Mystery Cats: June 2015

Tuesday, 30 June 2015

NEWSLINK: 3 people hurt in separate incidents of leopard attacks

Three persons were injured in separate incidents of leopard attack in the State on Friday.

While two youths were injured in a leopard attack in Rudraprayag district, one man was injured in a leopard attack at Raiwala in Dehradun district.

Two youths were reportedly attacked by a leopard in the Kamoldi village at Bachchansyun Patti in Rudraprayag district on Friday morning.

Read more...

NEWSLINK: Georgia police shoot tiger that killed man after zoo escape

Police in Tbilisi say a tiger that broke loose after severe flooding at a zoo in the Georgian capital over the weekend has been shot by marksmen after it killed a man and wounded another.

It has emerged that other animals may still be on the loose, amid conflicting statements from the government and zoo officials.

NEWSLINK: Cougar sightings on the rise in Metro Vancouver

An unusually dry spring has been linked to a dramatic spike in cougar sightings across B.C.

According to latest Ministry of Environment statistics, there were 389 reported sightings in May 2015, compared with an average of 221 for May over the previous four years. For April, the figure was 242 sightings, compared with the April average of 158.

Read more...

NEWSLINK: Eastern cougar is declared extinct nearly 80 years after last one was trapped and killed

The eastern cougar has been declared extinct almost eight decades after it was last seen.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the big cat no longer warrants federal Endangered Species Act protections and should be removed from its endangered list.

The decision comes almost 80 years after an eastern cougar was trapped and killed by a hunter in Maine in 1938. None have been seen since.

NEWSLINK: School on alert after cougar sighting

An early morning cougar sighting in Nanaimo has a nearby elementary school on edge, according to Mounties.

The big cat was spotted in the backyard of a home on King Richard Drive, close to Departure Bay Elementary School, before 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Neighbour Don Varey said he could hear dogs barking from the yard next door, and when his daughter let their own dogs out she spotted the cougar behind a fence.

NEWSLINK/PHOTO: Possible panther sighting?

The large black feline was stalking the woman as she took snow-scene photographs on the edge of town.

Last week we revealed that local dog-walker Sarah-Kaye Hook spotted the black feline in the woodlands beneath Gala Hill.

Since our report, several readers have been in touch to say that they have also seen the panther-like creature in and around Gala Policies.

NEWSLINK: Fading Florida Panthers Need New Paths to Safety

Michael Sainato | June 25, 2015 04:43pm ET

Michael Sainato is a freelancer with credits including the Miami Herald, Huffington Post

and The Hill. Follow him on Twitter at @msainat1. Sainato contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

A vanishing and elusive relic of nature, the cougar subspecies known as the Florida panther has been flirting with extinction in a dwindling wilderness for a century. With a habitat degraded to less than five percent of its historical range — veritable isolation in south Florida — wildlife conservationists estimate the panthers currently number between 100 and 200 individuals. With such a small population, experts believe the animal cannot maintain genetic diversity and survive.

For Florida panthers to expand their numbers, they need an expanded range, and as of this May, a corridor of protected lands are now linked, providing that needed space

Read on ...

Monday, 29 June 2015

NEWSLINK: Search for "big cat” continues in Tbilisi

Search and rescue teams are continuing to search for one tiger and a striped hyena, and are urging people in Georgia's capital to remain vigilant and avoid dark and hidden places until the two animals are caught.

The tiger and hyena have been missing for six days since the flash flood destroyed most of Tbilisi Zoo overnight on June 13. The search of Turtle Lake and nearby area, including the Ethnographic Open Air Museum, has ended however a special group of hunters with trained dogs are continuing to patrol the forest area from Turtle Lake and the Ethnographic Museum to Bagebi territory.

Friday, 26 June 2015

'Endangered' Cougar Has Likely Been Extinct for 70 Years

by Elizabeth Howell, Live Science Contributor | June 24, 2015 07:50am ET

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is planning to remove the eastern cougar from the endangered species list after determining the subspecies has likely been extinct for 70 years.

The proposal comes after a formal review of the subspecies' status that concluded in 2011. Wildlife officials looked at more than 100 reports (going back to 1900) and found that recent "sightings" of the eastern cougar were actually of Florida panthers, wild western cougars or other cougars that escaped from captivity or were released.

The FWS also looked at available historical and scientific studies, and consulted experts in 21 U.S. states and some eastern Canadian provinces.

Continued ...

Monday, 22 June 2015

NEWSLINK: Why Did Lion Kill Tourist in South Africa?

The lion that killed an American tourist at a South African park is a tragic example of what lions evolved to do best—being a top predator, a scientist says.

According to reports, the African lioness attacked the female tourist through the open window of a car in Lion Park, a wildlife attraction 19 miles (30 kilometers) north of Johannesburg. The tour operator who was driving the car sustained injuries on his arm trying to fight off the animal.

"Almost any organism around lions might be a potential prey item, and for people to think that they are an exception is folly," says Luke Dollar, program director for National Geographic's Big Cats Initiative.

"I would imagine that every other primate that co-exists with big cats is acutely aware of the position they hold relative to the top predators of the world." (Also see "California Death Prompts Questions About Lion Attacks.")

U’khand to begin count of elusive snow leopards from June 16

TNN | Jun 7, 2015, 11.19 PM IST

DEHRADUN: In a first-time initiative, the Uttarakhand forest department is embarking on an ambitious project to estimate the population of the elusive snow leopard that inhabits the higher reaches of the Himalayas. The project, which is set to begin from June 16, will have several teams from the department trek to the areas where trans-Himalayan big cat has its habitat. These include places like the Gangotri National Park, Nanda Devi Biosphere, Valley of flowers, Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, Govind National Park and select high-altitude areas of Bagheshwar, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh districts. Each team is expected to be led by an expert from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Considering that the snow leopard has been sighted very rarely by expeditions specifically mounted to trace it, sources in the forest department acknowledged that sightings of the elusive animals might be bleak. "Besides sightings, we will take records from the camera traps, collect scat samples, droppings and other evidences such as scratching and scrapping for estimation," said Dhananjay Mohan, chief conservator of forests and head of the wild animals estimation. He added that besides snow leopard, the teams would also count Himalayan thar and black and brown bear.

Continued ...

NEWSLINK: The curious case of Ozzie the Sydney cat, who turned up in Northern Ireland

Australians have a reputation for being a well-travelled bunch. But the curious case of Ozzie the mystery moggy has taken this jet-setting trend to an entirely new level.

Photo: Cats Protection, Armagh Branch

In Northern Ireland, they're calling Ozzie a purrrfect mystery.

The stray ginger cat was discovered hanging around a backyard in County Armagh in Northern Ireland earlier this week.

When a Cats Protection volunteer picked him up and took him to a vet to scan his microchip, she was astonished to discover that he was registered in Sydney, Australia.

Just as baffling as his 17,000-kilometre journey half way around the world was the date on his microchip: it suggested he was born in 1989, which would make him 25 years old.

The Cats Protection volunteers have nicknamed the cat Ozzie, and have embarked on an international search to reunite him with his owner.

"If only he could tell us of his travels," the organisation wrote on its Facebook page, alongside a photograph of Ozzie enjoying a cuddle with a volunteer.

Continued ...

NEWSLINK: Border Force operation seizes items including tiger’s head in Devon

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Kevin Heath

The seizure of a chameleon in formaldehyde at Heathrow Airport set in motion an operation by Border Force and Police which led to a raid of a house and a business premises in Newton Abbott. There a number of items was seized including a tiger’s head, monkey skulls, ivory items and many other endangered species and their parts.

The chameleon was discovered by CITES officers of the Border Force on 17th April at the Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre postal hub. It had been posted from the United States. As an endangered species covered by the CITES agreement the species involved was found to be protected from international trade.

The case was investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and officers from both the NCA and Border Force raided a house and a business premises in Newton Abbott, Devon on 21st May.

Continued ...

Sunday, 21 June 2015

NEWSLINK: Bobcat Scare Just Big House Cats on the Loose, Say Police

Several large cats are wandering around the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., but they don’t pose a threat to local residents, according to police.

They resemble bobcats, but they’re actually a domesticated version called Pixiebobs, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Three Pixiebobs escaped last month from a breeder in Nokesville, Va., the owner of one of the cats told the Post.

NEWSLINK: Purrfect cheetah enclosure underway as Symbio prepares for more big cats.

Construction on Symbio Wildlife Park's cheetah enclosure is progressing and on track to be finished by the 2015 Christmas holidays at the latest.

The attraction will complement the zoo's nearby tiger enclosure as part of its African Savannah area.

"It'll be a large space and we like to give as much space as possible - well and truly above recommended government standards," zoo general manager Matt Radnidge says.

"We do have space, so we make it valuable for the animals and the people."

NEWSLINK: Conservation officers kill cougar in North Vancouver

Conservation officers shot and killed a cougar in a North Vancouver backyard Monday morning after becoming concerned it could pose a threat to the public.

Conservation officer Todd Hunter went out to the Edgemont neighbourhood in the 3000-block of Highland Boulevard around midnight, after getting a call that the cougar had killed a house cat in the owner's backyard.

Hunter said he was worried about that, because the yard is in an area close to a school, bus routes and a construction site.

NEWSLINK: Big cat spotted in Warboys

Driving past Swannells Haulage on the A141 from Huntingdon on Saturday (June 13), 72-year-old Peter Ireland says he is positive he saw a large black puma.

He told The Hunts Post: “I know a puma when I see one. I have been game hunting in Australia and Estonia so I know what a big cat looks like.

“It had grey flecks in its coat and was bigger than a Labrador. It just trotted calmly in front of my car. I was just 20 yards away. If it had been any closer, I would have hit it.

“I can’t believe I’m the only person to have seen this cat. Other people, farmers and the like, must have seen it before. I don’t expect anyone who hasn’t seen it will believe me, but I can tell you it was a puma I saw.”

Thursday, 18 June 2015

VIDEO: Lion hunting: the legal and illegal

In South Africa, killing a captive bred lion on private land is legal, with certain stipulations. But canned hunting - in a smaller enclosure where the animal is sometimes drugged and the shot is taken from the back of a ute - isn't. Africa correspondent Martin Cuddihy reports.

Watch the video here...

NEWSLINK: Tbilisi flooding: Big cats, bears still unaccounted for

Three lions, two bears, a tiger, jaguar and wolf could still be roaming Tbilisi streets following the massive flooding that destroyed the zoo in the Georgian capital on Sunday morning.

Reportedly, one of the three lions was last seen on Khiliani St in Saburtalo overnight, not far from Tbilisi centre.

Meanwhile two Cuban crocodiles, reported missing after the deadly flood, were found alive on Tbilisi Zoo territory after water levels dropped today.

NEWSLINK: Hippo, big cats free to roam streets after Tbilisi zoo flooded

Tigers, lions, a hippopotamus and other animals have escaped from the zoo in Georgia’s capital after heavy flooding destroyed their enclosures, prompting authorities to warn residents in Tbilisi to say inside Sunday. At least eight people have been killed in the disaster, including three zoo workers, and 10 others are missing.

Read more...

NEWSLINK: Spotting leopards at new Zoo exhibit

Now you see them, now you still see them.

Of all the human and animal amenities included in the San Diego Zoo’s new Asian leopard habitat — the bonanza of tree branches, the cozy windowed dens, the cat-friendly cat walks — the greatest luxury is the view. Everywhere you look, there they are. Looking at you.

NEWSLINK: Big cat extinction threat highlighted

Photographer and conservationist Barbara Meyer is bringing a collection of her works to the Next Generation Community Connect centre as part of the campaign which runs until June 26.

The plight of big cat populations around the globe will be highlighted in a series of events in Hinckley and Bosworth designed to raises awareness and amass funds.

VIDEO: Tiger Numbers Growing in Russia—But Will It Last?

Populations of the big cats have increased threefold in some parts of the country, likely due to tougher stances on poaching and illegal wildlife trade, the Russian government announced recently.

Watch the video here...

Wednesday, 17 June 2015

VIDEO: Woman toys with death, kisses lions at Bloem big cat centre

A video showing a British woman, named Juhi Agrawal, touching two lions and eventually kissing both wild cats - intensely to say the least - is both disturbing and mesmerizing to see.

The video, captured two years ago and taken at the Cheetah Experience big cat centre in Bloemfontein, has recently resurfaced through social media.

Watch the video here...

NEWSLINK: Law to Protect Wild Cats Introduced

A new bill based on successful conservation laws in Africa is receiving praise from Born Free USA, a welfare and wildlife conservation group. Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) introduced H.R. 2697, legislation that would provide funding for the conservation of wild cats and dogs (felids and canids), again this year, after an earlier version of the bill (H.R. 5836) failed to pass in 2014.

Many of these felid and canid species were once considered common but are now declining due to threats like habitat loss and disease, which means that long-term survival for them is in jeopardy.

Read more...

Tuesday, 16 June 2015

NEWSLINK: Two lion cubs 'surprise' staff at National Tiger Sanctuary

Sometimes vasectomies don't work.

Just ask Leo, a 450-pound lion living at the National Tiger Sanctuary in Saddlebrooke. He is the suspected father of two lion cubs born on March 20.

Because the sanctuary does not breed animals, these two furry 'surprises' are the first animals born at the sanctuary since it was founded in 2000.

Read more...

ARTICLE: Bigfoot, mystery mountain lions, UFOs all 'out there' in Pennsylvania, according to some

Bigfoot, mountain lions in Pennsylvania, UFOs, ghosts are probably all more or less familiar concepts.

Raystown Ray and Bessie (Pennsylvania cousins to the Loch Ness Monster), thunderbirds, squonk, giant snakes of Adams County -- maybe not so much.

But they, and a considerable list of other unexplained mysteries, have all been reported as being sighted in Pennsylvania.

NEWSLINK: Big cat still at large in Gilbert Creek area

One sighting of the Cougar inside the city limits of Grants Pass was reported last night with the big cat still in the reported in the Gilbert Creek area.

The cougar was first sighted in the area of Northwest Prospect Avenue near Gilbert Creek around at 7 p.m. Wednesday night. The cat was seen in a resident’s garden and later on a home’s porch. Officers were unable to locate the big cat.

Read more...

NEWSLINK: Cougar sighted near North Vancouver's Capilano University

Another cougar has been spotted on North Vancouver trails — this time in the area north of Capilano University.

The big cat was spotted by a woman at the nearby North Shore Equestrian Centre on Lillooet Road around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. The woman was coming out of a barn with a horse, said conservation officer Robin Sano, when she rounded a corner and came face to face with a cougar coming out of some blackberry bushes at the back of stable property.

NEWSLINK: Many states see mountain lions as expendable

New Mexico, some wildlife outranks others, with mountain lions landing near the bottom of the pack. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the solitary Puma concolor enjoys the status of rats or “trash fish” – which is how New Mexico’s wildlife department characterizes carp.

Late last month, the New Mexico Game and Fish Department unveiled its latest proposal to benefit hunters who think lions are taking too many deer and elk: leg-hold traps. Though they would be permitted only on private land, these traps are known to cause terrible suffering; some unfortunate animals are so desperate that they even bite off their own legs in order to escape.

NEWSLINK: Regulate tourist vehicles at national parks, Chief Minister tells officials

After allegations of increasing tourist activities in national parks and sanctuaries in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje directed forest officials to ensure that tourist vehicles going inside these places should be strictly operated as per norms.

Directions have been issued to ensure that movement of tourists and vehicles should not harm wildlife.

In the past few years, there have been several incidents when tigers in Ranthambore National Park attacked people. According to wildlife experts, increasing tourism activities and vehicles in the park has been one of the reasons for the aggressive behaviour of some of the big cats.

Read more...

PHOTOS: Potawatomi Zoo shows off new leopard cubs

The Potawatomi Zoo is welcoming three little bundles of joy. The Zoo said residents of the Zoo Pearl and Sergei are new parents to three extremely rare Amur Leopard cubs. A release from the Zoo said the cubs were born at the Zoo on March 20.

Amur Leopards are the world's rarest big cat, considered a critically endangered species with only approximately 70 remaining in the wild and just over 100 in Zoos.

Read more and see the photos here...

Monday, 15 June 2015

NEWSLINK/PHOTOS: Amur leopards suspected of attacking rare horses on farm

A farm breeding a number of rare horses has been at the centre of alleged attacks from an Amur leopard.

Novonikolsk stud farm is the only one in the Far East that breeds Vladimir heavy draft horses, and is also home to yaks, Siberian stags, spotted deer and Hereford cows.

Over the space of three days, the big cat is said to have killed two foals and is suspected of also taking a yak calf missing from the field. There are fears that some of the stags and deer may also have become victims, although it is difficult to determine.

NEWSLINK: Teen faces off with mountain lion

Carl Hutto, 17, got up early that Sunday morning in hopes of getting his chores done so he could go to the pool with his brother later in the day. Little did he know that something would stand in the way of his completing his tasks the morning of May 31, and that something stood about three feet tall and had sharp teeth and claws.

"I got up around 7 or 7:30 a.m. to start doing some weed whacking," said Hutto, who has lived in Bear Valley Springs with his aunt and uncle, Linda and Sam Hardman, for the past 13 years. "I started weed whacking the front part of the house around the parking lot, and when I finished that, I started walking up to the back of the house."

The Hardman home is located near the entrance to Bear Valley Springs.

About 150 yards behind the two-story red cedar home that Hutto shares with his aunt and uncle sits an old oak tree, an on May 31 the teen set out to clear the spring growth from under the tree.

"Before I got to set the weed whacker down to cut underneath this tree back there, I started hearing some wrestling above me, said Hutto. "That's when a mountain lion jumped out of the tree and landed about 5 or 6 feet in front of me. It did not look happy, but it also did not look angry."

NEWSLINK:Sanjay Gandhi National Park loses yet another big cat

Twenty-year-old Siddharth, one of the oldest white tigers at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), Borivali, died on Thursday, June 4, at 5.45 pm, due to old age.

According to the officials, Siddharth was at his feisty best even when he breathed his last. “We have lost one of the good ones. He growled loudly as he breathed last and died a peaceful death," said Shailesh Bhagwan Deore, the Range Forest Officer.

Read more...

Thursday, 11 June 2015

NEWSLINK: Cougar sighted

The Otter Co-op on 248 Street and Fraser Highway is urging caution after a cougar was sighted Thursday and Friday night.

Read more...

NEWSLINK: We're letting another predator go down

In New Mexico, some wildlife outranks others, with mountain lions landing near the bottom of the pack. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the solitary Puma concolor enjoys the status of rats or “trash fish” -- which is how New Mexico’s wildlife department characterizes carp.

Late last month, the New Mexico Game and Fish Department unveiled its latest proposal to benefit hunters who think lions are taking too many deer and elk: leg-hold traps. Though they would only be permitted on private land, these traps are known to cause terrible suffering; some unfortunate animals are so desperate that they even bite off their own legs in order to escape.

NEWSLINK: Coventry panther - myth or fact?

Coventry has been treated to a sighting of thesuper-rare black fox this week.

A black fox was seen running across Coundon Wedge Drive by Wendy Hier in Allesley last week, and the rare creature - which boasts a distinctive white-tipped tail - has now been sighted in Walsgrave too.

The creature - which is supposed to bring bad luck - isn't the first to set tongues wagging in our city.

NEWSLINK: Tiger stardom in Yorkshire

As wild creatures go, these cute tiger cubs knock the stripes off all rivals. Not only are they members of the most exclusive big cat clan in the world, they are fast becoming global superstars.

The three cubs are Amur tigers, super rare big cats from the Siberian wilderness and were born at the award-winning Yorkshire Wildlife Park earlier this spring.

Their public debut became an internet sensation when staff at the park were filmed measuring the tiny cubs.

Wednesday, 10 June 2015

NEWSLINK: Pesticides killed 5 tigers in 3 years in UP forests

Tigers in Uttar Pradesh are falling prey to pesticides. Five big cats were found dead in different parts of Pilibhit and Lakhimpur Kheri forests between May 2012 and April 2015. Samples of their carcasses tested positive for organochlorene pesticides, including DDT.

“Organochlorene pesticide, especially DDT, was found in the viscera of all the five tigers brought here for tests between May 2012 and April 2015. The tigers consumed the pesticides that led to their death,” said sources at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI).

However, there is still no clarity on how the pesticides reached the tigers. Unconfirmed reports say tantriks may be using pesticides to kill tigers to get whiskers of the dead animal to use in occult practices.

NEWSLINK: With loss of habitat, leopards prowl villages

In an indication that all is not right in the animal world, there have been increasing instances of leopards straying into Mahbubnagar villages in search of food and water. In the last six months alone, as many as 10 big cats have entered human habitations and killed domesticated animals in different parts of Telangana.

Wildlife experts fear that there has been a gradual loss of habitat for the big cats, particularly leopards, due to increased human activity even in the wildlife sanctuaries in Telangana. Added to this is the prolonged drought that is drying up their waterholes and leading to a fall in the number of prey.

Read more...

NEWSLINK: 8 tiger cubs spotted in Pilibhit reserve

The pall of gloom that had descended over the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve following reports of dwindling tiger population over the past few years seems to have been lifted. As many as eight tiger cubs were reportedly spotted by PTR field staff five during the installation of camera traps for tiger counting. The age of these cubs is being assessed between two months and a year.

With the sighting of these cubs, PTR officials are now expressing hopes that there might be more cubs in the jungle area. The actual number of cubs would be confirmed by the compilation of tiger pictures once the tiger census process is completed across all five ranges of PTR.

Read more...

NEWSLINK: Increase in number of Amur tigers found during first big cat count in 10 years

Hope for future of the rare species as census says there could be as many as 540 of them now living in the Far East.

The number of tigers living in the Russian Far East is on the rise, the first large-scale census in 10 years has discovered.

Carried out by animal charity WWF, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Amur Tiger organisation, the research found about 540 of the big cats in the region.

While there has been no dramatic increase since 2005, there has been a modest rise and conservationists are pleased that the population has stabilised.

UK SIGHTINGS: Cougar sightings reported near Lochside Trail

Posted By: Keith Vasson: June 07, 2015In: News

Conservation officers and Saanich Police are urging the public to be vigilant, but not overly alarmed after a pair of cougar sightings near the Lochside Trail Saturday night.

The two close encounters happened just a few hours and a few hundred metres apart, suggesting a big cat could very well be in the area.

The first reported encounter happened just after 9 p..m., when a caller told Saanich Police they had heard a growling noise and movement in bushes just off the trail south of Blenkinsop Lake. Police searched the area but didn’t find a cougar.

Then just before midnight, a separate report came in. A security guard working at a BC Hydro substation just off the trail, says several girls ran up and told him they had seen a cougar. The guard says he drove his vehicle and saw a large cat in a tree near several other people.

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

NEWSLINK: Tigers expanding? Conservationists discover big cats in Thai park

For the first time conservationists have confirmed Indochinese tigers (Panthera tigris corbetti) in Thailand's Chaloem Ratanakosin National Park. In January, camera traps used by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Thailand's Department of National Parks took a photo of a tigress, confirming what had only been rumors. A couple months later the camera traps photographed a male tiger in the same park.

Read more...

VIDEO: Big cat expert on deadly lion attack: 'Lesson unlearned'

Animal Planet host Dave Salmoni shares insight on lion behavior, terrifying attack in South African wildlife park

Watch the video here...

UK Sightings: 'Puma' Spotted On Arthur’s Seat By Police Helicopter

While searching through undergrowth for a missing mum with infrared camera, Inspector Whyte set eyes on what he is convinced was a puma

Yahoo News. – Mon, Jun 8, 2015

The big cat was reportedly sitting on Arthur’s Seat - the peak of a group of hills in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park - in 2012 by a police helicopter.

Inspector Nick Whyte was one of the officers on board the helicopter, that was dispatched to search for a vulnerable mother in the middle of the night after a two-year-old baby was discovered abandoned close to St Leonard’s police station.

While searching through undergrowth with infrared camera, Inspector Whyte set eyes on what he is convinced was a puma.

He told the Edinburgh Evening News: “We detected a very large heat source that we thought was possibly the mother.

“As I directed a female police officer towards it, the heat source got up and it turns out it was a big cat–we think a puma or something like that.”

Describing the animal as “three times the size”of a nearby female police officer, Inspector Whyte is certain this was no domestic cat.

continued ...

Monday, 8 June 2015

NEWSLINK: Tour Guide Desperately Tried to Save Katherine Chappell from South African Lion Attack

The tour guide, who was driving with the American woman who was mauled to death by a lion, suffered serious injuries and a heart attack while trying to fend off the big cat and then desperately tried to save her, despite an arriving worker's refusal to help, according to a dramatic new account by the tour company.

Read more...

UK SIGHTINGS: The mystery of the famed 'black panther' of Derbyshire has emerged again

People from across South Derbyshire flooded social media sites to catch a glimpse of the clip of what many thought could be the famous 'black panther' in Bretby.

Footage of a large black, four-legged creature resembling the wild cat was posted online with many claiming it is the same creature that has been spotted intermittently for years.

Watch the video here...

NEWSLINK: State suggests federal review of cats' status as sightings continue

State wildlife officials surprised the conservation community this month by proposing to refocus the management of the Florida panther, suggesting the endangered status of the big cats in Southwest Florida may need to be reviewed.

The memo by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff and Commissioner Liesa Priddy suggests the agency focus its efforts on maintaining the panther population at a “sustainable level” in its primary territory and address a growing number of conflicts between landowners and the cats.

NEWSLINK: Second snow leopard successfully collared in Nepal

A snow leopard has been successfully collared in the shadow of Nepal’s Kangchenjunga, the world’s second highest mountain just a month after the country was hit with a devastating earthquake. This is the second snow leopard to be collared in Nepal since 2013.

The snow leopard, which is an adult male approximately five years of age weighing 41 kg, was and fitted with a GPS-satellite collar and released back into the wild. Data received from the satellite collar will enable conservationists to identify critical habitats for the elusive species, including transboundary links across India andChina.

“Nepal is proud to be at the forefront of global scientific efforts to get a better understanding of one of nature’s most elusive species,” stated Tika Ram Adhikari, Director General of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. “Our ability to repeat the success we had with the first collaring in 2013 during this most difficult period for the country is a testament to the commitment towards conservation of the government as well as the people of Nepal.”

Sunday, 7 June 2015

NEWSLINK: Meet the Verdugo Mountains' very own mountain lion: P-41

Johanna Turner, a sound effects editor for Universal Studios, joined the ranks of citizen scientists years ago, placing remote cameras in the San Gabriel Mountains to record the movements of wildlife.

After the 2009 Station fire tore through the San Gabriels, Turner moved her photographic equipment to the nearby Verdugo Mountains, a small, isolated range that includes portions of Los Angeles, Burbank and Glendale.

NEWSLINK: Row over live bait for tiger T-24 in Udaipur zoo

Controversies seem to not leave T-24 even after 10 days of his relocation from the lavish wilds of Ranthambore to a comparatively small 10,000 sq. feet enclosure at the Sajjangarh Biological Park here.

The 250-kilogram majestic big cat 'Ustad' is under scanner again, however, this time for no fault of his own. Questions are being raised at the park authorities for offering live bait to T-24, something which is strictly prohibited in the zoos.

Not any outsider, but one of the members of the high powered committee which was framed to monitor T-24's behaviour at the park, claimed that since tiger wasn't eating the meat given to him, a young buffalo was tied in the enclosure on the second day of his arrival at the park.

Read more...

US SIGHTING/PHOTO: Bobcat spotted near elementary school in Bartram Springs

A bobcat was spotted around 8:30am on Monday morning in the Bartram Springs neighbourhood near an elementary school.

This was not the first spotting for the big cat either, around 1:15pm the same day, another Bartram Springs resident caught sight of the bobcat while walking her golden retriever near Race Track Road.

UK SIGHTING: Big cat spotted in Bagnall area

A sighting of a "Lynx-like" big cat in the Staffordshire Moorlands has raised fears a wild feline could be on the loose.

The sighting comes after farmers were urged to keep a watchful eye on their sheep after two incidents in the Bagnall area.

Six sheep were seriously hurt in two attacks which took place in April.

Now a serving police officer has told the Post & Times of his experience while walking in the area.

Thursday, 4 June 2015

NEWSLINK: Project Survival Cat Haven’s jaguar cubs growing fast

Project Survival Cat Haven’s new additions, jaguar cubs Nacho and Libre, have reached 7 months old and 65 pounds.

Nacho and Libre, both males, were born at the big-cat sanctuary in the foothills east of Fresno on Nov. 3, each weighing a little more than a pound. Their names come from the 2006 film “Nacho Libre” starring Jack Black — who happens to be a supporter of Cat Haven. Nacho is all-black; Libre is yellow-spotted.

NEWSLINK/VIDEO: American woman killed in lion attack at South Africa animal park

A lion killed an American woman and injured a man driving through a private wildlife park in Johannesburg on Monday, a park official said.

The attack occurred at around 2:30 p.m. when a lioness approached the passenger side of the vehicle as the woman took photos and then lunged, said Scott Simpson, assistant operations manager at the Lion Park.

"They had their windows all the way down, which is strictly against policy," he said. "The lion bit the lady through the window." The driver then tried to punch the lion and was scratched by the animal.

Park staff quickly chased the lion away from the car and an ambulance arrived promptly. "Unfortunately, she did pass away," said Simpson, adding that the U.S. Embassy had been informed.

NEWSLINK: 12 month’s after release ‘Putin’s tigers’ are reported as thriving

One year after five orphaned Siberian tigers were released in the Russian Far East the signs are four out of the five are doing well and have adapted successfully to life in the wild.

Thanks to four camera traps IFAW had donated to the Khingan Nature Reserve, there is now have footage of Ilona the tigress looking healthy and marking her territory.

Satellite tracking and camera trap videos show that the rehabilitated orphan tigress continues to thrive in the Russian forests near the Chinese border. By tracking her movements, scientists have learned that she is hunting wolves, deer and wild boar.

“Success stories like Ilona are helping to change the opinion and policy of officials in the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources,” said Maria Vorontsova, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Russia director. “There was a general belief that it was impossible to rehabilitate and return orphan tiger cubs back to the wild. IFAW and our partner groups have now proven that it is indeed possible.”

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NEWSLINK: India's 'man-eating' tiger to stay in Rajasthan zoo

3 hours ago

From the sectionIndia

A court in India's Rajasthan state has rejected a plea to release a tiger who has been branded a killer and caged.

Nine-year-old Ustad was tranquilised and shifted from a national park to a zoo earlier this month after he killed three men, including a forest guard.

A tiger lover had petitioned the court, saying caging the tiger was against India's wildlife laws.

India's tiger population stood at 2,226 in 2014. The country is home to 70% of the world's tigers.

Ustad, who lived in the 400 sq km (99,000-acre) Ranthambore National Park, popular for its tiger safaris, was shot with a tranquilising dart and driven to a zoo 400km (250 miles) away earlier this month.

He had been declared the prime suspect in the killing of a 53-year-old forest guard on 8 May. He was also accused of killing a 23-year-old local man in 2010 and a 19-year-old boy in March 2012.

The tiger is now is caged in an enclosure smaller than a football field in a zoological park in Udaipur district.

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