A bit of clouded leopard cuteness to bump my previous entry into the ether

I’ll admit, I stole this from My Animal Family, but I just couldn’t resist it.  Check out this video of clouded leopards which are being bred in captivity to one day hopefully replenish the species in the wild.  This is the most magnificent, spectacular-looking wild cat I’ve ever seen!  Clouded Leopard Breeding Video (from National Geographic).

Ah, that reminds me of something sort of amusing.  I was posting on the message boards for my vet tech class, where a surprising number of people were arguing against feral cat TNR because they claim feral cats decimate wild bird populations.  I quoted a study done by National Geographic which showed that humans are far and away the largest cause of the loss of bird species, as well as another one where feral colonies in Florida were observed for a long period of time, and only two bird deaths were reported.  Someone replied and very haughtily told me that I can’t just go believing stuff said by any old group like National Geographic, and that I needed to quote “accurate” figures issued by government agencies.  That’s one thing which really frustrates me about the vet tech program—there are a lot of closed minds on inexperienced people.  The majority of students who responded in the thread felt that feral cats should be trapped and euthanized, because they believe the cats spread disease (not true in managed colonies), that it’s “cruel” to let the cats live that way (more cruel than death?), and that killing the cats will solve the feral cat problem (it won’t).  The students felt that TNR prolongs the problem.  This is the level of knowledge students are taking into vet clinics with them, and they’re passing it around as gospel.  Perhaps it’s time for me to write to Alley Cat Allies and suggest they send some free materials to students, or do some sort of presentation.  I don’t think you should attempt to speak with authority on a subject until you’ve at least done some reseach into both sides of the argument.  Colour me an over-achiever.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/25 at 05:26 AM

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  1. What bootiful, BIG cats! I love their giant paws an long, floofy tails.

    Posted by Victor Tabbycat  on  06/27  at  07:14 AM
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