When two white tiger cubs, Mitra and Shiva, were born during Hurricane Hannah, they had to be separated from their mother after their sanctuary flooded.

Fortunately, they found a pair of surrogate mothers to care for them: Keeper China York and chimpanzee Anjana.

The two-year-old chimp Anjana has been helping keeper York care for two rare white tiger cubs at The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS) in South Carolina. The cubs are nearly inseparable from their new mother figures.

In fact, Anjana is nearly inseparable from York. She’s been with her since birth, and has joined her in caring for an raising baby animals. Consequently, Anjana copies York’s nurturing behaviors.

‘She has raised leopards, lions, orangutans,’ said Dr Bhagavan, founder of TIGERS. ‘Monkey see as monkey do, and she has taken on this copycat personality and helps China raise the animals.

‘She has just finished raising four lions and they were inseparable. She is a great assistant.’

The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species is a wildlife education organization, dedicated to promoting global conservation with informative, educational and entertaining interactive programs.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk.


You can support TIGERS efforts at Tigerfriends.com.


[PHOTOS: DailyMail.co.uk; Primatology.net]

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This cat is so rare and endangered, I’d never even heard of it. Here’s an interesting report from the Times of India on the Rusty-Spotted Cat, the smallest of the world’s wild cats:

Bangalore: While there is very often gloomy news of wild animals being poached and their pristine land being encroached, there arerare sightings of some of the most fantastic creatures as well. A team of wildlife enthusiasts spotted a rusty-spotted cat, one of the most endangered species and the world’s smallest cat, at Devrayanadurga reserved forests in Tumkur district, on Friday evening.

The rusty-spotted cat is found only in India and Sri Lanka and measures only 14-17 inches in length. It weighs less than 1.5 kg (females weigh less than 1 kg). Rusty-spotted cats are mostly found in dry deciduous forests as well as scrub, and are arboreal (living on trees). This wild cat mainly hunts small rodents, birds
and lizards.

“This cat is faced with threat of extinction due to habitat loss and the spread of cultivation. There have been occasional reports of rusty-spotted cat skins in trade, or of them being killed for food or as livestock pests. This animal is protected under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and is classified under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), banning trade of this animal to protect it from extinction,” said Sanjay Gubbi, assistant director, Wildlife Conservation Society, India Program. Gubbi was part of the team in Devarayanadurga. He added that the sighting of this rare cat is another reason to protect the 42 sq km reserved forests of Devarayanadurga which is host to other wild animals.

THE RUSTY-SPOTTED CAT:

• Belongs to Carnivora order and the felidae family
• Is one of the least studied animals so there are no statistics of how many exist today
• Is found only in India and Sri Lanka

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