LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The animal rights group PETA sued a California restaurant on Wednesday that it says serves outlawed foie gras to patrons, in what appears to be the first lawsuit to enforce a state ban on the delicacy, PETA officials said.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said that Hot's Kitchen claimed to have stopped selling foie gras when a ban on producing or selling it took effect in July, but was offering it as a complimentary side dish to customers who order 'THE Burger.'
'It's a transparent attempt to evade the law, plain and simple,' said Jeff Kerr, general counsel for PETA. He said the suit was filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The Hermosa Beach restaurant's online menu lists 'THE Burger' as including balsamic thyme onions and whole grain mustard, and says it is served 'with a complimentary side of foie gras.'
Foie gras is the swollen liver of a duck or goose that has been excessively force fed. It is prized for its flavor and rich texture, but animal rights groups contend that the force-feeding process is painful, gruesome and inhumane.
California lawmakers banned the sale or production of foie gras in 2004 under penalty of a $1,000 fine per sale, per day. The law gave restaurants and farmers a years-long grace period that ended July 1 to implement the ban.
Most restaurants removed the item from their menus when the law took effect. However, some reportedly left foie gras on the menu after the ban.
In a widely reported act of rebellion, the Presidio Social Club in San Francisco served foie gras sliders to a crowd as protesters amassed outside. The owners contended the social club was not subject to the state law because it was on federal land, but the restaurant later pulled foie gras from its menu.
Hot's Restaurant Group, of which Hot's Kitchen is a part, has been at the forefront of a charge to overturn the law, and sued California in federal court the day after the law went into effect, calling it unconstitutionally vague.
'The statute defines 'force feeding' as using a process that causes a bird to 'consume more food than a typical bird of the same species would consume voluntarily,'' according to the legal complaint filed by Hot's Restaurant Group and a Canadian non-profit.
'In practice, the vagueness of this purported standard makes it impossible for anyone to know at what point a particular bird has been fed 'more food' than the bird feeding law allows.'
The restaurant's spokeswoman, Kelley Coughlan, said the restaurant had so far not been served with the suit.
'Publicity stunts such as the filing of an outrageous, baseless lawsuit, followed by the issuance of press releases are nothing more than an attempt to exploit the media by stoking controversial flames and are designed to line the pockets of profiteers,' she said.
'Hot's stands by its previous statement that foie gras can be made humanely, and we continue to provide our customers with wholesome, humane animal products.'
California Attorney General Kamala Harris is defending the foie gras ban, according to spokeswoman Lydia Gledhill.
Gledhill said she was unaware of any legal action against purveyors of enlarged bird liver since July, but that the state wasn't formally tracking the law's enforcement.
(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Lisa Shumaker)
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Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Four Baby Lion Cubs Born in Seattle Zoo
Tune in to this video of the four baby lion cubs for your daily cuteness quotient. They were born Nov. 8 in Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.
The cubs are the first litter born to South African lion mother, Adia, 3, and father, Hubert, 13. They're also the first litter born at the zoo since 1991.
The now three-week-old cubs are not ready for public viewing yet, as the zoo is trying to allow plenty of family bonding time in a quieter environment.
'We've been monitoring them the last few weeks by video camera,' Martin Ramirez, the zoo's mammal curator, told ABCNews.com. 'By using the video, we've been able to tell the mother is taking great care of them. There was one cub early on that was making us very nervous, though.
'She's a first-time mom, and a typical litter size for a first-time mom is two. We were all really excited when she had the one, and then she had two, and then three came along, and we were like 'O.K., wow,' and then the fourth one came along and we were a little worried because that's a handful. That's when we made the decision that we're just going to watch and if we have to intervene, we will.'
But not to worry, the fuzzy felines had their first medical exam and wellness check today and are doing very well.
They're doing great,' Ramirez said. 'We could always see round bellies on them, which is an indication that they're getting enough to eat. At this point they're just drinking mom's milk. But we could see the round bellies on the video. We were seeing normal development on video. Eyes opened when we expected them to open, because they're born with their eyes closed.'
The cubs are holding their weight now and are walking normally on their four legs. During the exam, it was also finally determined there are two boys and two girls in the litter.
'Now that we know we have two boys and two girls, we can start looking around for appropriate names. We'll select about 10 or 15 potential names and let the public choose from those,' Ramirez said.
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Blue Whales Pirouette Before Engulfing Prey
As if behemoth ballerinas, blue whales pirouette before lunging at their prey, a strategy that may help the giants ambush krill from below.
'This behavior probably improves the whales' chances to engulf the most krill possible,' said study co-author Ari Friedlaender, a marine biologist at Duke University.
The new findings, detailed today (Nov. 27) in the journal Current Biology, may shed light on how the enigmatic creatures hunt and devour their shrimplike prey.
Hungry giants
The blue whale, the largest creature to ever live, can span up to 98 feet (30 meters) long and weigh up to 200 tons (180 metric tons). This creature the size of a submarine uses its bristly, comblike teeth, or baleen, to filter tiny crustaceans called krill from the water. Last century, Antarctic whalers who opened up the massive bellies of blue whales often found up to 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) of krill, though the sea giants probably don't eat that much every day, Friedlaender told LiveScience.
Because krill cluster in massive swarms, 'they're perfect food for something like a baleen whale that wants to engulf a big amount of something at one time,' Friedlaender told LiveScience.
But while the marine mammals' diet is well-known, how they find their prey remains a mystery.
To understand these foraging behaviors, Friedlaender and his colleagues attached motion sensors to the backs of 22 blue whales using suction cups. They also attached a critter cam to one individual, which showed the ocean and part of the whale's head from the animal's point of view. [See Video as a Blue Whale Dives for Krill]
Underwater ballet
When Friedlaender's team analyzed the data, they found something completely unexpected.
The sensors, which captured several hours of data from each whale, revealed half of the whales doing full, 360-degree turns. Many of these underwater twirls occurred as whales dove for prey.
A blue whale typically spots a dense krill swarm by the dark patch it leaves on the water's surface as seen from below. Once the swarm is spotted, the whale surges upward toward the dark spot and opens its mouth to engulf the krill in one big gulp. But sometimes, it also whirls around as it performs this lunge.
'As it opens its mouth it begins to roll over. It's a very energetically costly thing to do - it's like a parachute opening and the whale slows down considerably,' Friedlaender said.
The stealthy strategy may allow whales to anticipate the krills' escape route and adjust before the krill have a chance to cluster together out of reach, he added.
Because one dense krill patch could provide a day's worth of food, it makes sense to perfect their hunting strategies, even if it takes a lot of energy, the researchers write in the journal article.
Whales also turned just before and between dives, suggesting the rotations help the cetaceans scope out the location of prey.
'As in all cetaceans, the eyes are positioned laterally, and thus rolling the body should enhance panoramic vision in multiple dimensions,' the researchers write.
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'This behavior probably improves the whales' chances to engulf the most krill possible,' said study co-author Ari Friedlaender, a marine biologist at Duke University.
The new findings, detailed today (Nov. 27) in the journal Current Biology, may shed light on how the enigmatic creatures hunt and devour their shrimplike prey.
Hungry giants
The blue whale, the largest creature to ever live, can span up to 98 feet (30 meters) long and weigh up to 200 tons (180 metric tons). This creature the size of a submarine uses its bristly, comblike teeth, or baleen, to filter tiny crustaceans called krill from the water. Last century, Antarctic whalers who opened up the massive bellies of blue whales often found up to 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) of krill, though the sea giants probably don't eat that much every day, Friedlaender told LiveScience.
Because krill cluster in massive swarms, 'they're perfect food for something like a baleen whale that wants to engulf a big amount of something at one time,' Friedlaender told LiveScience.
But while the marine mammals' diet is well-known, how they find their prey remains a mystery.
To understand these foraging behaviors, Friedlaender and his colleagues attached motion sensors to the backs of 22 blue whales using suction cups. They also attached a critter cam to one individual, which showed the ocean and part of the whale's head from the animal's point of view. [See Video as a Blue Whale Dives for Krill]
Underwater ballet
When Friedlaender's team analyzed the data, they found something completely unexpected.
The sensors, which captured several hours of data from each whale, revealed half of the whales doing full, 360-degree turns. Many of these underwater twirls occurred as whales dove for prey.
A blue whale typically spots a dense krill swarm by the dark patch it leaves on the water's surface as seen from below. Once the swarm is spotted, the whale surges upward toward the dark spot and opens its mouth to engulf the krill in one big gulp. But sometimes, it also whirls around as it performs this lunge.
'As it opens its mouth it begins to roll over. It's a very energetically costly thing to do - it's like a parachute opening and the whale slows down considerably,' Friedlaender said.
The stealthy strategy may allow whales to anticipate the krills' escape route and adjust before the krill have a chance to cluster together out of reach, he added.
Because one dense krill patch could provide a day's worth of food, it makes sense to perfect their hunting strategies, even if it takes a lot of energy, the researchers write in the journal article.
Whales also turned just before and between dives, suggesting the rotations help the cetaceans scope out the location of prey.
'As in all cetaceans, the eyes are positioned laterally, and thus rolling the body should enhance panoramic vision in multiple dimensions,' the researchers write.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
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Monday, November 26, 2012
Miley Cyrus Turns 20; Gets Pig From PETA
Miley Cyrus is no longer a teenager - and she now has a new little friend!
The singer/actress turned 20 over the weekend and appears to have celebrated in style.
PLAY IT NOW: Angus T. Jones Dishes On His 'Really Awkward' Kiss Scene With Miley Cyrus
'So much BIRFFFDAY love! i wish everyday was like this,' she Tweeted, and posted a photo of herself dancing on a bed with two giant balloons in the shape of the number 20.
In lieu of gifts, Miley asked her fans to donate to the The Starkey Hearing Foundation, which helps the hearing impaired and Saving SPOT! Rescue, which works to save rescue animals.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: She's Just Bein' Miley!
'Thank you to all my fans who donated to @starkeyhearing @spotrescuedogs for my birthday :) y'all topped it again best bday present by far!' she wrote.
Inspired by her support of animal causes, PETA gave Miley a birthday gift. The organization will sponsor a rescue pig -
Nora, who lives at Kindred Spirits Sanctuary in Ocala, Florida - in the singer's name as a way to thank her for her support of animal causes over the years.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus: Her On-Stage Style
And a sponsored pet pig wasn't the only thing the young star got.
'Great night last night. Thanks to everyone who celebrated with me. & yes I did get a big booty hoe 4 my birfday,' Miley wrote in another birthday Tweet, referencing 'Birthday Song' by 2 Chainz and Kanye West.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus' New Pixie Cut
-- Jesse Spero
Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This news article is brought to you by TECHNOLOGY NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
The singer/actress turned 20 over the weekend and appears to have celebrated in style.
PLAY IT NOW: Angus T. Jones Dishes On His 'Really Awkward' Kiss Scene With Miley Cyrus
'So much BIRFFFDAY love! i wish everyday was like this,' she Tweeted, and posted a photo of herself dancing on a bed with two giant balloons in the shape of the number 20.
In lieu of gifts, Miley asked her fans to donate to the The Starkey Hearing Foundation, which helps the hearing impaired and Saving SPOT! Rescue, which works to save rescue animals.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: She's Just Bein' Miley!
'Thank you to all my fans who donated to @starkeyhearing @spotrescuedogs for my birthday :) y'all topped it again best bday present by far!' she wrote.
Inspired by her support of animal causes, PETA gave Miley a birthday gift. The organization will sponsor a rescue pig -
Nora, who lives at Kindred Spirits Sanctuary in Ocala, Florida - in the singer's name as a way to thank her for her support of animal causes over the years.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus: Her On-Stage Style
And a sponsored pet pig wasn't the only thing the young star got.
'Great night last night. Thanks to everyone who celebrated with me. & yes I did get a big booty hoe 4 my birfday,' Miley wrote in another birthday Tweet, referencing 'Birthday Song' by 2 Chainz and Kanye West.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus' New Pixie Cut
-- Jesse Spero
Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This news article is brought to you by TECHNOLOGY NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Soccer-FIFA names Brazil's World Cup mascot 'Fuleco'
SAO PAULO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - FIFA has named the mascot for the 2014 Brazil World Cup 'Fuleco,' a word which organisers say transmits a message of environmental awareness.
Almost half of the more than 1.7 million people who voted in an online poll chose Fuleco ahead of 'Zuzeco' and 'Amijubi'.
The mascot is a three-banded armadillo, which is an endangered species in Brazil.
The tradition of a World Cup mascot dates back to 1966, when a lion named 'World Cup Willie' was chosen for the tournament in England.
Since then, the mascots have ranged from two German boys 'Tip and Tap' in 1974, to 'Pique' the chili pepper in Mexico in 1986, and 'Zakumi' the leopard, who represented the tournament in South Africa in 2010.
The yellow and blue armadillo was chosen in September and huge inflatable versions were set up in Brazil's 12 host cities. However, authorities were forced to take them down or increase security in at least three cities after vandals attacked them.
Fuleco is expected to make an appearance in Sao Paulo this week at the draw for the 2013 Confederations Cup. The draw for the World Cup warm-up competition takes place next Saturday.
The naming of the mascot came on the same day that FIFA unveiled the posters to be used to publicise the tournament. Each of the 12 host cities has its own poster. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Almost half of the more than 1.7 million people who voted in an online poll chose Fuleco ahead of 'Zuzeco' and 'Amijubi'.
The mascot is a three-banded armadillo, which is an endangered species in Brazil.
The tradition of a World Cup mascot dates back to 1966, when a lion named 'World Cup Willie' was chosen for the tournament in England.
Since then, the mascots have ranged from two German boys 'Tip and Tap' in 1974, to 'Pique' the chili pepper in Mexico in 1986, and 'Zakumi' the leopard, who represented the tournament in South Africa in 2010.
The yellow and blue armadillo was chosen in September and huge inflatable versions were set up in Brazil's 12 host cities. However, authorities were forced to take them down or increase security in at least three cities after vandals attacked them.
Fuleco is expected to make an appearance in Sao Paulo this week at the draw for the 2013 Confederations Cup. The draw for the World Cup warm-up competition takes place next Saturday.
The naming of the mascot came on the same day that FIFA unveiled the posters to be used to publicise the tournament. Each of the 12 host cities has its own poster. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Friday, November 23, 2012
Baby Colobus Monkey on Display at St. Louis Zoo
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Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Dogs Hear 'Get the Ball!' Differently Than You
Dogs can learn the names of objects, but they likely focus on different features when learning words than humans do, new research finds.
When toddlers learn words for objects, they focus on shape. This means that once your kid gets that a tennis ball is called a 'ball,' they're quick to realize the same word applies to beach balls, basketballs and golf balls.
Kids wouldn't, however, assume that a stuffed teddy bear is a ball just because it has the same fuzzy texture as a tennis ball. Nor would they call something a ball just because it is the same size as the balls they are familiar with. This tendency to categorize objects based on shape above other features is called 'shape bias.'
University of Lincoln researcher Emile van der Zee and his colleagues were interested in finding out whether dogs have this shape bias, too. Plenty of evidence suggests dogs can learn words; Rico, a Border Collie that died in 2008, reportedly understood more than 200 simple words. An investigation of Rico published in 2004 in the journal Science found that he did indeed have an extensive vocabulary. Other Border Collies have been reported to have similar talents. [What Your Dog's Breed Says About You]
What's not clear is whether dogs comprehend words the same way humans do. To find out, van der Zee and his colleagues tested a 5-year-old Border Collie named Gable. They created objects of various shapes and textures and taught Gable made-up words such as 'dax' to describe them.
The researchers found that when asked to go retrieve a specific object, Gable generalized the word based on size. When given a choice between a dax-size object and a larger object and told to 'get the dax,' Gable picked the dax-size object every time, regardless of texture or shape.
A second experiment gave Gable the choice between an object shaped like the one he was asked for and an object of the same size. A human would go for the similar shape, but Gable again based his decisions on size.
When given a toy for several months and then tested, Gable began to associate the word for that object with texture more than size, the researchers found. Clearly, the dog's word learning works very differently than it does in humans, they conclude today (Nov. 21) in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.
'Where shape matters for us, size or texture matters more for your dog,' the researchers wrote. 'This study shows for the first time that there is a qualitative difference in word comprehension in the dog compared to word comprehension in humans.'
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
This news article is brought to you by LINUXOS.PRO - where latest news are our top priority.
When toddlers learn words for objects, they focus on shape. This means that once your kid gets that a tennis ball is called a 'ball,' they're quick to realize the same word applies to beach balls, basketballs and golf balls.
Kids wouldn't, however, assume that a stuffed teddy bear is a ball just because it has the same fuzzy texture as a tennis ball. Nor would they call something a ball just because it is the same size as the balls they are familiar with. This tendency to categorize objects based on shape above other features is called 'shape bias.'
University of Lincoln researcher Emile van der Zee and his colleagues were interested in finding out whether dogs have this shape bias, too. Plenty of evidence suggests dogs can learn words; Rico, a Border Collie that died in 2008, reportedly understood more than 200 simple words. An investigation of Rico published in 2004 in the journal Science found that he did indeed have an extensive vocabulary. Other Border Collies have been reported to have similar talents. [What Your Dog's Breed Says About You]
What's not clear is whether dogs comprehend words the same way humans do. To find out, van der Zee and his colleagues tested a 5-year-old Border Collie named Gable. They created objects of various shapes and textures and taught Gable made-up words such as 'dax' to describe them.
The researchers found that when asked to go retrieve a specific object, Gable generalized the word based on size. When given a choice between a dax-size object and a larger object and told to 'get the dax,' Gable picked the dax-size object every time, regardless of texture or shape.
A second experiment gave Gable the choice between an object shaped like the one he was asked for and an object of the same size. A human would go for the similar shape, but Gable again based his decisions on size.
When given a toy for several months and then tested, Gable began to associate the word for that object with texture more than size, the researchers found. Clearly, the dog's word learning works very differently than it does in humans, they conclude today (Nov. 21) in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.
'Where shape matters for us, size or texture matters more for your dog,' the researchers wrote. 'This study shows for the first time that there is a qualitative difference in word comprehension in the dog compared to word comprehension in humans.'
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Dolphins found shot, mutilated; hunt on for killers
MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - Authorities are trying to determine who is responsible for killing at least six bottlenose dolphins that have washed ashore along the U.S. Gulf Coast in the past several months, in some cases with their carcasses mutilated.
In the most recent case, a dolphin was found dead Friday with part of its jaw missing on Ship Island off the Mississippi coast, said Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Another dolphin was found a few weeks ago on Alabama's Dauphin Island with its tail cut off, Solangi said, and in June, one found near the Alabama-Florida line had been stabbed in the head with a screwdriver.
Other dolphins have been found shot in Mississippi and Louisiana, he said.
'In my 30-plus years in this business, I've never seen anything so heartbreaking, cruel and senseless,' Solangi said on Tuesday. 'You hear about serial killers who chop up bodies and put the parts in the freezer. This is just as horrible, but involving defenseless animals.'
The institute, which performed necropsies on the dead dolphins, has provided forensic evidence such as bullet casings to area law enforcement and met with a federal investigator, Solangi said.
On Tuesday, the institute announced a $5,000 reward aimed at helping catch those who played a role in the dolphins' deaths.
Dolphins are covered by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a 1972 law that makes killing them punishable by up to $20,000 in fines for each violation and a year in prison.
'We're hoping with publicity about a fine and jail sentence, someone who knows something will come forward,' Solangi said.
Because the killings have spanned several states, authorities doubt a single person is responsible.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a directive to enforcement and protection agencies to be on the lookout for anyone harming dolphins.
The California nonprofit Animal Legal Defense Fund announced a $5,000 reward on Monday for anyone providing information that leads to the arrest and conviction of someone involved in the killings.
The organization said on Tuesday that it had already received one tip.
'We anticipate more leads as word of the reward spreads,' said fund spokeswoman Lisa Franzetta.
She said while the organization was not aware of similar crimes against dolphins, there have been recent cases of fishermen killing sea lions that they perceived as competition. In 2010, a California man was sentenced to 31 days in jail and a $51,000 fine for shooting a sea lion, she said.
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins)
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In the most recent case, a dolphin was found dead Friday with part of its jaw missing on Ship Island off the Mississippi coast, said Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Another dolphin was found a few weeks ago on Alabama's Dauphin Island with its tail cut off, Solangi said, and in June, one found near the Alabama-Florida line had been stabbed in the head with a screwdriver.
Other dolphins have been found shot in Mississippi and Louisiana, he said.
'In my 30-plus years in this business, I've never seen anything so heartbreaking, cruel and senseless,' Solangi said on Tuesday. 'You hear about serial killers who chop up bodies and put the parts in the freezer. This is just as horrible, but involving defenseless animals.'
The institute, which performed necropsies on the dead dolphins, has provided forensic evidence such as bullet casings to area law enforcement and met with a federal investigator, Solangi said.
On Tuesday, the institute announced a $5,000 reward aimed at helping catch those who played a role in the dolphins' deaths.
Dolphins are covered by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a 1972 law that makes killing them punishable by up to $20,000 in fines for each violation and a year in prison.
'We're hoping with publicity about a fine and jail sentence, someone who knows something will come forward,' Solangi said.
Because the killings have spanned several states, authorities doubt a single person is responsible.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a directive to enforcement and protection agencies to be on the lookout for anyone harming dolphins.
The California nonprofit Animal Legal Defense Fund announced a $5,000 reward on Monday for anyone providing information that leads to the arrest and conviction of someone involved in the killings.
The organization said on Tuesday that it had already received one tip.
'We anticipate more leads as word of the reward spreads,' said fund spokeswoman Lisa Franzetta.
She said while the organization was not aware of similar crimes against dolphins, there have been recent cases of fishermen killing sea lions that they perceived as competition. In 2010, a California man was sentenced to 31 days in jail and a $51,000 fine for shooting a sea lion, she said.
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins)
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Fed-Exed Baby White Rhino Joins Albuquerque's BioPark Zoo
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Sunday, November 18, 2012
Dolphins Found Shot, Mutilated
Authorities are investigating a string of attacks on dolphins along the Gulf Coast after some of the marine mammals were found with gunshot wounds and mutilations.
'We responded to one dolphin from Alabama that had its tail cut off,' said Dr. Moby Solangi, of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies. 'We responded to a dolphin this morning from Ship Island that had its lower jaw cut off. In the last week we had a dolphin with a bullet hole in it.'
In response, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has asked officials to be on alert for any attacks in the waters off of Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.
The gentle creatures have long been the star attraction at marine parks around the world and are believed to be the world's second most intelligent animal, making the attacks seem even more incomprehensible.
'I think it's important that everyone understand that this is not only cruel, but it's also illegal,' Solangi said.
If the perpetrators are caught, they could face up to a year in jail and fines of up to $100,000.
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'We responded to one dolphin from Alabama that had its tail cut off,' said Dr. Moby Solangi, of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies. 'We responded to a dolphin this morning from Ship Island that had its lower jaw cut off. In the last week we had a dolphin with a bullet hole in it.'
In response, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has asked officials to be on alert for any attacks in the waters off of Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.
The gentle creatures have long been the star attraction at marine parks around the world and are believed to be the world's second most intelligent animal, making the attacks seem even more incomprehensible.
'I think it's important that everyone understand that this is not only cruel, but it's also illegal,' Solangi said.
If the perpetrators are caught, they could face up to a year in jail and fines of up to $100,000.
Also Read
This news article is brought to you by STOCK MARKET BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Population of Africa's mountain gorillas rises
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - A census of mountain gorillas in Uganda reveals their population has increased to 400, up from 302 in 2006, bringing the total number of mountain gorillas in Africa to 880 and giving hope to conservationists who are trying to save the critically endangered species.
Uganda is now home to nearly half of the mountain gorillas remaining in the wild. The rest are in Congo and Rwanda.
The group Gorilla Doctors said in a statement that the population growth is partly due to 'extreme conservation' methods such as daily ranger monitoring in the forest.
Mountain gorillas are a major source of tourism revenue for the Ugandan government, which in recent times has been able to successfully work with local communities who used to be hostile to the animals.
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Uganda is now home to nearly half of the mountain gorillas remaining in the wild. The rest are in Congo and Rwanda.
The group Gorilla Doctors said in a statement that the population growth is partly due to 'extreme conservation' methods such as daily ranger monitoring in the forest.
Mountain gorillas are a major source of tourism revenue for the Ugandan government, which in recent times has been able to successfully work with local communities who used to be hostile to the animals.
This news article is brought to you by CELEBRITY MUSIC NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
"Breaking Dawn" After-Party Has PETA Howling-Mad Over Caged Wolves
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - PETA is sinking its teeth into 'Breaking Dawn: Part 2.' Or at least the after-party for the highly anticipated vampire movie.
The animal-rights organization has some biting criticism of the post-premiere soiree at L.A. Live on Monday, which included three caged wolves as part of the festivities.
(For those unfamiliar with the 'Twilight' films, werewolves feature prominently in the story, along with vampires.)
'Didn't it dawn on the 'Twilight' event organizers that real wolves do not belong at a party with blaring music and flashing lights?' a spokeswoman for the organization told TheWrap in a statement Monday.
PETA was additionally incensed by the fact that Hollywood Animals, which the organization accuses of animal mistreatment, was chosen to provide the creatures for the bash.
'The wolves were provided by Hollywood Animals, a notorious exhibitor that has been cited for numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act for repeatedly failing to provide the animals it exploits with basic veterinary care, proper shelter, food, and water,' the statement continues. 'We hope the rest of the promotional events surrounding 'Breaking Dawn' celebrates the brilliant work of the cast and crew and shows enough respect for wildlife to leave animals out of it.'
Hollywood Animals has not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment. Nor has Summit, the studio behind the hugely successful 'Twilight' film franchise.
The after-party brouhaha notwithstanding, PETA and the 'Twilight' franchise have had a positive relationship in the past. 'Twilight' stars Kellan Lutz and Christian Serratos have both appeared in ads for the organization.
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The animal-rights organization has some biting criticism of the post-premiere soiree at L.A. Live on Monday, which included three caged wolves as part of the festivities.
(For those unfamiliar with the 'Twilight' films, werewolves feature prominently in the story, along with vampires.)
'Didn't it dawn on the 'Twilight' event organizers that real wolves do not belong at a party with blaring music and flashing lights?' a spokeswoman for the organization told TheWrap in a statement Monday.
PETA was additionally incensed by the fact that Hollywood Animals, which the organization accuses of animal mistreatment, was chosen to provide the creatures for the bash.
'The wolves were provided by Hollywood Animals, a notorious exhibitor that has been cited for numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act for repeatedly failing to provide the animals it exploits with basic veterinary care, proper shelter, food, and water,' the statement continues. 'We hope the rest of the promotional events surrounding 'Breaking Dawn' celebrates the brilliant work of the cast and crew and shows enough respect for wildlife to leave animals out of it.'
Hollywood Animals has not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment. Nor has Summit, the studio behind the hugely successful 'Twilight' film franchise.
The after-party brouhaha notwithstanding, PETA and the 'Twilight' franchise have had a positive relationship in the past. 'Twilight' stars Kellan Lutz and Christian Serratos have both appeared in ads for the organization.
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Boxer Helps Other Dogs as Blood Donor
As a regular donor, Winston makes sure to give blood every few months. His pints save the lives of many others in need - this is, those of the canine variety.
'Dogs and cats need blood, just like [humans] do in emergency situations,' Dr. Rebekah Heinz told ABC affiliate KTUL-TV.
Winston, a friendly boxer who lives in Oklahoma, takes a needle to the jugular to give to other canines. That's because like humans with an O negative blood type, 'boxers are the universal blood donors for dogs,' Winston's owner told KTUL-TV.
His donations recently helped a Yorkie named Barkley, who lost a good amount of blood when he had to have his spleen removed.
It wasn't too long ago that Winston needed help himself. Before coming to live with his current owners, Winston was abused.
But now, Winston is paying it forward. Whenever donations are needed, he is on-call at the Woodland West Animal Hospital in Tulsa, Okla.
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Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Baby Panda Named at Calif. Zoo
The San Diego Zoo's giant panda habitat welcomed an addition back in July, but the now 4-week-old cub remained without a name until now.
Today the male cub got a name: Xiao Liwu, meaning 'little gift.'
Going so long without naming newborns is common in the giant panda world, where, according to Chinese tradition, the cuddly black and white cubs aren't named until they've made it past the 100 day mark alive and well.
That day was Nov. 4 for Xiao Liwu, but zoo officials have since had to narrow 7,000 names submitted by the public to a just few finalists.
'Participants had to submit names in pinyin and give the meaning in English,' Jenny Mehlow, part of the zoo's public relations team, told ABCNews.com, 'Then, after weeding out the silly ones, like 'Oreo,' we chose six finalists.'
In addition to Xiao Liwu, those finalists were: Qi Ji, which means 'miracle'; Yu Di, which means 'raindrop'; Da Hai, which means 'big ocean' or 'big sea'; Yong Er, which means 'brave son'; and Shui Long, which means 'water dragon.'
Through the zoo's website, panda fans again got to cast their votes, 35,000 of them, for which of the names they liked most.
As of Tuesday morning, the people had spoken and Xiao Liwu's name was unveiled at the San Diego zoo and live streamed to thousands of viewers on the web.
San Diego's zoo is one of only four in the United States that keep the endangered species. The giant pandas are loaned to the US from China, where a mere 1,600 pandas are believed to remain in the wild due to habitat encroachment by humans.
According to Mehlow, helping raise pandas like Xiao Liwu allows zoos to better understand the rare animal's behavior, ecology, genetics, and reproduction.
'This is our sixth cub at the San Diego zoo,' Mehlow said, 'and we still have much more to learn about this species.'
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Fate of pets adds to stress of storm survivors
NEW YORK (AP) - Kate and Warren Sherwood had to think quickly about what to take when Superstorm Sandy's surge flooded their barrier island and caused five houses on their block to burn to the ground. Luckily for their two black cats, Schwartz and Scooter, their pets were a priority.
But the narrow escape wasn't the end of the road for the felines. Their owners took refuge at a hotel that didn't accept cats.
'We sneaked them in and put a 'do not disturb' sign on the door - pretending we're on our honeymoon,' said Warren Sherwood, 56, a systems analyst. 'But after three days, they got restless and starting meowing.'
The couple ended up having to take them to a shelter set up in a gym near their hometown of Long Beach, N.Y.
Entwined with the human costs of the storm, which killed more than 100 people and caused billions of dollars in damage, is another significant toll - that of the cherished pets that died or were left behind as families fled for their lives, adding in many cases to feelings of displacement and trauma.
Some find it hard to understand why animals are a key concern in disasters engulfing human lives, but owners feel an attachment and responsibility to their pets, said Niki Dawson, director of disaster services for the Humane Society of the United States.
'There's such a strong bond between people and animals that people will put their lives at risk not to leave a pet behind,' Dawson said. 'So they stay, even when they're told to evacuate, and that puts first responders going back for them at risk.'
Owners have recounted tales of a dog swimming through flooded streets and extra food left behind for a tarantula no one was willing to take in.
In New York City and on Long Island, the ASPCA has rescued more than 300 animals and treated or provided supplies to about 13,000, working with government and private animal welfare agencies, said spokeswoman Emily Schneider.
City shelters took in about 400 animals along with their families in the first days after Sandy, Schneider said. There are now more than 100 in shelters with their owners, and a mobile animal medical clinic is cruising decimated neighborhoods in the Rockaway areas of Queens and on Staten Island.
In New Jersey, the Humane Society deployed dozens of first responders using mobile units and boats to bring in about 60 displaced animals each day on the barrier islands hit by the storm.
Two weeks after Sandy made landfall, followed a week later by a nor'easter, search-and-rescue teams were led by Animal Care & Control of NYC, a city-contracted nonprofit responding to hotline calls about pets in distress. Callers are owners forced to leave animals behind or unable to care for them, or people who see them wandering in hard-hit areas.
A Manhattan shelter takes in animals round the clock, hoping for owners to show up. And social media teams scour the Internet for reports of lost pets, helping reunite them with owners.
Rescuing animals is mandatory under federal law, which requires local and state governments to include plans for pets in emergency procedures. Federal Emergency Management Agency funds go toward the welfare of animals in disaster zones.
New York City's human shelters are required to accept pets, and so are taxis and public transportation.
More than 200 dogs, cats and other pets from a devastated area of Long Island are being sheltered in the gymnasium of a community college, set up by the North Shore Animal League America, the nation's largest no-kill rescue and adoption organization. Many, like the Sherwoods' Schwartz and Scooter, belong to owners in nearby shelters and hotels.
'We're ridiculously stressed out; we're freaked out,' Warren Sherwood said. 'But I'd do anything in the world for these people who are keeping our cats alive.'
Also among the pets in the gym is Emma, a Manchester terrier who swam to safety through flooded streets in Freeport on Long Island, while its owners carried their cats above the water, plus some clothes they grabbed at the last minute.
'We lost our house. It's submerged,' said Mark Swing, who fled with his girlfriend as the tides rose. 'All we got out was our four cats and the dog, except for a few changes of clothes.'
The 8-year-old terrier was 'a little tired, but fine,' said Swing, 48, a contractor who was in a Red Cross shelter.
Cats and dogs weren't the only pets rescued from the storms.
'We're finding chinchillas, guinea pigs, rabbits, reptiles, birds,' Dawson said.
There are stories of pets whose fates remain unknown, like gerbils and a tarantula left behind by a teenage boy whose Staten Island home has been deemed uninhabitable.
His aunt in Brooklyn agreed to take in the gerbils, but no one wanted the hairy tarantula. The teen left it behind with lots of food - in hopes the spider could be retrieved later.
Transport trailers distributed pet food and supplies like crates, leashes and litter from a warehouse in Queens set up days before Sandy descended, said the Humane Society's Schneider. Tons of food donated by manufacturers is being trucked in.
Celebrity chef Rachael Ray is donating $500,000 to the ASPCA to help pets and families struggling to rebound from Sandy. She said her pet food brand, Nutrish, is also shipping 4 tons of wet and dry dog food for Sandy animals, and her Yum-o organization is donating $100,000 to City Harvest and the Food Bank for New York City.
The ASPCA will use the money to lease a building to board Sandy animals until their owners can take care of them.
It will likely be months before any estimates are available as to how many pets might have died or were lost during New York's double storms. And like their owners, many animals that survived won't go home anytime soon.
Dawson said she has seen people stuck in shelters, wearing donated clothing, with no idea when they'll go home. But when they turn to their dog or cat, 'their faces light up.'
And that, she says, is why animals matter amid a human disaster.
This article is brought to you by PERSONALS.
But the narrow escape wasn't the end of the road for the felines. Their owners took refuge at a hotel that didn't accept cats.
'We sneaked them in and put a 'do not disturb' sign on the door - pretending we're on our honeymoon,' said Warren Sherwood, 56, a systems analyst. 'But after three days, they got restless and starting meowing.'
The couple ended up having to take them to a shelter set up in a gym near their hometown of Long Beach, N.Y.
Entwined with the human costs of the storm, which killed more than 100 people and caused billions of dollars in damage, is another significant toll - that of the cherished pets that died or were left behind as families fled for their lives, adding in many cases to feelings of displacement and trauma.
Some find it hard to understand why animals are a key concern in disasters engulfing human lives, but owners feel an attachment and responsibility to their pets, said Niki Dawson, director of disaster services for the Humane Society of the United States.
'There's such a strong bond between people and animals that people will put their lives at risk not to leave a pet behind,' Dawson said. 'So they stay, even when they're told to evacuate, and that puts first responders going back for them at risk.'
Owners have recounted tales of a dog swimming through flooded streets and extra food left behind for a tarantula no one was willing to take in.
In New York City and on Long Island, the ASPCA has rescued more than 300 animals and treated or provided supplies to about 13,000, working with government and private animal welfare agencies, said spokeswoman Emily Schneider.
City shelters took in about 400 animals along with their families in the first days after Sandy, Schneider said. There are now more than 100 in shelters with their owners, and a mobile animal medical clinic is cruising decimated neighborhoods in the Rockaway areas of Queens and on Staten Island.
In New Jersey, the Humane Society deployed dozens of first responders using mobile units and boats to bring in about 60 displaced animals each day on the barrier islands hit by the storm.
Two weeks after Sandy made landfall, followed a week later by a nor'easter, search-and-rescue teams were led by Animal Care & Control of NYC, a city-contracted nonprofit responding to hotline calls about pets in distress. Callers are owners forced to leave animals behind or unable to care for them, or people who see them wandering in hard-hit areas.
A Manhattan shelter takes in animals round the clock, hoping for owners to show up. And social media teams scour the Internet for reports of lost pets, helping reunite them with owners.
Rescuing animals is mandatory under federal law, which requires local and state governments to include plans for pets in emergency procedures. Federal Emergency Management Agency funds go toward the welfare of animals in disaster zones.
New York City's human shelters are required to accept pets, and so are taxis and public transportation.
More than 200 dogs, cats and other pets from a devastated area of Long Island are being sheltered in the gymnasium of a community college, set up by the North Shore Animal League America, the nation's largest no-kill rescue and adoption organization. Many, like the Sherwoods' Schwartz and Scooter, belong to owners in nearby shelters and hotels.
'We're ridiculously stressed out; we're freaked out,' Warren Sherwood said. 'But I'd do anything in the world for these people who are keeping our cats alive.'
Also among the pets in the gym is Emma, a Manchester terrier who swam to safety through flooded streets in Freeport on Long Island, while its owners carried their cats above the water, plus some clothes they grabbed at the last minute.
'We lost our house. It's submerged,' said Mark Swing, who fled with his girlfriend as the tides rose. 'All we got out was our four cats and the dog, except for a few changes of clothes.'
The 8-year-old terrier was 'a little tired, but fine,' said Swing, 48, a contractor who was in a Red Cross shelter.
Cats and dogs weren't the only pets rescued from the storms.
'We're finding chinchillas, guinea pigs, rabbits, reptiles, birds,' Dawson said.
There are stories of pets whose fates remain unknown, like gerbils and a tarantula left behind by a teenage boy whose Staten Island home has been deemed uninhabitable.
His aunt in Brooklyn agreed to take in the gerbils, but no one wanted the hairy tarantula. The teen left it behind with lots of food - in hopes the spider could be retrieved later.
Transport trailers distributed pet food and supplies like crates, leashes and litter from a warehouse in Queens set up days before Sandy descended, said the Humane Society's Schneider. Tons of food donated by manufacturers is being trucked in.
Celebrity chef Rachael Ray is donating $500,000 to the ASPCA to help pets and families struggling to rebound from Sandy. She said her pet food brand, Nutrish, is also shipping 4 tons of wet and dry dog food for Sandy animals, and her Yum-o organization is donating $100,000 to City Harvest and the Food Bank for New York City.
The ASPCA will use the money to lease a building to board Sandy animals until their owners can take care of them.
It will likely be months before any estimates are available as to how many pets might have died or were lost during New York's double storms. And like their owners, many animals that survived won't go home anytime soon.
Dawson said she has seen people stuck in shelters, wearing donated clothing, with no idea when they'll go home. But when they turn to their dog or cat, 'their faces light up.'
And that, she says, is why animals matter amid a human disaster.
This article is brought to you by PERSONALS.
Superstorm priorities for some include saving pets
NEW YORK (AP) - Superstorm Sandy roared into the lives of millions of people who're now scrambling to recover - while also saving their pets.
In New York City and Long Island, the ASPCA has rescued more than 300 animals and treated or provided supplies to about 13,000.
Search-and-rescue teams led by Animal Care & Control of NYC have been responding to calls about pets in distress.
Celebrity chef Rachael Ray is donating $500,000 to the ASPCA to help pets and their struggling families. The money will be used to lease a New York building for emergency boarding.
Niki Dawson is director of disaster services for the Humane Society of the United States. She says there's such a strong bond between people and pets that people will risk their lives to save them.
This news article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE 201 - where latest news are our top priority.
In New York City and Long Island, the ASPCA has rescued more than 300 animals and treated or provided supplies to about 13,000.
Search-and-rescue teams led by Animal Care & Control of NYC have been responding to calls about pets in distress.
Celebrity chef Rachael Ray is donating $500,000 to the ASPCA to help pets and their struggling families. The money will be used to lease a New York building for emergency boarding.
Niki Dawson is director of disaster services for the Humane Society of the United States. She says there's such a strong bond between people and pets that people will risk their lives to save them.
This news article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE 201 - where latest news are our top priority.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Pandas' Bamboo Food May Be Lost to Climate Change
Though they are one of the most beloved animal species on Earth, pandas aren't safe from the devastating effects of climate change.
According to a new study, projected temperature increases in China over the next century will likely seriously hinder bamboo, almost the sole source of food for endangered pandas. Only if bamboo can move to new habitats at higher elevations will pandas stand a chance, the researchers said.
However, if conservation programs wait too long, human inhabitants and activities could claim all of the new habitats capable of supporting bamboo in a warming world.
'It is tough, but I think there's still hope, if we take action now,' said research team member Jianguo Liu, a sustainability scientist at Michigan State University. 'If we wait, then we could be too late.'
The researchers used various climate-change models to project the future for three bamboo species relied on by pandas in the Qinling Mountain region of China, which represents about a quarter of the total remaining panda habitat. These models varied in their specific predictions, but each forecasted some level of temperature rise within the coming century.
The results suggest that if the bamboo is restricted to its current distribution area, between 80 and 100 percent of it will disappear by the end of the 21st century, because it won't be able to grow under the increased temperatures. [How Pandas Pick the Perfect Spot to Pee]
If, however, bamboo can move into new, cooler areas (which will reach the same temperatures as current bamboo habitats due to warming), then there is hope. However, that all still depends on the extent to which humans can curtail climate change by limiting greenhouse-gas emissions in the future.
'All the models are quite consistent - the general trend is the same,' Liu told LiveScience. 'The difference is the degree of the changes. Even with very hopeful scenarios, where we allow bamboo to go anywhere it wants, there are still very severe consequences. Of course, if the bamboo has nowhere to go, then the panda habitat will be lost more quickly.'
Many pandas in the wild currently live in nature reserves protected from human encroachment. However, almost all of the land encompassed by those reserves will be unsuitable for the bamboo if the temperatures rise as predicted.
But if conservationists plan ahead now to move those reserves in line with changing bamboo habitats, then it may be possible to preserve the land the pandas will need.
And climate change is not the only challenge facing giant pandas, one of the most endangered species in the world, researchers say. Human activities have already severely limited the animals' habitats, and their dependence on a single source of food, one that's not that nutrient- or energy-rich, doesn't help.
In addition to their native habitats in China, pandas live around the world in zoos and breeding centers. But Liu doesn't predict a bright future for the bears if they lose their wild habitats.
'To really protect pandas, you cannot just stick [them] into a breeding center or a zoo,' he said, noting that the animals' genetic diversity would suffer, among other issues. 'That's not a long-term solution.'
The results of the study are published in the Nov. 11 issue of the journal Nature Climate Change.
Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
This news article is brought to you by STOCK MARKET BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
According to a new study, projected temperature increases in China over the next century will likely seriously hinder bamboo, almost the sole source of food for endangered pandas. Only if bamboo can move to new habitats at higher elevations will pandas stand a chance, the researchers said.
However, if conservation programs wait too long, human inhabitants and activities could claim all of the new habitats capable of supporting bamboo in a warming world.
'It is tough, but I think there's still hope, if we take action now,' said research team member Jianguo Liu, a sustainability scientist at Michigan State University. 'If we wait, then we could be too late.'
The researchers used various climate-change models to project the future for three bamboo species relied on by pandas in the Qinling Mountain region of China, which represents about a quarter of the total remaining panda habitat. These models varied in their specific predictions, but each forecasted some level of temperature rise within the coming century.
The results suggest that if the bamboo is restricted to its current distribution area, between 80 and 100 percent of it will disappear by the end of the 21st century, because it won't be able to grow under the increased temperatures. [How Pandas Pick the Perfect Spot to Pee]
If, however, bamboo can move into new, cooler areas (which will reach the same temperatures as current bamboo habitats due to warming), then there is hope. However, that all still depends on the extent to which humans can curtail climate change by limiting greenhouse-gas emissions in the future.
'All the models are quite consistent - the general trend is the same,' Liu told LiveScience. 'The difference is the degree of the changes. Even with very hopeful scenarios, where we allow bamboo to go anywhere it wants, there are still very severe consequences. Of course, if the bamboo has nowhere to go, then the panda habitat will be lost more quickly.'
Many pandas in the wild currently live in nature reserves protected from human encroachment. However, almost all of the land encompassed by those reserves will be unsuitable for the bamboo if the temperatures rise as predicted.
But if conservationists plan ahead now to move those reserves in line with changing bamboo habitats, then it may be possible to preserve the land the pandas will need.
And climate change is not the only challenge facing giant pandas, one of the most endangered species in the world, researchers say. Human activities have already severely limited the animals' habitats, and their dependence on a single source of food, one that's not that nutrient- or energy-rich, doesn't help.
In addition to their native habitats in China, pandas live around the world in zoos and breeding centers. But Liu doesn't predict a bright future for the bears if they lose their wild habitats.
'To really protect pandas, you cannot just stick [them] into a breeding center or a zoo,' he said, noting that the animals' genetic diversity would suffer, among other issues. 'That's not a long-term solution.'
The results of the study are published in the Nov. 11 issue of the journal Nature Climate Change.
Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
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Friday, November 9, 2012
Rescued Michael Vick Dogs Reunited
They were battered and bruised but, ultimately, they were not broken.
Seven dogs rescued from NFL quarterback Michel Vick's Virginia property when he pleaded guilty to federal charges relating to dog fighting, were reunited in California Oct. 27, tails wagging, tongues out, happy.
Five years ago they had scars, some physical, all emotional. They wore bandannas at their reunion celebration, surrounded by 125 emotional guests and their proud owners.
'They're very forgiving and they all really enjoy other dogs, which is probably the other big surprise that came out of the case,' said Donna Reynolds, director of Oakland-based BAD RAP, an advocacy group for 'pit bull-type' dogs. 'In fact, dogs were a comfort to them.'
Reynolds' organization worked with prosecutors on the Vick case in 2007 to identify dogs that were taken from Vick's property who could be rehabilitated. Of the 10 that Reynolds' organization secreted out of Virginia in the back of an RV because of the ongoing investigation, seven returned to their ranch nearly unrecognizable from the dogs that they were before.
(Image Credit: Mark Rogers/www.markrogersphotography.com) Hector, a brownish pit bull, has scars up and down his chest and missing teeth from his days in Vick's dog-fighting arena.
'He's got a notch out of his tongue, a notch out of his ear. He definitely had a poor life before now,' his owner Roo Yori said.
Nearly five years ago, Yori and his wife drove more than 35 hours from Minnesota to San Francisco to pick up Hector. He came back to their home almost as if nothing had happened.
'Hector, fortunately, was one of the dogs that wasn't as affected as some of the other ones. Hector, he just kind of got out of there said, 'That stunk, let's move forward,' and that was it. It was very obvious he had never lived in a house; he had never been a pet dog,' Yori said.
'He unpotted a potted plant because he wanted to play with it like a stick.'
Hector now fits in well with the family: Yori, wife Clara and their four other dogs.
At the ranch, the normally independent, 7-year-old Hector became uncharacteristically animated, wagging his tail wildly and wiggling in excitement upon being reunited with Donna Reynolds and Tim Racer, the founders of BAD RAP.
'Hector actually loved Tim and Donna . you could totally tell,' Yori said. 'He's kind of an independent dog, he's kind of aloof. When he saw Tim and Donna, he stared wiggling. You could tell he remembered them.'
(Image Credit: Mark Rogers/www.markrogersphotography.com) All the dogs now lead full lives.
'Dogs live in the moment; they don't dwell on the past,' BAD RAP's Reynolds said. 'Once they have enough positive experiences to draw on, they just run right into the present.'
Seven have Canine Good Citizen Certificates and three are therapy dogs in hospitals and children's literacy programs.
At least one, Jonny Justice, a black and white Staffordshire bull terrier with something of an eye patch, has become a bit of a celebrity.
Jonny appeared on 'The Rachael Ray Show' in 2008 and next year will be the model for a stuffed dog made by manufacturer GUND as the winner of their 'Top Dog' contest.
(Image Credit: Mark Rogers/www.markrogersphotography.com) Of the 10 dogs rescued, three did not make it to the reunion: one because of distance and another because of a last-minute emergency. A third, Ernie, was just busy being a dog, no longer a 'Vick dog.'
'Ernie's mom doesn't want him to be a Vick dog anymore, she just wants to have a dog,' Reynolds said.
(Image Credit: Eric Risberg/AP Photo) As the seven dogs and their owners posed for a glamour shot, giggles and laughter rang out when the dogs tried to squirm their way to freedom.
'The tails were just flying around,' said photographer Mark Rogers, who valiantly tried to wrangle the disorderly group for a final photo.
But there were also tears that came mainly from the 125 members of the public who attended the event just to lend some support.
'There were lots of hugs, kisses, lots of crying. When people meet these dogs, they cry,' Reynolds said. 'They understand that they are little pieces of positive history.'
Also Read
This article is brought to you by DATING SERVICE.
Michael Vick Dogs Reunited
They were battered and bruised but, ultimately, they were not broken.
Seven dogs rescued from NFL quarterback Michel Vick's Virginia property when he pleaded guilty to federal charges relating to dog fighting, were reunited in California Oct. 27, tails wagging, tongues out, happy.
Five years ago they had scars, some physical, all emotional. They wore bandannas at their reunion celebration, surrounded by 125 emotional guests and their proud owners.
'They're very forgiving and they all really enjoy other dogs, which is probably the other big surprise that came out of the case,' said Donna Reynolds, director of Oakland-based BAD RAP, an advocacy group for 'pit bull-type' dogs. 'In fact, dogs were a comfort to them.'
Reynolds' organization worked with prosecutors on the Vick case in 2007 to identify dogs that were taken from Vick's property who could be rehabilitated. Of the 10 that Reynolds' organization secreted out of Virginia in the back of an RV because of the ongoing investigation, seven returned to their ranch nearly unrecognizable from the dogs that they were before.
(Image Credit: Mark Rogers/www.markrogersphotography.com) Hector, a brownish pit bull, has scars up and down his chest and missing teeth from his days in Vick's dog-fighting arena.
'He's got a notch out of his tongue, a notch out of his ear. He definitely had a poor life before now,' his owner Roo Yori said.
Nearly five years ago, Yori and his wife drove more than 35 hours from Minnesota to San Francisco to pick up Hector. He came back to their home almost as if nothing had happened.
'Hector, fortunately, was one of the dogs that wasn't as affected as some of the other ones. Hector, he just kind of got out of there said, 'That stunk, let's move forward,' and that was it. It was very obvious he had never lived in a house; he had never been a pet dog,' Yori said.
'He unpotted a potted plant because he wanted to play with it like a stick.'
Hector now fits in well with the family: Yori, wife Clara and their four other dogs.
At the ranch, the normally independent, 7-year-old Hector became uncharacteristically animated, wagging his tail wildly and wiggling in excitement upon being reunited with Donna Reynolds and Tim Racer, the founders of BAD RAP.
'Hector actually loved Tim and Donna . you could totally tell,' Yori said. 'He's kind of an independent dog, he's kind of aloof. When he saw Tim and Donna, he stared wiggling. You could tell he remembered them.'
(Image Credit: Mark Rogers/www.markrogersphotography.com) All the dogs now lead full lives.
'Dogs live in the moment; they don't dwell on the past,' BAD RAP's Reynolds said. 'Once they have enough positive experiences to draw on, they just run right into the present.'
Seven have Canine Good Citizen Certificates and three are therapy dogs in hospitals and children's literacy programs.
At least one, Jonny Justice, a black and white Staffordshire bull terrier with something of an eye patch, has become a bit of a celebrity.
Jonny appeared on 'The Rachael Ray Show' in 2008 and next year will be the model for a stuffed dog made by manufacturer GUND as the winner of their 'Top Dog' contest.
(Image Credit: Mark Rogers/www.markrogersphotography.com) Of the 10 dogs rescued, three did not make it to the reunion: one because of distance and another because of a last-minute emergency. A third, Ernie, was just busy being a dog, no longer a 'Vick dog.'
'Ernie's mom doesn't want him to be a Vick dog anymore, she just wants to have a dog,' Reynolds said.
(Image Credit: Eric Risberg/AP Photo) As the seven dogs and their owners posed for a glamour shot, giggles and laughter rang out when the dogs tried to squirm their way to freedom.
'The tails were just flying around,' said photographer Mark Rogers, who valiantly tried to wrangle the disorderly group for a final photo.
But there were also tears that came mainly from the 125 members of the public who attended the event just to lend some support.
'There were lots of hugs, kisses, lots of crying. When people meet these dogs, they cry,' Reynolds said. 'They understand that they are little pieces of positive history.'
Also Read
This news article is brought to you by ANIMALS AND PETS - where latest news are our top priority.
Rachael Ray donates $500,000, food to Sandy pets
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Rachael Ray is donating $500,000 to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to help pets and families who are struggling to rebound from Superstorm Sandy.
The Emmy-winning chef said Friday that her pet food brand, Nutrish, is also shipping 4 tons of wet and dry dog food for Sandy animals, and her Yum-o! organization is donating $100,000 to City Harvest and the Food Bank for New York City.
'When you make your living in food, you have to give back in the same way,' the host of 'Rachael Ray,' the syndicated CBS Television show, said.
The ASPCA had rescued more than 250 animals and treated or provided supplies to nearly 6,000 in New York City and Long Island. It will use the money to lease a building that can be used as a central shelter for Sandy animals and to continue searching for lost pets, provide mobile veterinary services and hand out supplies.
The donation is the largest single gift made by Rachael's Rescue, whose nearly $4 million in donations to date are funded by the sale of Nutrish products.
'I hope this becomes a center of very happy endings,' Ray said.
The Emmy-winning chef said Friday that her pet food brand, Nutrish, is also shipping 4 tons of wet and dry dog food for Sandy animals, and her Yum-o! organization is donating $100,000 to City Harvest and the Food Bank for New York City.
'When you make your living in food, you have to give back in the same way,' the host of 'Rachael Ray,' the syndicated CBS Television show, said.
The ASPCA had rescued more than 250 animals and treated or provided supplies to nearly 6,000 in New York City and Long Island. It will use the money to lease a building that can be used as a central shelter for Sandy animals and to continue searching for lost pets, provide mobile veterinary services and hand out supplies.
The donation is the largest single gift made by Rachael's Rescue, whose nearly $4 million in donations to date are funded by the sale of Nutrish products.
'I hope this becomes a center of very happy endings,' Ray said.
Pooch Hotel Has Gone to the Dogs
Forget the Four Seasons. There's a new hotel in town, and it has gone to the dogs.
The Pooch Hotel in Los Angeles has been catering to canines for more than six months and offers day care and overnight stays.
Pooch Hotel manager Sean Nolan said the concept of being able to house one's pets temporarily allows working and traveling pet owners to leave their dogs in a 'safe and fun environment.'
'Dogs don't have very much to do during the day. They bring them here, we get their energy out, they get to socialize, make friends, have a good time,' Nolan said. 'Owners come back in the evening, dog is tired. They are worn out. I always say if a dog falls asleep in the back seat in 30 seconds, we've done our job.'
All rooms are equipped with webcams, so owners can monitor their pets, along with couches, dog beds and bowls, and sometimes televisions, depending on the suite.
Three types of suites exist and range from $60 to $125 a night. The private sleeping quarters are made with solid walls and glass doors to create a private and relaxed living environment for the dogs.
'[Dogs] need a good safe, secure place to be kept. We don't have any bars or cages,' he said. 'There is nothing that would remind the dog of being institutionalized. It is a comfortable place for them.'
The hotel is run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All dogs are treated to three-hour play sessions, winding down time in their suites, swimming, exercising, grooming, and most importantly socializing with other dogs, Nolan said.
'Dogs really want to be dogs. They want to have that interaction with their own species and have some fun. And our play areas, our cage-free areas, really allow that to happen,' Nolan said. 'Dogs get out there, they have a chance to run around, they wrestle, they play fight, they have a good time. And on top of that, they have a good place to rest.'
The facilities can house up to 120 dogs and most dogs are accepted after an interview process conducted by a Pooch Hotel employee.
'We don't discriminate by any specific breeds,' he said. 'The only dogs we probably won't take are those that are aggressive towards humans. If we can't take care of the dogs, then there is really not much we can do for you. Other than that, there's very little in the way of restrictions.'
For Pooch Hotel patron Ken Congemi, leaving his 5-year-old pit-bull mix Sandy was 'a little traumatic.'
'Usually I leave her with friends, and this time people were away and I've actually used other facilities before, but this one seemed really nice when I came to the grand opening,' Congemi said. 'So we came on Saturday and she had her interview and she did really well and so I feel confident.'
Congemi watched as Sandy continued to play with her new friends and said she seemed to be adjusting well.
Another patron, Kevin Lee, brought his cocker spaniel to the Pooch Hotel for an interview to be housed at the hotel when he leaves town for the holidays.
'It's going to be weird. I feel like I am going to miss him like I miss a kid,' Lee said. 'I don't have any kids. If nothing else, I am going to try and be optimistic about it like yeah, it is a little break for me and also I know he will have a good time too.'
He said a reason he decided to leave his dog at the hotel was because of the webcam service, which pet owners can access with their home computers.
'All of our play areas are webcammed, a lot of our larger suites are webcammed as well, so you can see what is going on here,' Nolan said. 'Nothing happens here that we are afraid to show anybody anytime.'
Nolan said the holidays are starting to book up quickly and that Thanksgiving in particular will be busy.
The Pooch Hotel is open year round and has four additional locations in California, two in Illinois, one in Massachusetts and one in Texas.
Also Read
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Thursday, November 8, 2012
Kitten Taken in by Baboon at Israeli Zoo
At a petting zoo in Israel, a baboon has adopted a tiny kitten who recently strayed into its cage and then refused to leave.
The baboon now cares for the kitten, rarely letting the feline out of her sight. Footage shot at the zoo shows that the baboon even checks the kitty for fleas, according to The Associated Press.
Zoo officials told local news website Walla that although the baboon is caring for the cat as it would its own infant, the two are a complex pair that do not always get along. Often the baboon can be seen stealing the kitten's food, officials said. If that thievery continues, the pals will have to be separated, the zoo's manager told Walla News.
Until then, the unlikely pair will continue to enjoy each other's company.
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8 Bizarre Tentacled Snakes Born at National Zoo
For the first time in more than a decade, a group of tentacled snakes was born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo.
The eight baby snakes, which sport little feelers on their noses, were born Oct. 21 after four years of unsuccessful breeding attempts, the zoo announced Thursday (Nov. 8).
The unusual aquatic species from Southeast Asia is not endangered, but researchers say it's poorly understood. The creatures, referred to as Erpeton tentaculatus in the scientific community, are relatively small, growing to about 20-35 inches (50-90 centimeters) in length, and they're the only snakes with two short tentacles on their snouts, which allow the reptiles to sense vibrations from fish that swim by.
Tentacled snakes spend their lives in water and use their tails to steady themselves as they wait to ambush their prey. Recent research has focused on how the snakes use their sharp hunting skills to scare fish right into their mouths. A study detailed in the journal PLoS ONE in 2010 showed that the adept predators have evolved a mechanism to capture spooked prey that end up parallel to their heads instead of in front of the snake's open jaws. Apparently, their nervous systems allow them to predict where a fish prey will end up when startled.
The tentacled snakes also develop at an astonishingly fast rate, which staff at the zoo in Washington, D.C., witnessed firsthand.
'Within a few hours of being born, the snakes were already acting like adults,' Matt Evans, a keeper at the Smithsonian's Reptile Discovery Center, said in a statement. 'Instincts took over and they were hunting. We don't know much about this cryptic species, but we're already learning so much just watching them grow.'
The snake babies will likely be sent to other zoos when they get older, Smithsonian officials said. Four adult tentacled snakes, meanwhile, are on display at the zoo's Reptile Discovery Center.
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The eight baby snakes, which sport little feelers on their noses, were born Oct. 21 after four years of unsuccessful breeding attempts, the zoo announced Thursday (Nov. 8).
The unusual aquatic species from Southeast Asia is not endangered, but researchers say it's poorly understood. The creatures, referred to as Erpeton tentaculatus in the scientific community, are relatively small, growing to about 20-35 inches (50-90 centimeters) in length, and they're the only snakes with two short tentacles on their snouts, which allow the reptiles to sense vibrations from fish that swim by.
Tentacled snakes spend their lives in water and use their tails to steady themselves as they wait to ambush their prey. Recent research has focused on how the snakes use their sharp hunting skills to scare fish right into their mouths. A study detailed in the journal PLoS ONE in 2010 showed that the adept predators have evolved a mechanism to capture spooked prey that end up parallel to their heads instead of in front of the snake's open jaws. Apparently, their nervous systems allow them to predict where a fish prey will end up when startled.
The tentacled snakes also develop at an astonishingly fast rate, which staff at the zoo in Washington, D.C., witnessed firsthand.
'Within a few hours of being born, the snakes were already acting like adults,' Matt Evans, a keeper at the Smithsonian's Reptile Discovery Center, said in a statement. 'Instincts took over and they were hunting. We don't know much about this cryptic species, but we're already learning so much just watching them grow.'
The snake babies will likely be sent to other zoos when they get older, Smithsonian officials said. Four adult tentacled snakes, meanwhile, are on display at the zoo's Reptile Discovery Center.
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Tuesday, November 6, 2012
First Paws: A History of Presidential Pets
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney toured swing states in the final days of the presidential campaign to emphasize their differences. But the two candidates have at least one thing in common: A history of doggie controversy.
Obama, who famously promised his daughters a dog if he won the White House, came under fire from animal welfare organizations in 2008 after he and his family adopted purebred Portuguese Water Dog 'Bo' from the Kennedy family as opposed to getting a shelter dog as Obama had said the family would do. (Bo might be generously considered a 'rescue dog,' as he was first given to another family. That placement didn't work out, so the Kennedys took him back and gifted him to the Obamas instead.)
Romney's canine controversy goes further back. In 2007, the Boston Globe opened a profile of Romney with an anecdote about a 1983 Romney family vacation. With the family station wagon packed to the gills, Romney strapped the family's Irish setter 'Seamus' to the top of the station wagon in a dog carrier with a homemade windshield for the 12-hour drive. Both Democrats and Romney's Republican challengers in the presidential primaries attacked him over the incident.
It's not the first time our furry friends have played a role in presidential politics. Read on for the ways that pets both humanize and reveal some quirks of our leaders. [Quiz Yourself: Presidential Pets]
1. The first First Pets
Almost every U.S. president has had a pet of some sort, but George Washington had a virtual menagerie. As befitting a Revolutionary War hero, Washington had a stable of horses, including stallions named Samson, Steady, Leonidas and Magnolia, according to the Presidential Pet Museum in Virginia. Washington further demonstrated his abilities in pet naming with his herd of hounds: Drunkard, Taster, Tipsy, Tipler (are we sensing a theme?), Mopsey, Cloe, Forester, Captain, Lady, Rover, Vulcan, Searcher and ... Sweetlips.
Not to be outdone, Martha Washington owned a pet parrot.
2. Early exotics
Thomas Jefferson, the nation's third president, kept two Briards, shaggy herding dogs originally bred in France. The dogs, a gift from France's General Marquis de Lafayette, reveal Jefferson's close ties with that country: He was minister to France between 1785 and 1789.
Jefferson also kept a mockingbird, but perhaps the most unusual animals to come into his possession were the members of a small menagerie sent to him by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark spent that winter at Fort Mandan, in what is now North Dakota. Before they continued their expedition toward the Pacific, they sent Jefferson a shipment containing a grouse, four magpies and a prairie dog - all alive. It's not clear what happened to the grouse, but according to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the president sent the prairie dog and at least one magpie to the Peale Museum, a gallery of natural history and art in Philadelphia.
3. Roosevelt's zoo
With the possible exception of George Washington, nobody named pets like Teddy Roosevelt did. The 26th president came to the White House with more animals than the place had ever seen, including a pony named Algonquin that reportedly once took a ride on the White House elevator. [America's Favorite Pets]
Among the Roosevelt family's furry friends were a herd of creatively named guinea pigs, including Fighting Bob Evans, Bishop Doane, Dr. Johnson, Father O'Grady and Admiral Dewey. The family also kept a small black bear named Jonathan Edwards, a badger named Josiah, a blue macaw named Eli Yale, a hen named Baron Spreckle and a lizard named Bill. First daughter Alice Roosevelt kept a garter snake named Emily Spinach, so dubbed because the snake was as green as spinach and as thin as Alice's aunt Emily.
4. The last cow
Before the 1900s, it wasn't unusual for farm animals to roam the White House grounds. Sheep were used to keep grass trimmed during the Madison presidency, and William Henry Harrison kept a goat and a Durham cow. Rutherford B. Hayes kept pedigreed Jersey cows, and horses were also common.
But the honor of the last cow in the White House goes to Pauline Wayne, a Holstein that grazed the White House lawn and provided milk for William Howard Taft and his family. When Taft left office in 1913, Pauline Wayne retired to Wisconsin.
5. The Checkers controversy
Days after Dwight D. Eisenhower chose Richard Nixon as his running mate in 1952, the New York Post threatened to bring Nixon's political career to a close with accusations that he had made more than $18,000 through a secret political slush fund. Republicans urged Eisenhower to drop Nixon from the ticket, but Nixon went on the offensive, staging a televised speech that would become known as the 'Checkers' speech.
Checkers was the family dog, a gift from a Texas businessman. In an emotional appeal, Nixon made his case to the American people for keeping the gift. 'And you know, the kids, like all kids, loved the dog, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we are going to keep it,' he said.
The vision of Nixon as a family man and dog-lover - not to mention his frank talk about his personal finances in the rest of the speech - won the public's heart. Nixon went on to become VP, and would win the presidency in 1968, bringing with him to the White House a poodle named Vicky, a terrier named Pasha and an Irish setter named King Timahoe. Checkers died in 1964 and is buried in Long Island's Bide-a-Wee Pet Cemetery.
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
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Obama, who famously promised his daughters a dog if he won the White House, came under fire from animal welfare organizations in 2008 after he and his family adopted purebred Portuguese Water Dog 'Bo' from the Kennedy family as opposed to getting a shelter dog as Obama had said the family would do. (Bo might be generously considered a 'rescue dog,' as he was first given to another family. That placement didn't work out, so the Kennedys took him back and gifted him to the Obamas instead.)
Romney's canine controversy goes further back. In 2007, the Boston Globe opened a profile of Romney with an anecdote about a 1983 Romney family vacation. With the family station wagon packed to the gills, Romney strapped the family's Irish setter 'Seamus' to the top of the station wagon in a dog carrier with a homemade windshield for the 12-hour drive. Both Democrats and Romney's Republican challengers in the presidential primaries attacked him over the incident.
It's not the first time our furry friends have played a role in presidential politics. Read on for the ways that pets both humanize and reveal some quirks of our leaders. [Quiz Yourself: Presidential Pets]
1. The first First Pets
Almost every U.S. president has had a pet of some sort, but George Washington had a virtual menagerie. As befitting a Revolutionary War hero, Washington had a stable of horses, including stallions named Samson, Steady, Leonidas and Magnolia, according to the Presidential Pet Museum in Virginia. Washington further demonstrated his abilities in pet naming with his herd of hounds: Drunkard, Taster, Tipsy, Tipler (are we sensing a theme?), Mopsey, Cloe, Forester, Captain, Lady, Rover, Vulcan, Searcher and ... Sweetlips.
Not to be outdone, Martha Washington owned a pet parrot.
2. Early exotics
Thomas Jefferson, the nation's third president, kept two Briards, shaggy herding dogs originally bred in France. The dogs, a gift from France's General Marquis de Lafayette, reveal Jefferson's close ties with that country: He was minister to France between 1785 and 1789.
Jefferson also kept a mockingbird, but perhaps the most unusual animals to come into his possession were the members of a small menagerie sent to him by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark spent that winter at Fort Mandan, in what is now North Dakota. Before they continued their expedition toward the Pacific, they sent Jefferson a shipment containing a grouse, four magpies and a prairie dog - all alive. It's not clear what happened to the grouse, but according to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the president sent the prairie dog and at least one magpie to the Peale Museum, a gallery of natural history and art in Philadelphia.
3. Roosevelt's zoo
With the possible exception of George Washington, nobody named pets like Teddy Roosevelt did. The 26th president came to the White House with more animals than the place had ever seen, including a pony named Algonquin that reportedly once took a ride on the White House elevator. [America's Favorite Pets]
Among the Roosevelt family's furry friends were a herd of creatively named guinea pigs, including Fighting Bob Evans, Bishop Doane, Dr. Johnson, Father O'Grady and Admiral Dewey. The family also kept a small black bear named Jonathan Edwards, a badger named Josiah, a blue macaw named Eli Yale, a hen named Baron Spreckle and a lizard named Bill. First daughter Alice Roosevelt kept a garter snake named Emily Spinach, so dubbed because the snake was as green as spinach and as thin as Alice's aunt Emily.
4. The last cow
Before the 1900s, it wasn't unusual for farm animals to roam the White House grounds. Sheep were used to keep grass trimmed during the Madison presidency, and William Henry Harrison kept a goat and a Durham cow. Rutherford B. Hayes kept pedigreed Jersey cows, and horses were also common.
But the honor of the last cow in the White House goes to Pauline Wayne, a Holstein that grazed the White House lawn and provided milk for William Howard Taft and his family. When Taft left office in 1913, Pauline Wayne retired to Wisconsin.
5. The Checkers controversy
Days after Dwight D. Eisenhower chose Richard Nixon as his running mate in 1952, the New York Post threatened to bring Nixon's political career to a close with accusations that he had made more than $18,000 through a secret political slush fund. Republicans urged Eisenhower to drop Nixon from the ticket, but Nixon went on the offensive, staging a televised speech that would become known as the 'Checkers' speech.
Checkers was the family dog, a gift from a Texas businessman. In an emotional appeal, Nixon made his case to the American people for keeping the gift. 'And you know, the kids, like all kids, loved the dog, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we are going to keep it,' he said.
The vision of Nixon as a family man and dog-lover - not to mention his frank talk about his personal finances in the rest of the speech - won the public's heart. Nixon went on to become VP, and would win the presidency in 1968, bringing with him to the White House a poodle named Vicky, a terrier named Pasha and an Irish setter named King Timahoe. Checkers died in 1964 and is buried in Long Island's Bide-a-Wee Pet Cemetery.
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
- Like Dog, Like Owner: What Breeds Say About Personality
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Monday, November 5, 2012
NZealand beaching proves rarest of whales exists
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - The spade-toothed beaked whale is so rare that nobody has seen one alive, but scientists have proof the species still exists.
Two skeletons were identified as belonging to the species after a 17-foot whale and her calf beached themselves in New Zealand in 2010. Scientists hope the discovery will provide insights into the species and into ocean ecosystems.
It was almost a missed opportunity, however, since conservation workers misidentified the carcasses as a much more common type of whale and buried them.
In a paper published Tuesday in the journal 'Current Biology,' researchers from New Zealand and the United States say of their discovery: 'For the first time we have a description of the world's rarest and perhaps most enigmatic marine mammal.'
Previously only three skull fragments of the species had been found: in New Zealand in 1872 and in the 1950s and the last one 26 years ago on an island off Chile. The males have broad blade-like tusk teeth that give the species its name. Both males and females have beaks which make them resemble dolphins.
'This is pretty fantastic,' said Ewan Fordyce, a geology professor at the University of Otago who specializes in the evolution of whales and who was not involved in the research. 'There would be few, if any, mammalian species in the world that would be rarer. And we know much more about panda bears and other iconic, rare animals.'
The beached whales, an adult and her 11-foot male calf, were discovered on Opape Beach on the North Island on New Year's Eve in 2010. Conservation workers thought they were Gray's beaked whales and took tissue samples before burying them about nine feet under the sand.
Those samples ended up at the University of Auckland where scientists did routine tests about six months later. Rochelle Constantine, a co-author of the paper, said she and her colleague Kirsten Thompson couldn't believe it when the results showed the pair to be the rarest of whales.
'Kirsten and I went quiet. We were pretty stunned,' she said.
Further tests confirmed the discovery. Constantine said they then retested about 160 samples taken from other stranded Gray's whales but didn't find any more that had been misidentified.
This year, researchers returned to the beach to exhume the skeletons.
Anton van Helden, who manages the marine mammals collection for New Zealand's national museum Te Papa, said it wasn't a straightforward task to find the remains after so long and that the mother's skull, which was buried shallower than the rest of the remains, washed out to sea. But they were able to recover the rest of the skeletons.
'It's a hugely significant find,' said van Helden, a co-author of the paper.
He said it's impossible to know why the whales came ashore although whales often beach themselves when they become ill. He said almost nothing is known about the species except they live in the South Pacific Ocean and eat primarily squid.
Fordyce said it may be possible to use the skeletons of the rare whales to reconstruct their muscles and tissues and to find out more about how they live and die and why they are so reclusive.
The scientists say the discovery could also provide broader insights into the ocean's complex ecosystems.
'This is good reminder,' said Constantine, 'of how large the oceans are, and of how little we know about them.'
___
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Two skeletons were identified as belonging to the species after a 17-foot whale and her calf beached themselves in New Zealand in 2010. Scientists hope the discovery will provide insights into the species and into ocean ecosystems.
It was almost a missed opportunity, however, since conservation workers misidentified the carcasses as a much more common type of whale and buried them.
In a paper published Tuesday in the journal 'Current Biology,' researchers from New Zealand and the United States say of their discovery: 'For the first time we have a description of the world's rarest and perhaps most enigmatic marine mammal.'
Previously only three skull fragments of the species had been found: in New Zealand in 1872 and in the 1950s and the last one 26 years ago on an island off Chile. The males have broad blade-like tusk teeth that give the species its name. Both males and females have beaks which make them resemble dolphins.
'This is pretty fantastic,' said Ewan Fordyce, a geology professor at the University of Otago who specializes in the evolution of whales and who was not involved in the research. 'There would be few, if any, mammalian species in the world that would be rarer. And we know much more about panda bears and other iconic, rare animals.'
The beached whales, an adult and her 11-foot male calf, were discovered on Opape Beach on the North Island on New Year's Eve in 2010. Conservation workers thought they were Gray's beaked whales and took tissue samples before burying them about nine feet under the sand.
Those samples ended up at the University of Auckland where scientists did routine tests about six months later. Rochelle Constantine, a co-author of the paper, said she and her colleague Kirsten Thompson couldn't believe it when the results showed the pair to be the rarest of whales.
'Kirsten and I went quiet. We were pretty stunned,' she said.
Further tests confirmed the discovery. Constantine said they then retested about 160 samples taken from other stranded Gray's whales but didn't find any more that had been misidentified.
This year, researchers returned to the beach to exhume the skeletons.
Anton van Helden, who manages the marine mammals collection for New Zealand's national museum Te Papa, said it wasn't a straightforward task to find the remains after so long and that the mother's skull, which was buried shallower than the rest of the remains, washed out to sea. But they were able to recover the rest of the skeletons.
'It's a hugely significant find,' said van Helden, a co-author of the paper.
He said it's impossible to know why the whales came ashore although whales often beach themselves when they become ill. He said almost nothing is known about the species except they live in the South Pacific Ocean and eat primarily squid.
Fordyce said it may be possible to use the skeletons of the rare whales to reconstruct their muscles and tissues and to find out more about how they live and die and why they are so reclusive.
The scientists say the discovery could also provide broader insights into the ocean's complex ecosystems.
'This is good reminder,' said Constantine, 'of how large the oceans are, and of how little we know about them.'
___
Follow Nick Perry on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nickgbperry
This news article is brought to you by FREE ROMANTIC DATING SITE BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Child mauled at Pittsburgh zoo fell off railing, police say
(Reuters) - The mother of a 2-year-old boy who died after falling into a pit of African wild dogs at the Pittsburgh Zoo stood him up on a railing before he fell and was immediately attacked by 11 dogs, police said.
The boy was visiting the zoo with his 34-year-old mother, who had put him on the railing for a better view of the animals, known as African painted dogs, police said.
The zoo was closed immediately after the incident on Sunday and remained shut on Monday.
Authorities are trying to determine if the boy died from the fall or the attack, Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard said on Monday.
Eleven dogs swarmed the boy after he fell. Zookeepers rushed to the exhibit area housing the animals, firing darts to frighten them away from the child before police arrived.
Zoo staff secured 10 of the dogs but police entered the pit and fired multiple gunshots to kill the last dog, which was particularly aggressive toward the child and the officers, authorities said.
African painted dogs are endangered and native to sub-Saharan Africa, according to the National Geographic website.
The animals have an average size of just over 2 feet to 3.5 feet (0.6 meters to 1 meter). They are also known as Cape hunting dogs or painted dogs because of their mottled coats with patches of red, black, brown, white and yellow fur. (Reporting by Kevin Gray in Miami; Editing by Bill Trott)
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The boy was visiting the zoo with his 34-year-old mother, who had put him on the railing for a better view of the animals, known as African painted dogs, police said.
The zoo was closed immediately after the incident on Sunday and remained shut on Monday.
Authorities are trying to determine if the boy died from the fall or the attack, Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard said on Monday.
Eleven dogs swarmed the boy after he fell. Zookeepers rushed to the exhibit area housing the animals, firing darts to frighten them away from the child before police arrived.
Zoo staff secured 10 of the dogs but police entered the pit and fired multiple gunshots to kill the last dog, which was particularly aggressive toward the child and the officers, authorities said.
African painted dogs are endangered and native to sub-Saharan Africa, according to the National Geographic website.
The animals have an average size of just over 2 feet to 3.5 feet (0.6 meters to 1 meter). They are also known as Cape hunting dogs or painted dogs because of their mottled coats with patches of red, black, brown, white and yellow fur. (Reporting by Kevin Gray in Miami; Editing by Bill Trott)
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Boy Dead After Mauling at Pittsburgh Zoo
The 2-year-old boy mauled by African painted dogs Sunday fell over the railing on which his mother put him to view the wild animals at the Pittsburgh Zoo, police said.
The boy, who has not been identified, died after falling 14 feet into the exhibit, said Barbara Baker, director of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Barker said it's unclear whether the boy died from the fall or from the attack.
Zoo officials tried firing darts to scare the dogs away from the child, but the animals, which are pack hunters, did not immediately respond.
The dogs were eventually moved from the exhibit, with the exception of one, which had to be shot after it continued to 'be aggressive' to the boy, Baker told a news conference Sunday.
'Unfortunately, by the time EMTs were able to get to him, the boy had passed away,' Baker said.
The boy and his mother were visiting the zoo just before noon when police say the toddler's mother stood the boy on a wooden railing outside the exhibit. Witnesses say the boy lost his balance and fell into the exhibit.
'There is a railing with a graphic sign. And the child flipped over the top of that railing, and there is also a catch basin to catch things that fall into the exhibit. But apparently the child flipped over that as well,' Barker said.
That's when all 11 dogs pounced on the toddler and began to maul him. Witnesses said the scene lasted five minutes, but felt like an eternity.
'We heard screams pretty loudly, and maybe like five minutes had passed by before we heard of what sounded like gunshots,' eyewitness Carey Lenz said.
Zookeepers ran into the enclosure, luring seven of the dogs away. Other zoo officials tried to beat the remaining dogs back. The most aggressive dog was shot and killed by a Pittsburgh police officer.
'From what I have heard, this was a pretty horrific scene,' police Lt. Kevin Kraus said .. The zoo has been closed until further notice.
African painted dogs are an endangered species and are about the size of a medium-sized domestic dog, according to the zoo. African wild dogs are also known as cape hunting dogs, spotted dogs and painted wolves. They have large, rounded ears and dark brown circles around their eyes.
'They are one of the most aggressive predatory animals in the wild. A zookeeper, a tranquilizer gun could not have helped,' said Jack Hanna, Columbus Zoo director emeritus.
The Pittsburgh Zoo has raised these dogs since birth, but it's not the first time they've caused trouble. The dogs caused a brief lockdown of the zoo in May after they crawled under a fence to another part of the exhibit. But they never left the exhibit and no one was harmed.
Baker said the Pittsburgh Zoo has never had a visitor death. She said no decision has been made yet about the future of the exhibit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The boy, who has not been identified, died after falling 14 feet into the exhibit, said Barbara Baker, director of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Barker said it's unclear whether the boy died from the fall or from the attack.
Zoo officials tried firing darts to scare the dogs away from the child, but the animals, which are pack hunters, did not immediately respond.
The dogs were eventually moved from the exhibit, with the exception of one, which had to be shot after it continued to 'be aggressive' to the boy, Baker told a news conference Sunday.
'Unfortunately, by the time EMTs were able to get to him, the boy had passed away,' Baker said.
The boy and his mother were visiting the zoo just before noon when police say the toddler's mother stood the boy on a wooden railing outside the exhibit. Witnesses say the boy lost his balance and fell into the exhibit.
'There is a railing with a graphic sign. And the child flipped over the top of that railing, and there is also a catch basin to catch things that fall into the exhibit. But apparently the child flipped over that as well,' Barker said.
That's when all 11 dogs pounced on the toddler and began to maul him. Witnesses said the scene lasted five minutes, but felt like an eternity.
'We heard screams pretty loudly, and maybe like five minutes had passed by before we heard of what sounded like gunshots,' eyewitness Carey Lenz said.
Zookeepers ran into the enclosure, luring seven of the dogs away. Other zoo officials tried to beat the remaining dogs back. The most aggressive dog was shot and killed by a Pittsburgh police officer.
'From what I have heard, this was a pretty horrific scene,' police Lt. Kevin Kraus said .. The zoo has been closed until further notice.
African painted dogs are an endangered species and are about the size of a medium-sized domestic dog, according to the zoo. African wild dogs are also known as cape hunting dogs, spotted dogs and painted wolves. They have large, rounded ears and dark brown circles around their eyes.
'They are one of the most aggressive predatory animals in the wild. A zookeeper, a tranquilizer gun could not have helped,' said Jack Hanna, Columbus Zoo director emeritus.
The Pittsburgh Zoo has raised these dogs since birth, but it's not the first time they've caused trouble. The dogs caused a brief lockdown of the zoo in May after they crawled under a fence to another part of the exhibit. But they never left the exhibit and no one was harmed.
Baker said the Pittsburgh Zoo has never had a visitor death. She said no decision has been made yet about the future of the exhibit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Child Mauled to Death by Dogs at Pittsburgh Zoo
A toddler was mauled to death today after falling into the African painted dog exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo.
The boy, who was around 3 years old, fell 14 feet over a railing and into the exhibit, said Barbara Baker, director of the Pittsburgh Zoo.
'Visitors alerted the staff immediately and they went into emergency response mode,' she said.
Zoo officials tried firing darts to scare the dogs away from the child, but the animals, which are pack hunters, did not immediately respond.
The dogs were eventually moved from the exhibit, with the exception of one, which had to be shot by a police officer after it continued to 'be aggressive' to the boy, Baker said.
'Unfortunately by the time EMTs were able to get to him, the boy had passed away,' Baker said.
The zoo has been closed until further notice.
The identity of the boy, who Baker said was visiting the zoo with his mother and family friends, has not yet been released.
'We've had the exhibit up since 2006 and we have not had any issues with the dogs,' Baker said. 'This is a tragic accident.'
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Friday, November 2, 2012
Alan Murray to leave the WSJ for Pew Research Center
(Reuters) - Alan Murray, deputy managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, will leave in January to assume the role of president of the Pew Research Center, the center announced on Friday.
Murray, 57, is also the Journal's online executive editor. In his new role he will oversee the Pew Research Center's seven projects covering topics ranging from journalism to religion to social trends.
'I have watched in the last 30 years as trusted facts have become an endangered species,' Murray told Reuters in an interview.
As part of the Washington-based Pew Charitable Trusts, the non-partisan Pew Research Center's mission is to inform the press, public and policy makers. Murray, in the statement announcing his appointment, described the Center as a 'rock of reliable information amidst a sea of supposition and spin.'
Murray was considered a candidate to succeed Managing Editor Robert Thomson, who is widely considered to be the front-runner to lead News Corp's publishing company after the company splits next year. Murray's departure paves the way for Deputy Editor Gerard Baker, whose name has surfaced as a successor to Thomson.
News Corp plans to split into two separate companies in 2013, with its publishing assets in one company and its television and film properties in the other.
The Wall Street Journal and News Corp declined to comment. Murray declined to comment about a successor to his Journal position. Baker and Thomson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Murray started with the Journal in 1983 and served in various positions, including Washington bureau chief. During his tenure the newspaper won three Pulitzer Prizes.
Known as a thought leader in the industry for digital news, Murray helped grow and expand the Journal's online operations, considered to be one of the industry's most successful.
In a memo to employees, Thomson said of Murray that 'no words can capture the gratitude I have for his enduring contribution to the Journal and to journalism.'
Raju Narisetti will succeed Murray, a Wall Street Journal spokeswoman said. Narisetti was named managing editor of the Wall Street Journal Digital Network in January.
Murray said he had been talking with the Pew Center since the summer but that his decision had nothing to do with the Journal's change of ownership from the Bancroft family to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
'I think Rupert Murdoch and Robert Thomson have saved this paper,' Murray told Reuters.
News Corp acquired Dow Jones and Co, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, in 2007.
(Reporting by Jennifer Saba; Editing by Dan Grebler and Carol Bishopric)
This news article is brought to you by ANIMALS AND PETS - where latest news are our top priority.
Murray, 57, is also the Journal's online executive editor. In his new role he will oversee the Pew Research Center's seven projects covering topics ranging from journalism to religion to social trends.
'I have watched in the last 30 years as trusted facts have become an endangered species,' Murray told Reuters in an interview.
As part of the Washington-based Pew Charitable Trusts, the non-partisan Pew Research Center's mission is to inform the press, public and policy makers. Murray, in the statement announcing his appointment, described the Center as a 'rock of reliable information amidst a sea of supposition and spin.'
Murray was considered a candidate to succeed Managing Editor Robert Thomson, who is widely considered to be the front-runner to lead News Corp's publishing company after the company splits next year. Murray's departure paves the way for Deputy Editor Gerard Baker, whose name has surfaced as a successor to Thomson.
News Corp plans to split into two separate companies in 2013, with its publishing assets in one company and its television and film properties in the other.
The Wall Street Journal and News Corp declined to comment. Murray declined to comment about a successor to his Journal position. Baker and Thomson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Murray started with the Journal in 1983 and served in various positions, including Washington bureau chief. During his tenure the newspaper won three Pulitzer Prizes.
Known as a thought leader in the industry for digital news, Murray helped grow and expand the Journal's online operations, considered to be one of the industry's most successful.
In a memo to employees, Thomson said of Murray that 'no words can capture the gratitude I have for his enduring contribution to the Journal and to journalism.'
Raju Narisetti will succeed Murray, a Wall Street Journal spokeswoman said. Narisetti was named managing editor of the Wall Street Journal Digital Network in January.
Murray said he had been talking with the Pew Center since the summer but that his decision had nothing to do with the Journal's change of ownership from the Bancroft family to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
'I think Rupert Murdoch and Robert Thomson have saved this paper,' Murray told Reuters.
News Corp acquired Dow Jones and Co, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, in 2007.
(Reporting by Jennifer Saba; Editing by Dan Grebler and Carol Bishopric)
This news article is brought to you by ANIMALS AND PETS - where latest news are our top priority.
Alan Murray to leave Wall Street Journal for Pew Research Center
(Reuters) - Alan Murray is leaving the Wall Street Journal to assume the role of president of the Pew Research Center, effective in January, the center announced on Friday.
Murray, 57, is currently the Journal's deputy managing editor and online executive editor. In his new role he will oversee the Pew Research Center's seven projects covering topics ranging from journalism to religion to social trends.
'I have watched in the last 30 years as trusted facts have become an endangered species,' Murray told Reuters in an interview.
As part of the Washington-based Pew Charitable Trusts, the non-partisan Pew Research Center's mission is to inform the press, public and policy makers. Murray, in the statement announcing his appointment, described the Center as a 'rock of reliable information amidst a sea of supposition and spin.'
Before the taking the position at the Pew Research Center, Murray was considered a potential candidate to take the top job at the Journal, media observers said. His move paves the way for Deputy Editor Gerard Baker, whose name has also surfaced as a successor to Managing Editor Robert Thomson.
Thomson is widely considered the front-runner to lead News Corp's publishing company, which will consist of the Journal and its sister newspapers such as the Times of London and The Australian.
Dow Jones and News Corp declined to comment. Murray declined to comment about a successor to his Journal position. Baker and Thomson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Murray started with the Journal in 1983 and served in various positions, including Washington bureau chief. During his tenure the newspaper won three Pulitzer Prizes.
Known as a thought leader in the industry for digital news, Murray helped grow and expand the Journal's online operations, considered to be one of the industry's most successful.
In a note to employees, Thomson said of Murray that 'no words can capture the gratitude I have for his enduring contribution to the Journal and to journalism.'
Murray said he had been talking with the Pew Center since the summer but that his decision had nothing to do with the Journal's change of ownership from the Bancroft family to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
'I think Rupert Murdoch and Robert Thomson have saved this paper,' Murray told Reuters.
(Reporting by Jennifer Saba; Editing by Dan Grebler)
This news article is brought to you by INTERNET NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Murray, 57, is currently the Journal's deputy managing editor and online executive editor. In his new role he will oversee the Pew Research Center's seven projects covering topics ranging from journalism to religion to social trends.
'I have watched in the last 30 years as trusted facts have become an endangered species,' Murray told Reuters in an interview.
As part of the Washington-based Pew Charitable Trusts, the non-partisan Pew Research Center's mission is to inform the press, public and policy makers. Murray, in the statement announcing his appointment, described the Center as a 'rock of reliable information amidst a sea of supposition and spin.'
Before the taking the position at the Pew Research Center, Murray was considered a potential candidate to take the top job at the Journal, media observers said. His move paves the way for Deputy Editor Gerard Baker, whose name has also surfaced as a successor to Managing Editor Robert Thomson.
Thomson is widely considered the front-runner to lead News Corp's publishing company, which will consist of the Journal and its sister newspapers such as the Times of London and The Australian.
Dow Jones and News Corp declined to comment. Murray declined to comment about a successor to his Journal position. Baker and Thomson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Murray started with the Journal in 1983 and served in various positions, including Washington bureau chief. During his tenure the newspaper won three Pulitzer Prizes.
Known as a thought leader in the industry for digital news, Murray helped grow and expand the Journal's online operations, considered to be one of the industry's most successful.
In a note to employees, Thomson said of Murray that 'no words can capture the gratitude I have for his enduring contribution to the Journal and to journalism.'
Murray said he had been talking with the Pew Center since the summer but that his decision had nothing to do with the Journal's change of ownership from the Bancroft family to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
'I think Rupert Murdoch and Robert Thomson have saved this paper,' Murray told Reuters.
(Reporting by Jennifer Saba; Editing by Dan Grebler)
This news article is brought to you by INTERNET NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Elephant in South Korean zoo imitates human speech
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - An elephant in a South Korean zoo is using his trunk to pick up not only food, but also human vocabulary.
An international team of scientists confirmed Friday what the Everland Zoo has been saying for years: Their 5.5-ton tusker Koshik has an unusual and possibly unprecedented talent.
The 22-year-old Asian elephant can reproduce five Korean words by tucking his trunk inside his mouth to modulate sound, the scientists said in a joint paper published online in Current Biology. They said he may have started imitating human speech because he was lonely.
Koshik can reproduce 'annyeong' (hello), 'anja' (sit down), 'aniya' (no), 'nuwo' (lie down) and 'joa' (good), the paper says.
One of the researchers said there is no conclusive evidence that Koshik understands the sounds he makes, although the elephant does respond to words like 'anja' and 'nuwo.'
Everland Zoo officials in the city of Yongin said Koshik also can imitate 'ajik' (not yet), but the researchers haven't confirmed the accomplishment.
Koshik is particularly good with vowels, with a rate of similarity of 67 percent, the researchers said. For consonants he scores only 21 percent.
Researchers said the clearest scientific evidence that Koshik is deliberately imitating human speech is that the sound frequency of his words matches that of his trainers.
Vocal imitation of other species has been found in mockingbirds, parrots and mynahs. But the paper says Koshik's case represents 'a wholly novel method of vocal production' because he uses his trunk to reproduce human speech.
In 1983, zoo officials in Kazakhstan reportedly claimed that a teenage elephant named Batyr could reproduce Russian to utter 20 phrases, including 'Batyr is good.' But there was no scientific study on the claim.
Researchers believe Koshik learned to reproduce words out of a desire to bond with his trainers after he was separated from two other elephants at age 5.
Koshik emerged as a star among animal enthusiasts and children in South Korea after Everland Zoo claimed in 2006 that he could imitate words, two years after his trainers noticed the phenomenon. His growing reputation prompted Austrian biologist Angela Stoeger-Horwath and German biophysicist Daniel Mietchen to study him in 2010, zoo officials said.
Oh Suk-hun, a South Korean veterinarian who co-authored the research paper with Stoeger-Horwath and Mietchen, said the elephant apparently started imitating human speech to win the trust of his trainers.
In April, a children's science book called 'Joa Joa, Speaking Elephant' was published. The cover photo showed Koshik opening his mouth wide while raising a trunk over his trainer's head.
Researchers said Koshik was trained to obey several commands and 'exposed to human speech intensively' by trainers, veterinarians and zoo visitors.
Shin Nam-sik, a veterinary professor at Seoul National University who has seen Koshik, agreed with researchers' finding that the elephant was able to mimic human speech.
'In Koshik's case, the level of intimacy between him and his trainer was the key factor that made the elephant want to sound like a human,' Shin said.
Kim Jong-gab, Koshik's chief trainer, said the elephant was timid for a male when he first came to Everland Zoo, so trainers often slept in the same area with him. Kim thinks that contact helped Koshik feel closer to humans.
Kim said he has another phrase he wants to teach Koshik: 'Saranghae,' or 'I love you.'
An international team of scientists confirmed Friday what the Everland Zoo has been saying for years: Their 5.5-ton tusker Koshik has an unusual and possibly unprecedented talent.
The 22-year-old Asian elephant can reproduce five Korean words by tucking his trunk inside his mouth to modulate sound, the scientists said in a joint paper published online in Current Biology. They said he may have started imitating human speech because he was lonely.
Koshik can reproduce 'annyeong' (hello), 'anja' (sit down), 'aniya' (no), 'nuwo' (lie down) and 'joa' (good), the paper says.
One of the researchers said there is no conclusive evidence that Koshik understands the sounds he makes, although the elephant does respond to words like 'anja' and 'nuwo.'
Everland Zoo officials in the city of Yongin said Koshik also can imitate 'ajik' (not yet), but the researchers haven't confirmed the accomplishment.
Koshik is particularly good with vowels, with a rate of similarity of 67 percent, the researchers said. For consonants he scores only 21 percent.
Researchers said the clearest scientific evidence that Koshik is deliberately imitating human speech is that the sound frequency of his words matches that of his trainers.
Vocal imitation of other species has been found in mockingbirds, parrots and mynahs. But the paper says Koshik's case represents 'a wholly novel method of vocal production' because he uses his trunk to reproduce human speech.
In 1983, zoo officials in Kazakhstan reportedly claimed that a teenage elephant named Batyr could reproduce Russian to utter 20 phrases, including 'Batyr is good.' But there was no scientific study on the claim.
Researchers believe Koshik learned to reproduce words out of a desire to bond with his trainers after he was separated from two other elephants at age 5.
Koshik emerged as a star among animal enthusiasts and children in South Korea after Everland Zoo claimed in 2006 that he could imitate words, two years after his trainers noticed the phenomenon. His growing reputation prompted Austrian biologist Angela Stoeger-Horwath and German biophysicist Daniel Mietchen to study him in 2010, zoo officials said.
Oh Suk-hun, a South Korean veterinarian who co-authored the research paper with Stoeger-Horwath and Mietchen, said the elephant apparently started imitating human speech to win the trust of his trainers.
In April, a children's science book called 'Joa Joa, Speaking Elephant' was published. The cover photo showed Koshik opening his mouth wide while raising a trunk over his trainer's head.
Researchers said Koshik was trained to obey several commands and 'exposed to human speech intensively' by trainers, veterinarians and zoo visitors.
Shin Nam-sik, a veterinary professor at Seoul National University who has seen Koshik, agreed with researchers' finding that the elephant was able to mimic human speech.
'In Koshik's case, the level of intimacy between him and his trainer was the key factor that made the elephant want to sound like a human,' Shin said.
Kim Jong-gab, Koshik's chief trainer, said the elephant was timid for a male when he first came to Everland Zoo, so trainers often slept in the same area with him. Kim thinks that contact helped Koshik feel closer to humans.
Kim said he has another phrase he wants to teach Koshik: 'Saranghae,' or 'I love you.'
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