Great Cats and Rare Canines Need Your Help!

©WCS/D.Demello

Many Species of Great Cats and Rare Canines are in Danger of Vanishing!
Please urge Congress to support the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act. Around the world species of great cats and wild canines, such as jaguars, clouded leopards and African wild dogs, are declining drastically due to habitat loss, poaching, disease, and human-wildlife conflict. In recognition of the imperiled status of 13 species of great cats and rare canines, the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act will provide crucial funding to international conservation efforts.

Please contact your member of Congress now and ask them to support the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act.

Through the highly successful Multinational Species Conservation Fund, this bill will provide financial support to international conservation activities that will protect these animals and help ensure their survival.

The Great Cats and Rare Canids Act identifies seven feline and six canine species recognized as endangered or threatened under international law. These include many well-known known species including:

Lion (Panthera leo)
Leopard (Panthera pardus)
Jaguar (Panthera onca)
Snow Leopard (Uncia uncia)
Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa)
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardina)
Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)
Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simensis)
African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus)
Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus).

The Great Cat and Rare Canid Act will provide critical US support to implement conservation strategies outside of North America to save these species. While the root-causes of threats to these species differs, the result is always the same. In many cases these animals are poached for their pelts or medicinal value. In other cases, exposure to domestic species has spread disease. In all cases, habitat degradation and increasing interaction with human populations have resulted in the species’ decline.

WCS has been working to save great cats on an international-scale since the inception of it Global Carnivore Program in 1989. Spearheaded by Drs. Alan Rabinowitz and Luke Hunter, the program builds on seminal studies by Dr. George Schaller on jaguars, lions, tigers and snow leopards, and a host of other WCS research projects. The program’s mission is to advance our knowledge of carnivore biology, and develop comprehensive strategies for their conservation and that of the habitats they occupy.
To read more about the global carnivore program, please visit us at: www.wcs.org and www.savingwildplaces.org

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