WILD CATS NEWS 2011

NEW DELHI: Fifty-one tigers have died in different states of India between January and Dec 5, 2011, according to statistics collated by a prominent wildlife NGO. A tigress shot dead outside Kaziranga Park in Assam on Monday is the latest in that list.
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Dec. 5, 2011 -- Camera traps have captured a tremendous image of a big adult Persian leopard in the rocky terrain of Afghanistan's central highlands. The top predator was thought to have disappeared from the area.In a series of images, the adult leopard is seen prowling around the camera, investigating it and even threatening it by exposing its teeth.
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For the first time in two years, a male jaguar was seen in the U.S. two weeks ago. Snarling from a mesquite tree, where Donnie Fenn's hunting dogs bayed at the 200-pound jaguar before backing off and watching it leave, showed Fenn and his daughter, as well as wildlife managers and officials, that some cats are still making their way north across the border.
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The tale of a young Florida panther known as K304 reached an important milestone last week when the cat was released into the wild at Big Cypress National Preserve. Just over a year ago, the animal was found orphaned after the death of its mother.
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Feline, born November 7th 2011, is the new ambassador leopard of Wild Cats World/Cheetah Experience. She is a split leopard born with black father and spotted mother, and when she is a little bit older she will be a couple with black male leopard Panthera, who is also one of our ambassador leopards. They will both stay at Cheetah Experience in Bloemfontein/South Africa. Their huge new enclosure is ready, Panthera already moved in there, but Feline still has to grow before joining him. On our homepage you can see already the first photo of little Feline. For adoption possibilities please visit our website www.wildcatsworld.nl.

Wildlife photographer captures lion rescuing helpless cub from falling to its death

Other members of the pride attempt to rescue the cub but stop trying when they realize it is too steep.

Just as the exhausted cub seems about to fall, his mother circles beneath him and he is snatched up in her jaws, according to the Daily Mail. She then begins the difficult journey back to the top.

Safe and sound, the lioness gives the cub a big welcome-back lick.

These dramatic frames were taken by wildlife photographer Jean-Francois Largot at Kenya 's Masai Mara game reserve in August 2011. (Jean-Francois Lagrot)

Rare photos of five different wild cats, including the endangered Sumatran tiger, have been caught on camera in an Indonesian forest threatened by deforestation, and the area must be protected, environmental group WWF said on Wednesday.

WWF used camera traps to capture the images of the Sumatran tiger, clouded leopard, marble cat, golden cat and leopard cat in a forest corridor near the Bukit Tigapuluh forest on central Sumatra island, which has seen rampant deforestation for palm oil and paper plantations.

Four of the species are protected by Indonesian regulations and are threatened with extinction, said Karmila Parakkasi, coordinator of the WWF-Indonesia Tiger Research Team.

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There are just a few places available at our next photosafari to Masai Mara, Kenya. So if you really want to join us next year, 28th of February-8th of March, please write before the end of this month to info@wildcatsmagazine.nl to reserve a seat and to be able to watch the best of wild cats and other wildlife.

By adopting a cheetah, lion, caracal or other wild cat you can support our work to help the endangered wild cats. And did you know that people who decide to sponsor our project in a very generous way, we can offer a free stay between our ambassador cheetahs, lions, leopards...in a facility with swimming pool under the ever so nice South African sun. Also celebs we can offer a private stay at our place, where they can spend a relaxing time with the cats and their family with no disturbance from the "world outside". Think about this and please become ambassador of our project, raising your voice for the endangered wild cats like cheetahs, tigers, lions, leopards, caracals, jaguars,, etc. etc. Your help they need so much! Write to info@wildcatsmagazine.nl or read our website www.wildcatsworld.nl. Your help will really make a difference!

On Sunday evening October 30th cheetah Jesse made history at Cheetah Experience, partner of Wild Cats World. She gave birth to 3 healthy cubs, 2 girls and one boy, and it could be closely followed on the just installed CCTV system, sponsored by Wild Cats World. The birth of these cubs means hope for the future. Hope for the species in general but also for the future plans of CE/WCW to relocate cheetahs to huges pieces of land to range freely, but protected. Mafusa, a strong and healthy male cheetah, is the father of the cubs and he passes on his good genes to the future generation of cheetahs.

In 10 Years Big cats such as lions, tigers, leopards, and cheetahs could be facing extinction within the next two decades, leading conservation groups to call for increased efforts to save them, USA Today's Dan Vergano reported in a Friday articles.

"The populations of lions, leopards, cheetahs and especially tigers have been decimated in the past half-century," Vergano said, adding that leading scientists report that tigers "have become so rare that lions have become their soup-bone substitutes, sought for Asian medicines and 'tiger bone' wine."
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"Losing the wild tiger would be unforgivable. We need people power to save it! Please get behind this fabulous initiative. Whatever you do, wherever you live, your voice matters! Every signature makes the campaign stronger." Sir Paul McCartney
www.tigertime.info

In the decade that wildlife biologist Seth Riley has been tracking and studying mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains, he's seen the cats die in all manner of ways.

One was killed when it tried to cross Highway 405, a young cub died after it was separated from its mother, and seven didn't survive the fights they got into with other mountain lions.

Now, Riley can add poaching to the list after someone recently illegally killed a big male mountain lion.

"You expect that they might be hit by cars or killed by other mountain lions, but you hope that a crime like this doesn't happen," said Riley, with the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

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NEW YORK, New York, October 3, 2011 (ENS) - Distemper, a virus afflicting domestic dogs and many wildlife species, appears to be a growing threat to the Amur tigers of Siberia, Russian and U.S. wildlife veterinary scientists believe.

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In the new issue of the popular Dutch cats magazine Kattenmanieren (Cats Ways) it is all about wild cats. Of course Wild Cats/Babette de Jonge did contribute to this issue again with three articles and lots of pictures. This magazine is in Dutch and available in the better bookstores in Holland and Belgium.

RAIPUR: Despite India's dwindling tiger population and the massive amount of resources spent to raise awareness about tiger conservation, a tigress was killed in Chhattisgarh when with better planning she could easily have been tranquilized.
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This non-profit foundation is officially registered in Bussum, the Netherlands, with a bankaccount no. 51.72.47.135 (ABN AMRO Bank, Bussum, NL.) accurately monitored by a lawyer: Mr. Caspar de Valk. All donations go directly to the project and the endangered wild cats in captivity and in the wild.

Wild Cats World is working closely with Cheetah Experience, Bloemfontein/South Africa. We are a non-profit organisation completely dependent on donations and sponsorships to maintain various projects undertaken in terms of research, relocation and education of animals as well as caring for orphaned animals. Your contribution WILL make a difference.

A Big scale fundraising will be started in September 2011 for the new project of Wild Cats World and Cheetah Experience in South Africa. Cheetah Experience will be based at the same location to take care of orphaned cubs. These cubs are NOT meant for (canned) hunting and are being raised with the greatest love and respect. A 500 ha piece of land on a nearby farm has been identified and can be bought on which a sanctuary can be established.

The remaining land will be used to give (temporary) shelter to predators that are unwanted or in danger at other farms.

As we also have an option to a huge piece of land (33.000 ha) to release animals, like cheetahs, to a free ranging and protected area, we will now be able to work on different assets increasing the welfare of the wild cats and other wildlife.

To accomplish this, a substantial amount of money is needed , so the abovementioned fundraising project will be implemented.

We appeal to all who love and care for wild cats and other animals to help us with this project. YOU can make a difference by helping us.

A new page on Facebook and a special website will be opened for this huge project. Major sponsors can benefit from this.

Please contact us at: info@wildcatsmagazine.nl or at info@cheetahexperience.com.

We have been waiting for it a long time, but finally some good news about the actual release of the great caracal book by Shekhar Kolipaka, with pictures and texts by Babette de Jonge and Anton Buijen van Weelden, will find its way to the printer this month and will be available worldwide within two months. We keep you posted!

Scientists tracking one of Africa's most elusive and poorly understood animals say they've recorded a rare - and possibly the only publicly released - video of the species in the wild.

The video, recorded by a motion-activated camera placed in a Gabon forest, shows an African golden cat: a shy, medium-sized feline that ducks human contact and lives in hard-to-access parts of central African forests.

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A 60-year-old Georgia man was sentenced and fined Wednesday in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to the unlawful taking of a Florida panther, an endangered species.
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We cannot have enough people fighting for the cause of the highly endangered wild cats like tigers, cheetahs, lions, leopards, etc. The situation is getting worse and worse, so Wild Cats World is now calling help from some famous ambassadors. If the cats can get help from the voice of the world, it would make a difference. Please watch this wonderful video edited by Karla Munguia Colmenero, esp. for Wild Cats World.
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Prominent wildlife and anti-corruption activist, Shehla Masood, was murdered in cold blood today, just outside her home in Bhopal, India. Shehla Masood was one of the strongest voices in the tiger conservation front. Her deep passion fueled her undying commitment to wildlife, the environment, and humanity. She was unafraid to speak the truth, unwilling to stand by and witness the injustices against those without a voice, and was intensely committed to making a difference in the world. Yet, today, it is with great sorrow that we report that this beautiful warrior has been tragically murdered in cold blood.
Source: Bushwarriors

The tragic situation of the leopard in India. Every week there are cases of a leopard being captured and killed by hundreds of hysterical villagers. Officials do not bother and when the leopard has a small chance of fighting back and attacking it is called out to be a "man-eater" and killed after that again. A very good leopard conservation project is needed immediately or the leopard is extinct in the wild soon, and even before the tiger! (note WCM)

Indore: On July 30, when a leopard that had fallen into a well in Mandwadi village of Barwani district was stoned to death by villagers, officials from the district administration, forest and police remained mute spectators to the killing.

The incident symbolizes the tragedy that has befallen this species of the big cat. People kill it with impunity, officials do not bother and the government remains a dumb witness.

The result: With 21 leopard deaths in Madhya Pradesh this year (Jan-July), the animal is vanishing faster than tigers in the state.

According to officials records, out of these 21 leopards, nine were poached, one died in a road accident and others because of 'natural' causes.

NGOs claim that the 'natural death' cases should have been verified by experts before the bodies were disposed of in a hurry by forest officials.

Is the death of 21 leopards in MP within six months alarming? "Yes, it's indeed alarming, if the figure is correct." chief wildlife warden HS Pabla said.

Documents collected under RTI by Union for Development, Advocacy and Intervention, an NGO, suggest that 81 leopards died between 2007-2011.

Out of these, 44 were poached either for hides, claws and bones or were killed in revenge of attack on cattle.

The recent incident at Mandwadi took place hardly two months after a circular (April 18) from the Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) to the state forest department which contained clear guidelines on dealing with the Man-Leopard conflicts.

"The wildlife department is not following the MoEF guidelines. The administration is responsible for the slaughter of leopards and their animus with villagers," claims Shaila Masood of UDAI.

The department is neither interested in probing their deaths nor in punishing the guilty.

For instance, the official 'cause of death' of leopard in Mandwadi village is drowning. This, despite a clear footage of the brutal killing aired by different news channels.

"Initial reports suggest that the leopard died of drowning. We will see the footage and decide further course of action," Pabla told DNA.

As usual, the body of leopard was disposed of before wildlife experts could give their opinion.

Earlier, on May 22 this year, the forest officials had recovered the body of a leopard with its three claws missing, from the core area of Kanha Tiger Reserve. The officials are still clueless about the killing.

"If it goes on like this, the leopard will disappear from MP much before tigers" says Archana Sharma, another wildlife activist stressing upon a more serious effort for saving this wild animal.

"Like Project Tiger, a keen conservation programme is now necessary to save leopards," said a wildlife official wishing anonymity. He said declining prey base and shrinking habitat has been forcing leopards to venture out of forests and ultimately get killed.

TigerTime has written to Louis Vuitton to challenge them about their window display which appears to 'glamourise' tigers as fashion accessories. Please feel free to comment on the Daily Mail piece. My spies tell me that the Louis Vuitton store in Cannes in the south of France features a rather tasteless window display: tigers, all be they not real, are at the ends of chains, worn as a sort of fashion accessory by the tiger print-clad store dummy. The pictures here were taken last week by a supporter of TigerTime. This campaigning organisation has written to Louis Vuitton to express its dismay, but has yet to receive a reply. Vuitton's autumn ad campaign features models draped in fur, clutching bags made from exotic skins. and holding puppies. It seems Marc Jacobs, who I'm sure probably has a couple of designer dogs he loves dearly, ranks living creatures according to a strict, arbitrary hierarchy. The TigerTime campaign was set up about 12 weeks ago to highlight the fact that while 80 years ago there were 100,000 wild tigers, now there are only 3,200. Already, it has attracted a lot of celebrity support - see www.isupport.tigertime.info.

The campaign was set up by David Shepherd, the British artist and conservationist, on his 80th birthday. The main threats are habitat loss and poaching wskins or other body parts for use in so called 'traditional medicines'. This glamorisation of big cats -- I hated the Julianne Moore ads for Bulgari, where she embraced leopard cubs -- can only lead to their ultimate demise.

In the last week of July two dead tigers were reported again, both by road accidents. You won't believe this. In a time where we must try to do everything to save the tiger, in one week two tigers were killed by reckless drivers speeding up through the forests. A cub got killed in a road accident near Corbett National Park/India and the next day a tigress lost her life in Dudhwa National Park/India in a road accident near Mailani range. A speeding Dcm truck killed the unfortunate tigress. Still every week tigers are lost by road accidents, poachers, bloody villagers who kill them, etc. etc. and this is what they call tiger conservation? It is too sad to be true!

The indiscriminate hunting of tigers had greatly reduced their numbers in the country's forests: from 40,000 at the beginning of the twentieth century, to 4,000 tigers in 1965 (Gee, 1964). The rapid disappearance of tiger populations was noticed first by some hunters, naturalists and foresters (Thapar, 2001). The Divisional Forest Officer of Palamau Division in Bihar carried out the first ever systematic survey in Garu Range of his division in 1934 (Nicholson, 1934). The exercise was repeated in Palamau in 1936 and 1938 (Chaudhuri, 1938). It marked the beginning of the monitoring of tiger populations in India. More...

Caught in a snare and left for days without access to food and water, a wild Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) perished from its wounds hours after forest officers reached it. As reported by Greenpeace-which photographed and filmed the rescue attempt-the tiger was trapped at the edge of a acacia plantation and remaining forest area actively being logged by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) in Riau Province. Sumatran tigers are listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List; the subspecies, restricted to the Indonesian island, is in decline due to large-scale habitat loss and poaching.
View the video.

July 20th WCW founder Babette gave the endangered wild cats a voice again to raise awareness for the endangered wild cats like tigers, cheetahs, lions, leopards but also the smaller cats like caracal, serval. It was frontpage news in the newspaper Metro. Herewith some more info on the foundation and her projects.
Wild Cats World is looking for funds and sponsors to help save the endangered wild cats in the wild but also to give the captivated ones a better life and to educate people and make the people love these cats, by introducing and make it possible to certain extent to be close to the friendly ambassador cats. This foundation is establishing a great network worldwide to create awareness for the situation of the wild cats like tigers, cheetahs, lions, leopards, but also smaller cats like caracal, serval. For all information about the 36 species of wild cats and more info/news please go to: www.wildcatsworld.nl (also in English).

If you like to sponsor, donate of adopt an ambassador cat please write to info@wildcatsmagazine.nl. Also if you like to have a specification on how the donations are used so far.

The first project in South Africa is the Cheetah Experience project in Bloemfontein, South Africa. However, in the near future we love to buy bigger pieces of land to offer a protected and natural life to different species of wild cats, and if possible to cooperate in projects to release the cats into the wild again. Wellfare in captivity and in the wild is most important for Wild Cats World.

At this moment Wild Cats World is negociating about more pieces of land and possibilites to follow her mission. A big offer has been made by a Scientific park in India, near Mumbai, for sponsored land to start new Wild Cats World projects.

July 13, 2011 - The snow leopard is not only elusive, it's a tough survivor.

The Wildlife Conservation Society has discovered a healthy population of the felines in a mountainous, northeastern area of war-torn Afghanistan. Between 4,500 and 7,500 snow leopards remain in the wild scattered across 12 countries in Central Asia, according to a recent study in the Journal of Environmental Studies.

"It shows that there is real hope for snow leopards in Afghanistan," Peter Zahler, WCS Deputy Director for Asia Programs, said in a press release. "Now our goal is to ensure that these magnificent animals have a secure future as a key part of Afghanistan's natural heritage."

Discovery news

It is with great sorrow that we report that the world, Namibia, and community-based conservation organization, Desert Lion Conservation (DLC), has lost an entire pride of rare, unique, desert-adapted lions over the span of just one year. Two days ago, the pride's last remaining members-three females-were intentionally poisoned and found dead, putting an end to the genetics of a distinctive line of lions and wasting enormous conservation efforts, especially from the regional tourism industry. Tourists and conservationists are stunned over the news and extremely frustrated with the fact that an entire pride of these big cats have all been lost at the hands of man. DLC's Dr. Phillip 'Flip' Stander calls it "the end of an era".

Read the full article.

Threat to leopards in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka leopards live almost 75% area of the island and they are the most adaptable cats. Sometimes they come near big cities in the night and often get killed there. The last six months we know of 6 leopards being killed (wire snares and poisoning). A week ago wildlife guards have found three leopard cubs about a month old in a house. The mother was probably killed. Yala National Park is one of the few areas where they are "protected". No proper research has been done so far of the population of the leopards in Sri Lanka, so a big challenge there too! We collect and often publish the facts of killed cats and also of the cats having died of a natural cause. So many wild cats die every week, most of the time caused by humans, but what about all the cases we don't hear?

Tiger Conservancy? Time for hard facts!

Positive awareness or conservation is what some people are doing just mentioning how many cubs there are born in the wild and that the wild cats should be in the wild and live happily ever after there because they are well protected in the wild reserves and National Parks. Some realistic awareness will show a completely different side of the so-called conservancy. Every day many wild cats are killed due to different circumstances, most of them caused by humans. Take Bandavgarh Tiger Reserve India of the past few months: 2 tigers imprisoned in zoo, a young tiger as well as a mother with cubs missing, a young tiger killed by a tourist's vehicle, a tiger lost by natural cause.....This is in a so-called protect area so what outside? And this is what we know and heard of, so what is happening what we don't know and haven't heard of? Tiger conservancy my ass! ;-(

The Mirchani Tigresses two young sub-adult male cubs rest peacefully on a sandy track in their home territory Bandhavgarh National Park.

On the 8th July, the brothers were captured and are now imprisoned in a cramp cage at Bhopal Zoo, probrably to never see their wild territories again.

The Brothers are now branded "Man-eaters", all though not proven the brothers are "believed" to be responsible for the killing of a Forest Worker believed to be working "alone" in the tigers home range.

More info on the Facebook of Leopard Force

On our homepage and the website of Wild Cats World we proudly present you the new logo, with credits to Robbie Graham. Robbie offered more of this great work to raise funds for the WCW projects. We are very proud to cooperate with Robbie. For more of his work please take a look at RobbieGrahamArt.com. Here's some more info about this great artist.

Robbie Graham is a self taught artist who uses gouache as his preferred medium.
A 'Perfectionist', Robbie works in a realistic style that pays meticulous attention to the tiniest of details. He is able to portray animals in their most noble character.
Robbie has always been prepared to go that step further with his paintings. This requires an extremely disciplined approach, beyond what most artists would be prepared to do. Through his paintings he tries to remind the viewer of the fragile nature we live in.

Robbie's role as a painter is best summed up in his own words when he says "My art is not about the skill of application but the ability to show the viewer the beauty and fragility of the wildlife around us".
Robbie is one of very few permanent featured artists selected by Daler Rowney. He has also recently been featured in Wildscapel magazine.

On this website you can also find a photogallery with several photo albums in which Babette de Jonge is presenting a wide range of her work. The photos are regularly up-dated and also in the already existing maps you can find new photos every now and then. Enjoy the beauty of the different species of wild cats. The photos are taken in the natural habitat of the cats but also in captivity.

BIG NEWS!!! The little black leopard cub on this photo, called Panthera (Pardus) has already a very important role in his young life. He will be an ambassador for the leopard, the cat species that really needs all our attention now, or it will get extinct, even sooner then cheetah or tiger. The number of leopards that are being killed on a weekly ...basis is going to mean the end of this wonderful cat if we don't act quickly. During Babette de Jonge's (Wild Cats World) recent visit to Cheetah Experience, its founder Riana van Nieuwenhuizen asked her to be the International Ambassador for her foundation and she gladly accepted as it soon became clear that Riana and her team, and Babette have the same thoughts and wishes as for the wellfare and conservation of the great cats. They decided to join forces and as well as the cheetah also the leopard will now be an important part of their collaboration and conservationwork. The arrival of little Panthera, and the extension of the enclosure of the two spotted leopards at Cheetah Experience, Shrek and Mischief, are a start of the project together of which Wild Cats World will be the main sponsor. The foundation will have a new name: Cheetah Experience and Leopard Paradise! At this moment the team is thinking of an appropriate logo to welcome the leopard. The plan for the future is to move a part of the project to a bigger piece of land and also a connection with Wild Cats World India, that still is under construction, will be an option. In this project tigers will also take an important part. We will give you regularly up-dates on all the websites and FB pages about the progress of the project.

In the first week of June Babette will go to South Africa again to look into new options and finalise some negociations. Of course already existing projects will still be supported and also Babette will give a closer look to further possibilities of leopard conservation. There are so many leopards killed in the wild and if we are not careful this cat will disappear sooner in the wild then lion, cheetah and even tiger.

Just watch this video of how Indian villagers burn a caged leopard alive. These barbarian acts are happening more often now and it is about time some justice will be done here before it is too late. These evil acts are unacceptable, how much these poor cats suffer you cannot begin to imagine.

WARNING SHOCKING: LEOPARD BURNED ALIVE FOR RETALIATION.

Please if you care for the wild cats, also to give the ones in captivity a better life, sign this petition. It is very important!

The Zoo Next Door is an independent film made about a private collection of animals at the back of Sergio Gomez Olivier's house in Tehuacán, in the State of Puebla, Mexico and the journey of film maker Karla Munguia Colmenero to find international help to relocate its animals to a more suitable location with bigger enclosures

The Zoo Next Door has had an overwhelming response not only from people in Mexico, England, India, South Africa and Canada, but also from non-profit organisations like Wild Cats World, WSPA Canada, and radio shows like Wild Time Radio, a show hosted by Thomas Janak in Tamworth, UK. From the non-profit organisations, Wild Cats World, founded by Babette De Jonge, had the outstanding participation by finding a 10 acre piece of land in India to relocate the big cats.

See Filmmakersforconservation.org

Finally some good news for the critically endangered tigers. Deep in the jungle of Thailand images of camera traps showed a new group of tigers. The existence of those tigers wasn't known yet. The Thai National park seems to have more tigers now than the whole of China!

The orphan cubs of tigress T5 who recently died in Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, India, were sighted with the unrelated male tiger T25. It is quite unusual that a male tiger that hasn't been related to small cubs, as being the father or brother, is socialising and even protecting small cubs from a different male. Wildlife never stops to amaze you. It is clear that the only limits are in the humans' mind.

May 6th, 2011 | Author: Kim Clune
TONY'S THE TIGER'S STORY

Tony, a beautiful Siberian-Bengal tiger, has been on display his whole decade-long life in a steel and concrete compound at Michael Sandlin's Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana. Tony can't escape the constant bright lights, diesel infused air, or sounds of screeching brakes and idling semi motors. An ineffectual sign hangs on Tony's compound warning against the crime of harassing the "protected" tiger. Still, Tony is taunted by truck stop tourists. Tony has no companion, logs, trees, or complex vegetation to engage in natural tiger behaviors. He has a trough of water too small to submerge himself and cool down in the blazing heat of Louisiana summers. Tony paces repeatedly across his patch of hard, rough concrete due to the psychological stress of confinement, putting him at risk for dangerous and painful veterinary conditions as well.

THE FIGHT FOR TONY'S FREEDOM

A years-long battle for Tony's freedom has been waged by concerned individuals, animal welfare organizations, and celebrities including Kristin Bauer, Leonardo DeCaprio, and Ian Sommerhalder. (For an aggregate site covering history, actions and news articles about Tony, visit Free Tony the Tiger.) Big Cat Rescue in Tampa Florida has extended an open invitation for Tony offering proper care and the life a tiger is meant to live. But his jailer simply won't do the right thing.

YESTERDAY IN COURT

The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), a non-profit organization that protects the lives of animals through the legal system, has spent countless hours on Tony's case. (For their full history of push and pushback, visit the ALDF website.)

ALDF went to court yesterday, May 5th, telling the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to revoke the permit that allows Tony to be displayed in such a manor. As worded in their latest Free Tony petition signed by more than 31,000 Tony supporters:

Tony's confinement is clearly inhumane - and, as the Animal Legal Defense Fund is now arguing in court, it is also illegal, as your Department violated state law in granting Michael Sandlin's permit. Please follow the regulations already set by the State of Louisiana to protect members of the public and tigers such as Tony by revoking Sandlin's permit immediately.

During proceedings, the ALDF (@ ALDFAnimalLaw) sent the following live tweets from the courthouse:

It's not clear that Tony has ever had a proper vet checkup: @ LDFW docs just show observations through fence!

ALDF attorney: LA law allows some individuals to have big cat permits. Tiger Truck Stop Inc. is not an individual.

It's in the judge's hands now. Please support Tony by signing this petition: http://ow.ly/4O1Pd

Attorneys did a great job arguing the case. It's now in the judge's hands to #FreeTonyTiger

TODAY'S DECISION

With great hope, today will be the day ALDF claims victory for Tony and all who have fought on his behalf. If not, Tony will continue to suffer until Sandlin's permit requires renewal and is met with another campaign of opposition.

I'm waiting with baited breath for news, hitting refresh on the ALDF Facebook, Twitter and website pages. At just past 9 AM Central, ALDF tweeted to a lively stream of hopeful supporters:

Waiting for the judge's decision now in the#FreeTonyTiger case. Stay tuned!

Will the court do the right thing? It's now 17 minutes past the hour. 18. 19. 35. 45. 57. an hour and a half.

FINALLY! JUSTICE AND FREEDOM FOR TONY!!

Just in from mariamahari on Twitter at 11:31.

#FreeTonyTiger will be in Sandlin hands until December 2011, and TONY WILL
#BE FREE!

Via Jeff Kremer Justice is finally served for the Magnificent Tony!! His owner will not be allowed to renew his permit in December of 2011

In order to continue WCW in a positive way some decisions had to be made. A formal change is that Babette de Jonge and Eva Julia Christiie will go separate ways from here. As Eva already used to be more in the background, nothing much will change there. The plans in SA had to be cancelled after long thoughts and discussions, as the negociations with the famous S&T Park (as landprovider and sponsor) near Mumbai/Inda are very satisfying. The possibilites and conservation matters are looking much better at this place in India. Also the project will be sponsored at the same time, so that gives better chances and opportunities. Education and conservation projects will continue too of course. Regular up-dates you can read on www.wildcatsworld.nl.

This month some important decisions will be made about the (final) mission of WCW, the people working with it alongside Babette de Jonge, and about new projects. Babette is having long talks and discussions with conservation organisations and wants to do everything according to the rules and to what is best for the cats.

As the wellfare of the wild cats both in the wild and in captivity is most important for the foundation WCW we are still thinking about what to do best. In one way we will be there to save the captive cats from miserable situations, and in the other hand we like to support giving back freedom to the cats and to support already existing projects and organisations.

Two new projects we are for sure going to work with are the following:

• Giving temporary shelter to cubs, like leopard and tiger cubs, of who the mothers are being killed, and release them back into the wild again. This we do with the NGO in Bangalore Vimitra, who already did lots of succesful releases. After this it is important to keep on following the released cats and to give info about it.
  
  
• To relocate captive cats, like the ones from a Mexican "garden" (called zoo) where the cats are living in miserable circustances, in very small cages. Babette is working together on this with Karla Munguia Colmenero, a wildlife cameraspecialist and presenter, who also made the following video, part 2 will follow soon too.

"This year's census is not very reliable in comparison to last year's, as this year they counted the cats in more places, like in the Sundarbans, near Bangladesh, for the first time. So no one can say if there is a rise in numbers and people are misled again by this kind of "news"." (WCM)

The number of tigers in India's wild has gone up by 20%, according to the latest tiger census, which has surveyed the whole of India for the first time.

The census puts the population of the big cat at 1,706. There were 1,411 tigers at the last count in 2007.

But officials have raised concerns about the amount of territory that tigers have to roam in.

India has more than 45,000 sq km (27,961 miles) of forest area in 39 designated tiger reserves.

But India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh described the shrinking of tiger corridors as "alarming".

Unique footprints

Wildlife experts say the preservation of these corridors should be a priority for the government.

Tiger corridors connect natural habitats, which have been separated over time by human development and activity.

Conservationists used hidden cameras installed at strategic points and DNA tests to count the cats.

Earlier estimates were drawn up using the older method of counting the pugmarks - or the unique footprint - of individual tigers.

India had 100,000 tigers at the turn of the last century but there has been a serious decline in numbers since then.

Experts say that 97% of tigers have been lost to poaching and shrinking habitats.

Today, fewer than 3,500 tigers remain in the wild around the world with India accounting for more than half of them.

But the latest census figures were described as "good news" by Mr Ramesh.

The key difference in the latest census was that it covered the whole of India.

"The count is more scientific this time and therefore more accurate," Rajesh Gopal of Project Tiger, the government's tiger conservation body, was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.

The survey could include difficult swampy terrain such as that found in the Sundarbans mangrove forest in West Bengal state bordering Bangladesh.

This count yielded 70 tigers from the Sundarbans tiger reserve, which had not been covered in the last census.

Tiger numbers have been rapidly falling in recent years due to a rise in poaching, which experts say is now organised in a similar way to drug trafficking.

The Indian authorities have not been able to put a stop to poaching, partly because of the ever-changing techniques used by the cartels behind it.

Correspondents say tiger products are a lucrative business.

There is huge demand for tiger bones, claws and skin in countries like China, Taiwan and Korea, where they are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

After another very succesful Wild Cats Photosafari trip to the Masai Mara in Kenya, we will organise the same kind of trip, and maybe an extra one during Migrationtime, in 2012. Soon there will be more info on this trip available on this website, in the meantime get yourselves eager for such a trip by looking at the photogallery with a collection of this years'photos. If you already want to be sure of an available place during this trip, please write to info@wildcatsmagazine.nl.

Tony is a 10 year old Siberian/Bengal tiger used as a roadside attraction at Tiger Truck Stop in Grose Tete Louisiana. Tony is another example of how serious the problem is of private ownership of tigers in the United States where there are more privately owned tigers than there are left in the wild.

Tony's owner, Michael Sandlin, has sold, bought, bred and exhibited tigers for over 20 years.

In 2003, because of violations and fines, Mr. Sandlin and the USDA made an agreement where 3 of the 4 tigers he owned, Toby, Khan and Rainbow, were sent to Tiger haven in Kingston TN.

The USDA reduced the fines and allowed Mr. Sandlin to keep one tiger, Tony.

Poor Tony is still living the same life being mistreated, abused and exhibited in a small cage to a disrepectful audience, day after day. This is to araise awareness for Tony's situation and so many animals with him. Soon we will publish some more info on this case.

After the Wild Cats Photosafari to Masai Mara/Kenia, Babette de Jonge takes a flight straight to South Africa, Northern Cape, near Kimberley and Bloemfontein, for meetings with the new co-workers and to inspect the promised land, in order to finally make a start to the project/foundation Wild Cats World at the new location. Lots of visits will be paid to several important neighbour organisations such as The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre, near Johannesburgt, Cheetah Outreach in Capetown and Cheetah Experience in Bloemfontein. Also we pay a visit to a lion"farm" and in all circumstances we will see how a cooperation is possible with these organisations. We keep you informed and in the meantime we will enjoy ourselves tremendously.

Corruption, Scandal, and Society: How Much of the Tiger Crisis is Caused by Black Market Trade? There is not just a one factor that has caused the loss of some 97% of the world's tigers over the past century. Instead, it is a multi- faceted problem rich with deep challenges. Poaching, habitat loss, human-tiger conflict, and depletion of the big cats' prey base are at the forefront of the issues. Asian demand for their body parts drives the rampant poaching of these animals. If this pressure were to be alleviated, more time and resources could be given to address the other problems. Additionally, many of the obstacles blocking the success of conservation efforts originate from the black market trade in tiger parts. Just how far does this industry reach? How will the fight to save these animals change if it is eliminated?

Read further...

We are so glad to share with you that the NGO Vanamitra in Bangalore reunited another leopard cub (1month old) with its mother in Kundapur. (Look at picture for reference).

The little cub was chased away by monkeys into the village and lost its mother.

A week back, the cub was sighted with the mother at the site of reunion. The forest department staff was overjoyed. This is the 5th Leopard cub reunion by this NGO! Well done!!

The Wild Cats Photosafari 2011 that took place end of February, first week of March, was a huge success again. Many exceptional sightings of leopards, cheetahs and lions, but also the great wildlife variety of the Mara showed itself the best way again. If you like to be part of a great trip like this, you can join us at the Wild Cats Photosafari 2012. More info on this will follow soon. Take a look at a selection of the photos.

Every day up-dates with the latest and most important news/photos you can find on our special Facebook page.

Sudhanshu Mishra
Thursday, February 10, 2011

A six-year-old tigress was found dead on Wednesday morning in the Kundera range of the Ranthambore National Park.

The tigress, referred to as T-5, had been sighted for the first time with her new cubs late last month in the Kachida area, bringing cheer to the park, which lost 10 tigers in the past year and a half.

She was found wounded last week, when state tourism minister Bina Kak spotted her, giving rise to fears that she had been in a fight with a tigress named T-17. The latter had been sighted in T-5' s territory in Kachida.

T-5 was treated following tranquilisation by doctors from Jaipur and Sawai Madhopur.

A post-mortem has been ordered to determine the cause of death.

Rajasthan's principal chief conservator of forests R. N. Mehrotra said the wound - near the anus of the big cat - had opened up and got infected by maggots.

The death of T-5, which gave five tigers to the park in her lifetime, has put a question mark on the survival of her three-month-old cubs.

"We have to capture them and keep them in captivity as they won't survive in the wild," Mehrotra said.

"The survival of the cubs is a challenge for the forest authorities," Rajpal Singh, a member of the state committee for wildlife, said.

However, a silver lining to the day was the sighting of the tigress T-31 with its two cubs. Mehrotra confirmed the sighting, adding that three or four new cubs were expected soon.

Recently seven cubs, including the two of T-5, have been sighted in the park.

We are proud to let you know Wild Cats World is going to cooperate with Felidae Centre (Chriszanne and Nicol Burger) and with them we are going to start at a 1500 ha piece of land in South Africa, near Kimberley and Bloemfontein, Northern Cape. We already have a cheetah and caracal as ambassadors for their species in our education shows, and soon 5 lion cubs will arrive for the wildpark. A big step forward for Wild Cats World. We will soon give more information on our plans.

Hard facts!!! A number of NGO's and other national and international agencies have quoted that tigers will live for about ten more years. But the fact is that Tigers will live for a maximum of 5 years if their rate of extinction is not curtailed.

See the original artikel.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Asia could support 10,000 wild tigers, more than three times existing numbers, if landscapes are managed to allow breeding sites to be connected, experts say.
Read more

A male tiger was shot dead on Thursday afternoon in Ramnagar forest division, post protest from villagers of Sunderkhal adjoining Corbett Tiger Reserve.

Wild Life Experts have expressed shock over the way tiger was killed on Thursday. "The tiger was about 7 years old and was shot 25-30 times. It is barbaric," noted Brijendra Singh member National Tiger Conservation Authority.

Notably, a fortnight ago forest authorities gave orders to kill a man-eating tigress that killed a woman of Sunderkhal village. The decision was taken when agitated villagers staged protest and demanded immediate eviction of the animal.

In great hurry, forest department then shot a tigress but couldn't recover its body. It was assumed that the animal must have been injured, though not dead. However, the fresh killing of tiger has raised several questions on forest department.

1. When the orders to kill man-eating tigress were given by forest authorities, how can they shoot a(nother) tiger dead on the basis of same notification???
2. Why has the department failed to recover the body of the injured tigress???

It is learnt that within a period of two months, the fifth human death was reported on Wednesday due to tiger attack.

"No fresh orders were given to kill the man-eating tiger. We carried forward earlier orders of killing."

A tiger was shot on Thursday, 27th January 2011, in the Garjia area of Corbett National Park over the remains of a fifth human allegedly killed in an encounter with a wild animal.

Though park authorities claim that the slain big cat is the one responsible for human deaths in the national park during the past two-and-a-half months, questions are being raised about this theory. So far, authorities had been claiming that a tigress was responsible.

After discovery of the human remains near Garjia, a Forest Department team headed by the Ramnagar Divisional Forest Officer Ravindra Juyal was combing the area when a male tiger was sighted.

After the tiger was found near the human remains, villagers cordoned off the area to trap it and put pressure on authorities to shoot the feline. The Sanyukt Sangarsh Samiti blocked traffic on National Highway 121 from 8 am to 2:30 pm in protest.

The departmental team and police personnel fired up to 12 rounds, killing the big cat.

However, Samiti president Munish Kumar said the villagers would continue the protest till the tigress believed to be responsible for the deaths of four women was killed. He said the last human killed was eaten by a pair of tigers so killing one tiger did not resolve the conflict in the area.

Park director Ranjan Kumar Mishra confirmed that a tiger had been shot by Forest Department personnel on Thursday. Wildlife activists, on the other hand, believe that the tiger has been killed unnecessarily due to public pressure, without the man-animal conflict being resolved in the area.

The remains of the fifth human allegedly killed by a tiger in Corbett National Park were discovered on Thursday morning in the Garjia area.

So far, authorities had been claiming that a tigress was responsible for the human deaths and that it had been shot by department personnel on January 11. However, this tigress was believed to have recovered from the single bullet wound and killed a fifth human, according to former honorary wildlife warden of the national park and member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Brijendra Singh.

Mishra said a crowd of hundreds of villagers had prevented a post-mortem of the feline on Thursday. As veterinarians have said that the examination should not be conducted in the dark, the post-mortem will now be conducted on the morning of January 28, he added.

According to official sources, two men on a scooter stopped briefly on a jungle path on January 26 while one of them went to the woods to relieve himself. This man, identified as 25-year-old Puran, was visiting his relatives in the Sunderkhal area and was missing since then. Only his legs were discovered in the Garjia area on the morning of January 27.

After continuous tracking by the biologists, a passive HD camera trap designed by an Iranian technician was quite helpful to trap a big male while exhibiting his territorial behavior.
More...

A camera trap recently captured the elusive Saharan cheetah in a vast desert in Niger, Africa.
Read the article on Livescience.com.

2010....

We are very happy looking back on the year 2010 and feeling proud of the new achievements. The Wild Cats Photosafari to Masai Mara/Kenya and the Tigertour to Ranthambhore National Park were of course two of the great highlights of this year; also some of the award winning shots that were taken on this trip. More great things happened this year, like meeting the wonderful person and a great new friend Eva Julia Christiie and her animals, and starting the foundation Wild Cats World together in June. In a short time we created a big and succesful network for our foundation and we will pursuit our plans in the coming year. Like every year we took lots of photos, covered a lot of articles and columns for magazines and websites, appeared in the Indian newspaper and did a succesful lecture on a Symposium about the welfare of the wild cats.

2011...

Lots of new plans for the new year and the near future. Another Wild Cats Photosafari to Kenya and tigertrip to India will take place and also plans are made for a leopard tour to Sri Lanka and a jaguartour to Costa Rica, for the coming years. Of course Babette and Eva Julia will keep on working hard to continue the great work and plans for their new foundation Wild Cats World. Everything you can read on the Wild Cats World website as well as the Facebook page and also on this website, so just keep on following us.

Good news! Since we confirmed one extra person for our trip we have an extra vehicle and room for three more people on our Wild Cats Photosafari 2011 to Masai Mara/Kenya. A final call, so if interested then please hurry and send a message to info@wildcatsmagazine.nl.
Dates 28/2-08/3/2011.