As per my knowledge, Dave Salmoni and John Varty both started the project tiger canyon together. But later Dave left the project. I tried to find out what was the exact reasons that made Dave to reach this decision but I can not. Does anyone have read anything about this incident in more detail?

We have tired to list the best post of the March 2019 by members. If we miss anyone please do report us. If you want to help us to nominate a post as the best post of the month, please read this post for more information https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-how-to-...-the-month

So here we go

@Luipaard's post in Mesoamerican Jaguars

Some images of Jaguars and Cougars from camera trap

See the post CLICK HERE

The United States of America has some conservation success stories, like the Bald Eagle and the American Alligator, which were once on the Endangered Species List, but are now doing great thanks to good wildlife conservation. However, there are some animals in the USA that are still hanging in there, like the Red Wolf. Once common, now they're critically endangered, with only 40 individuals left in the wild according to recent news, so this thread is purely dedicated to anything on the Red Wolf.

These animals were perhaps the most formidable hyenas to ever live.  Post any data or anything you can find about these predators. I do have one big question for all the paleontological nerds here on the forum, did these hyenas have any big impacts on early humans?

Hello Members,

Any of you are full time YouTuber ? Or planning to start ?

If you are YouTuber or planning to start it. Please tell about your topics and equipment that you use?
How do you write script? How do you shoot? What camera you use to shoot? What editor do you use?

Any tips?

Rule 1: Images must be in HD.
Rule 2: Images must be in HD..(You can use Google Image Search & Postimages.org instead of Imgur)
Rule 3: Don't just post random photo or digital art. Only something that you'd use on your own desktop/smartphone.

Let make this thread have the best collection of Nature & Wildlife themed wallpapers in a year from today!!!

As the name of the new thread suggests, this one is dedicated for images of animal's camouflaged as one with its habitat, making it hard to even spot. 

And habitat shots, where the background & surrounding are the subject too rather than the wildlife itself.
Examples:

Vipul Ramanuj

Vabss Photography

T-34 Kumbha against Ranthambore

Steve Terry (Try & find him...)

Starting with my familiar squirrel which I saw in the wild in my experience to Tirumala (read my post in Tigers of eastern Ghats).

The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel, (Ratufa indica) is one of the largest tree squirrel species in the world belonging to genus Ratufa native to India.

It is a large-bodied diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel found in South Asia.

Location : Sri vari paadalu, Tirumala (My visit to there, same location i.e.., srivari paadalu, same sighting)

Credits : @binoc_photography .

The Giant Short Faced Bear was 1,5 to 1,80 m (5 to 6 feet)  tall at the shoulder and rose to an impresive 3 m (10 feet) when standing on its hind legs, it weighted 600 to 800 kgs (1320 -  1760 pounds)  the giant was taller than a Polar Bear . The short muzzle gave it a more lion-like face than other bears, it has a relatively wide skull and very powerful jaws. Its closest living relative is the South American Spectacled Bears. What did they eat? Analysis of the bones of Short Faced Bears shows that they were exclusive meat eaters and they were well adapted to this task, their shortened jaws would have brought their crushing teeth closer to the back of the skulland so have increased their power. This Bear seen to be adapted for cracking large bones to extract the nutritious marrow.
Book Prehistoric America - Miles Barton, Nigel Bean, Stephen Dunleavy, Ian Gray, Adam White

The Tasmanian devil once thrived on mainland Australia. Shutterstock/mastersky

The Tasmanian devil – despite its name – once roamed the mainland of Australia. Returning the devil to the mainland may not only help its threatened status but could help control invasive predators such as feral cats and foxes.

The idea of returning devils to the mainland has been raised before.

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Read more: Tasmanian devils reared in captivity show they can thrive in the wild

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But now we’ve explored the idea from a palaeontological view. We looked at the fossil record of mainland devils, in a paper published online and in print soon in the journal Biological Conservation.

*This image is copyright of its original author

A well preserved devil mandible (lower jaw) recovered from excavations west of Townsville. Gilbert Price, Author provided

The fossil record helps us better understand how the devils co-existed on mainland Australia with other wildlife. It also helps us see how these iconic animals may possibly interact with small and medium-sized animals if reintroduced to the mainland in the future.

Back in the wild
Ecologists have reintroduced several apex predators to environments where they were once driven to localised extinction. This has helped restore past ecosystems by providing a clearer ecological balance.

One of the best-known examples is the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the United States, to check the overgrazing and destruction of habitat by elk.
By reintroducing Tasmanian devils into mainland Australia, can we possibly help restore ecological systems that support devils along with small to medium-sized native mammals?
Native and exotic predators

Tasmanian devils and thylacines (Tasmanian tigers) were displaced across the mainland of Australia sometime after the dingo was introduced from southeast Asia at least 3,500 years ago.
But these iconic Australian predators were still able to survive in Tasmania.

The island was created 10,000 years ago by rising sea levels, well before the arrival of dingoes on mainland Australia.
Dingoes have now been eradicated across much of mainland Australia, particularly within the seclusion zone of the dingo fence in the southeast of the continent. The 5,400km fence stretches eastwards across South Australia into New South Wales and to southeast Queensland.

Exotic predators such as foxes and cats now thrive across many parts of Australia, and have devastating impacts on small to medium-sized Australian mammals.
But until recently they have not been able to gain a foothold in Tasmania. Many ecologists believe the presence of the devil has prevented these other animals making their destructive mark on the ecology of Tasmania.

Sadly the situation is changing as a result of the deadly devil facial tumour disease, an infectious cancer that has destroyed many populations of Tasmanian devils. Estimates range up to 90% of some population groups now wiped out.

As a result, feral cats are now moving into former devil habitats and hunting native species on Tasmania.

A fossil window to the past
So what does the fossil record tell us about the past life of the Tasmanian devil in mainland Australia?

The Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area, in southeast Australia, provides an extraordinary archaeological and palaeoecological record of Ice Age Australia.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Recovery of fossils and devil coprolites from eroding bettong burrows at the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area. Michael Westaway, Author provided

In the past, skeletal remains buried within the landscape were commonly fossilised. Evidence of small animals that dug burrows (such as burrowing bettongs) and the predators that pursued them in their burrows, are exceptionally well preserved.

Our excavations reveal how devils and other small-to-medium sized mammals and reptiles interacted over more than 20,000 years in this area. Even during the peak arid phase, known as the Last Glacial Maximum, it seems that devils and their prey successfully co-existed.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The fossil record (10,000 to 4,000 years ago): This shows the fauna reference condition prior to the arrival of the dingo. (1 Western Quoll, 2 Tasmanian Devil, 3 Thylacine, 4 Bilby, 5 Western Barred Bandicoot, 6 Southern Brown Bandicoot, 7 Burrowing Bettong, 8 Brush Tailed Bettong, 9 Wombat, 10 Nail-Tailed Wallaby, 11 Hare Wallaby, 12 Western and Eastern Grey Kangaroo, 13 Red Kangaroo, 14 Crest Tailed Mulgara, 15 Greater Stick Nest Rat, 16 Hopping Mouse, 17 Fox, 18 Cat, 19 Rabbit) Toot Toot Design, Author provided

*This image is copyright of its original author

The contemporary record: This shows today’s situation in the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area. Light grey animals represent those animals that are now locally extinct. Toot Toot Design, Author provided

The fossil record shows that the range of habitats occupied by devils in the past was far more diverse than today, with populations being found across environments from the central arid core to the northern tropics.

This suggests that devils today should, theoretically, be able to reoccupy a similarly extensive range of habitats.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Former devil range across Australia as revealed by the known fossil record. Toot Toot Design, Author provided 

Better the devil you know
Some ecologists suggest dingoes should be reintroduced into Australian habitats in order to reduce the impact of cats and foxes on native mammals.
One problem is that dingoes also prey on livestock. This is the reason the dingo fence was constructed during the 1880s.

But devils are not active predators of cattle and sheep. So reintroducing a predator that has a much longer evolutionary history with other native mammals in this country would likely receive far less opposition from pastoralists.

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Read more: Deadly disease can 'hide' from a Tasmanian devil's immune system

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A reintroduction of devils back to the mainland may be a new approach to consider for controlling the relentless, destructive march of exotic predators and restore crucial elements of Australia’s biodiversity.

It still needs to be demonstrated that devils can suppress the activities of cats and foxes on the mainland, as they seem to have done in Tasmania. Experiments with devils in a range of different settings would help to establish this.

A new research approach involving palaeontologists, conservation biologists and policy makers may help us understand how we can restore biodiversity function in Australia.

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