Latest news with #Pallas'sCat
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Trail cameras capture return of rare species after more than 80 years: 'It's been amazing to watch'
These little critters were caught on camera, and it's good news for England. According to The Independent, a trail cam in Ewhurst Park in Hampshire, England, caught an amazing sight — a mother otter and her pup. They're seen grooming, playing, and swimming together. It's the first otter sighting in the park for over 80 years, and it's a big win for conservationists. Should the government be paying people to hunt invasive species? Definitely Depends on the animal No way Just let people do it for free Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Otters nearly went extinct in England in the 1950s due to "industrial chemicals and pesticides which caused death and reproductive failure in the mammals, but have slowly recovered since the 1970s, following bans on the chemicals and legal protection," according to NewsBreak. "It's been amazing to watch as nature has started to take front and centre stage across the park," Mandy Lieu, an environmentalist who owns Ewhurst Park, said. Otters aren't the only animals coming back to the park. Over 90 different species, like beavers and butterflies, are becoming more prevalent in the park. Otters can be tough for conservationists to track since they're nocturnal. Trail cameras are just one of many tools researchers use to monitor populations and behavior, and sometimes, they catch these incredible sightings, too. A trail camera in Northern India recorded a wandering Pallas's Cat, an elusive wild cat that's been notoriously difficult to spot. Another camera in Arizona captured a jaguar, whose population is plummeting, but the sight of one gives conservationists a lot of hope. The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List reports over 40,000 species currently at risk of extinction. But preservation and conservation efforts are working, and the otters are proof of that. The head of ecology at Ewhurst Park, Fiona Kenny, is thrilled with the conservation efforts at Ewhurst. "Our ambition here at Ewhurst Park is to restore ecological processes and systems within the landscape so that it can function properly and provide for its inhabitants with minimal management," she said, per NewsBreak. "The level of nature recovery we saw in 2024 has been incredible which really confirms that we're on the right track." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Trail camera captures incredible footage of ultra-rare mountain creature: 'More elusive than the snow leopard'
Rare shots caught on trail cameras in Northern India have provided encouraging evidence that a special animal species is calling the western Himalayas home. In Himachal Pradesh, India, a Pallas's Cat — or manul — was documented walking along a mountainous trail, according to the Outdoors. The small wild cat is known to inhabit areas further north in Mongolia and China, but its habitat range may be increasing, which is a good sign for the sensitive species. Snow Leopard Trust posted the photos to Facebook, writing that "these small felines are perhaps more elusive than the snow leopard, which makes long-term studies difficult." Our colleagues in India recently documented the first photographic evidence of Pallas's cats (manul) in Himachal... Posted by Snow Leopard Trust on Friday, December 20, 2024 According to Outdoors, the researchers obtained footage of the animals from three camera trap sites at elevations reaching up to 13,500 feet. While the sighting of the small feline was a welcome surprise, finding it at such an elevation was not. Pallas's cats' thick fur coats and short, sturdy legs make them perfect mountain dwellers. They prefer to live at higher elevations, using their expert camouflage markings to blend in with their surroundings. Unlike other cat species, they have distinctive round pupils, which give them better eyesight to hunt in their preferred prowling times of dawn and dusk. Their wide-set and flat ears are another unique feature, allowing their outline to be less noticeable by skittish prey. Tracking and monitoring an elusive species is difficult at any elevation, but with the Pallas's cats' preferred terrain, documenting their lifestyles could provide an extra challenge. As conservationists documented in an article published on ResearchGate: "Additional ecological research is critical, but our inability to efficiently monitor the species across its vast range and reliably detect population trends and distributional changes is arguably the most important gap in our understanding." Luckily, with the advent of drones, filming species at higher topographies is now more feasible. Scientists have already used this innovative method to study snow leopards in Kazakhstan and Grévy's zebras in Kenya. Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The Pallas's cat has chosen some great real estate to invest in and will hopefully make for a useful addition to its new ecosystem. India is home to many exotic cat species, including the Bengal tiger, fishing cat, Asiatic lion, and several species of leopard. It is even home to the world's smallest wild cat, the rusty-spotted cat. Although manuls are not an endangered species, they are reclusive by nature, and small communities are at risk of localized population decline. Some factors that contribute to their declining numbers are food source depletion, accidental capture, and loss of habitat. This makes the new photos all the more encouraging, proving that the Pallas's cat is adaptable and is spreading to new parts of the world. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
