Mystery Cats

Thursday, 16 July 2015

NEWSLINK: Big cats show ringmasters ‘under attack’ in Wrexham

Anthony Beckwith, of Big Cats Live, which will come to a site off Mold Road in Wrexham tomorrow, says the company has come under fire from protesters.

He said: “Since advertisements went up to announce the arrival of our educational big cat training display coming to Wrexham, we’ve had sabotage efforts from radical animal rights group, Animal Defenders [International].”

NEWSLINK: Lion Headcount Continues After Floods Wreck Gujarat Forest

Almost a month after devastating floods in Amreli, Gujarat left 10 Asiatic lions and hundreds of wild animals dead, forest officials are still taking stock of the big cat population.

Teams of specialised trackers from the wildlife department in Amreli district are trekking through the forest areas to track down the majestic Asiatic lions.

Read more...

NEWSLINK: Tiger-trade crackdown boosts lion-bone sales

A crackdown on illegal tiger products in China has created a soaring trade in lion bones from South Africa to Asia, ecologists say.

Alleged ‘tiger’-infused wines and traditional medicines are popular in China. But when the country tightened its rules on selling parts from tigers and other Asian big cats in 2006 and 2007, it may have "inadvertently set off a chain reaction of interlinking and unexpected events" that led to the bones of African lions being exported to fill the gap in demand, according to a 16 July study. The report is published jointly by the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at the University of Oxford, UK, and the international wildlife organization TRAFFIC.

Tuesday, 14 July 2015

NEWSLINK: State justifies lifting of big cats hunting ban

Government has said the lifting of the ban on hunting big cats in Zambia is aimed at protecting the endangered species from poachers, Parliament has heard.

Tourism and Arts Minister Jean Kapata said in a ministerial statement that the resumption of hunting of big cats in Game Management Areas (GMAs) will help address challenges of human-animal conflict in rural areas.

Read more...

NEWSLINK: Extremely Endangered Snow Leopard Captured On Camera In The Himalayas

An image of the elusive snow leopard, one of the world's endangered species of big cats, was recently captured on camera in Kumaon, Himalayas, in northern India.

Officials of the Uttarakhand forest department said that the camera trap image of the animal provides the first ever documented proof of the species' presence in the Kumaon region, albeit the big feline is known to also lurk in the wilds in other areas of the state.

NEWSLINK: Police Warn Of Increased Mountain Lion Sightings

Morgan Hill police have received a spike in calls of a mountain lion sighted in the city’s southwest area within the past two weeks, a police spokesman said.

The sightings occurred near Spring and Barnell avenues near Mount Hope Cemetery, police Sgt. Ray Ramos said.

NEWSLINK: Panjo the pet Bengal tiger up for sale

Panjo the pet Bengal tiger, who shot to fame in 2010 when he escaped from his owners, is back in the spotlight, but this time his plight is far more serious.

His owners are in financial trouble and on Thursday he and 11 other big cats were sedated and loaded up to be sold.

Liquidators of the predator park wanted the cats removed as part of the settlement.

A WORD IN EXPLANATION

The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why, sometimes, you will read stories here which appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology, but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking.