“Endangered cheetahs wanted in India”

September 29, 2009 at 10:30 pm (working together)
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Many conservations and people at large want to return the cheetahs to their natural range in India. The cheetah is the only large animal to go extinct since the 1940s. Their extinction was due to hunting and domesticating these pdredators by the thousands.

At first India approached Iran for sharing of artificial insenmination or cloning but that proved to be a dead end. Now scientists know that the cheetahs of Africa where this endangered cats’ numbers are the highest -around 2000 might be the best solution to jump starting the Indian population. These cats from India, Iran and Africa are closely related.

Asiatic cheetah

Asiatic cheetah

Seven sites including national parks, sanctuaries and other open areas in the four states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh are being considered as the cheetahs first reintroduction sites.

Advantages to importing the cats would be starting with breeding age individuals or males and pregnant females that could give the population a new start.

Cheetahs would essentially prey on blackbuck and gazelle the largest herd of blackbuck in India is some 2,000 animals and already has the wolf as a predator, but there is not a problem for these two predators sharing the same turf with the variety of large and smaller prey available.

Breeding cheetahs in captivity and then releasing them is not the answer. Cheetahs produced in this way never acquire the hunting and survival skills needed to survive in the wild and captive breeding numbers are usually very low.

Conservationists who are leading the initiative to bring back the cat to India will only do so after the above mentioned sites are fully examined for habitat, prey and potential for man-animal conflict. The cheetah is considered the top predator species of the country’s grasslands, which do not have a single leading predatory animal now.

Cheetahs may run free in India

Cheetahs may run free in India

Making sure the cheetah thrives and do not get poached or killed because it  killed agricultural stock is going to be the greatest challenge.

Resources

Excerpts courtesy of http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262862.stm

Excerpts courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Cheetah

Excerpts courtesy of http://meeja.com.au

Image 1. courtesy of http://tinyurl.com/ybkablm

Image 2. courtesy of http://animaladventures.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/050207_cheetahs.jpg

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“The whirling endangered Bryde’s whale”

September 29, 2009 at 7:37 am (ancient animals, animals, mammals)
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The endangered Bryde’s whale  (Balaenoptera edeni) is small as cetaceans go it weighs only 25 tons. Calves are about 4 meters (13 feet) long at birth and weigh 1,000 kg (2200 lbs).

Endangered Bryde's whale

Endangered Bryde's whale

This elusive baleen whale (rorqual)  has three longitudinal ridges on its head, from the tip of the snout back to the blowhole. The other baleens have only a single ridge.

When this whale surfaces a very distinctive curved, pointed dorsal fin can be easily seen. Its flippers are small and slender; but its broad centrally notched tail fluke is never seen above water. They are beauty in motion as they whirl and spin in the water.

Its back is generally dark grey or blue to black, the ventral area a lighter cream, shading to grey- purple on the belly.

Little is known about the endangered Bryde’s whale, but they are distributed widely throughout tropical and subtropical, temperate and even Arctic waters, with a separate, smaller group, a pygmy species found only in the tropical Western Pacific and South-East Asian coastal areas.

Resources

Excerpts courtesy of  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryde’s_Whale

Image courtesy of  http://www.sharkwild.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/mg_7147.jpg

Other images of the Bryde’s whales  http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/10/brydes-whales/cole-photography

Video of Bryde’s whales feeding  http://www.arkive.org/brydes-whale/balaenoptera-edeni/video-00.html

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“Dressing for Halloween -natural for this bird”

September 29, 2009 at 6:17 am (animals, birds)
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Did you ever wish that you would have the best Halloween costume ever?

Well this parakeet through no fault of his own was born with the perfect head covering or mask.

Feather Duster Budgiesfeatherduster
This baby parakeet began life as a normal looking baby bird, but as soon as the little bird began growing feathers they come out all over. Including places birds do not need a covering of curly feather over its eyes and and mouth. This overgrowth of feathers is referred to as a “feather duster” . These feathers continue to grow and curl covering the bird’s head, face and entire body. This condition makes it difficult for the bird to feed and clean himself normally. The food that would sustain a normal parakeet may not be high enough in nutrition to compensate for the excessive growth, so many may die young. The excessive feather growth taxes the body’s energy and ability to nourish itself. The bird is also unable to fly or even to perch normally. So many feathers cover the bird’s face and eyes that seeing can be difficult.

This is a genetic mutation.

Resources

Excerpts courtesy of http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art58398.asp

Image courtesy of http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/lofiversion/index.php/t23257.html

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“The plight of the threatened Dingo”

September 27, 2009 at 9:09 pm (animals, working together)
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Considered neither wild dog, wolf hybrid, domesticated dog gone wild or unique subspecies of the domesticated dog, Canis lupus dingo is a survivor. It has successfully adapted to a diverse sets of habitats with and without human contact.

Threatened dingoes

Threatened dingoes

The y are very agile and mobile with small, rounded ears that remain erect. The hindquarters are lean and muscular. The coat is soft with fur length, and thickness and texture that varies according to its regional climate. The coat is normally colored a yellow-ginger (reddish brown), but can occur in tan, black or white, including an occasional brindle; albinos have also been seen.

All purebred Dingos have white hair on their feet and tail tip. Unlike most other breeds, dingos do not have dew claws ( vestigial extra claws ), Dogs usually have them on the front legs and occasionally also on the hind legs.

Depending on where they call home their diet varies with the environment of prey among whom they live.170 species (from insects to buffaloes) have been identified as being part of the dingo diet. In general, livestock seems to make up only a small

Adult wild dingoes

Adult wild dingoes

Dietary changes with their habitat from feral pigs and wallabies in the gulf region of Queensland, to  magpie-geese, rodents and agile wallabies in the rainforests of the North. European rabbits, rodents, lizards, and red kangaroos form the diet staples of the dingo in the southern regions of the Northern-Territory; whereas they eat rabbits, rodents, lizards, red kangaroos, and cattle carcass in arid central Australia. In the dry North-Western region the dingo prefer to dine on Eastern Wallaroos and red kangaroos. In the deserts of the South-West they primarily eat rabbits and in the eastern and south-eastern highlands wallabies, opossums, and wombats.

Versatile hunters they do not mind stealing their prey from eagles when they can. Dingo can coordinate an attack to kill large monitor lizards, fish or beg human food. Around man dingoes consume domestic cats and small stock. Non mammalian prey is irregularly eaten and makes up only 10% of the dingo’s diet. Large reptiles are  rarely captured, at least in Eastern Australia, although they are widespread.

Dingos communicate through a wide range of vocalizations including howls, yipes, mouning sounds, but do not bark like domesticated dogs.

Frazier Island conservation group  invites you to come see, but do not feed or over react around the dingos they are wild animals. The dingos need your help to survive.

Please donate today. Click here to SAVE FRASER ISLAND DINGOES.
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/299990?m=de0957a2

Resources

Excerpts courtesy of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo
Excerpts courtesy of  http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/dingo.html

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1335391.htm
Image courtesy of http://www.walkaboutpark.com.au/UserFiles/Image/MainPhoto/dingo.jpg

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“Animals do it-we can too”

September 24, 2009 at 7:07 am (good news)
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All of us have heard many times that we are all in this together.

The animals in this video show how animals when needed step and take care of each other.

Man can do this too and harmonize life for all.

altruism in animals

altruism in animals

Thanks Mia for sharing this video with us all.

Click on link below to watch the video.

Video courtesy of YouTube,com

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“Busted by a mosquito”

September 21, 2009 at 7:39 am (animals, bees/insects)
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You may not have any fond memories of these six legged biting, blood sucking creatures, but Finnish police solve a car theft with the help of a hungry female mosquito.

A car was stolen in Lapua, some 380 kilometers (235 miles) north of Helsinki. It was soon found near a railway station in Seinaejoki, about 25 kilometers from where it was stolen.

Female Mosquito after bllod meal

Female Mosquito after bllod meal

A police unit was sent  to  inspect  the car and the police spotted a mosquito engorged with blood resting inside the vehicle. The mosquito along with other evidence was sent to the crime lab for testing. The blood from the mosquito was analyzed and the results came back a perfect DNA match for the man that was being held at the station.

Busted by a mosquito.

Resources

Excerpts courtesy of  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/finlandcrimeoffbeat

Image courtesy of  http://www.sciencecentric.com/images/news/mosquito_300_196.jpg

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“Giant flat coach potato of the sea threatened -sets 2 Guinness World Records”

September 19, 2009 at 12:48 am (ancient animals)
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“Will this sunfish become the next Biggest Loser

to the oriental fishing trade?


The Mola Mola or giant Sunfish of the sea is the consummate “coach potato of the sea” and its status is very venerable. Its slow movements in the ocean, and extremely slow time to increase its population usually between 4.5 – 14 years to double its numbers, only increase the threats to this species.

Mola Mola sunfish of the ocean

Mola Mola sunfish of the ocean

M.mola a relative of the puffers and porcupine fish is found on slopes adjacent to deep water where it surfs the waves lying on its side resting or sucking up fish, mollusks, zooplankton, jellyfish, crustaceans and brittle stars. It is the ultimate conserver of energy and the largest bony fish in the oceans. The Mola will come in for shelter and to have parasites removed at cleaning stations run by cleaner fishes. If they do not want to come in to be cleaned, they will float on the surface of the water and let the sea gulls come and pick parasites off of them. It is usually shy. However, it may become familiar with divers in some locations and allow the divers to come closer than they should.

It swims upright and close to the surface when it needs to. The dorsal fin often sticks above the water and looks like it has been chopped in half. Native to tropical and temperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended.Belonging to the order Tetraodontiformesm, Molas may contain toxins like the pufferfish, filefish and porcupinefish also members of this order.

Oceanic sunfish

Oceanic sunfish

Mola mola heaviest fish in the sea.

The Oceanic Sunfish has an oval, very compressed body. Its very small mouth when closed looks like a horizontal slit with a hump above it, The Mola has no scales, but has thick tough skin with small small outgrowths which cover the skin (denticles). It has dorsal and anal fins that are long and curved and pectoral fins that are short and rounded. Its tail looks wavy in profile and the body has 17 to 18 dorsal rays and 14 to 18 anal rays and 12 to 13 pectoral rays for its defense. From the top this fish looks grey brown to dark blue and silvery below with dark fins which helps it blend nicely with the shadows cast over the surface of the water as it surfs along.

Mola sets two Guinness World Records
Mola m. are the heaviest bony fish in the ocean 1,000 kg about 2,200 lb. and also carries the most eggs in one ovary of any bony fish in the world. One female Mola female whose length was about 4 and a half feet long was carrying well over 300 million eggs in a single ovary!

Who preys on the largest and heaviest bony fish in the sea?
Not considered as food fish in the west, it is used in Chinese medicine and an oriental delicacy. Juveniles Molas are eaten by California sea lions in Monterey Bay and orcas and sharks.

Wide spread distribution of the oceanic sunfish

Wide spread distribution of the oceanic sunfish

The Oceanic Sunfish has been sighted in the ocean near every continent but not Antarctica and rarely is seen in the Arabian Sea. The Mola has been observed in waters off Australia, India, Ireland, the Mediterranean and the U.S. Sometimes it even ventures into the colder temperate oceans near Alaska and British Columbia. The Mola do not travel to waters that are very cold.

Resources

Excerpts courtesy of http://www.hemmy.net/2006/03/19/top-10-strangest-animals
http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/fall00projects/mola.html
Images and Excerpts courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_sunfish

Map courtesy of http://www.aquamaps.org/imagethumb/file_destination/exp_11_pic_Fis-23639.jpg

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“For a bowl of soup we alter the ecosystem?”

September 14, 2009 at 6:33 pm (ancient animals, animals)
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For a bowl of soup man, the ultimate predator on earth, slices off a single fin from a living health threatened or endangered species of shark and throws the rest of the live animal away!! How barbaric is this practice? An entire animal and ultimately the entire population of shark species in the seas are being destroyed for a single fin.

Yes, this is the most common fate for many sharks today.

What happens when this animal loses its fin?

The sharks either starves to death, are eaten alive by other fish, or drown, because if they are not in constant movement their gills cannot extract oxygen from the water.

All these animals are sacrificed to make soup . We are not talking 10 or 100 sharks. Tens of thousands of them are slaughtered each year.! All dead so a Japanese soup is considered a delicacy, can be made. Predation of another species for greed not need is the motto of many “humans”. but look at the price we all will pay for harvesting 10s of millions of healthy animals.

Wasting healthy animals

Wasting healthy animals

This wanton slaughter has put many species of shark on the brink of extinction. Since the 1970s the populations of several species have plummeted by over 95%. This fishing practice is poorly monitored around the world due to the clandestine nature of finning.

The numbers of all types of sharks is decreasing worldwide. They are needed to help keep the balance in nature in the ocean’s ecosystem as the top predators in the sea. We need to more aggressively protect this predator to keep nature’s balance.

One fin catch shark slaughter

One fin catch shark slaughter

Sharks have been vilified, their danger to man highly exaggerated, and the importance of this ancient animal greatly misunderstood. Their threat to man is greatly overrated, but man’s threat to the shark is very underplayed. “Falling coconuts kill 150 people worldwide each year, 15 times the number of fatalities attributable to sharks,” said George Burgess, Director of the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File and a noted shark researcher.

“The reality is that, on the list of potential dangers encountered in aquatic recreation, sharks are right at the bottom of the list,”

More legal protection for the shark is needed.

Consequences are needed for the consumers.

Maybe we should be monitoring the cooks instead anyone ordering or making shark fin soup should be fined $500 for the first offense against nature and given a year’s community service. The second offense would bring a mandatory jail sentence for cook and consumer.

Fin of death soup

Fin of death soup

This ancient predator now needs greater legal protection from the greatest and greediest predator of all times. The ultimate predator seems determined to destroy all forms of life, but ignorantly does not realize he is only destroying himself through his short sightedness.

Least you think this is only a problem of education in the orient, there are fifty restaurants in New York alone that serve shark fin soup-so there are predators everywhere. (Petition to stop NewYork Finning)

Man is supposed to have superior intelligence, but the slaughter of animals for greed and to supply the fantasy and tastes of a growing number of people is so short sighted.

To stop shark finning, please this petitions today. Thank you.

Resources

Excerpts courtesy of http://www.unisci.com/stories/20022/0523024.htm

Excerpts courtesy of http://www.stopsharkfinning.net

Excerpts courtesy of http://www.sharkwater.com/education.htm

Image 1. courtesy of http://mythix.com/images/projects/Shark_Finning_-_dead_shark_in_ocean.jpg

Image 2. courtesy of http://projectpowerplant.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/shark_finning.jpg

Image 3 . courtesy of http://www.kjclub.com/UploadFile/exc_board_24/2009/03/08/zzzShark%20Fin%20Soup.jpg

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“Cheetah throwdown-who will be fastest alive?”

September 11, 2009 at 3:51 am (animals, mammals, working together)
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Passing up the male cheetah who thought his running record would hold -Sarah the cheetah of South Africa took up the challenge.

A male cheetah earlier this year sprinted 100 meters in 6.19 seconds. Sarah was clocked at 6.16 seconds and then 6.13 seconds respectfully for the same distance equivalent to 36 mph. .Not bad for a cheetah who grew up in captivity.

Sarah runs liek the wind

Sarah runs liek the wind

She may soon be challenged by Zaza, an 8-year-old female in South Africa either later this month or in early October.

Check out the video of her lightening sprinting abilities.

Please support the research and preservation of the cheetahs at Cheetah Conservation Fund.

Watch Sarah break the world record.

Resources

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92995?fp=1

Video Sarah breaks record speed courtesy of YouTube and Cincinnati Zoo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-za0uk158FE

Image courtesy of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-za0uk158FE

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“Go bats in Tucson, AZ. Join us Sat. 9/12/09”

September 11, 2009 at 1:33 am (ancient animals, mammals, working together)
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Tucson’s Annual Bat Night Saturday night September 12, 2009 **

Come see thousands of Mexican Free Tail bats

Fly out from under Campbell Ave Bridge

You and your family can go batty (pun intended) with us. See the largest migratory flying collection of Mexican Free Tail bats in Tucson

Time: 5: 30 PM

Bats Best insect eaters in the southwest

Bats Best insect eaters in the southwest

Location: Campbell avenue bridge in the riverbed near River Road/Campbell.

Park : south of Campbell Avenue and River Road Park on the north side of the river. or in St Philip’s Plaza or at the Trader Joe’s parking lot just south of the bridge.
Please use the ramp located on the southeast side of the bridge for access
So many things to do as part of the festival of the bats

The Batty Fiesta will include presentations by

*The Rillito River Project will fuse art and science for a presentation on the water table that is both informative and entertaining.

*Bat expert, Yar Petryszyn will discuss one of the largest urban bat populations in the Southwest.

Bring a flashlight, drinking water, and a blanket to sit on.

** If it rains Sunday 13, 2009 at 5:30 will be Bat NIght.

Some batty facts

Flying bats

Flying bats

The Mexican Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) is a medium sized bat. Their bodies are about 9 cm in length, and they weigh about 12.30g with ears that are wide and set apart to help them find prey with echolocation.
The dark brown to gray Mexican Free-tailed Bat is considered a Species of Special Concern due to declining populations and limited distribution in Utah and the southwest.

Mexican Free-tailed Bats live in caves in the western and southern United States, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, central Chile and Argentina. Their colonies are the largest congregations of mammals in the world except for the world’s largest urban areas. When the baby bats are born, their mothers leave them behind in the cave while they go out to hunt insects. She remembers where she left her “pup” by recognizing its unique “cry” and smell.

The species is very important for the control of pest-insect populations.

Grossly exaggerated media stories about rabies have led to the intentional destruction of large colonies to be destroyed needlessly. bats eat tons of insect pests, which in turn saves farmers billions of dollars annually on pesticide and crop protection costs. Some small insect-eating bats can consume up to 2,000 mosquito-sized insects in one night. They also disperse seeds and pollinate many plants. The Sonoran Desert ecosystem relies on nectar-feeding bats as the main means of pollinating saguaro cacti, biologists have found. In addition, bat waste or guano is a rich fertilizer that can be mined from caves.

Its populations are in an alarming decline because of the pesticide poisoning and the destruction of their roosting caves. The Carlsbad Caverns population, estimated to contain 8.7 million in 1936, had fallen as low as 218,000 by 1973. In addition, the bats lose roosting habitat as old buildings are destroyed. Human disturbance and vandalism of key roosting sites in caves are likely the single most serious causes of decline.

Resources
Excerpts courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Free-tailed_Bat
Excerpts courtesy of http://UANews.org

Excerpts courtesy of http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/bat-rap/Content?oid=1083735

Excerpts courtesy of http://www.rillitoriverproject.org

Tucson bat video courtesy of
http://brookebessesen.com/blog/2009/08/28/ASummerSensationMexicanFreeTailBatVideo.aspx

Images courtesy of http://www.nps.gov/bibe/naturescience/images/MexicanFree-tailedBat.jpg

Images courtesy of http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/texas/images/mexican_free_tailed_bats.jpg

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