Two Big Cats from Infamous Tiger King Captivity Thriving in San Diego After Sanctuary Helps Save 69 Tigers

Jem and Zoe, rescued from Tiger King Park – credit: Lions, Tigers, and Bears Animal Sanctuary

A San Diego wildlife sanctuary is proud to report that two of the 69 tigers rescued from the infamous collection of the ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic are thriving at their Alpine, CA location.

Participating in the rescue of the cats, it took Lions, Tigers, and Bears Animal Sanctuary 3 years to help the pair of Bengal tigers, Jem and Zoe, to put on normal weight and get back to their wild ways, but that perseverance has paid off.

Netflix broke the world of the US tiger trade to the world with a landmark docu-series Tiger King in 2021, which centered around the private menagerie collection of Joe Exotic, and his difficulties with a woman named Carole Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue.

Exotic is now in prison serving 21 years for conspiracy to commit murder after attempting to hire two hitmen to take Baskin out. Tiger King Park in Oklahoma was closed for ongoing violations of the Endangered Species Act.

An organized effort to relocate his 69 captive tigers to sanctuaries around the country saw Lions, Tigers, and Bears (LTB) take in two adults Jem and Zoe.

“Their condition was dire, marked by severe malnutrition, emaciation, dull skin, and other issues,” LTB told Fox News 5 San Diego. “The trauma from long-term abuse led to the development of uncharacteristic behavior, such as not eating for days at a time.”

However, LTB’s efforts succeeded, and after three years the pair are “living their best lives in their forever home.”

People can visit Zoe and Jem at the LTD Sanctuary by reservation only, but the sanctuary relies on visitors as well as contributions to perform life-saving rescues like those from Tiger King Park.

As their name implies, there are more than just tigers there, and visitors can see lions, bobcats, and leopards, along with other large animals beyond the Panthera genus. Two Big Cats from Infamous Tiger King Captivity Thriving in San Diego After Sanctuary Helps Save 69 Tigers

Read More........→April 26, 2024

Lions added to endangered species list

In response to the alarming decline of lion populations in the wild, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed two lion subspecies as endangered and threatened. Without action to protect them, African lions could see their populations halved by 2035.

This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced it will list two lion subspecies under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Panthera leo leo – located in India and western and central Africa – will be listed as endangered, while Panthera leo melanochaita – found in eastern and southern Africa – will be listed as threatened. In the last 20 years, lion populations have declined by 43% due to a combination of habitat loss, loss of prey base, trophy hunting, poaching for skins and uses in Chinese traditional medicine, and retaliatory killing of lions by a growing human population. The killing of Cecil the lion in July of this year served to further highlight this issue. Coupled with inadequate financial and other resources for countries to effectively manage protected areas, the impact on lions in the wild has been substantial. Having once been present in south-eastern Europe and throughout much of the Middle East and India, the animals have now lost 85% of their historic range, as shown on the map below. Their numbers could be halved again by 2035, according to a recent study in the journal PNAS: "Many lion populations are either now gone or expected to disappear within the next few decades, to the extent that the intensively managed populations in southern Africa may soon supersede the iconic savannah landscapes in East Africa as the most successful sites for lion conservation," the study said. 

In 2011, the USFWS received a petition to list Panthera leo leo as endangered under the ESA. In 2014, the agency published a 12-month finding and agreed to list the subspecies as threatened with a special rule under section 4(d) of the ESA. Based on newly available scientific information on the genetics and taxonomy of lions, the agency assessed the status of the entire lion species and subsequently changed its earlier finding. The new science resolved that the western and central populations of African lion are more genetically related to the Asiatic lion. These lions are now considered the same subspecies, P. l. leo. There are only about 1,400 of these lions remaining; 900 in Africa and just 523 in India. Considering the size and distribution of the populations, the current trends and the severity of the threats, the agency has found that this subspecies now meets the definition of "endangered" under the ESA. The other subspecies – Panthera leo melanochaita – likely numbers between 17,000-19,000 and is found across southern and eastern Africa. The agency determined that this subspecies is less vulnerable and is not currently in danger of extinction. However, although lion numbers in southern Africa are increasing overall, they are declining significantly in some regions, due to various ongoing threats. As a result, the agency finds this subspecies meets the definition of a "threatened" species under the ESA. With an endangered listing, imports of P. l. leo will now be prohibited – except in certain rare cases, such as when it can be found that the import will enhance the survival of the species. To strengthen conservation measures for the threatened subspecies P. l. melanochaita, a new permitting mechanism will regulate the import of all P. l. melanochaita parts and products into the USA. This process will ensure that any imported specimens are legally obtained in range countries as part of a scientifically sound management program that benefits the subspecies in the wild. A third and final rule will enable the agency to support changes that strengthen the governance and accountability of conservation programs in other nations. Protected areas are vital to the future survival of lions; and the building of corridors or funnelling
mechanisms between protected areas is equally critical so that lions can be directed to other suitable habitat, away from potential conflict areas. It takes around $2,000 per square kilometre per year to properly protect these animals in Africa. Scientists from both the USA and the UK have, in recent years, begun collaborating to better understand how lions move across the African landscape and to model ways to conserve genetic diversity and populations across the continent. “The lion is one of the planet’s most beloved species and an irreplaceable part of our shared global heritage,” said USFWS Director Dan Ashe. “If we want to ensure that healthy lion populations continue to roam the African savannas and forests of India, then it’s up to all of us – not just the people of Africa and India – to take action.” Source: http://www.futuretimeline.net

Read More........→October 18, 2016

A tiger, a probe and a test tube

By Rich Tosches: Today, in a mature and grown-up way, we will discuss a recent event at our village zoo in which a man with a giant vibrating electric anal probe collected semen samples from a 400-pound tiger. And to answer your first question: Yes. The brave, brave man is still alive. I, however, was also in the room and will never be the same, having witnessed the tiger make three, uh, donations in a short span of time in what's known as multi-sample collecting. (On a personal note, I have another phrase for three such events: All of September and part of November.) Anyway, the semen collecting at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was performed on a 5-year-old endangered Amur tiger, formerly known as a Siberian tiger, to determine whether he can reproduce or whether he is, in strict scientific terms, shooting blanks. I was allowed to watch because my wife is on the zoo's board of directors and also, apparently, because the women in the room needed someone to point at while they chuckled and whispered. The tiger who starred in the show came to our zoo with the actual name of Billy Ray, a sleek and beautiful cat who loves playing in his Asian Highlands exhibit, chewing on horse bones and, of course, NASCAR. Today his name has been changed to Grom, which means, literally, "Hey, what's with the giant electric prob ... ROAAAAR?!!!!!!" Grom was sedated and being carried on a stretcher to the operating room at the zoo hospital when we arrived, a magnificent cat stretching more than six feet from his nose to the base of his tail — the latter region where the majority of the action would take place. Here, from a Colorado State University veterinary school website, is some background about the procedure: "Electro-ejaculation involves applying a series of short, low-voltage pulses of current to the pelvic nerves which are involved in the ejaculatory responses." This gives us a scientific overview and, as a bonus, also gives us a pretty good idea of what I believe we're going to see in the next videotape of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. After some preliminary blood sampling from the cat's front legs, the real work began. On a table near the tiger's rump area was an electric transformer box with a wire leading to the probe, which would be inserted into the tiger's anus. Footnote: I have been writing professionally for some 40 years and that was the first time I have ever used the words "inserted into the tiger's anus." To describe the probe itself I'd say that it was larger than a turkey baster and slightly smaller than the Apollo 13 rocket. Four copper electrode strips ran along its sides and soon the entire thing had disappeared into the tiger's hinterlands. The man manipulating the pulsating probe with his right hand appeared deep in thought with an intense expression — not unlike the look on U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn's face if you ask him to name five states and a bird. In the man's left hand was a test tube and before you knew it, well, I don't think I have to tell you what happened next: That's right, there was a big stain on Monica Lewinsky's blue dress and the tiger was testifying before a House Judiciary Committee. No, what actually happened is that Grom the tiger had successfully donated a sample into the test tube. I shouted "Eureka!" and for the next hour nobody in the room would make eye contact with me. The man hurried the test tube into an adjoining room, placed a sample of the semen under a microscope and in a few seconds announced, "We have swimmers." (My doctor once surmised that at my conception my father's swimmers were wearing goggles and inflatable water wings.) The whole thing went quite quickly, as I mentioned, with the tiger giving three samples in 15 minutes. If you're keeping score, that's just two shy of the current 15-minute world record held jointly by Charlie Sheen and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Rich Tosches (rangerrich@csindy.com) also writes a Sunday column in the Denver Post. More Ranger Rich, Source: Article, Image: flickr.com

Read More........→December 29, 2014

White tiger kills man who fell into its enclosure at Delhi zoo

A white tiger attacked and killed a young man who apparently slipped and fell into its enclosure at the Delhi zoo on Tuesday.(Disturbing images, not for children), Source: Article, Image: flickr.com

Read More........→September 25, 2014

Oh My! Lions, Tigers And Bears Common Ancestor Of Found

Reconstruction of Dormaalcyon latouri. Credit: Art by Charlène Letenneur (MNHN) and Pascale Golinvaux (RBINS)

New fossils from Belgium have shed light on the origin of some of the most well-known, and well-loved, modern mammals. Cats and dogs, as well as other carnivorous mammals (like bears, seals, and weasels), taxonomically called 'carnivoraformes', trace their ancestry to primitive carnivorous mammals dating back to 55 million years ago (the beginning of the time period called the Eocene). A study, published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, discusses the origins of this group and describes new specimens of one of the earliest of these primitive taxa. The species, dubbed Dormaalocyon latouri, had previously been found at the Belgian locality of Dormaal (thus the name of the genus). New specimens found by lead author Floréal Solé and his colleagues, allow for a better characterization of the animal, and its placement in the evolutionary history of carnivores. "Its description allows better understanding of the origination, variability and ecology of the earliest carnivoraforms," says Solé. This is a hypothetical phylogeny (family tree) of carniovrous mammals showing the placement of Dormaalcyon within the carnivoraformes, and the relationship of carnivoraformes to modern taxa, divided into feliforms (cat-like carnivores) and caniforms (dog-like carnivores).

Credit: Art by Charlène Letenneur (MNHN) and Pascale Golinvaux (RBINS).

The new specimens include over 250 teeth and ankle bones. More teeth allow for a description of the entire tooth row ofDormaalocyon, while previous finds only included two upper molars. The new finds even include the deciduous teeth (or 'baby teeth'). The fact that these teeth are very primitive looking, and from a very early time, implies that Dormaalocyon is close to the origin of carnivoraforms, and that this origin may have been in Europe. The ankle bones suggest that Dormaalocyon was arboreal, living and moving through the trees. Previous reconstructions of the environment at Dormaal 55 million years ago inferred a warm, humid, and wooded area. This was a time soon after an event called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (or PETM). This extremely warm period affected the evolution of many mammal groups, including carnivoraforms. Dr. Solé believes that the fact that Dormaalocyon was arboreal, and that carnivoraforms made their way to North America around this time, "supports the existence of a continuous evergreen forest belt at high latitudes during the PETM."

This is a reconstruction of Dormaalcyon latouri showing fossils that have been recovered, including teeth, jaws, and ankle bones.

Credit: Art by Charlène Letenneur (MNHN) and Pascale Golinvaux (RBINS).

Although close to the origin of carnivoraforms, the fossils suggest there were even more primitive species in the group in an earlier time period, the Paleocene. Says Solé, "The understanding of the origination of the carnivoraforms is important for reconstructing the adaptation of placental mammals to carnivorous diet. Therefore, Dormaalocyon provides information concerning the evolution of placental mammals after the disappearance of the largest dinosaurs (at the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event). Our study shows that the carnivoraforms were very diversified at the earliest Eocene, which allows hypothesizing that they were probably already diversified during the latest Paleocene." This means there are more fossils out there to be found that can answer the question of the origin of this beloved modern group. Contacts and sources: Cody Mooneyhan Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Citation: Solé, F., R. Smith, T. Coillot, E. De Bast, T. Smith. Dental and Tarsal Anatomy of 'miacis' Latouri and a Phylogenetic Analysis of the Earliest Carnivoraforms (mammalia, Carnivoramorpha). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34(1): 1-21; 2014, Source: Article

Read More........→February 18, 2014