News about Animals and Pets: 2013

Friday, March 15, 2013

Argentine Wildlife Gain 2 New Marine Parks

Two new large wildlife reserves have been created in Argentina's Patagonian coast, good news for the area's diverse wildlife.

The parks, Isla Pingüino Coastal Marine Park and Makenke Coastal Marine Park, are home to penguins, sea lions, dolphins and other animals, which will receive more protections under the designation, according to a release from Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), an environmental group.

The Isla Pingüino Coastal Marine Park extends 12 miles (19 kilometers) out to sea, encompassing some 720 square miles (1,800 square kilometers) of ocean and cliff-bordered coastline. It's home to South American sea lions, red-legged cormorants and one of the biggest colonies of imperial cormorants in the world (with more than 8,000 breeding pairs). The park also hosts one of the only colonies of rockhopper penguins in the country, according to the WCS.

The Makenke Coastal Marine Park, farther to the south, is home to the biggest group of rare red-legged cormorants in the country. Visitors can also find dolphin gulls and Commerson's dolphins in the area, the WCS noted. [Photos of the new marine reserves.]

Each park, established by the Argentine National Congress, is known for its historical significance. In 1833, Charles Darwin voyaged to Isla Pingüino on the HMS Beagle, writing about the wildlife he found there. Ferdinand Magellan passed by what is now Makenke Coastal Marine Park on his first voyage around the world, marooning and executing a group of mutineers on the coast there.

'We commend the Government of Argentina for their conservation stewardship in creating this new network of marine protected areas,' said Cristián Samper, WCS president, in a statement. 'Isla Pingüino and Makenke Coastal Marine Parks now protect vital wildlife populations for posterity and create new opportunities for Argentina's ecotourism industry.'

Email Douglas Main or follow him @Douglas_Main. Follow us @OAPlanet, Facebook or Google+. Original article on LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Whales Trap Dinner with Mouthful of Swirling Bristles

Humpback and bowhead whales create their own food nets from specialized bristles in their mouths to more efficiently nab fishy morsels, a new study of baleen whales suggests.

When these whales feed, some open their jaws wide to gulp mouthfuls of seawater, whereas others swim with half-open mouths (called ramming or skim-feeding). Both rely on baleen, a system of hairy bristles that line their mouths and trap food. The new study, published today (March 13) in The Journal of Experimental Biology, shows that the baleen of bowhead whales and humpback whales is not the passive structure it was thought to be, but forms a tangled mesh in water that streams through it as the animals swim.

And how the baleen gets morphed is different depending on the specific whale's feeding style, the study found.

'Everyone assumed baleen works like a sieve,' study author Alexander Werth, a biologist at Hampden-Sydney College, Va., told LiveScience. But as soon as he put pieces of baleen in a flow tank, 'it became immediately apparent that it was a dynamic tissue rather than a static one.'

Baleen is made up of keratin, the protein found in hair and fingernails, which forms large plates that enclose a fibrous inner core. Whales typically have about 300 plate structures on either side of their mouths, perpendicular to the direction that water flows. The whales' tongues wear away the inner edges of the plates to create a fringe that traps krill and other tasty morsels.

Baleen biomechanics

Werth wanted to compare the biomechanics of the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) with that of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). He placed pieces of baleen from these whales in a giant tank, and pumped water and small latex beads (stand-ins for the food morsels they filter from water) through them, observing this with an underwater camera.

Werth tested small sections of each kind of baleen at water speeds between 2 and 55 inches per second (5 and 140 centimeters per second), which is comparable to whale swimming speeds. Werth also varied the angle of the baleen between parallel and perpendicular to the flow. He observed how many beads the baleen bristles trapped for at least 2 seconds.

The single baleen plates trapped the most beads at the lowest water speeds, the results showed. As the water speed increased, the bristles streamed out - like hair blowing in a strong wind - creating gaps where particles could slip through.

But baleen isn't found in single plates in a whale's mouth, it's found in rows, so Werth tested a small rack of six baleen plates. Now the bristles formed a tangled net in the flowing water, with most beads being trapped at about 28 to 31 inches/s (70 to 80 cm/s) - exactly the speed bowhead whales swim when they're 'ram' feeding.

'The first thing I saw was the size of that net depends on how fast the waters are flowing through it and in what direction,' Werth said. 'The fringes from adjacent plates would tangle up and make a really dense knot.'

Humpback whale baleen was shorter and coarser than bowhead baleen, and captured fewer beads.

Feeding styles

The findings reveal how the baleen of bowhead whales and humpbacks differs biomechanically. Those differences explain the specialized feeding styles of the two types of whales: Bowheads feed by continuous ram feeding at slower speeds, whereas humpbacks feed in intermittent gulps at higher speeds.

The baleen of humpback whales performed best at the same speed as that of bowheads, despite the fact that humpbacks typically swim faster than bowheads when feeding.

'This is a fascinating study,' marine ecologist Ari Friedlaender of Duke University, who was not involved in the study, told LiveScience in an email, adding he was surprised that the bowhead whale baleen functioned better at higher flow speeds than the humpback whale baleen.

'We think of [bowhead] whales generally as slow-feeding animals that are basically mowing the lawn and that humpback whales are more energetic and feed faster,' Friedlaender said, but it appears humpbacks may actually be moving at a similar speed while feeding.

Werth also hopes to explore how pollutants affect the whales' baleen. 'I'm really worried about what would happen if the filter gets clogged with oil or debris,' he said.

Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter @tanyalewis314. Follow us @livescience, Facebook or Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

British zoo sends 6 endangered macaws to Bolivia

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - Six endangered macaws have been flown from Britain to Bolivia in hopes that they can help save a species devastated by the trade in wild animals, international conservation experts said Tuesday.

The birds, with blue wings and a yellow breast, arrived last week at a conservation center in northeastern Bolivia, close to their natural habitat, and the local Noel Kempff Foundation said it hopes to breed or release them.

The birds were long captured for sale as pets and no more than 130 of the blue-throated macaws are believed to still exist in the wild, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which lists the birds as a critically endangered species.

'Thousands of the birds were taken from the wild in the '70s and '80s,' said Alison Hales, director of the Paradise Park zoo in Hayle, a town in England's Cornwall district that bred the six birds. 'There are thousands in captivity, while there are mere hundreds in the wild.'

Hales, chairman of the board of the World Parrot Trust, said by telephone that conservationists have been trying for about 10 years to 'maximize the breeding potential' of the few birds still remaining. But 'some years there haven't been any chicks at all.'

'You do your best to maximize the birds still in the world,' but when that isn't working, 'you think of doing something else,' she said.

The director of the Bolivian foundation, Lorena Kempff, said experts there have not decided if the birds will be kept for breeding or released. 'It will depend on the number of examples and characteristics of other macaws that can be repatriated,' she said, referring to current efforts to bring more birds. 'In any case, they are in excellent condition for both objectives.'

Parrot Trust Director James D. Gilardi said by telephone that there are 'only about 10 to 12 pairs of birds that attempt to breed in a good year,' while in some none breed at all.

He said the conservationists working in the wild try to find as many eggs as possible and do whatever possible to protect them. That may mean propping up trees to keep them from falling or building roofs or drains to keep them from being drowned by rain.

Once they hatch, 'we work with them, measure their growth rate... make sure they're developing properly' and give them food or other care if not. While that has worked, the problem is that 'we're just so close to extinction that we we're doing just isn't enough.'

The problem, he said, is that so few birds are spread over an area half the size of Connecticut. Once two finally meet, he said, they share a human-like issue: 'You have to decide you like them and they have to like you.'

The blue-throated macaw is native to the Moxos Plains, a vast savanna in the Amazon basin of northern Bolivia. The IUCN said all of its known breeding sites are on private cattle ranches, where cutting of trees has reduced the number of suitable nest sites.

Most macaws can live for 40 to 60 years in the wild.

___

Associated Press writer John Rice contributed to this report from Mexico City.

'Killer' Military Dolphins Go AWOL for Love? Maybe Not

Ukrainian officials are reportedly denying a Russian state news story that alleges three of its military-trained dolphins went AWOL during a training exercise in Crimea earlier this month.

Russia's RIA Novosti reported Tuesday that the rogue pod simply never returned from a training exercise and said an expert speculated the underwater mammals probably went in search of mates. The report cited Ukrainian media as the basis for the story, but also noted that Ukraine's Defense Ministry denied the incident.

After the RIA Novosti story was picked up by international outlets, including several in the U.S., Ukrainian media reported that officials there said the story was ' absolutely fabricated.' One Russian news report said that the document upon which the original stories were based was a low-quality forgery, as The Week pointed out.

That isn't to say that some militaries do not use the adorable marine animals for life-and-death military matters. As ABC News has reported, the U.S. Navy has used bottle-nosed dolphins to detect mines and enemy divers.

In his memoir ' The Red Circle,' former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb described killer dolphin-evasion as part of his diver training.

'They train these animals to track down enemy divers, outfitting them with a device strapped to onto the head that contains a compressed gas needle. Once the dolphin has tracked you down, it butts you; the needle shoots out and pokes you, creating an embolism. Within moments, you're dead,' Webb wrote. 'We could tell when those little b******s were approaching because we could hear their sonar clicking - but that didn't make it any easier to escape them. [they're] way too fast for us or any other human being to outrun them.'

CLICK HERE to return to The Investigative Unit homepage.

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

San Diego Zoo Welcomes Season's 1st Condor Chick

The San Diego Zoo welcomed its first California condor chick of the hatching season on Feb. 24, the zoo announced yesterday (March 11), as part of their breeding program to help save the endangered species.

The two-week-old condor, dubbed Wesa, is doing well and has a healthy appetite, eating up to 15 mice a day, the zoo said in a statement. Like other condors born at the zoo, Wesa will eventually be released into the wild.

Senior condor keeper Ron Webb has been caring for the baby bird with the help of a condor hand puppet.

'The puppet is like a fancy glove,' Webb said in the statement. 'It covers our hands so the chick does not get any beneficial experiences from people. We do not want it imprinting on people or getting used to us when it goes out into the wild. We want it to be a nice, wild animal, not relying on people for food.'

Webb has also been monitoring the other condor eggs set to hatch this season to estimate how long before each chick pips, or breaks through its egg shell. He uses a technique called candling that shines a bright, warm light on the eggs and allows him to see how the chick is developing. In a photo released by the zoo, Webb is examining an egg on March 11 that he estimates will hatch in 21 days.

California condors are listed as critically endangered. When the zoo began its captive breeding program in the 1980s, there were only 22 birds in the wild. Since then, the zoo has hatched 173 chicks and released 80 birds into the wild. There are now an estimated 400 wild birds.

Follow Andrea Thompson @AndreaTOAP, Pinterestand Google+. Follow OurAmazingPlanet @OAPlanet, Facebook and Google+.

New center offers help for dogs consumed by fear

LOS ANGELES (AP) - People want their dog to be a friend, not afraid.

But sometimes, fear grips dogs so tightly they shake, cower, bite, growl or pee. It can be constant, painful and hard to overcome. Such dread can consume a dog when it's freed from a cage at a puppy mill or hoarder's home because that's the only life the dog has ever known.

Until now, it was up to animal shelters to ease the fears, knowing if they didn't, euthanasia was the likely alternative. But this week, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals opens its Behavioral Rehabilitation Center at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, N.J.

It's a two-year research project being financed by the ASPCA.

For now, dogs seized from puppy mills and hoarders will be the primary patients, said Kristen Collins, ASPCA's director of anti-cruelty behavior rehabilitation and director of the center. It will also include some dogs that have been confined for long stretches as evidence in court cases.

Dogs will come from shelters across the country as well as from seizures involving the ASPCA.

It's groundbreaking and exciting, Collins said. 'It's the first ever facility that's dedicated strictly to providing rehabilitation for dogs that are victims of animal cruelty.'

The research will also provide some numbers, Collins said. No one knows how many shy dogs are being placed in homes now. And little is known about how they fare after placement, so center staff will spend a lot of time following up on animals.

There are 27 kennels, an office, real life rooms, treatment rooms and common areas at the center.

The average stay for most dogs will be six to eight weeks, 'but we don't have a hard and fast rule. All dogs are individuals. We will be flexible,' Collins said.

A team of 10 people, including two behavior experts from St. Hubert's, will staff the center. Volunteers and daily caretakers will feed the dogs and clean kennels.

Graduating dogs will return to a shelter for placement and ASPCA shelter partners will continue working with the dogs if needed, Collins said.

St. Hubert's is a longtime disaster partner of the ASPCA and jumped at the chance to be involved, said President and CEO Heather Cammisa.

Fear and anxiety are major factors that can hinder a dog's quality of life, she said.

'If they are hiding in the back of the cage and they are fearful, No. 1, they don't have a good quality of life and, No. 2, they are not going to be selected for adoption and when they go home, they are not really prepared to be the family pet that adopters seek, so this is just a win-all-around,' she said.

The ASPCA spent over half a million dollars on the building, Cammisa said, and will pay all other expenses, including vaccinations, spaying or neutering, treatments and other care.

Weather permitting, the first few dogs will arrive in the next day or two from the Pacific Northwest, Collins said.

They will be the last of 213 Alaskan malamutes seized from a Montana breeder who was convicted in December 2012 of 91 counts of animal cruelty. After being starved and living in filth at the breeding facility, the dogs then had to be kept in kennels as evidence for 16 months while the trial played out.

Malamutes are 75-pound dogs. 'Eighteen of the dogs were pregnant. One pregnant dog only weighed 48 pounds and had eight pups. Only one survived,' said Bob Sutherland of Anchorage, president of the Alaska Malamute Assistance League.

The dogs were released to a humane society in Helena, Mont., where they were spayed and neutered, and another group helped place the animals.

While some dogs are in malamute rescues waiting for the right owner, many have found forever homes. Sutherland and his wife, Nicole McCullough, adopted one.

When the dogs were in evidence custody, Sutherland would visit to help out once a month. Cinder, a 6-year-old female, became his special project.

She is missing the tip of her ear, has broken teeth and a broken toe, injuries Sutherland said were caused when what little food was given to the dogs was thrown over a fence, causing food fights. Many of the dogs are even missing their tongues, he said.

Cinder has come a long way. 'We took a shy dog, and she's all grins and giggles now. If you work with these dogs, they rise and shine. That's why this ASPCA facility is so valuable to us. We were super excited to get these dogs in there to go through a training regimen. It saves us a lot of heartbreak about what we do with these dogs,' Sutherland said.

There will be those dogs that cannot overcome the fear, Collins said. But behaviorists will do everything possible and consider euthanasia as a last resort only if the dogs are suffering from an extremely poor quality of life or if they pose a significant threat to the public, she said.

The center will only be able to handle about 400 dogs during the project's two scheduled years, so it won't take an immediate burden off shelters, Collins said, but if researchers can come up with new ways to ease fear, anxiety and shyness in abused dogs, it could have a widespread impact.

And success could mean another phase in the study, to include fighting dogs, or even cats, Collins said.

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Online:

- http://www.sthuberts.org

- http://www.malamuterescue.org

- http://www.aspca.org

Monday, March 11, 2013

Endangered sharks to be protected under international law

BANGKOK (Reuters) - An international conference voted on Monday to ban trade in some shark species whose populations have fallen to crisis levels due in part to demand from China, the world's biggest consumer of shark fins for use in soup.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) agreed to ban international trade in the oceanic whitetip, the porbeagle and three types of hammerhead sharks unless shipments are accompanied by documentation showing they were caught legally.

Around 7 percent of sharks are killed each year, according to a paper in the Marine Policy journal this year, an unsustainable amount that is threatening certain populations with extinction.

Governments will have 18 months to comply with the restrictions, agreed by a two-thirds majority of the countries at the CITES conference in Bangkok.

If countries are found to be non-compliant, they may be subject to sanctions that can cover trade in all CITES-listed species.

Japan and China, major consumers of shark products, opposed the listing, citing difficulties in identifying the specific species' fins.

They also said regional fisheries management bodies should manage marine issues, rather than CITES, but most countries, including the original proponents in Latin America and the European Union, and environmental NGOs rejected that view.

'In reality we need fisheries management bodies managing the fishing and CITES managing the trade,' said Elizabeth Wilson, manager for global shark conservation at The Pew Charitable Trusts, an NGO.

The vote will require final approval at a CITES plenary on March 14, the final day of the meeting, which is likely given the large majority in favor.

(Reporting by Paul Carsten; Editing by Michael Urquhart)

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Dogs Domesticated 33,000 Years Ago, Skull Suggests

A canine skull found in the Altai Mountains of Siberia is more closely related to modern domestic dogs than to wolves, a new DNA analysis reveals.

The findings could indicate that dogs were domesticated around 33,000 years ago. The point at which wolves went from wild to man's best friend is hotly contested, though dogs were well-established in human societies by about 10,000 years ago. Dogs and humans were buried together in Germany about 14,000 years ago, a strong hint of domestication, but genetic studies have pinpointed the origin of dog domestication in both China and the Middle East.

The Altai specimen, a well-preserved skull, represents one of the two oldest possible domestic dogs ever found. Another possible domestic dog fossil, this one dated to approximately 36,000 years ago, was found in Goyet Cave, in Belgium.

Anatomical examinations of these skulls suggest they are more doglike than wolflike. To confirm, researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences and their colleagues drilled a tiny amount of bone from the Altai dog's incisor and jaw and analyzed its DNA. They conducted all of the work in an isolated lab and used extra precautions to prevent contamination, as ancient DNA is extremely fragile.

The researchers then compared the genetic sequences from the Altai specimen with gene sequences from 72 modern dogs of 70 different breeds, 30 wolves, four coyotes and 35 prehistoric canid species from the Americas. [10 Breeds: What Your Dog Says About You]

They found that the Altai canid is more closely related to modern domestic dogs than to modern wolves, as its skull shape had previously suggested. That means that the Altai canid was an ancient dog, not an ancient wolf - though it had likely diverged from the wolf line relatively recently, the researchers report today (March 6) in the journal PLOS ONE.

If the Altai dog was really domesticated, it would push back the origin of today's house pets more than 15,000 years and move the earliest domestication out of the Middle East or East Asia, as previous studies have suggested. However, the analysis was limited to only a portion of the genome, the researchers wrote.

'Additional discoveries of ancient doglike remains are essential for further narrowing the time and region of origin for the domestic dog,' they said.

Follow Stephanie Pappas @sipappas. Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience, Facebook or Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Green cleaning for humans can still sicken pets

LOS ANGELES (AP) - As the time nears for spring cleaning and companies offer more environmentally friendly alternatives to toxic cleaners, veterinarians say pet owners should keep in mind that what's green to a human can be dangerous - even deadly - to animals.

'People expose their animals without even realizing the risk,' said Dr. Karl Jandrey, who works in the emergency and critical care units at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California, Davis. 'That's the most common thing that happens when you come to our emergency room - the clients put their pets at risk because they were unaware of how significant the damage could be.'

Most household cleaners are safe if used as directed on labels, but pet owners who make their own cleansers using natural ingredients don't have the warnings or instructions that come with commercial products.

Cats, for example, can get stomachaches from essential oils added for orange, lemon or peppermint scents in cleaners, said Dr. Camille DeClementi, a senior toxicologist at the Animal Poison Control Center run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Urbana, Ill.

Most commercial green products are safe for animals, DeClementi said, but owners should still exercise the same precautions as with chemical alternatives, such as keeping pets away from an area being cleaned, not using sprays directly on a pet and making sure that dogs don't chew on the products.

If a product says 'Keep out of reach of children,' keep it away from pets too, DeClementi said.

Caroline Golon, an Ohio mother of two children under 5 and owner of two Persian cats, said she became concerned about cleaning products before her children were born, when she noticed how often the cats jumped between floors and counters. The Columbus resident uses only unscented green products or vinegar and water to clean, a water-only steam mop on floors and washes the cats' dishes and litter boxes with hot water and green dish soap.

'There are varying degrees of green, and there are a lot of mainstream brands now that have a green version. You have to do a little research to see what you like best,' said Golon, a pet blogger.

The 'green' label on products can be misleading because it still can be dangerous, Jandrey added. 'Some still have their own toxicities. In general, they probably are a little less toxic, but not free of toxic potential. They just have a need for a larger dose to cause the same kind of symptoms,' he said.

He cited antifreeze as an example. The pet-friendly version of antifreeze, propylene glycol, is 'still an antifreeze product. It's still intoxicating to patients, our dogs and cats. It's just not as intoxicating as ethylene glycol.'

It takes more of the propylene glycol to be as deadly as the ethylene glycol, 'but it is still intoxicating though it might say pet-friendly in the ads or on the bottle,' Jandrey said.

Labels can't always account for every reaction, Jandrey said. 'Each intoxicating product has different concentrations and each dog or cat, each species, has a different sensitivity to that product. So what might be intoxicating to a dog is really, really intoxicating to a cat because cats might be more sensitive,' he said.

Nancy Guberti, a New York City nutritionist and healthy lifestyle coach for the past 15 years, said some products will say green when they are not.

'Natural means nothing. The consumer has to be educated. It's all about awareness,' she said.

Extra care also should be taken when cleaning around a pet's area, such as its toys or bedding, the experts say. Don't use fabric softener sheets that contain cationic detergents because they will give your pet - especially cats - stomach distress, DeClementi said, referring to a type of chemical soap that kills bacteria.

Such detergents and soaps, normally associated with helping to get clothes clean and fresh-smelling, can have chemicals that can sicken humans and pets alike.

Guberti switched to green cleaners out of necessity when her youngest son developed a liver disorder and many allergies. Guberti said the whole family became green - even their family's 6-year-old Shih Tzu, Flower, because her son can't hold Flower 'if she is full of toxic chemicals or perfumes.'

She recalled how she took the dog to a groomer for the first time, and Flower came out covered in perfume. Guberti washed her again at home, and now she brings her own bottles to the groomer.

'I have a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner with her name on it. I always remind them: 'No perfumes whatsoever,'' Guberti said.

Golon, who uses a maid service once a month, said she had the same problem when they brought their own products when they first started cleaning the house.

'I hadn't thought about it but the smell was so overpowering, it really bothered me. I can just imagine what it was doing to the cats with their sensitivity to scents,' she said.

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Online:

http://aspca.org

http://www.vmth.ucdavis.edu

Friday, March 1, 2013

Elephants Vanish in Congo Reserve

The Okapi Faunal Reserve was thought to be a safe haven for forest elephants in the otherwise conflict-stricken eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. But a new report finds that unabated poaching has sent the population into serious decline. Just 1,700 elephants are left inside the reserve, and that number could be zero within 10 years, conservationists warn.

A lucrative black-market trade in ivory drives the hunt for elephants in the region. In the last 15 years, 75 percent of the Okapi population, or 5,100 animals, have been killed, and in the last five years, the population has declined 37 percent, according to a Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) survey.

WCS officials say the numbers are surprisingly grim because the Okapi Faunal Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering more than 5,000 square miles (14,000 square km), is considered the best protected conservation area in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Before a civil war broke out in the region in the late 1990s, the WCS counted about 6,800 forest elephants in the reserve. In 2007, after the war officially ended, the WCS's elephant count was down to 2,700.

Since then, park rangers have reduced the number of elephants killed in the reserve each year from 400 to 170, but conservationists warn that instability in the Ituri region could spell more trouble for the animals. In one unsettling incident last June, armed attackers descended on the park headquarters, killing park rangers and villagers and looting the park's offices before setting them ablaze. [Elephant Images: The Biggest Beasts on Land]

The WCS says it's working with the country's wildlife department (the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature, or ICCN) to keep the reserve secure.

'We salute our partners at ICCN for their dedication and commitment to protect wildlife under the most difficult circumstances,' James Deutsch, executive director for the WCS's African programs, said in a statement. 'We remain stalwart in our partnership with them and will continue to work in their country to protect elephants and the landscapes where they live. We urge the international community to support the DRC in the fight against the threat of extinction of the forest elephant.'

On the other end of the ivory trade, the WCS says more work is needed to plug the demand for ivory, especially in East Asian countries like China.

The forest elephant is a subspecies of the African elephant, which is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In addition to poaching, the massive mammals are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation.

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Thursday, February 28, 2013

London zoo to create map of city's cats

LONDON (AP) - The London zoo is taking stock of an animal you don't often find behind bars, launching what it says is the first interactive map of the British capital's domestic cats.

The zoo said Friday that its interface would allow Londoners to upload scientific survey-style photos, descriptions, and locations of their cats - creating a capital-wide census of the city's felines.

The map may not ultimately have much in the way of scientific value, but it could prove popular among Britain's cat owners.

Even ahead of its official launch, the site was filling up with dozens of felines, along with tongue-in-cheek field notes.

Among the early entrants was Ollie, a ginger cat from north London who 'likes fish and octopus toy (but) dislikes biscuits.' Another was Dorothy, a black tabby from south London who 'has intimacy issues.'

Quality control doesn't appear to be a strong suit of the site. At least one person uploaded a picture of a 'Nyancat,' the name given by Internet pranksters to an animated, space-dwelling cat with the body of a Pop-Tart.

But the other listings appeared legitimate and the map was already yielding its first figures. Nearly half of Britain's domestic cats are black or gray, according to the map, and roughly one-sixth are ginger or rust-colored.

Officials with the Zoological Society of London said they were launching the map to mark the arrival of two Sumatran tigers - Jae Jae and Melati - at the zoo.

They add that while the map is aimed at Londoners, cat fans from outside the city - even outside the country - can also upload their pets' photos to the system.

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Online:

Cat map: http://zsl.org/CatMap

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Right at Home: games and toys to keep pets happy

Our dogs are often as fat as we are, according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. Family cats can look like furry ottomans. At Tufts University, they've set up an obesity clinic at the vet school.

It's time to get our pets up and at 'em.

Dogs and cats love to play, and there are scores of great toys to engage their bodies and minds.

Be mindful of your pet's breed and character when choosing games and toys, advises Victoria Wells, senior manager for behavior and training at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' adoption center in New York City.

DOGS

'Scent-oriented dogs will respond best to games that involve seeking out something that has an odor, so hide treats around the house that they have to locate,' she says. 'Buy toys that you can hide treats inside, and the dog has to tumble it to get at them.'

Intelligent dogs need mental stimulation just as people do, says Wells.

Spot's Seek a Treat sliding puzzle and Discovery Wheel might fill the bill. Company of Animals has a Twister treat-finding game. The Kong line of toys are pack pleasers; the toys have holes at one end to hide treats, and the heavy-duty rubber construction makes them tough enough for larger dogs. (Available at many pet stores, or at www.wag.com ; www.companyofanimals.co.uk )

Big, energetic dogs will have fun chasing the sturdy Varsity Ball. And for a little humor, consider Moody Pet's Humunga lips-, tongue- or moustache-shaped chew toys that give your dog a hilarious visage when they're holding them. (www.varsitypet.com ; www.moodypet.com )

Dogs that love to interact love to tug - and Wells says that, contrary to some opinion, tugging can be a great game.

'It's all about who's in control of the game. You decide when you play it, when the toy must be released, when it must be dropped,' she says.

Teaching these skills early in a puppy's life makes play a lifelong joy. But even a rescue dog can learn, with patience and understanding.

Try a tennis ball attached to a rope, which makes retrieving and throwing easy - no slobbery balls to grip. Petco also offers Bamboo's Combat Bone, a soft and floatable bone-shaped tugger, while Homegoods' extensive pet department, HG Pet, has great squeak-and-fetch options too. (www.petco.com , www.homegoods.com )

Sturdy coils of small, medium or large marine-grade rope also do the job, but for multi-dog tug action, consider Ruff Dawg's four-handled rubber toy. (www.wag.com )

If you've got a ball-loving dog, you've probably spent hours throwing one; tennis balls seem to be the toy of choice. For something a little different, consider the Mystery Tree, which requires the dog to trip a lever to release the ball. And for truly energetic canines, get the Hyperdog Launcher, which shoots up to four balls 220 feet via a slingshot-like contraption. No more goober-y hands or sore throwing arms. (www.activedogtoys.com )

Some dogs love hide and seek; Kyjen has a plush tree trunk you stuff with mini squirrels for Dog to extricate. (www.kyjen.com )

And how about chasing bubbles? Activedogtoys.com has the automatic Bubbletastic and Bubble Buddy, which blow bacon- or chicken-scented bubbles.

Perform a toy test: Does your pet respond best to a plush toy, a ball or an interactive food toy?

On his website Cesarsway.com, dog behavior specialist and TV show host Cesar Millan advises that toys can help a dog learn not to bite. With puppies, introduce toys quickly as substitutes for hands.

Wells suggests some easy-to-make homemade toys. Poke holes in a 2-liter soda bottle and fill it with a few kibbles: Pawing the bottle will randomly release the treats.

A popular treat at shelters is a savory ice pop. 'We put some treats in deli or carry-out containers, then fill them with water or chicken stock' and freeze them, she says.

Caregivers also scent objects with cinnamon, clove or lavender at different times of day, she says, depending on whether they want to energize or soothe their furry charges.

When you leave the house for a long period, Wells say, 'limit the number of toys you leave out. Just like children, pets get bored if their entire toy box is available to them every day.'

CATS

Cats appreciate an interesting toy as much as dogs do. Kitty condos, which often have several elevations and platforms to climb, sit on and hide in, are excellent choices.

'Vertical hiding places and sanctuaries are very important to cats,' notes Wells, since they seek these out in the wild.

Look for upholstered versions in kneadable micro plush, or carpet remnants.

Scratching posts made of sturdy jute will save your furniture, and can be purchased or made at home. A feline version of the mouse exercise wheel is available at Catwheelcompany.com.

Other homemade cat toys include toilet paper rolls filled with catnip or treats, which the cats release by batting the toy around, and wands made out of rulers, rubber bands and feathers, Wells says. Cats get their own version of the ice pop, she says: 3-ounce drink cups filled with cat food and chicken or beef stock, and then frozen.

A fun interactive family toy might be the Abo Cat Tunnel: Kids and pets chase each other through a nylon tube. The Bergan Catnip Cyclone involves a circular track on which a cat spins a ball filled with catnip; the more twirls, the more catnip aroma released. A feathery teaser can be attached. The Cataction Magneticat provides a magnetized bug on the end of a wand that bobbles around while your cat tries to catch it. (www.petco.com )

The Ba Da Beam Rotating Laser Cat Toy features a battery-operated laser. (www.drsfostersmith.com )

At Catchannel.com, find tips on making your own versions of wand, tug and climbing toys out of boxes, paper bags and other household items.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Ailing pets getting hyperbaric chamber treatment

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Hyperbaric chambers have been used for decades to treat divers with the bends, burn victims and people with traumatic injuries, but in Florida and a handful of other states they're increasingly being used on ailing pets.

Doctors at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine have recently used an oxygen chamber on dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits and one monkey.

Veterinarian and professor Justin Shmalberg said the capsule has been used to treat animals that have been bitten by rattlesnakes, hit by cars and those with infected wounds, among other things.

'Any place we have swelling of tissue, we oftentimes are thinking about the hyperbaric chamber as something we could do to decrease that,' he said.

Shmalberg said the chamber's high-pressure atmosphere of pure oxygen appears to help reduce swelling and aid healing time. He added that the school will begin clinical trials this summer to determine how - or even if - the hyperbaric chamber really is effective in speeding recoveries and healing animals.

There is little research on hyperbaric treatments and pets, although veterinarians who use the chambers note that most of the research for human hyperbaric treatments comes from trials done on rabbits and rats.

'We want to make sure there's really good science behind it,' said Dr. Diane Levitan, who owns Peace Love Pets Veterinary Care in Commack, N.Y. 'It's not a panacea. There are specific reasons why this is helpful.'

Levitan has a hyperbaric chamber in her practice and is writing an article for a veterinary journal on the treatment. Like Shmalberg, she has seen an improved rate of healing for certain conditions such as herniated discs, abscesses and even post-radiation swelling.

In humans, insurance companies will pay for hyperbaric treatment for several conditions, including carbon monoxide poisoning, crush injuries and bone marrow infections, among other things. Some insurance companies won't pay for hyperbaric treatment for wounds or ulcers, saying that it's an 'unproven' therapy - but some people swear by the treatment and seek out private clinics.

It's the same with pet owners; veterinarians with oxygen chambers say that people with sick pets often will often research the treatment and request it after becoming familiar with it through human medicine.

'It is a very new modality for treatment in veterinary medicine,' said Dr. Andrew Turkell of Calusa Veterinary Center in Boca Raton.

The devices used by UF, Levitan and Turkell are about the size of a loveseat and are manufactured in Florida by a Boca Raton company named Hyperbaric Veterinary Medicine. Turkell was the first doctor to sign a contract with Hyperbaric Veterinary Medicine, and estimates that he's used the chamber 750-800 times in the past year and a half.

'I find that it's really very effective for any kind of trauma,' he said, adding that he's seen improvements in pets that have been hit by cars that have been subsequently treated in the chamber.

Wayne McCullough, the company's CEO, said that most veterinary offices can't afford to buy the capsules outright - chambers for humans cost between $50,000 and $150,000 each - so the company gives the clinics the chambers and then receives a cut on each treatment done by the veterinarian. At the UF clinic, treatment costs about $125 per session.

McCullough said that his employees deliver and train veterinarians on how to use the capsule. Working with 100 percent oxygen can be dangerous, which is why pets going inside the chamber are patted down with water before the treatment so their fur doesn't conduct static electricity and cause a fire.

In 2012, the high-oxygen chamber of a Florida equine sports medicine center exploded and caused part of a building to collapse, killed a worker and the horse inside the chamber.

The machine that exploded wasn't one of McCullough's chambers; it was a larger contraption made for horses. The horse inside the chamber apparently struck the side of the machine with its foot, which caused the spark and fire. It underscored the potential danger of the capsules.

Dr. Dorie Amour, the director of Emory University's wound care clinic, suggested that hyperbaric therapy in pets be a last-resort treatment. It 'has to be a therapy used when there is no alternative. Or a therapy used for a very serious problem for which there hasn't been a solution.'

Pet owners such as Mike Ray, the owner of Maggie, an 11-year-old dachshund with a gaping wound and recurring infection in her back paw, say they're willing to give it a try - and spend the extra money to do so at the University of Florida animal hospital.

Maggie has been through a handful of hyperbaric treatments, and Dr. Schmalberg and Ray say they've noticed a difference after two sessions in the capsule. New fur is growing where raw flesh was once exposed.

'Whatever it takes, we're going do and we'll find a way to get it done,' Ray said as he and his wife waited for Maggie to finish her oxygen therapy. 'Because we need to get her healed.'

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Associated Press reporter Johnny C. Clark contributed to this report from Atlanta.

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Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Rare Baby Crocs Released into Wild

Nineteen baby Siamese crocodiles are being let loose in the wetlands of Laos, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced this week. The effort gives a boost to the critically endangered species, which is thought to include just 250 individuals in the wild.

The rare reptiles' eggs had been incubated at the Laos Zoo after being recovered during wildlife surveys in the wetlands of Savannakhet Province, and they hatched in the summer of 2011.

The baby crocs are being let go near the same spot where they were found, but they will stay in a 'soft release' pen for several months. There they will get used to their surroundings and receive supplementary food and protection from community members, according to the WCS. Rising water levels at the start of the rainy season will eventually let the crocodiles swim away on their own, but they will be monitored occasionally by conservationists.

Siamese crocodiles grow up to 10 feet (3 meters) in length, but right now, these toothy creatures of the Laos Zoo measure only about 27 inches (70 cm). The crocs have never been known to attack humans, according to the conservation agency Fauna & Flora International. Classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Siamese crocodile population has been cut down by overhunting and habitat loss across much of its former range through Southeast Asia and parts of Indonesia.

The release effort was organized by the WCS's Laos branch as part of a community-based program to recover the local Siamese crocodile population and restore the associated wetlands, with a focus on incentives that improve local livelihoods.

'We are extremely pleased with the success of this collaborative program and believe it is an important step in contributing to the conservation of the species by involving local communities in long-term wetland management,' Alex McWilliam, a WCS conservation biologist, said in a statement. 'The head starting component of this integrated WCS program represents a significant contribution to the conservation of this magnificent animal in the wild.'

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

WhaleWatch: New Program Could Help Protect Whales

Throughout the year, the waters off the U.S. West Coast host a diverse group of whales. But the area is also home to busy shipping lanes and fishing activity, putting whales at risk for ship strikes and entanglement in fishing nets.

A new program is being developed by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Oregon State University and the University of Maryland to help prevent these accidents. Called WhaleWatch, it's being designed to give ship captains a better idea of where whales are most likely to congregate. It could also help NOAA adjust shipping lanes if necessary, and take other measures needed to prevent unnecessary whale deaths, said Daniel Palacios, a researcher with NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center.

WhaleWatch, which is due to be finished in about 1.5 years, is being developed using data from tags placed on as many as 150 whales over the last 20 years, Palacios told OurAmazingPlanet. This information has allowed researchers to determine a set of physical measurements - such as water depth, temperature and plankton productivity - where whales are usually found. Much of it depends on how these conditions affect the location and abundance of krill, a small shrimp-like animal that is a favorite food of these great whales, he said.

The program will take these variables, which can be measured by satellites, and issue a periodic online map showing where certain whales are most likely to be found, Palacios said.

The program is based upon TurtleWatch, a product developed by NOAA researchers that's used by longline fishermen in Hawaii, and which has helped reduce the number of entanglements of loggerhead sea turtles there, Palacios said. TurtleWatch similarly produces maps of where the endangered turtles are most likely to be found, namely in warm waters where wind currents converge, said Evan Howell, TurtleWatch developer and a researcher at NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu.

The data for WhaleWatch comes from tags placed on blue, fin, gray and humpback whales from off the U.S. West Coast, Palacios said. This tagging work was led by Bruce Mate, a researcher at Oregon State University and Palacios' collaborator, Palacios said.

Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.