Can Wildlife Watchers Use the Increasing Number of Roadkill Maps?

More scientists map roadkill, hoping to cut the 2 million some animals a day runover. Wildlife watchers can use the data to find animals, but it’s tricky.

Keep reading Can Wildlife Watchers Use the Increasing Number of Roadkill Maps?

Share/Save

Help NYC Get a Wildlife Rehab Center

The Wild Bird Fund wants to open a wildlife rehabilitation center for NYC, the biggest US city without one.

Keep reading Help NYC Get a Wildlife Rehab Center

Did Iran Just Try to Smuggle in a Tiger in a Suitcase?

One of Iran

One of Iran's Tigers on Exchange, (Photo by Hemmat Khani courtesy IWPR)

A Thai woman was caught with a sedated tiger cub in luggage she had checked on a flight to Iran, Traffic reports. Alert security workers at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport X-rayed her “oversized” bag and saw a cat skeleton amidst a bag full of stuffed animal toys. Wildlife officials are still trying to figure out where she got the tiger and where it was supposed to go. Could Iran itself have wanted another Siberian tiger–either for its tiny, odd breeding program or for the Tehran’s Eram zoo, where those tigers first stayed?

The 31-year old Thai national was scheduled to board a Mahan Air flight destined for Iran when she had trouble checking in her oversized bag. She was flying on Iran’s own Mahan Airlines, whose only flight from Bangkok that day was a five and half hour journey headed directly to Tehran, where it arrived at four in the morning. Thai nationals can get a tourist visa to Iran pretty easily.

By fatwa Iranians aren’t supposed to have any (cats might be ok, but dogs, especially black ones, are as verboten as mullets). Who knows if they have the same problem we do of big jerks wanting big cats as pets? But I can’t imagine anyone trying to smuggle a tiger into Iran, then keep it without authorities knowing.

They don’t have any native wild tigers. The native Caspian or Mazandaran tiger (Panthera tigris ssp. virgata) has been

Keep reading Did Iran Just Try to Smuggle in a Tiger in a Suitcase?

Nugent Poaching Settlement Soft, but in Line with Other Cases

black  tailed deer

The fact that they caught the violation while watching his TV show shows me he clearly didn’t intend to break the rules. But if a highly successful NRA board member filming a TV show can’t get the rules straight, how can we expect the general public to do it?

Keep reading Nugent Poaching Settlement Soft, but in Line with Other Cases

Where to See Tigers in India

Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve

Corbett had one tiger per 9.3 square km. Nearby Dudhwa allowed 11.5 square km per tiger. Tiny Ranthambore had 32 tigers in 344, or one tiger per 10.8 square km.

Keep reading Where to See Tigers in India

Mexican Wolf Tourism Not So Far Fetched, Says Woman Who’s Tried It

mexicangray

Wolf-watching expert Jean Ossorio camps a week to see one endangered Mexican gray wolf. Planned tours would work–if locals shot few of the endangered lobos.

Keep reading Mexican Wolf Tourism Not So Far Fetched, Says Woman Who’s Tried It

NY Epicenter of Bat Disease

Some NY bat populations are down 95% because of white nose sydrome, which first appeared in 2006 and now reaches halfway across the country. The little brown bat and northern long-eared are the hardest hit.

Keep reading NY Epicenter of Bat Disease

Meet Ned, Baby Skunk

Ned guzzles

Ned–a female baby skunk–has a body like an over-inflated squirrel baby. She’s got a huge belly and feet that look like miniature grizzly bear paws.

Keep reading Meet Ned, Baby Skunk

Yellowstone Buffalo: Don’t Worry, If You Visit, You’ll See Plenty of ’em

baby bison

It wasn’t enough to see bison, we wanted to see them doing something. They delivered. Over six days in the park my husband David and I got to see bison nursing calves, herds blocking the road, bulls ramming each other, using their horns and mouth to strip bark off trees and tons of grazing or napping

Keep reading Yellowstone Buffalo: Don’t Worry, If You Visit, You’ll See Plenty of ’em

Help Stop Sending Kemp’s Ridley Turtle Hatchlings Into the Gulf Oil Spill

My personal opinion is, what’s the harm of trying? It could be a total disaster if the oil spill continues and spreads. Why not spend some money to keep these turtles out of the way?

Keep reading Help Stop Sending Kemp’s Ridley Turtle Hatchlings Into the Gulf Oil Spill