Eastern Cougar Is Declared Extinct, With an Asterisk

By FELICITY BARRINGER, The New York Times

Seven decades after the last reported sighting of the eastern cougar, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service declared it extinct Wednesday and recommended that it be removed from the nation’s endangered species list.

There’s one wrinkle, though: it may not be extinct, exactly.

Scientists are moving toward the conclusion that the eastern cougar was erroneously classified as a separate subspecies in the first place. As a result of a genetic study conducted in 2000, most biologists now believe there is no real difference between the western and eastern branches of the cougar family.

Either way, the “eastern” cougar as such is no longer with us. Any recent sightings in the cougar’s historic range, which stretched from eastern Ontario and Michigan eastward to Maine and southward to Georgia, Tennessee and Missouri, were actually sightings of its relatives, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

(Full story)

 oldslabsides wrote: 
Thanks for bumping. That's pretty amazing... despite the stereotypical (and funny) gay-guy narration.
 

 oldslabsides wrote: 

*bump* because it's funny.

NSFW

 

 NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote: 
WOW!
 
I reckon he doesn't get many knuckleheads dropping in on his wave.

surf's up

His are bigger than yours.

 meower wrote: 
thud

 Inamorato wrote:
  Cookie really IS in every single thread...

 Inamorato wrote: 

Bearly News

LACONIA, NH (Huffington Post) — A black bear walked into a New Hampshire house through an open door, ate two pears and a bunch of grapes, took a drink from the family fishbowl and grabbed a stuffed bear on its way out the door. Mary Beth Parkinson said the bear apparently took advantage of the open outside door to get into her kitchen Tuesday in Laconia, about 20 miles north of Concord. She thinks the garage door going up scared the bear enough that it fled the house.

She said she arrived in time to save the fish.

Parkinson said her 6- and 9-year-old boys made sure the doors were locked before they went to bed.

You've got to like a bear that nabs a stuffed teddy as a souvenir from a burgIary.

I just liked this picnicking bear photo in HuffPo.

Jack Hanna uses pepper spray to ward off grizzly bear that approached during hike in Montana

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - TV host and zookeeper Jack Hanna says he took his own advice and used pepper spray on grizzlies headed toward him.

The Columbus Zoo keeper and frequent David Letterman guest says he was with his wife and other hikers in Montana's Glacier National Park on Saturday when they saw the mother bear and two large cubs coming toward them. Hanna and the others moved slowly back up the trail to a clearing and stood still while the mother and one cub passed by.

Hanna says the other cub, weighing about 125 pounds, charged toward the hikers. Hanna sprayed the bear in the face, and it fled.

Hanna had recently filmed a message for the National Park Service encouraging hikers to carry pepper spray.

 MrsHobieJoe wrote: 
Holy mother of ...

That is just awesome. I LOVE how they have feathers all the way to their talons!

This is currently on the front page of the Guardian newspaper- it's part of a series of twelve on high speed photography.

Boozy ape sent to rehab

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian chimpanzee has been sent to rehab by zookeepers to cure the smoking and beer-drinking habits he has picked up, a popular daily reported on Friday. An ex-performer, Zhora became aggressive at his circus and was transferred to a zoo in the southern Russian city of Rostov, where he fathered several baby chimps, learned to draw with markers and picked up his two vices.

"The beer and cigarettes were ruining him. He would pester passers-by for booze," the Komsomolskaya Pravda paper said.

It added he has now been transferred to the city of Kazan, about 800 km (500 miles) east of Moscow, for rehabilitation treatment.

 

Maybe I should have put this in the Friends of Bill W topic.

 hippiechick wrote: 
  *whap whap whap whap*

 Coaxial wrote: 


plus, the bokey factor. can't discount that.

 Inamorato wrote: 

How tragic.  Never thought coyotes had that kind of nerve. Must be global warming.

In the suburb where I live, coyotes will occasionally kill cats or small dogs but I've never heard of a healthy coyote attacking a person anywhere. There seems to be an increase in the number of attacks by wild animals that are not ordinarily considered to be threats: cougars, black bears, even wolves, about which there had never been any confirmed incidents of attacks on humans until the last couple of years.

Woman dies after attack by coyotes during solo hike in Canadian park

By ROB GILLIES
Associated Press Writer

TORONTO (AP) — Two coyotes attacked a promising young musician as she was hiking alone in a national park in eastern Canada, and authorities said she died Wednesday of her injuries.

The victim was identified as Taylor Mitchell, 19, a singer-songwriter from Toronto who was touring to promote her new album on the East Coast.

She was hiking solo on a trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia on Tuesday when the attack occurred. She was airlifted to a Halifax hospital in critical condition and died Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Coyotes, which also are known as prairie wolves, are found from Central America to the United States and Canada.

Wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft said coyote attacks are extremely rare because the animals are usually shy.

Bancroft, a retired biologist with Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources, said it's possible the coyotes thought Mitchell was a deer or other prey.

"It's very unusual and is not likely to be repeated," Bancroft said. "We shouldn't assume that coyotes are suddenly going to become the big bad wolf."

Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokeswoman Brigdit Leger said other hikers heard Mitchell's screams for help on Tuesday and called emergency police dispatchers.

Police who were in the area reached the scene quickly and shot one of the animals, apparently wounding it. But the wounded animal and a companion coyote managed to get away.

Paul Maynard of Emergency Health Services said Mitchell already was in critical condition when paramedics arrived on the scene and had multiple bite wounds over her entire body.

"She was losing a considerable amount of blood from the wounds," he said.

An official with Parks Canada said they blocked the entrance to the trail where Mitchell was attacked and were trying to find the animals to determine what prompted such an unusual attack.

"There's been some reports of aggressive animals, so it's not unknown," said Helene Robichaud, the park's superintendent. "But we certainly never have had anything so dramatic and tragic."

Mitchell was an up-and-coming folk and country musician who was nominated for a 2009 Canadian Folk Music Award in the Young Performer of the Year category.

"Words can't begin to express the sadness and tragedy of losing such a sweet, compassionate, vibrant, and phenomenally talented young woman," Lisa Weitz, Mitchell's manager, said in an e-mail. "She just turned 19 two months ago, and was so excited about the future."

                                        Taylor Mitchell   AP Photo/LW Communications