If you're a big cat fan and like them rare and little seen, then the Acinonyx jubatus hecki - the Saharan Cheetah is for you. Only about 250 of the graceful cats roam the Sahara desert and vast savannas of Algeria, Niger, Mail, Bukina-Faso and Togo. Naturally, scientists got all het up when four of the graceful felines were immortalized in camera traps set by a combined team fromZoological Society of London, Office du Parc Nationale de l'Ahaggar and the Universite de Bejaia. http://www.wcs.org/353624/wcs_seeing_spots_in_the_sahara Image: Farid Belbachir/ZSL/OPNA, Wildlife Conservation Society
Big cats also made news in Ecuador, as the first photos emerged from a national census of Jaguars conducted in Ecuador's Yasuni National Park and neighboring Waorani Ethnic Reserve. So far, 17 individual Jaguars have been identified by the pattern of their spots. These shy and elusive big cats are disappearing as hunting in the National Park thins out their game. http://www.bronxzoo.com/press/press-releases/big-cats-wild-pigs-and-short-eared-dogs-oh-my.aspx Image: Ecuadoran Jaguar, Santiago Espinosa
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