Earth & Animals Magazine

EARTH & ANIMALS

by World Animal Foundation

ISSUE 4 2015

SEAL HUNT CONTINUES ●CELEBRATE EARTH DAY EVERY DAY ●5 YEARS AFTER GULF SPILL ANIMALS SUFFER ●GOVERNMENT KILLING 5,500 ANIMALS A DAY ●NEW ACTION PLAN FOR GREAT APES

©

●15 ANIMALS TO BE EXTINCT SOON ●JUDGE STOPS FEDS FROM HARMING ANIMALS

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

EARTH & ANIMALS MAGAZINE

by World Animal Foundation More Articles Online at WorldAnimalFoundation.org

©

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ● SEAL HUNT CONTINUES ● CELEBRATE EARTH DAY ● 5 YEARS AFTER GULF SPILL ANIMALS SUFFER ● GOVERNMENT KILLING 5,500 ANIMALS A DAY ● NEW ACTION PLAN FOR GREAT APES ● RESTORING THE GREAT BARRIER REEF ● FACTORY FARMERS OUTRAGED ● 15 ANIMALS TO BE EXTINCT SOON

● MAJOR TROUBLE FOR PLANTS & ANIMALS ● LIVING IN HARMONY WITH ANIMALS ● JUDGE STOPS FEDS FROM HARMING ANIMALS ● PREVENTING LYME DISEASE IN DOGS ● EAST ASIA THREATENS RAINFORESTS ● SOLVING HUMANELEPHANT CONFLICTS ● TINY BIRD MIGRATES OVER ATLANTIC

● POLAR BEARS ATTACKED ● SECRET LANGUAGE OF GIBBONS ● DEFORESTATION & WEATHER ● RUNWAY VS REALITY ● WHALE SANCTUARY EXPANSION ● MUSIC BENEFITS CATS DURING SURGERY ● NEW ZEALAND BANS ANIMAL TESTING ● EARTH & ANIMAL ADVOCATE GUIDE

PUBLISHED BY: World Animal Foundation

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Gary M Barnby

The World Animal Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of the planet and the animals that inhabit it. WAF works with other not-for-profit organizations dedicated to planet preservation and animal issues. WAF works through public education, research, investigations, animal rescue, legislation, special events, and direct action. WAF is an all volunteer organization. The organization has no paid officers and uses all donations towards animal and environmental programs: direct rescue, educational programs and animal sanctuaries. Utilizing volunteerism, WAF has kept operating costs to a bare minimum while maximizing our ability to help animals. Membership in the organization is free. Donations are always appreciated and needed to carryout our crucial mission of helping animals and the planet.

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Roberta Stewart

MAGAZINE FREQUENCY: Monthly

GENERAL MANAGER: William Dalo ADVERTISING SALES: getactive@worldanimalfoundation.net VIEW ONLINE: WorldAnimalFoundation.org SUBMIT NEWS: getactive@worldanimalfoundation.net GENERAL INQUIRIES: getactive@worldanimalfoundation.net DONATIONS & MEMBERSHIP: WorldAnimalFoundation.org © 2015 World Animal Foundation, Inc. World Animal Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(C)(3) corporation

5 YEARS AFTER GULF SPILL

It's been almost five years since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and animals are still suffering from the aftermath of the disaster. Sea turtles, dolphins, fish, and birds are still being affected by the oil spill.

phins, fish, and birds are still suffering from the fallout.

Holding BP fully accountable and using all fines and penalties to restore the Gulf of Mexico must be a national priority."

A new report, Five Years and Counting: Gulf Wildlife in the Aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster, looks at how twenty species of wildlife are now faring in the Gulf.

“Wildlife from sperm whales to marsh ants are still feeling the effects of the disaster," said Ryan Fikes, a Gulf of Mexico restoration scientist. "But BP seems to prefer attacking scientists over accepting responsibility. It’s time for BP to quit stalling so we can start restoring the Gulf."

Dolphins on the Louisiana coast are found dead at four times historic rates. Kemp’s ridley sea turtle nests have declined annually.

Coral colonies in five separate locations in the Gulf are showing signs of oil damage. Exposure to oil has caused abnormal development in many species of fish. 12 percent of brown pelicans and 32 percent of laughing gulls in the northern Gulf died as a result of the oil spill. Oil and dispersant compounds have been found in the eggs of white pelicans. Spotted seatrout are spawning less frequently. Sperm whales are spending less time foraging in the area around the wellhead.

The report, recently released by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), also found 2010 and 2011 had the lowest numbers of juvenile red snapper seen in the eastern Gulf fishery since 1994 and oil has been found in sediments deep in the Gulf of Mexico in a 1,200-square mile area around the wellhead.

"Five years later, wildlife in the Gulf are still feeling the impacts of the oil spill," said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of NWF. "The science is clear that this is not over—and sea turtles, dol-

A federal judge will soon decide the case against BP and the other companies for violations of the Clean Water Act. A law passed in 2012, known as the RESTORE Act, will send penalties money back to the five Gulf states.

"It is essential that the money from these penalties be invested in scientifically-sound restoration projects, like those planned for the Mississippi River Delta and the Everglades," said David Muth, the director of Gulf restoration for NWF. "It is our responsibility to future generations to make restoration on a transfor© mative scale a reality."

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

SEAL HUNT CONTINUES

Canada’s commercial seal hunt opened once again on the East Coast on Sunday, April 12. The Canadian government has set the 2015 quota at 400,000 harp seals, 60,000 grey seals and 8,200 hooded seals. Each year tens of thousands of baby seals have their heads bashed in or are shot. Sealers hook animals in their eyes, cheeks, or mouths and drag them across the ice, sometimes while they’re still conscious.

Government reports confirm that 98 percent of the seals killed in the Canadian commercial seal slaughter are pups, less than three months of age. The Canadian government states that sealers target young seals because the skins of the pups are most valuable.

Despite receiving tens of millions in public funds and support over four decades, the commercial seal hunt is at one of the lowest points in history. The government of Newfoundland and Labrador recently announced an additional $2 million bailout loan for the beleaguered sealing industry, making this the fourth year in a row that the industry has required a loan.

Global opposition to the commercial seal hunt is high and growing. There are 35 countries which now ban the trade in seal products, including Armenia, Taiwan, the 28 Member States of the EU, Russia Kazakhstan, Belarus, Mexico, and the USA - Canada’s closest trading partner. Russia, which had been importing 95 percent of Canada’s seal pelts, struck a huge blow against the industry when it banned seal fur.

Switzerland recently took steps to follow suit. An agreement between Canada and China to allow edible seal products to be exported to China has not been ratified, and there are reports of China considering banning seal products as well.

President Barack Obama has even spoken out against the slaughter.

Twenty years ago Canada’s commercial seal hunt was nearly dead. But, after the collapse of the cod fishery, the Canadian government attempted to deflect attention from the controversy by providing subsidies to the industry. In the two decades since, the commercial sealing industry has received

tens of millions in public money that have failed to create an economically viable industry. Sealing is a part-time, seasonal activity that is done only for a few days or weeks of each year. The small portion of a sealer’s income that sealing provides could be compensated for through a license buyout or other means.

The commercial seal hunt has been declining since 2006, and data from the 2014 hunt indicate that it is at one of the lowest points in history. People do not want seal products. The number of sealers actively involved in the hunt has declined as they turn to other sources of income. In 2006 approximately 5,594 sealers took part in the hunt, in 2008 only 2,964 sealers took part, and in 2014 only 393 sealers took part. The value of seal pelts has dropped dramatically, from a value of $105 in 2006, $31 in 2008 to just $27 in 2014. The number of companies actively involved in the sealing industry has also declined dramatically, from approximately 14 in the 90s to only one tannery actively participating, Carino Inc, in 2014.

For the last twenty years, government, industry and lobby groups have attempted to develop additional uses for seals, everything from fuel to pepperoni, and they have failed. Canadian government data indicates that – despite a policy of “full utilization” – over 90 percent of the seal is discarded and the commercial seal hunt is still primarily for fur.

“Canada’s commercial seal hunt is a horrific waste that has no place in modern society,” stated Sheryl Fink of IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare). “Over 90% of seals killed are for fur – they are skinned and their bodies are thrown back in to the ocean or left to rot on the ice.” IFAW is calling on the Government of Canada to stop providing the commercial sealing industry with taxpayer-funded subsidies and to stop the waste of life.

The commercial seal hunt has cost Canadian taxpayers more to support than it brings in. By stopping the commercial seal hunt the Government of Canada would save at least $7 million per year. The cost of Canada’s WTO challenge of the EU’s restrictions on the sale of seal products has been estimated at $10 million of Canadian taxpayer dollars.

“Instead of continuing to prop up this outdated slaughter, our governments should invest in a one time buyout of the commercial sealing industry,” stated Humane Society International Canada Executive Director Rebecca Aldworth. “Such a plan would involve the federal government ending the commercial seal hunt, providing compensation to sealers and investing in economic alternatives. Polling suggests there is broad support for such an initiative within the Canadian public and in the sealing community.”

In 2012, Canada and Norway launched a challenge of the EU restrictions on the sale of seal products at the World Trade Organization. In 2014, the World Trade Organization ruled that the European Union’s restrictions on the sale of seal products were, in principle, acceptable under international trade rules.

“Canada’s commercial seal slaughter is as wasteful as it is cruel to the seals who are shot or clubbed for their fur,” stated People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Senior Vice President Dan Mathews. The organization is calling on the Canadian government to do the right thing for taxpayers and animals by ending this subsidized slaughter for good.

WHAT YOU CAN DO The end of the seal slaughter industry is in sight. Call on Canadian officials to end the seal slaughter and help transition sealers into other industries. Contact the Canadian Prime Minister to urge him to stop the senseless slaughter of seals: The Right Honourable Stephen Harper Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 Canada Constituency Tel (for Canadians): 613-992-4211

©

Fax: 613-941-6900 E-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

CELEBRATE lection site is just the first in a series of steps that generates a host of financial, environmental and social returns. Reuse glass and plastic bottles. Coffee cans and buckets can be used as plant containers. Milk jugs with holes punched in the bottom can keep newly planted trees watered. Newspaper can be used to wrap gifts or as packaging material when shipping. Old clothes can be used as rags. Reuse plastic bags to line trashcans or to pickup animal waste. Avoid purchasing items that are over packaged. Use a reusable shopping tote to reduce plastic waste. Opt for a reusable water bottle as opposed to one-time-use plastic bottles. Reuse “disposable” food containers. Refuse to buy products that are not environmentally re-

Take action on Earth Day, April 22, and everyday to preserve and protect our natural environment and its animals. Picking up litter, removing invasive plants, cleaning up parks and roads, recycling programs and simply encouraging friends, family and youth to get outside to experience nature are just some of the efforts you can take to make a difference for the planet. As an individual, family or group, you can get involved in numerous ways to protect and preserve our planet and its animals.

Volunteer: Volunteers are individuals who want to give back to our community, parents who want to be good stewards of the land and set examples for their children, retired people willing to share their wealth of knowledge, concerned citizens of all ages who want to learn more about conservation, and passionate people who enjoy the outdoors and want to spread the word about our natural treasures. Get active by joining a group, adopting a highway or cleaning up a park, river or creek.

sponsible.

Pickup Litter: Don’t litter. Trash tossed carelessly outside

Go Outside: Reconnecting with nature encourages a

washes into storm drains or creeks, which empty into rivers that eventually flow to the oceans. Trash negatively affects the habitat of aquatic environments causing death and injury to birds, fish, mammals, turtles and other species through swallowing and entanglement. Common litter includes plastic bags, paper, candy wrappers, fastfood packaging, bottle caps, glass bottles, plastic six-pack rings and plastic straws. Spend one hour picking up litter. Organize a team of family, friends, or co-workers to pickup litter. Enjoy making a difference, getting exercise, working with others and having cleaner surroundings.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Recycling turns materials that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources. Collecting used bottles, cans and newspapers and taking them to a col-

healthier lifestyle and helps to ensure future generations appreciate the natural world around them. Get outside and enjoy nature and wildlife. Experiencing nature can be as simple as visiting a park, bird watching in your own backyard, hiking in a forest, or watching for wildlife in a nature preserve.

Watching wildlife is an extremely easy, fun and free way to enjoy the environment, spend family time or just to relax.

Don’t pick flowers or collect wild creatures for pets. Leave animals and plants where you find them.

Plant Native: How ‘green’ is your garden? Ensure that it is truly sustainable by planting seeds of wildflowers native to your region for low-maintenance blooms next spring and all

EARTH DAY summer long. Not only will they thrive — they’ll support native birds, insects and other pollinators that depend on familiar, homegrown species for a healthy ecosystem. Plant native fruit and ornamental trees. Look for native and/or heirloom plants and seeds when planting a garden.

flower at different times of the year to provide nectar and pollen sources throughout the growing season. Plant in clumps, rather than single plants, to better attract pollinators.

Provide a variety of flower colors and shapes to attract different pollinators.

Create a Habitat:

Reduce Bird Strikes: As many as 1 billion birds die

Habitat is the collective term for the food, water, shelter and nursery areas that all wildlife need to survive. The loss of habitat is one of the greatest threats facing wildlife today. Many habitat features can be added to an existing property, such as a garden, wetland pond, or nesting boxes.

Prevent Stormwater Runoff: Poor water quality can harm fish, wildlife and their habitat. Many things are known to cause poor water quality, including sedimentation, runoff, erosion and pesticides. All vehicle fluids are toxic and extremely harmful to the environment. Recycle used oil in a clean, sealed, plastic container. Keep litter, animal waste and leaves out of storm drains, ditches and creeks. Deliver old paint, pesticides, solvents and batteries to a hazardous waste drop off facility. Pouring hazardous substances down a storm drain, onto the ground or into a creek creates a danger to all, as well as animals and the environment. Yard waste, such as grass clippings, tree trimmings and leaves, can be composted and used for fertilizer around your property.

each year due to collisions with windows in homes and office buildings. The primary cause of birds colliding with glass is due to reflection. Objects or ornaments hanging in windows will reduce the reflection by breaking it up. Hang ribbons or other material in strips on the outside of windows for the full width of the glass. Keep houseplants away from windows as they can appear like trees.

Clean Up Animal Waste: Clean up after your animals to reduce pollution in creeks and rivers. Poor water quality harms fish, wildlife and their habitat. Waste may be washed into waterways by rain or melting snow carrying disease causing organisms.

Discover more ways to celebrate Earth Day Every Day at WorldAnimalFoundation.org.

Protect Pollinators: Many pollinators are in decline. There are simple things you can do at home to encourage pollinator diversity and abundance, such as planting a pollinator garden.

Choose native plants that

©

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

US GOVERNMENT KILLING 5,500 ANIMALS A DAY 5,500 animals a day, 228 an hour, 4 every minute red-tailed hawks, Arctic foxes and river otters, some of America's most magnificent wildlife....By the time you finish reading this, 8 more of these wild animals will have been gunned down, crushed in traps, or poisoned by an exploding cyanide landmine laid down by the USDA's rogue animal-killing program, Wildlife Services.

This little-known agency, a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is secretive for a reason: Its actions are incredibly, unacceptably and illegally brutal and inhumane to animals, from familiar wildlife to endangered species - and even people’s companion animals.

This agency has been killing as many as 3 million native animals every year - including coyotes, bears, beavers, wolves, otters, foxes, prairie dogs, mountain lions, birds and other animals - without any oversight, accountability or requirement to disclose its activities to the public. The agency contributed to the decline of gray wolves, Mexican wolves, black-footed ferrets, black-tailed prairie dogs, and other imperiled species during the first half of the 1900s, and continues to impede their recovery today.

“No other government program does more every day to annihilate America’s wildlife than Wildlife Services,” said Kierán Suckling, the Center for Biological Diversity’s executive director. “This rogue program does much of its dirty work far from the public’s view, so millions of animals disappear from our landscapes every year with little accountability.”

The Center for Biological Diversity has been fighting for wildlife for over 25 years, but has never faced an opponent quite like Wildlife Services.

“Wildlife Services seems to delight in the endless slaughter of coyotes, wolves, bears, beavers and countless birds,” Suckling said. “It’s a shameful legacy that should have no place in American government in the 21st century.”

Most of Wildlife Services’ killing is done on behalf of the livestock and agriculture industries, along with other powerful interests. The methods are gruesome, including aerial gunning, traps and exploding cyanide caps. Companion animals have also been inadvertently harmed.

Many of these animals are carnivores at the top of the food chain and have a tremendous benefit to overall ecosystem health. They include endangered species and, largely, animals that agribusiness interests consider undesirable - as well as many animals that aren’t intended targets of the agency.

The century-old Wildlife Services - which has reportedly killed 32 million native animals since 1996 - destroys these creatures on behalf of such interests without explaining to the public what it’s doing or where, the methods it’s using, on whose behalf it’s acting, or why. It frequently doesn’t even attempt to use nonlethal methods before shooting coyotes and wolves from airplanes, or laying out traps and exploding poison caps indiscriminately - including in public areas without any rules.

Stories about Wildlife Services consistently emerge describing an agency that routinely commits extreme cruelty against animals, leaving them to die in traps from exposure or starvation, attacking trapped coyotes, and brutalizing domestic dogs. Many people who know about the agency have criticized this dark, secretive entity as a subsidy for livestock interests.

To protect defenseless wildlife from Wildlife Services and begin to restore the natural balance of ecosystems, the Center filed a comprehensive petition for rulemaking with the Department of Agriculture, which is supposed to oversee the secretive agency’s actions. This legal petition demands the development of a regulatory code - something that every other agency maintains - to reform the agency and bring it in line with all of the nation’s laws, policies and values.

As the actions of Wildlife Services continue to be exposed, organizations and individuals across the country continue to join together in an effort to end the inhumane slaughter of millions of animals each year by the federal government with taxpayers' money.

A NEW ACTION PLAN A new action plan—titled “Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of Western Lowland Gorillas and Central Chimpanzees 2015-2025”—outlines the growing number of threats to these great apes across six range countries, and what needs to be done to protect them. Nearly 80 percent of great apes in the region occur outside of protected areas.

While national and international laws protect the Critically Endangered western lowland gorilla and the Endangered central chimpanzee, both subspecies continue to be threatened by hunters and traders seeking to supply the illegal commercial market and demand for bushmeat, particularly in urban areas.

Habitat loss driven by the region’s growing human population and the expansion of extractive industries and industrial agriculture is another danger to great apes.

And between the 1990s and 2005, Ebola outbreaks in northeastern Gabon and western Congo are thought to have killed thousands of gorillas and chimpanzees.

“The rainforests of Western Equatorial Africa contain most of the world’s gorillas and about one-third of all chimpanzees, and gorillas in particular are being severely and negatively impacted by human activities across their range,” said Dr. Fiona Maisels, WCS Conservation Biologist and a contributor to the plan. “This action plan represents a multi-dimensional conservation strategy to address the myriad of threats to our closest relatives.”

Many of the actions proposed in the previous action plan published in 2005 were successfully implemented and have helped to slow the declines in the ape populations. However, the growing human population in the region coupled with the expansion of extractive industries and industrial agriculture are putting increasing pressure on the remaining great apes – so additional conservation measures are urgently required.

Building on the previous action plan, the new strategy is the product of a regional workshop attended by 70 conservationists, scientists, wildlife health experts, donors, and wildlife authorities and protected area managers from Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo.

Survey data collected between 2003 and 2013 were used to produce great ape population density maps across the entire range of both western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees to re-assess conservation priorities.

In the new plan, 18 landscapes are identified as critical for the continued survival of western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees. These landscapes cover half the geographic range of these two subspecies, yet they harbor more than three quarters of the great apes remaining in the region.

Actions needed to protect the remaining gorilla and chimpanzee populations, and evaluate conservation success, include: ● More effective management and protection of large areas outside of formally protected areas; ● Increased law enforcement combined with improved legal frameworks and stiffer sanctions for poachers; ● Coordination across all sectors on land use and protection of natural resources with a priority on conserving great ape populations; ● Conservation advocacy for wildlife and law enforcement to effect behavior change; ● An enhanced understanding of diseases such as Ebola to guide conservation actions; ● Monitoring of great ape abundance and distribution, habitat loss, and illegal activities.

“The action plan will serve as a guide for range-state governments and their conservation partners in how best to protect the region’s natural heritage,” said Dr. Liz Williamson of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group.

©

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

Co-author, Jon Day, also from the ARC Centre for Coral Reef Studies at JCU, says an obvious first step is to prevent unsustainable growth in each of the stressors to reduce their cumulative impact.

“Business as usual is not an option because the values for which the Reef was listed as World Heritage are already deteriorating, and will only get worse unless a change in policy occurs.”

The authors say that as countries around the world move to curb global carbon emission, Australia has an opportunity to transition away from fossil fuels and to limit the development of huge coal ports alongside the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

The scientists have outlined a six-point plan they believe will restore the Great Barrier Reef, including: ● A return to the former emphasis on conservation and protection of the Great Barrier Reef. ● Australia taking a lead role in tackling climate change by transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Leading coral reef scientists say Australia could restore the Great Barrier Reef to its former glory through better policies that focus on science, protection and conservation.

An Australian Government report into the state of the Great Barrier Reef found that its condition in 2014 was “poor and expected to further deteriorate in the future”. In the past 40 years, the Reef has lost more than half of its coral cover and there is growing concern about the future impacts of ocean acidification and changes in climate.

In a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the authors argue that all the stressors on the Reef need to be reduced for it to recover.

“We need to move beyond the gloom and doom to identify how the decline of the Great Barrier Reef can be turned around,” says co-author Professor Terry Hughes from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (JCU). “Our paper shows that every major stressor on the Reef has been escalating for decades – more and more fishing, pollution, coastal development, dredging, and now for the past 20 years we’re also seeing the impacts of climate change.”

“We now have a very good handle on why the Great Barrier Reef is in trouble,” adds co-author Jon Brodie from the Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystems Research at JCU. “The challenge is to use that scientific knowledge to prevent further damage and give the Reef some breathing space that would allow it to recover.”

● Permanent legislative bans on dumping both capital and maintenance dredge spoil within the World Heritage area. ● An overhaul of the environmental impact assessment process for new developments. ● The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) reinstated as the agency responsible for all aspects of the Great Barrier Reef. ● A 50-year plan and adequate funding for the use of the catchment designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and agricultural run off.

Jon Brodie says Australia is starting to reduce runoff of nutrients, sediments and pesticides from land into the World Heritage Area, and is improving regulations for dumping capital dredge-spoil, but more action is needed.

“These efforts are a welcome step in the right direction, but they will need much better resourcing in order to substantially reduce pressures on the World Heritage Area.”

The authors say the global community must make it clear that they want more effective policy action to ensure the Great Barrier Reef is restored for current and future generations.

“This paper raises awareness of the untapped opportunities to incorporate science into better policy to ensure we still have a magnificent Great Barrier Reef in the future,” Terry Hughes adds.

Factory Farmers Outraged When Feds Recommend Vegan Diet For the first time in its history the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, a panel that sets federal dietary guidelines, is recommending a vegan diet because it’s better for the environment. The report concludes that a diet lower in animal-based foods is healthier and has less of an environmental impact, sparking outrage from the factory farming industry.

“A dietary pattern that is higher in plant(s) … and lower in animal-based foods is more health promoting and is associated with lesser environmental impact,” states the preliminary report.

The report states that the average U.S. diet has a larger environmental impact than a diet of vegetables, grains, fruits, and low-to-no dairy and meat products. Land and water use are reduced in moving towards a plant-based diet, as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

“The organically grown vegan diet also had the lowest estimated impact on resources and ecosystem quality...” states the report.

“Beef was the single food with the greatest projected impact on the environment; other foods estimated to have high impact included cheese, milk, and seafood.”

The committee also concluded that a vegan diet had the most potential health benefits.

Across the U.S., an estimated 20,000 factory farms confine billions of chickens, hogs and other animals and emit noxious air pollutants, including ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, volatile organic compounds, methane and particulate matter. U.S. factory farms produce more than 500 million tons of manure every year, more than three times the waste produced by humans, according to EPA. Instead of treating the feces and urine, many factory farms store it in huge pits that release odors and air pollution and sometimes spill, contaminating rivers. Operators also spray manure onto fields, sending bacteria-laden droplets onto the homes of downwind residents. Livestock are responsible for 34 percent of U.S. methane emissions (the nation’s second most prevalent greenhouse gas), and methane has more than 20 times the climate change impact of carbon dioxide, according to EPA. Animal agriculture is also the nation’s leading source of ammonia emissions, which can cause nasal, throat and eye irritation, coughs, dizziness and other health problems. Poultry operations

in the top ten biggest chicken producing states release at least 700 million tons of ammonia every year. Large dairy and swine animal feeding operations emit 100,000 pounds of hydrogen sulfide annually, according to an EPA estimate. Hydrogen sulfide causes extreme odors and contributes to acid rain and regional haze. Producing one pound of beef uses an estimated 1,581 gallons of water, roughly as much as the average American uses in 100 showers.

The factory farming industry has accused the panel in overreaching, stating the panel has neither the authority nor the expertise to make such judgments. The committee argues they had free reign to discuss food supply in recommending what people should and shouldn’t eat, and they brought in sustainability experts.

The Agriculture Department and Department of Health and Human Services will use the report and recommendations to draft the final guidelines for 2015, due out later this year.

The recommendations impact federal programs like school lunches, the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, WIC, and military rations.

The public has until May 8 to read over the guidelines and offer any comments.

©

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

Fifteen animal species are at the greatest risk of becoming extinct very soon. Expertise and money is needed to save them and other highly threatened species.

According to a new study of highly threatened species, 841 endangered animal species can be saved, but only if conservation efforts are implemented immediately and with an investment of an estimated US $1.3 billion annually to ensure the species' habitat protection and management. For 15 species, the chances of conservation success are really low.

The 15 species with the lowest chances for survival in the wild and in captivity are:

Mammals: ● Mount Lefo brush-furred mouse, Lophuromys eisentrauti, Cameroon ● Chiapan climbing rat, Tylomys bullaris, Mexico ● Tropical pocket gopher, Geomys tropicalis

Amphibians: ● Bay Lycian salamander, Lyciasalamandra billae, Turkey ● Perereca Bokermannohyla izecksohni, Brazil ● Campo Grande tree frog, Hypsiboas dulcimer, Brazil ● Santa Cruz dwarf frog, Physalaemus soaresi, Brazil ● Zorro bubble-nest frog, Pseudophilautus zorro, Sri Lanka ● Allobates juanii, Colombia

Birds: ● Ash's lark, Mirafra ashi, Somalia ● Tahiti monarch, Pomarea nigra, French Polynesia ● Zino's petrel, Pterodroma madeira, Madeira ● Mascarene petrel, Pseudobulweria aterrima, Reunion Island ● Wilkins's finch, Nesospiza wilkinsi, Tristan da Cunha ● Amsterdam albatross, Diomedea amsterdamensis, New Amsterdam (Amsterdam Island)

Their low chance for survival is due to high probability of their habitat becoming urbanized; political instability; and high costs of habitat protection and management.

The opportunity of establishing an insurance population in captivity for these 15 species is low, due to high costs or lack of breeding expertise for the species.

Researchers, led by Assistant Prof. Dalia A. Conde from University of Southern Denmark and Prof. John E Fa from Imperial College, developed a "conservation opportunity index" using measurable indicators to quantify the possibility of achieving successful conservation.

To estimate the opportunities to conserve these species the researchers considered opportunities of protecting its remaining habitats, which are restricted to single sites. Important factors are costs, political stability, and probability of urbanization. They also considered establishing protected insurance populations in zoos. Important factors are costs and breeding expertise.

The researchers computed the cost of, and opportunities for, conserving 841 species of mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians listed by the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) as restricted to single sites and categorized as Endangered or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

"AZE sites are arguably the most irreplaceable category of important biodiversity conservation sites," said Dr. Dalia A. Conde, lead author on the paper. "Conservation opportunity evaluations like ours show the urgency of implementing management actions before it is too late."

While the study indicated that 39% of the species scored high for conservation opportunities, it also showed that at least 15 AZE species are in imminent danger of extinction given their low conservation opportunity index.

"Although the cost seems high, safeguarding these species is essential if we want to reduce the extinction rate by 2020," said Prof. Hugh Possingham from The University of Queensland. "When compared to global government spending on other sectors - e.g., US defense spending, which is more than 500 times greater - an investment in protecting high biodiversity value sites is minor."

"Our exercise gives us hope for saving many highly endangered species from extinction, but actions need to be taken immediately and, for species restricted to one location, an integrative conservation approach is needed," said Prof. John E. Fa.

MAJOR TROUBLE

An extensive study of global habitat fragmentation - the division of habitats into smaller and more isolated patches - points to major trouble for a number of the world's ecosystems and the plants and animals living in them. Research reveals the shocking and sad reality that there are only two big patches of intact forest left on earth - the Amazon and the Congo.

The study shows that 70 percent of existing forest lands are within a half-mile of the forest edge, where encroaching urban, suburban or agricultural influences can cause any number of harmful effects - like the losses of plants and animals.

The study also tracks seven major experiments on five continents that examine habitat fragmentation and finds that fragmented habitats reduce the diversity of plants and animals by 13 to 75 percent, with the largest negative effects found in the smallest and most isolated fragments of habitat.

The study was led by a researcher from North Carolina State University and involved about two dozen researchers across the globe. The researchers assembled a map of global forest cover and found very few forest lands unencumbered by some type of human development.

"It's no secret that the world's forests are shrinking, so this study asked about the effects of this habitat loss and fragmentation on the remaining forests," said Dr. Nick Haddad, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences at NC State and the corresponding author of the paper.

"The results were astounding. Nearly 20 percent of the world's remaining forest is the distance of a football field - or about 100 meters - away from a forest edge. Seventy percent of forest lands are within a half-mile of a forest edge. That means almost no forest can really be considered wilderness."

The study also examined seven existing major experiments on fragmented habitats currently being conducted across the globe; some of these experiments are more than 30 years old.

Covering many different types of ecosystems, from forests to savannas to grasslands, the experiments combined to show a disheartening trend: Fragmentation causes losses of plants and animals, changes how ecosystems function, reduces the amounts of nutrients retained and the amount of carbon sequestered, and has other deleterious effects.

"The initial negative effects were unsurprising," Haddad said. "But I was blown away by the fact that these negative effects became even more negative with time. Some results showed a 50 percent or higher decline in plant and animals species over an average of just 20 years, for example. And the trajectory is still spiraling downward."

Haddad points to some possible ways of mitigating the negative effects of fragmentation: conserving and maintaining larger areas of habitat; utilizing landscape corridors, or connected fragments that have shown to be effective in achieving higher biodiversity and better ecosystem function; increasing agricultural efficiency; and focusing on urban design efficiencies.

"The key results are shocking and sad," Haddad said. "Ultimately, habitat fragmentation has harmful effects that will also hurt people.

This study is a wake-up call to how much we're Š affecting ecosystems including areas we think we're conserving."

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ÂŽ

Living In Harmony With Animals ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

by Rev Roberta Stewart Lawns are growing lush and green, flowering trees are blooming and the perennials in our gardens are returning like old friends.

And, despite ever shrinking green space, the animals that share the earth with us will be trying to survive. Our homes, offices and shopping centers were developed on what was once forest and fields. Chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, possum, skunks, raccoons, ground hogs and deer are not the invaders. We are. Please remember this when these displaced animals forage for food on your property or try to find places to bear and rear their young.

There are too many people unwilling to show compassion for the animals around them and who choose to hire exterminators to trap and destroy wildlife. Please be aware that there are laws governing the trapping of wild animals. Check with your state’s department of natural resources, wildlife or game department for the laws in your state.

Property owners who want animals trapped should understand that some people are deeply offended by this practice. The sight of a terrified animal being roughly shaken from a trap into a dark container and transported to its death may sicken and disturb a family member, a friend, a neighbor or a passerby. Please know that anyone with concerns regarding you or your exterminator’s actions has the right and duty to address their concerns to the proper authorities. Laws governing trapping may not protect the animals, but sometimes, just an inquiry can cause an exterminator to cancel a contract rather than face close scrutiny. All those opposed to trapping, please do what you can.

With education and raised awareness, more and more people are choosing the enlightened and compassionate way to protect their homes and gardens from unwanted animal visitors. There are many humane alternatives to killing. Simple commonsense and prevention are the best forms of animal control.

Raccoons and possum are attracted by garbage. Keep all leftover food inside until the night before trash pick-up. Seal organic garbage in plastic bags (a good way to reuse sandwich or storage bags) and refrigerate or, better yet, freeze it. The less your garbage smells, the less likely it will attract an animal. Use trashcans, with locking lids, where allowed. Otherwise, use heavy-duty, tightly tied trash bags.

With so few places left to burrow or nest, raccoons, possum, skunks and ground hogs will look for safe haven wherever they can find it. They will seek out the weak spots around your home.

Neglect invites these animals. A well maintained home does not.

Install lattice under porches and decks to block animals from nesting. Another option is stainless steel screening that can be sunk into the ground around the inhabited area. A one-way gate is installed that allows the animal to leave, but will not allow it to

return. Only install this form of prevention when there are no babies in the nest.

Keep your garage or shed door tightly closed and repair broken boards at the bottom of cracks in the foundation.

Seal all openings under the roofline and cap your chimney.

(Do not do this if an animal has already entered. Wait until the animal has left to look for food. And be certain that there are no babies left behind. DO NOT use mothballs or ammonia to flush the animal out. You will kill the babies. A radio tuned to a talk show will sometimes disturb the mother enough to cause her to move out with her babies.)

Your garden, whether it is a flower garden or you grow vegetables, will tempt any animal that forages for vegetation.

There are a variety of repellants commercially available that claim to keep animals away. These range in cost and effectiveness. And there are recipes for homemade, foul smelling deterrents all over the Internet. The same commercial products used to repel cats and dogs often deter raccoons.

Another option is a mechanical device. Motion-activated sprinklers can be purchased that shoot a stream of water at an intruder, like a remote squirt gun. Loud or annoying sounds can also be set to go off like a security alarm, whenever movement is detected.

Polypropylene netting is sold to cover plants and keep deer and rabbits from eating them, but this netting can put other wildlife at risk. Small birds, toads and other animals could become trapped in the mesh. The netting is also very difficult to work with and expensive in large quantities.

By far the most effective “critter control” is fencing. A low voltage, electrified fence can be effective for all animals, but this option can be expensive. Chicken wire has served the purpose for years. A picket fence may be charming, but deer can jump those of average height. Decorative metal fencing looks good and should keep out all but the most intrepid deer. A low-tech method is simply a nylon string, stretched across your garden perimeter, chest-high. A deer will back off when it feels the tension.

Deer can be the most destructive of all the animals that come into your garden to forage. In addition to the measures above, you could simply plant as many deer resistant plants as possible. Ask your nursery expert or search online.

Enjoy the change of seasons in your garden, but please, have compassion for all the creatures that live there too.

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." — St. Francis of Assisi

JUDGE STOPS FEDS FROM HARMING MILLIONS OF ANIMALS A federal judge says Feds wrongly approved a plan on allowing whales, dolphins, and other wildlife to be harmed nearly 10 million times. The judge ruled recently that the National Marine Fisheries Service acted illegally in approving U.S. Navy testing and training activities in the Pacific Ocean that threaten widespread harm to whales, dolphins, other marine mammals and imperiled sea turtles.

The Navy and Fisheries Service had concluded that, over the plan’s five year period, the Navy’s use of explosives and sonar, along with vessel strikes, could result in thousands of animals suffering death, permanent hearing loss or lung injuries. Millions of others could be left with temporary injuries and significant disruptions to feeding, breeding, communicating, resting and other essential behaviors. In all, the Navy’s plan would cause an estimated 9.6 million instances of harm to marine mammals.

The decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii results from a December 2013 lawsuit brought by Earthjustice, representing Conservation Council for Hawai‘i (CCH), the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), the Center for Biological Diversity (The Center) and the Ocean Mammal Institute (OMI), which challenged the Fisheries Service’s approval of Navy operations off Hawai‘i and Southern California as violating the National Environmental Policy Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act. “The court’s ruling recognizes that, to defend our country, the Navy doesn’t need to train in every square inch of a swath of ocean larger than all 50 United States combined,” said David Henkin, Earthjustice attorney. “The Navy can fulfill its mission and, at the same time, avoid the most severe harm to dolphins, whales and countless other marine animals by simply limiting training and testing in a small number of biologically sensitive areas.”

The National Environmental Policy Act requires that federal agencies, including the Fisheries Service and the Navy, consider a range of alternatives, including those that could be pursued with less environmental harm, and that the public have an opportunity to review and comment on that analysis.

The groups sued because the Fisheries Service and the Navy failed to evaluate alternatives that would place biologically important areas off-limits to training and testing.

The judge concluded that the Navy’s claim that it needs continuous access to every single square mile of the Pacific, and cannot avoid—even temporarily—biologically important areas where marine mammals breed, nurse their young, and feed, “makes no sense given the size of the ocean area involved.”

Noting the “stunning number of marine mammals” that the Navy’s activities threaten with harm, the judge also found the Fisheries Service violated its legal duties under the Endangered Species Act to ensure Navy training would not push endangered whales and turtles to extinction, and under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to prevent harm to marine mammal populations.

The judge stated, “Searching the administrative record’s reams of pages for some explanation as to why the Navy’s activities were authorized by the [Fisheries Service], this court feels like the sailor in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ who, trapped for days on a ship becalmed in the middle of the ocean, laments, ‘Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.’”

“In 2004, Navy sonar during Rim of the Pacific war games was implicated in a mass stranding of around 200 melon headed whales in Hanalei Bay on Kaua‘i, with one baby whale dying,” said Marjorie Ziegler, executive director of CCH. “This ruling hopefully will spare other marine mammals from a similar fate.”

“The science is clear that sonar blasts and explosives kill and injure marine mammals and sea turtles,” said Susan Millward, executive director of AWI. “The court recognized that the law doesn’t allow the Fisheries Service to give the Navy a blank check to harm unlimited numbers of animals. Both agencies must do more to protect these vulnerable animals.”

“The Navy shouldn’t play war games in the most sensitive waters animals use for feeding and breeding,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at The Center. “The Fisheries Service has already identified vital areas to protect for whales and dolphins around the Hawaiian Islands and off Southern California, and they should be off-limits to explosives and other dangerous activities. The federal government has a responsibility to protect our natural heritage as well as national security.”

“This is an important victory for our oceans,” said Marsha Green, president of OMI. “The Navy can, and must, find ways to accomplish its mission that reduce the amount of deafening noise that prevents marine © mammals from communicating, navigating, feeding and finding mates.”

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

PREVENTING LYME DISEASE IN DOGS Tick bites on dogs may be hard to detect. Signs of tickborne disease may not appear for 7-21 days or longer after a tick bite, so watch your dog closely for changes in behavior or appetite if you suspect that your animal has been bitten by a tick.

To reduce the chances that a tick will transmit disease to you or your companion animals: ● Check your animals for ticks daily, especially after they spend time outdoors. ● If you find a tick, remove it right away. ● Ask your veterinarian to conduct a tick check at each exam. ● Talk to your veterinarian about tickborne diseases in your area.

Dogs are very susceptible to tick bites and tickborne diseases.

In dogs exposed to Lyme disease, 95% do not have symptoms.

Dogs with symptoms may have: fever, lack of appetite, lameness, and joint swelling. While a vaccine for Lyme disease in dogs is available, it does not protect against other tickborne diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, or babesia. Therefore, preventive measures against tick bites are still necessary.

The Centers for Disease Control have provided their recommendations for preventing Lyme disease: You can make your yard less attractive to ticks depending on how you landscape. Here are some simple landscaping techniques that can help reduce tick populations:

● Reduce tick habitat in your yard. ● Talk with your veterinarian about using tick preventives on your companion.

Kill Ticks on Dogs A pesticide product that kills ticks is known as an acaricide. Acaricides that can be used on dogs include dusts, impregnated collars, sprays, or topical treatments. Some acaricides kill the tick on contact. Others may be absorbed into the bloodstream of a dog and kill ticks that attach and feed. Note: Cats are extremely sensitive to a variety of chemicals. Do not apply any insect acaricides or repellents to your cats without first consulting your veterinarian!

● Clear tall grasses and brush around homes and at the edge of lawns.

Pros: Helps to reduce the number of ticks in the environment. Prevents tickborne disease.

● Place a 3-ft wide barrier of wood chips or gravel between lawns and wooded areas and around patios and play equipment. This will restrict tick migration into recreational areas.

Cons: Tick bites can cause a painful wound and may become infected. When bitten, a dog may become infected with a number of diseases. This depends on the type of tick, which diseases it is carrying (if any), and how quickly a product kills the feeding tick.

● Mow the lawn frequently and keep leaves raked. ● Stack wood neatly and in a dry area (discourages rodents that ticks feed on). ● Keep playground equipment, decks, and patios away from yard edges and trees and place them in a sunny location, if possible. ● Remove any old furniture, mattresses, or trash from the yard that may give ticks a place to hide.

Vaccines are not available for all the tickborne diseases that dogs can get, and they don’t keep the dogs from bringing ticks into your home. For these reasons, it’s important to use a tick preventive product on your dog.

Repel Ticks on Dogs A repellent product may prevent the tick from coming into contact with an animal or have anti-feeding effects once the tick comes into contact with the chemical, thus preventing a bite.

Pros: Prevents bite wounds and possible resulting infections. Prevents tickborne disease.

Cons: Will not reduce the number of ticks in the environment (doesn't kill ticks).

Consult your veterinarian on tick prevention products for you companion animals.

EAST ASIA POLLUTION Rainforests are often associated with pure, unpolluted air, but in Borneo air quality is very much dependent on which way the wind blows. Cold winds blowing from the north are carrying industrial pollutants from East Asia to the equator, with implications for air quality in the region. Once there, the pollutants can travel higher into the atmosphere and impact the ozone layer, according to a new study.

“On several occasions during northern hemisphere winter, pockets of cold air can move quickly southwards across Asia towards south China and onward into the South China Sea,” stated Matthew Ashfold, Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.

Ashfold and his team discovered that these ‘cold surges’ can very quickly transport polluted air from countries such as China to remote parts of equatorial Southeast Asia. “The pollution travels about 1000 km per day, crossing the South China Sea in just a couple of days,” said Ashfold.

The researchers were initially looking for chemical compounds of natural origin: they wanted to test whether the oceans around Borneo were a source of bromine and chlorine. They designed their experiments to measure these gases, but also detected another gas called perchloroethene, or perc, in the air samples they collected from two locations in the Borneo rainforest. “This gas is a common ‘marker’ for pollution because it does not have natural sources,” stated Ashfold.

The team wanted to find out where the man-made gas came from, and where it might go. “We used a UK Met Office computer model of atmospheric transport to look back in time, at where the air samples we collected had traveled from.” Their experiments suggested the high levels of perc in the air samples were influenced by East Asian pollution, as reported in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics study.

Perc is produced in a number of industrial and commercial activities, such as dry cleaning and metal degreasing, and exposure to large amounts can affect human health. While global emissions of perc have declined in the past 20 years or so, it is not clear whether this has been the case in East Asia, where air pollution has increased over the past couple of decades.

The researchers stated the levels of perc measured in Borneo are low, but because the gas does not occur naturally even small concentrations are a sign that other more common pollutants could be

present. Ozone, for example, can damage forests when in high concentrations, as it reduces plant growth.

Indeed, the team’s measurements showed the amounts of perc varied strongly over the course of about a week, and models they analyzed indicated this variation to be related to similar changes in carbon monoxide and ozone. “During the one ‘cold surge’ event we studied in detail, levels of these pollutants over Borneo appeared to be double typical levels,” Ashfold pointed out.

But diminished air quality in the remote rainforest is not the only way East Asia pollution affects the tropics. “The atmosphere over Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific is home to unusually strong and deep thunderstorms during the northern hemisphere winter. Because of this, the region is an important source of air for the stratosphere,” said Ashfold.

In their study the researchers show that, once in the deep tropics, the polluted air is lifted towards the upper atmosphere. “This can introduce a range of industrial chemicals with atmospheric lifetimes of just a few months to the strato© sphere, which could have a potentially negative impact on the ozone layer.”

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

SOLVING HUMANELEPHANT CONFLICTS sound of growling tigers, leopards and angry shouts of villagers as they approached farmers’ fields. In 41 attempted raids, tiger sounds stopped 90 percent, the sound of leopards deterred 73 percent and human shouts prevented 57 percent.

The research was carried out in southern India by Dr Vivek Thuppil at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) and Dr Richard G Coss from the University of California.

The researchers tested two infrared systems, one that was more complex and realistic, and one that was simple enough for farmers to set up around their fields. Both were effective in deterring elephants. But it seems an elephant never does forget, and those that encountered the noises more than once were less likely to be fooled.

Elephants live off roots, grasses, fruit and bark and the earth’s largest land mammal needs to consume a lot of food in a single day to satisfy its huge appetite. As the Asian elephant’s natural habitat is squeezed to make way for agriculture, new roads and development, conflict between elephants and humans is an increasing problem.

Until now electric fences and trenches have proved to be the most effective way of protecting farms and villages from night time raids by hungry elephants. But researchers think they may have come up with another solution – the recorded sound of angry predators.

“This technique was tested using static devices,” stated Dr Thuppil. “Although the elephants shied away from the specific area, they would eventually find another way into the field. So static recordings like this would work in locations where there is a narrow path of entry to farmland.”

“Now I am interested in investigating how an elephant would respond to threatening sounds if they were not emanating from a stationary source,” said Thuppil. “To accomplish this, there would be a network of speakers and an intruding elephant’s location would be tracked continuously with only the speaker nearest the elephant being activated. This would simulate persistent tracking of an elephant by a predator.”

Dr Thuppil will be collaborating on additional projects to learn more about the Asian elephant and how to mitigate the growing problem of human-elephant conflict.

Using an infrared sensor playback system, elephants triggered the

SUBMIT AN ARTICLE TO E&A Share your Earth & Animals research, stories, photos and videos. WAF welcomes your contribution of articles about the environment, wildlife, companion animals, farm animals, and earth and animal issues.

ONLINE: Submit your articles at WorldAnimalFoundation.org with our online submission form.

EMAIL: Email articles to getactive@WorldAnimalFoundation.net.

Please submit photos and videos by email.

Please see terms and conditions at WorldAnimalFoundation.org.

Tiny Songbird Migrates Nonstop 1,500 Miles Over Atlantic For more than 50 years, scientists had tantalizing clues suggesting that a tiny songbird, weighing about as much as a ball point pen, departs each fall from New England and eastern Canada to migrate nonstop over the Atlantic Ocean toward South America, but proof was hard to come by.

Now, for the first time an international team of biologists report "irrefutable evidence" that blackpoll warblers complete a nonstop flight ranging from about 1,410 to 1,721 miles in just two to three days. They make landfall somewhere in Puerto Rico, Cuba and the islands known as the Greater Antilles. From there they head to northern Venezuela and Columbia.

While other birds, such as albatrosses, sandpipers and gulls are known for trans-oceanic flights, the blackpoll warbler is a forest dweller that migrates boldly where few of its relatives dare to travel. Most migratory songbirds that winter in South America take a less risky, continental route south through Mexico and Central America. A water landing would be fatal to a warbler.

"For small songbirds, we are only just now beginning to understand the migratory routes that connect temperate breeding grounds to tropical wintering areas. We're really excited to report that this is one of the longest nonstop overwater flights ever recorded for a songbird, and finally confirms what has long been believed to be one of the most extraordinary migratory feats on the planet," stated first author Bill DeLuca, an environmental conservation research fellow at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with colleagues at the University of Guelph, Ontario, the Vermont Center for Ecostudies and other institutions.

To prepare for the flight, the birds build up their fat stores, explained Canadian team leader Ryan Norris of the University of Guelph. "They eat as much as possible, in some cases doubling their body mass in fat so they can fly without needing food or water. For blackpolls, they don't have the option of failing or coming up a bit short. It's a fly-or-die journey that requires so much energy."

among migrating songbirds on such a long journey; only about half return.

"Many migratory songbirds, blackpolls included, are experiencing alarming population declines for a variety of reasons.

If we can learn more about where these birds spend their time, particularly during the nonbreeding season, we can begin to examine and address what might be causing the declines," stated Chris Rimmer, an ornithologist at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.

As for why the blackpoll undertakes such a perilous journey while other species follow a longer but safer coastal route, the authors say that because migration is the most perilous part of a songbird's year, it may make sense to get it over with as quickly as possible. However, this and other questions remain a mystery.

Other researchers on the team were from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Acadia University, Bird Studies Canada and the University of Exeter, U.K. Each contributed to Š funding the study.

The birds come back every spring very close to the same place they used in the previous breeding season. There is high mortality WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ÂŽ

POLAR BEARS BEING ATTACKED FROM ALL FRONTS ma, tissues and deiodinase enzymes, which are in charge of stabilizing the thyroid hormones in tissues,” explains the expert.

The study analyzed more than 50 organohalogen contaminants and their metabolites in bear plasma and tissue, compared with the aforementioned thyroid parameters in the liver, muscle and kidney of seven adult bears. Previous studies had already demonstrated the relationship between the presence of contaminants and the altered plasmatic levels of the thyroid hormones in the arctic wildlife, but it is the first time that they have been linked to tissue alteration.

The polar bear, one of the largest carnivorous mammals on earth, is being made vulnerable by the series of dangers it faces. An international team has established a guide to evaluate the condition of its health. Although the polar bear’s biggest threat is reduction of polar ice, plastic pollution and environmental contaminants in its habitat are starting to affect its endocrine system and reproduction. Polar bears also suffer from nutritional stress, human contact and diseases and parasites.

“The health of the arctic polar bear is being attacked from all fronts, but among many other factors is the exposure to environmental contaminants,” María Jesús Obregón explains.

Obregón is a research professor at the Biomedical Research Institute and one of the authors of the study published in Environmental Research.

The study, led by Norwegian scientists, stresses that plastic pollution and environmental contaminants are affecting the endocrine system and the reproductive system of this mammal.

“This is especially significant in this endangered species,” adds Obregón.

The researchers focused on the exposure of the arctic polar bear that lives in Greenland to growing levels of environmental contaminants. “A wide variety of organochlorine compounds and pesticides have an effect on the thyroid hormones in plas-

Concerned about the loss of habitat ice for the polar bear, which is becoming increasingly threatened, the international team of scientists has created a guide to monitor the health of this great carnivore. The study, published in ‘Science of the Total Environment’, gathers 15 measures which allow the factors facilitating its conservation in the Arctic Circle to be determined.

The aim of the researchers is to establish complete monitoring programs which include the health condition of the polar bears as a priority. “Environmental changes, especially loss of habitat ice, have triggered concerns for the health of this mammal. For this reason, the effective and consistent monitoring of its health needs to be unequivocally defined,” the study warns.

The scientists used the Delphi method, a questionnaire with the opinions and experience of 13 specialists from four different countries, to propose a definition of polar bear health. The main threats identified are climate change, nutritional stress, chronic physiological stress, diseases and parasites, and increasing exposure to competitors. Exposure to contaminants is the third largest threat.

“We still don’t know to what extent environmental changes will affect polar bear health and therefore its conservation,” say the authors of the study. For this reason, the guide will be a starting place to contextualize the health of the mammal and act in a context of environmental change.

Source: SINC

SECRET LANGUAGE The secret language of gibbons has been interpreted for the first time. While lar gibbons are mainly known for their loud and conspicuous songs, they can also produce a number of soft call words known as 'hoo's. These whispered words have been alluded to in studies dating back to 1940, but due to their volume they are virtually indistinguishable to the human ear and have been difficult to record and analyze...until now.

Researchers using modern recording technology and computer analysis have revealed that distinct hoo calls are made in response to specific events, such as foraging and encountering neighbors, and that subtle differences even distinguish between different predators when used as a warning.

A study published in BMC Evolutionary Biology reveals the likely meaning of a number of distinct gibbon whispers, responding to particular events and types of predator.

Lead author Esther Clarke said: "These animals are extraordinarily vocal creatures and give us the rare opportunity to study the evolution of complex vocal communication in a non-human primate. In the future, gibbon vocalizations may reveal much about the processes that shape vocal communication, and because they are an ape species, they may be one of our best hopes at tracing the evolution of human communication."

The researchers spent almost four months following lar gibbon groups around the forests of North-eastern Thailand. The gibbons were usually followed from the first encounter in the morning until they had located their evening sleeping tree, while researchers recorded their hoos and noted the event that elicited the response.

From the recordings they extracted over 450 hoo words and used computer analysis to find links between audio patterns and the context in which they were recorded.

The gibbons reliably produced individual hoo calls for different contexts, including foraging, predator detection, encountering neighbors, and as part of duet songs by mated pairs. In addition to differences between contexts, the team also discovered subtle hoo variations within contexts, for example to distinguish between different types of predator.

The team investigated the responses to a range of predators including clouded leopards, tigers, pythons, and raptors including eagle owls and crested serpent eagles. Raptor hoos were acoustically distinct - less intense, shorter and with a smaller frequency span than the other hoos, making them the least audible. Raptors hear best in the range of 1-4kHz, while gibbon hoos are consistently below the 1kHz threshold. The raptor hoos were the lowest

frequency of all and could help gibbons avoid attracting the attention of the predator. Tiger and leopard hoos were similar, suggesting that callers perceived these two predators as belonging to the same 'big cat' class.

While both gibbon sexes displayed similar hoo calls, female calls were lower in frequency than male ones. The researchers say this is surprising, as among mammals, males tend to have lower frequency voices than females. Females also typically did not produce hoo vocalizations when encountering neighbors and often remained passive and removed, while males engaged and interacted with neighboring individuals.

The researchers say the study is of direct relevance for the on-going debate about the evolution of human speech. The acoustic variation seen in gibbon language in particular may be similar to human speech, in which subtle acoustic parameters, like pitch, can be imŠ portant carriers of meaning.

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ÂŽ

DEFORESTATION

Agriculture—specifically, converting forest cover to plantations for oil palm, soy, rubber, coffee, tea, rice, and many other crops—is widely believed to be one of the main causes of deforestation. Such change in land cover can raise or lower local temperatures by as much as a few degrees, according to recent research. This kind of fluctuation can substantially impact yields of crops that are highly susceptible to specific climate conditions.

The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) at the University of Maryland determined large-scale deforestation can impact global food production by triggering changes in local climate. In the study, researchers zeroed in on the amount of the sun’s radiation reflected from earth’s surface and the transport of water into the atmosphere from soil, vegetation, and other surfaces as the primary drivers of change in local temperature. The authors say it underscores the need for a holistic understanding of forestry activities on local climate.

Forests have a darker surface than, for example, an agricultural field—which means less solar radiation is reflected and more is absorbed. On the other hand, forests absorb more rainwater and transpire it as water vapor later.

“Understanding the precise mechanisms of forest-generated warming or cooling could help regional management agencies anticipate changes in crop yields,” said Safa Motesharrei, co-author of the paper and a systems scientist SESYNC. “Together, with the knowledge of other ecological factors, this information

can help decision makers and stakeholders design policies that help to sustain local agricultural practices.”

“These two competing biophysical effects could determine whether—at a specific location or during a specific time of the day or season of the year—a forest could cause local cooling or warming,” said Yan Li, lead author of the study and visiting climate scientist at the University of Maryland.

“And, by extension, whether clearing a forest could lead to a rise or fall in local temperature.”

For example, the researchers found that tropical forests, which occur closest to the equator, have a strong cooling effect year-round. Boreal forests, which occur furthest from the equator, and temperate forests, which occur between tropical and boreal forests, show a seasonal variation. Boreal forests have strong warming in winter and moderate cooling in summer with net warming annually, and temperate forests show moderate cooling in summer and moderate warming in winter with net cooling annually.

As rates of deforestation climb and shifts in local climate become more pronounced, the need to understand the relationship between forest cover change and temperature will become more urgent. We have already lost an area of forests roughly equivalent to twice the size of France just in the past decade. The more forests we clear, the more we increase risks for food production due to changes in temperature.

ELEPHANTS NEVER FORGET A recent study tracked the movement of elephants across the African savannah. The elephants chose the shortest distances towards watering holes, pin-pointing the location of valuable resources even when they were over 30 miles away. The results show that elephants have good spatial memories.

Spatial memory is vital for animals to efficiently find scarce or patchy resources without wasting energy. Research has already demonstrated how foraging animals use spatial memory to find resources, but at the moment little is known about how animals use spatial memory when they are traveling over vast distances.

Elephants in the savannah manage to locate watering holes which are scattered widely across a featureless landscape. In this study researchers tracked elephants in the Etosha National Park in Namibia to find out whether the elephants movement towards watering holes and forage was consistent with what they’d expect if the elephants were using spatial cognitive capacity - the same cognitive processes used by foraging animals over shorter distances.

By tracking individual elephants over two years the team found that the elephants were remarkably good at finding water resources, heading rapidly and directly towards their goal. They made decisions on which watering hole to visit when they were several miles away from them and, 90% of the time, picked the nearest watering hole to their location, minimizing their traveling distance.

The team analyzed the movements of the elephants, particularly how far away from the holes they were when they changed their direction or speed and made the decision to go to the watering

In the wake of international fashion week events, the presence of fur on the runways led some writers to publish their annual “fur is back” story. But appearances can be deceiving.

Fur may be featured on runways as the result of deceptive sponsorship deals, but the only fur that’s flying off the shelves is faux.

American raw-fur buyers recently announced that prices were plummeting because of a lack of demand, and Canadian sealers said that they won’t bother killing animals this spring for the same reason.

The seal season is now open, but international markets for seal pelts and meat have been plummeting. According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, responsible for regulating the seal hunt, on-

hole. Looking at this distance and direction of approach the team ruled out the likelihood that elephants got clues about where the watering holes were by sight, the smell of water or noise from other animals at the watering hole. Elephants chose their paths to the watering holes and altered their directions between 2.85 miles and 31.04 miles from the watering holes - distances that are too far from the watering holes to use those senses to find them.

The team concluded that their analysis supports the idea that elephants use spatial memory to track down water resources across the large distances of the savannah.

ly about a sixth of the total allowable catch for harp seals have been harvested in recent years. Despite allowable catches of 60,000 grey seals in 2013, only 106 were harvested. The quota for harp seals is 400,000. In 2011 38,000 were harvested; in 2012, 71,000; and in 2013, 94,000.

Last year the global fur market declined from the previous record levels of 2013. China has become the world's largest importer of fur. The biggest exporter of fur is Europe.

Many designers—including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, and Ralph Lauren—have renounced fur, and many American mass-market chains, such as The Limited, Gap Inc., Banana Republic, and Express, have also adopt© ed a fur free policy.

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

WHALE SANCTUARY sanctuary protection, there is an increased need and urgency to take a more integrated approach to marine resource management.

The ecosystem-based management approach, as proposed, is backed by science and is consistent with the traditional Hawaiian approach to managing natural and cultural resources. NOAA works closely with the state of Hawai‘i, local communities and various stakeholders to protect Hawaii’s natural and cultural resources.

Following extensive collaboration with partners including nongovernmental organizations, businesses, scientists, and other members of the community, NOAA has announced its proposed rule for expanding the size and the focus of Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary to include multiple marine species.

The sanctuary was designated by an act of Congress in 1992 as a single-species sanctuary to protect humpback whales and their habitat. The humpback whale is an endangered species. Humpback whales were plentiful in oceans worldwide before the global population was depleted by commercial whaling at the start of the 20th century. In 1993 it was estimated that there were 6,000 whales in the North Pacific Ocean, and that 4,000 of those came to Hawai‘i. Through an international ban on commercial whaling and protections under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the North Pacific humpback whale population now numbers more than 21,000. The population of humpback whales that uses Hawai‘i's waters as their principle wintering ground is likely more than 10,000 animals.

The sanctuary is not only home to humpback whales each winter, but is also home to a variety of other marine life including Hawaiian monk seals, sea turtles, fish, and corals.

In 2012, during the process to review the sanctuary’s management plan, the sanctuary advisory council’s working groups determined that while humpback whales remain the centerpiece of

The proposed rule also includes a boundary expansion that adds 235 square miles of state and federal waters around O‘ahu, Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau, bringing the total sanctuary area to 1,601 square miles, and provides the sanctuary with new opportunities to work closely with communities on priority resource protection issues.

“This proposal is the result of a multi-year collaborative effort that involved considerable input from all sectors of the local community,” said Malia Chow, sanctuary superintendent. “We welcome further public review and input into our proposed new management plan as we move forward with the important job of managing this special place which is critical to both the regional economy and communities in Hawai‘i.”

Members of the public are invited to submit comments to the agency on the proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement now through June 19. Following this comment period, a final management plan and environmental impact statement will be prepared through a public process under the National Environmental Policy Act. Several meetings are planned for the public to learn more about the proposal and submit comments. Comments may also be submitted at http://www.regulations.gov via the Federal eRulemaking Portal with Docket Number NOAA-NOS2015-0028; or by mail: Malia Chow, Sanctuary Superintendent; 1845 Wasp Blvd; Building 176; Honolulu, HI 96818.

MUSIC BENEFITS CATS DURING SURGERY Music is beneficial for cats in the surgical environment. But not all music is equal in this respect - cats, it seems, benefit most from classical music, according to recent research by veterinary clinicians at the University of Lisbon and a clinic in the nearby town of Barreiro in Portugal.

Lead author, Miguel Carreira, explained, "In the surgical theaters at the faculty where I teach and at the private veterinary medical center where I spend my time operating, environmental music is always present, and is an important element in promoting a sense of wellbeing in the team, the animals, and their owners. Different music genres affect individuals in different ways. During consultations I have noticed, for example, that most cats like classical music, particularly George Handel compositions, and become more calm, confident and tolerant throughout the clinical evaluation. After reading about the influence of music on physiological parameters in humans, I decided to design a study protocol to investigate whether music could have any physiological effects on my surgical patients."

The clinicians studied 12 female cats undergoing surgery for neutering, and recorded their respiratory rate and pupil diameter at various points to gauge their depth of anaesthesia. The cats were meanwhile exposed to 2 minutes of silence (as a control), followed randomly by 2 minutes each of Barber's 'Adagio for Strings (Opus 11)', Natalie Imbruglia's 'Thorn' and AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck'.

The results showed that the cats were in a more relaxed state under the influence of classical music, with the pop music producing intermediate values. By contrast, the heavy metal music produced the highest values, indicating 'a more stressful situation'.

The clinicians concluded that the use of certain music genres in the surgical room may allow a decrease in the dose of anaesthetic agent required, in turn reducing the risk of undesirable side effects and thus promoting patient safety.

Dr Carreira and his colleagues plan to continue their studies by looking at the influence of music on other physiological parameters, including cortisol and catecholamines, in dogs as well as cats.

NEW ZEALAND BANS ANIMAL TESTING New Zealand has taken a major step toward joining the growing list of progressive nations to ban cruel animal testing of cosmetics. An amendment to the Animal Welfare Act was recently voted through - a decision that reflects the desire of New Zealand’s consumers and cosmetics industry to ensure that animal testing of cosmetics can never take place in the country.

The #BeCrueltyFree New Zealand campaign led by Humane Society International, the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society and Helping You Help Animals was instrumental in achieving this animal welfare milestone.

“We are thrilled that New Zealand’s politicians have taken this important step to vote out cosmetics cruelty,” stated Claire Mansfield, #BeCrueltyFree Campaigns Director.

The #BeCrueltyFree campaign also has legislative bans being considered in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Taiwan and the United States, as part of its global efforts to eradicate animal testing from the cosmetics industry.

In such tests, rabbits, guinea pigs and other animals can have chemicals dripped in their eyes, spread on their skin or force fed to them in massive doses without pain relief.

Under the revised Animal Welfare Act, animal testing of finished cosmetics and ingredients intended exclusively for use in a cosmetic will be illegal anywhere in New Zealand. The current testing ban does not apply to so-called “dual use” ingredients - substances that may be co-regulated under chemicals law or other regulatory regimes.

Nor can the AWA impose restrictions on the import and sale of cosmetics animal tested abroad, so closing these © gaps is #BeCrueltyFree’s next goal.

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

EARTH & ANIMAL ADVOCATE GUIDE

Š

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ÂŽ

in the interest of all animals

GET ACTIVE FOR ANIMALS Around the world, individuals, groups and organizations are making a difference for animals and the planet every day. From saving a companion animal from cruelty, to saving an entire species from extinction, simple choices and actions that you can make will help save animals and the earth.

You can make a difference for animals by adopting an animal, recycling, choosing humane products, donating to a charity of your choice, distributing flyers and fact sheets, encouraging humane legislation, planting wildlife gardens, trapping and neutering feral cats, volunteering, and

educating others about earth and animal issues.

Together, our collective efforts to protect and preserve animals and the environment is making a difference.

Join the effort today; become an earth and animal advocate.

A WORLD OF ANIMALS The six basic animal groups include mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians and invertebrates. There are also other groups of animals, and the way scientists classify and categorize them changes frequently.

MAMMALS Mammals are warm blooded animals that maintain their own internal body temperature. They have hair, breasts and a single bone lower jaw. They are vertebrates, meaning they have a backbone.

Mammal groups include primates, carnivores, elephants, anteaters, rodents, rabbits, bats, marsupials, seals, cetaceans, odd-toed ungulates and even-toed ungulates. Mammals have a diaphragm, a four-chambered heart and three middle ear bones.

AMPHIBIANS

©

Amphibians – like fishes, mammals, birds, and repWORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® tiles – have backbones.

Newts, salamanders, frogs, toads and caecilians are amphibians. They are also tetrapods, meaning they have four legs. They are cold blooded and go through an aquatic childhood stage breathing with gills as babies, then with lungs as adults. Unlike reptiles, they require water for breeding.

FISH

BIRDS Birds are feathered, winged, two-legged, warm blooded, egg-laying animals with backbones. Wings are evolved forelimbs, and most bird species can fly. Some birds can swim. Birds include birds of prey, perching birds, hummingbirds, owls, gamebirds, flamingos, pigeons and doves, pelicans and penguins.

Fishes include the bony fishes, cartilaginous fishes, hagfishes and lampreys. They breath through gills, have backbones but no limbs and most are cold blooded. Fish account for more than half of vertebrate species. Well adapted for the aquatic world, they usually have streamlined bodies for rapid swimming, extract oxygen from water using gills, have fins, jaws and scales, and lay eggs.

INVERTEBRATES

REPTILES Reptiles are cold blooded animals with backbones, including turtles, crocodilians, snakes, lizards and tuatara.

They are different from amphibians in that they have scales and lay hard-shelled eggs. Reptiles have four limbs or, like snakes, are descended from four-limbed ancestors. Unlike amphibians, reptiles do not begin their lives in the water.

Invertebrates are cold blooded animals that do not have backbones, including insects, worms, octopuses, crabs, lobsters, snails, clams, starfish and sea-urchins. The overwhelming majority of animal species are invertebrates. They do not have a skeleton of bone, either internal or external. Some have fluid-filled skeletons, like jellyfish or worms. Others have hard exoskeletons, outer shells, like insects and crustaceans. There are so many types of invertebrates that few key characteristics can be ascribed to all of them.

HABITATS: WORLDS WITHIN OUR WORLD Biomes, or ecosystems, are large regions of the planet with shared characteristics such as climate, soils, plants and animals.

Climate is an important factor that shapes the nature of an ecosystem, as well as precipitation, humidity, elevation, topography and latitude. The five major biomes include aquatic, desert, forest, grassland and tundra biomes. Each biome also includes numerous types of sub-habitats.

AQUATIC WORLDS The aquatic biome includes habitats around the world dominated by water.

Aquatic ecosystems are divided into two main groups based on their salinity freshwater habitats and marine habitats. ● Freshwater habitats are aquatic habitats with low levels of salt, less than one percent.

They include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, swamps, wetlands, bogs and lagoons. ● Marine habitats are aquatic habitats with salt concentrations of more than one percent.

They include oceans, seas and coral reefs.

Some habitats exist where saltwater and freshwater mix together. These include mud flats, mangroves and salt marshes. Aquatic ecosystems support a diverse assortment of animals including fishes, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds and invertebrates.

WOODED WORLDS Forest biomes are dominated by trees and extend over one-third of the earth's land surface. There are three main types of forests—temperate, tropical and boreal. Each type has a different assortment of animals, climate characteristics and species compositions.

● Temperate Forests are in temperate regions of the earth including North America, Europe and Asia.

They have four well-defined seasons and a growing season between 140 and 200 days. Rainfall takes place throughout the year and soils are nutrient-rich. ● Tropical Forests are located in equatorial regions between 23.5°N and 23.5°S latitude. They experience two seasons, a dry season and a rainy season.

The length of each day varies little throughout the year. Soils in tropical forests are nutrient-poor and acidic. ● Boreal Forests make up the largest terrestrial habitat. They are a band of coniferous forests located in the high northern latitudes between about 50°N and 70°N. Boreal forests create a circumpolar band of habitat from Canada, to northern Europe, to eastern Russia. They are bordered by tundra habitat to the north and temperate forest habitat to the south.

Some of the wildlife that inhabit the forest biome include deer, bears, wolves, moose, caribou, gorillas, squirrels, chipmunks, birds, reptiles and insects.

● Semi-arid Deserts are usually not as hot and dry as arid deserts. They have long, dry summers and cool winters with some rain. Semi arid deserts are found in North America, Europe, Asia, Newfoundland and Greenland. ● Coastal Deserts are usually located on the western edges of continents at approximately 23°N and 23°S latitude, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Cold ocean currents run parallel to the coast, producing heavy fogs. Despite high humidity in coastal deserts, it rarely rains.

LANDS OF GRASS Grasslands habitats are dominated by grasses with few large shrubs or trees. The three main types of grasslands include temperate grasslands, tropical grasslands or savannas and steppe grasslands. Grasslands have dry seasons and rainy seasons. They are susceptible to fires during dry seasons. ● Temperate Grasslands have a lack trees and large shrubs and are dominated by grass. The soil has an upper layer that is nutrient-rich. Seasonal droughts result in fires that keep trees and shrubs from taking over the area.

● Cold Deserts have low temperatures and long winters and are found above the treelines of mountain ranges and in the Arctic and Antarctic. They experience more rain than other deserts. Many locations of the tundra are cold deserts.

Desert animals include coyotes, kangaroo rats, spiders, meerkats, roadrunners, reptiles, toads, snakes, pronghorn, birds and bats.

FROZEN WORLDS

● Tropical Grasslands are located near the equator with warmer, wetter climates than temperate grasslands and more pronounced seasonal droughts. They are dominated by grasses, but also have scattered trees. The soil of tropical grasslands are porous and drain quickly. Tropical grasslands can be found in South America, Australia, Africa, India and Nepal. ● Steppe Grasslands are dry grasslands that border on semi-arid deserts. Their grasses are much shorter than temperate and tropical grasslands and they lack trees except along rivers and streams.

Animals that inhabit grasslands include American bison, African elephants, lions and spotted hyenas.

DRY WORLDS Desert biomes receive very little rain and cover about one-fifth of the planet's surface. They are divided into four sub-habitats based on their location, aridity, climate and temperature: arid deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts and cold deserts. ● Arid Deserts are hot and dry and are located at low latitudes throughout the world. Temperatures are warm all year and hottest during the summer.

Arid deserts receive little rainfall, and most rain that does fall usually evaporates. Arid deserts are located in North America, South America, Central America, Africa, Australia and Southern Asia.

Tundra is a cold habitat with long winters, low temperatures, permafrost soils, short vegetation, brief growing seasons and little drainage. The Alpine tundra exists on mountains around the planet at elevations above the tree line. The Arctic tundra is near the North Pole, extending southward to where coniferous forests grow. ● Arctic Tundra in the Northern Hemisphere is between the North Pole and the boreal forest. In the Southern Hemisphere it exists on remote islands off the coast of Antarctica and on the Antarctic peninsula. The Arctic and Antarctic tundra are home to over 1,700 species of plants including grasses, mosses, sedges, lichens and shrubs. ● Alpine Tundra is a high-altitude ecosystem located on mountains around the earth at elevations above the tree line. Alpine tundra soils are well drained compared to tundra soils. Alpine tundra is home to small shrubs, dwarf trees, tussock grasses and heaths.

The tundra is home to the arctic fox, wolverines, polar bears, northern bog lemmings, muskox, arctic terns, muskoxen and snow buntings.

WILDLIFE: MAMMALS Š

Mammals are animals that have warm-blood, fur or hair and usually have live babies. A few mammals lay eggs rather than giving birth to live babies, including the platypus and the spiny anteater. All mammals have some type of body hair or fur, though marine mammals, like dolphins and whales, are almost hairless.

Over 5,500 species of mammals have been recorded to date, compared to more than 28,000 species of fish and over 1,000,000 species of insects.

Many mammal babies are helpless when first born, but a few species, including zebras and moose, can walk from the day they are born. Marsupial ba-

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ÂŽ

bies, like kangaroos and opossum, are born as small as a pinkie nail and move to their mother's pouch to mature. All mammal babies drink milk from their mothers.

Mammals maintain their body temperatures to just about the same temperature all the time, despite the temperature outside their bodies. Warm blood allows mammals to be very active and live in a wide variety of environments.

Fur and fat help protect mammals in the cold, while sweating or panting releases extra heat for mammals in hot conditions.

FASCINATING MAMMAL FACTS THE BIGGEST The blue whale, measuring up to 110 feet long and weighing up to 419,000 pounds, is the largest mammal living today. It is also the largest mammal to have ever lived....larger than even the biggest dinosaur. The largest land animal today is the African elephant, standing up to 13 feet tall and weighing over 15,000 pounds. The extinct Paraceratherium, a hornless rhinoceros which stood around 17 feet at the shoulder and weighed about 33,000 pounds, is thought to have been the largest land mammal to have ever roamed the earth. The tallest mammals are giraffes, towering up to 20 feet tall.

THE SMALLEST The smallest mammals are tinier than many insects. The bumblebee bat is only about 1.14 inches long and weighs a mere 0.07oz or less, while the white-toothed pygmy shrew, the smallest land mammal, is only .09oz or less.

THE FASTEST The fastest land animal is the cheetah, reaching speeds of 60 mph. The fasted flying mammal is the big brown bat, flying at speeds of 15.5 mph. The fastest mammal in water is the orca, swimming up to 34 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED Human beings can live longer than any other mammal, while whales can live up to 100 years.

TOOLS & WEAPONS

AMAZINGLY SMART Squirrels have been observed hiding their odors from snakes by chewing on the outer layer of snakeskin and smearing it all over their fur. They also pretend to bury food in one spot, then store the food elsewhere, to fake out potential thieves.

Mother squirrels are so protective of their babies that they kick the fathers out of the nests for the spring and summer, but may allow them back to bunk with the family during winter.

THEIR OWN LANGUAGE Prairie dogs speak to one another in a language which includes nouns and verbs and has different dialects depending on where they’re from. Wolves cry out from distress when they miss an absent member of their pack. They communicate not only by sound, but also by body language. They use social cooperation and generalized rules to conduct and plan coordinated attacks.

Bears use tools, play with objects and have been known to use weapons against other animals. Bears enjoy staring at scenic vistas such as sunsets, lakes and mountains. They grieve when a family member dies, moaning and crying for weeks.

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY Like computers, rats have short-term, random-access memories that store information used in ongoing processes. They are empathetic to each other, help other rats in distress and share food.

They respond with their whiskers to vibrations. Rats take care of injured and sick rats and without companionship they become lonely and depressed. Rats laugh when they play and chatter or grind their teeth when happy. They groom themselves and their friends and family members for several hour each day. Rats can go longer than a camel without water. Their tails help them to balance, communicate and regulate their body temperature.

ELEPHANTS SPEAK Much of elephants’ complex language is based on infrasound – below the level of human hearing – and enables separated family members to communicate with each other over vast distances. They can also imitate human speech, despite having a trunk instead of lips. When an elephant is stressed, other elephants offer physical and vocal comfort, including hugs, kisses and soothing sounds. They mourn the deaths of their loved ones and perform rituals, holding vigils over the body for days and covering the deceased with leaves and branches. They react the same way when mourning humans. Elephants have been known to die of broken hearts after the death of a family member, friend or mate. They have the ability to use different objects in creative ways without being taught. They have been known to clean their food and use tools in various ways in the wild.

Elephants self-medicate, play with a sense of humor, perform artistic activities, use tools and display compassion and self-awareness.

AMAZING APES Apes and other primates use a special sign language to communicate with each other, and are also able to use standard sign language to communicate with humans. They have been taught to be fluent in English, some understanding over 2,000 words and able to sign over 1,000 words. They understand the meaning of the signs and use them in creative ways. They can comment on abstract ideas, express self-awareness, intelligence and emotions. Apes remember people, names, places, tasks and puzzles. They make and use tools, including spears for hunting, and have impressive problemsolving skills. They cooperate on projects like seeking food and making shelter, live in highly organized societies, can appreciate a beautiful sunset and mourn the death of loved ones. They have even been known to keep "pets".

Orangutans recognize themselves in mirrors. They make and use a variety of tools for foraging, honey collection and protection against insects. They drape large leaves over themselves like a poncho and use sticks to “fish” for branches or fruit that are out of reach and to extract seeds from fruit. They use leaves as napkins and gloves and fashion seat cushions from natural materials. Males plan their travel route in advance and communicate it to other orangutans. Cultural traditions are learned and passed down. They are capable of whistling music, opening locks, communicating with humans through sign language, using fork and spoons, blowing out candles, washing clothes, rowing boats, cooking and using Ipads.

Chimps have traditions that are often specific to only one group. They communicate with body language, exhibit self-awareness and express emotions, including laughing when they play and crying when they grieve.

They outperform humans on numerous short-term memory tests. Orphans are adopted by their aunts, older siblings, or other members of their tribe who teach them how to find natural antibiotics, avoid poisonous plants and build tree nests.

MARINE MAMMALS Marine mammals include cetaceans and pinnipeds. Dolphins, whales and porpoises are "cetaceans." Walruses, sea lions and seals are "pinnipeds". While they must breathe air like all mammals, marine mammals can stay underwater for up to two hours before surfacing for air. Dolphins and whales breath air through blowholes, while walruses, seals and sea lions breath through their nose and mouth.

Seals have scored better than adult humans at logical reasoning tests. Ringed seals build snow caves above their breathing holes in the ice to protect their young from predators.

Orcas brains are more emotionally developed than those of humans. The limbic system — the layers of interconnecting tissue that processes emotions — have grown elaborately compared to those in the human brain. They have a level of social culture that rivals humans. Dolphin brains are larger and, in some ways, more complex than human brains. Dolphins have been taught to speak human words. Their own language allows them to trace other dolphins up to six miles away. They even have names for one another. They have such significant brain power it stops them from sleeping. They use tools and pass their knowledge through a family line. They reason, problem-solve and comprehend ideas. They use nonlinear math formulas when catching prey. They blow bubbles that vary in exact amplitudes to detect fish, then subtract values found with their echolocation to confirm the target. They follow ships to collect fish churned up their wake, and ride bow-waves like human surfers. They play catch, tag and other games with each other, and also enjoy playing with other animals. Dolphins swim onto the nose of humpback whales, who then raise themselves out of the water so the dolphins slide down their heads - both animals enjoy the game. Dolphins form complex social groups. They plan ahead. They crave physical attention and stroke each other with their flippers.

Dolphins and whales communicate with a variety of low sounds that humans cannot hear.

They also use echolocation – sending sounds through water to bounce off objects to determine their shape, size and distance.

Adopt A Wild Animal from World Animal Foundation WAF Adopt An Animal Kits make great gifts and can and make a difference for animals and the environment. be sent directly to the recipient. Simply supply the recipient's name and mailing address as shipping Your WAF Adopt An Animal Kit comes in a Deluxe information. We'll even include a letter stating the WAF Folder and includes: Adopt An Animal Kit is from you. ● Glossy Photo of Your Adopted Animal ● Adopt An Animal Adoption Certificate ● Fact Sheet About Your Sponsored Animal ● Help Animals Info Cards Packed With Information On Animal Issues & How You Can Help Animals And The Environment

WAF's Adopt An Animal symbolic adoption is $35 and helps the World Animal Foundation to preserve the planet and protect its animals. Adopt an animal for yourself, or order an Adopt An Animal Kit as a gift.

Help make a difference for animals - Adopt An Animal Today at WorldAnimalFoundation.org!

WILDLIFE: BIRDS ©

Birds are warm-blooded, covered in feathers and lay eggs. All birds have wings, a beak and stand on two legs. Most birds fly, but some cannot. Some species, particularly penguins and members of the Anatidae family, are adapted to swim.

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

knowledge across generations.

They are social, communicating with visual

Some birds eat only seeds and berries. Some also eat insects.

Birds of prey eat small animals.

Male birds are usually more brightly colored than females, while females have better camouflage which helps to protect their nests.

Birds are incredibly intelligent animals. They make and use tools and culturally transmit

signals, calls and songs, and participate in such social behaviors such as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are monogamous, for one breeding season or for years. Eggs are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. In some species, both parents care for the babies, or close relatives will help with the raising of the young.

FASCINATING BIRD FACTS THE BIGGEST

SMARTER THAN KIDS

The tallest bird is the ostrich at around 9 feet tall. The ostrich is also the heaviest bird, at about 345 pounds. The heaviest flying bird is the mute swan at about 40 pounds. The largest wingspan of all birds belongs to the wandering albatross at 11 feet 10 inches.

Crows’ intelligence rivals human children. They use tools to get food, have exceptional memories and anticipate future events to help them solve problems. They have learned to use bread crumbs as fish bait. They can count, distinguish complex shapes and perform observational learning tasks. Crows are extremely social creatures. They have been observed creating knives from leaves and stalks of grass and using advanced plucking, smoothing and bending to fashion twigs and grass into a variety of substances. Caledonian crows remember specific people, cars and urban situations. They also develop grudges against specific people and cars that last for years.

THE SMALLEST The smallest bird is the bee hummingbird measuring in at only 2.2 inches from beak to tail.

THE FASTEST The fastest bird is the spine-tailed swift, traveling at speeds of over 106 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED The longest living bird is thought to be the sulfur-crested cockatoo, able to live well into their 80's.

WINGED WONDERS

AMAZING MEMORIES

Ravens push rocks on people to keep them from their nests, steal fish by pulling a fishermen’s line out of water and play dead beside an animal carcass to scare other ravens away from the food. Ravens are known to steal food from other birds and mammals. They can act in pairs: one individual captures an animal's attention, while the other steals its food. They pretend to hide food in one place while really hiding it somewhere else to fool other animals. Ravens can learn to talk better than many parrots and mimic other noises. They imitate wolves or foxes to attract them to carcasses that the raven cannot break open. They roll around in anthills so the ants swarm on them, or they chew the ants up to rub their guts on their feathers as an insecticide and fungicide or to soothe molting skin. Ravens point with their beaks to indicate an object to another bird and hold up objects to get the attention of other birds. They will console other birds and remember friends and family for years. They live complex social lives and express happiness, tenderness, surprise, emotion and rage through their own language. Ravens are very playful and play with other ravens, other animal species and humans. They mate for life and live in pairs. When children reach adolescence, they join gangs until they mate and pair off.

Pigeons are actually domesticated rock doves who were set free. They are marvelous parents: the father builds the nest, and both parents take turns incubating the eggs and even making milk in their crops for the young. Pigeons remember dozen of routes to find their way to familiar places, and can recognize their faces in mirrors. They can remember hundreds of photographs and images, are able to differentiate between photographs, and even differentiate between different human beings in a photograph. They have been known to be able to distinguish between Van Gogh and Chagall paintings. They can count, order items in ascending order and understand math rules. They have an amazing ability to remember people and places throughout the course of their life. Pigeon can recognize all 26 letters of the English language, be taught complex actions and response sequences, and can make responses in different sequences.

BIRDS PLAY Many birds have been known to play. Ravens and crows love to play and have been observed sliding down snow banks on their backs, cavorting in updrafts and sliding repeatedly down sloping church windows.

BIRDS GRIEVE Jay birds have been observed grieving, including an entire group of birds sitting for 48 hours near a dead brethren.

HOLDING GRUDGES Swans are highly intelligent and social animals. They remember who have been kind to them, and who have not. They usually only show aggression to those who have upset them, and will remember them. They have sharp vision and hearing and use a remarkable assortment of sounds to convey a broad range of emotions. Swans usually mate for life, with occasional “divorces” occurring. Male swans will occasionally baby sit an egg so the expecting mother can take a break.

BIRDS HAVE NAMES It has been discovered that birds name their offspring. They use smell memories to travel thousands of miles. They show advanced planning and art. They have been proven to perform arithmetic, invent words and express love through language.

MASTERS OF LANGUAGE Parrots not only mimic the words of humans, they also understand the meanings of the words. Studies show that they remember 90% of what they are told, including full sentences and even parts of songs. They are capable of performing math, identifying colors and communicating to humans what they want.

Parrots cannot bear to be alone. While most mate for life, all live in large social groups, sometimes with multiple species of birds.

GOOD MOMS Ostrich mothers lay their eggs in a communal nest, allowing the eggs and young to all be cared for by one bonded pair; up to 380 chicks have been seen being escorted by loving parents.

BIRD BRAINS Finches learn by listening to others and follow rules of syntax. Bengal finches use strict rules of syntax. If a zebra finch is sick, it will fake being healthy in front of other zebra finches, especially if there’s a chance to mate.

BACKYARD BIRDING ©

feed dry and free of mold are best. Moldy seeds are bad for bird health. Place feeders either WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® near a window or fairly far away to help prevent birds from colliding with windows when startled.

The most common feeder is a hopper or house feeder, usually made of windows of clear plastic that feed seed to a perching surface. These feeders attract cardinals, nuthatches, chickadees, grosbeaks, buntings and titmice. One without a lot of perching surface minimizes use by house sparrows or starlings. The most important thing is to keep feeders clean by washing with bleach water every few weeks. Washing with bleach water prevents the spread of disease.

Although slightly more expensive, bird food with black oil sunflower seeds attract a wide variety of desirable birds. A suet feeder attracts woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees and bluejays.

Some birders push suet or peanut butter into crevices in bark or in the cracks of old stumps to attract birds. Woodpeckers love dead branches on trees. Leave a dead branch on a tree to attract woodpeckers if it is safe to do so.

Watching the many species of birds that inhabit your ecosystem is a fun and fascinating pastime the whole family can enjoy together. You don’t need to spend money on food or feeders to attract birds to your yard. If you can leave a small area of your yard un-mowed, you can attract a lot of birds.

They eat the seeds from the grasses and weeds and use the area for cover.

Employing a feeder grants the ability for close study of birds.While all feeders draw birds, those that keep the bird

It is important to provide water for birds in winter too. Place the water in a spot in the yard that receives sun as its rays will melt some water for birds on even the coldest days.

A good guide book is essential for identifying birds. Looking up unfamiliar birds and learning about their distinguishing characteristics is part of the fun of birding.

Modestly priced binoculars now have coated lenses and other features that make them acceptable choices for bird watching. Don’t get zoom binoculars for birding. You tend to lose clarity at high magnification. A wide angle pair lets in more light and makes it easier to find birds.

BIRDS IN CAGES Birds' instinctive yearning to fly is thwarted when they are confined to a cage. Even in a large aviary, it is virtually impossible to provide birds in captivity with a natural existence, since naturally changing temperatures, food, vegetation, and landscape cannot be recreated indoors, nor, of course, can the birds fly freely.

As a result of the horrific traveling conditions they are forced to endure, many birds captured in the wild die long before arriving at their destination. Yet thousands of birds are still taken away from their families and flocks every year, packed up as if they were plastic dolls, and sold at bird shows or through pet shops. Many don't survive the journey, and those who do are likely to be destined for a life of misery.

Thousands of “pet” birds are abandoned by their human guardians each year. For people who have aviaries or who have the space for pairs or groups of birds to fly indoors, adoption from sanctuaries, rather than buying birds from shops or breeders, is recommended by animal advocates.

WILDLIFE: AMPHIBIANS ©

Amphibians are cold blooded, breathe air through their skin and do not have hair or scales.

Amphibians go through a metamorphosis; starting from an egg, morphing into larvae that is typically aquatic, breathing by gills, and growing into semiterrestrial adults that breathe by lungs and through moist skin.

REPTILE OR AMPHIBIAN? Amphibious means ‘belonging to both land and water’ - but not all amphibious creatures are amphibians. Marine iguanas, sea snakes, crocodiles and pond turtles are all amphibious but they are considered reptiles because they do not go through a metamorphosis. They also

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

have scales; amphibians have no scales. While both amphibians and reptiles come from eggs, amphibian eggs need to stay moist or wet as they develop and are usually laid in water.

WHO’S INCLUDED? Amphibians include frogs, toads, newts, salamanders and caecilians – who resemble earthworms or snakes and hide in the ground, making them the least familiar of amphibians.. Most amphibians eat small animals like insects.

Amphibians are divided into 3 major groups; salamanders, frogs and toads.

FASCINATING AMPHIBIAN FACTS THE BIGGEST The largest amphibian is the giant salamander at 4 feet 8 inches long.

The giant salamander is also the heaviest, weighing in at a whopping 88 pounds.

THE SMALLEST The smallest amphibian in the world is a frog from New Guinea, Paedophryne amauensis, at only 0.30 inches.

THE FASTEST The fastest amphibian is an Andean salamander, which can travel at speeds of 15 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED The giant salamander lives the longest, over 50 years.

METAMORPHOSIS Baby amphibians hatch from eggs in water, starting off as polliwogs or tadpoles with no limbs and breathing through gills like fish.

Some amphibians care for their

eggs and babies, while others abandon their eggs in water and offer no care. When amphibian eggs hatch, the babies do not look like their parents. They start off as a larva, then undergo metamorphosis to transform into an adult form. Some amphibians, like toads, the process of going from an egg to a toad may only takes a few weeks. For others, like bullfrogs, the process may take two years.

DEVOTED DADS Giant South African bullfrogs are devoted fathers who have attacked lions and elephants while defending tadpoles. Some male frogs in the rainforest, who send messages by drumming with their feet, are the sole caretakers of their young. After the mother lays eggs, the father guards the nest and carries his children on his back.

WILDLIFE: REPTILES ©

tors. They usually have limited means of maintaining a constant body temperature and rely on external sources of heat. Being cold blooded requires far less fuel to function.

A crocodile needs a fraction of the food a lion of the same weight needs, and can live half a year without eating. Due to their slow metabolism, reptiles can do well in areas where food sources are too low for most mammals and birds to live.

Reptiles are cold blooded animals, covered with scales, and mostly lay eggs.

Some reptiles eat plants, some eat animals and some eat both.

Reptiles are tetrapod vertebrates, meaning they have four limbs or, like snakes, they descended from four limbed ances-

Four major groups of reptiles include crocodilians, snakes, turtles, lizards and ttuatara – a lizard-like reptile that is the only surviving member of an order which flourished around 200 million years ago.

The study of reptiles, historically combined with that of amphibians, is called

herpetology.

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

Reptiles lay eggs on land, and the eggs musts stay dry. Many reptiles bury the eggs.

Mother pythons, mud snakes and some skinks wrap their bodies around their eggs to protect them. Alligator mothers carry newly hatched babies in their mouths. Some reptiles abandon their eggs and do not care for the babies.

About a fifth of snake species give birth to live young.

Warmer egg temperatures produce females for some turtles, cooler temperatures result in males, and temperatures in the middle will produce a combination of genders. With crocodiles, the results are reversed – with males usually born at higher temperatures. The sex of snakes is determined by chromosomes, as it is with mammals and birds.

Once hatched, most reptiles are independent and able to care for themselves. Babies look like miniature adults, though their colors may be different.

FASCINATING REPTILE FACTS THE BIGGEST The longest reptile is the reticulated python, measuring over 32 feet. The heaviest is the leatherback sea turtle, weighing over 1,900 pounds.

THE SMALLEST Leaf chameleons of Madagascar measure only an inch from nose to tail.

THE FASTEST Green sea turtles are the fastest reptiles, reaching speeds of 22 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED The Aldabra tortoise lives the longest, to over 150 years.

SMARTER THAN YOU THINK Reptiles are capable of solving complex problems and remembering what they have learned. They share the same level of intelligence as birds and mammals. They change techniques when presented with new challenges and learn from other reptiles.

They possess advanced social skills and flexible behavior – behavior that can be adapted to meet a particular situation. In captivity, they learn how to open hinged doors, open jar lids, have the ability to interpret and anticipate common activities such as feeding time and cage-cleaning time, and can even navigate mazes. In the wild they exhibit advanced social behavior including recognition of their family, pair bonding and loving care of their children.

They exhibit social learning, play behavior and cooperation.

Studies show they are capable of counting, advanced learning and problem solving. They are able to reverse course in addressing problems, unlearning incorrect approaches almost instantly. They have individual personalities.

UNDERGROUND CITIES

LOVING RELATIONSHIPS Shingleback skinks are often monogamous. They court for months with the male strutting, licking and nudging the female affectionately before mating. The reptilian couple will mate every breeding season for as long as 20 years. When one dies, its surviving partner will stay beside the body for days, tenderly touching it.

PLANNING AHEAD Australian monitors plan ahead and arrange ambushes when pursuing fast-moving prey. Monitor lizards have been shown to count snails at feeding time and learn to use their forearms to help extract insects from logs.

SINGING & DANCING Alligators gather together in large groups during the spring, usually one to three hours after sunrise, to sing and engage in “alligator dances” for courtship. Mothers defend their nests from predators. Shortly before hatching, baby alligators call their mother to the nest and begin vocalizing to synchronize the hatching of their siblings. Mother alligators gently assist with opening the eggs and carry the babies to a special pool called a nursery.

Young alligators will stay close to their mother and form social groups. They follow her wherever she goes, hop on her head to bask and follow her around on land like little ducklings. When in distress they call out for her, bringing her to their aid. They stay with their protective mother for up to 2 years after being born.

COMMUNAL LIVING Crocodiles are behaviorally complex creatures that live and work as members of a group. They can be incredibly tender and affectionate.

They play together, exhibit complex social interactions and gaze recognition, use tools, pair-bbond, practice monogamy, hunt together and have good memories. Expecting mothers guard their nests and protect their young until they are old enough to survive on their own, up to 3 years old. Babies are carried around in their mouths to protect them. Crocodiles have community nurseries where one mother watches over the hatchlings of many. Crocodiles have excellent communication skills, using body language and sounds, and even vibrate to make water ‘dance’, producing sounds that humans cannot hear.

SENSE OF DIRECTION Wild turtles who are caught and later released will head in the direction of the nearest water source. Captive turtles recognize the sight of their food container and sound of food rattling in it.

Green iguanas share nesting areas with as many as hundreds of other iguanas and construct complex burrow systems that are continuously improved upon. Babies hatching from eggs look around and duck back into the egg while observing other babies to determine if it is safe to emerge. They get excited and jump up and down when they see other babies emerging. Siblings will stay together for months, rubbing against each other frequently and wagging their tails like dogs. They sleep together and groom each other and walk in a line with a chosen leader. They rub each others' heads before returning to their family's territory, watching for predators together and protecting each other.

REPTILES AS PETS The lot of a reptile captured or bred for the pet store trade is grim. The trip from the breeder or dealer is typically cramped and unsanitary, and many reptiles do not survive it. Those who do will probably have health problems that don’t show up until months later. Unfortunately, reptiles are perceived as requiring minimal care rather than specialized care, so they’re big business—million of U.S. households have reptiles. Pet-store employees are rarely trained to effectively tend to the sensitive needs of reptiles and therefore cannot educate prospective reptile caretakers.

Welcoming a reptile into your home means a commitment of time, space, and money. You’ll need to provide the right temperature and humidity and specific light/dark cycles that may not coincide with your own or be convenient to you.

Backup power is necessary to keep a constant temperature in the event of a power failure. It is a harsh fact that most reptiles are carnivores—do you really want your freezer full of dead animals?

In all, costs for food, an enclosure, lighting, and vet bills can total hundreds of dollars per year.

Purchasing a reptile caught in his or her natural habitat encourages the removal of wildlife from delicate ecosystems.

Buying captive-bred animals only encourages breeders to replenish their stock. If you must have a reptile as a companion animal, consider adopting one from a local shelter or rescue group.

WILDLIFE: FISHES ©

covers wounds to prevent WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® infection.

Most fish have color vision that is at least as good as a human's. Many fish also have chemoreceptors that are responsible for extraordinary senses of taste and smell. Sensitive receptors allow fish to detect gentle currents and vibrations, and to sense the motion of nearby fish and prey. Some fish have organs that detect electric currents. Some can even produce electric currents, which they use in navigation and social communication.

Fish are cold blooded, live in water and are covered in scales. They breathe through gills located on the sides of their heads. Their gills take oxygen out of the water around them so they can breathe. Their limbs, if they have any, are in the shape of fins and do not have digits. They exhibit greater species diversity than any other group of vertebrates, with over 32,000 known species.

Fish live in oceans and freshwater ecosystems. Well adapted to their water world, fish secrete a special type of mucus from their skin. The slime coating helps them move through water faster, protects them against parasites and diseases and

Fish orient themselves using landmarks and mental maps based on multiple landmarks or symbols. They possess spatial memory and visual discrimination.

Over 97% of all known fish are oviparous, that is, the eggs develop outside the mother's body. Newly hatched babies are called larvae and do not look like their parents until they go through metamorphosis.

Jaws allow fish to eat a wide variety of food, including plants and other organisms. Many are specialists, eating very limited diets.

Others will eat almost anything. Cleaner wrasses eat parasites off of other fish, setting up cleaning stations that predators visit who even allow the wrasse into their mouths to clean their teeth.

FASCINATING FISH FACTS THE BIGGEST Fish range in size from the nearly microscopic to the gigantic. The longest fish is the whale shark at over 55 feet. The whale shark is also the heaviest, weighing 80,000 pounds.

THE SMALLEST The smallest fish is the tiny stout infantfish at only 0.3 in.

THE FASTEST The fastest fish is the swordfish, swimming at seeds of 40 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED European eels live the longest, well over 80 years.

SMART & SOCIAL Fish have been proven to be as intelligent as mammals. They can distinguish between larger and smaller quantities and can count. Fish clean and massage one another by rubbing up against each others’ pectoral fins.

They have advanced nervous systems that allow them to feel pain. They have highly-developed hearing capabilities that allow them to detect electric currents in the water, and can create their own electric currents. Archerfish fire jets of water to knock insects off foliage and into the water, requiring complex calculus calculations.

TOGETHER FOR LIFE

FRIENDS & FAMILY

French angelfish mate for life and spend most of their time swimming together in their coral reef homes.

When couples reunite after being separated, they joyfully encircle each other round-and-round in a romantic dance called "carouseling."

Fish live in groups with social hierarchies. They are able to recognize individual family members, form bonds with other fish, cooperate and even tell time.

WORKING TOGETHER Coral trout hunt in collaboration with moray eels. Cleaner wrasse perform rituals to coherce predators into letting them pick off parasites.

PROTECTIVE MOTHERS Some fish protect their babies by opening their mouths and letting the babies swim inside until the predator has passed by.

TOOL USERS Squid are very curious, have the ability to learn complex skills and use tools to repress their boredom and protect them from harm. They can change their body color and texture to not only blend in with their surroundings, but to convey different messages on both sides of their bodies, such as projecting a mating color on one side and warning off a predator on the other.

LOVERS OF MUSIC Goldfish not only enjoy listening to music, but they also can distinguish one composer from another and detect complex properties of sounds, such as pitch and timbre. Goldfish can tell different faces apart and are able to distinguish between different shapes, colors and sounds.

FISH FEEL PAIN While fish may have different brain structures than mammals, they do have nervous systems that comprehend and respond to pain. Numerous studies have proven that fish feel and react to pain. Without the ability to feel pain, it would be impossible for fish to survive. Pain perception is essential to animal survival and has deep evolutionary origins across all vertebrate species.

Over 8.4 billion fish are killed for food in the U.S. alone, with no federal laws to protect fish from pain on aquaculture factory farms, during fishing events or at slaughter.

FISH IN TANKS Fragile tropical fish, born to dwell in the majestic seas and forage among brilliantly colored coral reefs, suffer miserably when forced to spend their lives enclosed in glass aquariums.

Robbed of their natural habitat, denied the space to roam, they must swim and reswim the same empty cubic inches.

The popularity of keeping tropical fish has created a virtually unregulated industry based on catching and breeding as many fish as possible, with little regard for the fish themselves.

In the Philippines, the source of most saltwater fish sold in the U.S., many fish divers collect their prey by squirting cyanide or other poisons into the coral reefs where fish live.

Meant to stun them so that they will drift out of the reef for easy collection, the cyanide kills as many as half of the fish on the spot. Many others die from cyanide residue after being purchased. The poison also kills the live coral where the fish live, which can take thousands of years to grow back.

Most of the freshwater fish sold in the U.S. are easier to breed than their saltwater cousins and are bred on "fish farms." These breeding centers, seeking new market niches, create fish breeds that would never occur in nature. Treating fish as ornaments instead of as live animals, some fish breeders "paint" fish by injecting fluorescent dye into their bodies to make them more attractive to buyers.

WILDLIFE: INVERTEBRATES ©

TYPES OF INVERTEBRATES ● Marine invertebrates WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® are ocean animals without backbones, including starfish, sponges, jellyfish, corals and anemones. ● Mollusks have a soft body covered by an outer layer, a mantle. Many live inside a shell. Mollusks include slugs, snails, squid, octopuses and oysters. ● Crustaceans are a type of arthropod, meaning they have jointed legs. Their bones are on the outside of their bodies, like a shell. Crustaceans include shrimp, crabs, lobsters and barnacles. ● Worms are invertebrates that don't have legs. They live in soil, water, or inside other animals as parasites. Worms include earthworms, tapeworms and leeches.

Mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and birds all have backbones. All these animals make up less than 4% of the total animals species. Over 96% of all the animal species on earth are invertebrates. Invertebrates are cold blooded animals that do not have backbones and do not have a skeleton of bone, either internal or external. Some have fluid-filled skeletons, while others have hard exoskeletons, or outer shells.

● Spiders, centipedes and scorpions are part of the arthropod phylum, but they are arachnids, not insects, because they have eight legs. Centipedes and millipedes are myriapods and have lots of legs. The average home houses 30 spiders. You are always only three feet from a spider. ● Insects make up the largest group of animals in the world, the arthropods. There are over 1 million species of insects.

FASCINATING INVERTEBRATE FACTS THE BIGGEST The giant cranch squid the largest squid species in terms of mass. At over 40 feet long, it is the largest known invertebrate.

The longest invertebrate is the ribbon worm which can grow to 180 feet long.

THE SMALLEST The smallest, the wheel animal, is too small to see your eyes.

THE FASTEST Tiny mites are the fastest animals in the world when it comes to body size.

THE LONGEST LIVED Clams can live over 400 years. Some corals live even longer.

SEA GENIUSES The octopus has a sophisticated navigation system in its brain that helps it navigate complex mazes, as well as stay one tentacle ahead of any opportunist predators.

Octopi have been known to solve problems and play together, and have an impressive short-term memory.

They have even been known to sneak aboard fishing boats and pry open holds to steal captured crabs, and can open jars. They use shells and other objects to build defense structures against predators. They are capable of foresight, planning and using their tentacles as tools. Octopuses collect bottle caps, attractive stones and other finds from the ocean floor and decorate their dens with them, repositioning an object if it doesn’t seem to suit the design.

ARACHNIDA Spiders are invertebrates but are not considered insects because they only have two main body parts instead of three, eight legs instead of six and no antennae. Most spiders also have eight simple eyes, while insects have large, compound eyes. Some have no eyes and others have as many as 12. Spiders, along with ticks, mites, harvestmen and scorpions, are called arachnida. They are also classified into a special group called araneae because they have very slender waists compared to other arachnida.

Most spiders are carnivorous, usually feeding on insects. Some are big enough to prey on larger animals such as mice or small birds. Without spiders, insect numbers would skyrocket and bugs would devour our crops. Most spiders eat about 2,000 insects a year. Some spiders live in silk-lined burrows and leap out to capture prey. Some lie in ambush. Some go hunting in search of prey and others spin webs to entrap them. Some spiders capture prey with silk-made nets, and others use spider silk as "fishing lines". Spider silk is also used to protect their babies,

to create shelters and to assist them as they move and reproduce.

Some spiders even build "submarines" that hold air so they can stay under water.

Most live on land, but a few live in and on water and can run across water. Spider webs are made of continuous strands of spider silk produced from glands under their bellies. Most take about 60 minutes to construct. The webs have three parts: the frame, built first and attached to plants or other objects; the radii, which radiate out from the center like spokes of a bicycle and transmit vibrations from prey; and the catching spiral, the sticky threads that stretch without breaking making it difficult for insects to escape. Small and young spiders can travel for miles on air breezes, a travel method called ballooning. To lure other spiders from their webs, the jumping spider plucks rhythms at the corner of a web to mimic a trapped insect. Some spiders live in complex communities housing thousands of individuals, building large communal webs, working together to trap prey and sharing the harvest.

LARGEST BRAINS IN THE WORLD The animal with the largest brain in proportion to its size is the ant. They farm, gather, hunt, raise animals and engage in rituals. Ants are social insects and live in colonies of as many as 500,000 individuals. They divide jobs among each other. Queens lay eggs while all other females are workers who feed the babies, take out the trash, forage for food and supplies and defend the nest. Males only have to mate with the queen. Ants have two stomachs, one to hold food for themselves, and one for others. Some ants keep other ants, or other insects, as slaves forcing them to do chores. Ants have been farming for 70 million years, using sophisticated horticultural techniques to grow crops. They even keep "cattle", aphids which they milk by tickling them with their antennae.

They clip the wings of aphids that have them or produce chemicals from glands in their jaws to stop the development of their wings. They can also use chemicals to tranquilize aphids.

Ants "hear" by feeling vibrations in the ground with pecial sensors on their feet and knees. Their antennae and body hairs feel around while foraging for food. They communicate with a sophisticated language using chemicals known as “pheromones.�

One species, M. smithii, reproduces asexually, with all babies clones of the queen. There are no males. Army ants do not build permanent nests. They travel around attacking other colonies and other insects and build temporary campsites at night.

The largest ant colony discovered to date was over 3,750 miles wide. Ants engage in war, including psychological warfare.

WILDLIFE: INSECTS ©

Most insects go through 4 life stages: egg, larvae or nymph, pups and adult. Bugs do not have lungs and most have compound eyes, meaning each eye has many lenses.

Adult insects usually move about by walking or flying...and sometimes by swimming.

They are the only animals without backbones that fly. As it allows for rapid yet stable movement, many walk with their legs touching the ground in alternating triangles.

Insect species are divided up into 32 orders.

The largest group is beetles, with about 500,000 different species. One out of every four animals on the planet is a beetle.

Insects perform many ecological roles. They pollinate flowers and plants, produce silk, honey, wax and other products.

Blow-flies consume carrion. Pollinators are essential to the

life-cycle of many WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® flowering plant species on which most organisms, including humans, are dependent. Many other insects are considered ecologically beneficial as predators.

These highly adaptable creatures have evolved to live successfully in most all environments, though only a small number of species live in the oceans which are dominated by their cousin arthropods, crustaceans. Many insects spend at least part of their lives under water, breathing through gills, and some adult insects are aquatic and can swim. Some species, such as water striders, are capable of walking on the surface of water.

Many are solitary, while bees, ants and termites are very social and live in large, well-organized colonies.

FASCINATING INSECT FACTS THE BIGGEST Although there are other giant insects that are longer or wider than the goliath beetle, they hold the record for weight and can grow up to 4.5 inches long and weigh up to 3.5 ounces.

THE SMALLEST Fairyflies are as tiny as only 0.0055 inches long.

THE FASTEST Tiny mites, from the Anystidae family, are the fastest animals in the world when it comes to body size. They can run 20 times faster than a cheetah, the equivalent of a human running 1,300 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED The queen of termites have been known to live for 50 years, and may live for 100 years.

baby wolf spiders ride around on their mother’s abdomen.

Some insect fathers are also devoted to helping with raising the young. Female giant water bugs have been known to attach eggs to the back of the father who carries them around until they hatch. Wood roaches are monogamous, raise one group of children, and live in one log for their entire life.

INSECT LANGUAGE Insects can communicate with each other in a variety of ways. Male moths can sense the pheromones of female moths over great distances. Other species communicate with sounds: crickets stridulate, or rub their wings together, to attract a mate and repel other males. Some communicate with light. Insects have celestial navigation capabilities. Dung beetles use light from the moon to move across great distances in a straight line and also use the Milky Way to direct them.

DEVOTED MOTHERS

BUGS OF LIGHT

Many insects are devoted mothers, guarding and continuously cleaning their eggs and assisting the babies in hatching. Newborn babies live with their mother, nesting under her as she protects and feeds them. Parents and offspring communicate extensively and coordinate their daily routines. Some cockroaches carry their babies in little pouches like kangaroos and nourish them in the uterus with milk. Dung beetles tenderly care for their children by cleaning away toxic molds and fungi from the dung balls where the babies live. Wolf spiders carry their egg sacs with them and

“Lightning bugs” or “fireflies” are actually beetles, nocturnal members of the aptly named Lampyridae family. Fireflies take in oxygen and, inside special cells, combine it with a substance called luciferin. This chemical process takes place in dedicated organs located under the insects’ abdomens and produces the light. Fireflies flash their light in patterns that are unique to each of the 2,000 species. They are communicating with their light and each blinking pattern is an optical signal to a potential mate.

over half her weight in nectar and pollen. The energy in one ounce of honey could provide one bee with enough fuel to fly around the world.

EFFICIENT BRAINS

FARMING, MATH & LANGUAGE Bees practice agriculture, warfare and symbolic language. They can calculate the most efficient route between two points faster than super computers. They are capable of performing higher-order cognition. Bees are democratic in their decision making process. They use dance as a form of voting. Worker bees select which fertilized eggs to brood in queen or worker cells, while the queen decides the sex of her young. Fertilized eggs will become females, while unfertilized eggs will become males. Bees can learn from other species as well as communicate specific threats to predators from other species. They have different personalities and emotions.

They can become pessimistic and suffer from depression. They have careers: scout bees search for food sources, soldier bees work as security guards, undertakers remove dead bees from the hive. In addition to thousands of worker adults, a colony normally has a single queen and several hundred drones. The queen has all the babies, and also produces pheromones that serve as a social “glue” unifying and giving an individual identity to a bee colony.

Drones are males who fertilize the queen during her mating flight, then die instantly after mating. Workers are females that care for the queen, build beeswax combs, clean and polish the cells, feed the bees, handle incoming nectar, remove trash, guard the entrance and even air-condition and ventilate the hives. As field bees they forage for pollen, nectar, water and plant sap. When older bees perform jobs usually carried out by younger members, their brains stop aging and begin to age in reverse. Bees use the sun as a compass and navigate by polarized light when it's cloudy. Honeycombs are the most efficient structures in nature—the walls meet at a precise 120-degree angle, a perfect hexagon. To make one pound of honey, workers in a hive fly 55,000 miles and visit two million flowers. In just a single collecting trip, one bee will visit 50 to 100 flowers, returning to the hive carrying

Insects brains pack neurons 10 times more densely than mammal brains. Their brains also use each cell more flexibly than mammals, boosting computing power without having to increase the number of cells. They prove that animals with bigger brains are not necessarily more intelligent. Honeybees can count, categorize similar objects like dogs or human faces, understand "same" and "different," and differentiate between shapes that are symmetrical and asymmetrical.

Spiders’ brains are so large relative to the rest of their bodies, they extend out of their heads and all the way down into their legs. The minuscule brain of the C. elegans nematode worm has just 302 neurons, but is able to carry out the same functions as the nervous systems of higher organisms. Leeches have 32 brains (ganglia).

METAMORPHOSIS Butterflies are the second largest group of pollinators, following bees. Without their assistance, humans likely would not survive. These beautiful animals undergo a fascinating metamorphosis which takes place in four stages: egg, caterpillar, pupa and adult.

Mother butterflies attach their eggs with a special glue to caterpillar food, or “host” plant. When the caterpillar is born, it eats its egg, then begins eating the plant. When the caterpillar's insides grow too big for its outside, its covering splits and is shed. A new exoskeleton lies underneath. The caterpillar continues to shed numerous times, then becomes a pupa. It then seeks a sheltered spot, suspends itself by silken threads and sheds one more time forming a hard casing around its body. Inside this chrysalis, the pupa is growing six legs, a proboscis, antennae and wings. Within days, months or years, depending on the species, the chrysalis breaks open and a butterfly emerges. Butterflies can live in the adult stage from a week to a year, depending on the species. They have four wings, usually brightly colored with unique patterns made up of tiny scales.

They remember things they learned as caterpillars. They can fly up to 30 mph and up to 50 miles in a day. They learn home ranges and memorize locations of nectar and pollen sources, host plants and communal roosting sites. They are able to plan the most efficient routes by using calculations that mathematicians call the "travelling salesman algorithm". Many butterflies are migratory and capable of long distance flights, using the sun to orient themselves.

They also perceive polarized light and use it for orientation when the sun is hidden.

Butterflies "taste" with their feet through tiny receptors.

SAVING WILDLIFE ©

ECOLOGY Ecology is the relationship of living things to each other WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® and what is around them. It includes not only how those living things interact with each other, but how they interact with their physical environment, such as soil, water and climate.

Scientists who study ecology are called ecologists. They learn about living things by observing, seeing what happens, then recording what they find - all part of the scientific method.

Some ecologists study a specific habitat or species. They might study the behavior of a certain type of animal to learn how it interacts with the environment or other organisms. Or they may study many different species that depend on, or compete with, each other. What ecologists learn from their observations helps us to preserve biodiversity.

BIODIVERSITY Biodiversity refers to the all the variety of life on the planet, or the total variety of life in a certain area. It includes all the different species of plants, animals, fungi, and even microorganisms and bacteria on earth or a given area.

Biodiversity takes into account the similarities and differences among individuals of the same species, and includes communities of plants and animals that interact together.

We don’t know the total number of species in our world, but there are tens of thousands of species of plants and animals discovered so far, and more being discovered everyday.

Conserving animals and plants is important for the benefit of humans and the benefit of other species. Individual species help meet our basic needs, including providing materials for food, clothing, shelter and fuel. Plants produce the oxygen we need to breathe, and are the source of many medicines. Insects pollinate crops and control pest populations. Birds, reptiles, frogs and amphibians control insect and other animal populations. Microorganisms decompose waste and recycle nutrients. Biodiversity also provides us with recreation and contributes to our physical, mental and spiritual well being. Every species contributes to our world in its own unique way. Loosing any one species affects the balance of nature.

Threats to Biodiversity Human activities on earth in the last century have led to an enormous amount biodiversity loss, which continues to increase. The number of plants and animals becoming extinct exceed those of prehistoric mass extinctions. Loss of biodiversity also leads to genetic diversity loss and a loss of ecosystems.

The biggest threats to biodiversity include: ● Pollution: Despite efforts to reduce pollution, pesticides, acid rain, fertilizers and other pollution continue to

change the chemical balance of ecosystems, negatively affecting plants and animals. ● Habitat Destruction, Alteration and Fragmentation: The biggest cause in decline of species populations is loss of habitat. Development, wetland filling and other ecologically irresponsible activities reduce and fragment forests, grasslands, deserts and wetland habitats into areas too isolated and too small to support some animals. ● Invasive Species: The spread of invasive, non-native species also changes the composition of wildlife and wild lands, reducing or replacing native plants and animals. ● Illegal Collection and Hunting: Many animals are poached and collected for the pet trade. Commercial hunting has decimated species populations, and led to the extinction of some animals. Fish are threatened by overharvesting. ● Changes in Climate: Changes in the earth’s climate can be difficult for some species to adapt to, eventually leading to extinction.

ENDANGERED SPECIES Well over 900 plants and animals are endangered, and hundred more are threatened. Many of the reasons certain animals are disappearing forever are because of human activities.

Five Major Causes The mnemonic HIPPO represents the five major causes of declining wildlife biodiversity: H - Habitat Loss I - Invasive Species P - Pollution and Pesticides P - Population Growth (human)

CONSERVING & PRESERVING

and the Pet Trade

Conservation is the protection of things found in nature, including species, their habitats and ecosystems. It encourages the sensible use of the planet’s natural resources so they do not go extinct, and promotes keeping the environment clean and healthy.

O - Over-hunting and Over-collecting

The rapid decline of established biological systems around the world means that conservation biology is often referred to as a "Discipline With a Deadline" - we must act before it is too late.

Conservation is classified as either on-site conservation, which is protecting an endangered species in its natural habitat, or off-site conservation, which occurs outside of their natural habitat. ● In-situ (on-site) conservation involves protecting or cleaning up the habitat or defending the species from predators. ● Ex-situ (off-site) conservation may be used when in-situ conservation is too difficult or impossible. Animals may be removed from a threatened habitat and placed in a new location, which may be a wild area or within the care of humans.

Non-interference may also be used, which is called preservation.

Preservationists advocate for giving areas of nature and species a protected existence without interference from the humans. In this regard, conservationists differ from preservationists, as conservation engages society to seeks solutions for both people and ecosystems.

Environmentalism advocates the preservation, restoration and/or improvement of the natural environment, and seeks to control pollution and protect plant and animal diversity.

Habitat Loss results from human activities and land development.

Many animal species are in decline because their environment is no longer able to fulfill their basic requirements. All species require food, water, shelter, space and the ability to find a mate and have children. Some species require small habitats, while others need large areas to successfully survive.

Invasive Species are plants and animals transported from one country or region to another and introduced into the wild. While most do not survive in a foreign world, some assimilate into their new world and thrive. Often they out-compete native plants and animals for their niche in the ecosystem, upsetting the balance of nature.

Pollution and Pesticides, in forms of garbage and trash, air and water pollution, soil contamination and noise and light pollution, harm ecosystems and wildlife. Pesticides are toxic and harm more than their target. Pollution harms the environment and animals.

Population Growth and the Pet Trade threaten countless animal species. As humans take more and more wilderness areas for housing and industry, less land is available for wildlife. Native animals are often forced into less suitable habitats and can decline or disappear forever. Many “pets”, including fish, reptiles, spiders, birds, rodents and exotic mammals, are harvested from the wild.

Over-hunting and Over-collecting has impacted many endangered species, reeking havoc on ecosystems and eliminating entire species forever.

INDICATOR SPECIES

HOTSPOTS & COLDSPOTS ● Biodiversity Hotspots are regions with large numbers of species that do not live anywhere else in the world, where habitat destruction has occurred at alarming rates. Many organizations and agencies focus on saving these hotspots in an effort to do the greatest good and save the most species. Hotspots make up less than 2% of the planet. ● Coldspots, over 98% of the earth, are areas that have less species diversity but they need just as much help as areas with lots of biodiversity. In fact, some biodiversity coldspots are home to very rare plants and animals. Protecting these areas before too much destruction occurs prevents us from having to work backwards.

THE DOMINO EFFECT All plants and animals have many complex intertwining links with other living things around them. Hippopotamus have birds that feed off the insects that grow on them. If the hippo were to become extinct, so would the birds…leadi ng to further destruction as other species depend on the birds. This is referred to as Chains of Extinction, or the Domino Effect.

KEYSTONE SPECIES A keystone species is a plant or animal that plays a crucial role in how an ecosystem functions. Without the keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or would not be able to survive. While all species in a habitat rely on each other, keystone species have a huge impact on their environment. Their disappearance would start a domino effect, leading to other species in the ecosystem also disappearing.

An indicator species is a plant or animal species humans focus on to gather information about an ecosystem. Their presence or absence in an environment can be a signal that all is well, or something is not right. Certain types of plants or animals may exist in a very specific area. If the species begins to disappear, this ecoregion may be shrinking and action may need to be taken to save the environment. Indicator species can tell humans about the health of the environment. Many are extremely sensitive to pollution or human interference and serve as a “miner's canary”.

UMBRELLA SPECIES An umbrella species is a plant or animal species that has a wide range and requirements for living as high or higher than other animals in the habitat. If the umbrella species' requirements are met, then so are the needs of many other species in its ecosystem. The Monarch butterfly is an example of an umbrella species because of its lengthy migrations across North America, covering lots of ecosystems.

Any protections given to the Monarch will also “umbrella” many other species and habitats.

FLAGSHIP SPECIES Often times umbrella species are used by organizations and agencies to capture the public's attention for support for conservation efforts.

These flagship species - such as pandas, whales, tigers, gorillas and butterflies - are species that the public finds captivating and are interested in helping. When the flagship species is helped, so are species in their ecosystems that the general public may find less appealing.

SAVE THE EARTH THE THREE R’s REDUCE Reducing waste does not mean you have to reduce what you buy, it means shopping with the environment in mind. Consider the environmental impact of each product before you buy it. Make a list of what you need before you go shopping; this will reduce impulse buying. Buy in bulk. It is cheaper and eliminates small containers and excess packaging, which accounts for 50 percent of our domestic trash. You have bought your laundry soap like this for years. Think about what else you can buy in bulk!

Avoid buying throwaways that can't be recycled. For instance carry a camera but if you need to use a disposable camera, make sure that it can be recycled when you get the film developed. Some companies that make one-time use cameras, reuse and recycle up to 90 percent of the parts of their cameras when consumers send them in for developing.

Installing low-flow shower heads and faucets can save a family of four 280 gallons of water per month. Seldom used items, such as appliances and party supplies, often collect dust, rust and take up valuable storage space. Consider renting or borrowing them the next time they're needed. Remember, every time you make a purchase, you cast your vote to protect the environment.

REUSE Learning to reuse is easy, and after a little practice, it will become second nature. Reuse shopping bags or buy canvas bags and use them when you shop. Buy durable high quality goods for a longer life outside the landfill. Although durable goods may cost a little more at first, they will save you money and help save the environment in the long run.

Before throwing anything away, think about how each item can be reused. Be sure to use both sides of a piece of paper before recycling it. Donate clothing, furniture and appliances to charity. Hospitals and nursing homes often accept old magazines and schools reuse many items in their art and theater classes. Almost all glass, plastic, and metal containers can be reused for storage in the kitchen or the garage. Think before you toss.

If you want to reduce and reuse at the same time, take a two liter pop bottle and fill it with water. Add a few stones to weigh it down, place it in the tank of your toilet, and you will have reused a pop bottle and reduced two liters of water every time you flush.

RECYCLE

©

Reducing is the best way to protect the environment. HowWORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® ever, if you can't reduce something, reuse it, and if you can't reuse it, recycle it. Recycling means collecting, processing, marketing, and ultimately using materials that were once discarded. For example, this morning's newspaper can be recycled into insulation, packing material, wrapping paper and more newspaper. Plastic pop and milk jugs are recycled into lumber that is used for making durable playground equipment and park benches.

Many different materials can be recycled. Among these are aluminum cans, glass bottles and jars, plastics, tin cans, steel cans, brass, copper, car batteries, computer paper, office paper, corrugated cardboard, motor oil, scrap iron and steel, and tires.

Separate aluminum, steel and tin cans from other metals. If you aren't sure whether a can is aluminum or steel, check with a magnet. A magnet will stick to steel and tin but will not stick to aluminum. Wipe or lightly rinse all cans and make sure they are dry before recycling them. Prepare newspapers by folding them into brown paper bags or bundle with string into one foot stacks. Prepare glass by rinsing and removing metal or plastic rims and lids. Sort by color: brown, green and clear. Prepare plastics by rinsing and separating by numbers. If plastic is recyclable, it will have a number on the bottom of the container. Break down corrugated cardboard boxes. Separate office paper into white, colored and glossy stacks. Remove sticky tabs and paper clips. Motor oil should be collected in no larger than five gallon containers and be free of contaminants. Tires are accepted from individuals no more than five per year.

SAVE THE EARTH Our planet has a natural environment, known as ‘ecosystem’, which includes all humans, animals, plants, land and water. Human activities have caused much depletion and destruction of this ecosystem.

Environmentalism advocates the preservation, restoration and/or improvement of this natural environment by controlling pollution and protecting plant and animal diversity. Environmentalists attempt to balance relations between humans and the various natural systems on which they depend to achieve sustainability.

Earth advocates work to protect natural resources and ecosystems through education, activism and the political process. They seek to give the natural world a stronger voice in human affairs.

©

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

mans out. We must protect the entire planet for the survival of all species — plants, animals and people. Governments, businesses, communities and individuals must make better decisions to live in balance with nature. Through science, responsible planning, legislation and daily choices, we can ensure the survival of the ecosystem.

There are many ways you can help to save wild places and wild animals. Volunteer. Recycle. Install solar panels on your roof. Organize an event where you live. Change a habit. Help launch a community garden. Communicate your priorities to your elected representatives. The possibilities are endless! Do something nice for the earth, have fun, meet new people, and make a difference.

The environmental issues of today know no borders. We can't just put up fences around natural places to keep hu-

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES LAND The world population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050.

As our population increases, there is even more pressure on forests, grasslands, deserts and other natural areas to provide food, housing and energy for humans. These demands increase the stress of already fragmented natural areas suffering from pollution, deforestation, disrupted migratory routes and changing environmental conditions.

Already, large numbers of people have been declared food-insecure; resulting in a land rush with nations hurrying to secure properties for agriculture and fuel crops. Forests are being cleared at alarming rates, an estimated 18 million acres each year. At the same time, poor agriculture practices lead to millions of acres of land lost annually through soil erosion and land degradation.

Trillions of tons of garbage is produced every year, while more and more goods are produced...resulting in the creation of more waste. Most garbage is buried underground in landfill sites, causing environmental and health concerns.

If we don’t make changes now, future generations will not experience the same plentiful, diverse planet that we know today.

AIR Air pollution is a mixture of solid particles and gases in the air. Car emissions, chemicals from factories, dust, pollen and mold spores may be suspended as particles. Ozone, a gas, is a major part of air pollution in cities. When ozone forms air pollution, it's also called smog.

Air pollution is caused by polluters who refuse to clean up toxic air emissions, despite proven pollution control technologies. Most air toxics originate from human-made sources, including automobiles, factories, refineries and power plants.

Indoor sources include building materials and cleaning solvents.

As the environment suffers, humans suffer from asthma, lung disease, heart ailments, cancer and shortened lives. Acid rain, often caused by pollutants in the atmosphere from automobile or industrial processes, falls from the sky in the form of rain, snow, fog or dry material. Devastating effects to forests, aquatic systems, buildings and human health can result. Air toxics then contaminate our food products, drinking water and soil.

Uncollected litter can flow into streams, storm water drainage systems, local bays and estuaries. About 18% of litter, usually traveling through storm water systems, ends up in local streams, rivers, and waterways.

About 80% of marine debris comes from land-based sources.

WATER Pollution, habitat fragmentation and destruction, and overfishing are having devastating effects on our oceans, rivers and lakes.

Acidification, caused by increased carbon emissions, degrade coral reefs and corrode the shells of sea creatures. Freshwater ecosystems provide us with drinking water, food, energy and recreation.

These ecosystems are also critical to plants and animals. Increased demands for food, energy and material goods have placed unprecedented pressure on these fragile environments. Within the next 20 years, half of the world’s population may face water shortages.

Oceans are a critical part of the earths support system. Acid rain pollutes our seas. Oceans are degraded by spills and chemical runoffs. The largest living structures on earth, coral reefs, are among the greatest storehouses of biodiversity on the planet. Up to 70 percent of coral reefs are expected to be lost by 2050 due to human activities.

Animals may get trapped or poisoned with litter in their habitats.

Cigarette butts and filters are a threat to wildlife and have been found in the stomachs of fish, birds and whales who have mistaken them for food.

Debris falling from vehicles is an increasing cause of automobile accidents.

Cleaning up litter in the U.S. costs hundreds of dollars per ton, about ten times more than the cost of trash disposal, for a cost totaling about $11 billion per year. It often takes a long time before litter from the environment disappears.

Water is under threat from fertilizers and chemical runoff, dumped chemical and industrial wastes, untreated sewage and medicinal residues.

GENETIC POLLUTION LITTER Litter consists of waste products such as containers, papers, and wrappers which have been disposed of without consent. In addition to intentional littering, almost half of litter on U.S. roadways is now a result of accidental or unintentional litter, debris that falls off of improperly secured trash and recycling collection vehicles and pickup trucks. Heavy traffic and proximity to waste disposal sites are known to correlate with higher litter rates.

Litter can harm the environment in a number of different ways. It is a breeding ground for disease-causing insects and rodents. Its "ugliness" damages the appearance of scenic environments. Open containers such as paper cups or beverage cans can hold rainwater, providing breeding locations for mosquitoes which have been known to spread diseases such as West Nile Virus and Malaria.

Genetic modification of plants and animals is a controversial subject, with many experts believing the ill impacts far outweigh the benefits to mankind. Manipulating plant DNA to produce super crops is a dangerous global experiment. When released into the environment, they cannot be recalled.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can spread through nature and interbreed with natural organisms. They can contaminate natural environments in an unforeseeable and uncontrollable way. This is referred to as 'genetic pollution', a major threat to the environment.

Due to commercial interests, the public has been denied the facts about GMO ingredients in the food chain. The absence of labeling laws in many countries denies individuals the power to avoid them.

Biological diversity must be protected and respected. It is fundamental to our planet’s survival.

COMPANION ANIMALS ©

DOGS

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

The most widespread form of interspecies bonding occurs between humans and dogs. These intelligent, social, emotional and playful creatures have learned to communicate and interact with humans in a way no other species can.

The genius of dogs is that they use humans to get what they want.

At one point in wolf evolution, a group of wolves decided to take advantage of humans. Dogs domesticated themselves through a natural process and have become a part of the human family.

No other species can read our gestures as well as dogs can. It allows them to be incredible social partners with humans. Their ability to interpret our gestures also helps them complete tasks they can’t complete on their own.

FASCINATING DOG FACTS THE BIGGEST The largest breed of dog is the Irish Wolfhound. The St. Bernard is the heaviest. The largest known dog was an English Mastiff which weighed 343 lb. The tallest dog was a Great Dane that stood 42 inches at the shoulder.

THE SMALLEST The world’s smallest dog breed is the Chihuahua. The smallest known adult dog was a Yorkshire Terrier that weighed only 4 oz.

THE LONGEST LIVED The average lifespan of dogs is 10 to 13 years, however, many live much longer. The world's oldest living dog lived 26 years, 9 months.

A LOT LIKE US ● Dogs experience all the same emotions humans do, especially love. ● While dogs are better at living in the moment than humans, it's a myth that dogs have no sense of time. ● Dogs and humans have the same type of slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) when sleeping.

Twitching and paw movements are signs that a dog is dreaming. ● Dog nose prints are as unique as human finger prints and can accurately identify them.

●Feral dogs have figured out how to use subways to travel to the best food sources. ●Dogs chase their tails for a variety of reasons: curiosity, exercise, play, anxiety, predatory instinct or fleas.

SOME AMAZING DIFFERENCES ●A dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 – 100,000 times more acute than humans. ●When dogs kick after defecating, they are using scent glands on their paws to further mark their territory. ● Puppies have 28 teeth, while adult dogs have 42. ● Dogs’ eyes contain a special membrane that allows them to see in the dark. ● Dogs can detect when storms are coming. ● A dog’s normal temperature is between 101 and 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. ● Dogs only sweat through the pads of their feet. ● Dogs have three eyelids: an upper lid, a lower lid and a third lid which keeps the eyes moist and protected. ● A dogs entire body, including the paws, is covered with touch-sensitive nerve endings. ● Dog noses secrete a thin layer of mucous that helps them absorb scent. They lick their noses to sample the scent through their mouth.

DOG LANGUAGE ● Dogs have their own complex language that includes vocal sounds, body postures, facial expressions and scent. ● Different smells in a dog’s urine tells other canines whether the dog is female or male, old or young, sick or healthy, happy or angry. ● Male dogs raise their legs while urinating to aim higher to leave a message that they are tall and intimidating.

AMAZING ABILITIES Most dog breeds have good vision. Dogs do see in color, but not the same way that humans do. A dog's vision is similar to people with red/green color blindness, meaning they can see bluish and greenish shades but not reddish ones.

Dogs can detect sounds far better than humans, hearing sounds at four times the distance. They have ear mobility, allowing them to rapidly pinpoint the exact location of a sound. Eighteen or more muscles can tilt, rotate, raise or lower a dog's ear.

While the human brain is dominated by a large visual cortex, the dog brain is dominated by an olfactory cortex. The olfactory bulb in dogs is about forty times bigger than in humans, with 125 to 300 million smell-sensitive receptors. Their sense of smell is one hundred thousand to one million times more sensitive than a human's. Their wet nose is essential for determining the direction of the air current containing the smell. Cold receptors in the skin are sensitive to the cooling of the skin by evaporation of the moisture by air currents.

Dogs are omnivores and can adapt to a wide-ranging diet. They are not dependent on meat nor a very high level of protein as was once thought. Dogs will healthily digest a variety of foods, including vegetables and grains. Unlike wolves, dogs have adaptations in genes involved in starch digestion that contribute to an increased ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet.

Dogs can detect cancer too small to be detected by a doctor, and can detect lung cancer by sniffing a human's breath. Dogs can be trained to detect epileptic seizures and diseases.

PART OF THE FAMILY Companion dog populations grew significantly after World War II as suburbanization increased. In the 1950s and 1960s, dogs were kept outside more often than they are today. From the 1980s, there have been changes in the role of the companion dog, such as the increased role of dogs in the emotional support of their human guardians. The broadening of the concept of the fam-

ily, and a better understanding of dog intelligence and emotions, have led to dogs actively shaping the way a family and home are experienced.

Studies show dogs help to mediate family member interactions. Most dogs also have set tasks or routines undertaken as family members. Increasingly, humans are engaging in activities centered on the needs and interests of their dogs. An estimated 1 million dogs in the United States have been named the primary beneficiary in their guardian's will.

Dogs have the same response to voices and use the same parts of the brain as humans to do so. This gives dogs the ability to recognize emotional human sounds. They have over 100 known facial expressions, many of them made with their ears. They also communicate with a variety of vocal sounds. One of the primary functions of a dog's tail is to communicate their emotional state.

It is estimated there are 77.5 million people with dogs in the United States. Nearly 40% of American households have at least one dog. 67% have just one dog, 25% two dogs and nearly 9% more than two dogs.

A LONG HISTORY OF COMPANIONSHIP The keeping of dogs as companions has a long history. Dogs began from a single domestication thousands of years ago.

They are not a descendant of the Gray wolf as previously believed. They were originally domesticated from a now extinct wolf.

Dogs were the first domesticated animals and have been widely kept as working, hunting and companion animals. Domestic dogs have been selectively bred for millennia for various behaviors, capabilities and attributes.

There are currently up to one billion dogs around the world.

Domestic dogs inherited complex behaviors from their wolf ancestors which were pack hunters with complex body language. These sophisticated forms of social cognition and communication may account for their trainability, playfulness and ability to fit into human households and social situations. Dogs still share some behaviors with their wild relatives. They defend their territories and mark them by urinating, serving notice to other animals that it is their territory. Many dogs also bury bones or toys for future use, just as wolves bury a kill to secure the meat for later.

Modern dog breeds show more variation in size, appearance and behavior than any other domestic animal. They are highly variable in height and weight. Petting dogs is proven to lower human blood pressure.

COMPANION ANIMALS ©

CATS Cats have long been valued by humans for companionship and are the most popular companion animal. There are over 500 million domestic cats throughout the world. Descended from African wildcats, they began to share homes with humans about 10,000 years ago.

Domestic cats are still similar in anatomy to wild cats, with strong, flexible bodies, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws and teeth adapted to killing small prey. They have excellent hearing, sense of smell and night vision.

Cats are felids, which are mammals that include lions, tigers, cougars, jungle cats, wildcats, mountain cats, sand cats and

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

other wild cats. They all share a common ancestor that lived around 6–7 million years ago in Asia. Domestic cats are not radically different from wildcats, so they can interbreed. Unlike dogs, cats have not undergone major changes during the domestication process. They are still capable of surviving in the wild.

Despite being solitary hunters, cats are social animals and communicate with a variety of vocalizations, as well as cat pheromones and body language. They are known for their love of play. They also engage in play fighting with each other, other species and humans.

FASCINATING CAT FACTS THE BIGGEST Most cats weigh between 8.8 and 11 lb, though some, such as the Maine Coon, can weigh over 25 lb.

THE SMALLEST Very small cats can weigh 4 lb or less.

The largest cat on record weighed 47 lb. The smallest adult cat on record weighed 3 lb.

THE LONGEST LIVED The average lifespan of a cat is 12.1 years, while some live much longer. The oldest cat on record lived 38 years.

A LOT LIKE US ● Cat brains are 90% similar to human brains — more similar to human brains than dog brains. ● Cats have the cognitive ability to sense human emotions and mood. ● Cats usually only meow to communicate with humans, not other cats. ● Cat noses are ridged with a unique pattern, just like human fingerprints. ● Cats rub against humans to be affectionate and to mark their territory with scent glands located around their faces, tail area and paws. ● Cats can change their meow to manipulate humans.

●Female cats tend to be right pawed, while male cats are more often left pawed. ●Cats make over 100 different sounds.

AMAZING DIFFERENCES ●Most cats don't have eyelashes. ●Cats sleep 70% of their lives. ●In one litter of kittens, there can be multiple fathers. ● The ability of cats to find their way home is called “psi-traveling.” Cats either use the angle of sunlight, or magnetized cells in their brains, as compasses. ● A group of cats is referred to as a "clowder", a male cat is called a "tomcat", an unaltered female is called a "queen" and a baby cat is referred to as a "kitten". ● Cat can travel at a top speed of approximately 31 mph over short distances. ● Cats greet one another by rubbing their noses together. ● Cats have survived falls from over 32 stories onto concrete, due to their “righting reflex.” ● Cats dislike the water because their fur does not insulate well when wet. ● Adult cats have 30 teeth; kittens have 26 teeth.

● Cats are extremely sensitive to vibrations and can detect earthquakes 15 minutes before humans. ● Eating grass rids a cats' system of fur and aids digestion. ● A cat's back paws aren’t as sharp as their front paws because the back claws don’t retract and thus get worn. ● Cats have 1,000 times more data storage than an iPad. ● Cats can detect cancer.

SPECIAL SENSES

body before the legs on the other side. Camels and giraffes also walk this way. As their walk speeds into a trot, a cat's gait changes to that of most other mammals.

Cats have protractable and retractable front claws. In their normal position, the claws are retracted to keep them sharp by preventing wear. This allows the silent stalking of prey.

Cats can voluntarily extend their claws on one or more paws for hunting, climbing, self-defense, kneading or for extra traction on certain surfaces.

Cats are able to tolerate quite high temperatures.

They conserve heat by reducing the flow of blood to their skin and lose heat by evaporation through their mouths.

They can only sweat a little, with sweat glands located primarily in their paw pads. They pant for heat relief only at very high temperatures. Their kidneys are so efficient they can survive on a diet of meat alone, with no additional water, and can even quench their

Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level humans require to see.

Unlike some big wild cats, domestic cats have slit pupils. They see in color, but have limited ability to distinguish between red and green.

Cats have excellent hearing and can detect an extremely broad range of frequencies. They can hear higher-pitched sounds than either dogs or humans. They do not use this ability to hear ultrasound for communication, but it aids in hunting since many rodents make ultrasonic calls. Cat hearing is extremely sensitive and is among the best of any mammal.

Their movable ears amplify sounds and help them sense the direction from which the sound is coming.

Cats also have an excellent sense of smell. They are very sensitive to pheromones which they use to communicate through urine spraying and marking with scent glands.

To aid with navigation and sensation, cats have dozens of movable whiskers on their bodies, especially on their faces. Their whiskers are highly sensitive to touch and provide information on the width of gaps and the location of objects in the dark. They work by touching objects directly and by sensing air currents.

They also trigger protective blink reflexes to protect the cat's eyes from damage.

AMAZING ABILITIES Extra lumbar and thoracic vertebrae account for the cat's spinal mobility and flexibility. Unlike human arms, cat arms are attached to the shoulder by free-floating bones that allow them to fit through any space they can fit their heads. A cat's skull is unusual among mammals, having very large eye sockets and a powerful and specialized jaw. Within the jaw, cats have teeth adapted for killing prey and tearing meat.

Cats, like dogs, walk directly on their toes, with the bones of their feet making up the lower part of their leg. They are capable of walking very precisely by placing each back paw directly in the spot of the corresponding front paw, minimizing noise and tracks.

This also provides sure footing when navigating rough terrain.

Unlike most mammals, cats move the two legs on one side of the

thirst by drinking seawater.

Cats are carnivores and have difficulty digesting plants.

About 20% of a cat's diet needs to be protein. They are dependent on a constant supply of the amino acid arginine and cannot produce taurine. They do eat grass occasionally.

Since cats cannot fully close their lips around something to create suction, they lap with their tongues to draw liquid upwards into their mouths. Cats have relatively few taste buds compared to humans and cannot taste sweetness. Their taste buds instead respond to bitter tastes, acids and amino acids.

PROLIFIC BREEDERS Female cats are seasonally polyestrous, which means they may go into heat over and over during the course of a year.

The mating season begins in spring and ends in late autumn.

Heat periods occur about every two weeks and last around 4 to 7 days. Multiple males will be attracted to a female in heat. The males will fight over her and the victor wins the right to mate. Cats are superfecund; that is, a female may mate with more than one male when she is in heat, and different kittens in the litter may have different fathers. The gestation period for cats is about 66 days. The size of a litter is usually three to five kittens. Babies are weaned between six and seven weeks old, and teens normally reach sexual maturity between 5–10 months. Females can have two to three litters per year, so they can produce up to 150 kittens by the time they reach ten years old. They can be spayed or neutered as early as 7 weeks to limit unwanted reproduction.

This surgery also prevents undesirable sex-related behavior, such as aggression, marking (spraying urine) in males and yowling (calling) in females.

from and gives the cat a better observation point. During a fall from a high place, a cat can reflexively twist its body and right itself using its acute sense of balance and flexibility.

A DAY IN THE LIFE Free ranging cats are active both day and night. A house cat's activity is quite flexible and varied, and often synchronizes with their human family. Cats allowed outdoors are known to establish territories from 17 to 69 acres in size.

Cats conserve energy by sleeping more than most animals, usually 13–14 hours per day. They dream often throughout the day.

Cats use many vocalizations for communication including purring, hissing, growling, snarling, trilling, grunting and many forms of meowing. Different body language, including position of ears and tail, relaxation of their body and kneading of paws, indicate their mood. No one knows how a cat purrs. Cats have no unique anatomical feature that is known for causing the sound.

Cats are known for their cleanliness, spending many hours licking their coats. The cat's tongue has backwards-facing spines which act like a hairbrush.

Cats hunt small prey, primarily birds and rodents. They use two hunting strategies, either stalking prey actively, or waiting in ambush until the animal comes close. Many present their prey to their human guardians. Some experts believe this is done because the cat is trying to teach its human to hunt, or is trying to feed their inept human.

Most cats have a fondness for perching in high places. In the wild, a higher place may serve as a concealed location to hunt

Among domestic cats, males are more likely to fight than females.

Cats arch their backs, raise their fur, turn sideways and hiss to appear more impressive and threatening. Often, the ears are pointed down and back to avoid damage and to listen for any changes behind them. They may also vocalize loudly and bare their teeth to further intimidate their opponent. Fights usually consist of grappling, slapping and biting. Serious damage is rare, as the fights usually don't last long.

FERAL CATS Feral cats are domestic cats that were born in, or have reverted to, a wild state. They are unfamiliar with and wary of humans and roam freely in urban and rural environments. There are 25 to 60 million feral cats just in the United States. They usually live in colonies, occupying a specific territory with a source of food. A grass roots effort to humanely reduce the feral cat population is called 'trap-neuter-return'. Cats are trapped, neutered, immunized and then released. Volunteers continue to feed and care for the cats throughout their lives.

An established colony helps to prevent other feral cats from moving into an area.

DECLAWING CATS A cat's claws are used to capture prey, for climbing, and in selfdefense. Claws are an integral part of a cat's life, but their use can also be a problem for cats' human cohabitants. Declawing, however, is a painful and permanently crippling procedure that should not be practiced. There are effective and humane alternatives to declawing that can reduce or eliminate clawing damage.

Declawing involves at least 10 separate, painful amputations. It is a serious surgery, not just a manicure. Declawing is amputating the last joint of each toe, including the bones, not just the nail.

Possible complications include reaction to anesthetic, hemorrhage, bone chips which prevent healing, recurrent infections and damage to the radial nerve, pain, and possible abnormal regrowth of the nails. The nails may grow back inside the paw, causing pain but remaining invisible to the eye. Declawed cats need regular X-rays to monitor this problem. Declawing results in a gradual weakening of leg, shoulder, and back muscles, and, because of impaired balance, declawed cats have to relearn to walk much as would a person who lost his or her toes. Without claws, cats are virtually defenseless, and this often leads to neurosis and even skin and bladder problems. Without claws to mark their territory, even house-trained cats will often urinate and defecate outside the litter box in a desperate attempt to ward off intruders.

It does not make cats more "mellow." Declawed cats may be morose, reclusive, and withdrawn, or they may be irritable, aggressive and unpredictable. The lack of claws turns many cats into biters. Declawed cats feel so insecure, lacking their first line of defense, that they tend to bite more often as a means of self-protection.

People who have their cats declawed simply do not understand how important claws are to a cat and do not know how else to deal with the problem. With a little effort and commitment to your cat's welfare, you can eliminate the excuse to declaw your cat and make him or her a better companion as well. To train a kitten or to retrain an adult cat simply requires regular nail trimmings, scratching posts and giving your cat specific instructions as to where to claw and where not to claw. Another option is nail caps applied to cats' newly trimmed nails, allowing cats to scratch naturally, without harming furniture.

DOG & CAT OVERPOPULATION purebred animals are bought for the same identification purposes.

There is also a tendency for inbreeding in purebred animals because of certain desirable characteristics. This has led to problems, such as deafness, hip dysplasia and epilepsy.

Each year, in the United States, 27 million cats and dogs are born. Around 5 million of these animals are euthanized because homes are unable to be found for them. It is a tragic end to these healthy young lives.

Overpopulation is a problem that results in thousands of animals being killed each month. There are many reasons for this; all are preventable. The answer to this huge problem is simple: reduce the number of animals coming into this world. Through the routine procedure of spaying and neutering dogs and cats, there would be fewer unwanted animals, thus reducing or eliminating the heartbreaking process of euthanizing innocent animals left in our overcrowded shelters.

One group of people cannot personally take the blame for this overpopulation epidemic since there are many contributors to the problem. The responsibility is shared by irresponsible guardians, pet shops, puppy mills and professional and "backyard" breeders.

Just one litter of puppies or kittens can be responsible for reproducing thousands more in just a few years.

IRRESPONSIBLE CARETAKERS While there are many breeders and pet shops, the greatest cause of the overpopulation tragedy is individual caretakers who refuse or are afraid to get their companion spayed or neutered. Sometimes parents want their children to experience "the miracle of birth"; other times people let their non-spayed/neutered animals wander, and their companion animals end up mating with other companion animals. There are also people who are genuinely uncomfortable having their companions neutered, "taking away their masculinity," which often results in accidental mating. All of these factors add up to many innocent lives that need to find homes.

Mixed-breed animals are not the only ones who end up in shelters. A surprising fact is that purebred dogs make up 20 percent to 25 percent of shelter populations.

Sometimes a family that just wanted to breed one litter cannot find homes for all the puppies, or the pet store is unable to sell the animal. The bottom line is, each animal that is purchased from a pet store or breeder potentially takes up a home for an animal that could have been adopted from a shelter.

PET STORES & PUPPY MILLS Puppy mills are facilities that mass breed dogs in almost assembly-line conditions, where dogs are considered nothing more than products. Puppy mills are able to survive because of the demand for purebred animals. The animals are usually kept in squalid conditions, with just enough subsistence to keep them alive until they can be sold at wholesale prices to pet stores. Many of these animals are prone to disease because of the horrid conditions they are raised in and the stress of being shipped over great distances at a very young age.

THE SIMPLE SOLUTION Spaying and neutering are important steps toward ending companion animal overpopulation. They are simple surgical procedures that are done on the reproductive organs of female and male animals at the age of 6 months or older. The procedure eliminates the ability of the animal to reproduce and, in the long term, can prevent many difficulties, such as tumors or bacterial infections that can occur in older animals.

CASH CROPS Another obvious contributor to the overpopulation problem are professional and "backyard" breeders.

These people are contributors to a market driven by the same American ideals of buying brand name products because of the associations that go along with them; many

Animals should never be purchased from puppy mills, backyard breeders and pet shops.

Adopt - never shop.

FARM ANIMALS ©

Farm animals have unique personalities. They're fascinating creatures with the ability to love, form friendships, mourn, get angry and show a variety of other emotions. They are deserving of our respect and our compassion.

The consolidation of farms in recent years has radically altered the face of farming. Today more animals are being raised on less land, with profound effects on the animals, rural communities and the environment.

This shift in farming has been termed "industrial agriculture" or "factory farming," as thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of animals, are crowded into huge buildings with no access to the outdoors. These animals may spend their entire lives on slatted floors, under

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

which their manure collects until it is pumped into football field-sized lagoons.

The problems with factory farming are numerous. Animals have no outlet for natural behaviors— in some cases, they're not even allowed to turn around. They are separated from their mothers at only a day or two old, are subjected to painful procedures without anesthesia and may be undernourished or overfed. To control disease, industrial farmers feed antibiotics to the animals, resulting in the growth of disease-resistant bacteria that are harder to treat in both animals and humans.

FASCINATING FARM ANIMAL FACTS COWS & CATTLE Cattle, as individuals or as a herd, possess many unique traits, the most distinctive being their social disposition. They are extremely social animals and rely heavily on "safety in numbers"— herds can form with up to 300 animals. Each animal can recognize more than 100 individuals and will closely bond to some herd members, while carefully avoiding others. While the bond between mothers and daughters is particularly strong, calves also maintain lifelong friendship with other herd members.

It is thought that cattle were first domesticated in 6,500 B.C. from wild cattle in Europe and the Near East. Only in the past two centuries have cattle been differentiated into breeds raised for beef or milk. Some cattle still exist as "dual purpose" breeds.

People often refer to all cattle as "cows." Technically, cows are actually adult females who have, usually through having babies, developed adult physical characteristics. Heifers are young females who have not yet had babies or developed the mature characteristics of a cow. Male cattle can be divided into three groups: bullocks, steers and bulls. A bullock is a young, uncastrated male who has begun to display secondary sexual characteristics. A steer is a castrated male, whereas a bull is a mature, uncastrated male.

Cows are sturdy yet gentle animals. They are social animals and form strong bonds with their families and friends that can last

their entire lives. The bond between a cow and her calf is especially powerful. If a mother cow is caught on the opposite side of a fence from her calf, she will become alarmed, agitated and call frantically. If they remain separated, she will stay by the fence through blizzards, hunger, and thirst, waiting to be reunited with her baby. This bond continues even after the calf is fully grown.

Cows "moo" to each other fairly frequently, allowing them to maintain contact even when they cannot see each other. But when they can see each other, they also communicate through a series of different body positions and facial expressions.

Cattle usually stand between 4 feet, 9 inches and 5 feet, 6 inches, and “beef cattle” range from 850 to 2,500 pounds depending on breed and gender. In non-commercial herds, cows have been observed nursing their male calves for up to three years.

Cattle have almost panoramic vision, which allows them to watch for predators or humans. They can see in color, except for red.

They have an amazing sense of smell, and can detect scents more than six miles away.

Cattle are ruminant herbivores and will swallow vegetation whole, then later masticate their "cud" (chew their partially digested food).

The scientific name for the cattle group is "bos taurus," a subfamily of the bovidae family, which includes other hollow-horned animals. Interestingly, bulls are much less likely to use their horns than cows. However, the level of aggression can be influenced by the degree of confinement.

Cattle will learn from each other's mistakes: If an individual is shocked by an electric fence, others in the herd will become alarmed and avoid it. If a herd is confined by an electric fence, only 30% will ever be shocked.

Cattle enjoy swimming and running in the moonlight, as they have been shown to remain active for a longer period between their two sleep sessions when the moon is full.

The lifespan of cattle averages 20 to 25 years. However, the lifespan of cattle raised for beef is significantly shortened. These animals are typically weaned at 6 to 10 months, live 3 to 5 months on range, spend 4 to 5 months being fattened in a feedlot, and are typically slaughtered at 15 to 20 months.

DUCKS & GEESE Swimming gracefully across a pond or waddling comically across the land, ducks are a common feature of the landscape of most of America.

There are statues devoted to them in a park in Boston, and every year that city holds a parade for the Bostonian ducklings. Walt Disney created the sputtering Donald Duck, and Warner Brothers followed with a less feisty, yet still speech-impaired, Daffy Duck.

Ducks are very social animals. Males and females sometimes live in pairs or together with their ducklings. They communicate both vocally and with body language. At other times ducks spend much of their time—during both day and night—in larger groups.

The domestic duck has a normal life span of ten years. By contrast, a pair of geese will get together to raise a family and, for the most part, will stay together the rest of their lives (up to 25 years), raising new families each year.

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of geese is that they form a giant "V" across the sky. This amazing trick actually helps each bird fly further than if flying alone. When a goose falls out

of formation, she will feel the drag and move quickly back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front of her. When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back into formation leaving another goose in the front position. They even honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Geese have very strong affections for others in their group (known as a gaggle). If one in the gaggle gets sick, wounded, or shot, a couple of others may drop out of formation and follow the ailing goose down to help and protect him. They try to stay with the disabled goose until he dies or is able to fly again, then they catch up with the group or launch out with another formation.

Much of a goose's time is spent foraging for food, most of which is obtained by grazing. They honk loudly and can stretch their long necks out to great length when scared or threatened.

SHEEP & GOATS When people think of goats, they often think of a clotheslinemunching vagrant. Goats and sheep, however, are more often the source of clothing than the consumers of it. The fibers that become textiles—wool and cashmere, among many other types—are shorn from these animals.

Sheep and goats, like cows, are ruminant animals. They have a four-chambered stomach, using the first chamber to store food (cud) which they then bring back into their mouths to chew again before fully digesting it. These grazing animals often prefer noxious weeds and plants, which makes them great environmentalists.

Goats are shy at first, but will show adoration and devotion once you have gained their trust. They're frolicsome and have a gentle disposition, but when angered, they can retaliate quickly with a strong head-butt.

Goats are also clever animals who have been known to use their horns to open gates and feed bins, create and enlarge holes in fences, and batter down boards in confined areas.

They also use their horns as back scratchers. Goats are most comfortable in groups, which are known as "tribes."

Like goats, sheep like to stick close to one another for comfort and security. Either black or white, these animals are incredibly gentle. Lambs form strong bonds with their mothers, but they have also been known to bond closely with humans.

If a person hangs a piece of clothing outside, a goat who has bonded with that person will run to it for safety when frightened.

Goats and sheep deserve the same love and compassion from humans that they show to each other.

PIGS Despite their reputation, pigs have many positive attributes including cleanliness, intelligence and a social nature.

Pigs are indeed clean animals.

Yes, they do roll in mud, but only because they can't sweat like people do; the mud (or water) actually keeps them cool. If available, pigs, who are excellent swimmers, prefer water to mud. Pigs also carefully keep their sleeping area clean, and will designate a spot as far from this area as possible for waste. Even piglets only a few hours old will leave the nest to relieve themselves.

Those who know pigs can't help but be charmed by their intelligent, highly social and sensitive nature. Pigs are actually more intelligent than any breed of dog. Like dogs, piglets learn their names by two to three weeks of age and respond when called.

They are also very discriminating eaters, and are particular about their living space. Pigs enjoy novelty and are extremely active and inquisitive.

When free to roam, pigs spend much of their day enthusiastically smelling, nibbling, manipulating objects with their snouts and rooting ("nosing") about in the soil for tidbits. Rooting is so essential to a pig that some animal scientists say that "a rooting pig is a happy pig." Their powerful but sensitive snout is a highly developed sense organ. A pig's sense of smell is so keen that the animal is trained in France to unearth truffles. Using their snouts as shovels, pigs toss clumps of soil and twigs high into the air, searching for the rare and delicious fungus that grows underground near the roots of oak trees. They are also used by police to help search for drugs.

Few species are more social than pigs; they form close bonds with each other and other species, including humans. They are quite gregarious and cooperate with, and defend, one another.

Adults in the entire social group will protect a piglet, leaving their own litters if necessary to defend an endangered youngster. If one pig starts to dig out tree roots, others invariably join in.

Touch and bodily contact are especially important to pigs. They seek out and enjoy close contact, and will lie close together when resting. They also enjoy close contact with people familiar to them; they like being scratched behind the ears and shoulders, and, at the touch of your hand, will grunt contentedly and roll over for a belly rub.

Pigs are vocal and communicate constantly with one another.

More than 20 of their vocalizations have been identified. Pigs most often say "gronk" (more commonly known as "oink"), and will say "baawrp" when happy. They have an elaborate courtship ritual, including a song between males and females. Newborn piglets learn to run to their mother's voice, and the mother pig sings to her young while nursing. After nursing, a piglet will sometimes run to her mother's face to rub snouts and grunt. Pigs also enjoy music.

When she is ready to give birth, a sow selects a clean, dry area apart from the group, sometimes walking several miles to search for a good nest site and to gather preferred bedding materials. She hollows out a depression in the ground and lines it with grass, straw or other materials. For several days after her babies are born, she defends the nest against intruders. When her babies are five to ten days old, she encourages them to leave the nest to socialize with the other pigs.

Weaning occurs naturally at three months of age, but young pigs continue to live with their mothers in a close family group. Two or more sows and their piglets usually join together in an extended family, with particularly close friendships developing between sows. Young piglets play with great enthusiasm, play-fighting and moving or throwing objects into the air. Pigs appear to have a good sense of direction, too, as they have found their way home over great distances. Adults can run at speeds around 11 miles an hour, and can trot for relatively long distances.

Yet many pigs do not lead such noble lives; the hog industry confines many female pigs to farrowing crates, claiming these are necessary to protect piglets from being crushed by their careless mothers. Yet when given more room, sows are very gentle with their piglets. Before a mother pig lies down in a bed of straw, she roots around to make sure all the piglets are out, a safeguard against accidentally harming one of them.

CHICKENS Chickens form strong family ties. A mother hen begins bonding with her chicks before they are even born. She will turn her eggs as many as five times an hour and softly cluck to her unborn chicks, who will chirp back to her and to one another. After they are hatched, the devoted mother dotes over her brood, teaching them what to eat, how to drink, where to roost, and how to avoid enemies. Male chickens (called roosters) are most famous for greeting each sunrise with loud crows, often acting as alarm clocks for farmers.

Chickens are fascinating creatures. They have more bones in their necks than giraffes, yet they have no teeth. They swallow their food whole and use a part of their stomach called the gizzard to grind it up. Chickens actually have many similarities to humans: the majority are right-footed (just as most humans are right-handed), they see a similar color range, and they love to watch television. Many also enjoy classical music, preferring the faster symphonies to the slower ones.

Having a private nest in which to lay eggs is extremely important to hens. The desire is so strong, in fact, that a hen will often go without food and water, if necessary, to use a nest. The nest-building process is fascinating. A hen will first scratch a shallow hole in the ground, then reach out to pick up twigs and leaves, which she drops onto her back.

After she has gathered some material, she'll settle back in the hole and let the material fall off around the rim. She will continue to do this until her nest is completed.

As highly social animals, chickens can bond very closely to other animals, including humans. They will fight to protect their family and will mourn when a loved one is lost. When they have bonded with a human, chickens will often jump into his or her lap to get a massage that they enjoy fully with their eyes closed, giving every indication of being in ecstasy.

"It's just a chicken" is a retort heard often when concern for the welfare of chickens is exhibited. This comment reflects just how misunderstood these animals are. Chickens are just as deserving of our respect and compassion as are all other animals.

TURKEYS A bald eagle, as the nation's official bird, adorns the Great Seal of the United States of America. But if Benjamin Franklin had had his way, a turkey, not a bald eagle, might have famously gripped those 13 arrows and an olive branch as part of the seal. Franklin knew, like others who have spent time around this large bird, that it would have been an honor for the turkey to represent the U.S. Originating from the Mexican wild turkey, the turkey was domesticated by Native Americans in prehistoric times and introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers in the 1500s. Early American settlers brought descendants of the Mexican wild turkey to the U.S. and crossed them with another subspecies of wild turkey indigenous to eastern North America to produce the forerunner of the modern domestic turkey.

Turkeys are usually characterized by large tail feathers that spread into a fan when they are courting or alarmed. Turkeys also have several oddly named appendages: the caruncle, snood, wattle and beard. A caruncle is a red fleshy growth on the head and upper neck of the turkey. A snood is the red fleshy growth from the base of the beak which hangs over the side of the beak. A wattle is the red, loose appendage at the turkey's neck. A beard is the black lock of hairy feathers found on a male turkey's chest.

The American Poultry Association recognizes eight breeds of turkeys: Bronze, Narragansett, White Holland, Black, Slate, Bourbon Red, Beltsville Small White, and Royal Palm. The most commonly raised commercial turkey today is the Broad-Breasted White variety, which has all-white plumage and descends from the White Holland. Some small farmers are trying to bring back "heritage breeds"—turkeys that originated in North America—by raising breeds other than the Broad-Breasted White. Certain breeds are listed as "critical" by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy: those having fewer than 500 breeding birds in North America, with five or fewer primary breeding flocks. These include Beltsville Small White, Black, Jersey Buff, Narragansett, Slate, Bronze, White Holland, and White Midget. Royal Palm is

listed as "rare," with fewer than 1,000 breeding birds in North America, and seven or fewer primary breeding flocks.

Most turkeys raised for food have been genetically selected to have large breast meat, and they are unable to fly or reproduce without artificial insemination. They are fed a mix of corn and soybeans during their short life. Over 260 million turkeys were slaughtered for food in 2003 in the United States, most at about 14–18 weeks of age. Commercial, domestic hens (or female turkeys) weigh 15–18 pounds by 14– 16 weeks of age, and heavy toms (or male turkeys) weigh 25-32 pounds by 16–18 weeks.

Five subspecies of wild turkeys still inhabit much of the United States, with a population estimated at 6.5 million. The most prevalent bird is the Eastern wild turkey, whose forest territory ranges from Maine to parts of Kansas and Oklahoma. Wild turkeys are smaller in size than their domestic counterparts, with a longer neck and body. They have a rich, brown-shaded plumage with a metallic or iridescent sheen, and white and black bars on their primary wing feathers. Toms can stand up to 4 feet tall and weigh more than 20 pounds, while hens are about half that size and weight. Wild turkeys eat nuts, greens, insects, seeds, and fruit, and can live 3–4 years. Their predators include human hunters and animals who disturb their nests, such as crows, raccoons, skunks, snakes and opossums.

Hens begin nesting in late March or early April, laying one egg a day until the clutch reaches 10–12 eggs. They nest on the ground, in a hidden area in the forest or fields of tall grass. Incubation lasts for 28 days, and hatching occurs over a 24–36 hour period in late May or early June. Poults, or baby turkeys, stay near the nest until they are about 4 weeks old and can fly 25–50 feet. This allows them to escape predators by roosting in trees for the night, usually near their mother.

By three months of age, turkey groups will begin to form a social hierarchy, and an established pecking order is set by five months of age, at which time groups show subdivision by gender. As full-grown adults, wild turkeys can fly at 55 miles per hour and run at 25 miles per hour.

Hens are protective of their young. They will hiss and ruffle their feathers to scare away trespassers, and will only abandon the nest as a last option. Hatching begins with pipping, where the baby rotates inside the egg, breaking the shell in a circular pattern with its egg tooth (a sharp spike on its beak).

Hens cluck as they check the eggs, beginning the critical imprinting process. Social cohesion among the babies is evident the first day after hatching, as is attachment to the mom. Vocal and visual signals are used to maintain close contact. This facilitates the learning of certain important activities, particularly feeding. Turkeys are social animals who prefer to live and feed together in flocks.

Wild turkeys are not protected by legislation. Commercial turkeys are not even included in the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, although poultry make up over 95% of the animals killed for food in America. They are raised in crowded factory farms where they are not able to nest or feed like their wild cousins.

COMPASSIONATE LIVING Š

of prejudice called speciesism. Defenders of speciesism often argue that humans are superior to other WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ÂŽ species because of their greater intelligence. Taken to its logical extreme, this argument would imply that humans with higher I.Q. scores should have more rights than humans with lower I.Q. scores. However, we have developed the sensitivity to extend basic human rights to all humans, whether or not they meet any criteria for intelligence, capacity or potential. But animals are commonly experimented on without their consent, and even killed, if it suits human purposes. This gross inequality is what we are trying to address with the concept of "animal rights."

"Compassionate living" is a concept based on the belief that humans have a moral responsibility to treat animals with respect, and that the interests of humans and animals should be considered equally. This means that in any decision that could potentially affect the life of an animal, that particular animal's interests should not be dismissed simply because it is inconvenient for us to consider them.

Although it may not always be easy to determine accurately the best interests of an animal, we can safely assume that animals generally prefer to live, to be free from pain and to express their natural behaviors.

The failure of humans to consider an animal's needs/interests as equal to those of humans is an expression

Another common assertion is that humans are superior to animals because we possess the capacity to understand morality, as well as the ability to determine right from wrong. Since some animals may lack these same abilities, it is argued that humans are not obligated to treat them in any particular way. However, if only those who are capable of making and understanding moral judgments were to be accorded basic human rights, then infants, young children, and the severely ill or mentally challenged would be excluded. It is equally logical to affirm that, since humans are the only ones who can make moral judgments, that it is our responsibility to do so on behalf of the animals.

All animals, including humans, have the ability to experience pleasure and pain. Unfortunately, humans have tended to inflict tremendous amounts of pain and suffering on animals without any consideration of how this affects the animals themselves. By making compassionate daily choices, you can help end widespread animal abuse and exploitation.

COMPASSIONATE LIVING FACTS WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO WEAR Fur: Each year more than 40 million animals are senselessly tortured and killed to satisfy the dictates of fashion. Wild-caught fur is obtained by setting traps or snares to capture fur-bearing animals. Once an animal is caught it may remain in the trap or snare for several days starving or slowly strangling. Farm-raised fur comes from animals kept in tiny, filthy cages, deprived of adequate protection from the elements. As a result, animals develop stereotypical behavior, including pacing, head bobbing, and self-mutilation.

The techniques used to kill animals on fur farms include neck snapping or "popping", electrocution with rod shoved into the anus and gassing or smothering.

Wool: Sheep raised for wool are subjected to a lifetime of cruel treatment. Lambs' tails are chopped off and males are castrated without anesthetic. In Australia, where 80% of all wool comes from, ranchers perform an operation called "mulesing" where huge strips of skin are carved off the backs of lambs' legs. This procedure is performed to produce scarred skin that won't harbor fly larvae, so that the rancher can spend less time caring for the sheep. The shearing of sheep can be a brutal, as workers are encouraged to shear as quickly as possible. As a result, an estimated one million Australian sheep die every year from exposure. Sheep that are no longer useful for their wool are sent to crowded feedlots and then transported to the slaughterhouse.

Leather: By-products of the beef industry are defined by the parts of the cow that are not consumed by humans. These include hooves, some organs, bones, and skin. Skin (leather) accounts for about half of the by-product of the beef industry. Like meat, leather is a product made from animals that experienced the horrors of factory farming, transport and slaughter. The leather industry uses some of the most dangerous substances to prepare leather, including formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, various oils and some cyanide-based dyes.

the needs and desires of the visitors in mind, not the needs of the animals. Many animals in zoos and aquariums exhibit abnormal behavior as a result of being deprived of their natural environments and social structures. Some zoos and aquariums do rescue some animals and work to save endangered species, but most animals in zoos were either captured from the wild or bred in captivity for the purpose of public display, not species protection. The vast majority of captive bred animals will never be returned to the wild. When the facility breeds too many animals they become "surplus" and often are sold to laboratories, traveling shows, shooting ranches, or to private individuals unqualified to care for them.

WHAT YOU CHOOSE FOR ENTERTAINMENT Circus: Animals used in the circus spend the majority of the year imprisoned in small cages or on chains, traveling from show to show. The training endured by circus animals is almost always based on intimidation; trainers must break the spirit of the animals in order to control them. It is not uncommon for an elephant to be tied down and beaten for several days while being trained to perform, and tigers are chained to their pedestals with ropes around their necks to choke them down.

Rodeo: Horses and cows used in rodeos are abused with electrical prods, sharp spurs and "bucking straps" that pinch their sensitive flank area. During bucking events, horses and bulls may suffer broken legs or run into the sides of the arena causing serious injury and even death. During calf-roping events, a calf may reach a running speed of 27 miles per hour before being jerked by the neck to an abrupt stop by a lasso. This event has resulted in animals' punctured lungs, internal hemorrhaging, paralysis and broken necks.

Greyhound and Horse Racing: Once greyhounds begin their racing careers, they are kept in cages for about 22-1/2 hours a day. The cages are made of wire and are barely big enough for dogs to turn around. Dogs considered too slow to race are sold to research facilities or killed (20,000-25,000 each year) - very few are adopted. More racehorses are bred than can prove profitable on the racetrack. As a result, hundreds are sent to slaughter every year.

Zoos and Aquariums: While zoos and aquariums may appear to be educational and conservation-oriented, most are designed with

WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO EAT Every year billions of animals are raised and killed for human consumption. Unlike the family farms of the past, today's factory farms are high-revenue, high-production entities. On a factory farm, animals are confined to extremely small spaces, which allows farmers to concentrate on maximizing production. Because this type of overcrowding breeds disease, animals are routinely fed antibiotics and sprayed with pesticides. They are also fed growth hormones to enhance productivity. These chemicals, antibiotics and hormones are passed on to the environment, as well as to consumers of meat and dairy products.

Beef: About 41.8 million beef cattle are slaughtered annually in the United States. For identification purposes, cattle are either branded with hot irons or "wattled," a process in which a chunk of flesh from under the cow's neck is cut out. Raised on the range or in feed lots, cattle when large enough are crammed into metal trucks and taken to slaughter. On the way to slaughter, these cattle may travel for hours in sweltering temperatures with no access to water. Animals unable to stand due to broken legs or illness are called "downers" by the meat industry. Downers are electrically prodded or dragged with chains to the slaughterhouse, or left outside, without food or water, to die.

farmers "debeak" them. Male chicks, considered by-products of laying hen production, are either tossed into plastic bags to suffocate slowly, or ground into animal feed still alive.

Pork: In the United States each year more than 115 million pigs are raised on factory farms and slaughtered for human consumption. Factory-farmed pigs are raised in crowded pens which are enclosed inside huge barns. The air in these barns is filled with eye- and lung-burning ammonia created by urine and fecal waste collected below the floors. Breeding sows (or "animal production units") spend their lives in metal crates so small that they cannot turn around. Denied adequate space and freedom of movement, these sows often develop stereotypical behavior, repetitive movement such as head bobbing, jaw smacking, and rail biting. At the slaughterhouse, pigs are stunned (often inadequately), hung upside down before their throats are cut, and then bled to death. If workers fail to kill a pig with the knife, that pig is carried on the conveyer belt to the next station, the scalding tank, where he or she may be boiled alive.

Chicken: Every year approximately 8.785 billion chickens are raised and slaughtered for human consumption in the U.S., most on factory farms. Crowded and unable to express natural behavior, chickens begin to peck excessively at each other. Rather than solve this problem by providing adequate space for chickens, factory farmers "debeak" them, a painful procedure where the bird's sensitive upper beak is sliced off with a hot metal blade. Chickens raised for consumption have been genetically altered to grow abnormally large. As a result, many broiler chickens' bones are unable to support the weight of their muscle tissue, which causes them to hobble in pain or become crippled. At the slaughterhouse, chickens while still fully conscious are hung upside down by their feet and attached to a moving rail. Birds missed by the mechanical neck-slicing blade and boiled alive are called "redskins".

Eggs: There are more than 459 million egg-laying hens in the U.S. 97% are confined to "battery" cages -- tiny wire boxes roughly 16 by 18 inches wide. Five or six birds are crammed into each cage. Hens are forced to produce 10 times more eggs than they would naturally. When egg production slows, factory farmers use a method called "forced molting" to shock the hens into losing their feathers, which causes them to begin a premature laying cycle. "Forced molting" involves starving the hens and denying them water for several days, during which many die. To keep hens from pecking each other in their crowded cages, factory

Milk: About half of the 10 million milking cows in the U.S. are kept in confinement on factory farms, forced to produce 10-20 times the amount of milk they would naturally. This is extremely stressful, and many "burn out" at a much younger age than their normal life expectancy. Up to 33% suffer painful infections. To continue milk production, a cow must bear a calf each year. Although calves elsewhere stay with their mothers for a year or more, on factory farms they are immediately removed so milk can be sold for human consumption. Calves are sold to the beef or veal industry or become replacements for "burned out" dairy cows.

WHAT PRODUCTS YOU CHOOSE Despite the modern alternatives to animal testing, millions of animals suffer and die each year for the "good" of cosmetics and household products. No law in the U.S. requires cosmetic, household product, or office supply companies to test on animals, but many companies do so to protect themselves against liability. However, animal testing does not necessarily make a product safe for humans. Most animal tests were developed over 50 years ago and are significantly flawed and inferior to modern alternatives. Use your dollars to send a strong message that animal testing is outdated and unnecessary. Support only companies committed against animal testing.

CHOOSING VEGANISM A vegan (pronounced Vee-g'n) is someone who tries to live without exploiting animals, for the benefit of animals, people and the planet. A vegan does not eat any animal food products, avoids wearing animal-derived products and does not purchase toiletries, cosmetics and cleaning products that have been tested on animals or contain animal based ingredients. They also refrain form supporting animal entertainment and other industries that exploit animals.

Instead, vegans choose from thousands of animal-free foods, products and entertainment. Veganism is a philosophy, not a diet. This philosophy is the belief in the right of all sentient beings to be treated with respect, not as property, and to be allowed to live their lives.

Many people become vegan through concern of the way farmed animals are treated. Some object to the unnecessary ‘use’ and killing of animals – unnecessary as we do not need animal products in order to feed or clothe ourselves. Vegans also help the planet. Plant-based diets only require around one third of the land and water needed to produce a typical Western diet. It is much more sustainable to eat plant foods direct than use up precious resources feeding farmed animals. Farming animals and growing their feed contributes to deforestation, water pollution and land degradation.

Choosing a life free from animal products means choosing a path that is kinder to people, animals and the earth.

Adopt A Farm Animal from World Animal Foundation WAF Adopt A Farm Animal Kits make great gifts and and make a difference for animals and the environment. can be sent directly to the recipient. Simply supply the recipient's name and mailing address as shipping Your WAF Adopt A Farm Animal Kit comes in a information. We'll even include a letter stating the Deluxe WAF Folder and includes: Adopt A Farm Animal Kit is from you. ● Glossy Photo of Your Adopted Farm Animal ● Adopt An Animal Adoption Certificate ● Fact Sheet About Your Sponsored Animal ● Help Animals Info Cards Packed With Information On Animal Issues & How You Can Help Animals And The Environment

WAF's Adopt A Farm Animal symbolic adoption is $35 and helps the World Animal Foundation to preserve the planet and protect its animals. Adopt a farm animal for yourself, or order an Adopt An Animal Kit as a gift.

Help make a difference for animals - Adopt An Animal Today at WorldAnimalFoundation.org!

ETHICAL CHOICES ©

Ethics addresses questions of morality, such as what makes our actions right or wrong. Animal ethics focuses upon the constantly evolving way in which society thinks of nonhuman animals. Through our use of animals as goods for food, clothing, entertainment and companionship, animal ethics is something that we all interact with on a daily basis. Environmental ethics is the philosophy that considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including the non-human world. There are many ethical decisions made by humans with respect to the environment.

When we begin to explore our behavior towards animals and the environment, we find that what is presented as acceptable conduct is often inconsistent. While we love and

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

value the nonhuman members of our family, such as the cats and dogs who share our homes, we distance ourselves from the lives of billions of wild animals, farmed animals, animals used in experimentation, animals used for clothing and animals used in the entertainment industry.

Our consumer choices shape our daily lives and it is through them that we have come to regard some animals not as individuals, but in terms of the financial value placed upon them. The distance we maintain between their lives and our own allows our use of their bodies to continue unchallenged. Can this inequality in how we regard other animals ever be truly justified?

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS Environmental ethics address questions of right and wrong regarding the natural world and our relationship with plants and animals. We must find meaningful ways to deal with pollution, resource degradation and plant and animal extinction - not only because it is vital to saving our human race - but because it is simply the right thing to do.

All plants and animals are an important part of the planet and are a functional part of human life.

Maintaining environmental ethics ensures we are doing our part to keep the environment safe and protected. It is essential that we respect and honor the environment and use morals and ethics in our daily decisions.

Environmental ethics builds on scientific understanding by bringing human values, morals and improved decision making into the conversation with science. While moral reasoning is not a substitute for science, science does not teach us to care. Scientific

knowledge alone does not provide reasons for planet protection. It only provides data, knowledge and information. Environmental ethics uses this information to ask how can we live in harmony with the environment and why should we care.

Environmental ethics considers three key propositions: ● The planet and its plants and animals are worthy of our ethical concern. ● Plants, animals and the environment have intrinsic value; moral value because they exist, not only because they meet human needs. ● We should consider whole ecosystems, including other forms of life, in our daily decisions.

Industrialization has created pollution and ecological imbalance. It is not only the duty of that industry to make changes to protect the environment, but all of us must make daily decisions that help to restore the environment and make it sustainable.

ETHICAL CONSUMERISM Ethical consumerism is buying things, only when needed, that are made ethically. Generally, this means they are made without harm to or exploitation of humans, animals and the environment. Ethical consumerism involves positive buying and moral boycotting.

but continue to buy from companies that harm animals and the environment, than we are participating in that unethical behavior.

Ethical consumers research products before purchasing to ensure they are environmentally friendly, animal friendly, sustainable and do not exploit humans.

We must also not limit our places in society to that of consumers only.

We are, after all, people not consumers, with the free will to take more direct action. Our Moral boycott means refusing to responsibility does not end after we buy products that exploit humans, stop ourselves from buying animals and the environment. unethical products. We must also Shopping is a form of voting; a way work to stop unethical corporations to express our moral choices. If we from abusing the planet and care about the planet and animals, animals.

Positive buying means favoring ethical products, be they fair trade, cruelty free, organic, locally produced, recycled or re-used.

ANIMAL ETHICS Different approaches to animal ethics, such as welfarism and abolitionism, vary greatly both in their philosophical viewpoints and their practices. Their shared focus is achieving the inclusion of nonhuman animals within our moral community.

Welfarism The call for ‘higher-welfare’ products, through consumer demand for 'humane treatment' and products such as organic and free range meat, eggs and dairy, is termed welfarism. Welfarism modifies systems of abuse through changes to legislation and working practices, while allowing exploitation of nonhuman animals to continue.

Abolitionism By rejecting their commodification as ‘products’ and property, abolitionism affords nonhuman animals a right to life and freedom from exploitation. Abolitionism challenges the legitimacy of abusive industries and what we demand from them, working to end suffering by ending exploitation as a whole.

Animal Ethics In Practice We can prevent nonhuman animals from being degraded into the class of things by promoting a compassionate attitude towards them. An attitude that demonstrates a lack of respect for other animals and unfair behavior towards them is known as speciesism.

Like both racism and sexism, speciesism is a prejudice which builds a general disregard for the lives of others based upon an unreasonable differentiation. Only by allowing all animals equal consideration can we be unprejudiced in our actions.

When we start to value nonhuman animals as individuals, we recognize that they are not mechanical units of production and profit.

Gradual changes to how animals are treated, confined and slaughtered may alter aspects of how we use other animals but they do

not challenge the wrongs of their enslavement. On the surface, welfare changes may appear compassionate, however, by looking at the wider picture we can see that they leave animals within abusive environments and allow their exploitation to continue. By regulating cruelty, welfarism actively accepts the trade in nonhuman animal lives.

Killing and unacceptable harm remain an inherent part of farming animals for food and clothing, using animals in experiments, and using animals for entertainment, regardless of the practices used. The use of buzzwords such as 'humanely raised', and commercial branding of organic and free range products, wrongly reassures us as consumers. The cheery media persona designed for these 'products' enables us to put a falsely positive image to a process which commodifies animals and causes them to suffer.

By creating a change within our own consumer demand, we can create a wider reaching change for the better. When we choose not to support exploitative industries and avoid products taken from animals, we reject the commodity status placed upon them and recognize their value as individuals.

Veganism (refraining from consuming all animal products) is the simple action of removing our personal demand for animal exploitation. It is the practical application of the idea that animals are not property, nor ours to use and manipulate.

production. Millions of male chicks and calves are killed each year as 'by-products' of the egg and milk industries, considered worthless since they cannot produce milk or eggs. The dairy cows and egg-laying hens themselves are killed at a fraction of their natural lifespan, when they become too worn out to produce enough milk or eggs to be profitable.

Simply buying ‘higher-welfare’ animal products cannot change these facts. If consumers want to ensure that the food they buy is ‘cruelty-free’, by far the best way to achieve this is to buy vegan food. It is entirely possible and increasingly easy to have nutritious and tasty food and practical and stylish clothing without exploiting other animals. Therefore the question is not, “Why shouldn’t we use and kill animals?”, but, “Why would we?”

ANIMAL ETHICS & YOU If you believe that we should be kind to animals and treat them with respect, only one further step is needed to reach the conclusion that all animals deserve our kindness and respect. If we extend to other animals the same compassion and morality we would hope for ourselves, we can begin to alleviate the harm that we cause them. Compassionate choices made by us as individuals offer protection to those who need it most. Changing the way in which harm takes place is not enough: we need to make choices that respect life and freedom. By leading a vegan lifestyle, we end our demand for animal suffering and exploitation. All that this requires from us is the decision to make a change.

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT ANIMAL WELFARE The suffering and cruelty inflicted upon animals is a major cause for concern and a strong motivation for many vegans. Many people are becoming increasingly aware of the animal welfare concerns surrounding food production, particularly in intensive farming systems. However, the welfare of farmed animals during their lifetimes is not the only reason why vegans choose not to consume or use animal products. There is strong evidence that animals are sentient beings with individual needs and preferences.

The mass production and killing of these animals does not recognize this. Anyone who has spent time with a companion animal knows that they have complex emotions, and yet wild animals and farmed animals are no different in this respect from dogs and cats.

Killing is an inherent and unavoidable part of farming animals for food. Of course animals are killed for meat, but many people are unaware that this is equally true of egg and milk

IT’S NOT ALL OR NOTHING Living a vegan lifestyle is not an all or nothing philosophy.

Vegans attempt to minimize the suffering of animals as much as possible in their daily lives. If a vegan accidentally, or intentionally, purchases or consumes an animal product, it does not suddenly exclude them from being vegan. They simply try harder in the future.

If you are not ready, or willing, to be a full fledged vegan, you can still help countless animals by making as many compassionate choices as you can.

For example, if you aren't ready to completely eliminate animal products from your diet, you can still reduce consumption of those products while also eliminating non food animal products from your daily purchases and boycotting animal entertainment.

Adopt a dog or cat from a local shelter. Search adoptable dogs, cats and other shelter animals near you by zip code.

View pictures of adoptable dogs and cats who need a home at your local shelter, humane society, SPCA or rescue group. Search by age, breed, size and color. Find a dog, cat, small animal, farm animal and more. Simply enter your zip code and choose a species, breed, age and sex.

GET ACTIVE

FOR THE EARTH & ANIMALS ©

You've recently learned about animal issues. Or you're concerned about endangered species. Or you've been concerned about the environment for many years and have decided it's time to educate society about the issues.

You may be timid or think you do not speak well in public. Perhaps you've never been involved in an activist group and you do not know the first thing about them. You may feel that you are all alone. But as an individual you can educate hundreds of people in your community and affect their often unwittingly exploitative attitudes and lifestyles.

Earth and animal activists are people who see the need for change and devote their time to doing something about it.

They are driven by passion and a vision for a better future for animals and the environment. Whatever your reason for wanting to become an earth and animal activist, you have the ability to do so no matter your age, your means or your background. It's people like you, people who believe they have the power to make a difference, who end up bringing

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

remarkable change for the planet and its animals.

Perhaps there are no animal or environmental groups in your area. But there is one animal advocate/environmentalist person—you. Anyone can be an earth and animal activist. It does not take any special skills or superhuman abilities. You just need to care enough about animals to want to help them.

Earth and animal activists are passionate enough to believe they can make change happen if they work hard enough to find a solution. While many people might become stalled when faced with the question, "How much good can one individual do?", activists believe that one dedicated and persistent person can make a difference for the earth and its animals.

Practice earth and animal activism at home, at work and in your community. Making a difference for the earth and animals can be as easy as posting messages on Facebook and blogs and participating in conversations relevant to your passion. Use your particular talents to bring positive changes for the planet and its animals.

EVERYDAY ACTIVISM GET ACTIVE AT HOME ● Write to producers and networks of television programs in which animals are abused or ridiculed. ● Write to thank producers and publishers for animal friendly messages in print and on television. ● Write letters to companies that conduct animal experiments. ● Write letters to companies that use real wild and exotic animals in their commercials. ● Write letters to the editor on earth and animal issues. ● Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper that allows ads for fur, circuses or rodeos. ● Write and call legislators to ask them to support animalfriendly legislation and thank them for past support. ● Call the sponsors of upcoming entertainment events that use animals and ask them not to sponsor animal entertainment.

● Encourage radio and television talk shows to discuss animal issues. ● Record a pro animal/environment message on your voice mail.

● Include a flyer or fact sheet with every bill you pay.

GET ACTIVE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

● Ask your child’s teacher to stop keeping animals in the classroom.

● Donate pro earth and animal books to your local library.

● Ask your child's school to stop requiring students to dissect animals.

● Setup a library display with a poster, flyers and appropriate books.

● Offer to walk a tethered neighbor dog and provide the dog with food, fresh water and toys.

● Donate pro earth and animal DVDs to your local video rental store.

● Turn your backyard into a wildlife sanctuary.

● Wear clothes and buttons with earth and animal statements.

● Deal with wildlife problems humanely. ● I.D. your companion animals and encourage others to do the same. ● Prepare disaster kits for your companion animals.

GET ACTIVE AT WORK ● Post flyers and fact sheets on work bulletin boards. ● Donate to organizations that legitimately help animals and the environment. Expose greenwash organizations to coworkers so they can make more informed decisions regarding their donations.

● Post and distribute WAF flyers and fact sheets around your town. ● Setup an information table in a busy area of town to distribute flyers and fact sheets. ● Offer to show videos and host seminars. ● Take vegan meals to community functions and share the recipes. ● Show your hairdresser products that aren’t tested on animals.

● Encourage coworkers to donate to organizations that do not test on animals.

● Encourage local pet stores to stop selling animals and to work with local animal groups to offer adoptions instead.

● Make cruelty-free and environmentally responsible investments.

● Organize a low cost spay and neuter event in your community.

● Buy cruelty-free and green supplies for your office.

● Work to get local universities and schools to stop requiring dissection and to add vegan options to their menu.

● Use a coffee mug with a pro animal or pro earth message at work. ● Take vegan dishes to office parties. ● Encourage your workplace to implement dog-friendly policies. ● Hold a volunteer work party to write letters, help out at an animal shelter, or make banners or signs for a demonstration.

● Help feral cats in your neighborhood with Trap-Neuter-Return. ● Ask for vegan options at local restaurants and grocery stores. ● Suggest an earth or animal themed book for your next book club meeting.

● Work to engage your place of worship with animal and environmental issues. ● Register to vote. ● Determine which elected officials represent you at local, state and federal levels. ● Encourage local officials to find long-lasting, nonlethal solutions to conflicts with wildlife. ● Attend town meetings to urge officials to support animal and environmental issues. ● Work for the passage of local ordinances in your community. ● Engage kids and teens with humane education activities and lesson plans. ● Learn what animal and environmental legislation is now pending in Congress, and contact your federal and state legislators. ● Organize a demonstration to help the earth and animals holding posters and passing out flyers. ● Promote earth and animal issues on cable-access television. ● Speak at your club or church about earth and animal issues. ● Host an earth and animal dinner party. ● Teach a college or community education course on earth and animal issues. ● Speak, or sponsor a speaker, at local schools, universities and civic clubs. ● Find a local wildlife rescuer to help stop cruel trapping and killing of animals in your community.

RAISE FUNDS ● Host a fundraising party at home to raise donations for WAF. ● Host a fundraising event in your community to raise donations for WAF. ● Make a personal annual or monthly donation to WAF. ● Donate a percentage of your online sales to WAF. ● Donate a percentage of your business profits to WAF. ● Make a memorial gift in honor of a friend or companion animal. ● Include WAF as a beneficiary in your will.

DAILY CHOICES

● Find free advertising space in your town for earth and animal issues.

● Adopt an animal from a local animal shelter or rescue group.

● Organize a litter cleanup in your town.

● Purchase eco-friendly and cruelty-free cosmetics, clothing and household products.

GET ACTIVE ONLINE ● Follow World Animal Foundation on Facebook. Help spread the word about animal issues by sharing our posts, links and photos. ● Include a link to WorldAnimal Foundation.org in your e-mail signature. ● Add a link to WorldAnimalFoundation.org to your website, blog or social networking page.

● Provide for your animals’ future in case you can’t care for them. ● Wear pro earth and pro animal t-shirts. ● Display a bumper sticker on your car. ● Display earth and animal stickers and magnets on yourself and your stuff. ● Reduce or eliminate animal products from your diet.

● Sign online earth and animal petitions.

● Boycott animal entertainment.

● Place earth and animal banners on your blog or website.

● Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. ● Shop and dine locally.

Join WAF for FREE at WorldAnimalFoundation.org and help us help animals and the planet. WAF Members receive a FREE email subscription to World Animal Foundation's Action Emails and updates.

From saving a companion animal from cruelty, to saving an entire species from extinction, simple choices and actions that you can make will help save animals and the earth. Together, our collective efforts to protect and preserve animals and the environment is making a difference. Join the effort today; become an earth and animal advocate!