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WI Big Cat Rescue Donor 500,000
Cats have new home
By Tim Damos
ROCK SPRINGS — The founder of an organization that provides refuge for abused and abandoned lions, tigers and leopards says getting to this point has been a struggle, but he hopes to open his doors to the public soon.
"It was a very steep uphill process to get here," said big cat advocate Jeff Kozlowski, who started the Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue and
Kozlowski held a fundraiser Saturday hoping to raise $5,000 which would go toward completion of the bathrooms and parking lot at the new facility.
The refuge raised about $2,500 in the effort, Kozlowski said, and he is hoping to stage the grand opening of the facility this weekend. But he said that depends on if he can get gravel for the parking lot in this week.
He said he wouldn't have come this far without his supporters.
Harold Kruse of Loganville said he has been behind the refuge from the beginning. After Kozlowski told him his plans, Kruse and several others helped Kozlowski start raising money.
Donor identified
Kozlowski's biggest help came in the form of a donation from an influential
The donor, Tim Reily, sits on the board for the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Kozlowski said. He heard about Reily through a friend from
And it paid off.
In April, Reily donated $500,000 to the refuge, Kozlowski said. Reily could not be reached for comment at his
The LSPCA is non-profit animal advocacy group that serves the
In 2005, the organization had net assets of over $10.4 million, according to documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The LSPCA reported rescuing 8,500 animals following Hurricane Katrina.
Controversy over cats
Kozlowski has faced opposition from some village residents worried about public safety.
After he moved several cats from his property on Highway 12 near Prairie du Sac to a location east of
The county took action against Kozlowski in September 2006 after neighbors worried about safety risks and complained of loud noise and traffic. Officials alleged he had violated zoning rules and the animals under his watch posed a potential public health risk.
Kozlowski was ordered off the property, and won permission from the village to start a new facility within village limits. The animals were transferred to that location this summer.
Melody Hiller of Rock Springs, who lived near the former location on Highway 136, says she has backed off in her opposition to the refuge since it moved into the village.
"I'm still concerned," she said. "But it's the village's problem now."
She said she still thinks an animal will escape some day and wreak havoc on the area.
But Kozlowski has worked with the village to try and ensure safety, and he has had the U.S. Department of Agriculture certify his facility.
He said his attorney recently reached a settlement with the county in the civil case.
Kozlowski's attorney, Jeff Scott Olson of
Sauk County Board Chairman Marty Krueger said no settlement has been finalized, and the county is still working to reach an agreement that's fair for both parties.
The Wisconsin Circuit Court Access Web site lists the case as open and it is still scheduled to go to trial Thursday.
Kozlowski said the facility will be open to the public by appointment only during the week, but will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekends. He said entry fees will be $5 for children and $8 for adults, while children younger than age 5 will get in free.
"I'm pleased with the way things have gone so far," he said. "I just hope (opponents) don't come up with some other legal angle to shut it down."
http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news/253753
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Police Kill Bobcat in Summerlin Neighborhood
Police Kill Bobcat in Summerlin Neighborhood
Oct 27, 2007 12:58 AM EDT
As the areas around
Eyewitness News talked with neighbors who say they're glad the danger is gone but wished it would have ended differently.
The bobcat roamed a Summerlin neighborhood for about four hours Friday jumping in and out of people's backyards. Many were happy when Metro came to remove the animal, but their relief was quickly quieted by three gunshots.
It was like any neighborhood crime scene, only this time the line between victim and murder was blurred.
Jeff Wilson, a neighbor, said, "It ripped open their bird cages and killed their birds, so at that point I figured that it was a dangerous, or hungry animal."
"I'm just surprised that I see a bobcat around here," said Sam Melendez, who also lives in the neighborhood.
Walking along a fence, the cat seemed to be searching backyards prompting people to grab their pets and their young children.
Jeff continued, "It was about 15 feet from her when I had seen it and I was thinking wow that is a really big house cat until I saw the bob tail."
When police arrived the cat had gone into a backyard where the owner says it was hiding in a bush.
Sam added, "He must have been pretty hungry to come down from the hills."
Melendez stayed inside with his small dog, as officers surround the bobcat. "Cornered the bobcat over there and they shot him, I heard three times," he said.
The neighborhood was happy the threat was over but they never expected their call for help would end the cat's life.
"It was kind of sad to see it but I kind of wish they would have relocated it. But that is how it goes. It's better, I guess, than it killing someone's dog or hurting a child,"
Neighbors say the cat seemed to only be looking for food and just went after the three small birds.
In the two previous cases of bobcat sightings, the cats were either never caught only tazed.
By: Amanda Hernandez ahernandez@klastv.com
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7273606
Friday, October 26, 2007
White Tigers on TV Show
To: The Producer of the Mike and Juliet Show yourstory@mandjshow.com
I would like to see you do a Did You Know show on the fact that the only way to produce white tigers is through severe inbreeding.
We are running an online poll and 64% of our 413 respondents admitted that they did not know. We are guessing that is why Mike, Juliet and your producer featured Kay and Clay Rosaire, who are fifth generation carnies that breed white tigers and keep them in tiny concrete cells in their back yard in
The tiger on your show was represented by Kay Rosaire as being a Bengal tiger but there isn’t one pure bred Bengal tiger in the entire U.S. because all of the zoos preyed upon the ignorance of the public and inbred their Bengal tigers to produce the white coat colors to the point that the cubs were all being born dead. They then began cross breeding
I realize that serious issues of animal abuse are not the kind of topics that your show is geared to cover, but you could do the right thing for the animals by not allowing people to bring wild animals into the studio. I know that the cute factor is hard to resist, but if you had any idea how ugly life will soon be for the baby tiger and lions that were on your show today you might not be able to sleep at night.
To find out more about white tigers:
http://www.bigcatrescue.org/white_tigers.htm
To find out more about people who drag big cats out on leashes:
http://www.bigcatrescue.org/bigcatexhibition.htm
To find out more about how many big cat incidents, such as killings, maulings and escapes happen:
http://www.bigcatrescue.org/big_cat_news.htm
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street
813.493.4564 fax 885.4457
http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org
Sign our petition to protect tigers here:
http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=9952801&type=CU
Villages relocate to give tigers a home
Following the recommendations of the Ministry of Environment and Forests which made a case for the translocation of tigers to Sariska, the Rajasthan Forest Department decided on voluntary relocation of 11 villages from the core areas in Sariska.
Out of these, four were to be relocated first on a priority basis. There are 17 more villages in the reserve.
Although voluntary relocation of the villages had been tried in Sariska in the seventies, it had not been successful due to various reasons.
This time however, the approach was more focussed and Bhagani village was selected to be the first of the four. An eco-development committee was set up in mid-2006 and by October 2006, every family had given its consent to move out to a better life outside Sariska.
Bhagani is a small settlement, in the Core Area 1 in Range Tehla in Sariska, consisting 21 families dependent on cattle rearing for livelihood. To help them adjust to a new life in Bardorh Rundh, agriculture trainings were organised for the villagers. According to the Field Director, PS Somashekar, more livelihood training programmes are being planned.
At an event organised to hand over bank drafts as compensation to the assenting villagers, SK Shrivastav, Chief Conservator of Forests, said while praising the villagers, "Animals are like young children who cannot express their feelings, but we understand that, and that is why we have this voluntary relocation programme." He added that the move was infact a "Vikas Yatra" - a better future for the people.
Harikrishan, one of the villagers who will move base to the new settlement said, "It is a new lease of life for us as well as the tigers. Here we will have roads and access to other facilities that we did not have, living inside Sariska. Earlier on, we only reared cattle. Now we can till the land and produce food for our families as well as supply to the market. We are grateful for this opportunity and hope the other villages follow our footsteps."
The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) provided supplementary financial assistance to fill up the deficit brought about by cost escalation. At the function to hand over the bank drafts to 18 families who volunteered to relocate, Ashok Kumar, Vice-Chairman, WTI, said, "It is a small token, but a heartfelt one."
The Government of India had approved a relocation package for each family. The amount however, had to be increased because of cost escalation.
http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/154497/1/1893
Forest officials asked to capture 2 tigers: dead or alive
Forest officials in the Bramhapuri division of Chandrapur district of Maharashtra have been order to capture two tigers dead or alive. The two tigers are said to have killed 22 people in as many months, according to a report in the Daily News & Analysis (DNA).
Bramhapuri DFO Hrishikesh Ranjan told the newspaper, “For start, we have decided to trap the tigers as Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) has issued orders to this effect.”
“The area the two tigers roam in is about 30-km from the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. Three traps have been laid around Nanded, Kacchepar and Sonapur villages. If we cannot trap them, we will be left with no option but to kill them,” Ranjan said.
Since the kills were only dragged away and not all eaten up, the forest department has not yet declared the killer tigers as man-eaters. In fact, the two have shown a tendancy of attacking only humans while sparing their cattle.
According to the latest census conducted in this May, the reserve is host to 45 tigers, considered to be “saturation level population” for the area.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (wildlife) B Majumdar visited the area to take stock of the situation and explored the possibility of driving out the tigers by drum-beating and busting of fire-crackers, but he is still unsure if these measures would succeed.
Ranjan said, “Tranquilising the animals and releasing them in another area was also an option, but was later dropped as it’s very difficult.”
http://www.wildlifewatch.in/news/365
Court rejects bail plea in lion electrocution case
A court on Wednesday dismissed the bail plea of all the four accused in the lion electrocution case and sent them to judicial custody. The court has also given nod to conduct narco-analysis test on the prime accused, says an Indian Express report.
On October 19, forest officials had arrested four accused and booked them under various provision of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The next day, the accused were produced before the court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) at Dhari which put them in the custody of Forest Department for three days.
After completion of the remand, the accused were again produced before the court on October 24. The accused are _ Durlabhaji Vadodaria, his son Purshottam, Ravji Hirani and Bhala Parmar.
According to details, prime accused Durlabhaji had put up an electric fence surrounding his agricultural land to protect the standing crop from wild animals. His farm is located on the outskirts of Prempara village, some two km away from Dhari town, where the headquarters of Gir East Forest Division is located.
Five lions, including three lionesses of about 8 to 10 years of age, and two cubs of less than one year of age, were electrocuted and died on the spot. Later in an attempt to destroy the evidences, Durlabhaji and his son Purshottam buried the carcasses with the help of other two accused in their agriculture field.
According to Deputy Conservator of Forest (Gir East) J S Solanki, “A total of 88 claws of the five lions were recovered while two claws are still missing. The accused’s possible connection with Madhya Pradesh tribal gang is under scanner.”
Lion is enlisted as Schedule-1 animal under the Wildlife Act, and killing of this wild animal is a non-bailable offence. And the punishment for the offence ranges from three to seven years of imprisonment and with a fine of Rs 25,000, Solanki said.
“We suspect Durlabhaji is hiding the truth. It requires more then half a dozen persons to bury five carcasses. So there may be more than four people involved in this offence,” Solanki said.
The court accepted investigation officer’s plea to conduct prime accused’s narco-analysis test. “We have already intimated the forensic officials for the test, and after receiving the date, we will proceed for accused’s narco-analysis test,” Solanki added.
http://www.wildlifewatch.in/news/378
Leopard killed after it attacks farmer
A female leopard was killed following a scuffle with a a farmer at Sidhkothi village in Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh, according to the Times of India. Dinesh, the farmer, was cutting grass in his field when the animal pounced on him.
Ajit Singh, a relative of Dinesh, said when the victim was struggling with the animal, he thrust his arm into her mouth and started crying loudly. He kept the arm inside the mouth which almost choked her to death.
Meanwhile, other people listened to his cries and reached the spot. The leopard tried to escape into bushes, but the villagers killed her with stones and sticks. Since the leopard attacked as she was not keeping well. Otherwise these animals do not attack people normally, said the villagers.
Sundernagar divisional forest officer Pardeep Thakur said the incident happened in Sidhkot forest of Baldwada range. "I don’t know how she died, but in the postmortem report, she was found injured, ill and old," he added. Dinesh suffered minor injuries.
http://www.wildlifewatch.in/news/362
Critically Injured Amur Leopard Captured, Released
A rare Amur leopard, one of an estimated 30 left in the wild, was captured in Russia and examined by conservation experts before being released.
Representatives of a consortium of conservation organizations — including the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Zoological Society of London — captured the female Amur (Panthera pardus orientalis) in south-west Primorye, a remote location in the Russian Far East, along the Chinese border.
The animal was tranquilised and examined by a veterinary team. There are between 24 and 32 Amur leopards living in the wild, making the animal the rarest big cat on Earth.
The Amur leopard is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. There are currently estimated to be between 25 — 34 Amur leopards left in the wild, distributed in south-west Primorskii Krai, between Vladivostok and the Sino-Russian border. Male leopards can weigh up to 50kg, females as little as 35kg, and they are carnivorous, feeding mainly on deer. The leopard inhabits mixed forest environments and has long fur to help it withstand the freezing weather.
The project's co-leaders, Russian biologist Alexei Kostyria and John Goodrich of the Wildlife Conservation Society, said the unprecedented level of international collaboration was essential if the critically endangered leopard is to avoid extinction.
Since the wild population is so small, experts said it's important to determine if inbreeding is occurring in order to plan conservation programmes.
There are currently approximately 130 Amur leopards in zoos across Europe and Russia; all part of a breeding program coordinated by the Zoological Society of London and the Moscow Zoo.
Kostyria, biologist from the Institute of Biology and Soils in Vladivostok and co-leader of the project, said, "This capture represents a new benchmark in assessing health of wild animals in Russia. We have brought together top experts from Russia and around the world and taken state-of-the-art equipment deep into the taiga to conduct medical assessments of the Far Eastern leopard. We have an unprecedented level of collaboration and remarkable effort that is essential if we are to save this critically endangered leopard."
Goodrich of the Wildlife Conservation Society, said, "Catching this female was a big step forward in our efforts to understand the status of this population, and to better define necessary conservation actions needed to conserve this population."
http://www.wildlifewatch.in/news/391
Howard Baskin in US News & World Report
Where Work Really Is a Zoo
By Kerry Hannon
Posted October 25, 2007
Howard Baskin admits that a few homeless cats have won his heart over the years, but saving abandoned and abused lions, lynxes, and leopards was by no means his dream, let alone his passion. When it came to giving to animal causes, he might write a modest check to the Humane Society of the
Yet there's no denying that a stroll where he works at the 45-acre Big Cat Rescue, a nonprofit educational sanctuary in
This is where
Baskin, 57, isn't one of the cats' caregivers, but he uses his financial acumen to ensure they live a healthful life. With a Harvard M.B.A. and a law degree, he spent the first 11 years of his career at Citicorp, rising to become director of strategic planning for the commercial real-estate division in
Finally, in 1991, he left Citi to work as a management consultant for a succession of small companies. Eight years later, he opted for a less stressful pace, consulting part time and freeing up time for tennis and leisurely rounds of golf. But something was missing.
And in 2003, just a few years into his semiretired bachelor life, he did an about-face. Before he knew it, he had ramped up to 60-hour workweeks at the sanctuary and agreed to take charge of its finances free. Sure, Baskin is fond of the cats, but it was another love that inspired him. His wife, Carole, whom he met in 2002 and married in 2004, founded the 15-year-old sanctuary and is ceo.
"I kind of married into this transition, although it was of course my choice, not a requirement," Baskin says. "I fell in love with her. One thing that drew me to her was her passion for the mission and the excitement of working for a cause, not just living."
Take Nikita, for example. The 6-year-old lioness spent her first year living on a concrete slab, chained to a wall by a drug dealer in
Purrfect fit. Not all of the cats were abused. Some were abandoned by owners who could no longer afford to care for them. Others were retired from circus acts, rescued from fur farms, or obtained from roadside zoos that had fallen on hard times. Baskin came well prepared to bolster the sanctuary's shaky financial underpinnings. The small firms where he used to work ran the gamut from a bridge builder to a foundry to an audiovisual firm. They were businesses where finances were in disarray when he arrived. Someone had to figure out how to get things organized and create systematic controls.
Visitors who take educational tours of Big Cat have doubled since 2003, to 26,000 last year. Revenues from contributions rose 50 percent in 2006 alone. The annual Fur Ball, the chief fundraiser, brought in an estimated $100,000 in October, up from $17,000 five years ago. Carole has had time to advocate for laws to crack down on illegal animal dealers and implement humane care standards for the cats.
Although Baskin would like to spend a bit more time on the golf course, there's little other downside. His full-time consulting income, which often topped six figures, had already been trimmed, and he had a thrifty lifestyle, enough savings, and growing retirement funds.
"I don't take a traditional salary, but, in reality, I get a double payback. I not only get to do something for the cats," he says as he watches Nikita devour her afternoon "bloodsicle" snack. "I feel like I am contributing to the world. More importantly, I get to make Carole happy. That's my No. 1 goal." Spoken like a true newlywed.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/careers/2007/10/25/where-work-really-is-a-zoo.html
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Cats owned in violation of probation
The cats are in the custody of the ASPCA, and Oleg Zhdanov is charged with violating probation and could face up to a year in jail.
"Those cats were in plain view," said ASPCA Assistant Director Joseph Pentangelo.
Zhdanov, 35, pleaded guilty last year in Manhattan Supreme Court to animal cruelty for fatally beating his 15-pound, 5-month-old mixed Lab.
In January, he was sentenced to three years' probation and forbidden from keeping any animals except his collection of tropical fish.
The ASPCA conducted a raid last Monday after a tip that cats could be seen through the window of the W. 56th St. apartment Zhdanov shared with his girlfriend, Tanya Becker.
Becker claimed Zhdanov didn't live there any longer, and another man who rents a room in the apartment said the cats were his.
Suspicious ASPCA agents returned the next day and this time found Zhdanov in the apartment, along with Tommy, the tiger cat, and Rocko, a rare Snowshoe.
When the agents grilled the roommate, he produced a receipt showing he purchased Tommy in 2003 from a Web site, Junglebeat.com, for $2,000. He said he got Rocko from a shelter and had no idea that Zhdanov had pleaded guilty to animal cruelty.
The ASPCA agents took Tommy and Rocko for safekeeping. They left the fish.
"The cats are healthy," said Pentangelo. "They showed no sign of abuse or neglect. But they can't cohabitate with the defendant."
A neighbor who requested anonymity said Zhdanov deserves to be caged.
"Now he has totally disrespected the judge, the court and the ASPCA," the neighbor said. "The judge should put him in jail."
Jack Ryan, a spokesman for the city Department of Probation, said Zhdanov will be notified this week that he has violated the terms of his probation.
http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/12259/NY/US
Escaped African Serval Cat Caught In Texas
Animal control was on the lookout for an African Serval cat.
The cat, named Gizmo, has been the pet of a Saginaw family for the past five years, where he regularly lives with other domesticated pets and children. The family was required to maintain a 'wild animal certificate of registration' in order to keep the animal.
"He's a great pet and so we've raised him for the last five and a half years and this is a first for us. It's very disturbing," owner Christina Miller said.
The cat escaped through an open window Thursday night and was last seen Tuesday morning in a field near a school, rec. center and residential area. Gizmo weighs about 35 pounds, has been de-clawed, and is domesticated.
The city's Animal Control was made aware of the cat's disappearance on Friday morning.
According to officials with Saginaw Animal Control, Gizmo poses no threat to humans. "They're not dangerous. They eat things smaller than what will fit in our mouth 'cause they eat everything whole," animal control officer Kevin James told CBS station KTVT-TV. "So I don't think any domesticated pet will have anything to worry about, unless it’s a hamster."
The largest animal a Serval can eat is about the size of a rabbit.
Animal control spotted Gizmo in a wooded area near the old Saginaw Airport, but in the end it was the owner, with a bottle of water, that caught the cat.
http://cbs5.com/watercooler/watercooler_story_297023152.html
Tiger hunt gets under way on Qinling Mountains
Experts have been dis-patched to northwest China's Qinling Mountains area to investigate claims a farmer photographed a wild South China tiger earlier this month, according to a State Forest Administration (SFA) newsletter published yesterday.
Qinling Mountains in Zhenping County, Shaanxi Province, was formally an important habitat for the South China tiger.
The SFA said efforts to protect the forest and its wildlife had resulted in improvements to the habitat and recovery of native species.
It was thought wild South China tigers had been wiped out. There are about 50 of the big cats in zoos.
Earlier this month, the Shaanxi forestry department showed off a digital photo of what appeared to be a South China tiger, the first time the species has been seen in the wild for more than two decades.
The photographer was Zhou Zhenglong, 52, a farmer and former hunter from Chengguan Township in Zhenping County. He said he took the photo on October 3.
Some experts, however, suspect the photo is a computer-generated fake, citing the blurred image and lighting.
Fu Dezhi, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said in his blog that Zhou might have faked the picture using a paper tiger.
The authorities, however, insist the picture is authentic.
"Zhou Zhenglong risked his life taking these photos so they are very precious. We are being cautious and responsible by releasing one of the photos," Zhu Julong, deputy head of the provincial forestry department, said.
Zhou was not a professional photographer, he said, and understandably panicked when he was close to the tiger, which explained why the images were blurry.
The SFA plans to launch a thorough search of the Qinling Mountain area to investigate the existence, or not, of the South China tiger in the wild.
http://www.china.org.cn/english/government/229628.htm
Search Continues For Lion In Greenbrier County
A hunter spotted the lion in the Big Roaring Creek area earlier this month and reported it. At this point, there is no independent confirmation of that spotting.
"We still can't confirm or deny (it)," said Carol Forga, with the Tiger Mountain Refuge in Greenbrier County. "We have sent some of our staff out there to the location."
She and her husband have been running the non-profit refuge for exotic animals for the past six years, and she said there are a lot of reasons why the full grown lion could be out there, if it's out there.
"It is possible that a private owner has gotten one as a pet when it was a baby or as an adult, it just depends, and has had it and the situation's come across that they can no longer provide for it. They've panicked, they've turned it loose or they've had it in a containment center that it has actually gotten loose from. We're not sure at this point," Forga said on Thursday's MetroNews Talkline.
Forga said the abandonment of exotic animals is not uncommon. Many of the animals at the Tiger Mountain Refuge were brought to Greenbrier County after being found, wandering loose, in other parts of West Virginia.
She said there are a number of ways to acquire a lion: "They can actually bring them in from out of state. There are different exotic markets that are out there that they can actually go to and acquire one from. There's a black market that's out there where these animals are available."
Right now, Forga said, her concern is finding the lion and retrieving it using the equipment they have. She said the lion's survival chances depend on a number of factors.
"If he was from a facility and escaped and, nobody knows where that facility is or anything, it depends on if he has his claws. It depends on the condition that he is actually in," she said. "They can acclimate to different temperatures, so, as far as the winter temperatures, that's not going to be a factor. But if he's declawed and his canines are removed, the hunting capabilities, it's made it very difficult for him."
http://www.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=
displayfullstory&storyid=21691
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tigers Escape Sunderbans Due to Rising Sea Levels
No one dares to enter the forest without first having offered the prayers to Bonibibi, the goddess of the forest, in the hope that she will protect them against the man-eating tigers of the Sunderbans forest.
But now, conflict is brewing. Thanks to climate change, to escape rising sea levels, experts believe that the tigers are migrating northwards in large numbers.
“With rising waters the tigers are shifting northwards. And this is going to create problems,” says former field director of Sunderbans National Park Dr Sanyal.
A mask is actually a life saving device and it’s imperative that they wear it at the back of their heads because the tigers here are believed to never attack human beings from the front.
Traditional methods of protection against the tiger are less effective now. Bishwanath Tarafdar barely escaped the jaws of death. He fought off a tiger with his bare hands and lived to tell the tale.
“I was attacked and he stalked me till the tree. I cannot sleep at night, I’m so scared,” he says.
Local theatre shows how deeply the tiger is embedded in local psyche. But with the rising waters and more tigers migrating into human territory, whether people’s respect for the tiger continue, remains to be seen.
Call it folklore or a coping strategy but for these people it's the only way to survive in a habitat where the tiger lifts at least 100 people every year.
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/tigers-escape-sunderbans-due-to-
rising-sea-levels/50918-3.html?xml
Tigers in Danger in Corbett Park in Festive Season-Red Alert On
A red alert has been sounded after forest officials got information from their sources that some gangs from the Rajasthan and Haryana have become active in the adjoining national park areas.
These poachers are in search of the right moment to hunt down the tigers.
"On the occasion of festivals like Diwali, Dusshera and Holi, fractious elements will do anything (kill tigers for pleasure) and indulge in revelry. So we are maintaining a vigil in our area; regularly patrolling public places, to find from sources the areas from where these miscreants are infiltrating. ", said Daljeet Singh, beat officer.
The forest officials are leaving no stone unturned and they have increased vigilance. They are checking every vehicle that passes through the forest area and patrolling is going on round the clock.
"On the directive from higher authorities, a red alert has been sounded in the Rajaji park area and patrolling is going on in every range," said M.S.Negi, range officer, Chila range.
The two national park areas have been very sensitive and in the recent decades many tigers have been killed.
Wildlife experts say an estimated 1,500 tigers have been poached in India in the past decade. In the last year alone, there have been around 100 cases of tiger poaching.
A century ago, there were some 40,000 tigers in India. Now, officials estimate there are about 3,700 tigers left although some environment groups put the number at less than 2,000.
There was uproar in India after reports in March 2005 that the entire tiger population in the Sariska forest sanctuary had been wiped out by poachers, with fears that the situation might be mirrored in other reserves across the country.
Trade in tiger skin and products are illegal but poachers still operate with impunity because a single animal can fetch up to dollar 50,000 in the international market.
Organs, teeth, bones and penises fetch high prices in China and south East Asian nations, where they are used in ancient medicines.
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/185127.php/Tigers-in-danger-in
-Corbett-Park-in-festive-season--red-alert-on
Zoo Welcomes New Tiger Cubs
The male and female cubs were born between October 6 and 7 and each weighed about two pounds. The births are considered a huge success for the zoo. The cubs are the first surviving tiger cubs to be born at the zoo since 1988.
Sungari, the cubs' mother, continues to take good care of the cubs in an indoor holding area.
The cubs will be off exhibit to the public for at least three months to ensure health development.
Amur tigers, formally called Siberian tigers, are the largest of the tiger species and are native to eastern Russia, northeastern China and northern regions of North Korea.
http://publicbroadcasting.net/wned/news.newsmain?action
=article&ARTICLE_ID=1170782§ionID=1
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Re: [BCRVolunteers] Lions, tigers sent to sanctuaries
Karen
From: BigCatRescue <MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org>
To: BCRVolunteers@yahoogroups.com; 1bigcatrescue.catnews@blogger.com
Sent: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 4:54 pm
Subject: [BCRVolunteers] Lions, tigers sent to sanctuaries
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Animal Groups Rescue Abandoned Lions and Tigers From Ohio Woman
Animal Groups Rescue Abandoned Lions and Tigers From
animal welfare organizations: IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare),
Big Cat Rescue, and The Wild Animal Orphanage announced they have rescued 6
abandoned big cats -- 2 lions and 4 tigers -- from an unsanctioned
shelter. The animals are being relocated to licensed animal sanctuaries in