This doesn’t seem like a coincidence; more like something killed these sea lions, amongst others, either from a disease we are not aware of; or from the waste products that get thrown back into the sea; i.e poisons! I can’t see 500 sea lions at the same time dying from plastic waste, or entangled in nets! It seems more logical to me that they died of some sort of man-made waste product going into the ocean…like oil etc. But nobody is going to own up to that…are they??
A hoard of 500 dead sea lions was mysteriously found recently on a Peruvian beach, leaving scientists puzzled. (Photo : Reuters/Mariana Bazo)
A hoard of 500 dead sea lions was mysteriously found recently on a Peruvian beach, leaving scientists puzzled.
Bodies of adults as well as young juveniles were scattered across Anconcillo beach in the Santa Province, Ancash region, located just 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Lima, BBC News reports.
Environmental experts told local news agency Andina that they suspect fishermen of poisoning the sea mammals, which usually come close to the shore looking for food. However, Peruvian police are looking into other possible causes of these rotting corpses as well, including disease, entanglement in fishing nets and the accidental ingestion of plastic.
Due to a possible public health hazard, city workers quickly hauled away the bodies and took them to a local dump.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first incident of dead sea lions to occur in Peru. According the Agence France-Presse, earlier this month in the Piura region farther north, the bodies of nearly 200 sea lions, along with four dead dolphins, sea turtles and dozens of pelicans, washed ashore.
Officials are still investigating the causes of those mysterious deaths. Given the similarity between these two recent cases, it’s possible the same rational can explain them both.
Not to mention, BBC notes, that in 2012 hundreds of dolphins were found dead along a stretch of Peruvian coastline.
While the environmental group named Orca blamed the deaths on the noise and pressure waves caused by ongoing oil exploration in the area, a government report said otherwise.
The Sea Institute of Peru (IMARPE) at the time ruled out oil exploration as a possible explanation, as well as infection by a bacteria or virus for these puzzling fatalities, and instead blamed natural causes.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, sea lions are vulnerable to the effects of climate change on ocean currents, which impacts the number of feed they rely on for food. They are also victims of bycatch in fisheries and subject to diseases spread by other species, such as dogs.
“WTF…if your cold, the chances are your dog is freezing it’s bit’s off too; unless your dog is a Saint Bernard who is used to living in freezing conditions. Besides if you have a dog, it should be in your home & part of your family! If it’s just a garden ornament then you don’t deserve to have an animal with the capability of unconditional love! A dog is a family pet, so treat it like one, not just a cheap alarm system!”
By Jeff Wagner – Updated: Thursday, January 9
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Criminal charges were being pursued after two dog owners left their dogs outside in the cold and the animals froze to death, officials from Animal Care and Control said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, an Animal Care and Control worker told 24-Hour News 8 that as many as seven dogs froze to death in Marion County this week. Officials clarified that number on Wednesday.
Two dogs with a home died, and an unknown number of stray dogs also froze to death, officials said. The volume of phone calls into Marion County Animal Care and Control made it difficult to pinpoint the exact number. The remains of stray dogs are cleaned up by the Indianapolis Department of Public Works.
The dangerous temperatures are taking a toll on pets.
Animal Control officers had been called out because two pet dogs in Marion County had been left outside in the frigid conditions and died.
Animal Care and Control said they had a constant stream of phone calls since 10 a.m. Sunday.
People have called Animal Care and Control for a number of issues, including help with cats, horses, goats and exotic birds.
Indianapolis Animal control officers wrote more than 70 citations during the storm, ranging from a dog being left outside to one not having updated tags.
But when a pet dies, it becomes a criminal case.
On a warmer but still snow covered day in Indianapolis, 24-Hour News 8 thought it would be a long shot to find a pet left out in the cold but that idea was wrong.
24-Hour News 8’s Jeff Wagner found a dog named Chance, and luckily she was only roaming a few houses down from where she lived.
“She has come back every time I’ve clapped my hands, but as soon as I walk outside then she takes off, she’s been taking off all morning,” said owner Beverly Patton.
She said a frozen leash, combined with Chance’s love for running are the only reasons we found her alone outside.
“I cannot imagine leaving your dogs out, that’s like people,” she said.
But unfortunately some owners did.
“You need to bring them in or we will confiscate them for their safety,” said Dan Shackle, administrator for Indianapolis Animal Care & Control.
His officers did confiscate a few pets during the storm. Some dogs were found with frostbite on their paws or ears. Often times their water bowls were frozen over.
Those dogs now in kennels, just like the others who are hoping to get adopted. But unfortunately, two pet dogs didn’t survive while outside, meaning their owners could face criminal charges.
“Depending on the facts in the individual case it could either be an ‘A’ misdemeanor or ‘D’ felony,” he said.
Shackle hopes justice is served in those cases. But mainly, he just wants owners to take better care of their pets.
“When you ask if I’m glad that only two died, yes I’m glad more of them didn’t die, but the two shouldn’t have happened in the first place,” he said.
If a dog was confiscated, the owner will get a citation. They’ll have a date in court where a judge will determine what type of penalty they’ll face, like a fine.
The judge also has final say on whether or not the pet should be returned to the owner.
So what should you do if you see a pet left out in the cold?
The Humane Society says you should write down as many details as you can, even take pictures or video if it’s safe.
Then contact your local animal control or sheriff’s department. Make sure you also take notes and follow up if the situation doesn’t get better.
Bird spotters travelled to the island to catch a glimpse of the bird and many posted pictures on Twitter, but they then saw it die when it flew into a community-owned wind turbine on Wednesday.
The Rare Bird Alert, an on-line service that notifies users of sightings, had passed on reports of the white-throated needletail on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the service said users had told them the bird died on Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, the service tweeted: “The white-throated needletail on Harris flew into a wind turbine and has died, pathetic way for such an amazing bird to die.”
The needletail is a migrating bird and is black with white patches around its throat and undertail. It is small but has a large wingspan and is said to be able to fly up to 70mph.
A spokeswoman for the RSPB Scotland said they did not know the exact details of the case but migrating birds can be blown off course when travelling and the needletail may have lost its bearings and ended up in Harris.
She added: “Whilst the collision of this unusual visitor with a small domestic wind turbine is very unfortunate, incidents of this sort are really very rare.
“Careful choice of location and design of wind farms and turbines prevents, as much as possible, such occurrences happening on a large scale.
“Wind energy makes a vital contribution towards mitigating the impacts of climate change, which is the biggest threat to our native birds and wildlife.”
“I started off with the intentions of just posting the news below…but as always, I get side tracked. (please remember, anything I have to say in a post is in this blue writing) I’ve heard about this gorilla but not seen much, until I saw this. It’s most remarkable, a great ape, capable of killing a human, in an instant; but instead, Koko the Gorilla & Robin Williamspreferred to have a chit-chat, through sign language, then a tickling session I’m more than aware that humans share between 80% to 98.5% (The reason for the big gap in % is because not all agree) of DNA with chimps, gorillas & orangutans. This really does show the fact that humans & apes are so very much alike, when it comes to feelings & behaviour etc. So we can’t let these magnificent species be taken to the edge of extinction; due to the bushmeat trade!!.”
Koko the Gorilla with Robin Williams
“After watching the above , now, try to comprehend my other video & the article below; posted for & on behalf of Tony Zadel. This shouldn’t be happening, yet it continues & is a thriving business!”
“Bushmeat, popular in many parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America, is the meat of hunted wild animals; including shark fin. reptile & whale meat, birds & turtles eggs! So whilst on your travels please don’t ever buy; ANY TRINKETS MADE FROM ANIMALS, or EAT EXOTIC CUISINE…YOU MAY NOT BE AWARE IT IS FROM AN ENDANGERED SPECIES OR THAT EXTREME SUFFERING WAS INVOLVED IN ACQUIRING IT. “The trade in bushmeat has become highly commercialized in recent years and is the most significant immediate threat to the great apes in Africa today.“
“Don’t think for one minute, if a female chimpanzee is caught, her babies will be left alone…no way! There is just as much demand for babies as there is for the meat, perhaps more! Any nursing monkeys or apes could be targeted by the poachers, who without empathy, drag the babies from their mothers, still warm but breathless bodies! As if that wasn’t cruel enough, the callous barbarians, set about hacking the mothers into pieces; all, whilst in full view of the babies! I can’t begin to imagine how those poor babies must feel, or how long the nightmares will last.
While most CITIES countries dilly dally, about this & that…you can be helping end the bushmeat trade by simply signing a petition or sending a pre-written letter by email; small things that will soon add up. We need to make it our goal, to educate & raise public awareness of this diabolical trade; that could eventually see some species become extinct! One voice can say a lot but may not be heard, but a chorus of voices, can demand attention! So if you want your grandchildren, to still be able to see these exotic species, please, just spend a couple of minutes signing petitions etc! I want my great-grandchildren to be able to see the fascinating creatures of the rain forests, roaming wild;where they belong!”
Illegal Commercial Bushmeat Trade
Uploaded on 24 Jun 2009
At the heart of the declining chimpanzee population is the illegal poaching of chimps and other great apes for bushmeat. The Jane Goodall Institute is working with governments and local communities to end this horrible practice.
“Posted below, as is, for & on behalf of Tony Zadel – Please sign the petitions & take note of the links, inc. video, providing more information. Thank you!”
The Bushmeat Trade – Threat of Primate & Wildlife Extinction !!!
The unsustainable commercial and illegal bush meat trade is threatening extinction of apes, chimpanzees, gorillas, and other primates and wildlife. Not only are the primates killed for food and body parts, orphaned primates are being sold on the exotic pet market, and they are also losing their habitat through logging and commercial development.
In Africa, forest is often referred to as ‘the bush’, thus wildlife and the meat derived from it is referred to as ‘bushmeat’ (in French – viande de brousse). This term applies to all wildlife species, including threatened and endangered, used for meat including: elephant; gorilla; chimpanzee and other primates; forest antelope (duikers); crocodile; porcupine; bush pig; cane rat; pangolin; monitor lizard; guinea fowl; etc.
Though habitat loss is often cited as the primary threat to wildlife, commercial hunting for the meat of wild animals has become the most significant immediate threat to the future of wildlife in Africa and around the world; it has already resulted in widespread local extinctions in Asia and West Africa. This threat to wildlife is a crisis because it is rapidly expanding to countries and species which were previously not at risk, largely due to an increase in commercial logging, with an infrastructure of roads and trucks that links forests and hunters to cities and consumers
The bushmeat crisis is a human tragedy as well: the loss of wildlife threatens the livelihoods and food security of indigenous and rural populations most depend on wildlife as a staple or supplement to their diet, and bushmeat consumption is increasingly linked to deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS, Ebola, andFoot and Mouth disease. You can also help with organization like the BCTF, CWAF, and much more..
“This news arrived in my inbox. Just devastating news from the CITES convention for polar bears…who it seems are going to be left out in the cold!!! Watch the video then read the briefing below!!
Will Travers, Born Free CEO, is saddened by today’s vote at the Bangkok meeting of CITES, which soundly rejected a proposal to increase protection from commercial trade for the polar bear, imperiled by the impacts of climate change.
This species, completely dependent on sea ice for survival, has seen its number s fall to around 20,000-25,000 in recent years. This has in part been caused by a dramatic decrease in the extent of both winter and summer sea ice (showing a reduction of up to 20%) over the past 30 years, exacerbated by hunting for domestic and international trade amongst other factors.
Found in just five countries in the circumpolar region (Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Russian Federation, and the United States), this species has caught the attention of the international community in recent years as the story of their decline has become common knowledge.
So, what will CITES Parties do to increase its protection and offer a life line to the world’s largest and best known bear species…WELL NOTHING!!!!
The precautionary principle, on which this proposal was largely based states that ‘where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation’.
So what this means is that if we are not sure of the effects an action is having, better to stop and reassess rather than proceed, possibly past the point of no return.
Today however, the Parties to CITES unfortunately threw precaution to the wind and voted not to increase global protection through greater trade restrictions despite the numerous current and ever looming threats to this species. It remains to be seen how this will contribute to the polar bear’s demise
Polar bears are inquisitive, flexible and opportunistic, adept at exploiting their Arctic habitat. Global warming is considered to be polar bears’ greatest threat and causes ice to melt earlier and freeze later.
Bears have less time to hunt, have a longer summer fast and wait longer to resume hunting, causing loss of condition andpotential conflict situations when hungry bears come in contact with people. Meanwhile in captivity, intelligent and adaptable polar bears can suffer particularly badly in zoos, circuses and marine parks.
Polar bears are dying. As global warming accelerates, the sea ice they depend on for survival is literally melting away. Bears are starving and drowning as they have to swim farther and farther to reach solid ice. Some are even turning to cannibalism in a desperate search for food. Those trapped on land hundreds of miles from the nearest ice often wander near villages in search of food and are shot.
As if that weren’t enough, oil and gas drilling is destroying and polluting their fast-dwindling Arctic habitat.
A third of all polar bears — including all bears in Alaska — will be extinct by 2050 if current trends continue.The rest of the species will be gone by the end of the century.
But it’s not too late to save the polar bear if we join together and take immediate action. The science is clear. We know what needs to be done — we just need to build the political support to do it.
Please sign the petition below to encourage President Barack Obama to rein in global warming and save the polar bear now.
Click the link below to sign the petition please:-
An international conference of 178 member nations of an environmental group opts to allow trading of polar bear parts to continue.An international ban on trade in polar bears has been banned because of fears it would distract from the bigger threat of global warming. The proposal put to representatives of the 178 member nations of the Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species (Cites) had divided conservationists. They all agreed that the main risk to the world’s largest carnivorous land animal came from habitat loss but differed over whether international trade also put the bears at risk of extinction. Polar bears, widely seen as the animal on the front line of global warming, are predicted to be hard hit by melting polar ice caps. But the debate at the Cites meeting in Bangkok focused on the additional threat to the species posed by international trade. “The polar bear is facing a grim future, and today brought more bad news,” said US delegation head Dan Ashe who warned the polar bear population could fall by two-thirds by 2050. “The continued harvest of polar bears to supply the commercial international trade is not sustainable.” The ban was rejected by 42 votes to 38, with 46 abstentions among the nations who participated in the poll in Bangkok – the proposal needed a two-thirds’ majority support to be passed.
Polar bears are prized for their skins – particularly in Russia – as well as other body parts such as skulls, claws and teeth and their are strict controls over their international trade.
About half of the roughly 800 polar bears killed each year end up in the international trade, mostly wild bears from Canada, according to expert estimates cited by the US.
The US, Canada, Russia, Denmark (Greenland) and Norway are home to a global population of 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears.
The WWF, which chose to oppose the ban in favour of concentrating on global warming said “habitat loss from climate warming, not international trade, is the primary driver” of an expected population decline.
Canada, which hosts the largest portion of the global population of polar bears and is the only country that still exports polar bear parts, opposed a ban, citing the need to preserve the traditions of the Inuit, an indigenous minority living mostly in the north of the country.
“The polar bear advances strong emotion. It is an iconic symbol of the Arctic,” said Canadian delegate Basile Van Havre. Глобальный запрет на Polar Bear торговли Отклонен ホッキョクグマ貿易に関する世界的な禁止が下がってい 全球北極熊的貿易禁止拒絕 Prohibición mundial de oso polar Comercio Rechazado Proibição global de urso polar Comércio recusou
Please sign, Just a few on-line petitions to help save the polar bear:-
“I know I have just recently done a post on palm oil, but the following web site gives so much more information…stuff I had no idea about! So please, protect the environment & save the orangutan…read the following then visit the links at the end. Please also sign the petitions below!!
A Bit more info on Palm Oil…I think you might find useful; find out more at the link below:-
Rescue by COP
Palm oil is mainly used in foods, cosmetics and cleaning agents, but it can also be found in some bio-fuels.This fatty vegetable oil is mixed with a number of other fuels and liquids to create an ‘Eco-Friendly‘ bio-fuel.
This ‘Eco-Friendly’ bio-fuel has already become mandatory in numerous countries including Malaysia (where 5% of all fuel must contain palm oil), and if it continues to be voted into petrol stations around the world, the future for our orange primate cousins and their rainforest homes will be very bleak.
In supermarkets in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, United Kingdom and many European countries, 50% of all baked goods, confectionery, spreads, body products, cosmetics, cleaning agents, air fresheners and sometimes even paint and printer ink contain palm oil, and the average first-world citizen consumes at least 10kg of palm oil each year.
These statistics dramatically increase with countries that span across Asia. Fact is, a large percentage of products in your household will contain palm oil, and almost anything that contains a high level ofsaturated fatwill have palm oil in it (except for some dairy products, which gain their saturated fat from full cream milk).
However, you often don’t know if products you are buying contribute to this detrimental destruction?You see, there are no laws on the mandatory labelling of palm oil in most countries, so palm oil is often hidden under the name of ‘vegetable oil’ or over 170 other names.
This means that consumers are blinded as to which products they buy are contributing the destruction of our natural world and it’s inhabitance.
Due to its high saturated fat content, palm oil promotes heart disease, increases cholesterol levels, raises blood pressure and therefore is a contributing factor to obesity. These four health issues are the main causes of one of the world’s biggest killers; cardiovascular disease (also known as heart disease). This extremely common disease claims one life every two seconds. Palm oil is also high inOmega 6 fatty acid, which is associated with arthritis, inflammation, and even breast and prostate cancer.
Some people argue that we need palm oil in this day and age in order to produce certain foods and products. But what about 30 years ago?
Back then, palm oil was virtually non-existent in most supermarkets in the first-world, so why is there such a high demand for it now? Unhealthy, processed foods, chemicals to add to cleaning products, and fuel. We don’t need palm oil.
Alternatives to palm oil include: canola oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil, but unfortunately none as cheap or efficient, which is why companies are reluctant to switch.
Did you know that each and everyone of us is fuelling one of the world’s biggest ecological disasters and acts of primate genocide in history?
Despite this amazing biodiversity and delicate web of species, AN AREA THE SIZE OF 300 FOOTBALL FIELDS OF RAINFOREST IS CLEARED EACH HOUR in Indonesia and Malaysiato make way for the production of one vegetable oil.
That’s 6 football fields destroyed each minute.This vegetable oil is called palm oil, and is found in hundreds of the everyday products, from baked goods and confectionery, to cosmetics and cleaning agents… many of which you buy in your weekly shopping.
Due to the massive international demand for palm oil, palm oil plantations are rapidly replacing the rainforest habitat of the critically endangered orangutan; with
Orangutan killed to make way for Oil plantation
over 90% of their habitat already destroyed in the last 20 years.
Orangutans are some of our closest relatives, sharing approximately 97% of theirDNA with humans. Orangutan means ‘Person of the jungle’ in the Indonesian language. It is estimated that 6 to 12 of these ‘jungle people’ are killed each day for palm oil.
These gentle creatures are either killed in the deforestation process, when they wonder into a palm oil plantation looking for food, or in the illegal pet trade after they’ve been captured and kept as pets in extremely poor conditions and provided with extremely poor nutrition.
Orangutans are considered as pests by the palm oil industry. In the deforestation process, workers are told that if wildlife gets in the way, they are to do whatever is necessary inorder to dispose them, no matter how inhumane.Often orangutans are run over by logging machinery, beat to death, buried alive or set on fire… all in the name of palm oil.
Government data has shown that over 50,000 orangutans have already died as a result of deforestation due to palm oil in the last two decades.Experts say that if this pattern of destruction and exploitation continues, these intelligent acrobats of the jungle will be extinct in the wild within 3 to 12 years (as early as 2015). It is also thought that their jungle habitat will be completely gone within 20 years (approximately 2033).
Around 50 million tons of palm oil is produced annually; with almost all of that being non-sustainable palm oil, that replaces 12 million hectares of dense, bio-diverse rainforest. That’s the equivalent landmass of North Korea deforested each year for palm oil alone!
Think of the consequences next time you do your weekly shopping; the consequences not only for orangutans and other animals, but for us as the human race; for we cannot survive without the rainforests either.
Pictures of Orangutans on site -Click link below: – Locked away, chained up, boxed in – Rescues by COP
“When we saw the big male approaching our camp we were afraid. So we quickly ran over to him, doused him in petrol and set him on fire.” – Fermin, a bulldozer driver at a logging sight in Borneo.”
Dedicated rescue teams, such as COP, devote their time to rescuing orangutans from logging sights, palm oil plantations, zoos/ animal parks and pet owners.
These strong teams face the reality of the palm oil crisis each day, being their first-hand to save the orangutans from their horrible fate.
Groups like COP rescue many orangutan from the local people who have been keeping the apes as pets in small cages, boxes or tied-up on chains.
Willie Smits, Sean Whyte and Richard Zimmerman are the pioneers in orangutan protection and conservation.
If you would like to help raise awareness about the palm oil crisis and raise funds for orangutan centres, take a look at the ideas and suggestions below.We must work together to give the orangutan a voice!:-http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/how-to-help.php
The animals are not only losing their habitat, but the roads constructed for the plantation workers expose the forest to poachers and animal smugglers.
Roads in a drastically deforested area close to Sentarum Lake National Park. The land has been cleared by PT KPC, a subsidiary of Sinar Mas Group, Indonesia’s largest palm oil producer Coordinates: N 000 05 22.83 – E 110 33 30.06 . By Daniel Whittingstall
These roads allow the poachers and smugglers to access the forest and capture the exotic wildlife within. These animals are often sold on the illegal pet trade market, used in the entertainment business, slaughtered in order to make medicines, killed for their fur, skin or ivory, or, in the case of Sunbears; put in small cages and milked for their bile (fluid in liver). Orangutans, along with many other endangered South-East Asian animal species, can now only be found living in fragmented pockets of remaining rainforest. This is not only due to habitat destruction, but also these sickening acts of cruelty and murder.
Below are just a few of the many wildlife species under threat due to palm oil.
“This is a must read for every wolf lover or those with a general interest. Having just read this myself, I thought I just had to share it! I only knew 4 or 5 facts…. it is extremely interesting & very insightful. Like, did you know that a Greek Scholar, said wolf dung could be used to treat both colic and cataracts; yuk! Did you know Wolves were once the most widely distributed land predator …the only place they couldn’t thrive were true deserts & rainforest!! Interesting or what??
66 Very Interesting Facts About Wolves; I bet you didn’t know!!
In order for a new wolf cub to urinate, its mother has to massage its belly with her warm tongue.e
The Vikings wore wolf skins and drank wolf blood to take on the wolf’s spirit in battle. They also viewed real wolves as battle companions or hrægifr (corpse trolls).f
The earliest drawings of wolves are in caves in southern Europe and date from 20,000 B.C.b
Wolves do not make good guard dogs because they are naturally afraid of the unfamiliar and will hide from visitors rather than bark at them.g
The autoimmune disease Systemic Lupus Erythmatosus (SLE), or lupus, literally means wolf redness, because in the eighteenth century, physicians believed the disease was caused by a wolf bite.f
Wolves are the largest members of the Canidae family, which includes domestic dogs, coyotes, dingoes, African hunting dogs, many types of foxes, and several kinds of jackals.a
Wolves run on their toes, which helps them to stop and turn quickly and to prevent their paw pads from wearing down.e
Wolves have about 200 million scent cells. Humans have only about 5 million. Wolves can smell other animals more than one mile (1.6 kilometers) away.b
A wolf pup’s eyes are blue at birth. Their eyes turn yellow by the time they are eight months old.e
Wolves tend to mate for life
A male and female that mate usually stay together for life. They are devoted parents and maintain sophisticated family ties.c
Wolf gestation is around 65 days. Wolf pups are born both deaf and blind and weigh only one pound.d
Under certain conditions, wolves can hear as far as six miles away in the forest and ten miles on the open tundra.a
Wolves were once the most widely distributed land predator the world has ever seen. The only places they didn’t thrive were in the true desert and rainforests.e
Among true wolves, two species are recognized: Canis lupus (often known simply as “gray wolves”), which includes 38 subspecies, such as the gray, timber, artic, tundra, lobos, and buffalo wolves. The other recognized species is the red wolf (Canis rufus), which are smaller and have longer legs and shorter fur than their relatives. Many scientists debate whether Canis rufus is a separate species.e
Immense power is concentrated in a wolf’s jaw. It has a crushing pressure of nearly 1,500 pound per square inch (compared with around 750 for a large dog). The jaws themselves are massive, bearing 42 teeth specialized for stabbing, shearing, and crunching bones. Their jaws also open farther than those of a dog.g
The North American gray wolf population in 1600 was 2 million. Today the population in North America is approximately 65,000. The world population is approximately 150,000.b
A hungry wolf can eat 20 pounds of meat in a single meal, which is akin to a human eating one hundred hamburgers.b
A wolf pack may contain just two or three animals, or it may be 10 times as large.e
Though many females in a pack are able to have pups, only a few will actually mate and bear pups. Often, only the alpha female and male will mate, which serves to produce the strongest cubs and helps limit the number of cubs the pack must care for. The other females will help raise and “babysit” the cubs.a
Lower-ranking males do not mate and often suffer from a condition of stress and inhibition that has been referred to as “psychological castration.” Lower-ranking females are sometimes so afraid of the alpha female that they do not even go into heat.d
An average size wolf produces roughly 1.2 cubic inches of sperm.b
Wolves evolved from an ancient animal called Mesocyon, which lived approximately 35 million years ago. It was a small dog-like creature with short legs and a long body. Like the wolf, it may have lived in packs.g
Wolves can swim distances of up to 8 miles (13 kilometers) aided by small webs between their toes.b
Between 1883 and 1918, more than 80,00 wolves were killed in Montana for bounty.d
Adolph Hitler (whose first name means “lead wolf”) was fascinated by wolves and sometimes used “Herr Wolf” or “Conductor Wolf” as an alias. “Wolf’s Gulch” (Wolfsschlucht), “Wolf’s Lair” (Wolfschanze), and “Werewolf” (Wehrwolf) were Hitler’s code names for various military headquarters.f
In the 1600s, Ireland was called “Wolf-land” because it had so many wolves. Wolf hunting was a popular sport among the nobility, who used the Irish wolfhound to outrun and kill wolves. The earliest record of an Irish wolfhound dates from Roman times in A.D. 391.f
Recent scientists suggest that labeling a wolf “alpha” or “omega” is misleading because “alpha” wolves are simply parent wolves. Using “alpha” terminology falsely suggests a rigidly forced permanent social structure.c
Although wolves are usually afraid of humans, they will respond to human howls
Biologists have found that wolves will respond to humans imitating their howls. The International Wolf Center in Minnesota even sponsors “howl nights” on which people can howl in the wilderness and hope for an answering howl.b
Wolves have historically been associated with sexual predation. For example, Little Red Riding Hood, who wears a red cape that proclaims her sexual maturity, is seduced off the moral path by a wolf. The sex link endures in common clichés, such as describing a predatory man as “a wolf” or a sexy whistle as a “wolf whistle.”f
Biologists describe wolf territory as not just spatial, but spatial-temporal, so that each pack moves in and out of each other’s turf depending on how recently the “no trespassing” signals were posted.d
The Greek god Apollo is sometimes called Apollo Lykios, the wolf-Apollo, and was associated with the wind and sun. In Athens, the land surrounding the temple of Apollo became known as the Lyceum, or the “wolf skin.”f
In 1927, a French policeman was tried for the shooting of a boy he believed was a werewolf. That same year, the last wild wolves in France were killed.f
When Europeans arrived in North America, wolves became the most widely hunted animal in American history and were nearly extinct by the beginning of the twentieth century. The U.S. Federal government even enacted a wolf eradication program in the Western states in 1915.a
Dire wolves (canis dirus) were prehistoric wolves that lived in North America about two million years ago. Now extinct, they hunted prey as large as woolly mammoths.e
A wolf can run about 20 miles (32 km) per hour, and up to 40 miles (56 km) per hour when necessary, but only for a minute or two. They can “dog trot” around 5 miles (8km) per hour and can travel all day at this speed.g
The smallest wolves live in the Middle East, where they may weigh only 30 pounds. The largest wolves inhabit Canada, Alaska, and the Soviet Union, where they can reach 175 pounds.e
Wolves howl to contact separated members of their group, to rally the group before hunting, or to warn rival wolf packs to keep away. Lone wolves will howl to attract mates or just because they are alone. Each wolf howls for only about five seconds, but howls can seem much longer when the entire pack joins in.c
A light-reflecting layer on a wolf’s eye called the tapetum lucidum (Latin for “bright tapestry”) causes a wolf’s eyes to glow in the dark and may also facilitate night vision. While a wolf’s color perception and visual acuity maybe be inferior to a human’s, a wolf’s eyes are extremely sensitive to movement.d
Ravens, or “wolf-birds,” seem to form social attachments with wolves
Where there are wolves, there are often ravens (sometimes known as “wolf-birds”). Ravens often follow wolves to grab leftovers from the hunt—and to tease the wolves. They play with the wolves by diving at them and then speeding away or pecking their tails to try to get the wolves to chase them.g
In ancient Rome, barren women attended the Roman festival Lupercalia (named for the legendary nursery cave of Romulus and Remus) in the hopes of becoming fertile.f
According to Pliny the Elder, a first-century Greek scholar, wolf teeth could be rubbed on the gums of infants to ease the pain of teething. He also reported that wolf dung could be used to treat both colic and cataracts.f
The Aztecs used wolf liver as an ingredient for treating melancholy. They also pricked a patient’s breast with a sharpened wolf bone in an attempt to delay death.f
During the Middle Ages, Europeans used powdered wolf liver to ease the pain of childbirth and would tie a wolf’s right front paw around a sore throat to reduce the swelling. Dried wolf meat was also eaten as a remedy for sore shins.f
The Greeks believed that if someone ate meat from a wolf-killed lamb, he or she ran a high risk of becoming a vampire.f
During the reign of Edward the Confessor, which began in 1042, a condemned criminal was forced to wear a wolf-head mask and could be executed on a “wolf’s head tree” or the gallows where a wolf might be hanged next to him.f
Werewolf (wer “man” + wulf “wolf”) trials (which can be distinguished from witchcraft trials) led to hundreds of executions during the 1600s. Men, women, and children—many of whom were physically and mentally handicapped—were put to death.f
The Cherokee Indians did not hunt wolves because they believed a slain wolves’ brothers would exact revenge. Furthermore, if a weapon were used to kill a wolf, the weapon would not work correctly again.f
In approximately the year 800, Charlemagne founded a special wolf-hunting force, the Louveterie, which remained active until 1789. It was reactivated in1814, and the last French wolf was killed in 1927.a
Britain’s King Edgar imposed an annual tax of 300 wolf skins on Wales. The Welsh wolf population was quickly exterminated.a
In 1500, the last wolf was killed in England. In 1770, Ireland’s last wolf was killed. In 1772, Denmark’s last wolf was killed.a
After hearing of “frightening spirits” in the woods with human features that walked on four legs, Reverend Singh in 1920 discovered a den with two cubs and two human girls, one around age 7 or 8, the other around 2. After being brought back to “civilization,” the younger one died within a year. Recently, authors have questioned the validity of this story as modern knowledge has revealed that wolf-like behavior is often seen in autistic or abused children.d
Sextus Placitus, in his fifth-century B.C. Medicina de quadrupedibus (Medicinals from Animals), claims that sleeping with a wolf’s head under one’s pillow would cure insomnia.f
In 1934, Germany became the first nation in modern times to place the wolf under protection. Influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844-1900) and Oswald Spengler’s (1880-1936) belief that natural predators possessed more vigor and virility than their prey, the protection was probably more for an “iconic” wolf than the actual wolf, particularly since the last wolves in Germany were killed in the middle of the nineteenth century.f
Wolves are one of the few animals that communicate using a great range of facial expressions
Unlike other animals, wolves have a variety of distinctive facial expressions they use to communicate and maintain pack unity.c
The Japanese word for wolf means “great god.”f
Between 6,000 and 7,000 wolf skins are still traded across the world each year. The skins are supplied mainly by Russia, Mongolia, and China and are used mainly for coats.a
In India, simple wolf traps are still used. These traps consist of a simple pit, disguised with branches or leaves. The wolves fall in and people then stone them to death.a
Wolves were the first animals to be placed on the U.S. Endangered Species Act list in 1973.a
John Milton’s famous poem “Lycidas” derives its title from the Greek for “wolf cub,” lykideus.f
In the Harry Potter universe, werewolf Remus Lupin’s name is directly related to the Latin word for wolf (lupus) and suggests an association with one of the founders of Rome, Remus, who was suckled by a wolf. The dual nature of Lupin’s werewolf nature suggests that in the Potter realm, there are two sides to everything.f
The last wolf in Yellowstone Park was killed in 1926. In 1995, wolves were reintroduced and, after just ten years, approximately 136 wolves now roam the Park in about 13 wolf packs.b
Currently, there are about 50,000 wolves in Canada; 6,500 in Alaska; and 3,500 in the Lower 48 States. In Europe, Italy has fewer than 300; Spain around 2,000; and Norway and Sweden combined have fewer than 80. There are about 700 wolves in Poland and 70,000 in Russia.b
— Posted November 15, 2009 “Which would mean any figures given can’t be true, numbers of wolves around the world have fallen drastically; so bear this is mind when reading figures etc.”
References
a Bailey, Jill. 2005. Animals under Threat: Gray Wolf. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library.
b Brandenburg, James and Judy Brandenburg. 2008. Face to Face with Wolves. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.
c Dutcher, Jim and Jamie Dutcher. 2005. Living with Wolves. Seattle, WA: Braided River.
d Grambo, Rebecca L. 2005. Wolf: Legend, Enemy, Icon. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, Inc.
e Leach, Michael. 2003. Wolf: Habitats, Life Cycles, Food Chains, Threats. New York, NY: Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers.
f Ménatory, Anne. 2005. The Art of Being a Wolf. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books.
g Reid, Mary E. 2005. Wolves and Other Wild Dogs. Chicago, IL: World Book, Inc.
SOUTH KOREA – Hundreds of thousands of animals have died in South Korea, the government said Wednesday, due to a heat wave that is heading for a three-week streak.
The dead animals include 40,780 ducks and 336 pigs. Such damages are often caused by power outages that can halt the ventilation and cooling systems at farms.
The country was forced to issue power shortage warnings for two consecutive days this week as the sweltering weather pushed up its energy consumption to new highs, driving down its electricity levels to what officials called “dangerous levels” of less than three million kilowatts.
“The number of animals killed may actually be greater, pending on a more thorough survey,” a ministry official said, noting damages may also grow from the continuing heat wave.
The country is also experiencing its longest streak of so-called tropical nights, where overnight temperatures stay above 25 C.
Royal Dutch Shell, the global energy giant, has already invested more than $4 billion in its Arctic drilling venture, but that was apparently not enough to purchase proper mooring in Alaska‘s Dutch Harbor and avoid a subsequent public relations mess.
Locals, including a shutterbug harbor captain, disputed that scenario and lit up Twitter and Facebook with photographs showing the rig all but on the beach.
“There’s no question it hit the beach,” Kristjan Laxfoss, the harbor captain, told The Associated Press on Sunday. “That ship was not coming any closer. It was on the beach.”
Judge for yourself:
Whatever the reality, and while Shell plans to send divers down later this week to inspect the hull, no damage to the rig has yet been reported, and the incident appears to have had no environmental impact.
But for a company embarking on what is arguably among the most watched and most contentious oil and gas ventures in recent memory, the image of shore-based personnel scurrying toward a drifting and uncontrolled rig is embarrassing at best, and inauspicious at worst.
It is also a chilling reminder that, despite the most careful planning, things can go awry.
“Our goal remains flawless operations,” the company declared in a statement posted to its website. “Even a ‘near miss’ is unacceptable. While an internal investigation will determine why the Discoverer slipped anchor, we are pleased with the speed and effectiveness of the mitigation measures we had in place.”
Opponents of Arctic drilling were unmoved. “For us,” said Travis Nichols, a spokesman for Greenpeace, “it’s a clear warning sign that Shell isn’t prepared to go up there.”
“Up there” is the unforgiving Chuchki and Beaufort seas, still more than 1,000 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor, along Alaska’s northern coast. That’s where the Noble Discoverer and its sister rig, the Kulluk — along with dozens of support vessels — aim to soon hunker down, between 20 and 70 miles offshore, where they will begin poking exploratory holes in the seabed in the hope of finding oil.
With visions of oil-soaked beaches and BP’s flaming Deepwater Horizon rig still fresh in the minds of many Americans — as are more than two decades of environmental impacts arising form the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound — opposition to Shell’s Arctic ambitions has been fierce. In response, the company has pulled out all the stops in touting its experience in northern waters, including exploration wells it plumbed in the Chuchki and Beaufort the 1980s and ’90s, before low oil prices prompted it to focus on the Gulf.
Shell has also argued that, unlike BP’s operation in the Gulf of Mexico, which was groping in waters nearly a mile deep and drilling to depths of 18,000 feet, the Beaufort and Chuchki operations will be working in comparative shallows of 140 feet or so, and drilling to roughly 10,000 feet or less. Well pressures in the Arctic are also expected to be far lower, the company has said, making the sort of wild, unchecked gusher that BP experienced unlikely.
Photo: Courtesy of NASA. Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). From Africa Atlas of our Changing Environment (2008); Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA), UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya.
Deforestation in Niger
Pctured here is the Baban Rafi Forest, which NASA calls the most significant piece of woodland in the Maradi Department of Niger. This area is located on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert in Africa. On the left is Jan. 12, 1976. On the right, Feb. 2, 2007. NASA points out that the darker green areas in the 1976 photo represent the natural landscape of savannah and Sahelian vegetation. In the 2007 photo, these areas are greatly reduced, largely because the population in the area quadrupled. Agricultural demands are a major reason deforestation has increased so dramatically in the past decades. As in the case here, farmers often use these lands at near-continual production, giving the land virtually no time to recover its fertility.
Here we see the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. On the left is Dec. 28, 1973. On the right is a snapshot taken Jan. 22, 2010. These photos perhaps best exemplify the political and economic strife that can exacerbate deforestation in a region. In the 2010 image, you can see significant deforestation on the Haiti side, with less occurring in the Dominican Republic. Often, the worst examples of deforestation often occur in areas in desperate need of political stability, as rising populations and unstable economies can lead to a greater encroachment on undeveloped lands. NASA calls Haiti embroiled in crisis “without parallel,” plagued by both a 2004 political coup against then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and the more recent devastating earthquake of 2010 that killed more than 300,000 people.
Deforestation in Paraguay
There are two different kinds of rain forest, temperate and tropical. Both rain forests are notable for having a high accumulation of rainfall when compared to plant growth. Temperate rain forests generally have a lower rate of evaporation and cooler temperatures. They are much rarer and occur in coastal regions at 37-60° latitude. Both kinds of rain forests are found on every continent except Antarctica, and only 50 percent of these forests remain on Earth.
Here we see part of the South American Atlantic Forest, which NASA calls one of the most threatened tropical rain forests on Earth. On the left is Feb. 23, 1973. On the right is Jan. 10, 2008. In almost three decades, the forest has been cut down to only 7 percent of its original size. The forest runs along the Atlantic coast through parts of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. However, it is the Paraguay part of the forest that has been most decimated. Tropical rain forests of our planet play a key part in cooling the planet. And this is not just South America’s problem. “Tropical deforestation will disrupt rainfall pattern far outside the tropics, including China, northern Mexico, and the south-central United States,”writes NASA.
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