Great Bustard Comeback Boosted By New Chicks
13 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Boosted, breakthrough, David Waters, Great Bustard, Great Bustard Group, large species, New Chicks, organisers, project, Salisbury Plain, UK, Wiltshire
A bid to reintroduce the great bustard to the UK has scored another success with four wild chicks hatching in this country so far this year. It is the second year that the internationally endangered birds, which have been reared in captivity and released on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, over the past few years, have successfully bred.
The large species, whose males can stand over a metre tall (40 inches) and with a wingspan of up to 2.4m (7.75 ft) had disappeared from the UK by 1832 after being hunted to extinction. The reintroduced birds come from Russia, where eggs are rescued from destruction by farming, and are reared by keepers operating glove puppets, simulating the act of being fed by their mothers, before being flown to the UK at about six weeks old.
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Mathmos Blob And Flow Touch Sensitive Light Pets
02 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Blob, Flow, Light, Mathmos, pets, Sensitive, Touch, UK
Check out these Mathmos Blob and Flow Touch Sensitive Light Pets. The eyes of the creature light up each time you touch it. Wanna wake up your pet? Just fondle it and it will wake up. You can also make it wink, go a little crazy or put it back to sleep. But that’s not all…They come in blue-eyed Blob and feisty Flow models and are powered by USB or through an adapter. Kinda cute, but also creepy. Those in the UK can pick one up for £35. But really, don’t you have anything better to do?
Crufts Dog Show Judges On Alert For Competitors In Makeup
15 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: beauty treatmenst for dogs, Birmingham, British Kennel Club., Canine, competitors, contouring blush, cosmetics, cruft, dog show, dyes, England, enhanced, eyeshadow, grey area, hair removal creme, jugges, make up, particularly vigilant this year, telegraph, the world's largest dog show, UK, Westminster Dog Show
Judges at Crufts, the world’s largest dog show, are on high alert this year for canine competitors whose looks have been enhanced with cosmetics, reports the (U.K.) Telegraph. We’re not talking blue eyeshadow or contouring blush, but the use of products such as hair removal creams and color dyes.
“Although competition rules do not specifically ban the use of cosmetics and other beauty treatments on dogs, they do forbid anything that alters an animal’s appearance during dog shows, to gain extra marks from judges, who award prizes for entries that best match the ‘ideal’ characteristics of each breed,” reports the Telegraph. Dog owners who show hairless Chinese crested dogs have been suspected of using “female depilatory creams” to rid their champion canines of excess hair. Owners of other breeds have been suspected of using lipstick, eyeliner and Clearasil acne cream.
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Chinese Dog Is Up to Two Butts a Day
06 Mar 2010 8 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: ashtray, Beijing, Chinese Dog Is Up to Two Butts a Day, cigrates, daily mail, Dog, eat butts, Mrs. Li, nicorette, nicorette gum, puffs, smokes, smoking, tobacco, trasure, UK
Not having opposable thumbs makes Treasure’s addiction a bit of a project. “I have to light one in the ashtray and let her stay beside to suck the smoke,” Treasure’s owner, Mrs. Li of Beijing, tells the U.K. Daily Mail. “She needs at least two cigarettes a day.” OK, two cigarettes doesn’t sound too bad. It’s better than two packs. But then, these are little cocker-spaniel lungs. Plus, “She eats all the butts, swallows down the tobacco and then spits out the rest.” Gross.
How Treasure actually picked up the nasty habit in the first place in unclear. Mrs. Li told the Daily Mail, “When people smoked she would chase them for the smell,” but that doesn’t address why Treasure’s owners started letting her steal puffs from the ashtray.
So how exactly do you get a dog to quit smoking anyway? You can’t offer it Nicorette gum. You’re can’t shave its leg and slap a patch on it. We think Treasure’s got some cold turkey in her future.
How The Butterflies Got Their Spots
28 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Butterflies, Common, Darwin’s, delicate butterflies, Genetics, H. erato, H. melpomene, hotspots, Mechanism, mimic, PLoS Genetics, Scientists, South America, Spots., toxins, UK, University of Cambridge, unpalatable., US, Zoology
How two butterfly species have evolved exactly the same striking wing colour and pattern has intrigued biologists since Darwin’s day. Now, scientists at Cambridge have found “hotspots” in the butterflies’ genes that they believe will explain one of the most extraordinary examples of mimicry in the natural world.Heliconius, or passion-vine butterflies, live in the Americas — from the southern United States to southern South America. Although they cannot interbreed, H. melpomene and H. erato have evolved to mimic one another perfectly.
These delicate butterflies have splashes of red and yellow on their black wings, signaling to birds that they contain toxins and are extremely unpalatable. They mimic one another’s colour and pattern to reinforce these warning signals.Scientists have studied these butterflies since the 1860s as a classic case of evolution in action, but only now is modern sequencing technology unlocking the underlying genetics.The Cambridge-led team of researchers from UK and US universities, which has been breeding the butterflies in Panama for the past decade, has been searching for the genes responsible for the butterflies’ wing patterns and the answer to the question of whether the same genes in two different species are responsible for the mimicry.
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Are High Speed Elephants Running Or Walking
26 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Are High Speed Elephants Running Or Walking, Belgium, Elephants, Giovanni Cavagna, Heglund, Joakim Genin, Lampang, Norman Heglund, Patrick Willems, Richard Lair, Royal Veterinary College, Running, running or walking, Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, Thailand, UK, Université catholique de Louvain, Walking
Most animals don’t think anything of breaking into a run: they switch effortlessly from walking to a high-speed bouncing run. But what about elephants? Their sheer size makes it impossible for them to bounce up in the air at high speeds. So how are high-speed elephants moving: are they running or walking?
At a first glance, fast-moving elephants look as if they are walking, according to John Hutchinson from the Royal Veterinary College, UK. But closer analysis of elephant footfall patterns by Hutchinson suggested that speedy elephants’ front legs walk while their hind legs may trot. Norman Heglund from the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium, realised that the only way to resolve the conundrum was to measure the immense forces exerted on the animals by the ground as they move and found that elephants run in some senses, but not in others.
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Pet Prozac To Treat Depression
25 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: 'canine compulsive disorder, .Roger Mugford, animals, anti-depressant, anti-depression pill, Behaviour, Cats, chewing, Clare Moyles, compulsive pacing, depression, Dogs, dribbling, Eli Lilly, Europe, excessive licking, mentally-disturbed pets, Pet Prozac, Pet Prozac To Treat Depression, pets, prozac, Psychologist, Reconcile, Sainsbury's Bank, Sainsbury's pet insurance, separation anxiety, Steve Connell, tail-chasing, The American Food and Drug Administration, Therapy, UK, US, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, whimpering
Dog owners will soon be able to give their pets Prozac to treat their depression.The once-a-day chewable tablet, which tastes of beef, has been launched in the US and will soon be available in the UK after being granted a licence.Its makers say it can help cure ‘canine compulsive disorder’, which apparently affects thousands of dogs and causes excessive licking, whimpering and tail-chasing
The drug, called Reconcile, is also designed to curb the compulsive pacing, chewing and dribbling which its makers claim is a result of depression brought on by their owners’ long absences.The anti-depressant Prozac has been used to cure compulsive behaviour in humans, and works by increasing the brain’s levels of serotonin, a ‘happiness’ chemical.Trials involving more than 660 mentally-disturbed pets in Europe and the US produced improvements in behaviour within eight weeks.
Eli Lilly, the drug’s US manufacturer, said: ‘Treatment for companion animals is a relatively new area for us.’They point to research which shows that as many as 8 per cent of dogs suffer from canine compulsive disorder.Critics say gods are now being diagnosed with ‘lifestyle’ illnesses so that drugs can be marketed to treat them.Roger Mugford, an animal psychologist, said: ‘Most breakthroughs in dog behaviour are achieves by carrying a titbit and using it wisely, not by drugs.’Reconcile has now been granted a licence by the UK’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate.However, it was first licensed in the US three years ago for separation anxiety from being left alone for long periods.
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Man's Best Friend In Life And Death
21 Feb 2010 3 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Cornwall, England, Man's Best Friend In Life And Death, U.S., UK
UK Pet Owners Making Plans to Spend Eternity With Their Furry-Tailed Companions A loyal dog can be as cherished a companion as there is. A horse can live up to 30 years and bring its owner joy every day. Cats? Well, cat lovers will defend their beloved, fuzzy friends to their dying day. And even then, many are determined not to let go of the leash.
In the U.K., an increasing number of pet owners are making plans to be buried alongside their furry-tailed companions.
Penny Lally runs the West Penwith Woodland Burial Place in Cornwall, England. She started her business as a natural cemetery for people in 2001 on her own farm’s property. She maintains some plots for people alone, but others are open to people and their pets. The only thing that differentiates the grave sites from those of people are the headstones. “A lot of people who wanted to be buried here also wanted to be buried with their pets,” she says.
“British people love their pets. They live as part of the family,” she said. “They give a massive amount of love back so why not?”Once each plot is full a tree is planted atop each grave. Eventually, the plots grow into naturally wooded forests which are designated as Memorial Gardens. Lally says she is receiving more and more requests to purchase these kinds of plots for people and their pets.
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Man's Best Friend In Life And Death
21 Feb 2010 3 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Cornwall, England, Man's Best Friend In Life And Death, U.S., UK
UK Pet Owners Making Plans to Spend Eternity With Their Furry-Tailed Companions A loyal dog can be as cherished a companion as there is. A horse can live up to 30 years and bring its owner joy every day. Cats? Well, cat lovers will defend their beloved, fuzzy friends to their dying day. And even then, many are determined not to let go of the leash.
In the U.K., an increasing number of pet owners are making plans to be buried alongside their furry-tailed companions.
Penny Lally runs the West Penwith Woodland Burial Place in Cornwall, England. She started her business as a natural cemetery for people in 2001 on her own farm’s property. She maintains some plots for people alone, but others are open to people and their pets. The only thing that differentiates the grave sites from those of people are the headstones. “A lot of people who wanted to be buried here also wanted to be buried with their pets,” she says.
“British people love their pets. They live as part of the family,” she said. “They give a massive amount of love back so why not?”Once each plot is full a tree is planted atop each grave. Eventually, the plots grow into naturally wooded forests which are designated as Memorial Gardens. Lally says she is receiving more and more requests to purchase these kinds of plots for people and their pets.
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Amy Winehouse Dumped Her Moggis
15 Feb 2010 4 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Amy Winehouse, Animal Shelter, Camden, DIONNE BROMFIELD, Jamaica, moggies, UK
AMY WINEHOUSE has handed over her beloved moggies to a cattery because she was struggling to look after them.Days before she jetted off to Jamaica on Monday, Wino called an animal shelter and asked them to collect her pets.She once had up to 11 cats running wild around her pad and recently gave two of them to her goddaughter, singer DIONNE BROMFIELD, to lighten the load.
A source said: “Amy was pretty upset about it because she loved them dearly, but she had to give them up.They were climbing all over the place, breeding and generally getting out of control.”The catwoman – who often refers to herself as a lioness – is clearing the decks at her home in Hadley Wood, north London, to prepare for a move back to Camden once she returns back in the UK.
I told you earlier this week how her ex-husband BLAKE FIELDER-CIVIL wants to join her in the Caribbean to celebrate his curfew coming to an end.Then she’ll have a new animal to look after.
ezquara
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