Cynthia House - Artist
  • Home
  • Wildlife Paintings
    • Le Chat
    • Mans Best Friend
    • Birds of a Feather
    • Urban and Farm
    • Commissions
    • Testimonials
  • Awards and Selections
  • Contact
  • Blog

Desert lions predating birds & seals

30/1/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Stories of animals adapting to conditions within their environment to survive fascinate me so reading about the desert lions of Namibia was another example of animals adapting in the face of hardship. The landscape is harsh and dry but has a coast which attracts sea birds and seals along with other marine creatures sometimes washed up on the beach that the lions are learning to exploit. They have been observed feeding on carcasses and actively hunting seals along the beach as well as the birds that inhabit the area showing just how smart lions are and adaptable. I think it also shows that lions have a great instinct to survive even when they have been persecuted, that if we give them a chance to live that they will.
0 Comments

American hunter pays $100,00 to kill a Markhor goat

18/1/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Yet again the sickening news that an American hunter has paid $100,000 to kill a precious animal reaches us. This time it's a Markhor goat an endangered animal and national symbol of Pakistan. Not only that permits were issued to kill other horned species in the Himalayas with the claim that the money is used for conservation. How could any intelligent person believe that by killing a rare and endangered animal you aid conservation ? It's is ludicrous and shameful. There are only about 6000 of the Markhor left and not only that these animals along with Baral and Blue sheep form the diet of the snow leopard one of the most endangered big cats on the planet. This cat already has enormous obstacles to survival and finding enough food is one of them. How can Pakistan continue to justify issuing permits to kill these animals is beyond me.
0 Comments

Why the lioness nursed a leopard cub ?

10/1/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Nature will always amaze....and the story of a lioness in Gir Forest India adopting a leopard cub is one of the more astounding ones. As supreme predators and competitors in the wild these two species usually don't tolerate each other. Lions generally kill leopards any chance they get. It's intriguing to speculate on the outcome of this unusual arrangement that foresters have no idea about how it occurred. Observations of the family group of lion cubs with the leopard cub nursing show a lioness caring for the leopard cub as if it was one of her own. What happens when they join the pride will be even more to wonder about, will the cub be accepted or singled out and killed as you would expect ? It is a leopard with a whole other way of living as a solitary cat rather than part of a pride like the lions so it really is fascinating to think about. I hope the little guy gets accepted but the chances are probably slim.
In 2017 a lioness was spotted nursing a leopard cub in Tanzania but no one knew how that had happened or what the outcome was. What is understood is that the lioness accepts the foreign cub because she is nursing cubs or has perhaps lost her own just as a domestic cat will adopt kittens that are not her theirs. 
0 Comments

Can captive animals survive in the wild ?

4/1/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Like most people who care deeply about wildlife I can only be happy to see animals living as they should wild and free. But what about the animals that have been rescued from captive situations ? Animals are like us, they learn key survival skills from their mothers and living in a natural environment so how do they learn those skills if they have been reared in captivity with human contact ? They realistically only have a chance of surviving in the wild if they are not habituated to humans so if they have grown up captive how would that be possible. Since our attitudes to wild animals are changing so are laws about keeping them and it's not before time but there are a lot of animals kept as pets or entertainment in the world. Some have a better chance of being rehabilitated than others which depends on the way they live in the wild. One of the most astounding success stories was Christian the lion bought at Harrods in the 1970's by two young guys then taken to Africa to begin the long process of learning how to be a lion. It was an amazing story that isn't always going to end well for most animals but I'd like to think that conservationists are putting more time and resources into tackling what was once thought almost impossible but it's costly and time consuming. The other issue is the obvious, that they also need safe places to live. In a world where so many wild animals have nowhere to live I wonder how space can be made for those from captive situations.

0 Comments

    Author

    Cynthia House

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    RSS Feed

Please note that publishing,  reproduction, downloading and printing, full or derivative, of any artwork on  this site is strictly prohibited.
All rights remain with Cynthia House.  Copyright 2008 - Cynthia House All rights reserved.
Website by incrediweb
  • Home
  • Wildlife Paintings
    • Le Chat
    • Mans Best Friend
    • Birds of a Feather
    • Urban and Farm
    • Commissions
    • Testimonials
  • Awards and Selections
  • Contact
  • Blog