| Contents Cat News 43 - Autumn 2005
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India's Tiger Crisis |
| Early in 2005, it was found that Sariska Tiger Reserve, only 200 km from Delhi, had lost all its tigers, poached during the monsoon months in 2004. Many tigers had also vanished from the world famous Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve. The shock news led Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to order the establishment of a Tiger Task Force to review the management of India's tiger reserves; to suggest measures to strengthen tiger conservation; and to deal with related matters. |
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Joining the Dots but Missing the Cats? by K. U. Karanthi |
| The Prime Minister of India appointed the Tiger Task Force (TTF) recognizing that wild tigers are in serious decline. This recognition was triggered by a huge public outcry over the extirpation of tigers in the high-profile Sariska reserve. The task force was headed by environmental activist Sunita Narain, and, had as its members; Madhav Gadgil (evolutionary biologist and human ecologist), Hemendra Panwar and Samar Singh (former directors of Project Tiger, and, of Wildlife Preservation, respectively), and tiger conservationist Valmik Thapar. It submitted a 206-page report titled "Joining the Dots” (TTF 2005) on August 5, 2005. The report includes a dissent note by Thapar and its rebuttal by Narain. I have analyzed some key aspects of the TTF report here. |
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Persian Leopard Photographed in Armenia by I. Khorozyan and A. Malkhasyan |
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On 9 March 2005 at 01:54, one of our TrailMaster® camera photo-traps placed on the Ernadzor trail in the Meghri region of southern Armenia captured a large and healthy Persian leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor. |
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Distribution and Status of Lions and Leopards in southern Guinea Bissau and Western Guinea by D. Brugiere, I. Badjinca, C. Silva, A. Serra and M. Barry |
| As in many West African countries, the current distribution and conservation status of large carnivores, in particular lions Panthera leo and leopards Panthera pardus, in Guinea Bissau are poorly known. No specific studies have been carried out on these two cat species in Guinea Bissau and consequently partial data are scattered in a number of unpublished reports. |
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First Ocelot Tracked via Satellite Telemetry |
| The ocelot population within the United States has been listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service since 1982. Only two known breeding populations of ocelots occur within the United States. One in Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge located in Cameron County, Texas and the other on two adjacent conservation easements located on a private ranch in Willacy County, Texas. Both of these populations reside within the lower Rio Grande valley of southern Texas. |
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Snow Leopard Sighting on Top of the World by S. B. Ale and R. Boesi |
| Sightings of snow leopards Uncia uncia in the wild are rare. This is because snow leopards occur in low numbers and are very elusive.Snow leopards may be sparsely distributed, but they may not, however, be very elusive in the world’s highest park, Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park in Nepal. |
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Iberian Lynx ex-situ Conservation Program Update by A. Vargas, F. Martinez, J. Bergara, L. Díez Klink, J. Rodríguez and D. Rodríguez |
| The Iberian lynx ex-situ conservation program is a multidisciplinary effort integrated within the National Strategy for the Conservation of the Iberian Lynx and carried out in collaboration with autonomic, national, and international organizations. The first phase of the ex-situ program is presently taking place in El Acebuche Breeding Center, Doñana National Park, Southeast Spain. |
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New Record for the Bornean Bay Cat by E. Meijaard, B. Bayu Prakoso and Azis |
| The Bornean Bay Cat (Catopuma badia) is an endemic of Borneo. It is most closely related to the more widespread Asian Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii), although the two species diverged several million years ago and are thus rather distant relatives. The Bornean Bay Cat was once thought to be restricted to parts of northern and eastern Borneo, because the majority of museum specimens originate there.Here, we report a recent encounter of this species in a timber concession in the upper Mahakam River area, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. |
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Flat-headed Cat Record in East Kalimantan by E. Meijaard, D. Sheil, and Daryono |
| The Flat-headed Cat (Prionailurus planiceps) is restricted to Peninsular Thailand and Malaysia and the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, and thus an endemic of the Sundaic subregion. Together with Asian Leopard Cat (P. bengalensis) and Fishing Cat (P. viverrinus), the Flat-headed Cat forms a strongly supported clade in a DNA-based phylogeny; these 3 species diverged from a common ancestor some 3.95 million years ago. The Flat-headed Cat is classed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, based on an observed, projected, or inferred continuing decline in numbers of mature individuals and no subpopulation estimated to contain more than 1,000 mature individuals.Records for this species are rare, and little is known about its ecology. We recently observed this species during surveys in East Kalimantan. |
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Status of the Chinese Mountain Cat in Sichuan Province (China) by N. Chen, L. Li, S. Shan, Y. Yufeng and J. Sanderson |
| In an effort to locate free-ranging Felis bieti, the so-called Chinese mountain cat, we undertook an expedition to Ganzi Perfecture in western Sichuan Province, China. We searched skin shops, interviewed former hunters, and local pastoralists to determine the existence of this little-known small felid. We found five skins of F. bieti for sale in three towns along our route. Former hunters and townspeople we interviewed were either unfamiliar or confused regarding the cat’s existence. Local pastoralists provided excellent information however. F. bieti is restricted to high elevation steppe grassland and does not occur in true desert or heavily forested mountains. Perhaps F. bieti should henceforth be commonly referred to as the Chinese steppe cat. A better understanding of the ecology, behavior, and threats to F. bieti is needed. |
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Spatial Ecology of Geoffroy’s Cat in the Pampas by M. Lucherini, C. Manfredi, L. Soler, E. Luengos Vidal, D. Castillo and E. B. Casanave |
| The Geoffroy’s cat (Oncifelis geoffroyi) is a small-sized felid found from sea level up to 3,300 m in the Andes and from southern Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, southern of Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to southern Patagonia and Chile). It has recently been updated to the Near Threatened category, because of lack of knowledge and concerns for the impact of human-related habitat changes upon its populations. While cat research has increased In Argentina in the last decade, attention, the only published information on the spatial behaviour of this cat comes from the southernmost portion of its distribution in Chile. |
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