HOLIDAY WEEKEND VIEW: Tigers Older Than We Imagine - bbc online

PETPOSITIVE: In our ongoing tribute to the greatest cats in the world, here is today's report on BBC Online on the magnificent tiger during this timely festivity.

 

Tigers evolved with snow leopards, gene study reveals

By Matt Walker Editor, Earth News

An intimate portrait

The tiger may be more ancient and distinct than we thought.

Tigers are less closely related to lions, leopards and jaguars than these other big cats are to each other, according to a new comprehensive study.

The genetic analysis also reveals the tiger began evolving 3.2 million years ago, and its closest living relative is the equally endangered snow leopard.

The discovery comes as the BBC launches a collection of intimate videos of wild tigers and the threats they face.

Despite the popularity and endangered status of tigers, much remains to be discovered about them, including how they evolved.

It has long been known that the five species of big cat - the tiger, lion, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard, which belong to the Panthera genus - and the two species of clouded leopard are more closely related to each other than to other smaller cats.

TIGERS IN PERIL: FIND OUT MORE Click here to watch the BBC's collection of intimate videos about tigers and the threats they face Wild Sumatran tigers were only caught on film for the first time in 2010 The Amur tiger, the largest cat of all, may be down to an effective wild population of fewer than 35 individuals, scientists announced last year The first public video of a newly described species of clouded leopard was revealed this week

But it has been difficult to pin down the exact relationships between them.

So to find out more, scientists Mr Brian Davis, Dr Gang Li and Professor William Murphy conducted an analysis of the DNA of all these species.

By looking at similarities in DNA held in mitochondria and within the sex chromosomes among other places, the researchers found that the five big cat species are related to each other in a different way to previously thought.

Their data strongly suggests that lions, leopards and jaguars are most closely related to each other.

Their ancestor split from other cats around 4.3 to 3.8 million years ago.
About 3.6 to 2.5 million years ago, the jaguar began to evolve, while lions and leopards split from one other about 3.1 to 1.95 million years ago.

But the tiger had already emerged by this point.

The ancestor of tigers and snow leopards also branched off around 3.9 million years ago.
The tiger then began to evolve into a unique species toward the end of the Pliocene epoch, about 3.2 million years ago.

Sumatran tigers caught on camera in the wild

That makes the tiger and snow leopard "sister species", the researchers report in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

Both tigers and snow leopards are among the world's most endangered big cats.

Fewer than 3500 tigers are thought to survive in the wild.

One subspecies, the Sumatran tiger, is so enigmatic that the first film of a wild individual was only recorded this year, and Indonesia is considering entrusting them to private individuals for safe-keeping.
Last year, a study revealed that the largest sub species, the Amur tiger, may be on the genetic brink, as so few individuals remain.


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THE GRAND LUNCHEON AT CITITEL HOTEL MID VALLEY

FIFTY ELDERLY DISABLED and their caregivers had an unforgettable Chinese New Year Outing in Mid Valley Megamall recently. It was held on January 31, 2008 in conjunction with the Year of the Rat.

The event was sponsored for PETPOSITIVE by the good folk over at Mid Valley City Sdn Bhd comprising Mid Valley Megamall, Cititel and Boulevard Hotels and The Gardens.

Here is the final installment, as we promised, of the glorious event in pictures by PET+BLOGSPOT in conjunction with Chap Goh Mei today.

ABOVE: Some of the elderly disabled posing at the Centre Court of the Mall for a family album. Standing fourth from left is Sara Lew who is a Petpositive Committee Member as well as President of the Malaysian Parkinson's Disease Association in Kuala Lumpur. Standing third from right is Catherine Lim from the Advertising and Promotions Department of Mid Valley City.

BELOW: A very pleased PETPOSITIVE member Mr Sivaraman Kannan waiting eagerly to dig into the 8-course Chinese luncheon prepared by the Bintang Ballroom of Cititel. What were the mouth-watering delights served? 1) Prosperity Salmon Yee Sang 2) Seafood Soup 3) Boneless Chicken with Thai Sauce and Mango 4) Teochew Steamed Fished Fillet with Kei Chee 5) Loh Hon Chai with Sea Moss and Gluten 6) Golden Fried Rice with Seafood 7) Fried Stuffed Yam Dumplings 8) Sweetened Longan with Snow Fungus and Red Date.

PETPOSITIVE also received a couple of huge surprises. Daniel Yong, the Organising Chairman of the function announced that Mid Valley City had pledged a total sum of RM10.000 to our Society. The money in the form of things would be to help equip our animal-assisted therapy centre when we get it started.

On the same day, Mid Valley also organised a four-day charity bazaar within their premises. It was to raise further funds for PETPOSITIVE where all proceeds from that event would be fully directed to us.

Each of the handicapped members also received Ang Pows and goodie bags to take home.

A guest with Parkinson disease surprised us all when he suddenly decided to get up on stage to give us his personal rendition of a Chinese favorite song. (Pix at bottom with yellow T-shirt and holding a microphone).

His rendition grabbed everyone's attention - including Daniel Yong whom I was sitting next to. Daniel told me that the elderly gentleman gave a much better performance than many of the non disabled performers he had heard.



















We also relished the music by the Chinese traditional instrumentalists who performed for us during the luncheon.

When all that heavenly action was over, we were led to watch the acrobatic performance by some extremely skillful youths from China. Click HERE to watch their performance on video.

You can see by Idah's and my look in the crowd how mesmerised we were by their enrapturing show.

It was really hard to take our eyes off them, I tell you!

That's all folks! Happy Chap Goh Mei to U all.

Click HERE to read previous part of this story.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, A BIG THANK U TO RUWAIDY MAT RASUL FOR ALL THE PHOTOGRAPHS!

PET+BLOGSPOT

GONG XI FA CAI FROM PETPOSITIVE!

IT'S the Eve of Chinese New Year. The time, 6.30pm, local time. It's very quiet in the neighbourhood with everything arriving to an almost standstill.

It won't be until a couple of hours before the fireworks start to light up the night sky. My dogs, a Rottweiller, German Shepherd Dog and Golden Retriever (plus a Shetland Sheepdog, owned by my best friend and PETPOSITIVE'S Assistant Treasurer Andrew Martin) will start to wonder what the fuss is all about.

Fortunately, they aren't spooked by fireworks and will start to settle down quickly once the dazzling display starts.

The day has been encouraging. Almost 20 hits already from mostly Malaysians to this Blog. Your support continues to be uplifting. It's a great motivator to get me to put something in this Blog for your reading pleasure almost daily.

Don't forget to drop by tomorrow when you will be able to read Wheel Power, my column in The Star. My story tomorrow is about PETPOSITIVE'S recent Chinese New Year party held for us by Mid Valley City (MVC).

I gave a candid account of the outpouring of love accorded to us by MVC. Even though I was in discussions with them before they event, they pulled a couple of surprises at the last minute much to our delight. We were truly pampered!

So read all about it tomorrow.

I hope to put it out by 12noon, Malaysian time. (0400hrs UTC)

For those of you outside Malaysia, you will be able to read it in my Wheel Power Malaysia Blog which is linked to this Blog, PET+BLOGSPOT. Hope all of you will find it a suitable treat for this great Year of the Rat occasion.

By the way, you might be interested to know that I am a Rat person. And so is Dr Jon Satyamoorthy, our supportive veterinarian, I hear.

To all our fellow Rats out there - and the rest of you who belong to one animal sign or the other in the Chinese zodiac calendar - on behalf of PETPOSITIVE, please let me take this opportunity from all of us over here to wish you Gong Xi Fa Cai!

See U 2morrow!

Anthony Thanasayan (aNt)
President
PETPOSITIVE
Blogger
PET+BLOGSPOT

Part One Video Of China Acrobats In Action In Mid Valley

Here is a quick video of one of the acts performed by the Chinese youth acrobatic team on January 31 - the day when Mid Valley City hosted a special Chinese New Year outing for 50 elderly disabled people and their caregivers.

I managed to see the performance again on Sunday, Feb 3, when Andrew Martin, Petpositive's Assistant Treasurer and I dropped by at the Mall to see how our charity bazaar was doing. The response was very good, I was told by the staff who were stationed at the section. Today is the last day of our bazaar.

Our Committee plan on setting aside the money collected by this wonderful project by Mid Valley City to cover the rental fees of our new centre. We are still looking very hard for a place in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Meanwhile, be sure to catch Wheel Power in The Star this Thursday - the first day of the Year of the Rat - to read my account of how the Mid Valley City event went. After that, keep it right here on this blog to experience a pictorial report of our special outing.

Finally, click on the video below to watch the young man from China do his magic with his porcelain vase. I was seated so close to the stage that I once or twice worried about it slipping from the acrobat's hand and come hurtling towards me. Of course, the Chinese artist was too good a performer to allow such a thing to happen.

Enjoy!

aNt
PET+BLOGSPOT

Pictures Of The Acrobatic Youth Team From China

Hi Everybody,

The pictures above are that of the highly acclaimed acrobatic youth troupe from ChangZhou in China.

The boys and girls aged from as young as somewhere around seven years old to about twentysomething gave a brilliant performance to Petpositive members last Thursday when Mid Valley City very generously hosted a Chinese New Year Outing for 50 elderly disabled members and their caregivers.

At the bottom you will see that Captain AKS Russell and I managed to catch them backstage (well, sort of) for a couple of snapshots after their performance. The Chinese acrobats perform daily for about half an hour in Mid Valley Megamall. They come on at 2pm and 8pm.

They are really worth you driving there to watch them. Of course, whilst you are there, don't forget that today is the last day to support Petpositive's charity bazaar which has been very kindly been put up by Mid Valley City to help us raise funds for our first and upcoming animal-assisted therapy centre which we intend to set up soon in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

The Centre will primarily be a place for the disabled and the elderly to come together and interact with animals as well as among themselves.

The bazaar is located on the Ground Floor of Mid Valley at the West Wing end of the mall.

I hope to be there today somewhere between 10am and 12noon if I can make it as I am still recuperating from an infection I sustained three weeks ago. If I do go, I hope to meet up with some of you. Thank you for your support so far.

According to Catherine Lim, the Assistant Public Relations Manager of Mid Valley City, the response from shoppers to the bazaar has been very encouraging.

For more information, kindly click HERE.

Note: All pictures are courtesy by Ruwaidy Mat Rasul. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

aNt
PET+BLOGSPOT

Please Support Petpositive By Visiting Mid Valley Megamall This Weekend

Hello Everybody! Quick, if you're reading this over the weekend, why don't you rush down to Mid Valley Megamall where you can support PETPOSITIVE?

From 10am until 10pm today, Feb 2 and Sunday, Feb 3, Mid Valley is holding a special charity bazaar for Petpositive where all the sales made at the event will go to our Society.

Fashionable accessories, home decorative items, T-shirts and lots of other must-grab items are available for sale at the bazaar.


Thanks to the Management of Mid Valley Megamall, the items have been donated by tenants of the mall. They include Colours, Dzi Kingdom, Memory Lane, The Body Shop, Purple Cane, F.O.S., Women's Secret, Axxezz, Sonic Power Station, Padini and many others.

The bazaar which has been operating since January 31, is located at the Ground Floor of the West Lobby.


A special attraction at Mid Valley during this time is an acrobatic show by the award-winning youth acrobatic troupe from ChangZhou, China. You can watch them perform daily at 2pm and 8pm.

As many as 50 elderly disabled persons and their caregivers from Petpositive were treated to a half-hour show by the splendid Chinese peformers on Thursday when Mid Valley City made up of Mid Valley Megamall, Boulevard Hotel, Cititel Mid Valley and The Gardens held an extraordinary half-day Chinese New Year celebration outing.

Mid Valley City also pledge RM10,000 worth of equipment for Petpositive's first animal-assisted therapy centre in the the country. The location is set to be somewhere in Petaling Jaya, Klang or Kuala Lumpur.

More pictures and reports to follow soon. In the meantime, here are some photographs taken by Petpositive's Ruwaidy Mat Rasul on Thursday. Kindly click on the pictures to have them enlarged.

1) An extremely delighted Anthony Thanasayan (President) and Captain AKS Russell (Volunteer) posing in front of the bazaar.

2) The contents of the signboard placed by Mid Valley Megamall.

3 & 4) Karim (Russell) and aNt checking out the items that were generously donated for the sale by the participating stalls whilst Mid Valley's staff who man the stalls look on amusingly.

5, 6 & 7) Some of the other items.

So what are you waiting for? Do go over to Mid Valley today to support us!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

PET+BLOGSPOT

Special CNY Treat For 50 Disabled Elderly & Their Caregivers By Midweek

PETPOSITIVE UPDATE:

It's all set. Very soon, as many as 50 disabled and elderly persons together with their caregivers will be treated to a Chinese New Year treat that they will never forget.

The event which is being put together for PETPOSITIVE by Mid Valley Megamall and Cititel Mid Valley starts in the morning and will end by mid afternoon. Organised specifically for elderly persons, the guests will be the blind and physically handicapped.

The Megamall and the Hotel's guests will be treated to free haircuts and be given free eye-checks together with eye-glasses each before they are led into Cititel for a sumptuous Chinese New Year lunch.

The half-day event, which will be covered by the media, will end with a 20-minute acrobatic show by performers from China.

As another treat, the elderly disabled guests will get to meet and mingle with TraxxFM's newsreader and broadcaster Pei Lee who will be one of the volunteers at the event.

As many of you might know, Pei was one of our emcees at PETPOSITIVE'S maiden charity dinner and launching event at the Legend Hotel, KL on July 29, 2007. Her services was provided free of charge for our Society.

The persons-in-charge on the day will be Captain AKS Russell (Pix 1) and PETPOSITIVE committee member Fasidah Sabeh. (Pix 2)

PETPOSITIVE'S photographers (also FOC) are Ruwaidy Mat Rasul (Pix 4) and Mr Sivaraman Kannan (Pix 2). The latter is not only a PETPOSITIVE member but is also the Vice-President of the Malaysian Parkinson's Disease Association of KualaLumpur.

Look out for a full-report of the activity soon.

PET+BLOGSPOT