Thursday, January 31, 2008

Zoo apologizes for tiger escape

Zoo apologizes for tiger escape
 
Brent Begin, The Examiner
2008-01-29 11:00:00.0
 
SAN FRANCISCO
The chairman of the nonprofit agency that runs the San Francisco Zoo made a public apology Monday for the tiger escape in December that killed one teenager and injured two of his friends.
 
"There was no excuse," Zoological Society Chairman Nick Podell said, during a Board of Supervisors committee hearing called to discuss the deadly Christmas Day attack that killed 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. Brothers Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal were also mauled by the Siberian tiger, but survived.
 
"Under no circumstance is it OK for an animal to leave its enclosure," said Podell, who maintained his support for zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo. Mollinedo repeated at the meeting that something "unusual and extraordinary" had to have happened to provoke the tiger, named Tatiana.
 
The Zoological Society took over management of the facilities from The City in 1993. With more than $1 million going toward a higher wall at the zoo's big-cat enclosure and with thousands of dollars paid to lawyers, public relations firms, risk management experts and design consultants, city officials expressed concern that money from a $48 million bond passed by voters in 1997 for zoo improvements is drying up.
 
With a little over $4 million left in the bond cache, according to Recreation and Park General Manager Yomi Agunbiade, The City may no longer be able to afford a project that would fix the rooftops of the lion house behind the big-cat enclosures. The project was slated to fix leaks in the roof where the lions and tigers are currently held until the 19-foot-tall wall is completed.
 
 
 


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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:34 AM

Tiger trafficker jailed to 30 months in Hanoi

Tiger trafficker jailed to 30 months in Hanoi
 
A Hanoi court also imposed suspended sentences, ranging from 24 to 30 months, on three men found to be 41-year-old Nguyen Thi Thanh's accomplices.
 
Thanh, Tran Van De, 35, Chu Van Bien, 44, and Nguyen Duc Thiep, 39, were charged with "violating regulations protecting rare wild animals", according to Thanh Xuan District's People's Court.
 
Hanoi police and forest rangers raided Thanh's house in September last year, catching the gang slaughtering a tiger.
 
A search of Thanh's house uncovered another dead tiger, a tiger skin, tiger bone glue and alcohol, along with bear arms, monkey bones and elephant tusks.
 
 
 


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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:33 AM

Tiger kills another woman

Tiger kills another woman

30 Jan 2008, 0140 hrs IST,TNNSMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates

CHANDRAPUR: In yet another incident of tiger attack, a 60-year-old woman from Kawarpet village in Mul tehsil was killed on Tuesday morning. This is the seventh such incident since last December of which three were killed in Mul forest range in a span of one month.

Deceased Janabai Kashinath Gurnule had gone to a nearby nullah to answer nature's call, when, sources said, the tiger suddenly attacked her and dragged her almost 700 metres into forest.

The body was later found by some villagers who had gone to the jungle to collect wood. Arun Tikhe, RFO, Mul forest range said confirmed that it was an act of a tiger. "An exgratia amount of Rs 5,000 has already been given to the family members of the deceased. Another Rs 2 lakh will be released as soon as the investigation and other formalities are over," he said.

He, however, said that this is not the tiger of Padzadi jungle in same forest range that had killed two persons in last one month and injured a shepherd and several cattle. "It is the act of another tiger, as the Padzadi jungle is about 25 km from the spot and the chances of Padzadi tiger reaching Kawarpet are less," said Tikhe. He said the tiger "didn't eat the woman". The body has been sent for post-mortem.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nagpur/Tiger_kills_another_woman/articleshow/2741690.cms#write
 
 


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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:32 AM

SF Police Suspend Tiger Attack Probe

SF Police Suspend Tiger Attack Probe
 
By MARCUS WOHLSEN – 21 hours ago
 
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Police have suspended their investigation into the tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo that killed a teenager as they wait for new witnesses or evidence to emerge.
 
The investigation has been put on hold "pending new witnesses being interviewed and/or new evidence being produced," city police said in a statement Tuesday. No criminal charges have been filed.
 
An escaped 250-pound Siberian tiger fatally mauled 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. and wounded his friends, brothers Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal, after apparently climbing or leaping from its enclosure Dec. 25.
 
"We didn't have, obviously, enough to move forward with anything," said San Francisco police Inspector Valerie Matthews, lead investigator.
 
Police were not actively pursuing new leads but have not closed the investigation in case new information arises, Matthews said. Police will probably decide in late February whether a probe should continue.
 
Investigators have not brought prosecutors any investigation results or recommended any charges, said Erica Terry Derryck, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
 
Police said in court documents that they believed the attack was in part triggered by the victims provoking the animal. They did not specify what, if any, crimes they thought had been committed.
 
Matthews declined to detail the nature of the potential crimes police were investigating.
A search warrant affidavit filed Jan. 17 said the victims had marijuana in their systems, and toxicology results showed the blood alcohol level for Paul Dhaliwal, 19, was 0.16 percent — twice the legal limit for driving.
 
His 24-year-old brother and Sousa also had alcohol in their blood, but within the legal driving limit, Matthews wrote.
 
Mark Geragos, an attorney for the Dhaliwal brothers, said Tuesday he believed the city had pressured police to unnecessarily prolong their investigation as part of a "smear campaign" against his clients. Geragos said they had done nothing wrong.
 
A police spokesman declined to comment on whether the department had been pressured.
Michael Cardoza, a lawyer for Sousa's parents, said that he does not understand why police would pause the investigation instead of closing it for good.
 
"They have had plenty of time to bring this case to an investigative conclusion," Cardoza said.
 
 
 


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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:31 AM

S.F. zoo's big cats get stronger enclosure

S.F. zoo's big cats get stronger enclosure

Published: Jan. 29, 2008 at 3:07 PM

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- The big cats in the San Francisco Zoo will be more strictly confined when they go back on public display for the first time since a tiger killed a teenager.

Contractors are completing work on the lion and tiger enclosures, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. When the exhibit reopens to the public, scheduled for Feb. 7, the tigers will be surrounded by wire mesh 19 feet high.

The new defenses at the zoo include surveillance cameras in areas where dangerous animals are kept, electronic alarms for escapes and moats with wires that carry a light electrical charge to shock would-be escapees.

The Siberian tiger that escaped on Christmas Day also mauled two brothers. At the time, zoo officials suggested that one or more of the three might have provoked the escape and attack.

At a public hearing Monday, Nick Podell, chairman of the San Francisco Zoological Society, said the three couldn't be blamed for the attack even if they did something.

"Under no circumstances is it OK for an animal to escape its enclosure," he said. "I want to deliver a mea culpa for the zoo. There is no excuse."
 
 
 


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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:30 AM

Lodi vet asks: Who speaks for San Francisco tiger who was shot and killed?

Lodi vet asks: Who speaks for San Francisco tiger who was shot and killed?
by Joe Guzzardi
Updated: Saturday, January 26, 2008 6:45 AM PST
Richard Turner, DVM, sedates and treats tigers on a regular basis at his Lodi Arbor Pet Clinic. Within the last six months, Turner has anesthetized six of the large cats in preparation for surgery.

I spoke with Turner recently about the Christmas Day incident at the San Francisco Zoo that left Carlos Sousa Jr. and Tatiana the tiger dead.

During our conversation, Turner emphasized repeatedly that drug combinations are readily available that can immobilize large animals quickly, in many cases less than 64 seconds. Turner's recommendation is to: "have a fully loaded tranquilizer gun and dart ready to use. Even if the medications were overdosed, the tiger would only sleep for hours. But she would be alive."

Turner sadly added that: "No one had to die. I'm concerned about the foolishness of the young men and that the tiger's rights were violated by improper preparation by zoo officials."

As bits and pieces of the story continue to come in, a few details about the surviving perpetrators are clear. They are not the type you'll invite to your house for dinner.

Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal are miscreants who had been drinking heavily, smoking pot and who lied about their actions at the zoo.

Further, they have a long and ugly police record. Paul, at the time of the zoo incident, was on felony probation after pleading no contest to reckless and drunken driving, resisting arrest, striking an officer and providing a false name.

Kulbir, for his part, was charged in September for public intoxication and resisting arrest.

But despite evidence that the trio taunted Tatiana, the police investigation may soon be reclassified as "inactive."

That would be a pity because where the Dhaliwals should be, for the safety of all of us, is off the street.

Numerous studies indicate that youthful violent behavior toward animals is a predictor of similar anti-social behavior that will be directed toward adults.

According to information recently released by PAWS, the FBI looks for cases of animal cruelty when profiling serial killers. And the Department of Justice, when assessing youth who are at risk of committing interpersonal violence, emphasizes the importance of including information about past animal abuse.

A study in 1997 by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty For Animals and Northeastern University found that 70 percent of all animal abusers have committed at least one other criminal offense and that almost 40 percent had committed violent crimes against people.

Researchers also found that over a 20-year period, individuals who had abused animals as youths are five times more likely to commit violent crimes, four times more likely to commit property crimes and three times more likely to have drug or disorderly conduct offenses than a matched group of non-animal abusers.

Luckily for the perpetrators, they've lawyered up. The Souza family hired Michael Cardoza, a Walnut Creek criminal defense attorney who has worked on such highly publicized cases as the Scott Peterson murder trial and the 2001 San Francisco dog mauling. And the Dhaliwals retained the counsel of high-profile Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos who represented Peterson.

But who, Turner wants to know, speaks in defense of Tatiana?

A New Year's Day vigil was held for the tiger at Ocean Beach — four people showed up.

The World Wildlife Fund places the tiger at "five minutes to midnight," meaning that their time is short. Only 5,000 tigers remain worldwide, down from an estimated 100,000 a century ago.

With the tiger population vanishing, Turner's conclusion is that we have to do more to protect the ones that remain. Enclosures should be safe and secure and zoo personnel well trained on how to use readily accessible tranquilizing guns.

As for Tatiana, Turner says: "She got a bad rap."

Joe Guzzardi is on the advisory board of PALS, People Assisting the Lodi Shelter. Contact him at guzzjoe@yahoo.com.
http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2008/01/26/opinion/columnists/guzzardi_joe_080126.txt
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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:28 AM

Lions and tigers back on display next week

Lions and tigers back on display next week
Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
(01-28) 18:28 PST San Francisco - -- The lions and tigers at the San Francisco Zoo could be back on public display next week, more than a month after they were quarantined from public view after the Christmas Day tiger attack, city and zoo officials said Monday.
The zoo's four lions and four tigers have lived in cages behind their grotto as contractors work to raise the height of their enclosures so that the walls meet minimum safety standards. The tiger that escaped and killed a 17-year-old visitor is believed to have jumped over her grotto's 12 1/2-foot moat wall. The minimum recommended height for such walls is about 16.4 feet.
In the weeks since the animals were quarantined, zookeepers have come up with creative ways to stimulate the cats, including entertaining them with games and toys and even showing them videos of the Disney cartoon "The Lion King."
During the first Board of Supervisors hearing on the fatal tiger attack, zoo officials on Monday said the grotto renovations should be complete by next week. They hope to release the cats from quarantine on Feb. 7.
Although zoo officials did not offer an explanation for how the Siberian tiger, Tatiana, escaped from her enclosure last month, they did accept responsibility for the attack that killed Carlos Sousa Jr. and injured two of his friends.
"Under no circumstances is it OK for an animal to escape its enclosure," said Nick Podell, chairman of the San Francisco Zoological Society, the nonprofit that manages the zoo in partnership with the city. "I want to deliver a mea culpa for the zoo. There is no excuse."
A team of tiger experts from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which accredits zoos around the country, arrived Saturday to inspect the enclosure. Their review is expected to conclude this week, but the findings will not immediately be released and they may never be made public, zoo spokeswoman Lora LaMarca said.
The new enclosure surrounding the tiger grotto will consist of a concrete wall, a glass viewing area and wire-mesh fencing that stretches 19 feet high.
The upgrades will cost the city's Recreation and Park Department about $1 million, said Yomi Agunbiade, the department's general manager. Other changes in store for the zoo include the installation of surveillance cameras to monitor dangerous animals and visitors, a siren that would sound if a dangerous animal escapes, and electrified hot wires inside a moat in the grotto area that would emit low-voltage shocks if a cat attempts to escape.
Zoo Executive Director Manuel Mollinedo, whose job performance has come under scrutiny since the attack and who was both praised and criticized during Monday's hearing by members of the public, said "something unusual and extraordinary happened to cause this 4 1/2-year-old Siberian tiger to get out of her habitat."
"The zoo has had tigers in that exhibit for more than 67 years, and this is the first time a tragedy like that has occurred," he said.
Supervisors also continued to raise questions about whether the public-private operating agreement between the Zoological Society and the city is the best way to run the zoo.
"If we really are going to have the kind of zoo that is a premier attraction," asked Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, "what is it going to take to get that kind of zoo in San Francisco?"
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/29/BAFPUNLLH.DTL&hw=tatiana&sn=006&sc=368
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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:27 AM

India to spend $150 million to save tigers

India to spend $150 million to save tigers
Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:46pm GMT
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will spend an estimated 6 billion rupees ($150 million) over the next five years in an attempt to save its endangered tigers, the cabinet said on Wednesday.
The number of tigers in India has plummeted to between 1,300 to 1,500 from about 40,000 a century ago, according to provisional government survey results, as humans either kill them for their body parts or encroach on their habitat.
India's tiger conservation authority had a budget of only 1.5 billion rupees for the previous five years.
"It's a big jump which shows the government has given much importance to the issue of conserving tigers," said Rajesh Gopal, head of India's National Tiger Conservation Authority.
"If the pressures on tigers are reduced then the animal numbers can recover readily."
Some of the new money will be spent on shifting villages and tribal communities away from tiger habitats, according to a statement issued by the cabinet.
"One particular thing there's always been a lack of money for is moving people," said Vivek Menon, the executive director of the Wildlife Trust of India, a conservation charity. "If the money is used for that purpose, then it is a good thing."
India will also establish eight new tiger reserves, the statement said.
Although conservationists welcome the extra resources, some critics say a lack of money has not been the only problem so much as bad management and outright corruption at some of India's tiger reserves.
In 2005, the government announced that there were no tigers left in Sariska Tiger Reserve, more than 30 years after it had set up Project Tiger, a national effort to protect the species.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKDEL24584020080130?sp=true
 
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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:24 AM

Endangered Amur tiger cub rescued

Endangered Amur tiger cub rescued
January 31, 2008
The Vladivostok News
Veterinarians have started treatment on an exhausted Amur tiger cub found in the Khabarovsk region and taken to the rehabilitation center for wild animals in the village of Razdolnoye in southern Primorye, a statement from the Tiger Inspectorate reported on Tuesday.

The female cub, approximately five or six months old, was spotted near a private home in the town of Vyazemsk, Khabarovsk region, on January 19. When the home owners returned to their residence, they discovered the wild cat had killed a guard dog and entered its house, prompting them to call the police who in turn called the Inspectorate specialists.

The environmentalists failed to locate the cub's mother, who was most likely killed by poachers, the statement said.

The cub's condition is reported as weak due to an extended period of time without food and although the tiger has begun to eat, there is still a high risk of her not surviving. The wild cat is currently receiving treatment, with antibiotics, glucose and vitamins added to the food to strengthen her immune system.

In 2007, a total of eight orphan tiger cubs were found in the wild of the Russian Far East by environmentalists, their mothers most likely been killed by illegal hunters. The two previous cubs, found in Primorye in mid December, did not survive. Five of the rescued felines received treatment and were taken to Russian and foreign zoos.

According to the Tiger Inspectorate specialists, since the beginning of 2006 Primorye poachers have killed over ten Amur tigers, with their skins being valuable items in Asian countries and body parts used in traditional Chinese and Korean medicine.

The Amur tiger is considered an endangered species, with most of its population inhabiting Primorye and southern Khabarovsk region. Currently, there are only about 450 wild cats in the territory.
http://vn.vladnews.ru/issue604/Environment/Endangered_Amur_tiger_cub_rescued
 
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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:23 AM

Eight new reserves for tigers

Eight new reserves for tigers
(IANS)

31 January 2008
NEW DELHI - The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) yesterday decided to set up eight new tiger reserves in India during the 11th Five Year Plan at an estimated cost of Rs320 million.
Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after the CCEA meeting that the new tiger reserves would be developed in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Assam and Madhya Pradesh.
It was one of the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, following the depletion of the tiger population in India.
Chidambaram said the CCEA in all approved Rs.600 crore (six billion) for taking up the preservation of tigers, rehabilitating the people from the core area and other safeguard related activities.
"Rs508 crore (5.08 billion) out of Rs600 crore (six billion) would be spent on the relocation of villages from the core area," he said.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2008/January/subcontinent_January1009.xml&section=subcontinent&col=
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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:23 AM

Death of tigress remains a mystery

Death of tigress remains a mystery
 
31 Jan 2008, 0256 hrs IST,Neha Shukla,TNN
SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates
 
LUCKNOW: The post-mortem report of the tigress found dead on Sunday has placed asphyxia, fracture of trachea, brain haemorrhage, trauma and blood loss as the reasons behind the death.
 
The tigress was found dead near river Gerua in Katarniaghat forest range in Bahraich district.
 
According to the forest department, an injured tiger was also found at a distance of some 3 kms from the tigress' body.
 
"It is a case of infighting," said MP Singh, director, Dudhwa. January and February being a mating period, Singh said, "It is a case of physical incompatibility between the mates."
 
The former forest officials and wildlife experts, however, are divided in their opinion on the matter. And, the opinions they shared, showed there is still a lot to be discovered about tigers. It is also noteworthy that there are clear directives from the Government of India that all tiger deaths are reported immediately with full details.
 
"Infighting is common between male tigers but between female and male it is a very rare occurrence," said Gyan Chandra Mishra, former field director, Dudhwa, adding, "I remember one such incident took place in 1974-75 in which a dead tigress was found at some distance from Dudhwa. The post-mortem report showed fractured skull but after that I could not recollect any such incident."
 
Experts and former forest officials do not rule out the incident to be yet another manifestation of man-animal conflict. The killed animal being a tigress in fact increases suspicion.
 
"Tigress in Corbett and Dudhwa fall to food poisoning often as taking care of the cubs restrict them from hunting in the wild. Cattle they feed on could have been poisoned," added Mishra.
 
Dudhwa National Park has sugarcane fields around and it is often that tigers venture out of the forest area in the fields in pursuit of prey, attacking livestock and humans. This in turn increases incidence of man-animal conflict in the area. "Most of these cases which appear to be that of infighting are actually manifestations of man-animal conflict," said Rahul Shukla, a former forest official who has served at Dudhwa.
 
Experts agreed that there could be other reasons also that lead to death of tigers in the wild. "Eighty per cent of tiger deaths are natural. There are so many reasons behind the deaths and not just infighting. The most important of them, that needs attention, is disease. There are instances where ill tigers have been preyed upon by scavengers," said Raghu Chundawat, tiger biologist adding, "I do not think the infighting between tigers often leads to death. Tiger deaths need thorough probing and investigation".
 
Experts also ruled out the increase in the density of tiger population as the reason behind increasing cases of infighting. "We cannot comment on if the instances of infighting have increased because of increase in density of tiger population at least till the latest census on tigers comes but territorial infighting is a characteristic feature of tigers," said Tito Joseph of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). 
 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Death_of_tigress_remains_a_mystery/rssarticleshow/2744821.cms
 
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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:22 AM

Chinese volunteers establish tiger-protection web site

Chinese volunteers establish tiger-protection web site
BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese volunteers have founded a web site to promote public involvement in protecting tigers, especially endangered wild tigers.
The site (www.ilaohu.org, which stands for "love tigers") has news, opinions, multimedia information about tigers and a forum where people can discuss tiger-related topics.
The forum is still seeking approval from relevant organizations and will be launched soon, according to a notice on the site.
"Scientists compare large-scale carnivores like tigers to a ruler that measures the health of the ecological system. To save the wild tiger is much more than saving a species; it is to save the ecological system for human beings," said Ge Rui, a senior official with the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Statistics show that the number of wild tigers has fallen to less than 3,000 worldwide. In China, there are less than 50 wild tigers, among which the number of Manchurian Tigers stands at less than 20.
In the last century, three out of eight tiger sub-species became extinct, and the habitat of wild tigers has shrunk to 7 percent of its original size.
"The protection of tigers requires joint efforts from governments, wildlife protection organizations and all Chinese people," said Xie Yan, a researcher at the Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/28/content_7513527.htm
 
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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:20 AM

Butchered tigers, leopards seized on Thai-Lao border: navy

Butchered tigers, leopards seized on Thai-Lao border: navy
Wed Jan 30, 3:10 AM ET
Six slaughtered tigers and five leopards have been seized along with 275 live pangolins as traffickers tried to smuggle them across the Mekong River into Laos, the Thai navy said Wednesday.
The animals were being loaded off trucks and onto a boat when a navy patrol discovered them late Tuesday, Lieutenant Commander Teeranan Dangpun told AFP.
At least six people escaped into the forest, while others on the boat fled into Laos carrying four sacks believed to contain more animal remains, said Teeranan, who led the operation.
The six Bengal tigers discovered on the riverbank had been sliced in half, while the leopards had had their organs removed, he said.
"This is the second time we have intercepted wildlife being smuggled across the river to Laos. We suspect that the smugglers are all part of the same ring," Teeranan said.
In the operation last month, Teeranan said his team arrested seven smugglers and rescued 30 live pangolins.
All trade in Asian pangolins has been illegal since 2000. Their meat is regarded as a delicacy in China and their scales are believed to cure a wide range of ailments.
"Information from those smugglers led us to this case. Otherwise, we would never have caught any of them," he said.
The remains were sent to the conservation department for analysis to determine where they were taken from, he said.
The pangolins probably originated in Malaysia or Indonesia and were being trafficked through Thailand, he said.
According to Teeranan, a wild cat can be sold for 100,000 to 200,000 baht (3,000 to 6,000 dollars), while live pangolins are worth around 2,200 baht (66 dollars) per kilogram.
Each pangolin weighs about four kilograms (nine pounds).
Hannarong Yaowalers, a Thai wildlife activist, said the butchered felines were likely raised in captivity, because catching so many big cats in the wild was difficult.
Tiger hunting is illegal worldwide.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080130/sc_afp/thailandlaoswildlifetrafficking_080130075844
http://www.bigcatrescue.org
 
 
 
 
 


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Posted by BigCatRescue at 1:19 AM

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

China under pressure to continue ban on tiger trade

China under pressure to continue ban on tiger trade
 
Beijing (PTI): Animal conservationists have stepped up their campaign with renewed calls to the Chinese government to continue with its 15-year-old moratorium on the trade in tiger parts, warning that lifting of the ban would be "disastrous" for the big cats.
 
In their latest effort, the "Save the Tiger Fund" conducted a poll, with findings that 95 per cent across the country supported the tiger-trade ban, imposed in 1993.
 
Tiger bone is used in traditional Chinese medicine and wine made from its blood is believed to give potency while its skin is highly valued in Tibet, making the trade in tiger products a big money spinner for poachers in China, India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
 
Ever since China banned harvesting of tiger bones in 1993, conservationists and tiger-trade lobby have locked horns over the issue.
 
The pro-tiger trade insists parts of the dead captive- bred tigers should be used citing its medicinal use but conservationists want the government to halt captive breeding itself.
In the poll, 95 per cent backed the ban, while more than 77 per cent said the ban was important for China's image. Almost 95 per cent said they would abstain from the use of tiger products to save the big cats, Xinhua news agency said.
 
"The results... present the strikingly clear message that most Chinese people care so much about wild tigers that they are willing to change behaviour that threaten the survival of tigers in the wild," Judy Mills of the organisation was quoted as saying.
 
News Update Service
Monday, January 28, 2008 : 1320 Hrs
 
 
 
 


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Posted by BigCatRescue at 3:00 AM

Tiger review team examines safety at San Francisco Zoo

Tiger review team examines safety at San Francisco Zoo
 
By Associated Press
Article Launched: 01/28/2008 02:25:25 PM PST
 
A team of tiger experts is examining the big cat grotto at the San Francisco Zoo, where a San Jose teenager was killed and two others injured in an attack Christmas Day.
 
Zoo spokeswoman Lora LaMarca said the three-person team sent by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which accredits facilities nationwide, arrived Saturday. The review is expected to be wrapped today, but the findings would not immediately be released.
 
At a city committee hearing today, officials said grotto renovations, including raising the wall around the tiger exhibit, would be done by early February.
 
The new exhibit is set to include barriers at least 19 feet high - nearly seven feet higher than the wall at the time of the attack that killed 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. and injured Paul Dhaliwal, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23. After the mauling, zoo officials acknowledged the wall was four feet shorter than the AZA recommended.
 
 
 


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Posted by BigCatRescue at 2:57 AM

Tigress found dead in UP’s Katarniaghat range

Tigress found dead in UP's Katarniaghat range
 
Express news service
Posted online: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 2324 hrs IST
 
LUCKNOW, JANUARY 28

Even as the state Government announced special tiger corridors last week in a bid to save big cats, the forest officials found a dead tigress near the Gerua river in Katarniaghat forest range in Bahraich district on Monday. The tigress's body was found barely 3 km from the Indo-Nepal border.
 
While the officials say that the animal was killed during a fight between tigers, locals believe that once again, it is an incident of man-animal conflict.
 
It may be noted here that the Katarniaghat range in Bahraich, along with the Dudhwa range and the Kishanpur sanctuary in the adjoining Lakhimpur Kheri district, has been identified as the tiger protection area since the tiger count in these areas has remained stable. But recently there has been a rise in tiger deaths in these areas.
 
According to the officials, there were injury marks on the tigress's head and claws. The officials also found an injured tiger a few kilometres away from the tigeress's body.
 
"There are high chances that the tigress might have been killed during a fight between the animals as it is the mating season of the big cats and such fights are common," said senior forest officials.
 
The tigress's body has been sent for post-mortem.
 
Meanwhile, the department has set up a trap with a live bait in the Dhaurhara region in Lakhimpur Kheri district to catch a leopard that killed a child on Sunday.
 
The family of the deceased child has been given Rs 3,000 by the Forest Department and Rs 5,000 byWorld Wildlife Fund for Nature.
 
The department also caught another leopard, which was on the prowl in Jhansi range, on Sunday. The leopard has been sent to Kanpur Zoo.
 
 
 


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Posted by BigCatRescue at 2:55 AM

Monday, January 28, 2008

Conservationists use poll to back calls to continue China's tiger trade ban

Conservationists use poll to back calls to continue China's tiger trade ban
 

    BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Conservation groups are renewing calls for China to maintain a 15-year moratorium on the trade in tiger parts with a poll showing 95 percent of Chinese support the ban.

    The Save the Tiger Fund, which commissioned the poll, said 1,880 members of the public in seven major cities were asked about their use of tiger products, their preferences for products from wild tigers and China's 1993 tiger-trade ban.

    The results showed almost 95 percent of respondents supported the ban. More than 77 percent of those felt the ban was important for China's image. Almost 95 percent said they would take action to save wild tigers, including abstaining from the use of tiger products.

    "The results ... present the strikingly clear message that most Chinese people care so much about wild tigers that they are willing to change behaviors that threaten survival of tigers in the wild," said Judy Mills, of the fund.

    The poll also showed almost 50 percent of people had consumed what they thought were tiger products. Among these consumers, almost 66 percent of medicine users preferred products from wild tigers and 74 percent of tonic users favored ingredients from wild over farmed tigers.

    "The preference for products from wild tigers ... confirms our fears that lifting the ban will send the message to poachers that it's open season on tigers, which would be disastrous for wild tigers," said Grace Gabriel, from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

    Gabriel admitted that more campaigns were needed to educate the public, but warned the situation would only get worse if the ban was lifted.
    She said tigers were already being killed for the black market trade, referring to a Siberian tiger that was skinned and decapitated at a private zoo in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province, last month. Local police are investigating, but have published no findings.

    The IFAW and other tiger protection groups are supporting a new website -- www.ilaohu.org -- that aims to influence government decisions on the ban. Ilaohu translates as "love tigers" and the website, operated by a Beijing design firm, presents itself as a "platform of communication for all tiger-loving people". It offers quizzes, picture downloads, and even anecdotes of Chinese pop singers calling themselves the "old tiger band".

    The new international efforts came after several of horrific tiger deaths, resulting from under-funding of private parks. In November, a Siberian tiger in a northeast China zoo was killed and eaten by four underfed tigers. Seven tigers have died of starvation, illness and fight wounds at the Yichang park where the Siberian tiger was beheaded.

    The shortage of funds has been held up as one of the main arguments for ending the ban by tiger farms and parks eager to ease their financial problems. China has about 5,000 captive-bred tigers, and 1,000 tigers are being bred each year.

    Calls to the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park, one of the parks spearheading calls to end the ban, went unanswered on Sunday.

    China joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1981, and imposed a ban on the harvesting of tiger bones in 1993, starting along-running debate between pro-traders and conservationists.

    The pro-trade side insists that the parts of dead captive-bred tigers should be used, and promises stronger supervision to prevent poaching of wild tigers. The medicinal use and a belief in the success of reintroducing farmed tigers to the wild are their supporting arguments.

    But conservationists argue the captive-breeding program can't succeed and want the government to halt the breeding of captive tigers and start phasing out the farms.

    Sources with Chinese forestry ministry said in July last year that the government was still carrying out research and gathering the views of other countries, and the ban would not be lifted in the near future.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/27/content_7508187.htm#
Posted by BigCatRescue at 7:37 PM

Servals Found Wandering Seattle

Two African serval cats found wandering in West Seattle

Associated Press - January 24, 2008 1:15 PM ET

SEATTLE (AP) - A serval is a wild cat native to Africa that can weigh up to
50 pounds.

Sometimes they are illegally kept as exotic pets, and 2 of them apparently
got away in the past month to wander around West Seattle. Both are about 1 year
old and had been de-clawed.

Animal Control picked up one on Jan. 1 as it was going after some cat food
left on a doorstep. Officers picked up the second one Saturday on the grounds of
Madison Middle School.

Officer Don Baxter suspects they both belonged to the same owner, who has not
claimed them. One has already been moved to a sanctuary in Redmond.
Baxter says servals are predators that would go after smaller animals such as
pet rabbits or chickens.

http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=7768709