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It has been reported this week that the world’s fastest land animal suffers in captivity from AA amyloidosis, a disease of misshapen proteins somewhat like BSE. Scientists suggest that cheetahs may contract the disease by eating each other’s faecal matter - which contains amyloid proteins - perhaps when they are grooming.

14 tiger cubs have been spotted in a reserve in north-western India, forestry officials say.
The sightings are a rare piece of good news in the fight to halt the steep decline in tiger numbers in India.
Forestry officials in Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan say the cubs are from several mothers and have been seen regularly in recent months.
Ranthambore had just 32 tigers at the last count. India is thought to have 1,500 tigers, half the world’s total.
But conservationists say they face extinction unless urgent action is taken to save them.
Ranthambore has seen tiger numbers fall from 46 in 2004.
The park authorities are currently conducting a new tiger census and up-to-date figures - which will include the new cubs - are expected in June.

RS Shekhawat, deputy field director at Ranthambore, said the sightings of the cubs was “good news for all of us”.

“Credit goes to both governments - state and federal, the forest authorities and also local people for this positive development,” he told the BBC.
Ranthambore covers 392 sq.km. of dry deciduous forests sprawling over undulating terrain. The BBC’s Narayan Bareth in Jaipur says forest officials want more space for the tigers.
“We are contemplating expanding the habitat area for the tiger population because the population is on the rise,” Mr Shekhawat said.
Nearly 100 villages surround the park, and the more the tiger population grows the more they are likely to come into conflict with humans.
The Wildlife Trust of India’s state co-ordinator, Mahendra Kachhawa, urged the authorities to tighten security at the park. In 2005 it was reported that tigers had been wiped out at another park in Rajasthan, the Sariska sanctuary. That prompted the setting up of a tiger taskforce in India.

Wildlife experts welcomed the latest news, saying they also had information about sightings of tiger cubs in other reserves.

Big cats living in Kenya’s Maasai Mara game reserve are being threatened by a collapse in revenues from wildlife tourism, it has been claimed.

The Mara Conservancy says tourists have stayed away since the violence which followed last year’s disputed election.

The group, which manages a 510 sq km area called the Mara Triangle, can no longer pay pastoralists compensation for cattle killed by lions or leopards.

This could force local people to kill the cats in order to protect livestock.

William Deed, from the Mara Conservancy, said that it was facing a shortfall of $50,000 per month.

The non-profit organisation relies on a percentage of park entrance fees paid by tourists.

Since it was founded in 2001, and the compensation scheme established, the number of lions in the reserve has doubled to 80.

But now the fund has been suspended, some Maasai have threatened to resume hunting the lions and leopards which kill their cows, goats and sheep.

“We have now had several close calls with locals hunting lions and leopards in return for the cattle that have been killed by these predators,” said Mr Deed.

“Previously, the cattle compensation scheme we had in place would help placate such situations, however with no funding to pay for such a scheme the local communities are no longer seeing the benefits of living so closely with the wildlife.”

He said the current situation was leading to strained relations with local communities.

The Mara Conservancy has met with local elders, but each time one of their animals is killed with no money for compensation, the “tension mounts”, Mr Deed explained.

“It may be only a matter of time until rangers won’t be so lucky in stopping cattle owners from taking their own measures to protect cattle,” he added.

Cuts in electricity are also making the job of rangers increasingly dangerous. Part of their job involves catching armed cattle rustlers who often make their escape through the Mara Triangle.

But the area now lacks power for 11 hours out of every 24, meaning that communications are often down between the main station and patrol teams.

The dire funding situation has also forced the organisation to stop night patrols.

Poachers were already profiting from the situation, said Mr Deed: groups of men had been seen using torches to hunt Thomson Gazelles at night.

Last month, the rangers have caught five poachers, including three men who killed a hippo for its meat.

Even though the worst of the violence in Kenya has subsided, Mr Deed said it would take time for the tourist trade to pick up again.

For now, he explained, the organisation was operating only on small donations from individuals across the world.

Scottish vet, Jane Harley has is urging owners to neuter and vaccinate their cats in an attempt to help protect the countries wildcat population.

Jane said the species was at risk from contracting highly contagious conditions. Her warning came ahead of a major conference on wildcats in Aviemore. It has been estimated that there are 400 wildcats, but their survival has been threatened by interbreeding with domesticated cats and diseases they could be carrying. Ms Harley said: “I think that most people acknowledge that interbreeding is the biggest risk to wildcats, but many won’t have considered the serious risk to wildcats from diseases, which can be prevalent in feral cats.

“The feline leukaemia virus, for example, is a highly contagious cat disease which can be vaccinated against.

“For those domestic cat owners who would like to play their part in protecting the wildcat, my advice is to have their pet cats neutered and ensure that all vaccinations are up-to-date.”

A rare North Chinese leopard that is thought to be the only one in the UK is settling into its new home in Kent, according to his keepers.

Tairi has spent the last six days getting used to his new surroundings at the Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Smarden, Ashford.

It is hoped the 22-month-old leopard, who was reared in captivity in Paris, will mate once he turns four.

Chief executive Mark Edgerley said his appetite was bigger than they expected.

He said it was believed that there were just 2,500 North Chinese leopards in the wild and about 100 in captivity.

‘Very fiery’

And according to the breed’s stud book keeper, the leopard is the only one of its kind currently in the UK.

Mr Edgerley said: “It will take him a while to settle in here, moving is very unsettling for leopards and they are a very shy species.

“His appetite is actually bigger than I would have expected, normally they don’t eat for the first ten days or so after moving.”

The centre is an active partner in the European Endangered Species Breeding Programmes (EEP).

Its cats currently include snow leopards, Sumatran tigers, Amur leopards and an ocelot.

The North Chinese leopard was called Tairi after the French Polynesian god of thunder.

Mr Edgerley said: “Already we can see that he is very fiery, which is what we like. We want our cats to be as wild as possible, we don’t want them to be timid.”

It was reported this week that a lynx has appeared in the Italian Alps for the first time in over a century

Authorities in Italy’s South Tyrol region say the lynx, which crossed the mountains from Switzerland, does not pose a threat to livestock in the area.

The lynx was fitted with a signalling collar after being captured in Switzerland in February.

Lynx were wiped out by hunters and farmers in the region in the early 20th Century. They were reintroduced in Switzerland in the 1970s.

On Friday the South Tyrol authorities said the lynx spotted in the area had wandered through the Pejo Valley and had stopped in the Deutschnonsberg area of South Tyrol.

The WWF conservation organisation says there are about 100 lynx in Switzerland, in two main areas: the northwestern Alps, which includes Interlaken, and the Jura Mountains near Lake Geneva.

Lynx are solitary hunters, inhabiting high-altitude forests and preying on small mammals such as hares, foxes and small deer as well as fish.

WWF Italy spokesman Riccardo Nigro told the BBC News website that lynx “are fully protected in Italy”. But he said carnivores such as bear, lynx and wolves could be a risk in some places because alpine communities had forgotten simple preventive measures such as low-voltage fences and dogs trained to defend cattle.

An Italian programme to reintroduce bears to the Alps suffered a setback when one - nicknamed Bruno - ventured into Austria and Germany and preyed on local livestock. Bruno dodged Bavarian hunters for weeks before being shot dead in June 2006.

A fourteen week old Amur leopard cub explores its enclosure at Marwell Zoo, UK. The Panthera pardus orientalis is listed as critically endangered as a result of being hunted and habitat changes in eastern Asia.

A recent census found less than 35 of the creatures, which like to roam large areas of wilderness, left in the wild in far eastern Russia.

Members of the public have been invited to suggest names for the cub online.

The birth was part of a European conservation breeding programme to try to save the breed from extinction.

Until now the three-month-old cub has been kept inside with its mother Ascha.

Last week it experienced its first human contact, when it was sedated and taken for a check up by zoo staff.

Amur leopards were once found in the forests of Russia, Korea and China but their range has diminished due to poaching, as well as the loss of their habitat due to competition with humans for land.

The Wildlife Conservation Society, which carried out the census of Amur leopards, has classified the breed as endangered and threatened with extinction.

A zoo spokeswoman said: “Amur leopards face an uncertain future.
“As well as risks posed by man, the small worldwide population size means that the species is particularly vulnerable to inbreeding which can cause genetic problems including reduced fertility.

Walkers in the Highlands are being asked to help discover the true numbers of one of Britain’s most secretive creatures - the Scottish wildcat.It became extinct in England and Wales 150 years ago but continues to be sighted in Scottish woods and moorland.

Some estimates suggest just 400 survive - although there could be up to 4,000.

Now Scottish Natural Heritage is asking everyone who uses the countryside to take part in a year-long survey and report sightings of the timid animal.

Last survivor

The conservation body hopes to assess numbers and distribution.

The count is being carried out as part of the Scottish Government’s Species Action Framework and is an effort to safeguard the rare mammal.

Minister for Environment Michael Russell is due to launch the survey at the Highland Wildlife Park, near Kincraig, which has captive purebred wildcats.

However, Adrian Davies, who is co-ordinating the research, said it helped if people had seen a wildcat before and knew what they looked like.

He said: “There’s obviously a number of occasions where it might actually be quite difficult to determine a wildcat.

“They’re often seen at dusk and at dawn or in the dark so it can be quite difficult to determine what a wildcat is in the field.”

The animal is the last surviving native member of the cat family to be found in the wild in Britain.

It has been listed in the Species Action Framework for conservation effort over the next five years in an attempt to improve its habitat and reduce threats of cross breeding with feral domestic cats.

The Scottish wildcat has survived by clinging on in habitat margins between mountain and moorland and forest and fields, preying on rabbits, small birds and mammals.

2 Chinese companies and the American food products importer ChemNutra, have been indicted in the US for their alleged role in the tainted pet food scandal.

Prosecutors allege thousands of cats and dogs across the US died last year after traces of toxic chemical melamine were found in 150 brands of pet food.

They claim the contamination was traced to wheat protein imported from China by Las Vegas-based Chemnutra.

Chemnutra said it denied “any intent to defraud or knowledge of wrongdoing”.

‘Death or injury’

The two Chinese companies indicted are Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development, and Suzhou Textiles, Silk, Light Industrial Products Arts and Crafts.

Bosses at the two firms, and the owners of Chemnutra, have also been charged individually.

Prosecutors say the affected animals died as a result of kidney failure.

“In today’s global economy, crimes that occur halfway around the world can seriously impact our lives,” said US Attorney John Wood.

Chemnutra said in a statement that prosecutors do not allege that its owners, Sally and Stephen Miller, “knew of the presence of melamine or any other substance that would cause death or injury to animals”.

“The Millers unequivocally support the government pursuing those with knowledge of the dangerous contaminants,” it added.

“However, they are deeply bothered by the government’s failure to make these important distinctions in its press release related to their indictment.”

A cat with 5 legs is to undergo surgery to remove an extra growing from the left side of it’s body. The stray was found by a US family in Pennsylvania, and taken to a local animal shelter, where she was named Baby Girl. The operation will not make her a  4 pawed feline, as vets also plan to amputate a deformed left hind leg.  Staff at the shelter say Baby Girl is already adept at getting around using only 60% of current paw power. Chrystin Rice, who works at the Washington Area Humane Society, says Baby Girl is in good health as she waits for her operation, scheduled to take place within the next 2 weeks. “She’s a little bit wild, but she is very easy to handle,” she said.  “The veterinarians who have seen her are just amazed that she has five legs. It’s probably from in-breeding.”The operation will improve the cat’s quality of life, the society says. So far no one has applied to adopt Baby Girl, although there have been a number of calls to inquire about her progress. But Chrystin Rice says people shouldn’t be put off by the extra leg - or the forthcoming lack of one which should be there.

“It’s actually a really, really nice cat,” she said.