Just Animal

Most Expensive Dog in the World

2009-09-14T07:09:00.001-07:00

There is no doubt that dog is a man's best friend. But how much you will pay for a dog? According to a news, a Tibetan mastiff with the catchy name of Yangtze River Number Two has reportedly been sold to a woman in the Chinese province of Shaanxi for around £350,000 (or $582,000). Can you believe it? £350,000 for a dog! This sum makes the Tibetan mastiff the most expensive dog ever. The previous record of £90,000 was paid out by a family in Florida for Lancelot Encore - a cloned version of Lancelot, a much-loved but deceased Labrador.

The Times reports that Yangtze River Number Two's new owner, identified only as Mrs Wang, is rumored to have spent years searching China for the perfect Tibetan Mastiff. When she located her dream dog in Qinghai province, she was determined to do whatever was necessary to make it hers.

The canine's newfound celebrity status was confirmed when a motorcade of 30 luxury cars turned up at Xi'an airport to collect it. Mrs Wang's wealthy friends sent their Mercedes limousines to the airport, and also organized a welcoming committee of local dog-lovers, complete with banners.

Dog-ownership is becoming increasingly popular in China, and is already causing problems in some of the country's over-crowded cities. A ban on pets in many public areas is being considered in Shanghai, while the city of Guangzhou has introduced a limit of one dog per family.

Development Stages of a Baby Panda

2009-03-10T01:33:00.001-07:00

The Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a mammal classified in the bear family (Ursidae), native to central-western and southwestern China. The Giant Panda is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though belonging to the order Carnivora, the Giant Panda has a diet which is 99% bamboo. The Giant Panda may eat other foods such as honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, and bananas when available.

The Giant Panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. It once lived in lowland areas, but farming, forest clearing, and other development now restrict the Giant Panda to the mountains. Now, the Giant Panda is an endangered species.

Even seen a baby Panda? It is so cute! Take a look at these pictures of different development stages of a baby Panda under human supervision. After all it is an endangered creature and we all must handle it with care!

The Arctic Fox

2009-01-07T04:50:00.001-08:00

The Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus), also known as the White Fox or Snow Fox, is a small fox native to cold Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is common in throughout the Arctic tundra biome. Although it is often assigned to its own genus Alopex, the definitive mammal taxonomy list, as well as genetic evidence places it in Vulpes with the majority of the other foxes.

The Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopus) has evolved to live in some of the most frigid extremes on the planet. The Arctic Fox is the only native land mammal to Iceland. It came to the isolated North Atlantic island at the end of the last ice age, walking over the frozen sea. Among its adaptations for cold survival are its deep, thick fur (the warmest of any mammal). The Arctic Fox tends to be active in early September to early May. The gestation period is 52 days. Litters tend to average 6-7 pups but may be as many as 11. Both the mother and the father help to raise their young. The females leave the family and form their own groups and the males stay with the family. Arctic foxes tend to form monogamous pairs in the breeding season. Litters of between 4 and 11 kits are born in the early summer.

The Arctic Fox will generally eat any meat it can find, including lemmings, Arctic Hare, reptiles and amphibians, eggs, and carrion. Lemmings are the most common prey. A family of foxes can eat dozens of lemmings each day. During April and May the Arctic Fox also preys on Ringed Seal pups when the young animals are confined to a snow den and are relatively helpless. Fish beneath the ice are also part of its diet. When its normal prey is scarce, the Arctic Fox scavenges the leftovers of larger predators, such as the polar bear, even though the bears' prey includes the Arctic Fox itself.

The length of the head and body is 55 cm (21.7 in) in the male and 53 cm (20.9 in) in the female. The tail is 31 cm (12.2 in) long in the male and 30 cm (11.8 in) long in the female. It is 25–30 cm (9.8–11.8 in) high at the shoulder. Males weigh 9 lb (4.1 kg) while females can weigh 6 to 12 lb (2.7 to 5.4 kg)

The Arctic Fox has a circumpolar range, meaning that it is found throughout the entire Arctic, including the outer edges of Greenland, Russia, Canada, Alaska, and Svalbard, as well as in Subarctic and alpine areas, such as Iceland and mainland alpine Scandinavia. The conservation status of the species is good, except for the Scandinavian mainland population. It is acutely endangered there, despite decades of legal protection from hunting and persecution. The total population estimate in all of Norway, Sweden and Finland is a mere 120 adult individuals.

Content: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_fox

Chinese uses Live Fish as Ornaments

2008-07-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

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.

Veterinarian saves a Hooked Shark

2008-07-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

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

Hundreds of Penguins found Dead in Brazil

2008-07-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

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!

Missing Dog found after 5 Years

2008-07-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

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!

The One-horned Rhino

2008-07-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

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.

Giant Crab captured in Britain

2008-07-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

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."

The Funny Talking Cat

2008-03-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

Watch this video of a funny talking cat! Can you understand the language or what this cat it trying to tell?

The Polar Bear

2008-02-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a bear native to the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas. The world's largest predator found on land, an adult male weighs around 300–600 kg (660–1,300 lb), while an adult female is about half that size. The polar bear is the most carnivorous member of the bear family, and most of its diet consists of Ringed and Bearded Seals. Take a look at these beautiful polar bears.

The Cute Towel Dog

2008-01-04T07:52:00.000-08:00

What is this? A towel? Take a closer look. It is a dog. A cute Shar-Pei dog.

Animal Liberation Front claims theft of hens

2007-11-23T07:05:00.000-08:00

A radical animal rights group is claiming responsibility for the theft of about 100 hens from an egg farm near Spanish Fork, but the farm isn't sure there was a theft at all.

A communique purportedly from The Animal Liberation Front was sent on Tuesday saying that the group broke into a shed at Shepherd's Egg Farm on Nov. 1 and took 102 hens. The communique claimed the birds were held in cruel and inhumane conditions.

The statement said the stolen hens were given veterinary care and placed in new homes where they could live freely.

"They will all live out their full lifespan here instead of being killed when no longer profitable. In other words, these chickens can finally live like chickens," the statement said.

Mitch Head, a spokesman for Shepherd's Egg Farm, said the company adheres to the highest standards regarding the treatment and handling of its hens. Head also said the company is not sure that a burglary even took place. Link

Beautiful Egrets

2007-11-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

An Egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets. The distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, and depends more on appearance than biology.

Several of the egrets have been moved around from one genus to another in recent years: the Great Egret, for example, has been classified as a member of either Casmerodius, Egretta or Ardea.

In the 19th and early part of the 20th century, some of the world's egret species were endangered by relentless hunting, since hat makers in Europe and the United States demanded massive numbers of egret plumes and breeding birds were killed in locations all around the world.

Several Egretta species, including the Eastern Reef Egret, the Reddish Egret and the Western Reef Egret have two distinct colour, one of which is entirely white. Little Blue Heron has an all-white juvenile plumage. Wikipedia