Thursday, July 24, 2008

Chinese uses Live Fish as Ornaments


There are endless examples of man's cruelty against animals. Take an example of the live fish ornaments, that are getting popular among teenage girls in Chengdu, China. The fish ornament, which costs about 20p each, are very popular among girls as necklaces or bag decorations. How can someone wear a live, innocent creature as pendent?

In this weird ornament, a live fish is kept inside a sealed plastic container, which contains water, fish food and two solid oxygen balls. According to the manufacturer, the fish can live up to three months inside the container and can be released in ponds or tanks by breaking open the pendants.

Instead of swimming in open water, the creature struggles inside a tiny container. Is it not cruelty against the fish? I think, using animals as ornaments is a sign of poor mental health. Experts from the Sichuan Provincial Marine Life Research Center has already protested against this upcoming trend and demanded it to be banned. Yes, it must be banned and the guilty must be punished.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Veterinarian saves a Hooked Shark


David Blyde, an Australian veterinarian saved a 10-foot long gray nurse shark that swallowed a grappling meter-long hook. Well, to release the hook, the veterinarian had to put his shoulder between the jaws of the shark. Take a look at the picture.


Divers spotted the hooked shark on Monday, as it swam with a group of others near Byron Bay, 500 miles north of Sydney. After the animal was captured and placed in a holding tank, rescuers pushed a stiff plastic pipe into the shark's throat. Then, Blyde reached down through the pipe to free the hook, that was stuck in the animal's digestive tract.
The gray nurse shark is one of Australia's most endangered marine species after being fished to near-extinction, with some estimates running as low a fewer than 300 animals left in the wild. The gray nurse shark is generally much smaller than the more aggressive great white sharks and not considered a threat to humans. Still, its bite could still do serious damage. So, Blyde did a great job by risking his life, to save the endangered animal. Link


Saturday, July 19, 2008

Hundreds of Penguins found Dead in Brazil


According to Yahoo news, more than 400 penguins, most of them young, have been found dead on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, over the past two months. These penguins were swept by ocean currents from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia. Though this is a common scene in the years, this year's number has shocked animal lovers.


Eduardo Pimenta, superintendent for the state coastal protection and environment agency in the resort city of Cabo Frio thinks that pollution is the main cause of this situation. The state's zoo has already received about 100 penguins for treatment this year and many of them are drenched in petroleum. On the other hand, Thiago Muniz, a veterinarian at the Niteroi Zoo believes that overfishing has forced the penguins to swim further from shore to find fish to eat and it leaves them more vulnerable to getting caught up in the strong ocean currents.


But biologist Erli Costa of Rio de Janeiro's Federal University thinks that weather patterns could be involved in the mass death of penguins. "I think instead we're seeing more young and sick penguins because of global warming, which affects ocean currents and creates more cyclones, making the seas rougher," he said. YAHOO!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Missing Dog found after 5 Years


Take a look at the dog in the picture above. This is Rocco, a beagle, which went missing in New York five years ago. In the picture, the little girl is Natalie Villacis, the owner of Rocco. Natalie desperately searched her dog in the neighborhood with posters. But she failed and remained heartbroken until this week when a dog shelter in Hinesville, Georgia, reunited Rocco with Natalie.

Rocco was found walking down a road near Ford Stewart, a local army base in Georgia. The dog shelter successfully reunited Rocco with his family with the help of an identity microchip under his skin.

Cristina Villacis, Natalie’s mother, said that the family was shocked to get a call last week from a shelter in Hinesville, Ga., informing them that their long-lost pup had been found after half a decade. It was all because of the microchip implanted in the dog.

Natalie is happy to get back her loving dog. But, the question is how Rocco actually got all the way to Georgia, which is 850 miles away from New York? I think that this will remain a mystery!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The One-horned Rhino


The Indian Rhinoceros or the Great One-horned Rhinoceros or the Asian One-horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is a beautiful mammal found in Assam and parts of Nepal, Bhutan. Because of illegal poaching one-horned rhino is now an endangered animal.

The Indian Rhinoceros was the first rhinoceros known to Europeans. Rhinoceros from the Greek, "rhino" meaning nose and "ceros" meaning horn. Unicornis is from the Latin, "uni" meaning one and "cornis" also meaning horn. The Indian Rhinoceros is monotypic, meaning there are no distinct subspecies. Rhinoceros unicornis was the type species for the rhinoceros family, first classified by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758.


In size One-Horned Rhinoceros is equal to that of the white rhino in Africa. Not including the white rhino, it is the largest of all rhinos, and probably the one with the best armor, along with the Javan rhino's armor. Fully grown males are larger than females in the wild, weighing from 2200- 3000 kg (4,800 - 6,600 lb). Female Indian rhinos weigh about 1600 kg. The Indian Rhino is from 1.7 to 2m tall (5.7 to 6.7 feet) and can be up to 4m (13 feet) long. The record-sized specimen of this rhino was approximately 3500 kg.

The Great One-Horned Rhinoceros has a single horn, which is present in both males and females, but not on newborn young. The horn is pure keratin and starts to show after about 6 years. In most adults the horn reaches a length of about 25 centimeters, but have been recorded up to 57.2 centimeters in length. Its horn is naturally black.


Rhinoceros has thick, silver-brown skin which becomes pinkish near the large skin folds that cover its body. Males develop thick neck-folds. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps. It has very little body hair, aside from eyelashes, ear-fringes and tail-brush.

The Indian Rhinoceros can run at speeds of up to 25 mph for short periods of time and is also an excellent swimmer. It has an excellent sense of hearing and smell and relatively poor eyesight. In captivity, four are known to have lived over 40 years, the oldest living to be 47.

At present, there are less than 2500 one-horned rhinos in the world. The Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park in Assam, Pobitora reserve forest in Assam, Orang National park of Assam, Laokhowa reserve forest of Assam and Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal are the natural homes of One-horned Rhinoceros.

Indian rhinos have few natural enemies, except for tigers. Tigers sometimes kill unguarded calves, but adult rhinos are less vulnerable due to their size. Humans are the only other animal threat. The Indian rhino is illegally poached for its horn, which some cultures in East Asia believe has healing and potency powers and therefore is used for Traditional Chinese Medicine and other Oriental medicines.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Giant Crab captured in Britain


Earlier this month, a British man captured a giant crab in Lyme Bay near Lyme Regis, Dorset. The crab had a shell width of 30.48 centimeters (12 inches) and it weighed 63.82kilograms (17lbs). It measures 2ft across and is thought to be the largest edible crab ever captured in British waters. Take a look at the picture above.

Paul Worsley, 39, who managed to haul the creature from the sea bed during a diving trip in Lyme Bay, said: "I couldn't believe it when I saw it. I've seen and caught crabs before but never one as big as this."