Are Shock Absorbing Leashes a Better Way to Walk Your Dog?
Does your dog jump or pull? Do you find that your dog takes you for a walk instead of the other way around? Do you find that children or seniors may have difficulty walking a rambunctious dog?
For these very reasons, there recently has been some significant innovation in dog leashes and dog walking. In addition to the retractable leash category, one of the fastest growing segments in leash innovation comes from shock absorbing leashes. These are leashes that absorb the shock of a jumping or pulling dog, so the stress is absorbed by the leash, and not by the handler or the dog.
Often times when a dog jumps or pulls, this puts considerable strain on the Read more
Teach Your Cat How to Use the Toilet the Easy Way
Teaching a cat or kitten how to use the toilet like a human being may seem strange, however many cats all over the world have already mastered this trick, making their owners job of cleaning up after them much easier. Toilet training your cat is very beneficial for many reasons. Cat litter tends to hold odor and if your cat is toilet trained guests will enjoy spending time in your home because they won’t smell a litter box. Your home will naturally be cleaner and more sanitary.
Another benefit is the money you will save on cat litter. When your cat no longer needs cat litter to do his business the savings add up very quickly. For instance, even cheap cat litter is about $5.00 per box. If you have one cat and you like your home to smell nice, you are probably replacing that box about every week.
The monthly cost of cat litter is about Read more
5 Valuable Points For the Bird Novice on Successfully Caring For Their Pet Budgies
SEXING
You must by all means necessary make sure that it is pair of budgies that you have acquired .As in a Male and Female.
Depending on the strain / mutation a cock may have a light purple / blue cere, which is the fleshy area where the nostrils are located above the beak; and the hen once in prime breeding condition will have a brown cere, this may be a light tan colour if the hen isn’t quite ready for copulation.
HEALTH Read more
Extinction Crisis Worsens; “Dow Jones” Approach Touted
An extinction crisis continues to ravage the planet’s animals and plants, according to the new Red List of Threatened Species released today.
The elevated threat level has even sparked a Dow Jones-like index of endangered species, designed to spot troubled species before it’s too late. But, despite the inevitable comparisons to the U.S. financial crisis, there appears to be no bailout plan in sight for threatened life-forms, experts say.
There are 44,838 species on the 2008 Red List, compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Thirty-eight percent of Red List species are close to extinction, with 25 percent of all mammals on the verge of oblivion
The Red List is an annual “health check of the planet,” IUCN director general Julia Marton-Lefèvre said.
For the 2008 list, for the first time, every known amphibian, mammal, and bird was assessed. 
Species unlucky enough to make the list are grouped into eight categories, from “least concern” (low risk of extinction) to “critically endangered” (extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the near term).
“If you look ahead a hundred years to our grandchildren and great grandchildren, how are they going to measure whether we were successful in our conservation efforts?” Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International, asked a briefing at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.
“Perhaps the most important basis is whether we really saved the full range of animals and plants and everything else out there.”
Heightened Threat Levels
Among species whose status is downgraded on the new Red List, some are falling victim to disease, such as the Tasmanian devil.
The Australian marsupial saw a rapid fall from “least concern” to “endangered” status after an infectious facial cancer wiped out 60 percent of its population.
Also, the deadly chytrid fungus continues to threaten amphibians, which have hit a new low.
Thirty-two percent of all amphibians are now threatened or extinct, said Simon Stuart, chair of IUCN’s Biodiversity Assessments Sub-committee. For example, Holdridge’s toad of Costa Rica, previously listed as critically endangered, has now been deemed extinct.
But most species are plummeting because of habitat destruction, “the most significant threat to [land] species,” Stuart said.
For instance, the newly listed, “critically endangered” Rameshwaram parachute spider—a tarantula species found only on the Indian island of Rameshwaram—has lost nearly all its habitat to plantation development.
Likewise, Asia’s fishing cat, now labeled endangered, has suffered from the draining of its wetland territory for farms and settlements.
“Good News”
There are a few bright spots in the findings.
The La Palma giant lizard—presumed extinct for the past 500 years—has been rediscovered on La Palma island in the Canary Islands—”very good news,” according to Stuart.
Overall, 5 percent of threatened mammals show signs of improvement in the wild, the report found.
For instance, North America’s black-footed ferret and Przewalski’s horse, a wild Mongolian subspecies, leaped from “extinct in the wild” to “endangered.”
These two successes point to the potential of reintroduction programs to save species, Jan Schipper, of IUCN-Conservation International Global Mammal Assessment, told National Geographic News.
But reintroduction is not the most cost-effective strategy, Schipper added. Efforts should be made to stave off species extinction before the threat to a species reaches a critical level, he said.
“Dow Jones Index” for Species
As part of that effort to spot trouble early, IUCN and the Zoological Society of London have launched the sampled Red List Index, “which could be considered the Dow Jones Index for biodiversity,” according to a press statement.
As in the Dow Jones approach to tracking stock market trends, a few individual “stocks” (in this case, species) are tracked as indicators of the overall health of the “market” (in this case, an overall taxon, or group of species—for example, reptiles).
The approach is also similar to election polling, in which the responses of a random sample are used to gauge trends.
“We need to know if things are getting better or getting worse. And when we have interventions, are they successful?” Jonathan Baillie, conservation-programs director for the zoological society.
Baillie and colleagues have already assessed reptiles and some invertebrate groups.
After adding the “Dow Jones” reptile data to the new Red List assessments of mammals and amphibians, he predicts that 24 percent of the world’s land-dwelling vertebrates (animals with spines) may be under threat.
This initial use of the Dow Jones approach, “indicates that biodiversity is in peril,” he said.
“And we don’t see any [U.S.] $700-billion bailout plan on the horizon.”
What Is a Mammal?
Humans are mammals. The word mammal comes from the Latin mamma, meaning breast, because female mammals produce milk to nurse their babies. Read more
What Is an Invertebrate?
Invertebrates comprise all the animals on Earth without spines, from the tiny zooplankton to the giant squid. There are so many different kinds, and they are so varied in form, that their lack of a spine is often the only characteristic they share. Read more
What Is a Fish?
Fish are ancient water-dwelling creatures found all over the globe. They are the world’s oldest vertebrates, with the first fish appearing some 500 million years ago. Read more
What Is a Bird?
There are about 10,000 bird species, found in every shape and size, from the tiny hummingbird to the majestic condor. Read more
What Is an Amphibian?
Amphibians lead double lives—one in water and one on land. Many begin life with gills, then develop lungs as they age. Read more
The Bulldog
The Bulldog, colloquially known as the British Bulldog or English Bulldog, is a medium-size breed of dog that originated in England. The bulldog is a non-sporting breed of dogs with a brindle, solid white, red or fawn colored coat or any of these colors on a white background on the coat. Descendants of the Asiatic mastiff, bulldogs were first bred in Great Britain to participate in the blood sport of bull baiting. That’s where they get their names from: bull baiting à bulldogs. And that’s not it, these bulldogs weren’t only used for bull baiting, they were also used against bears and other dangerous carnivores such as lions. During the 19th century, anti-baiting laws were passed where bulldogs could no more be used for bull baiting hence purebred bulldogs became extremely rare. However, in today’s world, this very same bulldog which was once upon a time a ferocious creature used for bull baiting and against bears, lions and other carnivores, is now a loving and gentle pet quite suitable to be used for dog shows thanks to its obedience.
English bulldogs are quite interesting to look at, with short bodies, wide shoulders and thick and strong legs bulldogs walk as if they shuffle. These lovely creatures walk with an attitude like they own the world, with their noise up straight, they march ahead with confidence as if they know where they’re going.
These friendly and lovely creatures are really fun to be with. They might look ferocious and angry, but they’re gentle and loving. Bulldogs make amazing pets especially because they look really attractive and royal. The commanding walk that is unique to the bulldog may be the primary reason for that, but the bulldog is quite an attractive.
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