Big cat to die out

[commonpeople]

Well, assuming Mac OS X users take some interest in big cats...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4336071.stm

"The Iberian lynx, found only in Spain and Portugal, could become the first big cat to die out since the sabre- toothed tiger, a WWF report claims.

The critically endangered animal could become extinct within five years unless swift action is taken, the WWF says.

Lynx numbers have declined from 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th Century to around just 100-120 today."

Any thoughts?
Christian

[Leareth]

Unfortunately, the population is so low with little genetic diversity, they would have to interbreed with other species in order to prevent the bottleneck effect of a limited gene pool. It is one of the concerns for Cheetah in africa, there is a captive breeding program where they are adding leopards to the mix, so the offspring released into the wild are 1/4 leopard adding more genetic diversity to the whole population.
Sorry but it looks like this cat is going to go extinct within a generation

[virividox]

i hope they can be preserved ;(

[wdlove]

I certainly hope that the WWF will be successful in saving the Iberian lynx. Have been making a yearly contribution to them for over ten years. Have been concerned about endangered species.

[commonpeople]

Well it's such a shame, especially since they're such beautiful creatures. I wish Apple would help raise awareness about the plight of the big cats. They have such a strong and loyal fanbase which they could make use of. Would the WWF be the best organization to donate to with regards to this?

Christian

[Lacero]

Well, looks like time to cryogenically freeze the eggs, taken DNA samples, and decode the genome of this endangered cat, and perhaps in the future, we could re-populate the species.

[wdlove]

Originally Posted by commonpeople

Well it's such a shame, especially since they're such beautiful creatures. I wish Apple would help raise awareness about the plight of the big cats. They have such a strong and loyal fanbase which they could make use of. Would the WWF be the best organization to donate to with regards to this?

Christian

I think it's probably the best place to donate. They have been doing this for years.

http://www.panda.org/

[John Jacob]

Originally Posted by commonpeople

"The Iberian lynx, found only in Spain and Portugal, could become the first big cat to die out since the sabre- toothed tiger, a WWF report claims.

Haven't there been other big cats that died out since the sabre-tooth? The Javan, Balinese and Caspian tigers, and the Barbary and Cape lions come to mind (though these may be sub-species and not full species).

[commonpeople]

Originally Posted by John Jacob

Haven't there been other big cats that died out since the sabre-tooth? The Javan, Balinese and Caspian tigers, and the Barbary and Cape lions come to mind (though these may be sub-species and not full species).

Good point! I wasn't aware of this..so I took a quick look at Wikipedia. Yeah.. they appear to be sub-species.. but who cares? Whatever.. it's still significant that the big-cats are dying out.

Well.. I'm going to donate 20 bucks to WWF.. not much I know.. but I think anyone who can afford to buy the OS X releases with cool big-cat themes should be able to afford a small donation. What's cooler? the fur pattern on the OS-X box or having actual big-cats in the wild?

I'd like to say that I'm amazed by the cynicism of some of the posters today.. but I guess I expected it. Wow.. we're the most intelligent species in the history of evolution and most of us are living in the richest country that has ever existed (i.e. the US). We're in many ways the most priviliged of the priviliged few. We're also the best educated generation that ever was. Don't you think we have.. uh.. some responsibility to the rest of the planet?

Christian

[John Jacob]

Originally Posted by commonpeople

Wow.. we're the most intelligent species in the history of evolution and most of us are living in the richest country that has ever existed (i.e. the US). We're in many ways the most priviliged of the priviliged few. We're also the best educated generation that ever was. Don't you think we have.. uh.. some responsibility to the rest of the planet?

Absolutely... couldn't agree more!! However...

Originally Posted by commonpeople

I'd like to say that I'm amazed by the cynicism of some of the posters today..

Seeing the history of the human race (and our conduct both to other humans as well as other species), isn't it possible that that cynicism may be justified? I hope its not, and I hope that we are fundamentally good - not evil, but I really don't know anymore.

[Black&Tan]

Originally Posted by commonpeople

Wow.. we're the most intelligent species in the history of evolution and most of us are living in the richest country that has ever existed (i.e. the US). We're in many ways the most priviliged of the priviliged few. We're also the best educated generation that ever was. Don't you think we have.. uh.. some responsibility to the rest of the planet?

Christian

I agree with many of the statements here, but it's a very fine line for developing countries. Who are we, the developed/industrialised nations of the world, to tell another country that you cannot create dams for hydroelectric power, or create roads because it would damage/destroy the habitat for these magnificent creatures. In the US, we killed off the buffalo herds. We are now decimating the wild horse population and letting them be sold at auction as food or pets! We do all these things in the name of "progress." Isn't it hypocritical to tell a developing nation that they cannot strive for greatness because to do so would compromise precious resources. How can we hold them back when we have made all the same mistakes in our rise to industrialisation?

Its a sad situation and I for one would like to preserve both the habitat and prey animals required by the big cats. Organisations such as WWF can buy tracks of land and preserve them as national parks, but what happens if something precious is found on the land, such as gold/diamonds/oil. The animals would lose out for the sake of money. Until we can change how man views the planet, I fear we are destined to destroy all those things we care about for the sake of money.

[QCassidy352]

Originally Posted by John Jacob

Haven't there been other big cats that died out since the sabre-tooth? The Javan, Balinese and Caspian tigers, and the Barbary and Cape lions come to mind (though these may be sub-species and not full species).

I agree that this is a tragic thing. When i was younger is was really obsessed with tigers, read all about them, and was really saddened by the death of the caspian tigers. I remember that at some point there was another subspecies, the sumatran tiger, that was down to perhaps 100 or fewer members, like this lynx is now. Anyone know if they still exist?

edit: did some checking and found that there are perhaps actually 400-500 sumatran tigers left. Very low, but better than I thought. Only 20-30 Amoy Tigers left though! damn...