Thursday, January 31, 2013
San Diego Zoo Panda Diagnosed With 'Acute Cuteness'
Nearly three weeks after making his public debut at the San Diego Zoo, panda cub Xiao Liwu is proving to be quite the ham.
The 6-month-old cub, whose name, which means 'little gift,' was chosen in an online poll, rolled, crawled and padded his way through his most recent examination, requiring 'three sets of hands' to get him still, according to the zoo.
READ MORE: Panda Cub Opens Eyes at San Diego Zoo
The result? A diagnosis of 'acute cuteness.'
'Animal care staff report that the cub is very strong, continues to be playful and isn't very interested in sitting still,' the zoo said with the video of the exam posted online Wednesday.
Xiao Liwu has come a long way from his first checkup, that lasted all of three minutes, last August when he was just a 25-day old, one-pound cub. He was the sixth panda cub born at the zoo under a 12-year agreement with China that included the loan of two giant pandas.
READ MORE: Baby Panda Takes First Steps
Since then Xiao Liwu has become an online favorite thanks to the zoo's panda cam, a live stream that has documented the cub's nearly every movement since his birth. He made his public debut at the zoo on Jan. 10, after zookeepers determined he had developed the 'bear behavior' of following his mother and being a better climber.
Now, the zoo says it has trouble keeping Xiao Liwu in bounds.
'Xiao Liwu enjoys climbing on anything he can find: logs, toys, Mom. He continues to explore his environment, perfecting his climbing skills and nibbling on bamboo sticks,' the zoo noted in a blog post this week. 'After a full day out on exhibit, our biggest challenge has been getting little Xiao Liwu back into his bedroom in the afternoon.'
PHOTOS: Baby Animals
Xiao Liwu undergoes the regular exams to test his coordination, growth and development, according to the zoo. While the veterinarians keep track of his measurements and fans keep track of his cuteness, one online fan diagnosed a bigger problem.
'As far as the diagnosis, I'm wondering if perhaps the cuteness is chronic at this point,' wrote Leanne Rumsey.
Also Read
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
13 Pygmy Elephants Found Dead in Malaysia
Malaysian authorities have a possible elephant murder mystery on their hands after three more pygmy elephants reportedly were found dead on the island of Borneo Wednesday (Jan. 30).
The grim discovery brings the death toll to 13 this month, and according to the AP, authorities are investigating suspicions that the diminutive elephants were poisoned.
Also called Bornean elephants, these creatures are the most endangered subspecies of Asian elephant. While other male Asian elephants can grow up to 9.8 feet (3 meters), male Bornean elephants grow to less than 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) and they have bigger ears and rounder bellies, according to the conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Researchers initially believed the babyish-looking mammals were the descendents of captive elephants brought to the island a few centuries ago. Other evidence, however, suggests that the pygmy elephants are a genetically distinct subspecies that arrived thousands of years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch by way of a land bridge. There are thought to be just 1,200 of them in Borneo today, mostly concentrated in Sabah, the Malaysian state at the northeastern corner of the island. [Gallery: The Pygmy Elephants of Borneo]
Though it's still unclear who or what might be responsible for the recent spate of elephant deaths, WWF officials noted that the population has been increasingly threatened by habitat fragmentation, and all the corpses reportedly have been found in areas where forests are being transformed into plantations within the Gunung Rara reserve in Sabah.
'Conversions result in fragmentation of the forests, which in turn results in loss of natural habitat for elephant herds, thus forcing them to find alternative food and space, putting humans and wildlife in direct conflict,' environmentalist Dato' Dr Dionysius S K Sharma, executive director of the WWF's Malaysia division, said in a statement. 'All conversion approvals need to be reviewed by the Sabah Forestry Department and assessed not purely from commercial, but the endangered species and landscape ecology perspectives.'
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
The grim discovery brings the death toll to 13 this month, and according to the AP, authorities are investigating suspicions that the diminutive elephants were poisoned.
Also called Bornean elephants, these creatures are the most endangered subspecies of Asian elephant. While other male Asian elephants can grow up to 9.8 feet (3 meters), male Bornean elephants grow to less than 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) and they have bigger ears and rounder bellies, according to the conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Researchers initially believed the babyish-looking mammals were the descendents of captive elephants brought to the island a few centuries ago. Other evidence, however, suggests that the pygmy elephants are a genetically distinct subspecies that arrived thousands of years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch by way of a land bridge. There are thought to be just 1,200 of them in Borneo today, mostly concentrated in Sabah, the Malaysian state at the northeastern corner of the island. [Gallery: The Pygmy Elephants of Borneo]
Though it's still unclear who or what might be responsible for the recent spate of elephant deaths, WWF officials noted that the population has been increasingly threatened by habitat fragmentation, and all the corpses reportedly have been found in areas where forests are being transformed into plantations within the Gunung Rara reserve in Sabah.
'Conversions result in fragmentation of the forests, which in turn results in loss of natural habitat for elephant herds, thus forcing them to find alternative food and space, putting humans and wildlife in direct conflict,' environmentalist Dato' Dr Dionysius S K Sharma, executive director of the WWF's Malaysia division, said in a statement. 'All conversion approvals need to be reviewed by the Sabah Forestry Department and assessed not purely from commercial, but the endangered species and landscape ecology perspectives.'
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
- World's Cutest Baby Wild Animals
- The 10 Weirdest Animal Discoveries of 2012
- Elephant Images: The Biggest Beasts on Land
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Staggering Stats: Cats Kill Billions of Animals a Year
Cats kill billions of birds every year and even more tiny rodents and other mammals in the United States, a new study finds.
According to the research, published today (Jan. 29) in the journal Nature Communications, cats kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds and between 6.9 billion and 20.7 billion small mammals, such as meadow voles and chipmunks.
Though it's hard to know exactly how many birds live in the United States, the staggering number of bird deaths may account for as much as 15 percent of the total bird population, said study co-author Pete Marra, an animal ecologist with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
Staggering toll
Marra and his colleagues are looking at human-related causes for bird and wildlife deaths in the country, from windmills and glass windows to pesticides.
But first, Marra and his team looked at the impact of the feline population, one of the biggest putative causes of bird demise in the country.
While past studies had used critter cams or owner reports to estimate the number of birds killed by cats, those studies were usually small and not applicable to the entire country, Marra told LiveScience.
For this broader analysis, the team first looked at all prior studies on bird deaths and estimated that around 84 million owned-cats live in the country, many of which are allowed outdoors. [In Photos: America's Favorite Pets]
'A lot of these cats may go outside and go to 10 different houses, but they go back to their house and cuddle up on Mr. Smith's lap at night,' Marra said.
Based on an analysis of past studies, the researchers estimated that each of those felines killed between four and 18 birds a year, and between eight and 21 small mammals per year.
But the major scourges for wildlife were not those free-ranging, owned-cats, but instead feral and un-owned cats that survive on the streets. Each of those kitties - and the team estimates between 30 million and 80 million of them live in the United States - kills between 23 and 46 birds a year, and between 129 and 338 small mammals, Marra said.
And, it seems, the small rodents taken by felines aren't Norway rats or apartment vermin, but native rodent species such as meadow voles and chipmunks, he added.
No easy answers
One obvious step to reduce the mass wildlife death is to keep kitties indoors, Marra said.
Perhaps seeing their furry friends bring in a meadow vole or a cardinal will spur cat owners to say, 'Listen, Tabby, we're going to have a heart-to-heart talk about how much time you spend outside,' he said.
Wild cats pose tougher questions, because capture and sterilization approaches have varying levels of success depending on the community, said Bruce Kornreich, a veterinarian at Cornell University's Feline Health Center, who was not involved in the study.
While keeping owned-cats indoors is the best way to benefit both kitties and wildlife, a complete cat ban, like the one recently proposed in New Zealand, is probably not the answer, he said.
For one, it's not clear how completely removing cats from outdoors would affect the ecosystem.
'It may be in some cases that cats may also be keeping other species that may negatively impact bird and other small mammal populations in check,' Kornreich told LiveScience.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
This article is sponsored by real estate news.
According to the research, published today (Jan. 29) in the journal Nature Communications, cats kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds and between 6.9 billion and 20.7 billion small mammals, such as meadow voles and chipmunks.
Though it's hard to know exactly how many birds live in the United States, the staggering number of bird deaths may account for as much as 15 percent of the total bird population, said study co-author Pete Marra, an animal ecologist with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
Staggering toll
Marra and his colleagues are looking at human-related causes for bird and wildlife deaths in the country, from windmills and glass windows to pesticides.
But first, Marra and his team looked at the impact of the feline population, one of the biggest putative causes of bird demise in the country.
While past studies had used critter cams or owner reports to estimate the number of birds killed by cats, those studies were usually small and not applicable to the entire country, Marra told LiveScience.
For this broader analysis, the team first looked at all prior studies on bird deaths and estimated that around 84 million owned-cats live in the country, many of which are allowed outdoors. [In Photos: America's Favorite Pets]
'A lot of these cats may go outside and go to 10 different houses, but they go back to their house and cuddle up on Mr. Smith's lap at night,' Marra said.
Based on an analysis of past studies, the researchers estimated that each of those felines killed between four and 18 birds a year, and between eight and 21 small mammals per year.
But the major scourges for wildlife were not those free-ranging, owned-cats, but instead feral and un-owned cats that survive on the streets. Each of those kitties - and the team estimates between 30 million and 80 million of them live in the United States - kills between 23 and 46 birds a year, and between 129 and 338 small mammals, Marra said.
And, it seems, the small rodents taken by felines aren't Norway rats or apartment vermin, but native rodent species such as meadow voles and chipmunks, he added.
No easy answers
One obvious step to reduce the mass wildlife death is to keep kitties indoors, Marra said.
Perhaps seeing their furry friends bring in a meadow vole or a cardinal will spur cat owners to say, 'Listen, Tabby, we're going to have a heart-to-heart talk about how much time you spend outside,' he said.
Wild cats pose tougher questions, because capture and sterilization approaches have varying levels of success depending on the community, said Bruce Kornreich, a veterinarian at Cornell University's Feline Health Center, who was not involved in the study.
While keeping owned-cats indoors is the best way to benefit both kitties and wildlife, a complete cat ban, like the one recently proposed in New Zealand, is probably not the answer, he said.
For one, it's not clear how completely removing cats from outdoors would affect the ecosystem.
'It may be in some cases that cats may also be keeping other species that may negatively impact bird and other small mammal populations in check,' Kornreich told LiveScience.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
- Here, Kitty, Kitty: 10 Facts for Cat Lovers
- The 10 Weirdest Animal Discoveries of 2012
- Top 10 Craziest Environmental Ideas
This article is sponsored by real estate news.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Moscow's Stray Dogs Hunted Tonight
MOSCOW - Dog owners in the Russian capital are on alert tonight.
A call has gone out on internet message boards for a massive cull of stray dogs in Moscow on Friday evening. An announcement posted online vowed to 'clean the city of the fanged pests.' Organizers are asking supporters to meet them at a metro station north of Moscow. From there they will fan out to parks and alleys where the dogs are known to sleep, laying out their preferred trap: meat laced with deadly drugs.
Animal rights supporters have taken to social media to organize a counter-protest. According to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, police have vowed to be on hand to 'prevent cases of cruelty to animals.'
The event is organized by a shadowy vigilante group derisively known as dog hunters. One animal rights group estimates they have killed over 1,500 dogs in recent years.
On internet forums the dog hunters swap stories and tactics. Many post photos of the dogs they kill. They also link to news reports of dog attacks around the world. Some posts attempt to answer critics, denying they kill the dogs for sport and saying they fear Moscow's huge stray dog population is getting out of control. They say they are only doing what city authorities should be doing.
The moderator of one online message board for dog hunters attempted to lay down some rules in a ' manifesto.' The author explained they support proper dog breeding and have no intention to harm cats. The author also vowed not to use tactics like fishing hooks, poison, or broken glass to kill the dogs. The tuberculosis medicine they often use to kill the dogs isn't poison, the author explained, suggesting it was merely an overdose.
Stray dogs are a common sight in Moscow. The city is home to between 30,000 and 50,000 strays, according to a veterinary expert interviewed by the Moscow News. Many were purchased for protection and then abandoned once they were no longer needed.
The dog hunts have drawn loud protests from the city's dog owners as well as animal rights activists.
Pet dogs have sometimes become victims after eating or sniffing the poisoned meat. Last fall the city's dog owners took a stand after dozens of pets were sickened by poisoned meat that they ate in parks. At least 70 of them were sickened and three died, according to Russian news reports. Alarmed owners began to organize patrols, hoping to catch the culprits. They even offered rewards for their capture. In October, hundreds of dog owners gathered in central Moscow to demand the dog hunters be punished.
Some owners have tried to protect their pets by putting muzzles on them, lest they stumble upon the dog hunters' traps.
Also Read
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Starchy Diets May Have Given Ancient Dogs a Paw Up
Dogs may have become man's best friend thanks, in part, to their ability to stomach a starchy diet.
According to new genetic research, domestic dogs' genomes better equip them to handle starches than wolves. Domestic dogs also show differences from wolves in portions of the genome linked to brain development, perhaps hinting at behavioral changes that occurred as canines became less wild.
The findings are particularly fascinating given that humans who live off farmed foods show similar genetic changes as dogs compared with humans who survive mostly by hunting and gathering, said study researcher Erik Axelsson of the department of medical biochemistry and microbiology at Uppsala University in Sweden.
'It's cool that we've shared an environment for such a long time and we've eaten the same kind of food for such a long time, that we have started to become more similar in that way,' Axelsson told LiveScience. [10 Things You Didn't Know About Dogs]
The DNA of domestication
Dogs have been intertwined with humans for thousands of years, but no one is sure how far back the bond stretches. Humans were buried with dogs some time between about 11,000 and 12,000 years ago in Israel, perhaps the oldest agreed-upon archaeological evidence for domestication, though the remains of a possible domestic dog dating back 33,000 years were uncovered in 2012 in a cave in Siberia.
Understanding domestication is interesting in its own right, Axelsson said, but comparing wild and domesticated animals can also help researchers track down the functions of individual genes that change during the domestication process. The results may even affect research on human health. In the case of dog diet, for example, canines might be a good model for human diabetes. Dogs are already treated for cancer with experimental drugs that might someday help humans.
Axelsson and his colleagues analyzed the entire genetic codes of 12 wolves from across the globe, as well as the genomes of 60 individual domestic dogs from 14 different breeds. They pooled the domestic pups' results so that the genetic traits of individual breeds wouldn't skew the findings and then compared the pet dogs to the wolves, looking for places where the genomes diverged.
This game of 'spot the differences' led the scientists to focus on 36 different regions. They found that 19 of these regions contained genes crucial for brain functioning, including eight important for the development of the nervous system.
It was no surprise to see differences in brain genetics, Axelsson said, given that dogs had to modify their behavior to fit into human society. What did surprise the researchers, however, were 10 regions held genes involved with diet, specifically the breakdown of starches. Humans are well-equipped for starchy diets: Human saliva contains an enzyme called amylase, which starts breaking down starches as soon as food hits the mouth. Dog drool doesn't have this advantage, but dogs do excrete amylase from their pancreases, allowing for the digestion of starches in the gut.
The researchers found that dogs have more copies of a gene called AMY2B, crucial for amylase production, than wolves. And in dogs, this gene is 28 times more active in the pancreas than in wolves.
Dogs also showed changes in specific genes that allow for the breakdown of maltose into glucose, another key starch digestion step, and in genes allowing for the body to make use of this glucose.
How did wolves become dogs?
The findings can't pin down exact dates for dog domestication, but they do lend weight to one hypothesis, which is that wolves were drawn to early human settlements in order to scavenge at waste dumps, Axelsson said. Theorists have speculated that wolves that were less shy would have had an advantage, as they wouldn't have run when humans were around. The proximity could have been the first step in domestication.
'We think that our results regarding starch digestion fit really neatly with that idea,' Axelsson said. 'Being an efficient scavenger didn't only take a special type of behavior but also a digestive system that could cope with the food that was present at the dump.'
The researchers are trying to pinpoint in more detail when the starch gene changes occurred. They're also taking a closer look at the behavioral genes that differ between dogs and wolves.
'Now we're also trying to take the behavioral side of the story further to try to pinpoint the genes, the individual mutations, to understand exactly how they might have changed the dog brain and dog behavior,' Axelsson said.
The researchers report their results Thursday (Jan. 24) in the journal Nature.
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
According to new genetic research, domestic dogs' genomes better equip them to handle starches than wolves. Domestic dogs also show differences from wolves in portions of the genome linked to brain development, perhaps hinting at behavioral changes that occurred as canines became less wild.
The findings are particularly fascinating given that humans who live off farmed foods show similar genetic changes as dogs compared with humans who survive mostly by hunting and gathering, said study researcher Erik Axelsson of the department of medical biochemistry and microbiology at Uppsala University in Sweden.
'It's cool that we've shared an environment for such a long time and we've eaten the same kind of food for such a long time, that we have started to become more similar in that way,' Axelsson told LiveScience. [10 Things You Didn't Know About Dogs]
The DNA of domestication
Dogs have been intertwined with humans for thousands of years, but no one is sure how far back the bond stretches. Humans were buried with dogs some time between about 11,000 and 12,000 years ago in Israel, perhaps the oldest agreed-upon archaeological evidence for domestication, though the remains of a possible domestic dog dating back 33,000 years were uncovered in 2012 in a cave in Siberia.
Understanding domestication is interesting in its own right, Axelsson said, but comparing wild and domesticated animals can also help researchers track down the functions of individual genes that change during the domestication process. The results may even affect research on human health. In the case of dog diet, for example, canines might be a good model for human diabetes. Dogs are already treated for cancer with experimental drugs that might someday help humans.
Axelsson and his colleagues analyzed the entire genetic codes of 12 wolves from across the globe, as well as the genomes of 60 individual domestic dogs from 14 different breeds. They pooled the domestic pups' results so that the genetic traits of individual breeds wouldn't skew the findings and then compared the pet dogs to the wolves, looking for places where the genomes diverged.
This game of 'spot the differences' led the scientists to focus on 36 different regions. They found that 19 of these regions contained genes crucial for brain functioning, including eight important for the development of the nervous system.
It was no surprise to see differences in brain genetics, Axelsson said, given that dogs had to modify their behavior to fit into human society. What did surprise the researchers, however, were 10 regions held genes involved with diet, specifically the breakdown of starches. Humans are well-equipped for starchy diets: Human saliva contains an enzyme called amylase, which starts breaking down starches as soon as food hits the mouth. Dog drool doesn't have this advantage, but dogs do excrete amylase from their pancreases, allowing for the digestion of starches in the gut.
The researchers found that dogs have more copies of a gene called AMY2B, crucial for amylase production, than wolves. And in dogs, this gene is 28 times more active in the pancreas than in wolves.
Dogs also showed changes in specific genes that allow for the breakdown of maltose into glucose, another key starch digestion step, and in genes allowing for the body to make use of this glucose.
How did wolves become dogs?
The findings can't pin down exact dates for dog domestication, but they do lend weight to one hypothesis, which is that wolves were drawn to early human settlements in order to scavenge at waste dumps, Axelsson said. Theorists have speculated that wolves that were less shy would have had an advantage, as they wouldn't have run when humans were around. The proximity could have been the first step in domestication.
'We think that our results regarding starch digestion fit really neatly with that idea,' Axelsson said. 'Being an efficient scavenger didn't only take a special type of behavior but also a digestive system that could cope with the food that was present at the dump.'
The researchers are trying to pinpoint in more detail when the starch gene changes occurred. They're also taking a closer look at the behavioral genes that differ between dogs and wolves.
'Now we're also trying to take the behavioral side of the story further to try to pinpoint the genes, the individual mutations, to understand exactly how they might have changed the dog brain and dog behavior,' Axelsson said.
The researchers report their results Thursday (Jan. 24) in the journal Nature.
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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- The 10 Most Popular Dog Breeds
Apes Get iPads at National Zoo
Orangutans at the Smithsonian's National Zoo are now using iPad apps to keep occupied.
'It's about changing up the day-to-day lives of our animals,' Becky Malinsky, a keeper at the zoo, said in a statement. 'We already vary their food, toys and social interactions every day, but the iPad offers another way to engage their sight, touch and hearing.'
So far, the apes are using 10 different apps, including cognitive games, drawing programs and ones that feature virtual musical instruments. According to their keepers, some of the orangutans are already showing their preferences - 36-year-old Bonnie likes to hit the drums, 16-year-old Kyle likes to play the piano, and 25-year-old Iris likes watching animated fish swim in a virtual koi pond on the screen.
The iPads were made available through Apps for Apes, an initiative from the conservation organization Orangutan Outreach, which has already provided tablet devices for the intelligent primates in 12 other zoos, including zoos in Houston, Atlanta, Toronto, Utah and Milwaukee. [10 iPad Alternatives]
'Primarily, we want the Apps for Apes program to help people understand why we need to protect wild orangutans from extinction,' Richard Zimmerman, founding director of Orangutan Outreach, said in a statement. 'We do that when we show zoo visitors how similar humans and apes are, be it through observation, talking with wildlife experts or seeing the apes use the same technology we use every day.'
Orangutans are among humans' closest living relatives, and there are only a few tens of thousands of them currently left in the wild. They are found in the Sumatran rain forests, where they are critically endangered, and the Borneo rain forests, where they are endangered.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
'It's about changing up the day-to-day lives of our animals,' Becky Malinsky, a keeper at the zoo, said in a statement. 'We already vary their food, toys and social interactions every day, but the iPad offers another way to engage their sight, touch and hearing.'
So far, the apes are using 10 different apps, including cognitive games, drawing programs and ones that feature virtual musical instruments. According to their keepers, some of the orangutans are already showing their preferences - 36-year-old Bonnie likes to hit the drums, 16-year-old Kyle likes to play the piano, and 25-year-old Iris likes watching animated fish swim in a virtual koi pond on the screen.
The iPads were made available through Apps for Apes, an initiative from the conservation organization Orangutan Outreach, which has already provided tablet devices for the intelligent primates in 12 other zoos, including zoos in Houston, Atlanta, Toronto, Utah and Milwaukee. [10 iPad Alternatives]
'Primarily, we want the Apps for Apes program to help people understand why we need to protect wild orangutans from extinction,' Richard Zimmerman, founding director of Orangutan Outreach, said in a statement. 'We do that when we show zoo visitors how similar humans and apes are, be it through observation, talking with wildlife experts or seeing the apes use the same technology we use every day.'
Orangutans are among humans' closest living relatives, and there are only a few tens of thousands of them currently left in the wild. They are found in the Sumatran rain forests, where they are critically endangered, and the Borneo rain forests, where they are endangered.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
- Image Gallery: 25 Primates in Peril
- Image Gallery: Snapshots of Unique Ape Faces
- The 10 Weirdest Animal Discoveries of 2012
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Charlie Parker, 3, Plays With Alligators at Australian Wildlife Park
ABC News' John Muller reports:
Three-year-old Charlie Parker is being billed as Australia's youngest wildlife ranger.
The little boy is fearless, and he loves reptiles. His best friend is Pablo, a boa constrictor that measures 8 feet in length.
Photos of Charlie playing in the water with an alligator named Gump have people buzzing about the boy.
But wildlife is the family business, and Charlie's father, who runs Ballarat Wildlife Park in Victoria, Australia, says his son's love of animals must be genetic.
Greg Parker couldn't be prouder of Charlie.
'He can be an ambassador for animal conservation and welfare. I think it's great for everybody,' Parker said, speaking in an interview with Australia's Channel 7.
Video: Toddler Plays With Gorilla
But is Charlie too young for this kind of contact with dangerous animals?
Animal expert Jack Hanna told 'Good Morning America' that proper supervision of wild animals is critical. Without that, people are placed in jeopardy.
'Children and wild animals are not a good mix,' Hanna added. 'You can train a wild animal but you can never tame a wild animal.'
It's not the first time that young children have gotten close to dangerous creatures.
People were shocked last year to see video of an 18-month-old girl playing with a 300-pound gorilla. The video had been shot 22 years earlier, and the girl's father, gorilla conservationist Damian Aspinall, reportedly had kept it hidden until then because he feared a backlash.
Aspinall said he released the video in order to bring awareness to endangered gorillas and to show their gentle nature.
In the video, Tansy, his daughter, has a smile on her face as she pets, plays with and is carried around by the gorilla.
The late Steve Irwin, who gained fame as the star of 'The Crocodile Hunter' wildlife TV series, also drew heavy public criticism for holding his young son too close to a 12-foot crocodile.
RELATED: Crocodile Hunter's Son Feeds Alligators
Irwin's daughter, Bindi, has followed in her father's footsteps. Now a 14-year-old actress, Bindi previously hosted her own televised nature series.
Irwin was killed by a stingray in a freak attack in Sept. 4, 2006.
Also Read
Monday, January 21, 2013
Zoo-bound elephant calves back in Zimbabwe's wild
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - An animal welfare group says five baby elephants held in captivity in western Zimbabwe for shipment to zoos in China have been returned to the wild.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Monday the calves were taken to a state-run national park over the weekend where they will undergo 'rehabilitation and integration' with existing elephant herds. The babies' real mothers could not be traced.
State parks and wildlife officials agreed on their release, the group said, and 'the capture of wild animals for zoos or similar habitats, irrespective of location' is expected to be stopped.
Four baby elephants were flown to China in November. Conservationists said the calves suffered extreme stress separated from family groups on the 36-hour journey to China and one died later.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Monday the calves were taken to a state-run national park over the weekend where they will undergo 'rehabilitation and integration' with existing elephant herds. The babies' real mothers could not be traced.
State parks and wildlife officials agreed on their release, the group said, and 'the capture of wild animals for zoos or similar habitats, irrespective of location' is expected to be stopped.
Four baby elephants were flown to China in November. Conservationists said the calves suffered extreme stress separated from family groups on the 36-hour journey to China and one died later.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Book Talk: Mary M. Mitchell goes to the dogs with a friend
LONDON (Reuters) - Etiquette expert and Reuters columnist Mary M. Mitchell found that using a dog as an intermediary helped to take the sting out of tricky discussions with a treasured friend.
Mitchell created an email personality for her French bulldog ZsaZsa LaPooch and began sending her friend Nessa emails from the dog as a bit of fun, but then discovered during more than two years of correspondence that it was a good way to deliver difficult messages and explore emotions.
The straight advice offered up by ZsaZsa in Mitchell's book 'Woofs to the Wise: Learning to Lick at Life and Chew on Civility' later becomes a two-way blessing for Mitchell and Nessa, when the latter struggles to discuss the emotional side of her battle with terminal cancer.
Q: Why did you write this book?
A: I began the book as a lark. I finished it as a final promise to my closest friend.
Q: Is this meant to be taken seriously?
A: Although Woofs is often hilarious and sometimes wistful, the book carries a very important 'serious' message: good relationships are the hallmark of a life and career well lived. Clear communication and kindness are at the heart of any solid relationship.
Q: Have you always had a fondness for animals?
A: I was never interested in having a dog around until I met ZsaZsa. At three weeks of age, she and her four siblings were set down in front of me; the other four wandered around aimlessly, whereas she trundled right over and sat on my foot.
Q: What's the top lesson you have learned from ZsaZsa?
A: ZsaZsa taught me to see things differently. She taught me how to play; how to live in the moment, appreciating every moment; and she taught me patience.
Q: Why would you write this from a dog's point of view?
A: Sometimes we have tough things to say to people, things they might not like to hear. A middleman, or in this case, a middledog, made saying tough things easier to hear, especially when humor was part of the delivery vehicle. Communication is all about the other person. If I say something to you and you are not clear on what I meant, all I've done is spoken out loud. In the case of Woofs, my friend was driving me crazy micro-managing her visit to Seattle, where I live. I used ZsaZsa to clarify that she was coming for a fun-filled vacation, not a corporate conference.
Q: What's so important about civility in a dog-eat-dog world?
A: Good manners grease the skids of life. Good manners will get you more tasty treats. It's that simple.
Q: When did you and Nessa decide to start talking doggie?
A: Once Nessa got over the shock of receiving an email from a dog, she let loose her wicked wit and began writing to ZsaZsa every day. ZsaZsa is a terrible typist, so I helped her with her responses. Nessa was, in her own words, 'a highly evolved 21st century diva,' so she began coaching ZZ on matters from possible careers to boyfriends. ZsaZsa, of course, rose to every occasion and immediately realized what a tremendous resource Nessa was.
One storyline in the book involves ZsaZsa on a new job search. She had been a therapy dog in my husband's medical office. Four years ago he closed his practice, so ZsaZsa was out of a job. Now he teaches yoga, but that's another book...
ZsaZsa sought Nessa's considerable wisdom on a number of career issues because Nessa had been a potent mentor to many, many, younger people throughout her life (although never before to a dog).
Q: Did the correspondence and then book help Nessa cope with her illness?
A: The book in no small way kept Nessa alive throughout her battle with pancreatic cancer. She was wholly dedicated to life, not to answering questions about her treatment. Woofs became a creative outlet for her. Nessa said things to ZsaZsa that were too hard for her to say herself. Nobody likes to feel vulnerable, especially when you are the product of a tremendously successful career and used to being in charge. Losing control was hell for Nessa, as it would be for me and I daresay for most of us.
Later in the book, Nessa began asking ZsaZsa for advice with her illness, and so the career storyline came full circle, as ZsaZsa again found herself in the position of therapy dog. Finishing the book provided Nessa with a potent stimulus to keep fighting in her terminal battle. The night before she died I promised her we would get this book published; she was no longer able to talk, yet she squeezed my hand in acknowledgment.
Neither of us ever lost sight of the fact that our intent for the book was to contribute all its profits to a foundation for educating middle school children in the arts.
Q: The idea of manners and etiquette seems very 19th century. Is it really necessary to know where to put your fork or whether you can put your mobile phone on the table at lunch any more?
A: ZsaZsa and I both believe that kindness is timeless. That is what good manners are all about. They come from the inside. They are translated through etiquette, which comes from the outside - they're the rules. Good manners create harmony and etiquette helps control chaos. Etiquette is very practical. If you think about it, rules free us. Imagine what life would be like if there were no directional street signs - car crashes everywhere.
When we understand the rules, we can get where we need to go much more easily. The rules change constantly, and they are different in every culture. What matters is knowing how you are expected to behave in a given setting - peeing and pooping only in approved places, for example.
And as for cell phones on the table - think about where your cell phone has been, what it's come in contact with, and whether you really want all those germs close to your meal.
Q: What's the biggest change to etiquette and manners you've seen in the past 20 years?
A: The computer age is absolutely the most powerful factor influencing our behavior in the past two decades. The rules of etiquette always change by virtue of the economy, they always change by virtue of industrialization, and they always change by what's going on in the workplace.
For example, I doubt if 20 years ago a series of emails would have made a book. People dealt with each other much more face-to-face and by telephone. Not long ago, I actually had a company engage me to encourage its employees to walk down the hall or across the room to talk with each other rather than text and email.
My hope is that many who would never pick up a conventional etiquette book, thinking that it would be too stuffy and boring, will learn a great deal about manners in a most enjoyable way by reading this book, to the benefit of humans and dogs alike.
(Reporting by Paul Casciato, editing by Stephen Addison)
Mitchell created an email personality for her French bulldog ZsaZsa LaPooch and began sending her friend Nessa emails from the dog as a bit of fun, but then discovered during more than two years of correspondence that it was a good way to deliver difficult messages and explore emotions.
The straight advice offered up by ZsaZsa in Mitchell's book 'Woofs to the Wise: Learning to Lick at Life and Chew on Civility' later becomes a two-way blessing for Mitchell and Nessa, when the latter struggles to discuss the emotional side of her battle with terminal cancer.
Q: Why did you write this book?
A: I began the book as a lark. I finished it as a final promise to my closest friend.
Q: Is this meant to be taken seriously?
A: Although Woofs is often hilarious and sometimes wistful, the book carries a very important 'serious' message: good relationships are the hallmark of a life and career well lived. Clear communication and kindness are at the heart of any solid relationship.
Q: Have you always had a fondness for animals?
A: I was never interested in having a dog around until I met ZsaZsa. At three weeks of age, she and her four siblings were set down in front of me; the other four wandered around aimlessly, whereas she trundled right over and sat on my foot.
Q: What's the top lesson you have learned from ZsaZsa?
A: ZsaZsa taught me to see things differently. She taught me how to play; how to live in the moment, appreciating every moment; and she taught me patience.
Q: Why would you write this from a dog's point of view?
A: Sometimes we have tough things to say to people, things they might not like to hear. A middleman, or in this case, a middledog, made saying tough things easier to hear, especially when humor was part of the delivery vehicle. Communication is all about the other person. If I say something to you and you are not clear on what I meant, all I've done is spoken out loud. In the case of Woofs, my friend was driving me crazy micro-managing her visit to Seattle, where I live. I used ZsaZsa to clarify that she was coming for a fun-filled vacation, not a corporate conference.
Q: What's so important about civility in a dog-eat-dog world?
A: Good manners grease the skids of life. Good manners will get you more tasty treats. It's that simple.
Q: When did you and Nessa decide to start talking doggie?
A: Once Nessa got over the shock of receiving an email from a dog, she let loose her wicked wit and began writing to ZsaZsa every day. ZsaZsa is a terrible typist, so I helped her with her responses. Nessa was, in her own words, 'a highly evolved 21st century diva,' so she began coaching ZZ on matters from possible careers to boyfriends. ZsaZsa, of course, rose to every occasion and immediately realized what a tremendous resource Nessa was.
One storyline in the book involves ZsaZsa on a new job search. She had been a therapy dog in my husband's medical office. Four years ago he closed his practice, so ZsaZsa was out of a job. Now he teaches yoga, but that's another book...
ZsaZsa sought Nessa's considerable wisdom on a number of career issues because Nessa had been a potent mentor to many, many, younger people throughout her life (although never before to a dog).
Q: Did the correspondence and then book help Nessa cope with her illness?
A: The book in no small way kept Nessa alive throughout her battle with pancreatic cancer. She was wholly dedicated to life, not to answering questions about her treatment. Woofs became a creative outlet for her. Nessa said things to ZsaZsa that were too hard for her to say herself. Nobody likes to feel vulnerable, especially when you are the product of a tremendously successful career and used to being in charge. Losing control was hell for Nessa, as it would be for me and I daresay for most of us.
Later in the book, Nessa began asking ZsaZsa for advice with her illness, and so the career storyline came full circle, as ZsaZsa again found herself in the position of therapy dog. Finishing the book provided Nessa with a potent stimulus to keep fighting in her terminal battle. The night before she died I promised her we would get this book published; she was no longer able to talk, yet she squeezed my hand in acknowledgment.
Neither of us ever lost sight of the fact that our intent for the book was to contribute all its profits to a foundation for educating middle school children in the arts.
Q: The idea of manners and etiquette seems very 19th century. Is it really necessary to know where to put your fork or whether you can put your mobile phone on the table at lunch any more?
A: ZsaZsa and I both believe that kindness is timeless. That is what good manners are all about. They come from the inside. They are translated through etiquette, which comes from the outside - they're the rules. Good manners create harmony and etiquette helps control chaos. Etiquette is very practical. If you think about it, rules free us. Imagine what life would be like if there were no directional street signs - car crashes everywhere.
When we understand the rules, we can get where we need to go much more easily. The rules change constantly, and they are different in every culture. What matters is knowing how you are expected to behave in a given setting - peeing and pooping only in approved places, for example.
And as for cell phones on the table - think about where your cell phone has been, what it's come in contact with, and whether you really want all those germs close to your meal.
Q: What's the biggest change to etiquette and manners you've seen in the past 20 years?
A: The computer age is absolutely the most powerful factor influencing our behavior in the past two decades. The rules of etiquette always change by virtue of the economy, they always change by virtue of industrialization, and they always change by what's going on in the workplace.
For example, I doubt if 20 years ago a series of emails would have made a book. People dealt with each other much more face-to-face and by telephone. Not long ago, I actually had a company engage me to encourage its employees to walk down the hall or across the room to talk with each other rather than text and email.
My hope is that many who would never pick up a conventional etiquette book, thinking that it would be too stuffy and boring, will learn a great deal about manners in a most enjoyable way by reading this book, to the benefit of humans and dogs alike.
(Reporting by Paul Casciato, editing by Stephen Addison)
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
ROLL CALL: Ryan Gosling Calls His Abs 'Pets'
Your Daily Dispatch of Celebrity Shenanigans
Ryan's Pets: Ryan Gosling is speaking out about his body, workout regimen and how he's been able to get his much-coveted abs. 'Anyone can get those if they work at it. It's just a lot of exercising,' he told Australia's Herald Sun. So what does he use his muscles for (besides sending Anna Kendrick into a frenzy - remember THIS!)? 'And it's really quite pointless, because you go to a gym and you lift a heavy thing so a muscle grows, but the only thing the muscle can actually do is to lift that heavy thing,' he joked. The actor has begun to think of his muscles like a dog or a cat. 'After a while they're like pets because they don't do anything useful. But you have to feed them and take care of them otherwise they'll go away. I feel a bit goofy having them, to tell you the truth,' he said. Roll Call is available for pet-sitting anytime Ryan.
PLAY IT NOW: Ryan Gosling's Gangster Squad Premiere
Bieb's New Ink: Justin Bieber is going retro with his new 1975 tattoo. The 18-year got 'I IX VII V' inked on his upper chest, check out the tattoo, HERE! One commenter pointed out that 1975 would actually be 'MCMLXXV' in Roman numerals (Opps!). The meaning behind the number is still not known.
Another Day, Another 'Teen Mom' Star Baby Announcement: 'Teen Mom's' Jenelle Evans is expecting again. The reality TV mom, whose son Jace is currently living with and being cared for by her mother, is having a baby with Courtland Rogers. Courtland's ex currently has custody of his daughter JaJa. 'Me and Jenelle are so happy that she's pregnant,' he told Radar. 'She told me, 'I'm looking forward to a second chance.' She thinks if she can prove that she's a good mother, she can get Jace back.'
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Big Screen Hunk Ryan Gosling
'Homeland's' Connection To 'Mean Girls'!?: Buzzfeed is taking a look back at the men of 'Mean Girls' nine years after the debut of the Lindsay Lohan movie - and we were shocked to see that 'Homeland's' Mike Faber once got busy with Rachel McAdams' Regina George. Check it out, HERE!
You're Invited To Shakira & Gerard's Baby Shower: Shakira and Gerard Pique are hosting a virtual baby shower for a good cause. Find out how to help at-risk babies through their work with UNICEF, HERE! And also check out the parents-to-be looking sexy and half naked, HERE!
-- Jesse Spero
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood's Hottest Beach Bodies - The Girls!
Copyright 2013 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This article is sponsored by Travel to France.
Ryan's Pets: Ryan Gosling is speaking out about his body, workout regimen and how he's been able to get his much-coveted abs. 'Anyone can get those if they work at it. It's just a lot of exercising,' he told Australia's Herald Sun. So what does he use his muscles for (besides sending Anna Kendrick into a frenzy - remember THIS!)? 'And it's really quite pointless, because you go to a gym and you lift a heavy thing so a muscle grows, but the only thing the muscle can actually do is to lift that heavy thing,' he joked. The actor has begun to think of his muscles like a dog or a cat. 'After a while they're like pets because they don't do anything useful. But you have to feed them and take care of them otherwise they'll go away. I feel a bit goofy having them, to tell you the truth,' he said. Roll Call is available for pet-sitting anytime Ryan.
PLAY IT NOW: Ryan Gosling's Gangster Squad Premiere
Bieb's New Ink: Justin Bieber is going retro with his new 1975 tattoo. The 18-year got 'I IX VII V' inked on his upper chest, check out the tattoo, HERE! One commenter pointed out that 1975 would actually be 'MCMLXXV' in Roman numerals (Opps!). The meaning behind the number is still not known.
Another Day, Another 'Teen Mom' Star Baby Announcement: 'Teen Mom's' Jenelle Evans is expecting again. The reality TV mom, whose son Jace is currently living with and being cared for by her mother, is having a baby with Courtland Rogers. Courtland's ex currently has custody of his daughter JaJa. 'Me and Jenelle are so happy that she's pregnant,' he told Radar. 'She told me, 'I'm looking forward to a second chance.' She thinks if she can prove that she's a good mother, she can get Jace back.'
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Big Screen Hunk Ryan Gosling
'Homeland's' Connection To 'Mean Girls'!?: Buzzfeed is taking a look back at the men of 'Mean Girls' nine years after the debut of the Lindsay Lohan movie - and we were shocked to see that 'Homeland's' Mike Faber once got busy with Rachel McAdams' Regina George. Check it out, HERE!
You're Invited To Shakira & Gerard's Baby Shower: Shakira and Gerard Pique are hosting a virtual baby shower for a good cause. Find out how to help at-risk babies through their work with UNICEF, HERE! And also check out the parents-to-be looking sexy and half naked, HERE!
-- Jesse Spero
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood's Hottest Beach Bodies - The Girls!
Copyright 2013 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This article is sponsored by Travel to France.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Man mauled by Bronx Zoo tiger pleads not guilty to trespassing
(Reuters) - A man who was mauled after leaping into a Siberian tiger's den at the Bronx Zoo in September pleaded not guilty to criminal trespassing charges on Friday.
David Villalobos, 25, jumped off of the zoo's elevated monorail and into the tiger enclosure on the afternoon of September 21, according to the criminal complaint against him. He was released until his next court appearance on March 12, a spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney's office said.
Villalobos said he jumped into the tiger's den for spiritual reasons.
'I was testing my natural fear,' Villalobos said, according to the complaint. 'I wanted to be at one with the tiger.'
During his ten minutes with a 400-pound (180-kg) Siberian tiger named Bashuta, he sustained multiple bites or puncture wounds on his arms, legs and shoulder. The zoo's emergency workers rescued him by scaring the tiger away with a fire extinguisher.
(Reporting by Peter Rudegeair and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Greg McCune and Marguerita Choy)
This news article is brought to you by ADVANCED DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
David Villalobos, 25, jumped off of the zoo's elevated monorail and into the tiger enclosure on the afternoon of September 21, according to the criminal complaint against him. He was released until his next court appearance on March 12, a spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney's office said.
Villalobos said he jumped into the tiger's den for spiritual reasons.
'I was testing my natural fear,' Villalobos said, according to the complaint. 'I wanted to be at one with the tiger.'
During his ten minutes with a 400-pound (180-kg) Siberian tiger named Bashuta, he sustained multiple bites or puncture wounds on his arms, legs and shoulder. The zoo's emergency workers rescued him by scaring the tiger away with a fire extinguisher.
(Reporting by Peter Rudegeair and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Greg McCune and Marguerita Choy)
This news article is brought to you by ADVANCED DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Rare Panda cub makes public debut at San Diego Zoo
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Xiao Liwu, the newest surviving giant panda born in captivity in the United States, made his public debut on Thursday at the San Diego Zoo by shunning the media but shining for the public.
During an hour-long, pre-opening introduction to the media and zoo volunteers, the 6-month-old, 16-pound male cub rolled in mud and hay, ignoring visitors, then climbed into a moat at the edge of the enclosure and fell asleep on his face.
He woke up once the public arrived and poured on the charm, climbing a tree and posing for photos.
Giant pandas are endangered, and experts estimate there are fewer than 1,600 in the wild, all in the mountain forests of central China.
Xiao Liwu (pronounced zhai lee-woo), which means little gift, was born on July 29 to Bai Yun, the zoo's 21-year-old, 223-pound adult female panda. He is her sixth cub, one of five with mate Gao Gao. Her first cub resulted from artificial insemination.
'He's shy and very loving,' said Kay Ferguson, the zoo's panda narrator. 'He's inquisitive and he likes to play with balls. He's very different from Bai Yun's other five cubs.'
Despite stormy weather and cool temperatures, hundreds of panda fans lined up for the two-hour viewing. Previous glimpses of the cub and its mother were restricted to observations through the zoo's PandaCam.
Bai Yun is one of only two captive pandas worldwide to give birth at age 20, relatively old for pandas. Fewer than a dozen pandas have been born at U.S. zoos, including a female cub that died at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in September, making Bai Yun the most prolific breeder in captivity outside China.
Bai Yun mostly ignored the baby during the public display. She chomped on bamboo, taking a break only to get a drink of water while the cub played in a nearby tree.
'With the first cub or two, she was very attentive, but the last, she doesn't worry about them at all,' said Vivian Kiss, a panda fan. 'You just want to pick him up and hold him.'
The cub, roughly the size of a stick of butter when first born, is still nursing and does not yet eat solid food, Ferguson said. 'She'll nurse him until he's 18 months old, until she gets so grouchy she kicks him out,' Ferguson said.
(Reporting by Marty Graham; Editing by Steve Gorman)
This news article is brought to you by GLAMOROUS FASHION NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
During an hour-long, pre-opening introduction to the media and zoo volunteers, the 6-month-old, 16-pound male cub rolled in mud and hay, ignoring visitors, then climbed into a moat at the edge of the enclosure and fell asleep on his face.
He woke up once the public arrived and poured on the charm, climbing a tree and posing for photos.
Giant pandas are endangered, and experts estimate there are fewer than 1,600 in the wild, all in the mountain forests of central China.
Xiao Liwu (pronounced zhai lee-woo), which means little gift, was born on July 29 to Bai Yun, the zoo's 21-year-old, 223-pound adult female panda. He is her sixth cub, one of five with mate Gao Gao. Her first cub resulted from artificial insemination.
'He's shy and very loving,' said Kay Ferguson, the zoo's panda narrator. 'He's inquisitive and he likes to play with balls. He's very different from Bai Yun's other five cubs.'
Despite stormy weather and cool temperatures, hundreds of panda fans lined up for the two-hour viewing. Previous glimpses of the cub and its mother were restricted to observations through the zoo's PandaCam.
Bai Yun is one of only two captive pandas worldwide to give birth at age 20, relatively old for pandas. Fewer than a dozen pandas have been born at U.S. zoos, including a female cub that died at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in September, making Bai Yun the most prolific breeder in captivity outside China.
Bai Yun mostly ignored the baby during the public display. She chomped on bamboo, taking a break only to get a drink of water while the cub played in a nearby tree.
'With the first cub or two, she was very attentive, but the last, she doesn't worry about them at all,' said Vivian Kiss, a panda fan. 'You just want to pick him up and hold him.'
The cub, roughly the size of a stick of butter when first born, is still nursing and does not yet eat solid food, Ferguson said. 'She'll nurse him until he's 18 months old, until she gets so grouchy she kicks him out,' Ferguson said.
(Reporting by Marty Graham; Editing by Steve Gorman)
This news article is brought to you by GLAMOROUS FASHION NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Killer Whales May Have Been Trapped by Climate Change
Whale lovers around the world held their breath as a family of orcas, trapped in the ice of Canada's frozen Hudson Bay, were left with an ever-shrinking opening in the icy surface as their only breathing hole.
The two adult killer whales and nine younger orcas have now been freed by an apparent shift in the sea ice that trapped them, according to NBC News. It's believed that a change in the current within the bay broke open a path to the sea.
'When there is a new moon, the water current is activated. . It caused an open passage out to the open water,' Petah Inukpuk, mayor of the nearby village of Inukjuak, told NBC News.
But what caused the pod of orcas to become trapped in the first place? Increasingly, experts are blaming climate change, which gave the orcas access to a place they normally abandon before winter. The trapped orcas were featured in a riveting online video, struggling for air inside an icy tomb that threatened to grow smaller with each passing hour. [Images: Rescuing Killer Whales]
In the past, the Arctic was covered with too much ice to make it hospitable for the killer whales, which prefer to live and hunt in open seas.
'The reason they can now access the Arctic is because there is a lot less ice because of global warming,' Andrew Trites, director of the marine mammal research unit at the University of British Columbia, told the Toronto Star.
In fact, the Arctic sea-ice extent, or the area of ocean with at least 15 percent ice cover reached a new record low in September, dwindling to 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square kilometers), according to the U.S. National Snow & Ice Data Center, which tracks sea ice with satellite data. As for the reason behind the ice melt, scientists have blamed both natural fluctuations and human-caused global warming.
This incident may be the first time killer whales have been seen in the region as late as January, Christian Ramp, a researcher with the Quebec-based Mingan Island Cetacean Study, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
'It seems the ice dynamics are changing very quickly,' said Ramp. Orcas generally hunt in the area during the summer months, then head to warmer waters before the Arctic ice moves in. But with climate change, Ramp said, the animals appear to be straying farther north and staying too late, the CBC reported.
According to Inukpuk, that region of the Hudson Bay typically would be completely frozen over by Halloween, according to the Star. But this year the bay didn't freeze until well after Christmas.
This isn't the first time the world has been transfixed by the plight of sea mammals. In 2005, a pod of six killer whales was trapped by sea ice in the shallow waters off Russia's eastern shore. Despite the efforts of local villagers, the animals - injured and bleeding from their own desperate attempts to free themselves - eventually died, according to the Associated Press.
And in 1988, there was an international effort to help three young gray whales trapped in the ice off Barrow, Alaska. Again, the locals responded to the animals' plight with chain saws, generators and water pumps, but in the brutal cold the sea froze over almost as quickly as it was opened up. One whale eventually died.
Finally, in a remarkable act of Cold War cooperation, a Soviet icebreaker succeeded in cutting a clear channel to the open ocean, freeing the two surviving whales. That incident was the basis for 'Big Miracle,' a film starring Drew Barrymore.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook& Google+.
This news article is brought to you by GLAMOROUS FASHION NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
The two adult killer whales and nine younger orcas have now been freed by an apparent shift in the sea ice that trapped them, according to NBC News. It's believed that a change in the current within the bay broke open a path to the sea.
'When there is a new moon, the water current is activated. . It caused an open passage out to the open water,' Petah Inukpuk, mayor of the nearby village of Inukjuak, told NBC News.
But what caused the pod of orcas to become trapped in the first place? Increasingly, experts are blaming climate change, which gave the orcas access to a place they normally abandon before winter. The trapped orcas were featured in a riveting online video, struggling for air inside an icy tomb that threatened to grow smaller with each passing hour. [Images: Rescuing Killer Whales]
In the past, the Arctic was covered with too much ice to make it hospitable for the killer whales, which prefer to live and hunt in open seas.
'The reason they can now access the Arctic is because there is a lot less ice because of global warming,' Andrew Trites, director of the marine mammal research unit at the University of British Columbia, told the Toronto Star.
In fact, the Arctic sea-ice extent, or the area of ocean with at least 15 percent ice cover reached a new record low in September, dwindling to 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square kilometers), according to the U.S. National Snow & Ice Data Center, which tracks sea ice with satellite data. As for the reason behind the ice melt, scientists have blamed both natural fluctuations and human-caused global warming.
This incident may be the first time killer whales have been seen in the region as late as January, Christian Ramp, a researcher with the Quebec-based Mingan Island Cetacean Study, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
'It seems the ice dynamics are changing very quickly,' said Ramp. Orcas generally hunt in the area during the summer months, then head to warmer waters before the Arctic ice moves in. But with climate change, Ramp said, the animals appear to be straying farther north and staying too late, the CBC reported.
According to Inukpuk, that region of the Hudson Bay typically would be completely frozen over by Halloween, according to the Star. But this year the bay didn't freeze until well after Christmas.
This isn't the first time the world has been transfixed by the plight of sea mammals. In 2005, a pod of six killer whales was trapped by sea ice in the shallow waters off Russia's eastern shore. Despite the efforts of local villagers, the animals - injured and bleeding from their own desperate attempts to free themselves - eventually died, according to the Associated Press.
And in 1988, there was an international effort to help three young gray whales trapped in the ice off Barrow, Alaska. Again, the locals responded to the animals' plight with chain saws, generators and water pumps, but in the brutal cold the sea froze over almost as quickly as it was opened up. One whale eventually died.
Finally, in a remarkable act of Cold War cooperation, a Soviet icebreaker succeeded in cutting a clear channel to the open ocean, freeing the two surviving whales. That incident was the basis for 'Big Miracle,' a film starring Drew Barrymore.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook& Google+.
- Image Gallery: Russia's Beautiful Killer Whales
- Marine Marvels: Spectacular Photos of Sea Creatures
- Images of Melt: Earth's Vanishing Ice
This news article is brought to you by GLAMOROUS FASHION NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Locals say shifting sea ice frees trapped whales
MONTREAL (AP) - About a dozen killer whales that were trapped under sea ice appeared to be free after the ice shifted, a leader of a northern Canada village said Thursday.
The animals' predicament in the frigid waters of Hudson Bay made international headlines, and locals had been planning a rescue operation with chainsaws and drills.
Tommy Palliser said two hunters from Inukjuak village reported that the waters had opened up around the area where the cornered whales had been bobbing frantically for air.
'They confirmed that the whales were no longer there and there was a lot of open water,' said Palliser, a business adviser with the regional government.
'It's certainly good news - that's good news for the whales,' he said.
Locals said the whales had been trapped around a single, truck-sized breathing hole for at least two days. A recent sudden drop in temperature may have caught the whales off guard, leaving them trapped under the ice.
Palliser said the winds seemed to shift overnight, pushing the floating ice further away from the shore.
The cornered animals were first seen Tuesday and appeared to have less energy by late Wednesday, Palliser said.
Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans said government icebreakers were too far from the area to smash the ice to free the whales, Inukjuak Mayor Peter Inukpuk said Wednesday.
The department issued a statement on Thursday saying the community had confirmed that winds and tides shifted overnight, opening the ice that had trapped the whales. The department said two scientists were en route to gather information and they will monitor the situation.
Palliser said locals had agreed to try to enlarge the existing breathing hole and cut a second opening using chainsaws and drills.
'We certainly had our prayers with them last night during our meeting,' he said.
Ice-trapped marine mammals are not unusual in the region.
This news article is brought to you by GOING GREEN NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
The animals' predicament in the frigid waters of Hudson Bay made international headlines, and locals had been planning a rescue operation with chainsaws and drills.
Tommy Palliser said two hunters from Inukjuak village reported that the waters had opened up around the area where the cornered whales had been bobbing frantically for air.
'They confirmed that the whales were no longer there and there was a lot of open water,' said Palliser, a business adviser with the regional government.
'It's certainly good news - that's good news for the whales,' he said.
Locals said the whales had been trapped around a single, truck-sized breathing hole for at least two days. A recent sudden drop in temperature may have caught the whales off guard, leaving them trapped under the ice.
Palliser said the winds seemed to shift overnight, pushing the floating ice further away from the shore.
The cornered animals were first seen Tuesday and appeared to have less energy by late Wednesday, Palliser said.
Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans said government icebreakers were too far from the area to smash the ice to free the whales, Inukjuak Mayor Peter Inukpuk said Wednesday.
The department issued a statement on Thursday saying the community had confirmed that winds and tides shifted overnight, opening the ice that had trapped the whales. The department said two scientists were en route to gather information and they will monitor the situation.
Palliser said locals had agreed to try to enlarge the existing breathing hole and cut a second opening using chainsaws and drills.
'We certainly had our prayers with them last night during our meeting,' he said.
Ice-trapped marine mammals are not unusual in the region.
This news article is brought to you by GOING GREEN NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Wind shift may have freed whales trapped off Quebec
(Reuters) - A group of killer whales trapped under the ice of Hudson Bay and taking turns breathing from a small hole may have been freed by a shift in the winds, Canadian media reported on Thursday.
The 11 whales, who sometimes appeared to be panicking as they fought for air, created a worldwide sensation as news and a video about their plight spread.
The mammals, which likely included two adults and several younger ones, were first spotted by a local Inuit hunter on Tuesday.
Residents from the nearby Inuit community of Inukjuak in northern Quebec had planned to widen the hole. But the whales were gone when they arrived at the site on Thursday morning, according to The Globe and Mail newspaper.
One resident, Johnny Williams, told the paper that the ice likely broke up from the shifting winds, allowing the creatures to swim to freedom.
The community's mayor had asked for an ice breaker and other assistance from the Canadian government. Experts from Canada's fisheries and oceans department were dispatched to the area.
(Reporting By Russ Blinch; Editing by Xavier Briand)
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The 11 whales, who sometimes appeared to be panicking as they fought for air, created a worldwide sensation as news and a video about their plight spread.
The mammals, which likely included two adults and several younger ones, were first spotted by a local Inuit hunter on Tuesday.
Residents from the nearby Inuit community of Inukjuak in northern Quebec had planned to widen the hole. But the whales were gone when they arrived at the site on Thursday morning, according to The Globe and Mail newspaper.
One resident, Johnny Williams, told the paper that the ice likely broke up from the shifting winds, allowing the creatures to swim to freedom.
The community's mayor had asked for an ice breaker and other assistance from the Canadian government. Experts from Canada's fisheries and oceans department were dispatched to the area.
(Reporting By Russ Blinch; Editing by Xavier Briand)
This article is brought to you by PERSONALS.
Trapped Killer Whales Free Themselves
The killer whales trapped under ice in a remote Quebec village reached safety after the floes shifted on Hudson Bay, according to the mayor's office in Inukjuak.
Water opened up around the area where the orcas had been coming up for air and the winds seemed to have shifted overnight, creating a passageway to the open water six miles away.
'This is great news,' Johnny Williams, a resident who works for the mayor's office, told ABC News.
Williams said he was unsure how far the whales have moved, but that they were definitely not under the ice hole.
Residents in the remote village of Inukjuak had been watching helplessly as at least 12 whales struggled to breathe out of a hole slightly bigger than a pickup truck in a desperate bid to survive.
The community had asked the Canadian government for help in freeing the killer whales, believed to be an entire family. The government denied a request to bring icebreakers Wednesday, saying they were too far away to help. Inukjuak, about 900 miles north of Montreal, was ill-equipped to jump into action.
Joe Gaydos, director and chief scientist at the SeaDoc Society in Eastsound, Wash., said that although the whales can go a long time without food, the length of time they can hold their breath, which they must do underwater, was the question.
'The challenge [was] to figure out where the next hole is,' he told ABCNews.com before the whales found freedom. 'If that lake freezes over, it's an unfortunate situation. It's a very limited chance. It's a matter of luck.'
Inukjuak residents posted a video online to show the whales' struggles. In the clip, the whales are seen taking turns breathing. They can't bend their necks so they do a 'fly-hopping' maneuver, Gaydos said, in order to look for another hole in the ice.
A hunter first spotted the pod of trapped whales Tuesday. It is believed that the whales swam into the waters north of Quebec during recent warm weather.
ABC News' Bethany Owings contributed to this report
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Water opened up around the area where the orcas had been coming up for air and the winds seemed to have shifted overnight, creating a passageway to the open water six miles away.
'This is great news,' Johnny Williams, a resident who works for the mayor's office, told ABC News.
Williams said he was unsure how far the whales have moved, but that they were definitely not under the ice hole.
Residents in the remote village of Inukjuak had been watching helplessly as at least 12 whales struggled to breathe out of a hole slightly bigger than a pickup truck in a desperate bid to survive.
The community had asked the Canadian government for help in freeing the killer whales, believed to be an entire family. The government denied a request to bring icebreakers Wednesday, saying they were too far away to help. Inukjuak, about 900 miles north of Montreal, was ill-equipped to jump into action.
Joe Gaydos, director and chief scientist at the SeaDoc Society in Eastsound, Wash., said that although the whales can go a long time without food, the length of time they can hold their breath, which they must do underwater, was the question.
'The challenge [was] to figure out where the next hole is,' he told ABCNews.com before the whales found freedom. 'If that lake freezes over, it's an unfortunate situation. It's a very limited chance. It's a matter of luck.'
Inukjuak residents posted a video online to show the whales' struggles. In the clip, the whales are seen taking turns breathing. They can't bend their necks so they do a 'fly-hopping' maneuver, Gaydos said, in order to look for another hole in the ice.
A hunter first spotted the pod of trapped whales Tuesday. It is believed that the whales swam into the waters north of Quebec during recent warm weather.
ABC News' Bethany Owings contributed to this report
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This article is brought to you by FREE PERSONALS.
Killer Whales Trapped Under Sea Ice
ABC News' Bethany Owings reports:
Canadian residents in a Quebec village are pleading for help to save group of killer whales trapped under thick arctic sea ice and left with only one small hole for oxygen.
Residents in the remote village of Inukjuak have been watching helplessly as at least 12 whales, also known as orcas, struggle to breathe out of a hole slightly bigger than a pickup truck in a desperate bid to breathe.
The community has asked the Canadian government for help in freeing the killer whales, believed to be an entire family. The government denied a request to bring icebreakers Wednesday, saying they were too far away to help. Inukjuak, about 900 miles north of Montreal, is ill-equipped to jump into action.
Residents have turned to the Internet and posted the video of the killer whales, hoping someone could help free the trapped orcas.
The video shows some whales calmly taking turns, while other whales jump several feet out of the water through the air for oxygen. They hold their breath under water and breathe above water through blowholes on the top of their heads.
'I don't know how far it is to the next air hole, but I don't imagine they do either,' Joe Gaydos, a director and chief scientist at the SeaDoc Society in Eastsound, Wash., told ABC News. 'That's why they are coming up and looking with that spy-hopping behavior that they're showing.'
The growing international chorus has reached all the way to Wisconsin's Greg Ferrian, who has experience in these kinds of situations.
Last year's movie 'Big Miracle,' starring Drew Barrymore, was inspired by Ferrian and others who used special ice-fishing equipment to help rescue three whales trapped in Alaska in 1988.
'We just saw [the video] and figured we know what they need. We've been through it before,' Ferrian told ABC News affiliate KSTP-TV in Minnesota.
The whales are in a race against time because the hole they're using to breathe through is rapidly closing as temperatures continue to drop, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
A hunter first spotted the pod of trapped whales Tuesday. It is believed the whales swam into the waters north of Quebec during recent warm weather. Temperatures suddenly dropped, freezing the water in Hudson Bay.
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Indian park battles poachers targeting rhino horn
KAZIRANGA, India (AP) - Out of the early morning mists and tall grass of northeast India emerges a massive creature with a dinosaur-like face, having survived millions of years despite a curse - literally on its head. As elephant-borne riders approach, the formidable hulk sniffs the air for danger, then resumes its breakfast.
This is Kaziranga, refuge to more than 2,200 endangered Indian rhinoceros and one of the world's best-protected wildlife reserves. But even here, where rangers follow shoot-to-kill orders, poachers are laying siege to 'Fortress Kaziranga,' attempting to sheer off the animals' horns to supply a surge in demand for purported medicine in China that's pricier than gold. At least 18 rhino fell to poachers in and around the park in 2012, compared to 10 in all of India in 2011.
Insurgents eager to bolster their war chests here in India's Assam state are also involved, according to police. Authorities are investigating a recent news report that a Chinese company offered two rebel groups a deal: weapons in exchange for horns and body parts of the one-horned species whose scientific name is rhinoceros unicornis.
Pitted against the poachers, some armed with battlefield rifles, are 152 anti-poaching camps staffed by more than 900 rangers, guards and other personnel - almost one for every square kilometer of the reserve. These include a well-armed task force rushed in when the poaching erupted again early last year. Kaziranga also is ready to deploy drones and satellite surveillance to track the intruders.
The rhino war is a bloody one on all counts. A number of guards have been killed along with 108 poachers since 1985 while 507 rhino have perished by gunfire, electrocution or spiked pits set by the poachers, according to the park. More than 50 poachers were arrested last year.
'It's highly organized crime where someone comes to buy, somebody supplies the arms, someone comes as a shooter and local field men help them,' says veteran park chief N.K. Vasu, as a nighttime operation that nets one poacher gets under way. 'If mobilization had not occurred there would have been widespread killings.'
Reflecting the globalization of wildlife trafficking, the accelerating slaughter for China's market occurs wherever one of the world's oldest and largest mammals are found, especially in southern Africa. In South Africa alone, more than 630 rhinos fell to poachers last year, up from 13 in 2007, according to the country's Department of Environmental Affairs.
Driving the killings are soaring prices that China's growing, moneyed class are willing to pay - up to $65,000 per kilogram ($30,000 per pound). This has even forced museums in Europe where thefts have occurred to replace real rhino horns with fakes.
Behind it is a deeply rooted belief among many Chinese that rhino horn - basically compressed hair - can cure everything from rheumatism to cancer, despite admonitions by most medical experts that it has 'about as much medicinal value as chewing one's fingernails.' The product has been struck from the list of officially approved Chinese traditional medicines but is readily available in China and Vietnam, the second largest consumer.
To date, experts say Asian countries have proved better at protecting their rhinos than Africa, where most of the China-bound horns originate before being smuggled mainly through Southeast Asia by air, land and sea.
'The bosses of criminal syndicates which control the trafficking go where the cost of business is very low, and that's now in Africa,' says Christy Williams of the World Wide Fund for Nature. 'If Africa starts to really crack down, then they'll be moving back to Asia. People are always ready to poach rhino. They are only waiting for an opportunity, for the protection to go down.'
Kaziranga park statistics since 1980 reflect this ebb and flow, stemming from both demand and the level of protection afforded. The 1990s saw intensive poaching with a high of 48 rhinos killed in 1992. It subsided after 1998 but shot up again this year.
Williams, who is based in Nepal, says Asian smuggling routes run from India through Nepal to Tibet and into other regions of China or through northern Myanmar to China. 'Beyond, when it heads into Tibet, it's a black hole,' he says.
China has in the past supported an array of insurgent groups in Assam and other areas of India's northeast that have sought independence from India, and growing economic and transport links are facilitating wildlife trafficking.
Last month, Seven Sisters Post, an English-language newspaper in Assam, reported that the United Liberation Front of Assam and another rebel group have been approached several times by the Longhui Pharmaceutical Company, a subsidiary of arms manufacturer Hawk Group, to supply rhino parts in exchange for weapons, something the groups claim they rejected. The web site of Longhui, based in Hainan province, says the company produces rhino horn medicine through 'shaving alive rhino horn technology.'
J.N. Choudhury, Assam's police chief, declined to comment on the report, which the government is investigating, but said members of the Karbi Longri NC Liberation Front have been arrested in recent weeks on charges of rhino poaching in and around Kaziranga. News reports say other rebel groups are also involved.
Despite such threats both Assam and Nepal - homes to the densest rhino populations in Asia - have notched impressive records in curbing poaching. Rhino tourism in both countries brings in considerable revenue, and the animal is an Assamese icon with the recent spate of poaching sparking a public outcry.
Kaziranga itself is regarded as one of the world's great wildlife conservation victories. From some 20 rhino at the beginning of the 19th century - when maharajas and British colonials shot them by the scores - it now faces the problem of overpopulation. This Asian Eden also shelters healthy numbers of tigers, elephants, the highly endangered swamp deer and some 500 species of birds.
To keep it that way, Vasu says it's essential to 'dominate every inch of the ground' inside the park and link up with area police and civil authorities, a weakness in the past along with continuing corruption.
'In one hour you are set for life,' says Polash Bora, a naturalist who has worked in the park for 21 years, referring to the temptation for park guards to abet poaching. He also notes trafficking kingpins rarely get caught in India's northeast because of their connections with police and other authorities.
But overall, Kaziranga's green front line has drawn widespread praise, patrolling around the clock, living in lonely camps, until recently drawing low pay and regularly attacked, sometimes killed, by tigers, wild buffalo and rhino because they are forbidden to shoot wildlife. The poachers they encounter now wield sophisticated weapons and communications.
'It's hard to catch them, especially since they come at night. You hear a gunshot and in five minutes they cut off the horn and run away into the tall grass and jungle,' says P.K. Barua, a veteran ranger at a four-man camp deep inside the park. When they use silencers on their guns, a recent development, a dead rhino may not be discovered for days.
'You only know that one has been killed when you see the vultures circling overhead,' he says.
___
Associated Press writer Wasbir Hussain in Gauhati, India, contributed to this report.
This news article is brought to you by GOING GREEN NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
This is Kaziranga, refuge to more than 2,200 endangered Indian rhinoceros and one of the world's best-protected wildlife reserves. But even here, where rangers follow shoot-to-kill orders, poachers are laying siege to 'Fortress Kaziranga,' attempting to sheer off the animals' horns to supply a surge in demand for purported medicine in China that's pricier than gold. At least 18 rhino fell to poachers in and around the park in 2012, compared to 10 in all of India in 2011.
Insurgents eager to bolster their war chests here in India's Assam state are also involved, according to police. Authorities are investigating a recent news report that a Chinese company offered two rebel groups a deal: weapons in exchange for horns and body parts of the one-horned species whose scientific name is rhinoceros unicornis.
Pitted against the poachers, some armed with battlefield rifles, are 152 anti-poaching camps staffed by more than 900 rangers, guards and other personnel - almost one for every square kilometer of the reserve. These include a well-armed task force rushed in when the poaching erupted again early last year. Kaziranga also is ready to deploy drones and satellite surveillance to track the intruders.
The rhino war is a bloody one on all counts. A number of guards have been killed along with 108 poachers since 1985 while 507 rhino have perished by gunfire, electrocution or spiked pits set by the poachers, according to the park. More than 50 poachers were arrested last year.
'It's highly organized crime where someone comes to buy, somebody supplies the arms, someone comes as a shooter and local field men help them,' says veteran park chief N.K. Vasu, as a nighttime operation that nets one poacher gets under way. 'If mobilization had not occurred there would have been widespread killings.'
Reflecting the globalization of wildlife trafficking, the accelerating slaughter for China's market occurs wherever one of the world's oldest and largest mammals are found, especially in southern Africa. In South Africa alone, more than 630 rhinos fell to poachers last year, up from 13 in 2007, according to the country's Department of Environmental Affairs.
Driving the killings are soaring prices that China's growing, moneyed class are willing to pay - up to $65,000 per kilogram ($30,000 per pound). This has even forced museums in Europe where thefts have occurred to replace real rhino horns with fakes.
Behind it is a deeply rooted belief among many Chinese that rhino horn - basically compressed hair - can cure everything from rheumatism to cancer, despite admonitions by most medical experts that it has 'about as much medicinal value as chewing one's fingernails.' The product has been struck from the list of officially approved Chinese traditional medicines but is readily available in China and Vietnam, the second largest consumer.
To date, experts say Asian countries have proved better at protecting their rhinos than Africa, where most of the China-bound horns originate before being smuggled mainly through Southeast Asia by air, land and sea.
'The bosses of criminal syndicates which control the trafficking go where the cost of business is very low, and that's now in Africa,' says Christy Williams of the World Wide Fund for Nature. 'If Africa starts to really crack down, then they'll be moving back to Asia. People are always ready to poach rhino. They are only waiting for an opportunity, for the protection to go down.'
Kaziranga park statistics since 1980 reflect this ebb and flow, stemming from both demand and the level of protection afforded. The 1990s saw intensive poaching with a high of 48 rhinos killed in 1992. It subsided after 1998 but shot up again this year.
Williams, who is based in Nepal, says Asian smuggling routes run from India through Nepal to Tibet and into other regions of China or through northern Myanmar to China. 'Beyond, when it heads into Tibet, it's a black hole,' he says.
China has in the past supported an array of insurgent groups in Assam and other areas of India's northeast that have sought independence from India, and growing economic and transport links are facilitating wildlife trafficking.
Last month, Seven Sisters Post, an English-language newspaper in Assam, reported that the United Liberation Front of Assam and another rebel group have been approached several times by the Longhui Pharmaceutical Company, a subsidiary of arms manufacturer Hawk Group, to supply rhino parts in exchange for weapons, something the groups claim they rejected. The web site of Longhui, based in Hainan province, says the company produces rhino horn medicine through 'shaving alive rhino horn technology.'
J.N. Choudhury, Assam's police chief, declined to comment on the report, which the government is investigating, but said members of the Karbi Longri NC Liberation Front have been arrested in recent weeks on charges of rhino poaching in and around Kaziranga. News reports say other rebel groups are also involved.
Despite such threats both Assam and Nepal - homes to the densest rhino populations in Asia - have notched impressive records in curbing poaching. Rhino tourism in both countries brings in considerable revenue, and the animal is an Assamese icon with the recent spate of poaching sparking a public outcry.
Kaziranga itself is regarded as one of the world's great wildlife conservation victories. From some 20 rhino at the beginning of the 19th century - when maharajas and British colonials shot them by the scores - it now faces the problem of overpopulation. This Asian Eden also shelters healthy numbers of tigers, elephants, the highly endangered swamp deer and some 500 species of birds.
To keep it that way, Vasu says it's essential to 'dominate every inch of the ground' inside the park and link up with area police and civil authorities, a weakness in the past along with continuing corruption.
'In one hour you are set for life,' says Polash Bora, a naturalist who has worked in the park for 21 years, referring to the temptation for park guards to abet poaching. He also notes trafficking kingpins rarely get caught in India's northeast because of their connections with police and other authorities.
But overall, Kaziranga's green front line has drawn widespread praise, patrolling around the clock, living in lonely camps, until recently drawing low pay and regularly attacked, sometimes killed, by tigers, wild buffalo and rhino because they are forbidden to shoot wildlife. The poachers they encounter now wield sophisticated weapons and communications.
'It's hard to catch them, especially since they come at night. You hear a gunshot and in five minutes they cut off the horn and run away into the tall grass and jungle,' says P.K. Barua, a veteran ranger at a four-man camp deep inside the park. When they use silencers on their guns, a recent development, a dead rhino may not be discovered for days.
'You only know that one has been killed when you see the vultures circling overhead,' he says.
___
Associated Press writer Wasbir Hussain in Gauhati, India, contributed to this report.
This news article is brought to you by GOING GREEN NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
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