NEWSLINK: Tiger On Prowl In Mihan

An adult tiger has been spotted in Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) in Maharashtra, forest officials said on Tuesday. The forest department had installed several cameras traps in MIHAN on Saturday after they got information about a tiger sighting near the Infosys campus road. Authorities have alerted workers and people living in villages in and around MIHAN about the presence of the big cat.


The tiger's presence was confirmed after the inspection of camera traps in the area, deputy conservator of forests (Nagpur)Prabhunath Shukla said.


"Forest officials and MIHAN authorities have taken necessary steps to avoid any untoward incident," Shukla said. Several major tech companies including Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL, Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) etc have their campuses in the area

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NEWSLINK: Wildcats set for big return to the Cairngorms in major £3.2m project

A report published in February by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Cat Specialist Group says that populations of wildcats, which have resided in Scotland for thousands of years, are no longer viable due to hybridisation with domestic and feral cats.


With extinction looming, a £3.2m rescue package will see the wildcats reintroduced in the Cairngorms National Park from 2022.


The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland will lead the Saving Wildcats project, which will build on the work of the Scottish Wildcat Action partnership, supported by a £3.2m EU LIFE grant and co-funding from the Garfield Western Foundation, the National Trust for Scotland, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the European Nature Trust.


The six-year project will be based at the RZSS’s Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore, which will provide breeding, veterinary care, remote monitoring and training.


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NEWSLINK: How Rajasthan’s tiger reserves are using real-time intelligence to reduce poaching

Was it the rustle of leaves, a little bird attempting its first flight, or a big cat on the prowl that pierced the stillness of the night? Generations of conservation biologists, animal scientists and indigenous tribesmen have tried to decode the ways of the wild. While traditional methods of data gathering have been in vogue for centuries, human beings are prone to errors. And they are often unable to provide real-time actionable intelligence.

About a year ago, the Rajasthan government partnered with US analytics company SAS to assist with intelligent analysis and interpretation of data derived through 24x7 automated and semi-automated surveillance of wildlife at several nature parks in the state – the famous Ranthambore National Park, Sariska Tiger Reserve, Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve, Jawai Bagh Leopard Conservation Centre, and Jhalana Leopard Safari Park.
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NEWSLINK: Calgary Zoo tiger Katja euthanized, necropsy shows ovarian cancer

Days after the Calgary Zoo animal care team became concerned about the health of Amur tiger Katja, the 19-year-old cat was euthanized.


A necropsy done Tuesday morning determined Katja was suffering from ovarian cancer and related issues.


Animal caregivers had noticed changes in her behaviour in recent days, including a decreased appetite and activity level.


“Our veterinary team examined her (Monday) under anesthesia and determined that the health changes Katja was experiencing would severely impact her quality of life so the difficult decision was made to humanely euthanize Katja,” read a statement from the zoo.

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NEWSLINK: Awestruck tourist has close encounter with a curious cheetah

This is the astonishing moment a cheetah sits on top of a safari jeep and starts nibbling at a woman's hair as she films the encounter.


The footage taken in Tanzania shows the big cat nuzzling and leaning over the woman who has a shocked expression on her face.

The cheetah smells and moves her hair around as she continues to film and tries not to move.

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UK BIG CAT?: Fears of ‘big cat’ on the loose after healthy foal has stomach ripped out

A ‘healthy’ foal has been found dead with a giant hole in its stomach – sparking fears that a big cat could be the culprit. The four-month-old horse was discovered lying on its side in a field in Greenhithe, Kent, last week on November 10. He was last seen alive the day before and had been in good health, his owner said. Rik Snook, formerly of Big Cats of Britain, has now said he believes the horse was probably killed and eaten by a big cat, due to a series of sightings in the county. He said: ‘It is definitely possible a big cat is responsible. There have been reported sightings in the area.

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NEWSLINK: “This is a long- term commitment for us”: BA’s big cat sanctuary

British Airways Holidays has officially opened a new rescue enclosure at a big cat sanctuary in South Africa, as part of its joint vision with international animal welfare charity Born Free that all wild animals, whether living in captivity or in the wild, are treated with compassion and respect.


British Airways Holidays and Born Free have been working together over the last year to develop the travel company’s industry-leading Animal Welfare Policy.


The enclosure is now home to two lionesses, named Alpha and Cora. The two neglected lionesses were initially rescued from a failed zoo in Spain and housed temporarily at Natuurhulpcentrum, a wildlife rescue centre in Belgium before they were flown to their new home.

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NEWSLINK: Police remove lion from house opposite school after report it was used as a guard dog

Authorities had the unusual task of removing a lion from a house opposite a crèche and elementary school in Lagos, Nigeria. The lion was spotted by a task force team on Friday after a petition was filed to the state's ministry of environment, the BBC reports.


Concerned citizens had reported that the animal was being used a house guard. According to the BBC, authorities believe the lion had been in the building around two months before its rescue.


Staff from the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit returned to the property on Monday, when they tranquilized the 2-year-old cat before transferring it to Omu zoo in Lekki—a process that took three attempts, said Olayinka Egbeyemi, chairman of the Lagos State Task Force, PM News Nigeria reports.

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NEWSLINK: Leopard enters Dibrugarh hospital owner’s house, 1 injured

It was a regular Thursday for all in Assam's Dibrugarh district, but for Mehtab Ahmed, owner of a hospital in the upper Assam town.


An uninvited guest made its way into his residence. Its appearance shocked everyone, as the guest turned out to be a popular big cat -- the leopard.


The incident comes months after images of a Royal Bengal Tiger that had apparently strayed out of the flooded national park and somehow ended up 'relaxing' on a bed in a house near the national highway in Assam made headlines.


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NEWSLINK: 1 year on, leopard keeps returning to defunct rubber factory

More than a year after a sub adult tiger took refuge in an abandoned rubber factory, 18 km from Bareilly city, a leopard’s presence has been confirmed by forest officials here. Recently, fresh pugmarks were found in the factory premises.

According to forest department sources, the big cat has been spotted several times in the area, including the rubber factory and neighbouring villages near Shankha river, in Meerganj. It has been there for over a year now but has never harmed any human. As the area is a non-big cat zone, it is believed that it lost its way and has settled in the area.

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NEWSLINK: Santa Cruz Co. Lets Nature Takeover

Getting ready for work Wednesday morning, it was just another day for a family in Santa Cruz County — until they spotted two mountain lion cubs under their car and momma nearby.


But this big cat story unfurls more naturally than so many others that make news headlines, because residents let Mother Nature take over.


For officials, it began around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday when the call came into the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office about the puma and her litter on Montclair Drive in the Rolling Woods neighborhood, south of Scotts Valley, confirmed Ashley Keehn, public information officer for the sheriff's office.

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NEWSLINK: Huge 5ft black panther spotted prowling fields near Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium

The big cat was spotted by mum Jessica Clark at the weekend – and is the latest in a series of ‘panther’ sightings in and around Doncaster.

She said: “When we got close to it, I realised exactly what it was and it was terrifying.

“When I realised what I’d seen, I just started panicking. It was massive and very muscular and definitely a big cat. It was quite frightening to see something like that up close."

Mrs Clark was travelling along White Rose Way towards Doncaster from the M18 at around 4.30pm on Sunday when she spotted the beast within the Potteric Carr Nature Reserve, just a short distance from Doncaster Rovers’ Keepmoat Stadium.

The Warmsworth mum of two said: “I first saw it as we approached in the car."

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NEWSLINK: Poachers target lion body parts in rising extinction threat

Lions and other big cats are coming under increasing threat from an insatiable appetite for luxury products and trophies sold on the black market, conservationists warn.


Panthera, a global wild cat conservation organisation, provides evidence of targeted poaching of lions for body parts in a seven year study conducted in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.


The growing threat could wreak similar devastation on lion populations as seen recently in wild tigers.


Scientists said 35 per cent of lions killed by man were done so for their body parts between 20011 and 2018, with teeth and claws the most frequently harv

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NEWSLINK: Alaska’s feline Bigfoot? Mountain lion sightings reported in Delta Junction

Joel Holbrook figured his dog was barking at a moose.

Holbrook looked out the window one morning a few weeks ago and saw immediately he was wrong. The animal in his yard, about 5 miles north of Delta Junction, was a light-colored cat with a big, long tail.

This animal bounded across the yard toward Holbrook’s Australian shepherd “with three, like, really beautiful leaps,” he recalled this week.

This animal, he said, was a mountain lion.

It vanished as soon as Holbrook came outside. He got a good look from about 30 yards first.

“I freaked. I shouldn’t have," he said. "I ran for a weapon. I wish like mad I’d gone for a camera.”

At least three possible mountain lion sightings this fall in the Delta Junction area are raising questions about whether the reclusive cats are following deer north into Interior Alaska.

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CARL WRITES: Big Cats in Built Up Areas

Being sighted around farm buildings and country lanes is one thing, sightings in and around towns (and cities) are quite another. Escaped leopards and pumas, once fully wild, will naturally avoid these places unless they have no other choice. In places like India where leopards are becoming more bold and entering towns and cities at night, it should be remembered that these places now typically sit on locations previously used by these species for many thousands of years. Human populations have never been so high, and leopard's, never so low. There is a very obvious reason for this and the unnatural behaviour we're seeing more frequently in countries where these species naturally occur reflects how human encroachment is forcing the animals to evolve behaviourally to the unnatural situation.

A similar scenario would play out in Britain, were there as many animals out there as the media, and some researchers suggest; which is highly unlikely as if this were the case there would be far stronger evidence for them. If we simply except all the reports presented at face value there will seem to be thousands, or at the least, many hundreds of these animals. This cannot be the case, or we would have far better proofs of their prolonged existence here. The problem is there is no real filter. And then, when the problem is looked at comprehensively, and we say to ourselves - why are they doing this? or, why don't they do that in the wild? it's almost impossible to be certain. Whereas, if we are more analytical (I mean, they are out there, there is good evidence for them!) we will have a far better chance of officially proving their presence and situation.

That being said, it is potentially possible to observe one in a town (or even a city) if the animal hasn't yet [re]adapted itself. But that animal, if it doesn't become wild very quickly, (i.e. avoid all human activities), it will be quickly recaptured, if it's lucky, or shot if it’s not!. This has happened a few times and is actually one of the better pieces of evidence for their apparently continual existence. Felicity the puma (1980) and more recently the case in Lille, France, back in September, were both examples that hadn't yet fully 'rewilded'. The juvenile captured in France and then later stolen had only been free for a day, and hadn't had any opportunity to settle into a wild environment. Although since the theft, anything's possible!.

I do expect that some breeding has naturally occurred in Britain, there is some evidence to at least suggest the possibility, but it's highly unlikely populations are sustained in this way. So, where do these animals come from? We can't keep blaming the zoos (although I think small holdings are still a concern) as today these institutions have to follow the most stringent laws in order to just remain open, they simply wouldn't risk not reporting an escape, especially one of an apex predator, to the authorities (I would know, until five years ago I was a zookeeper).
The pet trades, both legal and illegal, are the only other serious explanation.

NEWSLINK: Leopard strikes again, hurts girl; 3rd victim in 2 days

Two days after two men were seriously injured in leopard attacks, a 15-year-old girl was attacked by a big cat in a field at Tanda Maidas village in Bijnor on Saturday. The teenager was working in the field when she was caught off guard by the leopard that suddenly pounced at her. All three attacks have taken place at the same village.

According to villagers, Pooja ventured into fields on Saturday morning when she was attacked by a leopard. She shouted for help. On hearing her cries, farmers working in nearby fields rushed to her rescue and scared the leopard away. She was admitted in a Najibabad-based hospital and her condition is stated to be out of danger. In all the attacks, the leopard scratched the victims on the neck and head.
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TIGER NEWS

A year after T1 shot, villagers fete shooters Times of India ... Arvind Wadhonkar said, “Our intention was not to glorify Khans for shooting tigress but to mourn the death of 13 people mauled by the big cat.

Dramatic tiger capture in India highlights growing human-wildlife conflicts The Straits Times The big cat will now be rehabilitated in a range in central India. ... India has most of the world's tigers: 2,967 in the wild, with the highest numbers in ...

NEWSLINK: Tiger to be brought to Satpura Tiger Reserve from Bandhavgarh

There are plans to bring a tiger shortly from Bandhavgarh to STR (Satpura Tiger Reserve). A tiger is coming from Bandhavgarh. STR has started preparations to bring him here.


Big cat will be kept in an enclosure initially: The big cat is likely to reach Satpura in the last week of November. He will initially be kept in an enclosure so that he can adapt to the conditions here. After this, he will be released in the forest. STR management has started preparations for bringing the tiger.

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NEWSLINK: Big cat spooks dogs, owner

It seems the big cats are everywhere right now.

There have been a few cougar sightings in the Valley recently with two in Armstrong within the last week.

Alina Jennifer McDougall spotted a cougar near the Tolko mill in Spallumcheen.

“I live across from Tolko so was on my way to Vernon at midnight to pick my boyfriend up from work and there was an enormous cougar standing in the ditch just staring at my car waiting to cross the road, this was exactly halfway between the turn off to Westridge Rock Quarry and the wood Spallumcheen sign,” said McDougall. “He headed east up the mountain after crossing the road behind my car.”

The encounter got the North Okanagan woman wondering about an incident a week earlier.

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SIGHTINGS? UK: Many UK residents have been attacked by large cats say police

Most people in the UK have seen or know of someone who has seen a large cat wandering our fields and woodlands for well over four decades now. Around 17000 reports were made in Staffordshire alone between 2010 and 2018. Lately you can stick a pin in the map and there will be a report of one or many large cats roaming the area. From the Surrey Puma to the Beast of Skerry they come in all colours and are usually described as "larger than a large dog" So your average Brit would not be too surprised to hear of a large cat report close to home, what may surprise them is the number of reported attacks on humans or humans out walking with their dogs. Listed are some of those reports in the witnesses own words. I have added the original sources for each story so you can view the many images provided.

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NEWSLINK: The tiger next door: America’s backyard big cats

It was the sort of headline impossible to scroll past: “Pot Smokers Find Caged Tiger in Abandoned Houston House, Weren’t Hallucinating: Police.” Last February, a group of people had snuck into a deserted house in Texas’s largest city to smoke marijuana when they stumbled upon a full-grown tiger in a cage – a cage secured by just a nylon strap and a screwdriver. Sergeant Jason Alderete of Houston Police Department’s animal cruelty unit, later told a local TV station: “It wasn’t the effects of the drugs. There was an actual tiger!” The animal was given a name, Loki, and sent to an animal sanctuary in the country, run by the Humane Society of the United States. You’d be forgiven for thinking Loki’s experience was an isolated incident – it isn’t.

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NEWSLINK: Real-life Sphinx found? Egypt archaeologists probe ‘strange lion-like’ creature

Egypt archaeologists are currently probing a “very strange animal,” which might be “a lion or lioness,” Minister of Antiquities Dr Khaled El-Enany told Express.co.uk in an exclusive interview.

The ancient Egyptians held cats in the highest esteem, with penalties for injuring or killing the feline animals and around 3,000BC, they worshipped a Cat Goddess, often represented as half feline, half woman, whom they called Bastet. The most famous of these mythical creatures is the Great Sphinx of Giza – this limestone statue, with the body of a lion and head of a human, can be found on the Giza Plateau protecting the pharaoh Khufu in his colossal pyramid behind. However, it may have been more than just an ancient ruler’s mind running wild after revolutionary technology was used on a bombshell find, Dr El-Enany told Express.co.uk.

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TERATOLOGY: Eerie Ancient Egyptian 'cat mummy' found with five legs and three tails

Eerie Ancient Egyptian 'cat mummy' found with five legs and three tails The Sun The 2,500-year-old mummified Egyptian cat was scanned and ... In other archaeology news, the mystery over who built Stonehenge may finally be ...

World's rarest big cat the Amur leopard is caught on hidden camera 'playing like a kitten'

World's rarest big cat the Amur leopard is caught on hidden camera 'playing like a kitten' on a ... Daily Mail The world's rarest big cat was seen rolling around on the floor and playing 'like a kitten' in incredible hidden camera footage. The wild Amur leopard ... World's rarest cat caught on camera 'playing like a kitten' in Russian wilderness - Mirror.co.uk Full Coverage