KATHMANDU — A tiger sits quietly surrounded by trees, observing something in the distance. It then roars and darts toward its target: a leopard that jumps down from a tree. The two big cats confront one another, but with the leopard taking the submissive stance of lying on the ground, the standoff doesn’t escalate into […]
Tag: leopards
US Zoo shut down and police called in after rare leopard escapes enclosure
A clouded leopard that escaped its enclosure at a zoo in the US state of Texas has been found following an extensive search which resulted in the zoo going into lockdown. The leopard was eventually located not far from its enclosure following several hours of frantic searching. The zoo said that the animal does not […]
Fuming hippo chases terrified tourists as safari comes inches away from jaws of beast
A furious hippo has chased down a boat packed with safari-going tourists who found themselves just inches away from the jaws of a wild beast. The now-viral video showcased tourists aboard a speedboat, taking in the sights of their surroundings and a close-by hippopotamus that took more than an interest in them. They were just […]
Leopards, sharks and glass frogs win new protections, while hippos face tragic losses
A couple of weeks ago, I told you about our work at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora—known as CITES. This conference is so important because it shapes how wild animals in trade are treated across the globe and can curb commercial […]
Honey Badger Takes On Three Leopards At Once, Emerges From The Brawl Without A Scratch
Lesson learned: NEVER mess around with the honey badger. No, I’m talking about NFL defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, we’re talking about one of the toughest, most elusive creatures in all of nature. We here in the United States aren’t too familiar with the creature, because they’re only found in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, […]
Wild cats threatened by ‘underrecognized’ risk of spillover disease
Starting in 2020, the global coronavirus pandemic brought the threat posed by zoonotic diseases into sharp focus in the public mind. But across the tropics and beyond, scientists had long warned that shrinking habitats and the narrowing distance between human populations, livestock, domestic animals and wildlife was increasing possible points of contact, risking the spillover […]
Enigmatic binturong photographed in Nepal for the first time
KATHMANDU — This past July 20, Radha Krishna Rijal noticed a strange animal struggling in the drainage channel of his house in the Parshyang neighborhood of western Nepal’s Pokhara Valley. He’d never seen such an animal before, he tells Mongabay: it was small, with a long tail and a furry body. “It had rained continuously […]
Southeast Asia’s big cats like their prey rare — as in really elusive
Tigers and clouded leopards are two of Southeast Asia’s most threatened and enigmatic big cat species. With the numbers of both in sharp decline across the region, leaving their remaining populations small and fragmented, it’s unsurprising that scientists know very little about basic things — such as what they eat. But now, a new study […]