Friday 30 December 2005 Zoo does not give up hope for stolen penguin Toga

It has been almost two weeks since Toga, a jackass penguin, was stolen from the Amazon World zoo on the Isle of Wight in Southern England. This news article states that after a tip-off that the rare bird had been dumped in Portsmouth docks in a plastic bag, which failed to turn up anything, the zoo doesn't give up. It goes on with what it has been doing all christmas, following every lead they get. A spokeswoman of the Amazon World zoo says that Toga's parents, Oscar and Kyala (or Oscar and Layana, depending on the source), seem to be preparing to lay more eggs... The reward for the safe return of Toga, the stolen jackass penguin, has been increased to £31,000.

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Thursday 29 December 2005 Bengal tigers in India - next to become extinct ?

The largest of all cats, the tigers are declining fast in India. According to this news article on onlypunjab.com, the tiger population in India is declining so fast that the whole population may be extinct in India in 10 years. Officially, the tiger population is at 3,500. The Wildlife Trust of India says 1,500 may be more accurate. Ashok Kumar of the Wildlife Trust of India says that "A villager can earn as much in one night from poisoning and skinning a tiger as he could earn from farming in five years". "Eventually, that skin can sell for up to $6,000 dollars in Lhasa". The Balinese Tiger (Panthera tigris balica) became extinct in 1937. The Javan Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) became extinct in 1979 and the Caspian Tiger or Persian Tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) became extinct in 1968. The subspecies of tiger that exist in India is the Bengal tiger. Is the Bengal tiger in India next to become extinct ?

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Tuesday 27 December 2005 Updated: polar bears in Hudson Bay are declining

A week ago i wrote about the polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and the effect of global warming might have on the population. Read it here. Now, an article in the Globe and Mail appeared on their decline. At a U.S. conference, Ian Stirling, an Environment Canada research scientist and one of the world's foremost experts on polar bears said: "The population of polar bears along the western coast of Hudson Bay plunged by 22 per cent from 1987 to 2004, and if the trend continues, the big mammals will likely become extinct in the area within a few decades". Because of climate change, ice melts earlier and polar bears have hard time catching seals, which are othewise easy to hunt because they are not yet totally wary of predators, allowing the bears to gain weight rapidly in preparation for their four-month fast. People think polar bears are doing good, because they see them more and more close to hunting lodges and communities, but that is because they are so hungry they're being forced to scavenge for food around humans.

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Saturday 24 December 2005 Minke whales - three reasons why the Norwegian government is wrong in killing 1,052 whales in 2006

Minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) - With an increase of 30 %, the Norwegian government sets the quota for 2006 at a total of 1,052 minke whales to be killed. Since 1986, there has been an international ban on commercial whaling, although Japan and Iceland continue to catch whales for "research", and Norway still use whale products to make money. What is even more worrying is that Norwegian whalers have not reached their quota for 2004 (670 minke whales) and 2005 (797 minke whales), so they are adding unused quotas to the 2006 quota !? The norwegian ministry of fisheries and coastal affairs said in a statement: "The quota for 2006 is composed of a basic annual quota of 745 and the addition of unused quotas in 2004 and 2005". What could be wrong with this approach? (more)

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Wednesday 21 December 2005 In the news: Snatched penquin may be christmas gift

Toga, a 3 month old African Penquin (Spheniscus demersus), or Jackass Penquin, has been stolen from Amazon World on the Isle of Wight in Southern England last saturday and does not stand a chance to survive without the proper care and nutrition according to the zoo manager."Toga is very, very vulnerable. The penguin is still being fed by his parents and we don't believe it could survive more than five days," she told The Associated Press. She also said "We can't understand what may have been going through the thief's head, but we are worried someone decided a penguin would make the perfect Christmas gift. There has been a lot of attention because of the film 'March of the Penguins'. Perhaps someone saw the film and thought their wife or girlfriend would be thrilled to have one as a present." In the wild, penquins exist on the south-western coast of Africa.

Updated: Read entry of 30 december here.

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Saturday 17 December 2005 Pink fairy armadillos - real animals

The smallest of the family of the armadillos, the Pink Fairy Armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus), is an endangered species. It exists in parts of Argentina in South America and is threatened by the destruction of its habitat and domestic dogs. It can be distinguished from the other members in the family, because it is the only armadillo with the dorsal shell almost completely separated from the body. This little digger can bury so fast that it can bury itself in a matter of seconds when it feels threatened. The armor plate functions as a cork to close the entrance to its burrow. They feed primarily on ants.

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Tuesday 06 December 2005 Bats - the only true flying mammals

Bats are the cause of many myths and have always appealed to our imagination. Be it in a good way, like Batman, or in the form of Dracula. Bats are mammals that can fly because they adapted their forelimbs into wings. Their wings are, unlike birds, skin supported by four fingers. Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Most feed on insects, some have the ability to feed on fruits. Vampire bats really do exist, but only three species in Central and South America are known. Vampire bats feed on large birds, cows, horses and pigs.

All of the members of chiroptera (bats) are active during the night or during the twilight. Instead of relying on their sight, bats have excellent senses of smell and hearing. By emitting high-pitched sounds and listening to the echoes, the bats sense prey and other nearby objects. This is called echolocation. Echolocation is also common among dolphins and whales.

References

Bat on Wikipedia
Chiroptera on Animal Diversity Web
The Wild ones

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