The Loris Lives! First Pictures of Primate Thought To Be Extinct

• By Jess McNally

• From http://www.wired.com/

This cute furry primate is the first of its species to ever be photographed.

The Horton Plains slender loris (Loris tardigradus nycticeboides) was thought to be extinct. Between 1939 and 2002, no one spotted the animal. In 2002 someone reported a possible sighting, but didn’t get any pictures.

The 2002 report inspired the Zoological Society of London and a team of Sri Lankan researchers to launch an effort to find the 8-inch-long primate.

After 200 hours of searching, they captured the first ever pictures of the creature, which were released Monday.

“The discovery improves our knowledge of this species, but we need to focus our efforts on the conservation and restoration of the remaining montane forest where this species still exists,” conservation biologist Dr. Craig Turner of the Zoological Society of London said in a press release. “Currently this accounts for less than 1 percent of the land area of Sri Lanka.”

The Horton Plains slender loris is a subspecies of the red slender loris. It is classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Image: AP Photo/Zoological Society of London/Ho.

Liger goes to 'London' for a light lunch

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

At first glance it seems this 12-foot long, 900-pound prowling beast is on the loose round the streets of London, simply taking in a tour of traditional sights.

The liger often has a very limited life span as well as birth defects and other mutation Photo: Barry Bland / Barcroft Media

The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress Photo: Barry Bland / Barcroft Media

However, he is in fact in the warm climate of the Freestyle Music Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Walking round the mock-up English town that is a tribute to the British music invasion of the States in the 1960's,

The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress Photo: Barry Bland / Barcroft Media

Hercules struts his stuff round the village like a hipster from the swinging sixties. And in a graphic display of his incredible size and strength, Hercules stops for a spot of lunch from the top of an iconic double decker bus, eating his way through some of the 25 pounds of meat and gallon of water he needs each day.

The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress and borrow characteristics from both species. Ligers enjoy swimming which is a characteristic of tigers and are very sociable like lions.

The liger often has a very limited life span as well as birth defects and other mutations.

In the wild it is virtually impossible for lions and tigers to mate. Not only are they enemies likely to kill one another, but most lions are in Africa and most tigers in Asia.

Today there are also believed to be a handful of ligers around the world and a similar number of tiglons, the product of a tiger father and lion mother.

Tiglons are smaller than ligers and take on more physical characteristics of the tiger.

Other exotic hybrids include the zeedonk , a cross between a zebra and a donkey; the zorse or zebroid, a zebra/horse cross; and the beefalo, an American bison/ domestic cow cross.

Another rare creature is the wolphin, the offspring of a whale and a dolphin.

Back in the big cat world zoos in Japan, Germany and Italy have bred leopons, a male leopard/lioness cross, while Salzburg Zoo in Austria has bred jaguar/leopard hybrids known as lepjags.

Mother's pride: First lion cubs born at London Zoo in 10 years make their debut

By Daily Mail Reporter

Two rare lion cubs who were born at London Zoo took their first steps in their new enclosure today, as their mother looked on with pride.

The 10-week-old un-named cats are the son and daughter of Lucifer, six, and Abi, 10, who was the last Asian lion to be born at the zoo.

Malcolm Fitzpatrick, curator of mammals at ZSL London Zoo, said the little lions have already started to form their own personalities.

On feline form: The tiny lion cubs make their debut at London Zoo today with mother Abi

He said: 'Left to their own devices these two youngsters would be running all over the place. The young male is especially adventurous.'

Like many siblings the mischievous pair squabble, and their keepers have spotted them playing tug-of-war with their food.

As they roamed around their new moated paddock, their mother was ever-watchful.

'Their mother Abi is very protective,' said Mr Fitzpatrick. 'Like any new mother, she is very careful.'

Keepers came up with their father's unusual name when he arrived at the zoo in 2004. His registration number at his previous zoo was 666, the Devil's number.

Double trouble: The 10-week-old cubs have already started to develop their own personalities

Lucifer has not been introduced properly to his cubs yet, having only met them through a mesh.

The curator said: 'He wants to be in there with his offspring, but we wanted to make sure the youngsters were vaccinated and had a chance to explore the enclosure before we introduced him.'

Fewer than 300 Asian lions remain in the wild, and just 90 live in captivity around the world.

Paws for thought: Abi cleans one of the tiny cubs as it takes its first steps into the public eye...

...then warns the other cub from straying too far with a nudge of her nose

They are classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and captive breeding is key to their survival. London Zoo is part of the European Breeding Programme for lions.

Asian lions once ranged from Greece, across the Middle East to India, but persecution has virtually wiped the breed out and they now can only be found in the Gir Forest, north west India.

Purrfect pose: One of the unnamed cubs takes a walk on the wild side in the Lion enclosure at London Zoo

Curious and curiouser: The male and female Asian lions explore their new home

They have smaller manes than African lions, making their ears more visible, and they have a pronounced fold of skin along the belly and thicker hair on the tail and elbows.

Unlike African lions, male and female Asian lions seldom associate except to mate.

Their typical prey is chital deer, but they also attack livestock which brings them into conflict with local people.

London pride: 10-year-old lioness Abi was the last lion to be born at the zoo before her cubs