Do YOU Know Your Veterinarian?

Veterinarian Quits, Disgusted With Profession He Once Loved

Matthew WatkinsonAfter eight years on the job, British veterinarian Matthew Watkinson became disenchanted enough with the profession he once worked so hard to join that he quit, wrote a scathing book about the veterinary industry and penned a shocking Daily Mail article -- "Why I'm Ashamed to be a Vet" -- exposing the money-grubbing ways of unscrupulous veterinarians.

"A whole industry has arisen out of squeezing the most money out of treating family pets," Watkinson writes in the article published by the Daily Mail. Watkinson accuses financially-motivated veterinarians of ordering unnecessary procedures, prolonging a sick pet's life with expensive treatments merely to generate higher fees and even researching a pet owner's home address to determine wealth and how much the client could be charged.

"I'm not saying everybody does it, and it's probably not the majority," Watkinson, 32, tells Paw Nation. "But there are people in this profession who do things like that. There are veterinary practices where a vet is given minimum financial targets and has to make a certain amount of money per consult." Pet insurance can be helpful to pet owners in emergencies, says Watkinson, but "it's an easy excuse for some veterinarians to take advantage of the system." And what about a client who owns a purebred dog with a lot of inherited problems? "It's a potential goldmine," says Watkinson.

Unsurprisingly, Watkinson's statements haven't endeared him to his peers. "My [veterinarian] friends are deserting me now because I've criticized the profession," the ex-veterinarian says. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons denounced the Daily Mail article and implied that Watkinson was doing it to publicize his new book, "On the Destiny of Species: by Means of Natural Selection, or the Elimination of Unfavoured Races in the Struggle for Life." In it, he blasts the veterinary profession for supporting a dog breeding industry that produces purebreds with inherited diseases and physical deformities considered "cute," and catering to sentimental -- a dirty word in Watkinson's book -- pet owners, rather than acting in the best interest of animals.

"I've been accused of doing all this to sell books, be sensational and to make money," says Watkinson, who quit the profession a year ago. "But I'm broke. This was done out of a deep respect for the way that nature works and a compassion for animals."

"In veterinary school, there was lots of 'we can do this' [procedure], but not a lot of 'should we do this?'" says Watkinson. "We were taught almost as technicians," he says. "My ethical training was limited to one afternoon in five years. We're not really taught to think; we're taught to do all these procedures. And they get more complicated each year so we have more options to keep all these animals alive. We fight the powers of nature, really, and what we've ended up with is a lot of diseased dog breeds that couldn't survive without us."

A particular incident from veterinary school still haunts him. He was caring for an elderly dog after the canine (whose story is told in an excerpt from "On the Destiny of Species," below) had one of its legs amputated due to cancer. "It was a really old dog and the prognosis was six months more to live," Watkinson recalls. "I sat up all night with that dog, and it screamed all night. I thought, 'We've only done this to massage the emotions of the owner.' It's an old dog. It hasn't got long to live whether you take the leg off or not and it's just going to cause misery by amputating its leg. If we just put that animal to sleep, it wouldn't have screamed there all night."

For the rest of this troubling story and an excerpt from the book, go to http://www.pawnation.com/2009/12/04/why-one-veterinarian-quit-disgusted-with-a-profession-he-once-r/

In this day and age, the accusations and issues brought up in this book do not totally surprise me. That is one of the reasons I am such an animal lover and try in my own small ways to make things a little better for our fellow "earthlings" by awakening humans to their plight. If You are a pet owner and care about animals, "choose your vet carefully"!

"Animalz Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Facebook Bobby Sharpe www.myspace.com/akuasharpe

New Life, Baby White Rhino

Baby White Rhino Born at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

Matt Marriott/Busch Gardens Tampa BayJust like you, we're suckers for adorable baby animals, and the new baby white rhinoceros at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, Florida, more than fits the bill. Just look at those big feet! She's not even as big as her mama's head!

The 100-pound (yowza!) baby was born last Wednesday, November 11, to Mlaleni and Tambo. This rhino pair's first calf, Malaika, was born in 2004 and was the first white rhino birth in Busch Gardens' history. The newborn female is their fourth calf and brings the park's total black and white rhino population to a total of 12 (nine white and three black).

The baby has yet to be named, but a spokesperson for Busch Gardens tells us that this is totally normal: "Names for baby animals are traditionally chosen after they reach 30 days of age. This allows the animal care team time to see the animal's growth and character traits."

The calf's birth isn't just a big deal to the park and its visitors, but to the rhino population at large. Busch Gardens is a participant in the American Zoological and Aquarium Association Species Survival Plan to ensure genetic diversification among threatened and endangered animals in zoological facilities. The International Rhino Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of rhinos, estimates that there are just over 14,530 white rhinos in the wild, and fewer than 170 live in zoological facilities across North America.

In fact, just last year, the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, which is a registered non-profit organization, donated $5,000 to Friends of Conservation, $15,000 to International Rhino Foundation, $10,000 to Rhino Fund Uganda and $10,000 to Tusk Trust to support rhino conservation efforts in the wild. Since it began in 2003, the Fund has granted five million dollars to more than 350 projects in the U.S. and around the world.

Don't you love it when something this precious also brings a bit more hope to the world?

This is so cool. Gives YOU something else to look forward to on your next trip to Florida and Busch Gardens. Thanks to pawnation.com for this story....

"Animals Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz": Religious Idiots Slaughter Animals Facebook Bobby Sharpe

Wolves, Dogs And Mankind

Did We Domesticate Dogs, or Did Dogs Domesticate Us?

A new book by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Jon Franklin concludes that man's best friends may have been responsible for our emergence as the alpha dogs of the animal kingdom.

We wouldn't be who we are without them. So we rewarded them with a lifetime supply of Snausages and Purina Puppy Chow.

Well, it's a little more complicated than that.

Franklin's book, "The Wolf in the Parlor" (Henry Holt, 2009), traces "the eternal connection between humans and dogs" through the millennia. His 20 years of research convinced him that we couldn't have made it without each other.

Dallas critic Bill Marvel calls the author's deductions a stretch. "Franklin seems to suggest that while we were taming the dog, the dog was civilizing us," Marvel wrote. "He reminds me a little of the dyslexic churchgoer who worshipped Dog.

"But biological anthropologist Forrest Smith, a professor emeritus at the University of Akron, isn't troubled at all by the results of Franklin's detective work.

"I agree with him 100 percent," Smith said. Wolves and man were once virtually equals at the top of the predatory food chain, he said. It's logical to believe that the species had to collaborate to survive.

He said it's much the same conclusion that Michael Pollan reached in his book about plant life, "The Omnivore's Dilemma." "Did we domesticate corn or did corn domesticate us?" Smith asked. "We needed each other."

Franklin's book is a blend of emotion and science. Which is a lot like his career. His book "Writing for Story" taught a generation of journalists to bolt past details to the emotional center of the story. Yet he's equally respected among scientists. "I've been carrying around something he wrote about the importance of science for more than 10 years," said Dr. Emilie Clemmens, a professor at Cascadia College near Seattle who has a Ph.D. in bioengineering. "It defines who I am."

In an interview with Sphere, Franklin that he's shown the book to scientist friends and received little resistance to his results or his methods. "Science begins with emotion. Something triggers an emotional response, and then we investigate it."

His emotional response was triggered when he met the love of his life, Lynn, in the late 1980s. "Love me, love my dog," was their unspoken pact.

That's how the descendant of the wolf, a standard poodle named Charlie, came into his parlor.

The marriage and his relationship with Charlie flourished. The feelings that grew toward the dog piqued his scientific curiosity about the link between the species.

A decade earlier he had seen a photograph of the fossilized remains of a man who had been buried with a small dog or wolf cub in what is now Syria some 12,000 years ago. The man was reaching furtively toward the small creature.

Franklin stuck the picture in a drawer until he met Charlie. Two more decades of research led to the book.

Scientists generally agree that the first domesticated dogs appeared around 15,000 years ago, give or take a few dozen centuries. In those days, humans, as they still do, left a mess as they wandered about the planet. Some wolves found it was easier to follow the garbage buffet than to hunt for them.

Dr. Ray Coppinger, an animal behaviorist expert, argued in the book "Dogs" that the wolves began to domesticate themselves as they learned to live around humans. "It was natural selection," he said in the New York Times several years ago. "The dogs did it, not people."

Franklin suggested, though, that humans did play a role in the selection process. Sometimes, the wolf cubs made for a convenient dinner. The cuddly ones were less likely to meet the end of a club.

He noted something else unusual was happening then. The man in the photo's death occurred near the end of the ice age. About the same time, fossils show, the human brain was shrinking by as much as 10 percent. Yet we got smarter. "Suddenly and inexplicably we began to herd, dig, build, draw, plan and invent ... we became uncontested masters of the planet," he wrote.

He believes that our evolutionary dance with the wolves made it all happen. As wolves became dogs -- as the genetic research of Dr. Robert K. Wayne of UCLA has shown -- they herded our flocks. They warned us of nearby predators. They helped us hunt more efficiently. That gave us time to think.

Dogs, Franklin reasons, made us better people.

Just as Charlie nurtured him during their dozen years of walking together. It's a lesson for us all.

"Just remember," Franklin said, "there's an animal on both ends of the leash."

If there is any animal our equal, it is the wolf. I have said this for years, yet, idiots and insecure humans think that they should be hunting and destroying the one creature that probably is responsible for where we are in this time and space on this planet. It never fails, if it can get screwed up, "humans will do it without a doubt".

"Animals, Especially Wolves, Rule",

Bobby Sharpe "Dragon, Book Of Shang"2 Bobby Sharpe's " Opyn Mindz": Joint, Blunt, Bong, Vaporizer or Pipe

Humans & Chimps Mourn Together

Chimp Funeral: Apes and Humans Mourn Side by Side

When a loved one dies, it's not only humans who grieve. This was proven when more than a dozen chimpanzees gathered to witness the burial of a member of their ape family, reports the New York Post.

Dorothy, a chimp in her late 40s, died of heart failure at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center in West Africa, and according to the New York Post, was a respected member of the chimpanzee community there. When her caregiver brought Dorothy's body to her final resting place, the group of apes came to the edge of their enclosure to watch.

The chimps quieted their usual chatter and simply stood, holding one another silently as they bid goodbye to their friend. Understandably, human onlookers were touched, particularly since they knew this wasn't the first emotional separation the chimps had experienced.

All the chimpanzees are orphans whose mothers were killed by hunters for illegal bushmeat, reports the Post. According to the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force, "the practice of commercial, illegal and unsustainable hunting is causing widespread local extinctions in Asia and West Africa." Hard to believe hunters can be so cruel and irresponsible, especially after seeing just how "human" these chimps can be.

The photo can be seen in the November issue of National Geographic magazine, on sale now.

This is such an incredible story and one more event to show just how close humans and animals really are. It is such a shame that more humans do not realize this and appreciate our relationship and connect with our fellow inhabitants of this planet.

"Animals Rule",

Bobby Sharpe "Dragon, Book Of Shang"2 www.facebook.com/bobby.sharpe Twitter / Dragonwolf8

4 Great Whites In Cape Cod

CHATHAM, Mass. (Sept. 6) - The sightings of several great white sharks have prompted a swimming ban for the rest of the Labor Day weekend at some oceanside beaches in Massachusetts.

I had to do something with this story because, there are too many questions. Number one is, "great whites very seldom frequent these waters". Number two is, "great whites are pretty much territorial, why then, are there four of them in an abnormal setting"? Could this have anything to do with the coming "polar shift"?I will be trying to follow up on this story.

http://news.aol.com/article/great-white-shark-sightings-prompt-cape/657870?icid=main|main|dl1|link6|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fgreat-white-shark-sightings-prompt-cape%2F657870

Animals Rule,

Bobby Sharpe

White Stripeless Tiger & Blue Lobster

Fareeda

Stripeless White Tiger Is 1 in 100

Fareeda is one cool cat. The white Bengal tiger cub was born without stripes.

Fareeda astonished her keepers when she was born on Christmas Day 2008 without traditional markings, but they knew stripes could still appear as she aged. Now, at over 6 months old, Fareeda isn't expected to develop them, the Daily Mail reported.

The cub is thought to be one of fewer than 20 white Bengal tigers in the world today without stripes, and all the others live in captivity. Fareeda is part of a breeding program in Cape Town, South Africa, aimed to increase the endangered species and eventually return them to the wild.

Fareeda was part of a three-cub litter, but both of her siblings have stripes, as do her mother and father. The odds of Fareeda being born without stripes are 100 to 1, according to the Daily Mail.

"Most white Bengal tigers are bred in the U.S. from a single male captured in India in the 1950s, but Fareeda is the first to be born in Africa, which is very special," Cango Wildlife Ranch employee Odette Claassen said.

There are currently only a few hundred white Bengal tigers alive in captivity worldwide.

"It's clear that Fareeda is truly one of the rarest of her kind," said Claassen.

Blue Lobster Is 1 in 2 Million Find

A blue lobster is likely feeling anything but after his rare color saved him from being served as dinner.

The blue-hued crustacean, named Donald, has been displayed in a tank at a restaurant in Charlottetown on Canada's Prince Edward Island for several weeks, CBC News reported.

The 2-pound lobster is attracting a few visitors to the Water-Prince Corner Shop and Lobster Pound, some more interested than others.

"We have been asked for a certain time or two to serve a blue lobster," store owner Shane Campbell told CBC News. "We wouldn't bother doing it, because it's more valuable to us to either have (it) mounted or put back in the ocean."

Donald is a truly rare find: Only one in 2 million lobsters is blue.

Two more great living species that beat the odds. Stripeless tigers and blue lobsters, who knows what else is out there waiting to be discovered or born.

"Animalz Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz": Shamanism & YOU "Dragon, Book Of Shang"2

Bobby & The Owl

Our New Resident Owl

On June 2, 2009, I did a quiz on Facebook that wanted to know what "wild animal are you". After answering the series of questions, the result was that I was an "owl". One week later, I left for work that morning. As I walked out of my front door, I could feel something watching me. As I looked around the front part of the house, sitting on a branch in the tree by my front door, an "owl". Though I do not know that much about owls yet, this one seems to be fairly young and is only about 8-10 inches tall sitting on the limb. When it is not asleep, it lets me walk right up to it and just watches me and seems to listen. As I move, it follows every move I make. It does not seem afraid of me, my wife Mary, or, my son Sean. It's as if it knows we would not be a threat. It is really a cool experience.

Bobby completed the quiz "What Wild Animal Are You? " with the result You are the Owl.
You are very independent and wise. You spend your free time reading or thinking. You never speak without thinking through what you are going to say thoroughly. You have an opinion of most everything and are very good at arguing. You are the person people look to when they need advice. You are very independent and love being alone. You have an organized lifestyle and are extremely observative. You can be moody, but you are a pretty calm and generous individual..

"Owls(Night Eagles)Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz": Ancestor Guides Bobby Sharpe's " Opyn Mindz": Global/Polar Shift Conversations

Dogs Are The BEST

Loyal Pooch Protects Injured Mother Dog

(May 14) - When a 9-year-old female yellow lab-chow mix was hit by a car on a busy New York City highway Thursday morning, her doggy companion ran into traffic to stand guard.

The protective pooch turned out to be the injured dog's son. The brown and tan canine would not let anyone near his mother, barking continuously at any oncoming traffic on the Major Deegan Expressway and at the police officers who arrived on the scene to help, WABC reported.

Eventually, the police were able to get close enough to the hurt dog to slide her onto a sheet to transport her to an animal hospital. A vet later said she has a broken leg and possible internal bleeding, but is expected to recover.

As for her loyal rescuer? After his mother was loaded into the police cruiser, the dog ran off. Police gave chase for 45 minutes and were finally able to guide him off the road at an exit ramp. The dogs' owner -- who recognized his wayward pets from news reports -- says the brave boy is safe at home.

The extraordinary scene snarled rush-hour traffic and was caught on tape by news helicopters.

Note: The news report initially identified the hurt dog as male. Police later confirmed that she is female and the mother of the other dog.

Once again, our best friend comes through for his mom. Great story! Watch the video at Loyal Pooch Protects Injured Mother Dog

"Dogs Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's " Opyn Mindz": Melting Ice, Problems With Water "Dragon, Book Of Shang": Shangs Volcano Erupts On Fernandina Is

German Sheperd Hero

German Sheperd Pup

This story was sent to me by a new friend and fellow animal person. Once again, it shows just how intelligent and creative our best friends can be. As always, dogs rule the day..Enjoy!

Very interesting about animals. I once read about a German Shepherd rescued by a family as a puppy from a paper bag in the woods – where someone had thrown him. The family kept the dog and, true to the breed, he became very protective of them.

One night, the father was awakened by the dog pulling on his pajama sleeve. It turned out the house was on fire. The father was able to get the family out safely before the wood frame house burned. Afterwards, the father was perplexed as to how the dog got in the house, since he was kept in his own doghouse outside.

Afterwards, the dog was a local celebrity. However, in spite of all the human attention he was getting, he seemed usually listless and wasn’t eating. The father took the dog to the vet, who discovered wood splinters in the dog’s gums. It seems the dog chewed its way through the back door to get inside and alert the family about the fire. The chewed-through door was destroyed in the fire, leaving no clues as to what had occurred.

"Animals Rule, Dogs Are King",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's " Opyn Mindz": Drink White Tea, Fight Weight "Dragon, Book Of Shang"2

Pet Dog vs Mountain Lion

Hero Dog Saves Owners from Mountain Lion

A brave dog was nearly killed by a mountain lion as it defended its owners on a hiking trail in the Santa Ana Mountains on Tuesday.

"Out of nowhere, a mountain lion just charged us, attacked us. And my dog saved our lives," William Morse said of his dog, Hoagie. The couple, who rescued Hoagie from a shelter for abused animals, was hiking near a campground in the Cleveland National Forest.

Hoagie, a 5-year-old black Labrador mix, was severely mauled by the 120-pound beast and was rushed to a veterinary hospital in Lake Elsinore, California. After a four-hour surgery, he is expected to survive.

Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino says the dog put up the fight of his life. "I'm sure that lion was hurt, too," he said.

Once again, mans best friend comes to the rescue. These people rescued this dog, and, he paid them back many times over. This wonderful animal spirit is a REAL HERO!

"Animalz Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Global Peoplz Newz": Brazilians, Anacondas, Alligators Flee "Dragon, Book Of Shang"2

New Species(200)Found

200 New Species of Frogs Discovered

PORT LOUIS (May 6) - Scientists have found more than 200 new species of frogs in Madagascar but a political crisis is hurting conservation of the Indian Ocean island's unique wildlife, a study shows.

The discovery, which almost doubles the number of known amphibians in Madagascar, illustrates an underestimation of the natural riches that have helped spawn a $390-million-a-year tourism industry.

However, months of instability culminating in a change of government after street protests, have compromised gains in conservation.

"The political instability is allowing the cutting of the forest within national parks, generating a lot of uncertainty about the future of the planned network of protected areas," David Vieites, researcher at the Spanish National Natural Sciences Museum, said in a statement.

The world's fourth-largest island, known for exotic creatures such as the ring-tailed lemur and poisonous frogs, is a biodiversity hotspot.

More than 80 percent of the mammals in Madagascar are found nowhere else, while all but one of the 217 previously known species of amphibian are believed by scientists to be native.

"People think that we know which plant and animal species live on this planet," team member Miguel Vences, professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig, said in the statement.

"But the centuries of discoveries has only just begun -- the majority of life forms on Earth is still awaiting scientific recognition."

Human demands on the land and decades of rampant logging have destroyed 80 percent of Madagascar's rain forest, threatening hundreds of species, he said.

The study, carried out by the Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC), and published in the May issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests the find of between 129 and 221 new species of frogs could double the number of amphibians globally if the results are extrapolated worldwide.

Almost a quarter of the new species discovered have not yet been found in unprotected areas, the study stated.

Madagascar broke away from Africa almost 160 million years ago, leaving its flora and fauna to develop in isolation.

The thing that really blows me away about this article, are the statements about humans thinking we know what lives on this planet, and, the fact that the majority of life forms on this planet are still waiting to be discovered and recognized. Once again, it points out the fact that humans think they know everything, and, as my buddy Charlie would say, "they don't know jack"! Bring on the "dragons" and Godzilla!

"Animalz Rule",

Bobby Sharpe "Dragon, Book Of Shang": "Dragon, Book Of Shang" / Vermithrax Video Bobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz": The Emotion Of Finally

Bear = Mans Best Man

Thanksgiving dinner 2007

Brutus the Bear - One Man's Best Friend

Talk about bearing witness!

An 800 pound grizzly bear named Brutus served as best man in naturalist Casey Anderson's 2008 wedding to actress Missi Pyle. But this was not a stunt for pun's sake; Anderson calls Brutus his best friend, even telling Good Morning America, "He gives me unconditional love."

Expedition Grizzly, a new documentary airing on National Geographic on Sunday, May 3rd at 9pm EST, captures Anderson living among the bears of Yellowstone National Park, charting their lives and man's impact on their environment.

Anderson first befriended the bear in 2002 when young Brutus' wildlife park became overpopulated. Before the cub had to face a lose-lose fate of captivity or death, Anderson adopted him and opened a sanctuary so Brutus could "act like a real bear."

Of course, "real bears" don't usually eat at kitchen tables and swim in lap pools. But according to Anderson, they do experience human-level emotions, sometimes even shedding tears. Anderson's relationship with his furry surrogate son spawned his mission to dispel false "man eater" stereotypes about Grizzlies.

This is a really cool story. Can't wait to see the tv show this Sunday May 3, 2009. Bears are so intelligent.

Animalz(Bears)Rule,

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz": The Emotion Of Finally Bobby Sharpe's "Global Peoplz Newz": Iceland - Centre-left Comeback

Hero Puppy Saves The Day

Husky Pups

Puppy Saves Toddler's Life

There are a lot of good reasons to get your kids a puppy: Caring for a pet teaches responsibility, a puppy is a good companion, and they're just so darn cute. Now you can add one more reason to that list: If your toddler wanders away from home, the puppy just might save his life.

That's what happened to 2-year-old Nathaniel Teafatiller; he and his 4-month-old puppy, Stanley, slipped out of the family's rural Washington state home and wandered off into the woods. Nathaniel's dad woke up from a nap and found the front door open and his son and the dog missing.

"It was the worst feeling of my life," Nathaniel's mother, Ashley Teafatiller said. "As a mother, the worst things ran through my mind... he's out in the dark. What if an animal got him? What if he fell in a creek?"

Fortunately, none of those things happened. Searchers using heat-seeking devices found Nathaniel and Stanley huddled together some six hours after they first went missing. The boy, who was wearing only a shirt and pair of socks, was wet and scratched up but otherwise unharmed.

"A two-year-old in that area is dangerous... you've got cougars, coyotes, dogs that can pull a child down like that, which has happened before," said Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield. The sheriff added that in this particular area, southeast of Chehalis, Wash., there are other dangers, like drowning in a creek or tumbling down a cliff.

It appears that Stanley was crucial to the rescue in two ways: He kept little Nathaniel warm in the cold temperatures, and his body heat was what attracted the search team's attention. Either way, this puppy is a hero. Mom Ashley Teafatiller agrees: "It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

Just goes to show, "animals, no matter how young, are so much more intune with life around them". Yeah, humans have the technology thing going on, but, cannot hold a stick to other life forms on this planet as far as just straight up living goes.

"Dogs, Humans Best Friend And Teacher",

Bobby Sharpe "Dragon, Book Of Shang": Shangs Volcano Erupts On Fernandina Is Bobby Sharpe's "Global Peoplz Newz": Antarctica Icing And Cooling

Unknown Population Found Thriving

New Orangutan Population Discovered

JAKARTA, Indonesia (April 12) - Conservationists have discovered a new population of orangutans in a remote, mountainous corner of Indonesia — perhaps as many as 2,000 — giving a rare boost to one of the world's most endangered great apes.

A team surveying forests nestled between jagged, limestone cliffs on the eastern edge of Borneo island counted 219 orangutan nests, indicating a "substantial" number of the animals, said Erik Meijaard, a senior ecologist at the U.S.-based The Nature Conservancy.

"We can't say for sure how many," he said, but even the most cautious estimate would indicate "several hundred at least, maybe 1,000 or 2,000 even."

The team also encountered an adult male, which angrily threw branches as they tried to take photos, and a mother and child.

There are an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the wild, 90 percent of them in Indonesia and the rest in neighboring Malaysia.

The countries are the world's top producers of palm oil, used in food, cosmetics and to meet growing demands for "clean-burning" fuels in the U.S. and Europe. Rain forests, where the solitary animals spend almost all of their time, have been clear-cut and burned at alarming rates to make way for lucrative palm oil plantations.

The steep topography, poor soil and general inaccessibility of the rugged limestone mountains appear to have shielded the area from development, at least for now, said Meijaard. Its trees include those highly sought after for commercial timber.

Birute Mary Galdikas, a Canadian scientist who has spent nearly four decades studying orangutans in the wild, said most of the remaining populations are small and scattered, which make them especially vulnerable to extinction.

"So yes, finding a population that science did not know about is significant, especially one of this size," she said, noting that those found on the eastern part of the island represent a rare subspecies, the black Borneon orangutan, or Pongo pygmaeus morio.

The 700-square mile jungle escaped the massive fires that devastated almost all of the surrounding forests in the late 1990s. The blazes were set by plantation owners and small-scale farmers and exacerbated by the El Nino droughts.

Nardiyono, who headed The Nature Conservancy's weeklong survey in December, said "it could be the density is very high because after the fires, the orangutans all flocked to one small area."

It was unusual to come face-to-face with even one of the elusive creatures in the wild and to encounter three was extraordinary, he said, adding that before this expedition, he had seen just five in as many years.

Conservationists say the most immediate next step will be working with local authorities to protect the area and others that fall outside of national parks. A previously undiscovered population of several hundred also was found recently on Sumatra island, home to around 7,000.

"That we are still finding new populations indicates that we still have a chance to save this animal," said Paul Hartman, who heads the U.S.-funded Orangutan Conservation Service Program, adding it's not all "gloom and doom."

Noviar Andayani, head of the Indonesian Primate Association and Orangutan Forum, said the new discoveries point to how much work still needs to be done to come up with accurate population assessments, considered vital to determining a species' vulnerability to extinction.

"There are many areas that still have not been surveyed," she said, adding that 18 private conservation groups have just started work on an in-depth census based on interviews with people who spend time in the forests.

They include villagers and those working on plantations or within logging concessions.

"We hope this will help fill in a few more gaps," said Andayani, adding that preliminary tests in areas where populations are known indicate that the new interview-based technique could provide a clearer picture than nest tallies.

"Right now the information and data we have about orangutans is still pretty rudimentary," she said.

Some experts say at the current rate of habitat destruction, the animals could be wiped out within the next two decades.

This article brings two things immediately to front of mind. 1) It just shows how little we know about our planet and what other life forms share it with us. 2) If humans can screw things up, it is a safe bet that they will. Hopefully these great animal souls will survive and thrive long after us.

"Animalz Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's " Opyn Mindz": If YOU Are Still Here - Apophis Bobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz": Perfection Is Not Good

Polar Bear Moat, Woman=Stupidity

Polar Bear Mauls Woman at Zoo

April 11) - A woman stunned onlookers by jumping into a polar bear enclosure at a zoo Friday, suffering serious injuries after one of the four bears inside attacked her.

Zookeepers at the Berlin Zoo fought off the attacking bear from outside the enclosure as they pulled the German woman, 32, to safety, Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported.

The woman, who jumped into a moat in the enclosure, suffered serious bites to her arms and legs. In December, a man who jumped into the same enclosure also survived after zookeepers baited the polar bears away with beef. It was not clear why the woman jumped into the area.

This is just another example to back up the saying, "stupidity knows no holiday". What was this idiot thinking? She is lucky this bear did not rip her head off or a limb. I'm telling YOU, "the clock is ticking on the human race on this planet".

"Animalz Rule, Even Polar Bears",

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Python Patrol? Uh, I Pass

'Python Patrol' Hunts Snakes in Florida

MARATHON, Fla. (March 30) -- Juan Lopez reads meters with one eye and looks for snakes with the other. Lopez is a member of the "Python Patrol," a team of utility workers, wildlife officials, park rangers and police trying to keep Burmese pythons from gaining a foothold in the Florida Keys.

Officials say the pythons -- which can grow to 20 feet long and eat large animals whole -- are being ditched by pet owners in the Florida Everglades, threatening the region's endangered species and its ecosystem.

"Right now, we have our fingers crossed that they haven't come this far yet, but if they do, we are prepared," Lopez said.

Burmese Pythons are rarely seen in the middle Florida Keys, where Lopez works. The Nature Conservancy wants to keep it that way.

The Python Patrol program was started by Alison Higgins, the Nature Conservancy's Florida Keys conservation manager. She describes it as an "early detection, rapid response" program made up of professionals who work outside.

Eight Burmese pythons have been found in the Keys.

"If we can keep them from spreading and breeding, then we're that much more ahead of the problem," Higgins said.

Utility workers, wildlife officials and police officers recently attended a three-hour class about capturing the enormously large snakes. Lt. Jeffrey L. Fobb of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Response Unit taught the participants how to capture pythons.

"There's no immutable laws of snake catching. It's what works," Fobb said as he demonstrated catching a snake with hooks, bags, blankets and his hands.

"We're doing it in the Florida Keys because we have a lot to protect," Higgins said. "The Burmese pythons that are coming out of the Everglades are eating a lot of our endangered species and other creatures, and we want to make sure they don't breed here."

Where the snakes are breeding is just north of the Keys in Everglades National Park. An estimated 30,000 Burmese pythons live in the park.

The Everglades, known as the "River of Grass," is a vast area with a climate perfect for these pythons to hide and breed. And breed they do: The largest clutches of eggs found in the Everglades have numbered up to 83.

The snakes grow like they're on steroids. With a life span of 30 years, these pythons can weigh as much as 200 pounds. And the larger the snake, the bigger the prey. Biologists have found endangered wood rats, birds, bobcats and other animals in their stomachs.

Two 5-foot-long alligators were found in the stomachs of Burmese pythons that were caught and necropsied, officials say.

Officials also say Burmese pythons can travel 1.6 miles a day by land, and they can swim to reach areas outside the Everglades.

This nonvenomous species was brought into the United States from Southeast Asia. Everglades National Park spokeswoman Linda Friar says biologists believe that well-intended pet owners are to blame for their introduction into the Everglades.

"These pets were released by owners that do not understand the threat to the ecosystem," she said.

Higgins says 99,000 of the popular pets were brought into the United States from 1996 to 2006, the most recent data available. She says they are an easy species to breed, and you can buy a hatchling for as little as $20.

The problem with these pets, Friar says, is that they get too big for their owners to handle.

Making the owner aware of what to expect when the animal becomes full-grown is a priority.

"The pet trade is pretty supportive in educating people," Friar said. She hopes a "Don't let it loose" message campaign makes an impact on pet owners.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a supporter of restoring the Everglades, has introduced a bill that would ban importing the python species into the United States. The senator saw the need after learning about the effect these snakes were having on the park.

"Finding out many endangered species are being found in the stomach of the python," Nelson spokeswoman Susie Quinn said, "we need to do a better job at protecting the resources."

In the meantime, Lopez and the Python Patrol will continue to protect the Florida Keys by capturing the snakes and turning them over to biologists to perform necropsies. The Nature Conservancy plans to expand the program to all the areas that surround the Everglades, making these predators their prey.

"I would like to find them and get rid of them," Lopez said.

Just keep in mind, "these animals did NOT ask to come here. I realize they can present problems, however, they need to be respected and dealt with humanely. They deserve to live their lives as do all of us.

"Animalz Rule",

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Dragons Kill Indonesian

Komodo Dragons Kill Man in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (March 23) - Two Komodo dragons mauled a fruit-picker to death in eastern Indonesia, police and witnesses said Tuesday, the latest in a string of attacks on humans by the world's largest lizard species.

Police Sgt. Kosmas Jalang said 31-year-old Muhamad Anwar was attacked on Komodo, one of four islands where the giant reptile is found in the wild, minutes after he fell out of a sugar-apple tree on Monday.

He was bleeding badly from bites to his hands, body, legs and neck after two lizards, waiting below, attacked him, according to a neighbor, Theresia Tawa. He died at a clinic on the neighboring island of Flores soon after.

Attacks on humans by Komodo dragons — said to number at less than 4,000 in the wild — are rare, but seem to have increased in recent years.

An 8-year-old boy was killed in 2007 — the first recorded deadly attack on a human by one of the endangered lizards in three decades. A park ranger narrowly survived after one of the animals entered his hut last month and started biting his hands and legs.

There have been several other attacks in recent months, according to Metro TV.

The reptiles, which can grow up to 10 feet long (three meters) and weigh as much as 150 pounds, have shark-like serrated teeth and a bite that can be deadly. Its saliva contains roughly 50 different known bacteria strains, so infection is a risk.

Komodos can be found in the wild on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Padar and Rinca. Tiny numbers also can be found on Flores.

YOU know, "I don't think YOU need to be messing around with these things". Matter of fact, "I don't think YOU need to be anywhere near these things. Pretty nasty critters.

"Animals Rule, Even Komodo Dragons",

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Orcas In The Gulf Of Mexico

Killer Whales Seen in Gulf of Mexico

(March 25) - It was a fish story that even veteran boat captains found fascinating: As many as 200 killer whales feeding on tuna in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

"It was like being at Sea World because they'd come right up to the boat," said Eddie Hall, captain of the Shady Lady, the 60-foot charter boat that spotted the shiny black sea beasts with white eye patches and undersides. "It was pretty neat."

It was also hard for some skeptics to believe: Orcas, as killer whales are also known, typically are thought to live in cold water and eat seals.

But Hall's description of what he saw last Oct. 31 was no tall tale: A government biologist who saw video taken from Hall's boat confirmed the captain had spotted the creatures. And last week that same scientist, Keith Mullin, explained at a public meeting in Orange Beach, Ala., that yes, contrary to common perceptions, killer whales really do live in the Gulf, far from land.

Mullin, whose outfit has been working for years to get an accurate count of the Gulf's whale population, said it may be time to dramatically increase estimates on how many killer whales are lurking in the deep waters off the Gulf Coast. He's taking part in a research expedition this summer that could determine if his hunch is right.

Scientists believe the whales have been in the Gulf for years, Mullin said, and that their presence — though startling to some anglers — isn't a sign of climate change or other manmade condition. Their relatively small population and the speed at which pods move make them difficult to count, which could have led to lower estimates.

"I've got good records of them in the Caribbean. We see them almost exclusively in deep water, 600 feet and more," Mullin said. "I think they've always been there. It's just in the last 15 to 20 years that we've been trying to study them."

Hall told The Associated Press on Monday that the Shady Lady was 95 miles off the coast of Alabama when anglers and crew saw scores of the marine mammals feeding near an offshore rig in water more than a mile deep.

"There were four different pods. We estimated there were about 200 maximum. One pod had 75 in it," said Hall, who runs charters out of Zeke's Landing in Orange Beach, about 40 miles east of Mobile.

People on the boat took video and photos, including some with the offshore rig in the background to identify their location. But Hall said they got laughed off the dock when they returned.

"It was a joke because no one would believe us," he said.

Hall sent photos and video to Gary Finch, whose Fairhope-based Gary Finch Outdoors company produces a syndicated fishing and hunting television show. Finch then showed them to Mullin, who works at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Pascagoula, Miss., an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that researches marine life.

Mullin didn't have to look twice: Hall was right about seeing killer whales, although he couldn't tell by the video how many were near Hall's boat, he said in an interview with AP.

The Shady Lady sighting "created a stir" over killer whales in the Gulf of Mexico, Mullin said; about 80 people attended the informational meeting he held in Orange Beach last week.

Gulf orcas are just like the ones that live in cold water, Mullin said, save for their diet of dolphin and tuna instead of seals. Male killer whales average 20 feet in length and weigh as much as 12,000 pounds, but females are smaller.

Fifteen groups of killer whales have been sighted in the Gulf since deep-water surveys began in 1992, he said. Past estimates have varied widely, from a low of 49 to a high of 277 living in the Gulf north of a line extending from Key West, Fla., to Brownsville, Texas.

The actual number of killer whales in the Gulf could be closer to 500, Mullin said, and a two-month expedition this summer could help nail down an answer. The trip was planned independently of the boat's sighting, he said.

Either way, Hall's glad Mullin's outfit is involved. He knew what he saw, but he was still happy to get confirmation that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

This is so cool! Once again, it is another case of we, as humans, thinking we know everything about everything and in reality, except for the rare occasion, we don't know "jack" about very much.

"Orcas Rule",

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Killer Croc, Smart Dolphin

Crocodile Grabs Girl Swimming in Creek

DARWIN, Australia (March 16) - Police said they found human remains Monday in an Australian swamp where a crocodile snatched an 11-year-old girl.

The remains would undergo DNA testing to determine whether they belong to the girl who vanished Sunday while swimming with three children in a swamp on the outskirts of the northern city of Darwin, Northern Territory Police Superintendent Michael Murphy said.

A police statement said the find "strongly indicates she has died from a crocodile attack."

If confirmed, it would be the second fatal crocodile attack in northern Australia in five weeks.

Murphy declined to give details on the remains, which were found in water 500 yards from where the girl was last seen, he said.

The three children who had been swimming with the girl, including her younger sister, told police that they saw the head and tail of a crocodile "splash the surface" of the water near where she vanished moments earlier, Murphy said.

A search of the swamp late Sunday and Monday failed to find the crocodile.

The swamp is not far from crocodile-infested flood plains, but local Michael Dobrovitch said he swims there regularly.

"I get in, I get out quick, but I always have somebody with me" to watch for crocodiles, Dobrovitch told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

A 5-year-old boy vanished from a river edge in northeastern Australia on Feb. 8, and officials later confirmed an attack when his remains were found in the stomach of a 14-foot crocodile.

Last September, a 62-year-old man was killed by a crocodile in another northeastern river while checking crab pots.

Crocodiles have become plentiful in Australia's tropical north since they became protected by federal law in 1971.

Obviously, this is a sad and tragic story, however, I have questions! Why were there not any adults around with these kids swimming in this swamp? Why were they swimming in this swamp when the area is known to have crocodiles. Why can't the authorities find the croc? Is the croc smarter than they are? Probably!!

On a lighter note, check out this story on "smart" dolphins dolphin bubble rings

"Animalz Rule",

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Giant Seabird With Teeth

Fossil Skull of Giant Toothy Seabird Found

LIMA, Peru (Feb. 28) - The unusually intact fossilized skull of a giant, bony-toothed seabird that lived up to 10 million years ago was found on Peru's arid southern coast, researchers said Friday.

The fossil is the best-preserved cranium ever found of a pelagornithid, a family of large seabirds believed to have gone extinct some 3 million years ago, said Rodolfo Salas, head of vertebrate paleontology at Peru's National History Museum.

The museum said in a statement that the birds had wingspans of up to 20 feet and may have used the toothlike projections on their beaks to prey on slippery fish and squid. But studying members of the Pelagornithidae family has been difficult because their extremely thin bones — while helpful for keeping the avian giants aloft — tended not to survive as fossils.

"Its fossils are very strange, very rare and very hard to find," Salas told The Associated Press.

The cranium discovered in Peru is 16 inches long and is believed to be 8 million to 10 million years old, based on the age of the rock bed in which it was found.

"Rarely are any bones of these gigantic, marine birds found fossilized uncrushed, and to find an uncrushed skull of this size is very significant," said Ken Campbell, curator of vertebrate zoology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

Campbell, who examined photos of the find but was not involved in the dig, said he knows of "no specimen of comparable quality."

Dan Kepska, a paleontology researcher at North Carolina State University who also was not part of the project, agreed that the skull is the most complete ever reported.
He called the birds "one of the great enigmas of avian paleontology."

With fossils discovered in North America, North Africa and even Antarctica, Kepska said, the birds were ubiquitous only a few million years before humans evolved and scientists puzzle over why they died out. Some believe they are related to gannets and pelicans, while other say they are related to ducks.

Campbell said the Peru find "will undoubtedly be of great importance to our understanding of these gigantic birds, and it will help clarify the relationships of the other fossil pelagornithids found in the Pisco Formation."

The formation, a coastal rock bed south of the capital, Lima, is known for yielding fossils of whales, dolphins, turtles and other marine life dating as far back as 14 million years.

This is a really good find. The section of the paragraph above that is written in red, brings up a theory that was brought to my attention about a year or so ago about dragons. I was told by a knowing gentleman that YOU will not find dragon fossils because the bones were hollow(for flight)and would not stand the test of time as fossils. Is that a possibility? Could be.

"One Step Closer To Dragons",

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Shark Attack & Giant Shark - Australia/Hawaii

Shark Attacks Teen Off Popular Beach

SYDNEY, (March 1) - A shark badly injured a teenage boy while he was surfing with his father at a popular Sydney beach on Sunday, police said, the third shark attack in Australia's largest city in a month.

The 15-year-old boy and his father were in the water off Avalon on Sydney's popular northern beaches around dawn when he was attacked.

"Half an hour later the father heard a scream and turned to see his son thrashing about in the water. Fortunately the shark swam away and the boy was helped to shore by his father," police said in a statement.

The teenager was airlifted to hospital for treatment for leg injuries. Police said the bites "cut through to the bone" but the boy did not appear to have sustained any fractures.

Several beaches were closed after the attack. Water police and lifeguards were searching for the shark, while police hoped to identify its species by the shape of the bite marks.

Many shark species live in the waters off Sydney's popular beaches, but attacks on humans are still relatively rare.

However, there were two attacks on successive days last month, one on a navy diver in Sydney harbour and another on a surfer at the city's world-famous Bondi beach.

Fishermen say shark numbers are on the rise. Marine experts say environmental protection has created a cleaner environment which is attracting sharks closer to shore as they chase fish.

Many shark species, including the Great White, are protected in Australian waters.

Huge Shark Caught at Teahupoo

Last Thursday, two local brothers, Didier and Grard Parker, had been catching the Crown of Thorn starfish with fish nets, ridding the reef of the invasive species. As they pulled up one of their nets it became obvious there was something tangled in it bigger than a starfish, at first they thought it was a swordfish, but to their surprise it was a massive tiger shark. The shark had already drowned and was no threat.

In a weird way, it only makes sense that a shark this big would live in the surf at Teahupoo; raw power begetting raw power and all that. The waves at "Chopu" are nothing short of breathtaking. The Tahitian break isn't incredibly tall, but the surf there is thick, powerful and perfectly glassy. Honestly, even just watching it on TV without anyone surfing it is a wonder to behold, so it's no surprise that Billabong holds one of the WCT's marquee events there every year.

The 2009 Billabong Pro Teahupoo is scheduled to take place from May 9-20. Here's to hoping the surfers have the guts to hit the break after seeing what lurks below.

There is a way to avoid being fish food, "STAY OUT OF THE WATER"! It's their territory and home.

"Animalz Rule",

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American Crocodiles & Jaguars

Magnets May Halt Disruptive Crocodiles

Florida wildlife managers have launched an experiment to see if they can keep crocodiles from returning to residential neighborhoods by temporarily taping magnets to their heads to disrupt their "homing" ability.

Researchers at Mexico's Crocodile Museum in Chiapas reported in a biology newsletter they had some success with the method, using it to permanently relocate 20 of the reptiles since 2004.

"We said, 'Hey, we might as well give this a try," Lindsey Hord, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's crocodile response coordinator, said on Tuesday.

Crocodiles are notoriously territorial and when biologists move them from urban areas to new homes in the wild, they often go right back to the place where they were captured, traveling up to 10 miles a week to get there.

Scientists believe they rely in part on the Earth's magnetic fields to navigate, and that taping magnets to both sides of their heads disorients them.

"They're just taped on temporarily," Hord said. "We just put the magnets on when they're captured and since they don't know where we take them, they're lost. The hope would be that they stay where we take them to."

Hord and his co-workers have tried it on two crocodiles since launching the experiment in January, affixing "a common old laboratory magnet" to both sides of the animals' heads. One got run over by a car and died, but the other has yet to return, Hord said.

Once an endangered species, American crocodiles' numbers have rebounded to nearly 2,000 in coastal south Florida, their only habitat in the continental United States. That puts them in increasing contact with humans, especially in areas where backyards border on canals around Miami and the Florida Keys.

Crocodiles are still classified as a threatened species, so game managers are reluctant to move them to new areas where they might be killed battling other resident crocodiles for turf rights, Hord said. Unlike alligators, which are far more numerous, each crocodile is considered important to preserving the species, he said.

"These crocodiles are unique and valuable creatures and we feel like we have a responsibility to live with these animals as much as we can," he said.

Many frightened residents don't share that view, although crocodiles are shy creatures, Hord said. Wildlife managers will try to relocate any thought to pose a significant risk, mainly those that seem to have lost their fear of humans.

Most crocodiles in Florida are tagged as hatchlings so biologists can easily recognize them, Hord said.

Any that come back twice after being captured and moved are sent to zoos or otherwise placed in captivity, something biologists hope to avoid if the magnet experiment works.

"This one is by no means a really well-developed scientific study with a control group. It's just something we thought we would try," Hord said. "We do have to make some room to live with them."

This story gets my blessing because of the fact that these people seem to get it. They realize that we need to learn to live with these ancient creatures instead of trying to destroy them. I hope this program works out well for the crocs and the people.

Here is a link to another animal story that is really on pointRare Jaguars Spotted in North America this is one I want to follow. Jaguars are such magnificent cats.

"All Animals Rule",

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