Wild cats – Pain In The Bud

Caturday Open Comments: The Closer The Cat, The Happier The Human, Study Finds. PLUS: P-22’s $100m Legacy

Open comments, open topics!

Welcome to this week’s Caturday open comments and open topics. This is our second week running posts like this, so if you didn’t join us last week, you’re welcome to comment on anything, suggest stories, talk about your own cats, or describe the many ways in which Buddy is a dapper and diggity diggity dope feline, as DasEFX might say.

P-22’s lasting legacy: the world’s largest wildlife corridor

Three years after his death, the world’s most famous puma’s legacy continues to expand with the construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.

The crossing straddles 10 lanes of US 101 and a local road, stretching 210 feet to link the Santa Monica Mountains ecosystem to the Simi Hills. Along with restoring 13 acres of habitat, the $100 million project provides a safe way for mountain lions and other animals to travel between fragmented habitats.

Aerial view of a green space on top of a highway overpass, with construction workers in safety vests walking on a dirt path. Surrounding areas have rocky terrains and vegetation. — The wildlife crossing under construction. Credit: KTLA

It also recreates the route P-22 himself took when he migrated from the San Diego area to Los Angeles as a young puma. He settled in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park, an improbable home for a large wild predator, let alone a member of his often wide-ranging species.

The route is extremely perilous for mountain lions, already under threat from habitat fragmentation, hunting and ecological pressures. P-22’s remarkable resilience became the stuff of legend when researchers realized where he was born and the journey he’d taken to his final home.

The puma became iconic in Los Angeles, often appearing on Ring doorball cameras, spotted by hikers on the trails above Hollywood Hills, and even resting in the backyards of homes neighboring Griffith Park. Sightings were frequently posted to socials like Instagram and Facebook, where locals bonded over their admiration for P-22 and the rest of us admired him from afar.

Perhaps the most recognizable photograph of P-22 was the one captured by National Geographic’s Steve Winter, who snapped the striking cat passing in front of the Hollywood sign in the hills at night. (See header image.)

The Wallis Annenberg crossing will be opened on Dec. 2, ushering in a new era for wildlife in California.

Aerial view of a highway interchange with multiple lanes, surrounded by grass and trees, showing vehicles traveling in both directions. — A rendering of the complete Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing showing what it will look like when it’s complete. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Study: Physical proximity to your cat is associated with positive vibes

On the heels of research that found a link between having cats in the home and happiness, a brand new study finds positive mood benefits associated with being physically close to our feline overlords.

In this study, researchers visited cats and their humans in their homes rather than in a laboratory setting. They observed the cat-human interactions, how much time they spend in close proximity, and took urine samples to measure hormonal changes in the humans. Feline proximity was also tracked and logged via small Bluetooth collar attachments.

“I think many cat owners are familiar with the sense of comfort and peace they feel when their cat climbs onto their lap seeking affection, they start to pet it, and the cat begins purring contentedly,” study co-author Saho Takagi said. “Our findings suggest that this feeling may be partly reflected in the hormonal connection between cats and their owners, particularly through oxytocin, a hormone involved in the formation of parent-child bonds and social relationships.”

Since Bud seems to be attached to me by an invisible tether and spends hours each day in direct physical contact – napping in my lap, resting a paw on a leg or arm, sleeping while burrowed up snugly against my side – this study is affirmation of the calming effect the little dude has.

A gray cat peacefully sleeping on a cozy plaid blanket. — Bud sleeping on my legs on a cold day when I was wrapped up in a blanket. He doesn’t like being underneath the blanket, but he likes to sleep between my knees.

PITB will be operating out of a hotel this week

Or for several days at least. Contractors will be here working on the bathroom and kitchen, and apparently the work is going to put the bathroom out of commission for at least two nights, not the one night as I’d hoped. (Thanks to those who offered suggestions for staying in a hotel with a cat!)

I’ll still be around and hopefully will stick to a regular posting schedule – every other day, or more frequently if there are newsy cat stories that fall within this blog’s remit – but Photoshop is a real Pain In The Bud when using a laptop, I’ve found, so the Budster and I will be reliant entirely on Pexels, Wikimedia Commons (fair use) and that sort of thing. Hopefully Bud lets me work, ’cause I’m not supposed to leave him alone in the hotel room for longer than a few minutes at a time.

Big Buddy has been downgraded

…to The Slightly Larger Buddy. This momentous change is prompted by Little Buddy’s certainty that his growth spurt is imminent and he’s about to blossom into the fierce tiger he’s always known he’ll be.

When that happens, the gulf in Buddy height and weight will be significantly reduced, rendering me Slightly Larger.

Close-up of a tiger's face with distinctive orange and black stripes, looking intently at a plant in the foreground. — Buddy of the future after he has his growth/orange spurt. Credit: Joel Simeon/Pexels

Which is fine by me, but what of Little Buddy? Will he be Moderately Sized Buddy? Super Buddy? Buddy In A Transitional State? The latter sounds vaguely culture war-ish, as if Fox News is about to run a story any moment now about the girls Buddy has replaced on the track and field and swimming teams, which of course would be preposterous. He’s too lazy to run and too terrified by water to swim. I could, however, envision him as an accomplished deadlifter. Those huge meowscles would be put to excellent use!

‘We Have To Do A Better Job Of Making Sure People Understand These Are Not Disney Animals’: Your Latest Reminder That Tigers Aren’t Cuddly

Wild animals, particularly wild predators, cannot be befriended, and encounters with them rarely end well for people.

David Villalobos told detectives he wanted to be “one with the tiger.”

So the New York man jumped off the monorail at the Bronx Zoo and into the Wild Asia exhibit, where his 10-minute encounter with a tiger named Bashuta resulted in a punctured lung, a broken arm, and bite wounds on his arms, legs, shoulders and back.

Mercifully, and contrary to his nature as a predator, Bashuta did not kill Villalobos, and while Villalobos almost got his wish “to be one with” the male Siberian tiger, his consolation prize was life – and a trespassing charge from the NYPD.

I remember the 2012 incident well because I was working as a reporter for Newsday at the time and I was in the newsroom the night it happened, placing calls to Villalobos’ family and neighbors in an attempt to understand why he’d willingly enter an apex predator’s enclosure.

On Saturday a UK man — whose name has not been publicly released yet by authorities — jumped into the tiger enclosure at the UK’s Yorkshire Wildlife Park. He wasn’t as lucky, and zoo visitors filmed the last few moments of his life as the big cat — also an endangered Siberian (Amur) — mauled him.

A still image of a video that shows the last few moments of the UK man’s life after he hopped barriers to enter a tiger habitat at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Oct. 10.

Like the incident at the Bronx Zoo, the enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park had adequate barriers and the man circumvented several of them to put himself in danger.

The big cat was unharmed and will not be euthanized. The incident “was in no way the tiger’s fault,” said Ron Magill, a wildlife photographer and communications director for Zoo Miami.

“It’s just so hard to guarantee against someone who’s determined to do something,” Magill told CNN in an interview a few hours after the incident.

The wildlife park was evacuated and remained closed for the weekend. In the meantime, UK authorities asked people not to continue sharing footage uploaded by several bystanders.

“I say this with profound respect for my profession, but we have to do a better job of making people understand these are not Disney animals,” Magill said. “This is not a play exhibit. We do not play with these animals. They are not our pets. And they can be much more dangerous because they have lost that natural fear of people. “

They’re also territorial, and from their perspective their enclosures are their territories. Zoo visitors who drop in are curiosities to explore by pawing at them at best, and uninvited, unwanted invaders at worst.

Tigers are the largest and most dangerous big cats, and Amur (Siberian) tigers are the biggest tiger subspecies in the world. Credit: Lars H Knudsen/Pexels

It’s a lesson quite a few people need to learn, apparently. US national park rangers have been begging people to keep their distance from wild animals over the past few years after several incidents involving tourists approaching dangerous wildlife to pet them, take selfies with them, and generally infringe on their space.

In July, 65-year-old Carl Isom-McDaniel was photographing a bison with his granddaughter when the 2,000 pound animal charged at him and launched him high into the air, using its horns in a display of raw power serving as a reminder that humans are physically nowhere near the top of the food chain.

Isom-McDaniel’s incident, in which he suffered multiple femur fractures among other injuries, happened less than two weeks after a 12-year-old was attacked and hospitalized after getting too close to a bison near Yellowstone’s “mud volcano.”

At the time, park officials noted bison have been involved in more attacks on visitors than any other species in the park.

“They are unpredictable, can run three times faster than humans and will defend their space when threatened,” a statement from the US National Park Service read.

Although it may seem obvious that mixing with predators or even large herbivores is a bad idea, Magill said some people still have the impression they can somehow make friends with wild animals.

That misconception may be compounded by the ubiquity of social media posts showing tourists in Asian wildlife parks, where tigers are often heavily sedated so guests can enter their enclosures to touch them and pose for selfies with them. It is a form of animal abuse by every definition, but some people don’t want to hear that.

“We see this over and over again, people who try to get close to animals, cuddle the animals, thinking … that this is their pet,” Magill said. “That’s not the case. These animals should not be approached.”

A New Species Of Cat Has Been Identified For The First Time In A Century

With its kitten-like features and striking rosettes, the Tilcayo tiger cat managed to evade scientists thanks in part to its remote range.

Say hello to Leopardus tilcayo, also known as the Tilcayo tiger cat.

The small, slender feline is the first new species of cat discovered in 103 years following the Uruguayan pampas cat in 1923. Found in Bolivia’s Yungas forest, also known as the cloud forest for its high elevation and lush vegetation, the Tilcayo tiger cat is smaller than domestic felines, weighing in at about six pounds on average.

A woman inside a wildlife enclosure gazes at a small, spotted cat perched on a platform, surrounded by greenery and a chain-link fence. — Paola Nogales Ascarrunz, a scientist and National Geographic explorer, co-authored the study that announced the discovery of Leopardus tilcayo. Her team used genetic analysis to confirm the Tilcayo tiger cat is a separate species. Credit: National Geographic

Although it’s part of the genus leopardus and it’s colloquially known as a tiger cat, its coat pattern features rosettes that more closely resemble those of jaguars with the latter felid’s broken patterns and spots inside the rosettes. By contrast, leopard rosettes do not have randomly placed spots.

A comparison of jaguar and leopard fur patterns, showing distinct differences in the shape and arrangement of spots. The top section labeled 'Jaguar' features interspersed rosettes and spots, while the bottom section labeled 'Leopard' displays more solid rosettes.

The new feline is closely related to the other “tiger cats” of the Americas, including the ocelot, oncilla, kodkod, pampas cat and margay.

Notably, it is not a subspecies split from another cat, but an entirely new species to scientists. DNA tests confirmed its status as a separate species. It eluded discovery for so long in part because of its remote location in forests at high elevation.

Paola Nogales Ascarrunz, co-author of the study in the journal Current Biology, said a discovery like this is extremely unusual. The discovery of Leopardus tilcayo was formally announced to the world on Thursday when the paper was published. The same paper noted a new subspecies of tiger cat, the Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo, but the Tilcayo tiger cat is the big news.

“This time, it’s a cat. That’s really novel. And it hasn’t happened in 100 years,” Ascarrunz said. “No one else had named it. No one else had described it.”

The first time Ascarrunz saw the Tilcayo tiger cat while volunteering at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Bolivia, she “thought it was a kitten,” she said.

A small, spotted wildcat perched on a branch surrounded by green foliage. — Credit: National Geographic

Biologists are still learning about the Tilcayo tiger cat. They’ve only closely examined two members of the species and have camera trail footage of several others. They don’t yet have an estimate of how many individuals live in the Yungas forest.

Unfortunately, study co-author Tadeu de Oliveira noted, all of South America’s tiger cats “are in habitats that are vanishing fast.”

Diagram illustrating the analysis of 38 genomes from Leopardus spp. including museum and modern samples, highlighting bioinformatic methods, phylogenetic relationships, and geographic distribution. — Maps show the current habitats of tiger cats in South America. Leopardus tilcayo’s range can be seen in the darker blue sections of the map on the right. Credit: Current Biology

Eduardo Eizirik, an evolutionary biologist at Brazil’s Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, said the new discovery emphasizes the importance of preserving the Earth’s remaining wild places as humanity encroaches from every angle.

“Showing the general public that even in a flagship group such as cats … there are still new species to be discovered may transmit an important message,” Eizirik said. “There are many undiscovered species out there in the world, and they are at risk of disappearing before we even discover them.”

Saber-Toothed Cats Were Fearsome But Had A Major Disadvantage, New Research Shows

Their greatest strength was also their greatest weakness, which is why modern big cats have smaller, sturdier teeth.

Saber-toothed cats — an umbrella term for a wide variety of felid species with massive, scimitar-like teeth — are some of the most terrifying prehistoric predators, carnivorousness incarnate.

But it turns out the teeth that give them their name and their fearsome reputation were also their greatest weakness.

The problem? While the oversized upper canines were optimal for delivering kill bites and tearing into flesh, they could break if the teeth met bone with force.

“Slicing and crushing are basically the two main things a carnivorous mammal’s teeth can do,” said Narimane Chatar, a postdoc at UC Berkeley studying carnivores. “But for saber-toothed animals, there’s a clear trade off. Those upper canines were extremely efficient but also break very easily.”

As experts on extant big cats are well aware, a hypercarnivore with broken or damaged fangs can struggle to take down their typical prey. That’s what often turns tigers, leopards and lions into man-eaters. (Interestingly, there are no documented accounts of man-hunting jaguars. Jaguar attacks on humans are exceedingly rare, and while they have killed humans, there’s no jaguar equivalent of the Chamapawat Tiger or the Leopard of Rudraprayag.)

A reconstruction of Smilodon, commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, although it’s not closely related to modern tigers.

A reconstruction of Megantereon, a saber-toothed cat that went extinct as late as 350,000 years ago.

During her research, Chatar found the skull and teeth of a saber-toothed cat in Berkeley’s archives and realized it was not the same species associated with saber-toothed cats in the Americas.

Although Smilodon and Homotherium are the most well-known species, “there was a crazy variety of saber-toothed cats,” Chatar said.

Her research has confirmed the prehistoric cat’s sword-like fangs were double-edged, literally and figuratively. Per UC Berkeley:

“In simulations, 3D-printed saber teeth from various species proved ideal at penetrating a gel with the consistency of flesh but fractured easily against simulated bone. In the former tests, Smilodon came out on top. In the latter, Smilodon fared the worst.“

Smilodon lived in the Americas and went extinct about 8,200 years ago. Los Angeles’ La Brea Tar Pits have yielded a number of preserved skeletal remains, making Smilodon and its three sub-species among the best-known prehistoric felids.

Smilodon and Megantereon images via Wikimedia Commons.

Amazing Cats: Dwelling In Dense Jungles, Margays Are Tricksters and Champion Climbers

Strongly resembling ocelot cubs, margays have a unique biological adaptation to tree-climbing and a devious ability that gives them a massive advantage over their prey.

Taxonomic name: Leopardus wiedii
Genus: Felis (small cats)
Weight: Between 5 to 9 pounds with typical felid sexual dimorphism
Lifespan: More than 20 years in captivity
Gestation: About 80 days
Litter size: Single kitten, rarely more than one
Distribution: Central America, including Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Colombia, Panama and parts of Mexico
IUCN Red List Status: Near threatened

If you’re fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of a margay, you might think you’re looking at an ocelot cub.

The two species look remarkably similar, sharing beautiful rosette patterns in their fur, intense eyes and prominent facial stripes.

But ocelots are medium-size cats that can top out at 35 or 40 pounds, while margays are even smaller than domestic felines, weighing between five to nine pounds.

An ocelot cub with, left, with its mother. Margays are easily mistaken for ocelot kittens. Credit: Mark Dumont via Wikimedia Commons

Living in jungles teeming with life, margays have a distinct advantage that allows them to escape land-based predators while making them a threat to monkeys and other critters living in the branches — they are outstanding climbers with unique biological adaptations that allow them to do things other cats cannot.

Credit: Supreet Sahoo via Wikimedia Commons

The most dramatic example is their ankle joints, which allow them to rotate 180 degrees as the little spotted cats anchor themselves to trunks and branches. As a result, margays don’t just climb with speed and ease, they are capable of swiftly evacuating trees by climbing down head-first like squirrels.

Other cat species lack that adaptation, which is one reason why we often hear about domestic cats who find themselves uncomfortably high up in trees or on utility poles, refusing to come down for days despite hunger and coaxing by humans trying to help.

A margay demonstrating its ability to climb head-first down a tree thanks to its unique ankle joints. Credit: James Kaiser

Margays are outstanding jumpers in addition to their unrivaled climbing ability, able to leap six to eight times their own height. It’s easy to see how these diminutive cats can intercept birds and monkeys far above the jungle floor in addition to hunting terrestrial mammals.

Indeed, using their large tails as a counterbalance, margays traverse branches with a swiftness and sure-footedness that rivals the gibbon.

The jungle’s tricksters

They’re also remarkably clever. Scientists have documented margays mimicking the vocalizations of monkeys, their favorite prey. In one documented example, a margay imitated the call of a baby tamarin, then ambushed the adult tamarins who approached to investigate the sound.

That’s a surprising adaptation for a cat species, and we should be thankful they’re tiny. The thought of tigers or leopards with that ability is terrifying.

Margays are solitary and due to their size, they’re both predator and prey. Because of that, these tiny cats spend the majority of their time well above ground level and are usually found deep in old growth jungles where they can blend into dense vegetation, hiding among leaves and branches, where their coat patterns help them blend in.

Like all wildcats, margays face increasing pressure from habitat loss, poaching and other threats, and they’re classified as near-threatened on the IUCN Red List.