After four years of legal battles, New Jersey's "Tiger Lady" has lost her ownership rights to the twenty-four Bengal tigers she has been keeping.

The state has been attempting to remove the big cats from Joan Byron-Marasek's custody since 1999, when the police shot a roaming tiger alleged to belong to her. It has since been decided by authorities that her facilities are sub-standard, and that she has failed to obtain the proper permits in due time.

The court ruled that the state holds jurisdiction over the animals, which will be moved to a tiger sanctuary in Texas this summer.

John Weinhart, owner of the nonprofit organization Tiger Rescue, was arrested Tuesday along with three others on charges of improper care and cruelty to animals.

Officials who raided the big cat "retirement home" were horrified to find some 30 dead tigers around the property, as well as young cubs living in the home's attic.

An article on Yahoo! News speaks of looting at the Baghdad Zoo and the plight of the lions and tigers there.

There have been two fatalities reported from tiger attacks within the past week:

William Olson, owner of a licensed sanctuary for exotic cats, was found dead in an outdoor enclosure on March 31st after police responded to a call reporting that he had been attacked. Two tigers were shot by the authorities in order to reach Olson.

More recently, at Safari Joe's Rock Creek Exotic Animal Park, animal handler Linda Bracket was pulled into a cage by tigers while watering them. She died of her injuries.

School officials in Minnesota were a bit taken aback by a fifth-grader's explanation of his inability to keep awake in class, and of the scratch marks covering his body. Apparantly, the tiger in his bedroom was keeping him up at night.

The 3 or 4 month old tiger - named Anna by the boy - has since been secured by a Humane Society.

A baited camera trap caught the first image of a wild Siberian tiger in north-eastern China, raising hopes that the species might return to its old haunts. The tiger was all but extinct in China from poatching, but much of its old habitat remains intact. Scientists hope migrating tiger populations from Russia and captive bred introduced animals can rebuild the population if hunting bans can be maintained.

PETA activist Holly Fraser protested the treatment of circus animals by painting herself up as a tiger and sitting outside in a cage. It seems being half-naked seemed to help increase public awareness.

Wildlife authorities in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah are searching for a man who is reported to have gone missing with his family and his pet tiger.

. . .

The missing businessman was photographed on Saturday driving around his home town with a full-grown tiger in the back of his jeep.

The man, Haji Zaitun Arshad, told reporters that the animal had been brought in from Thailand where it had been caught in a trap.

. . .

However, a neighbour later said that Haji Zaitun had disappeared with his family and the tiger, after learning that the authorities wanted to speak to him.

If convicted of keeping a tiger without a licence, he faces a $4,000 fine, or up to five years in prison.

The full story can be found at the BBC.

BEIJING (Reuters) - One hundred tigers and 2,000 alligators have been flown from Thailand to China to grace an animal park where visitors will be able to admire and eat some of the creatures displayed, a park official said Thursday.

Full story (abcnews)

Ending a convoluted tale of theft, the SPCA exhumed the remains of Shiva - an eight month old male Bengal tiger - stolen from Guha's Lions and Tigers on Nov. 28th. The big cat was said to have died from an overdose of tranquilizers.
Cheryl Hunt, of Essex, is expected to be charged with theft, administering an injurious substance to an animal, killing an animal without lawful excuse and mischief and destruction of property.

While (re)writing the review of _Life of Pi_ that I promised the kind readers of Flayrah, I was suprised to come across this news story. Martel's story of a hindu boy trapped on a lifeboat with a tiger has been acused of blatently lifting from Brazilian Moacyr Scliar's _Max And the Cats_ which is about... Er... A jewish boy trapped on a lifeboat with a panther.

Martel's reply, "why put up with a brilliant premise ruined by a lesser writer?".

For the first time in who knows how long, a genre novel has won the Booker Prize. (Considered by many to be the highest award available for novels)

And guess what, its our genre! The award winner is Canadian Yann Martel’s work Life of Pi, a story of a young boy and a tiger called Richard Parker.

mwalimu's hometown makes furry news headlines. Unfortunately the news is not good.

A tiger being transported escaped early this morning on the east side of Bloomington, Illinois, when its owners stopped at a local truck stop and tried to give it some exercise. Area residents were ordered to stay indoors while authorities tried to capture the animal. After four unsuccessful attempts to trank the animal, it was finally shot dead when it made aggressive moves toward conservation police officers in a pickup truck.

See story on Yahoo or in Bloomington's local newspaper, The Pantagraph

Siberian and Amur tigers have never had it easy, but with the fall of communism and a lack of government interest in their protection, the numbers are dropping off fast. With few jobs available in the far east of Russia, hunting and poaching are a new way of life. Locals are baffled at Western conservationists interest in an animal so threatening to them, and the few nature reserves are stops for them to take caviar, deer and even tigers. Though education is continuing, especially for the young, to encourage them to have pride in the big cats of Russia's taiga, the future range of the Amur and Siberian tigers might end up behind zoo bars.

Article debating whether the Australian Thylacoleo, an extinct class of cat-like marsupials from the Pleistoscene era, is still alive in Queensland.

Direct URL:
http://www.forteantimes.com/exclusive/thylacine.shtml

Or, look for article 'Will The Real Thylacoleo Please Stand Up' in the Fortean Time's Web Page