The Cassowary Tales
The Cassowary is a flightless bird, found in Australian Rainforests. This huge bird is the most dangerous bird on earth, mostly because of his powerfull legs and spike-like toe, always ready for defending himself and offspring.
Much of Australian rainforest has now been cleared, and the Cassowary that remain are vulnerable to dogs, shooting, traffic when crossing roads, starvation and, possibly, disease (Tuberculosis and aspergillosis-related diseases) and nest predation and competition from feral Pigs. The main reason for decline in the southern Cassowary population has been clearance of the prime habitat, rainforests. Clearance for agriculture has virtually ceased but continues for residential and tourist development. Adult Cassowaries are occasionally shot, though this is illegal.
This guy in the picture is a lucky one! Plenty of food and attention, permanent health care, and luckiest thing of all: he lives in the wonderful city of Sydney
;-) .
Benvinda Eva!
"Chama-se Eva e é a mais nova habitante no Zoomarine. Foi a primeira foca-comum a nascer no parque oceanográfico algarvio, um nascimento que teve muito de simbólico, já que a pequena Eva é “prima” de um dos mamíferos mais ameaçados do planeta: a foca-monge.
A mãe Xina – uma foca com 18 anos e 70 quilos – teve a cria em Julho, numa área de maternidade especial, isolada de outras fêmeas e machos do parque. Foi a forma encontrada pelos tratadores para evitar perturbações e garantir um parto tranquilo e sem riscos, tanto para a progenitora como para a cria. O parto durou apenas 15 minutos e, pouco depois, mãe e filha já nadavam juntas." (resto da notícia aqui)
From Sydney with love ;-)
Bloom is represented in this yearly world wide encounter of veterinarians ;-)Protect the Green Turtle babies!
Green Turtle Nesting Season Starts in June in Hong Kong!
Without better protection, such as a multiple-juristiction action plan for conservation, marine turtles in the South China Sea are at risk of extinction. Scientists estimate only one of 1,000 baby green turtles lives into adulthood. These signs are worrying as marine turtles have the inborn habit of going back to their original natal beach where they are born, for nesting.
Actions from You
Support WWF's Save our Seas (SOS) campaign to prevent our marine ecosystem, where marine turtles rely on, from collapsing.
Beach visitors, divers etc should avoid disturbing any marine turtles in the water or at beaches identified for marine turtle nesting, i.e. Sham Wan and Tai Long Wan, as a passive effort to encourage turtles coming back to Hong Kong for nesting.
Report any sightings to AFCD by calling 1823 during this coming June to October nesting period!
Get out of the way!
GRAND PRIZE PHOTO CONTEST (National Wildlife Magazine) Kim Steininger Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania"I took this picture right before I ducked," says Steininger. On a bird-watching trip in Ontario, Canada, last winter, the network administrator noticed that one of the great gray owls she was photographing was staring back at her. "I didn’t think anything of it until it started flying at me," she says. Before getting out of the way, Steininger captured this digital photo, the WINNER of the contest, with a 500mm telephoto lens.
Snakes, lizards and other weird pets
All sorts of strange animals for the most exquisite owners travel across the world and end up...here!
Exotic pet trade happens everywhere. Even though I might disagree with it, it will not affect me negatively, as long as the animals are not taken from the natural wild stocks.
Boa constrictor imperator
First specimens were taken from the wild. And many still illegally are, unfortunately. Those animals are most likely to die, as a result of travelling stress, maladjustment, poor nutrition and unthriveness in captivity. Therefore, because the trade is growing in a fast way there are many farms that grow these animals, which are more adapted to living in a confined environment. The trade of some species is regulated by the CITES agreement, and need special permits.
These animals demand very specific conditions for being kept and temperature, moist, feed, light must be given in the correct amount or animals may not thrive.
Snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises travel in cloth bags, polypropylene boxes, plastic cups, wooden boxes, and that's to way to do it....
There are a few shops in Macau that import exotic animals for sale, breeding and for their own personal collection. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaLeopard Gecko
Well, given the country where we are living in, it is expected that these animals may stimulate some desires in the most exquisite...eaters.... Yes, some people want to buy them just for the sake of tasting a new delicacy!!
One petshop owner said that many casino gambling winners frequently go there and want to buy those creatures just for tasting them!! Amazing!!
A nice fat raccoon would go well for dinner tonight...or a special Amazonian Frog..... or even a highly protect and trade-restricted Anatole lizard would be perfect for breakfast!
Huummm animal lovers are deeply offended by these hungry visitors and so they kindly (or not) request hungry customers to leave...bare handed and with an empty stomach. Of course!!!
Yellow footed tortoise
The owner of these rare animals that had just arrived at Macau airport from a 36 hour long trip all the way from USA has no less than 80 different species at HOME!
He loves all of them. Unluckily he recently lost his "normal" dog. Hope he found him! Should be easier to find than a lost snake or frog...
Dear Rainforest
Mr & Mrs Pig.
Lovely pig couple at Seac Pai Van Park, in Coloane.
(Left - Mrs Pig and Right - Mr. Pig).
Did you know?
Males have wider jaws and when fully mature, 2 strong tusks grow to the sides of lower jaw.
Mother pig is called sow, father pig is the boar and their babies are the piglets.
Pigs roll in the mud to cool their skin because they have no sweat glands and can't sweat.
Pigs are fourth on the intelligence list. (Humans are first, non-human primates are second, dolphins/whales are third and pigs are fourth.) With such brains, pigs can learn very quickly.
Despite popular belief, pigs are one of the cleanest animals there are. When given a choice, pigs are particular about not going to the bathroom anywhere near where they live or eat.
Ballet dancers?? Pigs look like they walk on tiptoe because they actually walk on only two out of the four toes that are on each hoof.
Pigs have a fantastic sense of smell and are used by some police departments to sniff out drugs.
Pigs can scream LOUD. The scream of a jet engine taking off measures 113 decibels. The scream of a frightened pig can measure 115 decibels.
The first book on raising pigs was written in 3468 BC by Emperor Fo Hi of China.
Pigs don't have fleas because a pig's skin is so thick.
Pigs are omnivores (just like people) and can eat plants or animals.
Pigs can make great pets for people with allergies because they don't shed their hair. Like other animals, pigs can have different colors of hair.
When was the last time you saw a live Pig??
It's sad that most kids in big cities kids have never seen a cow or a pig or a chicken....other than inside the fridge.
Well, at least these lucky two have a no-worries life.
Conception, a start
con•cep•tion |kənˈsep sh ən|
noun
1. the action of conceiving a child or of a child being conceived : an unfertilized egg before conception | a rise in premarital conceptions.
• the forming or devising of a plan or idea : the time between a product's conception and its launch.
2. the way in which something is perceived or regarded : our conception of how language relates to reality.
• a general notion; an abstract idea : the conception of a balance of power.
• a plan or intention : reconstructing Bach's original conceptions.
• understanding; ability to imagine : he had no conceptions of politics.
conception |thesaurus|
noun
1. from conception until natural death INCEPTION OF PREGNANCY, conceiving, fertilization, impregnation, insemination.
2. the product's conception INCEPTION, genesis, origination, creation, invention; beginning, origin.
3. his original conception PLAN, scheme, project, proposal; intention, aim, idea.
4. my conception of democracy IDEA, concept, notion, understanding, abstraction; theory, hypothesis; perception, image, impression.
5. they had no conception of our problems UNDERSTANDING, comprehension, appreciation, grasp, knowledge; idea, inkling; informal clue.