Category: Wildlife

Best Friends Forever

9/16/2017

If you haven't been following the Bengal and Sumatran tigers who are now BFFs at the San Diego Zoos Safari Park, START NOW! I'll catch you up...

Two tiger cubs, each of whom ended up in their own isolating predicament on opposite sides of the country, have been brought together in one great best friends story!

Bengal Buddy

This little guy was seized by customs agents at a California border crossing on August 23rd, 2017 when some doofus tried to smuggle him across the border.

The cub was suspected to be about 6 weeks old and was promptly taken to the Safari Park for veterinary care.

USA TODAY
The San Diego Union Tribune

Bengal Tiger
Panthera tigris tigris
IUCN Status: Engangered
~2,500 left in the wild

Sumatran Supporter

On July 11, 2017, a tiger was born across the country at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C. Unfortunately, the cub was rejected by its mother when he was only 19-days-old. After attempts to reunite mom and cub again failed, the Zoo's Great Cats team worked on other solutions.

Smithsonian Newsroom

Sumatran Tiger
Panthera tigris sumatrae
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
~400 left in the wild

Although unfortunate, their circumstances were quite timely and have brought together the cutest pair in town. Check out some the videos of their journey and be sure to follow the San Diego Zoo Safari Park on Twitter and Instagram to keep up with their adventures.

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Show Me the Money

9/8/2016

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For the second year in a row, I am a recipient of the Dan L. Duncan Scholarship presented by the Houston Safari Club and the American Conservation and Education Society. This year, 24 students with a desire to protect and promote hunting and the principles of conservation were given the award in front of Houston Safari Club members at their September monthly meeting. Gary Rose (far right) did a remarkable job introducing us all, bragging about all our various accomplishments like a proud parent.

This was my last year of eligibility for the award but so far during my tenure as a recipient, I've met many interesting people and have learned a lot about the industry. Thank you to Houston Safari Club for supporting me and my goals of African lion research and conservation!

Other news on the funding front, my project received 2 grants from Dallas Safari Club! An anonymous donor through the organization is paying for the Freezer/Mill I need to process all my bone samples and I received their general grant, highlighted on the grants page of their website with a photo of a lion!

Coupled with the money you all graciously donated through the Experiment.com Cat Challenge crowdfunding campaign (for which I came in 2nd), my project has enough funding to get me through the year!!!

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It's getting crowded in here!

5/19/2016

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Today I start my first stab at crowdfunding. My dissertation project has been selected to be a project in the Cat Challenge on the crowdfunding site Experiment.com. This site is different than most other crowdfunding sites in that it is strictly for research and all projects are vetted by a panel of professionals before being launched. On general crowdfunding sites, anyone can start a campaign so, really, anyone can claim they're doing research. On Experiment.com, every project is rigorously reviewed, provided feedback, and scientifically approved so you know, as a financial backer, you can be confident you are funding real research. And through their website, us researchers are able to easily keep our backers up to date on the progress of our research.

My profile can be found at Experiment.com/liondiversity
(Make sure to watch my promo video. It took me about 24 hours to write, research, film and edit!)

The Challenge is 2-fold:

Raise the full value of my GOAL by
getting lots of BACKERS (people like you) to support my research

The project with the most BACKERS will receive an extra $1,000 added to their GOAL.
Our GOAL is $5,000 and we must receive 100% of our GOAL to get any of the money donated by the BACKERS.

PLEASE HELP!

Go to Experiment.com/liondiversity and show some support by making a donation. Any little bit helps! The more people who make donations the better. You can also help by spreading the word.

The Challenge (# of BACKERS) runs from today to Friday, June 10 @ 6PM ET
The Campaign (100% of GOAL) runs from today to Saturday, June 18

Your support is much appreciated! THANKS!!!

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The Coolest Blood Supermoon Photo You'll See

9/29/2015

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It was too cloudy in College Station to see the eclipse. It's nice that someone was able to capture a magical moment!

Lion Cub and the Supermoon Eclipse
Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mk III and 17-40mm f/4 lens on a BeetleCam. f/13, 8 seconds, ISO 3200.
Off-camera flash triggered with Camtraptions Wireless Trigger.

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Reintroduction Update

7/13/2015

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The lions have been almost fully "reintroduced". They have been awakened in Rwanda and initial introductions have been made in the form of quarantine bomas. They will spend 14 days in these bomas acclimating to their new Rwandan home and getting used to the sites, sounds and smells of their new home. Apparently, the local baboon troupe isn't too happy about it.

The non-profit African Parks, an organization charged on taking total responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments, wildlife organizations and local communities, was responsible for the management of the translocation efforts. They are a management organization with a focus on the generation of sustainable income streams to pay for running costs and capital replacements. Although they seem to have an economic focus, they do have a conservation approach and mention long-term biodiversity restoration in their model. This seems like a great organization, taking on the financial burdens that often plight national parks, my only concern is that with this move of South African lions into Rwanda rather than eastern African lions into Rwanda is that the individuals making the decisions regarding long-term biodiversity restoration may not fully understand what biodiversity and biodiversity restoration means.

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Reintroduction of Lions to Rwanda

6/29/2015

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Lions went extinct in Rwanda 15 years ago after the 1994 genocide when the Akagera National Park went unmanaged and cattle herders poisoned many of the animal species. And this week, in a big conservation effort, seven lions, 5 females and 2 males, are being relocated from the South African province of KwaZulu Natal to repopulate Rwanda with lions. They are starting their journey from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg to Rwanda today!

But are South African lions the best option for reintroduction to this area? Rwanda is part of eastern Africa, adjacent to Tanzania and closely residing to Kenya, one of the largest populations of lions in Africa.

This new Rwandan population is already going to have to deal with potential issues with inbreeding from the small size of its starting population and being isolated from its neighboring lion populations. But other issues could arise if/when the population is no longer isolated if the founding population is from the wrong stock.

There has been enough research done on lions to have determined that eastern and southern lions cluster separately phylogenetically, meaning they have enough genetic differences to show there is some sort of structure amongst them. There hasn’t been enough research, however, to determine if there are enough genetic differences to differentiate between the two entities, or if we can split them into what some people might refer to as subspecies. Part of the research I am conducting is to further establish whether lions can be classified as regionally distinct, or subspecies, and if translocating southern African lions into eastern African lion territories, and vice versa, would be detrimental or beneficial to the population.

Reintroduction through Translocation
beneficial if not subspecies – creates greater genetic diversity & increases adaptive abilities
detrimental if subspecies – can reduce fitness & decrease adaptive abilities (outbreeding depression)

Red: The lions' translocation route from South Africa to Rwanda
Green: Tanzania and Kenya

Part of the reason I want to look at the historic genetics and compare it to the modern is to determine if there is a recent or evolutionary background for regional markers. All the anthropogenic effects of the past 100 years could have had a lot of impact on the genetics of lions across the continent and we don't know in which direction, creating or destroying rationality. Hopefully more research and larger sample sizes (like it my study) will help answer these questions.

They say these animals were "selected based on future reproductive potential and their ability to contribute to social cohesion". They may have chosen lions originating so far from Rwanda because with translocations there is the issue of the animals trying to get back to their home but I still wonder why they didn't use lions from Tanzania or Kenya. Lions native to Rwanda probably would have been more closely related to them, cost of transport probably would have been less... I wonder what kind of politics I don't know about it behind this as well...

Update:
7/1/2015 - While doing a bit more research combing through article after article reading the same shpeal over and over I finally found something that somewhat confirmed my suspicion but with no real concrete evidence... there is political mumbo jumbo afoot....

The Christian Science Monitor (um, the what?) says that Kenya offered to donate eight lions to Rwanda last year but Kenya's wildlife conservation groups fiercely opposed the plan saying "Rwanda had not sufficiently addressed issues that resulted to the loss of its own lion population."

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Off the List

6/26/2015

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The eastern cougar, Puma concolor couguar, is officially being removed from the endangered species list. It is being declared extinct since an eastern cougar has not been seen since 1938. The decision is based on an extensive review by the US Fish and Wildlife Services which included "the best available scientific and historic information [which we now know from my lion research isn't the best scientific and historic information, just the best available of the resources accessible to us lowly wildlife researchers], queried 21 states and eastern Canadian provinces, and reviewed hundreds of reports from the public." It's not that there haven't been any cougars seen, it's just that they claim that any cougars seen in the east in the past 77 years are a result of dispersing animals from western populations or animals that have been released or escaped from captivity. These claims come from more than 100 reports dating back to 1900.

There isn't much genetic research on the puma (FYI: puma, cougar, mountain lion, catamount, panther... all the same thing, just depends on where you are and who you talk to). The scientific community seems to be quite torn about taxonomic assessment and there has been much debate around subspecies distinction, particularly in the case of using cougars in Texas to repopulate the Florida panther population. Some say they are distinct enough that they shouldn't be hybridized while others say they are the same so one can successfully repopulate the other. According to the Federal Register,  "the best available information continues to support the assignment of the eastern taxon to Puma concolor couguar as distinct from other North American subspecies" based primarily on biology and life history.

The proposal to remove the eastern cougar from the endangered species list does not affect the status of the endangered Florida panther subspecies, a cluster of conservation genetics issues to discuss in more detail at another time. But, although the extinct animals will no longer be protected under the Endangered Species Act, which is intended to save animals and plants that still have a recorded population, it will also no longer be able to be used to protect similar animals, such as the Florida panther. Not sure if that matters since the Florida panther is already protected (and possibly diluted with Texas cougar) but its interesting nonetheless.

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Causing a Physical Transformation

5/22/2015

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This video is a great reminder of the immense impact large carnivores have on the environment. The presence of large carnivores increases biodiversity, creates environmental stability and can even impact the topography of a landscape. They may seem scary but they are necessary for a healthy, thriving, complete ecosystem.

BTW... Happy International Day for Biodiversity! Stay different. It helps the planet!

Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity, ensures natural sustainability and provides a greater the opportunity for medical discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses.

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Zambian Big Cat Hunting Ban Lifted

5/18/2015

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A ban on the hunting of big cats in Zambia, which has been in effect since January 2013, was officially lifted a few days ago. Hunting of leopards will resume at the end of this year/beginning of next and hunting of lions will return about a year after that.

Photo from www.explorationsafrica.com

The ban was initially instated in conjunction with a closure associated with a reallocation of leases for 19 game management areas stopping all hunting in Zambia. After substantial losses in revenue, the closure was lifted in August of 2014 for all game except big cats and elephants. Although the Zambian Wildlife Authority was already implementing a mandated Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for the African Lion with the sole purpose of ensuring the future for the Zambian lion population through maintenance, restoration and problem animal control, the ban for big cats remained because of "weak regulatory mechanisms" and the government was under the impression that their populations were depleting.

Zambia, however, is one of 5 countries to have lion populations 1000+ individuals strong and, in areas with thriving lion populations, a hunting ban could actually have potentially deleterious effects (and not just on eco-tourism). Studies have shown that the presence of hunters deters poachers, providing protection for the habitat and other animals. Revenue brought in by hunters also contributes to anti-poaching efforts as well as community assistance by providing jobs and other resources.

So, after the realization that a continued full ban in Zambia on hunting for big cats could be damaging for the population (and economy), the government decided to reinstate hunting under the pretense there will be “cautionary quotas.” Tourism and Arts Minister, Jean Kapata, said "safari hunting was profitable and good for off-take of wildlife and could benefit the whole country if well nurtured." The study I just submitted for publication will (hopefully) be used to help with decisions for setting quotas and implementing management to prevent loss of diversity while big cat hunting is permitted.

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The Circle of Life

3/9/2015

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I just wanted to share this nifty little pictorial example I found of trophic levels (aka what Mufasa talks to Simba about in the Lion King fondly referred to as "The Circle of Life"). Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba!

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A Little Rarity

3/2/2015

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A white lion cub, a very rare color morph, has been causing quite a stir amongst visitors a Kruger National Park in the Republic of South Africa (mostly because he's so darn cute). This little rarity is a member of the Satara Pride and is one of only 13 wild white lions. White lions are so rare that none were seen in the wild from the early 1990's until 2006. And since 2006, only 16 white lions have been born and in only 5 lion prides, all in the Kruger/Timbavati region.

Why are they so rare?

White lions are a result of leucism, or lack of pigment which results in light coat and eyes. In lions, leucism is caused by getting a copy of a gene which has a recessive mutation from both mom and dad. For two tawny lions (the typical brown/tan color) to have a white lion cub, both lions would have to be carriers of the recessive allele, meaning they have the recessive copy but they display the dominant one.

Where did all the white lions go for 13 years?

If we think of this as a simple Mendelian trait, when a carrier mates with a carrier they have a 25% chance of creating a white cub and a 50% chance of creating more carriers. When a carrier mates with a full tawny they have a 50% chance of carriers. So, for 13 years, the recessive allele was 'hiding.' Because the white lion didn't disappear completely, this means that the carriers either weren't breeding with other carriers or when they did, neither of them passed along the recessive allele to the same cub (the other 75%).

It is quite possible that the statistics are way more complicated and that there may even be more than one way to be 'white.' It has been speculated that light coat in white lions with yellow eyes may we caused by a different gene than in white lions with blue eyes (the TYR gene versus a gene similar to what creates white cats and white tigers). Genomic analysis of big cats is just beginning but don't you worry, we're getting to the bottom of it!

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Can You Feel the Love Tonight

2/14/2015

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It’s February 14th so I thought I would share a little love. Once thought to be a means of displaying social status and sustaining social rank, head rubbing, nuzzling and licking between lions is actually for maintaining social bonds, or what we like to anthropomorphize as showing affection. A study published in PLOS One tested three hypotheses for these affiliative actions through behavioral observations of a captive lion pride with the results supporting social bonding over social status or tension reduction. Meaning, a female lion nuzzling up to a male lion may be similar to a kiss.

So follow in the paw-steps of a lion this Valentine’s day and show some affection (not just because according to a Today Show survey 52% of people would end a relationship because they didn't get anything for Valentine’s day – extreme – but because everyone could benefit from a little nuzzle).

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Electrifying

1/26/2015

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This is incredible!

The moral of this story: Never underestimate the intelligence of an animal and don't ever assume it is inferior to a human's. I know a few humans who wouldn't have figured that out. They might have been just as persistent, but probably would have just kept shocking themselves.

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They're Everywhere!

12/3/2014

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Don't think that just because you live in a big city you are exempt from wildlife. On November 29th a mountain lion was spotted in Beverly Hills, the second recent sighting of a big cat east of the 405 Freeway. Mountain lions call the Santa Monica Mountains and Topanga State Park, west of the 405, and the Angeles National Forest, north of Pasadena, home. This particular cat wasn't collared so they don't know if it's a State Park cat on holiday or if it's a cat that has a knack for keeping cryptic in the fancy digs of 90210.

Although the sighting was originally a tweet made by a Beverly Hills local (right), I was made aware of this sighting from a post on the Urban Carnivores Facebook page. Urban Carnivores is a website dedicated to keeping people informed on the carnivores you might run into in Los Angeles and Ventura counties with up-to-date news and the latest in local scientific research on mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, etc. The fact there is a need for this type of website goes to show you need to stay alert wherever you are. So, keep in mind, though you may be somewhere urban, there may be something wild lurking around the corner and wild will not give way urban so step aside.

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Have a S'more. It's World Lion Day!

8/10/2014

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I haven't decided if it's fitting or worrisome that World Lion Day is on the same day as National Lazy Day! Lions can be quite lazy themselves sleeping up to 20 hours a day, only reducing those hours of shut-eye during mating season when they are looking to get some (wink-wink). Laziness should not be taken, however, in the conservation of this majestic species (and I'm not just being bias because they are the focus of my dissertation research). For a species as iconic as the lion, we know surprising little about their population and how to manage it.

So treat National Lazy Day as an honorary nod to the laziness of the lion and maybe only be lazy by sitting on the couch while you make that donation to lion research on this World Lion Day. Then, you can eat a s'more to celebrate your generosity because it also happens to be National S'more Day.

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