Billionaire Auctions Rembrandt Lion Drawing for $18M to Help Save the Animal it Depicts, Thanks to Tom Kaplan

Schatborn, Peter. “Young Lion Resting” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 4th ed. via Sotheby’s

Yesterday, Sotheby’s oversaw the record $18 million sale of a drawing by Rembrandt: one of 6 drafts he made of lions, and the only one to have resided in private hands.

Those hands belong to Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan and his wife, who along with standing foremost among the world’s private Rembrandt collectors, ride in the vanguard of global wildlife conservation on behalf of the very cat the drawing so vividly depicts.

Founder of both the Leiden Collection of Dutch and Flemish master works and Panthera, the world’s leading conservation organization dedicated exclusively to wild cats big and small, Dr. Kaplan has been able to synergistically marry these two passions, leveraging one to fund the other, as all proceeds from the record-setting, $17.9 million sale will help ensure the lion survives long beyond both Rembrandt’s time, and our own.

Called Young Lions Resting, Rembrandt depicts with superb draftsmanship the languid, fearless pose of the lion through loose, confident strokes, particularly in the modeling of the lion’s paws, and a controlled shading that brings its gaze to life.

Dr. Kaplan, who’s spoken to GNN before about his work at Panthera, explained how it was the most he and his wife had ever paid for an object after they embarked upon their anonymous journey of collection Rembrandt and other Dutch/Flemish masters pieces in 2003.

“We recognized immediately the synergy, as my wife told me when I asked her opinion of it when I took her to see it before buying it: she responded ‘it’s a Rembrandt, it’s a lion, and it’s beautiful; if it’s not for you then who’s it for?” Kaplan told GNN.

Only 6 drawings of lions by Rembrandt are currently known. Young Lion Resting is the first drawing by the master to come to the market in a century, and the $17.9 million sale price sets a new record for a drawing by Rembrandt by almost $15 million.

Kaplan founded Panthera along with renowned and late conservationist Dr. Alan Rabinowitz just one year after he bought the painting in 2005. Highlighting the plight of the lion across its entire native range, the sale of Young Lion Resting at Sotheby’s was paired with a faithful reproduction entitled Young Lion Vanished, wherein the animal Rembrandt so skillfully brought to life on the paper is replaced by a void—a reality on our Earth across 95% of the lion’s former range.

“Is it savable? Yes, it is, and with much larger landscapes than with the tiger in India. But, in 26 out of the 48 countries through which it roamed, it’s now extinct,” says Dr. Kaplan, who’s involvement in Panthera goes far beyond his role as its billionaire philanthropist founder, and stretches well into the scientific.

Young Lion Resting (top) Young Lion Vanished (bottom) – credit, supplied by Panthera

While Panthera has achieved incredible results protecting leopards and jaguars, Dr. Kaplan says that as regards the lion, its programs are still about “playing defense.”

“The lion is not there not, but it could be. I don’t believe it will ever be extinct in the wild, but it might come to exist only in fortresses, and we want to see more connectivity.”

Young Lion Resting was co-owned with the chair of Panthera’s board of directors, Jon Ayer, who’s spoken with GNN multiple times, and who provided a statement to mark the sale.

“The pulse of life that Rembrandt captured in this lion’s gaze continues to beat today through our conservation field programs,” said Ayers. “This sale provides Panthera with critical resources to combat poaching and habitat loss globally, ensuring that the majesty Rembrandt admired in the 17th century survives well into the 21st and beyond.”

Those resources come as the organization he chairs and Kaplan founded will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year. The auction proceeds will support science-directed initiatives fostering human-wild cat coexistence and critical landscape protection in some 40 countries across four continents.

“We probably spend 80% of our time working with people to ensure that we’ve protected them from the human-animal conflict that usually precedes the slaughter of the animals. If people don’t have to kill lions, usually they don’t, but if all of your material wellbeing is wrapped up in a cow or a goat, you’re not going to take that loss stoically,” Dr. Kaplan remarked empathetically.

“You’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen again. On the other hand if you create good fences, generally speaking people do not want to kill the cat.”Kaplan told GNN that among those whose job it is to know within the federal government, there is a belief that if Panthera can’t save a wildcat, no one can. If that’s true, then this record Rembrandt auction suggests the lion is in a safe pair of paw Billionaire Auctions Rembrandt Lion Drawing for $18M to Help Save the Animal it Depicts, Thanks to Tom Kaplan

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The Tiger Population Doubled in India in Just Ten Years

Panna Tiger Reserve

Conservation in India successfully doubled the native population of tigers in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study reveals.

In 2010, the nations that make up the remaining range countries of the tiger set a target to double the number of wild tigers worldwide—a goal called Tx2—10 at the St. Petersburg International summit on tiger conservation.

The idea was that by 2022—the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac, the countries across the Indo-Pacific, East and South Asia, and Russia, would have enough time to effectively support tiger conservation.

By 2022, the objective was estimated to have been achieved when measured across the animal’s whole range, but within that achievement were several localized triumphs even more impressive—Nepal, but also India, had seen their native populations of tiger double.

Despite being the world’s most populous state, Indian governments were able to make room for tigers across 53,360 square miles. By 2018, India’s native tiger population clawed its way above 3,600. Along with being 75% of the world’s tiger population, it was twice as many as the best estimates guessed in 2006.

Published in a study in Science recently, extensive monitoring of the big cat across 20 Indian states every 4 years revealed this increase in the number of tigers, but also the amount of protected-tiger habitat.

As well as there being twice as many tigers since 2006, there is 30% more habitat where they live. The study presents findings that tigers do better in areas of higher economic development where locals and visitors can afford tiger-tourism and governments compensate for tiger-related losses. In contrast, poorer states see increases of human-tiger conflict that make it difficult for the world’s largest cat to endure.

Sharing land with the growing Indian population is increasingly difficult for both man and tiger, but conflict isn’t as common as you might think.

“We lose 35 people to tiger attacks every year, 150 to leopards, and the same number to wild pigs. Additionally, 50,000 people die from snake bites,” Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala, the study’s lead author, told the BBC. “In fact, within tiger reserves, you’re more likely to die from a car accident than from a tiger attack.”

The WWF, which was very involved with the Tx2 goal, published an article late last year entitled “5 reasons for hope for Tigers in 2025, detailing how the cats were spreading naturally into the forests of northern Thailand, northeast China, and northern Myanmar, as well as the extensive preparations made by Kazakhstan for the reintroduction of the tiger in the south of that country where it has been extinct for over a century.They didn’t include that camera traps in Sumatra recently recorded 3-times as many sightings of the Sumatran tiger subspecies than ever before. The Tiger Population Doubled in India in Just Ten Years

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Leopard-Baboon Standoff at Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya

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A gang of baboons--young, old, brawny, and scrawny--bravely attempt to chase a leopard out of their territory. Watched for about 15 minutes until the
leopard was battled into a bush and a standstill ensued. Many thanks to Joel, the best game driver in town! 

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Ethiopia’s lions are genetically unique

ADDIS ABABA: Many visitors come to Ethiopia annually to witness lions in their natural habitat. New research published this week has revealed that Ethiopia’s lions might be even more unique than previously thought. European researchers reported that they have used DNA to determine the Addis Ababa lion in Ethiopia is genetically unique and are urging immediate conservation action. And they are getting responses already. On Friday, a group of student activists told that they are planning to petition the government to move quickly to ensure the country’s lions are protected. “We don’t have any worry that the government will take this matter to heart as it is very exciting to know these lions are unique from any other,” said one of the activists as they planned to head to the tourism industry to urge them to intervene on their behalf. It has been believed that many lions in the country are a bit different than their fellow African brothers and sisters, where they have a large, dark mane, extending from the head, neck and chest to the belly, as well as being smaller and more compact than other lions, it was not known it they represented a genetically distinct population. The team of researchers, led by the University of York in the UK and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany used DNA to show captive lions at the Addis Ababa Zoo are, in fact, genetically distinct from all lion populations for which similar data exists, both in Africa and Asia. “To our knowledge, the males at Addis Ababa Zoo are the last existing lions to possess this distinctive [dark] mane,” researcher Michi Hofreiter said in a University of York release. “Both microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA data suggest the zoo lions are genetically distinct from all existing lion populations for which comparative data exist.” Lion numbers in Africa are in serious decline and two significant populations of lion, the North African Barbary lions and the South African Cape lions, have already become extinct in the wild, researchers said. “We therefore believe the Addis Ababa lions should be treated as a distinct conservation management unit and are urging immediate conservation actions, including a captive breeding program to preserve this unique lion population.” And Ethiopians are ready to make the push to save their native lion populations.Source: Bikyamasr, ***

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Lions 'poisoned' by visitor at Berlin's famous zoo

A pair of lions began foaming at the mouth and became critically ill after being 'poisoned' by a visitor at Berlin's famous zoo. Aru and Aketi were spotted foaming at the mouth five days ago and stopped eating and drinking. They also developed colic - a condition where they repeatedly cried out in distress. Zookeepers believe the pair must have been poisoned by a visitor to the 168-year old zoo located in the Tiergarten area of the city. The zoo said that the meat fed to the pair as part of their diet was not contaminated; the meat is eaten by all 16 big cats at the zoo and no others fell ill. Source: The Coming Crisis, Source: Image

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Tiger cub spotted in Sariska

Jaipur, Aug 8 (IANS) A tigress in Rajasthan's Sariska Tiger Reserve has reportedly delivered a cub. On Tuesday, the tigress and the cub were captured on camera. This is encouraging news, Minister of Forest and Environment Bina Kak said here. The tigress has been spotted at Kalighati and Slopka areas of the sanctuary. Wild life officials are trying to secure more photographs of the animal. The Sariska reserve now has five adult tigers, of which three are females and two males. With a cub spotted now, the total number is now six. In 2004-05, the forest department and the Rajasthan government faced all-round criticism over the disappearance of tigers from Sariska. The state government then decided to relocate tigers from the Ranthambore National Park in Sawai Madhopur district to Sariska. The Sariska reserve, originally a hunting preserve of the erstwhile princely state of Alwar, was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955. It got the status of a National Park in 1979. Source: News Track India, Image: flickr.com

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Woman from Scotland was attacked by cheetahs

Sensei Fun and Knowledge; A sequence of photos taken by a tourist from Scotland on Saturday, April 28, shows the man's wife on the ground, hair flying, blood on her neck, with two cheetahs nearby.  The Port Elizabeth Herald reported Friday that Violet D’Mello of Aberdeen, Scotland, was attacked by cheetahs on April 28 while in a petting pen with the animals at a game reserve near Port Elizabeth in southeastern South

Africa. It says she was attacked while trying to protect young children from another group that was in the enclosure at the same time. Her husband took photos of the attack, which were published by the local newspaper and others.  One of the photos taken by Archie D’Mello shows Violet D’Mello smiling and posing with a cheetah raised by humans in the enclosure, before, as she told the Herald, “it became serious very quickly.” One of two cheetahs in the enclosure first grabbed a young girl, leaving her with

scratches and cuts that needed stitches, the Herald reported. D’Mello tried to calm the child and her brother, and ended up also being attacked. She told the BBC she had numerous bite and puncture marks, and that her scalp was “sliced open.” The cheetahs “weren’t being vicious. You could tell they were just excited,” Violet D’Mello told the Herald. The Herald said park staff and other visitors pulled the cats off. The D’Mellos continued their holiday in South Africa. Source; Sensei Fun and Knowledge, Source: Image

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Tiger deaths on the rise in India‎

India has recorded 48 tiger deaths since January, nearly as many as during all of last year, in a setback to its efforts to save the endangered animal, an official says. "The largest numbers have been killed in the Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand state and in the Tadoba tiger reserve in Maharashtra," said SP Yadav, deputy inspector general of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. Yadav said it was not clear how many of these tigers were killed by poachers but it could be more than 50 per cent. The rising demand in tiger parts in China and Southeast Asia has led to a rise in poaching in India's tiger reserves, Yadav said. Conflict with villagers who live in the vicinity of the reserves also leads to the killing of tigers. Source: The Coming Crisis, Source: https://www.flickr.com/

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Wild leopard mauls 13 people on day-long rampage in Indian oil compound

A wild leopard was shot dead after injuring 13 people during a day-long rampage in an oil company compound near an Indian village. The fully grown male leopard managed to get inside the Oil India Limited field headquarters campus at Duliajan in the Dibrugarh district where he attached several staff members. The shocking photos show the animal attacking a security guard after he tried to rescue his colleague. Forest guards were called to the scene and eventually managed to shoot the animal with a tranquillizer but were forced to kill it when the drug didn't take effect. Source: The Coming Crisis

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The Last Man-eater: Killer Tigers of India

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Screen Shot On Linked Video All Rights Reserve To the national Geographic Society

Uploaded by WildDocumentary, Share Link: DP World The only place on earth where Man is not at the top of the food chain. The Last Maneater is a spectacular documentary about the last tigers in the world to hunt, kill, and eat humans. They live in the Sunderbans, gnarled fingers of thick impenetrable mangrove forest swamps in eastern India. It's a place where the daily  quest  for  a  net   full   of   fish,   or  even  an   armload   of   firewood

Screen Shot On Uploaded Video All Rights Reserve To the national Geographic Society

gathered from the forest floor, can prove fatal. Here, up to 80 people every year are killed and eaten by tigers. The villages here are filled with orphans... and widows. And people who have harrowing tales of survival. An adult Bengal tiger can weigh as much as 500 pounds. When it decides to attack, the results are almost always lethal. Guns and armor are of little use in this area where a stealth attack from the rear can occur with no warning. It is the reality  of  life  in  the  Sunderbans.  People  here   understand  the  risk. They

Screen Shot On Uploaded Video All Rights Reserve To the national Geographic Society

understand... that in the Sunderbans, humans are not the most dominant animal. That if a tiger decides to kill... it can... and will. This is a place where tigers don't live in fear of people. Here... tigers reign supreme. All rights belong to The National Geographic Society.

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Tigers attack tourist bus in China

A group of 27 visitors to a Chinese zoo had the shock of their life when their bus was attacked by enraged Bengal tigers. The trauma continued for 20 mintues since the tiger zone’s gatekeeper had gone out for lunch. According to zoo authorities in Shandong province’s capital Jinan, the incident occurred Saturday noon when around five adult tigers bit into the bus’ tires and smashed the bus with their paws, breaking its windows, the Shanghai Daily reported. The zoo staff learned about the incident only after they looked at the security cameras and rushed to open the gate for the tigers 20 minutes later, Jinan Times reported. No one was hurt in the incident. From-http://www.ians.in, Source: Medley News

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Vietnam’s tiger population halved to less than 50

Hanoi (dpa) – The number of wild tigers in Vietnam shrank from 100 a decade ago to fewer than 50, an official said Friday. “Illegal poaching and the wildlife trade are the main reasons leading to a sharp decline in tiger numbers,” said Le Xuan Canh, director of the Institute for Ecology and Biological Resources. “Deforestation has also badly affected the living habitat of tigers.” Canh said the cats, all of them Indochina tigers, were now living in a 9,300-square-kilometre area in six provinces of Vietnam. Vietnam signed commitments to protect the species, their prey and habitat at the International Tiger Forum held last year in St Petersburg. The goal is to increase the world’s tiger population by 2022 to 7,000 from the current 3,200. Scientists urged authorities at a meeting organized by the Department of Forest Management Thursday to speed up the process of protecting endangered species, including tigers, the state-run newspaper Viet Nam News reported.Source: Bikya Masr, Image: https://www.flickr.com

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Scaredy cat tiger frightened by a floating leaf

"A 22-month-old female scaredy cat tiger appeared to get the shock of her young life when she encountered a dead leaf floating on a pool of water in the Bandhavgarh National Park, India. Clearly unusure about just what was approaching her, the partially submerged youngster's tail shot up in the air and with teeth bared she let out her most fearsome growl - all in an effort to scare the humble leaf away."Source: Zagica

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Time to save the tiger

By: Hemant Abhishek, and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” Of the hundred times that we’ve come across messages regarding tiger conservation, there’s barely one that has stirred us to action. But to change that and show us the plight of the king of the jungle Shivani Wazir Pasrich in collaboration with the Taj Mahal Hotel has launched a three-pronged approach aimed at ecological conservation in an entertaining, engaging and hopefully effective way. Shivani Wazir Productions has produced a theater performance, I Am The Tiger, that with the help of audience feedback will develop into a full-fledged musical over the course of the next year. About her inspiration and the project, Shivani informs, “It was my childhood friend and conservationist Dr Latika Nath Rana’s idea that we should do something for the conservation of tigers. My mother in law had painted a picture of a tiger and recently gifted my father-in-law another tiger painting. I don’t know who is influenced by whom. I don’t know which is the source and which is the result. It’s closely knit, and we plan to develop it over the year with the inputs we receive.”Read Full: Time to save the tiger | The Asian Age, Image: flickr.com

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Tiger terrorises Chhattisgarh's forest residents

Siasat, Raipur, September 18: A tiger that has killed one woman and over 30 domestic animals in the past mont h has terrorised the residents of dozens of forested villages in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district. With the authorities failing to catch the big cat, reports coming in from interiors of Rajnandgaon say people of forested villages are migrating to safer areas along with their animals. "There is absolute terror in a vast forested stretch bordering Maharashtra," forest official Vivek Shukla told reporters. "People have been spending sleepless nights as a tiger is on the prowl. Shukla is a member of the several small squads formed by the forest department to trap the tiger and restore it to its habitat." "There are only two experts in the state who can tranquillize the tiger: one from Nandan Van zoo in Raipur and Kanan Pendari zoo in Bilaspur," Shukla added. "They have been asked to rush to Rajnandgaon." Source: Siasat

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Cambodia's Tigers and the Banteng: protecting a predator can also mean protecting its prey

By RTSea Blog, In Cambodia, international conservation groups and the Cambodian government are working to restore the eastern plains as a primary habitat for the country's dwindling population of tigers. The number of tigers worldwide is perilously low, with totals estimated at around 3,200 to perhaps 5,000. Poaching has been the primary threat to the tiger, but to develop a comprehensive conservation and management program, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recognizes that more must be done than just eliminate poaching. One must also protect its food source. The Cambodian tigers feed on wild pigs, muntjac deer, and banteng - an endangered species of cattle. All have suffered declines in number in the past few decades. In particular, the banteng, estimated at 2,700 to 5,700 in number residing in the eastern plains, has seen a decrease of 50% in the last 30 years. Due to its scarcity worldwide, the banteng is listed as globally endangered by the IUCN. While the banteng suffered at the hands of poachers seeking its meat and horns, the WWF has recently issued a report based on surveys taken in 2009 and 2011 that identify social and agricultural land concessions and infrastructure as the primary threat.Human development is encroaching upon the banteng, and their loss threatens the future of one of its primary predators: the tiger. “For the tiger population to recover, one of the most important things needed is a sustainable source of prey, such as banteng,” read a statement from the WWF regarding the need for a comprehensive and effective conservation management plan in Cambodia. “Anything less threatens to unravel a decade of conservation progress and with each passing day diminishes the Eastern Plains’ value as a national and global ecological asset for current and future generations.”Read Full: Cambodia's Tigers and the Banteng: protecting a predator can also mean protecting its prey

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Baby chimp feeds tiger cub

The close bond that has formed between a two-year-old chimpanzee called Do Do and a two-month-old tiger cub called Aorn shows off a motherly instinct which can rival even the most maternal of mankind. Completely at ease in each other's company, the ape's motherly instincts take over as she attentively bottle feeds the baby tiger. Aorn gratefully laps up the milk as Do Do tenderly holds the tiger in her arms. At one point, Do Do puts the bottle in her own mouth - almost mimicking the actions of a human mother checking to see if the milk is suitable for her offspring to consume. Read Full : Baby chimp feeds tiger cub - Hindustan Times

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Tiger Tourism Continues To Boom in Madhya Pradesh

Easy Destination Blog: Madhya Pradesh has further cemented its place as top tiger tourism destination in India. Kanha and Pench National Park has helped tiger tourism in Madhya Pradesh.According to official figures 1,74,773 tourists visited Kanha National Park in 2010 an increase of 20,749 tourists. This includes 34,078 foreign tourists. Kanha managed to remain the most visited tiger reserve in Central India. On the other hand Pench received 65,449 tourists including 5,421 foreign tourists in 2010. An increase 9,336 tourists and third most visited reserve in Central India. Both these parks have managed to keep Madhya Pradesh as top tiger tourism destination in India. Kanha has remained on top thanks to early entrance in tiger tourism comparing to other national parks. Kanha also features in Incredible India marketing campaign that helps it grab attention abroad as well. Kanha is also very popular among tourists due to the facilities comparing to some other parks in India. Tiger tourism is quite strong in Madhya Pradesh for now but the future is little uncertain. There are calls for banning tourists from core areas for Kanha national park. Tiger tourism is quite strong in Madhya Pradesh for now but the future is little uncertain. There are calls for banning tourists from core areas for Kanha national park. Currently Madhya Pradesh government has been dragged to Supreme Court by an NGO who wants hotelling and other human activities to be banned in core areas of tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh. Source: Easy Destination Blog, Image: flickr.com

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Tiger population gives birth to sister sanctuary

The success of the Kaziranga National Park in preserving rhinos and tigers has begotten more success — the development of a sister wildlife sanctuary. The idea is to take tourism pressure off Kaziranga. For 101 years, the one-horned rhino had been Kaziranga’s superstar. The focus began shifting to a carnivore when it was made a Tiger Reserve in 2006, entailing stricter wildlife regulations. Last year’s animal census saw the rhino population rise to 2,200 (almost 60% of the world’s rhinoceros unicornis). But officials were more elated by the tiger estimate — the 860 square km Kaziranga recorded the striped cat’s density at 32 per 100 square km, the highest on earth. The tiger count put pressure on the forest department to shift tourism activities from Kaziranga’s core area to provide “breathing space” to the animals. Officials were also asked to check “mushrooming” hotels around Kaziranga. A major beneficiary of this shift of attention has been the 38 square km Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, 50 km east of Guwahati. “Though Pobitora has been around for ages... It has really come up to be referred to as Kaziranga’s showroom, and more and more tourists are finding out why,” chief Assam wildlife warden Suresh Chand said. Pobitora in essence is a microcosm of Kaziranga; the terrain, flora and the setting — kissing the southern bank of the river Brahmaputra — are the same. “Everything is almost the same, except the size,” , Chand said. Source: Hindustan Times, Image: flickr.com

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