March 1st, 2012 in Rhenen, The Netherlands: Polar bear twins, born in the Dutch Zoo Ouwehands Dierenpark, are fed by their mother, Huggies.
Photograph: Erik Van’t Woud/AFP/Getty Images
February 24th, 2012 in Ranua, Finland: a male brown bear wakes from hibernation at Ranua zoo.
Photograph: Kaisa Siren/AP
February 16th, 2012 in Karmiel, West Bank: A member of a Palestinian family carries a goat after Israeli bulldozers destroyed their tin shack, which had been set up on land adjacent to a Jewish settlement.
Photograph: Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA
February 16th, 2012 in Kathmandu, Nepal: a Buddhist monk holds a bowl asking for alms, as pigeons fly in the background at Boudhanath Stupa.
Photograph: Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Truck full of dogs crammed into tiny cages and bound for Chinese restaurants is intercepted by animal lovers.
Crammed into tiny cages, unable to stand and deprived of food and water, these dogs endured terrible suffering on a truck bound for a chain of restaurants. The harrowing pictures show the cruel conditions in which 1,500 of the animals were found when the truck was stopped at a toll gate by highway police and animal rescue volunteers in Chongqing, south-west China. The truck was stacked high with cages, each containing several dogs in pitiful condition.
The animals were moved to a nearby farm by volunteers from the Chongqing Animal Protection Association who gave them food, water and emergency treatment. Sadly some of the dogs were already dead and rescue workers were unable to save other who were dying.
Volunteer Xiao Lu said: ‘When they [the dogs] saw us they were groaning, but some were so exhausted and dying that they didn’t even have the strength to make a sound. He said: The dog peddler said his truck was only loaded with 700 dogs, but there are at least 1500.
Dog continues to be a popular meal in the Far East, with many in China favouring the meat, particularly during the winter. The incident comes just months after police in Thailand rescued more than 1,000 dogs that were being transported to Vietnam. The dogs were being taken across the Mekong river in Laos as prices for stray dogs and pets in rural Thai villages can reach as much as $33 an animal.
11 COUNTRIES WHICH STILL EAT DOG MEAT
Eleven countries around the globe still eat dog meat. They are: China, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Polynesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Arctic and Antarctic and two cantons in Switzerland.
China: Although the Chinese were the first to domesticate the dog and keep them as pets, dog meat has been a source of food from at least the time of Confucius, and possibly even before.
Indonesia: Eating dog meat is usually associated with people from the Batak Toba culture, who cook a traditional dish named saksang that is like a dog-meat stew.
Mexico: Dogs were historically bred for their meat by the Aztecs. These dogs were called itzcuintlis, and were often pictured on pre-Columbian Mexican pottery.
Philippines: In the capital city of Manila,the law specifically prohibits the killing and selling of dogs for food except in certain circumstances including research and animal population control.
Polynesia: Dogs were historically eaten in Tahiti and other islands of Polynesia at the time of first European contact in 1769.
Taiwan: Dog meat in Taiwan is particularly eaten in the winter months, especially black dogs, which are believed to help retain body warmth.
Korea: Gaegogi literally means ‘dog meat’ in Korean. Gaegogi, however, is often mistaken as the term for Korean soup made from dog meat, bosintang. The distaste felt by dog lovers, particularly from the West, has made this dish very controversial.
Switzerland: According to a Swiss newspaper report in 1996, the Swiss rural cantons of Appenzell and St. Gallen are known to have had a tradition of eating dogs, curing dog meat into jerky and sausages, as well as using the lard for medicinal purposes.
Vietnam: Dog meat is eaten throughout Vietnam. To many Northerners, it is a popular, if relatively expensive, dinnertime restaurant meal.
Arctic and Antarctic: Dogs have historically been an emergency food source for various peoples in Siberia, Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland. Sled dogs are usually maintained for pulling sleds, but occasionally are eaten when no other food is available.
Brainless Jellyfish Navigates with Specialized Eyes
The skyward gaze of one set of eyes belonging to box jellyfish provides evidence that these creatures - which lack a conventional brain - are capable of sophisticated behavior. New research has shown that one species of jellyfish uses one set of eyes to navigate and keep itself close to home.
“It is a surprise that a jellyfish - an animal normally considered to be lacking both brain and advanced behavior - is able to perform visually guided navigation, which is not a trivial behavioral task,” said lead researcher Anders Garm of the University of Copenhagen. “This shows that the behavioral abilities of simple animals, like jellyfish, may be underestimated.” Box jellyfish have 24 eyes of four different types, and two of them - the upper and lower lens eyes - can form images and resemble the eyes of vertebrates like humans. The other eyes are more primitive. It was already known that box jellyfish’s vision allows them to perform simpler tasks, like responding to light and avoiding obstacles…
(read more: Live Science)
Blue BAT STAR
Asterina pectinifera
by Alexander SemenovAsterina is a genus of small sea stars within the family Asterinidae. Asterina belongs to a confusing family of sea stars - There is not yet enough adequate molecular evidence for a definite assignment of the species in the genus Asterina.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterina_%28starfish%29
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STICK GRASSHOPPER - Male
Proscopia luceomaculata
by artour_aStick insect? Nah, it’s a grasshopper
There are upwards of 130 species of stick grasshopper belonging to the family Proscopidae. They belong to the Orthopteran group of insects which includes grasshoppers, katydids and crickets. They can easily be mistaken for phasmids (stick insects) at first glance. On closer inspection the form of the head and mouthparts together with the mid and hind leg arrangement lead the trained observer to a different conclusion regarding their classification.
Description and life History
Stick grasshoppers are restricted to the forests and nearby scrubland of South America. Most species live amongst low vegetation at the edge of the rainforest where there is some air movement. Here they will perch and sway enjoying air currents. Proscopids cannot fly and whilst they can jump their hind legs are not well adapted to jump great distances. Nymphs are more likely to propel themselves into the air than adults when disturbed. In the wild the usual defence mechanism is to freeze still and if touched or molested further, they will often throw themselves to the ground where they may be perfectly camouflaged in the jumble of leaf and stick litter on the forest floor.
Stick grasshoppers have weird head shapes with onion shaped mouthparts and bulbous eyes mounted high on the apex of the head, topped by tiny stub like antennae. The shape of the head has led to the common name of “horsehead grasshopper” for certain species. For reasons given above they are also sometimes refered to as “false stick insects”
