Brand New Baby Eastern Black Rhino.

Updated: Saturday, August 04, 2012, 2:12 AM

By James Ewinger, The Plain Dealer 

...The newest arrival, (click here for article and more video) an unnamed male born July 1, is already over 150 pounds, more than double his birth weight, and should continue to add two or three pounds a day until he hits six months of age.

In the meantime he's throwing that burgeoning weight around as he runs around, behind -- and sometimes under -- Kibibbi, his doting 2,600-pound mom. He also prances, bounds, and dashes around the indoor enclosure as he gains mobility and confidence....

So, what else is new. I am sure the petroleum industry is in here somewhere.

Charles Monnett,(click here) who oversaw much of the government's work in the Arctic, was investigated over alleged use of false data

Susanne Goldenberg
Saturday 29 September 2012 09.55 EDT

...Some of the material disclosed by Monnett was later used in court to force the interior department to revoke its approval of Shell's drilling plan, the letter said.

Arctic researchers and environmental campaigns saw the investigation of Monnett as an attempt to discredit or sideline government scientists – and so clear the way for Shell and other oil companies seeking approval to begin drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.

Shell began drilling its first offshore well in the Chukchi this month but was forced to pull out because of a series of problems in its oil containment system.

"It was a witch hunt. They were looking for anything they could find on Chuck (Monnett) to try to get rid of him or at least try to discredit him," said Richard Steiner, who was the receipient of four of the five unauthorised email releases....

How did I guess ! The petroleum industry will go to any extent to find profits. They don't care about Earth, its scientists or the wildlife they protect. I congratulate Dr. Monnett for standing his ground and becoming the hero everyone needed.

Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul), also called the manul can live at 10,000 feet altitude.

Friday, August 3, 2012 
6:30 AM

Keepers at Banham Zoo are celebrating their first arrival of Pallas cat kittens. (click here)

Four kittens were born at the attraction at the end of April and have recently emerged from their nest box.

Staff at the zoo had been hoping their secretive Pallas pair would breed since 2009 when a male arrived from Jihlava Zoo, Czech Republic to join the female as part of the European Breeding Programme.

Pallas cats are classified as “near threatened” in the wild because of over hunting and poisoning and inhabit parts of central Asia and northern China. There are currently 125 Pallas cats in the European programme....

The Pallas's cat is familiar with the Himalayan Mountains as home. It is considered Near Threatened due to the destruction of habitat involving tourism as well as over hunting and poisoning.

Behavior: (click here)

Most active at dawn and dusk, these elusive cats are solitary except during mating season or when a mother is caring for her kittens—teaching them the skills they will need for survival. Pallas’ cats den in small caves and cracks and in the abandoned burrows of marmots, foxes and badgers. They are adapted for life in cold climates where temperatures may reach lows of minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Their extremely thick and heavy coats and long bushy tails help them combat the cold. These cats are not adept runners but are excellent ambush predators. Their coloration blends into the vegetation allowing them to sneak up on prey.

Leatherback Sea Turtles are endangered. This was a very special release.

The turtle before being released (New England Aquarium)

By Sarah N. Mattero, Globe Correspondent
09/28/2012 5:13 PM
The 655-pound leatherback sea turtle (click here) that was rescued in Truro last week appears to be doing well after being released by the New England Aquarium, the aquarium said....

Leatherbacks are the largest turtles on Earth, (click here) growing up to seven feet (two meters) long and exceeding 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms). These reptilian relics are the only remaining representatives of a family of turtles that traces its evolutionary roots back more than 100 million years. Once prevalent in every ocean except the Arctic and Antarctic, the leatherback population is rapidly declining in many parts of the world.

While all other sea turtles have hard, bony shells, the inky-blue carapace of the leatherback is somewhat flexible and almost rubbery to the touch. Ridges along the carapace help give it a more hydrodynamic structure. Leatherbacks can dive to depths of 4,200 feet (1,280 meters)—deeper than any other turtle—and can stay down for up to 85 minutes.

Leatherbacks have the widest global distribution of all reptile species, and possibly of any vertebrate....

Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) endangered throughout its range. (click here)

"Psycho Zookeeper" - Saving on veterinary costs, maybe?

Try asking for donations next time. 

It takes all kinds I suppose. PMS, maybe? I hope this woman has no children. I don't think anyone could live through that marriage.

By Justin Jouvenal, Published: September 28

...Rood confronted Mogensen, (click here) resigned in protest and later called police.

“I think you and your father are sick and sadistic people, and I don’t want to be part of this anymore,” Rood recalled telling Mogensen, whose father owns the zoo. “It’s one thing to euthanize an animal, but it’s another thing to drown it.”

Mogensen, 26, of Silver Spring, was convicted of animal cruelty and sentenced to 30 days in jail after Rood’s whistleblower complaint. A judge also found her guilty of possessing animal anesthesia without a license.

The unusual trial featured testimony about a wallaby autopsy known as a necropsy, veterinary forensics experts and fingerprint analysis as prosecutors sought to show that Mogensen cruelly killed the wallaby and then mounted an elaborate coverup....

Giant Panda Cub Dies at National Zoo

By MICHAEL ZENNIE

PUBLISHED: 12:41 EST, 24 September 2012 

UPDATED: 01:38 EST, 25 September 2012

...She said she found milk in the cub's digestive tract, (click here) meaning she had been successfully nursing from her mother before her death. 

'We’d all felt that Mei Xiang had been a very good mother and had been very gentle with the cub, and indeed, that turns out to be the case,' Dr Murray said.

The seasoned animal surgeon, and mother of three, nearly broke down as she described the dead newborn.

'The cub was just beautiful. Beautiful little body. Beautiful face, with the markings just beginning to show around the eye. Couldn’t have been more beautiful,' she said.

The tragedy is a familiar one for the National Zoo. Out of eight giant panda cubs born since the zoo began its breeding program in the 1970s, only one has survived to maturity.

The rest died within a few days of being born....

The Ellen Trout Zoo recently announced the birth of a lion cub. I think we know who Daddy was.

Jul 10, 2008

The second announcement is the arrival of a new male African Lion a year and a half old. This new addition is part of the Lion Species Survival Plan (SSP) of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and is a valuable animal for the zoo. "Mashaka"-which means Trouble, as he is called, can be seen in the zoo's lion exhibit. The Ellen Trout Zoo, "The Wildest Place in Town and Your Place to Connect with the Natural World", is open every day from 9 A.M. until 5 P.M.



New Lion Cub

Updated: Aug. 16, 2012 PM EDT

By Alexis Spears

LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) 

The Ellen Trout Zoo (click here for video of cub and story) has announced the birth of a male African lion born on July 28.

Cercopithecus roloway (click here)

Owabi (Right, a two-week-old monkey cub of the Cercopithecus roloway family is pictured with its mother, Nyaga, at the zoo in Mulhouse, eastern France. An exceptionally rare Roloway monkey has been born at a zoo in eastern France that is striving to preserve one of the most endangered primate species on the planet.

They have a gorgeous coat and while it is true their habitat is being destroyed, one can't wonder if their fur is sought after as well. 

The Roloway monkey (click here) is one of the three most endangered monkeys of Ghana on the west coast of Africa. Roloway monkeys are an arboreal species found primarily in undisturbed, mature forests. Sadly, they do not appear to be very adaptable to changes in their habitat making them particularly vulnerable to human activity. Roloway monkeys are found in Ghana and eastern Cote d’Ivoire, also found in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Roloway monkeys mostly inhabit forests and are found under the canopy of the rainforests.


War is very bad for wildlife and wildlife conservation. Sometimes zoos are the safest haven for these endangered species. Then we wonder why we are losing our jungles and rainforests. Poaching happens easiest if there is war. It isn't good for the people that live there and sincerely love the wildlife either. Guns and gore.

Senior ally of former Ivory Coast president re-arrested in Ghana (click here)

September 28, 2012|Reuters

(Reuters) - Interpol agents in Ghana have rearrested a senior ally of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo amid a deepening dispute that has led to the closure of the border between the two West African neighbors, his lawyer said late on Friday.

Ivorian authorities are seeking the extradition of Justin Kone Katinan, a former budget minister, who was first arrested in Ghana last month during a wave of deadly attacks in Ivory Coast that the government there blamed on pro-Gbagbo exiles.

But, is she having babies and propagating the species?

Sarah the Cheetah (Source: Cincinnati Zoo)

Babies. 

Ask about the babies!

Zoo's cheetah sets land speed record (click here)

Submitted by Fox19 Web Staff

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012, 11:14am

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19)- Sarah, the Cincinnati Zoo's 11-year-old cheetah, has set a world speed record.

Sarah first earned the title of world's fastest of all land mammals in 2009 when she covered 100 meters in 6.13 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 6.19 seconds set by a male South African cheetah named Nyana in 2001.

This year, Sarah shattered all 100-meter times when she posted 5.95 seconds.  By comparison, Sarah's 100-meter run was nearly four seconds faster than the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt of Jamaica, whose fastest time for the same distance is 9.58 seconds.

Land speed records. Who cares if the kittens can't keep up with her. Might be good for catching prey, but, feeding the young is difficult at this speed.

Disappearing flora due to the Climate Crisis, means disappearing fauna.

Cristián Samper, the new president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society, at the Bronx Zoo on Wednesday.

...“My stature (click here) with the kids went up dramatically,” Dr. Samper said jokingly on Wednesday, his first day of work at the society’s headquarters at the Bronx Zoo. “This is much cooler.”

Dr. Samper, 46, a tropical biologist, arrived at the society after leading the Natural History Museum for nearly a decade. Born in Costa Rica and raised in Colombia, he roamed the forests there as a boy, cultivating a lifelong passion for studying and protecting plants and animals, and rising to become the chief science adviser for biodiversity for the Colombian government.

The transition from administering a vast collection that lies mostly in drawers and jars to managing one that actively prowls four of the five boroughs was motivated, he said, by a sense of urgency. Some scientists say that because of habitat loss, climate change and other factors, the world faces the possibility of a mass extinction comparable to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

“I’ve spent the last 30 years of my life studying wildlife, and many of the cloud forests that I once did research on are now gone — literally,” he said. “When I go back to the field, I see an incredible loss of species. Part of my decision to make this career change is that I feel I can’t be a bystander. This is an opportunity to protect and conserve these species....

Pennsylvania Conservation Officers take on ATVs.

Published: Sunday, September 30, 2012, 11:05 AM     

Updated: Sunday, September 30, 2012, 11:12 AM

By MARCUS SCHNECK, The Patriot-News 

...Previously WCOs (click here) did not have authority to enforce Title 75 summary offenses, and "the Game Commission normally forwards these violations to other enforcement authorities, which typically ends in mixed results," explained commission Executive Director Carl Roe.

"Illegal ATV operation is a major source of wildlife habitat destruction across the state, and these violations are often accompanied by ATV classification offenses, such as a lack of registration or insurance, which are required under Title 75."

Board President Ralph Martone, noted, "This is giving more weapons to our officers in the fight against ATVs on commission properties."

Roe said, "Unauthorized ATV operation on state game lands and private lands enrolled in the agency's hunter access program continues to be one of the top 10 violations our wildlife conservation officers encounter each year."...

It's Sunday Night

Born to be wild - Steppenwolf

Get your motor runnin' 
Head out on the highway 
Lookin' for adventure 
And whatever comes our way 
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen 
Take the world in a love embrace 
Fire all of your guns at once 
And explode into space 

I like smoke and lightning 
Heavy metal thunder 
Racin' with the wind 
And the feelin' that I'm under 
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen 
Take the world in a love embrace 
Fire all of your guns at once 
And explode into space 

Like a true nature's child 
We were born, born to be wild 
We can climb so high 
I never want to die 

Born to be wild 
Born to be wild

Get your motor runnin' 
Head out on the highway 
Lookin' for adventure 
And whatever comes our way 
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen 
Take the world in a love embrace 
Fire all of your guns at once 
And explode into space 

Like a true nature's child 
We were born, born to be wild 
We can climb so high 
I never want to die 

His 47% statement at the fund raiser dinner party is his point of view. It was not a gaff.

There were also statements to journalists. I can't find the video, it wasn't that popular. He was in the jet talking to reports. He stated, "All I need is more than 50%." He sincerely has a philosophy regarding the poor and middle class. They are disposable for all intents and purposes. When one looks across the spectrum of his statements before the convention and after, it is all the same content. He works with the wealthy to drive job creation while reaping in monies. He isn't about the working class, he is about the elite. Money has value, people don't.

Until tomorrow....

We are getting there.

The increase in consumer confidence we are experiencing must have something to do with the return of home equity.

This movement improves the USA economic stability, but, it still does not answer the tax base issues being experienced in many cities across the country. Cities are still suffering from a smaller tax base since 2008.

But, we getting there. I think this is really good news.

Minneapolis, Minnesota (PRWEB) 

September 14, 2012

...The breakdown (click here) of information, and good news for homeowners, in CoreLogic's report is:

    •  This is down from 11.4 million properties, or 23.7 percent, at the end of the first quarter of 2012.

   •  An additional 2.3 million borrowers possessed less than 5 percent equity in their home, referred to as near-negative equity, at the end of the second quarter.

   •  Approximately 600,000 borrowers reached a state of positive equity at the end of the second quarter of 2012.

   •  More than 700,000 home borrowers moved into positive equity in Q1 of 2012.

   •  Over 1.3 million households regaining a positive equity position since the beginning of the year.

   •  The share of borrowers still underwater but current on their payments was 84.9 percent at the end of the Q2 in 2012, up from 84.8 percent at the end of Q1 in 2012.

“The level of negative equity continues to improve with more than 1.3 million households regaining a positive equity position since the beginning of the year,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Surging home prices this spring and summer, lower levels of inventory, and declining REO sale shares are all contributing to the nascent housing recovery and declining negative equity.”...

Will someone please tell Michelle Bachmann she spelled Sterns County on her map wrong.

Michelle Bachmann website under "District" (click here)

There is a map of the Minnesota 6th Congressional District there. Now, I tried to be fair. I thought it was one of those eyesight things, but, the closer and closer I looked at, or should I say for, Sterns County the more I realized someone actually spelled it "Steams" County. 

I also noticed she does not legislate for Hennepin County where all the action is. See, Hennepin County is where Minneapolis resides. Do you know the Congressman for Hennepin County? No? None other than Congressman Keith Ellison.

Strange place, Minnesota. Even stranger to realize Bachmann and Ellison are neighbors. How did that happen?

The Sixth Congressional District is experiencing a sluggish return to housing values compared to the rest of Minnesota. I am not sure why, but, if there is something Bachmann objected to in the Recovery Act, it might explain it. Minnesota property values are rebounding. 

• Article by: JIM BUCHTA , Star Tribune 

• Updated: August 21, 2012 - 9:37 PM

The state's housing markets (click here) are seeing the biggest gains in places where jobs are most plentiful. Other areas aren't so lucky.

The Minnesota housing market continues to move away from the bottom, as July home sales climbed 4.6 percent, the Minnesota Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

Other positive signs emerged during the month: the median home price was up 11.1 percent, sellers received a higher percentage of their asking price, and homes were selling faster, on average....

Minnesota also had a lion share of the homes underwater until recently. The increase in property values are returning equity to some homes. 

Odd about the Sixth District. One would expect the values to return quicker there simply because the homes are more expensive, as a rule. But, there is this other reality which is somewhat disturbing. There is a trend to leave low income people out of the district. Very strange.

Report: Area housing prices too high for low incomes (click here)

Coalition: Area has shortage

10:50 PM, Sep 3, 2012

Stearns, Sherburne and Benton are among Minnesota counties with the least amount of affordable housing for low-income renters, according to a new report from a nonprofit coalition.

According to the Minnesota Housing Partnership’s 2012 County Profiles released today, 94 percent of the state’s counties have a shortage of rental housing that is affordable and available to their lowest-income residents.

“It’s a long-term trend,” said Chip Halbach, the partnership’s executive director. “What we’ve noticed statewide is that renter incomes have been falling relative to inflation, while rents have been pretty stable and some locales have actually been increasing.”...

Richard Mourdock takes a swing toward the moderates of Indiana. He is untrustworthy.

He states he does not believe in bi-partisanship, but, principle. He believes in segregating his power in a way that will continue the Middle Class of the Indiana and the USA. He is another dangerous Tea Party Darling that will hurt the country and not help it. If Mourdock sees the profit in lying about his core principles now, he will continue to lie if he were elected.

He chronically cherry picks words and phrases out of context of their meaning when used. Typical of the Right Wing, they like to be walking dictionaries rather than addressing issues.

So, let me not be a dictionary by pointing out the word 'conquer' is used several times to describe his role in the USA Senate. A conquering flip-flopper is probably a very dangerous thing.

September 28, 2012 4:09 pm 
Associated Press

Welcome to "Extreme Makeover: Mourdock Edition." (click here)

Mourdock's awkward stagger to the center may be a necessary move if the Republicans are to hold a seat that had been a safe bet since Lugar first won it in 1976. The outcome will help determine whether the GOP manages to win control of the Senate, where Democrats now have a narrow four-seat advantage.

Advertising spending from both sides has topped $6 million so far and promises to explode in the final weeks. The candidates and outside groups have already surpassed the $5.6 million spent in Indiana's 2010 Senate battle.

The Tea Party has won Senate seats in South Carolina, Utah, Kentucky and Florida, but only one so far — in Wisconsin — in the more politically diverse Midwest. Mourdock and Texas Republican Ted Cruz represent the ultraconservative movement's best chance for increasing its clout in this election....

Nothing is sacred in Syria from Assad.

I am quite sure the market in Allepo was the one place citizens felt safe, until today. I am sure there are many people dead. It isn't like Assad was going to call a fire drill before he set the place ablaze.

By Karen Laub
September 29, 2012

...The Aleppo market, (click here) a major tourist attraction with its narrow stone alleys and stores selling perfume, fabrics and spices, had been the site of occasional gun battles and shelling for weeks. But amateur video posted Saturday showed wall-to-wall flames engulfing wooden doors as burning debris fell away from the storefronts. Activists said hundreds of shops were affected....

During his visit to the New York City, President Ahmadinejad stated in an interview with Piers Morgan he recognizes the rights of every individual human life. It is time for President Ahmadinejad to take himself seriously and remove any and all support from his fellow Shi'ite, President Assad.

President Assad is killing his own people in mass numbers. He is destroying their lives and taking away any hope. The time is long over due for the Iranian President to remove all forms of support from the Assad regime. He has no assurances the Iranians in Syrian custody are alive or will ever survive the Assad regime.

By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Iran (click here) should only play a role in international diplomatic efforts to end the violence in Syria if it withdraws support for President Bashar Assad's regime, Britain's Middle East minister said Thursday.

Alistair Burt told The Associated Press in an interview that Iran could only have credibility in efforts to press Damascus by withdrawing its backing for Assad.

"Until the Iranians change their position in relation to Syria and stop their active support of a regime that's killing its own people, it's difficult to take them completely seriously," he said, noting that several nations in the Middle East shared Britain's skepticism....

Congressman Peter King is politicizing the death of an ambassador.

The earliest reportings of the attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi were sketchy at best. There were four dead people and others were threatened with their lives.

The idea there would be accuracy beyond the fact there was violence is a hideous concept. Congressman King knows that.

No one is resigning over such diffuse information in ONE incident. Ms. Rice is far to valuable at the United Nations to simply dismiss her at first glance. She is a competent representative for this country and such hideous demands have to be ignored. Ignoring such nonsense will at least give the matter as much attention as it deserves.

It is well documented the events following the discovery of the anti-Muslim film were well underway when the violence was conducted in Benghazi. There was no way of knowing what occurred, yet alone that those alive were safe.

Congressman King needs to understand the working conditions of some of the members of the State Department. Ambassador Stevens was a hero to many in the State Department. He was willing to do the impossible. He was hoping he could carry out the impossible.

Congressman King needs to reflect on the aggressive nature of his past party members in the Executive Branch to realize there is real fear of the USA abroad. In a country that just experienced a government overthrow there continues fear of a larger power coming in to rule their country. The USA has obtained the title of 'Occupier' since Iraq. It doesn't make the work of the State Department any easier. 

In Benghazi of all places where a power vacuum exists, there are still armed militias securing their local territory. The presence of the USA Consulate was a threat to at least one, but, more likely two militias. There is no doubt today the consulate and its staff were under constant surveillance and threat by patrolling militias. 

I don't know how many times the Right Wing has to hear these words, "The USA missions are DEPENDENT upon the authority of the country to control the conditions surrounding their safety." No one knew that more than Ambassador Stevens. There was false confidence in the minds of those in Benghazi. THAT is something Congressman King needs to focus on and not the fact the information immediately after the death of four people and the threat of more was 'clouded by war.' Or in this case, violence.

Past administration with similar circumstances have had the same 'clouds' swirling around their 'inaccuracies,' too.

The sad truth is, the Obama Administration carries more expertise than the newly formed governments themselves. I think that is the reason for the over confidence of the Ambassador and staff. They believed appreciation of the expertise they brought to 'help' would out way any fear. It didn't. At least by the folks with guns and bombs. The militias had more confidence in killing than listening, thinking or understanding they were under no threat from the USA. To them; a dead American was a good thing.

Originally published: September 29, 2012 10:54 AM
Updated: September 29, 2012 11:38 AM
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) (click here) called Friday for the resignation of Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, after the nation's top intelligence agency accepted blame for the deadly attacks on the Libya embassy earlier this month.

Extremists from groups linked to al-Qaida struck the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in a “deliberate and organized terrorist attack,” the top U.S. intelligence agency said Friday, as it took responsibility for the Obama administration’s initial claims that the deadly assault grew from a spontaneous protest against an anti-Islam video.

The unusual statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence appeared to have two goals: updating the public on the latest findings of the investigation into the assault, and shielding the White House from a political backlash over its original accounts....