Cat's In Space?! - Cats in the hall of fame

Many animals have been sent in man's plight to touch the moon. It is common knowledge monkeys made safe journeys around the earths orbit and lived to tell the tale, like Able.

Able on exhibit

Able was the first monkey who successfully returned from orbit back in 1959. He lived for another 26 years before dying 26 years later due to a reaction to anesthesia, whilst undergoing surgery to remove an infected medical electrode. He is now an exhibit at the National Air and space museum, USA.

Unfortunately not all animals made it safely back. People had no idea on the effect of being in space orbit would have on biological organisms. Many animals died from suffocation, overheating or drowning at sea on impact. However to minimize stress animals would anesthetized before lift off and were only sent into space once. It was all to test whether humans could survive long periods of weightlessness, scientists had been debating for years whether it was possible. It certainly taught the rocket scientists a lot about space. I will leave you to decide whether you think it was worth saving human lives or not.

Many different animals were sent to test the different effects.

Monkeys of several species were used; The rhesus monkey, cynomolgus monkeys, squirrel monkeys, pig-tailed monkeys and even some chimpanzees.
Mice, bees, frogs, worms, turtles, stick insects and other insects.
Fruit flies were the very first animal ever sent, they made it home safe.
Rabbits and rats. lots made it home, lots of them did not.
After monkeys they tried dogs as they thought these would be calmer during space flight. Many of the dogs are unsung heroes. JFK was given a space dogs puppy, as a gift for his grandchildren.

Several cats were trained, 10 decommissioned as they ate too much!

But I know you're here to hear about if kitties were able to become space-cats. The answer is yes. Felix and Felicette are two well know cats from the space program in France.

A not so glamorous shot of astr-cat Felicette

Felix was a stray, black and white cat,taken from the streets of Paris. He went trough training but not long before the flight he was reported to have escaped.
So instead Felicette was quickly trained and sent up instead in 1963. It was a short flight lasting 15 minutes but she travelled 100 miles into space which is when she was released in a capsule with a a parachute.
The flight was a success and she was recovered in good health. what became of her is unsure but British papers called her "astro-cat" and stamps were released all over the world but because of felix's last minute ditch they all had his name and face on them.

"Felicette on recovery"

I tip my hat to Felicette the female feline who risked her life in the name of science, robbed of the face of stamps and nearly forgotten.

stamps showing Felix instead of Felicette

Since then other cats have attempted space one weightless experiment was uploaded to youtube. i think the experiment is to see if the cats would know they are floating or to see if they would still try to flip over.

some other videos i found, some more questionable than others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_in_space
http://history.nasa.gov/animals.html
http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/famous/felix.html

The Anfield cat who ran onto the Liverpool pitch mid game!

Today to join the other kitties in the hall of Fame i introduce to you the 'Anfield cat'. He's made famous for running onto the liverpool pitch mid game during a premier league game against Tottenham-Hotspur. Scroll down for more of the story and the video footage.

He tottered past the Liverpool manager Kenny Dalgish. He then hopped onto the pitch and took a stroll near the goal who was being held by goal keeper Brad Friedel, 40. He even took a moment to sit down much to the amusement of the fans who chanted 'A cat, a cat, a cat!'. The game was paused for around a minute until a steward came onto the pitch and released the cat outside the stadium gates.

He instantly became famous and everyone wanted to know who this spunky cat was. within two minutes 2 Twitter accounts were set up claiming to be 'the original Anfield cat'. One even reached 75,000 followers. However they are all impostors as it was later revealed the tabby is a local stray, formerly he was unnamed but after his televised streaking he was named 'Kenny' after the manager.

The local residents all vouch for Kenny's good heart and all take credit for leaving him a bowl of food outside. He is thought to be the off-spring from a locals pet 'Pako'.

However, this isn't the first report of fame seeking cats as in 1964 a black and white cat leaped along the pitch when Liverpool played Arsenal. Anybody else think Liverpool's badge needs a cat on it? Or at least a new mascot!

Heres the footage of the game very amusing!

Kenny was temporarily re-homed north of Liverpool and is now thought to have found a permanent home. I am not sure he will be happy about only being able to watch the game on the television nowadays.

The definifition of a cool cat, i tip my tail to you Kenny!

If you love Ligers!

(Hercules standing up against an old London tour bus)

You guys loved the Liger post they are some pretty popular kitties! I thought i should bring you more photos and more info to fill that Liger sized whole in your life.

(Hercules on a set of the London Underground tube station)

Last Time i spoke to you about a well known Liger called Hercules who weighs 900 pounds!  He is famous for the photo shoot where he stood up to the London bus during a mock British set celebrating the English influence in music in America. There are plenty more photos from that day i thought you would like to see them:

(Hercules Next to an old black cab)

The Liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress, this equals a Liger  However the hybrid cross between a male tiger and a female lioness is called a Tiglon  

 A Liger is the largest known extant feline, where as a Tiglon is about the same size as a female tiger.

(Hercules showing man's puniness)

(Hercules crossing a mock Abbey road crossing)

Ligers share both of their parents traits; They love swimming which is the characteristic of a tiger and are very sociable just like lions.

(what a big head he has!)

A Liger often inherits both the rosette markings from the lion and stripes from the Tiger, Liger's appearance vary greatly from one another. 

White Liger's (normally a very pale yellow) have been achieved. Theoretically by crossing a white tiger and a white lion should produce an all white Liger possible without any markings at all. 

Black Liger's have never recorded and it may not be possible. Although very dark ones have been produced, it is normally due to the markings being overly present.

As the blue/ grey Maltese tiger is now extinct it is unlikely we will ever see that coat in a Liger.

(Hercules with a Liger cub)

 Ligers are only found in captivity, recorded as early as the the 1700's, as tiger habitats and lion habitats never cross over in the modern world. 

However, it is thought when the Asiatic Lion (also known as the Indian Lion) had a large territory and was thriving, there was a cross over of territory and there are legends of Liger's living in the wild. 

Many Liger's have been bred in captivity, although sometimes it has been noted it has been by accident. as was Hercules.

Hercules

(Hercules again)

Jungle Island is a wonderful interactive park in Miami, it is home to the largest non-obese Liger in the world; Hercules. Hercules received a great reception on many different tv shows and grabs attention from people all over the world. 

His trainer is Bhagavan Antle and has done a fantastic job with his Ligers with great breeding programs and the ability to raise Ligers to live long healthy lives. It is very difficult to perfect Liger breeding and are known for their low life expectancy   

Hercules and his little brother

Hercules lazing around

Hercules, the face of power!

People argue a lot over whether the Liger creation is fair. It is unlikely the animal would survive in the wild with the little left out there to hunt and the amount it needs to consume to keep active. Saying this. they can still run up to 50mph!

There are also health concerns for things like their joints when they become large, being in captivity they get loads of healthcare so they tend to live pretty good lives.

 I will leave the argument up to you guys, please comment whether you think this should be allowed.

Enjoy these photos of other Ligers i found to show you how different they can look from one another. 

on the left a female Liger and a male on the right

A very handsome Liger

who said i'm not cuddly?

a baby Liger, how cute!

Although i think this one may be a taxidermy exhibit, just a hunch.

(A more stripy Liger)

this myth is black and white

where babies come from:male lion and female tiger makes a Liger! yay!

tiger standing next to a liger to show height differenve

same pair again laying down

a lovely white liger

sorry who did you say the king on the jungle was?

A liger and tiger fighting

i doubt this was done by humas on purpose probably just play fighting in their enclosure

A Tigon to show the difference, Also a very stunning animal but much smaller/

lion, tiger or bear? nope, its a liger!

sources:

i own non of the writes to any og the images shown. please visit these websites below for there distribution rights

http://www.ligerliger.com/ home website for hercules

http://www.worldamazinginformation.com/2007/10/worlds-largest-liger-liontiger.html images

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/hercules-the-biggest-of-big-cats.html image 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/photogalleries/ligers_dynamite/photo2.html images of various ligers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger most images

All of the Tigers and their differences

The tiger (and there's not just one!)

The tiger is the largest wild cat species on the globe. Easily recognized by its orange and black stripes. Weighing up to 336kg and a length of 3.3 meters it is the third largest land carnivore mammal behind the polar and the brown bear. Even though the name tiger is loosely used their are many subspecies. scroll down to view the individual subspecies or go to the bottom to see a handy charts that show the visible differences.

The Bengal tiger

Distributed around India it has a light yellow/orange coat. weighing and average of 225kg and a total length of  310cm including the tail. the largest ever specimen to be found was in the 19th century at 12 foot. The white tiger is thought to be a recessive gene found also in the wild. this is not to be confused with albinism.

The Indochinese tiger

Found from Vietnam to Thailand. recorded being up to 9 foot. There are only around 350 of these left and  are considered critically endangered. due to this not much is known about them. The last known of these left in China was eaten by a man who was later imprisoned for 12 years. 

The Malayan Tiger

Found in Malaya and Singapore it is estimated that there is only 1,480 breeding adults left. the only difference between this and the subspecie the indochinese tiger, is it is slightly smaller.

Sumatran Tiger

A rare subspecies from an Indonesia island, it is the last surviving subspecies from the Sumatra islands group of tigers. there are thought to be 440 to 700 left, considered critically endangered. they are recognized by their darker fur and thicker stripes on their head. their stripes often tail off into spots. these are one of the smaller tiger breeds.

The Siberian Tiger (also known as Amur)

There are thought to only be around 400 of these dudes left roaming around the far east of Russia.  mainly recognizable by their deep reddish coats and general physique.

This is the largest cat species on the planet, its even among the biggest in terms of cat species that are extinct! although then Bengal tiger is bulkier this cat is longer. their tales are a meter long and males can weigh up to 220kg. a male tiger shot in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in 1950 weighed 400kg and a length of 11 foot in total. of course Siberian tigers in captivity are well fed and are up to 465kg.

these tigers are massive and need lots of calories during the winter they are known for hunting both black and brown bears. Brown bears are more common as of their habitat being more exposed. here is a taxidermy exhibit in the Vladivostok Museum, showing a Siberian tiger attacking a brown bear o show you how easy it is for them. 

Siberian tiger DNA was counted from over 100 tigers in the Russian Far East and it showed a shockingly low diversity in the gene pool. it seems as our habitat has grown and we killed so many tigers these guys had to travel great distances to even find other tigers to mate with. As numbers dwindled, less and less new genes were available and natural inbreeding took place. these kitties are known to travel up to 1000km!

The South China Tiger

This is possible our most endangered tiger. scientists haven't seen a South Chinese tiger in the wild since the 1970's. Although there are members in captivity, around 72, 57 showed signs of inbreeding, other genetic results show most of these guys have evidence of cross breeding with other species of tigers. as suggested by its name it originated from china and parts of fuji. It was known also as the Amoy tiger in the fur trade, now revered as a relic of the past.

Known as being the most distinct Tiger,

In stance they are smaller than the Bengal tiger but larger than the Sumatran  Their coat is distinctive by a large pale patch and with more stripes that are thinner, with sharper points.

they are thought to have hunted animals like muntjack (small deer type animal) and wild pigs.

 Other than this i cant tell you much about this breed as it just isn't known, behavior in captivity tends to be down to their environment so cant be used as fact. 



Here is a great chart to quickly see the differences Tiger subspecies from different angles.

Let me know which kitty is your faverite and be sure to read my next blog on the extinct species!



Sources:

None of these images are owned by myself and have not been altered in anyway. i do not own the rights.

Most information and photos are found: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger

for the specie chart:
http://hdevers.deviantart.com/art/Tiger-Comparisons-Huge-File-215800028