WCS photo of rare cat in Bolivia wins BBC prize

[Judi Lynn]

WCS photo of rare cat in Bolivia wins BBC prize
November 29, 2012



A photograph taken by Wildlife Conservation Society scientists of a little known Bolivian cat species called an oncilla has won a BBC Wildlife camera-trap photo competition

The photo, which won the New Discoveries category, documents the first-known occurrence of this extremely rare spotted cat in Madidi National Park. The Oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus) occurs across the Amazon and along the tropical Andes.

About the size of a house cat, they are the smallest cat species of South America's lowlands. Very little is known about their life history. WCS researchers Guido Ayala, Maria Viscarra, and Robert Wallace submitted the photo taken last July during camera trap surveys of jaguars and other wildlife living in Madidi – considered to be among the most biodiverse protected areas on the planet.

More than 1,300 entries were submitted from around the world. The winning entry received £1,000 (approximately $1,500), courtesy of Paramo Directional Clothing Systems and the World Land Trust.

The photo is featured in the December issue of BBC Wildlife and on the website www.discoverwildlife.com

More:
http://phys.org/news/2012-11-wcs-photo-rare-cat-bolivia.html#jCp

[Warpy]

1. Beautiful cat! Thanks

Too bad it probably looks a lot sweeter than it is.

[hlthe2b]

2. That is one beautiful cat... I dearly hope something can be done to avoid it falling....

victim to the exotic pet trade...

[Warpy]

9. The range is really huge, and while it's under pressure from fur traders

and habitat loss, it's not endangered. Yet.

In its favor are the camo coat and the shy habits.

[freshwest]

3. What a beauty, hope its habitat will remain for them.

[TwilightGardener]

4. What a cool cat!

[niyad]

5. what a beautiful cat--it looks so sweet--hope its habitat remains.

[catbyte]

6. What a gorgeous cat. Great picture.

[ellie]

7. So cute!

I want to kiss his fuzzy head.

[robinlynne]

8. beautiful! A tiny leopard.

[libodem]

10. Camo cat

[Baitball Blogger]

11. I wonder if they can be tamed?

[Cleita]

12. Maybe raised from a kitten, but why would you want to?

Even a hand raised wild cat living in your house wouldn't be like a house cat and you would be forced to make it live in a cage. There are a variety of small wild cats that are kept in zoos and that are just as beautiful as that one. If you observe them at the zoo, it's easy to see that they aren't suitable as pets.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. He's just so cute.

I would love to own one. But you're right. Not a good idea to have one around when you also like rabbits.

[Cleita]

14. There is a breed of domestic cats that are spotted.

I can't remember the name but they are just as cute and suitable as house pets.

On edit: I found this. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/247668/a-quick-guide-to-the-spotted-cat-breeds

The kitty I was referring to is an Ocicat.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Went to find a photo of ocicats, and post one here. They were all so beautiful,

I couldn't find one better than the others, so I brought the link:

http://images.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4TSND_enUS411US412&q=ocicat&biw=1311&bih=568&sei=Lii5UIOKArKQ0QG08YDwDg&tbm=isch

Wow. They are wonderful. Thanks!

[Cleita]

16. Oh, they are beautiful.

Thank you for finding this photo gallery!

[sakabatou]

17. Looks so cute.

[wisteria]

18. Gorgeous sweetheart. n/t

[WinkyDink]

19. Beautiful creature! We are lucky to have intrepid photographers.

[ReRe]

20. I want that cat!

But I'm sure it could never be domesticated/tamed. What a beauty!

[patrice]

21. Blessings on Bolivia for protecting this beautiful creature! nt

[dipsydoodle]

22. Kick.