MEMO notes, "An endangered leopard has been captured in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region after it was caught in a shepherd's trap. The endangered Persian Leopard needed to have its hind leg amputated on Friday due to the injuries sustained caused by the trap, an AFP photographer said." World Land Trust explains:
The Caucasian Leopard, also called the Persian Leopard, is one of the biggest of the eight recognised sub species of leopard. All the leopards have stocky bodies with comparatively short legs; their total body length (including tail) can be up to 190cm and their weight up to 70kg. Coats have a range of base colours from yellow to golden brown with paler fur under the chin and across the belly. They have black spots on the head, limbs and belly and spots arranged in rosettes across the back and flanks. Their spots give unique coat patterns which can be used to identify individuals.
Diet will vary across their range and leopards can adapt what they eat to the available prey species. Across Armenia, Iran and Turkmenistan typical prey will include species such as Bezoar Goats, Wild Boar and Mouflon. Leopards use vantage points such as rocky outcrops to locate their prey and will then stalk them, waiting until they are within 3-10m before attacking.
Generally leopards are nocturnal although, in the absence of other large predators such as lion and tiger, they are reported to be less nocturnal.
Little research has been done in the regions inhabited by the Caucasian Leopard. They are solitary, males and females only come together to mate, and females usually give birth to one or two cubs that stay with her for up to 18 months. They communicate by making a rough, rasping sound which they use to advertise their presence and for contact between individuals. They also growl, roar and hiss and mark their territory with urine, faeces and claw marks.
XposeTrophyKilling Twets:
The female leopard, believed to be three-years-old, was found after she
attacked the goats of Khwaja Yahya in Zreza village. The man who
captured the creature initially did not know his livestock were killed
by the leopard, so he set up a trap and was suprised to discover on
Tuesday that the culprit was a leopard. She was injured in the leg after
being stuck in the trap.
A number of villagers attempted to capture the animal but they could not. She attacked them, injuring two.
Ranger police, accompanied by environmentalists, were able to calm the animal and sent it to Duhok Zoo for treatment.
“It has lost too much blood. Therefore we need to provide it with
antibiotics for 20 days or a month … We have lost its leg,” Sulaiman
Tamar, Head of Kurdistan Environmental Organisation, told Rudaw.
BBC NEWS' Sebastian Usher Tweets:
Due to the amputation, it will not be released back into the wild but will instead remain at the zoo.
Meandwhile, let's note this from George Galloway:
George Galloway isn't the only one attempting to hold War Criminals accountable. THE DAILY MAIL notes:
Tony Blair's knighthood is a 'kick in the teeth' to the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, anti-war campaigners have today blasted, as more than 220,000 have signed a petition for the honour to be taken back.
The former Labour leader, 68, was made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in the Queen's New Year Honours list, an honour bestowed upon all bar one of his predecessors.
However, the decision has been met with furious backlash with social media users branding him a war criminal and military mothers threatening to return Elizabeth Crosses, given to bereaved families, in disgust.
The ex-Prime Minister has faced criticism for many years for sending troops into Afghanistan and Iraq, a decision which culminated in a devastating report by Sir John Chilcot in 2016 which found he overplayed evidence about Saddam Hussein's weaponry.
Tony Blair is responsible for the deaths of millions. And he's been made a knight? The royals in Engand aren't all concerned about the visuals right now? As Prince Andrew is credibly accused of rape and may have to limit his travel as a result. (I'm saying charges are brought and the royals refuse to hand him over so he no longer can visit the US and countries around the UK will have to look at their agreements with the US government regarding extradition and how it might apply to a British prince.)
Tony Blair accomplished nothing as prime minister. In fact, he coudn't even get Mick Jagger a knightnood. In February of 2002, as she was dying. Princess Margaret got a promise from her sister Queen Elizabeth that Mick would be knighted and he was at the end of that year. Some British publications falsely credit Tony with Mick receiving this honor. It had nothing to do withTony who had annually nominated Mick and whom the Queen had annualy ignored -- she felt Mick had embarrassed the royal family due to his interactions with his friend -- her sister -- Princess Margaret. Mick's contemporaries such as Paul McCartney and Elton John had long ago been recognized with honors by the Queen but she snubbed Mick. Tony Blair began nominating Mick each year starting in 1997. The Queen refused and would have continued to do so (Mick and Margret using drugs together was one of the reasons Elizabeth had taken her anti-Mick stance). When Margaret was dying, Mick receiving a knighthood was one of the final requests she made of her sister and the Queen honored that request by knighting him in that year's honors.
Tony Blair was a faiure who destroyed the Labour Party by gutting everything it wa supposed to stand for. New Labour, in his time, proved they could win elections but also demonstrated that they couldn't govern and that they wouldn't serve the people.
Butlincat Tweets:
Jackie Grant (DAILY RECORD) reports:
A mum whose soldier son was killed in Iraq told of her “disgust” that former prime minister Tony Blair is to be knighted.
Rose Gentle, whose 19-year-old son Gordon was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Basra in 2004, spoke out after Blair was awarded the accolade in the New Year’s Honours list.
Rose, 58, has always said she held Blair responsible for the murder of her son.
She said: “Instead of standing in front of the Queen being made a Sir with that stupid grin on his face, he’d be better going to the cemetery and standing in front of my son’s grave to see what he’s done.
“I was gutted when I heard he’s to be knighted. It’s disgusting. He should have been locked up a long time ago.”
Year end coverage in the community:
Kat's "2021 in music" went up here, Ruth's "Ruth's YOUTUBE Report" went up here, Martha and Shirley's "2021 in Books (Martha & Shirley)" went up here as die my "2021: The Madness of the Partisan Left (The Year of Silencing Speech)" and we reposted Rebecca's "sexiest men of 2021" (as "Rebecca eyes the hottest guys of 2021") and Stan's "2021 in films (Ann and Stan)" and Ann's "2021 in films (Ann and Stan)" (as "Ann and Stan on 2021 in film")
The following sites updated:
