title: Ocelot content: period of 79 to 83 days. Females give birth in dens, usually located in dense vegetation. A newborn kitten weighs . A study in southern Texas revealed that a mother keeps a litter in a den for 13 to 64 days, and shifts the young to two to three dens. The kitten's eyes open 15 to 18 days after birth. Kittens begin to leave the den at the age of three months. They remain with their mother for up to two years, and then start dispersing and establishing their own territory. In comparison to other felids, ocelots have a relatively


title: Ocelot content: longer duration between births and a narrow litter size. Captive ocelots live for up to 20 years. The ocelot is distributed extensively over South America, including the Margarita and Trinidad islands, Central America, Mexico and a small population in southern Texas. Countries in this range are: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States and Venezuela. The cat is likely extinct in Uruguay. It inhabits tropical forest, thorn forest, mangrove swamps and savanna at elevations up to . It prefers areas with relatively


title: Ocelot content: dense vegetation cover, but occasionally hunts in more open areas at night. In Mexico's Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve, four ocelots were recorded at elevations of in cloud and pine forests, and also in a patch of wild perennial teosinte. The ocelot once inhabited the chaparral thickets of the Gulf Coast of south and eastern Texas, and could be found in Arizona, Louisiana, and Arkansas. In the United States, it now ranges only in several small areas of dense thicket in South Texas and is rarely sighted in Arizona. On November 7, 2009, an ocelot was photographed in the mountains


title: Ocelot content: of Cochise County, Arizona. This was the first such verifiable evidence of the feline's presence in the state. In February 2011, the Arizona Game and Fish Department confirmed the sighting of another ocelot in the Huachuca Mountains of southern Arizona. Most surviving Texas ocelots are in the shrublands remaining at or near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge near Brownsville, where only 30–35 animals remain. The destruction of habitat is the main threat to ocelot survival. In addition, it is sought by poachers for the illegal trade in body parts and skin, and killed in retaliation for hunting poultry. The


title: Ocelot content: remnant U.S. ocelot population in south Texas has declined from 80–120 individuals in 1995 to fewer than 50 by 2013, with about half of ocelot deaths resulting from automobile accidents. The name "ocelot" comes from the Nahuatl word (), which generally refers to the jaguar rather than the ocelot. Another possible origin for the name is the Latin ("having little eyes" or "marked with eye-like spots"), in reference to the cat's spotted coat. Other vernacular names for the ocelot include (Venezuela), (Argentina), (Panama), (Suriname), (Brazil), (Costa Rica, Panama and Venezuela), (Brazil), , , , , (Belize), (Bolivia) and (Colombia, Ecuador,


title: Ocelot content: Guatemala and Peru). Ocelots have been kept as pets by: The Moche people of ancient Peru worshiped animals and often depicted the ocelot in their art. Ocelot The ocelot ("Leopardus pardalis") is a wild cat native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central and South America. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List as the population is estimated to comprise more than 40,000 mature individuals and is considered stable. Its fur was once regarded as particularly valuable, but legal trade of its fur ceased decades ago. In the United States, it inhabits southern Texas and southern


title: "Don Foster, Baron Foster of Bath" content: having people there who will do just that." Don Foster, Baron Foster of Bath Donald Michael Ellison Foster, Baron Foster of Bath, (born 31 March 1947) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented Bath, Somerset as its constituency MP from 1992 until 2015. From October 2013 to May 2015 he held the "ex officio" title of Comptroller of the Household as Liberal Democrat Chief Whip. He was created Baron Foster of Bath, of Bath in the County of Somerset in the 2015 Dissolution Honours, becoming a member of the House of Lords. Foster was born in Preston, Lancashire, and


title: "Young, New South Wales" content: sites, including: Young has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa"), with strong continental influence. Snow falls annually, albeit occasionally; notwithstanding its fairly low elevation of 380 m AMSL, the far inland position of Young within Western New South Wales exposes it to strong South-Westerly frontal outbreaks, chiefly from May to September. Hence, places such as Canberra farther east, yet ~200 m higher at 580 m AMSL, receive about as much snowfall as Young due to more adequate sheltering from these very fronts; Young lies 200 m lower than Canberra, yet receives similar snowfall to the latter. Since Young is farther west


title: "Sunni Triangle" content: Sunni Triangle The Sunni Triangle is a densely populated region of Iraq to the northwest of Baghdad that is inhabited mostly by Sunni Muslim Arabs. The roughly triangular area's corners are usually said to lie near Baqubah (on the east side of the triangle), Baghdad (on the South side), Ramadi (on the west side) and Tikrit (on the north side). Each side is approximately 125 kilometers (80 miles) long. The area also contains the cities of Samarra and Fallujah. The area was a center of strong support for former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's government; starting in the 1970s many government


title: Tenerife content: the French renamed as Saint-Domingue). Canary Islanders, including many "tinerfeños," left for the New World. The success in cultivation of new crops of the Americas, such as cocoa in Venezuela and tobacco in Cuba, contributed to the population exodus from towns such as Buenavista del Norte, Vilaflor, or El Sauzal in the late 17th century. The village of San Carlos de Tenerife was founded in 1684 by Canary Islanders on Santo Domingo. The people from Tenerife were recruited for settlement to build up the town from encroachment by French colonists established in the western side of Hispaniola. Between 1720 and


title: Tenerife content: Dominican Order established a chair of philosophy at the convent of La Concepción de La Laguna. Still, until well into the 18th century Tenerife was largely without institutions of education. Such institutions finally began to develop thanks to the work of the Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País ("Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country"), which established several schools in San Cristóbal de La Laguna. The first of these was an institute of secondary education established in 1846 to fill the gap left by the closure of the Universidad de San Fernando ("see University of La Laguna"). An


title: "Brașov County" content: to Austria-Hungary in 1920 under the Treaty of Trianon. In 1938, King Carol II promulgated a new Constitution, and subsequently he had the administrative division of the Romanian territory changed. (approximate translation: "lands") were created (by merging the counties) to be ruled by "rezidenți regali" (approximate translation: "Royal Residents") - appointed directly by the King - instead of the prefects. Brașov County became part of Ținutul Argeș. In 1940, part of the county was transferred back to Hungary with the rest of Northern Transylvania under the Second Vienna Award. Beginning in 1944, Romanian forces with Soviet assistance recaptured the ceded


title: "Dâmbovița County" content: administratively into six districts ("plăṣi"): Subsequently, the territory of the county was reorganized into eight districts by the abolition of Plasa Finta and the establishment of three new districts in its place: According to the 1930 census data, the county population was 309,676 inhabitants, ethnically divided as follows: 96.9% Romanians, 2.1% Romanies, 0.2% Jews, 0.2% Hungarians, 0.1% Germans, as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the population was 98.9% Eastern Orthodox, 0.3% Roman Catholic, 0.3% Jewish, 0.1% Adventist, 0.1% Greek Catholic, as well as other minorities. In 1930, the county's urban population was 33,398 inhabitants, comprising


title: "Hunedoara County" content: Hunedoara County Hunedoara County () is a county ("județ") of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva. The county is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. In Hungarian, it is known as "Hunyad megye", in German as "Kreis Hunedoara", and in Slovak as "Hunedoara". In 2011, the county had a population of 396,253 and the population density was 56.1/km². Hunedoara's Jiu River Valley is traditionally a coal-mining region, and its high level of industrialisation drew many people from other regions of Romania in the period before the fall of the communist regime. This county has a total area of


title: "Prahova County" content: agricultural production. The Prahova Valley is one of the areas with the highest tourist potential in the country having one of the best tourism facilities in Romania. The main tourist destinations are: The Prahova County Council, elected at the 2016 local government elections, is made up of 37 counselors, with the following party composition: Prahova County has 2 municipalities, 12 towns and 90 communes Municipalities Towns Communes Historically, the county was located in the south central part of Greater Romania, in the central part of the historical region of Muntenia. Its capital was Ploiești (then spelt "Ploești"). The interwar county


title: "Don Knotts" content: Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian, best known as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show", a 1960s sitcom for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He also starred in multiple comedic films, including playing Luther Heggs in "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" (1966) and Henry Limpet in "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" (1964). He also portrayed landlord Ralph Furley on the sitcom "Three's Company". In 1979 "TV Guide" ranked him #27 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. Jesse Donald Knotts was born in Morgantown,


title: "Scottish Episcopal Church" content: Scotland broke with the Church of Rome during a process of Protestant reform led, among others, by John Knox. It reformed its doctrines and government, drawing on the principles of John Calvin which Knox had been exposed to while living in Switzerland. In 1560, the Scottish Parliament abolished papal jurisdiction and approved Calvin's Confession of Faith, but did not accept many of the principles laid out in Knox's "First Book of Discipline", which argued, among other things, that all of the assets of the old church should pass to the new. The 1560 Reformation Settlement was not ratified by the


title: "John Glenn Columbus International Airport" content: new name was unveiled. In 2017, after completion of the $80 million terminal renovation, the airport was named by trade organization Airports Council International as the most improved airport in North America in 2016. The airport opened July 8, 1929, on a site selected by Charles Lindbergh, as the eastern air terminus of the Transcontinental Air Transport air-rail New York to Los Angeles transcontinental route. Passengers traveled overnight on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Airway Limited from New York to Columbus; by air from Columbus to Waynoka, Oklahoma; by rail again on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe from Waynoka to Clovis,


title: "Postage stamps and postal history of the United States" content: City Despatch Post." The government began operation of this local post on August 16, 1842, under an Act of Congress of some years earlier that authorized local delivery. Greig, retained by the Post Office to run the service, kept the firm's original Washington stamp in use, but soon had its lettering altered to reflect the name change. In its revised form, this issue accordingly became the first postage stamp produced under the auspices of a government in the western hemisphere. An Act of Congress of March 3, 1845 (effective July 1, 1845), established uniform (and mostly reduced) postal rates throughout


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: Oceanic whitetip shark The oceanic whitetip shark ("Carcharhinus longimanus"), also known as Brown Milbert's sand bar shark, brown shark, lesser white shark, nigano shark, oceanic white-tipped whaler, and silvertip shark, is a large pelagic requiem shark inhabiting tropical and warm temperate seas. Its stocky body is most notable for its long, white-tipped, rounded fins. This slow-moving but aggressive fish dominates feeding frenzies, and is a danger to shipwreck or air crash survivors. Recent studies show steeply declining populations because its large fins are highly valued as the chief ingredient of shark fin soup, and as with other shark species, the


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: whitetip faces mounting fishing pressure throughout its range. The oceanic whitetip shark, or lesser white shark, was described in 1831 by naturalist René-Primevère Lesson, who named the shark "Carcharhinus maou". It was next described by Cuban Felipe Poey in 1861 as "Squalus longimanus". The name "Pterolamiops longimanus" has also been used. The species epithet ' refers to the size of its pectoral fins (' translates from Latin as "long hands"). The oceanic whitetip shark has many common names in English: Brown Milbert's sand bar shark, brown shark, nigano shark, oceanic white-tipped whaler, and whitetip shark. The rules of the International


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: Commission on Zoological Nomenclature are that in general the first-published description has priority; therefore, the valid scientific name for the oceanic whitetip shark should be "Carcharhinus maou". However, Lesson's name remained forgotten for so long that "Carcharhinus longimanus" remains widely accepted. The oceanic whitetip is found globally in deep, open oceans, with a temperature greater than , although exceptionally it occurs in water as cold as . It prefers waters between and tends to withdraw from areas when temperatures fall outside of these limits. It was once extremely common and widely distributed, and still inhabits a wide band around the


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: globe; however, recent studies suggest that its numbers have drastically declined. An analysis of the US pelagic longline logbook data between 1992 and 2000 (covering the Northwest and Western Central Atlantic) estimated a decline of 70% over that period. It is found worldwide between 45°N and 43°S latitude. In September 2004, a vagrant oceanic whitetip shark was seen in the brackish waters of Gullmarsfjorden in Sweden; it died shortly after. This is the only North European record and far north of its usual range limit. The shark spends most of its time in the upper layer of the ocean—to a


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: depth of —and prefers off-shore, deep-ocean areas. According to longline capture data, increasing distance from land correlates to a greater population of sharks. Occasionally, it is found close to land, in waters as shallow as , mainly around midocean islands such as Hawaii, or in areas where the continental shelf is narrow with access to nearby deep water. It is typically solitary, though gatherings have been observed where food is plentiful. Unlike many animals, it does not have a diurnal cycle, and is active both day and night. Its swimming style is slow, with widely spread pectoral fins. Despite its


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: habitual isolation from members of its own species, pilot fish, dolphinfish, and remora may accompany it. In 1988, Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch reported seeing an individual accompanied by a shortfin pilot whale. "C. longimanus" most distinguishing characteristics are its long, wing-like pectoral and dorsal fins. The fins are significantly larger than most other shark species, and are conspicuously rounded. The shark's nose is rounded and its eyes are circular, with nictitating membranes. "C. longimanus" has a 'typical', although somewhat flattened requiem shark body, often with a mildly humpbacked aspect. It is bronze, brown, bluish, or grey dorsally (the colour varies by region),


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: and white ventrally (although it may occasionally have a yellow tint). The oceanic whitetip shark is a medium-sized requiem shark. The largest specimen ever caught measured , an exceptionally large size considering few specimens are known to exceed a length of . The maximum reported weight is . The female is typically larger than the male by . Males attain sexual maturity at and females about . In the Gulf of Mexico in the 1950s, the mean weight of oceanic whitetip sharks was . In the 1990s, the sharks of the species from the same area averaged only . Most


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: of its fins (dorsal, pectoral, pelvic, and caudal) have white tips (juvenile specimens and some adults may lack these). Along with white tips, the fins may be mottled, and young specimens can have black marks. A saddle-like marking may be apparent between first and second dorsal fins. The shark has several kinds of teeth. Those in the mandible (lower jaw) have a thin, serrated tip and are relatively small and triangular (somewhat fang-like). Between 13 and 15 teeth are on either side of the symphysis. The teeth in the upper jaw are triangular, but much larger and broader with entirely


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: serrated edges— 14 or 15 occur along each side of the symphysis. The denticles lie flat and typically have between five and seven ridges. "C. longimanus" feeds mainly on pelagic cephalopods and bony fish. However, its diet can be far more varied and less selective—it is known to eat threadfins, stingrays, sea turtles, birds, gastropods, crustaceans, and mammalian carrion. The bony fish it feeds on include lancetfish, oarfish, barracuda, jacks, dolphinfish, marlin, tuna, and mackerel. Its feeding methods include biting into groups of fish and swimming through schools of tuna with an open mouth. When feeding with other species, it


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: becomes aggressive. Peter Benchley, author of "Jaws", observed this shark swimming among pilot whales and eating their faeces. The oceanic whitetip is usually solitary and slow-moving, and tends to cruise near the top of the water column, covering vast stretches of empty water scanning for possible food sources. Until the 16th century, sharks were known to mariners as "sea dogs" and the oceanic whitetip, the most common ship-following shark, exhibits dog-like behaviour when its interest is piqued: when attracted to something that appears to be food, its movements become more avid and it approaches cautiously but stubbornly, retreating and maintaining


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: a safe distance if driven off, but ready to rush in if the opportunity presents itself. Oceanic whitetips are not fast swimmers, but they are capable of surprising bursts of speed. Whitetips commonly compete for food with silky sharks, making up for its comparatively leisurely swimming style with aggressive displays. Groups often form when individuals converge on a food source, whereupon a feeding frenzy may occur. This seems to be triggered not by blood in the water or by bloodlust, but by the species' highly strung and goal-directed nature (conserving energy between infrequent feeding opportunities when it is not slowly


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: plying the open ocean). The oceanic whitetip is a competitive, opportunistic predator that exploits the resource at hand, rather than avoiding trouble in favour of a possibly easier future meal. Segregation by sex and size does not seem to occur. Whitetips follow schools of tuna or squid, and trail groups of cetaceans such as dolphins and pilot whales, scavenging their prey. Their instinct is to follow baitfish migrations that accompany ocean-going ships. When whaling took place in warm waters, oceanic whitetips were often responsible for much of the damage to floating carcasses. Mating season is in early summer in the


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: northwest Atlantic Ocean and southwest Indian Ocean, although females captured in the Pacific have been found with embryos year round, suggesting a longer mating season there. The shark is viviparous—embryos develop "in utero" and are fed by a placental sac. Its gestation period is one year. Litter sizes vary from one to 15 with the young born at a length around . Sexual maturity is reached around for males and for females. The oceanic whitetip is a commercially important species for its fins, meat, and oil. It is eaten fresh, smoked, dried, and salted and its hide is used for


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: leather. It is subject to fishing pressure throughout virtually its whole range,although it is more often taken as bycatch than by design, since it is drawn to longline bait that is intended for other species. Oceanographic researcher Jacques Cousteau described the oceanic whitetip as "the most dangerous of all sharks". Despite the greater notoriety of the great white shark and other sharks habitually found nearer the shore, the oceanic whitetip is suspected to be responsible for many fatal shark bites on humans, as a result of predation on survivors of shipwrecks or downed aircraft. Such incidents are not included in


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: common shark-bite indices for the 20th and 21st centuries, and as a result, the oceanic whitetip does not have the highest number of recorded incidents; only five bites had been recorded as of 2009. After the USS "Indianapolis" was torpedoed on 30 July 1945, most sailors who survived the sinking reportedly died from exposure to the elements rather than from shark bites. Some sailors, however, are believed to have died from shark bites, and oceanic whitetips are believed to have been responsible in those cases. Also during World War II, the RMS "Nova Scotia", a steamship carrying about 1,000 people


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: near South Africa, was sunk by a German submarine. 192 people survived; many deaths were attributed to the whitetip. In Egypt in 2010, one oceanic whitetip was implicated in several bites on tourists in the Red Sea near Sharm El Sheikh. The shark was recognized individually by the bite mark taken out of its upper tail lobe. Accumulating evidence revealed this shark to have been conditioned to being hand fed. Upon associating the divers with an easy supply of food, it bit the divers and snorkelers on the areas of the body where it had seen the fish being kept,


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: namely, in the fanny packs the divers carried. This caused the shark to target the divers' buttock and thigh regions in the hope of obtaining a meal. The 2010 Sharm El Sheikh bites resulted in one death and four injuries to humans. The attacks might have been instigated by the overfishing in that area of the Red Sea, effectively forcing the shark closer to shore where the bites took place. Dr. Christopher Neff, a policy analyst at the University of Sydney, argues that terms like "attack" are laden with cultural stigmatization. Instead of the word "attack", he proposes labeling human-shark


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: interactions, on a scale of extremity, as encounters, minor bites, moderate bites and fatal bites. The term "attack" is only appropriate in specific instances where specialists can confirm the predatory nature of the shark-human encounter, which is extremely difficult to do. While many encounters with oceanic whitetip sharks appear predatory in nature, without the verification of a scientific community in each instance, Neff argues that it is best to assume the accidental or nonpredatory intent of the encounters. The oceanic whitetip has fared better in captivity than other large sharks of the open ocean, such as the mako and blue


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: shark. Among five recorded captive oceanic whitetips, the three with time records all lived for more than a year in captivity. One of these, a female in Monterey Bay Aquarium's Outer-Bay exhibit, lived for more than three years during which it grew . The two remaining lack a time record, but grew about during their time in captivity. In 1969, Lineaweaver and Backus wrote of the oceanic whitetip: "[it is] extraordinarily abundant, perhaps the most abundant large animal, large being over 100 pounds [45 kg], on the face of the earth". Little further population study occurred until 2003, when the


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: numbers were estimated to have dropped by as much as 70% in the Northwest and Western Central Atlantic between 1992 and 2000. Another study focusing on the Gulf of Mexico, using a mix of data from US pelagic longline surveys from the mid-1950s and observations from the late-1990s, estimated a decline in numbers in this location of 99.3% over this period. However, changes in fishing practices and data collection methods complicate estimates. As a result of these findings, its status on the IUCN Red List was moved to "Vulnerable" globally (from "Lower Risk/Near Threatened") and "Critically Endangered" in the Northwest


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: and Western Central Atlantic areas. Under the 1995 UN Agreement on the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, coastal and fishing states are specifically required to adopt measures to conserve listed species, but little progress is visible on the oceanic whitetip. From 3 January 2013, the shark was fully protected in New Zealand territorial waters under the Wildlife Act 1953. In March 2013, three endangered commercially valuable sharks, the hammerheads, the oceanic whitetip, and porbeagle were added to Appendix II of CITES, bringing shark fishing and commerce of these species under licensing and regulation.


title: "Oceanic whitetip shark" content: On January 30, 2018, NOAA Fisheries published a final rule to list the oceanic whitetip shark as a threatened species under the United States Endangered Species Act (ESA) (83 FR 4153). Oceanic whitetip shark The oceanic whitetip shark ("Carcharhinus longimanus"), also known as Brown Milbert's sand bar shark, brown shark, lesser white shark, nigano shark, oceanic white-tipped whaler, and silvertip shark, is a large pelagic requiem shark inhabiting tropical and warm temperate seas. Its stocky body is most notable for its long, white-tipped, rounded fins. This slow-moving but aggressive fish dominates feeding frenzies, and is a danger to shipwreck or


title: "Winnipeg Jets (1972–96)" content: rules gave players the leverage to demand being paid in U.S. dollars. Until about the early 1990s, Canadian teams were able to pay most of their players in Canadian dollars, with the only exceptions being contracts acquired in trades from U.S. teams. However, since the Canadian teams still collected most of their revenue in Canadian dollars, having to pay players in U.S. dollars proved to be a serious drain on finances given the declining value of the Canadian dollar. By 1996, the exchange rate was $1.40 Canadian for each American dollar. Winnipeg felt the pinch especially hard as it had


title: "New York/New Jersey Hitmen" content: Night Live", for instance). The teams secondary logo features the head of a football player wearing an old style leather football helmet. In December 2018, a revival of the XFL announced its intent to return to East Rutherford. The new league is expected not to recycle the Hitmen name. Rushing yards: 328, Joe Aska. Receiving yards: 404, Kirby Dar Dar. Passing yards: 804, Wally Richardson. New York/New Jersey Hitmen The New York/New Jersey Hitmen were an American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Hitmen were the members of the Eastern Division of the XFL. The team played


title: "Sulaiman Abu Ghaith" content: eager to die just as the Americans are eager to live." These statements caused the Kuwaiti government to strip him of his citizenship. In 2002, while living in Iran, he posted a statement asserting that al Qaeda has "the right to kill four million Americans, including one million children, displace double that figure, and injure and cripple hundreds and thousands." According to "The Long War Journal" American officials assert that Sulaiman Abu Ghaith attended al Qaeda's airport training camp with Anas al Kandari and Faiz al Kandari. Anas al Kandari was a young Kuwaiti who fired upon a squad of


title: Rottweiler content: Rottweiler The Rottweiler (, ) is a breed of domestic dog, regarded as medium-to-large or large. The dogs were known in German as , meaning Rottweil butchers' dogs, because their main use was to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered meat to market. This continued until the mid-19th century when railways replaced droving. Although still used to herd stock in many parts of the world, Rottweilers are now also used as search and rescue dogs, as guard dogs, and as police dogs. The Rottweiler is one of the oldest of herding breeds. With a history possibly dating back


title: Rottweiler content: to the Roman Empire, the Rottweiler may be a descendant of ancient Roman drover dogs; a mastiff-type dog that was a dependable, rugged dog with great intelligence and guarding instincts. During their quest to conquer Europe, the Roman legions traveled in large numbers across the continent. The lack of refrigeration meant soldiers brought herds of cattle for food. Drover dogs kept the herd together and guarded it at night. Around A.D. 74 the Roman army travelled across the Alps and into what is now southern Germany. For the next two centuries the Roman drover dogs were continually used in herding


title: Rottweiler content: and driving cattle for trade even after the Romans were driven out of the area by the Swabians. The dog breed was subsequently named after Rottweil, a town in the region. It became an important trade center and the descendants of the Roman cattle dogs proved their worth by driving the cattle to market and protecting the cattle from robbers and wild animals. The dogs are said to have been used by traveling butchers at markets during the Middle Ages to guard money pouches tied around their necks. The dogs were eventually known as Rottweiler Metzgerhunds, or "Butchers' Dogs". As


title: Rottweiler content: railroads became the primary method for moving stock to market, the demand for the Rottweiler breed declined, as did their numbers, so severely diminished by 1882 that a show in Heilbronn, featured only one very poor representative of the breed. The buildup to World War I saw a great demand for police dogs, which led to a revival of interest in the Rottweiler. During the First and Second World Wars, Rottweilers saw service in various roles, including as messenger, ambulance, draught, and guard dogs. The Deutscher Rottweiler-Klub (DRK, "German Rottweiler Club"), the first Rottweiler club in Germany, was founded on


title: Rottweiler content: 13 January 1914, and followed by the creation of the Süddeutscher Rottweiler-Klub (SDRK, "South German Rottweiler Club") on 27 April 1915 and eventually became the IRK (International Rottweiler Club). The DRK counted around 500 Rottweilers, and the SDRK 3000 Rottweilers. The goals of the two clubs were different. The DRK aimed to produce working dogs and did not emphasise the morphology of the Rottweiler. The various German Rottweiler Clubs amalgamated to form the Allgemeiner Deutscher Rottweiler Klub (ADRK, "General German Rottweiler Club") in 1921. This was officially recorded in the register of clubs and associations at the district court of


title: Rottweiler content: Stuttgart on 27 January 1924. The ADRK is recognised worldwide as the home club of the Rottweiler. In 1931 the Rottweiler was officially recognised by the American Kennel Club. In 1936, Rottweilers were exhibited in Britain at Crufts. In 1966, a separate register was opened for the breed. In fact, in the mid-1990s, the popularity of the Rottweiler reached an all-time high with it being the most registered dog by the American Kennel Club. In 2013, the American Kennel Club ranked the Rottweiler as the ninth-most popular pure-breed in the United States. "Rottweiler breeders aim at a dog of abundant


title: Rottweiler content: strength, black coated with clearly defined rich tan markings, whose powerful appearance does not lack nobility and which is exceptionally well suited to being a companion, service and working dog." This breed is all about balance, endurance, proportionality, intelligence and strength. The various standards in place for the Rottweiler's physical appearance specify these characteristics. The skull is of medium length, relatively broad between the ears. The forehead line is moderately arched as seen from the side, with the occipital bone well developed without being conspicuous. The stop is relatively strong. Frontal groove not too deep. The Rottweiler nose is well


title: Rottweiler content: developed, more broad than round, with relatively large nostrils and always black. The muzzle should appear neither elongated nor shortened in relation to the cranial region. The ratio between the length of the muzzle and the length of the skull is about 1 to 1.5 The nasal bridge is straight, broad at the base and moderately tapered. The lips are black and close fitting with the corner of the mouth not visible. The gums should be black, or as dark as possible. Both the upper and lower jaws are strong and broad. According to the FCI Standard Rottweilers should have


title: Rottweiler content: strong and complete dentition (42 teeth) with scissor bite, the upper incisors closely overlapping the lower incisors. The zygomatic arches should be pronounced (but not exagerated). Upper and lower jaw strong and broad. Strong, complete dentition (42 teeth) with scissor bite, the upper incisors overlapping the lower incisors. The eyes should be of medium size, almond-shaped and dark brown in colour. The eyelids are close fitting and should not droop. The ears are medium-sized, pendant, triangular, wide apart, and set high on the head. With the ears laid forward close to the head, the skull appears to be broadened. The


title: Rottweiler content: skin on the head is tight fitting overall. When the dog is alert, the forehead may be slightly wrinkled. Faults: Hound-type head. Narrow, light too short, long, coarse or excessively molossoid head; excessively broad skull, (lack of stop, too little stop or too strong stop). Very deep frontal groove. Foreface long, pointed or too short muzzle (any muzzle shorter than 40 percent of the length of the head is too short). split nose; Roman nose (convex nasal bridge) or dish-faced (concave nasal bridge); acquiline nose, pale or spotted nose (butterfly nose). Pincer bite. Molars of the underjaw not standing in


title: Rottweiler content: one line. Severe Faults: Too molossoid type and heavy general appearance. The neck is strong, of fair length, well muscled, slightly arched, clean, free from throatiness, without excessive dewlap. The back is straight, strong and firm. The loins are short, strong and deep. The croup is broad, of medium length, and slightly rounded, neither flat nor falling away. The chest is roomy, broad and deep (approximately 50% of the shoulder height) with a well-developed forechest and well sprung ribs. The flanks are not tucked up. The FCI 2018 Standard states: Historically the tail was traditionally docked at the first or


title: Rottweiler content: second joint. However, docking is now banned in most countries and this is reflected in the FCI Country of Origin Breed Standard. Although once "preferred" in early Standards, in 2018 the FCI Standard was amended to classify the Natural Bob Tail (aka "Stumpy") as a "Disqualifying Fault" along with "kink tail, ring-tail, with strong lateral deviation. When seen from the front, the front legs are straight and not placed close to each other. The forearm, seen from the side, stands straight and vertical. The slope of the shoulder blade is about 45 degrees. The shoulders are well laid back. The


title: Rottweiler content: upper arm is close fitting to the body. The forearm is strongly developed and muscular. Pasterns are slightly springy, strong but not steep. The front feet are round, tight and well arched, the pads hard, nails are short, black and strong. When seen from behind, the rear legs are straight and not too close together. When standing free, obtuse angles are formed between the dog's upper thigh and the hip bone, the upper thigh and the lower thigh, and the lower thigh and metatarsal. The upper thigh is moderately long, broad and strongly muscled. The lower thigh is long, strongly


title: Rottweiler content: and broadly muscled, sinewy. The hocks are sturdy, well angulated, not steep. The hind feet are slightly longer than the front feet. Toes are strong, arched, as tight as the front feet. According to the FCI Standard According to the American Kennel Council the traditional gait of a Rottweiler is a trot. Therefore, the Rottweiler is a trotter. Trotting in this breed is by no means a fault and is required. This movement comes naturally to the Rottweiler and should appear as such; any deviation may lead to a disqualification in the show ring. While walking, the Rottweiler's legs, both


title: Rottweiler content: front and hind, should move in a straight forward and backward manner. As with the straight movement of the legs, the path the Rottweiler moves in should also be straight. The Rottweiler's gait is all about balance and effectiveness as the breed is still used as a herder today. The coat consists of an outer coat and an undercoat. The outer coat is of medium length, coarse, dense and flat. The undercoat should be present on the neck and thighs. The undercoat must not show through the outer coat. Rottweilers living in hot climates may have acclimatised and may be


title: Rottweiler content: missing the undercoat. Rottweiler coats tend to be low maintenance, although they experience heavy shedding before their seasons (females) or seasonally (males). According to American Kennel Club breed standards, a Rottweiler's coat is short and straight. A coat that is long or wavy is considered a flaw to the AKC. The color and markings of a Rottweiler are very distinctive. A Rottweiler is always, by any breed club standards, black with well-defined mahogany or rust-colored markings that do not take up more than ten percent of the dog's body color. All Rottweilers standard to AKC specifications have one mahogany dot


title: Rottweiler content: above each eye on the inner brow ridge, on the cheeks, one strip on each side of the snout; cheek markings do not cross over the bridge of the nose, the top of the nose should remain black. The markings on the face should move down onto the dog's throat. On the chest, a Rottweiler will have two downward-facing triangular marks. On each front leg, the marks will stretch from the forearm to the toes. On the hind legs, the markings will begin on the inside and move outward onto the stifle, then out onto the hock stretching to the


title: Rottweiler content: toes as well. AKC standards recognize that the black base color is not completely voided on the rear pasterns. There is a patch of rust or mahogany underneath the tail that resembles a triangle as well. A thin strip of black should be present on each of the Rottweiler's toes. Technically a "medium / large" breed, according to the FCI standard the Rottweiler stands 61–69 cm (24–27 in) at the withers for males, 56–63 cm (22–25 in) for females, and the weight must be between 50 and 60 kg (110 and 132 lbs) for males and 35 and 48 kg


title: Rottweiler content: (77 and 105 lbs) for females. Weight must be relative to height. According to the 2018 FCI Standard: The American Kennel Club says the Rottweiler is: According to the American Rottweiler Club Rottweilers are a powerful breed with well-developed genetic herding and guarding instincts. Potentially dangerous behaviour in Rottweilers usually results from irresponsible ownership, abuse, neglect, or lack of socialisation and training. However, the exceptional strength of the Rottweiler is an additional risk factor not to be neglected. It is for this reason that breed experts declare that formal training and extensive socialisation are essential for all Rottweilers. According to


title: Rottweiler content: the AKC, Rottweilers love their owners and may behave in a clownish manner toward family and friends, but they are also protective of their territory and do not welcome strangers until properly introduced. Obedience training and socialization are required. One study published in 2008 found that male rottweilers have higher confidence, sharpness, and defense and play drives than females. A 2008 study surveying breed club members found that while Rottweilers were average in aggressiveness (bites or bite attempts) towards owners and other dogs, it indicated they tend to be more aggressive than average toward strangers. This aggression appears correlated with


title: Rottweiler content: watchdog and territorial instincts. In the "Rottweiler Handbook", Joan H. Walker states that "The Rottweiler is very territorial", meaning that the owner will have to regularly work with the dog to control its territorial aggressiveness. According to the American Kennel Club, Rottweilers have a natural gathering style with a strong desire to control. They generally show a loose eye and have a great amount of force while working well off the stock. They make much use of their ability to intimidate. The Rottweiler often carries the head on an even plane with the back, or carries the head up but


title: Rottweiler content: with the neck and shoulders lowered. Some females lower the entire front end slightly when using their eyes. Males also do this when working far off the stock in an open field. This is rarely seen in males when working in confined spaces such as stock yards. The Rottweiler has a reasonably good natural balance, force-barks when necessary, and when working cattle uses a very intimidating charge. There is a natural change in forcefulness when herding sheep. When working cattle, it may use its body and shoulders and for this reason should be used on horned stock with caution. The


title: Rottweiler content: Rottweiler, when working cattle, searches out the dominant animal and challenges it. Upon proving its control over that animal it settles back and tends to its work. Some growers have found that Rottweilers are especially suited to move stubborn stock that simply ignore Border Collies, Kelpies, and others. Rottweilers use their bodies to physically force the stubborn animal to do its bidding if necessary. When working with sheep, the Rottweiler shows a gathering/fetching style and reams directions easily. It drives sheep with ease. In some cases, Rottweilers have begun herding cattle without any experience at all. If worked on the


title: Rottweiler content: same stock for any length of time, the Rottweiler tends to develop a bond with the stock and will become quite affectionate with them as long as they do as it directs. The Rottweiler is also exceptionally suited for and is commonly used in many dog sports including Agility and Schutzhund. Rottweilers have been used as service dogs. "Stinky" the Rottweiler saved a previous soldiers life, just by being there for an ex soldier experiencing post traumatic stress disorder. Stinky was inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame in 2011 as service dog of the year. Rottweilers are a


title: Rottweiler content: relatively healthy, disease-free breed. As with most large breeds, hip dysplasia can be a problem. For this reason the various Rottweiler breed clubs have had x-ray testing regimens in place for many years. Osteochondritis dissecans, a condition affecting the shoulder joints, can also be a problem due to the breed's rapid growth rate. A reputable breeder will have the hips and elbows of all breeding stock x-rayed and read by a recognised specialist, and will have paperwork to prove it. They will also have certificates that their breeding animals do not have entropion or ectropion and that they have full


title: Rottweiler content: and complete dentition with a scissor bite. As with any breed, hereditary conditions occur in some lines. The Rottweiler is very prone to osteosarcoma which is among the most common causes of early death in Rottweilers. For unknown reasons, Rottweilers are more susceptible than other breeds to become infected with parvovirus, a highly contagious and deadly disease of puppies and young dogs. If overfed or under-exercised, Rottweilers are prone to obesity. Some of the consequences of obesity can be very serious, including arthritis, breathing difficulties, diabetes, heart failure, reproductive problems, skin disease, reduced resistance to disease and overheating caused by


title: Rottweiler content: the thick jacket of fat under the skin. Breed surveys in the US, UK and Denmark, and UK vet data puts the average lifespan of Rottweilers at 8 to 10 years. As with the vast majority of large-breed dogs, Rottweilers are also predisposed to dilated cardiomyopathy. The portrayal of Rottweilers as vicious or malevolently aggressive dogs in several fictional films and TV series, most notably in "The Omen", along with sensationalist press coverage, has created a negative image of the breed. In the UK, Rottweilers are widely perceived as status dogs – potentially dangerous or aggressive dogs kept to intimidate


title: Rottweiler content: others, and possibly as weapons. A few countries such as Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Malaysia, and Singapore place restrictions on the ownership of Rottweilers. Rottweilers are banned as pets in Ecuador. Some films and television shows, such as "Lethal Weapon 3", the 1998 film "Half Baked", and the hit HBO show "Entourage", have portrayed Rottweilers in a positive light. They are also featured in the children's book series "Good Dog, Carl" by Alexandra Day. In an event widely reported by the media, a two-year-old UK Rottweiler named Jake owned by Liz Maxted-Bluck was recognised for his bravery by the RSPCA. The


title: Rottweiler content: dog was out walking with his owner when they heard screams. Jake chased off a man as he molested a woman on Hearsall Common, Coventry, in July 2009. He located the attacker and his victim in thick scrub, chased off the attacker, led his owner to the scene, then stood guard over the victim until police arrived. The attacker was convicted of serious sexual assault and jailed for four years. Jake was nominated by police for the bravery award and medallion after the incident. Det Con Clive Leftwich, from Coventry police station, said: "From our point of view Jake the


title: Rottweiler content: Rottweiler stopped a serious sexual assault from becoming even worse." Rottweiler The Rottweiler (, ) is a breed of domestic dog, regarded as medium-to-large or large. The dogs were known in German as , meaning Rottweil butchers' dogs, because their main use was to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered meat to market. This continued until the mid-19th century when railways replaced droving. Although still used to herd stock in many parts of the world, Rottweilers are now also used as search and rescue dogs, as guard dogs, and as police dogs. The Rottweiler is one of the


title: "Microsoft SideWinder" content: the thumb in an arc. A feature of the device is that the upper section is also a 2-axis motion controller with additional support for rotation. It allows motion in the X, Y & Z axis (corresponding to Forward, Backwards, Strafe left & right, Turn left & right). This made it an ideal companion for FPS and similar games; because you can aim weapons or look up and down with the right hand while simultaneously slewing position with the left hand, and change weapons etc. with the left finger buttons. Software was included for the device to provide hotkeys for


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: Yellow-crowned night heron The yellow-crowned night heron ("Nyctanassa violacea"), is one of two species of night herons found in the Americas, the other one being the black-crowned night heron. It is known as the Bihoreau Violacé in French and the Pedrete Corona Clara in Spanish. The yellow-crowned night heron is a rather stocky wading bird, ranging from and from , the females being a little smaller than the males. The neck, slim when extended, gives the bird a comically large head compared to its body, with a large and heavy bill. The body and back are a smooth grey-blue, with


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: a black scaled pattern on the wings. The long legs are yellow and turn coral, pink or red during courtship. The most characteristic part of the yellow-crowned night heron is the head: black and glossy, with white cheeks and a pale yellow crown going from the bill, between the eyes and to the back of the head, giving the bird its common name. Such colours make the face appear striped in a horizontal black-white-black-white pattern. Long, thin, white feathers grow to the back of the crown during mating season. The bill, also black, is thick and deeply set under the


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: eyes which are dark orange or red. Like all herons, the yellow-crowned night heron flies with long, slow purposeful wing beats. It can be found gliding over water with its legs easily visible, extended straight below the tail, unlike the black-crowned night heron, whose legs can barely be seen in flight. It takes about three years for yellow-crowned night herons to acquire the full physical appearance of adults. Before that, the young birds show signs of immaturity such as a brownish body, an overall greyish head, drab colors and spots and streaks on their plumage. Although the adults are easy


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: to tell apart, juvenile yellow-crowned night heron can look very similar to juvenile black-crowned night heron. Yellow-crowned juveniles tend to stand straighter and have heavier bills and longer legs, and their spots and streaks are finer than those of the black-crowned. Being a heron, the yellow-crowned night heron is related to egrets and bitterns (the family Ardeidae), and, to a further extent, to pelicans and ibises (the order Pelecaniformes). The night herons are usually considered to have separated from the day herons (such as the great blue heron or the green heron). Various classifications recognize five subspecies, but little is


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: known as to how much they are integrated together and how much their geographic range varies. Their body size decreases from north to south, and the shape of their bills varies geographically, depending on the size of the crustaceans they eat in different regions. A related heron, the Bermuda night heron, was endemic to Bermuda, but became extinct following human colonization. The yellow-crowned night heron looks for shallow water to live in: marshes, wooded swamps, and lakeshores for inland populations, and thickets, mangroves and cliff-bound coasts for coastal populations. It can also be found in areas that don’t always have


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: enough water, but that get flooded on a regular basis. Its habitat is closely linked to that of the crustaceans that make for most of its diet, and it tolerates fresh water, brackish water and saltwater. Another important habitat factor is nesting sites. The yellow-crowned night heron needs bushes or trees to build nests, although it will use rock ledges where vegetation is unavailable (for example, on cliffs). Unlike the black-crowned night heron, the yellow-crowned does not mind living near humans and can be found in wooded neighborhoods, nesting on rooftops and driveways. Such cohabitation may not go smoothly and


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: can create conflicts with humans. The yellow-crowned night heron is found exclusively in the Americas, and its distribution depends closely on food (mainly crustaceans) availability. It winters where the climate allows for year-round crab activity: tropical and subtropical regions, south Florida, the Gulf Coast (Louisiana to Alabama), and the eastern Texas coast. It is also found in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America (south to Peru and Brazil in coastal regions) where generally resident. From 1925 to 1960, the yellow-crowned night heron spread northward for reasons still not clear. Today, in addition to its winter and year-round


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: range, it can be found in the south-east inland of the United States during breeding season and additional isolated breeding colonies have been recorded even farther inland, all the way to the northern border of the United States. Different subspecies and populations have different migratory behaviour. Subspecies and populations that are insular or live in warmer areas are confirmed to be sedentary. The tropical subspecies and populations migrate, but to an extent that is still unclear for lack of data. The migratory behaviour of the yellow-crowned night heron has changed with its expansion north: one subspecies ("Nyctanassa violacea violacea)" migrates


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: to the northern limits of its range, moving north and west after breeding. Birds observed outside of the normal range are usually first-years or strays. Migration occurs in mid-March in lower latitude, and from mid-March to April in higher latitude. The most common call of the yellow-crowned night heron is a loud, sharp and quick "squawk" that the bird gives shortly after taking off or uses as an alarm call or an aggression call. The young beg for food with a soft "chu-chu-chu" call that becomes louder as the chicks grow older and more demanding. A different range of vocalizations


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: plays an important part in courtship and pair formation. Males and females use a "yup-yup" call during the greeting ceremony, and a "huh!" call when they form a pair among other nesting birds. The male concludes his courtship display with a "whoop" which may or may not lead to the pair actually forming. The yellow-crowned night heron eats mainly crustaceans (crabs and crayfish) as well as insects, some fish or worms. It can also feed on lizards, small rodents and small birds. The geographic location of the heron is closely related to the prey it may find, and the size


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: and shape of its bill allows it to hunt for prey of specific size. The yellow-crowned night heron may forage any time of the day and night, although it prefers the night to feed the young. It becomes very aggressive if another individual approaches when foraging, but will tolerate a safe distance of about ten meters. It selects prey visually, either stalking it or standing and waiting for it to come within reach. When hunting crayfish, the heron stands at the entrance of the burrow, always facing the sun so its shadow is not cast over the entrance of the


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: burrow, which would alert the crawfish. It can also chose an alternate pattern of walking slowly towards prey with its body bent and its head retracted, then standing and waiting before walking slowly again, sneaking up effectively on unsuspecting crabs. Sometimes it can be seen running in shallow water after a prey, but it will not follow one in deep water. Once close enough, it lunges with its bill. Small prey are swallowed whole while larger prey (for example, a large crab), it will try to dismember in order to eat the body first and the legs last, or to


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: jab it straight through the body. It will also carry crabs, molluscs or fish away from the water to prevent them from escaping. Any indigestible material, such as crab shells, is ejected in a pellet, and it is quite common to find shells and pellets scattered around foraging and nesting areas. Like many other aspects of its life, the yellow-crowned night heron’s breeding season depends closely on the emergence of crabs in the spring; the crab cycle itself depends on temperatures. As such, the breeding season of the yellow-crowned night heron varies geographically, typically between March and May. In some


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: tropical locations, it can breed all year. It is still unclear exactly how, and for how long, the yellow-crowned night heron forms a mating pair. Some herons arrive at breeding grounds already in pairs, meaning they either found a mate during their migration to the breeding grounds, or they have been with this mate for some time. Others form their pair or renew it upon reaching the breeding grounds. The breeding grounds are chosen near water and host loose, rather small colonies of reproducing herons, unlike those of most wading birds that welcome large colonies. Colonies often start small with


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: only a pair nesting, then grow over the years and can last over 20 years. About 9–10 days after arriving at the breeding grounds, the pair builds a nest. The male usually chooses an emplacement and starts to build the nest for the female. Eventually, both birds decide where to build their nest, sometimes starting several nests before settling down. At first, the male brings material (twigs, branches and such) for the female to build the nest, then both perform both roles. Sometimes they will steal material from a nearby nest being built. They can be seen repairing their nest


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: well into the breeding season. Trees and bushes are the preferred location for nests, the herons will usually build in high branches away from the trunk. A pair can use the same nest for years, enlarging it every season; the first nest is usually just large enough to hold the eggs. Nest-building is not the result of successful courtship, but rather an active part of the courtship. The yellow-crowned night heron typically has one brood per year. It will try and replace a brood completely lost if it is not too late into the breeding season, but not a partially


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: lost brood. The female lays two to six eggs, depending on the conditions, especially the temperature. The eggs are oval and smooth, with a pale green-blue color. Both parents start guarding the nest as soon as the first egg is laid, and they both incubate the clutch in turn. 24–29 days later, the young hatch, vulnerable and entirely dependent on their parents. They look nothing like the adults with their white-grey short, soft feathers, their wide blue eye-ring and their yellow bill. During the first two weeks, both adults brood the young. After this period, they will only shelter the


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: chicks from sun, rain or strong wind. Both parents feed the young, taking turns gathering food and guarding the nest. They regurgitate food in the center of the nest rather than feeding each chick individually. The young do not recognize their own parents and will adopt their begging-for-food behavior whenever any adult is around them; the adults, on the other hand, recognize their own chicks and are aggressive towards other offspring, driving them away and refusing to feed them. When the nest grows too tight for the chicks, they start venturing to its edges; they leave the nest 36–42 days


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: after hatching. They cannot fly yet, so they walk around the nests and return daily to the colony to be fed, and they keep doing so for another three weeks. They start taking short flights by the sixth week, and are capable of sustained flight between their seventh and eleventh week. Once again, crab availability intervenes at this point: the more crabs are available to the young, the less often they come back to the roost and the less they rely on adults to be fed. The immature birds will roost with the adults until the end of the breeding


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: season, after which they disperse to unknown destinations. They will not be seen on the breeding grounds until they have acquired their adult plumage (two or three years later), and little is known about their ecology during this time. This mystery is actually a research priority about the yellow-crowned night heron. Like many other species of birds, the yellow-crowned night heron is an intermediate host and amplifier of the eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) virus (sleeping sickness). This common virus in the Southeast of the United States is lethal to horses and can be to humans as well. It is transmitted


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: by mosquitoes: an infected mosquito will transmit the virus to a yellow-crowned night heron, which will be unaffected by it but will host it (the heron is known as a “reservoir host” for the virus) until another mosquito picks it up from the heron and transmits it to a horse or a human. Because of the long distances over which yellow-crowned night herons travel during migration, they can carry the virus over larger geographical areas, becoming amplifiers of EEE. However, EEE remains a rare disease of which the symptoms can be treated, and only a few cases are identified most


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: years. The yellow-crowned night heron has no real competition for food. The adults have virtually no predators, but the nests are vulnerable to other animals. Both the eggs and the young are an appealing meal to American crows and some mammals such as raccoons. Crows are also known to harass adult yellow-crowned night heron out of their nest, or displace the eggs in order to use the nest themselves. The importance of the impact of such predation varies geographically, Virginia being the state where it matters the most. Human activities also constitute threats to the yellow-crowned night heron. In areas


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: where the herons cohabit with people, they are often disturbed or shooed away from their nests if they get too close to human habitations. Loss of habitat is another major threat to the yellow-crowned night heron, with the wetlands they favor regressing continually. Additionally, in some part of the Americas such as Louisiana and the Bahamas, the meat of the yellow-crowned night heron is considered a delicacy, leading to illegal hunting of the fledgling. The yellow-crowned night heron is generally not considered a threatened species, as the population size is very large, its range is wide and it has a


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: stable trend. Its status with the IUCN is of Least Concern, meaning no conservation action is required across the species’ range. However, this status changes in some specific geographic locations, such as Indiana, where the yellow-crowned night heron is considered endangered, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Kentucky where it is classified as Threatened, and Virginia, where it is classified as Special Concern. As such, some conservation measures are taken locally, but the conservation of the yellow-crowned night heron is usually simply included in broader projects, especially those that aim for wetland conservation. The yellow-crowned night heron was introduced in the Bermudas in


title: "Yellow-crowned night heron" content: the end of the 1970s as a means of biological control against land crabs, which were considered a pest as were digging holes in the golf courses and the population went out of control after the closely related Bermuda night heron went extinct in the 1600s. As yellow-crowned night herons are opportunistic feeders, not specialist feeders like the Bermuda night heron which have since decimated native land crab populations and have been observed predating endemic and critically endangered Bermuda skinks. Yellow-crowned night heron The yellow-crowned night heron ("Nyctanassa violacea"), is one of two species of night herons found in the


title: "Jungle cat" content: Jungle cat The jungle cat ("Felis chaus"), also called reed cat and swamp cat, is a medium-sized cat native to the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia and southern China. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, littoral and riparian areas with dense vegetation. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, and is mainly threatened by destruction of wetlands, trapping and poisoning. The jungle cat has a uniformly sandy, reddish-brown or grey fur without spots; melanistic and albino individuals are also known. It is solitary in nature, except during the mating season and mother-kitten families. Adults maintain


title: "Jungle cat" content: territories by urine spraying and scent marking. Its preferred prey is small mammals and birds. It hunts by stalking its prey, followed by a sprint or a leap; the ears help in pinpointing the location of prey. Both sexes become sexually mature by the time they are one year old; females enter oestrus from January to March. Mating behaviour is similar to that in the domestic cat: the male pursues the female in oestrus, seizes her by the nape of her neck and mounts her. Gestation lasts nearly two months. Births take place between December and June, though this might


title: "Jungle cat" content: vary geographically. Kittens begin to catch their own prey at around six months and leave the mother after eight or nine months. The species was first described by Johann Anton Güldenstädt in 1776 based on a specimen caught in a Caucasian wetland. Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber gave the jungle cat its present binomial name and is therefore generally considered as binomial authority. Three subspecies are recognised at present. In 2006, the phylogenetic relationship of the jungle cat was described as follows: The jungle cat is a member of the genus "Felis" within the Felidae family. Results of an mtDNA


title: "Jungle cat" content: analysis of 55 jungle cats from various biogeographic zones in India indicate a high genetic variation and a relatively low differentiation between populations. It appears that the central Indian "F. c. kutas" population separates the Thar "F. c. prateri" populations from the rest and also the south Indian "F. c. kelaarti" populations from the north Indian "F. c. affinis" ones. The central Indian populations are genetically closer to the southern than to the northern populations. The Baltic-German naturalist Johann Anton Güldenstädt was the first scientist who caught a jungle cat near the Terek River at the southern frontier of the


title: "Jungle cat" content: Russian empire, a region that he explored in 1768–1775 on behalf of Catherine II of Russia. He described this specimen in 1776 under the name "Chaus". In 1778, Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber used "chaus" as the species name and is therefore considered the binomial authority. Paul Matschie in 1912 and Joel Asaph Allen in 1920 challenged the validity of Güldenstädt's nomenclature, arguing that the name "Felis auriculis apice nigro barbatis" was not a binomen and therefore improper, and that "chaus" was used as a common name rather than as part of the scientific name. In the 1820s, Eduard Rüppell


title: "Jungle cat" content: collected a female jungle cat near Lake Manzala in the Nile Delta. Thomas Hardwicke’s collection of illustrations of Indian wildlife comprises the first drawing of an Indian jungle cat, named the "allied cat" ("Felis affinis") by John Edward Gray in 1830. Two years later, Johann Friedrich von Brandt proposed a new species under the name "Felis rüppelii", recognising the distinctness of the Egyptian jungle cat. The same year, a stuffed cat was presented at a meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal that had been caught in the jungles of Midnapore in West Bengal, India. J. T. Pearson, who donated


title: "Jungle cat" content: the specimen, proposed the name "Felis kutas", noting that it differed in colouration from "Felis chaus". Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire described a jungle cat from the area of Dehra Dun in northern India in 1844 under the name "Felis jacquemontii" in memory of Victor Jacquemont. In 1836, Brian Houghton Hodgson proclaimed the red-eared cat commonly found in Nepal to be a lynx and therefore named it "Lynchus erythrotus"; Edward Frederick Kelaart described the first jungle cat skin from Sri Lanka in 1852 and stressed upon its close resemblance to Hodgson's red cat. William Thomas Blanford pointed out the lynx-like appearance of


title: "Jungle cat" content: cat skins and skulls from the plains around Yarkant County and Kashgar when he described "Felis shawiana" in 1876. Nikolai Severtzov proposed the generic name "Catolynx" in 1858, followed by Leopold Fitzinger's suggestion to call it "Chaus catolynx" in 1869. In 1898, William Edward de Winton proposed to subordinate the specimens from the Caucasus, Persia and Turkestan to "Felis chaus typica", and regrouped the lighter built specimens from the Indian subcontinent to "F. c. affinis". He renamed the Egyptian jungle cat as "F. c. nilotica" because "Felis rüppelii" was already applied to a different cat. A skin collected near Jericho


title: "Jungle cat" content: in 1864 led him to describe a new subspecies, "F. c. furax", as this skin was smaller than other Egyptian jungle cat skins. A few years later, Alfred Nehring also described a jungle cat skin collected in Palestine, which he named "Lynx chrysomelanotis". Reginald Innes Pocock reviewed the nomenclature of felids in 1917 and classified the jungle cat group as part of the genus "Felis". In the 1930s, Pocock reviewed the jungle cat skins and skulls from British India and adjacent countries. Based mainly on differences in fur length and colour he subordinated the zoological specimens from Turkestan to Balochistan


title: "Jungle cat" content: to "F. c. chaus", the Himalayan ones to "F. c. affinis", the ones from Cutch to Bengal under "F. c. kutas", and the tawnier ones from Burma under "F. c. fulvidina". He newly described six larger skins from Sind as "F. c. prateri", and skins with shorter coats from Sri Lanka and southern India as "F. c. kelaarti". In 2005, the authors of Mammal Species of the World recognized 10 subspecies as valid taxa. Since 2017, the Cat Specialist Group considers only three subspecies as valid. Geographical variation of the jungle cat is not yet well understood and needs to


title: "Jungle cat" content: be examined. The following table is based on the classification of the species provided in "Mammal Species of the World". It also shows the synonyms used in the revision of the Cat Classification Task Force: The jungle cat is a medium-sized, long-legged cat, and the largest of the extant "Felis" species. The head-and-body length is typically between . This cat stands nearly at shoulder and weighs . Its body size decreases from west (Israel) to east (India); this was attributed to greater competition from small cats in the east; body size shows a similar decrease from the northern latitudes toward


title: "Jungle cat" content: the tropics. Sexually dimorphic, females tend to be smaller and lighter than males. The face is long and narrow, with a white muzzle. The large, pointed ears, in length and reddish brown on the back, are set close together; a small tuft of black hairs, nearly long, emerges from the tip of both ears. The eyes have yellow irides and elliptical pupils; white lines can be seen around the eye. Dark lines run from the corner of the eyes down the sides of the nose and a dark patch marks the nose. The skull is fairly broad in the region


title: "Jungle cat" content: of the zygomatic arch; hence the head of this cat appears relatively rounder. The coat, sandy, reddish brown or grey, is uniformly coloured and lacks spots; melanistic and albino individuals have been reported from the Indian subcontinent. White cats observed in the coastline tracts of the southern Western Ghats lacked the red eyes typical of true albinos. A 2014 suggested that their colouration could be attributed to inbreeding. Kittens are striped and spotted, and adults may retain some of the markings. Dark-tipped hairs cover the body, giving the cat a speckled appearance. The belly is generally lighter than the rest


title: "Jungle cat" content: of the body and the throat is pale. The fur is denser on the back compared to the underparts. Two moults can be observed in a year; the coat is rougher and lighter in summer than in winter. The insides of the forelegs show four to five rings; faint markings may be seen on the outside. The black-tipped tail, long, is marked by two to three dark rings on the last third of the length. The pawprints measure about ; the cat can cover in one step. There is a distinct spinal crest. Because of its long legs, short tail


title: "Jungle cat" content: and tuft on the ears, the jungle cat resembles a small lynx. The caracal and the African wildcat have a plain coat as the jungle cat's. The jungle cat is larger and slenderer in comparison to domestic cats. The distribution of jungle cat is largely oriental; it occurs in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, central and Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka and in southern China. It is the most common small wild cat in India. Thought to be absent south of the Isthmus of Kra in the Malayan peninsula, the possibility of its occurrence was reported from a highly fragmented


title: "Jungle cat" content: forest in the Malaysian state of Selangor in 2010. A habitat generalist, the jungle cat inhabits places with adequate water and dense vegetation, such as swamps, wetlands, littoral and riparian areas, grasslands and shrub. It is common in agricultural lands, such as fields of bean and sugarcane, across its range, and has often been sighted near human settlements. As reeds and tall grasses are typical of its habitat, it is known as "reed cat" or "swamp cat". It can thrive even in areas of sparse vegetation, but does not adapt well to cold climates and is rare in areas where


title: "Jungle cat" content: snowfall is common. Historical records indicate that it occurs up to elevations of in the Himalayas. It shuns rainforests and woodlands. In Turkey, it has been recorded in wetlands near Manavgat, in the Akyatan Lagoon on the southern coast and near Lake Eğirdir. In the Palestinian territories, it was recorded in the Nablus, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Jericho Governorates in the West Bank during surveys carried out between 2012 and 2016. In Iran, it inhabits a variety of habitat types from plains and agriculture lands to mountains ranging from altitudes in at least 23 of 31 provinces of Iran. A few


title: "Jungle cat" content: jungle cat mummies were found among the cats in ancient Egypt. The jungle cat is typically diurnal and hunts throughout the day. Its activity tends to decrease during the hot noon hours. It rests in burrows, grass thickets and scrubs. It often sunbathes on winter days. Jungle cats have been estimated to walk at night, although this likely varies depending on the availability of prey. The behaviour of the jungle cat has not been extensively studied. Solitary in nature, it does not associate with conspecifics, except in the mating season. The only prominent interaction is the mother-kitten bond. Territories are


title: "Jungle cat" content: maintained by urine spraying and scent marking; some males have been observed rubbing their cheeks on objects to mark them. Bears, crocodiles, golden jackals, leopards and snakes are the main predators of the jungle cat. The golden jackal, particularly, can be a major competitor to the cat. When it encounters a threat, the jungle cat will vocalise before engaging in attack, producing sounds like small roars – a behavior uncommon for the other members of "Felis". The meow of the jungle cat is also somewhat lower than that of a typical domestic cat. The jungle cat can host parasites such


title: "Jungle cat" content: as "Haemaphysalis" ticks and "Heterophyes" trematode species. Primarily a carnivore, the jungle cat prefers small mammals such as gerbils, hares and rodents. It also hunts birds, fish, frogs, insects and small snakes. Its prey typically weighs less than , and occasionally includes mammals as large as young gazelles. The jungle cat is unusual in that it is partially omnivorous: it eats fruits, especially in winter. In a study carried out in Sariska Tiger Reserve, rodents were found to comprise as much as 95% of its diet. The jungle cat hunts by stalking its prey, followed by a sprint or a


title: "Jungle cat" content: leap; the sharp ears help in pinpointing the location of prey. It uses different techniques to secure prey. The cat has been observed searching for musk rats in their holes. Like the caracal, the jungle cat can perform one or two high leaps into the air to grab birds. It is an efficient climber as well. The jungle cat has been clocked at . It is an efficient swimmer, and can swim up to in water and plunge into water to catch fish. Both sexes become sexually mature by the time they are one year old. Females enter oestrus lasting


title: "Jungle cat" content: for about five days, from January to March. In males, spermatogenesis occurs mainly in February and March. In southern Turkmenistan, mating occurs from January to early February. The mating season is marked by noisy fights among males for dominance. Mating behaviour is similar to that in the domestic cat: the male pursues the female in oestrus, seizes her by the nape of her neck and mounts her. Vocalisations and flehmen are prominent during courtship. After a successful copulation, the female gives out a loud cry and reacts with aversion towards her partner. The pair then separate. Gestation lasts nearly two


title: "Jungle cat" content: months. Births take place between December and June, though this might vary geographically. Before parturition, the mother prepares a den of grass in an abandoned animal burrow, hollow tree or reed bed. Litters comprise one to five kittens, typically two to three kittens. Females can raise two litters in a year. Kittens weigh between at birth, tending to be much smaller in the wild than in captivity. Initially blind and helpless, they open their eyes at 10 to 13 days of age and are fully weaned by around three months. Males usually do not participate in the raising of kittens;


title: "Jungle cat" content: however, in captivity, males appear to be very protective of their offspring. Kittens begin to catch their own prey at around six months and leave the mother after eight or nine months. The lifespan of the jungle cat in captivity is 15 to 20 years; this is possibly higher than that in the wild. Generation length of the jungle cat is 5.2 years. Major threats to the jungle cat include habitat loss such as the destruction of wetlands, dam construction, environmental pollution, industrialisation and urbanisation. Illegal hunting is a threat in Turkey and Iran. Its rarity in Southeast Asia is


title: "Jungle cat" content: possibly due to high levels of hunting. Since the 1960s, populations of the Caucasian jungle cat living along the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus range states have been rapidly declining. Only small populations persist today. There has been no record in the Astrakhan Nature Reserve in the Volga Delta since the 1980s. It is rare in the Middle East. In Jordan, it is highly affected by the expansion of agricultural areas around the river beds of Yarmouk and Jordan rivers, where farmers hunted and poisoned jungle cats in retaliation for attacking poultry. It is also considered rare and threatened


title: "Jungle cat" content: in Afghanistan. India exported jungle cat skins in large numbers, until this was banned in 1979; some illegal trade, however, continues in the country, as well as in Egypt and Afghanistan. In the 1970s, Southeast Asian jungle cats still used to be the most common wild cats near villages in certain parts of northern Thailand and occurred in many protected areas of the country. However, since the early 1990s, jungle cats are rarely encountered and have suffered drastic declines due to hunting and habitat destruction. Today, their official status in the country is critically endangered. In Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam,


title: "Jungle cat" content: jungle cats have been subject to extensive hunting. Skins are occasionally recorded in border markets, and live individuals, possibly taken from Myanmar or Cambodia, occasionally turn up in the Khao Khieo and Chiang Mai zoos of Thailand. The jungle cat is listed under CITES Appendix II. Hunting is prohibited in Bangladesh, China, India, Israel, Myanmar, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Thailand and Turkey. But it does not receive legal protection outside protected areas in Bhutan, Georgia, Laos, Lebanon, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Jungle cat The jungle cat ("Felis chaus"), also called reed cat and swamp cat, is a medium-sized cat native to


title: "Texas Tech University" content: Texas Tech University Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the flagship institution of the four-institution Texas Tech University System. The university's student enrollment is the seventh-largest in Texas as of the Fall 2017 semester. The university shares its campus with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, making it the only campus in Texas to house an undergraduate university, law school, and medical school. The university offers degrees in more than 150 courses of study


title: "Texas Tech University" content: through 13 colleges and hosts 60 research centers and institutes. Texas Tech University has awarded over 200,000 degrees since 1927, including over 40,000 graduate and professional degrees. The Carnegie Foundation classifies Texas Tech as having "highest research activity". Research projects in the areas of epidemiology, pulsed power, grid computing, nanophotonics, atmospheric sciences, and wind energy are among the most prominent at the university. The Spanish Renaissance-themed campus, described by author James Michener as "the most beautiful west of the Mississippi until you get to Stanford", has been awarded the Grand Award for excellence in grounds-keeping, and has been noted for


title: "Texas Tech University" content: possessing a public art collection among the ten best in the United States. The Texas Tech Red Raiders are charter members of the Big 12 Conference and compete in Division I for all varsity sports. The Red Raiders football team has made 36 bowl appearances, which is 17th most of any university. The Red Raiders basketball team has made 14 appearances in the NCAA Division I Tournament. Bob Knight has coached the second most wins in men's NCAA Division I basketball history and served as the team's head coach from 2001 to 2008. The Lady Raiders basketball team won the


title: "Texas Tech University" content: 1993 NCAA Division I Tournament. In 1999, Texas Tech's Goin' Band from Raiderland received the Sudler Trophy, which is awarded to "recognize collegiate marching bands of particular excellence". Although the majority of the university's students are from the southwestern United States, the school has served students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Texas Tech University alumni and former students have gone on to prominent careers in government, business, science, medicine, education, sports, and entertainment. The call to open a college in West Texas began shortly after settlers arrived in the area in the 1880s. In 1917, the


title: "Texas Tech University" content: Texas legislature passed a bill creating a branch of Texas A&M to be in Abilene. However, the bill was repealed two years later during the next session after it was discovered Governor James E. Ferguson had falsely reported the site committee's choice of location. After new legislation passed in the state house and senate in 1921, Governor Pat Neff vetoed it, citing hard financial times in West Texas. Furious about Neff's veto, some in West Texas went so far as to recommend West Texas secede from the state. In 1923, the legislature decided, rather than a branch campus, a new


title: "Texas Tech University" content: university would better serve the region's needs under legislation co-authored by State Senator William H. Bledsoe of Lubbock and State Representative Roy Alvin Baldwin of Slaton in southern Lubbock County. On February 10, 1923, Neff signed the legislation creating Texas Technological College, and in July of that year, a committee began searching for a site. When the committee's members visited Lubbock, they were overwhelmed to find residents lining the streets to show support for hosting the institution. That August, Lubbock was chosen on the first ballot over other area towns, including Floydada, Plainview, Big Spring, and Sweetwater. Construction of the


title: "Texas Tech University" content: college campus began on November 1, 1924. Ten days later, the cornerstone of the Administration Building was laid in front of 20,000 people. Governor Pat Neff, Amon G. Carter, Reverend E. E. Robinson, Colonel Ernest O. Thompson, and Representative Richard M. Chitwood, the chairman of the House Education Committee, who became the first Texas Tech business manager, spoke at the event. Chitwood served in the position only fifteen months; he died in November 1926. With an enrollment of 914 students—both men and women—Texas Technological College opened for classes on October 1, 1925. It was originally composed of four schools—Agriculture, Engineering,


title: "Texas Tech University" content: Home Economics, and Liberal Arts. Texas Tech grew slowly in the early years. During the 1930s, Bradford Knapp, the university's second president, proceeded with an expansion program, which included new dormitories, the first library (now the mathematics building), a golf course, a swimming pool, paved streets and alleys, and landscaping. A proposed $80,000 allocation for a football stadium was shelved. The library won the approval of Governor James V. Allred. Because the state cut appropriations by 30% at the start of the Great Depression, President Knapp applied for assistance from the major New Deal agencies to expand Texas Tech, including


title: "Texas Tech University" content: the Works Progress Administration, Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Works Administration, and the National Youth Administration. Wyatt C. Hedrick, son-in-law of Governor Ross S. Sterling, was the architect of all campus PWA projects. Military training was conducted at the college as early as 1925, but formal Reserve Officers' Training Corps training did not start until 1936. By 1939, the school's enrollment had grown to 3,890. Although enrollment declined during World War II, Texas Tech trained 4,747 men in its armed forces training detachments. Following the war, in 1946, the college saw its enrollment leap to 5,366 from a low of


title: "Texas Tech University" content: 1,696 in 1943. By the 1960s, the school had expanded its offerings to more than just technical subjects. The Faculty Advisory Committee suggested changing the name to "Texas State University", feeling the phrase "Technological College" did not define the institution's scope. While most students supported this change, the Board of Directors and many alumni, wanting to preserve the Double T, opposed it. Other names—University of the Southwest, Texas Technological College and State University, and The Texas University of Art, Science and Technology—were considered, but the Board of Directors chose Texas Tech University, submitting it to the state legislature in 1964.


title: "Texas Tech University" content: A failed move by Governor John Connally to have the school placed into the Texas A&M University System, as well as continued disagreement and heated debate over the school's new name, kept the name change from being approved. In spite of objections by many students and faculty, the Board of Directors again submitted the change in 1969. It finally received the legislature's approval on June 6 and the name Texas Tech University went into effect that September. All of the institution's schools, except Law, became colleges. Texas Tech was integrated in 1961 when three African-American students were admitted. After its


title: "Texas Tech University" content: initial rejection of the students' enrollment and the threat of a lawsuit, the university enacted a policy to admit "all qualified applicants regardless of color". The university offered its first athletic scholarship to a black student in 1967, when Danny Hardaway was recruited to play for the Red Raiders football team. In 1970, Hortense W. Dixon became the first African American student to earn a doctorate from the university. In the 1960s and 1970s, the university invested US$150 million in the campus to construct buildings for the library, foreign languages, social sciences, communications, philosophy, electrical and petroleum engineering, art, and


title: "Texas Tech University" content: architecture. Some other buildings were significantly expanded. On May 29, 1969, the 61st Texas Legislature created the Texas Tech University School of Medicine. The Texas Legislature expanded the medical school charter in 1979, creating the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. TTUHSC, which is now part of the Texas Tech University System, includes Schools of Allied Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. It has locations in four Texas cities in addition to the main campus in Lubbock. In 2011, the combined enrollment in the Texas Tech University System was greater than 42,000 students—a 48%


title: "Texas Tech University" content: increase since 2000. Chancellor Kent Hance reiterated plans for Texas Tech's main campus to reach enrollment of 40,000 students by 2020, with additional 5,000 students at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and 10,000 students at Angelo State University. In 1996, the Board of Regents of Texas Tech University created the Texas Tech University System. Former State Senator John T. Montford, later of San Antonio, was selected as the first chancellor to lead the combined academic enterprise. Regents Chair Edward Whitacre Jr. stated the move was made due to the institution's size and complexity. "It's time", he said, "to take


title: "Texas Tech University" content: the university into the 21st century". The Texas Tech University system originally included Texas Tech University and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. On November 6, 2007, the voters of Texas approved an amendment to the Texas Constitution realigning Angelo State University with the Texas Tech University System. Kent Hance, a Texas Tech graduate who had served as United States Representative and as one of the three elected members of the Texas Board which regulates the oil-and-gas industry, assumed the duties of chancellor on December 1, 2006. Although growth continued at Texas Tech, the university was not immune to controversy.


title: "Texas Tech University" content: In 2003, a third-year student at the Texas Tech School of Law filed suit against the university over its policy on free speech zones, which restricted student speech to a single "free speech gazebo". The following year, a federal judge declared the policy unconstitutional. To meet the demands of its increased enrollment and expanding research, the university has invested more than $548 million in new construction since 2000. It has also received more than $65.9 million in private donations. In April 2009, the Texas House of Representatives passed a bill to increase state funding for seven public universities. Texas Tech


title: "Texas Tech University" content: University is classified by the state as an "Emerging Research University", and is among the universities that will receive additional state funding for advancement toward "Tier 1" status. Three funds—the Research University Development Fund, the Texas Research Incentive Program, and the National Research University Benchmark Fund—have been established and will provide $500 million in grants and matching funds during fiscal years 2010 and 2011. On September 2, 2009, the university announced it had received private gifts totaling $24.3 million. Of these, $21.5 million are eligible for match under the Texas Research Incentive Program. In January 2016, Duane Nellis resigned from


title: "Texas Tech University" content: the position of President and was replaced by interim President John Opperman. In late 2011 and throughout 2012-13, construction began on a several new buildings on campus. The construction included a new $20 million Petroleum Engineering and Research building, a new building to house the Rawls College of Business, two new residence halls, a $3.5 million chapel, and extensive remodeling of the building that previously housed the Rawls College of Business. The school's endowment surpassed the $1 billion barrier for the first time in March 2014 at $1,043,000,000. By enrollment, Texas Tech is the seventh-largest university in Texas and the


title: "Texas Tech University" content: largest institution of higher education in the western two-thirds of the state. In the Fall 2014 semester, Texas Tech set a record enrollment with 35,134 students. For the 2014 enrollment year, most students came from Texas (95.17%), followed by New Mexico, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Florida. Altogether, the university has educated students from all 50 US states and over 100 foreign countries. Enrollment has continued to increase in recent years, and growth is on track with a plan to have 40,000 students by the year 2020. From 1927 to 2011, the university awarded 173,551 bachelor's, 34,541 master's, 5,906 doctoral, and


title: "Texas Tech University" content: 7,092 law degrees. The Princeton Review ranked Texas Tech among the 125 best colleges in the Western United States in its 2015 edition. The 2016 "U.S. News & World Report" rankings listed the university at 168th nationally and 91st amongst public schools. The 2013 Shanghai Jiao Tong Rankings placed Texas Tech University at 401 worldwide, which tied it with fellow Big 12 schools, Oklahoma and Kansas State, among others. In 2010, the "Wall Street Journal" ranked the university 18th in its ranking of graduate desirability for job recruiters. Three of the University's undergraduate programs are ranked by PayScale as in


title: "Texas Tech University" content: the top 20 nationally in mid-career salary: Art, Physical and Life Sciences, and Education. In its 2015 edition, "U.S. News & World Report" noted the university has a "selective" admissions policy. As a state public university, Texas Tech is subject to Texas House Bill 588, which guarantees Texas high school seniors in the top 10% of their graduating class admission to any public Texas university. In 2012, 20.3% of incoming freshmen were admitted in this manner. About half of incoming freshmen finished in the top quarter of their graduating classes. In 2016, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education


title: "Texas Tech University" content: listed Texas Tech among 115 most prominent research schools, commonly known as "Carnegie Tier One". Texas Tech University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university offers 150 bachelor's, 104 master's, and 59 doctoral degree programs. Texas Tech has five satellite campuses located in Texas—in Abilene, Amarillo, Fredericksburg, Highland Lakes, and Junction. Texas Tech also has a satellite campus in Europe, located in Seville, Spain. Additional study-abroad programs are offered in various countries, such as Denmark, England, France, and Italy. The Office of International Affairs supports and facilitates the international mission of Texas Tech University. It


title: "Texas Tech University" content: provides services for faculty and students, offers international educational and cultural experiences for the school and community, and contributes to the university's globalization process and its effort to grow as an international educational and research center. The International Cultural Center provides a continual series of conferences, lectures, art exhibitions, and performances. Texas Tech has expanded from its original four schools to comprise ten colleges and two schools. In 2008, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources ranked among the 30 largest schools of agriculture in the country by enrollment. In the 2015 "U.S. News & World Report" report on


title: "Texas Tech University" content: higher education, the Whitacre College of Engineering was ranked 94th in the nation. In 2009, the college's Petroleum Engineering Department was ranked 10th best in the nation. The college offers 11 engineering programs accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. On November 12, 2008, following a $25 million gift from AT&T in honor of alumnus Edward Whitacre Jr., the college was formally renamed the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering. The largest academic division on campus, the College of Arts and Sciences offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in a wide range of subjects from philosophy to


title: "Texas Tech University" content: mathematics. In 2004, the College of Mass Communications and the College of Visual and Performing Arts were created from programs organized within the College of Arts and Sciences. The College of Mass Communications officially changed its name to the College of Media & Communication in 2012 and offers degrees in several areas, including advertising, journalism and electronic media, and public relations. The College of Visual and Performing Arts was renamed in honor of the contributions by the J. T. & Margaret Talkington Foundation in 2016; Programs offered through Talkington College are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art


title: "Texas Tech University" content: and Design, the National Association of Schools of Music, and the National Association of Schools of Theatre. Once the Division of Home Economics, the College of Human Sciences now offers degrees in applied and professional studies, design, human development, nutrition, hospitality, and retailing. The College of Human Sciences' Department of Personal Financial Planning was ranked in 2011 as the top program out of ten standout programs by the industry newsletter, "Financial Planning". The College of Architecture, founded in 1927, offers programs accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. The Rawls College of Business, which is accredited by the Association to