A few days after the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 when Britain went to war against Germany, the first casualty of war were thousands of animals destroyed by their owners. The fear of wide-spread and extremely destruction bombing raids and gas attacks immediately after the declaration of war was very prevalent in [more...]
An elephant is a remarkable animal, and I am fortunate to have had the privilege to be able to touch one. The skin of an elephant, as you might expect, is tough and rough. It’s also wrinkled into deep folds, and more than likely to be covered in parts by a thin layer of mud from [more...]
A game reserve combines nature conservation with travel and adventure. Some game reserves also incorporate animal tracking and hunting, but those are not the kind of game reserves we’re discussing here. We’ll take as our example the game parks run by SANParks, the South African National Parks authority. The game reserves are huge tracts of land, [more...]
Collies come in two types – rough coated and smooth coated. In the United States they are considered to be the same breed of dog. However, in Great Britain the two coats are considered to be two separate breeds. Collies are also known as the Scottish Collie. The Collie is very intelligent and beautiful, often described [more...]
Chihuahuas come in two types: short coat, (also called smooth coat), and long coat. They are identical except for coat length. The short coat is most popular. The Chihuahua is known by its small size, big ears, large and beautiful dark eyes. This is the smallest dog breed in the world and the oldest breed [more...]
The Poodle is one dog breed, with three different varieties. Toy Poodle: 10 inches or less at the shoulder Miniature Poodle: Taller than 10 inches, but no higher than fifteen inches Standard Poodle: Taller than 15 inches at the shoulders’ highest point. Other than the size difference, all three Poodle varieties are the same: a squarely built, intelligent, friendly, [more...]
Many people yearn to see large African animals in the wild—and many African countries have game reserves where elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes and lions roam free. But there’s a catch—how to avoid the risk of contracting malaria? Malaria is a dangeous and sometimes life-threatening disease. The cause of the disease is a parasite of the blood, [more...]
The Labrador Retriever is one of the most popular dog breeds worldwide. According to American Kennel Club (AKC) dog registration statistics, the Labrador Retriever has been America’s top registered breed for the last 18 years. Ranking of the most popular dogs in the U.S. (2008) 1. Labrador Retriever 2. Yorkshire Terrier 3. German Shepherd Dog 4. Golden Retriever 5. Beagle 6. Boxer 7. Dachshund 8. [more...]
UK supermarkets now label some meat, fish, and eggs as “freedom food” or “freedom foods”. If this sounds pretty much the same as free range food to you, look again. You may have been confused by the similar-sounding words free and freedom. ‘Freedom Food’ is the name of a programme designed to improve the lives of [more...]
According to a 2007 Harris poll (1), 88% percent of pet owners consider their pets members of their family, and as family members they also receive holiday gifts and birthday presents. Sixty-five percent of pet owners have bought their pet a holiday present and thirty-seven percent have bought their pet a birthday present. Dogs – 71% of dog [more...]
In an earlier article, we looked at ways in which scientists could control the movement of rats and other animals by radio control. Those ratbots were living animals with electrodes implanted in their brain and connected to a radio control receiver. Now we look at the reverse situation – using the brain cells of a [more...]
According to the AVMA (1), there are more than 72 million pet dogs in the U.S. and nearly 82 million pet cats. Ownership A little more than 43 million households own dogs and nearly 37.5 million households own cats. The average number of dogs per household is 1.7. Cat owning households have an average of 2.2 cats. DOGS Percent of [more...]
Since 2002 it has been possible to remotely guide rats under human control. John Chapin and Sanjiv Tawlar achieved this at the State University of New York. The rat is fitted with a tiny backpack which contains a radio receiver. There are wires from the receiver into a part of the rat’s brain called the sensorimotor [more...]
The story of goats climbing trees sounds like a hoax, doesn’t it? But goats in Morocco can climb the argan tree, and a dozen or more goats can be found in one tree at the same time. The goats climb the trees to eat the small fruit. They either spit out, or excrete undigested, the pit [more...]
Travel to Yellowstone National Park or the Black Hills of South Dakota, and chances are that you’ll run across a herd of hefty mammals known as buffalo — or are they bison? In American English they’re the same species, although some language purists would insist that you refer to the animals as bison alone. Here’s the [more...]
It was Jack Black, self-described “rat and mole destroyer to Her Majesty“. In 1851 Henry Mayhew published London Labour and the London Poor, a ground-breaking examination of the condition and lives of London’s poor. Mayhew carried out interviews of the people he came across and in volume III he wrote of the lives of the ‘Street-Folk’. [more...]