Mammals cannot share their habitat with closely related species because the need for the same kind of food and shelter would lead them to compete to the death, according to new research out on May 28, 2008 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
The team behind the study says this is important because [...]
Continue reading about Family Feuds: Why Close Relatives Keep Their Distance In The Animal Kingdom
[...]In the Sichuan earthquake, pets were not just the objects of rescue.
In a few cases, they were the heroes who saved people.
The story of Wang Youqiong, a 61-year-old caught in a landslide in the mountains, is a case in point.
After her lower body was stuck under [...]
Continue reading about Earthquake pets: To save or not to save?
An Iowa State University researcher has found that sick female deer mice devote their energy to producing healthier offspring.
Lisa Schwanz, a researcher in the department of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, studied the size of offspring for both infected and healthy mice and found that females that had been infected with a parasite produced larger [...]
Continue reading about Mice Mothers Devote Energies To Offspring When Life Is Threatened
Clutching the school guinea-pig or charting the growth of tadpoles in a jar has, for generations, been many children’s first encounter with the natural world.
But the practice of keeping animals in school is endangered and may even become extinct if RSPCA guidance is enforced.
Allowing small children, and even smaller creatures, to [...]
Continue reading about Cuddling the class pet is cruel, RSCPA tells schools
A new study provides a baseline distribution of blood parasites and strains in Spotted Owls, suggesting a more fragile immune health than previously understood for the already threatened Northern and California Spotted Owls.
The study, co-authored by San Francisco State University biologists, is the first to show a Spotted Owl infected with an avian malaria (Plasmodium) [...]
Ecological and conservation groups are praising a move by the Environmental Protection Agency to impose new restrictions on rat poisons to help reduce the threat of accidental exposure to children and wildlife.
“We are very happy that the EPA has done all it can to get these products off of the consumer market,” said Michael [...]
Continue reading about EPA aims to keep rat poison from children, animals
After just a month in operation, specially designed video cameras installed to capture wildlife footage in the jungles of South East Asia have twice recorded remarkable images of a mother and child pair of the world’s rarest rhino.
But the success was not without incident as after a short inspection, the rhino mother charged the camera [...]
Continue reading about World’s Rarest Rhinos Make First Video Trap Appearance — Then Toss Camera
Scientists are learning more about how zoo animals feel and how a toy or a little training can sometimes help cut the endless pacing and other repetitive behaviours that are often assumed to be signs of distress.
Some big cats want a high perch from which to view visitors, polar bears want to scratch for hidden [...]
Continue reading about Animals fare better in zoos as experts learn more
Somewhere in the murky past, between four and seven million years ago, a hungry common ancestor of today’s primates, including humans, did something novel. While temporarily standing on its rear feet to reach a piece of fruit, this protohominid spotted another juicy morsel in a nearby shrub and began shuffling toward it instead of dropping [...]
Continue reading about Did Walking On Two Feet Begin With A Shuffle?
With forecasters predicting a hot summer (despite winter insisting on making curtain calls this year), keeping your pet well-watered is going to be, as important than ever.
And that goes for whether you’re at home, or taking your pet for a walk.
“Dogs, especially in the summer, will play past the point of exhaustion and they get [...]
