Survivor China: 3 Kids Camp Out with Tigers in a Safari Park

In China 667 people competed to spend three days in a safari park's tiger compound, enbar.net reports. Three twenty-somethings will get to stay in a cage/cabin at Qinling Safari Park to kick off the Year of the Tiger, which starts February 14.

This is the kind of thing you'd never see in an American safari park, what with the liability issues and common sense we have. From 10 a.m. Sunday to 11 a.m. Wednesday, the two men and one woman will stay in "a 10-square-meter cabin made out of a cage which has been placed at the center of the 'tiger mountain area,' the habitat of 48 wild tigers. The cabin has no electricity, heating or furniture and is covered only with straw to protect the three from the cold."

It's like Survivor, Chinese-style with tigers thrown in. The three bring their own food and tents and keep track of the tigers, with cameras, sound recordings and writings. Li Hang, a 25-year-old TV reporter, also brought his guitar to "kill time and hopefully communicate with the tigers." Oh, he'll be the first one they'll want to eat.

The park claims this stunt is supposed to promote protection and study of the tiger. They could certainly use the help; China recently said it had only 50 wild tigers left. Qinling Safari Park (in northern China's Shaanxi province) seems to be more about gimmicks than protection. This Chinese zoo tourist shows pictures of circus tigers at Qinling. They also had a chimp addicted to cigarettes for 16 years. It's like they're living in 1970s Florida. Still, if given the chance, I'd love to be one of the people in the cage.

Read More Posts about Tigers

Where to Go to See Tigers and Other Big Cats

  Photo Courtesy of Tree of Life Web Project

Coyotes Trot Around Columbia University; Panic Ensues

Three coyotes were spotted trotting around Columbia University in upper Manhattan this past week. The Ivy League university put out a public safety warning for all students to be on the lookout for the canines. DNAinfo says these sightings were Wednesday; Gawker puts it at Sunday.

Three animals identified as coyotes were observed in front of Lewisohn Hall [116th Street and Broadway] this morning, 911 was contacted and NYPD responded. NYPD spotted one of the animals and confirmed it was a coyote. The one coyote that was seen by NYPD and CUPS went behind the CEPSR build and it is believed exited the campus.
An additional sighting by CU facilities was called in approximately 10:00 AM this morning but was not confirmed. All members of the community are advised not to approach these animals.

There's a bit of a breathless freak-out online, but many New Yorkers have been wiser, pointing out they could help with the rat and pigeon problems. They'll figure it out and go back to New Jersey or Westchester or wherever they're from. (Columbia is within a mile or two of five smaller bridges to the Bronx.) They must be pretty unobtrusive to have made it all the way to Columbia--through some of the most densely populated areas in the country--without anybody noticing.

As a wildlife rehabber, I sometimes get calls from New Yorkers about raccoons. The raccoons aren't in distress; people just assume they must be in some kind of trouble to end up here. The research by biologist Jon Way up on Cape Cod shows how coyotes maintain their own territories, but until the find the right place, they can move great distances as transients, getting a free pass through other coyotes' turf.

The very few coyote attacks on records have mainly been on unattended children. This being New York City, people don't leave kids, pets or anything else they value unattended anyway.

Others question the NYPD's judgment that these animals were coyotes and not just stray dogs. It is hard to tell, especially from a distance. Coyotes are much more spooky; they are generally terrified of people. Their scat is often full of fur. When they run, they put their back paws in the same track as their front paws. This "direct register" track is much more tidy and efficient.

Way's research shows that the people of Morningside Heights would be far safer if those were coyotes roaming around.



 Eastern Coyote (Coywolf) facts:

►    Feeds mostly on small mammals

§         Opportunistic predators – fruit to meat

§         Mice, voles, rabbits, woodchucks

§         Larger mammals where available (like deer)

►    Dangerous food items

►    Habitat: Rural (wilderness) to urban

§         Prefers edge habitat

§         Agricultural and suburban areas are perfect

►    Provide cover and high prey numbers (edge habitat)

§         Lives in 49 of 50 U.S. states and everywhere except Long Island and offshore island.

Are Coyotes Dangerous?  Keep it in Perspective: Coyotes vs. Dogs

►    4.7 million dog bites per year in U.S.

§         800,000 need medical attention

§         1,000 people per day go to ER

§         15-20 people, on average, die per year

►     3-4 coyote bites in Massachusetts’ history

§         2 of 3 or 4 were rabid

§         1 fatality (in California) in recorded history in N.A.

►     Dog bite losses exceed $1 billion per year

§         $345 million paid by insurance

Read an interview with John Way

Find Places to See Wolves and Coywolves

See Wildlife Around New York City

(Alma Mater photo courtesy of by danamdefebbo)

Feds Overlook Wildlife Watchers Again in New Conservation Panel

Sarah Palin - Caribou Hunt,
courtesy  Grizzly Bay by way of Kinship Circle.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar created a new panel for citizens to tell the federal government what to do about conservation and wildlife. But, instead of having the Wildlife Hunting and Heritage Council include the growing portion of Americans who just want to watch animals, not gun them down, he geared it to the dwindling minority of hunters.

More Americans have fun watching wildlife than shooting it (71 million wildlife watchers versus 12.5 million hunters), according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Hunters already have advocates in the NRA. State wildlife a encourage hunting. The Pittman Robertson Act makes sure of that. As any NRA member can tell you, there's a 10-11% tax on guns that supports wildlife and conservation. That tax makes the agency beholden to hunters. Seven states have commissions that specifically require hunters or anglers, the HSUS says.

What NRA members won't tell you is that the tax is on all guns, not just those used in hunting. The NRA tells members that the tax is on "sporting arms" Which weapons does the NRA consider sporting? Pretty much all of them. (I think it's their effort to get hunters--by far the most respectable and respectful gun contingent--in on the government-fearing bandwagon.) The tax on pistols and revolvers is 10%. What percent of handguns do you suppose are used for hunting? Very few. But the portion of the gun market that buys for self protection, crime or militia purposes doesn't have a strong lobby. Hunters do, so they keep the tax on handguns and do with it what they want. A big hunk of the money goes towards hunter education--that is, the official government encouragement of hunting.

Shouldn't the tax on handguns go to support shooting victims? Harvard estimates that gunshot wounds
cost Americans $400 million to $1.2 billion a year.

Hunters did play a huge role in conservation. But they've been sitting on their laurels for a long time. Already have many, many seats at the table. It's time instead for the federal and state governments to let animal watchers move from the kiddie table to where the grown-ups are talking and making decisions.

Where to go to See Wildlife


View ANIMALTOURISM.com in a larger map

• More Americans have fun watching wildlife than shooting it (71 million wildlife watchers versus 12.5 million hunters), according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• We spend way more money ($46 billion versus on animal watching versus $23 billion on hunting).
• More than half of all hunters and anglers watch wildlife, too..
• 23 million wildlife watcher go to see animals away from home.
• We are birders, too. About 50 million of us feed, watch or photograph birds. That's 87% of us. But 70% of us also watch mammals.
• We spent $13 billion in 2006 on wildlife watching trips.

Is Freedom Free? Calico Wild Horse Roundup Concludes

Early on in the controversial round up of wild horses in the Calico range north of Reno, NV, a black stallion earned the nickname Freedom when he jumped a fence and escaped. It's unclear if the Bureau of Land Management caught him, but if he made it so far, he's all set. The Bureau of Land Management says they're stopping the roundup at 1,922 mustangs instead of the 2,500 they set out to catch. In the process 30 have died.

It's not because they've had a change of heart. They fought a lawsuit to stop the roundup. They've fought activists who want to document the gather. It's just that the horses have moved off the range--as if they'd caught onto what's going on.

Craig Downer and Elyse Gardner reported on Freedom's escape on January 2 in Action for Wild Horses: "the captured band stallion, "Freedom," valiantly fought for and regained his liberty although he had to leave his family of 8 adult mares and 2 colts. Jumping a 6-foot fence and immediately thereafter breaking through a barbed wire fence and injuring himself, this was an awe-inspiring, do-or-die effort demonstrating the loathing of captivity to a wild horse and his need for freedom."

When I talked with some horse activists at a Madeleine Pickens event last month, they said they'd heard Freedom had been captured but everyone was appealing to set him free again. I haven't found anyone who knows for sure. I would like to think he made it and somehow communicated to the other horses that something bad was going on.

Where to See Wild Horses Around the World
More Stories About Wild Horses

Harp Seal Stuck On Cliff Near Salem, MA, Rescued

The New England Aquarium Marine Animal Rescue Team and an alert seal-loving Beverly, MA, woman saved a harp seal who got stuck in the crevice of a  cliff Monday. The 50-pound, yearling female seal got stuck between rocks 20 feet above the water by the full moon high tide. Rescuers extricated the seal, who has gray mottled fur, from the rocks, checked her out and released her into Salem Sound.


The seal was first seen on the cliff Sunday by neighbor Katie Duffy. Like many people, Duffy was worried seeing a seal out of water. She called rescuers who could thought the seal was doing fine. The seal population in the U.S. seems to be on the rise, leading to seals showing up in unusual places or high numbers. Just days ago the aquarium was checking out a seal who decided to visit downtown Boston.

The next day, however, the seal has gotten herself stuck in a tiny 2-foot deep trench. Duffey again called rescuers, who came out to find the seal  "in significant distress with labored breathing," according to the Aquarium. "They were initially not optimistic about the seal’s prospects." Aquarium staff Adam Kennedy and Ulrika Malone threw a blanket over her. She froze in fear and they were able to push her into a crate. When they finally got to examine her, they found she was fine. She just had some scratches.


So they carried her crate down to a beach. At first she was still too scared to move, but she got the idea and swam out while all her rescuers looked on happily.

Where to See Seals

More Seal Stories 

Score One for Team Squirrel

The Tompkins Square Park squirrels bravely stand up to the new, popular red-tailed hawk pair on the Lower East Side. The hawks appearance on Saturday Night Live doesn't intimidate them, either. The squirrels know that if they are in a tree, the hawks can't swoop down and catch them.


So if the hawk lands in a tree the squirrels eagerly do their part to chase him off. They're in the anti-hawk union with crows and jays, who mob the raptors. Because they all know if they don't, the hawk will eventually catch one of them.

The squirrel can do considerable damage to a hawk by biting its feet, which may then become infected. The squirrel made the hawk uncomfortable enough to go back on its heels, change branches, then fly off. He flew to another tree, where another member of the anti-hawk union started to drive him away.

Where to See Hawks and Eagles

Citizen Bird Counts Going Global -- Just as Warming Shifts Migrations

Americans are between bird counts, but this weekend the Brits worked on their big event, the Big Garden Birdwatch.  The bird counts are now spreading around the world--just in time to help capture how climate change is shifting birds' ranges and migration patterns.

Once written off as somewhat silly and "wobbly" data, citizen scientist data is are now being taken more seriously says Audubon's Geoff LeBaron, who runs the Christmas Bird Count, which was started by Audubon a century ago as an alternative to going bird hunting on the holiday.

"We could never afford to pay people to do that," LeBaron says. Now known by the trendy name crowd-sourcing, this data is free and vast. But wait, that's not all. The bonus is that it helps promote and prioritize conservation and creates bird advocates.


All of the surveys work differently and target different audiences. In terms of sheer data, the biggest is probably Christmas Bird Count: in the 109th count last year 59,000 birders tallied 66 million birds. But it's a long, cold day in the field and no place for kids.

That's where lighter events come in, like the Big Garden Birdwatch or the American Great Backyard Bird Count,  which starts here February 12. They're kind of a gateway drug that birders hope get students and dilettantes hooked. From the comfort of their homes, half a million Brits count for just an hour. Americans have to stay focused for just 15 minutes. (And if that's not convenient enough, you can do it during the year at eBird.)

This far-flung data net is catching amazing pattern changes. "A lot of birds nationwide have shifted their center of abundance northward and to some extent away from the coast," LeBaron says. The ocean tempers temperatures, so as the air warms up it becomes less necessary to stay by the coast.

Twenty years ago, biologists discounted anomalies of migrators staying put as bad birders getting identification wrong. But now birding is getting better and broader. Digital cameras have proved rarities. We're now sure that hummingbirds, for example, appear in the winters in the northeast. Still unanswered: the question of whether the nonconformist birds have always been here,  or whether they are moving in, due to either climate change or the welcome mat laid out by feeders.

What may be more important than whether bird counts spread east to west is whether they spread north to south, so that we get a whole picture of where birds go. Indeed, the counts are creeping southward. LeBaron is getting regular reports from Panama and more and more data from South America, especially the northern countries. Local groups are stepping up so that the data doesn't just count on an ambitious individual working in the region for a few years. Africa is also getting started with counts, like South Africa's map, which is hoping for the help of 500 spotters. As migration patterns change around the world, we'll all be there to witness it.

Sign up for the Great Backyard Bird Count

Where to See Eagles

 Where to See Animals around Europe