ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[Ngala]

Molecular cloning and functional characterization of eleven subtypes of interferon-α in Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) Zhao et al., 2017

Highlights

• First cloning and characterizing of eleven subtypes of interferon-α in Amur tigers.
• Detailed biological activities of PtIFN-αs were described.
• Superior antiviral activities of PtIFN-α and PtIFN-α9 were proved.

Abstract:
"Interferon has a broad-spectrum of antiviral effects and represents an ideal choice for the development of antiviral drugs. Nonetheless, information about alpha interferon (IFN-α) is vacant in Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), an endangered species and indigenous to northeast Asia. Herein, 11 PtIFN-αs genes, which encoded proteins of 164–165 amino acids, were amplified. Afterwards, expression and purification were conducted in Escherichia coli. In physicochemical analysis, PtIFN-αs were shown to be highly sensitive to trypsin and remained stable despite changes in pH and temperature. In feline kidney cells (F81)/vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)/canine distemper virus (CDV)/avian influenza virus (AIV) systems, PtIFN-αs were demonstrated to have distinct antiviral activities, some of them (PtIFN-α and PtIFN-α9) inhibited viral transcription levels more effectively than the other subtypes including Felis catus IFN-α, an effective therapeutic agent used for viral infections clinically. Additionally, PtIFN-α and PtIFN-α9 can up-regulate the transcription and expression of p53, a tumor suppressor factor, which could promote apoptosis of virus-infected cells. In conclusion, we cloned and expressed 11 subtypes of PtIFN-α for the first time. Furthermore, PtIFN-α and PtIFN-α9 were likely to be more efficient against both chronic viral infections and neoplastic diseases that affect the Amur tiger population. It will be of significant importance for further studies to protect this endangered species." Reply

[Ngala]

Compound mechanism of fatal neck injury: A case report of a tiger attack in a zoo Szleszkowski, Thannhäuser & Jurek, 2017

Highlights
• We present the case of a tiger attack, extremely rare in forensic medical practice in Europe.
• The compound mechanism of neck injury was described (penetration of tissues by the canines, crushing, and distension).
• Some injuries (an intramural rupture of the carotid arteries) have never been described before in such cases.

Abstract:
"Fatal injuries caused by attacks by large wild cats are extremely rare in forensic medical practice in Europe. There are very few cases described in the forensic medical literature concerning incidents in zoos similar to the tiger attack on a 58-year-old male zoo employee that we present here. While preparing a runway for tigers, the man was attacked by a male Sumatran tiger. Another zoo employee was an eyewitness to the accident; in his testimony he described the sequence of events in detail. The autopsy showed the injuries typical of a tiger attack: traces of claws and canine teeth indicating that the victim of the attack was knocked down from behind, along with deep and extensive fatal wounds to the neck. The injuries were inflicted by means of a compound mechanism: tissues were penetrated by the animal’s canines, crushed with great force (transfixing injury), and violently distended. The skin revealed four characteristic deep wounds caused by canines as well as bite marks resulting from the action of six incisors. The neck area revealed extensive damage, including torn muscles, the esophagus and trachea, large blood vessels of the neck, and fractures of vertebrae C2 and C5 with internal channels resulting directly from penetration by the animal’s canines. The mechanism of distension, as a result of the animal jerking its head after biting the victim in the neck, produced a complete tear of the spine and the vertebral arteries, as well as an intramural rupture of the carotid arteries which has never been described before. In the interests of a detailed assessment of bone damage, the cervical spine was macerated. The applied autopsy techniques and detailed analysis of injuries enabled us to demonstrate the compound mechanism that inflicted them, combining penetration of tissues by the canines, crushing, and distension." Reply

[Rishi]

@peter It took a longer than i'd anticipated.

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After the few man-eater debacles & losing almost 100 people or year to conflict in the last few years, the govt. it's now concentrating on developing QRTs (Quick Response/Reaction Teams). But the problem cats are often very careful & hard to locate.
Also, as tigers are spreading out out of designated reserves the is a need for more accurate patrolling, ie, not coming the whole area but locating & tracking individual tiger's movements.
Then there are the poachers. It's impossible to keep them at bay over a huge tiger landscape, as they are usually post of the local populace. So, the more efficient techniques turned to be trailing & apprehending them on foot patrol.

For these India is aggressively raising K9 squads, consisting mostly of Labrador retrievers, German Shepard (widely & cheaply available in India) & Belgiun Malinois. Plans are to induct bloodhounds in future.

At least 43 trained dogs have been deployed in the tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries in 13 states so far including MP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar and Uttrakhand. "The dog-squad is also being deployed in Sikkim and Andamans now," said director of Traffic India and IFS, Dr Saket Badola.

The canines have been trained in obedience so that they respond to the call of their master without fail and in deciphering and sniffing out the wildlife products like bones, skins and the carcass to keep a check on wildlife crime. "Tracking is another skill that the dogs have been trained in so that they could keep a watch on poacher movements and routes," said Badola. 
They have been trained in tracking, sniffing and guarding. They can sniff out tiger and leopard skins, elephant tusks, deer antlers and skins. Also they can follow the smell trail & lead the personnel to poachers hideout from a tiger/rhino/elephant carcass...

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Most of the dogs have been provided by the international wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. Their handlers and trainers, all forest department staffers, have also been trained by TRAFFIC.

Senior project officer of TRAFFIC-India Amarnath Choudhary said: "This is the sixth batch that has graduated under this special project. In this batch, there were 13 dog squads — 13 dogs and 26 handlers (two handlers for each dog). They have undergone training for almost nine months, starting in April. All of them are aged between 18 months and 24 months."

TRAFFIC, a joint initiative by World Wildlife Fund and International Union for Conservation of Nature, spends almost Rs 3 lakh to train each dog.
An official said the sniffer dog training programme was started in India by TRAFFIC/ WWF in 2008 and, since then, more than 50 dogs and 100 trainers have been trained.
The nine female German Shepherds and four male Belgian Malinios dogs between the age group of 6-9 months, along with their handlers, began their nine month long training in April, 2017.

Some feathers in the canine crown:

Quote:MP’s dog squad sniff out lapses of Chhattisgarh forest department
By Ejaz Kaiser  |  Express News Service  |  Published: 08th December 2017

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RAIPUR: A trained dog squad from Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha tiger reserve was roped-in to assist in a probe into the
poaching (killing) of sambar deer in Chhattisgarh but in the process sniffed out an apparent failure of authorities in
safeguarding tigers and other wildlife in the Bhoramdev wild life sanctuary at Kawardha district, the home district of
chief minister Raman Singh.

As the sniffer dog got engaged to track down the culprit involved in the hunting of deer inside the jungle, the
trained canine led the handler team to couple of dwellings where nails of tiger, bear, bones of pangolin and other
wild life animals were found.

“While inquiring into the death of a bison in the sanctuary, we apprehended those who were accused of killing sambar
deer. We sought assistance of dog squad from Kanha tiger reserve and incidentally traced the nails of tiger and bear.
Six accused have been taken into custody. Further investigation is on”, said Prabhat Mishra, Kabeerdham district
forest officer.

Couple of months ago the State Wildlife Board chaired by the state CM took a decision to convert the Bhoramdev
sanctuary into the fourth tiger reserve of Chhattisgarh and had sent the proposal for approval to National Tiger
Conservation Authority (NTCA). The decision was also taken to increase the sanctuary area from 350 sq km to 624 sq km.
However the sniffer dog exposed the level of preparedness of the state forest department on the advisories and
recommendations of the NTCA following the recovery of nails and other remains of wild animals.

In April this year, Chhattisgarh high court categorically asserting on one of the petitions on Bhoramdev sanctuary,
stated that there should be requisite deployment of beat guards and other officers and staff to monitor the movement
of tigers in that sanctuary.

“Once the area is identified and notified as wild life sanctuary or the tiger reserve identified all requisite steps
should be taken to effectuate the object sought to be achieved through those notification”, observed the double bench
headed by the Chief Justice T B Radhakrishnan.

“It’s irony that the sniffer dog highlighted the negligent approach and poor preparedness of the forest officials for
Bhoramdev sanctuary when the decision was taken to create a new tiger reserve”, said wildlife enthusiast Nitin
Singhvi, who had then filed a petition in the high court.

Citing the wild animal anti-poaching database of Chhattisgarh, Singhvi revealed that 16 cases were registered in the
state on recovery of tiger skin and 44 other lodged over the seizing of leopard’s skin and teeth between 2006-2017.
"These many deaths of tigers then go unaccounted", he asserted.

Quote:Sniffer dog dies a night after it traced a tiger poacher in Pench reserve: Report

Handlers suspect the Labrador, named Clue, inhaled or ate the pesticide the poacher sprayed on a cow he used as bait.

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A three-and-a-half-year-old sniffer dog in Nagpur’s Pench Tiger Reserve died a night after it led forest officials to a man accused of poisoning two tigers, The Times of India reported.

The handlers suspect the Labrador, named Clue, inhaled the pesticide the poacher sprayed on a cow he used as bait to kill the tigers.
Her colleague, a Doberman named Soldier, was safe & healthy even though he ate some of those tigers' scat, leading the vets to believe so.

Two tigers – a male and a female – and a cow, were found dead at Pusda, in the Paoni range of the reserve on Friday. Clue tracked the main accused, Anandrao Madavi, on Saturday afternoon. Madavi told the police he sprayed thimet, a poisonous pesticide, on the cow to kill the tigers as they have been attacking his herd. The handlers suspect this is what caused Clue’s death too.

Wildlife veterinarians who conducted the post mortem said Clue died of poisoning as some of the dog’s organs had turned dark.

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[parvez]

Central Indian tiger genetics,

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Source: Gene flow and Evolutionary History of Tigers in Central India - Indian National Science Academy

PDFwww.insa.nic.in › Vol51_2016_2_2_Art10 Reply

[peter]

GENNADY F. BARYSHNIKOV I

a - Introduction

In October, I read an article about bones of big cats found in three caves in the Russian Far East: 'Late Pleistocene Felidae Remains (Mammalia, Carnivora) from Geographical Society Cave in the Russian Far East'. The article was published in 'Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, Vol. 320, No. 1, 2016.

As it was both informative and interesting, I decided for a summary. The summary will be discussed in the next post. In this post, you'll find a bit more about the writer.

b - Career

I found this on the internet (last modified: 04-09-2017):

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c - Conclusions

Judging from the length of the list of publications, Baryshnikov has been very productive. The words that stuck are: Pleistocene cave bears, Pleistocene Felidae, Pleistocene Canidae and Pleistocene Mustelidae. He also wrote articles about the modern polar bear, the saiga antilope, the European bison and the red squirrel.

If we add his thesis (1974) and the two dissertations (1980 and 2004), we can conclude that he is a specialist on Pleistocene landscapes and Pleistocene mammals.

His main interests are systematics, phylogeny and morphology of mammals (and Carnivora in particular) and the fauna and taphonomy of Paleolithic sites (the Caucasus in particular).

A true heavyweight, that is. Reply

[Jeffrey]

Tiger T521 was found dead at Panna Tiger Reserve Gehrighat area indicating that poachers are still on prowl in and around the protected areas.
She was trapped in  a wire trap set up for wild boars.
(Representaional image) Reply

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[peter]

Article - 'LATE PLEISTOCENE FELIDAE REMAINS (Mammalia, Carnivora) FROM GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY CAVE IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST' - Part 1

Author - Baryshnikov (GF)

Source - Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, Vol. 320, No. 1, 2016, pp. 84-120

Link - https://www.zin.ru/journals/trudyzin/doc/vol_320_1/TZ_320_1_Baryshnikov.pdf

Abstract - Fossil remains of felids from Geographical Society Cave and neighbouring localities (Tigrovaya Cave, Malaya Pensau Cave and Letuchiya Mysh Cave) in the Russian Far East are found to belong to four species: Panthera Tigris, P. spelaea, P. pardus, and Lynx lynx. In Geograpical Society Cave, the felid fossils are confined to deposits of the warm stage of the Late Pleistocene (MIS 3). The simultaneous presence of Panthera tigris and P. spelaea seems to be unusual, the tiger remains being numerous, whereas those of the cave lion are scant. There are differences between the Late Pleistocene tiger and the recent tiger in dental characters. P. tigris, most probably, migrated twice to the Russian Far East from southern regions: in interglacial MIS 3 and, subsequently, in the Holocene.

Advice - Must read Reply

[peter]

Article - 'LATE PLEISTOCENE FELIDAE REMAINS (Mammalia, Carnivora) FROM GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY CAVE IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST - part 2

Author - Baryshnikov (GF)

Source - Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, Vol. 320, No. 1, 2016, pp. 84-120

Summary - Assuming that most of you don't have the time to read Baryshnikov's great article (36 pages), I decided to post a summary I finished today. It's a bit long (8 pages), but 8 still beats 36. Always look at the bright side of life: 

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[peter]

Article - 'LATE PLEISTOCENE FELIDAE REMAINS (Mammalia, Carnivora) FROM GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY CAVE IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST - part 3

Author - Baryshnikov (GF)

Source - Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, Vol. 320, No. 1, 2016, pp. 84-120

Photographs -

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[GrizzlyClaws]

It is intriguing that the most impressive fossil records of the Amur tiger still belonged to Manchuria, and based on the report, I am assuming that the fossil tigers from the Russian Far East were somewhat comparable to the Korean tigers in term of size.

Maybe these fossil tigers were likely more linked to the historical Korean tigers than to the Manchurian tigers? Reply

[Betty]

Indochinese tiger fur, trunk length of more than 3 meters.

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[brotherbear]

The Russian Far East is ( to me ) the most interesting place on earth since the ending of the Pleistocene. What makes it so? The Russian wild boar - The Amur brown bear - The Amur tiger. All in one location! Reply

[Greatearth]

South China tiger

70 years old South China tiger skin in Yongchun.

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Baby South China tigers and mother.

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[Greatearth]

peter

Is it skin is longer than animal when it was alive? 
I remember you wrote Pollock recorded this tiger from Manas river was 403, 87 cm. I personally don't believe any Felidae today could grow more than 400 cm length. Or may have been error in measurement? 
If animal was robust or fat (after he eat so much), then skin could be large in term of width.

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[Greatearth]

This Bengal tiger is known as huge (365 cm) as well, but I think size of this tiger is wrong. 
It doesn't even look huge comparing to behind humans. This tiger has to look much bigger since it is much closer from camera. 
Might have been lie to overrated tiger size hunted by upper classes people like viceroy and governor. Or maybe they didn't know how to measure tiger.

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I even found a book saying "Lord Hardinge's tiger was 11 ft 6.5 in. Lord Reading's was 11 ft 5.5 in. Both measurements have been disputed: see Kesri Singh, Tiger of Rajastha (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1959), 33."

Thus, this 351 cm (11 ft 6.5 in) tiger is definitely wrong measurement.

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