Jaguar

Sky Island Alliance released photos of a jaguar from Sonora, just 30 miles south of the US/Mexico border. (News source.)

More on Scat Dogs

A paper available for download: (PDF)

Comparing Scat Detection Dogs, Cameras, and Hair Snares for Surveying Carnivores
R. A. Long, et al.
The Journal of Wildlife Management
71(6): 2018-2025.

Potential Canine Tool?

Scat-detection dogs are at work in mainstream zoology -- perhaps some possible use in future cz or biofortean investigations?

Cougars on Camera

An Arkansas man claims to have caught a cougar on a game trail camera. No image is shown, so I can't make any comments on the identity. (News source.)

A Virginia man also got a pic of a big cat on the Isle of Wight. For once, I think someone got it right -- it is distinctly a cougar profile. Assuming it's a real image, it looks like the real deal. (News source.)

Javan Rhino Footage

New infra-red camera footage of the rare Javan rhino in its natural habitat, here or here.

Howlbox Tool

Wolf researchers created a passive listening device that first emits a howl to stimulate interest. Could be some broader application there for cryptozoology... (News source.)

Algerian Cheetahs

Via Kevin Stewart: Camera traps have recorded four rare Saharan cheetahs in Algeria. (News source.)

Software for Sea Serpents

Some details on the software used to capture the Swedish "sea serpent" images here.

Yeti Hunt

A 7-man Japanese crew will be setting out soon for the Himalayas, with the intent of getting video evidence for the yeti. (News source.)

An earlier expedition didn't succeed, but this time, with better equipment, they think they'll be able to get clear video proof of the cryptid's existence. (Except, of course, that scientists are unlikely to consider video evidence proof of existence...)

Rare Color Morph Filmed

An ocelot (spotted) morph of the Asiatic golden cat has been photographed in Bhutan. (News source.) This is the first photograph of this morph in the wild.

Javan Rhinos Filmed

WWF Malaysia camera traps captured a rhino and calf on film; the mother attacked the camera, despite it being IR, which is interesting... Video clip and details here.

UAV Potential?

Australian researchers are planning to use UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for surveying whales and dugongs. Might be some potential for cryptozoology research with this technology? (News source.)

Sumatran Rhino Photographed

A Sumatran rhino was captured by a camera trap in peninsular Malaysia, the first time in more than a decade. From the news:

"The report did not reveal where the rhino was snapped, but said the photo was taken in a wildlife corridor targeted by the Wildlife and National Parks Department which also spotted elephants, sun bears and the bison-like gaur."

Hairless Gray Fox = Piedmont Odd Animal from 2006

Professor identifies mystery creature

By Tom Steadman

The odd-looking animal spotted in several Piedmont counties last year evidently was a hairless gray fox.That's the conclusion of Jaap Hillenius. He examined the carcass of a similar animal that had been hit by a car in the Charleston, S.C., area.

So it wasn't an exotic cross-species, though some central North Carolina residents who spotted the animals had reported it having the head of a cat and the body of a canine.

Just a fox sans hair because of a mutant gene, said Hillenius, associate professor in the biology department at College of Charleston."That's the best we can think of," he said.

"There was no obvious reason for hair loss — no mange or malnutrition. It was normal except it didn't have hair follicles in the skin."Hillenius sent part of the carcass' tongue to a UCLA lab, which confirmed it was a fox, he said. His findings were presented last weekend at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston."It had been seen in the area, and people were so interested in it," Hillenius said.

Three years ago, interest was high in the Piedmont. Sightings of similar creatures were reported in Guilford and Randolph counties; in 2006, one was seen and photographed near Raleigh.

Area residents theorized it could be an Australian dingo, an escapee from the nearby North Carolina Zoo or even some new species.In May 2004, Asheboro businessman Bill Kurdian snapped a picture of one of the creatures feeding on corn he and his wife had put out for wild animals. After the sighting near Raleigh last year, state wildlife officials guessed that it could have been a hairless fox.

Hillenius saw Kurdian's photo Tuesday and said the animal seemed similar to the one he examined. The fox ID makes sense, Kurdian said ."I know that when he was out there, foxes would come up and feed next to it," he said. "There were no signs of aggression. They went up and smelled each other. There was no sense they feared each other."Kurdian had hoped to trap the animal so it could be identified.

But it disappeared about a year ago, he said.Still, his nighttime photo of the mystery creature remains on numerous Web sites."You wouldn't believe the number of people who have asked me about that," he said.Hillenius said his first goal was to identify the creature.

Now he wants to know how many are around. Evidently, there are more than a few. Sightings have been reported in Alaska and Colorado, in addition to the Carolinas.

Robotic Cameras for Ivorybills

Eurakalert this morning notes that robotic cameras will be placed in suspected Ivorybill Woodpecker territory, which may provide greater scope in the search to positively identify any remaining birds:

"In the bayous of eastern Arkansas, amidst ancient trees both living and dead that provide nourishment to creatures of the swamp, hangs a high-tech sentinel patiently waiting to capture video of an elusive bird once thought to be extinct.
"Developed by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and Texas A&M University, the high-resolution intelligent robotic video system installed in the Bayou DeView area of the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas is part of a major effort to locate the ivory-billed woodpecker in its historic habitat, the bottomland forests of the southeast United States.
"If the researchers obtain conclusive photographic evidence of the woodpecker, it will settle a debate that has become heated in recent years and fascinated millions of people around the world, from bird-watchers and environmentalists to Arkansas farmers and duck hunters.
"In the meantime, the new robotic video system provides detailed video sequences of other birds, suggesting a new high-tech approach to doing field biology work." ...
"The robotic video system is part of a new project, called Collaborative Observatories for Natural Environments (CONE) and funded by the National Science Foundation, to develop automated systems that can observe and record detailed natural behavior in remote settings." ...

"'A single photographic frame would have to clearly show the unique markings of the ivory-billed woodpecker,' said Goldberg. 'Much better would be a high-resolution video clip that would also capture its unique wing and flight patterns.'
"The researchers note that simply pointing video cameras at the sky and recording is not practical, as the images would quickly fill up the computer's hard drive. The challenge, they say, is for the software to automatically recognize when animals are present. 'Passive infrared (PIR) motion sensors are sometimes used in wildlife research,' said Goldberg, who has pioneered networked teleoperation systems for more than a decade. 'The problem is that PIR sensors look for heat and are not triggered by birds flying overhead. So we're developing a robotic system that analyzes high resolution video in real time.'
"In February 2006, the Cornell researchers took Goldberg and Song out to the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge to scout out potential locations for placing the remote cameras. Because no one knows exactly where the bird might appear, the cameras must cover a relatively wide swath of sky.
"They settled upon a power line that cuts through the bayou and provides a 50-foot-wide clearing unobstructed by trees.
"'It's a natural bottleneck in the forest, and birds passing through that corridor are relatively easy to spot because they expose themselves,' said Ron Rohrbaugh, project director at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 'At this location, we should have the highest probability of capturing an image of the ivory-billed woodpecker.'
"With the generous help of the Arkansas Electric Cooperative, a 69 kilovolt transformer was erected for the project that provides both a power source and a post to mount the equipment. The researchers decided against solar and battery cells because they would not provide a reliable enough power source.
"The two cameras - one pointing east and the other west - are connected to a computer that processes the data. Waterproof gear helps protect the equipment from the elements, including rain and wind, and even from occasional bird droppings.
"The researchers created software that keeps video files only when potential 'bird flight' movement is sensed.
"The software is based on new algorithms that can handle the unpredictable conditions of a natural environment, filtering out false readings from clouds, water reflections and falling leaves. 'The program knows, for instance, that the ivory-billed woodpecker flies 20 to 40 miles per hour, so anything outside that range is deleted,' said Song, who worked with Ni Qin, a computer science Ph.D. student at Texas A&M, on the software.
"'The high-resolution camera we have shoots at 22 frames per second, with approximately 2 to 3 megapixels per frame,' said Song. 'That's a huge amount of data that must be managed.'
"Collecting the video data involves a decidedly low-tech approach: Luneau takes a boat out to the site every two weeks to change the disk.
"Not only is Luneau skilled with computer equipment, he is an avid bird-watcher and a leading member of the ivory-billed woodpecker search team in Arkansas. He does an initial screening of the images from the hard drive, and then sends the data to researchers at Cornell, Texas A&M and UC Berkeley.
"And what if a high-quality image of the ivory-billed woodpecker is captured? 'If something really interesting is in the frame, Cornell makes the call (on the identity of the bird),' said Song.
"Rohrbaugh pointed out the benefits of using an autonomous camera. 'There are other ways of searching for the ivory-billed woodpecker, but those ways usually involve a human positioned in the forest for a very long time,' he said. 'Humans are expensive, and they're not always alert, and their simple presence is a disturbance to the environment, even when they're camouflaged and sitting quietly. Remote systems that can serve as our eyes and ears are a big advantage.'
"Song also noted that using the camera extends the search season to the entire year.
"'Usually people do this type of bird-watching in the winter because there are fewer leaves, making it easier to spot the woodpecker,' Song said. 'Also, in the summer, the temperature is hot, it's swampy, and there are mosquitoes and snakes to deal with. Our system can run the whole year, and it is not bothered by mosquitoes.'"