Leopards
April 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The Leopard is the fifth largest feline in the world behind the tiger, lion, jaguar and mountain lion. They
have a body length between 0.9 and 1.9 m (3 – 6.25 ft), a tail length between 60 and 110 cms (24 – 43 inches) and they weigh between 82 and 200 lbs). There can be considerable variations in the size of Leopards due to their distribution and available resources, for example Leopards that live in mountainous regions are smaller than those that live on savannahs due to their prey being smaller. Also typically female Leopards are 20 – 40 % smaller than males.
The Leopard
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is an Old World mammal of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four big cats of the genus Panthera, which also comprises the tiger, lion, and jaguar. Leopards that are melanistic, either completely black or very dark in coloration, are one of the big cats known colloquially as black panthers. Once distributed across southern Eurasia and Africa, from Korea to South Africa and Spain, it has disappeared from much of its former range and now chiefly occurs in subsaharan Africa. There are fragmented populations in Israel, Indochina, Malaysia, and western China. Despite the loss of range and continued population declines, the cat remains a least-concern species, its numbers are greater than that of the other Panthera species, all of which face more acute conservation concerns. Click here to read more
Lion Hunting
April 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Lion breeders bemoan curbs on canned hunts
17 January 2007– Wednesday, Business Day
Will Travers, director of the Born Free Foundation in Sussex, England, said the situation was due to government inaction, a lack of legislation. The new laws must carry a government responsibility. Travers, whose organisation was inspired by the 1964 film about lions, Born Free, said the closing of the industry would not affect lion numbers elsewhere as the number of wild lions that could be hunted every year was set “through scientific quotas”.click here to continue reading
Canned Lions
18 May 2007–Sunday, MNET
The arrangements made and the documents signed, transport permits were obtained and Tokkelos was taken to his new home – a game lodge near Potchefstroom. The darting went smoothly, under the watchful eye of the Naude’s vet, and Tokkelos was loaded onto a truck for the short journey. As is normal with drugged lions, on arrival at the lodge Tokkelos was disorientated and wary of his new surroundings. It was the first time since his birth that Tokkelos was now again with other lions. There were three females and a male, Simba, already on the Dewinnaar’s property. At first Tokkelos stayed well away from the other lions, but soon demonstrated his dominance by taking food away from the others. After a short while he settled in well and everyone was happy with the way he was adapting to his new circumstances.
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Banning of canned hunting could damage economy
22 May 2006 Beeld News Paper
If government decides to ban canned hunting it will seriously damage South Africa’s economy. This is the opinion of Mr. Piet Warren, well-known lion breeder of the farm Josephine just outside Gravelotte, Limpopo Province. Warren said this week that if the Minister van Schalkwyk of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism decided to ban the canned lion breeding and hunting industries, millions of registered hunters will turn elsewhere to seek other hunting grounds. “There are approximately 37,5 million hunters that would like to shoot a black-mane lion. They are now waiting anxiously to see what the new legislation will hold for South Africa hunting industry”, said Warren.click here to continue reading
Africa’s Big Five
April 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Everyone has expectations of what they want to see and experience on safari, but Africa’s “Big Five” are perhaps the most popular with today’s safari set. An African Safari was traditionally a hunting safari and the Big Five (lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and buffalo) were known as the most dangerous animals for hunters on a safari. Today, these same five animals are sought after, not nearly so much for hunting, but for the excitement of seeing and photographing them.
The Big Five
The lion (Panthera leo) is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. With exceptionally large males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with a critically endangered remnant population in northwest India, having disappeared from North Africa, the Middle East, and western Asia in historic times. Until the late Pleistocene (about 10,000 years ago), the lion was the most widespread large land mammal beside humans. They were found in most of Africa, much of Eurasia from western Europe to India, and the Bering land bridge and, in the Americas, from the Yukon to Peru.>>Click here to read more>>