Archive for March, 2009

Two cubs born in Melbourne Zoo on December 7th, 2008, started to come out and offer themselves to the eyes of the public.

This is a major event for the zoo.

Most cat babies or cubs are plain cute. But these two have the advantage of also being very elegant in their black-and-white version of the cutest cub.

Source : Melbourne Zoo.

It is said that the elephant is the best way to approach tigers in India and Pakistan. This is generally true, however, some guides should remember that a tigress is always ready to do extraordinary things to protect her cubs. Here is an example that the tourists and the guide will certainly not forget: In 2004, they went too near to the tigress lair and cubs (to capture her). See what happens.

The jaguar (Panthera onca) has been a powerful predator of Central America. In Aztec times, it was not threatened to disparition as today, of course. But, on the contrary, it was considered a powerful god with extensive powers associated to war and warriors: Ocelotl.

This is the main reason why it often appears in the iconography (paintings as well as sculptures) that has been preserved from the fall of this astonishing civilisation brought up by the Aztecs. Some pictures of this moment in time.

Ocelotl	Ocelotl
Jaguar mural
JAguar	Ocelotl
Click the thumbnails to enlarge them

Jason Morgan paints tigers. He really does.

Siberian tiger (by Jason Morgan)

If you like his work, it’s a time as good as any to go and visit his web site. What is surprising is his willingness to be commissioned to do an original painting from a model you’d select.

But I also suggest you’d go to his blog in order to keep in touch with his work. You will be shown his work during its creation. It’s a great thing to see.

And, not surprisingly, you will notice that Jason Morgan also does cheetahs, lions, leopards and other big cats.

Macho B

Jaguar (Panthera onca) was thought to be absent from the United States of America territory. But for a few years, people have been tracking the moves of two animals Macho A and Macho B within the borders of the Arizona state. Macho A was probably dead a few years ago and Macho B was now considered as the last jaguar living in the wild on US soil.

However, recently caught to give it a GPS tracking collar, Macho B was rather old (15-16 years old). After being freed again by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, it started showing troubling signs of weakness and was trapped again for a medical checkup. Verdict: Severe kidney failure. It explained too well the slow moves and gait.

In front of the severity of the illness, Macho B had to be euthanized.

During the autopsy, specialists drew a frighteningly precise conclusion: The recent catch probably affected the animal to the point of being death cause. Chemicals used to calm it down, more precisely, would have been at the origin of its troubles.

So, there is no longer any jaguar living in the wild in the USA. The only good news seems to be the signature by B.Obama of an act repelling the recent amendment by G.W.Bush that effectively put the wildlife experts at Fish and Wildlife Services and the National Marine Fisheries Service out of the loop for projects that could cause harm to endangered species. Now again, the interests of wildlife will be taken into account and the industrial companies will no longer have a free ride. Science is coming back.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, Defenders of wildlife, Futura-Sciences, Sierra Club & Wikipedia.