The Zoochat Photographic Guide To The New Felid Taxonomy

I considered it; the problem is that the list of synonyms provided in the taxonomy update only accounts for the ones in circulation at present so cougar was the only subspecies listed for North America - hence why I used a photo of a missoulensis individual for that taxon, I didn't have a full list of the old North American subspecies and I didn't want to only list missoulensis and coryi.

That said, I just went and rooted out one of my older books and got the original list (more or less) so will edit the relevant post.

 

For anyone wanting to see the full story:
Tragic Taxidermy 1 | ZooChat (use the "previous" arrow to move through all twelve photos in the series).

*The gorilla is not part of the Tragic Taxidermy series but is very interesting nonetheless because it is an original Paul Du Chaillu gorilla.

 

Seeing this thread is all about photos (and I was actually surprised how many of mine appeared in it!), I had a quick count up through the species list and I think I've seen 24 species (out of 41) of which I think I have photographed 22 species. Not all good photos of course.

Most of my "missing" species are in Leopardus (seven species unseen I think - there aren't many of these in Australasia or Asia!) and Felis (five species unseen I think). I don't really keep track of captive species I've seen, so my numbers might be one or two out.

Also, if anyone isn't aware of the earlier thread on changes in cat taxonomy: online newsletter for small cats

 

Better than nothing! Will add it to the relevant post until such a time as a typical shot is uploaded.

Well, you *are* one of the main sources - along with devilfish and fofo - when it comes to pure Asian subspecies found in collections within their native range

Counting the domestic cat I am sitting on a total of 30, with another (Southern Tigrina) hopefully to be added in the coming weeks. However, after that I will have only one other cat species available to me in Europe, this being Iberian Lynx.

 

I didn't see this edit until just now. I had a look and found this: Fishing Cat – Cambodian Fishing Cat Project

"Our results follow closely on the heels of sad news from Java: a recent extensive survey targeting Fishing Cat yielded no records."

There's a pretty depressing distribution map on that link too, right above the sentence I quoted.


The article from which that news was reported is here: Fishing Cats Quietly Slink Out of Existence in Southeast Asia – National Geographic Blog

After extensive camera trap surveys in key habitat failed to reveal a single fishing cat in Java, conservationists fear that the unique water-loving feline may be on the verge of extinction in Indonesia, if not already extirpated there.

“If the fishing cat is gone from Indonesia, it is following the extinction of the Bali Tiger in the late 1930s and the Java Tiger in the mid-1970s,” says Frederic Launay from Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, which helped fund the most recent camera trap surveys that wrapped up at the end of October 2016 and targeted habitat that scientists had not surveyed previously. “This is sad news, but we hope that we are proved wrong and the fishing cat is re-discovered on Java. Nevertheless, fishing cats still exist across a wide range and our focus should be on assessing population health and reducing threats elsewhere.”

The likely last sighting of a wild fishing cat in Java was before 1990. Over the past 15 years, researchers have placed hundreds of camera traps in prime fishing cat habitat in Java, the only place fishing cats occur in Indonesia: Ujung Kulon National Park, Baluran National Park, Alas Purwo National Park, Meru Betiri, Gunung Gede Pangrango and other protected areas in the interior of Java. The camera traps have captured the leopard cat and even the rare Javan leopard, but not the fishing cat, which is usually easy to spot.

 

I think the animal on the following photo is probably kutas but I don't know where it came from so I couldn't be definite. It's a rubbish photo anyway.
jungle cat (Felis chaus) | ZooChat

I have a photo of prateri as well but it isn't worth putting in the gallery (it is wild at night, half-hidden by bushes).

I just realised that means I must have seen four subspecies of Jungle Cat, and photographed all of them. That's pretty cool. I don't take much notice of subspecies in captive animals generally (only wild ones).

 

Yes, I became aware of that animal a week or two ago but my statement was correct at the time of posting!

Not much chance of him returning to the site to upload that photo to the gallery, though.

 

I am gobsmacked! Not just by the news itself, but also that it hasn't been mentioned on Zoochat before (you know, even despite TLD saying "I became aware of that animal a week or two ago"!).

Really wish I had some money to get over to Java immediately...

I'm going to go post this news in other places on Zoochat now.

EDIT: Bay Cat thread here - Taman Safari Bogor - Bornean Bay Cat at Taman Safari Bogor