Loch Ness news, more on Yowie hunt and cougars in Texas and Canada.

Scotland’s largest loch-based cruise ship launched on Loch Ness

THE Jacobite Warrior, Scotland’s largest loch-based cruise ship, was launched today on Loch Ness.

• Largest loch-based cruise ship in Scotland

• Capacity to carry up to 1500 passengers each day

• Ship designed to capitalise on increase numbers of tourists from China, Brazil and Russia

The ship, with a capacity for 1500 passengers, will carry tourists across the Loch to Urquhart Castle. The ship is owned by the Inverness company Jacobite Cruises, who have spent over £1 million on the catamaran-style ship, which was built in Brittany in the north of France.

The ship has its own bar area, luxury seating, an observation deck, audio guides telling of the history of the Loch, along with past sightings of the Loch Ness Monster, and information leaflets in ten different languages.

Read rest here: http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/scotland-s-largest-loch-based-cruise-ship-launched-on-loch-ness-1-2352528

Yowies living near Lismore

SNARLING, 3m "hairy men" could be sneaking around in bushland near you right now.Yowie researchers are on their way to the Northern Rivers, citing new evidence that these mysterious creatures are living around Lismore and Casino.Known as the "Bigfoot of the Bush" or the giant "hairy man", yowie believers say the beings are a primitive, ape-like race dating back at least two million years.The father of yowie research, Rex "The Yowie Man" Gilroy, will be leading the investigation in Lismore. "We will be following up a number of new leads," Mr Gilroy said.
Read more here: http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2012/06/14/bigfoot-search/

Cougars make a comeback after a century of decline
By Matt McGrath
The American mountain lion or cougar is now re-populating parts of the US, scientists say. Their numbers had plummeted in the last 100 years because of hunting and a lack of prey. Writing in the Journal of Wildlife Management, researchers say the cougar is now spreading far outside their traditional western habitats.But they say the return of the big cats raises important questions about how humans can live with these predators.
Extract:
Anecdotal evidence indicates that mountain lions started to spread far and wide during the 1990s - this perspective was confirmed last June when a young male was hit by a car and killed in Connecticut. Genetic analysis indicated that the animal originated from the Black Hills and had travelled approximately 2,900km (1,800mi) via a number of States. Now researchers have published the first scientific evidence that cougars have returned to the mid-west and are now to be found as far south as Texas and as far north as the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba.
Read rest here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18425472