The African Golden Cat is probably one of the most elusive wild cats that have rarely been seen in photos or even in videos.

The Golden Cat was recently captured on video in the wild. From CNN. This is the first known video of the cat. And it’s such a pretty cat too!

Scientists tracking this elusive wild golden cat finally caught one on video. It was recorded by a motion-activated camera placed in a Gabon forest.

The feline is shy, medium in size that avoids human contact and lives in hard to access parts of the central African forests. They live deep in the forest and people rarely get a glimpse of them in their natural habitat. Because of that reason it’s hardly been studied.

With this discovery, scientist could contribute to a greater understanding of the species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the animal as near-threatened. It is also Africa’s least studied felid. There are no reliable density estimates, but the world’s population of mature golden cats probably exceeded 10,000 in 2007.

The golden cats were always known as nocturnal or crepuscular (meaning active at dawn or dusk). But scientist caught these on video roaming around during the day. There are still many other things scientist are eager to find out this elusive animal.

I am always amaze and how much diversity we have in this planet, especially in Africa. It’s too bad human beings can’t seem to live as peacefully as animals.

France was in the news lately for not doing enough to protect the European hamster also known as the Great Hamster of Alsace. These hamsters can be found in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, but in Western Europe they are mostly found in Alsace, France.

France 24 reports there are only 200 remaining, while the NY Times reports 800. But the Commission figures show its numbers fell from 1,167 in 2001 to as few as 161 in 2007.

Photo from Wildlife Photo Gallery by Josef Hlasef. I like how surprise he looks here… “Oh do you want to talk to me?”

They grow to be about 10 inches long. These little guys look very cute and interesting with their brown-and-white face, small white paws and a black belly. The black belly part is most unusual and looks like it’s wearing a black vest. How fashionable!

The hamster lives a solitary life and hibernates for 6 months of the year. Once they wake from their sleep, they like to feed on grass and alfalfa. But these crops have been replaced with large scale corn farms. France has previously given subsidies to farmers to grow alfalfa or wheat, but the commission wants it to do more.

The European Court of Justice ruled that “Protection measures for the Great Hamster put in place by France were insufficient at the date of August 5, 2008, to ensure the strict protection of the species,”

Farmers aren’t very fond of these hamster and wish they could do away with them. Safeguard Wildlife president Jean-Paul Burget, in Alsace, said in a telephone interview with NY Times that “we are very happy and European rules must be followed.” France “now must work to raise the population of hamsters up to 1,500.” A good number which would help to preserve the species.

It’s not just corn farms, but development of homes and highways have also been creeping into it’s habitat.   But hopefully with the new court ruling they will have more space to live and roam now.

I saw this cute furry animal from a Pier 1 Import ad recently.

I was thinking it was a fox, but exactly what type of fox I wasn’t sure.

Then M told me these are probably a desert fox due to it’s large ears. As large ears help to radiate body heat and help them keep cool.

And he’s right, they are fennec fox found in the desert of North Africa.

There are many type of desert foxes, but the cutest and smallest one of them all is fennec fox.

Fennec foxes are found in the Saharan desert. The term fennec comes from Arabic meaning fox. They live in underground sandy dens with up to ten other fennec foxes. Being nocturnal helps them stay cool when hunting at night.

It’s a luxe life for the fennec fox! Photo from Pier 1 Imports.

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In the remote mountains of Indonesia’s Foja Mountains comes frogs, gecko, and even the world’s smallest wallaby. The other recent discovery was of the golden-mantled tree kangaroo out of New Guinea. It’s always good news to hear that scientist have discovered new species.

This cute little guy is the world’s smallest wallaby. Photo by Tim Laman of National Geographic/Reuters

The other new animals discovered by researchers include an oversize yet tame woolly rat, a new bat that feeds on rainforest blossom nectar and a small tree mouse. There is even a new flowering shrub.

This part of Indonesia’s rain forest is very undeveloped and undisturbed without any roads. The elevation and tropical environment also provides much isolation. There are also local forest-dwelling people that depend on this place for resources. And the locals don’t take more then they need from the rain forest.

Bruce Beehler, a senior research scientist at Conservation International said it best, “While animals and plants are being wiped out across the globe at a pace never seen in millions of years, the discovery of these absolutely incredible forms of life is much needed positive news. Places like these represent a healthy future for all of us and show that it is not too late to stop the current species extinction crisis.”

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