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The hunters become the hunted: Indian state sanctions shooting animal poachers
A western Indian state has declared war on animal poaching by sanctioning its forest guards to shoot hunters on sight in an effort to curb rampant attacks against tigers, elephants and other wildlife.

The government in Maharashtra says injuring or killing suspected poachers will no longer be considered a crime.

According to the Wildlife Protection Society of India, 14 tigers have been killed by poachers in India so far this year — one more than for all of 2011. The tiger is considered endangered, with its habitat range shrinking more than 50 per cent in the last quarter-century and its numbers declining rapidly from the 5,000-7,000 estimated in the 1990s, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. (AP Photo/Corbett Tiger Reserve)

Protecting predators from poachers in India!

Yesterday, we went to Nicene Marks State Park in search of 23F’s new litter of kittens. After her last litter was eaten by an unknown predator before we could count the kittens, 23F quickly bred again and gave birth about three weeks ago! 

Using her GPS information, we were able to track down her den and found three tiny kittens! These kittens were old enough to open their baby blue eyes, but not old enough to run away. While they might try to hiss and purr at you, they are completely helpless from predators and are only protected by their mother and by the trees camouflaging their presence.

Moms have a hard time keeping their kittens alive and most don’t survive to dispersal. When they leave their mom after 14-20 months, kittens face even more dangers from other mountain lions, roads, and people. 

After collecting some hair from the ground for DNA and taking some photos, we left the kittens so that their mom could come back and check on them. 23F will probably move the kittens to a new location. Using her GPS information, we will now follow her and her kittens from afar, tracking their movements and survival for the coming months. 

Photos by Tom McElroy

Cougar kittens! Listen closely and you might hear them purr. More to follow

These wild pigs were caught on camera… 

Biologists have spotted California’s first wolf, Journey, in person (or wolfson?) Check out the photo and the story!