Monday, December 17, 2012
Numbat
Beauty Of Animal | Numbat | Numbat is a marsupial carnivore, so distinctive. It is not closely related to any living marsupials (the one closest relatives are now extinct thylacine or Tasmanian tiger), did not have a pocket, and is one of only two marsupials to be active exclusively during the day. It is also the only marsupial to feed strictly on social insects: people suck about 20,000
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Morgan Is Not The Only One Having Problems Hearing!
Thursday 13 November saw the yet another judgement from the Dutch courts on the fate of the young, female killer whale “Morgan” who stranded on the Dutch coast in June 2010 and was rehabilitated by the group SOS Delfijn and employees from Dolfinarium Harderwijk. The animal was deemed unsuitable for release and was moved to live with a group of other killer whales at Loro Park Tenerife, Spain in November 2011.
The recent hearing stated that the permit to move “Morgan” should only be issued if the goal was research or teaching. The judgment conclude that the park on Tenerife conducts research and performs an educational function and therefore the whales move was legal.
The court further saw no reason to believe that the welfare of Morgan danger in Tenerife. If The Orca Coalition disagree they are open to take legal action in a Spanish court.
Details of the background of this case can be found HERE
This current judgement is the latest litigation brought by The Orca Coalition a group of animal-rights activists including the Free Morgan Foundation who -along with their supporter Dr. Ingrid Visser - wish to obtain this animal for a reintroduction experiment in Norway.
Dr Visser has been for sometime an active critic of the care of cetaceans in zoos and aquariaparticularly killer whales. Whilst she has researched killer whales in the wild and was founder of the New Zealand based Orca Research Trust, she was also a Plaintiffs Next Friend in the infamous law-suit in October 2011 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA)against Sea Worldtheme parks; a case which citing slavery and involuntary servitude under the 13thAmendment of the Constitution of the United States for five killer whales display at the parks. The law suit failed and was subsequently dismissed.
Ironically, Visser is now herself a possible recipient of legal action due various statements she made against those currently housing and caring for “Morgan” the killer whale in the above cited court hearing.
On the 10 December Dr Visser revealed in an article published in the Digital Journal that she had been threaten with legal action regarding her claims of aberrant behaviour and mistreatment of “Morgan” by Loro Park. She stated that this was emailed to her on 30 October prior the appearance at the most recent court hearing on 1 November 2012 to which this current judgement relates.
The Digital Journal article was penned by Elizabeth Batt who along with writers such as David Kirby and Tim Zimmerman have been active in promoting the activities of various animal-rights groups and individuals opposed to the display of cetaceans in zoos and aquaria. Interestingly, Zimmerman’s web site was allegedly cited in the threatened legal action as a media outlet used by Visser.
This current development does beg some serious questions however as to the timing and motives of this revelation. Primarily, why was Visser’s dramatic statement not presented at the time of the formal hearing on 1 November either in court or as a press release? Rather than released via a sympathetic journalist to the public weeks later and a daysprior the publishing of the judges ruling on “Morgan” and her welfare. It could be suggested this was undertaken for maximum publicly value not the fear of litigation.
The Orca Coalitioncould, of couse, counter such suggestions by raising the same kind of criticism with the Loro Park and their supporters as to the issue of “Morgan’s” alleged hearing impairment and possible deafness which was officially announced on 15 November 2012.
The Orca Coalition position on this was predictable. It claimed this was just a ploy by the park and:
“another attempt by the commercial industry to keep the valuable animal in their possession”.It also questioned the independence of the scientists undertaken the testing further stating:
“the commercial industry itself selected and hired the scientists for the scientific research, and once again the specialized and experienced scientists of the Free Morgan Foundation are excluded. The involved researchers, who have examined whether Morgan is deaf, also have ties with the Dolphinarium and Sea World.”Although looking at the experts listed by the Coalition none have specific skills in the hearing assessment of cetaceans and in point of fact neither does Loro Park which is why they called in independent experts to undertake these tests.
The specialist used by Loro Park to test the killer whales hearing were from the Netherlands Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Study (IMARES), the National Foundation for Marine Mammals of the U.S.A., and the Office of Naval Research for the U.S. Armed Forces (U.S. Navy).
Details of the hearing tests at Loro Park HERE
The researchers involved included:
Dr Dorian S. Houser: Director of Biological and Bioacoustical Research for the The National Marine Mammal Foundation who won the Acoustical Society of America’s 2007 R. Bruce Lindsay Award for his contributions to animal bioacoustics and to understanding echolocation and hearing by dolphins. Dr Houser’s work has been used (among other things) to ascertain hearing abilities of stranded marine mammals with a view to their suitably to be successful release back to the wild after rehabilitation by groups such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Cape Cod standing network and The Marine Mammal Centre, Califorina. A useful overview of some of Dr Houser’s work can be found in this video presented at the SCMM2011 Workshop.
Dr. Klaus Lucke: has been involved and published research on anthropogenic (human-caused) noise and it’s affects on cetaceans and his work has involved both wildand captive animals. He was appointed in 2000 to the International Advisory Panel of Experts on Marine Ecology (IAPEME)Danish Energy Authority to comment on the environmental monitoring programme on the observed impacts of the wind farms on birds, mammals, fish and benthos ecosystems. He was an invited speaker papers Electrophysiological Measures of Hearing in Marine Mammals at the 2006 European Cetacean Society (ECS) Conference in Gdynia presenting a paper on measuring hearing of cetaceans and pinnipeds.
Reviewing the background of the scientists undertaking the tests on “Morgan” and the other whales at Loro Park one can not help think how disingenuous The Orca Coalition is being with it’s comments.
Indeed, both scientist mentioned have worked with captive cetaceans but also extensively with wild animals. Dr Houser has also been involved with hearing assessments of stranded/rehabilitated animals for groups such as IFAW who have a position against the display of cetaceans in zoos and aquariums.
To suggest that such international specialists in their field of cetacean hearing would jeopardise their professional standing to lie about test results to satisfy the Loro Park or any other zoo and aquariums is basically ridiculous and offensive. In point of fact it sadly reveals more about the agenda, credibly and integrity of the The Orca Coalition and Free Morgan Foundation.
So what now for “Morgan”? Clearly as an animal which is either deaf or hearing compromised the option of successful rehabilitation and release to the wild is impossible; dolphins require their hearing to survive in the wild environment not only to hunt but to communicate.
The only option now for “Morgan” is long-term human care or euthanasia.
The Orca Coalition may still campaign for custody of this animal via courts in Spain. To this end, they may wish to place her in an other environment such a sea-pen but unless they can obtain at least one other killer whale for company this would mean isolation for this animal; something both sides in this argument have clearly indicated is not acceptable for the long-term health of this animal. Further, it should be noted that one of the reasons “Morgan” was moved to Loro Park in the first place was so that she could be in the company of other whales.
Assessment of basic audiometric functions in killer whales (Orcinus orca) at Loro Parque, Tenerife, Spain
Variability in Click-Evoked Potentials in Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) and Determination of a Hearing Impairment in a Rehabilitated Killer Whale (2016) Lucke, Klaus, Finneran, James J., Almunia, Javier, and Houser, Dorian S. Aquatic Mammaals. Volume 42 - Issue 2
More on Morgan HERE
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Elk
The Life of Animals | Elk | Early European explorers in North America, who were with the smaller deer Europe think more North America animals such as moose, elk and therefore the name of that is the name of common European elk. Moose is the word American elk Norse, Scandinavian Elgr ELG / elk ALG and German, all of which to the animal in North America known as Moose relate the following. This name will be used primarily for the Asian subspecies (Altai wapiti, Tian Shan wapiti, moose Manchuria and Alashan wapiti), moose Eurasia, because the name is still used by moose. Especially on Caspian red deer (Cervus elaphus maral), a subspecies of deer It is a subspecies of elk in Mongolia called the Altai wapiti (Cervus canadensis sibiricus), also known as maral Altai, Siberia Siberia known moose or elk. Populations vary in shape and size of timber behavior, body size, coloration and mating.
Of the six subspecies of elk known inhabited North America in historical times have four remain, including the Roosevelt (C. canadensis roosevelti), Tule (C. canadensis nannodes), Manitoba (C. canadensis manitobensis) and Rocky Mountain (C. canadensis nelsoni ). Eastern subspecies of elk (C. canadensis) and Merriam Elk (C. canadensis merriami) were described disappeared for at least a four subspecies in Asia are the century Altai Wapiti (C. canadensis sibiricus) and the Tianshan Wapiti (C. canadensis songaricus). Two different subspecies in China and Korea are the Manchurian wapiti (C. canadensis xanthopygus) and Alashan wapiti (C. canadensis alashanicus). The Manchurian wapiti is darker and redder the other populations. Alashan wapiti of north central China is the smallest of all subspecies, has the lightest coloration and is the least investigated. Biologist Valerius Geist, who wrote about the different species of deer in the world, said that there are only three subspecies of elk.
Recent studies suggest that it is not the DNA of more than three or four subspecies of elk. All American forms appear to belong to a subspecies (Cervus canadensis canadensis). Also Siberian elk (Cervus canadensis sibiricus) are more or less identical to the American forms and therefore belong to the subspecies, also. However the Manchurian wapiti (Cervus canadensis xanthopygus) is significantly different differ from the shape Siberia, but not from the Alashan wapitiThe Chinese subspecies are sometimes considered separate species, namely the Asian red deer (Cervus wallichi), which also deals with deer Kashmir Adult elk usually stay in single-sex groups for most of the year. If no bull back, grab the timber and fight bulls sometimes erect serious injury. Dominant bulls follow groups of cows during the rut, from August to early winter. A bull will defend his harem of 20 cows or bulls against rivals and enemies. Only males have large harems and breeding success peaks at the age of eight years. Toros young adults keep a harem later in the breeding season than bulls in their prime. A bull can with a harem rarely feeds and lose up to 20 percent of their body weight. When the females are ready to give birth, they tend to isolate themselves from the herd and remain isolated until the calf is large enough to escape predators. Elk calves are as big as an adult white-tailed deer at the age of six months. The gestation period is the same for all subspecies. Elk live 20 years or more in captivity but average 10 to 13 years in the wilderness. Coyote packs feed primarily on elk calves, but sometimes a weakened adult winter. In the vast Yellowstone ecosystem, including Yellowstone National Park, bears are major predators of calves. The main enemies in Asia are the wolf, dhole, brown bear, Siberian tiger, Amur Leopard and Snow Leopard. Lynx and wild boars sometimes hunt for Asian elk calves. Male elk retain their antlers for more than half of the year and are less likely to group with other males when they have antlers.
After the routine, women form large herds of up to 50 people. As is the case with many species of deer, especially in the mountainous regions, elk migrate to higher altitudes is in the spring after snow fell, and the opposite direction in the fall. Hunting pressure also impacts on migration and movements. Roosevelt Elk are usually settled by less seasonal variability of food sources. Numbers Yellowstone elk herd large ecosystem of more than 200,000 people in the spring and fall, to participate in the longest elk migration in the continental U.S. Elk in the south of Yellowstone National Park and national forest around south of the town of Jackson, Wyoming, where the winter for a maximum of six months in the National Elk Refuge. Environmentalists will ensure the herd is fed well in the harsh winters. A large number of elk that live in the ecosystem of the northern Greater Yellowstone lower elevations in Montana to migrate mainly in the north and west. Elk have played an important role in the cultural history of the peoples. Pictographs and petroglyphs of elk were carved into cliffs thousands of years ago by the Anasazi of the southwestern United States youngest Indian tribes, including the Kootenai, Cree, Blackfeet, Ojibwa and Pawnee, produced blankets and fur robes moose. At birth, Lakota men were to promote elk tooth for a long life because it's too bad as the last piece of dead moose. The moose is considered a high level of sexual activity and young Lakota men who had dreamed of elk an image of the mythical representation of the dynamics in their "hands" on the court as a sign of sexual potency have. Neolithic rock carvings from Asia are fewer female moose antlers, which was interpreted as a symbol of rebirth and food. The Rocky Mountain Elk is the official animal of the State of Utah. A picture of a moose and a moose on the state flag of Michigan appear. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) chose the elk as its namesake, as many of its attributes seemed appropriate for the culture of fraternity members.
Elk kept in captivity or kept for the production of venison and velvet collection. All Asian subspecies, as well as other deer have been for their antlers in central and eastern Asia by Han Chinese, Turkic peoples, Tungusic peoples, Mongolians and Koreans raised. Elk farms are relatively common in North America and New Zealand. Modern applications are decorative, but elk skin shoes, gloves and belts are not uncommon. Since 1967, the Boy Scouts of America at the National Elk Refuge staff have assisted in Wyoming by collecting wood that are made every winter. In 2010 2.520 kg (5600 pounds) auction of wood, bringing more than $ 46,000.
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Monday, December 10, 2012
Groundhog
The Life of Animals | Groundhog | The higher is the marmot Sciuridae in its geographical area, usually 40-65 cm (16-26 inches) long (including 15 cm (6 inches) from the tail) and weighing 2 to 4 kg (4-9 lb). In regions with less natural predators and large amounts of alfalfa, groundhogs can grow to 80 cm (30 inches) and 14 kg (31 lbs). Groundhogs are well adapted for digging, with short limbs, yet powerful curved claws thick. Adapted to the temperate habitat, groundhogs are covered with two layers of fur: a dense gray long coat and a bunch of guard hairs that gives the groundhog its distinctive "frozen".
In regions with less natural predators and large amounts of alfalfa, groundhogs can grow to 80 cm (30 inches) and 14 kg (31 lbs). Groundhogs are well adapted for digging, with short limbs, yet powerful curved claws thick. Adapted to the temperate habitat, groundhogs are covered with two layers of fur: a dense gray long coat and a bunch of guard hairs that gives the groundhog its distinctive "frozen".
Groundhogs are well adapted for digging, with short limbs, yet powerful curved claws thick. Groundhogs are excellent burrowers, with burrows for sleeping, rearing young, and hibernating. The average groundhog has been estimated to move approximately 1 m3 (35 cubic feet) or 320 kg (710 lb) ground by digging a burrow. Although groundhogs are the most solitary of the marmots, several individuals may occupy the same burrow. Groundhog burrows usually have 2-5 inputs, providing groundhogs principal means of escape from predators. Groundhogs are one of the few species that enter into true hibernation, and often build a "winter burrow" for this purpose separate.
Groundhogs are most of the time during the day. Groundhogs may squeal when fighting, seriously injured or captured by the enemy. Others sounds groundhogs may make are low barks and a sound produced by the grinding of teeth when groundhogs are frightened, the hairs of the tail support, giving the tail looks like a hair brush The breeding season runs from early March to mid or late April, after hibernation. Litter is produced annually, usually containing 5:58-blind, hairless and helpless young. Marmot young are weaned and ready to seek their own burrow 5-6 weeks of age. The groundhog prefers open country and the edges of forests, and rarely far from a burrow entrance.
Groundhogs are often hunted for sport, which tends to control their numbers. Marmots bred in captivity can be socialized relatively easily, but their aggressive nature can pose problems. Doug Schwartz, a zookeeper and groundhog trainer Staten Island Zoo, was quoted as saying. United States and Canada, the annual Groundhog Day gave the recognition and popularity of the marmot, like in the movie of the same name. The best known of these groundhogs are Wiarton Willie and Punxsutawney Phil, well maintained, as part of celebrations of Groundhog Day in Wiarton, Ontario and Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, respectively. A marmot famous south, General Beauregard Lee, is based on the Yellow River Game Ranch outside Atlanta, Georgia.
Marmots are used in medical research on liver cancer induced hepatitis B. Marmot burrows have been known to be at least one archaeological site, the site Ufferman in the state of Ohio, United States Although archaeologists have excavated the Ufferman site, many objects were found through activities local marmots.
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Sunday, December 9, 2012
Sailfish
The Life of Animals | Sailfish | Both species grow rapidly sailboats, reaching 1.2 to 1.5 m (3 ft. 10 in.-4 ft. 10 in.) in length in a single year, and feed on the surface or deep medium and small pelagic feed on squid. This tactic has also been observed during feeding, when a group of sailboat sails use "herd" a school of fish or squid.
Sailfish are highly prized game and fish are known for their incredible jumps and high speed. They can be displayed in a surprising variety of brown and gray subjects purple and silver, too. Sailfish can change their colors change almost instantaneously controlled by the nervous system. The yacht can quickly turn his body blue with yellow stripes when excited, confusing its prey and making capture easier, while signaling its intention to sail colleague Sailfish are two species of fish in the genus Istiophorus living in warmer sections of all the oceans of the world.
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Queen Angelfish
The Life of Animals | Queen Angelfish | The color adult queen angelfish overall body color can be blue to blue-green with yellow wheels described in its scales. Queen Angelfish is also known to have blue markings around each gill cover. Young people have dark blue bodies with yellow lips, gills and tail and vertical bars ranging in color from blue to white. The colors of young fish to help them integrate into the reef. Queen Angelfish are about three and a half kilos.
The queen angelfish feeds primarily on sponges, but also feeds on jellyfish, tunicates and corals and plankton and algae. Young people serve as "cleaners" and feed on the parasites of larger fish at cleaning stations. Despite having in home aquariums, aquarium made for the queen angelfish diet of meaty foods and algae queen angels inhabit the reef base and are often located near the Florida Keys and Florida in particular, the Bahamas and the Gulf of Mexico.
Pairs reproduce by rising water, the wombs. Freely anywhere from 25 to 75 thousand eggs each night and up to 10 million eggs per reproductive cycle Eggs are transparent, dynamic and pelagic, floating in the water column. The size of the yolk sac is absorbed after 48 hours, during which the larvae develop normal characteristics of free swimming fish. Larvae are in the water column and feed plankton. The queen angelfish harass other fish without discrimination, in particular, the new additions to the aquarium.
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Thursday, December 6, 2012
A View To A Kill
A recent survey reported in the UK’s The Guardian newspaper makes very interesting reading on a number of levels. It was reporting on a survey carried out by the animal-rights lobby group The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in regards to the Japanese’s attitude to whaling and the consumption of whale products. The poll was commissioned and undertaken by the Nippon Research Centre - a total of 1,200 people were surveyed aged 15 to 79 across all geographical areas in the country.
The survey found that 26.8% of people agreed with Japan's hunting of about 900 whales each year whilst 18.5% opposed the hunts - the rest were undecided. Of those polled 88.8% had not bought whale meat in the past 12 months. The IFAW tried hard to make a positive spin on this last statistic by declaring in a press briefing: "The people of Japan are taking whale meat off the menu”. But as always this issue is far more complex and the poll seems actually to suggest a total failure on the part of the animal-rights and environmental lobby to persuade the Japanese to stop hunting whales – which also should include the smaller cetaceans such as dolphins.
The question to be asked is why this has happened after years of lobbying and one answer could be that the lobbyists, particularly the animal-rights groups, have produced confusing and mixed messages not helped by a rabid opposition to perhaps a huge and potential allay in the guise of the international zoological display community.
Perhaps one of the most insidious examples of misdirection by the lobbyists was the “award winning” 2009 film The Cove. Whilst certainly not the first to reveal the dolphin and whale drive hunts in Japan, the film renewed and galvanise public opinion on the matter.
Some excellent data on the drive hunts can be found HERE.
Some excellent data on the drive hunts can be found HERE.
However, it did unfortunately spend a large amount of time side-tracking away from the bloody killing of the dolphins and small whales driven into the cove to highlight the small number of animals that escape death by being selected for sale to mainly Asian aquariums and parks. Reviewing any press release or web page produced by the many and various groups lobbying against the drive hunt one could be forgiven to think that live-capture was the primary objective of the hunt not food or “pest control” (as some local fisherman have called it). This despite many zoos and aquariums having made clear position statements against the hunts in the past.
More details of this debate can be found HERE.
More details of this debate can be found HERE.
It is not, of course, any small chance that one of the primary movers and shakers in the The Cove was former 1960’s dolphin trainer and now animal-rights activist Ric O’Barry whose anti-captive agenda over-arched the film to such an extent that the real tragedy of the hunting of these thousands of animals was a foot-note to his (and the producers) erroneous claims that the objective driving the slaughter was the “aquarium industry”. This despite the fact that the hunt has been undertaken for hundreds of years with the issue of acquiring animals for captive displays relatively a new phenomena only a couple of decades old. Is it no wonder that the central message - the bloody killing of thousands of animals - has become lost to the general public in Japan and elsewhere in pursuit of an anti-captive agenda by the animal-rights industry.
In 1992, the BBC Nature programme presented a programme featuring the whale hunts and an investigation by the environmental group the The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). They wanted to discover what actually was happen to whale meat in Japan.
Their conclusions were very different from the conclusion of the recent survey by IFAW. They found that whale meat consumption was not high but this was due to the sheer expense of the product with the general Japanese public only consuming it in any quantities when it was place of special offer. Perhaps more alarming was the fate of the small whales and dolphins killed in the various drive fisheries which their undercover investigation revealed were being sold as “whale meat”. During the course of the programme alternative revenue generation and public education to the merits of cetaceans as living natural resources was explored and the subject of whale watching was discussed. Interestingly, this included not only coastal watching by boat but also the observation of animals with zoological collections - a point now so vilified by operators and supporters of the animal-rights industry.
It seems things really have not changed since the 1990’s for the animals killed each year in drive hunts except for the few who may find their way into an aquarium or zoo. It could be suggested that it would be a bit more logical if those who sincerely want to see an end to drive hunts should actually focus on the realities of the issues rather than get side-tracked into the personal agendas of a small but influential groups of animal-rights activist with personal axes the grind regarding cetceans in captive care which if actually banned tomorrow would not stop the drive hunt slaughter and could (by depriving some people direct contact with animals in zoos and aquariums) take away one of the avenues of direct communication needed to make a difference to thousands of animal butchered annually in Japan.
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