Global Warming is Threatening Animals

The April 3rd issue of Time Magazine has an interesting feature on global warming...

The photograph taken in 1928, above, shows how the Upsala Glacier, part of the South American Andes in Argentina, used to look. The ice on the Upsala Glacier today, shown in 2004 below, is retreating at least 180 ft. per year

From the Magazine | Cover

Polar Ice Caps Are Melting Faster Than Ever... More And More Land Is Being Devastated By Drought... Rising Waters Are Drowning Low-Lying Communities... By Any Measure, Earth Is At ... The Tipping Point

The climate is crashing, and global warming is to blame. Why the crisis hit so soon--and what we can do about it

By JEFFREY KLUGER

Click HERE to read more...

World's Oldest Tortoise Dies

Photo: Bikas Das, AP

Adwaita, who was thought to be the world's oldest tortoise, died last week at a zoo in Calcutta. He was estimated to be over 250 years old. Scientists plan to carbon-date Adwaita's shell to document his age.

Get more details HERE from the BBC.

The oldest documented tortoise is HARRIET, was found by Charles Darwin in 1835 in the Galapagos Islands and currently resides at the Australia Zoo.

Severe Drought Takes its Toll on Kenyan Wildlife

A severe drought is taking its toll on people, livestock and wildlife in eastern Kenya. Click here to learn more...

In the past 10 days, however, some rain has fallen in drought stricken regions of the country, including 2 inches of precipitation at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Click here to learn more...

Coyote in New York's Central Park

Photo borrowed from Sun-Sentiniel.com

A coyote was discovered running around Central Park in New York City last Sunday, and led police on a three day chase (see additional photos and learn more about this story at Sun-Senteniel.com).

Police shot the coyote with a tranquilizer dart on Wednesday, and then transported the animal to an undisclosed location in upstate New York, where he will be released within days.

Help Save the Endangered Species Act

I just received the following urgent information from the NRDC:

"Dear NRDC Action Fund Supporter,

The U.S. Senate is poised to consider a bill that could strip America's
endangered wildlife of vital safeguards.

Please go to
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/esa/action.asp?step=2&item=53031
and urge your senators to reject any legislation that would weaken the
Endangered Species Act..."

Cheetah Cubs and Honey Badgers

Shortly after cheetah cubs are born, they grow tall fluffy fur that goes from the top of their heads most of the way down their backs. This fur is called a mantle. The mantle helps to camouflage cubs until it disappears when they are three to six months of age and better able to get away from predators. It is also thought that the cheetah's mantle makes it look like a fierce animal called a honey badger. In theory then, predators who aren't interested in messing with a honey badger will leave cheetah cubs alone.

Save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Once again Big Oil is trying to sneak a bill through the US Senate to gain drilling rights in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Your help is urgently needed to stop this bill from passing in the Senate on Thursday, March 16th!

Please go to this link at the NRDC for more information and tell your Senators "NO" to this bill. Thanks for helping animals!

UPDATE: Click here to see how the US Senate voted on this issue on March 16th.

Khayam the Ambassador Cheetah

Photo of Jennifer Baker (1984) with Khayam

Khayam, the once famous ambassador cheetah at Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon, was born in captivity in 1976. She was hand raised by her trainer Dr. Laurie Marker, and even went home with Laurie at night and slept on her bed. During the winter of 1977-78, Dr. Marker took Khayam to South Africa to see if a captive raised cheetah could be introduced into the wild (cheetahs are taught how to hunt by their mothers).

Khayam, after years of traveling the world with Dr. Marker, passed away in 1986 and was immortalized with a bronze statue by the city of Winston.

In 1990, Dr. Marker founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, Africa. CCF is now the leading conservation organization for protecting and studying the endangered wild cheetah.

Urgent Call to Save Grizzly Bears

The Bush administration has plans to remove the endangered species protection status for grizzly bears and open up more western lands for oil drilling and mining, thus destroying critical habitat for grizzlies and other wildlife.

Please help to save these important animals by visiting this link to the
Natural Resources Defense Council.