Zebra madness
The eyes of a black panther
STALKING TIGER Slowly through the grass / The tiger stalked his prey / His movement long and languid / In the middle of the day / The sun was high and bright / As a vivid burning orb / His body moving slowly / Less heat there to absorb / Gazelles were moving fitfully / Around the waterhole / Nervous eyes were flitting wildly / As the world they did behold / A movement in the distance / And the animals did jump / The nerve ends all a jangling / Each one with quivering rump / Then like avenging angels / The tiger now does pounce / Gazelles are scattering wildly / With a death like spinning dance / And one of them is slower / No longer held at bay / The tiger now triumphant / As it finishes its prey Phil Sanders (aka Brummieboy) / 5/4/07 Thanks for the wonderful poem Phil!
Grevy’s zebra abstract closeup, captive animal.
Amur leapard- very rare and only 30 left in the wild
Dreamy shot of a lazy leopard chilling on a Sunday afternoon. Submitted to the Sold! group. / Sold 1 Poster, Mystery Buyer Leopards are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora, family Felidae. The leopard is a large carnivore of the cat family, Panthera pardus, widely distributed in Africa and Asia. It is commonly yellow, buff, or gray, patterned with black spots and rings. The rings, unlike those of the New World jaguar, never have spots inside them. Black leopards are commonly called panthers, a name sometimes used for all leopards. They are not a distinct species but merely a color variant caused by melanism, or excessive pigmentation. Close inspection reveals the typical spotting, which is obscured by the darkness of the background. Leopards are somewhat smaller than lions and tigers; the largest males are about 7 ft (2.3 m) long, including the 3-ft (90-cm) tail. Leopards are solitary, largely nocturnal, and good climbers; they hunt both on the ground and in trees. They prey mostly on small animals such as monkeys, rodents, and birds. Leopards are found in much of Africa south of the Sahara and in parts of Asia from Israel to Korea and Indonesia. They are listed as threatened or endangered throughout their range, owing primarily to loss of their natural habitat and to illegal killing for Oriental folk medicine. Be sure to check out these other wild cat images:
Amur Tiger – 9mths old- Super big now
The jaguar is a near threatened species and its numbers are declining. Threats include habitat loss and fragmentation. While international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited, the cat is still regularly killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers in South America. Although reduced, its range remains large; given its historical distribution, the jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of numerous indigenous American cultures, including that of the Maya and Aztec. / (from Wikipedia) /
The Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) is the rarer of the two species of orangutans. Living and endemic to Sumatra island of Indonesia, they are smaller than the Bornean Orangutan. The Sumatran Orangutan grows to about 4.6 feet tall and 200 pounds in males. Females are smaller, averaging 3 feet and 100 pounds. Compared to the Bornean Orangutan, the Sumatran Orangutans possess a lighter and longer pelage, a longer face, a smaller stature, and flanges that are covered in small white hairs. Wild Sumatran Orangutans in the Suaq Balimbing swamp have been observed using tools. An orangutan will break off a tree branch that’s about a foot long, snap off the twigs and fray one end. It then will use the stick to dig in tree holes for termites. They’ll also use the stick to poke a bees nest wall, move it around and catch the honey. In addition, orangutans use tools to eat fruit. When the fruit of the Neesia tree ripens, its hard, ridged husk softens until it falls open. Inside are seeds that the orangutans love, but they are surrounded by fiberglass-like hairs that are painful if eaten. A Neesia-eating orangutan will select a five-inch stick, strip off its bark, and then carefully collect the hairs with it. Once the fruit is safe, the ape will eat the seeds using the stick or its fingers. Although similar swamps can be found in Borneo, wild Bornean Orangutans have not been seen using these types of tools. Submitted to the Sold! group. / Sold 1 Large Mounted Print, black border with artist details, Mystery Buyer / Featured in the “Primates” Group 9/3/08 / Featured by the group “Endangered Species” 7/08. / Top Ten in the “Primates” Group Avatar Challenge 9/28/08 / Award Don’t miss out on these other animal images: ! - - - /
A Jaguar getting some rest / /
Amur Leopard- Endangered- only 30 remainding in the wild / Sometimes my own photography makes me smile and emotional..:) / /
Critically Endangered The Bengal tiger, or Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris or Panthera tigris bengalensis) is a subspecies of tiger primarily found in Bangladesh, India, and also Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and southern Tibet. The white bengel tiger is not an albino, it has blue eyes. The white coat and light features are caused by a recessive gene. Very few survive in the wild because they do not have the ability to camoflauge themselves in their suroundings. Sadly, there are those who breed them for their exotic looks all for money. Because they occur so rarely, many orange tigers die or are mistreated in the process. Tigers are solitary hunters. They love the water, and are not afraid to chase their prey down into the water. In fact, this is how tigers often get food. The wait for an animal to be drinking at a water hole, then scares the animal into the water, where the tiger will chase it farther into deeper waters, making it easier to catch. Tigers have retractable claws. This enables them to walk through rocky, grassy, muddy, or sandy areas without dulling their claws, which they need to hunt with. Tigers eat almost anything in their range that they can catch. Large and medium sized prey, ungulates, rabbits, wild boar, deer, buffalo, young elephants and rhinos, waterfowl, and elk, make up the majority of their diet. They stalk their prey, and pounce when they are about 30 feet from their quarry. They kill by a lethal bite to the back of the throat, which often dislocates the backbone and severs the spinal cord. Often, a lethal bite is applied to the throat, which cuts off air supply and asphyxiates (suffocates) the animal. Tigers can eat as much as 40 lb (18 kg) of meat in one sitting. Tigers, like other felines, need to eat some grass to provide nutrients and roughage. Tigers will usually avoid humans because they do not provide much meat, and they prefer the taste of wild game. However, if a tiger becomes a maneater, there is usually a reason for it. One reason is that the tiger is very old, to the point where his teeth are worn down, and cannot catch wild game anymore. Humans are much easier to catch and kill, so they prey on humans. Another, more common reason, is the tiger was injured or sick, and can no longer hunt for itself. However, many tigers, like those that live in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, seem to have a taste for humans. No one knows why they do this, as these tigers are young and healthy. Some speculate that they are guarding their territory, others think that the salty waters in the marsh they drink makes them irritable. These tigers, however, do not come into human settlements, they only kill humans that have wandered too far into the mangrove forests. People who venture into the forests to gather wood and food wear masks on the backs of their heads since tigers only attack them from behind. Since they started this, the numbers of tiger attacks have been greatly reduced. However, once a tiger becomes a man-eater, it will not cease, and has to be destroyed to protect people.
Bengal Tigers Critically Endangered The Bengal tiger, or Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris or Panthera tigris bengalensis) is a subspecies of tiger primarily found in Bangladesh, India, and also Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and southern Tibet. The white bengel tiger is not an albino, it has blue eyes. The white coat and light features are caused by a recessive gene. Very few survive in the wild because they do not have the ability to camoflauge themselves in their suroundings. Sadly, there are those who breed them for their exotic looks all for money. Because they occur so rarely, many orange tigers die or are mistreated in the process. Tigers are solitary hunters. They love the water, and are not afraid to chase their prey down into the water. In fact, this is how tigers often get food. The wait for an animal to be drinking at a water hole, then scares the animal into the water, where the tiger will chase it farther into deeper waters, making it easier to catch. Tigers have retractable claws. This enables them to walk through rocky, grassy, muddy, or sandy areas without dulling their claws, which they need to hunt with. Comments about this work This shot was underexposed with a great deal of noise. I thought it too precious to delete, so I worked it like crazy with filters, colorizing, etc. I’m rather happy with the outcome considering it was otherwise headed for the recycle bin. Highly edited!
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I had an awesome shoot yesterday at the Zoo….douc langurs endangered species and my favourite Primate of all / / /
Snow Leopard / Endangered Species / Canon EOS 30D DSLR The Snow Leopard (Uncia uncia),sometimes known as the ounce, is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia from Afghanistan to Lake Baikal and eastern Tibet. The taxonomic position of this species has been subject to change. In the past, many taxonomists included the Snow Leopard in the genus Panthera, with several of the other largest felids, but later it was placed in its own genus, Uncia. However, a recent molecular study places the species firmly within the genus Panthera, although the exact position remains unclear.[3] Along with the Clouded Leopard, it represents an intermediate between so-called big cats and smaller species, as it cannot roar, despite possessing an incomplete ossification of the hyoid bone, which was thought to be essential in allowing the big cats to roar. However, new studies show that the ability to roar is due to other morphological features, especially of the larynx, which are absent in the Snow Leopard.[4] Well known for its beautiful fur, the Snow Leopard has a whitish-tan coat with ringed spots of dark, ashy-brown and rosettes of black. Its tail is heavy with fur and the bottom of its paws are covered with fur for protection against snow and cold. The life span of a Snow Leopard is normally 15–18 years, but in captivity they can live up to 20 years. Although the Snow Leopard is internationally regarded and legally protected as an endangered species, currently there exist no effective measures to stop poaching and loss of habitat in Jammu & Kashmir. The Snow Leopard population of Jammu & Kashmir has increasingly come under pressure as a result of poaching for furs, loss of habitat caused by deforestation and dam projects, and loss of food sources caused by similar environmental pressures. In both Pakistan and India-administered Jammu & Kashmir, this threat to the Snow Leopard has developed. The armed conflict of the last 8 years in Jammu & Kashmir has further exacerbated this problem as the soldiers and armed resistance groups have shown little regard for species preservation. The instability has also allowed for an illegal trade of furs. A 1994 raid on a group of traders in Srinagar that hauled more than $1 million worth of furs and garments made from 1,366 of the world’s most endangered wild cats, tigers, snow and clouded leopards and Bengal tigers indicated that the lack of effective measures to preserve endangered species has deteriorated further as a result of the 8 year old conflict. Cases like these reveal that the poaching of wildlife in Jammu & Kashmir’s forests and in other Himalayan regions has returned with a vengeance that threatens some of the world’s most beautiful and exotic animals after a period of curtailment of such poaching in recent decades. Under this situation, the Snow Leopard is directly threatened. K.E.W.A. advocates that strict conservation measures be put in place in Pakistan and India-administered Jammu & Kashmir. Habitat protection, captive breeding, stiff penalties for poachers and international buyers of illegal furs, and public education must all be a part of such an undertaking to save the Snow Leopard. But such an effort would require major involvement of international organizations. The rarest and most beautiful of the great cats, the snow leopard…is wary and elusive to a magical degree, and so well camouflaged in the places it chooses to lie that one can stare straight at it from yards away and fail to see it. Yet the snow leopard’s talent for invisibility has not kept it safely out of the sights of hunters, who continue to kill the cat for its “coat of pale misty gray, with black rosettes that are clouded by the depth of the rich fur”. Elusiveness also has done little to help the snow leopard cope successfully with an ever-increasing influx of tourists, sheep herders, dam-builders, and other humans eager to make use of the spectacular landscape. The result is that the snow leopard, despite its remote home high in the Himalayas, has become one of the most endangered of the large cats.
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Amur Leopard- roughly 40 left in the wild and my favourite big cat / /
This photo is also for sale via the Wildlife-appeal account here on RedBubble. Profits from all donations will go to Wildlife Rescue and Protection Inc This is to help the Australian wildlife and animals who can’t rebuild their homes, can’t replenish their food source. If you like to buy this image and support the Australian wildlife and animals CLICK HERE / / / Well natural for the sepia part. Not natural for the elephant part as it is kept in a zoo. This photo was taken in Ouwehands Dierenpark, a zoo in The Netherlands. / / Have a look at my other photos. For example: / / Or browse through one of my categories: / animal / building / cemetery / church / damselfly / dragonfly / drop / fall / flower / france / insect / leaf / light / macro / nature / other / reflection / water / winter
Click to visit my animal photography & art blog! / Email me at durberville@optushome.com.au Subscribe by Email to Natalie Manuel Photography Find me at Flickr Join my facebook group More of my work on Redbubble* /
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