This documentation of a barely-known species of small wild felid is incredible – itās potentially the first active Chinese mountain cat den ever found! As documented in a recent blog post, a researcher working on a crane conservation project took photos of what he thought was a Tibetan fox, only to discover later that heād actually photographed a cat so rare it was only discovered as a species in 2007!Ā Researchers returned to the site later and were ecstatic to find that the cat was a mother with two young kittens. The placed a camera trap close to one of the den entrances and was able to record multiple days worth of footage before the family moved on.
Chinese mountain cats (Felis bieti)Ā live in a very small, high-altitude range in remote northern China. Theyāre well-adapted to the harsh weather at those heights, with a stocky build and thick fur in the winter, and are often called āgrass catsā by locals because they blend into the the dry grass of the alpine meadow habitats where theyāre most often observed. What little information we have about these elusive felids comes mostly from observations by herders whose livestock graze in those meadows. TheĀ IUCN lists that no substantive knowledge has been gained about Chinese mountain cats since 2010, so this new footage from Shan Shui Conservation Center is a major contribution to the scientific understanding of the species.Ā
the thing about the āwhy canāt we say pregnant WOMEN instead of pregnant PEOPLE, PC gone mad!ā discussion going on right now is that even the ācis allyā side is kind of not understanding why, exactly, āofficialā stuff about pregnancy needs to use gender neutral language.
the use of gendered language, whether in law or in company guidelines, has been used as an excuse to exclude trans people from various kinds of reproductive healthcare. there have been stories of abortion providers pointing to the use of āpregnant womenā in all clinic literature to justify not giving trans men assistance. there are issues where āwomenās health clinicsā will refuse to accept referrals for anyone who doesnāt have āFā on their records, which of course includes many trans women. there are in turn stories of trans women being unable to access āmaleā prostrate cancer screening.
language in this sort of capacity needs to be as factual and neutral and carefully constructed to avoid loopholes as possible. at this stage in my life, as a non-woman capable of pregnancy, i donāt really CARE anymore if you talk casually about pregnancy as something that happens to women. but i DO care if the medical system writes out some guidelines that, in only acknowledging pregnant women as a possibility, open me up to the possibility of being denied care by transphobes who can claim theyāre just following the rules.
this is a real issue for us, the gendering of health care leading to single-sex guidelines which are actively used by assholes to say āno, we only treat [gender] hereā. itās not a matter of nitpicking over everyday language; itās about ensuring we are safe from loopholes that can be used to exploit us.
This kind of thing is something I face every time I go to seek gynecological care at my universityās āwomenāsā health clinic. Because Iām registered as male for housing, the student insurance is constantly trying to deny me coverage if I go there for an exam, testing, or follow ups on my birth control. I wind up having to sit around the clinic for several hours (and sometimes the whole day) while my doctors try to work around prior authorizations and outright denials of coverage.
my teeth were smashed out in a transphobic hate crime a while ago and iām trying desperately to get them fixed in whatever way i can, and now that youcaring is gone i need to find a new route. i was able to get one piece completed but the rest of the damage is severe enough that weāre having to figure out temporary means to prevent my jaw from forcing itself out of the socket with chewing and biting motions, and even speaking has been painful this last week. iām going to get a new fund thing set up as soon as i can go through the lot and see the fees and stuff, but in the meanwhile iām hurting bad and might have to make another emergency visit very very soon. the one bright spot right now is that i have a job interview for a spot that iām really qualified and experienced at tomorrow, so fingers crossed that i can possibly get insurance that will help me soon, but i still need to figure out what i can do right now. if you can contribute anything, iām at paypal.me/awesomandias, or manicpixietransgrrrl@gmail.com, and every little bit adds up. thank you all so so fucking much for sharing this or donating, i appreciate it from the bottom of my lil black heart ā¤
still havenāt got a new official fund for this set up and iāve got a job now but itās still just not enough for what i need done without some outside help, so iām sending this around again. with my insurance theyāre really only willing to cover extractions right now which will just not help at all with not having enough teeth to eat with, so iām kinda stuck. any little bit adds up and helps me get closer to being a human again š¤
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