Tuesday 30 December 2014

NETHERLANDS SIGHTING: Lynx on the loose in Rijkswijk woods near the Hague, attacking people and animals - via Matt Salusbury

There is said to be a lynx on the loose in Rijkswijk Woods, near the city of The Hague (Den Haag, Netherlands) 

One walker with her poodle Billy took up her poodle and ran to the nearest house when it "almost attacked her". No trace can be found, is the latest report. (Police carried out a search on Friday, and some locals searched again on Saturday.) 

There are lynxes in the Ardennes, just over the border from (the other end of) Holland - in Limburg in Belgium, way down south, a long way from The Hague on the coast. 

Local animal rescue centre Juliaantje, right by the Rijkswijk Woods, says they're not missing any animals. 

This report was on Saturday 23 November. 

NEWSLINK: Cougar kills dog at Lakelse Lake

posted Dec 1, 2014 at 4:00 PM

A man escaped a cougar attack but lost his dog to the big cat out at Lakelse Lake last weekend.

“He had been walking it (chocolate lab) in the picnic site there along the beach,” said conservation officer Gareth Scrivner Dec. 1.

“He turned around and saw four feet behind his dog a full-sized cougar pretty much tailing them the whole way. He got pretty much halfway back to his vehicle and he couldn't scare it off and it wasn't really showing any signs of fear. It took down his dog right in front of him, a full grown 10-year-old lab.”

The big cat had carried the dog back where it came from to the far side of the parking lot and into the trees.

About 150 yards off into the trees, Scrivner found the cougar feeding on the dog and he put the big cat down.

US SIGHTINGS: Multiple Mountain Lion Sightings In Past Week In Santa Cruz

November 29, 2014 4:38 PM

SANTA CRUZ (CBS SF) — Multiple mountain lion sightings have been reported in the past week in Santa Cruz, police said.

The most recent sighting was on Friday, when two mountain lions were seen by Barn Theater near High Street and Coolidge Drive at the University of California at Santa Cruz, according to UCSC police.

Officers notified the college’s Puma Project and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, campus police said.

Another puma sighting was reported early Thursday morning in the green space area in the 1900 block of Bay Street, according to Santa Cruz police.

Warden and puma rescuers from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife monitored the animal’s activity and it was last seen heading north toward the UCSC campus, police said.

CANADIAN SIGHTINGS: Wasaga cougar possible, but no proof: MNRF

Nov 28, 2014 | Vote0 0

Wasaga Sun

WASAGA BEACH - A recent cougar sighting near Wasaga's provincial park is just one of a number of sightings of a big cat in the area in recent years.

However, says a biologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, none have been confirmed locally.

"We do receive a number of calls annually, more in recent years," said Graham Findlay, who works out of the MNRF's Midhurst office.

Four weeks ago, a Wasaga Beach family claimed they'd spotted a cougar while walking along the trail between Glen Eton Road and Oxbow Park. They reported it to the ministry, as well as The Sun.

The father of the family, who asked not to be named, told The Sun they saw the animal from about 50 yards away. It appeared to be about eight feet in length, from nose to tail, and stood about three-to-four feet at the shoulder.

The family didn't get a chance to take a photo.

Findlay, who was familiar with the claim, said ministry procedure for a sighting is to follow-up with the witness in order to obtain as many details as possible.

NEWSLINK: The leopards of Mumbai: life and death among the city's 'living ghosts'

India’s second city is home to an estimated 20 million people ... and 21 leopards. The 250,000 residents with homes inside the boundary of Sanjay Gandhi national park must find a way to live with their big-cat neighbours

Elizabeth Soumya in Mumbai

Wednesday 26 November 2014 09.45 GMT

Hawa hawa oh hawa … a 90s Hindi hit blares from the radio in Kusum’s mud house. “I play music till 1am every day,” says the elderly lady. She says she is not much of a music fan - but her loud playlist keeps the leopards away. Meanwhile, just down the road, 35-year-old Dilip Changverlekar recently renovated the house where his family has lived for generations. He added tin sheets to the roof and walls to make it difficult for leopards to climb.

Mumbai is India’s richest city and home to a human population of around 20 million, but it also contains one of the largest protected urban forests in the world. The Sanjay Gandhi national park (SGNP) spans 104 sq km - the size of 30 Central Parks - and is home to more than 1,000 species of plants and animals. Here in Chuna Pada, a tribal hamlet of 40 houses inside the park’s boundary, seeing a leopard is not a scandal but a routine, and residents receive a visit from the big cats several times a week.

In 2012 a forest camera-trap counted as many as 21 leopards in the park, and footage of the big cats in the slums, residential complexes and schools of urban Mumbai has shaped what many think of SGNP’s leopards. It has also given the impression that the creatures are entering the city more often than ever before. But are there really more leopards?

Monday 29 December 2014

NEWSLINK: Zoo handler savaged by a tiger as horrified spectators watched had 'excited' the animal to put on a better show, inquiry finds

David Styles was attacked by a tiger at Australia Zoo in November 2013
Handler deliberately changed his appearance to look more interesting to put on a better show for the public, an investigation found
Tiger bit Mr Styles on the neck and throat causing him almost fatal injuries
Mr Styles, who took several months off to recover, denied he was trying to get better footage for a BBC documentary


PUBLISHED: 21:18, 7 December 2014 | UPDATED: 09:29, 8 December 2014

A tiger handler at Australia Zoo who was nearly mauled to death in an enclosure was found to have deliberately excited the male cat, an investigation into the incident found. 

David Styles was savaged by a 120kg male cat named Charlie during a public show in the Big Cat arena at the Queensland zoo in November last year.

A Workplace Health and Safety report obtained by the Courier Mail has found Mr Styles deliberately changed his appearance to look more interesting to the tiger so he could put on a better show. 

AUSTRALIAN SIGHTINGS: Dubious report of black panther in Queensland

by idoubtit • December 6, 2014

Claimed sightings of large black cats are widespread, but unless you live in an area where there are leopards or jaguars, you’re almost certainly mistaken.



JOHN Rourke didn’t always sleep with a cane knife next to his bed.

But after seeing a black panther lurking near his Eudlo property for the second time, he’s not taking any chances.

“I was loathe to tell anyone because they’d think I was crazy,” said the ginger farm worker, whose most recent sighting was five weeks ago.

Sightings were reported at Palmwood in 1975, Glasshouse Mountains in 1980, the Maleny area in 1997 and Inglewood in 2000, he said.

In 2009 a panther-like cat was reported to be roaming near Gympie.

Rourke describes it as like a black labrador dog but it “didn’t travel like a black lab, and it had a tail about a metre long”

NEWSLINK: Kids in Shock after Spotting Leopard at Valparai School

By Express News Service

Published: 04th December 2014 06:02 AM

Last Updated: 04th December 2014 06:02 AM

COIMBATORE: A wave of panic swept through the Panachayat union elementary school at Nallakathu estate in Valparai town after a group of students spotted a leopard feeding on disposed egg shells near the toilet building during lunch hours on Wednesday. 

Forest department sources quoting students said the children saw the big cat hanging on a barbed fence of the school when they went to wash their hands around 12.45 pm.

Subsequently, the students started hurling stones on the intruder and also alerted the teachers. On hearing the screams of the students, teachers reached the spot. But, by then the leopard had fled and sneaked into the forest nearby. 

“This is not a stray incident as two days ago another big cat was spotted near the school by students. The forest department should place a cage to trap the leopard before some untoward incident happens,” R Ranjit Kumar, headmaster of the school, told express. 

Following the information Manampalli forest range officer Arivoli, who visited the school along with a team of education department, confirmed that there was high concentration of leopards near Nallakathu estate.

Officials during enquiries found that the egg shells that were being disposed by anganwadi workers near the school premises were luring big cats to the spot.

“We have advised them to dispose eggshells a km away from the school premises so that intrusion of wild animals could be curbed. As a immediate follow-up action bleaching powder eggshells and garbage have been cleared from the spot and bleaching powder has also been sprayed,” said Arivoli .

Besides urging the municipality authorities to maintain the area clean, the forest department has also posted four anti-poaching watchers to provide security to students.

Usually, leopards would stray into residential areas only during the night in Valparai town to prey on domestic and farm animals. However, the Wednesday incident has caused panic among students and locals after the cat’s intrusion during the day, sources said.












Sunday 28 December 2014

NEWSLINK: Hunting of bobcats up to outgoing Illinois governor


BY JIM SUHR

Associated PressDecember 14, 2014 Updated 23 hours ago

ST. LOUIS — Ken Staley spends days setting traps in pursuit of beavers, otters, raccoons and muskrats. Yet the southwestern Illinois man for years has craved the chance to catch a more exotic prey: bobcats.

"I'm not sure what an Illinois bobcat is worth, but a western one fetches a really nice price — upwards of $100-plus," said Staley, who pursues trapping to supplement his window-coverings business in Millstadt, a village just southeast of St. Louis.

Soon, he may get his chance.

On the threatened species list for more than two decades until 1999, the nocturnal, pointy-eared cats have made enough of a comeback that Illinois lawmakers approved a measure this month allowing bobcat hunting in the state for the first time in more than 40 years.

NEWSLINK: Putin's tiger Kuzya returns to Russia from China

December 10, 16:38 UTC+3 

The tiger's GPS tracker shows that Kuzya is currently roaming the Russian taiga after spending two months in China, an employee of China's wildlife conservation department told Xinhua agency

BEIJING, December 10. /TASS/. Kuzya, one of the three tigers released into the wild by President Vladimir Putin, has returned to Russia after spending two months in China, the Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

The tiger's GPS tracker shows that Kuzya is currently roaming the Russian taiga, an employee of China's wildlife conservation department told Xinhua.

Zhang Minghai, a deputy chief of the Feline Research Center at China's State Forestry Administration, said that the big cat could return to China again as he had marked the places he visited with his urine.

NEWSLINK: Clouded leopards could be reintroduced to Taiwan

Clouded leopards from mainland Asian could be used to repopulate Taiwan

The Formosan clouded leopard was hunted to extinction in Taiwan in the 1980s, but it might get a new start on the island in the future, according to Scientific American.

Two years ago, after a 13 year search, scientists concluded that the leopard (Neofelis nebulosa brachyura) had gone extinct in Taiwan.

But a new paper by the same scientists states the island’s ecology has improved so much since the leopards disappeared that they might once again thrive there.

Clouded leopards disappeared from Taiwan decades ago, probably in the 1980s after intense overhunting for their furs followed by destruction of their forest habitat and declining populations of the cats’ prey species.

However, Taiwan has been so successful in slowing deforestation and protecting its other wildlife over the past few decades that the island could once again support populations of leopards.

UK SIGHTINGS: Big cat sightings in North Wales lead to calls for Welsh Government investigation


Darren Millar AM says there has been a 'a flurry of sightings of big cats' in Conwy and Denbighshire

A flurry of big cat sightings should spark a Welsh Government investigation, according to a Tory AM.

Clwyd West AM Darren Millar has criticized the Welsh Government’s lack of action over big cat sightings in Conwy and Denbighshire.

In the Senedd on Wednesday he asked Natural Resources Minister, Carl Sargeant AM what research the Welsh Government is undertaking into tigers, lions and pumas in Wales

Mr Millar said: “There has been a flurry of sightings of big cats since the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976 made it illegal to keep untamed pets.

“Many owners of exotic cats such as pumas or lynx simply freed their animals into the countryside.


NEWSLINK: Nepal poachers on prowl, tiger numbers down

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times New Delhi, November 26, 2014

First Published: 22:55 IST(26/11/2014) | Last Updated: 01:27 IST(27/11/2014)

The latest survey of the country’s tiger population shows big cat numbers have declined in north India, primarily due to poaching from across the border in Nepal and shrinking tiger habitats. 

The survey, done every four years by the National Tiger Conservation Authority with Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India, shows tiger numbers in the Shivalik-Gangetic plains covering the three states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have come down to around 300 against about 320 four years ago.

“We are still verifying the ground data… the figure is not final,” an official told HT.

Forest department officials in Uttarakhand, who arrested over half a dozen tiger poachers in the past three years, said they saw an increase in the number of poachers from Nepal. Wildlife traffickers cross over to Nepal through the porous 1,751 km-long border India shares with the neighbouring country.

Officials said rising man-tiger conflict because of deteriorating habitat around the Corbett National Park was another area of concern.

“Habitat loss, leading to man-tiger conflict and increased pressure of poachers, have dented Corbett’s image,” a senior government official said, adding the national park may not see an increase in tiger numbers this time.

NEWSLINK: Panthers already here in Mississippi?

Brian Broom, The Clarion-Ledger11:06 p.m. CST November 26, 2014

The Clarion-Ledger’s Sunday story about mountain lions moving closer to Mississippi drew a strong reaction from readers on social media. The majority felt this cat was long out of the bag and has already returned to the state.

Albert K. Stowers commented: “They have been around for years. I have seen two different ones.”

Robert E. Hays described his encounter.

“I just want you to know that I saw one in the middle of a sunny summer day when I was stone cold sober and on the job,” Hays wrote. “I was driving on Caney Creek Road south of Conehatta and one crossed the road, slowly, in front of me.

“As he started across, I saw him, and I slowed down so as not to hit what I thought was a dog. But it was not a dog. It was a mountain lion. He crossed the road about 50 feet in front of me and went into some tall grass where he turned and looked at me, now stopped!, before moving on off to the east.”

Katie Webb also said she has run into one.

“Saw one through the scope at 200 yds with my husband about a year ago here in the delta 20 (minutes) south of Greenwood,” Webb wrote on Facebook. “Watched it for about 3 minutes and there was no denying what it was.

Saturday 27 December 2014

NEWSLINK -CHINA-ANIMAL WELFARE--Tiger and wild cat trade from Myanmar to China growing

The trade in tigers and other wild cat parts from Myanmar into China has grown in recent years, a new study based on two decades of survey data suggests. It reports a surge mainly in Mong La, a Burmese town bordering China, where shops selling such products have more than trebled in the past eight years. Tiger parts were found in 80 percent of the surveys, the study says, representing at least 200 tigers. The most common parts were from clouded leopards, numbering some 480 animals. The findings, published in the journal Biological Conservation, reinforce past claims that the town was emerging as a major wildlife market in the region for products from as far away as Africa. At the same time, they suggest that in another Burmese town, Tachilek, on the border with Thailand, there has been a fall in trade. "It could be due to greater enforcement action in Thailand," says report author Chris Shepherd of Traffic, an international wildlife trade monitoring network. "But because that is yet to happen on the part of China, Mong La has seen the rise in wildlife trade," he added. Experts say the Burmese authorities have no control over the town, which is run by an armed group following a peace deal with the government. No government or local official was available for comment.READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-3bengal tiger0556409

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Wednesday 24 December 2014

NEWSLINK: Rajasthan leopard safari: Spot the boundaries

SOPHIE LAM

Friday 28 November 2014

Which are more conspicuous – stripes or spots? This was the question I mulled over on the drive through southern Rajasthan towards Jawai. A previous visit to India had taken me into Jungle Book territory at a critical time for the nation's tiger population. A temporary ban would soon come into force, prohibiting tourism in tiger reserves, and even though I'd been able to access two of Madhya Pradesh's finest – Pench and Kanha – I'd been warned not to expect to see the increasingly threatened big cats.


Miraculously, an adult female obliged – perhaps in some way a cry for help not to lock the gates and leave her to the mercy of poachers. While I'd been extremely fortunate, the small population of leopards remained elusive, preferring to hunt during the cool of night. So, as I bumped over the scrubby, sun-baked tracks towards Jawai Leopard Camp, I decided to focus on the landscape, rather than the headline wildlife this time.

Read more ...

NEWSLINK: 10 tigers missing from Pilibhit Reserve

Keshav Agrawal, TNN | Nov 25, 2014, 09.21PM IST

PILIBHIT: More than 10 tigers are missing from Pilibhit Tiger Reserve. According to the tiger census report, in of 2010 the reserve had more than 40 tigers. In 2012, the tiger count was down to 30 and in 2013, the number has fallen to 23. 

This rapid fall in the big cat numbers in a span of just three years has disturbed SP legislator from Barkhera assembly constituency of Pilibhit district Hemraj Verma. He has written to CM Akhilesh Yadav, expressing fear of largescale poaching and demanded a probe into why tiger numbers have fallen so drastically. On this serious issue where the divisional forest officer of PTR outright declined to give any official version, a retired chief wildlife warden of Uttar Pradesh, who had also been posted at Pilibhit as DFO about 30 years back, has not ruled out the possibility of illegal hunting of tigers. 

Verma said in 2010, tiger counting had revealed the presence of more than 40 tigers and many cubs in the forest area of Pilibhit. This counting was based on pug marks and pictures captured by cameras installed by the WWF (India) and the forest department. The report of this counting had come out in 2011, the MLA has written.

UK SIGHTINGS: ‘Puma cubs’ spotted in Red Lodge during search for lost dog

By CambridgeNews | Posted: November 25, 2014

By Natalie Robinson

A pet owner hunting for a lost dog fears it could have been savaged in a brutal attack – by two wild pumas.

Sam Hammond was looking for her friend's black Labrador cross Bea Bea when she spotted the two cat-like beasts running through a field.

She said she heard a yelping 15 minutes after the sighting and fears the dog may have been attacked by the cats.

The dog has still not been found.

Sam reported the sighting in Red Lodge to the police the same day and is convinced the mystery animals were puma cubs.

She said: "I was searching for my friend's dog and thought I'll just try this field where there was a farmer.

"I got halfway across and turned around and the farmer had left. I started walking back and I then looked to my left and saw these two cats at the edge of the field.



NEWSLINK: Leopard caught on camera as it roams residential area

A Leopard is filmed roaming residential streets in the central Indian city of Indore

2:37PM GMT 20 Dec 2014

The Wildlife Institute of India has recently confirmed that this supposed wild cat, was caught on camera wandering a residential area in Indore.

The big cat was caught on camera by people driving passed it in the central Indian city of Indore.

Although the animal has not yet been captured, no related injuries have been reported since it was spotted in the area.



Tuesday 23 December 2014

US SIGHTINGS: Elusive Mountain Lion Spotted On Pawnee County Land

Posted: Dec 06, 2014 12:41 AM GST Updated: Dec 06, 2014 12:43 AM GST

PAWNEE COUNTY, Oklahoma -

The very elusive mountain lion has been spotted twice in Green Country this fall.

Both sightings - one in Mayes County, the other near Cleveland - came from clear trail camera pictures, confirmed by the Wildlife Department.

The Wildlife Department says about 90 percent of the reports it gets on mountain lion sightings are cases of mistaken identity - dogs, bobcats, even big house cats - but there was no mistaking the animal that showed up on a Pawnee County game camera on October 17.

“I just thought it was really neat to see one on camera,” said Pawnee County hunter Grant Krotzer.

Krotzer has been hunting his family's private property near Cleveland since he was a kid.

Tucked away between the oak and cedar trees on that land is Krotzer's trail camera, to help him get an idea of what's out here.

“So I know what to hunt, see if I want to hunt out here or not,” he said.

Krotzer has seen a little bit of everything, always hoping for a big buck, but never expecting a mountain lion.

“And then, then the mountain lion's there,” said Krotzer.

Proof is rare in Oklahoma and because of the bright, shining eyes in Krotzer's picture, he said there were some non-believers.

“That's why I think a lot of people thought it was fake, because its eyes were glowing so much,” he said.

Monday 22 December 2014

NEWSLINK: Tiger and wild cat trade from Myanmar to China growing

By Navin Singh KhadkaEnvironment reporter, BBC World Service

The trade in tigers and other wild cat parts from Myanmar into China has grown in recent years, a new study based on two decades of survey data suggests.

It reports a surge mainly in Mong La, a Burmese town bordering China, where shops selling such products have more than trebled in the past eight years.

Tiger parts were found in 80 percent of the surveys, the study says, representing at least 200 tigers.

The most common parts were from clouded leopards, numbering some 480 animals.

The findings, published in the journal Biological Conservation, reinforce past claims that the town was emerging as a major wildlife market in the region for products from as far away as Africa.

At the same time, they suggest that in another Burmese town, Tachilek, on the border with Thailand, there has been a fall in trade.

"It could be due to greater enforcement action in Thailand," says report author Chris Shepherd of Traffic, an international wildlife trade monitoring network.

"But because that is yet to happen on the part of China, Mong La has seen the rise in wildlife trade," he added.

Experts say the Burmese authorities have no control over the town, which is run by an armed group following a peace deal with the government.

No government or local official was available for comment.

Saturday 20 December 2014

NEWSLINK-GREAT BRITIAIN- HULL-Why big cat is roaring at Viccy Park

Sculptor Thompson Dagnall and Victoria Park officer Jill Barlow with the carvingAN old tree that was damaged by strong winds has been carved into a stunning sculpture that is being described as a roaring success. After taking a battering during storms the 70-year-old oak tree was posing a danger to Victoria Park’s visitors. Initially, the plan of park officer Jill Barlow was to use the trunk of the tree to make a bench at the park, near the beautifully restored venue’s bandstand. However, when sculptor Thompson Dagnall, 58, was contacted he developed the idea to revive one of the park’s old features and make a carving based on a tiger statue from the Mansion House museum, which produced so many fond and scary memories. Visitors to the park watched with fascination over the weeks as the ‘big cat’s’ fearsome frame was carved into the fallen tree. This week Kirkby-born Thompson, who for the past 25 years has crafted public artworks in stone, wood, steel and cast iron, shared more details of its creation. In keeping with the musical theme of the bandstand, the tiger is playing the jungle drums. But he doubles as a bench too, enabling people to watch performances on the bandstand, and is an intriguing backdrop to the park run, which attracts hundreds of entrants each Saturday morning. “There were worries that the tree could crush the bandstand and so it had to come down,” said Thom, who worked on the miners’ monument that stands near the YMCA roundabout, off Duke Street, in St Helens town centre. “Jill asked me to have a look at it with a view to doing a bench, but with it being so close to the bandstand I thought it would be perfect to link it in and make a kettle drum. “And as soon as I heard about the tiger I thought the tree would lend itself to the animal, so I thought ‘why not?’ “I was there working on it for about seven days over a three-week period until it was finished.” The tiger bench has swiftly become an attraction for visitors, who have been busy snapping pictures of themselves alongside it.

NEWS LINK--THAILAND-Cat fight! Photographer captures amazing action images of big cats clashing at Thailand's controversial Tiger Temple sanctuary

Endangered Indochinese tigers fight and frolic in the water and between rocks, doing what comes naturally, in these impressive images from photographer and filmmaker Peter Adams taken at Thailand's controversial Tiger Temple.
The attraction has come under fire from animal welfare groups for the way their star attractions are treated, but Adams was nothing but impressed when he visited the park linked to the Theravada Buddhist temple in Kanchanaburi in western Thailand.
And while tiger selfies are usually the order of the day, the 55-year-old from Gloucestershire wanted to capture the young tigers up to mischief rather than laying about for tourists. 'I spent a day visiting the temple as a normal tourist but was able to get incredibly close to the tigers,' Adams says. 'They were young and extremely playful, instigating some of the games with some of the monks who have brought them up, so they're used to human contact.'
Adams says he was able to get within touching distance of the tigers while they played together in their enclosures and watched them get showered and fed.
'It seemed incredible to me to get so close to these magnificent creatures, even to stroke them,' he says. 'It did feel slightly surreal taking these pictures being so close to something essentially wild and dangerous and to see their tremendous power as they run towards you.
'My instinct told me to back away, but my urge to get strong photographs was telling me to get closer.'
'There has been some controversy over the temple as there is with a lot of wildlife centres, however during my visit the tigers seemed very well treated and looked after.
'It was a magical experience.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2880570/Cat-fight-Photographer-captures-amazing-action-images-cubs-clashing-Thailand-s-controversial-Tiger-Temple-sanctuary.html#ixzz3MRzxHPbz

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Friday 19 December 2014

US SIGHTINGS: Ageless: Encounter with panther embedded in memory

Margaret Broussard, For FLORIDA TODAY12:02 a.m. EST November 28, 2014

I have a memory that I can’t pinpoint in time or place, but it is vivid, nonetheless. Perhaps I was about 31/2, and it may have been in the Ocala National Forest, not far from rural community of Citra.

Whenever and wherever it was, Daddy, my brother, Allen, and me were walking through woods with an open understory — overgrown scrub, I know now.

It must have been winter, because I recall shuffling through turkey oak leaves. I think that’s when I learned what turkey oak leaves looked like — almost resembling a turkey’s footprint in the sand.

I was right at Daddy’s heels, while Allen was trailing us. We were coming to a ditch alongside a dirt road when suddenly, Daddy stopped and threw his hand out to stop me. I looked up at him, and then to see what he was seeing.

There in the road sat the biggest cat I had ever seen. It was much larger than Allen and I. Actually, it was bigger than the two of us together.

I was too stunned to speak, and Daddy’s hand on my shoulder told me by its gentle pressure not to move or say anything. We just watched that beautiful, big cat, and it watched us. We didn’t move, and neither did the cat.

Finally, it got up and leisurely turned and walked away down the road, with its long, heavy tail swinging back and forth. Then it leaped the ditch as easily as a house cat leaps across a little puddle, and disappeared into the woods.

I guess Daddy was holding his breath, as I heard him exhale.

US SIGHTINGS: Another report of a black panther in Greene County?

Posted Tuesday, November 25, 2014, at 8:19 PM

Whenever I've written about a black panther, or a mountain lion, or a cougar, someone else steps up to report another sighting.

After the recent column about the sighting of a black panther in the Linton area, the daughter of a reader sent a note about seeing one in the Bloomfield area.

The reader's daughter Patti wrote, "I live in Bloomington. My mother, who lives in Bloomfield, told me about an article in which you and others had sighted a black panther in the Linton vicinity.

"About a year ago last fall, I was driving back to Bloomington after visiting with my mother. I was on a country road that turns onto Highway 54 at the Wilson Bridge about two or three miles east of Bloomfield.

"It was dusk, and suddenly something darted across the road in front of the car. I was very surprised that it was not a coyote, but it was a big cat and was black.

"I stopped and watched it run under the Wilson Bridge.

"Of course, I told the tale to various friends and relatives, but I did not report it to the authorities.

NEWSLINK: Large wild cat found stabbed to death in Joburg

A large wildcat has been found outside a Johannesburg metro police station. (Andrew Surtees, News24)

Johannesburg - A large wild cat has been found stabbed to death in Johannesburg central on Friday morning, the city's metro police said.

"Somebody stabbed it, we don't know why," said Inspector Edna Mamonyane.

- Did you see what happened to the animal? Send us your eyewitness account or photos. E-mail or upload.

"We have contacted the SPCA [Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] and I am on my way there now."

Mamonyane said her officers were on the scene.

"One of my officers at the scene said it was a cheetah, we are waiting for the SPCA to confirm it," she said.

"It might have been killed elsewhere and dropped there."

No further details were available.

Earlier on Friday, a News24 user told News24: "A gentlemen at my office was on the way to work this morning, he came across a crowd of people to find a sight you would never find in Johannesburg, a serval cat that might be related to the one that went missing by Pretoria earlier in the week!”

On Monday, it was reported a serval had escaped from the Rietvlei Nature Reserve near Pretoria.

The animal had been spotted crossing the R21.

According to further reports, however, it may not be the same cat.







NEWSLINK: More Tigers Are Dying in India—but the Future’s Looking Brighter

Poaching is down, and a rise in natural deaths may indicate that the big cats are thriving.

December 04, 2014 By John R. Platt

John R. Platt covers the environment, technology, philanthropy, and more forScientific American, Conservation, Lion, and other publications.

The body of a Bengal tiger was found on Sunday in India’s Pench National Park, the site that inspired Rudyard Kipling’s classic collection The Jungle Book. Although wildlife officials initially said they did not suspect that poachers killed the tiger—which had probably been dead for four days before it was discovered—they later conceded they were not ruling out the possibility.

What we know, however, is that the animal was the 54th tiger found dead in India this year. It followed closely on the heels of another dead tiger that was discovered in the Corbett Tiger Reserve on Nov. 28. The cause of that death has also not been determined.

It has been a deadly four years for tigers in India. On Nov. 26, environment minister Prakash Javadekar announced that 274 tigers have been found dead in the country since the beginning of 2011. With the latest two fatalities, the number is now 276. This represents a 53 percent spike in tiger deaths from 2006 to 2010, nearly three times the number of tigers reported dead between 2002 and 2006.

Thursday 18 December 2014

NEWSLINK: Nepal poachers on prowl, tiger numbers down

Nepal poachers on prowl, tiger numbers down

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, November 26, 2014
First Published: 22:55 IST(26/11/2014) | Last Updated: 01:27 IST(27/11/2014)

The latest survey of the country’s tiger population shows big cat numbers have declined in north India, primarily due to poaching from across the border in Nepal and shrinking tiger habitats. 

The survey, done every four years by the National Tiger Conservation Authority with Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India, shows tiger numbers in the Shivalik-Gangetic plains covering the three states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have come down to around 300 against about 320 four years ago.
“We are still verifying the ground data… the figure is not final,” an official told HT.
Forest department officials in Uttarakhand, who arrested over half a dozen tiger poachers in the past three years, said they saw an increase in the number of poachers from Nepal. Wildlife traffickers cross over to Nepal through the porous 1,751 km-long border India shares with the neighbouring country.
Officials said rising man-tiger conflict because of deteriorating habitat around the Corbett National Park was another area of concern.
“Habitat loss, leading to man-tiger conflict and increased pressure of poachers, have dented Corbett’s image,” a senior government official said, adding the national park may not see an increase in tiger numbers this time.

NEWSLINK: Roar sends villagers shivering as tiger makes day-time kill

Faiz Rahman Siddiqui | Nov 25, 2014, 03.52AM IST


Loud roar left Sunni Sarai residents shuddering on Monday afternoon. After sometime, they gathered strength to come out of their houses and moved in a group in the direction of the roar. Their search ended at village pond where tiger had killed a blue bull a few minutes earlier. The carcass was still lying there as a proof of elusive tiger's presence in the area.

Petrified villagers immediately informed the forest department and a combing operation was launched with the help of two tuskers in jungles of Munj and Narkul close to Sunni Sarai.

This is tiger's first kill in day hours, ever since it strayed into the region on November 11. The day-time hunting has shocked forest department teams as the feline had killed either in the night or during wee hours.


NEWSLINKl Putin's tiger 'devours domestic dog' after crossing into China

Kuzia was filmed eating the dog on an infrared camera

Saturday 13 December 2014

A tiger previously released into the wild by Vladimir Putin has been filmed eating a domestic dog in China, according to reports.
Kuzia, the name given to the tiger, was filmed devouring the dog for two hours on Heixiazi island, Sky News reports. Heixiazni links China and Russia.

The rare Amur tiger was fitted with a tracking device before being released by the Russian President and apparently crossed the border into China two months ago. It was reportedly filmed eating the dog for two hours before disappearing from view on Wednesday.

Reports say Kuzia has now crossed back into Russia.

The State Forestry Administration's Feline Research Center, Zhang Minghai, said Kuzaa is likely to visit China again as it designating his 'territory' by marking the area with urine, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

NEWSLINK: Leopard strays into residential colony of Junagadh, rescued

Leopard strays into residential colony of Junagadh, rescued

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Written by Gopal B Kateshiya | Rajkot | Posted: November 27, 2014 8:16 pm
A leopard strayed into residential area of Junagadh city on Thursday but the big cat was rescued by forest department before it could come in conflict with human beings.
Family members of Ashok Gadhvi, a resident of Housing Colony near Bahauddin College, found a “dog-like animal” hiding under their large cupboard and called up neighbours. However, they immediately informed police soon after realising that the animal was a leopard.
“We got alert at around 11 am that the leopard had been stranded in a flat on the ground floor of the colony. Veterinarians of Sakkar Baugh Zoo tranquilised the big cat and it was taken to the zoo. No human injury is reported,” range forest officer (RFO) of Junagadh Dungar Sought, Parbat Maru said.
Incidentally, Junagadh city is located in the shadow of mount Girnar which is part of Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to a number of leopards and endangered species of Asiatic lions. A leopard had strayed into official residence of the district superintendent of police of Junagahd a month ago.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/leopard-strays-into-residential-colony-of-junagadh-rescued/#sthash.KA64cuS3.dpuf