Earth & Animals Magazine

EARTH & ANIMALS

by World Animal Foundation

ISSUE 5 2015

ARE CHIMPS PERSONS? ● THE DEADLIEST TWO MINUTES IN SPORTS ● DOGS ARE SPECIAL, CATS ARE NOT ● SECRET SLAUGHTERING OF SEALS IN UK ● HELPING THE ANIMALS OF NEPAL ©

● SHOULD MAMMOTHS BE BROUGHT BACK? ● RHINO NOW EXTINCT IN SABAH ● ONLY 3 WOLVES LEFT

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

EARTH & ANIMALS MAGAZINE

by World Animal Foundation More Articles Online at WorldAnimalFoundation.org

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WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ●

THE DEADLIEST TWO MINUTES IN SPORTS

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SECRET SEAL SLAUGHTER

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REAL RIGHTS FOR CHIMPS

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HELPING NEPAL ANIMALS

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RHINO NOW EXTINCT

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3 WOLVES LEFT

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SEA TURTLE MYTH BUSTED

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CRAIGSLIST BANS IVORY

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SEALING ORGANIZATION STRUGGLES

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4 TONS OF IVORY SEIZED

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BANNING HORSE SLAUGHTER

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HUMPBACKS BACK IN DANGER

PESTICIDES KILLING BEES SHOULD MAMMOTHS BE BROUGHT BACK?

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FEMALE CHIMPS USE TOOLS MORE THAN MALES

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SAN FRAN BANS ANIMAL ENTERTAINMENT

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CHAINING DOGS IS ABUSE

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VET KILLS CAT

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MALLS IN THE GRAND CANYON?

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GULF STILL IN TROUBLE

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BABOONS & BIG BUTTS

EXTINCT MONKEY REDISCOVERED

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LONGEST MAMMAL MIGRATION

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EARTH & ANIMAL GUIDE

JAPAN KICKED OUT DOGS ARE SPECIAL, BUT CATS ARE NOT RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION SLOWED

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

SECRET SLAUGHTERING While much attention is focused on Canada's seal hunt, hundreds of seals are also being killed in Scotland each year by salmon farming and angling interests. The seal cull in Scottish waters goes virtually unnoticed, since the Scottish fishing industry has managed to keep it fairly secret.

Scotland is home to two seal species, the grey seal and the common, or harbour, seal. Both species are of international importance, with 40% of the world population of grey seals found in Britain and over 90% of British grey seals breeding in Scotland.

Scientific research conducted by The Sea Mammal Research Unit revealed what they described as a ‘frightening decline’ in the number of common seals around the UK coast. Although the reasons of the decline are unknown, the Seal Protection Action Group (SPAG) believes that indiscriminate shooting by fishing interests has played its part and must be stopped. Seals are shot at fish-farms, allegedly to protect salmon stock and equipment, and in rivers by salmon netting companies and the sports angling industry.

“People buying Scottish salmon, including RSPCA ‘Freedom Food’ salmon products, or visiting Scotland for a fly-fishing holiday need to realize the appalling suffering inflicted upon these beautiful and intelligent animals by the Scottish salmon industry,” said Andy Ottaway of SPAG. “Dead or badly maimed seals, orphaned and starving pups, that is the real price of Scottish salmon.”

At present, both common and grey seals are ‘protected’ by the Conservation of Seals Act (1970), which is little more than a license to kill them, except during their respective breeding seasons: June 1st to August 31st for common seals and September 1st to December 31st for greys. However, fishing interests, notably salmon netsmen and fish farmers, may still shoot seals to prevent damage to their equipment or catch/stock. In 1988, the Government lifted a temporary ban on the shooting of common seals (which had been hit by a disease epidemic) despite the objections of conservation and animal welfare groups. Coincidence or not, common seals have suffered a major population decline since then.

The Seal Protection Action Group has cautiously welcomed an ongoing downward trend in seal shooting under government license in Scottish waters, but warned that mass seal killing continues to damage Scotland’s reputation. The Seal License was introduced in January 2011 to regulate seal killings. It is now illegal to kill a seal without one. Even so, a staggering 1,166 seals have been reported shot in just three years under the seal license scheme, an average of 389 seals each year, or over one seal every single day.

Seals are still being shot even though trials of a new acoustic seal deterrent device, developed by the Seal Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at St Andrews University with a grant from the Scottish government, have suggested it could be very effective at deterring seals from fish-farms, salmon nets and sports-angling rivers without harming them or other wildlife. SPAG has condemned as ‘scandalous’ the fact that a device developed with public funds has been ‘sold’ to a private finance company in America and is yet to be made widely available to the industry.

“SPAG is calling on the Scottish government and salmon industry to pull together and resolve an issue that leaves a bloody stain on the image of Scotland and Scottish salmon products,” said Ottaway.

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ARE CHIMPS PERSONS?

For the first time in history a judge has granted an order to show cause on behalf of a nonhuman animal, allowing a hearing on the status of 'legal persons' for the primates.

On April 20, in a case brought by the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Barbara Jaffe issued an order to show cause and writ of habeas corpus on behalf of two chimpanzees, Hercules and Leo, who are being used for biomedical experimentation at Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York. Under the law of New York State, only a “legal person” may have an order to show cause and writ of habeas corpus issued in his or her behalf.

On April 21, 2015 Judge Jaffe amended the order to show cause and writ of habeas corpus by striking out the words “& WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS” from the title of her order.

But according to Steven M. Wise, president of the Nonhuman Rights Project, it is of no practical consequence to the lawsuit whether the court styles its order as an order to show cause or as a writ of habeas corpus.

"Either way the court is ordering the University into court to provide a legally sufficient reason why they are detaining Hercules and Leo, whom we argue should be freed and released into the care of Save the Chimps sanctuary in Ft. Pierce, Florida," stated Wise. "The hearing is great news not just for Hercules and Leo, but for all chimpanzees who have been unjustly deprived of their fundamental right to bodily liberty."

"A writ of habeas corpus in New York State is a two-step process," explained Wise. "The first step requires that a court order someone who is imprisoning a 'person' to come into court and give a legally sufficient reason for doing so. That is what the Nonhuman Rights Project sought in its petition and that is what it received. The second step involves determining whether the someone doing the imprisoning has given a legally sufficient reason for the imprisonment. That question will be argued before the court at the time of the step-two hearing."

The NhRP has asked that Hercules and Leo be freed and released into the care of Save the Chimps, a sanctuary in Ft. Pierce, Florida. There they will spend the rest of their lives primarily on one of 13 artificial islands on a large lake in Ft. Pierce, along with 250 other chimpanzees in an environment as close to that of their natural home in Africa as can be found in North America. In the second step of the process, the court will determine whether the reason given by Stony Brook is legally sufficient, or whether Hercules and Leo should be freed.

Hercules and Leo’s suit was originally filed in the Supreme Court of Suffolk County in December, 2013. A Justice of that court refused to issue the requested writ of habeas corpus, and the Appellate Division, Second Department, dismissed the appeal on the ground that the NhRP lacked the right to appeal.

This case is one of a trio of cases that the Nonhuman Rights Project has brought in an attempt to free chimpanzees imprisoned within the State of New York through an “Article 70–Habeas Corpus” proceeding. These cases are novel and this is the first time that an order to show cause has been issued.

In the belief that both courts erred, the Nonhuman Rights Project respectfully re-filed its petition for an order to show cause and writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Hercules and Leo in March, 2015, in the New York County Supreme Court in Manhattan, which led to the recent decision.

In New York, an Article 70 proceeding has two steps, according to the Nonhuman Rights Project. The first is that the court may issue an order to show cause (which is the equivalent of a writ of habeas corpus, except the petitioner does not request that the body of the alleged detainee be immediately brought before the court). The issuance of the order means that the court believes at minimum that the chimpanzees could possibly be legal persons for the purpose of Article 70, without deciding that they are, and that the issue will be determined only after it is fully briefed and argued at the adversarial hearing that is step two of the Article 70 proceeding.

In two similar cases on behalf of two other chimpanzees, Tommy and Kiko, the Nonhuman Rights Project has filed Motions for leave to appeal to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. Decisions in both cases are pending.

The Nonhuman Rights Project is working through the common law to achieve actual LEGAL rights for members of species other than our own. The mission is to change the common law status of at least some nonhuman animals from mere “things,” which lack the capacity to possess any legal right, to “persons,” who possess such fundamental rights as bodily integrity and bodily liberty, and those other legal

rights to which evolving standards of morality, scientific discovery, and human experience entitle them.

While hundreds of organizations are working for “animal rights,” the only animal with legal rights has been the human animal. No other animal has had any rights at all. None. To have a legal right, one must have the “legal capacity” for a right. If one has this capacity for a legal right, one is a legal “person.” No nonhuman animal has ever been recognized as a legal “person.” This means that no animals, other than humans, have have had legal rights.

Statutes provide some protection for some nonhuman animals. It may be illegal to starve a circus elephant or withhold medical care from a chimpanzee in a zoo. But the elephant and the chimpanzee have no legal right to that kind of care. (Similarly, there are statutes that prevent you from stealing someone’s car, but the car itself has no legal rights, since the car is not a legal person with the capacity for any legal right.)

The Nonhuman Rights Project is determined to cut the Gordian Knot that binds every nonhuman animal to perpetual rightlessness. Judicial acceptance of the overwhelming scientific evidence and strong legal arguments why their nonhuman plaintiffs are legal “persons” with the capacity for legal rights will open the first crack in the legal wall that has for so long separated humans from every other animal.

At that point the term “animal rights” will begin to carry real meaning, and we can begin to argue which legal specific rights a nonhuman animal should have.

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WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

HELPING THE ANIMALS OF NEPAL

As the death toll from the Nepal earthquake continues to rise, and emergency and medical relief for human health and survival is in full force, numerous animal advocate organizations are preparing to deploy to the small Asian nation to assess the impact on animals.

After the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Kathmandu, infrastructure—including historical sites, monuments, and temples— was decimated, displacing tens of thousands. A lack of large equipment precluded a fast response to remove rubble, so access to survivors has been extremely limited and dangerous. Thousands of people have been injured or killed, and several thousands are missing.

Aftershocks, many of which have registered almost as high as the initial quake, have also made rescue and recovery efforts difficult.

Residents are rushing to locate backyard farm animals and companion animals, but there are no temporary sheltering solutions available for them even when found. Human evacuees, themselves, are sleeping outside of buildings wherever possible. Local organizations are reporting shock, blunt force injuries and death among the thousands of street dogs and cats in their communities.

According to sources, animals at the Central Zoo in Kathmandu are believed to be safe, but countless dogs and cats are feared to be dead - while many are injured.

"When a disaster of this magnitude strikes, people and animals living in the same community all fall victim to the devastating consequences," stated Rahul Segal, director of HSI Asia. "Many thousands of animals will likely be badly affected by the earthquake, alongside their human companions and owners. Family pets, street dogs and livestock are likely to have been killed, injured, lost or abandoned. We anticipate animals suffering starvation, dehydration, and exposure in the coming weeks."

As a complement to the humanitarian relief, animal rescue teams will focus on providing veterinary assistance and supplies, sheltering and caring for lost and abandoned animals, and vaccinating dogs and livestock to prevent disease outbreak.

"It’s still a chaotic and precarious situation and we’ll be assessing day by day to make sure our rescue teams are also safe," said Segal.

"We truly understand the human dimensions of this catastrophe and our hearts go out to the thousands of people who lost loved ones," stated Priscilla Ma, U.S. Executive Director of World Animal Protection. "But animals are often the forgotten victims of disaster."

The International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Wildlife Trust of India are building rapid assessment teams from staff and contractors currently in Southeast Asia. Humane Society International’s Animal Rescue Team is also deploying to Kathmandu, Nepal to offer emergency animal welfare aid.

World Animal Protection is working with authorities to join the international effort and complement the humanitarian relief, as the extent of the animal need becomes clear. Disaster relief teams will provide immediate veterinary care for injured animals, run a mobile vet clinic to provide support to animals and their humans, and assess the wider and longer term needs.

Rescue teams have prepared emergency veterinary medicines, vaccinations, surgical equipment and other supplies, so that specialist vets and disaster relief experts can assist local animal welfare groups on the ground in the strike zone.

Rescue organizations will help reunite lost animals to their families and will take care of them until affected families are settled.

Image Credit: REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

There are now no Sumatran rhinos left in the wild in the Malaysian state of Sabah, according to Masidi Manjun, the Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister. In 2008, it was estimated there were about 50 rhinos left in the state. In 2013 there were only ten. Now, it is believed, they are gone.

The Sumatran rhino is one of the most endangered animal species anywhere in the world, according to Borneo Rhino Alliance. Due to hunting for its horn and forest loss over the past millennium, its population had decreased to a few remnant individuals by the mid twentieth century. Now, the Sumatran rhino is functionally extinct in Borneo, and in Malaysia – meaning that the few individuals remaining are insufficient to save the species.

The species once inhabited rainforests, swamps, and cloud forests in India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. Today, they are estimated to number fewer than 100. The decline in the number of Sumatran rhinoceroses is attributed primarily to poaching for their horns, which are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine.

The rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia are also targets for legal and illegal logging because of the desirability of their hardwoods. Rare woods such as merbau, meranti and semaram are valuable on the international markets. Enforcement of illegal-logging laws is difficult because humans live within or near many of the same forests as the rhino. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake has been used to justify new logging. Although the hardwoods in the rainforests of the Sumatran rhino are destined for international markets and not widely used in domestic construction, the number of logging permits for these woods has increased dramatically since the tsunami.

Three Sumatran rhinos have been captured from the wild in Sabah in recent years. Both females captured have severe reproductive tract pathology, a result of lack of breeding due to no fertile males remaining in the wild.

"If numbers of baby Sumatran rhinos can quickly be boosted in the coming few years, there is still hope to save the species from extinction," said John Payne, the Executive Director of the Borneo Rhino Alliance. "The only way now to achieve that is to use in vitro fertilization to produce the embryos and to have a few fertile females in well-managed fenced facilities, under excellent care, as the surrogate mothers."

According to the Borneo Rhino Alliance, both captive females produce oocytes, the cells that form eggs that are fertilized by

sperm. Thus, these few remaining rhinos can help prevent the extinction of the species through application of advanced reproductive technology: removing the gametes and germ cells from living rhinos to try to produce Sumatran rhino embryos in the laboratory.

Captive-breeding programs are controversial. Opponents argue that captive populations cannot match the rate of recovery seen in well-protected native habitats.

Photo Credit: W. Alan Baker/Creative Commons 3.0.

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THE DEADLIEST TWO MINUTES IN SPORTS

James Cromwell is known for his numerous film and television projects, including staring in Babe, Green Mile, L.A. Confidential and American Horror Story. Cromwell is speaking out on “the most exciting two minutes in sports”, which, he states, is actually the deadliest.

While spectators enjoy their mint juleps in over-the-top fashion at the Kentucky Derby, the horses are given drug cocktails to enhance their performance and mask their pain and injuries, and more than 1,000 of the “athletes” die every single year.

“What if other sports had the same odds?” asks Cromwell. “What if three NFL players died every Sunday?”

According to Cromwell, many fragile, young horses are injured and killed before they ever even race. Thoroughbreds who survive, Cromwell explains, “are given drug cocktails to enhance their performance and mask the pain of their injuries”—a practice that makes the horses even more vulnerable to the kind of catastrophic injury that killed Eight Belles at the 2008 Kentucky Derby and more than three horses every day on U.S. tracks. Nehro, the second place finisher at the 2011 Kentucky Derby, was forced to run and train on extremely painful, deteriorating hooves—one of which was held together with superglue. Nehro died at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day in 2013.

When horses are no longer profitable, many owners discard them. Every year, as many as 15,000 Thoroughbreds are crowded onto trucks, shipped on long and terrifying journeys to Canada and Mexico, and slaughtered so their flesh can be sold for human consumption. But the industry continues to breed tens of thousands more Thoroughbred mares each year, perpetuating a deadly cycle.

“Horse racing is not a sport. It’s a blood sport,” says Cromwell. “Until the cruelty ends, please don’t go to the racetrack or have a Kentucky Derby party or watch the Triple Crown races on TV. And please, never bet on horse racing—because the only sure thing in horse racing is that the horses always lose.”

The scale of drug abuse by trainers at the race course is highlighted in figures compiled by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals from Kentucky Horse Racing Commission papers. 46 horses tested positive at Churchill Downs in 2014 for unsafe levels of permitted or banned substances. Among the substances were methamphetamine, painkillers, steroids and anti-inflammatory drugs. The numbers reveal only a fraction of the drug abuse as not every horse is tested - only the first three winners in a race.

According to the organization, the life of a horse used for racing is miserable and painful. The use of performance-enhancing and pain-masking drugs is rampant in the racing industry. The horses are more likely to suffer from pulmonary bleeding and catastrophic injuries on the track as they’re pushed beyond their physical limits. While their bones are still growing and not yet strong enough to handle the speed of racing, the abuse of yearlings and 2-year-olds in training is commonplace, resulting in catastrophic injuries and often death.

“The horse racing industry keeps this figure quiet and quite literally puts up screens to blind viewers to the carnage,” says Cromwell.

Jockeys have been known to whip horses so mercilessly that the animals’ eyes have hemorrhaged and they’ve sustained other injuries. Hard-packed dirt surfaces make it more likely that horses will break a bone. Equine Injury Database studies have shown that grass and even synthetic surfaces are far less likely to result in injuries.

Owners in constant search of the next Triple Crown winner force winning horses to breed excessively, hoping for their next big paycheck. As if the races themselves weren’t hard enough, the horses endure repeated auctions, serial ownership, and constant travel throughout their careers. Retirement equals slaughter. When Thoroughbreds are no longer making money, many are shipped to Mexico, Canada, or Japan to be slaughtered for food.

The easiest and best way to speak out against this travesty is by not supporting these tragic events, states Cromwell.

Avoid everything related to horse racing, including betting on, watching, and attending races as well as attending Kentucky Derby parties.

A new video, featuring Cromwell, was released ahead of the 141st Kentucky Derby highlighting the many welfare issues in horse racing.

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ONLY THREE WOLVES LEFT

By Allison Mills Only three wolves seem to remain in Isle Royale National Park.

Researchers from Michigan Technological University observed the wolves during their annual Winter Study, and the lone group, at an unprecedented low, is a sharp decline from nine wolves observed last winter.

The study’s report marks the project’s 57th year of observing wolves and moose in Isle Royale. It is the longest running predator-prey study in the world.

Isle Royale National Park is a U.S. National Park on Isle Royale and adjacent islands in Lake Superior, in the state of Michigan.

Isle Royale National Park was established on April 3, 1940; designated as a National Wilderness Area in 1976; and made an International Biosphere Reserve in 1980.

This year, along with the three resident wolves, scientists estimated 1,250 moose on the island and observed two visiting wolves, which came and then left across an ice bridge to the mainland.

This growing gap between the predator and prey populations is a trend that Michigan Tech researchers have tracked over the past four years.

“It’s not the presence of wolves that matters so much, it’s whether wolves are performing their ecological function,” says John Vucetich, an associate professor of wildlife ecology who leads the study along with Rolf Peterson, a research professor at Michigan Tech.

Last April, the Isle Royale National Park released a statement concerning wolf intervention options. Part of the statement reads: “There is still a chance of nature replenishing the gene pool as wolves are able to move to and from the island when ice bridges form.”

But with only three wolves remaining, Vucetich says, “There is now a good chance that it is too late to conduct genetic rescue.”

He also points out that one of the Isle Royale wolves left on an ice bridge last winter, and this winter, two wolves visited the island and promptly traveled back over the ice bridge.

To understand Isle Royale wolves, you have to understand their genetics. Inbreeding has greatly impacted the packs over the past half century, which is clear with the three remaining wolves.

The group is most likely made up of two adults and one nine month-old pup, possibly the adult pair’s offspring. But unlike its pack mates, the pup does not appear healthy. It has a constricted

waistline, hunched posture and seems to have a deformed tail, the researchers said.

“Those observations suggest that the pup is not well off,” Vucetich says, noting that on the last day of the study, Peterson had found the two adult wolves, but not the pup. “It would not be surprising if the pup was dead a year from today.”

Even if the pup were healthy, it would not necessarily be a promising sign. In the case of wolves, three is not a crowd.

Such low numbers make the population’s natural recovery unlikely. The wolves’ numbers started plummeting in 2009, declining by 88 percent from 24 to 3 wolves, which Vucetich and Peterson think is a result of inbreeding. All geneticists who have studied the current situation agree that recovery is unlikely without new genetic material.

With that in mind, even if the surviving adults are a mating pair, their offspring probably would not fair well. While the researchers are waiting on genetic tests to confirm the wolves’ identities and which pack they came from, their best guess is that they are the alpha pair from West Pack. And, as a mating pair, neither is likely to be interested in other potential mates introduced for genetic rescue.

Looking for wolves in winter is challenging, Vucetich says, describing how he spends hours looking out a small plane window, searching for tracks or subtle signs. One day this winter, the work paid off in an unexpected way.

“I could see these two wolves, they were on top of a ridge, curled up in tight little balls,” Vucetich says, explaining that the wolves were asleep. “And wolves can sleep for quite some time, so we circled for a bit and decided to come back later.”

Of course, when Vucetich and the pilot came back, the wolves had trotted off. But based on the tracks and the geography of Isle Royale, Vucetich says it was easy to guess the wolves’ preferred travel route. They found the canines skirting the shoreline soon after.

One wolf appeared light-colored, which is uncharacteristic of Isle Royale wolves, and the other was radio collared. They were visitors who had crossed an ice bridge from the US-Canadian mainland, where the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa had collared the wolf.

But they didn’t stay long. Within the week, the wolves left, traveling back across the ice bridge.

“If that was money in the bank, you’d get rich in a hurry,” Vucetich says. “Soon we’ll be moose rich.”

“Everyone wants to know: What does this mean?” Vucetich said.

The answer is unclear, despite the fact that visiting wolves raise hopes for saving the population. Vucetich and Peterson write in their report that even “if the visiting wolves had been aware of the presence of Isle Royale wolves, it is far from certain that genetic rescue would have occurred.”

While iconic, a proliferation of moose could actually be harmful and, if this trend continues, the population could reach past heights like in 1996.

The remaining two options, then, are to reintroduce wolves to the island or do nothing and see what happens naturally.

“One must use the word, ‘naturally’, carefully these days,” Peterson advises. “The human imprint is written all over the dynamics of this wolf population in recent decades.”

A case in point, he says, is the downward trend in the frequency of ice bridges in winter, which formerly allowed wolves with new genetic material to make their own way to Isle Royale.

Along with wolves, the other iconic animals of Isle Royale are moose. And unlike their canine predators, and in spite of several harsh winters, the moose population has been growing annually at 22 percent for each of the past four years.

“At that time the moose population had considerable impact on forest vegetation,” Vucetich and Peterson write in the Winter Study annual report. “Concerns remain that the upcoming increase in moose abundance will result in long-term damage to the health of Isle Royale’s vegetative community.”

The balance of predatorprey on Isle Royale has clearly tipped. The question remains what actions humans will or will not take to influence that scale.

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JAPAN KICKED OUT OF ZOO ASSOCIATION sale to aquariums is the main purpose of the horrific Taiji dolphin hunts in Japan.”

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) Council voted unanimously this week to suspend the membership of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) due to Japanese member zoos and aquariums continuing to take dolphins from the Japanese drive fishery.

Japanese dolphin hunts include areas such as "The Cove" in Taiji, Japan where families of dolphins are herded with speedboats, brutally butchered with a spike through their heads to be sold as meat or captured to be sold to zoos and aquariums.

According to data collected by Ceta-Base and Whale and Dolphin Conservation, over the course of the 2012-2013 drive hunt season 247 Taiji dolphins were sold for display in aquariums.

WAZA states it “requires all members to adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild.”

According to WAZA, it attempted to work collaboratively with JAZA and its members to stop the collection of animals from the Taiji drives fisheries. Annually the drives draw international attention and criticism for the killing of dolphins. Under intense public pressure, WAZA has joined other organizations in speaking out against the practice.

WAZA recently had a lawsuit filed against them by Australia for Dolphins (AFD) for endorsing one of its Japan members' decision to obtain a dolphin from the Japanese drive hunts.

“A live dolphin is worth more than a new Rolex watch or a bar of gold,” states Australia for Dolphins. “And all this money makes for some pretty dirty business. The live capture of dolphins for

WAZA claims it made ongoing attempts to negotiate the issues including during a meeting in Tokyo last year when WAZA proposed that JAZA enforce a two-year moratorium on taking animals from the drive by its members. The moratorium was rejected by JAZA. The issue was discussed again at WAZA's international conference in November. JAZA responded by proposing some guideline changes that would put restrictions on the method of capturing dolphins and improving animal care, but refused to stop taking animals from the drive. WAZA Council concluded that a satisfactory agreement could not be reached and voted to suspend the Japanese association’s membership. The decision was made just weeks after the lawsuit was filed against them.

According to WAZA, the basis for the suspension is a determination that JAZA has violated the WAZA Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare.

WAZA represents a worldwide membership body of 1,300 zoos and aquariums, with 700 million visitors annually. In addition to more than 350 institutional members, WAZA also has approximately 20 regional members, which included the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums. AFD estimates that aquariums in the WAZA network accounted for up to 40% of the total economic demand for Taiji live-sale dolphins.

WAZA contends it represents only the most “reputable zoos and aquariums”.

“When a WAZA member is heavily involved in one of the cruelest practices inflicted on animals anywhere in the world, consumers have no basis to have confidence in the animal welfare practices of any zoo or aquarium,” stated AFD. The organization plans to continue its lawsuit against WAZA, as some Korean members also source from the Taiji hunt, but acknowledged that WAZA's decision was a step in the right direction.

Animal advocate organizations around the globe agree, but stress that WAZA policy should prohibit any animal from being taken from the wild, or bred for “display” for human entertainment. If zoos and aquariums truly care about conservation and animal welfare, they would transition from animal entertainment businesses to genuine animal sanctuaries.

MY DOG'S THE BEST Dog guardians psychologically believe they have a one of a kind, or a better than average, dog. Cat guardians, on the other hand, do not.

My dog's the best, but my cat's like the rest those are the findings of Penn State Abington sophomore Sasha Thomas' research into the social phenomenon known as the "Better Than Average Effect" (BTAE).

Thomas was intrigued

by BTAE, and after finding that Americans spend almost $100 million a year on their companion animals, she focused her undergraduate research project on BTAE - specifically as it applies to people and their furry friends.

Thomas' faculty mentor, Michael Bernstein, assistant professor of psychology, explained that people tend to think they are better than others in a variety of areas, which is statistically impossible because everyone can't be better than average.

"If you ask most college students how good they are relative to others at making friends or being a leader, most say they are above average, but that's impossible," he said. "People tend to show this effect for themselves and for others. We think our partners and our friends are above average."

"It occurs because people don't have information to compare themselves with others and because of egocentrism," Bernstein continued. "Psychologically, believing that you are better than average is beneficial to mental health by raising self-esteem."

Thomas developed a survey asking participants to provide information about their dogs and cats including name, reason for having an animal and size. They rated the companion animals using ordinal scale questions on friendliness, behavior, gentleness, obedience and intelligence. Next, participants repeated this step to rate someone else's dog or cat and the average dog or cat.

Thomas said her findings demonstrate that dog guardians tend to show the "Better Than Average Effect," but cat guardians don't.

"We found this interesting considering both dog and cat owners show the same amount of love and interest in their pets," she said.

"We hypothesized that this could be because dogs require much more time, energy and money to take care of them as opposed to cats," Thomas continued. "Cognitive dissonance suggests that because of this, dog owners psychologically believe they have a one of a kind or better than average dog."

Thomas found that dog guardians believe their dogs are better than the average hound. Cat guardians may not agree with Thomas' findings, but her research shows she wasn't barking up the wrong tree.

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The destruction of the Brazilian rainforest has slowed significantly. With around 5000 square kilometers annually, the loss is now about 80% lower than in 2004. Led by the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn, an international team of researchers has evaluated the effectiveness of forest law enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon. In some federal states of the Brazilian Amazon region enforcement has been more effective than in others. The results are presented in the journal "PLOS ONE".

Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest featured in international press headlines for a long time. However, Brazil has made substantial efforts to protect rainforests ecosystem services lately.

"Over the last decade, there has been a significant decline in deforestation," says Dr. Jan Bรถrner, the Robert Bosch junior professor at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) of the University of Bonn. According to national statistics, in 2004, 27,772 square kilometers of forest fell victim, primarily to agricultural use; by 2012, deforestation had decreased to 4,656 square kilometers.

Rainforest destruction is driven in particular by large cattle ranchers and farmers, but also small-scale agriculture. New roads promote timber extraction and clearing. With an international team of researchers from the University of Freiburg, the Humboldt University in Berlin and the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) in Brazil, Bรถrner studied around 15,000 forest law violations across the Brazilian part of the Amazon basin to measure how effective the implementation of the rainforest protection was. "Forest law enforcement is, in principle, similar to speed limit control in traffic: the higher the penalties and the more frequent the controls, the greater the deterrence potential", explains Bรถrner.

For the past few years, law enforcement agents were equipped with GPS devices to record the spatial locations of forest law violations. The team of scientists used this data to measure how effective this field-based enforcement was in the various regions: How did deforestation patterns change after field inspections and where? Answering this question requires statistical methods to ensure that inspected locations are compared to ap-

propriate counterfactual scenarios.

"Ultimately, there are many rival explanations for why deforestation is slowing down; instead of forest law it could have been economic reasons that induced farmers to convert less forest to agriculture", explains the junior professor.

The study suggests that effective rainforest protection hinges on the physical presence of regulators and the actual delivery of disincentives on the ground.

This often involves effective collaboration between enforcement authorities at federal and state levels. Based on those criteria, forest law enforcement was particularly effective in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Parรก.

"Public prosecutors in these states have dramatically increased the pressure: They maintain black lists of agricultural enterprises that violate the protective provisions", reports the ZEF scientist. "For example, wholesale dealers may then no longer buy products from these sources."

It is also important that forest law violations are sanctioned in a timely manner. That is why Brazil has developed an effective satellite monitoring system, which can provide evidence of illegal deforestation almost in realtime. Through the improved monitoring infrastructure, forest law violations in the Amazon can be investigated and punished within days. Bรถrner: "The various Brazilian authorities act in concert with one another. That is of critical importance for the conservation of the tropical rainforest."

Rainforests in Africa and Asia, among other places, are also disappearing. "Brazil shows how you can contribute to the conservation of internationally important rainforests with investments in satellite systems and consistent prosecution of illegal deforestation", summarizes the University of Bonn researcher. Another promising strategy is to reward farmers for avoided deforestation. Yet, making sure that well-intended rewards translate into actual conservation incentives on the ground is a major challenge.

MYTH BUSTED: BABY SEA TURTLES GOOD SWIMMERS

It turns out sea turtles, even at a tender 6-18 months of age, are very active swimmers. They don’t just passively drift in ocean currents as researchers once thought. NOAA and University of Central Florida researchers say it’s an important new clue in the sea turtle “lost years” mystery. Where exactly turtles travel in their first years of life, before returning to coastal areas as adults to forage and reproduce, has puzzled scientists for decades.

“All species of sea turtles are endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act; knowing their distribution is an essential part of protecting them. With a better understanding of swimming behavior in these yearlings we can make better predictions about where they go and what risks they might encounter,” said Dr. Nathan Putman, lead author of this new study and sea turtle biologist with NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Miami.

Upon hatching, young sea turtles swim offshore and disperse with the help of ocean currents. The turtles are rarely observed during the next two to ten years or so, but prior studies suggest that at least some reside among mats of seaweed, such as Sargassum, that provide shelter and habitat in the open sea. Not much is known about these juveniles’ movements during this time (researchers dub it the “lost years”), but it has been widely assumed that turtles simply drift with ocean currents.

Putman worked with Dr. Kate Mansfield, director of the University of Central Florida’s Marine Turtle Research Group, to chal-

lenge this long-existing hypothesis. Mansfield placed specially designed solar-powered tags on 24 green and 20 Kemp’s ridley wild-caught sea turtle toddlers in the Gulf of Mexico. The tags were tracked by satellite for a short period of time before shedding cleanly from the turtle shells (max.

2-3 months). Next to the turtles, Mansfield deployed small, carefully-weighted/passively-drifting surface buoys that were also tracked by satellite.

When the drifter tracks were compared to the sea turtles’ movements, the researchers found that the turtles’ paths differed significantly from the passive drifters. Using observed and modeled ocean current conditions, they found a difference of distance between the turtles and drifters to be as much as 125 miles in the first few days. In nearly every instance, the toddlers’ swimming behavior appears to help them reach or remain in favorable ocean habitats.

"The results of our study have huge implications for better understanding early sea turtle survival and behavior, which may ultimately lead to new and innovative ways to further protect these imperiled animals,” said Mansfield.

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Hundreds of wildlife specimens, valued at millions of dollars, are posted each month on Craigslist, according to a recently released report: “Elephant vs. Mouse: An Investigation of the Ivory Trade on Craigslist.”

The report’s primary objective was to quantify the amount of ivory and other elephant products available on selected Craigslist.org sites. The investigation, which collected data from 28 geographic Craigslist sub-sites between March 16 and 20, 2015, found many instances of ivory, elephant skin, and similar items being sold.

Investigators tracked 522 postings offering 615 items with a combined list price of nearly $1.5 million. Extrapolated to a full year, this would yield over 6,600 items on those sub-sites alone, with a list price of more than $15 million. From these numbers, it is clear that the ivory trade on Craigslist is alive and well.

The report was released by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Prior to releasing the report, the organizations engaged with Craigslist to see what could be done to prevent the sale of illegal ivory and wildlife products on their various sites. As a result of these conversations, Craigslist recently updated their policy to include a clear statement prohibiting the sale of “ivory; endangered, imperiled and/or protected species and any parts thereof.”

“The situation on Craigslist shows just how rampant wildlife trade is on the Internet, especially when host sites don’t do enough to stop it,” said Peter LaFontaine, campaigns officer for IFAW. “eBay, Etsy and many other online marketplaces have willingly cooperated with law enforcement to reduce wildlife trafficking on their platforms. Craigslist’s decision to explicitly list ivory among the site’s prohibited items is a step in the right direction, but they must do more to actively enforce this policy and eliminate ivory sales from their site.”

“This important investigation shows that ivory markets are still open and prevalent in the U.S.,” said John Calvelli, WCS executive vice president. “We are hopeful that this report will shed light on the need to close domestic ivory markets.”

In 2008 a similar report on eBay.com, entitled “Killing with Keystrokes,” resulted in eBay announcing that it would no longer allow the sale of ivory on its platform. In 2014, the “Wanted Dead or Alive: Exposing the Online Wildlife Trade” report showed that eBay’s ivory ban has been largely successful, although problems remain. In 2014, another report, “Bidding Against Survival: The Elephant Poaching Crisis and the Role of Auctions in the U.S. Ivory Market,” explored how in today’s globalized society the sale of ivory in the U.S. helps to fuel the poaching of elephants in Africa.

Last year a successful campaign led to the popular PBS program, Antiques Roadshow, agreeing to stop appraising ivory tusks on the air and to educate viewers about the ivory trade.

The recent report comes as federal and state initiatives are underway to curtail the trade in ivory and other wildlife products in an effort to save elephants and other wildlife. Organizations are currently working on strengthening a proposed federal ban, while advocating for state ivory bans in California and other states. Last year, New York and New Jersey passed state bans that closed loopholes in the federal law.

It is estimated that 96 elephants are gunned down every day by poachers in Africa – some 35,000 each year. At current rates, Central Africa’s forest elephants will be extinct in ten years.

PESTICIDES ARE KILLING WILD BEES A study published recently in the journal Nature finds that the use of neonicotinoids, the most widely used insecticides in the United States, has serious consequences for wild bees. The study, conducted in Sweden, finds that in field conditions, neonicotinoid use as a seed coating reduces wild bee density, solitary bee nesting and bumblebee colony growth; it concluded that the “contribution of pesticides to the global decline of wild bees may have been underestimated.” The findings have implications for America’s pollinators because neonicotinoid seed coatings are used on about 99 percent of corn seeds in the United States.

“There’s no question that these super-toxic pesticides are taking a heavy toll on imperiled native pollinators around the world,” said Jonathan Evans, Environmental Health legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Native pollinators are a critical link in our food web. We need the EPA to step up and take action to ban these dangerous chemicals before it’s too late to save our wild bees.”

While the vast majority of studies have focused on the effects of neonicotinoids — also known as “neonics” — on honeybees, the new study joins a growing body of science finding the chemicals are harming ecologically vital native pollinators.

“A quarter of all U.S. bumblebees are currently threatened with extinction,” said Evans. “Wild bees are essential for functioning ecosystems, but unless our regulatory agencies take action to protect them, many more bees and pollinators will head toward extinction.”

The Nature study also found important differences in the effects of neonics on honeybees and wild bees because “honeybees are better at detoxifying after neonicotinoid exposure compared to bumblebees.” While honeybees have suffered from chronic exposure to these pesticides, the study finds that wild bees are more sensitive to the acute toxic effects of neonics.

Neonicotinoids are a class of pesticides known to have both acute and chronic effects on honey bees, birds, butterflies and other pol-

linator species, and are a major factor in overall pollinator declines. These systemic insecticides cause entire plants, including pollen and fruit, to become toxic to pollinators; they’re also slow to break down, and they build up in the environment. A large and growing body of independent science, including the new study, links neonics to catastrophic bee declines. Twenty-nine independent scientists who recently conducted a global review of more than 1,000 independent studies on neonicotinoids found overwhelming evidence linking neonicotinoid pesticides to declines of bees, birds, earthworms, butterflies and other wildlife.

The White House Pollinator Health Task Force is expected this spring to issue recommendations on improving the outlook for declining native pollinators. Earlier this year, more than 125 farmer, food safety, beekeeper, faith and environmental groups sent a letter to President Obama urging a moratorium on all neonicotinoids and other systemic pesticides. More than 4 million Americans have signed petitions urging the Obama adminis© tration to take immediate action on bee-toxic pesticides.

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land, located in the Arctic Ocean.

"We found that the genome from one of the world's last mammoths displayed low genetic variation and a signature consistent with inbreeding, likely due to the small number of mammoths that managed to survive on Wrangel Island during the last 5,000 years of the species' existence," says Love DalĂŠn, an associate professor of Bioinformatics and Genetics at the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

The entire genomes of woolly mammoths has now been mapped, revealing clues to extinction and making it possible to bring mammoths back.

An international team of researchers has sequenced the nearly complete genome of two Siberian woolly mammoths - revealing the most complete picture to date - including new information about the species' evolutionary history and the conditions that led to its mass extinction at the end of the Ice Age. "This discovery means that recreating extinct species is a much more real possibility, one we could in theory realize within decades," says evolutionary geneticist Hendrik Poinar, director of the Ancient DNA Centre at McMaster University and a researcher at the Institute for Infectious Disease Research, the senior Canadian scientist on the project.

"With a complete genome and this kind of data, we can now begin to understand what made a mammoth a mammoth - when compared to an elephant - and some of the underlying causes of their extinction which is an exceptionally difficult and complex puzzle to solve," he says.

While scientists have long argued that climate change and human hunting were major factors behind the mammoth's extinction, the new data suggests multiple factors were at play over their long evolutionary history.

Researchers produced high-quality genomes from specimens taken from the remains of two male woolly mammoths, which lived about 40,000 years apart. One had lived in northeastern Siberia and is estimated to be nearly 45,000 years old. The other - believed to be from one of the last surviving mammoth populations - lived approximately 4,300 years ago on Russia's Wrangel Is-

Scientists used sophisticated technology to tease bits and pieces of highly fragmented DNA from the ancient specimens, which they then used to sequence the genomes. Through careful analysis, they determined the animal populations had suffered and recovered from a significant setback roughly 250,000 to 300,000 years ago. However, say researchers, another severe decline occurred in the final days of the Ice Age, marking the end.

"The dates on these current samples suggest that when Egyptians were building pyramids, there were still mammoths living on these islands," says Poinar. "Having this quality of data can help with our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of elephants in general and possible efforts at de-extinction."

The latest research is the continuation of the work Poinar and his team began in 2006, when they first mapped a partial mammoth genome, using DNA extracted from carcasses found in permafrost in the Yukon and Siberia.

While recreating extinct species is becoming a real possibility, some experts question the ethics of such recreation attempts. In addition to the technical problems, there is not much habitat left that would be suitable for woolly mammoths. Because the species was social and gregarious, creating a few specimens would not be ideal. The time and resources required would be enormous, and the scientific benefits would be unclear. Opponents to recreation attempts suggest these resources should instead be used to preserve extant elephant species which are endangered. Many animal activists also question the ethics of using elephants as surrogate mothers, and note that it would be impossible to know the exact needs of a resurrected calf.

FEMALE CHIMPS USE TOOLS TO HUNT MORE THAN MALES It was a discovery that changed what researchers knew about the hunting techniques of chimpanzees. In 2007, Jill Pruetz first reported savanna chimps at her research site in Fongoli, Senegal, were using tools to hunt prey. That alone was significant, but what also stood out to Pruetz was the fact that female chimps were the ones predominantly hunting with tools.

It was a point some dismissed or criticized because of the small sample size, but the finding motivated the Iowa State University anthropology professor to learn more. In the years following, Pruetz and her research team have documented more than 300 tool-assisted hunts. Their results, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, support the initial findings – female chimps hunt with tools more than males.

Generally, adult male chimps are the main hunters and capture prey by hand. Researchers observed both male and female chimps using tools, but more than half of the hunts – 175 compared to 130 – were by females. While males made up about 60 percent of the hunting group, only around 40 percent of the hunts were by males.

“It’s just another example of diversity in chimp behavior that we keep finding the longer we study wild chimps,” Pruetz said. “It is more the exception than the rule that you’ll find some sort of different behavior, even though we’ve studied chimps extensively.”

Both male and female chimps primarily pursued galagos, or bush babies, in tool-assisted hunts. Pruetz says the chimps used a spear-like tool to jab at the animal hiding in tree cavities. She added that one explanation for the sex difference in tool use is that male chimps tended to be more opportunistic.

“What would often happen is the male would be in the vicinity of another chimp hunting with a tool, often a female, and the bush baby was able to escape the female and the male grabbed the bush baby as it fled,” Pruetz said.

The savanna chimps at Fongoli are the only non-human population to consistently hunt prey with tools. Why is that the case?

Pruetz, Walvoord Professor of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Iowa State, says a better question may be why are chimps at other sites not using this technique? It may be that they never learned the technique, she said. Tool hunting also may be a result of social tolerance that doesn’t exist at other chimp sites.

“At Fongoli, when a female or low-ranking male captures something, they’re allowed to keep it and eat it. At other sites, the alpha male or other dominant male will come along and take the prey. So there’s little benefit of hunting for females, if another chimp is just going to take their prey item.”

The environment is another factor. Pruetz says there are no red colobus monkeys, the preferred prey of chimps at other sites, be-

cause of the dry conditions at Fongoli. The bush babies are more prevalent and prey that female chimps can access using tools.

Pruetz, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, is often asked why the female’s use of tools is considered hunting rather than gathering. It’s a question that reflects stereotypes associated with female chimp behavior. The similarities to termite or ant fishing, which is sometimes used as a comparison for tool-assisted hunting, are superficial, she said. The behavior of the prey and effort required by the hunter is different.

“Fishing for termites is a very different activity than jabbing for a bush baby,” Pruetz said. “With fishing, termites grab on to a twig and don’t let go and the chimp eats the termites off the twig. When hunting, the bush baby tries to bite, escape or hide from the chimp. The chimps are really averse to being bitten by a bush baby.”

While a bush baby is smaller than and not as fierce as a monkey, Pruetz says it is really no different than humans hunting doves instead of deer. Ultimately, the tool-assisted hunting allows female chimps, which may be less likely to run down prey, access to a nutritional food source, Pruetz said.

Paco Bertolani, Cambridge University; Mack Shelley, Stacy Lindshield and Kelly Boyer Ontl, Iowa State University; and Erin Wessling, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, all contrib© uted to the report.

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CHAINING YOUR DOG IS ABUSE ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

by Rev Roberta Stewart Dogs are social animals, just as we are. In the wild, dogs live in packs and form bonds among themselves. But domesticated dogs were bred, over thousands of years, to form strong attachments to human family groups. Yet in our country, more than 200,000 dogs (this number could be much higher) are chained, tethered or penned outside 24/7. This is inhumane treatment. It is solitary confinement and in shackles.

Tied-up and isolated dogs become lonely, bored, depressed and anxious - the same feelings human prisoners in solitary confinement feel. Otherwise sweet and friendly dogs will often become neurotic and aggressive. Studies show that chained dogs are much more likely to bite than unchained dogs. And if you care at all about your dog, please consider that a chained dog is at the mercy of predators like coyotes or those humans that would harm them (other than their abusive guardians who are hurting them by keeping them chained).

Tethered dogs have also harmed themselves by pulling at their chains. They develop neck problems at the least and, at the worst, can hang themselves trying to escape.

It is morally wrong and incredibly selfish for anyone to actually acquire a dog with the intent to keep it outside as protection for a home or property. This is not the role of dogs in our lives. If you have security fears, please buy an alarm system that has no need of love, companionship, warmth or shelter. Dogs are also put outside because the people who have them could not, or would not, address bad behaviors such as soiling or nipping. It is the responsibility of everyone who has a dog to train the animal. If you are unable to train your dog, please take the animal to obedience classes or bring in a trainer.

If you don’t have enough money for this, then please do the right, the humane and kind thing. Find the dog a new home. NEVER surrender your dog to a pound or high kill shelter. This is the coward’s way out. Contact a no-kill shelter or rescue group in your area. Your local Petsmart, Pet Supplies Plus or Petco should be able to give you contact information. Be honest about any behavioral problems. People devoted to rescue are willing to work with most animals.

Another all too common reason that dogs are chained or penned outside is because someone in the family, or even a regular visitor, has allergies. If you suspect that anyone in your household will not be able to tolerate the presence of a dog (or cat) inside your home, find the animal a new and loving home. If you choose to place the animal yourself, never advertise a dog or cat in a newspaper or online without charging a small purchase amount. Few people value what they get for free. Also, there are the horrible people known as “bunchers” who acquire “free to good home” animals and sell them to laboratories for experimentation. This is the worst fate possible for your animal. Please place your animal with compassion and care and donate the purchase price to your local shelter or an animal welfare organization.

Sadly, there are many selfish reasons for getting a dog or a cat. I am ashamed of one of my own family members. This person knew that one of her children had allergies and yet she still got a dog from a

shelter so that her children could have the “pet” experience. The shelter was a no-kill shelter, but one that did not screen adopters well. So the dog was robbed of its chance for a good home with a loving family and her children learned nothing except insensitivity and callousness. Until its death, the dog lived a lonely life with no human companionship except at feeding times. The dog’s pen was adjacent to a barn, where it could sleep out of the weather, and I’ve always hoped that the poor thing bonded with their horse or with one of the chickens. Animals will sometimes form attachments with other animals. A friendship like that would have been that lonely dog’s only hope of love. As an animal advocate, I made my position on my family member’s actions clear. I wish I could have convinced her to do the right thing, but I failed. Still, I will never be silent when I see animal cruelty and what she did was cruel.

Not only do tethered and penned dogs suffer from isolation, but they also are very likely to have poor if any shelter, dry bedding or even clean water. As people learn that chaining or tethering dogs is animal cruelty, a growing number of anti-cruelty laws and ordinances have been passed in communities nationwide.

These laws include "adequate care standards" that make it illegal to keep a dog outside in inclement weather or dangerous temperatures, without proper shelter. “Dog House” ordinances, as some are called, also require the guardian of the dog to provide dry bedding and clean water. If you see a tethered dog that you believe is being exposed to extreme heat or cold, call animal control in your area. Even if the dog's guardian is not violating any laws, an animal control officer or cruelty investigator may be able to convince the dog guardian to take steps to improve the situation. However, the best outcome is always to persuade the individual to voluntarily give up the dog. No one that keeps a dog outside 24/7, chained or fenced in, should ever have an animal.

You can make a positive impact in your neighborhood by educating people about the cruelty of tethering and the needs of dogs that spend their lives outdoors. To learn how you can help outside dogs, visit WorldAnimalFoundation.org.

If we can reach the heart of just one person who keeps his or her dog chained and that dog’s life is made better, then we will have made a difference. For all those who love animals, please spread the word. Please help chained dogs wherever you find them, and prevent more dogs from suffering this sad, solitary life.

"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

SHOPPING MALLS DON'T BELONG IN THE GRAND CANYON The U.S. Forest Service has begun paving the way for a sprawling urban development near the southern edge of the Grand Canyon that would include more than 2,100 housing units and 3 million square feet of retail space along with hotels, a spa and conference center. The superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park has called the project one of the greatest threats to Grand Canyon in the 96-year-history of the park.

The proposal, by the Stilo Development Group, would transform the 580-resident community of Tusayan, Ariz. — which sits near the southern entrance to the national park — from a small, quiet tourist town into a sprawling complex of high-end homes, strip malls, and resorts only a mile from the Grand Canyon National Park boundary.

Stilo has partnered with the town of Tusayan in order to obtain the federal permit needed to expand road and utility access through public lands within the Kaibab National Forest so development can proceed. The agency has begun moving forward with the process to approve that special-use permit.

“The Forest Service is putting Grand Canyon National Park in the crosshairs by considering Tusayan’s dangerous, damaging plan for a mega-resort,” said Kevin Dahl of the National Parks Conservation Association. “This proposal is not in the public interest and is one of the greatest threats Grand Canyon National Park has seen in its history. The Forest Service can and should have rejected it out of hand.”

The National Park Service considers the mega-development a significant threat to Grand Canyon because it will require vast quantities of water and could lower the aquifer that feeds seeps, springs and streams that support wildlife and recreation on the park’s South Rim. Groundwater pumping accompanying the development could also lower the aquifer that is the exclusive source of all water for Havasu Falls, the cultural foundation of the Havasupai tribe.

“The Forest Service is paving the way for foreign investors to exploit America’s most treasured natural landmark all to turn a profit,” said Ted Zukoski, Earthjustice attorney. “The Forest Service is throwing out its responsibility to serve the public interest by endangering the water, wildlife, and wilderness that make the Grand Canyon so special.”

Earthjustice, on behalf of the National Parks Conservation Association, the Grand Canyon Trust, Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, has submitted a letter protesting the Forest Service’s consideration of the rights-of-way permit. The city of Flagstaff and regional businesses have already passed resolutions

opposing this development, saying that it would negatively impact surrounding communities and Grand Canyon National Park.

“When President Theodore Roosevelt protected Grand Canyon in 1908, he stated: ‘Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.’ Teddy was right. It will be a stain on President Obama’s legacy if he allows for this defacement of Grand Canyon,” said Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club.

This latest development project comes amid concerns from conservation groups and tribal communities about proposals for re-starting operations of a nearby uranium mine and another major resort development right outside the park at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers.

“Whether it’s uranium-mining companies or greedy developers, some will always see the Grand Canyon as a cash register, not one of earth’s most awe-inspiring and precious places,” said Robin Silver, a founder of the Center for Biological Diversity. “This is a place worth fighting for. We plan to fight shoulder to shoulder with millions of other Americans to defeat this latest scheme to commercialize the Grand Canyon. Shopping malls don’t belong here.”

The Forest Service will take public comment on the proposal through June 3. The Forest Service will also hold informational © meetings on the proposal in Tusayan (May 19), Williams (May 18), and Flagstaff, Ariz. (May 20). WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

BABOONS & BIG BUTTS by counting pixels in the resulting digital images of baboon bottoms and converting them to millimeters, Fitzpatrick was able to estimate the size of each swelling.

Measurements from 34 females revealed that some females swell more than others. The biggest bottom belonged to a female named Vow, whose rump swelled by 6.5 inches as she approached ovulation.

The smallest belonged to a female named Lollipop, whose bottom only increased by four inches.

“Some females are just bigger than others,” Fitzpatrick said.

While the female baboon’s big red bottom may be an eyesore to some, it has an aphrodisiac effect on her mates. Biologists have long thought that baboon males prefer females with bigger backsides as the mark of a good mother, but new research suggests it isn’t so simple.

A study of wild baboons in southern Kenya reveals that the size of a female’s swollen rump doesn’t matter as much as previously thought.

Baboons breed throughout the year, and mating occurs during times when a female’s behind is swollen - a sign that she may be ovulating. For ten to 20 days each month, the tissue in a female baboon’s hindquarters swells up, reaching peak size when a female is most fertile and then shrinking back to normal.

To precisely measure this variation in female swellings, Duke University researcher Courtney Fitzpatrick adapted a camera technique that was originally developed to measure large animals like elephants and bison from afar. First she attached a digital caliper to a telephoto zoom lens, which allowed her to measure the distance to the baboon being photographed. Then

The Duke and Princeton researchers combined these size measurements with long-term data on each female’s offspring. When they controlled for factors such as the female’s age and rank, they were surprised to find that females with bigger backsides don’t necessarily make better mothers, as evidenced by the fact that females with fuller fannies didn’t produce more surviving infants. The researchers also recorded male courtship behavior during the time when females were swollen. They found that big-bottomed females were no more likely to attract mates than their smaller-bottomed counterparts. Instead of going for bigger backsides, males preferred females that had cycled more times since their last pregnancy.

Like humans, female baboons don’t start ovulating again right away after having a baby. Things usually return to normal when their infant starts weaning, but until that time they’re less likely to get pregnant. The results suggest that baby readiness means more to males than an ample derrière. Rather than size, it seems that males use the number of postpartum cycles as a cue to gauge their likelihood of making a baby.

“It’s almost as if the males are counting,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Our study suggests that, at least in part, males follow a rule along the lines of ‘later is better’ rather than ‘bigger is better.’”

The team’s next step is to determine if females actually mate with more males after they've had more postpartum menstrual cycles, and whether that translates to higher survival for their offspring.

LONGEST MAMMAL MIGRATION

A team of scientists from the United States and Russia has documented the longest migration of a mammal ever recorded – a round-trip trek of nearly 14,000 miles by a whale identified as a critically endangered species that raises questions about its status.

2009 that recent western and eastern gray whale populations are not isolated and that the gray whales found in Russian waters are a part of an eastern population that is restoring its former historical range. He is a co-author on the study.

The researchers used satellite-monitored tags to track three western North Pacific gray whales from their primary feeding ground off Russia’s Sakhalin Island across the Pacific Ocean and down the West Coast of the United States to Baja, Mexico. One of the tagged whales, dubbed Varvara (which is Russian for Barbara), visited the three major breeding areas for eastern gray whales, which are found off North America and are not endangered.

“The ability of the whales to navigate across open water over tremendously long distances is impressive and suggests that some western gray whales might actually be eastern grays,” Mate said. “But that doesn’t mean that there may not be some true western gray whales remaining. If so, then the number of true western gray whales is even smaller than we previously thought.”

Results of their study were published by the Royal Society in the journal Biology Letters.

Since the discovery that western and eastern gray whales interact, other researchers have compared photos of both groups and identified dozens of western gray whales from Russia matching whale photographs taken in British Columbia and San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California, Mexico.

“The fact that endangered western gray whales have such a long range and interact with eastern gray whales was a surprise and leaves a lot of questions up in the air,” said Bruce Mate, director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University and lead author on the study. “Past studies have indicated genetic differentiation between the species, but this suggests we may need to take a closer look.”

Western gray whales were thought to have gone extinct by the 1970s before a small aggregation was discovered in Russia off Sakhalin Island – with a present estimated population of 150 individuals that has been monitored by scientists from Russia and the U.S. since the 1990s.

Like their western cousins, eastern gray whales were decimated by whaling and listed as endangered, but conservation efforts led to their recovery. They were delisted in 1996 and today have a population estimated at more than 18,000 animals.

Not all scientists believe that western gray whales are a separate, distinct species. Valentin Ilyashenko of the A.N Severtsov Institute for Ecology and Evolution, who is the Russian representative to the International Whaling Commission, has proposed since

Protecting the endangered western gray whales has been difficult – five whales have died in Japanese fishing nets within the last decade. Their feeding areas off Japan and Russia include fishing areas, shipping lanes, and oil and gas production – as well as future sites oil sites. Their largely unknown migration routes may include additional hazards.

The study was coordinated by the International Whaling Commission, with funding provided by Exxon Neftegas Limited, the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, the U.S. Office of Naval Research, and OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute. © Photo Credit: Craig Hayslip WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

SEALING ORGANIZATION STRUGGLES International/Cana da Executive Director Rebecca Aldworth. “It is not in the best interests of sealers and their communities to offer hollow promises of markets that will never exist. Instead, our government should invest in a fair transition program for sealers and the development of viable economic alternatives.”

Canada's largest seal processor isn't buying seal fur and the Canadian Sealers Association is scaling back because of economic hardship. It is clear the commercial sealing industry is at a crossroads.

The Canadian Sealers Association has announced that the organization will scale back and restructure in light of financial challenges. The CSA says it is seeking input from stakeholders to discuss future options for the sealing industry.

The announcement came just days after Carino Processing Ltd, Canada's top buyer of sealskins, announced that the company will not purchase seal fur this year and is refusing $1 million in financing offered by the Newfoundland government. The company cited a lack of demand while admitting to warehousing a stockpile of seal furs.

“Commercial sealing has been kept alive through government subsidies for decades,” stated Humane Society

The Canadian government spends more money propping up the sealing industry than it would to pay sealers a fair dollar amount to give up their license to kill. Yet the government still authorizes the cruel slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals each year—and tax dollars are even used to finance the purchase of seal pelts.

Polling shows half of Newfoundland sealers and the majority of Newfoundlanders, holding an opinion, support a federal sealing industry buyout, a plan in which sealers would be compensated for their licenses and economic alternatives developed.

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4 TONS OF IVORY SEIZED

More than 4 tons of ivory were recently seized by Thai officials according to media reports out of Bangkok. The 739 ivory tusks were smuggled from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thai officials claim the shipment is worth about USD 6.2 million. The final destinations for the ivory were believed to include China, Thailand and Vietnam.

Ironically, the ivory was seized on the final day for Thai citizens to declare their own ivory holdings or face a fine of up to 3 million baht. So far over 150 tons have been registered with officials.

“Seizures of ivory are always good news in the fight against poaching and illegal trafficking because they indicate improved levels of law enforcement, but seizures are the public face of a very tragic scenario that is killing upwards of 35,000 elephants a year and shows no sign of abating,” said Jason Bell, Director of IFAW’s Elephant Program.

“Thailand is starting to take responsibility for its role in the international trafficking of ivory. Its legal market has long made it the ideal place to smuggle in illegal ivory from African elephants,” continued Bell. “In Garamba National Park in the DRC, where these ivory tusks may have originated, we’ve seen at least 68 elephants killed in the park in the past two months alone.”

“The responsibility to fight the international wildlife trafficking syndicates must be shared. Both because the tentacles of the illegal ivory trade extend across the globe, and also because the animals behind the products are part of our shared natural heritage,” he concluded.

As one of the world’s most lucrative criminal activities, valued at US$19-billion annually, illegal wildlife trade ranks fifth globally in terms of value, behind the trafficking in drugs, people, oil and counterfeiting.

Most illegal ivory is destined for Asia, in particular China, where it has soared in value as an investment vehicle and is coveted as “white gold”. Availability of legal ivory in China purchased form the stockpile sale in southern Africa in 2008 has, in turn, boosted demand encouraging illegal ivory trade and the poaching of elephants to meet market needs. ©

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LEGISLATION WOULD BAN US HORSE SLAUGHTER

Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation to prevent the establishment of horse slaughter operations within the US, end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad, and protect the public from consuming toxic horse meat.

Last year, more than 140,000 American horses were slaughtered for human consumption in foreign countries. The animals often suffer long journeys to slaughter plants in Canada and Mexico without adequate food, water or rest. At the slaughterhouse, horses are brutally forced into a “kill box” and shot in the head with a captive bolt gun in an attempt to stun them before slaughter—a process that can be inaccurate due to the biology and nature of equines and result in animals sustaining repeated blows or remaining conscious during the kill process.

The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, H.R. 1942, was introduced by Reps. Frank Guinta (R-NH), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), and Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM).

"For centuries, horses have embodied the spirit of American freedom and pride," said Rep. Guinta. "To that end, horses are not raised for food - permitting their transportation for the purposes of being slaughtered for human consumption is not consistent with our values and results in a dangerously toxic product. This bipartisan bill seeks to prevent and end the inhumane and dangerous process of transporting thousands of horses a year for food."

“Horses sent to slaughter are often subject to appalling, brutal treatment,” said Rep. Schakowsky. “We must fight those practices. The

SAFE Act of 2015 will ensure that these majestic animals are treated with the respect they deserve.”

“The slaughter of horses for human consumption is an absolute travesty that must be stopped,” said Rep. Buchanan. “This bipartisan measure will finally put an end to this barbaric practice.”

The SAFE Act would also protect consumers from dangerous American horse meat, which can be toxic to humans due to the unregulated administration of drugs to horses. Because horses are not raised for food, they are routinely given hundreds of toxic drugs and chemical treatments over their lifetimes that are prohibited by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in animals intended for human consumption. Those drugs are potentially toxic to humans if consumed. In December 2014, the European Union (EU) announced its suspension of imports of horse meat from Mexico after a scathing audit of EU-certified Mexican horse slaughter plants, which kill tens of thousands of American horses each year. Additionally, the discovery of horse meat in beef products in Europe shocked consumers and raised concerns about the potential impact on American food industries.

"Horse slaughter is an inhumane practice that causes great pain and distress to the animals, and poses numerous environmental and food safety concerns,” said Rep. Lujan Grisham. “The vast majority of my constituents oppose horse slaughter. I'm proud to support the SAFE Act to ban this cruelty once and for all."

FEDS REMOVE PROTECTION The National Marine Fisheries Service has announced a decision to change the listing status of humpback whales under the Endangered Species Act. Humpback whales were previously protected as endangered globally, but the new finding splits the species into 14 populations — and while it continues protections for some populations, it proposes to remove endangered species protections for others, namely the Hawaii population, the Mexico population that feeds off the West Coast of the United States, and the West Indies population that feeds off the U.S. East Coast.

“It’s heartening to see that some humpback whales are recovering, but it’s premature to remove protections when so many threats, like climate change and ocean noise, are increasing,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Since commercial whaling ended, humpbacks have enjoyed protection, but they’re still drowning in fishing gear and getting hit by ships.”

The notice acknowledges that some threats still remain for humpback whales, but it cites population increases to justify delisting.

The whales’ recovery plan set the goal of reaching 60 percent of the historical carrying capacity for the North Atlantic and North Pacific populations, but it is not possible to assess whether this criterion has been met because of information gaps.

“The fact that we can spot humpback whales breaching and playing in the ocean after they were nearly extinct shows the tremendous power of the Endangered Species Act. Those safeguards should stay in place for these extraordinary animals,” said Sakashita.

In summary, the proposal continues to list the Arabian Sea and Cape Verde Islands/Northwest Africa populations as endangered and the Western North Pacific and Central American populations (that feed off California, Oregon and Washington) as threatened.

It delists the West Indies, Hawaii, Mexico (that feed off California, Oregon and Alaska), Brazil, Gabon/Southwest Africa, Southeast Africa/Madagascar, West Australia, East Australia, Oceania and Southeastern Pacific humpback populations.

The notice indicates that there are more than 2,000 humpback whales each in the West Indies, Hawaii and Mexico groups and the populations are increasing moderately. There are thought to be about 500 Central America humpbacks left, and that population’s trends are unknown.

The action comes in response to petitions by the Hawaii Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition to delist the North Pacific humpback whale and the state of Alaska to remove the Central North Pacific (Hawaii) stock of humpback for the list of endangered and threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The Fisheries Service will be accepting comments on the proposal for 90 days and holding public hearings in Hawaii, Alaska, Massachusetts and Virginia.

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IT’S OFFICIAL The San Francisco Board of Supervisors cast their final vote on April 21, 2015, unanimously approving a ban on wild animal performances in the city. The ordinance’s stated intent is to “protect wild and exotic animals from cruel and inhumane treatment and to protect the public from the danger posed by the use of wild and exotic animals for entertainment.”

chained in cages, trailers and train cars.

These animals are often seen behaving abnormally; rocking, swaying and pacing, all indicating that they are in distress and not coping with their environment.

By adopting this legislation, San Francisco joins at least 51 cities and counties in the United States that have restricted the use of wild animals in traveling circuses.

Last year Mexico and the Netherlands passed bans on wild animals in circuses, and in March Bulgaria became the 31st country around the world with protections for circus animals. Cities across the country, and the states of Pennsylvania, Hawaii, and New York, have all introduced similar proposed legislation.

The San Francisco ban on wild and exotic animal performances for public entertainment not only includes appearances in circuses, but also appearances on television shows, movie sets and commercials. The ban will apply to any public carnival, fair, parade, petting zoo, race, ride, film shoot or any other activity where wild or exotic animals “are required to perform tricks, fight or participate as accompaniments for the entertainment, amusement or benefit of an audience.” Exceptions will apply to domesticated animals, including companion animals, horses and livestock. Some educational exhibitions will also be exempt.

Studies of the use of wild animals in traveling circuses show that circuses cannot meet the physical or behavioral needs of wild animals. Animals are confined in small spaces, deprived of physical and social needs, spending excessive amounts of time shut or

The measure was proposed by Supervisor Katy Tang to “protect wild and exotic animals from cruel and inhumane treatment and to protect the public from the danger posed by the use of wild and exotic animals for entertainment.”

COMMENTS BEING ACCEPTED REGARDING VET KILLING CAT On Friday, April 17, the image of a veterinarian posing with a cat she claimed to have shot with a bow and arrow quickly went viral and led to an outpouring of anger and disgust from around the world.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) was equally appalled and disturbed by this image, and immediately took action to assess the situation while responding to individual complaints via social media and telephone. A special e-mail address, JudicialCouncil@avma.org, has been established to gather complaints regarding this situation and forward to the AVMA Judicial Council, which investigates all matters concerning allegations of unethical conduct of veterinarians. The AVMA Judicial Council can take action up to, and including, dismissal from the AVMA in accordance with the AVMA’s Rules of Disciplinary Procedures.

Dr. Ron DeHaven, the chief executive officer of the AVMA, issued the following statement: “The AVMA was shocked and appalled when we saw this image.

We immediately contacted veterinary officials in Texas to assess the situation. We understand that the veterinary clinic for whom this veterinarian was working took quick action and terminated her employment. The Texas Veterinary Medical Licensing Board has opened an investigation, and local authorities are investigating to see whether any violations of law occurred. We are confi-

dent that the legal system and licensing board will take appropriate action, and we will continue to monitor the situation.

“We are disturbed that this situation undermines the public trust and credibility that veterinarians have earned and so richly deserve. Every veterinarian takes an oath which states in part that they will “use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health and welfare, the prevention and relief of animal suffering.” The behavior depicted in the photograph and its caption is contrary to that oath and all that the veterinary profession strives to be; we are committed to ensuring that every animal is treated with respect and dignity. We see the veterinarian as helping to understand and convey the animal’s voice. The AVMA’s focus is on protecting the welfare of cats and all animals in all situations. We hope the alleged isolated actions of one veterinarian will not tarnish the proud reputation earned by thousands who have dedicated their careers to promote the welfare of animals everywhere.”

Comments on this situation previously received by the AVMA have been gathered and will be forwarded to the Judicial Council for review. Additional public concerns should be sent to JudicialCouncil@avma.org.

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DISPERSANTS CONTINUE TO AFFECT GULF

On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) rig caused a release of 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico before the well was capped on July 15, 2010.

Close to 100,000 kilometers, including more than 1,000 total linear miles of coastlines in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida were affected. A number of methods were used to prevent the oil from reaching the shoreline, including an estimated 1.9 million gallons of dispersant. Dispersants are one of the most controversial of these methods and are typically used when other methods are not adequate.

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute conducted several studies to determine the impacts of the DWH on marine organisms such as oysters, conch, shrimp, corals as well as marine plankton (microalgae or phytoplankton, rotifers or zooplankton), which provide the basis of coastal and oceanic food webs.

Chemical dispersants do not remove oil from water, but merely accelerate its natural dispersion. Although the use of dispersants decreased the impact of oil to shorelines and surface-dwelling organisms, such as birds, dispersants allowed the oil to be more easily taken up by organisms that live in the water column. Rather than disappearing, the dispersed oil ended up in bottom sediments, where it remains, posing future threats to pelagic and benthic organisms.

“Oil releases may affect marine organisms in a number of ways including physically, through toxic effects known to produce carcinogenic and mutagenic effects by modifying behavior, or through modifications in their natural habitats,” said Susan Laramore, Ph.D., an author in both of the publications, assistant research professor, and a marine and molecular biologist who studies aquatic animal health issues at FAU’s Harbor Branch Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory. “The Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened to coincide with the spring spawning season for a number of aquatic organisms, including shrimp and the eastern oyster.”

In the study published in the Journal of Shellfish Research, Laramore and her collaborators conducted studies to assess fertilization success, development, survival, and swimming behavior as well as sub-lethal exposure laboratory experiments to assess the impacts of brief exposures on the growth and survival of oysters (average lifespan of two years in the Gulf of Mexico). Findings from this study show that the DWH oil and dispersed oil impacted all of the factors listed above, although the extent of the impact varied depending on oyster life stage, amount of exposure and oil concentration.

The population of oysters have not come back to pre-spill levels. Diminished populations of oysters also affect marine coastal food webs and associated ecosystems.

In the second published study, Laramore and her collaborators examined two species of algae, used to feed molluscs, crustaceans and fish. These two species served as “models” for phytoplankton species in the Gulf of Mexico that were exposed to crude oil and weathered oil, dispersant and dispersed oil during the DWH oil spill. Results from this study revealed that the dispersant and dispersed oil affected the growth and motility of the algae, which may have had negative impacts on the food chain.

EXTINCT MONKEY IS REDISCOVERED Two primatologists working in the forests of the Republic of Congo have returned from the field with a noteworthy prize: the first-ever photograph of the Bouvier’s red colobus monkey, a rare primate not seen for more than half a century and suspected to be extinct.

The elusive primate was recently photographed by independent researchers Lieven Devreese and Gaël Elie Gnondo Gobolo within Ntokou-Pikounda National Park, a 1,765-square-mile protected area created to safeguard gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, and other species.

The field researchers set off in February 2015 to try to photograph Bouvier’s red colobus and establish the present distribution of this unique primate species in the Republic of Congo. Guided by local people familiar with red colobus vocalizations and behavior, the team found a group of red colobus in the swamp forests along the Bokiba River in the Ntokou-Pikounda National Park.

“Our photos are the world’s first and confirm that the species is not extinct,” Devreese said.

Bouvier’s red colobus (Piliocolobus bouvieri) is a species of monkey endemic to the Republic of Congo, about which virtually nothing is known. It has been considered a subspecies of a larger

colobus taxonomic group in the past, but the most recent treatment lists it as a full species. The species was first described in 1887 and is only known from a couple of museum specimens collected from three localities over 100 years ago. The authors of a book written in 1949 mention that the species occurs in the swamp forests between the lower Likouala and Sangha Rivers, as well as along the Alima River farther to the south. The last unverified sightings of Bouvier’s red colobus monkey occurred in the 1970s.

Recent surveys had previously recorded red colobus in what is now Ntokou-Pikounda National Park in 2007 and 2014, but they were very rarely encountered and no photograph had been taken. The new sighting and photograph confirm the presence of this threatened primate in Northern Congo. However, red colobus monkeys (there are several species) typically do not flee from humans but look down at them from the trees, an unfortunate behavioral characteristic that has led to them becoming very rare wherever hunters are active.

They are highly threatened by the growing demand for bushmeat in the region, a trade that also threatens larger primates such as gorillas and chimpanzees.

Photo Credit: Lieven Devreese

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EARTH & ANIMAL ADVOCATE GUIDE

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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!

Adopt An Animal from World Animal Foundation and make a difference for animals and the environment. Your WAF Adopt An Animal Kit comes in a Deluxe WAF Folder and includes: ● Glossy Photo of Your Adopted Animal ● Adopt An Animal Adoption Certificate ● Fact Sheet About Your Animal

● Help Animals Info Cards Packed With Information On Animal Issues & How You Can Help Animals And The Environment WAF Adopt An Animal Kits make great gifts and can be sent directly to the recipient. Simply supply the recipient's name and mailing address as shipping information. We'll even include a letter stating the Adopt An Animal Kit is from you.

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!