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Bigcats News

Italy Ngala Offline
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Horrible scenes about Mohawk killing, very sad news.
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Sri Lanka Apollo Away
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Ustad Sentenced to life imprisonment for being a ‘man-eater'



http://www.ranthamborenationalpark.com/blog/ustad-sentenced-to-life-imprisonment/
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United States Pckts Offline
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I love that they have a trial and a sentencing for a WILD ANIMAL!!

So ridicolous
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United States Pckts Offline
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Escaped Karoo National Park lion recaptured


EXTRACT FROM THE FOLLOWING THIRD PARTY SOURCE: SANParks
The South African National Parks (SANParks) search team has successfully darted the escaped lion from Karoo National Park outside Beaufort West. A veterinarian is present at the scene with the re-captured lion at the moment. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

The lion was darted from the air in difficult terrain high up in the mountains and will need to be transported in a stretcher, on foot, for 3km to the nearest awaiting vehicle.
SANParks CEO, Fundisile Mketeni would like to commend the park management and the tracking team for a job well done under tremendous strain and weather conditions.
Mketeni has also thanked members of the public for their concern, support and patience as the team worked tirelessly to recapture the lion. “As an organisation we remain committed to our conservation mandate and assure the public that the decision going forward will be in the best interest of the animal and conservation.”
The lion will be kept in the park in a boma until a final decision is reached on its future.
- See more at: http://africageographic.com/blog/escaped...mhR8B.dpuf
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Shardul Offline
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( This post was last modified: 04-01-2016, 02:13 AM by Shardul )

(04-01-2016, 12:09 AM)Pckts Wrote: I love that they have a trial and a sentencing for a WILD ANIMAL!!

So ridicolous

Another misleading headline.

From that link:

"Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the plea of advocate Indira Jaising, asking to relocate Ustad, a famous tiger, from Sajjangarh Zoological Park in Udaipur to Ranthambore National Park."

The original plea in the state high court was to ask for Ustad not to be shifted. That was correctly squashed and so has this one.

Slander, character assassination and allegations with no proof work only on the internet, not the court of law.
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Canada Dr Panthera Offline
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Horrible news one after the other..lions and tigers dying when everyone counts, I am particularly saddened by the death of the mother tigress the loss of a breeding female is the most devastating to the population.
In the case of Mohwak KWS personnel claimed they did not have anesthetic drugs available so they shot him dead???!!!!
I will use my position as a pharmacist and provide any conservation agency with free anesthetics if they will save the animals from being shot dead.
Sylvester is likely to be euthanized in South Africa...again the endless debate on whether to kill problem big cats , keep them in captivity, or let them stay wild...it is man, his livestock, and his economy that encroached on wild cats not the other way around keeping these "problem" cats wild is in my opinion the right thing to do, but if the local people in the area want them removed then condemn them to a life in the cage better than bullets!!
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Shardul Offline
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(04-01-2016, 05:04 AM)Dr Panthera Wrote: Horrible news one after the other..lions and tigers dying when everyone counts, I am particularly saddened by the death of the mother tigress the loss of a breeding female is the most devastating to the population.
In the case of Mohwak KWS personnel claimed they did not have anesthetic drugs available so they shot him dead???!!!!
I will use my position as a pharmacist and provide any conservation agency with free anesthetics if they will save the animals from being shot dead.
Sylvester is likely to be euthanized in South Africa...again the endless debate on whether to kill problem big cats , keep them in captivity, or let them stay wild...it is man, his livestock, and his economy that encroached on wild cats not the other way around keeping these "problem" cats wild is in my opinion the right thing to do, but if the local people in the area want them removed then condemn them to a life in the cage better than bullets!!

This. It does not matter what you and I feel or think. If the people living around those areas want an animal removed, there is nothing anyone can do anything about it. As sad as it sounds, this fact really needs to be accepted by everyone.
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United States Pckts Offline
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(04-01-2016, 05:19 AM)Shardul Wrote: This. It does not matter what you and I feel or think. If the people living around those areas want an animal removed, there is nothing anyone can do anything about it. As sad as it sounds, this fact really needs to be accepted by everyone.

Should it be accepted though?
Is it really an issue with no other alternative?

I don't think so. Before I give my 2 cents on the issue, I'll preface by saying this:
I live in the states and in a coastal city at that, pretty much the furthest thing from anywhere with wild safaris and local villagers. So I cannot truly understand what exactly is going on.
But my feeling on the issue is deeper than that, I think. 

I don't believe in man being better than animal, I think in fact it needs to be the other way around. I think if we learned to accept wild life and understand its importance to all life, we'd be a much healthier community as a whole. Spiritually, physically and mentally.

We use the term "problem cat" but the two most recent examples are anything but that. Both were killed in meaningless and unfair circumstances. 
One poisoned and the other condemned for escaping?
How a wild animal can "escape" is beyond me, but it feeds into my point. Most of the animals are victims of man kind mentality, and old thinking at that. 

"The idea of destroying ancient Eco systems that provide nutrients to the world, to make room for a country trying grow its economy by any means necessary."

I live in the US, nobody knows this better than an American, this corporate mentality will not produce a better life for the people, it will divide them. It will separate the wealthy from the poor even further. It will destroy these majestic places that produce much more sustainable and valuable resources than a sky scrapper owned by an individual, rented by a hedge fund who finds ways to hide their profits so they can further separate the wealthy from the poor. 

In closing, I think we need to treat nature above all else!
Habitats and the animals that live there should come first, corridors and reserves need to be increased 10 fold, a much larger budget needs to go to the wild life and space programs. (Many amazing inventions have come from trying to learn about space)
The days of "humans being the most important thing in the world" needs to stop now.

Sorry for the long reply, the conversation struck a cord with me.
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Philippines achyut Offline
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sad incident on nairobi today. a lion ventured out too far from the reserve, the rangers did not had tranquilizers so they shot and killed the lion. looked a full grown male. 

http://www.msn.com/en-in/video/news/lion...ailsignout
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Argentina Tshokwane Offline
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This is the same news posted in the thread Big cat news. Mohawk male.
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Argentina Tshokwane Offline
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Save the Tiger:
Yet another tiger succumbed to its injuries in a territorial fight in the Bandipur–Nagarahole landscape in the Kalahalla range of Nagarahole yesterday.

The tiger was around 8 to 10 years and it was found dead near Moorkal, and prima facie there were sufficient indications of a ferocious fight with another male.

Park Director H.C. Kantharaj said the dead tiger had deep wounds on its face while two of its canines were worn out and one of them was broken.
He said the fight must have been a long one given the size of the tiger, and he suspected that the other cat must have sustained sever wounds given the blood stains in the vicinity.
“The fight is suspected to have taken place on Friday night and we are trying to locate the other tiger as it may not survive. If found, it will be tranquilised for treatment before being released,” Mr. Kantharaj added.
Though such incidents are not uncommon and four to five tiger deaths are attributed to territorial fights, it also underlines that the park may have reached its carrying capacity and may need more buffer to absorb the spill-over tiger population.
If not, the ejected tigers past their prime may shift to the forest fringes to avoid competition and could prey on domestic cattle escalating man-animal conflict.

*This image is copyright of its original author


Interesting. Two dead tigers from territorial fights in just a couple of days.

I think I already know the excuses some will throw about this, but the fact remains that this keeps disproves the whole "tigers don't fight"...
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India sanjay Offline
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Another loss. It is unfortunate event. I don't think there is much hope for wild animals in most of countries. People are getting educated now days and care about wildlife conservation but fact is the direction humanity has taken will proceed to another mass extinction, first these innocent animal will vanish and then we.
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United Kingdom Sully Offline
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Interesting read full of shocking anecdotes...



Kenyans rise in protest over lions shot & speared
April 2, 2016 by Merritt Clifton 2 Comments

*This image is copyright of its original author
Incidents recall the Cecil case in Zimbabwe

         NAIROBI,  Kenya;  JOS,  Nigeria––More than 2,000 Kenyans had signed petitions protesting the violent deaths of two lions on the outskirts of Nairobi,  the national capital,  within 48 hours of the shooting of the first lion,  Mohawk,  and 24 hours of the discovery of the remains of the second,  Lemek.
The rising furor on behalf of the lions resembled the international outcry after U.S. trophy hunter Walter James Palmer and guide Theo Bronkhorst baited the lion Cecil out of Hwange National Park,  Zimbabwe,  wounded him circa July 6,  2015,  and tracked the wounded lion for 40 hours before dispatching him.

*This image is copyright of its original author
Lions killed for different reasons
But there were significant differences.  Cecil was killed just for his head and other body parts.  Mohawk was killed in the name of public safety.  And no one as yet knows why Lemek was killed.  That he was speared to protect livestock appeared as of April 1,  2016 to be the leading theory.
The Masai,  a nomadic pastoralist herding tribe indigenous to Kenya,  have long regarded killing a lion as a rite of manhood.  The Masai,  however,  have de-emphasized lion-killing in recent years.
“It has become habit to apportion blame on our morans [warriors] whenever lions disappear,” Masai tribal representative James Turere told Kurgat Marindan of the Nairobi Star. “We did not kill Lemek. It was not us,”  Turere instead.

*This image is copyright of its original author
Mohawk shot. (From KTN Prime video.)
Threw rocks at lion
“Africa Network for Animal Welfare joins Kenyans and the international community in strongly condemning the recent brutal killing of lions in Kajiado County,”  said ANAW founder Jsophat Ngonyo.
“The first killing,”  Ngonyo recounted,  “was that of Mohawk by Kenya Wildlife Service rangers at Isinya in Kajiado County,  35 kilometers south of Nairobi.  Mohawk was a majestic 13-year-old male lion,  so named due to the shape of his black mane.
“A group of men had surrounded the lion in the town of Isinya upon spotting him,”  Ngonyo said.  “As they took pictures,  they threw rocks at him.  Finally  Mohawk raised his paw and thrashed one of the men,”  who had reportedly tried to chase Mohawk on a motorbike.  “At that point,  sensing danger,  the rangers––who were already on the scene––used nine live bullets and mowed Mohawk down.

*This image is copyright of its original author
Mohawk running alongside Nairobi National Park perimeter fence.
(Believed to be bystander cell phone photo.)
Territorial dispute
“According to the Kenya Wildlife Service,”  Ngonyo added,   “Mohawk had escaped from Nairobi National Park two days before,  forced out in a territorial dispute with another lion.  So he walked south,  looking for another place to roam,  slipping through an unfenced portion of the park.  He met his death at the hands of those tasked to protect him.”
Less than a day later,  Ngonyo continued,  “Two-and-a-half-year-old Lemek’s carcass was found speared in Old Kitengela Township,  20 kilometers south of Nairobi.  The perpetrators of this killing are still at large.”

*This image is copyright of its original author
Africa Network for Animal Welfare founder Josphat Ngonyo & ANIMALS 24-7 founder Merritt Clifton.
(Beth Clifton photo)
Official statement
Elaborated the Kenya Wildlife Service,  “A Kenya Wildlife Service team,  working in collaboration with the Empakasi area chief,  discovered Lemek’s body under a large thicket beside a dry riverbed.
“Earlier the day,  Kenya Wildlife Service had received a report of two or three lions sighted in the Oleshei area near Old Kitengela Township,  which prompted KWS to mobilize an aerial search,”  the KWS statement added.
“The search,  which was intended to observe and drive the reported lions back to the park,  lasted three hours and yielded no results.  Kenya Wildlife Service is currently establishing if Lemek was one of the lions reported earlier in the day,”  the statement finished.

*This image is copyright of its original author
“Disturbance of eco-systems”
Said Ngonyo,  “We condemn both acts in the strongest terms possible because they were unwarranted,  unnecessary,  and uncalled for,  especially because the factors that caused the lions to leave the park in the first place are due to human disturbance of their eco-systems as a result of development going on around Nairobi National Park.  In addition to this,”  Ngonyo emphasized,  “there were better alternatives to this situation.  In Mohawk’s case,  for example,  sedating the animal and moving him back to the park was a viable solution.  Mohawk was not a rogue [whose behavior] warranted such a painful and meaningless death.
“Nairobi National Park had only 35 lions,”   Ngonyo noted.   “Across Kenya,  lion numbers are estimated at below 2,000,”  down from 2,749 in 2002,  according to Kenya Wildlife Service data.

*This image is copyright of its original author
Between 600 and 700 of the Kenyan lions reside in Tsavo National Park,  a day’s drive east of Nairobi,  where two maneless male lions called The Ghost and The Darkness killed as many as 135 railway workers in 1898-1899.
Third escape in two months
“This was the third time in two months that lions had escaped from Nairobi National Park,”  Ngonyo continued.  “The population around the park has grown more than tenfold since it was established in 1946.  Where the lions once would have wandered peacefully,  they now encounter suburbs,  farms and commercial buildings.
“It is important that we all see this not only in terms of Mohawk and Lemek only,”  Ngonyo finished,  “but in terms of what it means for all our animals.  We are concerned about it happening again and we are emphatic that this should never happen again.  No animal life should be lost due to a senseless reaction,  especially where the animal is not a threat to the [human] population.”

*This image is copyright of its original author
(From Justice for Mohawk event page.)
“Justice for Mohawk”
Helping to draw attention to the Kenya lion killings is the “Justice for Mohawk” Facebook event page,  hosted by independent activist Christa Christina Witvrouwen.
Wrote Witvrouwen,  “Mohawk was the Lion King of Nairobi National Park.  He was iconic with the park,  which is the only wildlife park within the confines of a capital city in the entire world.  In Kenya our heritage is our wildlife.  The protectors of our heritage,  i.e the government and Kenya Wildlife Service,   shot dead this lion in cold blood without any rhyme or reason except their total incompetence. The Park itself is under threat by government-sanctioned development projects that are sure to ruin it.”

*This image is copyright of its original author
(Kenya Wildlife Service photo)
Lions on the road
Summarized National Geographic Wildlife Watch blogger Jacob Kushner,  “First, a lioness ventured into the city as a decoy to draw officials away from her cubs that were lost in an army barracks.  Then, just weeks later, a pride of six lions breeched a fence into a pasture,  killing as many as 120 goats and sheep. One lion lost his bearings and ended up on a major highway, injuring a man before finding his way back into Nairobi National Park, located adjacent to Kenya’s capital city.”

*This image is copyright of its original author
(Kenya Wildlife Service photo)
Then came the Mohawk and Lemek killings.
National Geographic conservation biologist Luke Dollar attributed the incidents to the combination of lion population growth within Nairobi National Park with a lack of other habitat accessible to them.
Carrying capacity of 40 lions
The park has since the 1950s been believed to be capable of supporting not more than 40 lions.  As the resident population approaches the upper limit,  Kenya Wildlife Service spokesperson Paul Gathitu told Kushner,  lions try to disperse.
Lions might move through relatively open countryside if they disperse through the unfenced portion of the park.

*This image is copyright of its original author
Scene from the Kenya Wildlife Service’s Wild Animal Orphanage at Nairobi National Park.  (KWS photo)
Or they might venture into the city of Nairobi,  Jomo Kenyatta International Airport,  the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant and rhino orphanage,  the parking lot of the globally notorious Carnivore wild game restaurant,  the grounds of the Kenya SPCA,  or even the national headquarters of the Kenya Wildlife Service itself if they go the wrong way.
Because the Nairobi National Park lions are familiar with roads and traffic––much of the park is bordered by the highway from the airport into the central city––it is not unusual for a wandering lion to lope alongside a road in search of new habitat.

*This image is copyright of its original author
Sylvester. (SANParks photo)
Karoo lion Sylvester
Contributing to the view that Mohawk,  at least,  should have been captured alive and relocated to another national park was the March 31,  2016 success of the South African National Park Service in recapturing a four-year-old lion named Sylvester near Beaufort West.
Tranquilizer-darted from a low-flying aircraft,  Sylvester was carried three kilometers on a stretcher to the vehicle that took him back to an enclosure at the park,  called a boma.
“The lion will be kept in the park in the boma until a final decision is reached on its future‚” Karoo National Park spokesperson Wanda Mkutshulwa told media.
This was Sylvester’s second escape  from Karoo National Park.  During his first walkabout,  in June 2015,  he killed at least 15 sheep during three weeks at large.

*This image is copyright of its original author
Jos Wildlife Park escape
The Nairobi and Karoo National Park lion escapes followed the escape of a young lion named Leo from the Jos Wildlife Park,  actually a zoo,  in Jos,  Nigeria,  on December 2,  2015.
Leo “was killed by security forces,  but could have been darted and tranquilized,”  e-mailed ANIMALS 24-7 reader Shamsudeen Fagbo.  Fagbo,  coordinator for zoonotic diseases, at the Ministry of Health in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and a longtime moderator for the Program for Emerging Diseases (ProMED),  has also done extensive field research in Nigeria.
“The killing was justified by most,  but generated controversy”  Fagbo recounted.”

*This image is copyright of its original author
Dilapidated facilities
The controversy escalated after Hir Joseph of the Daily Trust,  of Abuja,   Nigeria,  reported on January 27,  2016 that other Jos Wildlife Park facilities are so dilapidated as to allow further escapes.
A mature lioness,  Hir Joseph wrote,  is kept in a cage,  which “as many others confining other animals,  was provided in 1972 at the establishment of the park by Sylvia Sykes,  a British professor of zoology.

*This image is copyright of its original author
While the Jos Wildlife Park had no tranquilizer darts when Leo the lion escaped in December 2015, Humane Society of the U.S. wildlife rescuer Dave Pauli maintains this tranquilizer gun arsenal.  (Dave Pauli photo)
“The cage is old and weak,  and needs to be replaced,”  acknowledged John Doy,  general manager of the Plateau State Tourism Corporation,  which owns the Jos Wildlife Park.
No tranquilizer darts
Continued Hir Joseph,  “Personnel at the park had said Leo had been hungry for days,  and was probably on its way to finding food when he jumped onto a raised platform,”  causing the cage to open.
Doy told Hir Joseph that the Jos Wildlife Park did not have tranquilizer darts.

*This image is copyright of its original author
Barrister Chukwunonso Daniel Ogbe.
Civil rights lawyer steps up
On March 7,  2016 the Leadership,  of Abuja,  reported that “An Enugu-based wildlife activist,  barrister  Chukwunonso Daniel Ogbe,  has petitioned the Commissioner for Culture, Tourism and Hospitality,  Plateau State,  demanding a variety of corrective actions.
“There are safer means by which the slain lion could have been recaptured alive without posing any threat to human beings,”  Ogbe said.  “Most worrisome is the fact that a registered charity committed to the global conservation of lions,  LionAid,  noted of late that we have [only] about 34 lions remaining in Nigeria,”  with a high likelihood that “lions shall become extinct [in Nigeria] on or before the year 2023,  unless some drastic measures are taken by the Nigerian citizenry and government at all tiers.”

*This image is copyright of its original author
Demands apology & replacement
Ogbe demanded “an unreserved apology to the Nigerian public over the killing of the lion,”  to be “be published in a national daily [newspaper] within a period of thirty days from the date of the receipt of this letter, with a promise to do all within your powers in ensuring that the ugly incident which gave rise to this demand does not reoccur in the nearest future.  May I also request of the Government of Plateau State of Nigeria,”  Ogbe continued,  “to source for a replacement of the killed lion, within a period of sixty days from the date of the receipt of this letter.
“Should the Government of Plateau State of Nigeria fail to do as I have most humbly requested,”  Ogbe finished,   “I shall activate and exhaust the plethora of legal options at my disposal which shall include but not limited to commencing an action in court in asserting the right of Nigerians to wildlife which forms part of the Nigerian environment as guaranteed under article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
Ogbe was in the headlines twice in 2015:  in March for winning 500,000 Naira (the Nigerian national currency) in a civil liberties case,  and in August for enduring a severe beating by police after refusing to pay a bribe to pass an unauthorized roadblock.
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United States Pckts Offline
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( This post was last modified: 04-04-2016, 11:06 PM by Pckts )

@majingilane 
"I think I already know the excuses some will throw about this, but the fact remains that this keeps disproves the whole "tigers don't fight"..


Anybody who would say that would not be somebody to take seriously.
apex predators don't exist by peace... They live violent lives and that means fighting all the way through killing. 
Simply as that.
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United Kingdom Spalea Offline
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(04-04-2016, 09:21 PM)sanjay Wrote: Another loss. It is unfortunate event. I don't think there is much hope for wild animals in most of countries. People are getting educated now days and care about wildlife conservation but fact is the direction humanity has taken will proceed to another mass extinction, first these innocent animal will vanish and then we.

I fear being quite agree with you. Humanity cannot indefinitely violate the nature rules and laws without being expiating that a future day. If my memory runs well (I had been there) the Nairoby Park covers around 100 square kilometer, ie barely a lions pride territory. Close to the park at last 3 or 4 million mens are living... How do you want that accidents like this one don't happen ?

To ignore that is criminal... This is a long date death sentence.
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