I wasm’t feelimg well earlier this momth. SHE said it had somethimg to do with my “lower imtestimal tract” but I dom’t kmow what that meams exactly. All I kmow is that I felt yucky. SHE fed me chickem breast amd white rice to help my “imtestimal tract” amd I devoured it – evem the rice was yummy! After a couple of days of that, SHE gradually tramsitiomed me back to Fussie Cat®. So far, so good. Mow om with the Post.
Here are several stories relatimg to my big-cat cousims.
New jaguar spotted in Arizona points to progress in endangered species’ recovery
The spots gave it away. Just like a human fingerprint, the rosette pattern on each jaguar is unique so researchers knew they had a new animal on their hands after reviewing images captured by a remote camera in southern Arizona.
The University of Arizona Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center says it’s the fifth big cat over the last 15 years to be spotted in the area after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The animal was captured by the camera as it visited a watering hole in November, its distinctive spots setting it apart from previous sightings.
The team is now working to collect scat samples to conduct genetic analysis and determine the sex and other details about the new jaguar, including what it likes to eat. The menu can include everything from skunks and javelina to small deer.
As an indicator species, Susan Malusa, director of the center’s jaguar and ocelot project, said the continued presence of big cats in the region suggests a healthy landscape but that climate change and border barriers can threaten migratory corridors. She explained that warming temperatures and significant drought increase the urgency to ensure connectivity for jaguars with their historic range in Arizona.
More than 99% of the jaguar’s range is found in Central and South America, and the few male jaguars that have been spotted in the U.S. are believed to have dispersed from core populations in Mexico, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“It’s a kind of Tinder for big cats.”
Cheetahs were dying out in Africa, so conservationists tried something new
The cheetah is back – thanks to a smart release project that now sees populations flourishing in South Africa and beyond.
When four sub-adult cheetahs arrived at Kuzuko Private Game Reserve, South Africa, in 2023, there were high hopes that the female among them would breed. There was just one snag: it turned out that all four were, in fact, male.
A gender mix-up was the least of the quartet’s concerns, as their mother had been killed at Karongwe Private Game Reserve.
“To increase their chances of survival, they came to live in our boma facilities,” explains Jim Tan, CEO of Kuzuko, referring to the traditional fenced animal enclosure.
“We looked after them to adulthood. Two went off to Lolelunga Private Reserve, Zambia, in 2024; the other two were set to go to Mozambique, but were jumped by lions – sadly, one was killed.”
Kuzuko is one of more than 70 reserves across South Africa currently involved in the metapopulation management of cheetahs. It’s a modern and more holistic approach to cheetah conservation that has taken shape over the past 15 years, and has been a remarkable success story.
As the fastest land animal on the planet – the cheetah can accelerate to 110kph in just three seconds when hunting – this is one of Africa’s most iconic species. It is a beautiful feline, instantly recognisable by its lean appearance, delicate ‘teardrop’ facial markings and long legs built for running.
Conserving cheetahs
Once widespread across Africa and Asia, the cheetah is now largely confined to southern Africa, with a tiny remnant population of Asiatic cheetahs surviving in Iran. Globally, just 6,500 to 7,100 individuals remain in the wild.
Listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN since 1986, the species has suffered a dramatic decline over the past century and today roams less than 10 per cent of its historic range. For decades, work has been underway to restore South Africa’s cheetah populations, but the initial efforts concentrated more on growth in every population.
“This is not what the metapopulation approach is about,” says Sam Ferreira, large mammal ecologist at South African National Parks.
A metapopulation is a network of small, separate populations that together act like one larger population. In the wild, cheetahs would naturally disperse and connect these groups, sharing genes and boosting resilience.
But with fences and other human infrastructure now blocking that movement, conservationists have stepped in, mimicking those processes using translocations. It’s a kind of Tinder for big cats.
Fencing became an increasingly common feature of South Africa’s landscape after the country’s political transformation in 1994, when wildlife tourism surged and private reserves multiplied.
While these barriers helped to reduce human-wildlife conflict and poaching, they also impeded the natural movement of cheetahs, which depend on vast, open spaces. A growing human population has also impacted the landscape.
“Protected areas have become more fragmented,” says Olivia Sievert, cheetah range expansion co-ordinator for the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT).
“As a result, you don’t have the natural dispersal that allows gene flow between populations, so there’s more inbreeding. This impacts cheetah health, including reproductive health. Litters can be smaller, and the animals more susceptible to diseases. It becomes dangerous.”
“Metapopulation management is also about source-sink dynamics,” adds Sievert.
“If you have a population that’s acting as a ‘sink’ for a species, because of disease or predation, the natural metapopulation dynamics of dispersal allows a ‘source’ that has good breeding to rescue it. Fences and other human impacts mean you lose these dynamics. That’s why we do this work.”
Continue reading…
Why do we throw-up om the “worst places” (accordimg to our humams)?
Ome humam thimks she has the amswer. (As if it was a problem im the first place.)
For cats, carpet is preferred to a hard-surfaced floor, but it’s not to be extra annoying. Throwing up is so unpleasant because it violently engages a lot of different muscle groups.
It’s bad enough getting sick; we would not choose a slick, slippery surface to do it on, either. So cats dig their claws into the carpet to have some control over what is happening.
It’s hard enough merely walking on a ice rink, to give the idea of how cats (with claws out) react on a tile or linoleum floor.
It’s possible that they could hurt themselves if they lost their footing during such a physical reaction. In nature, cats would be prompted away from smooth, open spaces, such as the top of a boulder, and onto sandy or grassy ground where their paws can grip.
This might be why cats will leave the kitchen… and throw up in the living room.
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