To read the interesting story behind her capture go here.

To Cheetahs and there is good news here too. A Cheetah birth has been recorded in The Nairobi National Park in Kenya after many years. This after years of adverse climate and prey conditions in the park. The birth is a positive sign for the population of the beautiful felines there. More here.

And for the first time - the critically endangered Saharan Cheetah has been recently photographed by a camera trap. A remarkable event that will buoy the hopes of the scientists and conservationists working to protect these endangered cats. The full account here.

That's it. Hope you all have a good week. Below are couple of videos of some more 'cat burglars'. Enjoy :)

Images © William Dow - Billdowphotography.com and Kishore Kotecha - Asiaticlion.org

Weekly Feline News

2009-05-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

Here are last week's cat-related news..

First tigers. Controversy is surrounding the recent death of a Royal Bengal Tiger in Sattari wildlife sanctuary in Goa, India. The tiger is thought to have been shot by poachers, according to photographic evidence obtained by a wildlife activist. However, the local administration is trying to hush up the matter and deny the occurrence of a poaching incident in the forest. The reason for that may be simple. Goa has not reported the presence of any tiger in the Sattari forest in the past. There are numerous multimillion dollar mining ventures going on in the periphery of the forest, run by politicians. If the local government decides to acknowledge the presence of a resident tiger in its forest, the national tiger conservation authority in India will immediately change the status of Sattari to a protected tiger reserve. This will put the whole mining enterprise there in jeopardy. A dead tiger will not cost the administration any votes or political favors, but the halting of mining operations in the forest might do so! More on this here and here.

Incidents like the above have resulted in the issuance of a new directive by the chief tiger conservation body in India, the NTCA. All dead tigers are now to undergo a postmortem in the presence of a NTCA representative. This will help to ascertain the cause of death in many cases where the circumstances surrounding the animal's demise are ambiguous. The NTCA has also set up a panel to draft a set of guidelines for the proposed relocation of tigers across forests in India. The need was felt for this when after the relocation of a tigress to Panna tiger reserve, to repopulate it with the big cats, it was discovered that there was no male tiger in the reserve to breed with the female. Fortunately, a male tiger is now being translocated to Panna. More on the above here, here and here.

While browsing through the site that hosts the second of the three links above, I came across a couple of interesting articles about the maneating tigers that were terrorizing northern India a couple of months ago. You can find them here and here.

There's good news for Siberian Tigers. South Korea has resumed a breeding project for the big cats, the largest wild felines extant. The move has come after repeated failures to breed the Amur Tigers there in the past. Let's hope that the project is successful this time around and aids the conservation of the endangered cats. To read more about this and see the picture of the beautiful male tiger that has been donated by China for this purpose, go here.

Good news for Jaguars too. For the first time, a jaguar has been photographed in Barro Colorado Island, an important wildlife research site in Panama. The camera trap picture is a significant milestone for the researchers tracking the big cats in that area. For even though the image shows a single migratory jaguar traversing the island, it indicates the presence of the elusive big cats in the tropical forest and their ability to move across fragmented island habitats to survive as a species in that particular region. More here.

For lions too, this has been a good week. This is owing to the long-awaited arrest of a kingpin in a gang of poachers who were responsible for the deaths of several Asiatic Lions in India in 2007. The arrested poacher was the last remaining member of the poaching gang that was still eluding the authorities. With his arrest, a degree of closure has been brought to the tragic series of poaching events couple of years ago when six lions were killed by this gang. Let's hope that similar incidents are not repeated in Gir. More on this on the Asiatic Lions blog.

So positive news mostly, for this week. The only 'negative' one is from UK where government is contemplating a law that would make it easier to keep exotic pets in private captivity. The new law will ease the restrictions on owners of big cats and reptiles, thus encouraging a wrong trend towards private ownership of dangerous pets, who belong in the wild. The harmful impact of having such animals in private captivity has been well demonstrated across the world, both to the animals who often suffer from abuse once they grow up, and their owners who are frequently mauled by their 'pets'. Here is one such account from Abu Dhabi. And here is more on the proposed legislation.

And, before you leave, go here for a quick laugh. I won't be able to blog next week owing to some professional engagements, but will be back a fortnight later. Take care, all :)

Weekly Feline News

2009-05-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here are the cat-related news for the past week..

First lions. The lions of Amboseli in Kenya are being threatened by the illegal mining ventures of a construction company across their territory. Amboseli in southern Kenya is a world-renowned park that hosts a variety of endangered prey and predator species. Recently a construction company began to work on a rock quarry and road that pass right across critical corridors of the animal habitat there. The whole project is illegal and provides no service to the local community, rendering merely significant damage to the conservancy. To read more about this, you can visit the AWF blog that brought this issue to light. To contact the construction company and urge them to reconsider their acts in Amboseli, go here.

Staying with lions - the government in Zimbabwe has taken over the care of nearly seventy captive lions after their owner mysteriously fled to South Africa. The captive lion facility in Masvingo, Zimbabwe, was reportedly a private breeding center for African lions. However, there are signs that of late the private owner was facing difficulties managing the park. Still it was quite irresponsible of him to suddenly vanish and leave the lions unsupervised and starving, and the local population at risk from their attacks. Fortunately the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe has intervened just in time and is taking care of the big cats. More here.

From one 'lion man' to another. Craig Busch, the former curator at Zion Wildlife Gardens in New Zealand is still locked in a legal battle with his mother over custody of the park. There are rumors that thirty lions and tigers at Zion were declawed by him, which if true, do not project a good light on Mr Busch. To read more about him, go here. And to learn about a real lion man, go here on Liz's blog.

To leopards. The Arabian Leopards are set to benefit from the creation of a new wildlife park in United Arab Emirates. The smallest of all leopard subspecies, Arabian Leopards are critically endangered and already extinct from many parts of Arabia. This new park will perhaps help revive their numbers and stabilize the wild herbivore population in UAE. More here.

In India, they continue to come into conflicts with people owing to human overpopulation and crowding in parts. Here and here are two accounts of recent interactions between the panthers and people.

And finally here is a thought-provoking article - on circuses! Read it here. To read more about the plight of circus animals, and the organization working to protect them, please go here.

Also...I was recently given this wonderful 'Works of Heart' Award by Duni @ Lovely Purses. Thanks so much!! I'd like to pass this award to the following cool blogs:

Anita

Katz Tales

Kareltje

Maru

Miss Peach

Mr Hendrix

Tennessee Text Wrestling

Maru, by the way, is one of the most awesome kitties on the planet! Here's his youtube channel. Enjoy!

Have a great week :)

Weekly Feline News

2009-04-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

Here are the cat-related news for the past week..

From the leopards of Amur, the most endangered wild cats, to the tigers, the largest wild cats - concerns were raised recently by the World Wildlife Fund about the continued preservation of their habitat in Siberian Fareast after emergence of reports of rampant logging in the area. It appears that owing to the current global economic crisis, the demand for cedar pine trees found across tiger habitat in Primorsky has increased while the price of other wood types has fallen. This had led to a sudden rise in logging in territories reserved for conservation of Amur tigers. WWF has raided some illegal logging operations and thereafter suggested the imposition of a moratorium on the harvesting of these trees, that form the bulk of food for tiger's prey animals and also serve as a habitat for the rare leopards and the bears in the area. More here.

The news is otherwise good for tigers in India. A court has issued a notice to a mining company that was operating close to a critical tiger habitat, the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. The mining venture was said to be threatening an important forest corridor between the states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Hopefully the court will put to halt the mining and preserve this important corridor for wildlife. Full report here.

It is difficult to strike a balance for the administration in a growing economy such as India, between preservation of forests and pristine wildlife habitats, and development activities and exploitation of natural resources. Two very interesting articles this week reflect perspectives on the current state of tiger conservation in India, the future and what we can do to help. To read them go here and here.

Here's some interesting news about Bengal tigers. Two individual tigers in India have been given 'lifetime achievement awards' for being great ambassadors towards their species and for being good parents and having sired a number of cubs. The two particular tigers - B2 the big male tiger of Bandavgarh National Park and Machali the tigress of Ranthambore - are quite famous actually and have been featured in documentaries seen by millions of people across the world. They've also earned enormous amounts of revenue for the economy and the conservation efforts in India too. Like the two articles above, this one is a must-read. Go here.

Now to lions, and Africa, and here is another interesting article - about bushmeat industry in Africa and how the current trend of bushmeat consumption is going on there in Kenya. Widespread bushmeat consumption by locals is one of the biggest threats to large predators and their prey in the African continent. Read the article here.

And as always, for account of interactions between people and predators in Kenya's Masai Mara, and how conservationist are trying to limit it, you can go to the Predator Aware blog.

Back to India again, and the Asiatic Lions. Gujarat, the home state of Asiatic Lions has protested to the Supreme Court in India against relocation of some of its lions to the state of Madyha Pradesh in India. Madhya Pradesh has already spent millions on creation of a forest reserve for the lions, however Gujarat has been reluctant to part company with even a fraction of its lion population of over three hundred animals. This is despite the fact that the Gir Forest there in Gujarat has lions beyond its holding capacity and the lions are continuously venturing out of the reserve boundaries, coming into conflict with people. The government of Gujarat has taken a stance that it's unsafe to move lions to Madhya Pradesh owing to the presence of poachers and the tigers there, who might threaten the lions! Do you think it would be a good idea to move lions to the new sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh? To vote, go here. And to read more about this here.

And finally, the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia has released its annual report of progress. Cheetah Conservation Fund is a non-profit charitable organization that has been working tirelessly towards the conservation of cheetahs in Namibia, the country with the highest population of cheetahs in the world, for the past two decades. To read their report of conservation efforts in 2008 and the past few years, and to gain some perspective on the conservation of cheetahs in general, go here.

That's all for this week. Hope you all have a great next seven days. See you all coming Sunday. Ciao :)

Weekly Feline News

2009-04-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

Here are the cat-related news for this past week..

First leopards... the rarest of all leopards - the Amur Leopards, are under imminent threat of extinction in the wild after one of the last seven remaining females of the subspecies was killed by natives in Barsovy Wildlife Refuge in Fareastern Russia. There are only twenty five of these majestic cats left in the world and the loss of every individual animal brings them closer to eradication in nature. The sad news came only recently after scientists had finished an eight year long study on the genetic profile of these cats, suggesting ideas for their conservation in the wild. More here and here.

However, there is good news for Amur Leopards too. Officials have come up with a plan to extend their reserve in the remote Siberian wilderness. The newly proposed specially preserved natural territory will extend across the border region of Primorsky and China, and be a major boost for the conservation of the leopards and prey in their natural habitat. Full account of the proposed reserve here.

Now to another endangered subclass of leopards - the Persian Leopards, the largest yet least known and understood of all leopards. These great cats were thought to have gone extinct in Iran, but have recently made a comeback. Still they remain critically endangered and face various threats to their survival in nature. Here is a report about them.

To India, and the Indian leopards - two of which have been somewhat rogue this past week - attacking people on separate occasions. Whilst one has managed to escape after injuring a woman in the Gir Forest, the other has been declared a maneater after it attacked two young boys in Garhwal, one of them fatally. More on them here and here.

Now to the bigger cousin of the leopard - the third largest wild cat, Jaguar. Controversy is surrounding the capture and euthanization of Macho B, the last known wild jaguar in United States. The fifteen year old big cat was the oldest jaguar to ever have been documented in the wild. According to reports he was first trapped and tranquilized in med February for placement of a radio collar on his neck. On March 2nd, he was again captured by wildlife officials and flown to Phoenix Zoo where he was euthanized on the same day, after it was presumed that he had irreversible renal failure. Now, however, doubts are being raised over the whole affair. The wisdom behind repeated anesthetization of such an old animal is being questioned. Also the diagnosis of kidney damage, and thus the need for euthanization is being disputed. A criminal investigation has been launched now into the affair. More on this here, here and here.

Jaguars are still prevalent in South American forests. Here is an interesting account of an encounter with one of them in a jungle in Brazil. To read more about the conservation efforts being made to protect them, go through the blog.

Now to tigers, and the news is mostly good here this week. The government of India is allocating close to sixty million rupees to move over nine hundred families from one of the forests there, the Manas Tiger Reserve. The move is set to reduce the incidence of conflict between people and tigers there, and also to allow the predators and prey animals there, freedom of movement. Quite a positive step! One that has been matched by the proposed allocation of new territory to the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in the country's north. The famed Pilibhit Reserve is the same forest from where a tigress moved out in late November owing to lack of prey and territory to undertake a four hundred mile trek across the country, before she was finally dubbed a maneater and shot. So, a positive move that will help prevent the tigers from straying out of the forests of Pilibhit, by increasing their habitat area. More here and here.

There's good news for lions too. And it comes from the least expected place - the war-torn border between Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo, in Africa. Despite the ongoing armed conflict in the area, a recent study has shown a very promising sign for the lion population there - a significant number of prey animals. This has been concluded after a study that suggests that the prey density in those parts could support the largest potential population of lions in Central Africa, as many as nine hundred animals! This is of course possible only if positive conservation steps are taken now in the right direction. Let's hope that the findings of this trial are given due consideration by the relevant authorities there. Full report here.

And to read another interesting report about African Lions, this time in Kenya, you can go here. And for an interesting article on Asiatic Lions, here.

Here's something else which is interesting, this time relating to Mountain Lions. According to new research it has now emerged that if you come across a cougar in the wild, it may be a better idea to run than to stay and hold your ground. Even as this goes across conventional wisdom, the advice might prove to be life-saving in certain circumstances, according to authors of this study! More here.

And finally, here is a thought provoking article on captivity of animals in zoos...

Until next week, all the best :)

Weekly Feline News

2009-04-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Here are the cat-related news for the past week. As always, it's a mix of disconcerting and hopeful stories from across the globe. So, here they go...

First lions, and there's some very good news here. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of media and conservationists that brought to light the plight of wildlife in Africa, the pesticide Furadan has finally been banned from parts of Africa where wildlife exists. An extremely toxic chemical, Furadan is made of Carbofuran and is used to control insects in field crops. Unfortunately, it has also been widely used by villagers in parts of Africa to poison a variety of predators, including big cats and hyenas. The result has been catastrophic, particularly for lion populations across the continent. Scores have died in recent years after consuming carcasses of their prey that were poisoned by poachers or vengeful cattle herders. Now, however, after sustained efforts by the team at Wildlife Direct and a feature on CBS 60 Minutes, the deadly chemical has finally been withdrawn from a number of African countries where predators were being systemically poisoned. The manufacturing company of Furadan, FMC, is said to be discontinuing the export of the insecticide to South Africa and all of East Africa. Furthermore distributors are being directed to buy back all of the existing stock within the next eight weeks. So, great news and a victory for the threatened African lions and the scientists and conservationists working tirelessly for their protection. More here and here.

Now to Oxford, UK, where scientists working on fossil remains have concluded that the big cat specimens they have been studying recently belong to giant lions that used to roam Britain, Europe and North America as early as thirteen thousand years ago. Significantly larger than the modern lions, these big cats were thought to use endurance rather than the stalk and ambush technique of lions today to hunt down large animals. Their long legs are thought to be capable of propelling them to longer distances in pursuit of their prey. Classified differently as the European Lions, Cave Lions and American Lions, these 'super cats' are thought to have gone extinct as a result of loss of megafauna and expansion of human populations by the end of Pleistocene era. More here.

Now to the disconcerting news. Forest department staff in Gir forest, India, are worried after reports have emerged of the presence of poachers in the jungle. Gir is the sole home to Asiatic Lions in the world, an endangered lion subspecies comprising merely of three to four hundred individual animals. So disturbing news for the wildlife staff there. Hope they can arrest the poachers before they are able to snare or kill any lions. More here.

Back to Africa. A pride of lions is terrorizing villagers in Zimbabwe after it moved into their locality from Kruger National Park in South Africa. The lions of Kruger are known to kill and eat at times illegal immigrants who try to move into South Africa at night from neighbouring countries, across Kruger. This particular lion pride has so far confined its predatory activities to the livestock, but the villagers are terrified and appealing to the concerned authorities for assistance. More here. And to read some more reports of conflict between lions and people, and how conservationists are trying to limit it, you can visit this blog.

More news from South Africa. A man has been arrested after allegedly keeping a private slaughterhouse for wild animals. When police raided his property recently there were numerous animal bones lying around. The man is said to have kept and killed lions and rhinos on his premises. He has reportedly been arrested and presented before a court. More here. Sick!

But when it comes to lions, the most disturbing story of this week comes from the United States. For here, even though there are no lions in the forests, there still is occurring the phenomenon of man eating lions. That's right - man eating lions and not the other way around! Animal right groups in the US are horrified after a company began to offer on its website the sale of 'lion steaks and chops' through internet. The meat is said to come from 'lion farms' in the US, that, if they truly exist, must not be very different from the barbaric tiger farms in China and Southeast Asia. Very disturbing news. The company is Brentwood Trading Group and this is the exotic meat page on their website: http://brentwoodtradinggroup.com/exoticmeats.html. And this is the lion meat's page on the site: http://brentwoodtradinggroup.com/limelire.html. Shockingly the company sells many other kinds of exotic meat products in the US, including tiger and crocodile meat. I'm just shocked to read this line on their lion meat website page: 'Lion meat to be a much better quality cat meat than Tiger meat.' Very disturbing indeed. Full report from Cape Argus here.

Now to tigers. Some good news first. Government in India plans to increase the area of Corbett Tiger Reserve to enhance the protection of wildlife there. Nestled in the foothills of Himalayas in India's north, Corbett National Park is named after Jim Corbett - the famed hunter turned conservationist of maneating tigers and leopards who used to live in those parts in the earlier half of twentieth century. It is also the forest which has the highest density of tigers in the world. So an increase in its reserve area for tigers is going to benefit greatly the population of the striped cats and their prey species there. More here.

More good news. Tigers have been sighted in two of India's forests after nearly two decades. Both sightings have been made recently, in Jalpaigur forest division and in Sikkim in the north. This bodes well for the repopulation of tigers in newer habitats across India, adding to the biodiversity of the bengal tigers as a subspecies. And in Sariska, where a male tiger and two tigresses were recently introduced, after all the resident tigers were lost to poaching a few years ago, there are signs that indicate one or both of the females may be pregnant. If true, the new cubs will be the first native tigers of Sariska in years, a landmark moment for the local conservationists. The three reports are here, here and here.

Not all forests in India are reporting a rise in their tiger count though. Kaziranga National Park has lost ten tigers in the past four months or so, to poaching, poisoning or natural causes. Not to mention the twenty endangered unihorn rhinos poached in Kaziranga in the last two years. Panna National Park has apparently lost its last tiger - a male that has not been sighted now for nearly two months. The sad news comes after two tigresses were relocated there recently. However, with no male tiger left, the officials might have to relocate more tigers to Panna to repopulate the reserve in the future. More here and here.

Reports continue to emerge of routine seizures of animal parts and skins in India, but hardcore poachers and kingpins of illegal wildlife trade and smuggling are seldom arrested. However, this changed recently when after some good detective work, officials arrested a notorious poacher who was responsible for the death of a bengal tiger in the Sunderban delta recently. The accused was involved in the shooting of a tiger in the mangrove delta of Sunderban nearly six months ago. Here is an account of his arrest and here, here and here are various reports of seizures of animal parts and skins.

Poachers are not the only growing threat to Sunderban tigers. Climate change and the rising sea levels are thought to have a drastic impact on tiger population in the delta in the long run. This is based upon the findings of a recent study by WWF in Bangladesh and India. Poaching, shrinking habitat and loss of prey are other factors that tigers will have to contend with if they are to continue to survive in this last bastion for truly wild bengal tigers in the world. More on the study here.

In Sumatra, tigers are fighting an uphill battle for their survival too. The sumatran tigers are amongst the most endangered in the world and are up against illegal logging, poaching and conflict against humans. Loss of prey and habitat means that tigers are increasingly coming into contact with people. As a result, tigers are killing humans and in retaliation people are killing tigers. The situation is quite desperate. More on this here. And if you want to sign a petition to help the cause of these beautiful great cats, you can go here.

Where humans and tigers coexist there's always a risk of confrontation and injury to either. However, more often than not, it's the livestock that is first attacked by hungry predators moving out of their territories in search for food. This is happening right now in Vietnam where a pair of Indochinese tigers are preying on people's goats in a village. Forest rangers are trying to help but it remains to be seen if a long term solution to the issue can be found in the country which has lost nearly half of its tigers to poaching and habitat loss in less than a decade. More on this here.

And another tiger is terrorizing villagers, this time in Colombia - a country not known to possess any wild tigers. The tiger in question is actually a 'pet' tiger of a former drug lord who was arrested by authorities four years ago. Never having lived in the wild and thus unable to hunt natural prey, the big cat is now fending for itself by preying upon the livestock of locals! More here.

Now to leopards - one of the spotted cats has also been responsible for attacking people in India. The incident occurred in a village in Uttarakhand province where a leopard entered a house and injured five people. The animal was later safely tranquilized and captured, and is being kept under observation. More here.

Again some good news too..a leopard has been spotted, among other endangered animals, in the famous Gola Forest in Sierra Leone after a gap of many years..raising calls by conservationists to protect this forest against mining ventures and the subsequent deforestation that will destroy the habitat. Full account here.

This is getting really long now!! There are some news about cheetahs and cougars but I'll share them in the next week's post. Until then, have a great time :)

Some Correspondence

2009-04-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Since I'd covered most of the feline news of the past couple of months, earlier this week, I thought I'd use this weekend to share briefly some of the stuff that has come my way recently via email. So here it goes..

First - I received this book recently to review, 'The Ultimate Cat Lover' by Dr Marty Becker. Coauthors include Gina Spadafori, Carol Kline and Mikkel Becker. Now, when it comes to animal books, I usually prefer the ones relating to their lives and stories in the wild. However, this work by Dr Becker and co. has so many interesting anecdotes and information relating to domestic cats that it had me captivated. The book has a diverse collection of fascinating stories that the authors have come across in their careers as animal lovers and healthcare providers. Alongside the stories are many excellent pictures of house cats with well suited captions. Then there are also a number of informative articles towards the end of the book that are quite useful for anybody who shares their life with a cat. So all in all, quite a good read. Enjoyable. And if you are the 'ultimate cat lover' it's definitely a book worth having in your collection. Here is its page on Amazon.

Now to some other recent stuff from the inbox. The producers of CATS 101 on Animal Planet are looking to feature the breed of cats known as Selkirk Rex in one of the upcoming programs. They are looking for some pet with a wonderful story that highlights the special bond between members of this breed and people. So if anybody knows of someone who might have a Selkirk Rex that could be a good candidate for this show, just leave a comment here or send me an email and I'll forward the relevant info.

The people at the 'Puppy Place' recently launched a cookbook to help support their efforts for the blind. The Puppy Place is a volunteer organization dedicated to promoting Seeing Eye and Guide Dog programs and schools throughout United States. So if you want to help these guys in their noble efforts, you can do so by buying this cookbook, or by donating directly to their cause. Here is their website and blog.

And here is another charitable organization that helps partner the disabled with dogs that can assist them in their daily lives. If you want to help them in their good work, you can go here.

In Kashmir, India, veterinarians have stumbled across a 'lynx-like' cat that they believe is not local to that region. I, however, felt that it was a Jungle Cat native to that place, and indicated so upon query. If interested, you can look at the pictures of the 'mystery' feline here.

There is a fun-themed pet contest going on at Anamigo with some really cool prizes. It's one of the largest contests of its kind currently underway in the US, reachable here.

To look at a great collection of cat-related videos go here.

I hope I didn't miss anybody. In case you are wondering by the way, I wasn't compensated for any of this! Hope you all have a great week. See you next Sunday :)

Feline News for Feb and Mar 2009

2009-03-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

I so regret that I've been unable to update this blog for the past couple of months. It's just that some career moves have kept me busy. Now, however, I am able to post on this blog, hopefully on a weekly basis again - so I can resume the weekly news updates, regarding wild cats around the world, from next Sunday. Here though are the feline news for the past two months...

So much has transpired in different parts of the world in the past eight or nine weeks that it's hard to begin... I'll start with the famous stray tiger that had been eluding wildlife officials in north of India for a protracted period of time... For those who lack recollection or knowledge of this affair - for nearly three months one stray tiger had been dodging wildlife officials in northern parts of India by playing a game of hide and seek with its pursuers. From the moment it strayed out of the Philbit Forest reserve in the northern Uttar Pradesh state of India in the last week of November, it had been a source of many sleepless nights for the concerned wildlife officials and for the people whose habitats the big cat brazenly crossed in its incredible journey that took it nearly five hundred kilometers southeast of the Himalayan foothills across forests, fields, villages and densely populated towns until it finally settled down in a stretch of jungle close to the town of Faizabad in late January of this year. Through this time it had dodged tranquilizer darts, angry mobs and traps set up for it by the exasperated forest rangers that were responsible for its capture and relocation. It almost seemed that the stray bengal tiger was looking for a new home for itself after being pushed out of its native forest by gradually increasing pressure of human encroachment on its territory. However, this foray of the feline was not without harm for the other top predator that it shared its land with - man! Through the three hundred mile trip, the tiger was responsible for the deaths of four people. And even though the cat was only obeying the laws of nature by being a predatory carnivore, it had broken the laws of man. And thus it was brandished a maneater by the state government and a reward was set up for its destruction. Still, in spite of the desperate efforts by its fledgling pursuers to track and eliminate it, the tiger had remained forever elusive. Night after passing night it stayed one step ahead of the forest guards, casting terror into the hearts of villagers whose habitats it traversed and gaining significant attention in the media. Thus pressure was mounting on the concerned officials at state and national officials to ensure a speedy end to this somewhat embarrassing melee that had, to an extent, exposed the shortcomings of the wildlife department concerned with the animal's capture... and it was there that I had stopped blogging in late January '09, and from here I shall pick up to conclude this story.

So after the wildlife staff had the tiger isolated in a stretch of forest close to Faizabad in January, they made several attempts to trap or shoot the animal but they remained unsuccessful owing to fate or human error. In many ways the tiger had lived a charmed life. Once it was sighted, earlier in its three month foray, by the conservationists and shot at with a tranquilizer dart. However the dart was deflected by the bushes through which the cat was moving. Then there is talk of an incident when the tiger showed up at a trap set up for it by the rangers but when the maneater appeared the terrified guard chose to lock himself instead inside the cage while the tiger consumed at its leisure the meat that lay outside. Still the toll continued to mount for cattle and human casualties and thus the forest department went adrift of custom and hired an outsider, a professional hunter to shoot down the felid. The hunter in this case was a local nawab, or lord, who is said to have bagged maneaters before. And thus, in accordance with the age-old custom of shooting big game in India, a machan or scaffolding was set atop a tree and a bait (cow) was tied underneath to lure the tiger to its demise. And so, after a few night's vigil, the hungry tiger finally showed up and fell victim to the powerful Winchester rifle in the hands of the hunter. Three bullets and the end of a magnificent and incredible animal that had captured variously fear, respect or imagination in those parts unlike anything else in decades. And it was only after the animal was dead and examined that the real surprise came to its baffled trackers - the young 'male' tiger that they had been pursuing constantly for over three months was in fact a 'female' - a tigress! The months of December to March are part of the mating season for bengal tigers and it is likely that the tigress made this long journey only in search of a mate in these times of vanishing tigers in India. This might explain why the efforts by wildlife staff to attract the supposedly 'male' tiger with a tigress they had introduced, as part of their operation, were unsuccessful. This discovery also discredits the traditional method of tracking tigers by paw prints. The hind paws of a male tiger are said to leave a squarer print than that of the female, that are supposed to have a rectangular paw print or pug mark. However, modern research has established this method of tiger tracking to be somewhat obsolete. And in many ways this tiger hunt is reminiscent of the colonial era in India in the early half of twentieth century when tigers were rampant and hunting from the back of an elephant or the safety of a machan was considered a sport by the British and Indian noble. However, this is the dawn of twenty first century. Tiger numbers in India are the lowest ever in recorded history and the loss of even a single animal is crucial to the success of tiger conservation at a regional and national level there. There is speculation as to why this animal in prime health with a good breeding potential, that might even have been pregnant with cubs, was shot at with a bullet instead of a tranquilizer dart! Only the concerned officials may offer an explanation for this - however this is a loss that takes one more adult bengal tigress out of the limited stock of this subspecies now left in the wild. Reports of the hunt alongside a picture of the animal are available here and here. History of this affair is available in older posts of this blog.

There is another tragic tale too of a tiger that had attacked people and had to be shot after a vengeful mob in India made it impossible for the conservationists to capture the animal alive. This incident occurred close to the famous Kaziranga National Park and even though its climax lasted merely a few hours, it was no less incredible than the aforementioned one. According to reports, an old tiger ventured out of the park some weeks ago, drawn out perhaps by its inability to catch normal prey owing to disease or old age. On March 19, it killed a villager on the outskirts of the park but was disturbed and driven away by villagers when it was trying to feed on its victim. A wildlife team was dispatched to capture the animal that tracked it down on March 23rd in a stretch of bamboo. However, as the staff attempted to dart the animal a mob of one thousand angry villagers gathered to take their vengeance upon the cornered tiger. They rendered the task of live capture of the animal impossible for the conservationists. Despite warnings and blank shots by the police to keep them at bay, the mob pressed on. One group of villagers decided to take matters in their own hand and made an approach to the furious tiger in the bamboo grove. The big cat charged and took down one of the group members and started feeding on it in front of the horrified onlookers. In the chaos that followed several shots were fired by the officials, one of which hit a veterinarian of the wildlife department and some of the others the tiger, that was fatally wounded in the incident. Another very unfortunate and dramatic incident that renders a blow to tiger conservation in those parts. More here and here.

The above are of relevance when it is brought into consideration that tiger numbers continue to decline in India. Seventeen tigers are said to have died since the start of this year, owing to reasons natural and unnatural. Seizures of animal skins routinely indicates that poaching continues to be a threat. Conflict with humans and loss of prey is another. Here is an account detailing their deaths and here is an article on the issue of wildlife poaching and smuggling of animal parts.

There is some good news too when it comes to tigers. Another maneating tiger, the 'Kheri' tiger that was responsible for five human deaths was successfully captured in India and is now in a zoo, denied of his freedom but spared his life after his killing spree. Another tiger that attacked a lady in Rajasthan was caught and relocated. So was a Sunderban tiger that had entered a cow shed and feasted on two of the cattle before being tranquilized by the wildlife team. Then there are accounts from some forests in India where tiger numbers are thriving instead of dwindling like many other areas. And in Italy, fate has finally sided with some tigers who were being held captive in miserable conditions and were rescued just before they were due to be slaughtered to make up the traditional Chinese medicines. More on these stories respectively here, here, here, here, here and here!

Moving to lions, the Asiatic lions in Gir Forest of India continue to show effects of overcrowding and loss of habitat and prey by launching frequent attacks on people. A few weeks ago a youth was killed by mating lions after he ventured too close to them to film the pair. There continue to be attacks on people and cattle in Gir. Accounts of some of them can be found here, here, here and here.

Again there is some good news too. A court in India sentenced sixteen lion poachers to five years imprisonment alongside some fine, setting a new precedent in the jurisdiction of wildlife crimes there. Then there is the heartwarming story of Bella the lioness, the beautiful one-eyed cat that was rescued from miserable conditions in a zoo in Romania and moved recently to her new enclosure in Malawi, Africa, after months of work by the Born Free foundation. More on the above here and here. And if you wish to read another interesting lion story, you can go here!

Now to leopards. There are both gloomy and encouraging reports here too. Whilst there are accounts of conflicts with man and poaching, there is also an account of a successful release of the spotted cat into the wild in Namibia and another report of a regional boost in their numbers. Also, a study is being conducted on clouded leopards that might help save this endangered and beautiful species. More here, here, here, here and here.

There is also good news for one of the most endangered wild cats in the world, the Iberian Lynx. Three cubs were born recently in the forest reserve for them in Spain. More cubs are said to follow soon, brightening the prospects for this threatened feline's survival in nature. The report is here.

I think that's it for this long roundup of cat-related news for the last two months. I will allow a week or so for you to go through it, and begin posting again regularly starting next Sunday ;) All the best till then.

Weekly Feline News

2009-01-25T12:59:00.000-08:00

Well I deliberately waited to post this week's news until this Sunday to a) bring it back to schedule and b) learn of any latest news about the capture of the stray tiger in India. And even as I've met the first objective, the second eludes me - as well as the many frustrated wildlife officials in Uttar Pradesh, India, on the prowl of the big cat since the last couple of months...

And they have good reason for their exasperation. The stray tiger has killed again. This time it was a man in a village of the Faizabad district where the tiger is currently on the prowl. The victim was killed and eaten on January 15th, merely hours after the Wildlife Trust of India had given the local forest department an ultimatum of forty eight hours to capture the big cat alive... As news of the latest victim of the tiger spread even the conservationists at the National Tiger Conservation Authority of India (NTCA) gave way and a go-ahead was given to the local staff to shoot the tiger. However, there still remained the crucial task of finding the tiger before shooting him down with a bullet instead of a tranquilizer dart. And this continued to elude the trackers. A machan (modified scaffolding) was constructed in a tree overseeing a cow that the tiger had killed a couple of days later. Despite an all-night vigil to bag the man-eater, the tiger didn't show up. Pug marks discovered the following morning indicated that the tiger had approached the bait but then skirted it to continue along its path further down the forest. And this is just one instance of the manner in which the feline has continued to dodge its pursuers for the past few months. To date it has not attacked any of the goats or cows tied out as bait in the jungles through which it has moved. It also holds the reputation of not returning to any of its partially eaten kills. The unusual behavior of the young tiger is what continues to throw off its trackers. 'Either it is too smart or has begun to prefer human flesh', said Ajit Narain Singh, a tranquilizer expert. To be fair Ajit and his men did get a shot at the big cat a few weeks back when they had it isolated in a relatively small stretch of jungle. At that time the tranquilizer dart fired by the team was deflected by the bushes through which the animal was moving. Since then the tiger has grown decidedly more wary of his pursuers and killed more people. There are reports now that indicate that this same animal was responsible for another human death in the past - as it had initially moved out of its home range in November it had killed a man in the Deoria range of Pilibhit forest. On that occasion though, the tiger hadn't consumed any portion of the body.

Nevertheless, the total of the tiger's human victims is now four. Its man-eating behavior had all but condemned it to a violent end when a petition was moved in the regional court by a wildlife enthusiast to stop the forest staff from shooting the animal. The court has thereafter summoned the department to furnish a detailed report on this matter on Jan 28th. Following the court's move the state Forest Minister has now intervened to side with the notion of the live capture of the tiger. He has deployed further of his staff and instructed them to try their level best to capture the animal alive. They are now combing the forests nearly eighty miles east of the state capital, where the tiger is currently suspected to be on the move. The state officials are also on the lookout for two other tigers that have also strayed out of their natural habitats during the past few weeks and are spreading panic in adjacent villages. NTCA has provided a grant amounting to fifty thousand US Dollars for the capture of the three felids. To date they are all on the loose. You can learn more about them here, here, here and here.

It is sadly quite ironic, but there is also the thought that this recent turn of events in Northern India has brought to light the state of wildlife conservation there. Even as the fact that tigers are moving out of their territories to establish distant home ranges indicates that perhaps the population of the big cats is on the rise, there is also the belief that urbanization and loss of forest land is forcing the tigers to move out of their domain into human settlements. This is bound to create further conflict between people and animals in the future. There are almost daily reports these days of tiger attacks on people in India. Perhaps this protracted migratory move of the two and a half years old tiger, and his two older cousins, will go to assist other members of the species to reclaim some of their lost land where they can survive in isolation from humans. Otherwise it seems the population of these great cats will continue to decline in the wild. Here is a sobering but realistic account of the state of tiger conservation in India over this past year.

The state of tiger conservation is not very bright in the southeast too - as was recently made clear in Vietnam when police seized over two tonnes of animal parts in a raid on suspected traffickers. This is the largest seizure of this kind on record and it recovered bones and parts from many animals including tigers. They are said to have originated from Malaysia where tigers are already fighting a losing battle against deforestation, poaching and human encroachment. Here is this story and here is a discussion of the state of wildlife affairs in those parts.

Coming back to straying - tigers are not the only big cats on the loose in India. A leopardess created panic when it entered a house in a village in the northwestern state of Himachal Pradesh. Apparently the cat was after a dog that led it to the house in the middle of night! Fortunately nobody was hurt even though it took a few hours to subdue and remove the animal from the premises. The full story here.

Leopards are remarkable cats. Not only are they masters of great stealth and camouflage, they also possess tremendous strength. Here is an account of a leopard combating and killing an adult crocodile in Kruger National Park in South Africa - a unique occurrence. And here (graphic images) is another unique finding relevant to leopards - cannibalism!

There is good news for leopards in Arabia. The Arabian Leopards, the smallest of the leopard subspecies, are to benefit from a series of wildlife parks in the Middle East. The aim of the facilities is to promote conservation by captive breeding of these endangered big cats and subsequent release in the wild in future. To learn more about the efforts aimed to save these little-known but beautiful animals click here.

The fate of Snow Leopards also hangs in the balance - particularly in Afghanistan where the pelt trade threatens to bring the species close to the brink of local extinction. A combination of socioeconomic factors is contributing towards the poaching of these stunning felines. Efforts are underway, though, to still save the cats from vanishing. More here.

Moving to lions - they had a mixed week in Africa. News emerged a few days ago of an incident in Tanzania where two lions were speared to death by the Maasai tribesmen in revenge for killing of their cattle. Lions are often speared in similar incidents across Eastern Africa. In certain parts there are conservation programs that serve to educate people from avoiding lion territories and monitoring the movement of their cattle herds. One such program is that of Lion Guardians. Here is their blog.

In Lake Mburo National Park in Uganda lions were sighted a decade after they were thought to have gone extinct in those parts. Very encouraging news since all the previous lions in the park were lost during the nineties owing to hunting and poisoning by the local herdsmen who wanted use of the park for the grazing of their cattle. Here is the report.

And in Asia, lions killed and ate a guy who was perhaps taunting them. The full story is here. There was another attack on a human by the Asiatic Lions of Gir too - but this time the victim, a young shepherd, was saved in time by his herd of buffalo who drove away the lions. More on this here.

And these are most of the cat-related news for this past week. I know they are mostly sad. They make me sad too - but that's the way they are. See you guys next Sunday. Have a great week :)

Weekly Feline News

2009-01-13T10:34:00.000-08:00

Late again!! I know. In my defense I did have to go out of town yesterday. Came across this stray tom cat on the bus terminal on the return journey. Fed him part of my chicken piece. In the end he whapped my sneakers a couple of times and claimed victory by making away with the rest of my fried chicken. Was a beautiful kitty though - looked just like Parker.

Anyways, moving to the straying big cat... the stray bengal tiger in India has claimed another human victim. This time it was a fifty five years old man who was taken by the tiger this past weekend in the forests around the city of Ruduali. The man had reportedly gone into the jungle on Saturday to collect lantana stems that are used for making baskets in those parts. Alarm was raised after he failed to show up in his locality by Saturday evening. A search operation was launched that resulted in the recovery of the man's remains alongside some blood-stained clothes on Sunday. The tiger had eaten portions from the body. This is the second human kill by the tiger in less than a month and there are no signs to indicate that it will be the last. In fact all evidence points to the making of a typical man-eater.. a terror for the village folk, a menace for officials and a source of notoriety for others of its species. I've tried to piece together this cat's itinerary from its start to present, by piecing together reports of the animal's ventures over the past couple of months. To the right are maps showing the relative location of these parts, taken from the software Google Earth (earth.google.com). Click on the images to enlarge them.

It appears that the tiger belonged to Dudhwa Tiger Reserve - a scenic forest in the northern Uttar Pradesh state of India - spread over six hundred square kilometers over the foothills of Himalayas right next to the India-Nepal border. It was from here that the tiger strayed out in late November possibly in pursuit of a prey animal that it was following near the southern rim of the forest. The big cat was first sighted on the outskirts of the reserve on Nov 24. A few days later the pug marks or paw prints of the tiger were sighted in Shahjahanpur, a district over sixty miles to the southwest of Dudhwa. On November 30 the tiger was first seen in Sitapur, a city of over one hundred and fifty thousand people, located on the highway connecting the state capital Lucknow to the national capital New Delhi. The tiger stayed here for several days, hiding in sugarcane fields and moving in circles across the region. There are reports of aborted attacks on people and cattle by the big cat during its stay in Sitapur. After playing hide and seek with the pursuing forest officials for a few days, the tiger moved on southeast - killing a cow in the Sidhauli forest range on 3rd December. It was here that the tiger was confirmed to be a young adult male. He continued along this trajectory, reaching the Barabanki district by the second week of December. Here he attacked a herd of cattle on Dec 11 and unsuccessfully attempted to take down a calf. The herder and the grazing cattle managed to escape and avoid injury. A cast was made of the pug marks of the tiger and sent to Dudhwa National Park where they were confirmed by the deputy director to belong to the same tiger that had strayed out of the reserve in the last week of November. Meanwhile the big cat kept moving. It spread further panic when news emerged that the felid was moving towards the state capital Lucknow. Just a few kilometers from the city border it was seen by a young boy who was grazing his cattle in Khapurwa village on 13 Dec. The boy managed to flee after the tiger emerged from the forest and began circling the cows. During the night it managed to traverse a busy railway crossing and kill two goats, before settling down just five kilometers from Lucknow. Over the next few days it continued to evade the combing operations of forest staff and ignored completely a trap set by the officials to capture the animal. On Dec 20 the tiger claimed its first human victim when it attacked and killed a fourteen years old boy in the village of Bastauli. The remains of the boy were discovered on Dec 23rd and shooting orders were issued by the local government officials alongside a cash reward for the animal. This prompted protests by conservationists and officials from the National Tiger Conservation Authority of India (NTCA), forcing the local administrators to soften their stance and attempt to capture the tiger alive. Through this mayhem the tiger pressed on. It hunted and partly ate a nilgai, a wild herbivore, on Dec 27 and began moving towards the district of Faizabad in the east. A special team from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) was then dispatched to assist the local staff in their pursuit of the elusive cat. However, all they could find were the animal's pug marks as it kept moving east, always staying a few kilometers ahead of them. By the end of December it had settled on the periphery of Faizabad and it is here that the tiger is moving about now. During this time it has killed various domesticated and wild animals. On Jan 10 it killed its second human victim in Rudauli. The remains have now been sent for forensic evaluation and fear and resentment towards the tiger have grown. If the big cat becomes an established man-eater it will be quite difficult for the conservationists at NTCA to convince the locals to show restraint towards the animal. At the same time, the task of tracking and capturing the animal alive will become very hazardous. The manner in which the second victim has been killed and the fact that the tiger has consumed part of the body indicates that perhaps he has begun to identify human beings as prey. And it is not beyond reason to suspect that he may now start paying closer attention to his trackers and display the kind of animal cunning long associated with maneaters. There is also the thought now that even if the tiger is captured alive will it be safe to just relocate the animal and risk further injury to human beings somewhere else. In the end the big cat might just have to be moved to a life in captivity. For that to happen though, somebody will first have to find the tiger - and quick - before it hurts somebody else..

And to compound the troubles of the wildlife staff, there are reports now of a second and third tiger that have moved out of reserves to create havoc in neighboring parts. A tiger killed a sixteen years old boy last Sunday in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh, not far from the routes initially taken by the now famous tiger mentioned earlier. A few days later it attacked a fifteen years old girl in another village of the same district - killing her in sight of her siblings and dragging the body to the adjacent fields before settling down to eat. He moved only after shots were fired by the villagers to drive it away. The third tiger is in Ghazipur, in the east of Uttar Pradesh. Authorities have lost track of it. He is believed to have settled now in the forests of the neighboring state of Bihar. He too has reportedly attacked several people over the last few days, fortunately without inflicting a fatal injury to anybody so far. More on these accounts here and here.

There is another account of man-eating this week too. A fisherman was taken by a tiger in Sunderban, the mangrove delta where tigers are known to have attacked people in the past. This attack was uniquely brazen for the fact that it occurred in water. The fisherman was returning home in the evening with the day's catch in a boat alongside his colleagues. The tiger leaped at him from the water before carrying him away and swimming towards the shore. The unfortunate man's friends on the boat tried to save their partner but were unable to do so. More on this here.

The news is not all bad this week. Officials in the town of Ramnagar in the northern Uttarakhand state of India have managed to capture a tiger that had wandered into human settlements some time back. And this Friday he was eventually trapped in a cage placed for this purpose since the last month. He will now be examined and relocated, according to the local forest officer. Full story here.

There is a report that the missing tiger from Ranthambore National Park of India has been found. The big cat had gone missing around three months back and was feared to be lost to poachers. It was therefore pleasing to learn that he has been spotted and is apparently safe and sound, upon coming across this really cool blog.

And the Indian Supreme Court has paved way for setting up a new lion park for the endangered Asiatic Lions in the Gujarat state of India. Asiatic lions are currently located only in the Gir Forest in Junadagh state of India where they face risks from overcrowding and inbreeding. Even though these particular animals will be kept in a safari park in Gujarat, still the lion population will benefit from diversification of their gene pool. More on this here.

I think this is it for this very long post. I'll see you guys soon, hopefully Sunday - if not on Monday or Tuesday... ;) for next week's news. Take care all!

Weekly Feline News

2009-01-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

Gosh I really am quite late with this week's feline news. A whole day late in fact. I thought initially of cheating and backdating the post to Sunday but by now it's Monday in all the time zones I think - so can't kid anyone ;) Anyways here are the cat-related news from this past week..

No news yet of the capture and relocation of the bengal tiger that has gone astray in the north of India. Still some interesting reports have cropped up in the past week that might suggest as to why the forest officials have been unable to track and trap the animal successfully so far. Apart from the fact that the local wildlife staff is perhaps not ideally trained for this particular task there is also a sense that the approach adopted by the authorities so far has not been the right one. Tigers are secretive animals and try to avoid humans in the first place. A tiger that has ventured miles out of his territory will be scared, defensive and try his level best to shun human presence and avoid detection. Tracking such an animal obviously requires patience and a measure of stealth on part of the pursuers. And yet it seems the approach by the local staff has been opposite of this. The animal has literally been herded and followed relentlessly without allowing the big cat to habituate itself to any part of the jungles it has ventured through for the past month. And since a tiger can move through a forest with far greater ease, pace and endurance than human beings, the big cat has constantly stayed ahead of his pursuers by several kilometers throughout the past few weeks - resting during the day and moving at nighttime. To date it has covered a total distance of over four hundred kilometers - a unique feat for a tiger in any part of the world. What is also incredible is that the felid has been able to find and take down prey animals regularly during all this mayhem and has subsisted largely on wild herbivores, except for that unfortunate fatal attack on a boy. And now it seems that it is residing in a particular stretch of forest that might host a ecosystem close to the animal's natural habitat. The trained team from Wildlife Institute of India has apparently left after waiting out for the tiger for a couple of weeks, giving instructions to the local authorities as they departed. So we'll just have to continue to wait it appears before this whole episode concludes, hopefully on a happy note! The local media reports about the situation can be found here, here and here.

Tiger straying is a problem in Sunderban too - the world's largest mangrove delta that borders India and Bangladesh in the subcontinent's northeast. The consequences there though are often more serious for both people and the tiger. For many the Sunderban tigers are notorious man-eaters who don't hesitate to attack people and stray into their villages. In truth most human lives are lost when people move into the core area designated for tigers - driven by poverty in search of fish and honey from the riverine woodlands. Still the incidence of tigers wandering into human habitats is on the rise - something that prompted the chief minister of the state to hold a meeting and order a probe into this matter. And even though the results of the probe are awaited it seems that the usual causes of loss of prey and habitat might not be behind the situation in this watery habitat - rather the ongoing climate change and rising water levels might account for this phenomenon. Here is an interesting article on the issue of straying tigers.

Straying is not a good thing for other big cats too. A leopard found that out when it trespassed onto a tiger's turf in the Lucknow district of India. The spotted cat was killed by its striped cousin. Bengal tigers are three to four times the size of an average leopard and don't hesitate to attack them and other smaller carnivores in order to eliminate competition - akin to what lions do in Africa - should the opportunity present itself. Asiatic lions don't think twice about attacking leopards either. This was emphasized over the last weekend after an account emerged of a leopardess having been killed by some lionesses in the Gir Forest. Still interspecies conflict is not regularly documented amongst big cats. The reports of the two occurrences are here and here. Here is a video from you tube of a similar incident in the past.

A little disturbing I know - but not much when it is compared to the recent revelation that the people behind the poaching of tigers in the Kanha national park of India are actually the local police officers who are supposed to protect the very tigers they are killing. The policemen have apparently come up with a devious plan in which they initially fund the killing of the endangered cats and later on claim the reward set by authorities for the subsequent operation by coming up with the dead animals' skins. This has been alleged by the park officials and even as the police have issued a denial the National Tiger Conservation Authority of India (NTCA) is looking into the matter. A full report of this shocking situation is here.

Here is something even more disturbing. Animal lovers in China and across the world are irate after thousands of cats are being captured and transported to the southern Guangdong province of China - to be used as a food item!!! Cats are skinned alive and slaughtered daily in the thousands in this province where people have no qualms about eating them! You can read more about this horrible situation on the mad bush farm blog.

Quite sobering. Still there remain many people in China who are passionate about their wildlife and its conservation. Here is an account of one such brave person. And before I go I'll leave you with something else that might lighten your mood a little. It is a site with lots of exquisite pictures of cats - many of which call out for a lolcat caption in my opinion ;) You can reach it here.

So that's it for this week. I'll be back the coming Sunday. Wishing everybody the best for the upcoming six days!

Weekly Feline News

2008-12-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

Here are the cat-related news for this week. Hope you all are enjoying your holidays and had a great time these past few days.

The stray bengal tiger in India that has been roaming the countryside in the north for the past month, dodging authorities and making occasional kills to sustain itself, now seems to be in real trouble after news emerged recently that he had finally claimed his first human victim. The body of a boy was recovered on Tuesday, thought to have been killed by the tiger. The tragedy was just waiting to happen as the animal was passing right through human settlements for weeks now, playing hide and seek with wildlife officials. Within hours of the discovery of the boy's remains, state officials proclaimed the tiger to be a man-eater and issued a cash award and shooting orders for the animal. This however has been met with criticism by conservationists and officials from the National Tiger Conservation Authority of India who seek to differentiate a man-eater from a man-killer. It is generally thought that any one of a number of factors could lead to a tiger accidentally killing a human being. However, unless the animal makes deliberate, repetitive kills it is often not classified as a man-eater, rather a man-killer, and thus not destroyed. The decision, therefore, to declare this particular tiger as a man-eater after just one kill maybe a little abrupt and premature according to conservationists. And it seems that the state authorities have realized their error and retracted somewhat from their initial stance. It is now being said that all efforts are being made to trap and capture the animal alive, including adaptation of new strategies and involvement of a new team from the Wildlife Institute of India. However, the shooting orders are still in place and the onus really is on the conservationists and wildlife staff to locate and ensure the safe capture of the animal as soon as possible, before any further tragedy ensues. More on this story here, here and here.

Man-animal conflict is in more news this week. A woman was reportedly killed by a tiger in an eastern town of the western Indian state of Maharashtra. The region is the site of a coal mining project and has witnessed several recent incidents of attacks on humans by big cats, including leopards and tigers. A little to the west, in the district of Jalna - again in Maharashtra, two people were attacked and seriously injured by a tiger when it strayed into a village. The wounded were moved to a health facility where they are reported to be in stable condition now. The two stories are here and here.

Disturbing news obviously. The situation is made more grim by the recent revelation, from a study of government records, that forty eight tigers were lost as a result of poaching in the past six years. Even as this is a relative decline from the critical situation nearly a decade ago - still this is a significant number when the total tiger population in the country is hovering at a little over a thousand individuals. More here. And to obtain further perspective on the overall situation of tiger conservation in the region, here is an interesting article about a recent documentary that takes a comprehensive look at the current situation and suggests measures to save the tigers from extinction.

Good news for tigers in the Southeast though - the Malaysian government has announced that it plans to double the number of its wild tigers. The ambitious project aims to increase the current five hundred Malaysian tigers to one thousand by the year 2020. New security measures and corridors between forests for animal migration will be put in place over the next twelve years. This is the first significant initiative by authorities in Malaysia to preserve their endangered big cats after decades of illegal hunting and logging in the country's jungles. Full report here.

Now to something that's clearly NOT helping the preservation of tigers. Officials in Palm Beach Country, Florida, have arrested a woman over charges of running a fake big cat sanctuary. The charity that goes by the name of 'Rescue: Big Cat Org' is a non-existent entity that claims to house a number of exotic felines. There are even fake stories of the rescue and rehabilitation of several animals on its website. The woman has reportedly admitted to accepting an unspecified amount of money in donations as well through this online scam. The fake charity has nothing to do with the legitimate big cat sanctuary in Tampa, Florida - Big Cat Rescue - that does indeed house rescued wild cats and from whose wonderful blog I obtain many of these cat-related news items. The fake charity has its own website too, by the way, and is still online at rescuebigcatorg.com! Full story on the Planetsave blog.

Now compare that to this site. It is of course legitimate and I don't ask for donations either ;) ...but if you do want to spend some money for a real good cause, you can do that by helping Menelik, the Cheetah cub rescued by Born Free in Ethiopia. You can read the full story of this beautiful little cub here.

And if you want to read another good story - here is one of a brave lioness defending her cubs at Samburu in Kenya, documented by the staff at the Ewaso Lions project in the country's north.

I'll leave you with that for this week - wishing everybody in advance a very Happy New Year - may the new year bring much happiness for people and animals all across the globe :)

Weekly Feline News

2008-12-21T12:14:00.000-08:00

Welcome to this week's edition of cat-related news. Some mixed news this week, mainly emanating from India. Some disturbing statistics and some good projects to look forward to - regarding the two big feline predators there - the Bengal Tiger and Asiatic Lion. But first the straying tiger that has been keeping the wildlife officials in northern parts of India occupied for the greater part of the last month..

The young male tiger that came out of its forest into adjacent sugarcane fields, possibly in search of prey, a few weeks ago has now traveled close to one hundred and fifty miles. All attempts to capture and relocate the big cat have failed so far and the tiger has been moving constantly, passing close to human habitats, taking cattle and wild prey, and staying ahead of wildlife officials. It almost seems as if the tiger is searching for a perfect new habitat for itself. And even though it has altered its course to deviate from the major city it was heading towards in the past to a jungle, the animal is still not safe from potential conflict with locals of that region. Let's hope that this charmed passage of the tiger continues until it reaches some place safe, of its own accord or at the hands of the wildlife authorities. A news piece about the tiger here.

Some more somber news relating to the Bengal Tigers. There are roughly fourteen hundred of the great cats left in the forests of India, according to latest figures from the Indian government. This is perhaps the lowest figure ever reported for tigers in India. It seems that the numbers keep dwindling with every passing year despite the conservation moves and funding allocation seen on paper there. My understanding is that while some of the reserves in India are doing well to sustain and even increase their tiger numbers, most forests have a static or gradually declining population of tigers. This may be owing to poaching, limited forest land and ungulate numbers and competition with the human population. Whatever the case may be, it is clear that more needs to be done if Bengal Tiger numbers are to rebound - and as if to reinforce this point - news emerged this past week that one of the tigers has gone missing from one of the foremost reserves in the country, Ranthambore National Park. The tiger is question is three and a half years old and has not been spotted now for the last two months. A similar situation arose last year in Ranthambore when a tiger went missing during these months and was later found to be killed by poachers. Let's pray that the fate of this particular animal is different! More on the above two stories here and here.

Still there are encouraging signs for the future. Latest include the allocation of funds for tiger conservation in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu by the government. Uttar Pradesh is to get new sanctuaries whereas Tamil Nadu, the only state that reported an increase in the number of tigers in its forests last year, is to get funds amounting to twenty million Indian rupees for tiger conservation. More here and here.

Now moving to lions. Troubling statistics here too. According to the Environment Minister, seventy nine Asiatic Lions have died in the Gir Forest of India in the past two years. Whilst the majority of animals have died of natural causes, it seems that there are still some who continue to die at the hands of poachers, electrocution by illegally erected electric fences by farmers, and by falling into any of the thousands of open wells dug in and around Gir. More on this here.

But again there is some good news too for these lions. They are to get a new sanctuary as plans are being made to relocate villagers from a sanctuary known as Barda Dungar and move the lions to there. The process might still take one year before some of the lions may be moved to the new reserve - but still a glimmer of light for the overcrowded lions at Gir. The full story here.

And talking about lions and tigers - wonder who'd win in a confrontation? - this time it was the lion that fatally bit a tigress that accidentally came in contact with him at a Korean zoo. Quite a tragic incident that just goes to show the unpredictable behavior of animals. I've always felt that animals in captivity are more aggressive than their wild cousins. If this was a jungle the animals would have probably given each other a wide berth. Similarly big cats usually avoid humans in the wild and seldom attack them. However once you enter their enclosure in a zoo they usually go after you. Maybe it has to do with the invasion of space or territory but I personally feel that the stress associated with a lifetime of captivity is responsible for the animal's aggression. The full report of the incident is here, albeit with a somewhat graphic image.

Before I go here is something I got in the inbox. There is a pet photo contest going on at Anamigo and you can participate in it by going here. All the best!

I think this is about all for this week's main feline news. Have a safe and happy week and see you all next Sunday :)

Weekly Feline News

2008-12-14T05:51:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody and welcome to this week's edition of cat-related news from across the globe. I'm a bit more relaxed this weekend since my sis got married the day before yesterday and after weeks of preparation and a few sleepless nights by me and my siblings - we are finally getting some rest! The ceremony went smoothly and if it was a personal blog I would have posted loads of pictures from the occasion below... ;) - but this site is about wildlife and conservation and I've come across some very disturbing conservation news this past week...

To understand this week's main story we must first learn a little background...tropical rainforests of Central and South America contain within them a vast diversity of animal and plant species - many of them rarely observed and understood by scientists. These parts also contain many important minerals and ores that can prove quite valuable to the local economy and help support conservation efforts by generating revenue for governments. Despite the criticism often levied at mining conglomerates, in truth there are companies that act in a responsible and eco-friendly manner as they go about their business of exploration and mining. In fact they often assist the scientific community by funding observatory studies and establishing strict perimeters around forests that restrict entry of poachers. The long term impact of the boost to the country's economy through mining ventures, translates into more jobs, greater investment into education and other incentives that turn people away from hunting wildlife for profit. Also the mining industry today is conscious of its impact on environment and an increasing number of companies are taking measures to restore the local ecosystem after their operations cease in an area. The debate will go on that whether the mining projects do more harm or good to an area's fauna and flora - but there is the fact that sometimes their presence can benefit a region's wildlife...as you might conclude from the story below...

Suriname is the smallest of South American nations in terms of area and population. Located at the extreme north of the continent, the country hosts many thousands of hectares of undisturbed tropical forests. Right in the heart of the country lies the Central Surinamese Nature Reserve, a sixteen thousand square kilometer area of pristine tropical rainforests that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. To the west of the reserve is the region of Bakhuis (alternatively spelled as Bakhuys), a 2800 square kilometer area that contains forests and mountains. I've tried to illustrate both Suriname and the relative location in it of Bakhuis, via the Google Earth captures to the right.

Now in the Bakhuis Mountains there exists bauxite, the most significant ore from which the remarkable metal aluminium is extracted. In recent years mining enterprises have taken interest in exploring the area for this purpose and have established a presence - something that has deterred poachers from exploiting the untamed wilderness of these parts. The two companies that are currently involved in producing aluminium in Suriname are Suralco and BHP Billiton. BHP has been planning to undertake a long term project in these parts to extract bauxite from select locations. Since the last few years they have been surveying the area and even as they haven't started the extraction yet the dirt roads BHP staff have put in to commute and observe the area have allowed scientists to go in and study the wildlife in parts that haven't seen human presence for decades. As a result they've come up with some remarkable images and findings on the behavior of small and large mammals. Jaguars, Pumas and Tapirs are abundant in these jungles and the animals are trusting and not wary of human presence. In fact it is felt that these undisturbed jungles are one of a kind in the whole of Latin America and have the potential to be a top tourist destination for observation of animals in their natural element. All of this appeared to bode well for the future of the jaguars, cougars and other animals in Bakhuis until the following tragedy unfolded...

Towards the end of this October, news emerged that BHP is planning to wind up its operations in South America. The ongoing operations in Suriname will be shut down within the next couple of years and over a thousand workers will be laid off. It is not entirely clear that what led to this move by the company though it appears that the global financial crisis that has led to a fall in price of raw material exports, and unsuccessful negotiations with Surinamese government were behind the announcement. What happened as a result to the wildlife in Bakhuis was quite dramatic. Simply put - the poachers ran amok. They were waiting to pounce on this great wildlife resource and exploit it for their deplorable agenda. It appears that they are going to completely run over Bakhuis and shoot many of the trusting and beautiful small and large animals that scientists have come to document and admire in the last few years. Already shotgun pellets litter many of the sites and scientists and conservationists in the vicinity have been forced to remove their camera traps and leave the locality owing to grave risk to their personal safety. It remains to be seen as to how much damage will be carried out to this pristine wilderness before the recovery effort is initiated. It is felt that the onus is with the Surinamese government to accept responsibility and take affirmative action in this regard. There are examples in the region of administrations striving to protect their forests and wildlife. Brazilian government for instance has taken steps that have resulted in jaguars rebounding in numbers in the wild, even with a rapidly expanding economy and infrastructure.

Now the tragedy of Bakhuis is not yet fully exposed in local and international news. I've come to learn of this through personal communication with concerned conservationists and have attempted to bring it to attention to the best of my understanding of the affair. I will try and learn more about this situation in the coming days and post an update in next week's news issue. In the mean time it will be great if you could spread this news by posting about it, pointing to this post and forwarding it to your friends and colleagues by clicking the 'share this post' button at the bottom of the post on the site. We need to raise awareness about this issue and promote the understanding that may avert similar instances in future.

In other news, the stray tiger in India continues to dodge authorities. You can quickly check last week's post to refresh your knowledge of this particular animal's forays that has now moved over two hundred kilometers from its home range in the country's north in the last few weeks. To date it has killed a number of cattle and by moving up to ten miles every day, it has managed to slip past desperate wildlife officials and their traps. You can read more about the tiger's latest movements here, here and here.

There is some good news for Indian tigers too. The Sohelwa sanctuary located in the Uttar Pradesh province is to be given the status of a tiger reserve. This step has been taken after encouraging reports of an increased number of tigers and leopards in the near four hundred and fifty acres forest. The move will put the sanctuary on the map for tiger conservation and bring development in the area. Full story here.

Staying with the Bengal Tigers - four of them are to get radio collars in the mangrove delta of Sunderban. The new collars are expected to withstand the wear and tear associated with salinity and rugged terrain in the riverine forests. Apart from aiding scientists in monitoring the particular animals, they will shed more light on the under-studied Sunderban tigers and assist in an upcoming census. More here.

Whilst heightened surveillance is helping to protect tigers, as was previously feared leopards in India are suffering in an ironic twist of fate. Poachers are increasingly going after leopards who outnumber tigers in India, are poorly protected and as a result are suffering from rampant hunting. There is a flourishing market of leopard trade in parts of the country that needs to be checked by the authorities. You can read the report here.

One of Africa's largest and most famous rehabilitation centers, Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage in Zimbabwe is facing closure owing to the shortage of funds and food supply for the animals. The ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe has had a very negative impact on the animals as well as people and this is just one of the manifestations. If the situation does not improve soon, the near three hundred animals in the sanctuary might simply die from starvation. You can read the news here and reach Chipangali's website here.

There are some other news but I think since this is already getting quite long, I'll try and squeeze the rest in next week's post. I'll be back with more next Sunday. Have a great week and if you can take a moment out, please do pray for the animals of Bakhuis!

Weekly Feline News

2008-12-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

Owing to certain preoccupations at present, I've decided to start posting on this blog on a weekly basis for the time being. Hopefully I'll be able to start blogging daily at some point in future. For the moment, I'm going to post a weekly cat-related news issue every Sunday. So here is some interesting stuff that I came across this past week.

A stray tiger in India is keeping wildlife officials on their toes as it moves from one forest to another in the suburbs of Lucknow district in the country's north. The big cat has covered a distance of over one hundred and fifty kilometers now in the last couple of weeks as it seeks to find a new home range for itself. The tiger, a male, has also killed several cattle in this foray of his and is now close to moving in proximity of human settlements. The authorities therefore need to trap and relocate the animal soon before it comes in conflict with people. Apart from being a remarkable migratory tale, this story also sheds light on the loss of prey and territory these animals are facing as they compete with the expanding human population and encroachment on their habitat. Tigers are being forced to move out of their jungles and travel long distances in search of a suitable ecosystem that might sustain them. You can read about this tiger's journey here, here and here!

Meanwhile authorities are conducting tests on a stray cougar recently killed in Georgia. The one hundred and forty pound feline was shot by a hunter near West Point Lake. Initial investigation suggests that the animal was most probably a captive animal that was illegally held and had somehow managed to escape. The gut of the cougar, for example, was found to be totally empty - indicating that the cat was not used to hunting on its own and was fed by its captors. DNA testing is being conducted to trace the regional subspecies of the felid - since cougars are not thought to exist in the wild in Georgia. Just another tale to highlight the dark side of breeding and captivity of exotic animals. More here and here.

Some good news for cheetahs. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) is now working towards conservation of these sleek felines. CMS is an intergovernmental treaty that was concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme, and focuses on animals that move across international borders in search of prey and habitat. A number of endangered mammalian, bird and fish species are on the agenda of CMS. It is hoped that this move by the UN will help support the endangered cheetahs that have shrunk dramatically in numbers over the past decade. Full story here.

Here is some more good news. This time it relates to the critically endangered Iberian Lynx of Spain. Considered by some to be the most endangered wild cat in the world, the Iberian Lynx has been teetering on the brink of extinction for many years now. However, after sustained efforts by scientists and conservationists in recent years it is now believed that this lynx subspecies has now recovered somewhat. Number has doubled to two hundred from one hundred animals six years back. This was concluded in the recently held 'Third Seminar on Iberian Lynx Conservation' in Spain. More here (translated version - original is in Spanish).

Efforts are underway to save Bella the lioness in Romania. The beautiful and brave animal has managed to survive a difficult life so far. As a cub she was held privately and underfed. Through adolescence and adulthood she was held in terrible conditions in a zoo. As a result she has suffered from skeletal deformities and blindness in one eye. Her other eye has a cataract, making the poor cat virtually blind. Born Free, the UK based animal welfare foundation, is trying to raise funds for an operation on her still viable eye to remove the cataract, restore her eyesight and then move her to a better facility in Africa where she can live out her remaining years of life in peace and comfort. You can read more about Bella and maybe even help her out on the Born Free website here.

Now to another charity organization. I was contacted via email recently by Rob who helps run a site called GiveBackAmerica.org. The concept behind the site is really wonderful. It's an online charity mall and every time you shop through there, a portion of money from your purchase goes to your charity of choice without any additional cost to you. They have a blog too located here. So maybe next time if you plan to buy something online you might consider buying through this site. Recently the people at this site have been adding many small animal rescues and shelters to their list of charities - and so in this way you can help animals too as you shop!

I also received an email from Mike Kagey, who is one of the creators of a hilarious internet comedy 'The Tender Morsels' - about a band that creates and plays music for cats - yep exclusively for the felines! You can watch their funny video here. They've also got a MySpace page that you can visit here. This is one band that targets a very attractive niche!

In other 'news' I was given the following two awards by Angus.

A big thank you to Angus and his humans!!! I'll pass these awards to the following cool blogs...

Sandee at Comedy Plus

Faz

Black Cat

Beaded Tail

Purr Prints

African Safari Stories

So that's it for this post. I know it's quite long but here is the bright side - you've got an entire week to read it ;)

See you all next Sunday. Have a great week!

Awards....

2008-11-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

Soooooo sorry I've been unable to post for the last couple of days. It's just that I'm a little caught up in a few things at the moment. Planning to move early next year. I've got to find good furrever homes for my cats now. Also my sis is getting married early next month. Bro and his family are visiting from UK. Then there is a major exam in early Feb that I've gotta prepare for. To add to that my internet went out the other day. The ISP told me I had exceeded my monthly 10 GB bandwidth limit! Imagine that - me using 10 GB in a month!!! So anyways lots of things keeping me preoccupied right now. I hope to be able to post with some regularity and visit your blogs from this Saturday or Sunday. Until then I'll leave you with these awards I got..

Michelle at Furkids and Animal Rescue, and Chris at The Cat/Dog Log gave me the Butterfly Award.

Michelle also gave me the Lemonade Award.

Many thanks to both these great bloggers. I'll pass these awards to the following really cool blogs...

Goings on at the Mad Bush Farm

Mickey

Luxor

Jewelled Ramblings

Rascal

MaoMao

Have a great weekend guys! I'll see you soon :)