The Dingo Is Smarter Than Pet Dogs
21 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Aborigines, animals, Australia, Canis dingo), Canis familiaris, Canis lupus, dingo, Dog, dog-like, domesticated dogs, Pet, smarter, South Australia, studies, Wild, wild animals, wolf-like, wolves
Studies in the past have shown that wolves are smarter than domesticated dogs when it comes to solving spatial problems, and now new research has shown that dingoes also solve the problems well.The dingo is considered a “pure” prehistoric dog, which was brought to Australia tens of thousands of years ago by the Aborigines. While they have in the past been associated with humans, they have adapted to surviving “wild” in the Australian outback.
The dingo lies somewhere between the wolf, its ancient ancestor, and the domestic or pet dog, and has cognitive differences between the two. There has been little research done on dingoes, even though studies would aid in the understanding of the evolution of dogs, and it was unknown whether the dingo was more “wolf-like” or “dog-like”. Researchers in South Australia have now subjected the Australian dingo (Canis dingo) to the classic “detour task,” which has been used by previous researchers to assess the abilities of wolves (Canis lupus) and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to solve non-social, spatial problems.
The detour task involves placing a treat behind a transparent or wire mesh fence. The dog can see the food but cannot get to it directly and has to find its way along the fence and through a door and then double back to get the food. More
Top 5 Wackiest Sports With Animals
11 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Alaskan Husky Race, animals, Camel wrestling, circus, Elephant Basketball, Greyhound Racing, human entertainment, Insect Fight, sports, Top 5 Wackiest Sports With Animals, wackiest
It is usual tradition for people to let animals play for human entertainment. There are several animal Sports being shown in circus. But there are some wacky sports with animals thats goes beyond imagination.
We personally don’t support this kind of sports – you’ll be the judge
Camel wrestling
We have seen man wrestle against one another. Here we can see two camels wrestle against one another. This is a sport that is one of the famous in Turkey. This wrestling is conducted between two camels of same class of weight. The camels are trained with many tricks to make the opponent animal the other camel retreat, scream, or fall.
Greyhound Racing
Greyhounds are a breed of dogs, which were used for hunting in early days. These dogs are tall and ferocious. In this sport greyhound dogs are trained to compete against one another. Its a pride for the owner of the dog that wins. This sport is famous in western countries and many organizations and animal welfare societies are struggling to ban this sport.
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Five Scary Devil Animals
05 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: African devil flower mantis, ancient monsters, animals, appearance, brute, Devil, devil animals, Five, Five Scary Devil Animals, furious, Hickory Horned Devil, Moloch horridus, Sand devil, Scary, Tasmanian devil, Thorny Devil, unfriendly
The devil animals I am going to list down are not the pets of some furious and ancient monsters we have been hearing about since our childhood. Clearing this out only because I myself thought of them to be some fire breathing and ugly looking wacky creatures until I finally googled to get more closer to reality. Well these animals are not even devilish by nature but their brute appearance counts for their rather unfriendly name sure to get a frowning expression for the first time you hear about them. They are weird no doubt but they are unusual devil animals and hence on my list.
Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus)
An amazing Australian reptile quite evidently owes its name to the thorns on its body. The mini dragon grows up to 20 cm (8 in) in length and can live up to 20 years. It can camouflage according to the desert shades and its thorny scales are a defense against predators. What is more interesting about the creature is that it consumes any droplet that falls on its body. The drop runs down the body of the creature and is channeled to its mouth. The small thorny devil can eat some thousands of ants in one day.
Hickory Horned Devil
The Hickory horned devil is a caterpillar of the Regal Moth, a North American moth in the saturniidae family. It looks dangerous with its horns and thorns but is harmless like any other caterpillars. The spines, though prickly, do not sting. The huge black-tipped red horns are actually borne during their sixth and final development stage and grow upto 15cm long. Just before pupation it changes its color to turquoise and burrow into the dirt to pupate in a well formed chamber.
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Heroic Animals More Common Than Thought
02 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: animals, Ants, Common, Communicative, Dolphins, Dr Elise Nowbahari, Dr Nowbahari, fruit bats, Heroic, Integrative Biology, Monkeys, selflessly, University of Paris, willingness
Creatures including dolphins, monkeys, fruit bats and even ants are all capable of selflessly coming to the rescue of others, researchers found.Dr Elise Nowbahari, from the University of Paris, said there is mounting evidence that willingness to go to the aid of others at personal risk is common in a range of species and far from a solely human trait.
Dolphins endanger themselves to rescue trapped dolphins, lifting an injured dolphin to the water’s surface to help it breathe, she said.Monkeys will drive away an attacker from a vulnerable female or infants and female fruit bats help other fruit bats in labour to ease the birth.
She also said that ants frequently help other ants from the same colony if they are caught in traps or by a predator – though their heroism does not extend to helping ants from other colonies whose actual cries for help are ignored.One of the biggest internet hits is a film of buffalo fighting off lions that had attacked one of their young in the Kruger National Park in South Africa.
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Hippopotamus On Menu At Beijing Zoo
31 May 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Animal Welfare, animals, Beijing Zoo, Bin Feng Tang, Chang Jiwen, China Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese, chinese medicine, Crocodile, exotic menu, Ge Rui, hippopotamus, humanitarian, Kangaroo, Legal Daily newspaper, Menu, ostrich egg, Peacock, Scorpion, shark fin, traditional, Zheng Yuanjie
Visitors to Beijing zoo are warned not to feed the animals, but they are encouraged to eat them at a restaurant that offers crocodile and scorpion on its exotic menu.After watching the beasts in their cages, diners at the zoo’s restaurant can gnaw on the webbed toes of a hippopotamus, chew a kangaroo tail, nibble a deer’s penis or slurp down a bowl of ant soup.
The sale of the dishes has caused outrage since it was reported by the Legal Daily newspaper earlier this week, with conservationists condemning the practice.
“It is utterly inappropriate for a zoo to sell such items,” said Ge Rui of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. “One of the zoo’s missions is to foster love of animals and a desire to protect them. But by selling the meat of caged beasts, this zoo stimulates consumption and increases pressure on the animals in the wild. It is socially irresponsible.”Chang Jiwen, a legal expert at the China Academy of Social Sciences who is trying to draft an animal protection law, said: “Although it is legal, I don’t think it is humanitarian. It is very inappropriate and immoral of them to sell such products. It is against the aim of the zoo.”
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Wildlife Death Toll From Oil Spill Still Uncertain
29 May 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: animals, Atmospheric Administration's, Death, Endangered, Federal, Gulf of Mexico, Kemp's ridley variety, National Oceanic, Officials, Oil Spill, Rowan Gould, Wildlife, Wildlife Service
Federal officials say they don’t know whether a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico killed 189 sea turtles, birds and other animals found dead since it started.The total includes 154 sea turtles, primarily the endangered Kemp’s ridley variety, plus 12 dolphins and 23 birds.
But in a phone news conference Tuesday, officials said they don’t know if any of the animals were killed by oil or the chemicals being used to disperse it.
Barbara Schroeder of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries program says necropsies have not detected oil in the bodies of the sea turtles.
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Can You Give a Dog Ibuprofen?
21 Apr 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: animals, arthritis, Cats, Dogs, Dosage, Human, Medication, Pain, Probably, Toxic, Veterinarians
A: Ibuprofen is not labeled for animal use and should not be given to your dog or cat. Many people think it’s safe to give an animal any medication that they take themselves, but this is not the case. Even if an animal is in pain, giving human pain medication to your pet can actually do more harm than good.
I’ve met many pet owners who have given their dogs Ibuprofen to relieve the pain of arthritis. However, large dosages of this pain reliever can be toxic to dogs.
It’s very important to always discuss any concerns about your pet’s health with your veterinarian instead of giving your pet drugs yourself. Administering drugs yourself, though probably well-intentioned, is never a good idea.
The Zorro Cat
19 Apr 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Amazing, animals, Baby, Cat, Pet, World's, Zorro
The standing cat is back and he’s brought his friend.
First Animals Found That Live Without Oxygen
14 Apr 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: animals, Bacteria, BMC, BMC Biology, Düsseldorf University, Enviorment, First, Found, Germany, Hydrogenosomes, Inhabit, Loricifera, Lovecraftian, Marine-Sediment, Mediterranean, Metazoan, Muck, Oxygen, Roberto Danovaro, seafloor, Single-Celled, Slovakia, Taxonomical, Without
In the muck of the deep Mediterranean seafloor, scientists have found the first multicellular animals capable of surviving in an entirely oxygen-free environment.Some types of bacteria and other single-celled organisms can live without oxygen, but nothing as complex had been found as these three species of Loricifera, a group of marine-sediment dwellers who inhabit one of Earth’s most extreme and little-known environments.
“The discovery of these life forms opens new perspectives for the study of metazoan life in habitats lacking molecular oxygen,” wrote researchers led by Roberto Danovaro, a marine biologist at Italy’s Polytechnic University of Marche, in a study published April 6 in BMC Biology.
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India Needs More Parks And Corridors For Long-Term Survival Of Its Animals
14 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: animal population, animals, asiatic lion, blackbuck, Duke University, Elephants, gir forest, Goat, human population, India, international, jackals, mammals, nilgiri, parks, Pigs, Scientists, species, survival, team, Tigers, Wildlife Conservation Society.
In a new study, an international team of scientists has determined that the long-term survival of many large species in the midst of rapid economic growth in India will require improving existing protected areas and establishing new protected areas and corridors.The study, carried out by researchers at the Wildlife Conservation Society, Duke University, and other groups, found that country’s protected area system and human cultural tolerance for some species are key to conserving the subcontinent’s tigers, elephants, and other large mammals.
The researchers created models to estimate extinction probability for 25 large mammal species, determining current species distributions along with more than 30,000 historical records from natural history, taxidermy and museum records dating back 200 years.The models were used to gauge how factors such as protected areas, forest cover, elevation, and human demographics, and cultural attitudes impact extinction predictions.The results of the analysis found that all 25 species would experience some level of local extinction due to a variety of factors such as habitat loss and human population growth and development.
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