THE MASOAL FORK-MASKED LEMUR

The Masoala fork-marked lemur (Phaner furcifer), also known as the eastern fork-marked lemur or Masoala fork-crowned lemur, is a species of lemur found in the coastal forests of northeastern Madagascar. It is a small nocturnal animal with large eyes, greyish fur and a long tail.
P. furcifer is a specialist feeder on the gum that exudes from insect holes on the surface of certain trees, but it supplements its gum diet with insect prey. This primate is monogamous and a single offspring is born in November or December. It is declining in numbers due to habitat destruction, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being "vulnerable".

 

Description

The Masoala fork-marked lemur is so-called because the black stripe along its spine divides on the crown, the two forks continuing on either side of the head to the eye and along either side of the muzzle.^[4] The rest of the pelage is some shade of reddish or brownish grey. The head-and-body length is in the range 227 to 285 mm (9 to 11 in), with a tail of 285 to 370 mm (11 to 15 in). This lemur typically weighs between 300 and 500 g (11 and 18 oz).^[5]

Distribution and habitat

This lemur is endemic to northeastern Madagascar. Its range extends from the Masoala Peninsula southwards to Toamasina and it is present at altitudes up to about 1,000 m (3,300 ft). It occurs in moist lowland forests.^[1]

 

 

 

Ecology

The social system of the Masoala fork-marked lemur has been described as pre-gregarious. Some adults live as monogamous couples, sharing the same nest hole by day but moving about independently for at least part of the night (the male often follows a few metres behind the female), but a few live as solitary bachelors or have ranges overlapping more than one female. The average size of a female territory is 4 hectares (9.9 acres) with a male territory averaging 3.8 hectares (9.4 acres). The lemurs sometimes gather at the places where the territories overlap; there is no aggression on these occasions, but much vocalisation for a period of ten or twenty minutes. The animal moves on all fours, running rapidly along branches, climbing and jumping, mostly at a few metres above the ground, but descending to the forest floor on occasion.^[6]
The diet consists mainly of the natural gum of trees in temperate deciduous forests. The Masoala fork-marked lemur has become specialized for harvesting this substance. Like most lemuriform primates, it has a toothcomb; in Phaner species, the toothcomb has evolved to be more robust and is used to scrape the gum that exudes from holes on a tree made by insects. This structure consists of a row of lower incisors that are long and forward pointing.^[7] The favoured food sources are trees in the genus Terminalia, but certain other tree species also provide gum, including Adansonia spp., and the buds of Zanthoxylum tsihanimposa. Certain beetle larvae burrow just under the bark of Terminalia and leave characteristic galleries that ooze gum. This lemur has also been observed licking the flowers of Crateva greveana, and feeding on a "syrup" produced by insect larvae on thin branches of Rhopalocarpus lucidus trees.^[4]
This species is nocturnal and has a territory containing about three exclusive Terminalia trees and access to about nine more in overlapping territories. The animal emerges at dusk from its sleeping hole in a large tree such as a baobab, or the abandoned nest of a Coquerel's giant mouse lemur (Mirza coquereli), moving directly to each Terminalia tree in turn, feeding on the gum and moving on to the next tree. It has a complex itinerary which it regularly follows, and later in the night it visits other less-favoured gum-sources and returns to the previously visited trees and gleans any gum it has missed. The same Terminalia trees are exploited by day by a bird, the crested coua (Coua cristata), which also feeds on gum.^[4]
Gum is low in nitrogen content, and the Masoala fork-marked lemur needs to supplement its diet with animal prey, which it stalks on the tree bark and among the foliage, catching it with its hands and stuffing it into its mouth. Hunting takes place late in the night when the main gum-gathering activities are over. The animal's faeces are invariably found to contain fragments of insect chitin. In captivity this lemur was found to be very selective about what it ate, rejecting grasshoppers, beetle larvae and small lizards, but feeding avidly on a large moth and a praying mantis.^[8]
The male and female are in frequent vocal communication throughout the night, but this species in unusual among nocturnal lemurs in not communicating through olfactory signals, and the urine and faeces are allowed to drop to the forest floor. A large cutaneous gland on the throat of the male is used during social grooming when males, females and juveniles groom each other, and the male may rub the gland on the female.^[4] The female comes into estrus for three to four days in June, giving birth to a single offspring in November or December. This remains in the nesting hole of the parents at first, but as it gets older it is carried by the mother, clinging to her underside, and when it gets larger, to her back.^[7]

Status

The P. furcifer population is suspected of being in decline as its forest habitat is being destroyed by timber harvesting and slash-and-burn agriculture. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES, and receives some protection from being present in several national parks, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being "vulnerable".^[2]




 Phaner furcifer

de Blainville, 1839^[3]

^{Masoala fork-marked lemur range}































 

THE PANAMANIAN GOLDEN FROG

The Panamanian golden frog (Atelopus zeteki) is a species of toad endemic to Panama.^[3] Panamanian golden frogs inhabit the streams along the mountainous slopes of the Cordilleran cloud forests of west-central Panama.^[4] While the IUCN lists it as critically endangered,^[1] it may in fact have been extinct in the wild since 2007.^[5][6] Individuals have been collected for breeding in captivity in a bid to preserve the species. The alternative common name, Zetek's golden frog, and the epithet zeteki both commemorate the entomologist James Zetek.

 

Description

Despite its common name, the Panamanian golden frog is a true toad, a member of the family Bufonidae. It was first described as a subspecies of Atelopus varius, but is now classified as a separate species.^[3][7][8]
The Panamanian golden frog is a national symbol and is considered to be one of the most beautiful frogs in Panama.^[9] The skin colour ranges from light yellow-green to bright gold, with some individuals exhibiting black spots on their backs and legs. Females are generally larger than males; females typically range from 45 to 63 mm (1.8 to 2.5 in) in length and 4 to 15 g (0.14 to 0.53 oz) in weight, with males between 35 and 48 millimetres (1.4 and 1.9 in) in length and 3 and 12 grams (0.11 and 0.42 oz) in weight.^[10]

Toxicity

The Panamanian golden frog has a variety of toxins, including steroidal bufadienolides and guanidinium alkaloids of the tetrodotoxin class. One of the latter, zetekitoxin AB, has been found to be a blocker of voltage-dependent sodium channels several orders of magnitude more potent than its analog saxitoxin. Their toxin is water-soluble and affects the nerve cells of anyone who comes in contact with it. Panamanian golden frogs use this toxin to protect themselves from most predators.^[9] Due to the risk of testing the poison on humans, it has been done with mice. Large doses can be fatal in 20 or 30 minutes. Death is preceded by clonic (grand mal) convulsions until the functions of the circulatory and respiratory systems cease.^[11]

Distribution

The Panamanian golden frog is endemic to Panama, living close to mountain streams on the eastern side of the Tabasará mountain range in the Coclé and Panamá provinces.^[1] Its geographic range previously extended as far east as the town of El Copé in western Coclé Province before the onset of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis, which caused the El Copé population to rapidly collapse in 2004.^[1] Vital habitat is lost each year to small farms, commercialized agriculture, woodlot operations, livestock range, industrial expansion, and real estate development.^[12] Individuals are kept in captive-breeding programmes in more than 50 institutions across North America and Panama.^[13][14]

Ecology

The lifespan of the Panamanian golden frog is 12 years.^[10] This toad is unusual in that it communicates by a form of semaphore, waving at rivals and prospective mates, in addition to the sounds more usual among frogs. This adaptation is thought to have evolved in the Panamanian golden frog because of the noise of the fast-moving streams which formed its natural habitat.^[6] The male tends to stay near the streams where breeding occurs, while in the nonbreeding season, the female retreats into the forests. The male uses a soft call to entice prospective mates, then grabs the female and hangs on when she crosses his path. If she is receptive, she will tolerate amplexus; if not, she will attempt to buck him off by arching her spine.^{[citation needed]} Amplexus can last from a few days to a few months, with oviposition usually taking place in a shallow stream.^[5]

Life history

The development of A. zeteki can be divided into four stages: larva or tadpole, juvenile, subadult, and adult. During the larval stage, individuals emerge from their eggs after 2 to 10 days of development. They are entirely aquatic creatures at this stage and are found in waters with a temperature range from 20.4 to 21.3 °C and with depths of 5 to 35 cm. After emerging, they mostly spend time resting in shallow pools below cascades. This behavior is similar to A. certus. Wherever water pools in a stream, they are likely to be found, as long as it is connected to moving channels. The tadpoles, however, do not venture into the moving channels. Clinging to surfaces by suction of their flattened bellies, the larvae can be characterized as gastromyzophorous. They are typically around 5.8 mm in length and 4.3 mm in width. Their snouts are rounded, as well as their tails. The longest caudal fins on their tails are about three-fifths the length of the tail. Their mouths are large and ventral surrounded by labia which form an unbroken oral disc about 3.6 mm wide. The posterior lip has no papillae, but other lips are lined with single rows of small, blunt papillae. They are colored from dark brown to black dorsally, with golden flecks on their bodies. They develop this black and gold coloration as melanin floods their dermal layers, giving the larvae protection from the sun. When metamorphosing, their golden flecks are replaced with dark green ones.^[4] The tadpoles feed on algae and spend 6 to 7 months developing and growing.^[10]
The juveniles of this species are amphibious, but have a far smaller range than subadults and adults. Normally, the juveniles are not found more than 2 m from their streams, and recently metamorphosed juveniles are more likely to be found next to the stream pools teeming with tadpoles.^[4] Like their adult counterparts, the juveniles go to higher elevations and recede into trees to prevent predation; however, due to their small size, the juveniles are not able to cover as much elevation and climb as highly into trees and shrubbery.^[15] At the onset of heavy and consistent rains, the juveniles flee from the open streamsides, which are normally where the grown adult males, which are very territorial, are known to roam. Territorial behaviors by adult males could be initiated by these rains. Visually, the juvenile has snout-to-vent lengths ranging from 8.4 to 17.1 mm. Their dorsal coloration is a deep and vivid green which matches the color of the moss that grows on the rocks in and around the streams of their habitat. There are also dark brown to black dorsal markings. Some of the juveniles are also known to have small dark markings on their digits. Their abdomen is either white or goldenrod yellow, occasionally with dark markings that do not match the ground color.^[4]
The subadults of this species have full ranges, but they are sometimes found near adult males which is noteworthy because males of this species are fairly solitary and combative in the presence of other males. The subadult is about 28.3 mm long and weights about 1.1 g. They are more greenish in color which more closely resembles the color of the metamorphic juvenile than the brilliant and sometimes spotted golden color of the adult. The patterning of subadults is significantly darker than the adults.^[4]

Behavior

Panamanian golden frogs mating

The Panamanian golden frog appears to socialize with other amphibians using sounds from the throat and hand-waving, like the semaphore motion used in courtship. The movements may be friendly or aggressive warnings.^[6] It is an "earless" species of frog, meaning it lacks tympanum. This, however, does not inhibit its ability to communicate with other members of its species through throat sounds. Despite lacking eardrums, the "earless" frog responds to vocalizations produced by members of its own species. The male frog responds to a pulsed vocalization, characterized by lower frequencies followed by higher frequencies, and so on, by exhibiting antagonistic behaviors such as turning to face the source of the sound and producing a pulsed vocalization in response. The pulsed call is used to demonstrate male position during combative situations. Like Atelopus varius, it is very territorial, living in the same site most of its life. As a result of this site fidelity, it will not hesitate to vocalize when another male frog encroaches on its territory. If this is not enough to get the intruder away, the frog is not hesitant to defend its territory through aggressive behavior.^[16] When encountering another male, male frogs will wave their forefeet as a sign of defense.^[9]
The Panamanian golden frog, apart from recognizing sounds, is also able to locate the origin of a sound. This means it is capable of directional hearing. In all other species of frogs, the role of the eardrum is to pinpoint the direction of sound. Due to the very small size of the Panamanian golden frog, it is difficult to imagine another system of hearing that does not involve an eardrum apparatus.^[16]
When A. zeteki encounters a predator, it often waves and lifts its foot at the predator to call attention to its stunning and beautiful coloring. This coloring is a warning of its toxicity, which is enough to make a predator no longer consider the frog as a meal. If the predator continues to approach, undeterred by the frog's warnings about its toxicity, the foot waving, often accompanied with vocalizations, will continue and increase in frequency and volume.^[16] Its toxicity is not a foolproof method of protection, since some animals, such as the colubrid snake Liophis epinephalus, are able to metabolize the frogs' poison. Ways to ward off predators and prevent predation are different in their diurnal habits versus their nocturnal ones, especially because the poison alone will not ward off every predator. Adult males, which are active on the ground during the day, recede into the trees and perch there at night. This is most likely a defense mechanism. If the predator is approaching at night, the frog cannot rely on a visual strategy for fleeing. They perch on trees because it gives them the advantage of hearing approaching predators or feeling their weight on the tree branch. The noise and tactile advantages of climbing a tree are better than the advantages of burrowing in the ground.^[15]

Conservation

The Panamanian golden frog began vanishing from its high mountain forests in the late 1990s, prompting a scientific investigation and rescue process that continues today.^[17] It was filmed for the last time in the wild in 2006 by the BBC Natural History Unit for the series Life in Cold Blood by David Attenborough.^[6] The remaining few specimens were taken into captivity and the location of filming was kept secret to protect them from potential poachers. Although captive populations seem to thrive well, reintroducing them to an area will not stop the threat of chytridiomycosis. No current remedies prevent or control the disease in the wild, but efforts are being made. One attempt was made to protect a wide variety of frogs from the disease by using the bacterium Janthinobacterium lividium that produces a chemical against the infections; however, the skin of Panamanian golden frogs was unsuitable for the bacterium used.^[18] The San Diego Zoo started a conservation effort and received their first frogs in 2003. Since then, they have been able to successfully breed 500 individuals in captivity but will not release them into the wild until the fungal disease is less of a threat. The San Diego zoo also sends money to Panama to keep up the conservation effort in the frogs' native country.^[10]
Populations of amphibians, including the Panamanian golden frog, suffered major declines possibly due to the fungal infection chytridiomycosis. The infection is caused by an invasive fungal pathogen that reached El Valle, the home of the Panamanian golden frog, in 2006.^[19] Additional factors, such as habitat loss and pollution, may have also played a role.^[5]
The temperature at which these amphibians keep may be correlated to chytridiomycosis; the fungus is more prevalent in colder conditions.^[20] If a cold period occurs, the behavior and immunity of the frogs may change around the same time more spores are released. When these frogs are infected with the fungus, their body temperatures rise to fight off the fungus. However, even if the infection leaves the frogs and body temperatures return to previous normal levels, the infection can re-emerge.^[21] Another study found that dry conditions added an average 25 days to the lifespan of infected individuals, while higher temperatures only added 4 days.^[22][23]
Not only do these frogs face the threat of the fungal disease, but they also are threatened by human development. As trees are cleared for housing and urbanization, the habitat of A. zeteki is destroyed. Other threats include encroachment by agriculture, pollution, pet trade, and aquaculture.^[1]
Project Golden Frog is a conservation project involving scientific, educational, and zoological institutions in the Republic of Panama and the United States. The intended outcomes of this project include greater understanding of the Panamanian golden frog, coordinated conservation effort by governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations, heightened awareness of current global amphibian declines, greater respect for wildlife among Panamanians and global citizens, and greater land preservation for threatened and endangered species throughout the world. This organization will use education and field studies, producing offspring through the already captive toads, and offering financial support to help preserve these toads.^[24]
Two significant efforts to save these frogs have been made. The Amphibian Recovery Conservation Coalition, which started in 2004, exported the endangered amphibians to the US, believing it was a better environment for the endangered species. In 2005, the Houston Zoo established the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center (EVACC) in Panama, so the endangered frogs could have protected facilities in their native country. EVACC has become a tourist attraction and the populations of the housed species are watched closely by researchers.^[25]
In early 2006, EVACC exceeded its capacity for housing golden frogs. In order to continue collection efforts, a partnership was formed with the Hotel Campestre in El Valle whereby rooms 28 and 29 of the resort were loaded with terrariums as a stop-gap measure.^[26] This was one of several conservation efforts covered in Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.^[27] Over 300 toads were kept in the so-called "golden frog hotel" and treated to daily cleansing rinses, 24-hour room service, and exotic lunches of specialty crickets until space could be made available in the EVACC.^[28]

Experiment

Prior to the spread of the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus into Panamanian golden frog habitat, conservation organizations collected Panamanian golden frogs and placed them in captive survival assurance colonies. The skin of amphibians is host to a diverse resident bacterial community, which acts as a defense mechanism in some amphibians to inhibit pathogens. Researchers characterized the bacterial community from wild and captive Panamanian golden frogs originating from the same population with sequencing to assess how long-term captivity has affected this community. Species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and community structure of the skin microbiota were found to be significantly different between wild and captive Panamanian golden frogs. However, after approximately eight years of living in captivity, the offspring of the original captive Panamanian golden frogs still shared 70% of their microbial community with wild frogs. These results demonstrate that host-associated microbial communities can be significantly altered by captive management, but most of the community composition can be preserved.^[29]
Reintroduction efforts from captive assurance colonies are unlikely to be successful without the development of methods to control chytridiomycosis in the wild.^[18] Researchers have experimented by using Janthinobacterium lividium to control the skin temperature in hopes the fungus would be kept at bay. It seemed to be a protective treatment at the early stage, but the frogs began to die after two weeks as the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is the causative agent of chytridiomycosis.^[18] Other methods of focusing on the phenotypic and genetic concordance to do the conservation have been used. Researchers designated A. varius and A. zeteki as separate species, but they are poorly sorted based on physical characteristics, and better sorted based on mitochondrial DNA.^[8]

In culture

The Panamanian golden frog is something of a national symbol, appearing on state lottery tickets and in local mythology. When the toad dies, it is thought to turn to gold and to bring good luck to those fortunate enough to see it.^[13] In 2010, the Panamanian government passed legislation recognizing August 14 as "National Golden Frog Day". The main celebration event is marked annually by a parade in the streets of El Valle de Anton, and a display of Panamanian golden frogs at the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in the El Nispero Zoo, El Valle.^[30] The highly toxic skin of the frog has also been used for centuries by the native people of the Panamanian forests for arrow poison.^[11]

THE QUOKKA

The quokka (/ˈkwɒkə/, Setonix brachyurus), the only member of the genus Setonix, is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat.^[4] Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal.^[5]
Quokkas are found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, particularly Rottnest Island, just off Perth, and also Bald Island near Albany, and in isolated scattered populations in forest and coastal heath between Perth and Albany. A small colony exists at the eastern limit of their range in a protected area of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, where they co-exist with the critically endangered Gilbert's potoroo.^[6]

 

 

Description

The quokka weighs 2.5 to 5 kilograms (5.5 to 11.0 lb) and is 40 to 54 centimetres (16 to 21 in) long with a 25-to-30-centimetre-long (9.8 to 11.8 in) tail, which is fairly short for a macropod. It has a stocky build, well developed hind legs, rounded ears, and a short, broad head. Its musculoskeletal system was originally adapted for terrestrial bipedal saltation but over its evolution its system has been built for arboreal locomotion.^[7] Although looking rather like a very small kangaroo, it can climb small trees and shrubs up to 1.5 meters.^[8] Its coarse fur is a grizzled brown colour, fading to buff underneath. The quokka is known to live for an average of ten years.^[9]
Quokkas have a promiscuous mating system.^[10] After a month of gestation, females give birth to a single baby called a joey. Females can give birth twice a year and produce approximately seventeen joeys during their lifespan.^[9] The joey lives in its mother’s pouch for six months. Once it leaves the pouch, the joey relies on its mother for milk for two more months and is fully weaned approximately eight months after birth.^[9] Females sexually mature after roughly 18 months.^[11]

Discovery by Europeans

Quokka family

Quokka using its front paws to eat

The Dutch mariner Samuel Volckertzoon wrote of sighting "a wild cat" on Rottnest Island in 1658. In 1696, Willem de Vlamingh mistook them for giant rats and named the island "Rotte nest", which comes from the Dutch word Rattennest, meaning "rat nest".^[12]
The word quokka is derived from a Nyungar word, which was probably gwaga.^[13]

Ecology

In the wild, its roaming is restricted to a very small range in the South-West of Western Australia, with a number of small scattered populations. There is one large population on Rottnest Island and a smaller population on Bald Island near Albany.^[14] The islands are free of certain predators such as foxes and cats. On Rottnest, quokkas are common and occupy a variety of habitats ranging from semi-arid scrub to cultivated gardens.^[15] Prickly Acanthocarpus plants, which are unaccommodating for humans and other relatively large animals to walk through, provide their favorite daytime shelter for sleeping.^[16] Additionally, they are known for their ability to climb trees.^[9]

Diet

Like most macropods, quokkas eat many types of vegetation, including grasses and leaves. A study found that Guichenotia ledifolia, a small shrub species of the family Malvaceae, is one of the quokka's favoured foods.^[16] Rottnest Island visitors are urged to never feed quokkas, in part because eating "human food" can cause dehydration and malnourishment, both of which are detrimental to the quokka's health.^[17] Despite the relative lack of fresh water on Rottnest Island, quokkas do have high water requirements, which they satisfy mostly through eating vegetation. On the mainland quokkas only live in the areas that have 600 mm or more of rain per year.^[18]

Population

At the time of colonial settlement, the quokka was widespread and abundant with its distribution encompassing an area of about 41,200 km² (15,900 sq mi) of south-west Western Australia, inclusive of the two offshore islands, Bald and Rottnest Island. Following extensive population declines in the twentieth century, by 1992 the quokka’s distribution on the mainland was reduced by more than 50% to an area of about 17,800 km² (6,900 sq mi).^[19]
Although numerous on the small offshore islands, the quokka is classified as vulnerable.^[14] On the mainland, where it is threatened by introduced predatory species such as foxes, cats and dogs, it requires dense ground cover for refuge. Clearfell logging, agricultural development, and housing expansion have reduced this habitat, thus contributing to the decline of the species, as has the clearing and burning of the remaining swamplands. Moreover, quokkas usually have a litter size of one and successfully rear one young each year. Although these animals are constantly mating, usually one day after their young is born, the small litter size paired with the restricted space and threatening predators contribute to the scarcity of these marsupials on the mainland.^[20]
The quokka population on Rottnest Island is 8,000–12,000 (est. 2007). Snakes are the quokka's only predator on the island. The population on smaller Bald Island, where the quokka has no predators, is 600–1,000. There are an estimated 4,000 quokkas on the mainland, with nearly all mainland populations in groups of less than 50, although there is one declining group of over 700 in the southern forest between Nannup and Denmark.^[19][21]
In 2015 an extensive bushfire near Northcliffe nearly eradicated one of the local mainland populations, with an estimated 90% of the 500 quokkas dying.^[22]
At the end of summer and into autumn, there is a seasonal decline of quokkas on Rottnest Island, where loss of vegetation and reduction of available surface water can lead to starvation.^[19][23]

Human interaction

The quokka has little fear of humans, and it is common for quokkas to approach people closely, particularly on Rottnest Island where there is a prevalent population of them. It is, however, illegal for members of the public to handle the animals in any way, and feeding, particularly of "human food", is especially discouraged as they can easily get sick. An infringement notice carrying a A$300 fine can be issued by the Rottnest Island Authority for such an offence.^[24] The maximum penalty for animal cruelty is a $50,000 fine and a five-year prison sentence.^[25][26][27]
Quokkas can also be observed at several zoos and wildlife parks around Australia; some examples include Perth Zoo,^[28] Sydney's Taronga Zoo^[29] and Wildlife Sydney Zoo,^[30] and Adelaide Zoo.^[31] Physical interaction is generally not permitted without explicit permission from supervising staff.




Setonix brachyurus

(Quoy & Gaimard, 1830)^[2]

 Geographic range

THE BLACK - FOOTED CAT

The black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), also called small-spotted cat, is the smallest African cat and endemic to the southwestern arid zone of Southern Africa. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2002, as the population is suspected to be declining due to bushmeat poaching of prey species, persecution, traffic accidents and predation by domestic animals.^[2][3]

 

 

Taxonomy

The black-footed cat is a member of the genus Felis.^[1] It was first described by English naturalist William John Burchell in 1824.^[4]
Two subspecies have been nominated:^[1]

• F. n. nigripes Burchell, 1824 occurs in Namibia, Botswana and in the provinces of Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northwest Province and Northern Cape in South Africa
• F. n. thomasi Shortridge, 1931 described on basis of skins from Botswana and Griqualand West.^[5]

According to Shortridge's description, F. n. nigripes is smaller and paler than F. n. thomasi, but since specimens with characteristics of both assumed subspecies are found close to Kimberley in central South Africa, the existence of subspecies is questioned, as no geographical or ecological barriers to their ranges occur.^[6]
The following cladogram shows the phylogenetic relationships of black-footed cat and other species within the Felis lineage. ^[7]

	Felis   Jungle cat (F. chaus)       Black-footed cat (F. nigripes)       European wildcat (F. silvestris silvestris)     Sand cat (F. margarita)       African wildcat (F. silvestris lybica)     Domestic cat (F. catus)

Characteristics

Close-up of a black-footed cat at the Wuppertal Zoo

The black-footed cat is the smallest wild cat in Africa and rivals the rusty-spotted cat as the world's smallest wild cat. Males reach a head-to-body length of 36.7 to 43.3 cm (14.4 to 17.0 in) with tails 16.4 to 19.8 cm (6.5 to 7.8 in) long. Females are smaller with a maximum head-to-body-length of 36.9 cm (14.5 in) and tails 12.6 to 17.0 cm (5.0 to 6.7 in) long.^[8] Adult resident males weigh on average 1.9 kg (4.2 lb) and a maximum of 2.45 kg (5.4 lb). Adult resident females weigh on average 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) and a maximum of 1.65 kg (3.6 lb).^[3] The shoulder height is about 25 cm (9.8 in).^[9]
Despite its name, only the pads and underparts of the cat's feet are black. The cat has a stocky build with rounded ears, large eyes, and short black-tipped tail. The fur varies in color from cinnamon-buff to tawny, and is patterned with black or brown spots that merge to form rings on the legs, neck, and tail. These patterns provide the animals with camouflage; the backs of their ears, however, are the same color as the background color of their fur. They have six mammae, and unlike other spotted cats, non-pigmented skin.^[10]

Distribution and habitat

The black-footed cat is endemic to southern Africa, and primarily found in South Africa, Namibia, marginally into Zimbabwe, and likely in extreme southern Angola. Only historical but no recent records exist in Botswana. It lives in dry, open savanna, grassland and Karoo semidesert with shrub and tree cover at altitudes up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft), but not in the driest and sandiest parts of the Namib and Kalahari Deserts.^[2] During the night, they need sparse shrub and tree covers to hunt but spend the daytime in burrows or empty termite mounds.^[10][11]

Ecology and behavior

Adult black-footed cat resting

Black-footed cat in cover

Black-footed cats are solitary and strictly nocturnal animals, thus rarely seen. They spend the day resting in dense cover in unoccupied burrows of springhares, porcupines, and aardvarks, or in hollow termite mounds. They emerge to hunt after sunset.^[6]
They are typically found in dry, open habitat with some degree of vegetation cover. Apparently they get all the moisture they need from their prey, but will drink water when available.^[8]
Unlike most other cats, black-footed cats are poor climbers, and will generally ignore tree branches. Their stocky bodies and short tails are not conducive to tree-climbing.^[12] They dig vigorously in the sand to extend or modify burrows for shelter.^[10]
Black-footed cats are highly unsociable animals that seek refuge at the slightest disturbance. When cornered, they are known to defend themselves fiercely. Due to this habit and their courage, they are called miershooptier (anthill tiger in Afrikaans) in parts of the South African Karoo. They rarely use termite mounds for cover or for bearing their young. A San legend claims that a black-footed cat can kill a giraffe by piercing its jugular. This exaggeration is intended to emphasize the bravery and tenacity of the animal.^[13] The only times their solitary behavior changes is during breeding season, and among females with dependent kittens.^[3][10]
A female roams in an average home range of 10 km² (3.9 sq mi) in a year, and a resident male of 22 km² (8.5 sq mi). The range of an adult male overlaps the ranges of one to four females.^[3] On average, an adult animal travels 8 km (5.0 mi) per night in search of prey. The cats use scent marking throughout their ranges, with males spraying urine up to twelve times an hour. Other forms of scent marking include rubbing objects, raking with claws, and depositing faeces in visible locations. Their calls are louder than those of other cats of their size, presumably to allow them to call over relatively large distances. When close to each other, however, they use quieter purrs or gurgles, or hiss and growl if threatened.^[10]

Diet and hunting

Captive black-footed cat with a mouse

Due to their small size, black-footed cats hunt mainly small prey species, such as rodents and small birds, but may also take the white-quilled bustard and the Cape hare, the latter being heavier than itself. Insects and spiders provide less than 1% of the prey mass consumed.^[14][15] They are known occasionally to scavenge the lambs of springboks. They are unusually active hunters, killing up to fourteen small animals in a night. Their energy requirements are very high, with about 250 g (9 oz) of prey per night consumed, which is about a sixth of its average body weight.^[10]
Black-footed cats hunt mainly by stalking, rather than ambush, using the cover of darkness and all available traces of cover to approach their prey before the final pounce. They have been observed to hunt by moving swiftly to flush prey from cover, but also to stalk slowly through tufts of vegetation. Less commonly, they wait outside rodent burrows, often with their eyes closed, but remaining alert for the slightest sound.^[6] In common with the big cats, but unlike most other small species, black-footed cats have been observed to hide some of their captured prey for later feeding, rather than consuming it immediately.^[14][10]

Reproduction and lifecycle

Black-footed cats have lived for ten years in captivity. Females reach sexual maturity after eight to twelve months. They come into estrus for only one or two days at a time, and are receptive to mating for a few hours, requiring males to locate them quickly. Copulation occurs frequently during this period. Gestation lasts from 63 to 68 days. A litter consists usually of two kittens, but may vary from one to four young. Kittens weigh 60 to 84 g (2.1 to 3.0 oz) at birth. They are born blind and relatively helpless, although they are able to crawl about after just a few hours. They are able to walk within two weeks, begin taking solid food after about a month, and are fully weaned by two months of age.^[16]
Females may have up to two litters during the course of spring, summer, and autumn. They rear their kittens in a burrow, moving them to new locations regularly after the first week. In general, kittens develop more rapidly than other similarly sized cats, quickly adapting to a relatively hostile environment. They become independent by five months of age, but may remain within their mother's range.^[10]

Threats

Known threats include methods of indiscriminate predator control, such as bait poisoning and steel-jaw traps, habitat deterioration from overgrazing, intraguild predation, diseases, declining springhare populations and unsuitable farming practices. Distribution data indicate that the majority of protected areas may be too small to conserve adequately viable sub-populations.^[2]

Conservation

Felis nigripes is included on CITES Appendix I and protected by national legislation across most of its range. Hunting is banned in Botswana and South Africa.^[2]

Field research

The Black-footed Cat Working Group carries out a research project at Benfontein Nature Reserve and Nuwejaarsfontein Farm near Kimberley, Northern Cape, where seven black-footed cats have been radio-collared. This project is part of a multidisciplinary effort to study the distribution, ecology, health, and reproduction of black-footed cats over an extended period.^[17] In November 2012, this project was extended to Biesiesfontein Farm located in the Victoria West area.^[18] Camera traps are used in the research to collect behavioural data without disturbing them. In particular the cats' interaction with aardwolves is observed.^[19]

In captivity

Wuppertal Zoo acquired black-footed cats as long ago as 1957, and succeeded in breeding them in 1963. In 1993, the European Endangered Species Programme was formed to coordinate which animals are best suited for pairing to maintain genetic diversity and to avoid inbreeding. The International Studbook for the black-footed cat is kept in the Wuppertal Zoo in Germany.^[20] As of July 2011, detailed records exist for a total of 726 captive cats since 1964; worldwide, 74 individuals were kept in 23 institutions in Germany, United Arab Emirates, USA, UK, and South Africa.^[21]
A range of zoos have reported breeding successes, including the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo,^[22] Fresno Chaffee Zoo,^[23] the Brookfield Zoo^[24] and Philadelphia Zoo.^[25]
The Audubon Nature Institute' Center for Research of Endangered Species is working on advanced genetics involving cats.^[26] In February 2011, a female kept there gave birth to two male kittens – the first black-footed cats to be born as a result of in vitro fertilization using frozen and thawed sperm and frozen and thawed embryos. In 2003, the sperm was collected from a male and then frozen. It was later combined with an egg from a female, creating embryos in March 2005. Those embryos were frozen for almost six years before being thawed and transferred to a surrogate female in December 2010, which carried the embryos to term, resulting in the birth of the two kittens.^[27] The same center reported that on 6 February 2012, a female black-footed cat kitten, Crystal, was born to a domestic cat surrogate after interspecies embryo transfer.^[28]





Felis nigripes^[1]

Burchell, 1824

 Distribution of the black-footed cat



 

THE CALIFORNIA GRIZZLY BEAR

The California grizzly bear (Ursus arctos californicus) is an extinct subspecies of the grizzly bear, the very large North American brown bear. "Grizzly" could have meant "grizzled" (that is, with golden and grey tips of the hair) or "fear-inspiring" (this is actually spelled "grisly").^[2] Nonetheless, after careful study, naturalist George Ord formally classified it in 1815 – not for its hair, but for its character – as Ursus horribilis ("terrifying bear").^[3] Genetically, North American grizzlies are closely related;^[4] in size and coloring, the California grizzly bear was much like the grizzly bear of the southern coast of Alaska. In California, it was particularly admired for its beauty, size and strength. The grizzly became a symbol of the Bear Flag Republic, a moniker that was attached to the short-lived attempt by a group of American settlers to break away from Mexico in 1846. Later, this rebel flag became the basis for the state flag of California, and then California was known as the "Bear State."^[5]

 

 

 

Nomenclature

A Kodiak bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi), is very similar physiologically to the California grizzly, despite the pronounced humpback

A 1953 researcher stated, "The specific status of North American brown bears (or grizzly bears) is one of the most complex problems of mammalian taxonomy. The difficulty stems directly from the work of Merriam (1918), who concluded that there are 86 forms of grizzlies (and brown bears) in North America."^[6]
North American grizzlies were taxonomically grouped as a species apart from other bear species, until DNA testing revealed that they should properly be grouped in the same species as the other brown bears.^[4] Grizzlies living in California had been classified by Merriam into many subspecies, but the only genetically anomalous grouping in North America is the ABC Islands bears.^[7]

History and extinction

Prior to Spanish settlement in the second half of the 1700s, it is estimated that 10,000 grizzly bears inhabited what is modern day California.^[8] It is thought that the bears lived across almost the entirety of the state, save its most southeastern and northeastern corners. The bears ate a diverse diet from California’s varied climates, ranging from plant sources like grasses, seeds, and berries, to animal sources such as deer, fish, and carrion—including beached whale carcasses.^[9]

 


Europeans’ first recorded encounters with California grizzly bears are found in diaries kept by several members of the 1769 Portola expedition, the first European land exploration of what is now the state of California. Several place names that include the Spanish word for bear (oso) trace their origins back to that first overland expedition (e.g. Los Osos).
As the settled frontier of New Spain was extended northward, settlers began to populate California and establish large cattle herds as the main industry. The ranchers’ domesticated livestock were easy prey for the grizzly bears roaming freely across the state. By eating their livelihood and scaring them, the grizzlies became enemies of the rancheros. Vaqueros hunted the grizzlies, often roping and capturing them to be pitted against other animals in public battles.^[10]

 

These bear-baiting events flourished as popular spectacles in 19th century California.^[11] Bloody fights that pitted bears against bulls^[12] often inspired betting as to whether the bear or the bull would win. One persistently popular, but false^[13] phrase origin story related to these fights stems from famous 19th century newspaper man Horace Greeley. While visiting California Greeley allegedly witnessed such a fight, and supposedly gave the modern stock market its "bear" and "bull" nicknames based on the fighting styles of the two animals: the bear swipes downward while the bull hooks upward. In truth, the phrase’s origins predate Greeley’s 1859 journey to California by at least 100 years,^[14] but the myth of the California connection persists.
In 1866, a grizzly bear described as weighing as much as 2,200 pounds (1,000 kg) was killed in what is present day Valley Center, California. The incident was recalled in 1932 by Catherine E. Lovett Smith, and it was biggest bear ever found in California. Lovett Smith witnessed the bear’s killing on her family’s ranch when she was six years old. (Other sources confirm her account of the bear, but differ as to its exact size.) Her telling of that bear is part of the oral history of “Bear Valley,” the original name for Valley Center.^[8]
Less than 75 years after the discovery of gold in 1848, almost every grizzly bear in California had been tracked down and killed. One prospector in Southern California, William F. Holcomb (nicknamed "Grizzly Bill" Holcomb), was particularly well known for hunting grizzly bears in what is now San Bernardino County. The last hunted California grizzly bear was shot in Tulare County, California, in August 1922, although no body, skeleton or pelt was ever produced. Two years later in 1924, what was thought to be a grizzly was spotted in Sequoia National Park for the last time and thereafter, grizzlies were never seen again in California.^[8][15][16]

Reintroduction

California still has habitat for about 500 grizzlies.^[17] In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received and rejected a petition to reintroduce grizzly bears to California.^[18][19] In 2015, the Center for Biological Diversity launched a petition aimed at the California state legislature to reintroduce the grizzly bear to the state.^[20][21][22] The California grizzly bear has been considered as a possible candidate for attempts at de-extinction, through the proposed use of back-breeding, cloning and genetic engineering to recreate extinct species.^[23]





The California grizzly bear is one of the state's most visible and enduring symbols, adorning both the state flag and seal. The Bear Flag first flew in 1846 as a symbol of the short-lived California Republic. A second version was adopted as the state flag by the state legislature in 1911.^[24] The bear symbol became a permanent part of the state seal in 1849. The California grizzly bear was designated the official state animal in 1953.^[25][26] The bear is celebrated in name and as mascot of the sports teams of the University of California, Berkeley (the California Golden Bears), and of the University of California, Los Angeles (the UCLA Bruins) and in the mascot of University of California, Riverside (Scottie the Bear, dressed in a Highland kilt). The California Maritime Academy operates a training ship named "Golden Bear".^{[citation needed]}