NEWSLINK: 'Feline leukomyelopathy' causing neurological issue in Florida panthers

Scientists still don't know what is causing some Florida panthers to display signs of a neurological disorder, but they've given it a name: feline leukomyelopathy.

"They (biologists) gave it a name they can use while they’re talking about it," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Carli Segelson.
FWC is the state agency in charge of protecting wildlife like the panther, the state animal and an endangered species.

Several Florida panthers were stricken with the neurological disorder earlier this year, which caused the cats to walk with a strange gait. Some of the cats had to be euthanized.

"They’re not sure if it’s different toxins in the environment or infectious disease or related to nutritional deficiencies, so there’s still a lot to be learned," Segelson said. "But there’s no ‘aha’ moment."

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Woman born at an animal sanctuary has such a bond with big cats, she sleeps among the cheetahs

Kristen Kerr was raised among lions, cheetahs and other wild animals. The 21-year-old, from South Africa, was born on an animal sanctuary and they have always been a huge part of her life. Describing herself as a real-life Dr Dolittle, she even chose to be home-schooled at the age of 10 because she missed the animals too much she was at school. 

Now an adult, she works full-time at a sanctuary, looking after cheetahs, giraffes, meerkats and zebras, among other things – no animal is considered too dangerous or small for the sanctuary. Kristen said: ‘My dad Barry, 54 raises lions and other big cats he has taught me everything I know. ‘We rescued three of our current cheetahs from a breeding farm, where the owner got into financial problems and lost his farm, one of which was pregnant, so I raised the cubs from birth. 

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Forest team to restart search for injured tigress today

Search for the injured tigress in Sehore forest division would begin on Monday.

Forest officials said that tigress has escaped herself inside den after being disturbed with the movement of elephants and sniffer dogs. As the feline has not killed any prey for a few days, she might be hungry. The team has stopped search for the tigress to make her come out of den. The team was making strict patrolling in suspected areas for one week but the tigress did not kill any prey for a week. The team has spotted ten different tigers during the search but failed to find out the injured tigress.

Talking to ‘The Hitavada’, Chief Conservator of Forest Ravindra Saxena said, “There are several dens round Veerpur, Kathotiya Jhiri and Karry Mahadev area where big cats can easily escape. It is very difficult to run four wheeler vehicles in the area and elephants are too unable to walk here. We have to wait for another movement of tigress when she moves on the field.” He further informed that tigress T-21 was not being trapped for past few days around Kathotiya range and now she has been traced on Obedullaganj division during the haunt.

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: After 5 deaths, farmers stage protest to demand capture of killer leopardess

Farmers staged a dharna outside the divisional forest officer’s office on Monday to press for the capture of a leopardess that is suspected to have killed at least three of the five people who have died in big cat attacks in Bijnor district since November 27.
Famers are demanding that the “killer leopardess” be captured, fearing for their lives, especially when they go to their cane fields for harvesting the crop. Leopards are known to lurk in cane fields and attack people.

The forest department has set up three more cages to capture the leopardess near the sugarcane fields where its presence was captured on a camera trap. In the past one week, people have reported 20 leopard sightings in the area.

Read more... 

SIGHTING, UK: Elusive 'Fen Tiger' spotted by dog walker in countryside

The elusive Fen Tiger - a near mythical beast said to wander Cambridge's countryside - has been spotted again.

Raechel Waldon, 45, was out walking her three dogs with her partner when she saw the mysterious creature.

She described seeing a cat "about the size of a Labrador" as she walked behind Abbotsley golf club, near St Neots, last Wednesday (December 18).

She told CambridgeshireLive: “I saw basically what I can only describe as a large cat. It was about the size of a labrador.

“It wasn’t the size of a puma, but it was a very large, wild-looking cat, and it was a brown or black colour.

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: What drove the charismatic cheetah to extinction in India?

"I was out on leave by myself, chiefly after lions. My native shikari (game tracker) came into my tent with an auspicious grin, just as I was finishing my breakfast, and said, ‘Sahib, I think I have got the big lion for you at last today; I have marked a big beast under a tree about four miles off; what it is I do not know…,’” Colonel E.A. Hardy of the 21st Hussars wrote in 1878, in his book Our Horses. The Colonel set out for his hunt, and some 30 yards away, he saw what he thought was a single large beast lying fast asleep. “I fired. To the shot up sprang six cheetahs, beautiful brutes, growling and rushing over each other, one evidently severely wounded. I was really so taken aback myself, I was stupid for a moment; but before I could determine whether to fire my second barrel or to bolt, the old shikari yelled out, ‘Come quickly for your horse, they are cheetahs, you can spear them; we’ll kill them all!’”

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Tigers Deaths in Nepal Threaten Recovery

Nepal recently announced that its tiger population had increased from 121 animals in 2009 to as estimated 235 in 2018, putting it firmly on track to fulfill its goal of doubling the number of big cats within its borders by the year 2022. The country has the largest number of Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) outside of India.


But there’s a dark side to this population increase: More tigers in Nepal are dying.
According to a letter published recently in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation, 55 adult tigers died in Nepal between 2009 and 2018. Tiger mortality was so high that the number of cats in the supposedly safe stronghold of Chitwan National Park dropped from 120 in 2013 to 93 last year.

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Leopard cub dies at Van Vihar

One year old leopard cub that was brought to Van Vihar National Park after being rescued from Balaghat, died on Monday due to prolonged illness. Autopsy suggested that cub died of infection in lungs. The female cub was abandoned by mother and was brought to Van Vihar on March 13. The cub was under treatment of veterinary doctors from December 12. After a few days, the cub started taking food and showed improvement in health conditions. Ashok Jain, Deputy Director of Van Vihar, said, “the cub was under treatment and she was showing improvement for a few days.

Read more... 

VIDEO: Tigress charges at tourist vehicle at Ranthambore Park in Rajasthan

A dramatic video has emerged from the Ranthambore National Park where a tigress could be seen chasing a tourist vehicle. The tigress has been identified as Sultana, by the code T-107.
However, animal lovers say that the big cat was just trying to play and not chase the vehicle.

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Leopard mauls shepherd to death in Kunigal, search on

Forest personnel have spread out across 15 villages in Kunigal taluk of the district to capture a leopard which has created a panic among villagers after it killed two people in the last one month.


The search to trace the elusive leopard did not yield any result on Saturday. While the search was on, the big cat killed a sheep about a kilometre from where it had mauled to death Ananthaiah of Doddamalawadi village on Friday.


Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Tiger Returns : Spotted near Infosys in Mihan

Even as the talks over the presence of full grown tiger in Mihan campus were yet to die down, the news got another spark with yet another sighting of wild cat in the premises. The tiger which has been eluding the foresters who were tracking his activities resurfaced in camera again. He was spotted moving through the bushes on Friday morning in the dense area near a canal in an abandoned Infosys premises.


The big cat appeared after a gap of 8 days when it was thought the animal would have strayed out of the area.

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Noida residents on edge after guards spot ‘leopard’

Residents of a housing society remained on tenterhooks on Saturday as forest department officials and wildlife experts from Meerut launched a combing operation to locate a leopard allegedly sighted in the area.
The big cat sighting at JKG Palm Court in Noida Extension was reported to the police and forest officials around 8am on Saturday by the building’s security guards. They said that the leopard jumped into the society premises before moving to the basement around 1.40am. While officials have not confirmed that it was a leopard, pugmarks bearing resemblance to a leopard or a jungle cat were found.
Read more... 

NEWSLINK: 'Roar' makes UP villages open defecation free

What the officials of two Uttar Pradesh districts in the arid Bundelkhand region of the state could not do despite trying their best was achieved by a 'roar'.


A tiger, which has strayed into Hamirpur and Mahoba districts in UP, about 250 kilometres from here, has ''ensured'' that more than half a dozen ''errant'' villages in the two districts become 'open defecation free' (ODF).


According to the officials, the tiger, which might have strayed from the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, was seen prowling in Kunehti and Gyoda villages in the districts. Mahoba shared borders with MP.

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Mystery cat spreads panic in Greater Noida West, hunt on for the feline

Panic gripped Greater Noida west over the spotting of a fishing cat even as the forest officials are still frantically searching for the wild cat.


The cat was said to have been sighted near JKG palm court in sector 16 C on Saturday morning. Ever since the residents of the society are living in fear. While many of them claimed that the cat’s movement was caught on a CCTV camera, footage of the same is yet to be found.

According to the residents, the wild animal had entered society at around 6 am. It was also said to have been seen by a few labourers near a location adjacent to Shani Mandir on late Friday night.


While sleuths from Bisrakh Police Station and forest officials have reached the spot in the hunt for the medium-sized cat, the residents are avoiding any movement in the society.


Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Female leopard gets trapped in fence, dies

A leopard that got trapped in a fence of a paddy field, near Golihole in Byndoor taluk, died on Saturday morning.


The big cat is said to have strayed into the human habitat in search of food.
The three-year-old female leopard was severely injured in its legs. The fence was made from iron objects, it is said. The post mortem of the leopard was conducted as per the procedure.The trapped leopard was unattended for hours together and in the struggle to get out its legs, the feline severely injured itself, sources said.

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: How advancements in DNA technology can help save the tigers

Tiger DNA expert Uma Ramakrishnan gets special permission to wander India's protected forests on foot, following the same trails the big cats tread. While she enjoys coming across tigers and their cubs and watching them with binoculars, those sightings aren't the treasure she's after. What she loves most is to find tiger droppings — "almost like gold to me," says the molecular ecologist at the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore.

Territorial tigers oblige by leaving scat regularly, as a warning to other tigers that this space is occupied. These nuggets contain genetic material that scientists like Ramakrishnan use to understand tiger populations: How many are there, and what kinds? Where did they come from, and how far do they travel?

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Animal lover raises wild pumas in her mum and dad’s house in Devon

Laura Thompson is a major cat lady – but nothing like the one you’re picturing.

The 22-year-old from Plymouth raises wild pumas in her mum and dad’s house in Devon.


Lauren started taking in orphaned wild cats when she volunteered at The Cornwall Nature Conservancy, and kept seeing kittens being rejected by their mothers.


To date, she has fostered five big cats at home, including fishing cats, servals and jaguarundi.


Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Aussies tell of frightening big cat sightings across the country

The story of black panthers secretly roaming in the bushland is a decades-old tale of Aussie folklore.


But despite being tinged with controversy and steeped in a history of conspiracy theories, the legend is flourishing, as hundreds of sightings continue being made across the country.


Big cat spotters, certain of what they’ve seen, continue to make dozens of reports of mysterious, large black cats roaming in bushland, or bounding across highways with continued frequency.

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Land of the Big Cats: China and Russia collaborate in comeback

In 2000, the Amur leopard was hurtling to extinction. There were only about 30 left in Russia, and just two in China.


Today, the picture is more hopeful. Though it remains the world's rarest big cat, there are now close to 90 living across both countries.


Siberian tigers, who have also been roaming the Russia–China border since before those nations existed, have seen a similarly impressive recovery. In the 1940s, there were as few as 40 still alive. Now there are as many as 540.


The remarkable comeback is largely due to shared work between China and Russia, cemented in February when the park administrations on both sides of the border signed a memorandum of understanding for further cooperation.

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Ecuador’s vanishing jaguars: the big cat vital to rainforest survival

Across the American continent, from the north of Mexico to Argentina, the jaguar has long been revered for its strength and power. But in some parts of Ecuador, the largest cat in South America is increasingly at risk as roads, mining and agriculture take over the rainforests.


The loss of habitat is the biggest threat to jaguars in Ecuador, particularly along the coast, where more than 70%of the original forest cover has been lost. The vast majority of this destruction has taken place over the last 50 years with the expansion of the logging and agriculture industries, including coffee, cacao, palm oil and bananas, one of the country’s largest agriculture exports.

Read more... 

NEWSLINK: Leopard spotted in Deolali Cant area

A leopard was spotted in Deolali Cantonment area late on Monday triggering fear among the residents.

“The leopard was sitting on the boundary wall of a private firm for sometime before moving away,” a local resident said.


The forest department said that this is the fifth incident of a leopard being spotted in the last few days.


“We received complaints in this connection from the residents and have deployed staff to find out the presence of the leopard,” a forest department official said.

Read more... 

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

Read more... 

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.


Read more... 

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.
Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.


Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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."

Read more... 

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

Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.
Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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.

Read more... 

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 ...