In the spotlight: Chinese Mountain Cat

Chinese Mountain Cat (Felis bieti) must be one of the most poorly known cats in the world.  With a very small known range on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (Qinghai and northwest Sichuan), it is the only cat endemic to China and it was as recently as 2007 that it was first photographed in the wild (via a camera trap).

Chinese Mountain Cat is so poorly known that a young Chinese scientist who wanted to study it for his PhD was told by his supervisor that there simply wasn’t enough information to warrant a PhD and to focus on another mammal.  In recent years there have been sporadic sightings in Rouergai (Sichuan Province) and near Yushu (Qinghai Province) but it remains one of the most mysterious felids on the planet.

https://birdingbeijing.com/2018/10/12/chinese-mountain-cat/

Chinese Mountain Cat (Felis bieti)

Cubs born through artificial insemination

A lioness at the Uketula Private Game Reserve/South Africa has given birth to two cubs conceived via non-surgical artificial insemination. This is the first (successfull) attempt. It doesn’t seem really necessary with lions, who are breeding well in captivity, and in fact one shouldn’t be breeding with the lion in captivity anymore. But it might be of great interest as a last resort to have a captive lioness injected with blood from the last wild lion, to return fresh blood to the wild. As the lionpopulation is decreasing rapidly, as well as the numbers of other species, it could be valuable, so a good thing that research has been done now. Luckily the cubs could stay with the mother, which is a rare even in South Africa as we all know.
For now, an interesting press release to read.

close
Facebook IconYouTube IconTwitter Icon