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Learning Love from a Tiger explores the vibrancy and variety of humans' sacred encounters with the natural world, gathering a range of stories culled from Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Mayan, Himalayan, Buddhist, and Chinese shamanic traditions. Readers will delight in tales of house cats who teach monks how to meditate, shamans who shape-shift into jaguars, crickets who perform Catholic mass, rivers that grant salvation, and many others. In addition to being a collection of wonderful stories, this book introduces important concepts and approaches that underlie much recent work in environmental ethics, religion, and ecology. Daniel Capper's light touch prompts readers to engage their own views of humanity's place in the natural world and question longstanding assumptions of human superiority.

In Asia, carnivore conservation is often focused on charismatic big cats. Opportunities to conserve the entire carnivore guild are frequently overlooked by channeling conservation and mitigation efforts into single‐species conservation. We synthesize experiences across Asia to explore these challenges and propose mitigations to maximize conservation benefits for the entire carnivore guild. Seven challenges for wolves (Canis lupus) in Asia are highlighted: wolves (1) have been neglected over decades of single‐species conservation, (2) receive less cultural appreciation in many regions, (3) are subject to lax legislation and law enforcement, (4) are often blamed disproportionately for livestock depredation, (5) are often considered more abundant than they are, (6), receive disproportionately little attention from the scientific and conservation communities relative to their ecological importance, and (7) are threatened ecologically and genetically by increasing feral dog populations. As a result, the status of wolves across Asia is poorly documented, there is an enhanced risk of losing significant evolutionary lineages, and it detracts from research and conservation opportunities to preserve the entire carnivore guild. We propose various remedies, such as widening the scope of existing conservation programs, building awareness and knowledge of communities and law enforcement agencies, and more research to inform conservation and legislation.

Tigers are one of the most recognized and charismatic predator on earth, yet their habitats have declined, their numbers are low, and substantial threats to their survival persist. Although, tiger conservation is high priority globally and tigers are generally considered well studied, there has been no comprehensive global assessment of tiger-related publications aimed at identifying trends, assessing their status and pinpointing research gaps. Utilizing PRISMA framework, we conducted an extensive search across multiple databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect, to gather research related to Bengal tigers. Following thorough screening, we selected and evaluated 491 articles published between 2010 and 2022 to address these issues. The results show that publications on Bengal tigers have steadily on rise, with an average of 40 papers/year within this period. We found that most research was focused on the theme of tiger biology. Information on leopards and dholes was also frequently associated with tiger research. The highest number of lead authors originated from India (n = 192), where most research was also conducted. Authors from USA (n = 111) and UK (n = 38) were the next most productive, even though tigers are not found in or anywhere near these countries. We demonstrate that there is only limited amount of transboundary research, and that relatively little tiger research is conducted in the forests beyond protected areas. Similarly, very important but the least studied themes ─Poaching, Population and Socio-culture dimension should be the priority of future research efforts. Additionally, research on tourism, economic aspects and technological inputs are essential for the sustainable conservation of Bengal tigers.

Lions (Panthera leo) play a crucial ecological role in shaping and maintaining fragile ecosystems within Africa. Conservation efforts should focus on genetic variability within wild populations when considering reintroduction attempts. We studied two groups of lions from two conservation sites located in Zambia and Zimbabwe to determine their genetic make-up, information that is usually unknown to the sites. In this study, we analysed 17 specimens for cytb and seven microsatellite markers to ascertain family relationships and genetic diversity previously obtained by observational studies. We then produced a standardised haplogroup phylogeny using all available entire mitogenomes, as well as calculating a revised molecular clock. The modern lion lineage diverged ~151 kya and was divided into two subspecies, both containing three distinct haplogroups. We confirm that Panthera leo persica is not a subspecies, but rather a haplogroup of the northern P.l. leo that exited Africa at least ~31 kya. The progenitor to all lions existed ~1.2 Mya, possibly in SE Africa, and later exited Africa and split into the two cave lion lineages ~175 kya. Species demography is correlated to major climactic events. We now have a detailed phylogeny of lion evolution and an idea of their conservation status given the threat of climate change.

Two individuals of the jaguar, Panthera onca (L.), were captured near the municipality of Presidente Figueiredo, Brazilian Amazon, during the years of 2017 and 2018. The jaguars presented furuncular myiasis caused by the human botfly Dermatobia hominis (L.) on the rear thighs and tail. This is the first record of infestation of D. hominis in P. onca in the Amazon region.

Many carnivore species, particularly felids, are sensitive to land use changes and may disappear from landscapes with reduced natural habitat and increased fragmentation. The jaguar (Panthera onca) is highly affected by these factors and is particularly endangered in the Atlantic Forest (AF) of South America, one of the most threatened biomes in the world. We used noninvasive fecal sampling and microsatellite markers to investigate the genetic diversity of jaguars in one of the last remnant populations of this species in the entire coastal AF. This section of the biome is highly fragmented. We observed low levels of genetic diversity (HO = 0.621, HE = 0.532, AR = 3.195), and estimated a small effective size for the population (Ne = 7.9 individuals). We performed comparative analyses incorporating data from previously surveyed populations located farther inland (interior AF), revealing that the coastal population studied shows significant genetic differentiation. Our results support a scenario of anthropogenic, drift-induced differentiation among jaguar populations in small AF fragments, affecting both the interior and coastal components of this biome. Despite its low diversity, we detected putatively unique alleles present in the coastal population, supporting its importance in the context of maintaining the remaining genetic variability of jaguars in the AF. Our results highlight the urgent need to implement coordinated conservation actions for jaguars in this highly impacted biome, including management interventions that foster the restoration of genetic connectivity among isolated remnant populations.

1. Large carnivores of the genus Panthera can pose serious threats to public safety. Although the annual number of attacks on humans is rare compared to livestock depredation, such incidents undermine popular support for wildlife conservation and require immediate responses to protect human life. 2. We used a space–time scan method to perform a novel spatiotemporal analysis of 908 attacks on humans by lions, leopards, and tigers to estimate the risks of further attacks in the same locales. 3. We found that a substantial proportion of attacks were clustered in time and space, but the dimension of these outbreaks varied between species. Lion outbreaks included more human fatalities, persisted for longer periods of time, and extended over larger areas than tiger or leopard outbreaks. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our analysis reveals the typical spatiotemporal patterns of past lion, leopard, and tiger attacks on humans. In future, this technique could be used by relevant agencies to warn local people of risks from further attacks within a certain time and distance following an initial incident by each species. Furthermore, the approach can help identify areas requiring management interventions to address such threats. anthropogenic landscape, attacks on humans, big cats, human–wildlife conflict, Panthera,space–time scan, spatiotemporal clustering

Strategically enriching the environment of zoo felids to encourage innate behaviors is essential to good welfare. To investigate how engagement differs among sensory-based enrichment, six items representing tactile (firehose log, Jolly Eggs), visual (mirror, movie), and olfactory (cinnamon, cologne) sensory categories were offered to three adult cheetah siblings. Each item was offered four times: twice during daytime hours and twice overnight (≥5 h/occasion). Static video monitoring was used to investigate engagement frequency and duration for each item and to observe grooming behaviors. Cheetahs engaged with visual enrichment more frequently (p < 0.05) and for greater (p < 0.05) periods than other items. Allogrooming occurred most frequently (p < 0.05) when the movie was provisioned at night. Tactile enrichment was only modestly engaged, with fewer but longer engagements (p < 0.05) at nighttime than at daytime. Autogrooming frequency did not vary among enrichment items but was greater (p < 0.05) at night than day. These findings showed that zoo cheetah responses to sensory enrichment items differed based on type and time of day. Visual stimuli were favored, whereas olfactory stimuli were generally ignored. This illustrates the benefit of diverse sensory-specific enrichment strategies. Such dynamic strategies can help overcome the challenge of individual preferences to encourage engagement reflective of the animal’s natural behaviors.

The big cats (genus Panthera) represent some of the most popular and charismatic species on the planet. Although some reference genomes are available for this clade, few are at the chromosome level, inhibiting high-resolution genomic studies. We assembled genomes from 3 members of the genus, the tiger (Panthera tigris), the snow leopard (Panthera uncia), and the African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus), at chromosome or near-chromosome level. We used a combination of short- and long-read technologies, as well as proximity ligation data from Hi-C technology, to achieve high continuity and contiguity for each individual. We hope that these genomes will aid in further evolutionary and conservation research of this iconic group of mammals.

Last seen in the 1880s, cougars (also known as pumas or mountain lions) are making a return to the plains regions of the Midwest. Their comeback, heralded by wildlife enthusiasts, has brought concern and questions to many. Will the people of the region make room for cougars? Can they survive the highly altered landscape of the Midwest? Is there a future for these intrepid pioneers if they head even farther east? Using GIS technology, and historical data, among many other methods, Phantoms of the Prairie takes readers on a virtual journey, showing how the cougar might move over the landscape with minimal human contact. Drawing on his years of research on cougars, John W. Laundré offers an overview of what has been, what is, and what might be regarding the return of cougars to their ancestral prairie homeland.