Two of the world’s rarest and most vulnerable cat species have had some good news in the past few weeks. The best of the news items covers the critically endangered Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), probably the rarest cat species on the planet, with a wild population of approximately 40 to 50 individuals. Russia, which [...]

In June 2010, an emaciated and disorientated female Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) named Galia wandered into the Russian town of Terney seeking any prey she was still strong enough to kill. Authorities were forced to put her down, a sad day for a subspecies that numbers maybe 250 to 300 animals in the wild. [...]

A critically endangered South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) has killed another of its kind, sad news for efforts to save this rarest tiger subspecies from extinction. The death took place at the Laohu Valley Reserve in South Africa, where the organization Save China’s Tigers maintains a conservation project to breed South China tigers and [...]

Can the tiger be saved from extinction? That’s the goal of the International Forum on Tiger Conservation, a gathering of government leaders and conservationists in St. Petersburg, Russia, this week. Organized by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of all people, the Tiger Forum will culminate in the signing of what is being called the St. [...]

Properly protecting the world’s remaining 3,500 wild tigers from poachers, habitat fragmentation and other threats would cost just 42 percent more than is already spent on tiger conservation—an additional $35 million per year, or $10,000 per cat, according to a new study published September 14 in the journal PLoS Biology. The money would be used [...]

It may not be long before we witness the extinction of one of the world’s six species of tigers, the Amur (or Siberian) tiger (Panthera tigris altaica). As we have previously reported, Amur tiger populations have dropped precipitously in recent years to around 250 animals, and the species faces a genetic bottleneck that puts it [...]

It seems that no matter what governments and organizations do lately, tiger poaching continues to climb, driving the big cats closer and closer to extinction. But now two countries are resorting to extreme measures to help combat the dramatic decline in tiger populations, while a third is trying a new idea to boost its own [...]

It’s been a long century for the Amur, or Siberian, tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), the largest of the six remaining tiger subspecies. Once hunted nearly to extinction, just 50 tigers remained when Russia protected the species in 1947. Despite that protection, illegal poaching soon dropped that number to as few as 20. But enforcement and [...]

Among animal welfare professionals, those who work at zoos might have the toughest jobs. Keepers and curators at zoo must alternately serve as biologists, psychologists, trainers, chefs, janitors, and educators. Often, those hardworking individuals take on multiple roles at once. Another important job that keepers and curators perform at the zoo is that of gerontologist. [...]