Turf wars between Rocky Mountain goats and bighorn sheep are going on as once-permanent glaciers and snowfields melt, exposing mineral deposits that the animals lick for key micronutrients. Researchers have seen dozens of these conflicts (this one in Glacier National Park), which the mountain goats usually win, forcing the sheep to seek their minerals elsewhere, according to CPR News.
The okapi, a forest-dwelling relative of the giraffe so rare that it’s called Africa’s unicorn, is not only endangered but now the target of wildlife trafficking, too. The distinctive skins are sold as decoration and the meat, bones and fat bring huge sums in Southeast Asia and the Middle East for their alleged (false) medicinal value. Wildnet.org reports on moves to combat okapi poaching.
Also “spotted” last month—a rare leopard in Turkey, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry immediately posted the trail-camera photos on social media. Istanbul’s Daily Sabah broke the news on October 10. Leopards were thought to be extinct in Turkey until one was seen by a similar camera in 2019 (above) but, based on new evidence, biologists are now certain leopards are living in at least four areas of the country. A research unit and a conservation action plan have been created.
Police shot a tiger that killed nine people in India, BBC News reported last month. The “man-eater of Champaran,” a 3-year-old male, was surrounded in a sugarcane field near a tiger reserve by about 200 officers, some on elephantback. Attempts to tranquilize it were unsuccessful. The day before, the tiger had killed a mother and child, causing “a sleepless night for the whole village.” Between 40 and 50 people are killed by tigers every year in India (where elephants kill about 350 people annually). The image is from the embedded “Project Tiger” video.
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