Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas

Its festive time of the year here once again and people have gone all red white and green! Smell of fresh baked cakes and cookies have prevailed over the world. "In Love of Animals" wish you all a very happy moments and spirit of love. "In Love of Animals" pray for washing away all hatreds and cruelty towards animals, however big or small it may be. The "In Love of Animals" team wishes all the reader of this animal blog a wonderful Christmas holiday and a glorious time ahead. We wished to develop deep kinship with animal lovers like you. We feel really glad to find you dropping by "In Love of Animals" blog.

I, being the admin of this blog, wish you on behalf of all my team members a very Merry Christmas and love to animals lovers across the globe. Let's pray for all homeless animals who are devoid of food and shelter.

Gruesome Act of Mass Killing of Dolphins - Stop Cruelty to Animals

Shame on Denmark


On October 11, 2005 a review was published titled “Outraged at animal cruelty” in The Sun, where from all corners of the globe had inundated with their noble thoughts of imposing legal penalties to the people involved in the act of animal cruelty. Individuals and organizations from many countries had raised their voice for against animal cruelty and for “tougher punishment for the sick thugs who cause pain to animals.” Denmark was one of those countries to come up with big thoughts against animal cruelty. My post is going to be shockingly painful for animal lovers and for people who mind to spare little thoughts for the endangered species at the end of the day.

Denmark is a real big shame! When life on the planet is facing the menace of being extinction due to years of human activities of killing tress and animals, when governments have spared serious thoughts on saving the endangered species through special prevention programs, when petitions are signed everyday to support tougher sentences for animal cruelty, when every single moment an organization is cropping up to work to support the sustainable policies for the co-existence of all marine species, callous Danish peeps have turned out to be brutal bloody slaughters! Their inhuman acts of mass killing of Calderon dolphins (that have long been exposed to the risk of extinction) have turned the sea red. It’s no more a secret that this happens as a big event in the Feroe Island, Denmark. The major part of the population that participates in this insane inhuman sport each year comprises of youngsters chiefly! They do this to express entertaining adulthood. I just cannot imagine that a country (one most important pocket of the European Union), with supposedly civilized citizens can be so mentally sick! Funny thing is that the government doesn’t take any penal action to prevent such bullish barbarism committed towards mass killing of life – a species that has been marked endangered. I am sorry, but I cannot categorize this under festivity but criminal offense.

The Faroese consider this inhuman act of killing innocent dolphins to be an important part of their cultural background. The Faroese legislation permits the killing of certain species of small cetaceans other than pilot whales, such Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic white-beaked dolphins, Atlantic white-sided dolphins, Harbour porpoises, although there exists specific regulations for the hunting of harbour porpoises that are killed with shotguns. Animal-rights groups have criticized the hunt as being a cruel act just for fun.

My request to insane Danish government officials - Educate yourself, educate your people about the plight of these harmless, innocent animals. I am sure you can make a difference. All the best!

I would request me readers to place their thoughts through comments to support prevention of cruelty to animals.

Watch out these gruesome pics:

Stop cruelty to animals please.
Live and Let Live

Genetically Engineered Animals – Animal Cloning

Animal Cloning

Before I talk about the why usually animal cloning creates abnormalities, let me brief an idea f what cloning actually is. There are different types cloning, viz. Molecular Cloning (DNA cloning or gene cloning), Therapeutic Cloning and Reproductive Cloning

Animal cloning is the highly technical process by which bio-technologists produces an organism from a single cell taken from a parent organism. The new born is genetically identical, which means the cloned animal is an exact duplicate of the parent in every respect… even with exact DNA. Dolly the first cloned mammal had been created by Reproductive Cloning. Scientists have cloned many animals. It was in the year 1952 that the scientists had cloned the world’s first animal – a tadpole. Since then hundreds of animals have been cloned, and many had been done successfully, while others proved to be unsuccessful. Cloning technologies have to be improved before more species can be successfully cloned. Many people have raised their voices against cloning as they think animal cloning as against nature, although most scientists consider that animal cloning is a major break though as this has a number of benefits in it! The most prominent beneficial possibility of a successful animal cloning is to save the endangered species from getting extinct.

Against all odds, scientists have been burning their midnight oil in making the cloning techniques better and finding why most animal cloning has created abnormalities. Dr. Takumi Takeuchi worked with the pool of medical professionals and had compared imprinting abnormalities in the embryos of mice that had been derived from assisted reproduction cloning techniques. Dr. Takumi Takeuchi, from Cornell University, New York, USA told that he and the medical team of Dr. Gianpiero Palermo had worked on this project. The doctor said, “We found significantly impaired development in the cloned embryos compared with those derived from more conventional ART techniques, and this has made us more convinced that reproductive cloning is unsafe and should not be applied to humans.”

A lot of researches have been undertaken and it was found that reproductive cloning has increased the incidence of imprinting abnormalities in genetically engineered animals. The most prominent abnormalities that have been recorded is “Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome”, where offspring are born larger than normal. This condition is also called “large offspring syndrome”.

The pool of medical professionals working under Dr. Takeuchi concluded that it was not fully proved if there was any direct link between the a specific cause for the abnormalities and cloning, “But there are a number of possibilities”, he said.

Prematured Death of Basking Shark

Giant Basking Shark Had Washed Ashore on 14 August, 2009

Very recently on Tuesday July 14, 2009 a male basking shark was found dead on the Long Island beach. This 26 feet, 6 inches long majestic creature was incredibly heavy with around 5000 pounds body weight. The marine educator Tracy Marcus of the Cornell Cooperative Extension informed that the male basking shark died shortly after the had authorities arrived on the scene. According to Tracy Marcus, there wasn't any abrasion found in the external part of the shark's body. What could be the possible reason of the premature death of the basking shark? Marcus said that the shark might be struck by a heavy vessel or boat, but that was merely an assumption. The reason of the sudden death of the shark is still not known. Confusion also surged in to people's mind as to what actually made the shark find its way to the Gilgo State Park near Babylon in Suffolk County. According to David Chapman of Stony Brook University, "It didn't die of old age, because they get to 35 or 40 feet." The shark was around 26 feet long, which indicates that the death is premature. Yet still, it was an imposing site to those who were present on the beach when the shark actually washed up the shore.

The British conservationists have petitioned to have the majestic creature "hotspots" protected. Researchers have spared adequate thoughts over the issue. They think that the summer temperature might be responsible for an explosion the population of the zooplankton off the coasts of Britain and Ireland. This made many basking sharks attracted to the specific region. While during the last year (2008) there were only 26 basking sharks sighted, but the since the beginning of June, 2009 the total sightings have been recorded to be more than 900; June's record alone have shown an incredible number of sightings of 248 basking sharks!

A Marine and Coastal Access Bill has made its way through British Parliament with a noble motive to introduce "marine conservation zones". The "marine conservation zones" is a protected area in the ocean to be identified basking shark "hotspots".There will be speed limitations for the boats in this area. 47 wildlife trusts across the UK, Alderney, and the Isle of Man are heading the project. Lissa Goodwin the marine policy officer of these trusts said that the chief aim of the group "is to ensure there is no loss in the population size" of basking sharks.

Critically Endangered Gorilla Rescued

Critically Endangered Gorilla Rescued and Illegal Gorilla Trading Caught

Danger of extinction has hit every single species on the planet! The conservationists have done a great job by releasing a pack of 6 orphaned gorillas (three males and three females) in Gabon on an isolated African island called Lagoon island near Loango National Park. These gorillas have been declared to be critically endangered species and the conservationists are planning to move the gorillas into wider wild zone within three years so that can regain their population.

This is a part of reintroduction program carried out by the non-profit organization Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project that re-habilitates orphaned Western Lowland gorillas. These gorillas have been rescued from the illegal trade they are all juveniles ranging between 2 to 7 years of age. Dr. Nick Bachand the vet had anesthetized the gorillas for the boat ride and later before they were released on the Lagoon Island, they had thorough health check up. The next morning was the delightful day for them. The drug action had worn off and they were seen exploring the Island happily!

According to the researchers, habitat destruction and illegal trading have been decreasing the Western lowland gorilla population and current they are threatened by extinction. Ebola virus is another big menace to their existence. These gorilla babies had undergone extensive forest rehabilitation and have been closely monitored.

Check out the video clip


Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project;
Videography: Fleur van der Minne

Blue Groper - The Mysterious Fish That Can Change its Sex

Fish Mystery – Blue Groper, The Mysterious Fish

Professional divers in Australia have always loved watching Blue Gropers, an amazing fish that is known for it’s ability to change its sex. Interestingly this natural ability has been seldom found in the animal kingdom on the Earth. Blue Gropers that grow around three feet long and has the natural ability to get transgendered by themselves has been reported to be facing the threat of extinction. This piece is all about the the fish mystery and this mysterious fish that can change its sex.

The Blue Groper, commonly called Bluey is one of the ocean-living icons of Australian state of New South Wales. Not only their mysterious, natural ability of changing their own sex, but also their friendly nature have made these fishes one of the faves of Australian divers. SOUNDBITE (English), Bob Harcourt, Associate Professor Macquarie University said, "the blue groper is a large fish, but the really sexy thing about Blue Groper is they start off as females. We've got lots of blue groper that are small green groper and as an old male dies then the largest most dominant females turns blue and becomes male. And so one of the really cool things about these fish, is the sex ratio doesn't really vary, but it is a function of how well protected they are. If you take a lot of males out, then the females have to spend a lot of their time turning into males, which means they can't breed and they can't lay eggs." SOUNDBITE (English), Kate Lee, Researcher said, "how much time they spend in the different zones. Obviously we've come along and put down these are boundaries and put it on as a human boundary but animals don't listen to the boundaries we put. So we are looking at how much movement there is between the fished zones and the un-fished zones and if there spending a lot of time moving between the two, then obviously the reserve is going to be less effective than if they were staying in those particular zones."

Very little is actually known about the sex changing factor(s) in these fishes. What the researchers have been able to discover is that after reaching a certain age and size the female Blueys automatically get transgendered.

Interesting Facts About Mysterious Fish – Blue Groper

• Quite interestingly, although they are called Blue Groper, this mysterious fish is anot actually a Groper. Blueys actually falls in the Wrasses family.
  
• Blue Gropers are usually found on exposed reefs at around 0 – 40 meters depth of water. These mysterious fishes actually range between Wilsons Promontory in Victoria up the east coast to the Hervey Bay Queensland.
• Blue Groper starts off with small green color as juvenile and grows into broen or reddish. But as soon as an old male dies out, the largest and the dominant females gradually turns into blue and mysteriously becomes a big male fish.
• No Blue Gropper starts its life as a male… they always starts their life as females.
• Researchers believe that if the female population of Blueys gets increased, a female gets transgendered in to males if the male to female ratio is exceeded.
• Bluey males are quite aggressive to each other and usually one male is notice in a small school of Blue Groper females.
• Blue Groper has been reported to have an incredibly long life span of 35 years. A 10 year old Bluey can grow approximately 48cm long and can weigh around 2.4 kgs. On reaching 20 years of age a Blue Groper becomes approximately 62cm long and can weigh around 5.3 kgs and on reaching 30 years of age the Blue Gropers becomes approximately 73cm long and weighs around 8.4 kgs.
• In the year 1998, the Eastern blue groper was officially made the state fish emblem of New South Wales.

Endangered Sage Grouse - Decision Delayed

Sage Grouse is a rare bird and is exposed to the risk of extinction. This is one of those few members of the wild life kingdom that have created a lot of confusions regarding whether to enlist it to be the endangered species or not. Unfortunately, today Sage Grouse has been struggling hard for survival in Colorado, although there is a sudden, noticeable spurt in the population of Sage Grouse experienced recently. Hence decision has not yet been taken to list this rare bird as endangered species.

As any as three petitions have been sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service with request to list the Sage Grouse as an endangered and threatened species. The Service found that the petitions had provide with adequate information about the rare bird that could warrant this rare species of bird to be listed. Fortunately the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service will be starting off a status review of the species. This is going to be the first step in the process of determining if Sage Grouse should be protected under the Endangered Species Act. Michael Bean, who is a senior adviser to Assistant Secretary of Interior Tom Strickland, said: "The Fish and Wildlife Service is well aware of the significance of this decision, because of its potential impact on a broad area and many activities within that broad area". On the other level the federal officials are still not active enough. They tend to delay a decision on whether to enlist the rare Sage Grouse in 11 Western states as an endangered species until 2010. Good news is that, the volunteers have already kick started a conservation project in the city with a donation of over $11 million in order to preserve 17,000 acres of land with a motive to enhance the typical habitat of this endangered bird. Thankfully the government has also stepped forward and stretched out the helping hands. The government has invested a huge volume of money for aerial seeding to feed the birds.

A bit about the behavior of rare Sage Grouse

Although Sage Grouse has many common characteristic with many birds, still they show typical behavior that set this endangered species of bird apart from most other birds. Worth mentioning is that the Sage Grouse is noted for it elaborate courtship rituals. Spring is the time when the male of the species tend to show of stunning beauty a typical strut gait. Each spring (between February and April) the male Sage Grouse would puff up a white large ball on his chest. With his tail beautifully displayed and puffing up his entire body the males would strut around, by making soft drumming sound. He does this in order to attract females. Females build up their nests for laying eggs. They incubate their eggs under the cover of sage brush. Unlike most birds the nest of Sage Grouse are shallow depressions on the ground, essentially covered.

Interestingly the females lay on clutch (comprising 5 to 12 eggs in each clutch), but have been noticed to have replaced it if the eggs are lost. Females are ready to lay eggs 7 days after mating and tend to lay an egg a day. Most interesting fact about the Sage Grouse chicks is that they can walk and even fly short distances immediately after being hatched.

The Chicken-sized Sage Grouse ranges from Montana to Nevada and from California to Colorado. Activities like gas and oil drilling, livestock grazing, building wind power turbines etc are responsible for the decline in the population of these beautiful fowl. Today the exact figure f its population is not exactly known. The chicken-sized grouse ranges from Montana to Nevada and California to Colorado, living alongside livestock grazing, oil and gas drilling and an increasing number of wind power turbines. Its population has been in decline for decades, but how many remain is unknown. According to David Hensley, counsel to Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, the delay in the decision offers a chance to see if the measures are really effective. Hensley said: "We're trying to make the best case we can to the federal government that the species doesn't warrant federal protection in Idaho".

Louisiana Pine Snake - Rare, Weird Snake of Louisiana

I was just scrambling around the web, looking for some amazing facts about animals. I chanced to stumble upon something that can raise a few eye brows. A bit too weird, rare and imperiled, this snake had been discovered in Luisiana. Yes, the Louisiana pine snake (Pituophis ruthveni) in amongst the rarest snakes in America, though they are found in mass in the well managed 12,000-hectare timberland in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Now the question is how did such an endangered species could manage to thrive well amidst the wood for long? This shows a hope of light at the end of the trench and scientists tend to make more researches for managing the forest more effectively so as to preserve such endangered species!

This really sounds cool! The Louisiana pine snake had been one of the most amazing reptiles in some parts of eastern Texas and Louisiana. Old-timers in these parts of the country recalled incidences of meeting with a 1.5- to 1.8-meter long colorful reptile that they used to call "Bull Snake". According to them the snake use to draw itself straight up off the ground when approached the snake often draws itself up off the ground when approached, menacing with severe hiss and warranting painful bites - though non-poisonous. Long after the snake was last seen, that it was viewed again during the fag end of 2004. From much of its original range this amazing reptile had disappeared to a great extent. Steve Reichling, a biologist and curator at Memphis Zoo, Tennessee, said that it had been a contender for the title of most endangered snake in the US. He also said, "This is a five- or six-foot snake that's diurnal (active in daylight hours) and should be relatively easy to find. Yet it's known by only about 250 documented scientific specimens since it was described in 1929."

This rare snake is seen only in the six isolated islands that are mostly in Louisiana, although some of them are in Texas. However, the largest habitat of this endangered snake is by far the Bienville Parish timber property, which is managed by
the International Paper company. According to Reichling, ten snakes have been caught in the wild since April 1st 2006 so far. He added, "That's an amazing abundance for this species."

One most significant point that the researchers and herpetologists noted was that much of scarcity of the Louisiana pine snake has been attributed to the loss of its natural habitat - the sandy-soil and longleaf-pine-forest. According to them the wanton logging, agricultural and real estate development are solely responsible for eliminating of the ecosystem from that region. Long span of fire-suppression activities have also contributed greatly in diminishing the natural habitat of this endangered variety of snake. The old-timers said that they used to find these weird snakes during '30s and '40s, but haven't seen them crawling around in the wild in last three decades. Reichling said "The younger people have no clue that there's such a weird snake in their midst. I try to tell them, 'You're sitting on a snake that's only found here.' It has been lost to their memory in just a couple generations."

After a great deal of research for a long span of time, Steve Reichling came up with a stud book for the Pine Snake in the year 1992. He talked about the the natural history and wrote reviews on the present condition of this amazing creature.

Appearance, Nature and Behavior

Not much is known about this rare snake. The Louisiana pine snake is amongst the most impressive specimens of serpents, with buff to yellowish background. Dark brown markings near head and brown to russet markings near the tail tend to add to the beauty of the snake. Although insofar the size goes they are almost the same as the other Pine Snakes, but according to many herpetologists that are far more gorgeous than other Pine Snakes. The Louisiana pine snakes have attractive blotches that are usually some shade brown or reddish-brown. These large serpent are really magnificent and feed on rodents in the wild. Cool if not threatened, these rare snake become aggressive if approached. They tend to behave quite wildly with menacingly hissing sound raising itself off the ground straight way!

The rare pine snake has already been enlisted as the most threatened species in Texas. It has been marked as one of the most endangered species that has come into the conservation concern in Louisiana. Collaborating with other scientists, Rudolph researched out certain other factors that has contributed a lot in the decline of the Louisiana pine snake population. With the largest eggs of any U.S. snake, a Louisiana pine snake produces only 3 to 5 eggs per clutch at the most. This low reproductive rate of the Louisiana pine snake means that the species may not recover as quickly as it should.

Blue-Spotted Grouper – Perfect Marine Fish for Your Dream Marine Aquarium

Hey, if you are planning to set up your dream marine tank… a gorgeous, large one, I have a fish for you! If you have a tank already, and facing certain odds that go with it, you might want to change the set up and the fishes. I’ll be talking about a beautiful fish - Blue Dot Grouper that you can try out. If you are thinking that you might be at a loss as to how to stock it, believe me it’s not a rocket science! With its real knockout glamor the Blue Dot Grouper will definitely fill the bill! The most common dilemma that most of the not-so-expert aquarists usually face regarding stocking Blue Dot Grouper is the size of tank! Remember, Blue Dot Grouper is really a large variety of fish and requires a large tank – minimum 100 gallon.

Also called Blue-spotted Grouper, Argus Grouper, Peacock Rockcod , Peacock Sea Bass or Peacock Hind, this beautiful marine aquarium fish is of Indo-Pacific and Hawaii origin and amongst the sturdy ornamental fishes that have earned a great deal of admiration by aquarists world wide. Being a sea bass from the family Serranidae, the Blue Dot Grouper primarily feeds on other small fishes in the wild, though it can be fed on crustaceans (krill, small fish, shrimp, mussels etc.) too in your aquarium. Feed at least two times a day with its preferred meaty food items. Remember, this most attractive member of the genus is a bit too aggressive by nature and its compatibility must be give careful consideration. Only one Blue Dot Grouper fish should be kept in a tank. Although this beautiful marine fish may appear a bit shy while introducing, it will soon prove to be one of the most beautiful, smart, disease resistant and personable member of your marine aquarium.

One of the most interesting facts about this wonderful marine fish is that it can change its body color to match with its surroundings. In its natural habitat, Blue Dot Grouper fish is usually seen around the coral reefs. Blue Dot Grouper fish has six white vertical stripes or bands, running along the length from the pectoral fin till the tail fin, adding spice to its beauty. Interestingly these white bands sometimes becomes prominent, while sometimes get faded off being contingent upon the fish’s surrounding environment and its reaction towards it. When threatened these vertical white bands seems to be faded off.

Blue Dot Grouper – Fast Facts

• Scientific names: Cephalopholis argus
• Origin: Indo-Pacific region.
• Taxonomy: Blue Dot Grouper fish belongs to the Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Class Actinopterygii, Order Perciformes, Family Serranidae, Genus Cephalopholis and Species argus
• Fish Size: Approximately 16 inches on maturity.
• Tank Size: Minimum 100 gallon fish-only tank with ample space to move freely
• Color: Blue, Brown, Tan and Green colors with vibrant blue spots. The fins are dark Blue in color with its lighter, yet prominent shade outlining the fins.
• Aggression: Generally aggressive towards the other marine aquarium invertebrates in captivity.
• Compatibility: Blue Dot Grouper fish is moderately reef compatible. This aggressive marine fish can be kept with other aggressive and semi-aggressive tank mates like, Lionfish, Angelfish, Scorpion Fish, Marine Eels, Surgeons and Tangs.
• Light: Blue Dot Grouper appreciates moderately low illumination in the marine aquarium.
• Temperature of water: Water temperature should range between 72 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Specific gravity of water: 1.023 to 1.025.
• pH of water: 8.10 to 8.40.

Caution:

• Blue Dot Grouper is a large fishes and develops habit to dislodge the corals in your marine aquarium. It is hence advisable not to keep it in a Reef Type Marine Aquarium.
• Due to its large size and voluminous eater, Blue Dot Grouper usually leaves around lot of waste in the marine aquarium. You should be highly vigilant to keep your tank’s water perfectly clean by using very effective biological filter.

Orang Utans, The Critically Endangered Species

It’s really hard not to fall in love of the charming spell cast by quizzical expression of a playful kid — especially when the kid is a baby orangutan!

Orang Utans, the only great apes outside Africa, have been classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List 2007, and listed on Appendix I of CITES (3). There are as fewer as even less than 30,000 orang-utans left in the wild, although the majority are spread over the three or four subspecies in Borneo and a very small population live in Sumatra. Not all but the Bornean orang-utan has been listed as endangered species by the IUCN, while Sumatran orang-utan is facing the more threatening, and has been listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. This implies tat the Sumatran orang utans is at extremely high risk of extinction in the wild withing a very short span of time. The natural home for the orang utans is the leafy green canopy of the Southeast Asian rain forests in Sumatra and Borneo. The abundance of fruits and other edible veggies make the big apes lead a happy life out there. that these apes eat. The wanton growth of the logging industry in these areas has left this habitat in grave danger, making their population shrinking down gradually.

During November 2002, the researchers from "Nature Conservancy" had discovered a new population of orang-utans in East Kalimantan, Borneo. The group number ranged between 1,000 and 2,500, showing a light of hope that the species could be conserved well. Unfortunately, withe the passage of time there was a twist witnessed in the scenario. Researches say that these solitary apes actually need huge amount of space to thrive well. The national parks that should be safe place for them are reportedly being logged unlawfully. The growing demand of palm oil (world's best selling vegetable oil) have threatened the forest areas, where they can live safely. Almost 80% od the world's Orang Utan habitat have turned out to be vulnerable to illegal logging, gold mining and conversion to permanent agriculture, throwing the species into a zone of serious threat of extinction! Another major cause for the sudden deterioration in their population was the relentless hunting. Their slow movement made them easy target for the hunters. Their extremely long inter-birth interval is another cause of their population having a stiff fall. 1997-98 had been a real sad time for these amazing Bornean creatures. The raging forest fire of 1997 and 1998 had destroyed almost one-third of the total orang-utan population of Borneo Island.

The Great Orangutan Project (GOP) is a collection of a number of Orang Utans projects that anybody - even you and me can get involved in. The Great Orangutan Project (GOP) has been designed to save the orangutans from being extinct. You can volunteer your extra hours in this noble motive to Save Orang Utans

Keeping Piranha Fishes in Your Aqurium

If you are given a chance to take a refreshing dip into the cool Amazon basin to beat the summer heat, I am sure you will want to enjoy it to the fullest, unless you do not have to play the role of a chewing toy for a school of Piranha. The infamous piranha fish has a good deal of reputation of nibbling live or dead animals. Though this might sound a bit too awkward, but the fact is that a school Piranha can strip flesh off a full sized cow in just a few minutes. Truth be told… Piranha prefers to scavenge on dead animals, and if there's not an option like that, they'll surely move on to tales and scales of other mates in the vicinity.

My personal experience with just one Piranha in my tank had really been bad… probably the worst one, I could ever share! I had a medium-large tank, where I intended to keep a Piranha along with the other aggressive tank mates of Chiclids family, including two Tiger Oscars, one Red Oscar, two Albino Oscars and one gray-black spotted Plecostomus cat fish of around 6” - 7” long… none of them were full grown. I had to shift my Red Scatophagus argus and Green Argus to a separate salty tank. I still remember, it was Monday evening sometimes around mid Autumn, when I brought my long desired Piranha and released it with the Oscars. Let me hide and seek… I wasn’t really aware of the fact that Prinaha could eat up the world, until (the next morning) I found two of my Oscars head without the body and one of the Albinos was still live with its tail nibbled off! Strangely it did not harm my cat fish, which proved that Piranhas can be kept with Plecostomus cat fishes. The Piranha wasn’t a full grown one, but obviously a bit older than all of its other tank mates. I started digging more into the world of Piranha; never kept another, but collected some really researched information from varied sources, a bit of which, I thought, you guys would like to read about.

The piranha is a member of Characidae ( also called Characin) family. Characin is a large family of over around 1200 species of aggressive fishes, of which some have earned a great deal of admiration as very popular aquarium fishes, like all the common discuss and butterfly fishes. Although importing and trading Piranha is illegal in many states in the US, including the state of California, the law is not that stringent in other parts of the world. They are easily traded in many parts of the world. Amongst many varieties of Piranha fishes, the Red Belly Piranha (Pygocentrus Ntereri) is the most common as aquarium fishes. Reports of Piranhas nibbling people in their habitat to dead, has hardly been heard, but it will definitely bite your finger hard if you dip it in a tank of Piranhas. That happens probably because they turn out to be more aggressive in captivity.

Many of my peeps ask me if Piranhas can be kept with other fishes. Yes, but not with all kind of fishes, as the case holds good for many aggressive and semi-aggressive communal fishes too! I will recommend Piranhas with Plecostomus cat fishes, provided they (cat fishes) are not too small in size. Better not to release new Plecostomus cats in the tank full of Piranhas; rather you can release new Piranhas with already existing cats. You can keep Piranhas safely with large sized Green Spot Texas Cichlids, Wimple Piranha (which is not actually a true Piranha), large Red Belly Pacu and Black Pacu etc. Better to keep at least three Piranhas in a tank. Pacu mingles well Piranhas and thrive along well.

Seal With "Arms" Discovered

A missing link between the seals and the land-based ancestors have been discovered recently! This amazing animal news abuz the word wide web, causing the animal lovers world wide to raise brows. A new study says that the newly discovered prehistoric seal with arms is no longer a missing link between te land creatures with the aquatic ones. According to the researchers, being spurred by "global warming and cooling in the ancient Arctic, the freshwater, amphibious seal is an example of the region as a hotbed of evolution". The discoverer said that, the seal measured around three and a half feet (110 centimeters) long. This 20 to 24-million-year-old "walking seal" had muscular limbs like the land mammals, a long tail, and webbed feet. Unlike the shuffling seals that we usually find these days, the newly discovered species may have walked as gracefully as it swam, said the researchers.

If the seal without the webbed fins looks a bit less than odd, it may be because of its resemblance in look to a modern otter. This finally lead study author Natalia Rybczynski agreed "to some extent, ecologically" could be "a modern analogy for these early pinnipeds."It is now believed that many marine mammals, for instance manatees and whales have roots with the land mammals that originated with Charles Darwin around 150 years ago. But hard evidence for land-to-water evolution in mammals like seals and certain other pinnipeds was in fact lacking until this new discovery - to name, the Piujila Darwin, which is "Darwin's young marine mammal" in an amalgamation of an Inuit language and Latin. In the context, a vertebrate paleontologist Rybczynski asked the Canadian Museum of Nature: "We know that some sort of land-dwelling ancestor existed, but how did we get to the fully marine form?" Rybczynski also added: "There was a morphological gap. So Puijila darwini is an important transition fossil".

The most primitive pinniped fossil skeleton yet found is the Puijila darwini specimen that had been discovered in the year 2007 in an impact crater at Canadian Arctic. According to the researchers, at that time the animals frequented the then temperate rivers and lakes of the Arctic region, and they may have slowly adapted to the under-sea lifestyle, when the lakes had started to freeze during the chill! The seals were deprived of food and their natural habitats! This first evidence of early Arctic pinnipeds runs a long way to prove that the region was a hotbed of pinniped evolution, according to Rybczynski. The Arctic experiences amplified the twists in the climatic condition, which could accellerate up evolution as animals are forced to either adapt theselves with the change or completely disappear.

Also check out discovery of new bird species

Animal Cruelty Indicates The Offender's Tendency Towards Social Violence

Act of prevention of cruelty of animals is one most essential part of social welfare. Studies have shown that animal cruelty or animal abuse and human violence are highly co-related. Very recently more evidences have suggested that people with history of crimes or social violence have also had links to animal cruelty sometimes in their life. Many infamous criminals of 20th century were related to animal abuse acts like killing pets and setting fire on animals. Some instances that I could gather from net and some other sources are given below:

• Carol Edmund Cole, the murderer 35 people had admitted that he had throttled a puppy to death, which was his first violent act.
• The "Boston Strangler" Albert DeSalvo had shot arrows and killed cats and dogs trapped in a box.
• Jeffrey Dahmer, who was a cannibal and mass-murderer had killed neighbors' pets. He was also accused of impaling the head of a dog on a pierce stick.
• Brenda Spencer triggered 40 bullets off into a crowd of children, thereby wounding 9 and murdering a cuiople of kids. this person had a history of setting the the dogs' and cats' tail on fire.
• Richard Allen Davis, who is a murder and kidnapper, had a history of dousing cats with gasoline and used to set them on fire.
• Patrick Sherril, the murderer of his co-workers and later killed himself, had a history of catching other pets, then tied them up to let his own dog to attack them wildly and even killed them.
  

Another most recent evidence of such animal cruelty that was flashed across the web aws the act of Peruvian soldiers of killing dogs. An incredibly great numbers of dogs were killed by the Peruvian soldiers to master the art of killing. Please visit the links to see how the slaughter of dogs by the Peruvian soldiers were the climax of a series of their "bravery tests" in course of training them to be ruthless murderers:

Welcome Dog Lovers,
Prijatelji-Zivotinja
and
Telegraph.

There are many more evidences that can exemplify such connections between human violence and animal abuse. Killers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, David Berkowitz and the two Columbine killers, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris all had their own history of animal abuse. Psycho-analysis of the imprisoned criminals showed that over 75% of anti-socials (related to violent offenses) had early records of abusing animals. A detailed study by a British researcher showed that over 80% of families reported for animal cruelty had kids who are at the highest risk of abuse too.

"The Link" of American Human and “First Strike” of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) are the two national animal welfare organizations that are working on the programs to bring the awareness of this problem to mass attention.

Read out the following excerpt from the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about animal abuse from the desk of Humane Society of the United States...

What is animal cruelty?
Animal cruelty encompasses a range of behaviors harmful to animals, from neglect to malicious killing. Most cruelty investigated by humane officers is unintentional neglect that can be resolved through education. Intentional cruelty, or abuse, is knowingly depriving an animal of food, water, shelter, socialization, or veterinary care or maliciously torturing, maiming, mutilating, or killing an animal.

Why is it a concern?
All animal cruelty is a concern because it is wrong to inflict suffering on any living creature. Intentional cruelty is a particular concern because it is a sign of psychological distress and often indicates that an individual either has already experienced violence or may be predisposed to committing acts of violence.

Is there any evidence of a connection between animal cruelty and human violence?
Absolutely. Many studies in psychology, sociology, and criminology during the last 25 years have demonstrated that violent offenders frequently have childhood and adolescent histories of serious and repeated animal cruelty. The FBI has recognized the connection since the 1970s, when its analysis of the lives of serial killers suggested that most had killed or tortured animals as children. Other research has shown consistent patterns of animal cruelty among perpetrators of more common forms of violence, including child abuse, spouse abuse, and elder abuse. In fact, the American Psychiatric Association considers animal cruelty one of the diagnostic criteria of conduct disorder.

Why would anyone be cruel to animals?
There can be many reasons. Animal cruelty, like any other form of violence, is often committed by a person who feels powerless, unnoticed, and under the control of others. The motive may be to shock, threaten, intimidate, or offend others or to demonstrate rejection of society's rules. Some who are cruel to animals copy things they have seen or that have been done to them. Others see harming an animal as a safe way to get revenge on someone who cares about that animal.

What happens when authorities prosecute an animal cruelty case?
Depending on the severity of the case, individuals found guilty may be imprisoned. Appropriate sentencing can also include individual or family counseling, community service, or diversion programs. It is rarely the goal of the authorities to imprison a child for cruelty to animals. Law enforcement officers and judges recognize that cruelty to animals is one part of a complex problem. Sometimes the official response to animal cruelty provides a family its first opportunity to get help.

Can reports be made anonymously?
While many jurisdictions will respond to an anonymous complaint, successful prosecutions often depend on an identifiable witness who can authenticate evidence.

Will I be required to testify?
If a case goes to trial and you have identified yourself as the complainant in either a written or an oral report, you may be called to testify.

Preventing animal cruelty can bring a marked difference to the social structure.

Love Animals - Cows With Names Produce More Milk

Here's something about cows - the dairy cows, who have been used by their owners for squeezing milk. According to the farmer, the lactating cow owned by him is expected to yield as much milk as he can squeeze out of her. It's one kind pressure that the cows have been facing since time immemorial all over the world. Report of a study published in the journal Anthrozoos talked about a gentle way to get more milk. Love can win everything on the Earth! Gently patting her with love, asking about her day, calling her 'Lady Elsa' or 'Mama Rose', rubbing her throat, and making her feel how much you love her are some full proved tricks to get more milk. Researches have shown that cows treated with love and having a good name are more productive than those without names. The cattle behaviorist Catherine Douglas, of Newcastle University, UK says, that it's the name and the way you treat her and call her that make a dairy cow feel more secured, relaxed and loved! Catherine Douglas, who first identified the consequences of stress in dairy cows, said: "If you call a cow by name, it indicates that perhaps you talk to her more, perhaps you consider her more of an individual, perhaps you have more of a one-to-one relationship". Douglas added, "personally, I have had a black eye and broken ribs from milking", because anxious cows are more likely to stomp and kick, making milking really difficult than when the cow is in stress. Study on the consequences of stress in cows showed that the rise in stress hormones like cortisol interferes milk-boosting hormone oxytocin, thereby affecting the milk production.

In their study Douglas and colleague Peter Rowlinson investigated how a cow's relationship with her master affects her productivity. The researchers surveyed over 500 dairy owners across UK through questionnaires about how they treated their cows and what they thought of their cows. The study showed that cows with names yielded an average of 258 more liters of milk over 10-month milking season, which comes up to around 1 ltrs extra production a day, as compared to those who are nameless.

The results of the study is something that many of you already know, but I'm sure many others didn't know this. Anxious chickens lay fewer eggs as compared to those loved ones, fearful dogs grow slow, because they eat less. Ian Duncan, the Chair in Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph in Ontario Said: "It seems natural to me that you would get these sorts of findings...it just adds to what we already know". He told the Discovery News, "I think in the future we will see food items, including eggs, milk, and meat, with labels that guarantee these animals had a certain quality of life... it's something we're working on."

The Extinct Animal Clone Created - Extinct Pyrenean Ibex Came to Life Again

Another exciting animal news is going to show you the light hope if you really think about animals. Just lay back on your couch and spare a bit of thoughts about how fast animal species are getting extinct day by day. This animal news - a news of endangered species called Pyrenean ibex was flashed out on February 10, 2009 at the National Geographic News panels. Researchers have cloned a bucardo - Pyrenean ibex, which happened to be a subspecies of Spanish ibex that went extinct in 2000. Yes... never before this the extinct animal clone was created - though the clone had a very short span of life! But the good news is that the scientists could successfully create the clone of the extinct species and this was that first time that an extinct animal had been resurrected by cloning. Researchers had cloned endangered animal before this, but cloning of this Pyrenean ibex sparked into a topic of most talked about discussion, because this was the first time that clone had been created for an animal that had officially died out. The journal 'Theriogenology', described how the scientists used the frozen skin of a bucardo in 2003 to clone the extinct animal.

Study co-author Jose Folch, of the Center for Agro-Nutrition Research and Technology in Aragon, Spain said: "We are not especially disappointed for the death of the cloned newborn," Folch explained in an email, because such deaths in cloning experiments are common. We will try to improve the technology in order to increase the efficiency of the cloning process." According to him his team is planning to try cloning another Pyrenean ibex this year or next.

Folch and his team made clone embryos by inserting the DNA of the bucardo into domestic goat eggs. The Bucardo's DNA was sourced from the frozen skin samples taken from the lone specimen in the year 1999. Although the clones were successfully implanted into goat-ibex hybrids, but the baby had a very short span of life! Among all the 208 embryos implanted, only seven goats became pregnant, and just one bucardo were born. The baby bucardo died of respiratory failure almost immediately after the birth. Dissection showed that the bucardo had pulmonary dysfunctions, although the other organs were normal. The researchers said that such abnormalities are not uncommon in cloning. According to the scientists the environment in which an embryo develops should closely match to mitigate the problems during pregnancy.

For about a couple of centuries, wanton hunting had thinned out the population of Pyrenean ibex. The last living bucardo ended its journey in 2000, being hit by a falling heavy branch.

Smithsonian's Wildt recognized the work to be a "highly noteworthy scientific accomplishment" Wildt said "Offspring was produced from an animal well known to have suffered a recent extinction" and the bucardo story "is fascinating, because resurrection-by-cloning was the only option".

New Speices Of Babbler Discovered: Bird Discovery News

Hey... here's another amazing news that was published at ScienceDaily on Feb 8, 2009. The discovery of a new species of babbler - a rare bird has created the buzz around the Internet. Can you guess what it looks like? A bit different from the other babblers that it closely related to. Named after the reserve at which it was discovered, this new species of bird - the Nonggang Babbler has been discovered in the Guangxi province in south-west China, which is located just a few miles away from the border with Vietnam. Until 2005 there was no official news about the Nonggang Babbler. Zhou Fang and Jiang Aiwu from Guangxi University were the first couple of ornithologists, who identified this amazing babbler as an undescribed taxon in 2006. Although the Nonggang Babbler has a very close resemblance with Sooty Babbler and both these species are closely related, yet there are lots of differences in their look and behavior. Compared to Sooty Babbler, the Nonggang Babbler is a bit larger. Nonggang Babbler has white crescent patches behind the ear coverts and dark spots on the upper breast and throat.

The behavior of the Nonggang Babbler matches very much with that of a wren-babbler of genus 'Napothera'. Alike the wren babbler, Nonggang Babbler prefers motionlessness to run to fly, instead of flying off directly from motionlessness. Unlike most of the other species of babblers the Nonggang Babbler invests its time mostly on the ground, foraging for insects under the fallen leaves and gravels.

I am sure their nesting habbit might be a bit different from other birds that we commonly come across. I have been looking for it since a couple of weeks and have already consulted some informative sources. The nesting habits of this new species of babbler has not yet been discovered, as no nests have been found, although around 200 birds have been in observation in Nonggang.

"I have been studying birds in the region since the 1970s but I had never seen it before. Their habitat in the reserve is protected, but as they could also exist in the karst rainforest outside the reserve, logging and burning wood to make charcoal pose a threat to their wider habitat", said ornithologists, Zhou Fang. He also said: "The limestone area in south-western Guangxi is part of the Indo-Burma global biodiversity hotspot and the south-east Chinese Mountains Endemic Bird Area, and is one of the most typical tropical karst regions in the world. The fragility of the karst ecosystem and its destruction by people pose great threats to the bird's existence. Therefore, research and conservation of the birds in this habitat is very urgent".

"Given the bird's small number and its threatened habitat, it's important to include it in the State list of protected species," Zhou says.

Pere David's Deer is Now a Critically Endangered Species

This piece was flashed by the National Geographic News team on October 6, 2008. Its all about the extinction crisis that continues to affect adversely the flora and fauna of the planet, according to the new Red List of Threatened Species. the threat level is on a continuous and wanton rise and has sparked a sparked a Dow Jones-like index of endangered species, that has been skilfully designed to spot out the some threatened species before it's too late. Despite the inevitable comparisons to the U.S. economic crisis, there's still no full proved plan in sight for threatened animals, said the naturalists and experts. The Pere David's deer, which is a native to China, has been named for a French missionary and has fallen in the list species listed as "extinct in the wild" on 2008 International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN's) Red List of Threatened Species. The author of the report said that amongst almost 45,000 species evaluated for the new list, 38% are almost in the verge of extinction. Unfortunately the Pere David's deer has been included in that 38%! The study showed that at least 76 mammals have already went extinct since 1500, while the good news about Pere David's deer is that the effort on the conservation and captive breeding program of this variety of deer have done a bit well in the recent year! This has raised the light of hopes for recovery of the species from being absolute extinction. Now the question is, what this Red List actually is? IUCN director general, Julia Marton-Lefèvre said that the Red List is an annual "health check of the planet". The endangered species that comprise the list has been categorized into eight groups: starting from "least concern" (which are low risk of extinction) to "critically endangered species" (which are in extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in near future). For the first time in 2008, the health assessment was done for every single known amphibian, mammal, and even birds.

"If you look ahead a hundred years to our grandchildren and great grandchildren, how are they going to measure whether we were successful in our conservation efforts?" Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International, asked a briefing at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.

Here's a bit about the Pere David's deer - some facts:

The original habitat is of the Pere David's deer is swampy, reed-covered marshlands of northeastern and east-central China. Unlike the other varieties of deers the Pere David's deer are very much find of water and are also good swimmers, along side a good grazer! It thrives chiefly on grass, and supplements it with water plants during summer. A fully matured Pere David's deer (reaches maturity at about 14 months) gathers weight about 150 - 200 kg (330 - 440 lb). Since the last 1000 years it seems to be in a gradual process of extinction in the wild, although captive breeding program have helped regaining the population level a bit.

April - May is the birth season, the birth rate is 2 fawns maximum at a time. The gestation period is 9 months long! Life expectancy in captivity is 23 years.

Current status as revealed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN):

• 1960's: Rare
• 1994: Endangered
• 1996: Critically Endangered; (Criteria: D1)
• 2000 - 2004: Critically Endangered (Criteria: D) (IUCN 2004)

Jasmine The Greyhound Becomes Surrogate Dog Mother For 50th Time

With the fall off 2009, another animal news has created a sensational impact on animal lovers around the world. Dog lovers, especially, have to celebrate their love for dogs by getting the news of the Greyhound, who has become surrogate surrogate dog mother to 50 animals! Jasmine is her name. When she arrived in the sanctuary, she was scared, hungry and devoid of love; dirt could be pinched out of her coat. She required a lot of love, good food and immense care to regain back her health. Just with a flap of skin on some bones, Jasmine - the greyhound was rescued from the dreary phase of her life. Now she is paying off her debt! She is a known rescuer of many abandoned animal babies. The seven-year-old Jasmine has taken up the charge as a rescuer or has been playing a surrogate dog mother to many newborn animals with whole hearted love and attention to aid their growth.

Most interestingly, Jasmine - the surrogate dog mother, has played surrogate mother to other puppies, chicks, guinea pigs, rabbits and even fox and badger cubs. Jasmine is presently busy in caring for her 50th ward - 11-week-old roe deer fawn Bramble. Sanctuary boss Geoff Grewcock said: "She dotes on the animals as if they were her own, it's incredible. She takes all the stress out of them and helps them settle. As soon as an animal is brought in, she walks over, takes a sniff or two and then licks and cuddles them. She even lets birds perch on her nose. Her maternal instincts take over. It is amazing, particularly as she is a greyhound and they are quite aggressive".

Biography of Jasmine: Jasmine's biography was best defined by Mr Grewcock. Grewcock said, "Jasmine was abused when she was younger. The police brought her to us after discovering her whimpering in a garden shed. She was nervous around us, caked in mud and dust and very thin. It took a while, but she got used to us". Jasmine's latest charge Bramble arrived just a couple of months ago. She will be looking after this newborn abandoned animal until it is released back into the wild. Grewcock went on: "They are inseparable, Bramble walks between her legs and they keep kissing each other. Having been neglected herself, it's a surprise to see her show so much affection to other creatures. It's not just animals, she's great with children too." Grewcock added, "they walk together round the sanctuary. It's absolutely marvelous. It's a real treat to see them. But she is like that with all of our animals, even the rabbits which greyhounds usually chase down the track". She had been taken to the Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife sanctuary in the year 2003, after being found dumped. So far Jasmine has taken nurtured and looked after 5 fox cubs; 4 badger cubs; 15 chicks; 8 guinea pigs; 15 rabbits; 2 pups 1 fawn. Jasmine, who exemplifies a perfect surrogate animal mother has become a surrogate dog mother again for the 50th time, by shouldering the responsibility of nurturing the Bramble on herself.

Animal News: Huani, The Surrogate Dog Mother

Image Courtesy: credit: Lu Chaunguan/Xinhua/AP
A very interesting story - rather a fact - had created a buzz across the web as it was flashed on the media on May 2007. A female dog (mongrel) became the center of focus of animals lovers around the world by being the surrogate mother of three tiger cubs, born at a zoo in the country's eastern Shandong province. The god mother named "Huani" is suckling three little tiger cubs, who had been named imaginatively as ONE, TWO and THREE by staff at Jinan Paomaling Wild Animal World. The trio ill-fated babies were rejected by their mother shortly after their birth and the responsibility of nurturing them was shouldered by "Huani", who continued to suckle the three little tiger cubs until their appetites outpaced her supply of milk. The zoo manager, Chen Yucai, said that it wasn't surprisingly uncommon for Chinese zoos to use female dogs as surrogate mothers for abandoned tiger cubs. It's almost a dog's life for the three newborn tiger triplets in Eastern China.

The art of introducing the tiger cubs to dogs for nursing had always been quite unique. The zoo staff used to rubbed the urine of surrogate mother - the female dog on the coat of the tiger babies, and gradually brought them close to her. This made the surrogate mother think that she was nursing her own pups. But this time, it wasn't that much of hardship for the zoo staff, because Huani had already nursed tiger babes before. She did not mind caring for ONE, TWO and THREE. Huani proved her angelic magnanimity that every mother should have. We humans have a lot to learn from this mongrel!

A spokeswoman at London Zoo said that staff usually try to match the abandoned animal babies with a mother of the same species. In the 1990s, an Asiatic lion at the London Zoo had abandoned her cub, when the staff had to place the little creature with another lioness that had given birth to her own two cubs. According to many, the abandoned animal babies are placed in the surrogate mother's litter of the same species, because it would acquire her smell and be accepted by her too. So there's a chance of re-abandonment of the cubs or killing of the foreign cubs by the surrogate mothers. If a surrogate of the same species can't be found, London Zoo staff would try try to find a companion animal for abandoned babies. But Chinese dogs like Huani have made things easier for the zoo staff.

Discovery of Pink Iguana Abuzz The Web

Have you ever seen a pink iguana? I never did! It was just by chance I dropped by an article while scrambling around the web late this morning, looking for some rare species of animals. The very phrase "Pink Iguana" enticed me and I couldn't get out of the page until I finished it entirely. Yes, pink iguana, one of the rarest species was overlooked by the English naturalist Charles Darwin during his visit to Galapagos Islands. The documentation spanned back to 1800s when many researchers and naturalists explored Galapagos Islands and Charles Darwin was one of them to overlook a hefty pink iguana.

Referred to as "rosada", which means "pink" in Spanish, this extremely rare reptile - the pink iguana with distinct black stripes had been discovered at Volcan Wolf, Isabela Island's northernmost volcano. This was accidentally missed out by Darwin in 1835, during his five-week stay at the archipelago. Although the Galapagos National Park rangers first discovered the rare pink iguana a few decades ago, but it wasn't documented officially until the first week of 2009. A study during the first phase of January 2009, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has been the first to document the pink iguana officially. 1986 was the year of first sighting of pink iguana.

Gentile, a researcher in the Department of Biology, Tor Vergata University, Rome and his co-researchers collected the samples of blood from several varieties of iguanas at Galapagos, including the yellow varieties. They extracted the DNA from the blood samples to study how the different species are co-related and how and when each of them had emerged. The researchers concluded that the pink iguana has been around for quite a very long span of time. Gentile and his colleagues concluded that around 10.5 million years ago, a common ancestor to both land and marine iguanas from Central or South America colonized the Galapagos Islands and they probably started to diverge at that time. Although many other researchers thought that almost all major species of iguanas differentiated much later during the Pleistocene Epoch - 1.8 million to 10,000 years ago, but Gentile choose to differ from the idea.

Gentile says, "the pink iguana alters the current thinking about the origin of land iguanas from the Galapagos. It is the only remnant of an evolutionary lineage that originated from the land iguana lineage much earlier, about 5.7 million years ago, than the Pleistocene, which is when the rest of the present land iguanas started differentiating throughout the archipelago." As the study of Gentile and his team, this rare species - pink iguana has been placed at the bottom of the iguana family tree of archipelago land. According to them this striking reptile had emerged even before the formation of some islands in Galapagos.

Behavior and Characteristics of Pink Iguana

The unique head scales with a prominent crest, give the reptile an entirely distinctive look. Alike other iguanas, it bobs it head to mark it's own territory and courtship, though in a style a bit different from other iguanas. Gentile said, "the pink iguana shows a particular and distinguished display characterized by multiple series of very rapid ups and downs of the head". He thinks that the pink iguana should be enlisted under "critically endangered" species, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List due to habitat loss and introduction of non-native animals.

After discovering a new species of Galapagos giant tortoise at a place not far from the islands' Charles Darwin Station, Gisela Caccone, a senior research scientist in ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University, told Discovery News that "the thing that continues to surprise me is the fact that even in the Galapagos, a place that is the 'Mecca' for evolutionary biologists, we still have undiscovered biodiversity not only amongst small organisms, but even for large vertebrates, as these iguanas are".

Fast Facts About Liger - The New Animal

Ligers are truly the king of the beasts! Here are some fast facts about ligers - the news animal:

• The Liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a female tiger... (Not a female lion and a male tiger).
• Although Siberian Tiger is the largest pure bred Taxon, Ligers are the largest cat on the Earth.
• Ligers resemble more of a tiger with diffused stripes.
• Researches have shown that Ligers are fond of Chocolates more than cherrypie
• Ligers got laser eyes, because thay have sharigan .
• Nature of ligers are unique. It recieved some characteristics from tigers, and some from lions. unlike lions, but like tigers, ligers enjoy swimming.
• A few sources said that ligers' favorite colors are green and blue, although there are tonnes of disputes about this conclussions.
• Ligers are water resistant up to 6".
• According to a report laid down in the 1989, ligers are 104% more exciting than dogs.
• A liger's ton boots have steel toe caps, which enable them to shank lesser creatures (e.g. lions and tigers). The boots can only be removed by another liger standing on their heels.
• On clamping their jaws onto victims Ligers can exert up to 71,238N of force, which is more than any other known animal ever existed on the Earth till date.
• Records of the iorigin of Ligers shows that the animsl actually originated in Ligeria, now know as Liberia.
• Ligers are hardly found in the wild because the lions and tigers usually do not share the common geographical area, although rare reports have been found of tigresses mating with lions in wild.
• In fact, tigers were forced into the ranges inhabited by the Asiatic Lion, which is a subspecies of lion.
• In the year1935, four ligers from two different litters were reared in the Zoological Gardens of BloemfonteinBloemfontein, South Africa. Amongst them, one male and two females, were still living in 1953. The male liger weighed 750 lb. and stood 1 ft. 6 inches taller at the shoulder than a adult male lion.
• Shasta, a ligress (female liger) was born at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on May 14, 1948. She died in 1972, when she was 24 years old.
• Evidence of an 18-years-old male liger, weighing 798-kg living at Bloemfontein zoological gardens, South Africa, in 1888, wre found in the 1973 Guinness world records.
• Valley of the Kings animal sanctuary in Wisconsin reared "Nook" was a male liger, who weighed around 550 kg. Nook passed away in 2007, at 21 years old.
• Association of Zoos and Aquariums has always frowned on mixing genes of two different species. They have never bred ligers.
• Jane Ballentine, a spokesperson for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, said: "Keeping the two species separate has always been standard procedure..."
• There's no official scientific name for Ligers, because ligers are hybrid creatures.
• Despite its huge size and incredibly heavy body weight, Ligers can run at a speed of 50 miles per hour.
• A full grown adult Liger can eat around 50-100 pounds of meat at one meal.
• The huge size of the ligers are the result of imprinted genes.