Abstract: The authors discuss the occurrence of salmonellosis in collections of exotic felids. Data suggest that zoo employees having contact with cat feces or raw diets have a high rate of occupational exposure to Salmonella and should exercise appropriate hygienic precautions. pcp

Abstract: The Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is one of the most threatened wild big cats within its range of distribution, however, the question of its systematic status is a matter of debate. Is it a member of genus Panthera, or is it in its own genus (Uncia)? The analysis of genetic difference at the DNA level may provide useful data to clarify the issue. In the present study, ten hexanucleotide-specific restriction endonucleases were used to evaluate the patterns of mitochondrial DNA variation between the Snow leopard and leopard (P. pardus). The molecular size of mtDNA from the two species was about 16.5 kb. Ten enzymes surveyed 32-34 restriction sites, which corresponded to 192 apprx 204 base pairs, or 1.16% apprx 1.24% of the total mtDNA molecule. A total of 45 restriction sites were mapped; of these sites, twenty-four, which correspond to 53.3% of the total sites, were variable. The sequence divergence between them was 0.075 33, which was undoubtedly in the species-level distinction but did not reach the genus level. Therefore, the Snow leopard should be placed in the genus Panthera rather than in its own ganus. It also seems reasonable to recognize Uncia as a valid subgenus. This conclusion not only support but also supplement the viewpoint of Simpson who treated Uncia as a subgenus within Panthera.

Abstract: Blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) are the main prey of the endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia) as well as an important game species in Nepal. A knowledge of how blue sheep utilize their habitat is essential for the scientific management of the sheep and for the conservation of the snow leopard, but we only have a limited understanding of this aspect of blue sheep ecology. I studied the habitat use pattern of blue sheep by direct observation in the Anna-purna Conservation Area, Nepal where they occur sympatrically with the snow leopard. The sheep used grassland habitats more frequently during pre-parturition (spring) and post-parturition (autumn) than other habitat types, but scrub and grassland habitats were used equally frequently during the rut (winter). The sheep used smooth undulating slopes of medium steepness (<40 degrees) on southerly aspects within the elevation range of 4,200-4,600 m most frequently in all seasons, and there was no evidence of seasonal migration along the elevation gradient. When not in broken landforms (e.g., cliff, landslides), the sheep maintained proximity (less than or equal to 150 m) to such features suggesting their importance as escape cover (i.e., from predators). The use of habitat components by blue sheep appeared to be related to the distribution of foraging areas and escape cover.

Abstract: An extraction and assay procedure to measure fecal estradiol-17-beta and progestin concentrations in several cat species was developed and validated for use for noninvasive monitoring of ovarian function. Fecal samples were collected over a range of 3-20 months from female tigers (three), lions (three), snow leopards (three), cheetahs (two), caracals (two), and domestic cats (five). Samples were extracted with 90% methanol, lipids removed with petroleum ether, and the estradiol and progestins in the methanol measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) fractionation and subsequent RIA of the fractions indicated that the estradiol-17-beta antiserum cross-reacted primarily with estradiol-17-beta in the feces of lions and tigers and was assumed to be specific for estradiol-17-beta in the feces of other species as well. However, there were several immunoreactive compounds, presumably progesterone metabolites, excreted in the feces which varied both quantitatively and qualitatively among species. The behavior of tigers, lions, cheetahs, and caracals was visually monitored during the collection period and frequency of sexual behaviors was positively correlated with increases in fecal estradiol in all species observed. The mean fecal estradiol-17-beta peaks were as follows: tigers, 128.0 +- 13.1; lions, 186.0 +- 14.8; snow leopards, 136.7 +- 15.9; cheetahs, 140.9 +- 9.0; caracals, 24.5 +- 4.0; and domestic cats 158.9 +- 19.3 ng/gm. Fecal progestin concentrations rose significantly (P lt 0,001) only after breeding or during pregnancy and were as follows: tigers, 5.6 +- 0.6; lions, 1.9 +- 0.1; cheetahs, 8.4 +- 1.1; and caracals, 2.4 +- 0.4 mu-g/gm. Fecal progestins were elevated for one-half to two-thirds of the gestation length during presumed pseudopregnancy but remained elevated throughout successful pregnancies. These results suggest that ovarian function can be monitored noninvasively in the family Felidae by the measurement of fecal estradiol-17-beta and progestin concentrations.

Abstract: Patterns of mitochondrial restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) variation were used to resolve more recent relationships among the species of the Felidae ocelot lineage, domestic cat lineage, and pantherine lineage. Twenty-five of 28 restriction enzymes revealed site variation in at least 1 of 21 cat species. The ocelot lineage was resolved into three separate sister taxa groups: Geoffroy's cat (Oncifelis geoffroyi) and kodkod (O. guigna), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and margay (L. wiedii), and pampas cat (Lynchailurus colocolo) and most of the tigrina samples (Leopardus tigrina). Within the domestic cat lineage, domestic cat (Felis catus), European wild cat (F. silvestris), and African wild cat (F. libyca) formed a monophyletic trichotomy, which was joined with sand cat (F. margarita) to a common ancestor. Jungle cat (F. chaus) and black-footed cat (F. nigripes) mtDNAs diverged earlier than those of the other domestic cat lineage species and are less closely related. Within the pantherine lineage, phylogenetic analysis identified two distinct groups, uniting lion (P. leo) with leopard (P. pardus) and tiger (P. tigris) with snow leopard (P. uncia).