Archives for August 2006

Humane or Organic Meat?

This is a GREAT summary of meat labeling. If you are a carnivore or an omnivore you should get the scoop so you can put pressure on your local stores and make a difference in what you purchase. Believe it or not, conscious choices through your purchasing power makes a good impact…because money talks.

An animal kingdom that spans several countries…conservation in Africa is complex. War, ivory trafficking, and dismal economic issues create problems most urbanites outside of the country are not aware of.

Hmm, disovering a new species on eBay? This news article talks about a seashell that is suspected to be an incorrectly identified species of sea urchin.

Back to urban wildlife, there have been a few run ins with black bears in South Carolina. Two dogs are missing and a couple actually escaped from a mother bear. Check out the comments on this article, too.

A few years back I traveled to Missouri and found that the captive elephant herd at a zoo actually broke the fencing to let the delinquent elephant calf out to run around. They were tired of his antics. Here is an article about baby proofing an elephant enclosure at Dickerson Park Zoo.

In the past I’ve often been in trouble from colleagues when I’ve mentioned the memory or emotions of animals. In the animal profession this is often attributed to “anthropomorhism” or attributing human emotions and feelings to animals. How arrogant! First we are animals, second just because other animals are different does not mean they don’t have emotions. Dogs are famous for reading the emotional states or their owners and therapy animals are very astute…anyway, here is an article that discusses that elephant dynamics related to sick and dying pachyderms will be published in a professional journal soon. The pictures will strike a cord.

Marine World Africa USA is celebrating its 45th anniversary. I worked for one of the former owner’s of Africa USA. Marine World has always been an innovator with land animal care and well respected trainers and handlers such as Ron Whitfield who now cares for his charges at a new organization.

A cancer that spreads from animal to animal?

Top dogs fight terrorism and more

Regular readers may remember my link and discussion about dog park aggression and the dog that was killed by another in the past 60 days or so. I explained that I run a supervised Puppy Club and Canine Club and no problems occur because canines are guests in my group and so mind their manners. This article talks about the escalation of dog park perils…and now classes are held to help mitigate the problems through owner education.

Is something lurking in your sewer or local river? Don’t dump pets of any kind as they pose all sorts of problems and it is very inhumane.

Need a fashionable answer to crating? Here is a designer dog crate that also functions as furniture.

This kitty got some gold tooth caps.

Do you think dolphins are dim-wits? The article talks about recent research indicating that they are not as smart as some have thought. The problem with scientific studies is that they look at singular aspects and not the whole picture. You can train anything but the idea presented in the article about the goldfish jumping out of the tank in comparison to a dolphin not…is pretty darn stupid. Decide for yourself.

Wildlife Invasions, Trafficking, Management

In other parts of the world endangered wildlife often are a profitable way to make ends meat. This piece centers on Vietnam touches on wildlife trafficking.

This article on urban wildlife has some interesting facts.

My favorite commentary today is this one from Maine on the challenges of living with urban wildlife. When we invade the territories of wildlife, unlike humans, they adapt. We often then label them nusances, never mind that we have broken up their trails, destroyed their food sources, and damaged the local environment…not to mention created concrete jungles to replace their normal habitat.