Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Hello All Animal Lovers Across The Globe,

We peeped in to wish you Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. Let the grains or peace, love and hope be sprinkled on you and let my animals and their lovers have a great life ahead.
We are grateful to have you as our audience, and shall be honored to have this nice relationship maintained throughout the life!

National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative

This Haloween reveals scopes for kids to cause an uproar with National Geographic’s Big Cats initiative

Howdy buddies? Here’s an interesting information that you are going to surely like – especially if you are an animal lover. Halloween is right here and people – especially kids have already gone gaga over their most favorite Halloween activity – trick-or-treating! Yes… And guess what? National Geographic has invited families to help through every kid’s favorite Halloween activity – trick-or-treating by the way of Trick-or-Treating for our favorite animal – the Big Cats. This is really an appreciably step towards a good cause, where kids can cause an uproar by collecting change with their candy to save these incredible animals.

 

National Geographic's Bog Cat Initiative on Halloween 2011

You can get to know more about the initiative at www.causeanuproar.org, which is currently redirected to http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/big-cats/. Here you can get special treat boxes, find big cat facts, cat-o-lantern instructions and so much more that can make this Halloween 2011 an ever memorable episode of your life! Kids, who love animals, have been revealed with opportunities to cause an uproar with National Geographic’s Big Cats initiative.

Big cats are disappearing at a fast pace. And it’s now the time to act for all of us on the Earth, including our kids. What better than Halloween that National Geographic could have chosen to help kids to help spread awareness for the planet’s one of the loveliest creatures - big cats? There’s no better way than this that could have been selected to spread the word about the plight of big cats. You can find adorable resources for Trick-or-Treat here

Can Animals Comprehend And Plan For the Future?

This is what I have been thinking for quite some time, but hadn't have that time to search for this info on the web. The last week I could manage to scoop some time out of my bustling schedule and got to learn about whether animals can perceive time and whether they can plan or comprehend things they might come across in future. I have made a post on my dog blog regarding how dogs perceive time. This post is all about whether animals are able to learn and plan without having an understanding of time.

Compared to us (human beings) animals have abilities to understand time to lesser extent. Humans have two distinctive abilities to comprehend time, viz. (1) ability to remember the sequence of events that had occurred in the past, and (2) ability to analyst the requirement that we may come across in the future. Experiments on working memory tests on animals have shown that animals also have these two abilities, but not as extensively as humans.

Researchers have experimented on the working memories (short term memories) and reference memories (long term memories) of animals in order to test how do animals remember the sequences of evens. Good news is that the animals performed quite well in those tests, but the researchers concluded that their memory faded out at a fast rate. According to the scientist William Roberts, who had experimented on animal memories, "animals were probably learning going from weakest memory to strongest memory, rather than actually 'learning' or 'remembering' a sequence."

Some of the other scientists who have been working on the similar kind of experiments, found that monkeys and pigeons did fairly good at the reference memories, which is the long term memories, in which they had been tested to check how well they could remember a sequence after a delayed time span between learning and testing. In this regarding Roberts said that they required extensive training session to learn these sequences. Roberts said, "the ability did not come naturally to them." Hence the researchers have concluded that animals would perceive time, but in a different way from humans. Compared to human beings animals have been seen to have a relatively less reliable and less sophisticated memory that help them to remember of sequence of events.

At the same time the researchers concluded that animals do not have good abilities to anticipate future needs, with which the researchers have drawn the conclusion that animals do not have any concept of future. Experiments on rates and pigeons have shown that they "chose a smaller immediate reward over the larger future reward", which directly proved that animals do not have ability to comprehend and plan the future. Another experimentation on primates had been carried out given a choice of "One (1) banana" and "Two (2) bananas". The primates picked the larger quantity - that is two bananas. Now when experiment had been carried out once again with five (5) and ten (10) bananas, in which the primates chose the lesser quantity, that is 5 bananas. Researchers William Roberts concluded that animals try to satisfy their immediate hunger, and do not have the ability to plan for the future.

Now all these experiments and their conclusions seem to be quite convincing. But if animals do not have the ability OR is they have less sophisticated ability to comprehend and plan for the future, why and how do ants tend to collect and gather enough food stuff before they go to hibernation during the winter?

Stop Mass Killing of Badgers - An Open Letter to the UK Government

Subject: An appeal to stop unnecessarily killing badgers

The UK Government, as on July 19, 2011, officially announced its strategic drive to controlling the bovine tuberculosis that have been spreading out throughout England, although a recently circulated highlights of the results of public consultation on the government’s Badger Control Policy, 2010 has unfolde the fact thst around 69 percent of respondents were opposed to the killing of badgers. I request the top officials of the UK Government to spare another thought over this issue and re-formulate the strategy of controlling the spread of bovine TB in the country.

This post has been published on the behalf of few millions of people who have raised their voice against the mass slaughter of badgers. According to the declaration made by the Government, 70 % of the total badger population in some specific regions of the country will be killed as an initiative towards controlling bovine TB in cattle. We understand the importance and necessity to fight bovine TB as soon as possible, but the method to reach the goal is yet to be revised.

Already, high-profile voices – including Sir David Attenborough and the Government adviser Lord John Krebs – have taken a part in the debate, saying a cull could "make the situation worse" and be "ineffective".

Thanks and Regards
IN LOVE OF ANIMALS

Di van, My Friend Writes About Angelo and Mich - The Two White Bengal Tigers

Hello friends...  here's a true story of  a couple of White Bengal Tigers, written by my friend Di van, who is an avid animal lover. Should anyone wants to get in touch with Di van, the email has been mentioned below this post. I am really honored to publish my friend Di van's story here in my blog.

Read out the story here....


This is a story of two white Bengal tigers, born at Elmvale Zoo in Canada in 2008.

Angelo and Mich were imported into South Africa in December 2008 as four month old cubs. They were originally destined for a wildlife breeding facility but due to a permit problem ended up on loan to Jukani Wildlife Predator Park in Mossel Bay, a coastal town in the south of the country. Jukani is recognised by South African authorities as a bona fide zoological facility.

In July 2009 Angelo, the male, was diagnosed by a wildlife specialist veterinarian with Progressive Retinal Atrophy, a genetic transferable and incurable disease which would leave him permanently blind.

When the owner of the tigers was advised of Angelo’s plight his response was that Jukani should either buy the animals at Rs. 250 000 per animal (approximately USD 36 000 each) or he would sell them on. This owner has previously been exposed on national television for the supplying of lions to canned hunting operators and also for the slaughtering of lions to sell their bones and body parts to the traditional Chinese medicine market. It is a sad fact, but Angelo is worth more dead than alive.

Fortunately, Jukani has a written agreement which gives them first option to purchase Angelo and Mich at an agreed market related price. They have chosen to exercise that right as they are fearful of the fate that might await the tigers should they be removed from their care.

All tiger sub species are protected under CITES 1 regulations and the hunting of captive or wild tigers is banned internationally. With Angelo going blind our local authorities may grant permission to euthanize him by way of a canned or trophy hunt. South Africa has a dismal animal rights record and the murder of a protected animal in a canned hunt could easily slip through the cracks.

Angelo is a 200 Kg happy and playful boy. He is housed with Mich in a large enclosure and she is becoming his “eyes”. His neighbors are 2 white lions, Tsau and Tendile, and they help him out as well. He has a wonderful support team at Jukani headed by Jurg and Karen Olsen, whose passion for large (and small) cats is absolutely amazing and he has a vet whom he knows and trusts. Angelo has a right to live out his life in peace - his medical condition is the result of inbreeding motivated by greed. As long as his specific needs are taken care of and his caretakers, his enclosure and his companion, Mich, do not alter, there is no reason why he cannot be content. All he is asking for is a chance for him and Mich to live.

A non profit company has been registered to raise funds for Angelo and Mich. A very successful golf day was recently held in Cape Town and a dinner with a sports memorabilia auction is planned for later on this month . All the sports memorabilia is being donated to the cause.

For more information on this campaign visit http://www.jukani.co.za or visit Join Jukani on Facebook www.facebook.com/jukani.felines or follow Jukani on Twitter www.twitter.com/jukani

Author : Di van Zyl (content based on internet research)
e-mail : di.vanzyl@yahoo.com

Note : The author has had the privilege of visiting Angelo and Mich and spending time with them and the Jukani team. Jukani is a well run, properly maintained facility with a
dedicated group of people whose first priority is the welfare of the animals in their care.

Top 10 Zoos of the World - Ten Best Animal Parks

I am honored to have animal lovers like Tim Handrof reading my blogs. Tim emailed me - informing me about a post he had published on his own blog - Best Colleges Online. After reading his post on 10 Amazing Zoos... I found it really cool, and as interesting as he said it was! I decided to re-post it, and already emailed back Tim, that I would publish the post on my blog. Here's the Top 10 Zoos of the World!

10) Disney's Animal Kingdom Park in Orlando, Florida, is one of the most renowned park of its kind. Home to over 1,700 animals from 250 distinctive species, Disney's Animal Kingdom - the world's largest animal-themed park spans across 500 acres of amazingly refreshing landscape! Disney's Animal Kingdom Park in Orlando, Florida, is one of the most renowned park of its kind.The Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park, one of 4 Theme Parks at Walt Disney World Resort, and is a powerhouse for education, adventures and fun for kids. This animal park mirrors Walt Disney's dedication towards conservation of animal species and nature.

9) Tiergarten Schonnbrunn Zoo at Vienna, Austria, is the world's oldest known zoo. This oh-so-popular zoo is provides safe shelter to more than 500 animal species, including very talked about giant panda, and caertain endangered species such as jaguars, Siberian tigers, koalas and so on... The Tiergarten Schonnbrunn Zoo also has a rich historical background. Emperor Francis Stephen of Lorraine (1708-1765) founded the Schönbrunn Zoo in the year 1752. Currently this animal park exhibits an incredible collection of amazing specimens from the animal kingdom, including the rare South American giant anteater, capybara, lowland-tapir and seriema.

8) Columbus Zoo is located at 4850 West Powell Rd. | Powell OH 43065. This amazing animal park is one of the best spots for animal lovers. The park is directed by famous zookeeper Jack Hanna, and is full of many exciting exhibits, featuring over rare and common 7,000 animals including Mammals, Fish, Amphibians, Birds and Reptiles. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is officially partnered with some of the well organized hotels around its vicinity.

7) Zoo Praha is again another great place that you cannot afford to miss out if you are an animal lover. Located in Prague, Czech Republic, this park also has a rich history spanning back to 1881, when an appeal to establish a zoological garden in Prague was published in the newspapers by count Sweerts-Spork on the occasion of the marriage of prince Rudolph and princess Stephanie of Belgium. This 111-acre park is a cool shelter for over 4,600 animals including around 630 species from across the globe.

6) The Phoenix Zoo has been rated as the top 5 best zoos for kids. There are around 1200 animals in this zoo. With a total area of 125-acre this park exhibits some of the most fascinating animals. There are around 20 hotels with 20 miles of the Phoenix Zoo. The Zoo is located in the heart of the Valley, and there are so much for kids to do and watch.

5) Singapore Zoo is a 70-acre rainforest-inspired facility. The zoo has used hidden barriers to create an open and natural environment with streams, moats and lush vegetation. This is the world's most famous "open concept” animal park that reveals opportunities to explore and experience certain unspoken wonders of the nature. The Singapore Zoo is a safe shelter for over 2,500 animals from 316 species, 36% of which are endangered.

4) Bronx Zoo in New York City is the home for around 600 species, including several endangered animals. The most talked about Siberian tigers, rare snow leopard, Congo gorilla, and crocodiles can be watched within your close vicinity. Sprawling across 265-acre this animal park exhibis the world's largest man-made rainforest forest that reveals an opportunity to interact with the multicolored butterflies and wild Madagascar.

3) San Diego Zoo is a 100-acre facility revealing opportunities to come close to over 4,000 animals from 800 species. One interesting fact about the San Diego zoo is that it is one of the few zoos that house giant pandas. Alike Singapore Zoo, this animal park also has promoted the idea of "cageless" or "open concept” exhibits that feature several endangered and threatened species.

2) Smithsonian National Zoological Park, which is commonly known as the National Zoo in Washington, DC, is another amazing animal park that houses over 2,000 animals from 400 distinctive species, including several endangered ones. Spring is the busiest season at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. The most important of all facts about the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is that it is free and open every day throughout the year, except December 25. The timings are April–October -- Animal exhibits are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day AND November–March -- Animal exhibits are open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day.

1) Audubon Zoo at Forget Bourbon Street is quite famous and is a must see spot for animal lovers visiting New Orleans. This wonderful animal park is home for gorillas, orangutans, leopards, white tigers, Komodo dragon and an incredibly wide varieties of snakes. Audubon Zoo is Open: Tuesday - Sunday (10am - 5pm). Audubon Center of Research of Endangered Species is a 36,000 square-foot modern research arena that s fully dedicated to developing reproductive and veterinary technologies to benefit endangered wildlife.

Yellow Head Goby Fish - Aquarium Lovers

Yellow Head Goby Fish

Opistognathus aurifrons

Group: Goby

Distribution: Indo-Pacific

Description: Goby is actually the largest single family of the salt water fish. This beautiful marine fish is one of the most beautiful members of a marine aquarium. The Yellow head Goby fish is one of the most amazing members amongst the goby group that have been widely admired by the advanced hobbyists. Amongst some the most loveable marine fishes the yellow head goby is the most popular breeds of fish. Often seen in pair the Yellow head Goby fish gives a special fervor to the beauty of the aquarium. Plenty of hiding places should be provided to them. They love to stay on sand bed or rubble flats in clear lagoons. They also prefer seaward reefs. At maturity a well maintained yellow head goby can reach up to 7 to 8 centimeters long. Their vibrant head color, unusual dorsal fin, interesting behavior, and unique appearances, make the yellow head goby an intriguing captives of your marine tank. While resting the yellow head gobies tend to be in a stiff and straight position.

Environment: Yellow Head Goby thrives best in temperatures between 75 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. The water pH value should range between of 8.3 or 8.4 and the specific gravity should be between 1.020 and 1.025.

Feeding: Yellow head Goby eats small organisms, fishes and fish eggs.

Behavior: Being relative non-aggressive these fishes have cool temperament. They have been known to jump out of the aquarium, which is why it is advisable to keep the lid of the tank closed. This is a natural behavior which should be encouraged by using a loose substrates which should not be too fine, or too hard nor it’s edge should be too sharp.

Compatibility: These fishes are relatively non-aggressive. They are compatible with all the other members of Goby group. They can be kept with other non aggressive marine fishes. More than one yellow head gobies are recommended because they love to live in pair. Aggressive and very fast moving fishes can be stress to this beautiful marine creature.