title: Longan content: Longan Dimocarpus longan, commonly known as the longan (), is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), to which the lychee, rambutan, guarana, korlan, pitomba, Genip and ackee also belong. The fruit of the longan are similar to that of the lychee, but less aromatic in taste. It is native to Southern Asia. The longan (from Cantonese "lùhng-ngáahn" , literally "dragon eye"), is so named because it resembles an eyeball when its fruit is shelled (the black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris).


title: Longan content: The seed is small, round and hard, and of an enamel-like, lacquered black. The fully ripened, freshly harvested fruit has a bark-like shell, thin, and firm, making the fruit easy to peel by squeezing the pulp out as if one were "cracking" a sunflower seed. When the shell has more moisture content and is more tender, the fruit becomes less convenient to shell. The tenderness of the shell varies due to either premature harvest, variety, weather conditions, or transport/storage conditions. The Catalogue of Life and Plants of the World Online list: Depending upon climate and soil type the tree may


title: Longan content: grow to over in height, but it typically stands in height and the crown is round. The trunk is thick with corky bark. The branches are long and thick, typically drooping. The leaves are oblong and blunt-tipped, usually long and wide. The leaves are pinnately compounded and alternate. There are 6 to 9 pairs of leaflets per leaf and the upper surface is wavy and a dark, glossy-green. The Longan tree produces light-yellow inflorescences located at the end of branches. The inflorescence is commonly called a panicle and are long, and widely branched. The small flowers have 5 to 6


title: Longan content: sepals and petals that are brownish-yellow. The flower has a two-lobed pistil and 8 stamen. There are three flower types, distributed throughout the panicle; staminate (functionally male), pistillate (functionally female), and hermaphroditic flowers. Flowering occurs as a progression. The fruit hangs in drooping clusters that are circular and about wide. The peel is tan, thin, and leathery with tiny hairs. The flesh is translucent, and the seed is large and black with a circular white spot at the base. This gives the illusion of an eye. The flesh has a musky, sweet taste, which can be compared to the flavor


title: Longan content: of lychee fruit. The Longan tree is somewhat sensitive to frost. Longan trees prefer sandy soil. While the species prefers temperatures that do not typically fall below , it can withstand brief temperature drops to about . Longans usually bear fruit slightly later than lychees. The wild longan population have been decimated considerably by large-scale loggings in the past, and the species used to be listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. If left alone, longan tree stumps will resprout and the listing was upgraded to Near Threatened in 1998. Recent field data are inadequate for a contemporary IUCN


title: Longan content: assessment. The longan is believed to originate from the mountain range between Myanmar and southern China. Other reported origins include India, Sri Lanka, upper Myanmar, north Thailand, Kampuchea (more commonly known as Cambodia), north Vietnam and New Guinea. Its earliest record of existence draws back to the Han Dynasty in 200 BC. The emperor had demanded lychee and longan trees to be planted in his palace gardens in Shaanxi, but the plants failed. Four hundred years later, longan trees flourished in other parts of China like Fujian and Guangdong, where longan production soon became an industry. Later on, due to


title: Longan content: immigration and the growing demand for nostalgic foods, the longan tree was officially introduced to Australia in the mid-1800s, Thailand in the late-1800s, and Hawaii and Florida in the 1900s. The warm, sandy-soiled conditions allowed for the easy growth of longan trees. This jump-started the longan industry in these locations. Despite its long success in China, the longan is considered to be a relatively new fruit to the world. It has only been acknowledged outside of China recently in the last 250 years. The first European acknowledgement of the fruit was recorded by Joao de Loureiro, a Jesuit botanist, in


title: Longan content: 1790. The first entry resides in his collection of works, "Flora Cochinchinensis". Currently, longan crops are grown in southern China, Taiwan, northern Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Australia, the United States, and Mauritius. It is also grown in Bangladesh. The fruit is sweet, juicy and succulent in superior agricultural varieties. The seed and the shell are not consumed. Apart from being eaten fresh and raw, longan fruit is also often used in Asian soups, snacks, desserts, and sweet-and-sour foods, either fresh or dried, and sometimes preserved and canned in syrup. The taste is different from


title: Longan content: lychees; while longan have a drier sweetness, lychees are often messily juicy with a more tropical, sour sweetness. Dried longan are often used in Chinese cuisine and Chinese sweet dessert soups. In Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine, it is believed to have an effect on relaxation. In contrast with the fresh fruit, which is juicy and white, the flesh of dried longans is dark brown to almost black. Longan is commonly found in traditional Eastern folk medicine. This is not an unusual occurrence since, prior to the 1800s, longan was most prevalent in Asia. In ancient Vietnamese medicine, the


title: Longan content: "eye" of the longan seed is pressed against snakebites to absorb the venom. This was ineffective, but is still commonly used today. It is found commonly in most of Asia, primarily in China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand. China, the main longan-producing country in the world, produced about 1,300 million tonnes of longan in 2010. Vietnam and Thailand had produced around 600 million and 500 million tonnes, respectively. Like Vietnam, Thailand's economy relies heavily on the cultivation and shipments of longan as well as lychee. This increase in the production of longan reflects recent interest in exotic fruits in other parts


title: Longan content: of the world. However, the majority of the demand comes from Asian communities in North America, Europe and Australia. The longan industry is very new in North America and Australia. Commercial crops have only been around for twenty years. In the United States, Longan is grown in Florida, Texas, Nevada, Georgia, California, Hawaii, and Arizona. They’re also grown in Australia, along the eastern coast. During harvest, pickers must climb ladders to carefully remove branches of fruit from longan trees. Longan fruit remain fresher when still attached to the branch, so efforts are made to prevent the fruit from detaching too


title: Longan content: early. Mechanical picking would damage the delicate skin of the fruit, so the preferred method is to harvest by hand. Knives and scissors are the most commonly used tools. Fruit is picked early in the day in order to minimize water loss and to prevent high heat exposure, which would be damaging. The fruit is then carefully placed into either plastic crates or bamboo baskets and taken to packaging houses, where the fruit undergo a series of checks for standards. The packaging houses are well-ventilated and shaded to prevent further decay. The process of checking and sorting are performed by


title: Longan content: workers instead of machinery. Any fruit that are split, under ripe, or decaying are disposed of. The remaining healthy fruit are then prepped and shipped to markets. In terms of distribution, many companies add preservatives to canned longan. Regulations control the preserving process. So far, the only known preservative added to canned longan is sulfur dioxide to prevent discoloration. Fresh longan that is shipped worldwide is exposed to sulfur fumigation. Tests have shown that sulfur residues remain on the fruit skin, branches, and leaves for a few weeks. This violates many countries' limits on fumigation residue, but efforts have been


title: Longan content: made to reduce this amount. Potassium chlorate has been found to cause the longan tree to blossom. However, this causes stress on the tree if it is used excessively, and eventually kills it. Longan Dimocarpus longan, commonly known as the longan (), is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), to which the lychee, rambutan, guarana, korlan, pitomba, Genip and ackee also belong. The fruit of the longan are similar to that of the lychee, but less aromatic in taste. It is native to Southern Asia.


title: Carambola content: Carambola Carambola, or star fruit, is the fruit of "Averrhoa carambola", a species of tree native to Indonesia, the Philippines, and throughout Malesia. The fruit is commonly consumed throughout Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, Micronesia, and parts of East Asia. The tree is cultivated throughout non-indigenous tropical areas. The fruit has distinctive ridges running down its sides (usually five but can sometimes vary); when cut in cross-section, it resembles a star, hence its name. The entire fruit is edible and is usually eaten out of hand. They may also be used in cooking and can be made into relishes, preserves,


title: Carambola content: and juice drinks. The original range of "Averrhoa carambola" is believed to be from Sri Lanka or Indonesia, but has been cultivated in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia for hundreds of years. They remain a local favorite in those areas but have also recently gained popularity in parts of East Asia and Queensland, Australia; as well as in the Pacific Islands, particularly Tahiti, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, and Guam. They are cultivated commercially in India, Southeast Asia, southern China, Taiwan, and the southern United States. They are also grown in Central America, the Southwestern United States and


title: Carambola content: Florida, and parts of Africa. In other areas they are usually grown as ornamentals, rather than for consumption. The fruit is about in length and is an oval shape. It usually has five prominent longitudinal ridges, but in rare instances it can have as few as four or as many as eight. In cross section, it resembles a star. The skin is thin, smooth, and waxy and turns a light to dark yellow when ripe. The flesh is translucent and light yellow to yellow in color. Each fruit can have 10 to 12 flat light brown seeds about in width


title: Carambola content: and enclosed in gelatinous aril. Once removed from the fruit, they lose viability within a few days. Like the closely related bilimbi, there are two main types of carambola: the small sour (or tart) type and the larger sweet type. The sour varieties have a higher oxalic acid content than the sweet type. A number of cultivars have been developed in recent years. The most common cultivars grown commercially include the sweet types "Arkin" (Florida), "Dah Pon" (Taiwan), "Ma fueng" (Thailand), "Maha" (Malaysia), and "Demak" (Indonesia) and the sour types "Golden Star", "Newcomb", "Star King", and "Thayer" (all from Florida).


title: Carambola content: Some of the sour varieties like "Golden Star" can become sweet if allowed to ripen. The entire fruit is edible, including the slightly waxy skin. The flesh is crunchy, firm, and extremely juicy. It does not contain fibers and has a texture similar in consistency to that of grapes. Carambolas are best consumed shortly after they ripen, when they are yellow with a light shade of green or just after all traces of green have disappeared. They will also have brown ridges at the edges and feel firm. Fruits picked while still slightly green will turn yellow in storage at


title: Carambola content: room temperature, but will not increase in sugar content. Overripe carambola will be yellow with brown spots and can become blander in taste and soggier in consistency. Ripe sweet type carambolas are sweet without being overwhelming as they rarely have more than 4% sugar content. They have a tart, sour undertone, and an oxalic acid odor. The taste is difficult to match, but it has been compared to a mix of apple, pear, grape, and citrus family fruits. Unripe star fruits are firmer and sour, and taste like green apples. Ripe carambolas may also be used in cooking. In Southeast


title: Carambola content: Asia, they are usually stewed in cloves and sugar, sometimes with apples. In China, they are cooked with fish. In Australia, they may be cooked as a vegetable, pickled, or made into jams. In Jamaica they are sometimes dried. Unripe and sour type carambolas can be mixed with other chopped spices to make relishes in Australia. In the Philippines, unripe carambolas are eaten dipped in rock salt. In Thailand, they are cooked together with shrimp. The juice from carambolas is also used in iced drinks, particularly the juice of the sour varieties. In the Philippines they can be used as


title: Carambola content: seasoning. In India, the juice is bottled for drinking. Raw carambola fruit is 91% water, 7% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and has negligible fat (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, raw fruit supplies 31 calories and is mainly devoid of significant micronutrient content, except for vitamin C at 41% of the Daily Value. Carambolas contain caramboxin and oxalic acid. Both substances are harmful to individuals suffering from kidney failure, kidney stones, or those under kidney dialysis treatment. Consumption by those with kidney failure can produce hiccups, vomiting, nausea, mental confusion, and sometimes death. Caramboxin is a neurotoxin which is structurally


title: Carambola content: similar to phenylalanine, and is a glutamatergic agonist. Like the grapefruit, carambola is considered to be a potent inhibitor of seven cytochrome P450 isoforms. These enzymes are significant in the first-pass elimination of many medications, and, thus, the consumption of carambola or its juice in combination with certain prescription medications can significantly increase their effective dosage within the body. The carambola is a tropical and subtropical fruit which can be grown at elevations up to . It prefers full sun exposure, but requires enough humidity and annual rainfall of at least . It does not have a soil type preference,


title: Carambola content: but requires good drainage. Carambola trees are planted at least from each other and typically are fertilized three times a year. The tree grows rapidly and typically produces fruit at four or five years of age. The large amount of rain during spring actually reduces the amount of fruit, but, in ideal conditions, carambola can produce from of fruit a year. The carambola tree flowers throughout the year, with main fruiting seasons from April to June and October to December in Malaysia, for example, but fruiting also occurs at other times in some other locales, such as South Florida. Growth


title: Carambola content: and leaf responses of container-grown `Arkin' carambola ("Averrhoa carambola" L.) trees to long-term exposure of 25%, 50%, or 100% sunlight showed that shading increased rachis length and leaflet area, decreased leaflet thickness, and produced more horizontal branch orientation. Major pests are fruit flies, fruit moths, ants, and birds. Crops are also susceptible to frost. Top producers of carambola in the world market include Australia, Guyana, India, Israel, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the United States. Malaysia is a global leader in star fruit production by volume and ships the product widely to Asia and Europe. Due to concerns over pests


title: Carambola content: and pathogens, however, whole star fruits cannot yet be imported to the US from Malaysia under current United States Department of Agriculture regulations. In the United States, carambolas are grown in tropical and semitropical areas, including Texas, South Carolina, Louisiana, California, Virginia, Florida and Hawaii. In the United States, commercial cultivation and broad consumer acceptance of the fruit only dates to the 1970s, attributable to Morris Arkin, a backyard horticulturalist, in Coral Gables, Florida. The 'Arkin' variety represented 98% of the acreage in South Florida in the early 21st century. The trees are also grown as ornamentals for their abundant


title: Carambola content: brightly colored and unusually shaped fruits, as well as for their attractive dark green leaves and their lavender to pink flowers. Like the bilimbi, the juice of the more acidic sour types can be used to clean rusty or tarnished metal (especially brass) as well as bleach rust stains from cloth. They may also be used as a mordant in dyeing. The Portuguese word "carambola", first known use 1598, was taken from Marathi "karambal" derived from Sanskrit "karmaphala". The carambola is known under different names in different countries. It should not be confused with the closely related bilimbi, with which


title: Carambola content: it shares some common names. It is also called "star fruit" in English (including Jamaican English and Philippine English) and literally translates into "Stjernefrugt" in Danish, "Sternfrucht" in German, and "Stjärnfrukt" in Swedish. In Spanish, it is known as "carambola", "carambolo", "tamarindo chino", "tamarindo culí", "balimbín" (Philippine Spanish, from Tagalog "balimbing", plural is "balimbines"), and "fruta china" (Ecuador). In maritime Southeast Asia, it is known as "belimbing" in Indonesian and Malay and "balimbíng" or "saranate" in Tagalog. Carambola Carambola, or star fruit, is the fruit of "Averrhoa carambola", a species of tree native to Indonesia, the Philippines, and throughout Malesia.


title: Indri content: Indri The indri (; "Indri indri"), also called the babakoto, is one of the largest living lemurs, with a head-and-body length of about and a weight of between . It has a black and white coat and maintains an upright posture when climbing or clinging. It is monogamous and lives in small family groups, moving through the canopy, and is purely herbivorous, feeding mainly on leaves but also seeds, fruits, and flowers. The groups are quite vocal, communicating with other groups by singing, roaring and other vocalisations. It is a diurnal tree-dweller related to the sifakas and, like all lemurs,


title: Indri content: it is native to Madagascar. It is revered by the Malagasy people and plays an important part in their myths and legends with various stories in existence accounting for its origin. The main threats faced by the indri are habitat destruction and fragmentation due to slash and burn agriculture, fuelwood gathering, and logging. It is also hunted despite taboos against this. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as "critically endangered". The name "indri" most likely comes from a native Malagasy name for the animal, "endrina". An oft-repeated, but probably incorrect story is that the


title: Indri content: name comes from "indry" , meaning "there" or "there it is". French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat, who first described the animal, supposedly heard a Malagasy point out the animal and took the word to be its name. The Malagasy name for the animal is "" . "Babakoto" is most commonly translated as "ancestor" or "father", but several translations are possible. "Koto" is a Malagasy word for "little boy", and "baba" is a term for "father", so the word "babakoto" may be translated as "father of a little boy". The father-son dynamic of many of the babakoto origin myths helps to explain


title: Indri content: the Malagasy name. Along with the diademed sifaka, the indri is the largest lemur still in existence. It has a head-body length of and can reach nearly with legs fully extended. It can weigh between , though the average is on the lower end of the range. The indri is a vertical clinger and leaper and thus holds its body upright when traveling through trees or resting in branches. It has long, muscular legs which it uses to propel itself from trunk to trunk. Its large greenish eyes and black face are framed by round, fuzzy ears that some say


title: Indri content: give it the appearance of a teddy bear. Unlike any other living lemur, the indri has only a rudimentary tail. The silky fur is mostly black with white patches along the limbs, neck, crown, and lower back. Different populations of the species show wide variations in color, with some northern populations consisting of mostly or entirely black individuals. The face is bare with pale black skin, and it is sometimes fringed with white fur. Due to these color variations, Colin Groves listed two subspecies of the indri in 2005: The dark "Indri indri indri" from the northern part of its


title: Indri content: range and the relatively pale "Indri indri variegatus" from the southern part. Later editions of "Lemurs of Madagascar" by Russell Mittermeier "et al." do not recognize this classification, and recent genetic and morphological work suggests the variation in the indri is clinal. The indri practices long-term monogamy, seeking a new partner only after the death of a mate. It lives in small groups consisting of the mated male and female and their maturing offspring. In the more fragmented forests of their range, the indri may live in larger groups with several generations. Habitat fragmentation limits the mobility and capacity of


title: Indri content: these large groups to break into smaller units. Like many other species of lemur, indri live in a female dominant society. The dominant female often will displace males to lower branches and poorer feeding grounds, and is typically the one to lead the group during travel. It is common for groups to move 300–700 m daily, with most distance travelled midsummer in search of fruit. Indris sleep in trees about 10–30 m above ground and typically sleep alone or in pairs. It is common for young female indris, occasionally adult females, to silently play wrestle anywhere from a few seconds


title: Indri content: up to 15 minutes. Members of a single group will urinate and defecate jointly at one of their many selected areas of defecation in their territory. Indris reach sexual maturity between the ages of 7 and 9. Females bear offspring every two to three years, with a gestation period around 120–150 days. The single infant is usually born in May or June. The mother is the primary caregiver, though the father assists, remaining with his mate and offspring. Infants are born mostly or completely black and begin to show white coloration (if any) between four and six months of age.


title: Indri content: The infant clings to its mother's belly until it is four or five months old, at which time it is ready to move onto her back. The indri begins to demonstrate independence at eight months, but it will not be fully independent from its mother until it is at least two years old. The indri is well known for its loud, distinctive songs, which can last from 45 seconds to more than 3 minutes. Song duration and structure varies among and even within groups, but most songs have the following three-phase pattern. Usually, a "roar sequence" lasting for several seconds


title: Indri content: will precede the more characteristic vocalizations. All members of the group (except the very young) participate in this roar, but the song proper is dominated by the adult pair. They follow the roar with a "long note sequence", characterized by notes of up to 5 seconds in duration. After this is the "descending phrase sequence". The wails begin on a high note and become progressively lower-pitched. It is common for two or more indri to coordinate the timing of their descending notes to form a duet. Different indri groups typically sing sequentially, responding to one another. As well as solidifying


title: Indri content: contacts between groups, the songs may communicate territorial defense and boundaries, environmental conditions, reproductive potential of the group members, and warning signals. The indri may sing after disturbances such as thunder, airplanes, bird calls, and other lemur calls. A group will sing almost every day, up to seven times daily. The peak singing hours are between 7 and 11 am. Daily frequency of song is highest during the indri's breeding season from December to March. Several other indri vocalizations have been identified. The "roar" is also used as a warning signal for aerial predators such as hawks. The indri emit


title: Indri content: a "hoot" or "honk" to warn of terrestrial predators such as the fossa. Other vocal categories include the "grunt", "kiss", "wheeze", and "hum". The purpose of these is still not entirely clear. Before singing, the indri move to the tree top before they call which allows them to be heard up to 4 km away. The indri is herbivorous and primarily folivorous. It prefers young, tender leaves, but will also eat seeds, fruits, and flowers. Female indri seem to have greater preference for immature leaves than males do and spend more time foraging among them. A wide variety of plant


title: Indri content: species are consumed, with members of the laurel family featuring prominently in the diet. The indri consumes little nontree vegetation. To feed, the indri plucks off a leaf or other plant part with its teeth. It uses its hands to pull tree branches closer to its mouth. Reproductively mature females have priority access to food sources, therefore they forage higher in the trees than males. This lemur inhabits the lowland and montane forests along the eastern coast of Madagascar, from the Réserve Spéciale d’Anjanaharibe-Sud in the north to the Mangoro River in the south. They are absent from the Masoala


title: Indri content: Peninsula and the Marojejy National Park, even though both regions are connected to forests where indri do occur less than 40 km away. Across Madagascar, the indri is revered and protected by "fady" (taboos). Countless variations are given on the legend of the indri's origins, but they all treat it as a sacred animal, not to be hunted or harmed. According to one origin myth, a boy went into the forest to collect honey, was stung by bees, and fell from a tree. An indri caught him and carried him to safety. Most legends establish a closer relationship between the


title: Indri content: indri and humans. In some regions, two brothers were believed to have lived together in the forest until one of them decided to leave and cultivate the land. That brother became the first human, and the brother who stayed in the forest became the first indri. The indri cries in mourning for his brother who went astray. One explanation for the name "babakoto" is that the calls made by the indri resemble a father calling for his lost son. Another legend tells of a man who went hunting in the forest and did not return. His absence worried his son,


title: Indri content: who went out looking for him. When the son also disappeared, the rest of the villagers ventured into the forest seeking the two, but discovered only two large lemurs sitting in the trees: the first indri. The boy and his father had transformed. In some versions, only the son transforms, and the wailing of the babakoto is analogous to the father’s wailing for his lost son. In all of the babakoto origin myths, there is some connection between lemurs and humanity, usually through common ancestry. It is easy to see why the indri is so closely identified with humans: Its


title: Indri content: long legs, large upright body, lack of a prominent tail, vocalizations, and complex systems of communication are all reminiscent of human traits. Another human-like characteristic of the indri is its behavior in the sun. Like its sifaka relatives, the indri frequently engages in what has been described as sun-bathing or sun-worshipping. As the sun rises each morning, it will sit and face it from a tree branch with its legs crossed, back straight, hands low with palms facing out or resting on its knees, and eyes half-closed. Biologists are hesitant to call this behavior sun worship, as the term may


title: Indri content: be overly anthropomorphic. However, many Malagasy people do believe that the indri worships the sun. The first film of indri was obtained using tape lures, on an expedition forming the basis of David Attenborough's 1961 BBC series "Zoo Quest to Madagascar" The indri is a critically endangered species. While population estimates are uncertain (1 000 - 10 000 individuals), the population appears to be rapidly shrinking and may diminish by 80% over the next three generations (~36 years). The primary threats to its existence are habitat destruction and fragmentation due to slash and burn agriculture, fuelwood gathering, and logging. This


title: Indri content: kind of destruction occurs even in protected areas. The indri is also widely hunted, despite the many origin myths and traditional taboos ("fady") which hold it sacred. Cultural erosion and immigration are partly to blame for the breakdown of traditional beliefs. In some cases, Malagasy people who resent the protective "fady" find ways to circumvent them. People whose "fady" forbid them from eating the indri may still hunt the lemurs and sell their flesh, and those forbidden to kill the indri may still purchase and consume them. Indri meat is prized as a delicacy in some regions. Only one indri


title: Indri content: has lived over a year in captivity and none have bred successfully while captive. Indri The indri (; "Indri indri"), also called the babakoto, is one of the largest living lemurs, with a head-and-body length of about and a weight of between . It has a black and white coat and maintains an upright posture when climbing or clinging. It is monogamous and lives in small family groups, moving through the canopy, and is purely herbivorous, feeding mainly on leaves but also seeds, fruits, and flowers. The groups are quite vocal, communicating with other groups by singing, roaring and other


title: "Brian Boru" content: along with his father and grandfather. Another wife, Echrad, was a daughter of Carlus mac Ailella, King of Uí Áeda Odba, an obscure branch of the southern Uí Néill. She was the mother of Brian's son Tadc, whose son Toirdelbach and grandson Muirchertach rivalled Brian in power and fame. Brian's most famous marriage was with Gormflaith, sister of Máel Mórda of Leinster. Donnchad, who had his half-brother Tadc killed in 1023 and ruled Munster for 40 years thereafter, was the result of this union. Brian had a sixth son, Domnall. Although he predeceased his father, Domnall apparently had at least


title: "Big South Conference" content: Elon (at the time) and Liberty (Gardner–Webb University also joined as a football-only member) fielding teams; Coastal Carolina and Virginia Military Institute (VMI) joined the conference as football-only members in 2003. In that same athletic year, VMI also joined the conference for all sports, but left to re-join the Southern Conference in 2014. Presbyterian College joined the conference in 2007, moving up from Division II, and became eligible for regular-season championships and conference honors during the 2008–09 athletic year. Gardner–Webb, which had been a football-only member since 2002, joined the conference for all sports on July 1, 2008. Campbell rejoined


title: Cappadocia content: meantime many former Cappadocians had shifted to a Turkish dialect (written in Greek alphabet, "Karamanlıca"), and where the Greek language was maintained (Sille, villages near Kayseri, Pharasa town and other nearby villages), it became heavily influenced by the surrounding Turkish. This dialect of Greek is known as "Cappadocian Greek". Following the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the language is now only spoken by a handful of the former population's descendants in modern Greece. The area is a popular tourist destination, as it has many areas with unique geological, historic, and cultural features. Touristic Cappadocia includes 4 cities: Nevsehir,


title: "The Meaning of Liff" content: translated from the original but are matched to place names that convey the humorous effect in German. The most recent edition includes both the German adaptation and the English original (). In 1989, a Dutch version was published under the title "Kunt U Breukelen?" by Justus van Oel (Nijgh & van Ditmar, ), utilising the same book size format as the standard UK version, 9.1 x 16.8 cm. The book used place names mainly from the Netherlands, as well as a handful from neighbouring Belgium and Luxembourg. There was no hardback edition, and neither was "The Deeper Meaning of Liff"


title: "Machu Picchu" content: Machu Picchu Machu Picchu ( or ; ; ) is a 15th-century Inca citadel, located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a mountain ridge above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District in Peru, above the Sacred Valley, which is northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows, which cuts through the Cordillera and originates a canyon with tropical mountain climate. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" (a


title: "Machu Picchu" content: title more accurately applied to Vilcabamba), it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911. Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the "Intihuatana", the "Temple of the Sun", and the "Room of the Three Windows".


title: "Machu Picchu" content: Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration continues. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll. In the Quechua language, "machu" means "old" or "old person", while "pikchu" means either "portion of coca being chewed" or "pyramid, pointed multi-sided solid; cone". The name of


title: "Machu Picchu" content: the site is often interpreted as "old mountain". Machu Picchu was built around 1450–1460. Its construction appears to date to the period of the two great Inca rulers, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438–71) and Túpac Inca Yupanqui (1472–93). There is a consensus among archaeologists that Pachacutec ordered the construction of the royal estate for himself, most likely after his successful military campaign. Though Machu Picchu is considered to be a "royal" estate, surprisingly, the estate would not have been passed down in the line of succession. It was only used for approximately 80 years before being abandoned seemingly due to destruction


title: "Machu Picchu" content: of the Spanish Conquests in other parts of the Inca Empire. It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from smallpox introduced by travellers before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the area. During its use as a royal estate, it is estimated that no more than 750 people lived there at a time, most people being support staff ("yanaconas, yana)" who lived there permanently. Though the estate belonged to Pachacutec, religious specialists and temporary specialized workers ("mayocs") lived there as well, most likely for the ruler's well-being and enjoyment. During the harsher season, staff dropped down to around a


title: "Machu Picchu" content: hundred servants and a few religious specialists focused only on maintenance. Studies show that according to their skeletal remains, most people who lived there were immigrants from diverse backgrounds. They lacked the chemical markers and osteological markers they would have if they had been living there their whole lives. Instead, there was bone damage from various species of water parasites indigenous to different areas of Peru. There were also varying osteological stressors and varying chemical densities suggesting varying long term diets characteristic of specific regions that were spaced apart. These diets are composed of varying levels of maize, potatoes, grains,


title: "Machu Picchu" content: legumes, and fish, but the overall most recent short-term diet for these people was composed of less fish and more corn. This suggests that several of the immigrants were from more coastal areas and moved to Machu Picchu where corn was a larger portion of food intake. The skeletal remains found at Machu Picchu are also unique in their level of natural bone damage from laborious activities. Most people found at the site had lower levels of arthritis and bone fractures found in most sites of the Inca Empire. Inca individuals that have arthritis and bone fractures are typically those


title: "Machu Picchu" content: who performed heavy physical labor (such as the Mit'a) and/or served in the Inca military. Not only people were suspected to have immigrated to Machu Picchu, there were several animal bones found that were not native to the site. Most animal bones found were from llamas and alpacas. These animals naturally live in altitudes of 14000 ft above sea level rather than the mere 8000 ft Machu Picchu rests on. Most likely, these animals were brought in from the Puna region for meat consumption and for their pelts. Guinea pigs were also found at the site in special burial caves,


title: "Machu Picchu" content: suggesting that they were at least used for funerary rituals as it was common throughout the Inca Empire to use them for sacrifices and meat. Six dogs were also recovered from the site. Due to their placements among the human remains, it is believed that they served as companions of the dead. <nowiki> </nowiki> Much of the farming done at Machu Picchu was done on the hundreds of man-made terraces there. These terraces were a work of considerable engineering, built to ensure good drainage and soil fertility while also protecting the mountain itself from erosion and landslides. However, the terraces


title: "Machu Picchu" content: were not perfect, as studies of the land show that there were landslides that happened during the construction of Machu Picchu. It can still be seen where the terraces were shifted by landslides and then stabilized by the Inca as they continued to build around the area. It is estimated that the area around the site has received more than 72 inches of rain per year since A.D. 1450, which was more than needed to support crop growth there. Because of the large amount of rainfall at Machu Picchu, it was found that irrigation was not needed for the terraces.


title: "Machu Picchu" content: The terraces received so much rain that they were built specifically to allow for ample drainage of the extra water. Excavation and soil analyses done by Kenneth Wright in the 90's showed that the terraces were built in layers, with a bottom layer of larger stones covered by loose gravel. On top of the gravel was a layer of mixed sand and gravel packed together, with rich topsoil covering all of that. It was proven that the topsoil was probably moved from the valley floor to the terraces because it was much more rich than the soil higher up the


title: "Machu Picchu" content: mountain. However, it has been found that the terrace farming area makes up only about 12 acres of land, and a study of the soil around the terraces showed that what was grown there was mostly corn and potatoes, which was not enough to support the 750+ people living at Machu Picchu. Therefore, when studies were done on the food that the Incas ate at Machu Picchu, it was found that much of what they ate was imported to the area from the surrounding valleys and farther. Although it was located only about from the Inca capital in Cusco, the


title: "Machu Picchu" content: Spanish never found Machu Picchu and so did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites. The conquistadors had notes of a place called "Piccho", although no record of a Spanish visit exists. The types of sacred rocks defaced by the conquistadors in other locations are untouched at Machu Picchu. Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle overgrew the site, and few outside the immediate area knew of its existence. The site may have been discovered and plundered in 1867 by a German businessman, Augusto Berns. Some evidence indicates that German engineer J. M. von Hassel arrived earlier.


title: "Machu Picchu" content: Maps show references to Machu Picchu as early as 1874. In 1911 American historian and explorer Hiram Bingham travelled the region looking for the old Inca capital and was led to Machu Picchu by a villager, Melchor Arteaga. Bingham found the name Agustín Lizárraga and the date 1902 written in charcoal on one of the walls. Though Bingham was not the first to visit the ruins, he was considered the scientific discoverer who brought Machu Picchu to international attention. Bingham organized another expedition in 1912 to undertake major clearing and excavation. In 1981, Peru declared an area of surrounding Machu


title: "Machu Picchu" content: Picchu a "historic sanctuary". In addition to the ruins, the sanctuary includes a large portion of the adjoining region, rich with the flora and fauna of the Peruvian Yungas and Central Andean wet puna ecoregions. In 1983, UNESCO designated Machu Picchu a World Heritage site, describing it as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization". Bingham was a lecturer at Yale University, although not a trained archaeologist. In 1909, returning from the Pan-American Scientific Congress in Santiago, he travelled through Peru and was invited to explore the Inca ruins at Choqquequirau in the Apurímac


title: "Machu Picchu" content: Valley. He organized the 1911 Yale Peruvian Expedition in part to search for the Inca capital, which was thought to be the city of Vitcos. He consulted Carlos Romero, one of the chief historians in Lima who showed him helpful references and Father Antonio de la Calancha’s Chronicle of the Augustinians. In particular, Ramos thought Vitcos was "near a great white rock over a spring of fresh water." Back in Cusco again, Bingham asked planters about the places mentioned by Calancha, particularly along the Urubamba River. According to Bingham, "one old prospector said there were interesting ruins at Machu Picchu,"


title: "Machu Picchu" content: though his statements "were given no importance by the leading citizens." Only later did Bingham learn that Charles Wiener also heard of the ruins at Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu, but was unable to reach them. Armed with this information the expedition went down the Urubamba River. En route Bingham asked local people to show them Inca ruins, especially any place described as having a white rock over a spring. At Mandor Pampa, Bingham asked farmer and innkeeper Melchor Arteaga if he knew of any nearby ruins. Arteaga said he knew of excellent ruins on the top of Huayna Picchu.


title: "Machu Picchu" content: The next day, 24 July, Arteaga led Bingham and Sergeant Carrasco across the river on a log bridge and up the Huayna Picchu mountain. At the top of the mountain, they came across a small hut occupied by a couple of Quechua, Richard and Alvarez, who were farming some of the original Machu Picchu agricultural terraces that they had cleared four years earlier. Alvarez's 11-year-old son, Pablito, led Bingham along the ridge to the main ruins. The ruins were mostly covered with vegetation except for the cleared agricultural terraces and clearings used by the farmers as vegetable gardens. Because of


title: "Machu Picchu" content: the vegetation, Bingham was not able to observe the full extent of the site. He took preliminary notes, measurements, and photographs, noting the fine quality of Inca stonework of several principal buildings. Bingham was unclear about the original purpose of the ruins, but decided that there was no indication that it matched the description of Vitcos. The expedition continued down the Urubamba and up the Vilcabamba Rivers examining all the ruins they could find. Guided by locals Bingham rediscovered and correctly identified the site of the old Inca capital, Vitcos (then called Rosaspata), and the nearby temple of Chuquipalta. He


title: "Machu Picchu" content: then crossed a pass and into the Pampaconas Valley where he found more ruins heavily buried in the jungle undergrowth at Espíritu Pampa, which he named "Trombone Pampa". As was the case with Machu Picchu, the site was so heavily overgrown that Bingham could only note a few of the buildings. In 1964, Gene Savoy further explored the ruins at Espiritu Pampa and revealed the full extent of the site, identifying it as Vilcabamba Viejo where the Incas fled after the Spanish drove them from Vitcos. Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in 1912 under the sponsorship of Yale University and


title: "Machu Picchu" content: National Geographic again and with the full support of Peruvian President Leguia. The expedition undertook a four-month clearing of the site with local labour, which was expedited with the support of the Prefect of Cuzco. Excavation started in 1912 with further excavation undertaken in 1914 and 1915. Bingham focused on Machu Picchu because of its fine Inca stonework and well-preserved nature, which had lain undisturbed since the site was abandoned. None of Bingham's several hypotheses explaining the site held up. During his studies, he carried various artifacts back to Yale. One prominent artifact was a set of 15th-century, ceremonial Incan


title: "Machu Picchu" content: knives made from bismuth bronze; they are the earliest known artifact containing this alloy. Although local institutions initially welcomed the exploration, they soon accused Bingham of legal and cultural malpractice. Rumors arose that the team was stealing artifacts and smuggling them out of Peru through Bolivia. (In fact, Bingham removed many artifacts, but openly and legally; they were deposited in the Yale University Museum. Bingham was abiding by the 1852 Civil Code of Peru; the code stated that "archaeological finds generally belonged to the discoverer, except when they had been discovered on private land." (Batievsky 100) ) Local press perpetuated


title: "Machu Picchu" content: the accusations, claiming that the excavation harmed the site and deprived local archaeologists of knowledge about their own history. Landowners began to demand rent from the excavators. By the time Bingham and his team left Machu Picchu, locals had formed coalitions to defend their ownership of Machu Picchu and its cultural remains, while Bingham claimed the artifacts ought to be studied by experts in American institutions. Little information describes human sacrifices at Machu Picchu, though many sacrifices were never given a proper burial, and their skeletal remains succumbed to the elements. However, there is evidence that retainers were sacrificed to


title: "Machu Picchu" content: accompany a deceased noble in the afterlife. Animal, liquid and dirt sacrifices to the gods were much more common, made at the Altar of the Condor. The tradition is upheld by members of the New Age Andean religion. Machu Picchu lies in the southern hemisphere, 13.164 degrees south of the equator. It is northwest of Cusco, on the crest of the mountain Machu Picchu, located about above mean sea level, over lower than Cusco, which has an elevation of . As such, it had a milder climate than the Inca capital. It is one of the most important archaeological sites


title: "Machu Picchu" content: in South America, one of the most visited tourist attractions in Latin America and the most visited in Peru. Machu Picchu has wet and dry seasons, with the majority of annual rain falling from October through to April. Machu Picchu is situated above a bow of the Urubamba River, which surrounds the site on three sides, where cliffs drop vertically for to the river at their base. The area is subject to morning mists rising from the river. The location of the city was a military secret, and its deep precipices and steep mountains provided natural defenses. The Inca Bridge,


title: "Machu Picchu" content: an Inca grass rope bridge, across the Urubamba River in the Pongo de Mainique, provided a secret entrance for the Inca army. Another Inca bridge was built to the west of Machu Picchu, the tree-trunk bridge, at a location where a gap occurs in the cliff that measures . The city sits in a saddle between the two mountains Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, with a commanding view down two valleys and a nearly impassable mountain at its back. It has a water supply from springs that cannot be blocked easily. The hillsides leading to it were terraced, to provide


title: "Machu Picchu" content: more farmland to grow crops, and to steepen the slopes that invaders would have to ascend. The terraces reduced soil erosion and protected against landslides. Two high-altitude routes from Machu Picchu cross the mountains back to Cusco, one through the Sun Gate, and the other across the Inca bridge. Both could be blocked easily, should invaders approach along them. The site is roughly divided into an urban sector and an agricultural sector, and into an upper town and a lower town. The temples are in the upper town, the warehouses in the lower. The architecture is adapted to the mountains.


title: "Machu Picchu" content: Approximately 200 buildings are arranged on wide parallel terraces around an east-west central square. The various compounds, called "kanchas", are long and narrow in order to exploit the terrain. Sophisticated channeling systems provided irrigation for the fields. Stone stairways set in the walls allowed access to the different levels across the site. The eastern section of the city was probably residential. The western, separated by the square, was for religious and ceremonial purposes. This section contains the "Torreón", the massive tower which may have been used as an observatory. Located in the first zone are the primary archaeological treasures: the


title: "Machu Picchu" content: "Intihuatana", the "Temple of the Sun" and the "Room of the Three Windows". These were dedicated to "Inti", their sun god and greatest deity. The Popular District, or Residential District, is the place where the lower-class people lived. It includes storage buildings and simple houses. The royalty area, a sector for the nobility, is a group of houses located in rows over a slope; the residence of the "amautas" (wise persons) was characterized by its reddish walls, and the zone of the "ñustas" (princesses) had trapezoid-shaped rooms. The Monumental Mausoleum is a carved statue with a vaulted interior and carved


title: "Machu Picchu" content: drawings. It was used for rites or sacrifices. The Guardhouse is a three-sided building, with one of its long sides opening onto the Terrace of the Ceremonial Rock. The three-sided style of Inca architecture is known as the "wayrona" style. In 2005 and 2009, the University of Arkansas made detailed laser scans of the entire site and of the ruins at the top of the adjacent Huayna Picchu mountain. The scan data is available online for research purposes. This semicircular temple is built on the same rock overlying Bingham's "Royal Mausoleum", and is similar to the Temple of the Sun


title: "Machu Picchu" content: found in Cusco and the Temple of the Sun found in Pisac, in having what Bingham described as a "parabolic enclosure wall". The stonework is of ashlar quality. Within the temple is a 1.2 m by 2.7 m rock platform, smooth on top except for a small platform on its southwest quadrant. A "Serpent's Door" faces 340°, or just west of north, opening onto a series of 16 pools, and affording a view of Huana Picchu. The temple also has two trapezoidal windows, one facing 65°, called the "Solstice Window", and the other facing 132°, called the "Qullqa Window". The


title: "Machu Picchu" content: northwest edge of the rock platform points out the Solstice Window to within 2’ of the 15th century June solstice rising Sun. For comparison, the angular diameter of the Sun is 6'. The Inca constellation Qullca, storehouse, can be viewed out the Qullqa Window at sunset during the 15th century June Solstice, hence the window's name. At the same time, the Pleaides are in the opposite end of the sky. Also seen through this window on this night are the constellations Llamacnawin, Llama, Unallamacha, Machacuay, and the star Pachapacariq Chaska (Canopus). The "Intihuatana" stone is one of many ritual stones


title: "Machu Picchu" content: in South America. These stones are arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstice. The name of the stone (perhaps coined by Bingham) derives from Quechua language: "inti" means "sun", and "wata-", "to tie, hitch (up)". The suffix "-na" derives nouns for tools or places. Hence "Intihuatana" is literally an instrument or place to "tie up the sun", often expressed in English as "The Hitching Post of the Sun". The Inca believed the stone held the sun in its place along its annual path in the sky. The stone is situated at 13°9'48" S. At midday on


title: "Machu Picchu" content: 11 November and 30 January, the sun stands almost exactly above the pillar, casting no shadow. On 21 June, the stone casts the longest shadow on its southern side, and on 21 December a much shorter shadow on its northern side. Inti Mach'ay is a special cave used to observe the Royal Feast of the Sun. This festival was celebrated during the Incan month of "Qhapaq Raymi". It began earlier in the month and concluded on the December solstice. On this day, noble boys were initiated into manhood by an ear-piercing ritual as they stood inside the cave and watched


title: "Machu Picchu" content: the sun rise. Architecturally, Inti Mach'ay is the most significant structure at Machu Picchu. Its entrances, walls, steps and windows are some of the finest masonry in the Incan Empire. The cave also includes a tunnel-like window unique among Incan structures, which was constructed to only allow sunlight into the cave during several days around the December solstice. For this reason, the cave was inaccessible for much of the year. Inti Mach'ay is located on the eastern side of Machu Picchu, just north of the "Condor Stone." Many of the caves surrounding this area were prehistorically used as tombs, yet


title: "Machu Picchu" content: there is no evidence that Mach'ay was a burial ground. The central buildings use the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar. The section of the mountain where Machu Picchu was built provided various challenges that the Incas solved with local materials. One issue was the seismic activity due to two fault lines. It made mortar and similar building methods nearly useless. Instead, the Inca mined stones from the quarry at the site, lined


title: "Machu Picchu" content: them up and shaped them to fit together perfectly, stabilizing the structures. Inca walls have many stabilizing features: doors and windows are trapezoidal, narrowing from bottom to top; corners usually are rounded; inside corners often incline slightly into the rooms; and outside corners were often tied together by "L"-shaped blocks; walls are offset slightly from row to row rather than rising straight from bottom to top. Heavy rainfall required terraces and stone chips to drain rain water and prevent mud slides, landslides, erosion and flooding. Terraces were layered with stone chips, sand, dirt and top soil, to absorb water and


title: "Machu Picchu" content: prevent it from running down the mountain. Similar layering protected the large city center from flooding. Multiple canals and reserves provide water throughout the city that could be supplied to the terraces for irrigation and to prevent erosion and flooding. The Incas never used wheels in a practical way, although their use in toys shows that they knew the principle. The use of wheels in engineering may have been limited due to the lack of strong draft animals, steep terrain and dense vegetation. The approach to moving and placing the enormous stones remains uncertain, probably involving hundreds of men to


title: "Machu Picchu" content: push the stones up inclines. A few stones have knobs that could have been used to lever them into position; the knobs were generally sanded away, with a few overlooked. The Inca road system included a route to the Machu Picchu region. The people of Machu Picchu were connected to long-distance trade, as shown by non-local artifacts found at the site. For example, Bingham found unmodified obsidian nodules at the entrance gateway. In the 1970s, Burger and Asaro determined that these obsidian samples were from the "Titicaca" or Chivay obsidian source, and that the samples from Machu Picchu showed long-distance


title: "Machu Picchu" content: transport of this obsidian type in pre-Hispanic Peru. Thousands of tourists walk the Inca Trail to visit Machu Picchu each year. They congregate at Cusco before starting on the one-, two-, four- or five-day journey on foot from kilometer 82 (or 77 or 85, four/five-day trip) or kilometer 104 (one/two-day trip) near the town of Ollantaytambo in the Urubamba valley, walking up through the Andes to the isolated city. Machu Picchu is both a cultural and natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since its discovery in 1911, growing numbers of tourists have visited the site each year, including 1,411,279 in 2017.


title: "Machu Picchu" content: As Peru's most visited tourist attraction and major revenue generator, it is continually exposed to economic and commercial forces. In the late 1990s, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable car and a luxury hotel, including a tourist complex with boutiques and restaurants and a bridge to the site. Many people protested the plans, including Peruvians and foreign scientists, saying that more visitors would pose a physical burden on the ruins. In 2018, plans were restarted to again construct a cable car to encourage Peruvians to visit Machu Picchu and boost domestic tourism. A no-fly


title: "Machu Picchu" content: zone exists above the area. UNESCO is considering putting Machu Picchu on its List of World Heritage in Danger. During the 1980s a large rock from Machu Picchu's central plaza was moved to a different location to create a helicopter landing zone. In the 1990s, the government prohibited helicopter landings. In 2006, a Cusco-based company, Helicusco, sought approval for tourist flights over Machu Picchu. The resulting license was soon rescinded. Authorities have struggled to maintain tourist safety. Tourist deaths have been linked to altitude sickness, floods and hiking accidents. UNESCO received criticism for allowing tourists at the location given high


title: "Machu Picchu" content: risks of landslides, earthquakes and injury due to decaying structures. Nude tourism is a recent trend, to the dismay of Peruvian officials. In several incidents, tourists were detained for posing for nude pictures or streaking across the site. Peru's Ministry of Culture denounced these acts for threatening Peru's cultural heritage. Cusco's Regional Director of Culture increased surveillance to end the practice. In January 2010, heavy rain caused flooding that buried or washed away roads and railways to Machu Picchu, trapping more than 2,000 locals and more than 2,000 tourists, later airlifted out to safety. Machu Picchu was temporarily closed, reopening


title: "Machu Picchu" content: on 1 April 2010. In July 2011, the Dirección Regional de Cultura Cusco (DRC) introduced new entrance rules to the citadel of Machu Picchu. The tougher entrance rules attempted to reduce the effect of tourism. The entrance was limited to 2,500 visitors per day, and the entrance to Huayna Picchu (within the citadel) was further restricted to 400 visitors per day. In May 2012, a team of UNESCO conservation experts called upon Peruvian authorities to take "emergency measures" to further stabilize the site's buffer zone and protect it from damage, particularly in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes, which had


title: "Machu Picchu" content: grown rapidly. In 1912, 1914 and 1915, Bingham removed thousands of artifacts from Machu Picchu—ceramic vessels, silver statues, jewelry and human bones—and took them to Yale University for further study, supposedly for 18 months. Yale instead kept the artifacts until 2012, arguing that Peru lacked the infrastructure and systems to care for them. Eliane Karp, an anthropologist and wife of former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, accused Yale of profiting from Peru's cultural heritage. Many of the articles were exhibited at Yale's Peabody Museum. In 2006, Yale returned some pieces but kept the rest, claiming this was supported by federal case


title: "Machu Picchu" content: law of Peruvian antiquities. In 2007, Peru and Yale had agreed on a joint traveling exhibition and construction of a new museum and research center in Cusco advised by Yale. Yale acknowledged Peru's title to all the objects, but would share rights with Peru in the research collection, part of which would remain at Yale for continuing study. On 21 November 2010, Yale agreed to return the disputed artifacts. The third and final batch of artifacts was delivered November 2012. The artifacts are permanently exhibited at the Museo Machu Picchu, La Casa Concha ("The Shell House"), close to Cusco's colonial


title: "Machu Picchu" content: center. Owned by the National University of San Antonio Abad del Cusco, La Casa Concha also features a study area for local and foreign students. The Paramount Pictures film "Secret of the Incas" (1955), with Charlton Heston and Ima Sumac, was filmed on location at Cusco and Machu Picchu, the first time that a major Hollywood studio filmed on site. Five hundred indigenous people were hired as extras in the film. The opening sequence of the film "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" (1972) was shot in the Machu Picchu area and on the stone stairway of Huayna Picchu. Machu Picchu


title: "Machu Picchu" content: was featured prominently in the film "The Motorcycle Diaries" (2004), a biopic based on the 1952 youthful travel memoir of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara. The "NOVA" television documentary "Ghosts of Machu Picchu" presents an elaborate documentary on the mysteries of Machu Picchu. Contemporary multimedia artist Kimsooja used Macchu Picchu as the primary setting for the first episode of her film series "Thread Routes", shot in 2010. The song "Kilimanjaro", from the South Indian Tamil film "Enthiran" (2010), was filmed in Machu Picchu. The sanction for filming was granted only after direct intervention from the Indian government. Machu Picchu is visitable


title: "Machu Picchu" content: region in the Super Famicom game . It appears late in the game for a set of missions where the protagonist and his team must take care of a wave of guerrila attacks in the city. Images Machu Picchu Machu Picchu ( or ; ; ) is a 15th-century Inca citadel, located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a mountain ridge above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District in Peru, above the Sacred Valley, which is northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows, which cuts through the Cordillera


title: "Rutgers University" content: at Queen's College in 1783, and ceased operation in 1785. Continuing this tradition is the university's current college newspaper, "The Daily Targum", established in 1869, which is the second-oldest college newspaper published in the United States, after "The Dartmouth" (1843). Both poet Joyce Kilmer and economist Milton Friedman served as editors. Also included are "The Medium", a weekly satirical newspaper billed as Rutgers Entertainment Weekly, "Rutgers Centurion", a conservative newspaper, the "Rutgers University Glee Club", a male choral singing group established in 1872 (among the oldest in the country). Rutgers a cappella groups have routinely placed well in the International


title: "Soviet–Afghan War" content: of Humanitarian Assistance, under the then Director of HA, George M. Dykes III. With the first years of the Clinton Administration in Washington, DC, all aid ceased. The US decided not to help with reconstruction of the country, instead handing the interests of the country over to US allies Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Pakistan quickly took advantage of this opportunity and forged relations with warlords and later the Taliban, to secure trade interests and routes. The ten years following the war saw much ecological and agrarian destruction—from wiping out the country's trees through logging practices, which has destroyed all but


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: Labrador Retriever The Labrador Retriever, or just Labrador, is a type of retriever-gun dog. The Labrador is one of the most popular breeds of dog in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. A favourite disability assistance breed in many countries, Labradors are frequently trained to aid the blind, those who have autism, to act as a therapy dog, or to perform screening and detection work for law enforcement and other official agencies. Additionally, they are prized as sporting and hunting dogs. A few kennels breeding their ancestors, the St. John's water dog, were in England. At the same


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: time, a combination of the sheep protection policy in Newfoundland and rabies quarantine in the United Kingdom, led to the gradual demise of the St. John's water dog in Canada. In the 1830s, the 10th Earl of Home and his nephews the 5th Duke of Buccleuch and Lord John Scott, had imported progenitors of the breed from Newfoundland to Europe for use as gundogs. Another early advocate of these Newfoundland dogs, or Labrador Retrievers as they later became known, was the 2nd Earl of Malmesbury who bred them for their expertise in waterfowling. During the 1880s, the 3rd Earl of


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: Malmesbury, the 6th Duke of Buccleuch and the 12th Earl of Home collaborated to develop and establish the modern Labrador breed. The dogs Buccleuch Avon and Buccleuch Ned, given by Malmesbury to Buccleuch, were mated with female dogs carrying blood from those originally imported by the 5th Duke and the 10th Earl of Home. The offspring are considered to be the ancestors of modern Labradors. The modern Labrador's ancestors originated on the island of Newfoundland, now part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The founding breed of the Labrador was the St. John's water dog, a breed that


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: emerged through ad-hoc breedings by early settlers of the island in the 16th century. The forebears of the St. John's Dog are not known, but were likely a random-bred mix of English, Irish, and Portuguese working breeds. The Newfoundland (known then as the Greater Newfoundland) is likely a result of the St. John's Dog breeding with mastiffs brought to the island by the generations of Portuguese fishermen who had been fishing offshore since the 16th century. The smaller short-coated St. John's Dog (also known then as the Lesser Newfoundland) was used for retrieval and pulling in nets from the water.


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: These smaller dogs were the forebears of the Labrador Retriever. The white chest, feet, chin, and muzzle – known as tuxedo markings – characteristic of the St. John's Dog often appear in modern Lab mixes, and will occasionally manifest in Labradors as a small white spot on the chest (known as a medallion) or stray white hairs on the feet or muzzle. Several early descriptions of the St. John's water dog exist. In 1822, explorer W.E. Cormack crossed the island of Newfoundland by foot. In his journal he wrote "The dogs are admirably trained as retrievers in fowling, and are


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: otherwise useful...The smooth or short haired dog is preferred because in frosty weather the long haired kind become encumbered with ice on coming out of the water." An early report by a Colonel Hawker described the dog as "by far the best for any kind of shooting. He is generally black and no bigger than a Pointer, very fine in legs, with short, smooth hair and does not carry his tail so much curled as the other; is extremely quick, running, swimming and fighting...and their sense of smell is hardly to be credited..." The first St. John's dog was said


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: to be brought to England in or around 1820, but the breed's reputation had already spread to England; there is a story that the 2nd Earl of Malmesbury saw a St. John's dog on a fishing boat and immediately made arrangements with traders to have some of these dogs imported to England. These ancestors of the first labradors so impressed the Earl with their skill and ability for retrieving anything within the water and on shore that he devoted his entire kennel to developing and stabilising the breed. In his book "Excursions in and About Newfoundland During the Years 1839


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: and 1840", the geologist Joseph Beete Jukes describes the St. John's water dog. "A thin, short-haired, black dog came off-shore to us to-day. The animal was of a breed very different from what we understand by the term Newfoundland dog in England. He had a thin, tapering snout, a long thin tail, and rather thin, but powerful legs, with a lank body, – the hair short and smooth." wrote Jukes. "These are the most abundant dogs in the country...They are no means handsome, but are generally more intelligent and useful than the others...I observed he once or twice put his


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: foot in the water and paddled it about. This foot was white, and Harvey said he did it to "toil" or entice the fish. The whole proceeding struck me as remarkable, more especially as they said he had never been taught anything of the kind." The foundational breed of what is now the Labrador Retriever was known as the St. John's water dog, St. John's dog, or Lesser Newfoundland. When the dogs were later brought to England, they were named after the geographic area known as "the Labrador" (they were known as Labrador Retrievers because they "retrieved" in the Labrador


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: Sea) or simply Labrador to distinguish them from the larger Newfoundland breed, even though the breed was from the more southern Avalon Peninsula. The progenitors of the Labrador retriever were actually from Newfoundland and Labrador exceptionally, the breed known as the Newfoundland was created near the same time in Labrador. The two breeds' names and origins were mixed once moved into England and both North and South America. The dog from Labrador became the large, long-furred dog we see and know today, and the dog from Newfoundland became the Labrador. The first written reference to the breed was in 1814


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: ("Instructions to Young Sportsmen" by Colonel Peter Hawker), the first painting in 1823 ("Cora. A Labrador Bitch" by Edwin Landseer), and the first photograph in 1856 (the Earl of Home's dog "Nell", described both as a Labrador and a St. Johns dog). By 1870 the name Labrador Retriever became common in England. The first yellow Labrador on record was born in 1899 (Ben of Hyde, kennels of Major C.J. Radclyffe), and the breed was recognised by The Kennel Club in 1903. The first American Kennel Club (AKC) registration was in 1917. The chocolate Labrador emerged in the 1930s, although liver


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: spotted pups were documented being born at the Buccleuch kennels in 1892. The first dog to appear on the cover of Life Magazine was a black Labrador Retriever called "Blind of Arden" in the December, 12th, 1938 issue. The St. John's dog survived until the early 1980s, the last two individuals being photographed in old age around 1981. Labrador Retrievers are often categorised in one of two ways: English Labs or American Labs. The differences are principally behavioural, though there are differences in appearance as well. Behaviorally, English Labs tend to be more easily trainable, and are often considered better


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: for non-professional owners to keep as pets or hunting companions. American Labs tend to be more energetic and, having been bred to compete in field trials, are better suited for professional owners with more experience and time to devote to training. In terms of appearance, English Labs tend to more prominently exhibit the 'blocky' heads for which Labrador Retrievers are known, whereas American Labs tend to be leaner and longer-legged. In the early years of the breed through to the mid-20th century, Labradors of a shade we would now call "yellow" were in fact a dark, almost butterscotch, colour (visible


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: in early yellow Labrador photographs). The shade was known as "Golden" until required to be changed by the UK Kennel Club, on the grounds that "Gold" was not actually a colour. Over the 20th century a preference for far lighter shades of yellow through to cream prevailed; until today most yellow Labradors are of this shade. Also fawn has been a common colour in the yellow lab variety. Interest in the darker shades of gold and fox red were re-established by English breeders in the 1980s, and three dogs were instrumental in this change: Balrion King Frost (black, born c.


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: 1976) who consistently sired "very dark yellow" offspring and is credited as having "the biggest influence in the re-development of the fox red shade", and his great-grandson, the likewise famous Wynfaul Tabasco (b. 1986), described as "the father of the modern fox red Labrador", and the only modern fox red Show Champion in the UK. Other dogs, such as Red Alert and Scrimshaw Placido Flamingo, are also credited with passing on the genes into more than one renowned bloodline. Jack Vanderwyk traces the origins of all Chocolate Labradors listed on the LabradorNet database (some 34,000 Labrador dogs of all shades)


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: to eight original bloodlines. However, the shade was not seen as a distinct colour until the 20th century; before then, according to Vanderwyk, such dogs can be traced but were not registered. A degree of crossbreeding with Flatcoat or Chesapeake Bay retrievers was also documented in the early 20th century, prior to recognition. Chocolate Labradors were also well established in the early 20th century at the kennels of the Earl of Feversham, and Lady Ward of Chiltonfoliat. The bloodlines as traced by Vanderwyk each lead back to three black Labradors in the 1880s—Buccleuch Avon (m), and his sire and dam,


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: Malmesbury Tramp (m), and Malmesbury June (f). Morningtown Tobla is also named as an important intermediary, and according to the studbook of Buccleuch Kennels, the chocolates in this kennel came through FTW Peter of Faskally (1908). Labradors are medium-large, with males typically weighing and females . The majority of the characteristics of this breed, with the exception of colour, are the result of breeding to produce a working retriever. As with some other breeds, the Conformation (typically "Show", "English" or "bench") and the Field (typically "Working" or "American") lines differ, although both lines are bred in both countries. In general,


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: however, Conformation Labradors tend to be bred as medium-sized dogs, shorter and stockier with fuller faces and a slightly calmer nature than their Field counterparts, which are often bred as taller, lighter-framed dogs, with slightly less broad faces and a slightly longer nose. However, Field Labradors should still be proportional and fit within American Kennel Club standards. With Field Labradors, excessively long noses, thin heads, long legs, and lanky frames are not considered standard. These two types are informal and not codified or standardised; no distinction is made by the AKC or other kennel clubs, but the two types come


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: from different breeding lines. Australian stock also exists; though not seen in the West, they are common in Asia. These dogs are also very good with children. The breed tends to shed hair twice annually or regularly throughout the year in temperate climates. Some Labradors shed considerably; however, individual Labradors vary. Labrador hair is usually short and straight, and the tail is quite broad and strong. The webbed toes of the Labrador Retriever make them excellent swimmers. The webbing between their toes can also serve as a "snowshoe" in colder climates and keep snow from balling up between their toes—a


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: condition that can be painful to other breeds with hair between the toes. Their interwoven coat is also relatively waterproof, providing more assistance for swimming. There is a great deal of variety among Labradors. The following characteristics are typical of the conformation show bred (bench-bred) lines of this breed in the United States and are based on the American Kennel Club standard. Significant differences between UK and US standards are noted. The tail and coat are designated "distinctive [or distinguishing] features" of the Labrador by both the Kennel Club and AKC. The AKC adds that "true Labrador Retriever temperament is


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: as much a hallmark of the breed as the 'otter' tail." Labrador Retrievers are registered in three colours: black (a solid black colour), yellow (considered from cream to fox-red), and chocolate (medium to dark brown). Some dogs are sold as silver pure-bred Labradors, but purity of those bloodlines is currently disputed by breed experts including breed clubs and breed councils. Some major kennel clubs around the world allow silver Labradors to be registered, but not as silver. The Kennel Club (England) requires that they be registered as "Non-recognised." Occasionally, Labradors will exhibit small amounts of white fur on their chest,


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: paws, or tail, and rarely a purebred Lab will exhibit brindling stripes or tan points similar to a Rottweiler. These markings are a disqualification for show dogs but do not have any bearing on the dog's temperament or ability to be a good working or pet dog. Puppies of all colours can potentially occur in the same litter. Colour is determined primarily by three genes. The first gene (the B locus) determines the density of the coat's eumelanin pigment granules, if that pigment is allowed: dense granules result in a black coat, sparse ones give a chocolate coat. The second


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: (E) locus determines whether the eumelanin is produced at all. A dog with the recessive e allele will produce only phaeomelanin pigment and will be yellow regardless of its genotype at the B locus. The genes known about previously have had their number increased by the introduction of the K locus, where the dominant "black" allele K is now known to reside. Black or chocolate Labradors therefore must have the K allele. Yellow Labradors are determined at the E locus, so the K locus is irrelevant in determining their colour. Variations in numerous other genes control the subtler details of


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: the coat's colouration, which in yellow Labradors varies from white to light gold to a fox red. Chocolate and black Labradors' noses will match the coat colour. According to a 2011 study, 13 out of 245 Labradors studied were heterozygous for the M264V mutation responsible for the melanistic mask, and one was homozygous. Within the breed, this trait is not visible. Labrador colouration is controlled by multiple genes. It is possible for recessive genes to re-emerge in later generations. Also, there can sometimes be unexpected pigmentation effects to different parts of the body. Pigmentation effects appear in regard to yellow


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: Labradors, and sometimes chocolate, and hence the majority of this section covers pigmentation within the yellow Labrador. The most common places where pigmentation is visible are the nose, lips, gums, feet, tail, and the rims of the eyes, which may be black, brown, light yellow-brown ("liver", caused by having two genes for chocolate), or several other colours. A Labrador can carry genes for a different colour, for example a black Labrador can carry recessive chocolate and yellow genes, and a yellow Labrador can carry recessive genes for the other two colours. DNA testing can reveal some aspects of these. Less


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: common pigmentations (other than pink) are a fault, not a disqualification, and hence such dogs are still permitted to be shown. The intensity of black pigment on yellow Labradors is controlled by a separate gene independent of the fur colouring. Yellow Labradors usually have black noses, which may gradually turn pink with age (called "snow nose" or "winter nose"). This is due to a reduction in the enzyme tyrosinase which indirectly controls the production of melanin, a dark colouring. Tyrosinase is temperature dependent—hence light colouration can be seasonal, due to cold weather—and is less produced with increasing age two years


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: old onwards. As a result, the nose colour of most yellow Labradors becomes a somewhat pink shade as they grow older. A colouration known as "Dudley" is also possible. Dudleys are variously defined as yellow Labradors which have unpigmented (pink) noses (LRC), yellow with liver/chocolate pigmentation (AKC), or "flesh coloured" in addition to having the same colour around the rims of the eye, rather than having black or dark brown pigmentation. A yellow Labrador with brown or chocolate pigmentation, for example, a brown or chocolate nose, is not necessarily a Dudley, though according to the AKC's current standard it would


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: be if it has chocolate rims around the eyes (or more accurately of the genotype eebb). Breed standards for Labradors considers a true Dudley to be a disqualifying feature in a conformation show Lab, such as one with a thoroughly pink nose or one lacking in any pigment along with flesh coloured rims around the eyes. True Dudleys are extremely rare. Breeding in order to correct pigmentation often lacks dependability. Because colour is determined by many genes, some of which are recessive, crossbreeding a pigmentation non-standard yellow Labrador to a black Labrador may not correct the matter or prevent future


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: generations carrying the same recessive genes. For similar reasons, crossbreeding chocolate to yellow Labradors is also often avoided. As a result of specialised breeding there are significant differences between field and trial-bred and show-bred lines of Labradors. In the United States the former are sometimes mistakenly referred to as "American" and the latter as "English" although both field and show types are bred in both countries. In the United Kingdom they are called "Field" and "Show". Dogs bred for hunting and field-trial work are selected first for working ability, where dogs bred to compete in conformation shows are selected for


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: their conformation to the standards and characteristics sought by judges in the show ring. While individual dogs may vary, in general show-bred Labradors are heavier built, slightly shorter-bodied, and have a thicker coat and tail. Field Labradors are generally longer-legged, lighter, and more lithe in build, making them agile. In the head, show Labradors tend to have broader heads, better defined stops, and more powerful necks, while field Labradors have lighter and slightly narrower heads with longer muzzles. Field-bred Labradors are commonly higher energy and more high-strung compared to the Labrador bred for conformation showing while conformation breeds are calmer


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: in energy, and as a consequence may be more suited to working relationships than being a "family pet". Some breeders, especially those specialising in the field type, feel that breed shows do not adequately recognise their type of dog, leading to occasional debate regarding officially splitting the breed into subtypes. In the United States, the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the Labrador's breed club have set the breed standard to accommodate the field-bred Labrador somewhat. For instance, the AKC withers-height standards allow conformation dogs to be slightly taller than the equivalent British standard. However, dual champions, or dogs that excel


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: in both the field and the show ring, are becoming more unusual. The AKC describes the Labrador's temperament as a kind, pleasant, outgoing and tractable nature. Labradors' sense of smell allows them to home in on almost any scent and follow the path of its origin. They generally stay on the scent until they find it. Navies, military forces and police forces use them as detection dogs to track down smugglers, thieves, terrorists and black marketers. They are known to have a very soft feel to the mouth, as a result of being bred to retrieve game such as waterfowl.


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: They are prone to chewing objects (though they can be trained to abandon this behaviour). Labradors have a reputation as a very even-tempered breed and an excellent family dog. This includes a good reputation with children of all ages and other animals. Some lines, particularly those that have continued to be bred specifically for their skills at working in the field (rather than for their appearance), are particularly fast and athletic. Their fun-loving boisterousness and lack of fear may require training and firm handling at times to ensure it does not get out of hand—an uncontrolled adult can be quite


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: problematic. Females may be slightly more independent than males. Labradors mature at around three years of age; before this time they can have a significant degree of puppy-like energy, often mislabelled as being hyperactive. Because of their enthusiasm, leash-training early on is suggested to prevent pulling when full-grown. Labradors often enjoy retrieving a ball endlessly (often obsessively) and other forms of activity (such as agility, frisbee, or flyball).Although they will sometimes bark at noise, especially noise from an unseen source ("alarm barking"), Labradors are usually not noisy or territorial. They are often very easygoing and trusting with strangers and therefore


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: are not usually suitable as guard dogs. Labradors as a breed are curious and exploratory and love company, following both people and interesting scents for food, attention, and novelty value. In this way, they can often "vanish" or otherwise become separated from their owners with little fanfare. As a breed they are highly intelligent and capable of intense single-mindedness and focus if motivated or their interest is caught. Therefore, with the right conditions and stimuli, a bored Labrador could "turn into an escape artist "par excellence"". Many dogs are also stolen. Because of their curious nature and ability to "vanish,"


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: along with the risk of being stolen, a number of dog clubs and rescue organisations (including the UK's Kennel Club) consider it good practice that Labradors be microchipped, with the owner's name and address also on their collar and tags. The steady temperament of Labradors and their ability to learn make them an ideal breed for search and rescue, detection, and therapy work. They are a very intelligent breed. They are ranked No. 7 in Stanley Coren's "The Intelligence of Dogs". The AKC describes the breed as an ideal family and sporting dog. Their primary working role in the field


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: continues to be that of a hunting retriever. Labradors are an intelligent breed with a good work ethic and generally good temperaments. Common working roles for Labradors include: hunting, tracking and detection (they have a great sense of smell which helps when working in these areas), disabled-assistance, carting, and therapy work. Approximately 60–70% of all guide dogs in Canada are Labradors; other common breeds are Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds. Labrador Retrievers have proven to have a high success rate at becoming guide dogs. A study was recently done on how well four different breeds (Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, Labrador


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: Retriever/Golden Retriever Mix, and German Shepherds) trained to become guide dogs. In this experiment, German Shepherds had the highest chance of not completing it. Labrador Retrievers and Labrador Retriever/Golden Retriever Mix had the highest success rate. However, German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers had a higher success rate after going through longer training than the training required for Labrador Retrievers. Labradors are powerful and indefatigable swimmers noted for their ability to tolerate the coldest of water for extended periods of time. Their ability to work quietly alongside hunters while watching for birds to fall from the sky, marking where they land,


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: and then using their outstanding nose to find and retrieve dead or wounded birds has made them the king of waterfowl retrievers. They are also used for pointing and flushing and make excellent upland game hunting partners. The high intelligence, initiative and self-direction of Labradors in working roles is exemplified by dogs such as Endal, who is trained to, if need be, put his wheelchair-bound human in the recovery position, cover him with a blanket, and activate an emergency phone. A number of Labradors have also been taught to assist their owner in removing money and credit cards from ATMs


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: with prior training. The breed is used in water rescue/lifesaving. It continues in that role today, along with the Leonberger, Newfoundland and Golden Retriever dogs; they are used at the Italian School of Canine Lifeguard. In 2014, the UK breed survey reported an average lifespan for the Labrador Retriever of 12 years and 3 months, with some living up to 19 years of age. Labrador pups generally are not brought to the home before they are 8 weeks old. It is a healthy breed with relatively few major problems. Notable issues related to health and well-being include inherited disorders and


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: obesity. Labradors like to eat, and without proper exercise can become obese. Laziness is a contribution to this. Obesity is a serious condition and can be considered the number one nutritional problem with dogs. A study shows that at least 25% of dogs in the United States are overweight. Therefore, Labradors must be properly exercised and stimulated. A healthy Labrador can do swimming wind sprints for two hours, and should keep a very slight hourglass waist and be fit and light, rather than fat or heavy-set. Obesity can exacerbate conditions such as hip dysplasia and joint problems, and can lead


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: to secondary diseases, including diabetes. Osteoarthritis is very common in older, especially overweight, Labradors. A 14-year study covering 48 dogs by food manufacturer Purina showed that Labradors fed to maintain a lean body shape outlived those fed freely by around two years, emphasising the importance of not over-feeding. Labradors should be walked twice a day for at least half an hour. It has been shown that out of all dog breeds, it is the Labrador Retriever that is most likely to be obese. In a 2016 published study it was shown that out of 310 Labradors, most were missing all


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: or parts of the POMC gene. This gene plays a part in appetite regulation as well as indication of the amount of one's stored fat. The study concluded that the absence of that gene had a significant impact on Labrador weight and appetite. The POMC gene mutation is present in only one other breed – the Flat-Coated Retriever. In the United States, the breed gained wider recognition following a 1928 American Kennel Gazette article, ""Meet the Labrador Retriever"". Before this time, the AKC had only registered 23 Labradors in the country, in part because US and UK hunting styles had


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: different requirements. Labradors acquired popularity as hunting dogs during the 1920s and especially after World War II, as they gained recognition as combining some of the best traits of the two favourite United States breeds as both game finders and water dogs. Outside North America and Western Europe, the Labrador arrived later. For example, the Russian Retriever Club traces the arrival of Labradors to the late 1960s, as household pets of diplomats and others in the foreign ministry. The establishment of the breed in the Commonwealth of Independent States (former USSR) was initially hindered by the relatively small numbers of


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: Labradors and great distances involved, leading to difficulty establishing breedings and bloodlines; at the start of the 1980s, home-born dogs were still regularly supplemented by further imports from overseas. Difficulties such as these initially led to Labradors being tacitly cross-bred to other types of retriever. In the 1990s, improved access to overseas shows and bloodlines is said to have helped this situation become regularised. The Labrador is an exceptionally popular dog. For example, : There is no global registry of Labradors, nor is there detailed information on numbers of Labradors living in each country. The countries with the five largest


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: numbers of Labrador registrations as of 2005 are: 1: United Kingdom 2: France and United States (approximately equal), 4: Sweden, 5: Finland. Sweden and Finland have far lower populations than the other three countries, suggesting that these two countries have the highest proportion of Labradors per million people: As there is no global registry for Labradors, it is difficult to ascertain whether there is simply a smaller percentage of people formally registering their animals in countries like the United States, or whether the number of animals per capita is actually smaller. OFA statistics suggest that yellow and black Labradors are


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: registered in very similar numbers (yellow slightly more than black); chocolate in lesser numbers. "Note: The number of registrations is not necessarily the same as the number of living dogs at any given time." The Vietnam War is the only war in American history in which US war dogs, which were officially classified by the military as "military working dogs," were not allowed to officially return home after the war. Classified as expendable equipment, of the approximate 4,000 US K-9s deployed to the Vietnam War, it is estimated that only about 200 US war dogs survived Vietnam to be put


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: into service at other outposts stationed overseas. Aside from these 200 or so, the remaining canines who were not killed in action were either euthanised or left behind. The predominate canine selected by the US Military during the Vietnam War was the German Shepherd Dog, which was used in the roles of "Scout Dogs", "Sentry Dogs", "Mine Detection Dogs", and the US Navy used "Water Dogs" to detect enemy under water divers in South Vietnam. The Labrador Retriever was the military's choice for their "Combat Tracker Teams" (CTTs). Combat Tracker Teams consisted of one Labrador and four or five men:


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: the handler, an observer, one or two cover men, and the team leader. Labradors were selected by the military for tracking because of their distinct smelling qualities, and were used to locate wounded US servicemen, enemy patrols, and downed allied airmen in Vietnam. The US Army Labrador Retrievers received their combat training at the British Army's "Jungle Warfare School" in Malaysia. Of the over 4,000 US war dogs serving in the Vietnam War, 232 were killed in action, and 295 US servicemen deployed as "dog handlers" were killed in action. Dog handler Robert W. Hartsock was awarded the Medal of


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: Honor. Six Labrador Retrievers were killed in action while assigned to the 62nd and 63rd US Army "Combat Tracking Teams". During the course of the war the US Army lost 204 dogs, while the US Marine Corps and US Air Force lost 13 and 15 dogs, respectively. In November 2000, President Bill Clinton signed into law an amendment that allowed retired US military working dogs (war dogs) to be adopted by personnel outside of the military, leaving the Vietnam War as the only war in US history in which American war dogs never returned home. As both the most popular


title: "Labrador Retriever" content: breed by registered ownership and also the most popular breed for assistance dogs in several countries, there have been many notable and famous Labradors since the breed was recognised. A selection of a few of the most famous labradors within various categories includes: Labrador Retriever The Labrador Retriever, or just Labrador, is a type of retriever-gun dog. The Labrador is one of the most popular breeds of dog in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. A favourite disability assistance breed in many countries, Labradors are frequently trained to aid the blind, those who have autism, to act as


title: "German Shepherd" content: German Shepherd The German Shepherd (, ) is a breed of medium to large-sized working dog that originated in Germany. In the English language, the breed's officially recognized name is German Shepherd Dog (sometimes abbreviated as "GSD"). The breed was officially known as the Alsatian in Britain until 1977 when its name was changed back to German Shepherd. The German Shepherd is a relatively new breed of dog, with their origin dating to 1899. As part of the Herding Group, German Shepherds are working dogs developed originally for herding sheep. Since that time however, because of their strength, intelligence, trainability,