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Category: Moggy News
Leopard Rescued from Gujarat Well
by Ed 
Forest wardens in India's Gujarat state have rescued a three-year old leopard which had fallen into an open well. The leopard is the second of its kind to be rescued in the area this week, highlighting the growing problem of creatures loosing their habitat and having to stray into populated areas for food.
The distressed leopard was finally winched to safety after many hours of incarceration and trauma. The animal was tranquilised using a dart after its struggles against a noose round its belly were thought to be harming the animal.
Eventually the three-year-old animal was lifted from the water and hauled onto a wooden frame by a team of eight wardens in the village of Aambaliya.
It is said that the Leopard is becoming India's Urban Fox as incidents such as this are growing in frequency as shrinking natural habitats forces more of these big cats to venture into human territory. They approach settlements where they are tempted to prey on domestic livestock including dogs, pigs and goats, and of course they will always be in need of a drink of water.
Leopards were once common across all of southern Asia but have been recently classified (since 2008) as 'near threatened' by International Union for Conservation of Nature. In May 2010, the Wildlife Protection Society of India estimated that at least 3,189 leopards were killed in the country since 1994.
Norman and I are pleased the animal was freed from his ordeal but feel that incarcerating him in the local zoo (and not setting him free) was a little uncalled for. However we have no knowledge of affairs in this region and so hope the leopard is given a large home in which to live.
Ptolemy, Sir Patrick Moore's faithful friend
by Ed
Cat of the Month ~ March 2013
"A catless house is a soulless house"
..so said Sir Patrick Moore the well respected and eccentric astronomer who sadly passed away in December 2012, (and he should know what he was talking about as he had seen into the deepest reaches of our universe! Norm)
As well as being a top flight Astronomer Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore CBE, FRS, FRAS was a researcher, radio commentator and U.K. television presenter, who also happened to love all things CAT.
Well, we here at Moggyblog couldn't agree more ( moore geddit?) with his comment so this month's cat of the month is Ptolemy, One of Sir Patrick's many cats who was with him along with close friends when he died. Of course we musn't leave out Patricks other feline friend Jennie.
As well as helping to map the surface of the moon and helping us all to look at the stars and understand what we see, Sir Patrick Moore was a great cat enthusiast who supported the cat charity 'Cats' Protection" in many ways throughout his life. Although he wrote over 70 books on astronomy, Sir Patrick also recently wrote about his personal experiences with cats in the fabulously titled book 'MIOW! Cats Really Are Nicer Than People.' (which, let's face it, we all knew anywayNorm).
Ptolemy, Sir Patrick's last cat in a long line of family cats, was named after Claudius Ptolemy AD 90-AD 168, who was a Greek-Roman astronomer (amongst other things) who lived in Egypt.
We hope that Sir Patrick is now happy with his previous beloved cats among the boundless galaxies and countless stars. We also hope he is pleased with Moggyblog's small homage to him (and Ptolemy), one of the many cats who inspired him in his lifetime. Patrick certainly inspired my love of the stars with his regular TV program 'The Sky at Night'.
14/03/13 08:55:00 pm, 
