THE MALTESE TIGER

                          THE MALTESE TIGER

                                    The maltese tiger is a  theory regarding the presecnce of tigers with blue or gray fur. The maltese tigers are mostly described as having pale blue to slate grey fur with dark grey or black stripes. These tigers were reported to have existed in the Fujian province of China, belonging to the south chinese subspecies of tigers. Some maltese tigers have also been reported in Korea, which has siberian tigers. The term MALTESE may have come from the region of Malta which has lots of domestic cats with the grey shade.

A normally coloured tiger

                                          Though the maltese tiger is just a theory, there are certain scientific facts which support this theory. For example, domestic cat breeds like the Russian blue and the British blue short-hair exhibit bluish fur. There are also reports of  blue lynxes and bobcats which also support this theory.

                                      

                                                                             A White tiger.

                                    Contrary to popular belief, the well-known white tiger is not an albino. But it results due to the absence of pheomelanin (red colour gene) in the fur between its stripes. Modern genetic studies reveal that in order to obtain a bluish colour, the amount of pheomelanin must be suppressed but the agouti (gene for black stripes) must be retained. Thus maltese tigers may really have existed.

                           There are a number of reports claimin to have seen these maltese tigers.Around 1910, Harry Caldwell, an American missionary and big game hunter, spotted and hunted a blue tiger outside Fuzhou.. His search is chronicled in his book Blue Tiger (1924), and by his hunting companion Roy Chapman Andrews in his Camps & Trails in China (1925, chapter VII).Chapman cites Caldwell thus:

The markings of the beast are strikingly beautiful. The ground colour is of a delicate shade of maltese, changing into light gray-blue on the underparts. The stripes are well defined and like those of the ordinary yellow tiger.

                                                                                           —Caldwell, Chapman (1925)

                      A more recent report, given to Mystery Cats of the World author Karl Shuker, comes from the son of a US Army soldier who served in Korea during the Korean war. His father sighted a blue tiger in the mountains near what is now the Demilitarized zone. Blue tigers have also been reported from Burma.

                    

                                                                                                               - Vignesh CV

THE NON - RETRACTABLE CLAW

      THE NON - RETRACTABLE CLAW

                                                                                                               - Vignesh CV

           

                           One of the most remarkable aspects in the anatomy is its paw. The claws of a cat are remarkably well developed . A cat has five digits in its front legs and four at the rear legs. The claws are enclosed by the fur and skin around its toe pads. These claws are protractable (i.e) they extend out only when hunting, climbing and holding onto prey. This protects these claws from wearing down and breakage. It also enhances the silence during the stalking process.

                                                                             

                                       

                                                      A Tiger's paw with claws inside

                 

                                            

                                                        A cheetah paw with exposed claws

                                         

                        But four members of the cat family have unique claws - The Non Retractable claws. The Cheetah, the Iriomote cat, the Flat Headed cat and the Fishing cat have claws that cannot be pulled back into the protective sheath. Though this may seem a disadvantage, it rather serves as advantages for these cats. For example, these claws provide good grip for the cheetah which runs at an extreme speed of  115 kmph. It serves the same purpose of the SPIKED SHOES worn by  athletic runners.

                                          

                                                     Sprinting Cheetah ( Acionyx jubatus)

                           

                           These types of claws are termed non retractable because of the absence of the protective sheath found in the other cats. Instead they are always exposed like the claws in a dog's paw. This makes the claws prone to damage than the claws of other cats.

Flat headed cat

Fishing cat

Iriomote cat

                    

THE PHANTOM OF SOUTH AMERICA

         THE PHANTOM OF SOUTH AMERICA

                     

                   In the deep rainforests of South America, a lone peccary moves looking for food. What the little pig doesn't notice is the pair of eyes staring straight at it from the dense forest coverings. When the ignorant pig moves closer, a creature strikes it and with a single bite, the peccary's skull is cracked. This creature is the phantom of the south american jungles - The Jaguar. 

                         

                  The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the third largest cat of the panthera genus and the only big cat in the continent of South America. With strong climbing skills and excellent swimming skills, the jaguar is the apex predator of S.America. The jaguar's body is well-built and muscular. This brute strength is assisted by a 2000 psi bite force, which can crack bones with ease, making the jaguar a well-designed killing machine. The jaguar preys on mammals like peccaries, capybaras, monkeys, tapirs, mice, dogs and also boldly takes on other apex predators like adult caiman and anacondas. Reports say that a jaguar can carry a 350 kg bull in its jaws without any problem. This brute of the animal kingdom is also an excellent stalker. The jaguar can get as close as 4 or 5 ft  near its prey giving the prey no clue about its presence.

                              

                            The jaguar showing his killer jaw.

                The jaguar is a stalk and kill predator. It stalks its prey silently in the dense rainforests and gets as close as 5 ft near the victim. It relies on one crushing bite to the skull or the throat rather than a long chase. The most significant thing about the jaguar is its bite. The jaguar's bite is twice as powerful as a lion or a tiger's bite. It owes its strength to is robust skull and powerful jaw muscles.

                       The fur of the jaguar is golden yellow with rosette patterns. The rosette patterns contain little spots inside them. the rosettes are also considerably larger than the rosettes observed in leopards. The tail is relatively short compared to the body size. A muscular body with short stocky limbs help the jaguar in climbing, running and swimming, making it an all-round hunter.

                   

                                 A jaguar skull and lower jaw

              

                                The current extant of the jaguar ranges from southern United States across Central America and Mexico to almost the entire part of South America. The Jaguar and the Leopard may have had the same ancestor in an old world cat which move to Africa and the Americas through the Beringia bridge which connected Asia and America during the pleistocene (2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago).

                                                                                      - Vignesh CV

                                

                            

                           

THE INDIAN CHEETAH

                            THE INDIAN CHEETAH

                  (Acionyx jubatus venaticus)

                   

                                                      This article of mine deals with one of the currently extinct subspecies of the world's fastest land animal - The Indian Cheetah. Sprinting at an incredible speed of almost 115 km/hr, the cheetah easily outruns any other living creature, thus dominating the list of fast runners. A light frame, flexible spine, narrow chest, deep waist and broad nostrils combined with a long tail and non-retractable claws make the cheetah a live running machine.

                                                    The size of adult cheetahs ranges from 110 to 150 cm in body length with the tail adding another 80 cm (approx.). The weight range is from40 to 70 kg with the males being slightly larger than females. Dark strips called TEAR STRIPES in the side of its eyes keep sunlight out and aid the cheetah in hunting. Although the cheetah may be a speed machine, it can't keep up the pace after a particular time as its body heats up rapidly while running.

The African Cheetah gearing up for a chase.

The Indian Cheetah (Acionyx jubatus venaticus) is the type of asiatic cheetah found in India. This creature which once raced across the indian grasslands is now completely extinct. The Indian Cheetah fed mainly on indian antelopes like the chital, blackbuck, chinkara, and other small mammals. Lot of theories exist about how the Indian Cheetah became extinct but the prime reason is HUNTING. Indian monarchs and British rulers hunted cheetahs and other wild animals for pride and pleasure, thus greatly affecting their populations in the wild. This combined with the lack of conservative efforts landed a fatal blow to the indian cheetah. Today asiatic cheetahs are found only in Iran.

                                              

                                    The last three Asiatic Cheetahs recorded from India were shot down by Maharajah Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo in Surguja, Madhya Pradesh,Central India seen in this photo submitted by his private secretary to JBNHS.

                                            The Indian Cheetah once roamed the entire country of India as one of its top carnivores but man's activities caused a massive downfall in cheetah population. Cheetahs are the only Big cat that can be tamed and trained to hunt gazelle. The Mughal Emperor of India, Akbar, was said to have had 1,000 cheetahs at one time, something depicted in many Persian and Indian miniature paintings. The numerous constraints regarding the Cheetah’s conservation contribute to its general susceptibility and its very complex conservation requirements, e.g., its low fertility rate, the high mortality rate of the cubs, and the fact that females are the ones who select mates, have been reasons why captive breeding has had such a poor record.

                                           Currently, wildlife experts have shortlisted three regions which have the potential to support cheetah populations. The Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary and Kuno-palpur wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and the Shagarh grassland in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan have been declared potentially suitable for the reintroduction of the cheetah. The Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh has the potential to hold populations of all four of India's big cats the tiger, the leopard, the Asiatic lion as well as the cheetah, all four of which have coexisted in the same habitats historically before they were wiped out due to over hunting and habitat destruction. Since the Shahgarh Landscape is fenced along the Indo-Pak border region, the addition of more fencing will ensure adequate protection for the cheetah population. The Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary (1197km2) is part of a much larger forested landscape (5500km2 ) which can host the cheetah as well.

                                                                                                                     - Vignesh CV.

THE ULTIMATE CAT

                                           THE LIGER

       

                                                        

                                                        Nature has witnessed a lot of accidents. Some of those accidents have even led to excellent discoveries. One such accident caused in captivity is the LIGER. This huge cat is the hybrid offspring produced by a male lion and a female tiger. Thus the liger is produced bu parents of the same GENUS but different SPECIES. Having an average length of 10 ft or more and a huge body weighing almost 300 kilograms in average, this giant beast is the largest of all known felines. HERCULES, a male liger trained by Dr.Bhagavan Antle is recognized by GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS as the largest living cat on earth. Hercules weighed an enormous 408.25 kg when he was just 3 years old.

                                                 

                                                         Dr.Antle with his trained liger.

                                            The liger owes its huge size to the absence of size restricting genes in both its parents ( Male lion and a tigress), making it grow extremely larger than both parents. Though ligers are born small, they can undergo rapid growth and easily reach a length of 10 ft, which is a record for tigers and lions. The liger also shares many traits and behaviors of its parents. For example, ligers are sociable like a lion and it also loves getting in the water, which is a tiger trait. As far as appearance goes, the liger looks like a huge lion with pale stripes. Some may also inherit some spots from the lion side. The fur of a liger is tawny or gold like a lion with tiger like stripes. The colour of stripes may vary from dark black to pale brown.

                                            Although ligers maybe bred in captivity with a lion and tiger, two ligers can't be mated. This is because most ligers are sterile. Although some females have been known to be fertile, no fertile ligers have been recorded, which makes it impossible for liger breeding. One of the other important questions about the liger is if they could survive in the wild. The answer is simple, NO. The size of the liger is one of its huge disadvantages. Such a size requires a huge load of food and space which makes its survival difficult. It also lacks the perfect stealth, which is a major weapon in the wild cats' hunting.

                                                                                                          

                                          Scientists have different opinions regarding the breeding of ligers. Some claim that it is unethical to go against the laws of nature, while some claim that breeding ligers is perfectly normal.there are lots of myths regarding ligers. One of the common beliefs is that hybrid species like ligers have an extremely short life span. But this has been proved wrong by many scientists, especially Dr.Antle. Shasta, a ligress (female liger) was born at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on 14 May 1948 and died in 1972 at age 24. The 1973 Guinness World Records reported an 18-year-old, 798 kg (1,759 lb) male liger living at Bloemfontein Zoological Gardens, South Africa in 1888 (this is not accurate as the zoo opened in 1920), (there are claims the liger was 756 lbs. and the year was actually 1953). Valley of the Kings animal sanctuary in Wisconsin had a male liger named Nook who weighed around 550 kg (1,213 lb), and died in 2007, at 21 years old. Hobbs, a male liger at the Sierra Safari Zoo in Reno, Nevada, lived to almost 15 years of age before succumbing to liver failure and weighed in at 410 kilograms (900 lb).

                                                                            

                                                                                                                                       - Vignesh CV.