The Mewspapers - APRIL 2018

P R I L 2 0 1 8 E D I T I O N W W W . T H E F L U F F L I S T . C O M . A U /
A
L O G S / M E W S P A P E R S
B
T H E M E W S P A P E R S P A G E 1
T H E M E W S P A P E R S
L A T E S T M E W S F R O M A R O U N D T H E W O R L D
This month we travelled to
China - but what does the
iconic bear have anything
to do with cats?
BIG BEARS & CATS
Chengdu Panda base - image curtesy of R.Uzureau
THE ICONIC PANDA BEAR
ANOTHER "CAT" UNDER THREAT
At The FluffList, we care about all of nature's creatures and
thought we would share with you a few important facts
about China's two "pandas" from our trip to the Chengdu
Panda Base.
Quick fact: it is believed the name “panda” derived from the
Nepalese words: “nigalya ponya” meaning “bamboo eater".
The panda bear, also called the giant panda, and the red
panda (photo on the right) both subsist on a diet composed
essentially of bamboo, which they dextrously strip with the
help of a false “thumb” (an abnormally enlarged wrist bone)
but are absolutely not related! The only real panda is the red
panda. The giant panda, is a bear. More about this and LOTS
of photos on the blog (it is quite fascinating!).
This next fact will suprise more than one. Big cats, panda
bears and red pandas are... carnivores. This may sound like
an oxymoron given that the latter two mostly feed on
bamboo, but they actually descend from the extinct
primitive carnivoramorphans, which evolved in North
America about 42 million years ago. Shortly after,
Carnivorans split into cat-like and dog-like forms, but all
retained the same arrangement of teeth suited to shear
meat. Carnivorans have had this arrangement for over 60
million years! Despite the panda bear and red panda's
practically vegetarian diets, they have retained the digestive
system of their ancestral meat-eaters. Unfortunately for our
friends, this means their diet provides very little energy and
protein which means they need to spend most of their
waking hours foraging and eating.
SURPRISING SIMILARITIES
BETWEEN PANDAS AND CATS
Ok, so now that the basics are down, what's this story about
pandas having anything in common with big cats? To begin
with, in Chinese, the Giant Panda is called dà xióngmāo (⼤
熊 猫 ), literally translated to "big bear cat", and in Standard
Tibetan, "cat bear" (byi-la dom). Its scientific name
Ailuropoda melanoleuca, literally "black and white cat-foot",
stems from the Greek αἴλουρος "cat" + ‒́ποδος "foot". Yes,
but why cat? Well, bears generally have round pupils, but
not our panda bear... he has vertical slits, as does a cat's
eyes! The name xióngmāo ( 熊 貓 "bear cat") was originally
used to describe the red panda, and since the giant panda
was thought to be closely related to red panda up until quite
recently, it was called the big bear cat relatively.
Chengdu Panda base - image curtesy of R.Uzureau
CHINA, A DANGEROUS HOME
HABITAT UNDER THREAT
Once upon a time, these animals, as well as the Siberian
tiger, the South China tiger and Amur leopard, thrived in
their homeland. Today they are all threatened alongside

T H E M E W S P A P E R S P A G E 2
over 385 other species in China alone.
Once widespread throughout southern
and eastern China, as well as Myanmar
and northern Vietnam, the giant panda
is now restricted to around 20 isolated
patches of bamboo forest in six
mountain ranges in China's Sichuan,
Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, with most
of the remaining wild pandas living
in the Minshan and Qinling mountains.
Efforts to save the pandas have been
long and difficult but finally bore fruit
when in 2016 the species downgraded
from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the
global list of species risking extinction.
With a network of 67 panda reserves
that safeguard over 66% of the giant
pandas in the wild and almost 54% of
their current habitat, and protected
migration corridors to encourage them
to travel safely in search of mates and
food, the recovery is slow but hopeful.
B E A R S STILL AT RISK
R E D PANDAS LOSING HOMES
But what about those less iconic
animals? Habitat loss is also a cause for
the decreasing population of red
pandas, of which 50 percent live in the
Eastern Himalayas. In communities
bordering red panda habitat, most
households rely on the forest for
firewood for cooking fuel, harvest it for
medicinal plants, often overexploited
and traded illegally. They are also
poached for their distinctive pelts in
China and Myanmar, and red panda fur
caps or hats have been found for sale in
Bhutan. A lot has yet to be done for the
red panda.
tigersincrisis.com
image curtesy of R.Uzureau
DISAPPEARING BIG CATS
Finally, our big cats. In the past century,
the world lost over 90% of its tiger
population; in China, there are only
about 90 tigers left in the wild. Siberian
tigers, also called the Amur tigers, are
only an estimated 350-450 individuals in
the wild. Almost all live the Southeast
corner of Russia in the Sikhote-Alin
mountain range east of the Amur River,
but used to roam northeastern China
and the Korean Peninsula, and as far
west as Mongolia. Poaching and habitat
loss from intensive logging and
development are the first cause of their
decline.
The South China tiger, also known as
the Chinese, Amoy or Xiamen Tiger,
used to roam the temperate forests of
southeast China. The smallest of all the
tiger subspecies, some believe it is
"practically extinct" for the reality is
that none have been seen in the wild for
the last 20 years. Their decline was
shockingly fast; in the 1970’s, it was
estimated there were over 4,000 South
China tigers in the wild. Considered
‘pests’ by the Chinese government, they
were hunted to their current status of
being on the brink of extinction.
THIS ALARMING RATE OF
EXTINCTION IS 100-1,000 TIMES,
AND PERHAPS EVEN 11,000
TIMES, GREATER THAN THE
EXPECTED NATURAL RATE.
ONE IN FOUR OF THE WORLD’S
MAMMALS ARE NOW
THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION
IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
— WWF.PANDA.ORG
worldwildlife.org
Critically endangered, the Amur leopard
once lived throughout northeastern
China and the Korean Peninsula. Also
known as the Far East leopard, the
Manchurian leopard or the Korean
leopard, this big cat's habitat in Russia
was dramatically reduced during the
seventies, losing about 80% of its
former range. The most recent results
from population monitoring in 2011
suggests there are now approximately
40 individuals in Russia, and surveys
carried out in China in 2012 estimate
fewer than 20 leopards.The Amur
leopard probably went extinct in the
wild in South Korea in the late 1960s, as
the last sighting dates back to 1969.
We hope to have enlightened you on
some of Asia's most endangered species,
and hope that together we will bring
back what we have taken away.
CAT BOOK OF THE
MONTH:
A CAT CALLED PANDA
We're a little partial when it comes to
this illustrated children's book, since
the main character, a bicolor moggie, is
named after China's most iconic bear...
for the same reason as was Roxane's
first black and white cat: Panda.
Featuring original hand-printed
artwork, children follow Amanda and
Panda and engage in the story to find
the black and white hidden animals on
the pages. Brought to life with
contrasting splashes of colour, this
whimsical nonsense-style poem was
inspired by author and illustrator
Melanie Arora's cat named Panda.
Born in 1977 to an Indian father and
English mother in North London.
Inspired as a child by famous children's
books such as The Cat in the Hat, she
has always loved playing with words
and has a well developed sense of the
ridiculous. This is her delightful first
book
RARE CAT ON CAMERA:
THE SCOTTISH WILDCAT
If you thought Scotland's only mythical
creature lived in the Loch Ness, think
again, and meet another highly elusive
and unique creature: the Highlands
tiger. No, he's not a big cat (have you
seen a tiger taking a bath with
Nessie?), but is recognised as a valid
subspecies of the wildcat by
the Integrated Taxonomic Information
System. The Felis silvestris grampia,
whose subspecies name grampia likely
coming from the Grampian Mountains,
a Scottish mountain range, used to
roam across Northern England, Wales,
and Southern Scotland.
Believed to have been present in Britain
since as far back as early Holocene,
when the British Isles were connected

T H E M E W S P A P E R S P A G E 3
to continental Europe via the
Doggerland, over the last 150 years he
has been so frequently killed to protect
game species that it is believed there
are as few as 100 left in the wild, and
quite possibly less that have not had
their genes diluted through interaction
with domestic cats.
It is the only wild feline left on the
island of Great Britain.
wikipedia
So it was quite a fantastic event for
Wildcat Haven who caught the cat on
camera in Aberdeenshire's
Clashindarroch Forest! Wildcat Haven is
a Scottish conservation project which
uses camera-traps to discreetly obtain
footage of the animals, luring them with
bait to the lens. From the video they
assessed the "Clashindarroch Beast" on
film to measure 1,2 metres from nose to
tail!
in 1919 and is still one of the most easily
recognized cartoon characters out
there. With his wide smile and big eyes,
this kitty “spoke” with his expressions
during the silent film era.
This isn't Felix, but another charming
black and white furbaby, Albie. Albie is a
British Shorthair, and reportedly the
master of his house in Sydney, Australia.
According to his birthday (born 15-10-
2017), this purbaby is very social, usually
cooperative, but dislikes confrontations
and can carry a bit of a grudge.. but
never for very long. He likes harmony
and sharing with others (on his own
terms), as well as spending time
outdoors, especially on the patio deck
chairs. He greatly dislikes violence,
injustice and conformity (luckily he has
a very non-conformist coat!).
Albie is a great follower of our
@theflufflistcats account and we look
forwards to publishing more facts for
him to star in! You can check him out
under his name @a_is_for_albie to see
what he gets up to.
BEST OF CAT TECH:
VR FOR CATS
ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY
SHOULD NOT BE LIMITED TO
HUMANKIND.
- SARAH TISDALE
Wildlife campaign, in partnership with
RSPCA Victoria, the headsets are
expected to be retailed around AU$370
each, with a special edition for flat
faces, and predicted to be in test sold
across veterinary clinics in the States of
Victoria and New South Wales as early
as June this year.
FEATURE PRODUCT:
KITTY COOKIE CUTTERS
Wilcat Haven's efforts to save the
species from extinction, now mostly
caused by hybridisation with domestic
cats. include successfully neutering
domestic cats across the West
Highlands.
CAT FLUFF_FACTS:
BLACK & WHITE & FAMOUS
From black and white bears to bicolor
cats, we thought we'd keep with the
monochromatic theme!
Felix the cat starred in his own cartoon
Do you have an indoor cat? Worldwide,
cat owners are choosing to housekeep
their cats in order to protect them from
the outdoors... and to protect the
wildlife from them. But what if we could
bring the great adventures of the
outdoors inside our homes?
Such was the challenge taken on by
Zoos Victoria, Australia, to adapt an
already existing technology for our cats,
in a bid to enable them to experience
the wild from the safety of their homes.
The Cat VR headsets are every cat’s
fantasy — the ball of yarn bears no end,
cucumbers are grown farther than the
horizon can tell, and cities are built of
cardboard boxes.
A part of Zoos Victoria’s Safe Cat, Safe
We found these on Etsy, and, although
we aren't the best cooks, we would
almost want to get them just to wish
these adorable cats onto our plates.
Got a friend who loves to bake and
loves cats? Possibly this is a win-win
gift, as long as you leave a card with a
suggestion that you'll be inviting
yourself over for tea - what's a better
biscuit than one (or two) enjoyed with a
cuppa?
Find these in cherryyee 's Etsy shop.
Well that's it from us! We hope you
enjoyed your April edition! Want to be
featured in our fluff_facts? Get in
touch, and get noticed on our IG
account @theflufflistcats. Want to share
a great product? Email us at
theflufflisthq@gmail.com.
Lots of purrs,
Post-meowtum: we hope you guessed it
already... "Best of cat tech: VR for cats"
was the April Fool's spoof of the month!