Pictured: Sickening moment tiger is beaten around the head with a stick to pose for photographs with Chinese families

 

• Animal appears drugged as parents and children queue up for mementos

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 11:05 GMT, 16 January 2013 | UPDATED: 14:27 GMT, 16 January 2013

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2263244/Pictured-Sickening-moment-tiger-beaten-head-stick-pose-photographs-Chinese-families.html#ixzz2IYTGNrDa

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Shocking video emerged today showing a dazed and confused tiger being smacked in the head with sticks while being forced to pose for photographs with tourists.

The tiger, which appears to have been drugged, is seen slumped on a table as excited parents and children queue up to sit next to the endangered animal.

To ensure it keeps facing the camera, two men armed with white sticks bash it in the face and neck.

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Cruel: A docile tiger is smacked around the head as tourists, one of them nonchalantly smoking a cigarette, pose for pictures with the animal

 

Bashed: The tiger, which appears to have been drugged, is seen slumped on a table as excited parents and children queue up to sit next to the endangered animal

Cruel: A docile tiger is smacked around the head as tourists, one of them nonchalantly smoking a cigarette, pose for pictures with the animal

It is not clear where or when the video was taken or who is organising the photographs, which are very likely to have been laid on for financial gain.

But in a posting on liveleak.com, where the footage was uploaded, it claims to have taken place in the popular beach resort of Beidaihe in the Chinese city of Qinhuangdao, possibly at a zoo.

One commenter said: ‘I was seriously hoping this video would end with one of those two guys mauled.’

Emergence of the video comes just days after terrified lions were pelted with snowballs by by laughing visitors, including children, at Hangzhou Zoo in Zhejiang Province, eastern China.

VIDEO Warning: Graphic content some viewers may find disturbing

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Spectator sport: Parents and two young children sit next to the tiger for their picture in front of a wildlife background

Kept in line: It is not clear where or when the footage was taken, but left below the video posted online suggest it may have been at a zoo in the popular beach resort of Beidaihe in the Chinese city of Qinhuangdao

 

Abused: A tourist laughs as one of the men armed with sticks makes sure the animal faces the camera

In January last year, the Chinese government banned zoos from putting on cruel animal performances after increased pressure from outraged animal rights groups.

A study by Animals Asia in 2010 found bears were often whipped and beaten with sticks, elephants were prodded with metal hooks, while tigers and lions were made to endure chronic pain by being defanged and declawed.

But months after the ban came into force, some zoos were found to still be flouting the law.

Are these the world’s cruellest zoo-goers? Chinese visitors pelt frightened lions with SNOWBALLS

• Helpless lions take cover as group – including children – hurl snow at them
• Attack ‘launched by young man who laughed as he pelted animals‘
• Other animals at the zoo in Hangzhou, eastern China, were also targeted

By Sam Adams

PUBLISHED: 16:18 GMT, 10 January 2013 | UPDATED: 17:18 GMT, 10 January 2013

Throwing snowballs at lions does not sound the safest – or kindest – way to enjoy yourself.

But when the animals are contained in a zoo enclosure and you are firing down on them from behind a safety barrier – it is a little easier to be brave.

These lions certainly looked less than pleased when they were pelted with snow by laughing visitors, including children, at Hangzhou Zoo in Zhejiang Province, eastern China.

Helpless: The two lions cowered together as snow was hurled down into their enclosure by the crowd above at Hangzhou Zoo in Zhejiang Province, eastern China

Bullying: A group of visitors – some just children – bombarded the lions with snow from the side of the pen

Frightened: The lioness, clearly scared, ducks down as snowballs fly past her

The attack was reportedly launched by one young man, who began to take aim at the big cats with a barrage of snow and ice.

The attack clearly frightened the helpless animals, with the lioness swiftly taking cover under a wooden plank.

The male line used a tree trunk as cover, with both eyes fixed on the visitors, as the missiles rained into the enclosure, ChinaSmack.com reports.

The man apparently laughed as he hurled the snow, with a group of other visitors, including a number of children, also starting to take aim at the lions.

Debris: The lions look at the ground as fragments of snow and ice land around them

 

Glare: The two lions look furious as they continued to be targeted (left) while the lion later took a direct hit to his head (right)

Fierce: the lion finally loses his temper and lets out a furious roar at their tormentors

One of them used large chunks of snow and threw them down with all of his strength, according to the website.

The frightened lions took shelter together in the corner of their pen as they tried to escape the new onslaught. The male lion roared in anger at his tormentors as they began to stroll away.

Sadly the lions were not the only animals to be pelted with snow, with some of the crowd also pelting the zoo’s alpacas, monkeys, a giraffe, a tiger and other creatures.
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West African lion virtually extinct: Population numbers are dangerously low with just 34 left in Nigeria

• LionAid say there are just 645 wild lions remaining in west and central Africa
• There are no lions in 25 African countries and are only just surviving in ten
• Conservationists calling for species to be included on most endangered list

By Becky Evans

PUBLISHED: 05:51 GMT, 9 January 2013 | UPDATED: 10:47 GMT, 9 January 2013

A black-maned lion leads his pride over a hill in South Africa. The population of wild lions in Africa is estimated to be as low as 15,000

The west African lion is on the verge of extinction, according to experts after a marked decline in recent years.

It is estimated there are just 645 genetically distinct wild lions left in western and central Africa, with as few as 34 remaining in the whole of Nigeria.

Now experts from conservation group LionAid say they are ‘in real danger of extinction’.

According to the group, there are no lions left in 25 African countries and populations are barely surviving in ten.

Clusters of lions remain in Burkina Faso, Niger, the Central African Republic, Cameroon and Chad but are already extinct in countries such as Ghana, The Ivory Coast and Togo.

Thirty years ago there were 200,000 lions roaming wild across the continent – but now there are only between 15,000 and 32,000 left.

West African lions have been largely forgotten due to political apathy to conservation.

Dr Pieter Kat, trustee of LionAid, told The Guardian: ‘There has been a catastrophic decline in the populations of lions in Africa, and particularly west Africa.

‘These lions have been neglected for a very long time and do not have adequate protection programs.’

He said the west of the continent is often ignored in favour of eastern Africa, leading to a decline in species.

The lion is threatened by a range of factors, including loss of habitat, loss of natural prey due to poaching, ‘unsustainable levels of trophy hunting’ and human conflict.

A new threat is also on the rise as lion bones are being used to supply the demands of Asian traditional medicine as tiger bones become more scarce.

Conservationists want lions to be put on the list of most endangered species to give them greater protection from hunters

In Nigeria a government wildlife official told The Guardian that the number of lions in the country had dropped from 44 in 2009 to a meagre 34.

Yohanna Saidu from Nigeria’s interior ministry told the newspaper they are trying to protect the lions but admitted to being ‘very concerned’.

Dr Kat said it would now be impossible to build up a population of lions in Nigeria and therefore the species should be classed as extinct there as well.

The picture is similar in other countries. In Senegal, the LionAid said there are just 40 lions left.

The charity said there are only five ‘viable’ populations – those of 1,000 or more – lions left on the continent.

Three of those are found in Tanzania and Kenya, with the remaining populations surviving in South Africa and Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Lions are now extinct in 25 African nations

Recent studies on African lion populations show that about three-quarters of Africa’s savannah has disappeared over the past 50 years.

Conservationists say it is not possible to individually count every lion in the continent so estimates on remaining population numbers vary.

However experts do agree the plight of the African lion is ‘very serious’ and want the animal to be included on the convention on international trade in endangered species list.

Inclusion would mean tight protection on hunting and trade, especially important as more than 5,600 wild African lions were hunted and exported as trophies between 1999 and 2008.

However, conservationists say they face strong opposition from the pro-hunting lobby.

Dr Kat said: ‘We are currently paying lip service to the conservation needs of a species so greatly important to our cultures, history, and indeed the health of wildlife biodiversity in Africa.

‘Lions are not only an iconic species important to very many people all over the world, but they are also a vital component of African ecosystems.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2259395/West-African-lion-virtually-extinct-just-34-roaming-wild-Nigeria.html#ixzz2HiZaWmvX
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For the last time, no more photographs! Lioness turns her back on tourists

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 21:31 GMT, 4 January 2013 | UPDATED: 12:56 GMT, 5 January 2013

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2257367/For-time-photographs-Lioness-turns-tourists.html#ixzz2HEFaDZnb
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Any actress can tell you how difficult it is to dazzle every day as the star of the show.

Apparently it’s not that different for a lioness. So when yet another convoy of tourists raced to take their places in the dusty auditorium of the Tanzanian plain, this particular starlet simply turned her back on the cameras.

And there she stayed, despite pleading calls from the tour guides, until most of them got tired of waiting and drove off.

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This lioness refuses to turn around and be photographed as she keeps back turned to a convoy of safari tourists in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

The safari stand-off happened in the Ngorongoro Crater, formed when an ancient volcano exploded and created a vast, flat-bottomed cauldron which would become a haven for wildlife.

This picture was taken by tourist Martin Henfield, from Ramsbottom, Lancashire.
He said: ‘The safari guides are all in radio contact and no sooner had we arrived than more than 20 vehicles came along and formed a crescent around the lioness.

‘She just turned her back and stayed like that.’

A stunning view into Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania with Lake Magadi pictured in the centre. the area is a tourist hotspot with people who visit from around the world

 

The safari stand-off happened in the Ngorongoro Crater, formed when an ancient volcano exploded and created a vast, flat-bottomed cauldron which would become a haven for wildlife

 VIDEO   Another lion pack attack and kill a buffalo at Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

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Watch the full, 11-minute video here

 

Face it, I’m in charge: Angry lioness attacks lion after he takes a swipe at her cubs

• Grumpy mum wasn’t best pleased when the lion tried to try to tame her cubs – and pounced straight at the enormous beast
• Ranger Jacques Matthysen captured the comic moment on camera, as he patrolled the South African plains

By James Black

PUBLISHED: 00:49 GMT, 27 November 2012 | UPDATED: 07:45 GMT, 27 November 2012

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2238797/Face-Im-charge-Angry-lioness-attacks-lion-takes-swipe-cubs.html#ixzz2DTJY6VH7
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This is the hilarious moment an angry lioness launched herself at a huge lion – but ended up sitting on his head.

This grumpy mum wasn’t best pleased when the lion tried to try to tame her cubs – and pounced straight at the enormous beast.

But she obviously misjudged her distance – as she ended up sitting on top of the lion’s mane like a hat – before falling to the ground below.

Hell hath no fury: The moment the lion luanched herself at the male to protect her cubs

The lioness sprang from nowhere the minute she felt her cubs were under threat

The outraged mother comically misjudged her distance and ended up on the lions head

Wildlife park ranger Jacques Matthysen captured the comic moment on camera, as he patrolled the South African plains.

Jacques said: ‘We had gone out to try and photograph some lions, and were met by a very playful pride of seven Lions.

More…

• Dying rhino leads calf to safety in final act of motherly love as game reserve poachers go on four-day killing spree in South Africa
• Wood you spot the meerkats? Faces of three beady-eyed inquisitive creatures found in fence panel

‘The four year old male Lion was playing with three young cubs – or rather, they were tormenting him, since all he wanted to do was have a rest.

‘The older male and a female were walking 20 metres from us, rubbing their heads every couple of seconds showing affection.

‘While watching them the other female appeared from the thicket. As soon as the 4 year old male saw the female, which is the mother of the cubs he was knocking over every now and again, he jumped up and jogged towards her.

‘It looked like she was just waiting for the right moment. She stood still until the last second.

The lioness lost her grip eventually slipping from the head of the male

The male lion paid little attention to the incident and strolled on after the mother fell to the ground

‘As he was half a meter away, she pounced on him. She did loose her grip though and quickly fell to the other side of him.

‘With the female at his paws on the ground he just glanced down, as though to say: ‘Was that it?’.

‘He just kept on walking past her and us sitting in the Cruiser, and lay down to rest close to a thicket behind us.

‘The cubs quickly saw the opportunity of mum laying on her side, ran towards her and started suckling.’

No cheeting please: The extraordinary moment a fight erupts between two cheetahs where one is spotted leaping FOUR FEET into the air

By Daily Mail Reporter
UPDATED:10:13 GMT, 10 June 2011

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2002033/No-cheeting-The-extraordinary-moment-fight-erupts-male-cheetahs-caught-leaping-FOUR-FEET-air.html#ixzz2C2aTPNsM
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The fur is literally flying in this extraordinary set of photos when a fight erupts among a group of cheetahs.

One of the cats leaps four feet in the air during the remarkable confrontation between two males.

The bruising encounter was a harsh lesson for the younger cheetah, who had been challenged by the older male.

Jump around: The bruising encounter was a harsh lesson for the younger cheetah, challenged by the older male

High jump: One of the cats leaps 4ft in the air during the dramatic confrontation between two males

 

The youngster was given a rough ride as its mother stood back with his sister – a sign that she wanted her son to take care of himself.

British photographer Elliott Neep captured the moments the family of three were approached by the cheetah, in Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area, in Tanzania.

Elliott, 36, from Wantage, in Oxfordshire, said: ‘We spotted three cheetahs resting in the shade.

‘They were not settled and seemed very agitated. Their body language told me that something was wrong.

‘Then, in the shade of a nearby tree just a few feet away, we could see a fourth cheetah.

‘We tried to figure out what was happening but it was not clear. A young cheetah rose from the ground and immediately, the cheetah under the tree pounced and lashed out at him.

‘The youngster flipped onto its back in a state of submission and the big male leapt over.

‘As soon as the big male moved, I started firing the shutter. I just had a sudden instinct that a fight was imminent.

Take that: The encounter unfolds, including the high-jumping cheetah leaping in the air

 

‘The situation quickly unravelled and the scene became clear. This was an adult male attempting to push out a female’s full-grown cubs to mate.

‘After the dust settled, the big male came face to face with the youngster and began sounding a long drawn-out meow.

‘It was similar to the sound two domestic cats make when they have a territorial dispute in the garden.

‘The young male began to chirp to its mother for support. But she did not intervene – for me, a clear sign that she had finished raising them and it was time for them to leave.’ He added: ‘We left with the four cheetahs still grouped together, but exhausted and tired under the midday sun.

‘The sequence looked great on the camera and had a massive grin on my face.

‘When I reviewed it later on the big screen, the grin was even wider as I could now see the fur literally flying when the cheetah was in mid-air.’

Fur flying: The youngster was given a rough ride as its mother stood back with his sister – a sign that she wanted her son to take care of himself