They are not as big as other African Tigerfish with a maximum length of 86 cm and a maximum weight of 8,3 kgs. This species has a wide distribution found from Senegal to Ethiopia, throughout the Nile. In northeast from Ghazal and Jebel sistema in Sudán as well as Baro river in Ethiopia. In Western Africa it is known from Chad Niger Senegal and Gambia.
It feeds mainly on fish and shrimps.
Pictures taken from the book Tigerfish (M. Sid Kelly)

Which kind of big cat does this canines belong to ? 

https://imgur.com/gallery/ZAQujbR

A biologist believes that trees speak a language we can learn:

I’m in a redwood forest in Santa Cruz, California, taking dictation for the trees outside my cabin. They speak constantly, even if quietly, communicating above- and underground using sound, scents, signals, and vibes. They’re naturally networking, connected with everything that exists, including you.


Biologists, ecologists, foresters, and naturalists increasingly argue that trees speak, and that humans can learn to hear this language.

Many people struggle with this concept because they can’t perceive that trees are interconnected, argues biologist George David Haskell in his 2017 book The Songs of Trees. Connection in a network, Haskell says, necessitates communication and breeds languages; understanding that nature is a network is the first step in hearing trees talk.

For the average global citizen, living far from the forest, that probably seems abstract to the point of absurdity. Haskell points readers to the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador for practical guidance. To the Waorani people living there, nature’s networked character and the idea of communication among all living things seems obvious. In fact, the relationships between trees and other lifeforms are reflected in Waorani language.

In Waorani, things are described not only by their general type, but also by the other beings surrounding them. So, for example, any one ceibo tree isn’t a “ceibo tree” but is “the ivy-wrapped ceibo,” and another is “the mossy ceibo with black mushrooms.” In fact, anthropologists trying to classify and translate Waorani words into English struggle because, Haskell writes, “when pressed by interviewers, Waorani ‘could not bring themselves’ to give individual names for what Westerners call ‘tree species’ without describing ecological context such as the composition of the surrounding vegetation.”

Because they relate to the trees as live beings with intimate ties to surrounding people and other creatures, the Waorani aren’t alarmed by the notion that a tree might scream when cut, or surprised that harming a tree should cause trouble for humans. The lesson city-dwellers should take from the Waorani, Haskell says, is that “dogmas of separation fragment the community of life; they wall humans in a lonely room. We must ask the question: ‘can we find an ethic of full earthly belonging?’”

Haskell points out that throughout literary and musical history there are references to the songs of trees, and the way they speak: whispering pines, falling branches, crackling leaves, the steady hum buzzing through the forest. Human artists have always known on a fundamental level that trees talk, even if they don’t quite say they have a “language.”

Redefining communication

Tree language is a totally obvious concept to ecologist Suzanne Simard, who has spent 30 years studying forests. In June 2016, she gave a Ted Talk (which now has nearly 2.5 million views), called “How Trees Talk to Each Other.”

Simard grew up in the forests of British Columbia in Canada, studied forestry, and worked in the logging industry. She felt conflicted about cutting down trees, and decided to return to school to study the science of tree communication. Now, Simard teaches ecology at the University of British Columbia-Vancouver and researches “below-ground fungal networks that connect trees and facilitate underground inter-tree communication and interaction,” she says. As she explained to her Ted Talk audience:

I want to change the way you think about forests. You see, underground there is this other world, a world of infinite biological pathways that connect trees and allow them to communicate and allow the forest to behave as though it’s a single organism. It might remind you of a sort of intelligence.

Trees exchange chemicals with fungus, and send seeds—essentially information packets—with wind, birds, bats, and other visitors for delivery around the world. Simard specializes in the underground relationships of trees. Her research shows that below the earth are vast networks of roots working with fungi to move water, carbon, and nutrients among trees of all species. These complex, symbiotic networks mimic human neural and social networks. They even have mother trees at various centers, managing information flow, and the interconnectedness helps a slew of live things fight disease and survive together.

Simard argues that this exchange is communication, albeit in a language alien to us. And there’s a lesson to be learned from how forests relate, she says. There’s a lot of cooperation, rather than just competition among and between species as was previously believed.

Peter Wohlleben came to a similar realization while working his job managing an ancient birch forest in Germany. He told the Guardian he started noticing trees had complex social lives after stumbling upon an old stump still living after about 500 years, with no leaves. “Every living being needs nutrition,” Wohlleben said. “The only explanation was that it was supported by the neighbor trees via the roots with a sugar solution. As a forester, I learned that trees are competitors that struggle against each other, for light, for space, and there I saw that it’s just [the opposite]. Trees are very interested in keeping every member of this community alive.” He believes that they, like humans, have family lives in addition to relationships with other species. The discovery led him to write a book, The Hidden Life of Trees.

By being aware of all living things’ inter-reliance, Simard argues, humans can be wiser about maintaining mother trees who pass on wisdom from one tree generation to the next. She believes it could lead to a more sustainable commercial-wood industry: in a forest, a mother tree is connected to hundreds of other trees, sending excess carbon through delicate networks to seeds below ground, ensuring much greater seedling survival rates.

Foreign language studies


Seedling survival is important to human beings because we need trees. “The contributions of forests to the well-being of humankind are extraordinarily vast and far-reaching,” according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization 2016 report on world forests (pdf).


Forests are key to combating rural poverty, ensuring food security, providing livelihoods, supplying clean air and water, maintaining biodiversity, and mitigating climate change, the FAO says. The agency reports that progress is being made toward better worldwide forest conservation but more must be done, given the importance of forests to human survival.

Most scientists—and trees—would no doubt agree that conservation is key. Haskell believes that ecologically friendly policies would naturally become a priority for people if we’d recognize that trees are masters of connection and communication, managing complex networks that include us. He calls trees “biology’s philosophers,” dialoguing over the ages, and offering up a quiet wisdom. We should listen, the biologist says, because they know what they’re talking about. Haskell writes, “Because they are not mobile, to thrive they must know their particular locus on the Earth far better than any wandering animal.”

Agility pays off.  

Its about post #1,345 in Bigcat news.

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Back in 2010, the India government came up with plan to reintroduce cheetahs to India from Africa. The environment ministry had cleared the $56-million project which involved moving African cheetahs from Namibia.

IIn 2013, India’s Supreme Court had halted that plan to "reintroduce" cheetahs to the country by shipping animals over from Africa after experts said the idea was “totally misconceived”.

The court-appointed adviser P.S.Narasimha said: “Studies show that African cheetahs and Asian cheetahs are completely different, both genetically and also in their characteristics.”
The apex court had noted that no detailed study had been conducted before introducing a 'foreign' species to India & adding that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) clearly warned against the introduction of alien species.

The then President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil with a foreign cheetah.


Today, the Hon. Supreme Court of India has agreed to reconsider its 2013 order.

A plea by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is up for hearing. They've cited historical accounts stating that Cheetah was not an alien species, but locally extinct and that bringing it back would help conservation of grasslands like tiger conservation did to the forests.

However, Asiatic cheetah separated from its African relative somewhere between 32,000 and 67,000 years ago & the ones they are trying to "reintroduce" are entirely different animals from the ones that once sprinted through India's plains! 

Owing to the critical situation Asiatic cheetahs of Iran are in, bringing Saharan or Sudan cheetahs would've made most sense... 
But they have their eyes on South-African/Namibian ones, when we could if we would, choose a subspecies genetically closer to the Asiatic ones!

As per the official site of IUCN Redlist: 
"The review by Krausman and Morales (2005) included Cheetahs from the northern Sahara in venaticus. The type locality of A. j. venaticus is unknown. At a November 2006 meeting of the North African Region Cheetah Action Group (NARCAG), Belbachir (2007) recommended genetic studies to clarify whether the Cheetahs of Algeria (which probably has the largest Saharan Cheetah population) should be classified as A. j. hecki or A. j. venaticus." (Source)
Much of their range is facing political turmoil & India can promise them a better future...

A tiny population of rewilded NorthEast African cheetahs are living in Sir BaniYas island for repopulating project in UAE that as seen tremendous success in its baby steps. One of their females had even had a litter of four, while cheetahs are difficult to breed even in captivity!
They are part of a breeding project in Djibouti Cheetah Refuge, & an EEP in European zoos.

The female Sudan Cheetah "Safiya" with her cubs in Sir Bani Yas island.


Neither countries have complicated relationship with India. With some will & coordination, India could get her hands on first & second best options for reintroducing cheetahs in India, instead of bringing them from what's literally the farthest point of the world with cheetahs...

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@sanjay @peter If i start a petition on Change.org with the above text & paste a link to it here, could it be arranged to display that on the yellow notice bar so that all visitors can see it? 

It might not work... But won't hurt to give it a shot.
If it does draw their attention towards the above prospect, it could be the greatest accomplishment of Wildfact.

Ok, this is long time due tutorial for you guys.. So I am going to show you how to Embed a video from facebook

1. First go to the facebook page where video is located - example this page `https://www.facebook.com/malamalagamereserve/videos/1058296017555355/`

2. Copy the last part of the url(link) which is numeric, i.e. 1058296017555355 (this is id of the video)

3. Add this numeric video id (1058296017555355) to the last of this:- `https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=`

4. So the final url(link) will be like this:- `https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1058296017555355` . Now this is the link that we need to use in WildFact. Note that only numerical id will change for different videos.

5. Now follow this tutorial - https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-how-to-...s-in-posts to embed video on WildFact, instead using youtube use facebook in drop down in step3

Hope this help
Note: Facebook videos when embed does not show play button, that is why I write "Click on image to play the video" just below it, otherwise reader think it as image

Let me know if you guys are facing any problem

Why not? The Atlas bear became extinct in North Africa most likely due to over-hunting during the nineteenth century. The last one reported was shot by a hunter in 1870. Since these bears, the only bears that were native to Africa during modern times, is extinct due to human ignorance and irresponsibility, then shouldn't we patch-up our mistake; though very late in the game? 
By far, most experts agree that the Atlas bear was most likely a subspecies of brown bear. Therefore, a breeding population of brown bears should be reintroduced into North Africa. But from what bear population should we choose from? 

I just came across this link discussing the numbers of wild lions in South Africa .... was just wondering if anyone had some thoughts on the subject ... if these numbers are true, then do the lodges there have a responsibility to care for and protect the lions that live in their lands? .... Just wondering what can be done to save the species and some of these blood lines .... its a shame that some of them have a high mortality rate when some intervention could help .... thanks for any and all answers for the discussion. 

https://carteblanche.dstv.com/state-sas-lions/

In some place in india tigers population is down after colonial hunt just 20 tiger but why wagdoh still have huge body with very muscular muscle neck and body..wagdoh is inbreed/incest why he have very good proportions(anatomy)?

In many case inbreed animal have small body and look verry weak....
sorry about my english

Are the panda bears ( giant pandas ) really bears or are they giant members of the raccoon family?

articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-10-13/news/8503100134_1_giant-pandas-procyonids-national-zoo


Are Pandas True Bears Or Are They Raccoons?
October 13, 1985|By Jan Ziegler. United Press International.

WASHINGTON — A bear is a bear is a bear is a bear. Unless it`s a panda.

It may never have crossed your mind that Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, the famous giant pandas that charm visitors at the National Zoo, may be members of the raccoon family. But it has been an issue among scientists for more than a century.

The question is whether giant pandas should belong to either of the families, or if they should have a family of their own in the vast system of scientific classification that has a label for just about every animal in the world.

Giant pandas, according Stephen J. O`Brien, a research associate at the zoo, have been grouped with bears since their discovery by the Western world in the 1860s.

However, they have un-bearlike characteristics. Giant pandas are vegetarian, consuming mostly bamboo. Their forequarters are huge, rear quarters relatively small. In bears, although some have huge forequarters, rears are generally not as reduced.

``Finally, the giant panda does not behave like a bear,`` O`Brien and colleagues wrote in the scientific journal Nature. ``Most bears hibernate, the giant panda does not; bears roar, whereas the giant panda bleats.``

The raccoon faction has argued that because of its skull and tooth structure, markings and other characteristics, the giant panda belongs in the same family from which raccoons and the lesser or red panda, which really does look like a raccoon, diverged millions of years ago.

To put the matter to rest, the National Zoo researchers called on the powers of genetic technology. They took some cell samples from a raccoon, a giant panda, a lesser panda and a trio of Bruins: one American brown bear, a spectacled bear and a Maylayan sun bear.

Running the samples through three molecular tests that would reveal gene structure, they found the genetic similarities between bears and giant pandas far exceeded the number and extent of differences.

On the family tree, the bear group and procyonid group, to which the lesser panda belongs, probably split from a single ancestor line about 30 million to 50 million years ago.

The procyonids split into New World procyonids--represented by raccoons, coatis and kinkajous--and Old World procyonids, the aforementioned lesser pandas, 10 million years later.

Giant pandas branched off the bear family tree 15 to 25 million years ago. Judging by the molecular tests, they should be considered a sub-group of the bear family.

The ideosyncracies of giant pandas probably are the result of evolution and ancestral characteristics lost by bears after they split from the main line, the researchers wrote.