http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/getFeed.kickAction?quantity=25 New blogs from BigCatChat on Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:15:06 GMT Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:15:06 GMT LaWanna.Mitchell@bigcatrescue.org (BigCatChat) LaWanna.Mitchell@bigcatrescue.org (BigCatChat) KickApps Feed Builder 2010-08-12T20:15:06Z 55 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/searchEverything.kickAction?as=23189&sortType=recent 0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Cougars-in-Corvallis-again/BLOG/2550334/23189.html Cougars in Corvallis - again! [image] A young male cougar dubbed Wilson alarmed wildlife officials in the spring of 2009 because he seemed too comfortable around humans in the neighborhood near Wilson Elementary School. Several even took photos, such as this portrait, taken in a back yard at twilight. (Contributed photo)   The Corvallis Police Department is cautioning residents to be aware of cougars in the wake of at least three recent sightings. In the past week, cougar sightings have been reported in both south and west Corvallis. Lt. Cord Wood of the Corvallis Police Department said that on Saturday, a man on an early-morning run spotted a cougar near the paved bike path along the Willamette River, north of Southeast Shoreline Drive. Wood said the cat, which didn't appear to be fully grown, ran off when it saw the person. Another sighting, reported to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife within the past week, took place in south Corvallis near the wetlands that run between Southeast Midvale Drive and Centerpointe Drive. A cougar also was reportedly seen in the area of Northwest Merrie Street, Northwest Lincoln Avenue and Northwest Fernwood Street. There have not been any reports of cougars killing or harming domestic animals or humans in the area. In spring of 2009, a young cougar was spotted several times in northwest Corvallis near Wilson Elementary School. ODFW tried to trap the cougar after it mauled a pet cat, but the traps were unsuccessful. When it seemed apparent that "Wilson" had moved farther west and was not a threat, the ODFW stopped trying to trap the cougar. Wood said the department is releasing information about the latest sightings to alert residents, not alarm them. "It's just to remind them ... those animals are out there, and they do frequent the riparian areas, like along the river and the ridge tops where the deer frequent," he said. "It's just to let people know the sightings have happened and to be aware when they're out and about recreating." If you encounter a cougar: • Remember the animals will retreat if given the opportunity. Always leave the animal a way to escape. • Stay calm and stand your ground. • Maintain direct eye contact. • Back away slowly. • Do not run. Running triggers a chase response in cougars, which could lead to an attack. • Raise your voice and speak firmly. • If the cougar seems aggressive, raise your arms to make yourself look larger and clap your hands. • In the unusual event that a cougar attacks you, fight back with rocks, sticks, tools or any other item available. Other tips for cougar safety: • Learn your neighborhood. Be aware of any wildlife corridors or places where deer or elk congregate. • Do not feed any wildlife. By attracting other wildlife you may attract a cougar. • Don't leave food or garbage outside. • Keep areas around bird feeders clean. • When hiking or camping, be aware of your surroundings at all times. Leave dogs at home or keep them leashed. Pets running free may lead a cougar back to you. Hike in groups and make noise to alert wildlife of your presence. • Keep campsites clean and sleep 100 yards from cooking areas. • Steer clear of baby wildlife. The mother is likely nearby. Report any cougar sightings to the Corvallis Police Department, 541-766-6924, or to Nancy Taylor at the Corvallis ODFW office, 541-757-4186 ext. 226. For more information regarding cougar sighting, encounters, and precautions contact Corvallis Animal Control Officer Michele Tracy at 541-766-6911. http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 22,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=ts   Copy/Pasted From "Big Cat News" blog. Cougars in Corvallis - again! [image] A young male cougar dubbed Wilson alarmed wildlife officials in the spring of 2009 because he seemed too comfortable around humans in the neighborhood near Wilson Elementary School. Several even took photos, such as this portrait, taken in a back yard at twilight. (Contributed photo)   The Corvallis Police Department is cautioning residents to be aware of cougars in the wake of at least three recent sightings. In the past week, cougar sightings have been reported in both south and west Corvallis. Lt. Cord Wood of the Corvallis Police Department said that on Saturday, a man on an early-morning run spotted a cougar near the paved bike path along the Willamette River, north of Southeast Shoreline Drive. Wood said the cat, which didn't appear to be fully grown, ran off when it saw the person. Another sighting, reported to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife within the past week, took place in south Corvallis near the wetlands that run between Southeast Midvale Drive and Centerpointe Drive. A cougar also was reportedly seen in the area of Northwest Merrie Street, Northwest Lincoln Avenue and Northwest Fernwood Street. There have not been any reports of cougars killing or harming domestic animals or humans in the area. In spring of 2009, a young cougar was spotted several times in northwest Corvallis near Wilson Elementary School. ODFW tried to trap the cougar after it mauled a pet cat, but the traps were unsuccessful. When it seemed apparent that "Wilson" had moved farther west and was not a threat, the ODFW stopped trying to trap the cougar. Wood said the department is releasing information about the latest sightings to alert residents, not alarm them. "It's just to remind them ... those animals are out there, and they do frequent the riparian areas, like along the river and the ridge tops where the deer frequent," he said. "It's just to let people know the sightings have happened and to be aware when they're out and about recreating." If you encounter a cougar: • Remember the animals will retreat if given the opportunity. Always leave the animal a way to escape. • Stay calm and stand your ground. • Maintain direct eye contact. • Back away slowly. • Do not run. Running triggers a chase response in cougars, which could lead to an attack. • Raise your voice and speak firmly. • If the cougar seems aggressive, raise your arms to make yourself look larger and clap your hands. • In the unusual event that a cougar attacks you, fight back with rocks, sticks, tools or any other item available. Other tips for cougar safety: • Learn your neighborhood. Be aware of any wildlife corridors or places where deer or elk congregate. • Do not feed any wildlife. By attracting other wildlife you may attract a cougar. • Don't leave food or garbage outside. • Keep areas around bird feeders clean. • When hiking or camping, be aware of your surroundings at all times. Leave dogs at home or keep them leashed. Pets running free may lead a cougar back to you. Hike in groups and make noise to alert wildlife of your presence. • Keep campsites clean and sleep 100 yards from cooking areas. • Steer clear of baby wildlife. The mother is likely nearby. Report any cougar sightings to the Corvallis Police Department, 541-766-6924, or to Nancy Taylor at the Corvallis ODFW office, 541-757-4186 ext. 226. For more information regarding cougar sighting, encounters, and precautions contact Corvallis Animal Control Officer Michele Tracy at 541-766-6911. http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 22,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=ts   Copy/Pasted From "Big Cat News" blog. Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:15:06 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Cougars-in-Corvallis-again/BLOG/2550334/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-12T20:15:06Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Cougars in Corvallis - again! [image] A young male cougar dubbed Wilson alarmed wildlife officials in the spring of 2009 because he seemed too comfortable around humans in the neighborhood near Wilson Elementary School. Several even took photos, such as this portrait, taken in a back yard at twilight. (Contributed photo)   The Corvallis Police Department is cautioning residents to be aware of cougars in the wake of at least three recent sightings. In the past week, cougar sightings have been reported in both south and west Corvallis. Lt. Cord Wood of the Corvallis Police Department said that on Saturday, a man on an early-morning run spotted a cougar near the paved bike path along the Willamette River, north of Southeast Shoreline Drive. Wood said the cat, which didn't appear to be fully grown, ran off when it saw the person. Another sighting, reported to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife within the past week, took place in south Corvallis near the wetlands that run between Southeast Midvale Drive and Centerpointe Drive. A cougar also was reportedly seen in the area of Northwest Merrie Street, Northwest Lincoln Avenue and Northwest Fernwood Street. There have not been any reports of cougars killing or harming domestic animals or humans in the area. In spring of 2009, a young cougar was spotted several times in northwest Corvallis near Wilson Elementary School. ODFW tried to trap the cougar after it mauled a pet cat, but the traps were unsuccessful. When it seemed apparent that "Wilson" had moved farther west and was not a threat, the ODFW stopped trying to trap the cougar. Wood said the department is releasing information about the latest sightings to alert residents, not alarm them. "It's just to remind them ... those animals are out there, and they do frequent the riparian areas, like along the river and the ridge tops where the deer frequent," he said. "It's just to let people know the sightings have happened and to be aware when they're out and about recreating." If you encounter a cougar: • Remember the animals will retreat if given the opportunity. Always leave the animal a way to escape. • Stay calm and stand your ground. • Maintain direct eye contact. • Back away slowly. • Do not run. Running triggers a chase response in cougars, which could lead to an attack. • Raise your voice and speak firmly. • If the cougar seems aggressive, raise your arms to make yourself look larger and clap your hands. • In the unusual event that a cougar attacks you, fight back with rocks, sticks, tools or any other item available. Other tips for cougar safety: • Learn your neighborhood. Be aware of any wildlife corridors or places where deer or elk congregate. • Do not feed any wildlife. By attracting other wildlife you may attract a cougar. • Don't leave food or garbage outside. • Keep areas around bird feeders clean. • When hiking or camping, be aware of your surroundings at all times. Leave dogs at home or keep them leashed. Pets running free may lead a cougar back to you. Hike in groups and make noise to alert wildlife of your presence. • Keep campsites clean and sleep 100 yards from cooking areas. • Steer clear of baby wildlife. The mother is likely nearby. Report any cougar sightings to the Corvallis Police Department, 541-766-6924, or to Nancy Taylor at the Corvallis ODFW office, 541-757-4186 ext. 226. For more information regarding cougar sighting, encounters, and precautions contact Corvallis Animal Control Officer Michele Tracy at 541-766-6911. http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 22,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=ts   Copy/Pasted From "Big Cat News" blog. big cats, cat, catamount, cats, cougar, covallis, moutain lion, panther, puma nonadult false Cougars in Corvallis - again! text blog big cats,cat,catamount,cats,cougar,covallis,moutain lion,panther,puma 44 1 5.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 1 Big Cats 0 2550334 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Highlight-of-the-Global-Tiger-Initiative/BLOG/2535185/23189.html   EIA's Weekly Blog Feature: This month the tiger team have been mostly…July 23, 2010 by eiainvestigator….gearing up for the Global Tiger Summit.It feels like we are approaching the end of a journey. This year, the Year of the Tiger, will see the highlight of the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) process with a gathering of world leaders in St. Petersburg in September. Followed by a rock concert!Launched in 2007 by the World Bank, with input from the Smithsonian Institute and the International Tiger Coalition (ITC, a group of around forty NGOs working on tigers), the idea was to use the combined weight of the tiger conservation community to bring unprecedented attention to the plight of the wild tiger, and to work with the tiger range states to achieve real progress on protecting habitats, stopping illegal trade, reducing demand for tiger parts and closing down tiger farms.Since then there have been numerous meetings and declarations – Kathmandu in October 2009, Hua Hin in Thailand in January 2010 and just a week or so ago in Bali, Indonesia.EIA was there in Kathmandu, reminding the delegates of the truth about the tiger trade and the undignified end to many tigers' lives; as a decorative rug for some corrupt and/or wealthy Chinese officials. At least in the context of ending the tiger trade, we felt that we had got some strong statements of intent from the governments. Sadly, that appears to have been watered down through the successive meetings.Somehow we have to make this Year of the Tiger different; we have to make all the talk count. EIA's been around the block, been around for the two previous Years of the Tiger. All the promises being made at these meetings… we've heard them all before. So yes, we're a touch frustrated.Tiger range and consumer countries have had years to start sharing intelligence on wildlife crime, close down markets or shut their tiger farms and they have so far failed to do so. Local issues of land rights, eco-development and resettlements are too complex to be solved at high level summits, and there is little new on the table in any case.But hey, if the governments had just got on with it and fulfilled the promises made in 1998, we'd have a lot more confidence in their words. We're left with no choice but to question what it is they will do at this Summit that will turn world leaders into heroes?What is new is the scale of money being discussed, in some cases billions of dollars over the next twenty years. This is welcome, as for too long conservation has been forced to operate on the cheap, with budgets that would be laughable in most other sectors (the conservation spend in India for example is significantly smaller than the country's chewing gum market).The question is where will this money come from? In some cases, the rapidly growing economies of the Asian giants may have enough to spare. Though China flip-flops between declaring itself a developing country and an economic powerhouse. There is however increasing focus on what are described as 'innovative' forms of financing – ecosystem services, carbon storage, reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).We can all agree that we need to find ways of paying for forests and habitats, and to maintain them as carbon sinks but extending a nascent carbon market to forests is fraught with danger. Rampant corruption has already been seen in other carbon markets, and allowing industrial polluters to offset their emissions by paying to protect a tiger habitat that would and should have been protected anyway seems wrong. There is also the danger of commercialising something that was formerly a common good. We will have to wait and see.The output from last week's meeting in Bali has resulted in a rash of frantic phone calls and emails with fellow conservationists about what we can do as NGOs to help make sure the Summit marks not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a new era of meaningful action, for tigers and for the planet.As the summit in Russia draws nearer, EIA, its partners and its friends will continue to churn out briefing documents, position statements, letters of appeal, everything we can to push for the best possible outcome for tigers. We'll be calling for better enforcement, intelligence exchange, the involvement of official agencies like INTERPOL and UNODC and cross-border cooperation. We will keep pushing too for an end to the farming of tigers for their parts, an idea that continues to rumble away. As we have said time and time again – the tools are largely there to do this, it just takes political will. In the meantime tigers continue to be poached, forests continue to be destroyed and we all lose something.http://eiainvestigator.wordpress.com/2010/07/23/wb_4_tigers/For the cats,Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescuean Educational Sanctuary hometo more than 100 big cats12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625813.493.4564 fax 885.4457Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.orghttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgCaring for cats - Ending the tradeJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=tsTwitter:  Follow Me and get a free wild cat screen saver or ecard account @BigCatRescue   EIA's Weekly Blog Feature: This month the tiger team have been mostly…July 23, 2010 by eiainvestigator….gearing up for the Global Tiger Summit.It feels like we are approaching the end of a journey. This year, the Year of the Tiger, will see the highlight of the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) process with a gathering of world leaders in St. Petersburg in September. Followed by a rock concert!Launched in 2007 by the World Bank, with input from the Smithsonian Institute and the International Tiger Coalition (ITC, a group of around forty NGOs working on tigers), the idea was to use the combined weight of the tiger conservation community to bring unprecedented attention to the plight of the wild tiger, and to work with the tiger range states to achieve real progress on protecting habitats, stopping illegal trade, reducing demand for tiger parts and closing down tiger farms.Since then there have been numerous meetings and declarations – Kathmandu in October 2009, Hua Hin in Thailand in January 2010 and just a week or so ago in Bali, Indonesia.EIA was there in Kathmandu, reminding the delegates of the truth about the tiger trade and the undignified end to many tigers' lives; as a decorative rug for some corrupt and/or wealthy Chinese officials. At least in the context of ending the tiger trade, we felt that we had got some strong statements of intent from the governments. Sadly, that appears to have been watered down through the successive meetings.Somehow we have to make this Year of the Tiger different; we have to make all the talk count. EIA's been around the block, been around for the two previous Years of the Tiger. All the promises being made at these meetings… we've heard them all before. So yes, we're a touch frustrated.Tiger range and consumer countries have had years to start sharing intelligence on wildlife crime, close down markets or shut their tiger farms and they have so far failed to do so. Local issues of land rights, eco-development and resettlements are too complex to be solved at high level summits, and there is little new on the table in any case.But hey, if the governments had just got on with it and fulfilled the promises made in 1998, we'd have a lot more confidence in their words. We're left with no choice but to question what it is they will do at this Summit that will turn world leaders into heroes?What is new is the scale of money being discussed, in some cases billions of dollars over the next twenty years. This is welcome, as for too long conservation has been forced to operate on the cheap, with budgets that would be laughable in most other sectors (the conservation spend in India for example is significantly smaller than the country's chewing gum market).The question is where will this money come from? In some cases, the rapidly growing economies of the Asian giants may have enough to spare. Though China flip-flops between declaring itself a developing country and an economic powerhouse. There is however increasing focus on what are described as 'innovative' forms of financing – ecosystem services, carbon storage, reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).We can all agree that we need to find ways of paying for forests and habitats, and to maintain them as carbon sinks but extending a nascent carbon market to forests is fraught with danger. Rampant corruption has already been seen in other carbon markets, and allowing industrial polluters to offset their emissions by paying to protect a tiger habitat that would and should have been protected anyway seems wrong. There is also the danger of commercialising something that was formerly a common good. We will have to wait and see.The output from last week's meeting in Bali has resulted in a rash of frantic phone calls and emails with fellow conservationists about what we can do as NGOs to help make sure the Summit marks not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a new era of meaningful action, for tigers and for the planet.As the summit in Russia draws nearer, EIA, its partners and its friends will continue to churn out briefing documents, position statements, letters of appeal, everything we can to push for the best possible outcome for tigers. We'll be calling for better enforcement, intelligence exchange, the involvement of official agencies like INTERPOL and UNODC and cross-border cooperation. We will keep pushing too for an end to the farming of tigers for their parts, an idea that continues to rumble away. As we have said time and time again – the tools are largely there to do this, it just takes political will. In the meantime tigers continue to be poached, forests continue to be destroyed and we all lose something.http://eiainvestigator.wordpress.com/2010/07/23/wb_4_tigers/For the cats,Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescuean Educational Sanctuary hometo more than 100 big cats12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625813.493.4564 fax 885.4457Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.orghttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgCaring for cats - Ending the tradeJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=tsTwitter:  Follow Me and get a free wild cat screen saver or ecard account @BigCatRescue Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:18:09 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Highlight-of-the-Global-Tiger-Initiative/BLOG/2535185/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T14:18:09Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too   EIA's Weekly Blog Feature: This month the tiger team have been mostly…July 23, 2010 by eiainvestigator….gearing up for the Global Tiger Summit.It feels like we are approaching the end of a journey. This year, the Year of the Tiger, will see the highlight of the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) process with a gathering of world leaders in St. Petersburg in September. Followed by a rock concert!Launched in 2007 by the World Bank, with input from the Smithsonian Institute and the International Tiger Coalition (ITC, a group of around forty NGOs working on tigers), the idea was to use the combined weight of the tiger conservation community to bring unprecedented attention to the plight of the wild tiger, and to work with the tiger range states to achieve real progress on protecting habitats, stopping illegal trade, reducing demand for tiger parts and closing down tiger farms.Since then there have been numerous meetings and declarations – Kathmandu in October 2009, Hua Hin in Thailand in January 2010 and just a week or so ago in Bali, Indonesia.EIA was there in Kathmandu, reminding the delegates of the truth about the tiger trade and the undignified end to many tigers' lives; as a decorative rug for some corrupt and/or wealthy Chinese officials. At least in the context of ending the tiger trade, we felt that we had got some strong statements of intent from the governments. Sadly, that appears to have been watered down through the successive meetings.Somehow we have to make this Year of the Tiger different; we have to make all the talk count. EIA's been around the block, been around for the two previous Years of the Tiger. All the promises being made at these meetings… we've heard them all before. So yes, we're a touch frustrated.Tiger range and consumer countries have had years to start sharing intelligence on wildlife crime, close down markets or shut their tiger farms and they have so far failed to do so. Local issues of land rights, eco-development and resettlements are too complex to be solved at high level summits, and there is little new on the table in any case.But hey, if the governments had just got on with it and fulfilled the promises made in 1998, we'd have a lot more confidence in their words. We're left with no choice but to question what it is they will do at this Summit that will turn world leaders into heroes?What is new is the scale of money being discussed, in some cases billions of dollars over the next twenty years. This is welcome, as for too long conservation has been forced to operate on the cheap, with budgets that would be laughable in most other sectors (the conservation spend in India for example is significantly smaller than the country's chewing gum market).The question is where will this money come from? In some cases, the rapidly growing economies of the Asian giants may have enough to spare. Though China flip-flops between declaring itself a developing country and an economic powerhouse. There is however increasing focus on what are described as 'innovative' forms of financing – ecosystem services, carbon storage, reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).We can all agree that we need to find ways of paying for forests and habitats, and to maintain them as carbon sinks but extending a nascent carbon market to forests is fraught with danger. Rampant corruption has already been seen in other carbon markets, and allowing industrial polluters to offset their emissions by paying to protect a tiger habitat that would and should have been protected anyway seems wrong. There is also the danger of commercialising something that was formerly a common good. We will have to wait and see.The output from last week's meeting in Bali has resulted in a rash of frantic phone calls and emails with fellow conservationists about what we can do as NGOs to help make sure the Summit marks not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a new era of meaningful action, for tigers and for the planet.As the summit in Russia draws nearer, EIA, its partners and its friends will continue to churn out briefing documents, position statements, letters of appeal, everything we can to push for the best possible outcome for tigers. We'll be calling for better enforcement, intelligence exchange, the involvement of official agencies like INTERPOL and UNODC and cross-border cooperation. We will keep pushing too for an end to the farming of tigers for their parts, an idea that continues to rumble away. As we have said time and time again – the tools are largely there to do this, it just takes political will. In the meantime tigers continue to be poached, forests continue to be destroyed and we all lose something.http://eiainvestigator.wordpress.com/2010/07/23/wb_4_tigers/For the cats,Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescuean Educational Sanctuary hometo more than 100 big cats12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625813.493.4564 fax 885.4457Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.orghttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgCaring for cats - Ending the tradeJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=tsTwitter:  Follow Me and get a free wild cat screen saver or ecard account @BigCatRescue big cats nonadult false Highlight of the Global Tiger Initiative text blog big cats 59 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535185 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Nat-Geo-Wild-Inside-Story-on-Hope-the-Baby-Bobcat-Rehab-and-Release/BLOG/2535184/23189.html In this article by Jodi Kendall are some great photos of Hope the bobcat and her adoptive domestic cat family that have never been seen before.Photo Credits: Big Cat RescueRead more: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/wild/community/blogs/inside-wild?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&UID=a012510e-33b9-4c7e-b708-b747ec4dd594&plckPostId=Blog%3aa012510e-33b9-4c7e-b708-b747ec4dd594Post%3adf335e78-4345-4dbd-a53d-ac9b11fc66cb&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDestFor the cats,Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescuean Educational Sanctuary hometo more than 100 big cats12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625813.493.4564 fax 885.4457Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.orghttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgCaring for cats - Ending the tradeJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=tsTwitter:  Follow Me and get a free wild cat screen saver or ecard account @BigCatRescue In this article by Jodi Kendall are some great photos of Hope the bobcat and her adoptive domestic cat family that have never been seen before.Photo Credits: Big Cat RescueRead more: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/wild/community/blogs/inside-wild?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&UID=a012510e-33b9-4c7e-b708-b747ec4dd594&plckPostId=Blog%3aa012510e-33b9-4c7e-b708-b747ec4dd594Post%3adf335e78-4345-4dbd-a53d-ac9b11fc66cb&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDestFor the cats,Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescuean Educational Sanctuary hometo more than 100 big cats12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625813.493.4564 fax 885.4457Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.orghttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgCaring for cats - Ending the tradeJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=tsTwitter:  Follow Me and get a free wild cat screen saver or ecard account @BigCatRescue Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:16:59 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Nat-Geo-Wild-Inside-Story-on-Hope-the-Baby-Bobcat-Rehab-and-Release/BLOG/2535184/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T14:16:59Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too In this article by Jodi Kendall are some great photos of Hope the bobcat and her adoptive domestic cat family that have never been seen before.Photo Credits: Big Cat RescueRead more: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/wild/community/blogs/inside-wild?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&UID=a012510e-33b9-4c7e-b708-b747ec4dd594&plckPostId=Blog%3aa012510e-33b9-4c7e-b708-b747ec4dd594Post%3adf335e78-4345-4dbd-a53d-ac9b11fc66cb&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDestFor the cats,Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescuean Educational Sanctuary hometo more than 100 big cats12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625813.493.4564 fax 885.4457Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.orghttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgCaring for cats - Ending the tradeJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=tsTwitter:  Follow Me and get a free wild cat screen saver or ecard account @BigCatRescue big cats nonadult false Nat Geo Wild Inside Story on Hope the Baby Bobcat Rehab and Release text blog big cats 54 1 5.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 1 Big Cats 0 2535184 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Davis-County-Fair-organizers-Despite-protests-by-Big-Cat-Rescuers-the-GW-Exotics-Tiger-show-will-go-on/BLOG/2535182/23189.html FARMINGTON -- For the most part, the flood of e-mails has stopped coming to Davis County Fair organizers and the show will go on. Last week, Davis County officials were overwhelmed with thousands of e-mails after a Florida-based animal-rights organization initiated a protest over the primary attraction at next month's fair. "My boss got them, I got them, a guy who used to work here got them, even one of my sponsors," said Megan Hatch, the Davis County fair coordinator. The online protest centers on Davis County's booking of an exotic-animal show -- lions and tigers -- for the fair, which runs Aug. 18-21 at Legacy Events Center. The organization Big Cat Rescue, a nonprofit educational sanctuary in Tampa, Fla., on July 19 asked its online supporters to protest the use of big cats. "If you were to commit to not bringing a big cat act this year or ever again, we could give you a LOT of great publicity for doing the right thing," Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue, wrote in a recent e-mail to Hatch and the Standard-Examiner. Baskin believes that 20,000 protest letters were sent online to public officials, fair organizers and others. County officials said they could not confirm how many letters they received but estimated it was more than 2,000. "Almost everybody we had contact with was not from Utah," said John Petroff, the Davis County commissioner who oversees the fair. Petroff said most of the e-mails were written in one of four form letters. Fair organizers had originally hired a Texas-based animal show that eventually withdrew from its contract. An Oklahoma-based company is the potential replacement show. It is titled "Welch's Tiger Experience" and is one of the main attractions for the 2010 fair. Baskin and her supporters argue the exotic-animal industry is a "big cat mill" that overproduces animals and later, when their short show life is over, crams them into sanctuaries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency that inspects sanctuaries and animal shows, called Davis County after the federal agency began to receive the same e-mails about the shows, said David Hansen, Legacy Events Center director. Hansen said a discussion with the USDA about the new show provider and its inspection history left him comfortable to proceed. "Our goal is just to entertain the people who come out there," said Petroff, who met Wednesday with the Davis County Fair Board. The sponsor of the show, "Yes!" Utah, also was contacted by a protester, but chose to stick with the sponsorship. "We are just trying to get a message out to save lives through organ donation, and the Davis fair seems like a good outlet for that," said Alex McDonald, director of public education for "Yes!" Utah. "Yes!" Utah is the federally designated nonprofit organ-procurement organization operated by Intermountain Donor Services. Hatch said it would not be a surprise if animal-rights protesters show up at the fair. http://www.standard.net/topics/davis-county-commission/2010/07/29/davis-county-fair-organizers-despite-protests-show-will-goFor the cats,Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescuean Educational Sanctuary hometo more than 100 big cats12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625813.493.4564 fax 885.4457Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.orghttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgCaring for cats - Ending the tradeJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=tsTwitter:  Follow Me and get a free wild cat screen saver or ecard account @BigCatRescue Posted by BigCatRescue at 9:55 AM FARMINGTON -- For the most part, the flood of e-mails has stopped coming to Davis County Fair organizers and the show will go on. Last week, Davis County officials were overwhelmed with thousands of e-mails after a Florida-based animal-rights organization initiated a protest over the primary attraction at next month's fair. "My boss got them, I got them, a guy who used to work here got them, even one of my sponsors," said Megan Hatch, the Davis County fair coordinator. The online protest centers on Davis County's booking of an exotic-animal show -- lions and tigers -- for the fair, which runs Aug. 18-21 at Legacy Events Center. The organization Big Cat Rescue, a nonprofit educational sanctuary in Tampa, Fla., on July 19 asked its online supporters to protest the use of big cats. "If you were to commit to not bringing a big cat act this year or ever again, we could give you a LOT of great publicity for doing the right thing," Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue, wrote in a recent e-mail to Hatch and the Standard-Examiner. Baskin believes that 20,000 protest letters were sent online to public officials, fair organizers and others. County officials said they could not confirm how many letters they received but estimated it was more than 2,000. "Almost everybody we had contact with was not from Utah," said John Petroff, the Davis County commissioner who oversees the fair. Petroff said most of the e-mails were written in one of four form letters. Fair organizers had originally hired a Texas-based animal show that eventually withdrew from its contract. An Oklahoma-based company is the potential replacement show. It is titled "Welch's Tiger Experience" and is one of the main attractions for the 2010 fair. Baskin and her supporters argue the exotic-animal industry is a "big cat mill" that overproduces animals and later, when their short show life is over, crams them into sanctuaries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency that inspects sanctuaries and animal shows, called Davis County after the federal agency began to receive the same e-mails about the shows, said David Hansen, Legacy Events Center director. Hansen said a discussion with the USDA about the new show provider and its inspection history left him comfortable to proceed. "Our goal is just to entertain the people who come out there," said Petroff, who met Wednesday with the Davis County Fair Board. The sponsor of the show, "Yes!" Utah, also was contacted by a protester, but chose to stick with the sponsorship. "We are just trying to get a message out to save lives through organ donation, and the Davis fair seems like a good outlet for that," said Alex McDonald, director of public education for "Yes!" Utah. "Yes!" Utah is the federally designated nonprofit organ-procurement organization operated by Intermountain Donor Services. Hatch said it would not be a surprise if animal-rights protesters show up at the fair. http://www.standard.net/topics/davis-county-commission/2010/07/29/davis-county-fair-organizers-despite-protests-show-will-goFor the cats,Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescuean Educational Sanctuary hometo more than 100 big cats12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625813.493.4564 fax 885.4457Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.orghttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgCaring for cats - Ending the tradeJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=tsTwitter:  Follow Me and get a free wild cat screen saver or ecard account @BigCatRescue Posted by BigCatRescue at 9:55 AM Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:15:43 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Davis-County-Fair-organizers-Despite-protests-by-Big-Cat-Rescuers-the-GW-Exotics-Tiger-show-will-go-on/BLOG/2535182/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T14:15:43Z Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too FARMINGTON -- For the most part, the flood of e-mails has stopped coming to Davis County Fair organizers and the show will go on. Last week, Davis County officials were overwhelmed with thousands of e-mails after a Florida-based animal-rights organization initiated a protest over the primary attraction at next month's fair. "My boss got them, I got them, a guy who used to work here got them, even one of my sponsors," said Megan Hatch, the Davis County fair coordinator. The online protest centers on Davis County's booking of an exotic-animal show -- lions and tigers -- for the fair, which runs Aug. 18-21 at Legacy Events Center. The organization Big Cat Rescue, a nonprofit educational sanctuary in Tampa, Fla., on July 19 asked its online supporters to protest the use of big cats. "If you were to commit to not bringing a big cat act this year or ever again, we could give you a LOT of great publicity for doing the right thing," Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue, wrote in a recent e-mail to Hatch and the Standard-Examiner. Baskin believes that 20,000 protest letters were sent online to public officials, fair organizers and others. County officials said they could not confirm how many letters they received but estimated it was more than 2,000. "Almost everybody we had contact with was not from Utah," said John Petroff, the Davis County commissioner who oversees the fair. Petroff said most of the e-mails were written in one of four form letters. Fair organizers had originally hired a Texas-based animal show that eventually withdrew from its contract. An Oklahoma-based company is the potential replacement show. It is titled "Welch's Tiger Experience" and is one of the main attractions for the 2010 fair. Baskin and her supporters argue the exotic-animal industry is a "big cat mill" that overproduces animals and later, when their short show life is over, crams them into sanctuaries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency that inspects sanctuaries and animal shows, called Davis County after the federal agency began to receive the same e-mails about the shows, said David Hansen, Legacy Events Center director. Hansen said a discussion with the USDA about the new show provider and its inspection history left him comfortable to proceed. "Our goal is just to entertain the people who come out there," said Petroff, who met Wednesday with the Davis County Fair Board. The sponsor of the show, "Yes!" Utah, also was contacted by a protester, but chose to stick with the sponsorship. "We are just trying to get a message out to save lives through organ donation, and the Davis fair seems like a good outlet for that," said Alex McDonald, director of public education for "Yes!" Utah. "Yes!" Utah is the federally designated nonprofit organ-procurement organization operated by Intermountain Donor Services. Hatch said it would not be a surprise if animal-rights protesters show up at the fair. http://www.standard.net/topics/davis-county-commission/2010/07/29/davis-county-fair-organizers-despite-protests-show-will-goFor the cats,Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescuean Educational Sanctuary hometo more than 100 big cats12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625813.493.4564 fax 885.4457Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.orghttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgCaring for cats - Ending the tradeJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=tsTwitter:  Follow Me and get a free wild cat screen saver or ecard account @BigCatRescue Posted by BigCatRescue at 9:55 AM nonadult false Davis County Fair organizers: Despite protests by Big Cat Rescuers, the GW Exotics Tiger show will go on text blog 51 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 0 2535182 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Wild-Cat-Populations-Declining/BLOG/2535180/23189.html In a shocking new publication "Fading Call of the Wild" coauthored by wildlife researchers around the globe, studies show 80% of the world's feline populations are in trouble. Nearly all are experiencing population declines and some are in immediate danger of going extinct. Although the report focuses primarily on the "big cats" such as African lions and tigers, numerous United States legislators have signed on to a related act that would help protect these rare keystone species. The publication's foreword points out top predators "maintain healthy functioning places, and their absence negatively affects wildlife and people. Not only would losing these species have drastic ecological impacts, I believe their loss will impact us in ways we aren't even able to yet articulate." Hopefully this report and surrounding discussions will help promote the conservation of our own struggling American lion....Mountain Lion FoundationNew Report Shows Sharp Declines in Populations of Wild Cats and DogsData from the Field Signals More Species Facing Extinction; Congressional Action Could Ensure Animals Are Not Lost ForeverWASHINGTON, July 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Fading Call of the Wild, a report released today by the world's leading wildlife conservation organizations, details the increasing threats and plunging populations of big cats and rare canids living in the wild. Faced with a striking loss of habitat and prey due to over-development of land and direct killing by poachers and others who see them as a threat, wild cats such as lions, cheetahs and snow leopards, and wild dogs like the Ethiopia wolf and bush dog face an uncertain future. Eighty percent of all wild cat species are experiencing population declines, as are 25 percent of wild canids - the family of foxes, wolves and wild dogs. The report looks beyond the raw numbers and delves into the plight of 15 of these species that are considered ecologically vital, detailing their current numbers in the wild, changes to the population in the last ten years, and conservation solutions for improving their status. The 15 species were chosen because they are considered umbrella species that, if conserved appropriately, protect their corresponding landscapes and other species dependent on those ecosystems. A snapshot of the report's findings include:* A century ago there were as many as 200,000 lions living in Africa, today there are fewer than 30,000. Lions are now extinct from 26 countries that they formerly occupied. The single greatest threat to lions is killing by people who own livestock. Herders and ranchers shoot, trap and poison lions across their range.* There are fewer than 500 Darwin's Fox living today. The animal are found only in Chile and their restricted distribution makes them highly vulnerable to extinction. The gentle and curious canids are not fearful of people which contributes to their endangerment, however timber exploration and land development are the two biggest factors that have pushed the animals to the brink.* There are fewer than 7,000 snow leopards in the wild today. Snow leopard poaching is rampant with their bones and hides frequently confiscated in illegal shipments of wildlife parts bound for markets in China and throughout Asia.* Fewer than 500 Ethiopian wolves remain with more than half found in the Bale Mountains. The highly social animals live in packs which makes them especially vulnerable when their populations decrease. Entire packs are wiped out by rabies outbreaks, while those that survive face rapid loss of habitat.* One of the most ecologically and genetically unique animals, African wild dogs exist in less than seven percent of their historic range, and are extinct in 22 countries that they formerly inhabited. Accidental snaring and rabies have decimated populations throughout Africa, and fewer than 8,000 of the animals remain.The report calls for increasing conservation resources and swift policy changes, specifically passage of the Great Cats and Rare Canids Conservation Act that would provide conservation assistance to the 15 species highlighted in the Fading Call of the Wild report. "Great cats and rare canids are currently suffering from a variety of threats and the positive impact from their protection will no doubt benefit them and many other species," said Jeff Flocken, DC Office Director, IFAW. "The Great Cats and Rare Canids Conservation Act offers viable and valuable methods to ensure a safe future for these majestic animals."First introduced in July 2004, and set to expire this year unless the Senate takes action, the measure would provide wild cats and canids the same type of conservation assistance presently supporting tigers, great apes, elephants, sea turtles and other iconic species through the Multinational Species Conservation Funds, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The funds were designed to conserve species deemed by Americans to be of special global value, but simultaneously endangered with extinction.Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are leading the charge to usher the bill through their chamber this Congress. The House passed the measure in April 2009 with a two-thirds majority and bi-partisan support led by Reps. Jay Inslee (WA-01), Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) and the International Conservation Caucus. The Act is supported by more than 80 scientific, animal welfare, conservation, outdoor recreation organizations, zoos and aquariums.Actress Glenn Close contributed the foreword for the report and noted, "Whether it is the iconic African lion or the shy Darwin's fox, these animals hold an important place in the landscapes they occupy. They are all ecosystem guardians. As predators, they maintain healthy functioning places, and their absence negatively affects wildlife and people. Not only would losing these species have drastic ecological and economic impacts, I believe their loss will impact us in ways we aren't event able to yet articulate." The report was authored by Panthera, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, in cooperation with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Canids and Cats Specialists Groups. A copy of the report can be found here. SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfarehttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=ts Posted by bigcatadvocat at 9:15 PM  [image] In a shocking new publication "Fading Call of the Wild" coauthored by wildlife researchers around the globe, studies show 80% of the world's feline populations are in trouble. Nearly all are experiencing population declines and some are in immediate danger of going extinct. Although the report focuses primarily on the "big cats" such as African lions and tigers, numerous United States legislators have signed on to a related act that would help protect these rare keystone species. The publication's foreword points out top predators "maintain healthy functioning places, and their absence negatively affects wildlife and people. Not only would losing these species have drastic ecological impacts, I believe their loss will impact us in ways we aren't even able to yet articulate." Hopefully this report and surrounding discussions will help promote the conservation of our own struggling American lion....Mountain Lion FoundationNew Report Shows Sharp Declines in Populations of Wild Cats and DogsData from the Field Signals More Species Facing Extinction; Congressional Action Could Ensure Animals Are Not Lost ForeverWASHINGTON, July 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Fading Call of the Wild, a report released today by the world's leading wildlife conservation organizations, details the increasing threats and plunging populations of big cats and rare canids living in the wild. Faced with a striking loss of habitat and prey due to over-development of land and direct killing by poachers and others who see them as a threat, wild cats such as lions, cheetahs and snow leopards, and wild dogs like the Ethiopia wolf and bush dog face an uncertain future. Eighty percent of all wild cat species are experiencing population declines, as are 25 percent of wild canids - the family of foxes, wolves and wild dogs. The report looks beyond the raw numbers and delves into the plight of 15 of these species that are considered ecologically vital, detailing their current numbers in the wild, changes to the population in the last ten years, and conservation solutions for improving their status. The 15 species were chosen because they are considered umbrella species that, if conserved appropriately, protect their corresponding landscapes and other species dependent on those ecosystems. A snapshot of the report's findings include:* A century ago there were as many as 200,000 lions living in Africa, today there are fewer than 30,000. Lions are now extinct from 26 countries that they formerly occupied. The single greatest threat to lions is killing by people who own livestock. Herders and ranchers shoot, trap and poison lions across their range.* There are fewer than 500 Darwin's Fox living today. The animal are found only in Chile and their restricted distribution makes them highly vulnerable to extinction. The gentle and curious canids are not fearful of people which contributes to their endangerment, however timber exploration and land development are the two biggest factors that have pushed the animals to the brink.* There are fewer than 7,000 snow leopards in the wild today. Snow leopard poaching is rampant with their bones and hides frequently confiscated in illegal shipments of wildlife parts bound for markets in China and throughout Asia.* Fewer than 500 Ethiopian wolves remain with more than half found in the Bale Mountains. The highly social animals live in packs which makes them especially vulnerable when their populations decrease. Entire packs are wiped out by rabies outbreaks, while those that survive face rapid loss of habitat.* One of the most ecologically and genetically unique animals, African wild dogs exist in less than seven percent of their historic range, and are extinct in 22 countries that they formerly inhabited. Accidental snaring and rabies have decimated populations throughout Africa, and fewer than 8,000 of the animals remain.The report calls for increasing conservation resources and swift policy changes, specifically passage of the Great Cats and Rare Canids Conservation Act that would provide conservation assistance to the 15 species highlighted in the Fading Call of the Wild report. "Great cats and rare canids are currently suffering from a variety of threats and the positive impact from their protection will no doubt benefit them and many other species," said Jeff Flocken, DC Office Director, IFAW. "The Great Cats and Rare Canids Conservation Act offers viable and valuable methods to ensure a safe future for these majestic animals."First introduced in July 2004, and set to expire this year unless the Senate takes action, the measure would provide wild cats and canids the same type of conservation assistance presently supporting tigers, great apes, elephants, sea turtles and other iconic species through the Multinational Species Conservation Funds, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The funds were designed to conserve species deemed by Americans to be of special global value, but simultaneously endangered with extinction.Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are leading the charge to usher the bill through their chamber this Congress. The House passed the measure in April 2009 with a two-thirds majority and bi-partisan support led by Reps. Jay Inslee (WA-01), Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) and the International Conservation Caucus. The Act is supported by more than 80 scientific, animal welfare, conservation, outdoor recreation organizations, zoos and aquariums.Actress Glenn Close contributed the foreword for the report and noted, "Whether it is the iconic African lion or the shy Darwin's fox, these animals hold an important place in the landscapes they occupy. They are all ecosystem guardians. As predators, they maintain healthy functioning places, and their absence negatively affects wildlife and people. Not only would losing these species have drastic ecological and economic impacts, I believe their loss will impact us in ways we aren't event able to yet articulate." The report was authored by Panthera, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, in cooperation with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Canids and Cats Specialists Groups. A copy of the report can be found here. SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfarehttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=ts Posted by bigcatadvocat at 9:15 PM  [image] Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:14:20 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Wild-Cat-Populations-Declining/BLOG/2535180/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T14:14:20Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too In a shocking new publication "Fading Call of the Wild" coauthored by wildlife researchers around the globe, studies show 80% of the world's feline populations are in trouble. Nearly all are experiencing population declines and some are in immediate danger of going extinct. Although the report focuses primarily on the "big cats" such as African lions and tigers, numerous United States legislators have signed on to a related act that would help protect these rare keystone species. The publication's foreword points out top predators "maintain healthy functioning places, and their absence negatively affects wildlife and people. Not only would losing these species have drastic ecological impacts, I believe their loss will impact us in ways we aren't even able to yet articulate." Hopefully this report and surrounding discussions will help promote the conservation of our own struggling American lion....Mountain Lion FoundationNew Report Shows Sharp Declines in Populations of Wild Cats and DogsData from the Field Signals More Species Facing Extinction; Congressional Action Could Ensure Animals Are Not Lost ForeverWASHINGTON, July 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Fading Call of the Wild, a report released today by the world's leading wildlife conservation organizations, details the increasing threats and plunging populations of big cats and rare canids living in the wild. Faced with a striking loss of habitat and prey due to over-development of land and direct killing by poachers and others who see them as a threat, wild cats such as lions, cheetahs and snow leopards, and wild dogs like the Ethiopia wolf and bush dog face an uncertain future. Eighty percent of all wild cat species are experiencing population declines, as are 25 percent of wild canids - the family of foxes, wolves and wild dogs. The report looks beyond the raw numbers and delves into the plight of 15 of these species that are considered ecologically vital, detailing their current numbers in the wild, changes to the population in the last ten years, and conservation solutions for improving their status. The 15 species were chosen because they are considered umbrella species that, if conserved appropriately, protect their corresponding landscapes and other species dependent on those ecosystems. A snapshot of the report's findings include:* A century ago there were as many as 200,000 lions living in Africa, today there are fewer than 30,000. Lions are now extinct from 26 countries that they formerly occupied. The single greatest threat to lions is killing by people who own livestock. Herders and ranchers shoot, trap and poison lions across their range.* There are fewer than 500 Darwin's Fox living today. The animal are found only in Chile and their restricted distribution makes them highly vulnerable to extinction. The gentle and curious canids are not fearful of people which contributes to their endangerment, however timber exploration and land development are the two biggest factors that have pushed the animals to the brink.* There are fewer than 7,000 snow leopards in the wild today. Snow leopard poaching is rampant with their bones and hides frequently confiscated in illegal shipments of wildlife parts bound for markets in China and throughout Asia.* Fewer than 500 Ethiopian wolves remain with more than half found in the Bale Mountains. The highly social animals live in packs which makes them especially vulnerable when their populations decrease. Entire packs are wiped out by rabies outbreaks, while those that survive face rapid loss of habitat.* One of the most ecologically and genetically unique animals, African wild dogs exist in less than seven percent of their historic range, and are extinct in 22 countries that they formerly inhabited. Accidental snaring and rabies have decimated populations throughout Africa, and fewer than 8,000 of the animals remain.The report calls for increasing conservation resources and swift policy changes, specifically passage of the Great Cats and Rare Canids Conservation Act that would provide conservation assistance to the 15 species highlighted in the Fading Call of the Wild report. "Great cats and rare canids are currently suffering from a variety of threats and the positive impact from their protection will no doubt benefit them and many other species," said Jeff Flocken, DC Office Director, IFAW. "The Great Cats and Rare Canids Conservation Act offers viable and valuable methods to ensure a safe future for these majestic animals."First introduced in July 2004, and set to expire this year unless the Senate takes action, the measure would provide wild cats and canids the same type of conservation assistance presently supporting tigers, great apes, elephants, sea turtles and other iconic species through the Multinational Species Conservation Funds, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The funds were designed to conserve species deemed by Americans to be of special global value, but simultaneously endangered with extinction.Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are leading the charge to usher the bill through their chamber this Congress. The House passed the measure in April 2009 with a two-thirds majority and bi-partisan support led by Reps. Jay Inslee (WA-01), Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) and the International Conservation Caucus. The Act is supported by more than 80 scientific, animal welfare, conservation, outdoor recreation organizations, zoos and aquariums.Actress Glenn Close contributed the foreword for the report and noted, "Whether it is the iconic African lion or the shy Darwin's fox, these animals hold an important place in the landscapes they occupy. They are all ecosystem guardians. As predators, they maintain healthy functioning places, and their absence negatively affects wildlife and people. Not only would losing these species have drastic ecological and economic impacts, I believe their loss will impact us in ways we aren't event able to yet articulate." The report was authored by Panthera, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, in cooperation with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Canids and Cats Specialists Groups. A copy of the report can be found here. SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfarehttp://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=ts Posted by bigcatadvocat at 9:15 PM  [image] big cats nonadult false Wild Cat Populations Declining text blog big cats 65 1 5.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 2 Big Cats 0 2535180 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_S-African-tiger-caught-after-2-days-on-the-run/BLOG/2535174/23189.html S. African tiger caught after 2 days on the runBy MIA SNYMAN (AP) – July 29.2010JOHANNESBURG — The escaped Bengal tiger who captured headlines across South Africa has been found and returned home after a 2-day search, hungry and worse for the wear after a jump from the back of a moving truck, the tiger's owners said Thursday.The owners of Panjo, a full-grown tiger, say tracker dogs found the cat's scent late Wednesday in bush woodlands about 70 kilometers (40 miles) south of Johannesburg. The tiger was slightly hurt, evidently from jumping from a moving truck when it escaped Tuesday, an animal welfare group said.Police had warned residents of the neighborhood not to approach Panjo, though the owners said it was tame and had been hand-raised from a cub. The hunt attracted widespread publicity in South Africa where tigers are not a native species.The tiger appeared not to have eaten since its escape. The captors offered it raw meat and milk to attract it toward them to put on a harness."We felt relieved and very glad to see that Panjo was safe and sound and that no one harmed him," said Justin Fernandes, 25, the son of Panjo's owner, Goosey Fernandes.Panjo was found after one of the search dogs spotted it in the field near the Fernandes' farm in the district of Groblersdal."Approximately an hour after we gave the dogs a break from the search, one of the dogs got a good sense near our farm. When we shone our lights in the grass we saw Panjo's eyes. We called him and when he heard our voices he started moving toward us slowly and greeted us," Justin Fernandes told The Associated Press.Earlier searchers had used aircraft fitted with heat-seeking sensors to help find the 17-month-old tiger.Isabel Wensel, an official with the South African Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said there was no evidence the tiger had attacked anyone."If he was hungry he probably would have hunted chickens as I believe that is what they usually fed him," Wensel said.Panjo had "a few scrapes" on its face and a foot from jumping out of the moving truck, she said.Wensel said the tiger might have followed its instincts as a wild animal if it had been confronted by humans. When found, the animal appeared frightened and bewildered and at first mock-charged its captors."Panjo is a very large tiger so we can only imagine what he is capable of," she said. "He was in a different environment to what he is used to and that always affects animal behavior."http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hmfRJVgBtApR-y2Hkt1HTCDiXOxAD9H8MMIG0http://www.bigcatrescue.org S. African tiger caught after 2 days on the runBy MIA SNYMAN (AP) – July 29.2010JOHANNESBURG — The escaped Bengal tiger who captured headlines across South Africa has been found and returned home after a 2-day search, hungry and worse for the wear after a jump from the back of a moving truck, the tiger's owners said Thursday.The owners of Panjo, a full-grown tiger, say tracker dogs found the cat's scent late Wednesday in bush woodlands about 70 kilometers (40 miles) south of Johannesburg. The tiger was slightly hurt, evidently from jumping from a moving truck when it escaped Tuesday, an animal welfare group said.Police had warned residents of the neighborhood not to approach Panjo, though the owners said it was tame and had been hand-raised from a cub. The hunt attracted widespread publicity in South Africa where tigers are not a native species.The tiger appeared not to have eaten since its escape. The captors offered it raw meat and milk to attract it toward them to put on a harness."We felt relieved and very glad to see that Panjo was safe and sound and that no one harmed him," said Justin Fernandes, 25, the son of Panjo's owner, Goosey Fernandes.Panjo was found after one of the search dogs spotted it in the field near the Fernandes' farm in the district of Groblersdal."Approximately an hour after we gave the dogs a break from the search, one of the dogs got a good sense near our farm. When we shone our lights in the grass we saw Panjo's eyes. We called him and when he heard our voices he started moving toward us slowly and greeted us," Justin Fernandes told The Associated Press.Earlier searchers had used aircraft fitted with heat-seeking sensors to help find the 17-month-old tiger.Isabel Wensel, an official with the South African Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said there was no evidence the tiger had attacked anyone."If he was hungry he probably would have hunted chickens as I believe that is what they usually fed him," Wensel said.Panjo had "a few scrapes" on its face and a foot from jumping out of the moving truck, she said.Wensel said the tiger might have followed its instincts as a wild animal if it had been confronted by humans. When found, the animal appeared frightened and bewildered and at first mock-charged its captors."Panjo is a very large tiger so we can only imagine what he is capable of," she said. "He was in a different environment to what he is used to and that always affects animal behavior."http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hmfRJVgBtApR-y2Hkt1HTCDiXOxAD9H8MMIG0http://www.bigcatrescue.org Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:12:09 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_S-African-tiger-caught-after-2-days-on-the-run/BLOG/2535174/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T14:12:09Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too S. African tiger caught after 2 days on the runBy MIA SNYMAN (AP) – July 29.2010JOHANNESBURG — The escaped Bengal tiger who captured headlines across South Africa has been found and returned home after a 2-day search, hungry and worse for the wear after a jump from the back of a moving truck, the tiger's owners said Thursday.The owners of Panjo, a full-grown tiger, say tracker dogs found the cat's scent late Wednesday in bush woodlands about 70 kilometers (40 miles) south of Johannesburg. The tiger was slightly hurt, evidently from jumping from a moving truck when it escaped Tuesday, an animal welfare group said.Police had warned residents of the neighborhood not to approach Panjo, though the owners said it was tame and had been hand-raised from a cub. The hunt attracted widespread publicity in South Africa where tigers are not a native species.The tiger appeared not to have eaten since its escape. The captors offered it raw meat and milk to attract it toward them to put on a harness."We felt relieved and very glad to see that Panjo was safe and sound and that no one harmed him," said Justin Fernandes, 25, the son of Panjo's owner, Goosey Fernandes.Panjo was found after one of the search dogs spotted it in the field near the Fernandes' farm in the district of Groblersdal."Approximately an hour after we gave the dogs a break from the search, one of the dogs got a good sense near our farm. When we shone our lights in the grass we saw Panjo's eyes. We called him and when he heard our voices he started moving toward us slowly and greeted us," Justin Fernandes told The Associated Press.Earlier searchers had used aircraft fitted with heat-seeking sensors to help find the 17-month-old tiger.Isabel Wensel, an official with the South African Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said there was no evidence the tiger had attacked anyone."If he was hungry he probably would have hunted chickens as I believe that is what they usually fed him," Wensel said.Panjo had "a few scrapes" on its face and a foot from jumping out of the moving truck, she said.Wensel said the tiger might have followed its instincts as a wild animal if it had been confronted by humans. When found, the animal appeared frightened and bewildered and at first mock-charged its captors."Panjo is a very large tiger so we can only imagine what he is capable of," she said. "He was in a different environment to what he is used to and that always affects animal behavior."http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hmfRJVgBtApR-y2Hkt1HTCDiXOxAD9H8MMIG0http://www.bigcatrescue.org big cats nonadult false S. African tiger caught after 2 days on the run text blog big cats 51 1 5.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535174 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_SPCA-blasts-Panjos-owner/BLOG/2535173/23189.html SPCA blasts Panjo's ownerBy Staff ReporterJuly 30, 2010The SPCA has slammed the owner of Panjo the tiger who dominated headlines this week, arguing that "no wild animal" should be kept as a pet.Panjo was returned to his owner, game farm owner Goosey Fernandes, on Wednesday night after escaping off the back of his bakkie on Monday.Seventeen-month-old Panjo disappeared on Monday night while Fernandes was transporting him in the back of his Ford F250 bakkie from the game farm to the family smallholding in Endicott, Springs, when the canopy door came open and Panjo jumped out.The tiger was found at about 8pm on Wednesday near Verena, south of Groblersdal, after a search by dozens of people.On Thursday Limpopo authorities apparently realised they had failed to process Fernandes's application for a permit to keep the tiger and hurriedly arranged to meet Fernandes.The SPCA, in the meantime, argued that wild animals taken into the home "usually lose their appeal once they reach maturity or become too strong to handle".In the case of predators, they also became aggressive and dangerous, they said.These animals were then no longer considered welcome house guests to be spoilt and pampered, and were condemned to a life behind bars and fences, said the SPCA."In most cases these cages are devoid of environmental enrichment, the animals will have little contact with their owners and become breeding machines. Due to the expensive upkeep of these animals, owners are forced to find other means to financially support them - for example breeding programmes and zoo-type exhibits," they said.The SPCA promised to investigate the tiger's situation.http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20100730121311291C973035http://www.bigcatrescue.org SPCA blasts Panjo's ownerBy Staff ReporterJuly 30, 2010The SPCA has slammed the owner of Panjo the tiger who dominated headlines this week, arguing that "no wild animal" should be kept as a pet.Panjo was returned to his owner, game farm owner Goosey Fernandes, on Wednesday night after escaping off the back of his bakkie on Monday.Seventeen-month-old Panjo disappeared on Monday night while Fernandes was transporting him in the back of his Ford F250 bakkie from the game farm to the family smallholding in Endicott, Springs, when the canopy door came open and Panjo jumped out.The tiger was found at about 8pm on Wednesday near Verena, south of Groblersdal, after a search by dozens of people.On Thursday Limpopo authorities apparently realised they had failed to process Fernandes's application for a permit to keep the tiger and hurriedly arranged to meet Fernandes.The SPCA, in the meantime, argued that wild animals taken into the home "usually lose their appeal once they reach maturity or become too strong to handle".In the case of predators, they also became aggressive and dangerous, they said.These animals were then no longer considered welcome house guests to be spoilt and pampered, and were condemned to a life behind bars and fences, said the SPCA."In most cases these cages are devoid of environmental enrichment, the animals will have little contact with their owners and become breeding machines. Due to the expensive upkeep of these animals, owners are forced to find other means to financially support them - for example breeding programmes and zoo-type exhibits," they said.The SPCA promised to investigate the tiger's situation.http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20100730121311291C973035http://www.bigcatrescue.org Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:11:08 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_SPCA-blasts-Panjos-owner/BLOG/2535173/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T14:11:08Z Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too SPCA blasts Panjo's ownerBy Staff ReporterJuly 30, 2010The SPCA has slammed the owner of Panjo the tiger who dominated headlines this week, arguing that "no wild animal" should be kept as a pet.Panjo was returned to his owner, game farm owner Goosey Fernandes, on Wednesday night after escaping off the back of his bakkie on Monday.Seventeen-month-old Panjo disappeared on Monday night while Fernandes was transporting him in the back of his Ford F250 bakkie from the game farm to the family smallholding in Endicott, Springs, when the canopy door came open and Panjo jumped out.The tiger was found at about 8pm on Wednesday near Verena, south of Groblersdal, after a search by dozens of people.On Thursday Limpopo authorities apparently realised they had failed to process Fernandes's application for a permit to keep the tiger and hurriedly arranged to meet Fernandes.The SPCA, in the meantime, argued that wild animals taken into the home "usually lose their appeal once they reach maturity or become too strong to handle".In the case of predators, they also became aggressive and dangerous, they said.These animals were then no longer considered welcome house guests to be spoilt and pampered, and were condemned to a life behind bars and fences, said the SPCA."In most cases these cages are devoid of environmental enrichment, the animals will have little contact with their owners and become breeding machines. Due to the expensive upkeep of these animals, owners are forced to find other means to financially support them - for example breeding programmes and zoo-type exhibits," they said.The SPCA promised to investigate the tiger's situation.http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20100730121311291C973035http://www.bigcatrescue.org nonadult false SPCA blasts Panjo's owner text blog 42 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 0 2535173 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_High-tech-tracking-on-for-man-killing-tiger/BLOG/2535172/23189.html High-tech tracking on for man-killing tigerTNN, Aug 1, 2010, 12.59am ISTLUCKNOW: If not the first ever, it is at least a rare practice of high-tech tracking of a man-killing tiger that Pilibhit forest officials have taken up. The forest department is getting help from the wildlife organisations which are providing the department the needed expertise and the `cameras' which can incessantly click for 60-odd days.The sub-adult tiger which made its first killing on May 3 and latest on July 27 has been lying inactive for past some days. Jamuna Prasad of Dilawarpur village in Ghundchai beat of Deoria range of Pilibhit forest division was killed by the man-eater on July 27.On Saturday, forest department decided to change the position of eight web cameras which were installed at the killing sites on July 25. "We will now install cameras every 2 km," said divisional forest officer (DFO) Pilibhit VK Singh. The entire Deoria range of 712 sqkm will be divided into 25 grids, each of four sqkm area. A camera will be installed at every grid to locate the tiger.It was on July 25 that the tiger was clicked by the cameras. It has remained elusive since then though it struck again two days after. The cameras click automatically moment the animal passes by. Every two days the camera trappings are downloaded. The trappings so far have given some clue on the tiger. "It is not at all injured but we cannot say what is making it to kill men," said DFO.The tiger since May 3 has killed five men and preyed on them partially. It struck on June 7 and 23 and July 25 and 27. However, all the victims had gone to the forest as their bodies were recovered from about 5 km inside the forest area. This is, in fact, the reason why the forest officials are hesitant to brand the big cat a `man-eater'.Though tiger is not compulsively seeking a human prey, vigil is on in the area to trap it before it makes another kill. The precautionary measures will be followed during the monsoon period. The villagers who enter the forest will be treated as tresspassers. On Saturday, two tresspassers were caught by the forest staff.An awareness campaign too is underway in the area. Villagers are being informed about the tiger's presence and the precautions they should take.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/High-tech-tracking-on-for-man-killing-tiger/articleshow/6242292.cmshttp://www.bigcatrescue.org/ High-tech tracking on for man-killing tigerTNN, Aug 1, 2010, 12.59am ISTLUCKNOW: If not the first ever, it is at least a rare practice of high-tech tracking of a man-killing tiger that Pilibhit forest officials have taken up. The forest department is getting help from the wildlife organisations which are providing the department the needed expertise and the `cameras' which can incessantly click for 60-odd days.The sub-adult tiger which made its first killing on May 3 and latest on July 27 has been lying inactive for past some days. Jamuna Prasad of Dilawarpur village in Ghundchai beat of Deoria range of Pilibhit forest division was killed by the man-eater on July 27.On Saturday, forest department decided to change the position of eight web cameras which were installed at the killing sites on July 25. "We will now install cameras every 2 km," said divisional forest officer (DFO) Pilibhit VK Singh. The entire Deoria range of 712 sqkm will be divided into 25 grids, each of four sqkm area. A camera will be installed at every grid to locate the tiger.It was on July 25 that the tiger was clicked by the cameras. It has remained elusive since then though it struck again two days after. The cameras click automatically moment the animal passes by. Every two days the camera trappings are downloaded. The trappings so far have given some clue on the tiger. "It is not at all injured but we cannot say what is making it to kill men," said DFO.The tiger since May 3 has killed five men and preyed on them partially. It struck on June 7 and 23 and July 25 and 27. However, all the victims had gone to the forest as their bodies were recovered from about 5 km inside the forest area. This is, in fact, the reason why the forest officials are hesitant to brand the big cat a `man-eater'.Though tiger is not compulsively seeking a human prey, vigil is on in the area to trap it before it makes another kill. The precautionary measures will be followed during the monsoon period. The villagers who enter the forest will be treated as tresspassers. On Saturday, two tresspassers were caught by the forest staff.An awareness campaign too is underway in the area. Villagers are being informed about the tiger's presence and the precautions they should take.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/High-tech-tracking-on-for-man-killing-tiger/articleshow/6242292.cmshttp://www.bigcatrescue.org/ Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:09:31 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_High-tech-tracking-on-for-man-killing-tiger/BLOG/2535172/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T14:09:31Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too High-tech tracking on for man-killing tigerTNN, Aug 1, 2010, 12.59am ISTLUCKNOW: If not the first ever, it is at least a rare practice of high-tech tracking of a man-killing tiger that Pilibhit forest officials have taken up. The forest department is getting help from the wildlife organisations which are providing the department the needed expertise and the `cameras' which can incessantly click for 60-odd days.The sub-adult tiger which made its first killing on May 3 and latest on July 27 has been lying inactive for past some days. Jamuna Prasad of Dilawarpur village in Ghundchai beat of Deoria range of Pilibhit forest division was killed by the man-eater on July 27.On Saturday, forest department decided to change the position of eight web cameras which were installed at the killing sites on July 25. "We will now install cameras every 2 km," said divisional forest officer (DFO) Pilibhit VK Singh. The entire Deoria range of 712 sqkm will be divided into 25 grids, each of four sqkm area. A camera will be installed at every grid to locate the tiger.It was on July 25 that the tiger was clicked by the cameras. It has remained elusive since then though it struck again two days after. The cameras click automatically moment the animal passes by. Every two days the camera trappings are downloaded. The trappings so far have given some clue on the tiger. "It is not at all injured but we cannot say what is making it to kill men," said DFO.The tiger since May 3 has killed five men and preyed on them partially. It struck on June 7 and 23 and July 25 and 27. However, all the victims had gone to the forest as their bodies were recovered from about 5 km inside the forest area. This is, in fact, the reason why the forest officials are hesitant to brand the big cat a `man-eater'.Though tiger is not compulsively seeking a human prey, vigil is on in the area to trap it before it makes another kill. The precautionary measures will be followed during the monsoon period. The villagers who enter the forest will be treated as tresspassers. On Saturday, two tresspassers were caught by the forest staff.An awareness campaign too is underway in the area. Villagers are being informed about the tiger's presence and the precautions they should take.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/High-tech-tracking-on-for-man-killing-tiger/articleshow/6242292.cmshttp://www.bigcatrescue.org/ attack, big cats, tiger, tigers, tracking nonadult false High-tech tracking on for man-killing tiger text blog attack,big cats,tiger,tigers,tracking 45 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535172 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Dhaka-Delhi-join-global-move-to-save-tigers/BLOG/2535166/23189.html Dhaka, Delhi join global move to save tigersDhaka, July 30 – Bangladesh and India, home to the famous Royal Bengal tiger, will attend the 13-nation Tiger Conservation Summit in St. Petersburg in September to plan out urgent measures to save the species.Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may attend the meeting of the Tiger Range Countries (TRC) – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam, The Daily Star reported Friday.Currently, half of the entire Royal Bengal tiger population of over 2,000 is in 56 forest areas in India.The tiger is treated as one of the most critically endangered animals fast disappearing from the world. If all the six sub-species are taken togther, there are estimated to be just about 3,200 tigers left, down from around 100,000 in 1900. Experts, however, predict tigers will be extinct in the next century if strong measures are not taken to save them.The Balinese tiger, Javanese tiger and Caspian tiger have already become extinct. Now there are six sub-species: Amur, Indochinese, Malayan, Royal Bengal, South China and Sumatran.Despite frequent natural calamities, worsening environment and growing salinity in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh is the only country now that claims the number of tigers has recently risen in the forests.The Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans, a stretch of 6,017 sq km of forest, is officially home to 450 tigers.The last pugmark survey by the forest department and UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 2004 estimated the number to be around 440, including 21 cubs.Since 2000, tigers have killed 193 people, while 29 tigers were lynched and some others were found dead in Bangladesh’s forests, according to official records of the forest department.http://news-views.in/dhaka-delhi-join-global-move-to-save-tigers/http://www.bigcatrescue.org Dhaka, Delhi join global move to save tigersDhaka, July 30 – Bangladesh and India, home to the famous Royal Bengal tiger, will attend the 13-nation Tiger Conservation Summit in St. Petersburg in September to plan out urgent measures to save the species.Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may attend the meeting of the Tiger Range Countries (TRC) – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam, The Daily Star reported Friday.Currently, half of the entire Royal Bengal tiger population of over 2,000 is in 56 forest areas in India.The tiger is treated as one of the most critically endangered animals fast disappearing from the world. If all the six sub-species are taken togther, there are estimated to be just about 3,200 tigers left, down from around 100,000 in 1900. Experts, however, predict tigers will be extinct in the next century if strong measures are not taken to save them.The Balinese tiger, Javanese tiger and Caspian tiger have already become extinct. Now there are six sub-species: Amur, Indochinese, Malayan, Royal Bengal, South China and Sumatran.Despite frequent natural calamities, worsening environment and growing salinity in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh is the only country now that claims the number of tigers has recently risen in the forests.The Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans, a stretch of 6,017 sq km of forest, is officially home to 450 tigers.The last pugmark survey by the forest department and UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 2004 estimated the number to be around 440, including 21 cubs.Since 2000, tigers have killed 193 people, while 29 tigers were lynched and some others were found dead in Bangladesh’s forests, according to official records of the forest department.http://news-views.in/dhaka-delhi-join-global-move-to-save-tigers/http://www.bigcatrescue.org Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:07:50 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Dhaka-Delhi-join-global-move-to-save-tigers/BLOG/2535166/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T14:07:50Z Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Dhaka, Delhi join global move to save tigersDhaka, July 30 – Bangladesh and India, home to the famous Royal Bengal tiger, will attend the 13-nation Tiger Conservation Summit in St. Petersburg in September to plan out urgent measures to save the species.Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may attend the meeting of the Tiger Range Countries (TRC) – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam, The Daily Star reported Friday.Currently, half of the entire Royal Bengal tiger population of over 2,000 is in 56 forest areas in India.The tiger is treated as one of the most critically endangered animals fast disappearing from the world. If all the six sub-species are taken togther, there are estimated to be just about 3,200 tigers left, down from around 100,000 in 1900. Experts, however, predict tigers will be extinct in the next century if strong measures are not taken to save them.The Balinese tiger, Javanese tiger and Caspian tiger have already become extinct. Now there are six sub-species: Amur, Indochinese, Malayan, Royal Bengal, South China and Sumatran.Despite frequent natural calamities, worsening environment and growing salinity in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh is the only country now that claims the number of tigers has recently risen in the forests.The Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans, a stretch of 6,017 sq km of forest, is officially home to 450 tigers.The last pugmark survey by the forest department and UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 2004 estimated the number to be around 440, including 21 cubs.Since 2000, tigers have killed 193 people, while 29 tigers were lynched and some others were found dead in Bangladesh’s forests, according to official records of the forest department.http://news-views.in/dhaka-delhi-join-global-move-to-save-tigers/http://www.bigcatrescue.org amur, balinese tiger, bangladesh, bhutan, cambodia, caspian tiger, china, conservation, extinction, india, indochinese, indonesia, javanese tiger, laos, malayan, malaysia, myanmar, reserves, royal bengal, russia, siberian, south china, sumatran, sundarbans, thailand, tiger, tigers, vietnam nonadult false Dhaka, Delhi join global move to save tigers text blog amur,balinese tiger,bangladesh,bhutan,cambodia,caspian tiger,china,conservation,extinction,india,indochinese,indonesia,javanese tiger,laos,malayan,malaysia,myanmar,reserves,royal bengal,russia,siberian,south china,sumatran,sundarbans,thailand,tiger,tigers,vietnam 45 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 0 2535166 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Nepal-has-155-adult-tigers-5-of-world-population/BLOG/2535160/23189.html Nepal has 155 adult tigers, 5% of world populationPTI, Jul 29, 2010, 05.02pm ISTKATHMANDU: The number of adult tiger has reached 155 in Nepal's forests, an increase of 28% over last year's population, a top official has said.The tiger population grew after tiger census was conducted in the Chure area of Chitawan National Park, which was skipped during last year's census, according to Coordinator of the Tiger census 2010 Bivash Pandav, an Indian national, who is working under World Wildlife Fund Nepal office in Kathmandu.The number of adult tiger has reached 155 in Nepal's forests which is an increase of 28%, announced Gopal Prasad Upadhyaya, director general of Department of National Park's and Wildlife Conservation.Though this not an increase in tiger population in actual term, but the number has also not declined in the region, he said. In Chitawan National Park located in central Nepal alone, 125 tigers were recorded.Last year only 91 tigers were found when the census was carried out only in the lowland of the tiger reserve.The total adult tiger population of 155 (124 to 229) was arrived at after adding other tiger populations from Bardia, Shuklaphanta and Parsa reserves.The census was done through the latest process of camera trapping which required 3,582 human days and 170 elephant days, according to experts at WWF Nepal.The monitoring of tiger was done from December 7, 2009 to March 22, 2010. As per the census it is estimated that the tiger area of Nepal has 6.53 adult tigers in 100 km area, which is a good population for breeding purposes, say experts.WWF Nepal has provided Nepal government with $51,351 to carry out the tiger census. This means Nepal is home to nearly 5 per cent of tiger in the wild worldwide which is estimated to be 3,200.There are 13 tiger range countries in the world including Nepal, India, China and Myanmar. The tiger rangecountries have been working together to conserve the endangered wild animal tiger, to make the number double or around 7,000 in next Year for Tiger 2022.Nepal government is also committed to double the tiger population to 250 by the year 2022, said minister for forest Dipak Bohara. The government is committed to control poaching, increase tiger habitat and prey animals with a view to double the tiger population in the next 12 years, he said.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Nepal-has-155-adult-tigers-5-of-world-population-/articleshow/6233044.cmshttp://www.bigcatrescue.org Nepal has 155 adult tigers, 5% of world populationPTI, Jul 29, 2010, 05.02pm ISTKATHMANDU: The number of adult tiger has reached 155 in Nepal's forests, an increase of 28% over last year's population, a top official has said.The tiger population grew after tiger census was conducted in the Chure area of Chitawan National Park, which was skipped during last year's census, according to Coordinator of the Tiger census 2010 Bivash Pandav, an Indian national, who is working under World Wildlife Fund Nepal office in Kathmandu.The number of adult tiger has reached 155 in Nepal's forests which is an increase of 28%, announced Gopal Prasad Upadhyaya, director general of Department of National Park's and Wildlife Conservation.Though this not an increase in tiger population in actual term, but the number has also not declined in the region, he said. In Chitawan National Park located in central Nepal alone, 125 tigers were recorded.Last year only 91 tigers were found when the census was carried out only in the lowland of the tiger reserve.The total adult tiger population of 155 (124 to 229) was arrived at after adding other tiger populations from Bardia, Shuklaphanta and Parsa reserves.The census was done through the latest process of camera trapping which required 3,582 human days and 170 elephant days, according to experts at WWF Nepal.The monitoring of tiger was done from December 7, 2009 to March 22, 2010. As per the census it is estimated that the tiger area of Nepal has 6.53 adult tigers in 100 km area, which is a good population for breeding purposes, say experts.WWF Nepal has provided Nepal government with $51,351 to carry out the tiger census. This means Nepal is home to nearly 5 per cent of tiger in the wild worldwide which is estimated to be 3,200.There are 13 tiger range countries in the world including Nepal, India, China and Myanmar. The tiger rangecountries have been working together to conserve the endangered wild animal tiger, to make the number double or around 7,000 in next Year for Tiger 2022.Nepal government is also committed to double the tiger population to 250 by the year 2022, said minister for forest Dipak Bohara. The government is committed to control poaching, increase tiger habitat and prey animals with a view to double the tiger population in the next 12 years, he said.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Nepal-has-155-adult-tigers-5-of-world-population-/articleshow/6233044.cmshttp://www.bigcatrescue.org Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:03:12 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Nepal-has-155-adult-tigers-5-of-world-population/BLOG/2535160/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T14:03:12Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Nepal has 155 adult tigers, 5% of world populationPTI, Jul 29, 2010, 05.02pm ISTKATHMANDU: The number of adult tiger has reached 155 in Nepal's forests, an increase of 28% over last year's population, a top official has said.The tiger population grew after tiger census was conducted in the Chure area of Chitawan National Park, which was skipped during last year's census, according to Coordinator of the Tiger census 2010 Bivash Pandav, an Indian national, who is working under World Wildlife Fund Nepal office in Kathmandu.The number of adult tiger has reached 155 in Nepal's forests which is an increase of 28%, announced Gopal Prasad Upadhyaya, director general of Department of National Park's and Wildlife Conservation.Though this not an increase in tiger population in actual term, but the number has also not declined in the region, he said. In Chitawan National Park located in central Nepal alone, 125 tigers were recorded.Last year only 91 tigers were found when the census was carried out only in the lowland of the tiger reserve.The total adult tiger population of 155 (124 to 229) was arrived at after adding other tiger populations from Bardia, Shuklaphanta and Parsa reserves.The census was done through the latest process of camera trapping which required 3,582 human days and 170 elephant days, according to experts at WWF Nepal.The monitoring of tiger was done from December 7, 2009 to March 22, 2010. As per the census it is estimated that the tiger area of Nepal has 6.53 adult tigers in 100 km area, which is a good population for breeding purposes, say experts.WWF Nepal has provided Nepal government with $51,351 to carry out the tiger census. This means Nepal is home to nearly 5 per cent of tiger in the wild worldwide which is estimated to be 3,200.There are 13 tiger range countries in the world including Nepal, India, China and Myanmar. The tiger rangecountries have been working together to conserve the endangered wild animal tiger, to make the number double or around 7,000 in next Year for Tiger 2022.Nepal government is also committed to double the tiger population to 250 by the year 2022, said minister for forest Dipak Bohara. The government is committed to control poaching, increase tiger habitat and prey animals with a view to double the tiger population in the next 12 years, he said.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Nepal-has-155-adult-tigers-5-of-world-population-/articleshow/6233044.cmshttp://www.bigcatrescue.org bardia, big cats, chitawan national park, kathmandu, nepal, parsa, reserves, shuklaphanta, tiger, tiger conservation, tigers, world wildlife fund, wwf nepal nonadult false Nepal has 155 adult tigers, 5% of world population text blog bardia,big cats,chitawan national park,kathmandu,nepal,parsa,reserves,shuklaphanta,tiger,tiger conservation,tigers,world wildlife fund,wwf nepal 46 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535160 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Nepal-Marks-Tiger-Day-For-Raising-Protective-Awareness/BLOG/2535158/23189.html Nepal Marks Tiger Day For Raising Protective AwarenessJuly 29, 2010 13:29 PMKATHMANDU, July 29 (Bernama) -- On the occasion of the World Tiger Day on Thursday, the Nepali government is organising various programmes across the country to raise awareness on tiger conservation, China's Xinhua news agency reported.In a press conference on Wednesday, Forest Ministry said the events are aimed at doubling the population of the endangered cats by 2020.According to a tiger census conducted last year, a total of 121 breeding tigers live in protected areas in the country.Meanwhile, the government is preparing a country profile to be presented at the Head of States Tiger Summit scheduled to be held in September in St. Petersburg, Russia. The current status of tiger will be discussed and shared among tiger range countries on the occasion.As a part of tiger monitoring, a team formed by the government is working in three major tiger habitats in the country.http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=517284http://www.bigcatrescue.org Nepal Marks Tiger Day For Raising Protective AwarenessJuly 29, 2010 13:29 PMKATHMANDU, July 29 (Bernama) -- On the occasion of the World Tiger Day on Thursday, the Nepali government is organising various programmes across the country to raise awareness on tiger conservation, China's Xinhua news agency reported.In a press conference on Wednesday, Forest Ministry said the events are aimed at doubling the population of the endangered cats by 2020.According to a tiger census conducted last year, a total of 121 breeding tigers live in protected areas in the country.Meanwhile, the government is preparing a country profile to be presented at the Head of States Tiger Summit scheduled to be held in September in St. Petersburg, Russia. The current status of tiger will be discussed and shared among tiger range countries on the occasion.As a part of tiger monitoring, a team formed by the government is working in three major tiger habitats in the country.http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=517284http://www.bigcatrescue.org Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:59:54 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Nepal-Marks-Tiger-Day-For-Raising-Protective-Awareness/BLOG/2535158/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:59:54Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Nepal Marks Tiger Day For Raising Protective AwarenessJuly 29, 2010 13:29 PMKATHMANDU, July 29 (Bernama) -- On the occasion of the World Tiger Day on Thursday, the Nepali government is organising various programmes across the country to raise awareness on tiger conservation, China's Xinhua news agency reported.In a press conference on Wednesday, Forest Ministry said the events are aimed at doubling the population of the endangered cats by 2020.According to a tiger census conducted last year, a total of 121 breeding tigers live in protected areas in the country.Meanwhile, the government is preparing a country profile to be presented at the Head of States Tiger Summit scheduled to be held in September in St. Petersburg, Russia. The current status of tiger will be discussed and shared among tiger range countries on the occasion.As a part of tiger monitoring, a team formed by the government is working in three major tiger habitats in the country.http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=517284http://www.bigcatrescue.org big cats, conservation, kathmandu, nepal, tiger, tiger conservation, tigers nonadult false Nepal Marks Tiger Day For Raising Protective Awareness text blog big cats,conservation,kathmandu,nepal,tiger,tiger conservation,tigers 43 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535158 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Nepal-India-ink-pact-to-combat-illegal-trade-in-animal-parts/BLOG/2535156/23189.html Nepal-India ink pact to combat illegal trade in animal partsPublished: Thursday, Jul 29, 2010, 19:30 ISTPlace: Kathmandu Agency: PTINepal and India today inked a key pact to conserve biodiversity and combat illegal trade in wild animals coinciding with the first International Tiger Conservation Day."As Nepal and India are facing similar challenges in conserving the biodiversity, including the tiger, the signing of the joint resolutions gives us the responsibility to take the lead role in protecting tigers and showcasing to the world that together we can make a huge difference," said inister for forest Dipak Bohara, who was present at the function in the capital.A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which aims to conserve biodiversity and strengthening ecological security in the trans-boundary region, was signed by Gopal Prasad Upadhyaya, director general, department of national parks and wildlife conservation, Nepal and SPYadav, DIG and joint director, national tiger conservation authority, ministry of environment and Forest, India."After signing the MoU with China in June to control illegal trade we expect to enter into a similar agreement with India in the near future," Bohara said.Besides having a common boundary, Nepal and India are facing similar challenges of tiger conservation, joint director Yadav pointed out.India and Nepal had excellent working relations in the past and the formalisation of this relation is another milestone, he said.As the combined population of tigers in Nepal and India is more than half of the world population, joint efforts are essential for the conservation of tigers, he pointed out.The bilateral pact was an outcome of the 4th Nepal-India Consultative Meeting on trans-boundary Biodiversity Conservation at the ministry of forest in Kathmandu, according to a statement issued by the ministry.The signing of the pact is a step forward towards strengthening bilateral cooperation and trans-boundary conservation, said Upadhyaya.India's three national parks and conservation areas Dudhwa Katrnighat, Balmiki and Sohelwa with the combined tiger population of 150 have been connected to Nepal's national parks. Thus joint efforts between the two neighbouring countries are essential for better conservation of tigers and checking illegal trade in tiger parts, accoding to experts.The pact is a key step towards the signing of the MoU on biodiversity conservation between the two countries, according to experts.The pact stresses on bilateral and regional cooperation including establishing a joint monitoring mechanism for interaction and intelligence sharing and exploring funding opportunities with special focus on the protected areas of the Terai Arc Landscape in both Nepal and India.http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_nepal-india-ink-pact-to-combat-illegal-trade-in-animal-parts_1416324http://www.bigcatrescue.org Nepal-India ink pact to combat illegal trade in animal partsPublished: Thursday, Jul 29, 2010, 19:30 ISTPlace: Kathmandu Agency: PTINepal and India today inked a key pact to conserve biodiversity and combat illegal trade in wild animals coinciding with the first International Tiger Conservation Day."As Nepal and India are facing similar challenges in conserving the biodiversity, including the tiger, the signing of the joint resolutions gives us the responsibility to take the lead role in protecting tigers and showcasing to the world that together we can make a huge difference," said inister for forest Dipak Bohara, who was present at the function in the capital.A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which aims to conserve biodiversity and strengthening ecological security in the trans-boundary region, was signed by Gopal Prasad Upadhyaya, director general, department of national parks and wildlife conservation, Nepal and SPYadav, DIG and joint director, national tiger conservation authority, ministry of environment and Forest, India."After signing the MoU with China in June to control illegal trade we expect to enter into a similar agreement with India in the near future," Bohara said.Besides having a common boundary, Nepal and India are facing similar challenges of tiger conservation, joint director Yadav pointed out.India and Nepal had excellent working relations in the past and the formalisation of this relation is another milestone, he said.As the combined population of tigers in Nepal and India is more than half of the world population, joint efforts are essential for the conservation of tigers, he pointed out.The bilateral pact was an outcome of the 4th Nepal-India Consultative Meeting on trans-boundary Biodiversity Conservation at the ministry of forest in Kathmandu, according to a statement issued by the ministry.The signing of the pact is a step forward towards strengthening bilateral cooperation and trans-boundary conservation, said Upadhyaya.India's three national parks and conservation areas Dudhwa Katrnighat, Balmiki and Sohelwa with the combined tiger population of 150 have been connected to Nepal's national parks. Thus joint efforts between the two neighbouring countries are essential for better conservation of tigers and checking illegal trade in tiger parts, accoding to experts.The pact is a key step towards the signing of the MoU on biodiversity conservation between the two countries, according to experts.The pact stresses on bilateral and regional cooperation including establishing a joint monitoring mechanism for interaction and intelligence sharing and exploring funding opportunities with special focus on the protected areas of the Terai Arc Landscape in both Nepal and India.http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_nepal-india-ink-pact-to-combat-illegal-trade-in-animal-parts_1416324http://www.bigcatrescue.org Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:58:01 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Nepal-India-ink-pact-to-combat-illegal-trade-in-animal-parts/BLOG/2535156/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:58:01Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Nepal-India ink pact to combat illegal trade in animal partsPublished: Thursday, Jul 29, 2010, 19:30 ISTPlace: Kathmandu Agency: PTINepal and India today inked a key pact to conserve biodiversity and combat illegal trade in wild animals coinciding with the first International Tiger Conservation Day."As Nepal and India are facing similar challenges in conserving the biodiversity, including the tiger, the signing of the joint resolutions gives us the responsibility to take the lead role in protecting tigers and showcasing to the world that together we can make a huge difference," said inister for forest Dipak Bohara, who was present at the function in the capital.A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which aims to conserve biodiversity and strengthening ecological security in the trans-boundary region, was signed by Gopal Prasad Upadhyaya, director general, department of national parks and wildlife conservation, Nepal and SPYadav, DIG and joint director, national tiger conservation authority, ministry of environment and Forest, India."After signing the MoU with China in June to control illegal trade we expect to enter into a similar agreement with India in the near future," Bohara said.Besides having a common boundary, Nepal and India are facing similar challenges of tiger conservation, joint director Yadav pointed out.India and Nepal had excellent working relations in the past and the formalisation of this relation is another milestone, he said.As the combined population of tigers in Nepal and India is more than half of the world population, joint efforts are essential for the conservation of tigers, he pointed out.The bilateral pact was an outcome of the 4th Nepal-India Consultative Meeting on trans-boundary Biodiversity Conservation at the ministry of forest in Kathmandu, according to a statement issued by the ministry.The signing of the pact is a step forward towards strengthening bilateral cooperation and trans-boundary conservation, said Upadhyaya.India's three national parks and conservation areas Dudhwa Katrnighat, Balmiki and Sohelwa with the combined tiger population of 150 have been connected to Nepal's national parks. Thus joint efforts between the two neighbouring countries are essential for better conservation of tigers and checking illegal trade in tiger parts, accoding to experts.The pact is a key step towards the signing of the MoU on biodiversity conservation between the two countries, according to experts.The pact stresses on bilateral and regional cooperation including establishing a joint monitoring mechanism for interaction and intelligence sharing and exploring funding opportunities with special focus on the protected areas of the Terai Arc Landscape in both Nepal and India.http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_nepal-india-ink-pact-to-combat-illegal-trade-in-animal-parts_1416324http://www.bigcatrescue.org animal parts, balmiki, big cats, biodiversity conservation, conservation, dudhwa katrnighat, india, nepal, sohelwa, terai arc landscape, trade nonadult false Nepal-India ink pact to combat illegal trade in animal parts text blog animal parts,balmiki,big cats,biodiversity conservation,conservation,dudhwa katrnighat,india,nepal,sohelwa,terai arc landscape,trade 43 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535156 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_CDFGs-Policies-Kill-Another-Lion-Kitten/BLOG/2535149/23189.html [image]California Department of Fish and Game’s (CDFG) misguided lion policies have resulted in another death of a mountain lion kitten. According to witnesses, the kitten was a 7 to 9 month old female, not apparently afraid of humans, and it was rolling and playing before being confronted by humans. Bystanders threw a couple rocks at it trying to get it to leave but it did not do so. The warden said he had no choice but to follow policies given to him by headquarters and kill the kitten. He was not happy about it, but he said he had no choice but to follow those orders because it was after hours and he could not get anyone to say anything different. Currently CDFG has a standing policy to kill any lion - regardless of age - if it comes into contact with humans and does not leave the area of its own volition.......Mountain Lion Foundation [image]California Department of Fish and Game’s (CDFG) misguided lion policies have resulted in another death of a mountain lion kitten. According to witnesses, the kitten was a 7 to 9 month old female, not apparently afraid of humans, and it was rolling and playing before being confronted by humans. Bystanders threw a couple rocks at it trying to get it to leave but it did not do so. The warden said he had no choice but to follow policies given to him by headquarters and kill the kitten. He was not happy about it, but he said he had no choice but to follow those orders because it was after hours and he could not get anyone to say anything different. Currently CDFG has a standing policy to kill any lion - regardless of age - if it comes into contact with humans and does not leave the area of its own volition.......Mountain Lion Foundation Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:53:43 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_CDFGs-Policies-Kill-Another-Lion-Kitten/BLOG/2535149/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:53:43Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too [image]California Department of Fish and Game’s (CDFG) misguided lion policies have resulted in another death of a mountain lion kitten. According to witnesses, the kitten was a 7 to 9 month old female, not apparently afraid of humans, and it was rolling and playing before being confronted by humans. Bystanders threw a couple rocks at it trying to get it to leave but it did not do so. The warden said he had no choice but to follow policies given to him by headquarters and kill the kitten. He was not happy about it, but he said he had no choice but to follow those orders because it was after hours and he could not get anyone to say anything different. Currently CDFG has a standing policy to kill any lion - regardless of age - if it comes into contact with humans and does not leave the area of its own volition.......Mountain Lion Foundation baby, baby animal, big cats, cub, kitten, mountain lion, mountain lion foundation nonadult false CDFG’s Policies Kill Another Lion Kitten text blog baby,baby animal,big cats,cub,kitten,mountain lion,mountain lion foundation 44 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535149 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Montana-Mountain-Lions-On-A-Stamp/BLOG/2535145/23189.html The following excerpt from the Summer 2010 issue of Cat Mews gives background information on mountain lions to help promote the release of Montana’s new stamp. [image] Montana’s Mountain Lions By Marci Jarvis, Cat Mews editor Montana’s state animal is the grizzly bear, however, the mountain lion—Felis concolor, ‘cat of a single color’ — is more prevalent. The cat, resting in the snow, is paired with the state flag in part 4 of the Flags of Our Nation series, issued on April 16, 2010. Each set of ten Flags of Our Nation stamps is sold in coils of 50, with five of each design. The Postal Bulletin describes the stamps as a ‘snapshot of each state.’ Tom Engeman was the artist and Howard E. Paine had the triple role of designer, director of art, and typographer. According to sources at Montana’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks, about 1800 mountain lions roam in the western section of the state, with “scattered pockets throughout the eastern part.” Wildlife managers use radio collars and “average occupancy rates” to estimate populations. Mountain lions once brought a bounty in Montana; hunting with dogs has been legal since 1971, while poaching is abhorred. Two hunting seasons close early when the quota is reached. In 2009, more than 300 mountain lions were legally killed as the cats are not “a species of concern”–yet. Once prevalent throughout the US, North America’s largest feline now roams in only 14 Western states and Florida. Frequent sightings in the Midwest may signal a comeback in those states. Known as the mountain lion, puma, and cougar in the West; it is called panther, painter (colloquial for panther), and catamount (cat-of-the-mountains) in the East. Muscular and powerful, this cat can run up to 50 miles per hour.* Males can reach seven to eight feet from head to tail, and weigh up to 200 lbs. Mountain lions are a reddish-brown, but in colder areas their coat turns a yellow-gray in winter. They have black-tipped ears and tail, a white or beige belly, and white facial markings. Litters consist of two or three blue-eyed kittens born with a spotted coat and ringed tail to provide needed camouflage. Prey of choice is most often deer and elk, with an occasional rabbit, but in a pinch, mountain lions—like most cats— will eat whatever rodents or birds are available. The mountain lion (or panther) is found on more than a dozen U.S. stamps. Partial List of Sources *Cougar Fund, http://www.cougarfund.org/conservation. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks; http://fwp.mt.gov/wildthings/livingWith Wildlife. Rodrigues, Amy. Outreach Coordinator, Mountain Lion Foundation (nonprofit), www.MountainLion.org.; P.O. Box 1896, Sacramento, CA 95812. Reprinted with permission, © Cat Mews, Summer 2010 Marci Jarvis has been editor of Cat Mews, journal of the Cats on Stamps Study Unit, for ten years. The Cats on Stamps Study Unit is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the American Philatelic Society and the American Topical Association. Cat Mews, the award-winning journal, features articles about new cat stamps from around the world: domestic, wild, heraldic, cartoon, and more. Please visit their web site, catsonstamps.org for more information. http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com The following excerpt from the Summer 2010 issue of Cat Mews gives background information on mountain lions to help promote the release of Montana’s new stamp. [image] Montana’s Mountain Lions By Marci Jarvis, Cat Mews editor Montana’s state animal is the grizzly bear, however, the mountain lion—Felis concolor, ‘cat of a single color’ — is more prevalent. The cat, resting in the snow, is paired with the state flag in part 4 of the Flags of Our Nation series, issued on April 16, 2010. Each set of ten Flags of Our Nation stamps is sold in coils of 50, with five of each design. The Postal Bulletin describes the stamps as a ‘snapshot of each state.’ Tom Engeman was the artist and Howard E. Paine had the triple role of designer, director of art, and typographer. According to sources at Montana’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks, about 1800 mountain lions roam in the western section of the state, with “scattered pockets throughout the eastern part.” Wildlife managers use radio collars and “average occupancy rates” to estimate populations. Mountain lions once brought a bounty in Montana; hunting with dogs has been legal since 1971, while poaching is abhorred. Two hunting seasons close early when the quota is reached. In 2009, more than 300 mountain lions were legally killed as the cats are not “a species of concern”–yet. Once prevalent throughout the US, North America’s largest feline now roams in only 14 Western states and Florida. Frequent sightings in the Midwest may signal a comeback in those states. Known as the mountain lion, puma, and cougar in the West; it is called panther, painter (colloquial for panther), and catamount (cat-of-the-mountains) in the East. Muscular and powerful, this cat can run up to 50 miles per hour.* Males can reach seven to eight feet from head to tail, and weigh up to 200 lbs. Mountain lions are a reddish-brown, but in colder areas their coat turns a yellow-gray in winter. They have black-tipped ears and tail, a white or beige belly, and white facial markings. Litters consist of two or three blue-eyed kittens born with a spotted coat and ringed tail to provide needed camouflage. Prey of choice is most often deer and elk, with an occasional rabbit, but in a pinch, mountain lions—like most cats— will eat whatever rodents or birds are available. The mountain lion (or panther) is found on more than a dozen U.S. stamps. Partial List of Sources *Cougar Fund, http://www.cougarfund.org/conservation. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks; http://fwp.mt.gov/wildthings/livingWith Wildlife. Rodrigues, Amy. Outreach Coordinator, Mountain Lion Foundation (nonprofit), www.MountainLion.org.; P.O. Box 1896, Sacramento, CA 95812. Reprinted with permission, © Cat Mews, Summer 2010 Marci Jarvis has been editor of Cat Mews, journal of the Cats on Stamps Study Unit, for ten years. The Cats on Stamps Study Unit is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the American Philatelic Society and the American Topical Association. Cat Mews, the award-winning journal, features articles about new cat stamps from around the world: domestic, wild, heraldic, cartoon, and more. Please visit their web site, catsonstamps.org for more information. http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:51:17 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Montana-Mountain-Lions-On-A-Stamp/BLOG/2535145/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:51:17Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too The following excerpt from the Summer 2010 issue of Cat Mews gives background information on mountain lions to help promote the release of Montana’s new stamp. [image] Montana’s Mountain Lions By Marci Jarvis, Cat Mews editor Montana’s state animal is the grizzly bear, however, the mountain lion—Felis concolor, ‘cat of a single color’ — is more prevalent. The cat, resting in the snow, is paired with the state flag in part 4 of the Flags of Our Nation series, issued on April 16, 2010. Each set of ten Flags of Our Nation stamps is sold in coils of 50, with five of each design. The Postal Bulletin describes the stamps as a ‘snapshot of each state.’ Tom Engeman was the artist and Howard E. Paine had the triple role of designer, director of art, and typographer. According to sources at Montana’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks, about 1800 mountain lions roam in the western section of the state, with “scattered pockets throughout the eastern part.” Wildlife managers use radio collars and “average occupancy rates” to estimate populations. Mountain lions once brought a bounty in Montana; hunting with dogs has been legal since 1971, while poaching is abhorred. Two hunting seasons close early when the quota is reached. In 2009, more than 300 mountain lions were legally killed as the cats are not “a species of concern”–yet. Once prevalent throughout the US, North America’s largest feline now roams in only 14 Western states and Florida. Frequent sightings in the Midwest may signal a comeback in those states. Known as the mountain lion, puma, and cougar in the West; it is called panther, painter (colloquial for panther), and catamount (cat-of-the-mountains) in the East. Muscular and powerful, this cat can run up to 50 miles per hour.* Males can reach seven to eight feet from head to tail, and weigh up to 200 lbs. Mountain lions are a reddish-brown, but in colder areas their coat turns a yellow-gray in winter. They have black-tipped ears and tail, a white or beige belly, and white facial markings. Litters consist of two or three blue-eyed kittens born with a spotted coat and ringed tail to provide needed camouflage. Prey of choice is most often deer and elk, with an occasional rabbit, but in a pinch, mountain lions—like most cats— will eat whatever rodents or birds are available. The mountain lion (or panther) is found on more than a dozen U.S. stamps. Partial List of Sources *Cougar Fund, http://www.cougarfund.org/conservation. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks; http://fwp.mt.gov/wildthings/livingWith Wildlife. Rodrigues, Amy. Outreach Coordinator, Mountain Lion Foundation (nonprofit), www.MountainLion.org.; P.O. Box 1896, Sacramento, CA 95812. Reprinted with permission, © Cat Mews, Summer 2010 Marci Jarvis has been editor of Cat Mews, journal of the Cats on Stamps Study Unit, for ten years. The Cats on Stamps Study Unit is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the American Philatelic Society and the American Topical Association. Cat Mews, the award-winning journal, features articles about new cat stamps from around the world: domestic, wild, heraldic, cartoon, and more. Please visit their web site, catsonstamps.org for more information. http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com big cats, catamount, cougar, montana, montana’s fish wildlife, mountain lion, mountain lion foundation, panther, poaching, puma nonadult false Montana Mountain Lions On A Stamp text blog big cats,catamount,cougar,montana,montana’s fish wildlife,mountain lion,mountain lion foundation,panther,poaching,puma 49 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535145 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_PM-issues-action-plan-to-save-tiger/BLOG/2535141/23189.html PM issues action plan to save tigerAdded At: 2010-08-01 7:24 PMLast Updated At: 2010-08-01 7:31 PMTHT OnlineWorld Bank has pledged USD 9,00,000 to Nepal to conserve tigers, now an endangered species all around the world.KATHMANDU: Caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Sunday issued a directive to draft a detailed plan of action for a tiger conservation project to be launched with the financial assistance of World Bank.PM Nepal’s instruction came at the first meeting of National Tiger Conservation Committee held today in the capital.A major donor agency of Nepal, the World Bank has pledged USD 9,00,000 to Nepal to conserve tigers, now an endangered species all around the world.During the meeting, PM Nepal stressed on the need to promote conservation efforts for tigers and the expansion of its habitat, adding adjustments should be made in the existing laws if required.Apart from the Prime Minister, also present in the meeting were Home Minister Bhim Rawal, Forest and Soil Conservation Minister Dipak Bohara, Environment Minister Thakur Prasad Sharma and Law Minister Prem Bahahdur Singh.High level government officials and representatives from WWF Nepal and National Nature Conservation Fund, among others were also present.Today’s meeting, assessing the national level efforts made so far in tiger conservation, described the results to be satisfactory.The meeting also concluded that Nepal has been successful in meeting the commitments expressed in the 15-point Kathmandu Declaration, issued amid an international workshop on conservation of tiger last November. The workshop was presided over by the Prime Minister.Government statistics reveal that there are now 155 tigers in Nepal, up from 121 last October. Today’s meeting also concluded that Nepal is likely to have 250 tigers by 2015, an estimated target the country had planned to achieve by 2022.Today’s meeting decided to take initiatives towards establishing a secretariat for networking conservation efforts in South Asia and engaged in groundwork regarding the agenda Nepal expects to raise in upcoming international conference to be held in St Petersburg in Russia later this September.A cabinet meeting held last Baishak had formed an 8-member committee on conservation of tiger. The committee is led by Prime Minister, with ministers for home, defence, finance, law, forest,http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=PM+issues+action+plan+to+save+tiger&NewsID=251917http://www.bigcatrescue.org PM issues action plan to save tigerAdded At: 2010-08-01 7:24 PMLast Updated At: 2010-08-01 7:31 PMTHT OnlineWorld Bank has pledged USD 9,00,000 to Nepal to conserve tigers, now an endangered species all around the world.KATHMANDU: Caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Sunday issued a directive to draft a detailed plan of action for a tiger conservation project to be launched with the financial assistance of World Bank.PM Nepal’s instruction came at the first meeting of National Tiger Conservation Committee held today in the capital.A major donor agency of Nepal, the World Bank has pledged USD 9,00,000 to Nepal to conserve tigers, now an endangered species all around the world.During the meeting, PM Nepal stressed on the need to promote conservation efforts for tigers and the expansion of its habitat, adding adjustments should be made in the existing laws if required.Apart from the Prime Minister, also present in the meeting were Home Minister Bhim Rawal, Forest and Soil Conservation Minister Dipak Bohara, Environment Minister Thakur Prasad Sharma and Law Minister Prem Bahahdur Singh.High level government officials and representatives from WWF Nepal and National Nature Conservation Fund, among others were also present.Today’s meeting, assessing the national level efforts made so far in tiger conservation, described the results to be satisfactory.The meeting also concluded that Nepal has been successful in meeting the commitments expressed in the 15-point Kathmandu Declaration, issued amid an international workshop on conservation of tiger last November. The workshop was presided over by the Prime Minister.Government statistics reveal that there are now 155 tigers in Nepal, up from 121 last October. Today’s meeting also concluded that Nepal is likely to have 250 tigers by 2015, an estimated target the country had planned to achieve by 2022.Today’s meeting decided to take initiatives towards establishing a secretariat for networking conservation efforts in South Asia and engaged in groundwork regarding the agenda Nepal expects to raise in upcoming international conference to be held in St Petersburg in Russia later this September.A cabinet meeting held last Baishak had formed an 8-member committee on conservation of tiger. The committee is led by Prime Minister, with ministers for home, defence, finance, law, forest,http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=PM+issues+action+plan+to+save+tiger&NewsID=251917http://www.bigcatrescue.org Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:45:50 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_PM-issues-action-plan-to-save-tiger/BLOG/2535141/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:45:50Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too PM issues action plan to save tigerAdded At: 2010-08-01 7:24 PMLast Updated At: 2010-08-01 7:31 PMTHT OnlineWorld Bank has pledged USD 9,00,000 to Nepal to conserve tigers, now an endangered species all around the world.KATHMANDU: Caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Sunday issued a directive to draft a detailed plan of action for a tiger conservation project to be launched with the financial assistance of World Bank.PM Nepal’s instruction came at the first meeting of National Tiger Conservation Committee held today in the capital.A major donor agency of Nepal, the World Bank has pledged USD 9,00,000 to Nepal to conserve tigers, now an endangered species all around the world.During the meeting, PM Nepal stressed on the need to promote conservation efforts for tigers and the expansion of its habitat, adding adjustments should be made in the existing laws if required.Apart from the Prime Minister, also present in the meeting were Home Minister Bhim Rawal, Forest and Soil Conservation Minister Dipak Bohara, Environment Minister Thakur Prasad Sharma and Law Minister Prem Bahahdur Singh.High level government officials and representatives from WWF Nepal and National Nature Conservation Fund, among others were also present.Today’s meeting, assessing the national level efforts made so far in tiger conservation, described the results to be satisfactory.The meeting also concluded that Nepal has been successful in meeting the commitments expressed in the 15-point Kathmandu Declaration, issued amid an international workshop on conservation of tiger last November. The workshop was presided over by the Prime Minister.Government statistics reveal that there are now 155 tigers in Nepal, up from 121 last October. Today’s meeting also concluded that Nepal is likely to have 250 tigers by 2015, an estimated target the country had planned to achieve by 2022.Today’s meeting decided to take initiatives towards establishing a secretariat for networking conservation efforts in South Asia and engaged in groundwork regarding the agenda Nepal expects to raise in upcoming international conference to be held in St Petersburg in Russia later this September.A cabinet meeting held last Baishak had formed an 8-member committee on conservation of tiger. The committee is led by Prime Minister, with ministers for home, defence, finance, law, forest,http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=PM+issues+action+plan+to+save+tiger&NewsID=251917http://www.bigcatrescue.org big cats, conservation, nepal, south asia, tiger, tigers, world bank nonadult false PM issues action plan to save tiger text blog big cats,conservation,nepal,south asia,tiger,tigers,world bank 39 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535141 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_The-cascading-losses-when-predators-disappear/BLOG/2535137/23189.html What purpose do the mountain lion and other major predators serve? These animals are at the top of the food chain. They do not provide food for other, larger creatures. They do not carry pollen, or provide us with oxygen, as do some insects and plants. With a shrug, we respond with words recalled form high school biology: Predators contribute to the balance of nature. But balance is not enough. An empty scale will balance. The value of predators, large and small, is complex and commonly misunderstood. Predators, even those at the very top of the food chain, play a vital role in sustaining other animals and plants within their range. Consider this real world illustration of that principle. [image] When the Panama Canal was dug, a new lake rose in Central America. As waters rose, a hillside, rich with wildlife, was isolated as the surrounding lowlands flooded. The Smithsonian Institution recognized the value of this unique island, where research might demonstrate the effects of isolating small pieces of habitat. Cougars soon disappeared from the new island. This was no surprise, since lions require such a large territory for even a single animal. Over the years, a catastrophic series of local extinctions occurred. By 1970, forty-five species of birds had disappeared from the island. Scientists Joyhn Terborgh and Blair Winter hypothesized that surging populations of mesopredators (carnivores one step down from the largest and most dominant), over-populated because they were no longer subject to predation by, or in competition with, large carnivores. With so many additional animals feeding upon bird eggs and nestlings, bird populations plummeted. In addition, the number of plant varieties found on the island diminished, and soon it became difficult to find young saplings of the canopy trees. Again, researchers traced the changes back to the loss of large predators. Populations of herbivores exploded, and fell upon the flora of the island with a vengeance, tugging up young saplings for their tender leaves, devouring all of the individuals of whole species that had inhabited small niches. [image]What about the middle-sized mammals in their new, and relatively “safe” situation. Without large predators to cull the weaker, older, and disease prone animals, several generations are born and pass on less hardy genes. But when food becomes scarce as a result of prey extinctions and over-populations, some species, despite their increased numbers, find themselves at a genetic disadvantage, unable to compete, subject to epidemics, and prey to more viable or adaptable species. As the ecosystem crashes, these middle species, too, may disappear. In the approach to environmental conservation known as “rewilding,” large predators like the mountain lion are counted as “keystone” species. In summarizing The Role of Top Carnivores in Regulating Terrestrial Ecosystems, leading biologists John Terborgh, et.al. conclude that “our current knowledge about the natural processes that maintain biodiversity suggests a crucial and irreplaceable regulatory role of top predators. The absence of top predators appears to lead inexorably to ecosystem simplification accompanied by a rush of extinctions.” Eventually, nature balances. But on a scale of diversity, balance without predators carries much less weight. Fewer species occupy fewer ecological niches. It is a balanced environment, but a much poorer one, severely degraded by the cascading losses, right down to the birds and flowers, caused by missing carnivores. [image] Humans in the ecosystem tend not to perceive themselves as interdependent with the natural environment. Regardless, natural substances, derived from a diverse planetary flora and fauna, form the basis for much of our science, agriculture and industry. Natural systems contribute to the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the foods we consume. We turn to natural landscapes for recreation and renewal. Large carnivores have a tremendous symbolic value: they personify the wild. Humans have been gifted with a special ability to appreciate diversity beyond mere survival. We value wilderness aesthetically. We mourn the loss of the grizzly and the wolf, and memorialize them on flags and t-shirts. And yet, even in California where cougars are protected, wild cougars are killed in relentless pursuit of public safety and protection of domestic animals. Their range is fenced off with policies as rigid and pointed as any barbed wire. At some point we must take the time to reflect on the worth of wildness. At what price can we imagine a world entirely empty of natural threats, a “safe” suburban Serengeti? Perhaps it is in this realm of human and carnivore interactions that the concept of re-wilding has the greatest value. For example, the vast territories required by carnivores force biologists, land use planners, and government decision-makers to take the larger view, to preserve bigger tracts of land, to connect reserves by corridors, and thus to limit urban and suburban sprawl. A more progressive approach to addressing environmental problems will recognize the value of mountain lions, and will make a commitment, not only to their survival, but to their dominance upon our remaining natural landscape.......Mountain Lion Foundation http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=ts What purpose do the mountain lion and other major predators serve? These animals are at the top of the food chain. They do not provide food for other, larger creatures. They do not carry pollen, or provide us with oxygen, as do some insects and plants. With a shrug, we respond with words recalled form high school biology: Predators contribute to the balance of nature. But balance is not enough. An empty scale will balance. The value of predators, large and small, is complex and commonly misunderstood. Predators, even those at the very top of the food chain, play a vital role in sustaining other animals and plants within their range. Consider this real world illustration of that principle. [image] When the Panama Canal was dug, a new lake rose in Central America. As waters rose, a hillside, rich with wildlife, was isolated as the surrounding lowlands flooded. The Smithsonian Institution recognized the value of this unique island, where research might demonstrate the effects of isolating small pieces of habitat. Cougars soon disappeared from the new island. This was no surprise, since lions require such a large territory for even a single animal. Over the years, a catastrophic series of local extinctions occurred. By 1970, forty-five species of birds had disappeared from the island. Scientists Joyhn Terborgh and Blair Winter hypothesized that surging populations of mesopredators (carnivores one step down from the largest and most dominant), over-populated because they were no longer subject to predation by, or in competition with, large carnivores. With so many additional animals feeding upon bird eggs and nestlings, bird populations plummeted. In addition, the number of plant varieties found on the island diminished, and soon it became difficult to find young saplings of the canopy trees. Again, researchers traced the changes back to the loss of large predators. Populations of herbivores exploded, and fell upon the flora of the island with a vengeance, tugging up young saplings for their tender leaves, devouring all of the individuals of whole species that had inhabited small niches. [image]What about the middle-sized mammals in their new, and relatively “safe” situation. Without large predators to cull the weaker, older, and disease prone animals, several generations are born and pass on less hardy genes. But when food becomes scarce as a result of prey extinctions and over-populations, some species, despite their increased numbers, find themselves at a genetic disadvantage, unable to compete, subject to epidemics, and prey to more viable or adaptable species. As the ecosystem crashes, these middle species, too, may disappear. In the approach to environmental conservation known as “rewilding,” large predators like the mountain lion are counted as “keystone” species. In summarizing The Role of Top Carnivores in Regulating Terrestrial Ecosystems, leading biologists John Terborgh, et.al. conclude that “our current knowledge about the natural processes that maintain biodiversity suggests a crucial and irreplaceable regulatory role of top predators. The absence of top predators appears to lead inexorably to ecosystem simplification accompanied by a rush of extinctions.” Eventually, nature balances. But on a scale of diversity, balance without predators carries much less weight. Fewer species occupy fewer ecological niches. It is a balanced environment, but a much poorer one, severely degraded by the cascading losses, right down to the birds and flowers, caused by missing carnivores. [image] Humans in the ecosystem tend not to perceive themselves as interdependent with the natural environment. Regardless, natural substances, derived from a diverse planetary flora and fauna, form the basis for much of our science, agriculture and industry. Natural systems contribute to the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the foods we consume. We turn to natural landscapes for recreation and renewal. Large carnivores have a tremendous symbolic value: they personify the wild. Humans have been gifted with a special ability to appreciate diversity beyond mere survival. We value wilderness aesthetically. We mourn the loss of the grizzly and the wolf, and memorialize them on flags and t-shirts. And yet, even in California where cougars are protected, wild cougars are killed in relentless pursuit of public safety and protection of domestic animals. Their range is fenced off with policies as rigid and pointed as any barbed wire. At some point we must take the time to reflect on the worth of wildness. At what price can we imagine a world entirely empty of natural threats, a “safe” suburban Serengeti? Perhaps it is in this realm of human and carnivore interactions that the concept of re-wilding has the greatest value. For example, the vast territories required by carnivores force biologists, land use planners, and government decision-makers to take the larger view, to preserve bigger tracts of land, to connect reserves by corridors, and thus to limit urban and suburban sprawl. A more progressive approach to addressing environmental problems will recognize the value of mountain lions, and will make a commitment, not only to their survival, but to their dominance upon our remaining natural landscape.......Mountain Lion Foundation http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=ts Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:43:08 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_The-cascading-losses-when-predators-disappear/BLOG/2535137/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:43:08Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too What purpose do the mountain lion and other major predators serve? These animals are at the top of the food chain. They do not provide food for other, larger creatures. They do not carry pollen, or provide us with oxygen, as do some insects and plants. With a shrug, we respond with words recalled form high school biology: Predators contribute to the balance of nature. But balance is not enough. An empty scale will balance. The value of predators, large and small, is complex and commonly misunderstood. Predators, even those at the very top of the food chain, play a vital role in sustaining other animals and plants within their range. Consider this real world illustration of that principle. [image] When the Panama Canal was dug, a new lake rose in Central America. As waters rose, a hillside, rich with wildlife, was isolated as the surrounding lowlands flooded. The Smithsonian Institution recognized the value of this unique island, where research might demonstrate the effects of isolating small pieces of habitat. Cougars soon disappeared from the new island. This was no surprise, since lions require such a large territory for even a single animal. Over the years, a catastrophic series of local extinctions occurred. By 1970, forty-five species of birds had disappeared from the island. Scientists Joyhn Terborgh and Blair Winter hypothesized that surging populations of mesopredators (carnivores one step down from the largest and most dominant), over-populated because they were no longer subject to predation by, or in competition with, large carnivores. With so many additional animals feeding upon bird eggs and nestlings, bird populations plummeted. In addition, the number of plant varieties found on the island diminished, and soon it became difficult to find young saplings of the canopy trees. Again, researchers traced the changes back to the loss of large predators. Populations of herbivores exploded, and fell upon the flora of the island with a vengeance, tugging up young saplings for their tender leaves, devouring all of the individuals of whole species that had inhabited small niches. [image]What about the middle-sized mammals in their new, and relatively “safe” situation. Without large predators to cull the weaker, older, and disease prone animals, several generations are born and pass on less hardy genes. But when food becomes scarce as a result of prey extinctions and over-populations, some species, despite their increased numbers, find themselves at a genetic disadvantage, unable to compete, subject to epidemics, and prey to more viable or adaptable species. As the ecosystem crashes, these middle species, too, may disappear. In the approach to environmental conservation known as “rewilding,” large predators like the mountain lion are counted as “keystone” species. In summarizing The Role of Top Carnivores in Regulating Terrestrial Ecosystems, leading biologists John Terborgh, et.al. conclude that “our current knowledge about the natural processes that maintain biodiversity suggests a crucial and irreplaceable regulatory role of top predators. The absence of top predators appears to lead inexorably to ecosystem simplification accompanied by a rush of extinctions.” Eventually, nature balances. But on a scale of diversity, balance without predators carries much less weight. Fewer species occupy fewer ecological niches. It is a balanced environment, but a much poorer one, severely degraded by the cascading losses, right down to the birds and flowers, caused by missing carnivores. [image] Humans in the ecosystem tend not to perceive themselves as interdependent with the natural environment. Regardless, natural substances, derived from a diverse planetary flora and fauna, form the basis for much of our science, agriculture and industry. Natural systems contribute to the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the foods we consume. We turn to natural landscapes for recreation and renewal. Large carnivores have a tremendous symbolic value: they personify the wild. Humans have been gifted with a special ability to appreciate diversity beyond mere survival. We value wilderness aesthetically. We mourn the loss of the grizzly and the wolf, and memorialize them on flags and t-shirts. And yet, even in California where cougars are protected, wild cougars are killed in relentless pursuit of public safety and protection of domestic animals. Their range is fenced off with policies as rigid and pointed as any barbed wire. At some point we must take the time to reflect on the worth of wildness. At what price can we imagine a world entirely empty of natural threats, a “safe” suburban Serengeti? Perhaps it is in this realm of human and carnivore interactions that the concept of re-wilding has the greatest value. For example, the vast territories required by carnivores force biologists, land use planners, and government decision-makers to take the larger view, to preserve bigger tracts of land, to connect reserves by corridors, and thus to limit urban and suburban sprawl. A more progressive approach to addressing environmental problems will recognize the value of mountain lions, and will make a commitment, not only to their survival, but to their dominance upon our remaining natural landscape.......Mountain Lion Foundation http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Cat-Rescue-Tampa-FL/122174836956?ref=ts big cats, carnivores, cougar, ecosystems, mountain lion, mountain lion foundation, panama canal, panther, predator, puma nonadult false The cascading losses when predators disappear text blog big cats,carnivores,cougar,ecosystems,mountain lion,mountain lion foundation,panama canal,panther,predator,puma 42 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535137 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Record-number-of-tiger-attacks-attributed-to-loss-of-habitat/BLOG/2535135/23189.html Record number of tiger attacks attributed to loss of habitat50 people killed last year, highest annual total in past 100 yearsBy Anisur Rahman, Correspondent Published: 00:00 August 1, 2010Dhaka: Bangladesh earned a name for being the home of Royal Bengal Tigers along with neighbouring India but this year, the big cats killed the highest number of people this century, a phenomenon feared to be caused by loss of their habitats."We are witnessing a growing trend of deaths caused by tigers. Fifty people died last year, the highest number of deaths we recorded in the past 100 years, while the figure was 24 in 2007," forest conservator Tapan Dey told Gulf News.He said the loss of big cat habitats and food sources in southwestern Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest which is the habitat of the last 440 Bengal Tigers, according to a 2004 survey.Dey's comments came two days after Bangladesh joined the World Tiger Day celebrations promising effective steps to save the endangered big cats while it planned for an effective presence in the 13-nation Tiger Conservation Summit in St. Petersburg in September to plan out urgent measures to save the species."I will attribute the phenomenon (growing number of deaths) on human intrusion in Sundarbans . . . men are not good food for big cats but are easy prey, while the tigers are quickly losing their main food there because of poaching," chief executive of Bangladesh Wildlife Trust Professor Anwarul Islam told Gulf News.Islam, also a senior professor of zoology department of the premier Dhaka University, said nearly 450,000 families live around the Sundarbans, a stretch of 6,017 square kilometres of forest "while their interactions with tigers are growing day by day causing the higher death rates."He said the Trust recently carried out a survey on 800 families living around the Sundarbans. Nearly half of them admitted they had tasted the deer meats at last once in the past year."The survey reflects how the tigers are losing their main food source," he said. The last survey by the forest department and UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 2004 estimated the number to be around 440, while in Indian side of the Sundarbans the tiger population was around 270.http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/record-number-of-tiger-attacks-attributed-to-loss-of-habitat-1.662192http://www.bigcatrescue.org Record number of tiger attacks attributed to loss of habitat50 people killed last year, highest annual total in past 100 yearsBy Anisur Rahman, Correspondent Published: 00:00 August 1, 2010Dhaka: Bangladesh earned a name for being the home of Royal Bengal Tigers along with neighbouring India but this year, the big cats killed the highest number of people this century, a phenomenon feared to be caused by loss of their habitats."We are witnessing a growing trend of deaths caused by tigers. Fifty people died last year, the highest number of deaths we recorded in the past 100 years, while the figure was 24 in 2007," forest conservator Tapan Dey told Gulf News.He said the loss of big cat habitats and food sources in southwestern Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest which is the habitat of the last 440 Bengal Tigers, according to a 2004 survey.Dey's comments came two days after Bangladesh joined the World Tiger Day celebrations promising effective steps to save the endangered big cats while it planned for an effective presence in the 13-nation Tiger Conservation Summit in St. Petersburg in September to plan out urgent measures to save the species."I will attribute the phenomenon (growing number of deaths) on human intrusion in Sundarbans . . . men are not good food for big cats but are easy prey, while the tigers are quickly losing their main food there because of poaching," chief executive of Bangladesh Wildlife Trust Professor Anwarul Islam told Gulf News.Islam, also a senior professor of zoology department of the premier Dhaka University, said nearly 450,000 families live around the Sundarbans, a stretch of 6,017 square kilometres of forest "while their interactions with tigers are growing day by day causing the higher death rates."He said the Trust recently carried out a survey on 800 families living around the Sundarbans. Nearly half of them admitted they had tasted the deer meats at last once in the past year."The survey reflects how the tigers are losing their main food source," he said. The last survey by the forest department and UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 2004 estimated the number to be around 440, while in Indian side of the Sundarbans the tiger population was around 270.http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/record-number-of-tiger-attacks-attributed-to-loss-of-habitat-1.662192http://www.bigcatrescue.org Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:39:01 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Record-number-of-tiger-attacks-attributed-to-loss-of-habitat/BLOG/2535135/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:39:01Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Record number of tiger attacks attributed to loss of habitat50 people killed last year, highest annual total in past 100 yearsBy Anisur Rahman, Correspondent Published: 00:00 August 1, 2010Dhaka: Bangladesh earned a name for being the home of Royal Bengal Tigers along with neighbouring India but this year, the big cats killed the highest number of people this century, a phenomenon feared to be caused by loss of their habitats."We are witnessing a growing trend of deaths caused by tigers. Fifty people died last year, the highest number of deaths we recorded in the past 100 years, while the figure was 24 in 2007," forest conservator Tapan Dey told Gulf News.He said the loss of big cat habitats and food sources in southwestern Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest which is the habitat of the last 440 Bengal Tigers, according to a 2004 survey.Dey's comments came two days after Bangladesh joined the World Tiger Day celebrations promising effective steps to save the endangered big cats while it planned for an effective presence in the 13-nation Tiger Conservation Summit in St. Petersburg in September to plan out urgent measures to save the species."I will attribute the phenomenon (growing number of deaths) on human intrusion in Sundarbans . . . men are not good food for big cats but are easy prey, while the tigers are quickly losing their main food there because of poaching," chief executive of Bangladesh Wildlife Trust Professor Anwarul Islam told Gulf News.Islam, also a senior professor of zoology department of the premier Dhaka University, said nearly 450,000 families live around the Sundarbans, a stretch of 6,017 square kilometres of forest "while their interactions with tigers are growing day by day causing the higher death rates."He said the Trust recently carried out a survey on 800 families living around the Sundarbans. Nearly half of them admitted they had tasted the deer meats at last once in the past year."The survey reflects how the tigers are losing their main food source," he said. The last survey by the forest department and UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 2004 estimated the number to be around 440, while in Indian side of the Sundarbans the tiger population was around 270.http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/record-number-of-tiger-attacks-attributed-to-loss-of-habitat-1.662192http://www.bigcatrescue.org attack, bangladesh, bangladesh wildlife trust, bengal tigers, big cats, india, sundarbans, tiger, tiger attack, tiger attacks, tigers nonadult false Record number of tiger attacks attributed to loss of habitat text blog attack,bangladesh,bangladesh wildlife trust,bengal tigers,big cats,india,sundarbans,tiger,tiger attack,tiger attacks,tigers 35 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535135 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_LYNX-The-Cross-Border-Cat/BLOG/2535130/23189.html Lynx don’t care about the line between Ontario and Minnesota, and researchers on both sides are starting to pay attention By Cheryl Lyn Dybas with Photography by Ilya Raskin [image]Scientists trap and fit lynx with a radio collar, allowing them to follow the cat’s every move. One lynx is reported to have ventured more than 2,000 kilometres from Colorado to Alberta. Ron Moen rattles his grey pickup truck down a back road covered by hard-packed snow in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, a few dozen kilometres south of the Canada–U.S. border. We’re surrounded by a winter wonderland of rime-tipped balsam firs and frozen lakes that stretches north to Ontario and beyond. Moen skids to a halt beside a steep snowdrift, and we step out of the truck into banks so deep, they stop the six-foot-tall wildlife biologist in his tracks. It’s early March, dusk is settling, and all is silent. Moen and I slog a few metres toward the forest edge and enter a thicket of firs and alders, their boughs doubled over with ice from a recent storm. His voice muffled by the collar of his parka, Moen whispers, “It’s out there. Somewhere.” (Map: Steven Fick/Canadian Geographic)">[image] Map the Lynx’s range around Lake Superior. “It” is Lynx canadensis, a northern forest cat as elusive as sasquatch. Known to the Ojibwa as “the vigilant protector of the people,” the lynx sees without being seen in this white-on-white world. Here in the boreal forest, the medium-sized wild cat, which can grow to a metre in length and averages 5 to 15 kilograms, appears to have it all: its main prey, the snowshoe hare; the brushy woods the hare prefers; and the deep snows that the lynx and hare bound across using the thick cushions of hair on the soles of their large feet. But the lynx — which lives in all provinces except Prince Edward Island and in Minnesota, Maine, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Alaska and Colorado, where a reintroduction program has been under way since 1999 — became a prize catch when fur prices boomed in the 1970s and 1980s. It was hunted and pushed to the brink in the lower 48 states and has been listed as a threatened species for a decade, even though it is still trapped, mostly for fur coats, in Canada. (In response to overharvesting in the early 1900s, Ontario instituted a trapline registration system in 1947; the province’s population is said to be recovering.)   “A scenario predicted by climate-change models says the cat’s habitat could move as much as 200 kilometres by 2100.” Biologists at Environment Canada believe there are at least 110,000 lynx in the country. Because the lynx is so secretive, however, population estimates are just that — estimates. Nobody knows how many live in the United States. (There may be lynx in Oregon and Idaho and from Wisconsin to New Hampshire, but experts believe the animals occasionally pass through and do not constitute established populations.) Fewer than 250 likely live in Minnesota, says Moen, a reserved 49-year-old based at the University of Minnesota Duluth. And as the continuous snow cover and boreal forest shift north, a scenario predicted by climate-change models, the cat’s habitat could move as much as 200 kilometres by 2100. Which means, says forest ecologist Lee Frelich of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, “Canadian wildlife biologists need only look south” to see the conservation challenges they’ll be facing in the near future. Scientists on both sides of the border are trying to discover how much lynx populations in Ontario and Minnesota intermingle and which parts of the landscape play a critical role in their border crossings. Needless to say, lynx don’t respect the international boundary, crossing the line regularly in search of meals or mates. Yet because they’re a threatened species in the United States, they’re managed completely differently in the two countries, says Justina Ray, a biologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. Minnesota is currently at the southern edge of the lynx’s range east of the Rockies. Superior National Forest and Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming are two “priority areas” for lynx conservation, according to a 2007 report by The Nature Conservancy. “Intensive natural resources management intervention” will be required, the report says — in other words, the type of work that has taken Moen into these woods in search of lynx for more than seven years. Out of sight behind the alders, Moen has set five box traps. Made of steel fencing and wood, with a trigger mechanism that shuts the door, the rectangular enclosures are baited with road-killed deer. Once trapped, as 35 have been over the years, the lynx is tranquilized using a pole syringe and is fitted with a Global Positioning System (GPS) or a Very High Frequency (VHF) radio collar so that Moen and his colleagues can track its movements. Moen also takes a blood sample to determine the animal’s health and for DNA analysis to identify individuals. There are no lynx in Moen’s traps today, so we retreat to his truck. He opens the door and leans in, then emerges brandishing what looks like old-style TV rabbit ears to listen for the lynx already collared for his study. Each collar has its own frequency, which Moen can search for on his radio receiver. At first, we hear static. Then suddenly: beep-beep-beep. “It’s probably closer than we know,” says Moen, peering into the darkness. Still, he decides to head back to town for the night. Lynx are most active at sunrise and sunset, so we’ll return at dawn. The best way to catch a lynx, he says, is to think like one. [image] Map the range of the Lynx around Lake Superior. While we sleep at a ski-and-snowshoe lodge about 40 kilometres from Moen’s traps — an outpost complete with snowshoes hanging cross-hatched above a stone fireplace — lynx number 28 in Moen’s study roams the forest. By the waning light of a last-quarter moon, L-28 walks with its hindquarters up and head down — typical lynx posture — leaving paw prints as big as a man’s hand in the deep snow. The lynx circles a small lake and crosses a frozen alder swamp; it can smell fresh deer meat. It pads along a snowmobile trail a meal, the door of trap number one slams shut. Next morning, I’m on my way back to the woods with Moen, two of his students and a field assistant. We park in yesterday’s tire marks and see lynx tracks leading into the trees, as well as signs of a snowshoe hare darting to and fro. Moen follows his boot prints to the first trap and is met by a pair of soul-searching, translucent green eyes. Crouching in the back of the trap, distinctive black ear tufts standing up, L-28 makes a low noise that’s half growl, half hiss. Clearly, the cat didn’t appreciate its overnight accommodations. Because L-28 already has a radio collar — it was first trapped in 2005 — Moen sidles to the back of the trap and slides open the door. I stand a metre away in thigh-deep snow. L-28 bounds out and over the snow in a flash, his oversized paws in near-gallop, lynx and forest blurring together as one. “Crouching in the back of the trap, distinctive black ear tufts standing up, L-28 makes a low noise that’s half growl, half hiss.” One way to ensure that the lynx has a future in Minnesota, says Moen, is through “responsible” management programs in Canada and the United States that consider the animal’s habitat along natural and not political lines. He has been quietly working to make that happen, organizing international workshops and collaborating with researchers, including OntarioMinistry of Natural Resources biologist Neil Dawson and Trent University ecologist Dennis Murray. They attended a 2007 gathering in Grand Portage, Minnesota, that drew together more than 70 wildlife biologists. It was the first workshop to assemble such a large number of lynx researchers from both sides of the border, fostering a small wave of international collaboration among scientists studying the animal. Which is important, because, as Moen says, “the frequency of cross-border lynx travel turns out to be much higher than anyone anticipated.” Some lynx in Moen’s study, such as L-15, are veterans of back-and-forth forays. Trapped in Grand Marais, Minnesota, on March 30, 2004, L-15 was recorded northwest of Thunder Bay five months later — more than 150 kilometres away. Less than two weeks after that, L-15 was back in Grand Marais. It’s usually males that wander far afield, says Moen. Females, probably because they have kittens, have smaller home ranges, which can vary from 60 to 100 square kilometres. This spring, however, a lynx in another study set a new record, travelling 2,000 kilometres from its transplanted home in Colorado back to Alberta before meeting its end in a fur trap. Minnesota logger Joe Foster saw a lynx mother with her young in 2002. Two years later, Moen found lynx dens and saw a female lynx with kittens. These sightings constituted the first direct evidence that Minnesota has a resident lynx population. There’s another connection between logging and lynx: researchers have concluded that the success of a lynx population in its southern range depends not on old-growth forest, as had long been thought, but on early successional forest — woods with trees from 10 to 30 years old. Snowshoe hares, which make up more than 80 percent of the lynx’s diet, hide there in young thickets or in “edgerows,” the northern wilderness equivalent of the hedgerows where rabbits hop. Moen’s traps are located in a region of spruce-fir forests in early successional stages. Sections periodically harvested for timber are scattered across the area. Many have young trees springing up amid a lynx favourite: jumbles of downed branches atop scrubby undergrowth. “Logging isn’t all bad for lynx,” says Moen. “In some ways, it’s the modern equivalent of [the regenerative] fires that once burned [but are now suppressed] from here through Canada.” National borders mean nothing to a fire, a forest or a lynx, says biologist Luke Hunter, executive director of Panthera, a New York City-based conservation organization founded in 2006 to protect the world’s 36 species of wild cats. Panthera supports research such as the work of Megan Hornseth, a graduate student of Trent’s Dennis Murray, who is studying how various types of forest edge affect lynx movement. “Co-operation between Canada and the United States,” says Hunter, “could be a model for how to approach cat conservation around the world.” Ecologist and writer Cheryl Lyn Dybas lives just outside Washington, D.C. Photographer Ilya Raskin is a biology professor at Rutgers, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-C Lynx don’t care about the line between Ontario and Minnesota, and researchers on both sides are starting to pay attention By Cheryl Lyn Dybas with Photography by Ilya Raskin [image]Scientists trap and fit lynx with a radio collar, allowing them to follow the cat’s every move. One lynx is reported to have ventured more than 2,000 kilometres from Colorado to Alberta. Ron Moen rattles his grey pickup truck down a back road covered by hard-packed snow in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, a few dozen kilometres south of the Canada–U.S. border. We’re surrounded by a winter wonderland of rime-tipped balsam firs and frozen lakes that stretches north to Ontario and beyond. Moen skids to a halt beside a steep snowdrift, and we step out of the truck into banks so deep, they stop the six-foot-tall wildlife biologist in his tracks. It’s early March, dusk is settling, and all is silent. Moen and I slog a few metres toward the forest edge and enter a thicket of firs and alders, their boughs doubled over with ice from a recent storm. His voice muffled by the collar of his parka, Moen whispers, “It’s out there. Somewhere.” (Map: Steven Fick/Canadian Geographic)">[image] Map the Lynx’s range around Lake Superior. “It” is Lynx canadensis, a northern forest cat as elusive as sasquatch. Known to the Ojibwa as “the vigilant protector of the people,” the lynx sees without being seen in this white-on-white world. Here in the boreal forest, the medium-sized wild cat, which can grow to a metre in length and averages 5 to 15 kilograms, appears to have it all: its main prey, the snowshoe hare; the brushy woods the hare prefers; and the deep snows that the lynx and hare bound across using the thick cushions of hair on the soles of their large feet. But the lynx — which lives in all provinces except Prince Edward Island and in Minnesota, Maine, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Alaska and Colorado, where a reintroduction program has been under way since 1999 — became a prize catch when fur prices boomed in the 1970s and 1980s. It was hunted and pushed to the brink in the lower 48 states and has been listed as a threatened species for a decade, even though it is still trapped, mostly for fur coats, in Canada. (In response to overharvesting in the early 1900s, Ontario instituted a trapline registration system in 1947; the province’s population is said to be recovering.)   “A scenario predicted by climate-change models says the cat’s habitat could move as much as 200 kilometres by 2100.” Biologists at Environment Canada believe there are at least 110,000 lynx in the country. Because the lynx is so secretive, however, population estimates are just that — estimates. Nobody knows how many live in the United States. (There may be lynx in Oregon and Idaho and from Wisconsin to New Hampshire, but experts believe the animals occasionally pass through and do not constitute established populations.) Fewer than 250 likely live in Minnesota, says Moen, a reserved 49-year-old based at the University of Minnesota Duluth. And as the continuous snow cover and boreal forest shift north, a scenario predicted by climate-change models, the cat’s habitat could move as much as 200 kilometres by 2100. Which means, says forest ecologist Lee Frelich of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, “Canadian wildlife biologists need only look south” to see the conservation challenges they’ll be facing in the near future. Scientists on both sides of the border are trying to discover how much lynx populations in Ontario and Minnesota intermingle and which parts of the landscape play a critical role in their border crossings. Needless to say, lynx don’t respect the international boundary, crossing the line regularly in search of meals or mates. Yet because they’re a threatened species in the United States, they’re managed completely differently in the two countries, says Justina Ray, a biologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. Minnesota is currently at the southern edge of the lynx’s range east of the Rockies. Superior National Forest and Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming are two “priority areas” for lynx conservation, according to a 2007 report by The Nature Conservancy. “Intensive natural resources management intervention” will be required, the report says — in other words, the type of work that has taken Moen into these woods in search of lynx for more than seven years. Out of sight behind the alders, Moen has set five box traps. Made of steel fencing and wood, with a trigger mechanism that shuts the door, the rectangular enclosures are baited with road-killed deer. Once trapped, as 35 have been over the years, the lynx is tranquilized using a pole syringe and is fitted with a Global Positioning System (GPS) or a Very High Frequency (VHF) radio collar so that Moen and his colleagues can track its movements. Moen also takes a blood sample to determine the animal’s health and for DNA analysis to identify individuals. There are no lynx in Moen’s traps today, so we retreat to his truck. He opens the door and leans in, then emerges brandishing what looks like old-style TV rabbit ears to listen for the lynx already collared for his study. Each collar has its own frequency, which Moen can search for on his radio receiver. At first, we hear static. Then suddenly: beep-beep-beep. “It’s probably closer than we know,” says Moen, peering into the darkness. Still, he decides to head back to town for the night. Lynx are most active at sunrise and sunset, so we’ll return at dawn. The best way to catch a lynx, he says, is to think like one. [image] Map the range of the Lynx around Lake Superior. While we sleep at a ski-and-snowshoe lodge about 40 kilometres from Moen’s traps — an outpost complete with snowshoes hanging cross-hatched above a stone fireplace — lynx number 28 in Moen’s study roams the forest. By the waning light of a last-quarter moon, L-28 walks with its hindquarters up and head down — typical lynx posture — leaving paw prints as big as a man’s hand in the deep snow. The lynx circles a small lake and crosses a frozen alder swamp; it can smell fresh deer meat. It pads along a snowmobile trail a meal, the door of trap number one slams shut. Next morning, I’m on my way back to the woods with Moen, two of his students and a field assistant. We park in yesterday’s tire marks and see lynx tracks leading into the trees, as well as signs of a snowshoe hare darting to and fro. Moen follows his boot prints to the first trap and is met by a pair of soul-searching, translucent green eyes. Crouching in the back of the trap, distinctive black ear tufts standing up, L-28 makes a low noise that’s half growl, half hiss. Clearly, the cat didn’t appreciate its overnight accommodations. Because L-28 already has a radio collar — it was first trapped in 2005 — Moen sidles to the back of the trap and slides open the door. I stand a metre away in thigh-deep snow. L-28 bounds out and over the snow in a flash, his oversized paws in near-gallop, lynx and forest blurring together as one. “Crouching in the back of the trap, distinctive black ear tufts standing up, L-28 makes a low noise that’s half growl, half hiss.” One way to ensure that the lynx has a future in Minnesota, says Moen, is through “responsible” management programs in Canada and the United States that consider the animal’s habitat along natural and not political lines. He has been quietly working to make that happen, organizing international workshops and collaborating with researchers, including OntarioMinistry of Natural Resources biologist Neil Dawson and Trent University ecologist Dennis Murray. They attended a 2007 gathering in Grand Portage, Minnesota, that drew together more than 70 wildlife biologists. It was the first workshop to assemble such a large number of lynx researchers from both sides of the border, fostering a small wave of international collaboration among scientists studying the animal. Which is important, because, as Moen says, “the frequency of cross-border lynx travel turns out to be much higher than anyone anticipated.” Some lynx in Moen’s study, such as L-15, are veterans of back-and-forth forays. Trapped in Grand Marais, Minnesota, on March 30, 2004, L-15 was recorded northwest of Thunder Bay five months later — more than 150 kilometres away. Less than two weeks after that, L-15 was back in Grand Marais. It’s usually males that wander far afield, says Moen. Females, probably because they have kittens, have smaller home ranges, which can vary from 60 to 100 square kilometres. This spring, however, a lynx in another study set a new record, travelling 2,000 kilometres from its transplanted home in Colorado back to Alberta before meeting its end in a fur trap. Minnesota logger Joe Foster saw a lynx mother with her young in 2002. Two years later, Moen found lynx dens and saw a female lynx with kittens. These sightings constituted the first direct evidence that Minnesota has a resident lynx population. There’s another connection between logging and lynx: researchers have concluded that the success of a lynx population in its southern range depends not on old-growth forest, as had long been thought, but on early successional forest — woods with trees from 10 to 30 years old. Snowshoe hares, which make up more than 80 percent of the lynx’s diet, hide there in young thickets or in “edgerows,” the northern wilderness equivalent of the hedgerows where rabbits hop. Moen’s traps are located in a region of spruce-fir forests in early successional stages. Sections periodically harvested for timber are scattered across the area. Many have young trees springing up amid a lynx favourite: jumbles of downed branches atop scrubby undergrowth. “Logging isn’t all bad for lynx,” says Moen. “In some ways, it’s the modern equivalent of [the regenerative] fires that once burned [but are now suppressed] from here through Canada.” National borders mean nothing to a fire, a forest or a lynx, says biologist Luke Hunter, executive director of Panthera, a New York City-based conservation organization founded in 2006 to protect the world’s 36 species of wild cats. Panthera supports research such as the work of Megan Hornseth, a graduate student of Trent’s Dennis Murray, who is studying how various types of forest edge affect lynx movement. “Co-operation between Canada and the United States,” says Hunter, “could be a model for how to approach cat conservation around the world.” Ecologist and writer Cheryl Lyn Dybas lives just outside Washington, D.C. Photographer Ilya Raskin is a biology professor at Rutgers, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-C Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:35:49 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_LYNX-The-Cross-Border-Cat/BLOG/2535130/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:35:49Z Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Lynx don’t care about the line between Ontario and Minnesota, and researchers on both sides are starting to pay attention By Cheryl Lyn Dybas with Photography by Ilya Raskin [image]Scientists trap and fit lynx with a radio collar, allowing them to follow the cat’s every move. One lynx is reported to have ventured more than 2,000 kilometres from Colorado to Alberta. Ron Moen rattles his grey pickup truck down a back road covered by hard-packed snow in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, a few dozen kilometres south of the Canada–U.S. border. We’re surrounded by a winter wonderland of rime-tipped balsam firs and frozen lakes that stretches north to Ontario and beyond. Moen skids to a halt beside a steep snowdrift, and we step out of the truck into banks so deep, they stop the six-foot-tall wildlife biologist in his tracks. It’s early March, dusk is settling, and all is silent. Moen and I slog a few metres toward the forest edge and enter a thicket of firs and alders, their boughs doubled over with ice from a recent storm. His voice muffled by the collar of his parka, Moen whispers, “It’s out there. Somewhere.” (Map: Steven Fick/Canadian Geographic)">[image] Map the Lynx’s range around Lake Superior. “It” is Lynx canadensis, a northern forest cat as elusive as sasquatch. Known to the Ojibwa as “the vigilant protector of the people,” the lynx sees without being seen in this white-on-white world. Here in the boreal forest, the medium-sized wild cat, which can grow to a metre in length and averages 5 to 15 kilograms, appears to have it all: its main prey, the snowshoe hare; the brushy woods the hare prefers; and the deep snows that the lynx and hare bound across using the thick cushions of hair on the soles of their large feet. But the lynx — which lives in all provinces except Prince Edward Island and in Minnesota, Maine, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Alaska and Colorado, where a reintroduction program has been under way since 1999 — became a prize catch when fur prices boomed in the 1970s and 1980s. It was hunted and pushed to the brink in the lower 48 states and has been listed as a threatened species for a decade, even though it is still trapped, mostly for fur coats, in Canada. (In response to overharvesting in the early 1900s, Ontario instituted a trapline registration system in 1947; the province’s population is said to be recovering.)   “A scenario predicted by climate-change models says the cat’s habitat could move as much as 200 kilometres by 2100.” Biologists at Environment Canada believe there are at least 110,000 lynx in the country. Because the lynx is so secretive, however, population estimates are just that — estimates. Nobody knows how many live in the United States. (There may be lynx in Oregon and Idaho and from Wisconsin to New Hampshire, but experts believe the animals occasionally pass through and do not constitute established populations.) Fewer than 250 likely live in Minnesota, says Moen, a reserved 49-year-old based at the University of Minnesota Duluth. And as the continuous snow cover and boreal forest shift north, a scenario predicted by climate-change models, the cat’s habitat could move as much as 200 kilometres by 2100. Which means, says forest ecologist Lee Frelich of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, “Canadian wildlife biologists need only look south” to see the conservation challenges they’ll be facing in the near future. Scientists on both sides of the border are trying to discover how much lynx populations in Ontario and Minnesota intermingle and which parts of the landscape play a critical role in their border crossings. Needless to say, lynx don’t respect the international boundary, crossing the line regularly in search of meals or mates. Yet because they’re a threatened species in the United States, they’re managed completely differently in the two countries, says Justina Ray, a biologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. Minnesota is currently at the southern edge of the lynx’s range east of the Rockies. Superior National Forest and Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming are two “priority areas” for lynx conservation, according to a 2007 report by The Nature Conservancy. “Intensive natural resources management intervention” will be required, the report says — in other words, the type of work that has taken Moen into these woods in search of lynx for more than seven years. Out of sight behind the alders, Moen has set five box traps. Made of steel fencing and wood, with a trigger mechanism that shuts the door, the rectangular enclosures are baited with road-killed deer. Once trapped, as 35 have been over the years, the lynx is tranquilized using a pole syringe and is fitted with a Global Positioning System (GPS) or a Very High Frequency (VHF) radio collar so that Moen and his colleagues can track its movements. Moen also takes a blood sample to determine the animal’s health and for DNA analysis to identify individuals. There are no lynx in Moen’s traps today, so we retreat to his truck. He opens the door and leans in, then emerges brandishing what looks like old-style TV rabbit ears to listen for the lynx already collared for his study. Each collar has its own frequency, which Moen can search for on his radio receiver. At first, we hear static. Then suddenly: beep-beep-beep. “It’s probably closer than we know,” says Moen, peering into the darkness. Still, he decides to head back to town for the night. Lynx are most active at sunrise and sunset, so we’ll return at dawn. The best way to catch a lynx, he says, is to think like one. [image] Map the range of the Lynx around Lake Superior. While we sleep at a ski-and-snowshoe lodge about 40 kilometres from Moen’s traps — an outpost complete with snowshoes hanging cross-hatched above a stone fireplace — lynx number 28 in Moen’s study roams the forest. By the waning light of a last-quarter moon, L-28 walks with its hindquarters up and head down — typical lynx posture — leaving paw prints as big as a man’s hand in the deep snow. The lynx circles a small lake and crosses a frozen alder swamp; it can smell fresh deer meat. It pads along a snowmobile trail a meal, the door of trap number one slams shut. Next morning, I’m on my way back to the woods with Moen, two of his students and a field assistant. We park in yesterday’s tire marks and see lynx tracks leading into the trees, as well as signs of a snowshoe hare darting to and fro. Moen follows his boot prints to the first trap and is met by a pair of soul-searching, translucent green eyes. Crouching in the back of the trap, distinctive black ear tufts standing up, L-28 makes a low noise that’s half growl, half hiss. Clearly, the cat didn’t appreciate its overnight accommodations. Because L-28 already has a radio collar — it was first trapped in 2005 — Moen sidles to the back of the trap and slides open the door. I stand a metre away in thigh-deep snow. L-28 bounds out and over the snow in a flash, his oversized paws in near-gallop, lynx and forest blurring together as one. “Crouching in the back of the trap, distinctive black ear tufts standing up, L-28 makes a low noise that’s half growl, half hiss.” One way to ensure that the lynx has a future in Minnesota, says Moen, is through “responsible” management programs in Canada and the United States that consider the animal’s habitat along natural and not political lines. He has been quietly working to make that happen, organizing international workshops and collaborating with researchers, including OntarioMinistry of Natural Resources biologist Neil Dawson and Trent University ecologist Dennis Murray. They attended a 2007 gathering in Grand Portage, Minnesota, that drew together more than 70 wildlife biologists. It was the first workshop to assemble such a large number of lynx researchers from both sides of the border, fostering a small wave of international collaboration among scientists studying the animal. Which is important, because, as Moen says, “the frequency of cross-border lynx travel turns out to be much higher than anyone anticipated.” Some lynx in Moen’s study, such as L-15, are veterans of back-and-forth forays. Trapped in Grand Marais, Minnesota, on March 30, 2004, L-15 was recorded northwest of Thunder Bay five months later — more than 150 kilometres away. Less than two weeks after that, L-15 was back in Grand Marais. It’s usually males that wander far afield, says Moen. Females, probably because they have kittens, have smaller home ranges, which can vary from 60 to 100 square kilometres. This spring, however, a lynx in another study set a new record, travelling 2,000 kilometres from its transplanted home in Colorado back to Alberta before meeting its end in a fur trap. Minnesota logger Joe Foster saw a lynx mother with her young in 2002. Two years later, Moen found lynx dens and saw a female lynx with kittens. These sightings constituted the first direct evidence that Minnesota has a resident lynx population. There’s another connection between logging and lynx: researchers have concluded that the success of a lynx population in its southern range depends not on old-growth forest, as had long been thought, but on early successional forest — woods with trees from 10 to 30 years old. Snowshoe hares, which make up more than 80 percent of the lynx’s diet, hide there in young thickets or in “edgerows,” the northern wilderness equivalent of the hedgerows where rabbits hop. Moen’s traps are located in a region of spruce-fir forests in early successional stages. Sections periodically harvested for timber are scattered across the area. Many have young trees springing up amid a lynx favourite: jumbles of downed branches atop scrubby undergrowth. “Logging isn’t all bad for lynx,” says Moen. “In some ways, it’s the modern equivalent of [the regenerative] fires that once burned [but are now suppressed] from here through Canada.” National borders mean nothing to a fire, a forest or a lynx, says biologist Luke Hunter, executive director of Panthera, a New York City-based conservation organization founded in 2006 to protect the world’s 36 species of wild cats. Panthera supports research such as the work of Megan Hornseth, a graduate student of Trent’s Dennis Murray, who is studying how various types of forest edge affect lynx movement. “Co-operation between Canada and the United States,” says Hunter, “could be a model for how to approach cat conservation around the world.” Ecologist and writer Cheryl Lyn Dybas lives just outside Washington, D.C. Photographer Ilya Raskin is a biology professor at Rutgers, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-C border, canadian lynx, conservation, idaho, lynx, minnesota, new hampshire, ontario, oregon, wisconsin nonadult false LYNX - The Cross Border Cat text blog border,canadian lynx,conservation,idaho,lynx,minnesota,new hampshire,ontario,oregon,wisconsin 60 1 5.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 2 0 2535130 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Legendary-Actor-Dick-Van-Dyke-Named-Tiger-Ambassador-by-World-Wildlife-Fund/BLOG/2535124/23189.html Legendary Actor Dick Van Dyke Named Tiger Ambassador by World Wildlife FundFilms “Texting for Tiger” Video Encouraging Donations to Save Tigers from ExtinctionFor Release: Jul 22, 2010Dan Formandan.forman@wwfus.org(202) 495-4546WASHINGTON – July 22, 2010 – Actor Dick Van Dyke has been named an official Year of the Tiger Ambassador by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and will help the organization promote tiger conservation. With as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild, Van Dyke will help WWF raise awareness and funds for tiger conservation with the goal of doubling wild tiger populations by 2022.“Who would have thought that I might outlive one of the most majestic species to ever walk the planet,” stated Van Dyke. “When I learned that tigers, which numbered close to 80,000 when I was born in the 1920’s, were closing in on extinction, I was stunned.”The latest celebrity to aid WWF’s efforts in bringing back tiger populations, joining previously announced supporters Leonardo DiCaprio and Ethan Suplee, Van Dyke recently filmed a video spot encouraging people to donate $10 towards tiger conservation by sending a text message from a cell phone with the word “TIGERS” in it to the number 20222.Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUZsRWNZyZQ“It’s amazing -- just a few years ago we had to pull out the checkbook and mail off a check to donate money,” stated Van Dyke. “Now, just by texting ‘TIGERS’ to 20222, we can donate $10 towards protecting tiger habitat and cracking down on poaching. It couldn’t get any simpler.”Today on Capitol Hill WWF experts Sybille Klenzendorf, managing director of the Species Conservation Program, and Crawford Allan, director of TRAFFIC-North America, will participate in a congressional briefing, sponsored by Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), to discuss the state of wild tigers and current efforts to ensure their survival.Klenzendorf and Allan will also discuss how the U.S. can aid in doubling tiger populations over the next decade, including sending a high-level representative from the Obama administration to this fall’s Tiger Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. Other issues to be talked about include the need for stricter U.S. laws regulating captive tigers -- there are more tigers in captivity in the U.S. than in the wild around the world -- and increased U.S. funding and technical support for tiger conservation in Asia.Tiger populations are shrinking fast, as the species is severely threatened by habitat loss and poaching. Their skins, bones and other body parts are used in many cultures as medicines, talismans, status symbols and clothing. But tigers can thrive if they have strong protection from poaching and habitat loss and enough prey to eat.This is the first time WWF has used mobile fundraising and all of the donations received will be earmarked directly for tiger conservation. In addition to “Texting for Tigers,” WWF is encouraging people on Facebook and Twitter to spread awareness about the current plight of tigers. Supporters can use WWF’s Facebook application to add a tiger mask, tiger stripes or paw prints to their profile pictures and tag all of their tweets with #savetigersnow.For more information on WWF’s campaign to save tigers please visit www.worldwildlife.org/tigersA one-time donation of $10 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Messaging & Data Rates May Apply. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. Service is available on most carriers. Donations are collected for the benefit of WWF by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/t. You can unsubscribe at any time by replying STOP to short code 20222; Reply HELP to 20222 for helphttp://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2010/WWFPresitem17459.htmlhttp://www.bigcatrescue.org Legendary Actor Dick Van Dyke Named Tiger Ambassador by World Wildlife FundFilms “Texting for Tiger” Video Encouraging Donations to Save Tigers from ExtinctionFor Release: Jul 22, 2010Dan Formandan.forman@wwfus.org(202) 495-4546WASHINGTON – July 22, 2010 – Actor Dick Van Dyke has been named an official Year of the Tiger Ambassador by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and will help the organization promote tiger conservation. With as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild, Van Dyke will help WWF raise awareness and funds for tiger conservation with the goal of doubling wild tiger populations by 2022.“Who would have thought that I might outlive one of the most majestic species to ever walk the planet,” stated Van Dyke. “When I learned that tigers, which numbered close to 80,000 when I was born in the 1920’s, were closing in on extinction, I was stunned.”The latest celebrity to aid WWF’s efforts in bringing back tiger populations, joining previously announced supporters Leonardo DiCaprio and Ethan Suplee, Van Dyke recently filmed a video spot encouraging people to donate $10 towards tiger conservation by sending a text message from a cell phone with the word “TIGERS” in it to the number 20222.Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUZsRWNZyZQ“It’s amazing -- just a few years ago we had to pull out the checkbook and mail off a check to donate money,” stated Van Dyke. “Now, just by texting ‘TIGERS’ to 20222, we can donate $10 towards protecting tiger habitat and cracking down on poaching. It couldn’t get any simpler.”Today on Capitol Hill WWF experts Sybille Klenzendorf, managing director of the Species Conservation Program, and Crawford Allan, director of TRAFFIC-North America, will participate in a congressional briefing, sponsored by Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), to discuss the state of wild tigers and current efforts to ensure their survival.Klenzendorf and Allan will also discuss how the U.S. can aid in doubling tiger populations over the next decade, including sending a high-level representative from the Obama administration to this fall’s Tiger Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. Other issues to be talked about include the need for stricter U.S. laws regulating captive tigers -- there are more tigers in captivity in the U.S. than in the wild around the world -- and increased U.S. funding and technical support for tiger conservation in Asia.Tiger populations are shrinking fast, as the species is severely threatened by habitat loss and poaching. Their skins, bones and other body parts are used in many cultures as medicines, talismans, status symbols and clothing. But tigers can thrive if they have strong protection from poaching and habitat loss and enough prey to eat.This is the first time WWF has used mobile fundraising and all of the donations received will be earmarked directly for tiger conservation. In addition to “Texting for Tigers,” WWF is encouraging people on Facebook and Twitter to spread awareness about the current plight of tigers. Supporters can use WWF’s Facebook application to add a tiger mask, tiger stripes or paw prints to their profile pictures and tag all of their tweets with #savetigersnow.For more information on WWF’s campaign to save tigers please visit www.worldwildlife.org/tigersA one-time donation of $10 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Messaging & Data Rates May Apply. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. Service is available on most carriers. Donations are collected for the benefit of WWF by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/t. You can unsubscribe at any time by replying STOP to short code 20222; Reply HELP to 20222 for helphttp://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2010/WWFPresitem17459.htmlhttp://www.bigcatrescue.org Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:31:21 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Legendary-Actor-Dick-Van-Dyke-Named-Tiger-Ambassador-by-World-Wildlife-Fund/BLOG/2535124/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:31:21Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Legendary Actor Dick Van Dyke Named Tiger Ambassador by World Wildlife FundFilms “Texting for Tiger” Video Encouraging Donations to Save Tigers from ExtinctionFor Release: Jul 22, 2010Dan Formandan.forman@wwfus.org(202) 495-4546WASHINGTON – July 22, 2010 – Actor Dick Van Dyke has been named an official Year of the Tiger Ambassador by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and will help the organization promote tiger conservation. With as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild, Van Dyke will help WWF raise awareness and funds for tiger conservation with the goal of doubling wild tiger populations by 2022.“Who would have thought that I might outlive one of the most majestic species to ever walk the planet,” stated Van Dyke. “When I learned that tigers, which numbered close to 80,000 when I was born in the 1920’s, were closing in on extinction, I was stunned.”The latest celebrity to aid WWF’s efforts in bringing back tiger populations, joining previously announced supporters Leonardo DiCaprio and Ethan Suplee, Van Dyke recently filmed a video spot encouraging people to donate $10 towards tiger conservation by sending a text message from a cell phone with the word “TIGERS” in it to the number 20222.Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUZsRWNZyZQ“It’s amazing -- just a few years ago we had to pull out the checkbook and mail off a check to donate money,” stated Van Dyke. “Now, just by texting ‘TIGERS’ to 20222, we can donate $10 towards protecting tiger habitat and cracking down on poaching. It couldn’t get any simpler.”Today on Capitol Hill WWF experts Sybille Klenzendorf, managing director of the Species Conservation Program, and Crawford Allan, director of TRAFFIC-North America, will participate in a congressional briefing, sponsored by Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), to discuss the state of wild tigers and current efforts to ensure their survival.Klenzendorf and Allan will also discuss how the U.S. can aid in doubling tiger populations over the next decade, including sending a high-level representative from the Obama administration to this fall’s Tiger Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. Other issues to be talked about include the need for stricter U.S. laws regulating captive tigers -- there are more tigers in captivity in the U.S. than in the wild around the world -- and increased U.S. funding and technical support for tiger conservation in Asia.Tiger populations are shrinking fast, as the species is severely threatened by habitat loss and poaching. Their skins, bones and other body parts are used in many cultures as medicines, talismans, status symbols and clothing. But tigers can thrive if they have strong protection from poaching and habitat loss and enough prey to eat.This is the first time WWF has used mobile fundraising and all of the donations received will be earmarked directly for tiger conservation. In addition to “Texting for Tigers,” WWF is encouraging people on Facebook and Twitter to spread awareness about the current plight of tigers. Supporters can use WWF’s Facebook application to add a tiger mask, tiger stripes or paw prints to their profile pictures and tag all of their tweets with #savetigersnow.For more information on WWF’s campaign to save tigers please visit www.worldwildlife.org/tigersA one-time donation of $10 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Messaging & Data Rates May Apply. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. Service is available on most carriers. Donations are collected for the benefit of WWF by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/t. You can unsubscribe at any time by replying STOP to short code 20222; Reply HELP to 20222 for helphttp://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2010/WWFPresitem17459.htmlhttp://www.bigcatrescue.org big cats, dick van dyke, tiger ambassador, tigers, world wildlife fund nonadult false Legendary Actor Dick Van Dyke Named Tiger Ambassador by World Wildlife Fund text blog big cats,dick van dyke,tiger ambassador,tigers,world wildlife fund 55 2 5.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 4 Big Cats 0 2535124 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Give-way-to-lions/BLOG/2535119/23189.html [image] A lion takes a nap at the Nairobi National Parks Safari Walk. Homeowners around the Nairobi National Park will have to contend with hungry lions or an angry law that will require most to give way to the animals. PHOTO/ FILE By GATONYE GATHURA ggathura@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Monday, August 2 2010 at 21:00 In Summary KWS asks city residents to keep off wildlife migratory routes   Homeowners around the Nairobi National Park will have to contend with hungry lions or an angry law that will require most to give way to the animals. Responding to a plea by a resident of Ongata Rongai, Mr C. Karanja, who on Wednesday told of how he had to open his gate in the company of three wild lions, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has absolved the animals of any blame. In a plea to the Nation’s Cutting Edge column, Mr Karanja told of lions standing majestically at his gate along Rimpa Road. “I had heard stories of lions roaming in the area but dismissed them as mere sensationalism. But at 11pm, the animals were there. I approached them with my car full lights on and they merely walked away. You can imagine how difficult opening my gate was. I wonder why the KWS can’t remove them. I hope they are not waiting for somebody to become a meal before they act.” However, Mr Paul Udoto, the corporate communications manager at KWS, blamed home owners who may have fenced off the animal’s dispersal areas. “We would not want to see any loss of human life but if we are to protect the dwindling lion population, we must give them their right to hunt,” Mr Udoto told the Nation. He added: “Building new homes in these areas will only escalate the wildlife/human conflict while turning the park into a zoo.” And the lions may soon have their way when the proposed Draft Wildlife (Conservation and Management) Bill 2009 becomes law. Among others, the Bill requires that people who have put up buildings on animal migratory corridors vacate the land. The Bill seeks radical reforms to reclaim former wildlife habitats that have been subdivided and sold to individuals. Mr Karanja may never really know why the lions did not maul him, but experts say full lights disorient animals, a phenomenon they call light pollution.   http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages [image] A lion takes a nap at the Nairobi National Parks Safari Walk. Homeowners around the Nairobi National Park will have to contend with hungry lions or an angry law that will require most to give way to the animals. PHOTO/ FILE By GATONYE GATHURA ggathura@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Monday, August 2 2010 at 21:00 In Summary KWS asks city residents to keep off wildlife migratory routes   Homeowners around the Nairobi National Park will have to contend with hungry lions or an angry law that will require most to give way to the animals. Responding to a plea by a resident of Ongata Rongai, Mr C. Karanja, who on Wednesday told of how he had to open his gate in the company of three wild lions, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has absolved the animals of any blame. In a plea to the Nation’s Cutting Edge column, Mr Karanja told of lions standing majestically at his gate along Rimpa Road. “I had heard stories of lions roaming in the area but dismissed them as mere sensationalism. But at 11pm, the animals were there. I approached them with my car full lights on and they merely walked away. You can imagine how difficult opening my gate was. I wonder why the KWS can’t remove them. I hope they are not waiting for somebody to become a meal before they act.” However, Mr Paul Udoto, the corporate communications manager at KWS, blamed home owners who may have fenced off the animal’s dispersal areas. “We would not want to see any loss of human life but if we are to protect the dwindling lion population, we must give them their right to hunt,” Mr Udoto told the Nation. He added: “Building new homes in these areas will only escalate the wildlife/human conflict while turning the park into a zoo.” And the lions may soon have their way when the proposed Draft Wildlife (Conservation and Management) Bill 2009 becomes law. Among others, the Bill requires that people who have put up buildings on animal migratory corridors vacate the land. The Bill seeks radical reforms to reclaim former wildlife habitats that have been subdivided and sold to individuals. Mr Karanja may never really know why the lions did not maul him, but experts say full lights disorient animals, a phenomenon they call light pollution.   http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:25:01 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Give-way-to-lions/BLOG/2535119/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:25:01Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too [image] A lion takes a nap at the Nairobi National Parks Safari Walk. Homeowners around the Nairobi National Park will have to contend with hungry lions or an angry law that will require most to give way to the animals. PHOTO/ FILE By GATONYE GATHURA ggathura@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Monday, August 2 2010 at 21:00 In Summary KWS asks city residents to keep off wildlife migratory routes   Homeowners around the Nairobi National Park will have to contend with hungry lions or an angry law that will require most to give way to the animals. Responding to a plea by a resident of Ongata Rongai, Mr C. Karanja, who on Wednesday told of how he had to open his gate in the company of three wild lions, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has absolved the animals of any blame. In a plea to the Nation’s Cutting Edge column, Mr Karanja told of lions standing majestically at his gate along Rimpa Road. “I had heard stories of lions roaming in the area but dismissed them as mere sensationalism. But at 11pm, the animals were there. I approached them with my car full lights on and they merely walked away. You can imagine how difficult opening my gate was. I wonder why the KWS can’t remove them. I hope they are not waiting for somebody to become a meal before they act.” However, Mr Paul Udoto, the corporate communications manager at KWS, blamed home owners who may have fenced off the animal’s dispersal areas. “We would not want to see any loss of human life but if we are to protect the dwindling lion population, we must give them their right to hunt,” Mr Udoto told the Nation. He added: “Building new homes in these areas will only escalate the wildlife/human conflict while turning the park into a zoo.” And the lions may soon have their way when the proposed Draft Wildlife (Conservation and Management) Bill 2009 becomes law. Among others, the Bill requires that people who have put up buildings on animal migratory corridors vacate the land. The Bill seeks radical reforms to reclaim former wildlife habitats that have been subdivided and sold to individuals. Mr Karanja may never really know why the lions did not maul him, but experts say full lights disorient animals, a phenomenon they call light pollution.   http://www.BigCatRescue.orgJoin more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages african lions, big cats, conservation, lion, nairobi national park nonadult false Give way to lions! text blog african lions,big cats,conservation,lion,nairobi national park 112 1 5.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 2 Big Cats 0 2535119 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Mountain-lion-spotted-in-River-Park/BLOG/2535114/23189.html By JULIE ZEEB -DN Staff Writer Updated: 08/03/2010 07:07:52 AM PDT    Several reports of a mountain lion sighting were received at the Red Bluff Police Department early Sunday morning.The first came in at 1:12 a.m. behind the Villa Columba housing complex at 460 Main St. The caller said the mountain lion was in the 400 block of Rio Street traveling south toward Red Bluff River Park, a Red Bluff Police release said.A second call came in at 1:17 a.m. and reported the mountain lion was in the 500 block of Rio Street.Officers responded to the park and did a search of the area, finding the mountain lion to be under a picnic table about 50 feet from the Sacramento River.The animal traveled north along the riverbank and officers eventually lost sight of it.The California Department of Fish and Game was contacted by Red Bluff Police. It was determined that the mountain lion was in its natural habitat near the river and at the time did not pose a risk to humans.Red Bluff River Park was closed at the time of the incident, however, officers did contact a woman sleeping inside the park and she was given transport out of the area.Red Bluff Police contacted staff at the Riverside Bar and Grill, which was in close proximity to where the mountain lion had been seen.Staff was advised of the sighting since the restaurant's patio seating overlooks the Sacramento River. Staff Writer Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115, or at jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.comhttp://www.BigCatRescue.org Join more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages By JULIE ZEEB -DN Staff Writer Updated: 08/03/2010 07:07:52 AM PDT    Several reports of a mountain lion sighting were received at the Red Bluff Police Department early Sunday morning.The first came in at 1:12 a.m. behind the Villa Columba housing complex at 460 Main St. The caller said the mountain lion was in the 400 block of Rio Street traveling south toward Red Bluff River Park, a Red Bluff Police release said.A second call came in at 1:17 a.m. and reported the mountain lion was in the 500 block of Rio Street.Officers responded to the park and did a search of the area, finding the mountain lion to be under a picnic table about 50 feet from the Sacramento River.The animal traveled north along the riverbank and officers eventually lost sight of it.The California Department of Fish and Game was contacted by Red Bluff Police. It was determined that the mountain lion was in its natural habitat near the river and at the time did not pose a risk to humans.Red Bluff River Park was closed at the time of the incident, however, officers did contact a woman sleeping inside the park and she was given transport out of the area.Red Bluff Police contacted staff at the Riverside Bar and Grill, which was in close proximity to where the mountain lion had been seen.Staff was advised of the sighting since the restaurant's patio seating overlooks the Sacramento River. Staff Writer Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115, or at jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.comhttp://www.BigCatRescue.org Join more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:14:01 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Mountain-lion-spotted-in-River-Park/BLOG/2535114/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:14:01Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too By JULIE ZEEB -DN Staff Writer Updated: 08/03/2010 07:07:52 AM PDT    Several reports of a mountain lion sighting were received at the Red Bluff Police Department early Sunday morning.The first came in at 1:12 a.m. behind the Villa Columba housing complex at 460 Main St. The caller said the mountain lion was in the 400 block of Rio Street traveling south toward Red Bluff River Park, a Red Bluff Police release said.A second call came in at 1:17 a.m. and reported the mountain lion was in the 500 block of Rio Street.Officers responded to the park and did a search of the area, finding the mountain lion to be under a picnic table about 50 feet from the Sacramento River.The animal traveled north along the riverbank and officers eventually lost sight of it.The California Department of Fish and Game was contacted by Red Bluff Police. It was determined that the mountain lion was in its natural habitat near the river and at the time did not pose a risk to humans.Red Bluff River Park was closed at the time of the incident, however, officers did contact a woman sleeping inside the park and she was given transport out of the area.Red Bluff Police contacted staff at the Riverside Bar and Grill, which was in close proximity to where the mountain lion had been seen.Staff was advised of the sighting since the restaurant's patio seating overlooks the Sacramento River. Staff Writer Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115, or at jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.comhttp://www.BigCatRescue.org Join more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/pages big cats, conservation, cougar, habitat, mountain lion, panther, park, puma, red river park, river park nonadult false Mountain lion spotted in River Park text blog big cats,conservation,cougar,habitat,mountain lion,panther,park,puma,red river park,river park 37 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 1 Big Cats 0 2535114 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_All-out-bid-to-trap-Tirumala-leopard/BLOG/2535101/23189.html Hyderabad: Forest department officials have put up four trap cages to catch the leopard that has been wreaking havoc at Tirumala. The Alipiri road passes through the 526-sqkm Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary that is home to at least 22 leopards. According to officials, there could be around eight leopards roaming the area close to the road. "We have no idea whether it is one leopard or more than one that is attacking children. Nevertheless, we have already set up trap cages in areas that are frequented by leopards. We expect some result soon,' a senior forest department official said. Another officer said that there could be more than one reason why the big cat has come closer to human habitation. First of all, the two attacks that took place in the last week could be accidental. The animal might have come hunting for some deer and attacked the child instead. Leopards have been roaming more in the area since the population of the deer in a nearby park increased to 250. Another reason could be that it had come looking for dogs, pigs etc that feed on the refuse food being dumped in the area. He said that the situation should be taken seriously as it indicates that the leopard has lost fear of coming closer to humans. Secondly, it appears that humans could be its next target. "Given this scenario, every effort should be made to catch or neutralize the animal," he said. The trap cage comprises two compartments and well camouflaged. The door to the first compartment comes down when the leopard enters it and tries to attack the bait which could be a dog, goat or sheep kept in the second compartment of the cage. To ensure faster trapping of the animal, the road has been closed down for pilgrims between 4:00 pm and 6:00 am. Meanwhile, the officials have started to shift the deer to various locations from the deer park which is spread over seven hectares. The per-hectare carrying capacity of park is only about eight deer. Based on this calculation, the park should not have more than 60 deer. http://www.BigCatRescue.org Join more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/ Hyderabad: Forest department officials have put up four trap cages to catch the leopard that has been wreaking havoc at Tirumala. The Alipiri road passes through the 526-sqkm Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary that is home to at least 22 leopards. According to officials, there could be around eight leopards roaming the area close to the road. "We have no idea whether it is one leopard or more than one that is attacking children. Nevertheless, we have already set up trap cages in areas that are frequented by leopards. We expect some result soon,' a senior forest department official said. Another officer said that there could be more than one reason why the big cat has come closer to human habitation. First of all, the two attacks that took place in the last week could be accidental. The animal might have come hunting for some deer and attacked the child instead. Leopards have been roaming more in the area since the population of the deer in a nearby park increased to 250. Another reason could be that it had come looking for dogs, pigs etc that feed on the refuse food being dumped in the area. He said that the situation should be taken seriously as it indicates that the leopard has lost fear of coming closer to humans. Secondly, it appears that humans could be its next target. "Given this scenario, every effort should be made to catch or neutralize the animal," he said. The trap cage comprises two compartments and well camouflaged. The door to the first compartment comes down when the leopard enters it and tries to attack the bait which could be a dog, goat or sheep kept in the second compartment of the cage. To ensure faster trapping of the animal, the road has been closed down for pilgrims between 4:00 pm and 6:00 am. Meanwhile, the officials have started to shift the deer to various locations from the deer park which is spread over seven hectares. The per-hectare carrying capacity of park is only about eight deer. Based on this calculation, the park should not have more than 60 deer. http://www.BigCatRescue.org Join more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/ Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:07:15 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_All-out-bid-to-trap-Tirumala-leopard/BLOG/2535101/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:07:15Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Hyderabad: Forest department officials have put up four trap cages to catch the leopard that has been wreaking havoc at Tirumala. The Alipiri road passes through the 526-sqkm Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary that is home to at least 22 leopards. According to officials, there could be around eight leopards roaming the area close to the road. "We have no idea whether it is one leopard or more than one that is attacking children. Nevertheless, we have already set up trap cages in areas that are frequented by leopards. We expect some result soon,' a senior forest department official said. Another officer said that there could be more than one reason why the big cat has come closer to human habitation. First of all, the two attacks that took place in the last week could be accidental. The animal might have come hunting for some deer and attacked the child instead. Leopards have been roaming more in the area since the population of the deer in a nearby park increased to 250. Another reason could be that it had come looking for dogs, pigs etc that feed on the refuse food being dumped in the area. He said that the situation should be taken seriously as it indicates that the leopard has lost fear of coming closer to humans. Secondly, it appears that humans could be its next target. "Given this scenario, every effort should be made to catch or neutralize the animal," he said. The trap cage comprises two compartments and well camouflaged. The door to the first compartment comes down when the leopard enters it and tries to attack the bait which could be a dog, goat or sheep kept in the second compartment of the cage. To ensure faster trapping of the animal, the road has been closed down for pilgrims between 4:00 pm and 6:00 am. Meanwhile, the officials have started to shift the deer to various locations from the deer park which is spread over seven hectares. The per-hectare carrying capacity of park is only about eight deer. Based on this calculation, the park should not have more than 60 deer. http://www.BigCatRescue.org Join more than 21,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/ big cats, leopard, trap nonadult false All-out bid to trap Tirumala leopard text blog big cats,leopard,trap 32 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 Big Cats 0 2535101 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Canadian-Lynx-Conservation/BLOG/2535095/23189.html [image]Saturday, 31 July 2010 08:41 When U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy ruled that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service illegally limited the size of protected territory for the endangered lynx, he may have opened the door for the elusive lynx to make a reappearance in Yellowstone National Park. The lynx is an infrequent visitor to Yellowstone National Park: in recent years there have been two reports of a lynx in the northern part of the Park, both in 1997; records going back before the turn of the century indicate 57 records of lynx sightings on file in Yellowstone between 1883 and 1995. There's no evidence that lynx ever permanently lived in Yellowstone.   This isn't necessarily surprising: lynx are known for their transitory and elusive ways. Seeing one in Yellowstone would be quite the accomplishment.   Or seeing one anywhere, for that matter; the lynx has been an endangered species for a decade now as various environmental groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been sparring over the terms of protection and how many acres should be protected as critical habitat to allow the lynx population to grow. The Bush Administration worked to keep the territory as minimal as possible: just 1,841 square miles at one point. A second recommendation upped that to 39,000 square miles in Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington.   Malloy threw that out after the the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and three other conservation groups argued the FSW was omitting territories where lynx were known to roam and breed, upping the total and adding acreage in southwest Montana, and north and central Idaho. In particular, Malloy told the FWS to go back and add areas like Gallatin National Forest, adjoining Yellowstone, as one of the critical habitat areas. These areas, he ruled, should create corridors that give the lynx the ability to roam freely; they just can't be pockets carved out of larger areas. The areas listed by Malloy would double the critical habitat for lynx.   Now, expanding the critical habitat for lynx won't necessarily mean they will live in Yellowstone. And even if they return, lynx are notoriously reclusive, preferring to hang on in the deep forests far away from open space. (So don't expect them to be sauntering alongside the Grand Loop Road in your lifetime.) Still, Malloy's ruling does give them a potential boost -- and anything adding to the diversity of Yellowstone National Park is a good thing. [image]Saturday, 31 July 2010 08:41 When U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy ruled that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service illegally limited the size of protected territory for the endangered lynx, he may have opened the door for the elusive lynx to make a reappearance in Yellowstone National Park. The lynx is an infrequent visitor to Yellowstone National Park: in recent years there have been two reports of a lynx in the northern part of the Park, both in 1997; records going back before the turn of the century indicate 57 records of lynx sightings on file in Yellowstone between 1883 and 1995. There's no evidence that lynx ever permanently lived in Yellowstone.   This isn't necessarily surprising: lynx are known for their transitory and elusive ways. Seeing one in Yellowstone would be quite the accomplishment.   Or seeing one anywhere, for that matter; the lynx has been an endangered species for a decade now as various environmental groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been sparring over the terms of protection and how many acres should be protected as critical habitat to allow the lynx population to grow. The Bush Administration worked to keep the territory as minimal as possible: just 1,841 square miles at one point. A second recommendation upped that to 39,000 square miles in Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington.   Malloy threw that out after the the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and three other conservation groups argued the FSW was omitting territories where lynx were known to roam and breed, upping the total and adding acreage in southwest Montana, and north and central Idaho. In particular, Malloy told the FWS to go back and add areas like Gallatin National Forest, adjoining Yellowstone, as one of the critical habitat areas. These areas, he ruled, should create corridors that give the lynx the ability to roam freely; they just can't be pockets carved out of larger areas. The areas listed by Malloy would double the critical habitat for lynx.   Now, expanding the critical habitat for lynx won't necessarily mean they will live in Yellowstone. And even if they return, lynx are notoriously reclusive, preferring to hang on in the deep forests far away from open space. (So don't expect them to be sauntering alongside the Grand Loop Road in your lifetime.) Still, Malloy's ruling does give them a potential boost -- and anything adding to the diversity of Yellowstone National Park is a good thing. Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:03:04 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Canadian-Lynx-Conservation/BLOG/2535095/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-06T13:03:04Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too [image]Saturday, 31 July 2010 08:41 When U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy ruled that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service illegally limited the size of protected territory for the endangered lynx, he may have opened the door for the elusive lynx to make a reappearance in Yellowstone National Park. The lynx is an infrequent visitor to Yellowstone National Park: in recent years there have been two reports of a lynx in the northern part of the Park, both in 1997; records going back before the turn of the century indicate 57 records of lynx sightings on file in Yellowstone between 1883 and 1995. There's no evidence that lynx ever permanently lived in Yellowstone.   This isn't necessarily surprising: lynx are known for their transitory and elusive ways. Seeing one in Yellowstone would be quite the accomplishment.   Or seeing one anywhere, for that matter; the lynx has been an endangered species for a decade now as various environmental groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been sparring over the terms of protection and how many acres should be protected as critical habitat to allow the lynx population to grow. The Bush Administration worked to keep the territory as minimal as possible: just 1,841 square miles at one point. A second recommendation upped that to 39,000 square miles in Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington.   Malloy threw that out after the the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and three other conservation groups argued the FSW was omitting territories where lynx were known to roam and breed, upping the total and adding acreage in southwest Montana, and north and central Idaho. In particular, Malloy told the FWS to go back and add areas like Gallatin National Forest, adjoining Yellowstone, as one of the critical habitat areas. These areas, he ruled, should create corridors that give the lynx the ability to roam freely; they just can't be pockets carved out of larger areas. The areas listed by Malloy would double the critical habitat for lynx.   Now, expanding the critical habitat for lynx won't necessarily mean they will live in Yellowstone. And even if they return, lynx are notoriously reclusive, preferring to hang on in the deep forests far away from open space. (So don't expect them to be sauntering alongside the Grand Loop Road in your lifetime.) Still, Malloy's ruling does give them a potential boost -- and anything adding to the diversity of Yellowstone National Park is a good thing. big cats, canadian, canadian lynx, cat, cats, lynx, wild cats, wildlife, yellowstone, yellowstone park nonadult false Canadian Lynx Conservation text blog big cats,canadian,canadian lynx,cat,cats,lynx,wild cats,wildlife,yellowstone,yellowstone park 37 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 1 Big Cats 0 2535095 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Another-Florida-Panther-Lost-3-Kittens-too/BLOG/2531402/23189.html [image] - A pregnant Florida panther hit by a vehicle in Southwest Florida died this morning in Gainesville a day after being struck. The three cubs it was carrying died earlier. The panther was found alive alongside State Road 29 about five miles south of Immokalee about 2 a.m. Tuesday. A passing driver called 911 but officials do not know who hit the endangered cat. The panther was struck only a few miles from where a young male was killed by a car in June. The latest death means 14 panthers have died this year, not including the three kittens the panther was carrying. Florida panthers have been listed as an endangered species since 1967. An estimated 100 to 200 remain in the state. The pregnant panther was taken to a veterinarian in Naples where it was stabilized and then transported to the University of Florida School of Veterinary Medicine, said Patricia Behnke, a spokeswoman for the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Biologists believe a combination of injuries from the accident and stress from long sedation combined to kill the panther, Behnke said. The panther had to be under sedation for treatment and for the safety of itself and people caring for it. "Wild animals do not handle sedation for a long time and they do not make good patients. You can't hook them to monitors," she said. Earlier examinations led officials to believe the panther was in relatively good shape. Veterinarians did not believe it was bleeding internally and expected it to recover, Behnke said. The panther had an injured hip but was able to stand and walk and her tail and some toes were broken. The cubs had not been removed from their mother, which may have contributed to its death. In addition to the 14 panthers that died this year, wildlife workers found the skeletal remains of another in January. Commission biologists believe that panther died several months before its remains were discovered, though they do not know how it died. Of the 14 panthers killed in 2010, 11 were struck by vehicles. Three died in fights with other panthers. Drivers in panther habitat need to be cautious between dusk and dawn when the animals are active, Behnke said. "They need to slow down," she said. To reduce the possibility of cars encountering cats, the state built wildlife underpasses on Interstate 75 and State Road 29 and installed fence on portions two of the major roads through panther habitat. But fencing isn't a perfect solution, Behnke said, because it divides habitat the panthers use. Also, it would cost up to $4 million to fence State Road 29. However, panther safety will be looked at when the state goes ahead with plans to widen State Road 29 to four lanes. "These concerns are going to come up and have to be addressed," Behnke said. The state's panther population is mostly confined to the state's tip south of the Caloosahatchee River, or roughly from the middle of Lake Okeechobee south. Some young males have been found north of the river looking for territories of their own. No female panthers, that need less than half the range of a male, have been found north of the river. A male needs about 200 square miles while females, that share territory with their mothers, need about 75 [image] - A pregnant Florida panther hit by a vehicle in Southwest Florida died this morning in Gainesville a day after being struck. The three cubs it was carrying died earlier. The panther was found alive alongside State Road 29 about five miles south of Immokalee about 2 a.m. Tuesday. A passing driver called 911 but officials do not know who hit the endangered cat. The panther was struck only a few miles from where a young male was killed by a car in June. The latest death means 14 panthers have died this year, not including the three kittens the panther was carrying. Florida panthers have been listed as an endangered species since 1967. An estimated 100 to 200 remain in the state. The pregnant panther was taken to a veterinarian in Naples where it was stabilized and then transported to the University of Florida School of Veterinary Medicine, said Patricia Behnke, a spokeswoman for the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Biologists believe a combination of injuries from the accident and stress from long sedation combined to kill the panther, Behnke said. The panther had to be under sedation for treatment and for the safety of itself and people caring for it. "Wild animals do not handle sedation for a long time and they do not make good patients. You can't hook them to monitors," she said. Earlier examinations led officials to believe the panther was in relatively good shape. Veterinarians did not believe it was bleeding internally and expected it to recover, Behnke said. The panther had an injured hip but was able to stand and walk and her tail and some toes were broken. The cubs had not been removed from their mother, which may have contributed to its death. In addition to the 14 panthers that died this year, wildlife workers found the skeletal remains of another in January. Commission biologists believe that panther died several months before its remains were discovered, though they do not know how it died. Of the 14 panthers killed in 2010, 11 were struck by vehicles. Three died in fights with other panthers. Drivers in panther habitat need to be cautious between dusk and dawn when the animals are active, Behnke said. "They need to slow down," she said. To reduce the possibility of cars encountering cats, the state built wildlife underpasses on Interstate 75 and State Road 29 and installed fence on portions two of the major roads through panther habitat. But fencing isn't a perfect solution, Behnke said, because it divides habitat the panthers use. Also, it would cost up to $4 million to fence State Road 29. However, panther safety will be looked at when the state goes ahead with plans to widen State Road 29 to four lanes. "These concerns are going to come up and have to be addressed," Behnke said. The state's panther population is mostly confined to the state's tip south of the Caloosahatchee River, or roughly from the middle of Lake Okeechobee south. Some young males have been found north of the river looking for territories of their own. No female panthers, that need less than half the range of a male, have been found north of the river. A male needs about 200 square miles while females, that share territory with their mothers, need about 75 Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:45:39 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Another-Florida-Panther-Lost-3-Kittens-too/BLOG/2531402/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-08-05T14:45:39Z Big Cats Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too [image] - A pregnant Florida panther hit by a vehicle in Southwest Florida died this morning in Gainesville a day after being struck. The three cubs it was carrying died earlier. The panther was found alive alongside State Road 29 about five miles south of Immokalee about 2 a.m. Tuesday. A passing driver called 911 but officials do not know who hit the endangered cat. The panther was struck only a few miles from where a young male was killed by a car in June. The latest death means 14 panthers have died this year, not including the three kittens the panther was carrying. Florida panthers have been listed as an endangered species since 1967. An estimated 100 to 200 remain in the state. The pregnant panther was taken to a veterinarian in Naples where it was stabilized and then transported to the University of Florida School of Veterinary Medicine, said Patricia Behnke, a spokeswoman for the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Biologists believe a combination of injuries from the accident and stress from long sedation combined to kill the panther, Behnke said. The panther had to be under sedation for treatment and for the safety of itself and people caring for it. "Wild animals do not handle sedation for a long time and they do not make good patients. You can't hook them to monitors," she said. Earlier examinations led officials to believe the panther was in relatively good shape. Veterinarians did not believe it was bleeding internally and expected it to recover, Behnke said. The panther had an injured hip but was able to stand and walk and her tail and some toes were broken. The cubs had not been removed from their mother, which may have contributed to its death. In addition to the 14 panthers that died this year, wildlife workers found the skeletal remains of another in January. Commission biologists believe that panther died several months before its remains were discovered, though they do not know how it died. Of the 14 panthers killed in 2010, 11 were struck by vehicles. Three died in fights with other panthers. Drivers in panther habitat need to be cautious between dusk and dawn when the animals are active, Behnke said. "They need to slow down," she said. To reduce the possibility of cars encountering cats, the state built wildlife underpasses on Interstate 75 and State Road 29 and installed fence on portions two of the major roads through panther habitat. But fencing isn't a perfect solution, Behnke said, because it divides habitat the panthers use. Also, it would cost up to $4 million to fence State Road 29. However, panther safety will be looked at when the state goes ahead with plans to widen State Road 29 to four lanes. "These concerns are going to come up and have to be addressed," Behnke said. The state's panther population is mostly confined to the state's tip south of the Caloosahatchee River, or roughly from the middle of Lake Okeechobee south. Some young males have been found north of the river looking for territories of their own. No female panthers, that need less than half the range of a male, have been found north of the river. A male needs about 200 square miles while females, that share territory with their mothers, need about 75 big cats, cougar, endangered species, florida panther, florida wildlife, panther nonadult false Another Florida Panther Lost, 3 Kittens, too text blog big cats,cougar,endangered species,florida panther,florida wildlife,panther 50 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 4 Big Cats 0 2531402 2082423 Tiger 6605050 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Proper-Tags-Make-Easier-Searches/BLOG/2515232/23189.html Now, that we have the new "Sets" feature, getting plenty of appropriate keywords entered as tags on as many current and past photos, videos and blogs is very important.  As members start building "Sets" to group like items together they will be doing searches for photos, videos and blogs on the same subject as the items they are grouping together in their "Sets'.  Tags on current items and past items will help them find things. The easier items can be found the more they will be viewed, the more they will be starred and the more they will be commented on. So, whenever you are surfing the site looking at things, make it a habit to check the tags for the items you are looking at.  If they aren't tegged enough, tag them, if you have time. As you post new items, be sure to add all the appropriate tags you can think of for your posts.  You will also notice as you upload new items you can choose a set right there on the upload to add the items to. NOTE: PLEASE use proper tagging.  Example don't use dog as a tag on a cat photo unless the photo somehow relates to a dog.  Don't use leopard as a keyword on tiger photos unless the photo somehow relates to leopards. You get the idea. Happy Tagging To All Now, that we have the new "Sets" feature, getting plenty of appropriate keywords entered as tags on as many current and past photos, videos and blogs is very important.  As members start building "Sets" to group like items together they will be doing searches for photos, videos and blogs on the same subject as the items they are grouping together in their "Sets'.  Tags on current items and past items will help them find things. The easier items can be found the more they will be viewed, the more they will be starred and the more they will be commented on. So, whenever you are surfing the site looking at things, make it a habit to check the tags for the items you are looking at.  If they aren't tegged enough, tag them, if you have time. As you post new items, be sure to add all the appropriate tags you can think of for your posts.  You will also notice as you upload new items you can choose a set right there on the upload to add the items to. NOTE: PLEASE use proper tagging.  Example don't use dog as a tag on a cat photo unless the photo somehow relates to a dog.  Don't use leopard as a keyword on tiger photos unless the photo somehow relates to leopards. You get the idea. Happy Tagging To All Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:18:11 GMT http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/_Proper-Tags-Make-Easier-Searches/BLOG/2515232/23189.html BigCatChat 2010-07-31T16:18:11Z All Pets Chat Big Cats and Other Animals Too Now, that we have the new "Sets" feature, getting plenty of appropriate keywords entered as tags on as many current and past photos, videos and blogs is very important.  As members start building "Sets" to group like items together they will be doing searches for photos, videos and blogs on the same subject as the items they are grouping together in their "Sets'.  Tags on current items and past items will help them find things. The easier items can be found the more they will be viewed, the more they will be starred and the more they will be commented on. So, whenever you are surfing the site looking at things, make it a habit to check the tags for the items you are looking at.  If they aren't tegged enough, tag them, if you have time. As you post new items, be sure to add all the appropriate tags you can think of for your posts.  You will also notice as you upload new items you can choose a set right there on the upload to add the items to. NOTE: PLEASE use proper tagging.  Example don't use dog as a tag on a cat photo unless the photo somehow relates to a dog.  Don't use leopard as a keyword on tiger photos unless the photo somehow relates to leopards. You get the idea. Happy Tagging To All all pets nonadult false Proper Tags Make Easier Searches text blog all pets 47 0 0.0 http://bigcat.bigcatchat.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=2082423&as=23189 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/23189/icons/defaultMember_23189_portrait160X120.jpg false United States FL Tampa 33625 0 All Pets 0 2515232 2082423 Tiger 6605050