title: "Alexandra Palace" content: the park was closed and the palace and grounds were first used as refugee camp for displaced Belgians, and then later from 1915–19 as an internment camp for German and Austrian civilians. The camp commandant was Lt. Col. R. S. F. Walker until his death in May 1917. The theatre was greatly altered in the early 1920s, with the general manager, W. J. MacQueen-Pope, spending the war reparation money on refurbishing the auditorium. He abandoned the understage machinery that produced the effects necessary in Victorian melodrama; some of the machinery is preserved, and there is a project to restore some


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: of it to working order. After these changes, the theatre was leased by Archie Pitt, then husband of Gracie Fields, who appeared in the theatre. Fields also drew an audience of 5,000 people to the hall for a charity event. In 1935, the trustees leased part of the palace to the BBC for use as the production and transmission centre for their new BBC Television service. The antenna was designed by Charles Samuel Franklin of the Marconi Company. The world's first public broadcasts of (then) "high-definition" television were made from Alexandra Palace in 1936, an event which is alluded to


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: by the rays in the modern coat of arms of the London Borough of Haringey. Two competing systems, Marconi-EMI's 405-line system and John Logie Baird's 240-line system, were installed, each with its own broadcast studio and were transmitted on alternate weeks until the 405-line system was chosen in 1937. After the BBC leased the eastern part of the palace the theatre was only used for props storage space. The palace continued as the BBC's main transmitting centre for London until 1956, interrupted only by the Second World War when the transmitter found an alternative use jamming German bombers' navigation systems.


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: In 1944, a German doodlebug exploded just outside the organ end of the Great Hall and the Rose Window was blown in, leaving the organ exposed to the elements. In 1947 some of the pieces of the shattered rose window were incorporated in a new design by architect E.T. Spashett during renovation of bomb-damaged public buildings by the Ministry of Works. During the 1940s and 50s the palace also housed a public roller-skating rink and the Alexandra Palace Roller Skating Club. In the early 1960s, an outside broadcast was made from the top of the tower, in which the first


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: passage of a satellite across the London sky was watched and described. It continued to be used for BBC News broadcasts until 1969, and for the Open University until 1981. The antenna mast still stands and is used for local terrestrial television transmission, local commercial radio and DAB broadcasts. The main London television transmitter is now at Crystal Palace in south London. Early in 1980, Haringey council took over the trusteeship of Alexandra Palace from the GLC, intending to refurbish the building but just six months later, during Capital Radio's Jazz Festival, a fire started under the organ and quickly


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: spread. It destroyed half the building. Again the outer walls survived and the eastern parts, including the theatre and the BBC Television studios and aerial mast, were saved. Parts of the famous organ were destroyed, though it had been dismantled for repairs so some parts (including nearly all the pipework) were away from the building in store. Some of the damage to the palace was repaired immediately but Haringey council overspent on the restoration, creating a £30 million deficit. It was then reopened to the public in 1988 under a new management team headed by Louis Bizat. Later the council


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: was heavily criticised for the overspend in a report by Project Management International. In 1991, the attorney-general stated that the overspending by the council as trustee was unlawful and so could not be charged to the charity. The council for some years did not accept this politically embarrassing finding and instead maintained that the charity "owed" the council £30 million, charged compound interest on what it termed a "debt" (which eventually rose to a claim of some £60 million), and to recoup it tried to offer the whole palace for sale — a policy their successors are still trying to


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: carry out despite being rejected by the High Court in October 2007. As of June 2008, it is still unclear whether the council in either of its guises has agreed to write off its 1980s overspend. An ice rink was installed at Alexandra Palace in 1990. Primarily intended for public skating, it has also housed ice hockey teams including the Haringey Racers, the Haringey Greyhounds, the London Racers and now the Haringey Huskies, as well as a figure skating club, the Alexandra Palace Amateur Ice Skating Club. In June 2004, the first performances for about 70 years took place in


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: the theatre, first in its foyer then in July in the theatre itself. Although conditions were far from ideal, the audience was able to see the potential of this very large space – originally seating 3,000, it cannot currently be licensed for more than a couple of hundred. It is intended that the theatre will one day reopen, but much costly restoration will be required first. It will never again reach a seating capacity of 3,000 (not least because one balcony was removed in the early part of the 20th century as a fire precaution, when films started to be


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: shown there), but it does seem likely that a capacity of more than 1,000 may one day be achieved. A major season of the theatre company Complicite was planned for 2005 but the project, which would have included some repair and access work, was cancelled due to higher-than-anticipated costs. Plans by the current trustees, Haringey Council, to replace all the charitable uses by commercial ones by a commercial lease of the entire building, including a casino, encountered considerable public and legal opposition, and on 5 October 2007, in the High Court, Mr. Justice Sullivan granted an application by Jacob O'Callaghan,


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: a London resident, to quash the Charity Commission's order authorising a 125-year lease of the entire building to Firoka Ltd. A masterplan for the future of the site was drawn up in 2012, comprising six 'big ideas' to restore and redevelop the palace. The first of these to be implemented aims to transform the derelict eastern end of the palace, making accessible the Victorian theatre and historic BBC Studios. In 2013 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a Round 1 pass to develop the proposals, creating a new entrance in the restored East Court, re-establishing the theatre as a flexible performance


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: space and re-opening the BBC Studios as a visitor attraction. There is currently controversy regarding plans to demolish the brick infills in the colonnade on the south-east face of the building, which the BBC constructed after 1936 to form their television studios within. Following a public consultation and advice from English Heritage, Planning and Listed Building Consent was given for the proposals and in March 2015 HLF awarded Round 2 major grant funding securing a positive future for the historic areas. In 2018 it was announced that the Theatre would open for a BBC Proms performance on 1 September before


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: officially reopening to the public on 1 December 2018. The opening programme includes performances from Dylan Moran, Horrible Histories, Gilbert & George, Gareth Malone and an evening of jazz presented by Ronnie Scott's. Alexandra Palace has hosted a number of significant events over the course of its history. Recurring events held there include the Great British Beer Festival (1977–1980), the Brit Awards (1993–1995), the PDC World Darts Championship (2008–present) and the Masters snooker tournament (2012–present). In November every year, a large fireworks display is scheduled there as part of London's Bonfire Night celebrations. "The Observer"'s Wildlife Exhibition held here in


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: 1963 was an important early event in highlighting awareness of worldwide endangered species, and it gained a large attendance (46,000). In April 1967, a benefit event took place there. The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, organised by the "International Times", demonstrated the importance of the quickly developing Underground scene. Although venues such as the UFO Club were hosting counter-cultural bands, this was certainly the largest indoor event at the time. Performers included headlining act Pink Floyd as well as the Pretty Things, Savoy Brown, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Soft Machine, the Move and Sam Gopal's Dream (featuring Sam Gopal,


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: Mick Hutchinson and Pete Sears). John Lennon attended, and Yoko Ono (who was soon to become Lennon's new romantic partner) presented her performance work "Cut Piece". In 1970, Italian director Lucio Fulci filmed an important segment of his giallo film "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin" here. Alexandra Palace posed as a disused church. The rock band Led Zeppelin played at Alexandra Palace in December 1972. In 1973, the Divine Light Mission held a "Festival of Love" there. Also in 1973, British rock band Wishbone Ash played a Christmas concert at the palace, billed as "Christmas at the Palace". The


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: American band Grateful Dead played a series of three shows there between 9 and 11 September 1974 and a recording of portions of all three shows was released as part of the Dick's Picks series in March 1997. The Campaign for Real Ale held the Great British Beer Festival there from 1977 to 1980 (the 1980 edition taking place in tents outside the fire-damaged Alexandra Palace). After the fire, the burnt-out shell of the great hall of Alexandra Palace was used as Victory Square in Michael Radford's 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four". The Sinclair C5 battery


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: electric vehicle was launched at the palace in January 1985, one week after the closure of the 405-line television system that was inaugurated there 49 years earlier. In November 1989 the Stone Roses played their first major gig in the South of England at Alexandra Palace, notable particularly as the band sold the venue out before being featured significantly in the music press or making any national television appearances. Hugh Cornwell played his last gig with the Stranglers at Alexandra Palace in August 1990. Blur performed a major concert at the venue in October 1994 to promote their album "Parklife".


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: The recording of the concert was released on video in February 1995 with the title "Showtime" and used as the basis for the video for the band's song "End of a Century". From 1993 to 1995, the Brit Awards were hosted at Alexandra Palace. In November 1996 it was the venue for the annual MTV Europe Music Awards. The fourth Mind Sports Olympiad was held at Alexandra Palace in August 2000, with more than 4,000 competitors from around the world taking part in mind sports. In June 2007, a Hackday event was hosted at Alexandra Palace by the BBC and


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: Yahoo! During the event, the building was struck by lightning, causing the fire vents to open (and then get stuck open), and it rained inside the building. Since December 2007, Alexandra Palace has hosted the PDC World Darts Championship, following 14 years from December 1993 to January 2007 of the tournament being held at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex. The palace was previously home to the "News of the World" Darts Championship between 1963 and 1977. April 2008 saw the re-launch of the regular antiques fairs, now held four times a year, organised by International Antiques & Collectors Fairs


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: (IACF). The band Portishead hosted one of two All Tomorrow's Parties festivals titled "I'll Be Your Mirror" in July 2011 at Alexandra Palace. The 50th anniversary programme of "Songs of Praise" was recorded there in September 2011 and broadcast the following month. Since 2012 and until 2019, it is the venue for the Masters snooker tournament, held every January. During the 2012 Summer Olympics it served as the official hospitality venue for the Dutch Olympic team. In November 2012, it was the venue for the annual Warped Tour, a music and extreme sports festival. Alexandra Palace continues to be a


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: prolific and high-profile music venue attracting internationally renowned artists. Suede appeared in March 2013, playing one of the first dates in support of "Bloodsports", their first new album in more than a decade. In September 2013, Björk performed one of the final concerts of her Biophilia Tour. The show was the last concert to be held "in the round", a format which characterised the tour, and the first to be performed in this way at Alexandra Palace. The eclectic programming has included in 2015, Florence and the Machine playing 4 dates of their How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful Tour


title: "Alexandra Palace" content: in the palace as well as in 2016 alone, heavy metal band Slipknot, Drum & Bass DJ Andy C and the Last Shadow Puppets; with sell out shows by Twenty One Pilots and Panic at the Disco. The bootcamp stage for series 13 of "The X Factor" was filmed at the Alexandra Palace from 6 to 8 July 2016. Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, located between Muswell Hill and Wood Green. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Originally built by John


title: "Making Your Mind Up" content: Making Your Mind Up "Making Your Mind Up" is a song by the British pop group Bucks Fizz. It was the winner of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and a UK Number-one single. Released in March 1981, it was Bucks Fizz's debut single, the group having been formed just two months earlier. From 2004 to 2007 the BBC used the name "Making Your Mind Up" for their Eurovision selection show in honour of the song. In late 1980, songwriter Andy Hill teamed up with John Danter and composed "Making Your Mind Up" with an eye to entering it into the


title: "Alexei Yashin" content: and the eventual champion Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003–04. Yashin's play was generally praised in 2001–02, as he carried the team's offence for stretches during the season. The following years, his mediocre point production led people both inside and outside the Islanders organization to question his effort and salary. Prior to the 2005–06 season, the Islanders lost several key players to free agency or retirement and significantly retooled their roster. Captain Michael Peca was traded to free up room to sign free agents such as high-scoring wing Miroslav Šatan and Yashin became team captain. Journalists suggested that the team had


title: "African penguin" content: African penguin The African penguin ("Spheniscus demersus"), also known as the jackass penguin and black-footed penguin, is a species of penguin, confined to southern African waters. It is also widely known as the "jackass" penguin for its loud, donkey-like bray, although several related species of South American penguins produce the same sound. Like all extant penguins it is flightless, with a streamlined body, and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. Adults weigh on average and are tall. It has distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes and a black facial mask; the body upperparts are


title: "African penguin" content: black and sharply delineated from the white underparts, which are spotted and marked with a black band. The pink gland above their eyes helps them to cope with changing temperatures. When the temperature gets hotter, the body of the African penguin sends more blood to these glands to be cooled by the air surrounding it. This then causes the gland to turn a darker shade of pink. The African penguin is a pursuit diver and feeds primarily on fish and squid. Once extremely numerous, the African penguin is declining rapidly due to a combination of several threats and is classified


title: "African penguin" content: as endangered. It is a charismatic species and is popular with tourists. The African penguin was one of the many bird species originally described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his "Systema Naturae", where he grouped it with the wandering albatross on the basis of its bill and nostril morphology and gave it the name "Diomedea demersa". The African penguin is a banded penguin, placed in the genus "Spheniscus". The other banded penguins are the African penguin's closest relatives, and are all found mainly in the Southern Hemisphere: the Humboldt penguin and Magellanic penguins found in southern


title: "African penguin" content: South America, and the Galápagos penguin found in the Pacific Ocean near the equator. All are similar in shape, colour and behaviour. The African penguin is a member of the class Aves, and the order Sphenisciformes. It belongs to the penguin family Spheniscidae. It is classified as "Spheniscus demersus". The genus to which the African penguin belongs, "Spheniscus", derives from the Ancient Greek word "sphen", which means "wedge". This refers to their streamlined body shape. Its species name, "demersus", is a Latin word for "plunging". African penguins grow to tall and weigh between . They have a black stripe and


title: "African penguin" content: black spots on the chest, the pattern of spots being unique for every penguin, like human fingerprints. They have pink glands above their eyes, which are used for thermoregulation. The hotter the penguin gets, the more blood is sent to these glands so it may be cooled by the surrounding air, thus making the glands more pink. This species exhibits slight sexual dimorphism: the males are slightly larger than the females and have longer beaks. Juveniles do not possess the bold, delineated markings of the adult but instead have dark upperparts that vary from greyish-blue to brown; the pale underparts


title: "African penguin" content: lack both spots and the band. The beak is more pointed than that of the Humboldt. Their distinctive black and white colouring is a vital form of camouflage called countershading– white for underwater predators looking upwards and black for predators looking down onto the dark water. African penguins look similar and are thought to be related to the Humboldt, Magellanic, and Galapagos penguins. African penguins have a very recognisable appearance with a thick band of black that is in the shape of an upside-down horseshoe. They have black feet and unique black spots that vary in size and shape per


title: "African penguin" content: penguin. Magellanic penguins share a similar characteristic that often confuses the two; Magellanics have a double bar on the throat and chest, whereas the African has a single bar. These penguins have the nickname of "jackass penguin" which comes from the loud noises they make. The African penguin is only found on the south-western coast of Africa, living in colonies on 24 islands between Namibia and Algoa Bay, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It is the only penguin species that breeds in Africa and its presence gave name to the Penguin Islands. Two colonies were established by penguins in the


title: "African penguin" content: 1980s on the mainland near Cape Town, namely Boulders Beach near Simon's Town and Stony Point in Betty's Bay. Mainland colonies probably only became possible in recent times due to the reduction of predator numbers, although the Betty's Bay colony has been attacked by leopards. The only other mainland colony is in Namibia, but it is not known when it was established. Boulders Beach is a tourist attraction, for the beach, swimming and the penguins. The penguins will allow people to approach them as close as a metre. Breeding populations of African penguins are being kept in numerous zoos worldwide.


title: "African penguin" content: No colonies are known outside the south-western coast of Africa, although vagrants (mostly juveniles) may occasionally be sighted beyond the normal range. Roughly 4 million penguins existed at the beginning of the 19th century. Of the 1.5-million population of African penguins estimated in 1910, only some 10% remained at the end of the 20th century. African penguin populations, which breed in Namibia and South Africa, have declined by 95 percent since pre-industrial times. The total population fell to 200,000 in 2000. In 2010, the number was estimated to be only at 55,000. At this rate of decline, the African penguin


title: "African penguin" content: is expected to be extinct in the wild by 2026. 5,000 breeding pairs were estimated to live in Namibia in 2008; in 2012, about 18,700 pairs were estimated to live in South Africa, with the majority of those numbers on St Croix Island in Algoa Bay. African penguins forage in the open sea, where they pursue pelagic fish such as sardines and anchovies (e.g. "Engraulis capensis"), and marine invertebrates such as squid and small crustaceans. Penguins normally swim within 20 km of the shore. A penguin may consume up to 540 grams of prey every day, but this may increase


title: "African penguin" content: to over 1 kg when raising older chicks. Due to the collapse of a commercial pilchard fishery in 1960, African penguin diet has shifted towards anchovies to some extent, although available pilchard biomass is still a notable determinant of penguin population development and breeding success. While a diet of anchovy appears to be generally sufficient, it is not ideal due to lower concentrations of fat and protein. Penguin diet changes throughout the year; as in many seabirds, it is believed that the interaction of diet choice and breeding success helps the penguins maintain their population size. Although parent penguins are


title: "African penguin" content: protective of their hatchlings, they will not incur nutritional deficits themselves if prey is scarce and hunting requires greater time or energy commitment. This may lead to higher rates of brood loss under poor food conditions. When foraging, African penguins carry out dives that on average reach a depth of 25 m and last for 69 s, although a maximum depth of 130 m and duration of 275 s has been recorded. The African penguin is monogamous. It breeds in colonies, and pairs return to the same site each year. The African penguin has an extended breeding season, with nesting


title: "African penguin" content: usually peaking from March to May in South Africa, and November and December in Namibia. A clutch of two eggs are laid either in burrows dug in guano, or scrapes in the sand under boulders or bushes. Incubation is undertaken equally by both parents for around 40 days. At least one parent guards the chicks for about one month, whereafter the chicks joins a crèche with other chicks, and both parents head out to sea to forage each day. Chicks fledge at 60 to 130 days, the timing depending on environmental factors such as the quality and availability of food.


title: "African penguin" content: The fledged chicks then go to sea on their own, where they spend the next one to nearly two years. They then return to their natal colony to molt into adult plumage. When penguins molt, they are unable to forage as their new feathers are not yet waterproof; therefore, they fast over the entire molting period, which in African penguins takes around three weeks. Female African penguins remain fertile for 10 years. African penguins spend most of their lives at sea until it comes time for them to lay their eggs. Due to the high predation on the mainland, African


title: "African penguin" content: penguins will seek protection on offshore islands, where they are safer from larger mammals and natural challenges. These penguins usually breed during the winter when temperatures are lower. African penguins often will abandon their eggs if they become overheated in the hot sun. Abandoned eggs do not survive the heat. Ideally, eggs are incubated in a burrow dug into the guano layer, which provides a suitable temperature regulation, but the widespread human removal of guano deposits has rendered this type of nest unfeasible at many colonies. To compensate, penguins dig holes in the sand, breed in the open, or make


title: "African penguin" content: use of nest boxes if such are provided. The penguins spend three weeks on land to provide for their offspring, after which chicks may be left alone during the day while the parents forage. The chicks are frequently killed by predators or succumb to the hot sun. The eggs are three to four times bigger than hen’s eggs. Parents usually feed hatchlings during dusk or dawn. In 2015, when foraging conditions were favorable, more male than female African penguin chicks were produced in the colony on Bird Island. Male chicks also had higher growth rates and fledging mass, and therefore


title: "African penguin" content: may have higher post-fledging survival than females. This coupled with higher adult female mortality in this species may result in a male biased adult sex ratio, indicating that conservation strategies focused on benefiting female African Penguins may be necessary. The average lifespan of an African penguin is 10 to 27 years in the wild, and up to 30 in captivity. Primary predators of African penguins include sharks and fur seals. While nesting, kelp gulls, mongooses, caracals, Cape genets and domestic cats may prey on the penguins and their chicks. Pressure from terrestrial predators is higher if penguins are forced to


title: "African penguin" content: breed in the open in the absence of suitable burrows or nest boxes. As recently as the 1970s, African penguin eggs were considered a delicacy and were still being collected for sale. Unfortunately, the practice was to smash eggs found a few days prior to gathering, to ensure that only fresh ones were sold. This added to the drastic decline of the African penguin population around the Cape coast, a decline which was hastened by the removal of guano from islands for use as fertiliser, eliminating the burrowing material used by penguins. Penguins remain susceptible to pollution of their habitat


title: "African penguin" content: by petrochemicals from spills, shipwrecks and cleaning of tankers while at sea. Disaster struck on 23 June 2000, when the iron ore tanker MV "Treasure" sank between Robben Island and Dassen Island, South Africa. It released 1,300 tons of fuel oil, causing an unprecedented coastal bird crisis, oiling 19,000 adult penguins at the height of the best breeding season on record for this vulnerable species. The oiled birds were brought to an abandoned train repair warehouse in Cape Town to be cared for. An additional 19,500 un-oiled penguins were removed from Dassen Island and other areas before they became oiled,


title: "African penguin" content: and were released about 800 kilometres east of Cape Town, near Port Elizabeth. This gave workers enough time to clean up the oiled waters and shores before the birds could complete their long swim home (which took the penguins between one and three weeks). Some of the penguins were named and radio-tracked as they swam back to their breeding grounds. Tens of thousands of volunteers helped with the rescue and rehabilitation process, which was overseen by IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) and the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), and took more than three months


title: "African penguin" content: to complete. This was the largest animal rescue event in history; more than 91% of the penguins were successfully rehabilitated and released - an amazing feat that could not have been accomplished without such a tremendous international response. Due to the positive outcome of African penguins being raised in captivity after tragedies, such as the "Treasure" oil spill, the species is considered a good "candidate for a captive-breeding programme which aims to release offspring into the wild"; however, worries about the spread of new strains of avian malaria is a major concerning factor in the situation. Bringing the birds inland


title: "African penguin" content: led to the exposure of parasites and vector species such as mosquitoes, specifically avian malaria which has caused 27% of the rehabilitated penguins deaths annually. African penguin casualties were significant following the sinking of the MV "Apollo Sea" and subsequent oil slick in 1994. 10,000 penguins were collected and cleaned, of which less than half survived. Commercial fisheries of sardines and anchovy, which constitute the two main prey species of the penguins, have forced these penguins to search for prey farther off shore, as well as having to switch to eat less nutritious prey. Experimental closures of the immediate vicinity


title: "African penguin" content: of colony sites at e.g. Robben Island to fishery for short periods (3 years) were shown to result in marked benefits to penguin breeding success, and longer closure periods and their extension to further colonies are being evaluated. The African penguin is one of the species to which the "Agreement on the Conservation of African–Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds" (AEWA) applies. In November 2013 the African penguin was listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In September 2010 it was listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act. Many organisations such as SANCCOB, Dyer Island Conservation Trust,


title: "African penguin" content: SAMREC and Raggy Charters with the Penguin Research Fund in Port Elizabeth are working to halt the decline of the African penguin. Measures include monitoring population trends, hand-rearing and releasing abandoned chicks, establishing artificial nests and proclaiming marine reserves in which fishing is prohibited. Some colonies (e.g. on Dyer Island) are suspected to be under heavy pressure from predation by Cape fur seals and may benefit from the culling of individual problem animals which has been found effective (although requiring a large amount of management effort) in trials. Established in 1968, SANCCOB is currently the only organisation mandated by the


title: "African penguin" content: South African government to respond to crises involving seabirds along South Africa's coastline and is internationally recognised for the role it played during the MV Treasure oil spill when more than 20,000 African penguins were oiled when the ship sank between Robben Island and Dassen Island. A modeling exercise conducted in 2003 by the University of Cape Town's Percy Fitz Patrick Institute of African Ornithology found that rehabilitating oiled African penguins has resulted in the current population being 19 percent larger than it would have been in the absence of SANCCOB's rehabilitation efforts. In February 2015, the Dyer Island Conservation


title: "African penguin" content: Trust opened the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary (APSS) in Gansbaai, South Africa. The centre was opened by the Department of Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom and will serve as a hub for seabird research carried out by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust. The centre will also run local education projects, host international marine volunteers, and seek to improve seabird handling techniques and rehabilitation protocols. African penguins are a commonly seen species in zoos across the world. Because they do not require particularly low temperatures, they are often kept in outside enclosures. They adapt fairly well to this captive environment and


title: "African penguin" content: are rather easy to breed compared to other species of the family. In Europe the breeding program or EEP is regulated by Artis zoo in the Netherlands, whilst in the United states the SSP is coordinated by Smithsonian National Zoological Park. The idea is to create a backup ex-situ population, as well as to aid in the conservation of the in-situ population. Between 2010 and 2013, American zoos spent $300 000 on in-situ conservation. African penguin The African penguin ("Spheniscus demersus"), also known as the jackass penguin and black-footed penguin, is a species of penguin, confined to southern African waters.


title: "Jeppe Aakjær" content: hans Bivelskistaarri: En bette Bog om stur' Folk" (From Old Jehanne's Bible Stories: A Little Book about Big Folk, 1911), where he retells biblical stories per a narrator who changes them to suit the Jutlandic dialect and also to fit the social and cultural environment. Critics claimed the work was blasphemous, whereas he felt that it made the Biblical stories more accessible. He continued to write with religious and socially critical themes with, among others, "Hvor der er gjærende Kræfter: Landarbejderroman" (Where There are Fermenting Powers: Farmworker Novel, 1916), "Af min Hjemstavns Saga: Lidt Bondehistorie" (From My Provincial Sage: Little


title: "Pont Neuf" content: Pont Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "New Bridge") is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. It stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was, between 250 and 225 BC, the birthplace of Paris, then known as Lutetia, and during the medieval period, the heart of the city. The bridge is composed of two separate spans, one of five arches joining the left bank to the "Île de la Cité", another of seven joining the island to the right bank. Old engraved


title: "Pont Neuf" content: maps of Paris show how, when the bridge was built, it just grazed the downstream tip of the "Île de la Cité"; since then, the natural sandbar building of a mid-river island, aided by stone-faced embankments called "quais", has extended the island. Today the tip of the island is the location of the "Square du Vert-Galant", a small public park named in honour of Henry IV, nicknamed the "Green Gallant". The name "Pont Neuf" was given to distinguish it from older bridges that were lined on both sides with houses. It has remained after all of those were replaced. It


title: "Pont Neuf" content: has been listed since 1889 as a "monument historique" by the French Ministry of Culture. As early as 1550, Henry II was asked to build a bridge here because the existing Pont Notre-Dame was overloaded, but the expense was too much at the time. In February 1578, the decision to build the bridge was made by Henry III who laid its first stone in 1578, the year when the foundations of four piers and one abutment were completed. Pierre des Isles, one of the builders, convinced the supervisory commission that the bridge, which was originally straight, would be more resistant


title: "Pont Neuf" content: to the river currents, if its two sections were built at a slight angle, a change they adopted in May 1578. Further design changes were made during the summer of 1579. First, the number of arches was changed from eight and four to seven and five. This was not a problem on the north side, where nothing had been built, but on the south, where the four piles and the abutment on the Left Bank were already laid, the addition of the fifth arch necessitated reducing the length of the platform on the island, the "terre-plein", from 28.5 toises to


title: "Pont Neuf" content: about 19. Second, it was decided to allow houses to be built on the bridge (though they never were). This required the widening of the bridge. The remaining piers were built over the next nine years. After a long delay beginning in 1588, due to political unrest and to the Wars of Religion, construction was resumed in 1599 under the reign of Henry IV. The bridge was opened to traffic in 1604 and completed in July 1606. It was inaugurated by Henri IV in 1607. Like most bridges of its time, The "Pont Neuf" is constructed as a series of


title: "Pont Neuf" content: many short arch bridges, following Roman precedents. It was the first stone bridge in Paris not to support houses in addition to a thoroughfare, and was also fitted with pavements protecting pedestrians from mud and horses; pedestrians could also step aside into its bastions to let a bulky carriage pass. The decision not to include houses on the bridge can be traced back directly to Henry IV, who decided against their inclusion on the grounds that houses would impede a clear view of the Louvre, which the newly built "galerie du bord de l'eau" linked to the Tuileries Palace. The


title: "Pont Neuf" content: bridge had heavy traffic from the beginning; it was for a long time the widest bridge in Paris. It has undergone much repair and renovation work, including rebuilding of seven spans in the long arm and lowering of the roadway by changing the arches from an almost semi-circular to elliptical form (1848–1855), lowering of sidewalks and faces of the piers, spandrels, cornices and replacing crumbled corbels as closely to the originals as possible. In 1885, one of the piers of the short arm was undermined, removing the two adjacent arches, requiring them to be rebuilt and all the foundations strengthened.


title: "Pont Neuf" content: A major restoration of the "Pont Neuf" was begun in 1994 and was completed in 2007, the year of its 400th anniversary. The "mascarons" are the stone masks, 381 in number, each being different and which decorate the sides of the bridge. They represent the heads of forest and field divinities from ancient mythology, as well as satyrs and sylvains. They are copies of the originals attributed to the French Renaissance sculptor Germain Pilon (1525–1590), who also sculpted the tomb of King Henry II of France and Queen Catherine de'Medici in the Basilica of St Denis, five kilometers north of


title: "Pont Neuf" content: Paris. The "mascarons" remained in place until 1851–1854, when the bridge was completely rebuilt. At that time six of the original "mascarons" from the 16th century were placed in the Musée Carnavalet, along with eight molds of other originals. Eight other originals were first placed in the Musée national du Moyen Âge (formerly, Cluny Museum), and are now in the French National Museum of the Renaissance in the "Château d'Écouen". At the time of the reconstruction, the Renaissance masks were replaced with copies made by noted 19th century sculptors, including Hippolyte Maindron, Hubert Lavigne, Antoine-Louis Barye and Fontenelle. Fontenelle made


title: "Pont Neuf" content: sixty-one masks which are found on the upstream side of the bridge between the right bank and the "Île de la Cité". At the point where the bridge crosses the Île de la Cité, there stands a bronze equestrian statue of king Henry IV, originally commissioned from Giambologna under the orders of Marie de Médicis, Henri’s widow and Regent of France, in 1614. After his death, Giambologna's assistant Pietro Tacca completed the statue, which was erected on its pedestal by Pietro Francavilla, in 1618. It was destroyed in 1792 during the French Revolution, but was rebuilt in 1818, following the


title: "Pont Neuf" content: restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. Bronze for the new statue was obtained with the bronze from a statue of Louis Charles Antoine Desaix, as well as from the statue of Napoleon in "Place Vendôme", which was melted down. The new statue was cast from a mold made using a surviving cast of the original. Inside the statue, the new sculptor François-Frédéric Lemot put four boxes, containing a history of the life of Henry IV, a 17th-century parchment certifying the original statue, a document describing how the new statue was commissioned, and a list of people who contributed to a public


title: "Pont Neuf" content: subscription. The last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake on March 18, 1314, on the Île aux Juifs, a small island in the Seine just west of the Île de la Cité. The execution was ordered by Philippe le Bel (Philip the Fair) after Jacques retracted all of his previous confessions, which outraged Philip. The "Île aux Juifs" was joined to the larger island when the "Pont Neuf" was built. Between 1712 and 1719, replacing an earlier one, a large pump house was built on the bridge. It was decorated with an


title: "Pont Neuf" content: image of the Samaritan woman at the well. As a result, the structure (which included a carillon) was named "La Samaritaine". Years after it was torn down (in 1813), Ernest Cognacq, a 19th-century merchant, set up a stand on the site and gradually grew his business to what became, in 1869, the (recently closed) department store La Samaritaine. All through the 18th century, the "Pont Neuf" was the center of Paris, lively with both crime and commerce: Czar Peter the Great, who came to study French civilization under the regency of the Duke d'Orleans, declared that he had found nothing


title: "Pont Neuf" content: more curious in Paris than the pont Neuf; and, sixty years later, the philosopher Franklin wrote to his friends in America that he had not understood the Parisian character except in crossing the pont Neuf. In 1862, Édouard Fournier traced its history in his lively two-volume "Histoire du Pont-Neuf". He describes how, even before it was completed (in 1607), gangs hid out in and around it, robbing and murdering people. It remained a dangerous place even as it became busier. For a long time, the bridge even had its own gallows. This did not prevent people from congregating there, drawn


title: "Pont Neuf" content: by various stands and street performers (acrobats, fire-eaters, musicians, etc.). Charlatans and quacks of various sorts were also common, as well as the hustlers (shell-game hucksters, etc.) and pickpockets often found in crowds – not to mention a lively trade in prostitution. Among the many businesses which, however, unofficially set up there, were several famous tooth pullers. In 1701, Cotolendi quoted a letter supposedly written by a Sicilian tourist: One finds on the Pont-Neuf an infinity of people who give tickets, some put fallen teeth back in, and others make crystal eyes; there are those who cure incurable illnesses; those


title: "Pont Neuf" content: who claim to have discovered the virtues of some powdered stones to white and to beautify the face. This one claims he makes old men young; there are those who remove wrinkles from the forehead and the eyes, who make wooden legs to repair the violence of bombs; finally everybody is so applied to work, so strongly and continually, that the devil can tempt no one but on Holidays and Sundays. With its numerous sellers of pamphlets and satirical performers, it was also a center for social commentary: In the 16th cent. the Pont-Neuf was the scene of the recitals


title: "Pont Neuf" content: of Tabarin, a famous satirist of the day, and it was long afterwards the favourite rendezvous of news-vendors, jugglers, showmen, loungers, and thieves. Any popular witticism in verse was long known as "un Pont-Neuf". In the seventeenth century, that bridge of memories, the old "Pont Neuf" of Paris, was the rendezvous of quacksalvers and mountebanks. Booths for the sale of various articles lined the sides of the bridge. People flocked there to see the sights, laugh, chat, make love and enjoy life as only Parisians can. Students and "grisettes" of the "Quartier latin" elbowed ladies and gentlemen of the court.


title: "Pont Neuf" content: Bourgeois families came to study the flippant manners of the aristocrats. Poodle clippers plied their trade; jugglers amused the "quid nuncs" with feats of dexterity; traveling dentists pulled teeth and sold balsams; clowns tumbled; and last, but not least, pickpockets lifted purses and silk handkerchiefs with impunity. Says Augustus J. C. Hare (Walks in Paris): "So central an artery is the Pont Neuf, that it used to be a saying with the Parisian police, that if, after watching three days, they did not see a man cross the bridge, he must have left Paris." Any popular witticism in verse was


title: "Pont Neuf" content: long known as "un Pont-Neuf". One of the principal vendors of quack nostrums of the "Pont Neuf" was Montdor. He was aided by a buffoon named Tabarin, who made facetious replies to questions asked by his master, accompanied with laughable grimaces and grotesque gestures. The modern ringmaster and clown of the circus have similar scenes together, minus the selling of medicines. Under Louis XV, thieves and entertainers were joined by recruiters, or "sellers of human flesh", who did their best to lure newcomers to Paris and others "with as much violence as the sale of Negros in the Congo". Silversmiths


title: "Pont Neuf" content: and other luxury businesses nearby (which gave their name to the "Quai des Orfèvres") drew visitors as well. One yearly event, held on the nearby "Place Dauphine", prefigured the "Salon des Refusés" which would give rise to the Impressionists. During the celebration of the Corpus Christi ("Fête-Dieu"), the "Place Dauphine" hosted one of the most magnificent "reposoirs" (portable altars for the Host). Along with all the rich silverwork and tapestries placed on it, some local silversmiths ordered paintings for these. This led to art dealers being asked to participate and, ultimately, to the newest talents being shown at the "Petite


title: "Pont Neuf" content: Fête-Dieu" (the Small Corpus Christi), a reduced version of the Corpus Christi holiday which took place eight days later. Though their canvases were only shown from six in the morning to noon, this became an important opportunity for unknown artists to draw attention. Among other things, this led to the painters there signing their work, as was not frequent in the Salon – which was not always an advantage when the work was publicly and loudly critiqued. Showing works, which often had no pretense of a religious subject, they might then be noticed and find an entree into the official


title: "Pont Neuf" content: Academy. Chardin is one of the most famous painters to have started this way. In 1720, a young man of about twenty-two, son of the man who maintained the king's billiards, displayed a canvas here showing an antique bas-relief. J.-B. Vanloo passed by, looked at the canvas for a long time, found great qualities there, and bought it. He wanted afterwards to know the young painter, encouraged him, gave him advice, of which the latter perhaps had no need, got him work, which was more useful, and eight years later, the unknown of the "place Dauphine" was his colleague at


title: "Pont Neuf" content: the Academy of Painting... he was called Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. The slow decline of the bridge's central role began in 1754: "Starting in 1754, the first year of the vogue, the madness of the boulevards, it was no longer the thing to talk about the "Cours" [the Champs-Elysées], and still less of this poor Pont-Neuf. To the Boulevard, at once, long live the Boulevard!". Still the bridge remained a lively place through the end of the century. With time, people became wary of its reputation and other changes subdued its atmosphere. In 1840, Lacroix wrote: "Once the pont Neuf was a


title: "Pont Neuf" content: perpetual fair; at present, it is just a bridge to be crossed without stopping." About two years before Daguerre made his famous 1838 daguerreotype of the "Boulevard du Temple", where a human being can be seen, the inventor photographed other places in Paris to experiment the new technique in "plein air". In the very first example of his own attempts, he made an image of the "Pont Neuf" and the equestrian statue of Henry IV. Since early images were mirrored, at the left side (actually the right side) of the statue one can clearly see one (or two) worker(s) lying


title: "Pont Neuf" content: under the statue shadow. In 1985, after years of negotiation with the mayor of Paris, the art duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the Pont Neuf. Pont Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "New Bridge") is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. It stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was, between 250 and 225 BC, the birthplace of Paris, then known as Lutetia, and during the medieval period, the heart of the city. The bridge is composed of two separate spans, one


title: Beekeeper content: Beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Honey bees produce commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly, while some beekeepers also raise queens and other bees to sell to other farmers and to satisfy scientific curiosity. Beekeepers also use honeybees to provide pollination services to fruit and vegetable growers. Many people keep bees as a hobby. Others do it for income either as a sideline to other work or as a commercial operator. These factors affect the number of colonies maintained by the beekeeper. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly,


title: Beekeeper content: apiculturists (both from the Latin "", bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. Honey bees are not domesticated and the beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper owns the hives or boxes and associated equipment. The bees are free to forage or leave (swarm) as they desire. Bees usually return to the beekeeper's hive as the hive presents a clean, dark, sheltered abode. Most beekeepers are hobby beekeepers. These people typically work or own only a few hives. Their main attraction is an interest in ecology


title: Beekeeper content: and natural science. Honey is a by-product of this hobby. As it typically requires a significant investment to establish a small apiary and dozens of hours of work with hives and honey equipment, hobby beekeeping is seldom profitable outside of Europe, where the lack of organic bee products sometimes causes buoyant demand for privately produced honey. A sideline beekeeper attempts to make a profit keeping bees but relies on another source of income. Sideliners may operate up to as many as 300 colonies of bees, producing 10–20 metric tons of honey worth a few tens of thousands of dollars each


title: Beekeeper content: year. Commercial beekeepers control hundreds or thousands of colonies of bees. The most extensive own and operate up to 50,000 colonies of bees and produce millions of pounds of honey. The first major commercial beekeeper was most likely Petro Prokopovych of Ukraine, operating 6600 colonies in the early 19th century. Moses Quinby was the first commercial beekeeper in the USA, with 1200 colonies by the 1840s. Later (1960s-1970s), Jim Powers of Idaho, USA, had 30,000 honey producing hives. Miel Carlota operated by partners Arturo Wulfrath and Juan Speck of Mexico operated at least 50,000 hives of honey bees from 1920


title: Beekeeper content: to 1960. Today, Adee Honey Farm in South Dakota, USA, (80,000 colonies) and Comvita in New Zealand (30,000+ colonies) are among the world's largest beekeeping enterprises. Worldwide, commercial beekeepers number about 5% of the individuals with bees but produce about 60% of the world's honey crop. Commercial beekeeping is on the rise especially in high-value markets such as pollination in North America and honey production (especially Manuka honey) in New Zealand. Most beekeepers produce commodities (farm products) for sale. Honey is the most valuable commodity sold by beekeepers. Honey-producer beekeepers try to maintain maximum-strength colonies of bees in areas with


title: Beekeeper content: dense nectar sources. They produce and sell liquid and sometimes comb honey. Beekeepers may sell their commodities retail, as self-brokers, or through commercial packers and distributors. Beeswax, pollen, royal jelly, and propolis may also be significant revenue generators. Taiwanese beekeepers, for example, export tonnes of royal jelly, the high-nutrition food supplement fed to queen honeybees. Modern beekeepers seldom keep honeybees exclusively for beeswax production. Beeswax is harvested along with honey and separated for sale. Some beekeepers provide a pollination service to other farmers. These beekeepers might not produce any honey for sale. Pollination beekeepers move honey bee hives at night


title: Beekeeper content: in vast quantities so fruits and vegetables have enough pollinating insects available for maximum levels of production. In 2016, almonds accounted for 86% of all U.S. expenditures on pollination services. For the service of maintaining strong colonies of bees and moving them into crops such as almonds, apples, cherries, blueberries, melons, and squash, these beekeepers are usually paid a cash fee. Queen breeders are specialist beekeepers who raise queen bees for other beekeepers. The breeders maintain select stock with superior qualities and tend to raise their bees in geographic regions with early springs. These beekeepers may also provide extra bees


title: Beekeeper content: to beekeepers (honey producers, pollinators, or hobby beekeepers) who want to start new operations or expand their farms. Queen breeders use Jenter kits in order to produce large numbers of queen bees quickly and efficiently. Beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Honey bees produce commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly, while some beekeepers also raise queens and other bees to sell to other farmers and to satisfy scientific curiosity. Beekeepers also use honeybees to provide pollination services to fruit and vegetable growers. Many people keep bees as a hobby. Others do it


title: "Cattle egret" content: Cattle egret The cattle egret ("Bubulcus ibis") is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard two of its subspecies as full species, the western cattle egret and the eastern cattle egret. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus "Egretta", it is more closely related to the herons of "Ardea". Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the


title: "Cattle egret" content: rest of the world in the last century. It is a white bird adorned with buff plumes in the breeding season. It nests in colonies, usually near bodies of water and often with other wading birds. The nest is a platform of sticks in trees or shrubs. Cattle egrets exploit drier and open habitats more than other heron species. Their feeding habitats include seasonally inundated grasslands, pastures, farmlands, wetlands and rice paddies. They often accompany cattle or other large mammals, catching insect and small vertebrate prey disturbed by these animals. Some populations of the cattle egret are migratory and others


title: "Cattle egret" content: show post-breeding dispersal. The adult cattle egret has few predators, but birds or mammals may raid its nests, and chicks may be lost to starvation, calcium deficiency or disturbance from other large birds. This species maintains a special relationship with cattle, which extends to other large grazing mammals; wider human farming is believed to be a major cause of their suddenly expanded range. The cattle egret removes ticks and flies from cattle and consumes them. This benefits both species, but it has been implicated in the spread of tick-borne animal diseases. The cattle egret was first described in 1758 by


title: "Cattle egret" content: Linnaeus in his "Systema naturae" as "Ardea ibis", but was moved to its current genus by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1855. Its genus name "Bubulcus" is Latin for herdsman, referring, like the English name, to this species' association with cattle. "Ibis" is a Latin and Greek word which originally referred to another white wading bird, the sacred ibis, but was applied to this species in error. The cattle egret has two geographical races which are sometimes classified as full species, the western cattle egret, "B. ibis", and eastern cattle egret, "B. coromandus". The two forms were split by McAllan and


title: "Cattle egret" content: Bruce, but were regarded as conspecific by almost all other recent authors until the publication of the influential "Birds of South Asia". The eastern subspecies "B. (i.) coromandus", described by Pieter Boddaert in 1783, breeds in Asia and Australasia, and the western nominate form occupies the rest of the species range, including the Americas. Some authorities recognise a third Seychelles subspecies, "B. i. seychellarum", which was first described by Finn Salomonsen in 1934. Despite superficial similarities in appearance, the cattle egret is more closely related to the genus "Ardea", which comprises the great or typical herons and the great egret


title: "Cattle egret" content: ("A. alba"), than to the majority of species termed egrets in the genus "Egretta". Rare cases of hybridization with little blue herons "Egretta caerulea", little egrets "Egretta garzetta" and snowy egrets "Egretta thula" have been recorded. The cattle egret is a stocky heron with an wingspan; it is long and weighs . It has a relatively short thick neck, a sturdy bill, and a hunched posture. The non-breeding adult has mainly white plumage, a yellow bill and greyish-yellow legs. During the breeding season, adults of the nominate western subspecies develop orange-buff plumes on the back, breast and crown, and the


title: "Cattle egret" content: bill, legs and irises become bright red for a brief period prior to pairing. The sexes are similar, but the male is marginally larger and has slightly longer breeding plumes than the female; juvenile birds lack coloured plumes and have a black bill. "B. i. coromandus" differs from the nominate subspecies in breeding plumage, when the buff colour on its head extends to the cheeks and throat, and the plumes are more golden in colour. This subspecies' bill and tarsus are longer on average than in "B. i. ibis". "B. i. seychellarum" is smaller and shorter-winged than the other forms.


title: "Cattle egret" content: It has white cheeks and throat, like "B. i. ibis", but the nuptial plumes are golden, as with "B. i. coromandus". Individuals with abnormally grey, melanistic plumages have been recorded. The positioning of the egret's eyes allows for binocular vision during feeding, and physiological studies suggest that the species may be capable of crepuscular or nocturnal activity. Adapted to foraging on land, they have lost the ability possessed by their wetland relatives to accurately correct for light refraction by water. This species gives a quiet, throaty "rick-rack" call at the breeding colony, but is otherwise largely silent. The cattle egret


title: "Cattle egret" content: has undergone one of the most rapid and wide reaching natural expansions of any bird species. It was originally native to parts of Southern Spain and Portugal, tropical and subtropical Africa and humid tropical and subtropical Asia. In the end of the 19th century it began expanding its range into southern Africa, first breeding in the Cape Province in 1908. Cattle egrets were first sighted in the Americas on the boundary of Guiana and Suriname in 1877, having apparently flown across the Atlantic Ocean. It was not until the 1930s that the species is thought to have become established in


title: "Cattle egret" content: that area. The species first arrived in North America in 1941 (these early sightings were originally dismissed as escapees), bred in Florida in 1953, and spread rapidly, breeding for the first time in Canada in 1962. It is now commonly seen as far west as California. It was first recorded breeding in Cuba in 1957, in Costa Rica in 1958, and in Mexico in 1963, although it was probably established before that. In Europe, the species had historically declined in Spain and Portugal, but in the latter part of the 20th century it expanded back through the Iberian Peninsula, and


title: "Cattle egret" content: then began to colonise other parts of Europe; southern France in 1958, northern France in 1981 and Italy in 1985. Breeding in the United Kingdom was recorded for the first time in 2008 only a year after an influx seen in the previous year. In 2008, cattle egrets were also reported as having moved into Ireland for the first time. This trend has continued and cattle egrets have become more numerous in southern Britain with influxes in some numbers during the non breeding seasons of 2007/08 and 2016/17. They bred in Britain again in 2017, following an influx in the


title: "Cattle egret" content: previous winter, and may become established there. In Australia, the colonisation began in the 1940s, with the species establishing itself in the north and east of the continent. It began to regularly visit New Zealand in the 1960s. Since 1948 the cattle egret has been permanently resident in Israel. Prior to 1948 it was only a winter visitor. The massive and rapid expansion of the cattle egret's range is due to its relationship with humans and their domesticated animals. Originally adapted to a commensal relationship with large grazing and browsing animals, it was easily able to switch to domesticated cattle


title: "Cattle egret" content: and horses. As the keeping of livestock spread throughout the world, the cattle egret was able to occupy otherwise empty niches. Many populations of cattle egrets are highly migratory and dispersive, and this has helped the species' range expansion. The species has been seen as a vagrant in various sub-Antarctic islands, including South Georgia, Marion Island, the South Sandwich Islands and the South Orkney Islands. A small flock of eight birds was also seen in Fiji in 2008. In addition to the natural expansion of its range, cattle egrets have been deliberately introduced into a few areas. The species was


title: "Cattle egret" content: introduced to Hawaii in 1959, and to the Chagos Archipelago in 1955. Successful releases were also made in the Seychelles and Rodrigues, but attempts to introduce the species to Mauritius failed. Numerous birds were also released by Whipsnade Zoo in England, but the species was never established. Although the cattle egret sometimes feeds in shallow water, unlike most herons it is typically found in fields and dry grassy habitats, reflecting its greater dietary reliance on terrestrial insects rather than aquatic prey. Some populations of cattle egrets are migratory, others are dispersive, and distinguishing between the two can be difficult for


title: "Cattle egret" content: this species. In many areas populations can be both sedentary and migratory. In the northern hemisphere, migration is from cooler climes to warmer areas, but cattle egrets nesting in Australia migrate to cooler Tasmania and New Zealand in the winter and return in the spring. Migration in western Africa is in response to rainfall, and in South America migrating birds travel south of their breeding range in the non-breeding season. Populations in southern India appear to show local migrations in response to the monsoons. They move north from Kerala after September. During winter, many birds have been seen flying at


title: "Cattle egret" content: night with flocks of Indian pond herons ("Ardeola grayii") on the south-eastern coast of India and a winter influx has also been noted in Sri Lanka. Young birds are known to disperse up to from their breeding area. Flocks may fly vast distances and have been seen over seas and oceans including in the middle of the Atlantic. This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of . Its global population estimated to be 3.8–6.7 million individuals. For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. On the other hand, the expansion and establishment


title: "Cattle egret" content: of the species over large ranges has led it to be classed as an invasive species (although little, if any impact has been noted yet). The cattle egret nests in colonies, which are often, but not always, found around bodies of water. The colonies are usually found in woodlands near lakes or rivers, in swamps, or on small inland or coastal islands, and are sometimes shared with other wetland birds, such as herons, egrets, ibises and cormorants. The breeding season varies within South Asia. Nesting in northern India begins with the onset of monsoons in May. The breeding season in


title: "Cattle egret" content: Australia is November to early January, with one brood laid per season. The North American breeding season lasts from April to October. In the Seychelles, the breeding season of the subspecies "B.i. seychellarum" is April to October. The male displays in a tree in the colony, using a range of ritualised behaviours such as shaking a twig and sky-pointing (raising his bill vertically upwards), and the pair forms over three or four days. A new mate is chosen in each season and when re-nesting following nest failure. The nest is a small untidy platform of sticks in a tree or


title: "Cattle egret" content: shrub constructed by both parents. Sticks are collected by the male and arranged by the female, and stick-stealing is rife. The clutch size can be anywhere from one to five eggs, although three or four is most common. The pale bluish-white eggs are oval-shaped and measure . Incubation lasts around 23 days, with both sexes sharing incubation duties. The chicks are partly covered with down at hatching, but are not capable of fending for themselves; they become capable of regulating their temperature at 9–12 days and are fully feathered in 13–21 days. They begin to leave the nest and climb


title: "Cattle egret" content: around at 2 weeks, fledge at 30 days and become independent at around the 45th day. The cattle egret engages in low levels of brood parasitism, and there are a few instances of cattle egret eggs being laid in the nests of snowy egrets and little blue herons, although these eggs seldom hatch. There is also evidence of low levels of intraspecific brood parasitism, with females laying eggs in the nests of other cattle egrets. As much as 30% extra-pair copulations have been noted. The dominant factor in nesting mortality is starvation. Sibling rivalry can be intense, and in South


title: "Cattle egret" content: Africa third and fourth chicks inevitably starve. In the dryer habitats with fewer amphibians the diet may lack sufficient vertebrate content and may cause bone abnormalities in growing chicks due to calcium deficiency. In Barbados, nests were sometimes raided by vervet monkeys, and a study in Florida reported the fish crow and black rat as other possible nest raiders. The same study attributed some nestling mortality to brown pelicans nesting in the vicinity, which accidentally, but frequently, dislodged nests or caused nestlings to fall. In Australia, Torresian crows, wedge-tailed eagles and white-bellied sea eagles take eggs or young, and tick


title: "Cattle egret" content: infestation and viral infections may also be causes of mortality. The cattle egret feeds on a wide range of prey, particularly insects, especially grasshoppers, crickets, flies (adults and maggots), and moths, as well as spiders, frogs, and earthworms. In a rare instance they have been observed foraging along the branches of a banyan tree for ripe figs. The species is usually found with cattle and other large grazing and browsing animals, and catches small creatures disturbed by the mammals. Studies have shown that cattle egret foraging success is much higher when foraging near a large animal than when feeding singly.


title: "Cattle egret" content: When foraging with cattle, it has been shown to be 3.6 times more successful in capturing prey than when foraging alone. Its performance is similar when it follows farm machinery, but it is forced to move more. In urban situations cattle egrets have also been observed foraging in peculiar situations such as railway lines. A cattle egret will weakly defend the area around a grazing animal against others of the same species, but if the area is swamped by egrets, it will give up and continue foraging elsewhere. Where numerous large animals are present, cattle egrets selectively forage around species


title: "Cattle egret" content: that move at around 5–15 steps per minute, avoiding faster and slower moving herds; in Africa, cattle egrets selectively forage behind plains zebras, waterbuck, blue wildebeest and Cape buffalo. Dominant birds feed nearest to the host, and thus obtain more food. The cattle egret sometimes shows versatility in its diet. On islands with seabird colonies, it will prey on the eggs and chicks of terns and other seabirds. During migration It has also been reported to eat exhausted migrating landbirds. Birds of the Seychelles race also indulge in some kleptoparasitism, chasing the chicks of sooty terns and forcing them to


title: "Cattle egret" content: disgorge food. A conspicuous species, the cattle egret has attracted many common names. These mostly relate to its habit of following cattle and other large animals, and it is known variously as cow crane, cow bird or cow heron, or even elephant bird or rhinoceros egret. Its Arabic name, "abu qerdan", means "father of ticks", a name derived from the huge number of parasites such as avian ticks found in its breeding colonies. The Maasai people consider the presence of large numbers of cattle egrets as an indicator of impending drought and use it to decide on moving their cattle


title: "Cattle egret" content: herds. The cattle egret is a popular bird with cattle ranchers for its perceived role as a biocontrol of cattle parasites such as ticks and flies. A study in Australia found that cattle egrets reduced the number of flies that bothered cattle by pecking them directly off the skin. It was the benefit to stock that prompted ranchers and the Hawaiian Board of Agriculture and Forestry to release the species in Hawaii. Not all interactions between humans and cattle egrets are beneficial. The cattle egret can be a safety hazard to aircraft due to its habit of feeding in large


title: "Cattle egret" content: groups in the grassy verges of airports, and it has been implicated in the spread of animal infections such as heartwater, infectious bursal disease and possibly Newcastle disease. Cattle egret The cattle egret ("Bubulcus ibis") is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard two of its subspecies as full species, the western cattle egret and the eastern cattle egret. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus "Egretta", it is more closely related to


title: "Bent Larsen" content: 10½/15, ahead of David Bronstein, Hort, and Gligorić. At Palma de Mallorca 1970, he shared 6th–7th places with 9/15 (Panno and Ljubomir Ljubojević were joint winners). Larsen shared 8th–9th places at San Antonio 1972 on 8½/15 (Portisch, Petrosian, and Karpov triumphed). He won at Teesside 1972 with 11/15, ahead of Ljubojević and Portisch. At Las Palmas 1972, he shared 2nd–3rd places on 11/15 (Portisch won). Larsen won at Hastings 1972–73 on 11½/15, ahead of Wolfgang Uhlmann. At Bauang 1973, he scored 6/9 for 4th place (Kavalek won). Larsen won at Grenaa 1973 in the Nordic Championship with 8½/10. He won


title: "Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties" content: the convention. In addition, the Republic of China (Taiwan), which is currently only recognized by , signed the Convention in 1970 prior to the United Nations General Assembly's vote to transfer China's seat to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1971. The PRC subsequently acceded to the Convention. 66 UN member states have neither signed nor ratified the Convention. International treaties and conventions contain rules about what entities could sign, ratify or accede to them. Some treaties are restricted to states that are members of the UN or parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice. In


title: Beaconsfield content: learned their craft. It is the birthplace of Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series of fantasy novels. Several scenes in "Brief Encounter," a classic film about a woman in a dull middle class marriage who almost undertakes an affair, were filmed in the town: Station Parade served as Milford High Street and Boots on Burke's Parade was where Alec runs into Laura. The exterior of the Royal Saracens Head Inn can be seen in the James Bond film "Thunderball," and the interior shots for the pub in "Hot Fuzz" were filmed in the Royal Standard pub. The New Town


title: "1 (New York City Subway service)" content: However, Cortlandt Street, which was directly underneath the World Trade Center, was demolished as part of the clean-up and was rebuilt as part of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub until September 8, 2018, when it reopened as WTC Cortlandt. 9 train service was discontinued on May 31, 2005 and 1 trains now make all stops at all times. The skip-stop service made less sense by 2005 because of the increased number of trains being run and higher ridership at the bypassed stations; the MTA estimated that eliminating skip-stop service only added 2 to 3 minutes of travel time (for


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: Dodge Caravan The Dodge Caravan is a minivan manufactured and marketed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (and predecessor Chrysler companies) and marketed under the Dodge brand. Introduced for the 1984 model year, it is the longest-used nameplate currently in use by Chrysler. Introduced as the Dodge version of the Chrysler minivans alongside the Plymouth Voyager (and the later Chrysler Town & Country), the Dodge Caravan is currently in its fifth generation of production. Largely marketed in the United States and Canada, outside North America, the Dodge Caravan was marketed as the Chrysler Voyager. In North America, the Grand Caravan served as


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: the basis for the Volkswagen Routan assembled by Chrysler. Since 1984, more than 11 million Chrysler minivans (including rebadged variants and export versions) have been sold worldwide. Since its 1983 introduction, the Dodge Caravan has been assembled at Windsor Assembly, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada; prior to 2010, Saint Louis Assembly (in Fenton, Missouri) was an additional source of production. Lee Iacocca and Hal Sperlich had conceived their idea for this type of vehicle during their earlier tenure at Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford II rejected the idea (and a prototype) of a minivan in 1974. Iaccoca followed Sperlich to Chrysler,


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: and together they created what was internally designated the T-115 minivan – a prototype that was to become the Caravan and Voyager, known in initial marketing as the Magic-wagons. Chrysler introduced the Dodge Caravan and the Plymouth Voyager in November 1983 for the 1984 model year, using the Chrysler S platform, an extended derivative of the Chrysler K platform. The Renault Espace launched in Europe the same year, and Chrysler began selling the Chrysler Voyager in Europe four years later. During the 1960s, Dodge did sell a small cargo van adapted for passenger use, called the Dodge A100 which was


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: discontinued in 1970 and replaced by the larger, fullsized Dodge B-series van in 1971. Interior trim, controls, and instrumentation were borrowed from the Chrysler K platform, and coupled with the lower floor enabled by the front-wheel-drive, the Caravan featured car-like ease of entry. There were three trim levels: base, SE, and LE. Base vans came equipped for five passengers in two rows of seating. The LE came with seven passengers standard in three rows of seating. The base van had two bucket seats with attached armrests and open floor space between them in the front, a three-person bench seat in


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: the second row. The seven-passenger came with two bucket seats with attached armrests and open floor space between them in the front, a two-person bench seat in the second row, and a three-person bench seat in the back row. The two bench seats in the rear were independently removable, and the large three-person bench could also be installed in the second row location via a second set of attachment points on the van's floor, ordinarily hidden with snap-in plastic covers. This configuration allowed for conventional five person seating with a sizable cargo area in the rear. The latching mechanisms for


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: the benches were easy to operate though removing and replacing the seats typically required two adults. A front low-back 60/40 split bench, accommodating a third front passenger in the middle, was offered in the SE trim level in 1985 only, allowing for a maximum of eight passengers. This configuration was subsequently dropped. Base model curb weight 2,910 lbs. Safety features consisted of 3-point seat belts for the front two passengers, with simple lap belts for the rear five. Seats on base models and cloth-trimmed SEs had no headrests, which were not mandated due to the van's "light truck" legal status.


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: However, the two front seats were equipped with non-adjustable headrests on the LE model and in conjunction with vinyl upholstery on the SE. Side-impact reinforcements were mandated, and were at all seating positions front and rear. Neither airbags nor anti-lock braking systems were available. Access to the rear rows of seating was by a large passenger-side sliding door enabling easy access in confined situations, e.g., parking. Because only one sliding door was offered, the smaller 2nd row bench seat was shifted to the driver's side of the van, facilitating passenger access to the 3rd row seat. To facilitate variable cargo


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: storage behind the rear seat, the seat could be adjusted forward in two increments, the first of which removed roughly of legroom from the back row passengers, and the second of which would push the bench all the way to the back of the 2nd row, making the seats unusable. The seat back of the rear bench could also be folded forward, providing a flat cargo shelf. The smaller 2nd row bench was not adjustable, nor foldable; it could only be removed entirely. Cargo access to the rear was via a hatchback, similar to the one on the K platform


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: station wagons. The hatch was hinged at the top and held open by gas struts. A long wheelbase variant, marketed as the Grand Caravan, was introduced in May 1987. It allowed more cargo space behind the rear seat. A cargo version of the Caravan, called the Mini Ram Van, was also introduced for 1984, with a flat floored cargo space four feet tall and with four feet between the wheel wells. The load capacity was . It was renamed the Caravan C/V for 1989 and was then discontinued after 1995. It was initially available with the short wheelbase; a long-wheelbase


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: variant was introduced alongside the Grand Caravan. Unique to the Caravan C/V was the option of either having the traditional hatch door in the back or the optional swing-out bi-parting doors (with or without windows), similar to those of more traditional cargo vans. These doors were made of fiberglass and required the C/V vans to be "drop shipped", as these doors were custom installed by another vendor. Also based on the Mini Ram and C/V were aftermarket conversion vans sold through official Chrysler dealers and from the conversion companies themselves. Both a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission and a five-speed manual


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: were available with all inline-four engines, including the turbocharged 2.5-liter (this was a rare combination). The Plymouth Voyager, which was a rebadged version of the Caravan, was also available with a manual transmission. The Chrysler Town & Country, which was a more luxurious repackaged version of the Caravan, had no manual transmission option. Manual transmissions were not available on V6 models of the passenger Caravan, but were an option on the Mini Ram Van and Caravan C/V's long wheelbase models with a 3.0 L V6. The V6 engines were only offered with the venerable fully hydraulically operated TorqueFlite, until the


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: computer controlled Ultradrive four-speed automatic became available in 1989. The Ultradrive offered much better fuel economy and responsiveness, particularly when paired with the inline-four engine. However, it suffered from reliability problems, usually stemming from what is known as "gear hunt" or "shift busyness", resulting in premature wear of the internal clutches. It also required an uncommon type of automatic transmission fluid and is not clearly labeled as such, leading many owners to use the more common Dexron II rather than the specified "Mopar ATF+3", resulting in transmission damage and eventual failure. The Ultradrive received numerous design changes in subsequent model


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: years to improve reliability, and many early model transmissions would eventually be retrofitted or replaced with the updated versions by dealers, under warranty. These efforts were mostly successful, and most first-generation Caravans eventually got an updated transmission. For the first three years of production, two engines were offered in the Caravan – both inline-4 engines with 2 barrel carburetors. The base 2.2 L was borrowed from the Chrysler K-cars, and produced horsepower. The higher performance fuel-injected version of the 2.2 L engine later offered in the K-cars was never offered in the Caravan, and the 2-bbl version would remain the


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: base power plant until mid-1987. Alongside the 2.2 L, an optional Mitsubishi 2.6 L engine was available, producing horsepower. In mid-1987, the base 2.2 L I4 was replaced with a fuel-injected 2.5 L I4, which produced , while the Mitsubishi "G54B" I4 was replaced with the new fuel-injected 3.0 L Mitsubishi V6 producing in March of that year. Shortly thereafter in model year 1989, a more powerful engine became optional, with a turbocharged version of the base 2.5 L producing . Revisions to the Mitsubishi V6 upped its output to that same year, and in 1990 a new 3.3 L


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: V6 was added to the option list. The V6 engines became popular as sales of the 2.5 turbo dwindled and it was dropped at the end of the year. In these years, the ES model debuted (short wheelbase only) to highlight the new engines, the turbo 2.5 in particular. The ES was introduced to the long wheelbase Grand Caravan for 1991 and continued throughout 2003, before it was discontinued and replaced with the SXT. From 1991 through 1995, the Caravan used the Chrysler AS platform; they were the last minivans derived from the Chrysler K platform. The increasing popularity of


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: the short wheelbase Caravan had a dramatic effect on the captive import from Mitsubishi, called the Dodge Colt Vista, and was no longer imported to North America starting in 1991. The second generation had features including: 1992 models included revised roof-racks and doorhandles. 1993 marked the final year for optional woodgrain and wire wheels on higher level models. 1994 models had a redesigned interior, with slightly different seat contours/fabrics, along with a new dash, in order to accommodate a passenger-side air bag. 1994 exterior trim changes included a body colored grill and moldings on certain models, as well as the


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: addition of a one-year only "10th Anniversary Edition" package. Available as an option on a mid-level Caravan and Grand Caravan (also offered on Voyager models as well), the package featured 2-tone paint schemes, which included a contrasting light gray colored lower break, along with a gold fender badge. Only select colors were available on this model. The third-generation Chrysler minivans were available in long- and short– wheelbase models; three- and four-door configurations; and eight different powertrains, including electric and compressed natural gas; on a single, flexible platform. In development for nearly 5 years from early 1990 (full development from 1991)


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: to December 26, 1994 (final design by Don Renkert was approved on September 23, 1991 and frozen in May 1992), the 1996 model was introduced at the 1995 North American International Auto Show using the Chrysler S platform. It included a number of innovations, including a driver's side sliding door (optional initially, to become standard equipment later), a first for Chrysler and a non-compact minivan for the United States and Canada (the Honda Odyssey had introduced the first four-door non-compact minivan for the United States & Canada in 1994, although the first-generation Odyssey had conventional hinged rear doors). With Generation


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: III, Chrysler introduced a seat management system marketed as "Easy Out Roller Seats". A conventional door handle and lock was added to the rear hatch, eliminating the confusing pop-and-lift maneuver which had been required on earlier models. Base models of the Caravan were offered in most states with either a 2.4 L four-cylinder or the 3.0 L Mitsubishi 6G72 V6 engine, except in several northeastern states, where the Mitsubishi did not meet emissions standards. In those areas, the 3.3 L engine was offered as the V6 option from 1997 through 2000. The 1996 Caravan, along with the Plymouth Voyager and


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: the Chrysler Town & Country won the North American Car of the Year award. The Caravan itself won "Motor Trend" magazine's Car of the Year 1996 and appeared on the Car and Driver Ten Best for 1996 and 1997. 1999 also saw the addition of a one-year only 15th anniversary "Platinum Edition", to mark Caravan's 15th year of production. This package was offered on various trim levels, and included Platinum Metallic paint, and fender badges. The 2000 model year offered packages which included the "2000+" and "Millennium" package, however these were little more than unique fender badges on vans with


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: popular equipment. The Caravan received minor updates in 1997 for the 1998 model year. These changes came in the form of new colors, new wheels for trims above SE, new interior fabric, optional heated seats and a new design for the optional auto-dimming rear view mirror. In calendar year 1998, the Caravan's HVAC vents on the driver's side and center of the dashboard were updated to have a more conventional design. Later that year, the 1999 Caravan received new front styling on all trims above SE, while the Sport and ES models received even sportier styling. The ES model was


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: the first minivan to receive the "AutoStick" transmission and 17 inch wheels. A cargo net between the driver and front passenger seats was added. Color keyed door and lift-gate handles were standard across the whole range, in addition to a new keyless entry remote. Base and SE models had options for a spoiler as well as color keyed bumpers and trim (grey or color molded bumpers and trim were standard). The driver's side sliding door became standard. Chrysler had updates of the Plymouth Voyager in 1996 for the 1997 model year and the Chrysler Town & Country in 1997 for


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: the 1998 model year, prior to the 1998–2007 DaimlerChrysler era; it was the only exterior update of the NS Dodge Caravan. Other plans for this model year included three minivan concepts all to be made in the Windsor Assembly, the Dodge Caravan R/T, Voyager XG, and the Chrysler Pacifica 1999 concept. The Caravan R/T (originally ESS) was to include the most powerful engine ever for a minivan, rated at . It had two Dodge Viper hoodscoops, a brushed aluminum instrument panel, racing-style pedals, and black and white rubber flooring. The Voyager XG was more rugged, featured a diesel engine and


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: manual transmission, and included many outdoor amenities, such as a built-in ice pack. The Chrysler Pacifica, based on the Town & Country, was more luxurious, had power leather seats and footrests, overhead bins and lighting, an LHS grille, and roof-long skylights. The skylight feature was used by Nissan in the Quest. The Pacifica actually did come to be in 2004, based on the fifth generation Caravan, except that it became a crossover SUV rather than a minivan; the nameplate was eventually applied to a minivan in 2016. In 1999, Dodge introduced the Caravan EPIC, a fully electric minivan. The EPIC


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: was powered by 28 12-volt NiMH batteries and was capable of traveling up to on a single charge. The EPIC was sold as a fleet-only lease vehicle. Production of the EPIC was discontinued in 2001. Only a few hundred of these vehicles were produced and sold. After the leases expired they were returned and crushed. Approximately 10 vans remain in private hands today. The 1996–2000 Dodge Grand Caravan received a "Marginal" rating in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's 40 mph offset test. The structural performance and restraints were graded "Acceptable", but the foot injuries were very high. In the


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: NHTSA crash tests, it received 4 stars for the driver and front passenger in the frontal-impact. In the side-impact test, it received 5 stars for the driver, and 3 stars for the rear occupant, and resulted in a fuel leak that could cause a fire hazard. Unveiled at the 2000 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) on Monday, January 10, 2000, the redesigned 2001 Dodge Caravan and 2001 Chrysler Town & Country were released for sale in August 2000. The release was part of a promotional tie-in with Nabisco, which unveiled their new "Mini Oreos" inside the van during the


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: unveiling. The first vans rolled off the line at the Windsor Assembly Plant on July 24. The fourth generation vans were available in the trim levels; "SE", "Sport", "SXT", "AWD Sports", "base" model, "AWD Choice", "eL", "C/V", "ES", "EX", "AWD Wagon", and "SXT All-Wheel-Drive". In development from February 1996 to December 1999, the Generation IV minivans were based on the Chrysler RS platform and featured a larger body frame with modified headlights and taillights. Design work was done by Brandon Faurote from January 1997 and reached production approval in 1998. In addition to other detailed changes, power sliding doors and


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: a power hatch became available as options. The Mitsubishi 3.0 L V6, which no longer met emissions standards in California and the northeastern U.S., was discontinued, and a more powerful 3.8L engine, based on the 3.3L, became available. All Wheel Drive continued to be offered on high end models. Other innovative available features included remote operated sliding doors and rear hatch, which could be opened and closed at the push of a button, either inside the vehicle, or with the keyless entry fob. In the 2002 model year, DaimlerChrysler stopped using the "DODGE" badges on the front doors, like with


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: all Dodge vehicles. In 2003, the Caravan C/V and Grand Caravan C/V returned after having been discontinued in 1995. The C/V featured the option of deleted side windows (replaced by composite panels), optional rear seats, a cargo floor made of plastic material similar to pickup truck bedliners, rubber flooring in lieu of carpeting and normal hatch at the rear. Minor changes were made to the Grand Caravan ES including many of the features included in Option Group 29S becoming standard, the 17 inch Titan Chrome wheels no longer being an option replaced with standard 16 inch chrome wheels, and the


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: disappearance of the AutoStick Transmission option. This year also saw the appearance of an optional factory-installed rear seat DVD system with single disc player mounted below the HVAC controls. 2004 offered an exclusive one year only "Anniversary Edition" package to mark Caravan's 20th year in production. This package was offered on higher level SXT models, and included chrome wheels, body color moldings, special interior accents and a unique fender badge. 2005 changes to the Caravan included a revised grille, new foglight fascia, and a system of in-floor folding second and third row seats, marketed as "Stow 'n Go seating". Production


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: of this generation continued in China from 2008, when the Taiwanese Chrysler Town & Country production line was relocated there, until late 2010 when the fifth generation Chrysler Voyager was introduced to the Chinese market. The Caravan was subsequently replaced by the Journey, although a page for the Caravan still exists on the Dodge China site. The Chinese Caravan was produced alongside the Town & Country, now using the Grand Voyager nameplate, by Soueast, and did not share any aesthetic components with the North American Caravan aside from the wheels. Instead, the Chinese Caravan was identical to the Taiwanese Town


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: & Country, aside from the lack of chrome trim on the exterior door panels, and used a modified version of the Town & Country front bumper with a Dodge grille. Chinese vans were equipped with Mitsubishi 6G72 engines, and came in three trim levels: Classic, SXT, and Luxury. In Canada, the 3.3 L V6 was standard on all models. The 2001 model of this version earned a "Poor" rating in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 's 40 mph offset test. It did protect its occupants reasonably well, and the dummy movement was well controlled, however, a fuel leak occurred.


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: Chrysler corrected this problem starting with the 2002 models, moving it up to an "Acceptable" rating. The 2006 model year brought optional side curtain airbags and a stronger B-pillar, which was tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's side impact crash test. With the side airbags, it got an "Acceptable" rating. For the driver, there is a chance of serious neck injuries, rib fractures and/or internal organ injuries. The rear passengers, however, could leave this accident unharmed, as there is a low risk of significant injury in a crash of this severity for them. The fifth generation van had


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: debuted at the 2007 North American International Auto Show with exterior styling by Ralph Gilles. Beginning with Generation V in model year 2008, Chrysler only made the long wheelbase Grand Caravan. With discontinuation of the short-wheelbase Caravan, Dodge offered the Journey on nearly an identical wheelbase and as a crossover rather than a minivan. Although the SWB model, which had accounted for half of all sales in Canada, cost approximately $2,000 less and offered a four-cylinder engine option with improved fuel economy, Chrysler executives stated the SWB Caravan was discontinued to accommodate new features offered in the Grand Caravan, consistent


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: with the demands of the majority of the minivan market. A new six-speed automatic transmission became standard with the 3.8 L V6 and the new 4.0 L V6. The four-speed automatic transmission is standard with the 3.3 L Flex-Fuel V6. This generation of Grand Caravan and its Town & Country counterpart were not available with an all-wheel-drive system. The previously unavailable Electronic Stability Control was made standard on this generation. Chrysler introduced a seat management system marketed as "Swivel'n Go" seating, the MyGIG entertainment system (a stereo with built in hard drive for recording, storing, and playing music), second and


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: third row video screens, powered second row windows, standard side curtain airbags, and dashboard-mounted transmission controls. The gear shift lever moved to the instrument panel, the location used by competitors. The market shifted briefly away from minivans and SUVs with the gasoline price spikes of the earlier part of 2008. This trend began to reverse itself towards the fall of 2008. In 2009 and 2010 the Dodge Grand Caravan continued to be the top selling minivan in Canada, with over 60% of the market's monthly sales. "Automotive News" reported that, from January to October in 2010, Dodge sold about a


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: third of its 2010 Grand Caravans to rental fleets. The number of returned ex-rental 2010 Grand Caravan to the market jumped fourfold between July to October, depressing prices of used 2009 and 2010 Dodge minivans by as much as 20%. Both the 3.8 L and 4.0 L engines were paired with Chrysler's 62TE 6-speed automatic transmission with variable line pressure (VLP) technology (See Ultradrive#62TE). In Canada (2008–2010) the 3.3 L was the standard engine across the range, combined with the 4-speed 41TE automatic transmission. The 4.0 L engine and six-speed combination was available as an option on only the top


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: of the range SXT models. In 2011 the six-speed transmission was specified as standard on the Town & Country. In the U.S. the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) New Car Assessment Program crash testing, the 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan achieved a five star (top safety) rating in several categories. The Grand Caravan underwent a mid-cycle refresh for the 2011 model year, which included major changes in both styling and functionality. The suspension was heavily re-tuned, with both Dodge and Chrysler minivans gaining a larger front sway bar and new rear sway bar, increased rear roll center height, adjusted spring


title: "Dodge Caravan" content: rates, a new steering gear, a revised front static camber setting, and lowered ride height. This dramatically improved handling in both the Chrysler and Dodge. All three of the former engine choices were replaced by the new Pentastar 3.6-liter V6 with six-speed automatic transmission, now the sole powertrain choice for all models. Interior trim was restyled on both vans, in addition to major exterior revisions highlighted by the new "double-crosshair" grille on the Grand Caravan and a new chrome grille for the Town & Country. Other changes included extra sound insulation, acoustic glass, new seats, softer-touch surfaces, new LED ambient