April 18, 2014
igor purlantov, animals, evolution, zebra, animal rights, how zebras got their stripes, rudyard kipling, modern, biological mystery, laws of evolution, striped animals
How did the zebra get its stripes? It sounds like the theme for a “Just So” story that Rudyard Kipling never got around to writing. You would think that someone would have come up with the definitive answer by now, but, in fact, the reason zebras have stripes remains a biological mystery. The laws of evolution suggest that the random emergence of stripes on the ancestors of modern zebras must have had some sort of advantage that allowed them to reproduce more prolifically than their unstriped brethren. The striped animals would have become more common with each generation, ultimately outlasting the ones without stripes.
April 17, 2014
animal rights, animals, barrett griner, dog, dog chosen for jury duty, german shepherd, igor purlantov, iv griner, local county, new jersey
It’s kinda strange.” That was New Jersey resident Barrett Griner’s first thought when he checked his mail last week and found that one of the mail items from his local county clerk’s office was not for him. It was for his 5-year-old German Shepherd dog, IV. “I got the mail and I look at it, and I’m like IV Griner, this is my dog’s name,” he said. “I’m wondering like, What is this? Something from the county office about her vaccinations or something? Like, why is my dog getting mail?”
April 16, 2014
animal rights, animals, animals associated with easter, baby animals, decorated eggs, easter bunny, flowers, holiday, igor purlantov, springtime
Easter is a holiday that celebrates the coming of spring and the birth of new life. Hence, many images of Easter are synonymous with images of springtime such as flowers, gentle colors and baby animals. Although decorated eggs, Easter baskets (usually filled with candy), and the Easter Bunny are the most iconic Easter imagery, baby animals are also ever-present symbols in the holiday’s décor.
April 15, 2014
animal care and control, animal rights, animals, family adopts dog that raced train, igor purlantov, manhattan, metro north train, mta workers, railroad ties, south bronx, tie
A daring dog that raced alongside a Metro-North train from the South Bronx to Manhattan last week as passengers and crew cringed in fear she would get hurt has been adopted, officials said Monday. The dog, named Tie by MTA workers for all the railroad ties she ran across, went home to her new family on Sunday, according to Animal Care & Control.
April 14, 2014
animal rights, animals, animals with disabilities, disabled and otherwise, igor purlantov, my bionic pet, nature, nonhuman creatures, pbs series, photography, television, the lives of animals
Fans of the PBS series “Nature” are used to having their breath taken away by the photography, but they’re less accustomed to having their heartstrings tugged. Wednesday’s installment, “My Bionic Pet,” about animals with disabilities, goes for the emotions. It’s one of three programs this week that prove that television about nonhuman creatures can be more than mere pretty pictures or idiotic turtle wrangling.
April 11, 2014
animal rights, animals, barbara wiseman, huffington post, igor purlantov, lawrence anthony earth organization, nikolaev zoo, political unrest, south africa, thousands of ukraine's zoo animals may soon starve, ukraine
As political unrest continues to threaten the peace in Ukraine, thousands of animals at one of the country’s zoos are at the brink of starvation, an international conservation group announced this week. The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization, a nonprofit headquartered in South Africa, told The Huffington Post there has been a severe scarcity of food and medical supplies for the estimated 5,700 animals at the 104-year-old Nikolaev Zoo, located in southern Ukraine, since government funding for the zoo dried up a few weeks ago. “The fact is, they were just two days away from totally running out of food for the carnivores when we found out about this and began providing meat,” the organization’s international president, Barbara Wiseman, told HuffPost via email. “The rest of the animals were just two weeks away from running out of food.”
April 10, 2014
animal rights, animals, animals feel pleasure, fish, food, igor purlantov, jonathan balcombe, monkeys, pig eat a pumpkin, pigs and chickens, play
Do dogs feel pleasure? How about crocodiles? Jonathan Balcombe says yes, they do. And not just dogs and crocodiles, but also fish, monkeys, pigs and chickens. “Why wouldn’t they?” he says. “Pleasure is nature’s way of saying ‘Good behavior!’ It encourages us to do it again. Little wonder, then, that food, play, sex and friendships feel so good. Fishes line up for a spa service from cleaner-fishes, crocodiles love to bask in the sun, as do chickens, and if you haven’t seen a pig eat a pumpkin then it’s time you turned your lights on.”
April 9, 2014
animal rights, animals, bronx to manhattan, dog, dog races and chases metro north, grand central, hudson line, igor purlantov, joseph delia, mott haven, pooch, the bronx, tuesday
A feisty little pooch took on a 400-ton Metro-North train on Tuesday — bravely running with it from the South Bronx to Manhattan. “She was just running like she didn’t have a care in the world,” said engineer Joseph Delia, 52, who was at the controls of the 10:39 a.m. Hudson Line train to Grand Central. The speedy pup began the epic chase at the busy Mott Haven Junction, racing alongside the train as it made its way out of The Bronx.
April 8, 2014
igor purlantov, animals, animal rights, 2001, learn to communicate with animals, animal protective foundation of malta, david louis, art of animal communication, thinking or feeling
The Animal Protective Foundation of Malta is sponsoring an animal communication class taught by David Louis in May. Now is the time to register to save your place. Have you ever wondered what your animals are thinking or feeling, or felt that they were trying to communicate with you but you weren’t able to understand? David Louis began practicing the art of animal communication in 2001, and since then he has communicated with thousands of animals, and taught hundreds of people how to do the same.
April 7, 2014
acting strangely, animal rights, animals, do animals foretell coming events, earthquake, family, igor purlantov, natural disaster, surprise, yellowstone
Our pets are more than an extension of our family; they are many times at the pinnacle of the family. And so it is no surprise when an emergent situation arises and they are there with a keen eye and sometimes the correct answer. Recently there have been articles regarding the animals of Yellowstone leaving the Nation Park due (in some beliefs) to earthquake activity. While if we pay attention to any natural disaster, we hear of animals who seem to be acting strangely or doing something really quite unusual just prior to an event. Is this a foretelling of the event?