Category: Animals & Nature

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Zoos Are No Longer Able to Acquire African Elephants from the Wild

You might have already assumed that trade in wild African elephants – and endangered species in general – was illegal, even if it was a zoo that was looking to take one in.

We would have been wrong.

Though hopefully that won’t be the case for much longer.

At the 18th meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, members from over 180 countries reassessed regulations on international elephant trade. A vast majority of the the representatives voted to end the capture and sale of wild African elephants for display in zoos worldwide.

The issue will go for a vote in front of the full conference, but with 46 of the 83 countries in favor, it looks to have a good chance of passing.

Iris Ho, a senior policy advisor at Humane Society International (HSI), told Bloomberg that everyone in the business of supporting endangered species sees this as a win.

“It’s a huge step forward. It’s really historic that the majority of the parties present recognized that African elephants should not be captured in the wild, sent to zoos and be kept in captivity for the rest of their lives.”

The ban would largely affect countries in southern Africa, where elephant populations are healthier and herds are regularly thinned for the purpose of selling them to zoos. Zimbabwe alone sold over 100 wild-caught baby elephants to China in the past 7 years, and the issue of separating calves from their mothers and the rest of the herd certainly has animal welfare experts concerned.

“Calves suffer psychological and physical harm when taken from their mothers,” explains elephant biologist Audrey Delsink of HSI Africa. “Zoos and other captive facilities force these calves to live in an unnatural, unhealthy environment that doesn’t meet their complex needs.”

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Did you know that African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth? They are slightly larger than their Asian cousins and can be identified by their large ears that look like the continent of Africa. Their ears radiate heat to help keep them cool, but sometimes the African heat can be too much so they use their trunk to give themselves a shower. Elephants eat roots, grasses, fruits, and bark and they eat a lot of it. In fact, an adult elephant can consume up to 300 pounds of food a day. Female elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal (22 months) and usually give birth to one calf. In 2018, Tarangire’s famed Eloise was the oldest elephant to give birth to twin calves. Source of information: National Geographic https://www.wanderlusttours.org #wanderlust #tours #africa #tanzani #tarangirenationalpark #tarangire #elephants #africanelephants #thisisafrica #travel #concioustravel #mindfultravel

A post shared by Wanderlust Tours (@wanderlusttoursafrica) on

Elephant trade has long been a hot topic, with African nations often territorial about managing their own wildlife without outside interference. Black market demands for ivory has drastically increased elephant poaching in the last few decades, though, so organizations like CITES feel as if they have a duty to protect the endangered species as if it belongs to the world, and not only to its endemic areas in Africa.

Over a million species are listed as at risk thanks to all manner of human activity, so committees like CITES are set to have busy years as they work to revamp how different species are protected around the globe.

“Nature’s dangerous decline is unprecedented,” says CITES Secretary General Ivonne Higuero. “Business as usual is no longer an option.”

I feel like that statement applies to environmental challenges all over the globe, and I hope there are people in every nook and cranny waiting to step up to do their part to save us all.

The post Zoos Are No Longer Able to Acquire African Elephants from the Wild appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Zoos Are No Longer Able to Acquire African Elephants from the Wild

You might have already assumed that trade in wild African elephants – and endangered species in general – was illegal, even if it was a zoo that was looking to take one in.

We would have been wrong.

Though hopefully that won’t be the case for much longer.

At the 18th meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, members from over 180 countries reassessed regulations on international elephant trade. A vast majority of the the representatives voted to end the capture and sale of wild African elephants for display in zoos worldwide.

The issue will go for a vote in front of the full conference, but with 46 of the 83 countries in favor, it looks to have a good chance of passing.

Iris Ho, a senior policy advisor at Humane Society International (HSI), told Bloomberg that everyone in the business of supporting endangered species sees this as a win.

“It’s a huge step forward. It’s really historic that the majority of the parties present recognized that African elephants should not be captured in the wild, sent to zoos and be kept in captivity for the rest of their lives.”

The ban would largely affect countries in southern Africa, where elephant populations are healthier and herds are regularly thinned for the purpose of selling them to zoos. Zimbabwe alone sold over 100 wild-caught baby elephants to China in the past 7 years, and the issue of separating calves from their mothers and the rest of the herd certainly has animal welfare experts concerned.

“Calves suffer psychological and physical harm when taken from their mothers,” explains elephant biologist Audrey Delsink of HSI Africa. “Zoos and other captive facilities force these calves to live in an unnatural, unhealthy environment that doesn’t meet their complex needs.”

View this post on Instagram

Did you know that African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth? They are slightly larger than their Asian cousins and can be identified by their large ears that look like the continent of Africa. Their ears radiate heat to help keep them cool, but sometimes the African heat can be too much so they use their trunk to give themselves a shower. Elephants eat roots, grasses, fruits, and bark and they eat a lot of it. In fact, an adult elephant can consume up to 300 pounds of food a day. Female elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal (22 months) and usually give birth to one calf. In 2018, Tarangire’s famed Eloise was the oldest elephant to give birth to twin calves. Source of information: National Geographic https://www.wanderlusttours.org #wanderlust #tours #africa #tanzani #tarangirenationalpark #tarangire #elephants #africanelephants #thisisafrica #travel #concioustravel #mindfultravel

A post shared by Wanderlust Tours (@wanderlusttoursafrica) on

Elephant trade has long been a hot topic, with African nations often territorial about managing their own wildlife without outside interference. Black market demands for ivory has drastically increased elephant poaching in the last few decades, though, so organizations like CITES feel as if they have a duty to protect the endangered species as if it belongs to the world, and not only to its endemic areas in Africa.

Over a million species are listed as at risk thanks to all manner of human activity, so committees like CITES are set to have busy years as they work to revamp how different species are protected around the globe.

“Nature’s dangerous decline is unprecedented,” says CITES Secretary General Ivonne Higuero. “Business as usual is no longer an option.”

I feel like that statement applies to environmental challenges all over the globe, and I hope there are people in every nook and cranny waiting to step up to do their part to save us all.

The post Zoos Are No Longer Able to Acquire African Elephants from the Wild appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Guys Tried to Dissuade a Friend from Buying a Purebred Pug by Showing Him a Skull Comparison

This is a strange story…

When NoNienNietNon‘s friend expressed a desire to own a purebred pug, he went all out in trying to convince him otherwise – by showing him the cruel differences between a pug skull and the skulls of other, less bred dogs.

fuck intentionally breeding physical deformities into animals for the sake of vanity

There are plenty of arguments against buying a purebred doing and instead opting to rescue a pup from the shelter, but when it comes to the “squashed face” breeds (like pugs), you can add “the health of the breed” to that list.

Pugs and other dogs with smashed faces (aka brachycephaly) are prone to multiple health issues that shorten their lifespan and impair their quality of life. Dr. Rowena Packer spoke with The Guardian about some of these problems.

“The breeds that are increasing in popularity unfortunately are plagued by a plethora of different health problems – we are talking about issues from head to tail. Whenever we’ve got breeds that do have health problems increasing in popularity naturally we are really concerned about that.”

Professor Paul McGreevy chimed in to talk about how the health problems impact their lifespan.

“These dogs are dying, we think, four years earlier than dogs of the same size with normal-shaped skulls. Because they have got all of the tissues in their head that a normal dog has, but they have less room, they get dental crowding and they also get the soft palette hanging down – that is what gives them the [breathing] sounds.”

The wrinkles on their faces, caused by excess skin, also lead the breeds to struggle with eczema, skin disorders, and even eye problems, and the “ideal” body shape of a head larger than the waist means more and more pug mamas require c-section births.

If that’s not a way of Mother Nature telling you that something has gone awry, I don’t know what is.

The post A Guys Tried to Dissuade a Friend from Buying a Purebred Pug by Showing Him a Skull Comparison appeared first on UberFacts.

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This Is How Hurricanes Actually Get Their Names

Barry? Dorian? Who comes up with this stuff, anyway?

Well, though hurricane names may seem random, there is actually a system to it all.

Hurricanes in the West Indies used to be named after the saint’s day when the storm hit. In the 1900s, an Australian meteorologist decided to name hurricanes after women’s names instead of saints (cause they’re destructive?), and the United States followed suit in 1953. In 1979, men’s names were also added to the list.

But how does a particular hurricane gets its name? The World Meteorological Organization uses an alphabetical list. For the Atlantic coast, there are six lists with 21 names each, one for every letter of the alphabet except Q, U, X and Y. Each list is to be used for one year — every time a storm comes, meteorologists take the names alphabetically on that year’s list. After six years, the naming process starts over with the first list again.

Photo Credit: iStock

The process is the same for hurricanes on the Pacific coast, except that the lists include names for every letter except Q and U.

If there are too many hurricanes in a given year and meteorologists run out of names, then the rest come from the Greek alphabet, starting with Alpha and going down to Omega.

The lists are already established, but there are a few exceptions. If a hurricane is particularly bad, it gets a unique name (like Katrina or Sandy). Also, the World Meteorological Organization sometimes decides to retire names from the list at its annual meeting. The names Florence and Michael, for example, were recently retired.

Photo Credit: iStock

So, now you know! Some future hurricane names to look out for in 2019 include Fernand, Gabriella and Humberto (on the East coast) and Juliette, Kiko and Lorena (on the West coast).

The post This Is How Hurricanes Actually Get Their Names appeared first on UberFacts.

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July 2019 Was the Hottest Month on Record…so Far

If you thought July was hotter than usual, you were right.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), July was not only the hottest July of all time, but the hottest month since we began keeping such records back in 1880.

The average global temperatures were nearly a full degree Celsius over the 20th-century average.

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So I want to talk about packaging 📦When I first had the idea about selling my artwork one of my biggest concerns was my packaging and how it would effect the environment! Therefore, after doing some research I found a company @ecocraft_ltd . Eco craft produce bio-degradable packaging bags made from potato/corn starch. They look and feel exactly like cellophane bags,however, are sustainable making my products have a better impact on the environment,meaning less single use plastic!! 🌍 Therefore, all my prints will be packaged using these green bags along with all my postage envelopes that can be recycled. 💛💛💛 • • #illustration #illustrationartists #climatechange #climatechangeisreal #fightforclimatechange #fightagainstplastic #thereisnoplanetb

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July 2019 came right after the hottest June ever recorded, which saw temperatures climb 2 full degrees Celsius over average for the time.

9 of the 10 hottest Julys have occurred since 2005, so despite statements from some public leaders that global warming is a hoax, the data points to the contrary. This July, as a matter of fact, was the 415th consecutive month with above-average temperatures across the globe.

Also according to NOAA, satellite data for July shows the lowest polar ice levels ever recorded – one more reason for concern, if you ask Professor of Climate Science Richard Allan.

“Just as one swallow does not make a summer, one record month does not tell us much on its own since the fickle nature of weather systems and the slow sloshing about of the ocean can sometimes temporarily warm or cool the planet. However, the clustering of recent record hot years and months, the longer-term warming trend and our understanding of the physics of the atmosphere and oceans confirms that our climate is heating up, it’s our fault, and the way to stop this is to reduce and begin removing emissions of greenhouse gases.”

Full stop.

Now, let’s agree to do something about it before it’s too late.

The post July 2019 Was the Hottest Month on Record…so Far appeared first on UberFacts.

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The Blue Macaw from Film “Rio” Is Now Extinct in the Wild

The Spix’s Macaw (also knows as the little blue macaw) was marked as critically endangered in 1994. Now, the species was confirmed by a new study to be extinct in the wild.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

The gorgeous bird was made famous as Blu, the lead in the movie Rio. The whole plot of the film revolved around the parrot fearing he was the last of his species. Sadly, it is believed that the birds had already disappeared from their natural jungle habitats nearly a dozen years before the movie was even released.

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Nonprofit wildlife group Birdlife International has reported that, due to heavy deforestation in Brazil, the forest the birds call home has been cleared. Critically, its main source of food comes from a specific kind of tree, the Caraiba tree, in which it also typically nested. These trees take hundreds of years to grow, and they have been devastated from centuries of human intervention, which has taken Spix’s Macaw down as well.

The Spix’s was also vulnerable to human-introduced predators such as rats and cats.

There is some good news, however: an estimated 60-80 birds exist in captivity. So while the Spix’s is on its last leg as a species, they are only extinct in the wild. There was some excitement around a lone macaw sighting in the forest a few years ago; however, it was determined that the parrot was likely an escapee.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

Sadly, it is unlikely the macaws, or any of the other South American birds declared extinct this year, will be able to make a wild comeback.

The post The Blue Macaw from Film “Rio” Is Now Extinct in the Wild appeared first on UberFacts.

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Why Are Bugs So Darn Loud?

You’re outside on a warm summer evening: there are no cars, no voices, just the overwhelming cacophony of BUGS. Tons of them. It sounds like a symphony in the trees of nonstop chirping from cicadas, crickets, and other insects. If you’ve ever camped in a national park or a forest, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The forest comes alive and it gets so loud that you are taken aback.

But did you ever ask yourself the question, “Why are bugs so darn loud?” Especially when you look at them and see how little they are?

Let’s take a look at how three small insects make all that noise.

Katydids

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

A lot of the noise you hear from katydids is associated with mating. These insects rub their wings together in a method known as “stridulation,” producing a buzzing sound. Of course, it’s the males that stridulate, since they’re the ones doing the attracting.

Cicadas

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Only male cicadas make noise, just like katydids and crickets. Unlike katydids, cicadas don’t only make noise to mate, but also to scare off other male bugs and to send out distress signals. To make noise, male cicadas use tymbals, special noise-making organs that are located on their abdomens. Most of the rest of a cicada’s abdomen is hollow, which helps to amplify the noise.

They’re also able to fold their eardrums closed, which is good news for them because they are loud.

Crickets

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Crickets, crickets, everywhere! Crickets rub their wings together to make noise, but they emit a lower frequency than katydids, which results in a more musical sound instead of a buzzing noise. Crickets also use noise to attract potential mates, and they have a number of different ‘songs’ for different parts of the mating ritual: attracting a mate, wooing a mate, and warning off male competition.

 

It sure is noisy out there!

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10 Facts so Good You Might Just Jump Around

Let’s cut the chit chat and the small talk RIGHT NOW. I’m here with 10 facts that you absolutely NEED in your life right now.

They’re so good, in fact, that I have a feeling you’re going to jump for joy. So go ahead and do it! …After you enjoy these facts.

1. Been there, done that

Photo Credit: did you know?

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2. Ouch…

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3. Freaky!

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4. That’s interesting

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5. It works!

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6. Give it a shot

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7. Here come the waterworks

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8. I’ll take two!

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9. Harry Potter critters

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10. Hey, Gramps!

Photo Credit: did you know?

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Might as well JUMP!

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The World’s First Salmon ATM Is Now Open in Singapore

In a mall in Singapore, you can buy Norwegian salmon out of an ATM machine. The ATM opened in January 2019 in the Wisteria shopping mall and proved to be so popular that there are now dozens of ATMS supplying 200-gram fillets of salmon around Singapore.

The company behind the vending machines, Norwegian Salmon Pte Ltd, intends to make salmon affordable for everyone by cutting out a lot of costs: storefronts, distributors, staff, etc. The fillets sell for $4.25 (U.S.), which sounds like a pretty great deal to me. The salmon in the machines is kept at -4 degrees Fahrenheit, so it can remain fresh for up to two years.

Singapore was a natural choice for the company to establish the salmon vending machines because the fish is very popular there and the city-state is known for its vending culture. People in Singapore get many things from vending machines, including ice cream, pizza, salads, books – even luxury cars.

Norwegian Salmon Pte Ltd’s founder and CEO, Manish Kumar, who is from Norway, said about his company’s product:

“Part of the reason why I made sure to show that my product is Norwegian salmon and not just any salmon is because Norway has such high standards for sustainability, health, and safety when it comes to the farmed salmon that it exports. The motivation for the Norwegian Salmon ATM was to make Norwegian salmon time- and cost-effective for everyday people. We put the nutrition facts for our salmon on the front of every ATM because we are proud of how healthy it is.”

The machines do not accept cash, but they are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What do you think? Would you buy frozen salmon from a vending machine? I think I would!

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A Woman Caught a Fish with Two Mouths in Upstate New York

This woman’s fishing trip took a strange turn when she reeled in a fish with two mouths.

Debbie Geddes was fishing on Lake Champlain in upstate New York when she caught the unusual animal. She told Fox News that when the fish initially bit her line, she felt like it was a quite large one. But she had no idea what she was about to reel onto the boat.

“When we got it in the boat I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!” Debbie said. “Two mouths! And yet this fish was healthy and thriving! Pretty amazing.”

Debbie and her husband took photos of the unique fish, then released it back into the water. Debbie’s co-worker, Adam Facteau, knew that people had to see this, so he uploaded a photo to Facebook.

“She wasn’t convinced anyone would care about the catch,” Adam said. “I knew it would be popular.”

He was right. The photo went viral, and people have been debating over the cause of the two mouths ever since. Debbie personally thinks that the Lake Trout’s second “mouth” was created by a previous injury. Many commenters also blamed pollution.

“Well, I think everyone has an opinion, which makes it interesting for discussion,” Adam said.

He’s personally not so sure of the cause. He says an injury is “possible.”

Posted by Debbie Geddes on Saturday, August 18, 2018

“However, Lake Champlain is also known for being a sewage dumping ground from Canada and (Vermont). Plus, many of these fish are stocked.”

Regardless of the reason behind these apparent two mouths, this is certainly a catch that Debbie will remember forever.

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