[Updated] Walter J. Palmer, a Bloomington dentist, has been identified as the man responsible for killing Cecil, beloved lion, resident of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, Oxford study subject, and the most recent focus in ongoing furor against trophy hunters. Continue reading
animals
19 posts
Federal workers being unpaid, national parks closing, flu vaccines not being tracked: these are some of the many consequences of the federal government’s being shut down. Despite Newt Gingrich’s pledge, the National Zoo’s Panda Cam, which was deemed “non-esssential,” has gone dark. Continue reading
Escape the wild politics of human civilization with these live animal cameras direct from Africa.
A baby fur seal walks into a ….
From the land of the long swapped vowel.
This is a seal with ambition and drive, but don’t you hate it when others change the radio station on you? RUDE!
Seal Pup Wanders into New Zealand Home
Baby fur-seal* wriggled through the cat-door. (best use ever of the word ‘wriggled’.)
From Sky News:
In our recent article about the critically endangered Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat, we saw photos and footage of the first baby (known as a joey) born at the newly established wild colony at Richard Underwood Nature Reserve in southern Queensland. There was a second pregnancy at the reserve and lo and behold, in the past 10 days, a second joey has been running around. And we do mean running. The footage that the park rangers have taken of the second joey suggests he/she is a hyperactive little born performer! Continue reading
The northern hairy-nosed wombat is one of the most endangered creatures in the world, ranked as critically endangered. In the 1980s, the estimated number of surviving wombats was as low as 35 before a breeding and protection program gradually increased the population. Still, wombats are slow breeders (each fertile female will have no more than 1 baby wombat, known as a joey, every 2-3 years) and by 2003, there was still only estimated to be 113 wombats, including 30 fertile females. All these wombats were in a single location: Epping Forest National Park in northern Queensland, Australia. This concentration made the wombat vulnerable to being made extinct in a single stroke if a natural disaster hit the park, and one only needs to remember the gigantic floods which covered Queensland in January this year for a reminder of how easily that could occur.
The title says it all. Probably best to skip this one gentlemen. Continue reading
Caution: This tale is morbid and not for the faint at heart. Read at your own discretion.
The use of animals in public performances, whether it be at Sea World or a Circus, is a taboo subject. I have no qualms with saying I’m against it, outright. The stories of abused and neglected animals in these situations are a plenty, but the following tale of Mary the elephant is far more morbid than anything I’ve ever read. I’ve cautioned you once about the content of this article, and I’ll do it one more time: this is not a story with a happy ending; it is one of disgusting injustice. Continue reading
Hippopotamuses are adorably pudgy, strict herbivores and kill more humans than any other African animal. You cannot outrun them; they’ve been clocked at 30-40km/h (19-25mph). You cannot outswim them; on average, hippos can swim 8 km/h (5 mph). And, you certainly cannot fend them off; the average weight of an adult female is 2,900–3,300 lbs., a male 3,300–4,000 lbs., and older males can reach 7,100—9,900 lbs. (Eltringham, 1999). Yo hippo’s SO FAT not even Dora could explore her. Need I mention that the bite force of an adult female hippo is 1,821 lbsf (Barr, 2008)? Continue reading
June 21st is the first official day of summer, and what says “summer fun” better that sprinklers in the backyard? DOGS FIGHTING SPRINKLERS, that’s what.