Carnivores in the News

Was a Florida panther photographed in Sarasota County? (News source.)

Cougar sightings are coming out of Virginia. (News source.)

A large cougar was killed after it attacked a bull in Washington State. (News source.)

The Mexican wolf that escaped in MN recently was recaptured. (News source.)

The highest diversity of cat species in the world has been discovered in a forest in the Indian state of Assam. (News source.)

OOPAs: Escapees and Accidentals

What is thought to be a macaque was seen again in the Tampa Bay area. (News source.)

A Mexican wolf is loose in Minnesota after vandalism at a science center. (News source.)

A mongoose was trapped in Samoa. (News source.)

Gorilla Escape

Tufani the gorilla briefly escaped before being recaptured at the Dallas Zoo. How she got out is unknown yet. (News source.)

Captive Okapi Birth

Oklahoma City Zoo recently saw an okapi birth, the fourth time at that zoo since 1995. (News source.)

Big Sea Worm

A UK aquarium discovered a 4-foot polychaete worm that was wreaking havoc on one display. It has been moved to its own exhibit. (News source.)

Dholes Loose in UK

A pack of Asian dholes (wild dogs) escaped from a UK animal park; 6 were darted or shot, and 2 are still loose. (News source.)

Escaped Monkeys Rounded Up

The last of the escaped Patas monkeys from a Florida park have been captured. The political/legal fallout continues... (News source.)

Monkey Recaptured

A Japanese macaque loose in Ontario was returned to its home at an exotic animal sanctuary, 11 days after it escaped. (News source.)

Irish Lion

A big sandy-colored animal spotted roaming the grounds of the Belfast zoo was most likely a stray dog; no big cats were missing from their enclosures. (News source.)

Monkeys Can Swim

Lowry Park Zoo (FL) imported a troop of Patas monkeys from Puerto Rico and placed them on an island surrounded by a 50-foot wide, 8-foot deep moat. They just forgot to check on whether the monkeys could swim. The monkeys are currently on the lam. (News source.)

Zoo Finds Mythical Turtle

From the announcement:

"Cleveland Metroparks Zoo today announced the discovery of a critically endangered turtle in northern Vietnam that previously was thought to be extinct in the wild. Experts from the Zoo's Asian Turtle Program confirmed they have identified the only known living specimen of a Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) in nature.
"After three years of searching, Zoo-sponsored researchers focused on a lake just west of Hanoi after residents reported spotting the gigantic turtle there. Field biologists, along with Education for Nature in Vietnam, found and photographed the turtle, allowing scientists to verify it was the rare Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle, which is considered a national treasure in Vietnam."

From the news:

"The discovery represents hope for the species, said Doug Hendrie, the Vietnam-based coordinator of the zoo program.
"Turtle expert Peter Pritchard, president of the Chelonian Research Institute, confirmed the find based on a photo Hendrie showed him.
"'It looked like pretty solid evidence. The animal has a pretty distinctive head,' Pritchard said.
"There have been rumors for years of a mythical creature living deep in the waters of a northern Vietnam lake. Some in a village west of Hanoi claimed to be blessed by catching a glimpse of it's concave shell as it crested above the surface of their lake.
"A national legend tells of a giant golden turtle that bestowed upon the Vietnamese people a magic sword and victory over Chinese invaders in the 16th century. Whether that sacred turtle has materialized in the 21st century will be a matter of cultural debate among the Vietnamese."

(And, yes, other bloggers' opinions notwithstanding, mythical is a perfectly proper word to use in the context of many mystery animals or animals with folkloric connotation. Further, the use of the term myth may be used in a derogatory manner in some popular usage, but in academic usage has no relevance to factual basis.)

Tree Shrews in Zoos

After being used in a genome study, tree shrews kept at various universities have been donated to different zoos, including the one at Fresno. (News source.)

Capybara Tale

Residents of Grantville, Georgia, reported a large hairy animal roaming around which turned out to be a loose capybara. DNR refused to catch it, so the town got tips from a zoo and caught it themselves. It has now been sent to an out-of-state zoo that agreed to take it. (News source.)

Barbary Lions Born

Two Barbary lion cubs were born at the Belfast Zoo. The subspecies is extinct in the wild. (News source.)

Elephant Shrew Pups

The Denver Zoo has a new pair of black-and-rufous giant elephant shrew pups on display, hand-reared due to the mother's lack of interest. From the news:

"Weasley weighs more than 150 grams and Potter weighs more than 200 grams. When they are fully grown each will weigh a little more than a pound and be a bit more than eight inches long with an eight tail.

"These shrews are the largest of the 15 different species of giant elephant shrews. They are considered vulnerable because loss of their habitat in southeaster Kenya and eastern Tanzania."