According to a study done by researchers at UCLA’s Center for Sleep Research, walruses are the only animals that don’t sleep daily. In fact, they can stay active for up to 84 hours without showing behavioral signs of sleep. When they’re in the water, they sleep floating on the surface, lying on the bottom or standing while leaning against something. They’ve even been seen sleeping resting in water while using their tusks to hang from ice floes. When walruses sleep under water, they can hold their breath 4 to 5 minutes. When they sleep on land, they land up to 19 hours of sleep.

According to research, avian adultery isn’t uncommon. Two ornithologists from Oxford University studied the songs of the Peruvian warbling antbird, found mostly in the western Amazon basin. An antbird couple will sing a harmonious duet when confronted by a rival pair of antbirds. However, if a single female approaches, she increases the likelihood the “husband” will cheat on or leave his mate for the new female. To prevent this, the antbird “wife” jams her mate’s song. She interrupts his music with her own music. It seems the wife antbird has a bird’s-eye view of her husband’s wandering eye.

Researchers have studied Santino, a 31-year-old chimpanzee in a Swedish zoo. Before the zoo opened each day, Santino would calmly collect rocks. He would also bang pieces loose from concrete boulders and break them into smaller pieces. In the afternoon Santino would aggressively throw these weapons at zoo visitors. Seeming comfortable in his position as leader, he didn’t throw things at other chimpanzees. To the researchers this human-like behavior demonstrated that Santino was capable of planning ahead and carrying out his plan. Thankfully, because of bad aim, no one was seriously hurt – but Santino didn’t aim to be in a zoo.

Lassa fever causes serious morbidity and mortality in West Africa. The virus’’s natural hosts are rodents, and as there is little chance for effective rodent control in the endemic areas, a vaccine is the most feasible way to gain control of the disease. Several research groups around the world have worked on vaccine developmentand their efforts have been boosted by the classification of Lassa virus as a Category A bioweapons agentbut to date no vaccine is available for either general or high-risk application in humans.

Thomas Geisbert and colleagues have developed and now report tests of a recombinant vaccine based on a replication-competent vesicular stomatitis virus (DOI: ). One shot of this vaccine protected four out of four vaccinated monkeys against a lethal virus challenge, whereas the two control animals died, making the vaccine a serious candidate for future application in humans. Clearly many issues about this vaccine still need to be resolved, such as vector safety, duration of protection, and breadth of protection (there are at least four distinct Lassa virus strains). Nevertheless, we accepted this paper because we and our advisers felt that the research was at a stage where clinical questions, such as patient safety and design of early human trials, should inform any additional studies in animals. The proper place for such a study is, we believe, a clinical journal.

There are several other types of animal studies we consider appropriate for publication in PLoS Medicine. These include studies that explore off-label uses of approved medical interventions in validated animal disease models, again based on the studies” direct relevance to potential treatment of human patients. More often, we would publish human studies that also include experimental animal data, which typically explore molecular mechanisms suggested by the human data.

Animal studies that are submitted to medical journals can be broadly divided into two groupsanimal clinical trials and exploratory studies. We will assess the former in a similar way to how we look at human trials. This assessment will include not only the ethical conduct of the study and approval by the respective regulatory authority, but also the rigor of the methodology. Too often, animal clinical trials, i.e., prospective, hypothesis-testing studies that evaluate the effects of a health-related intervention in animals, are not performed with the same rigor that has been developed over past decades and widely adopted by the clinical research community. In particular, animal studies often have inappropriate controls, are underpowered, involve researchers monitoring outcomes who are not blinded to treatment allocation, or lack proper statistical analysis.

Exploratory studies, designed to yield insight into disease etiology, pathology, or the mechanisms by which a particular treatment affects a disease state, are a crucial early part of the translation of basic research findings into clinical practice. However, by and large, they will not be appropriate for PLoS Medicine.

This sad fact was uncovered by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) that urged the public to avoid Botox for cosmetic purposes until its manufacturer Allergan stops testing the product on animals.

“The HSUS acknowledges that Botox has several medical uses that are beneficial to humans and those uses should continue. But we are also aware that nearly half of the drug is for beauty enhancement. Consumers need to know that animals are suffering and enduring horrible deaths for the sole satisfaction of human vanity. This has simply got to stop,” said Dr. Martin Stephens, vice president for the HSUS’s Animal Research Issues.

Botox is the brand name of the botulinum toxin type A, a powerful poison that paralyzes muscles and temporarily smooths out wrinkles when used in small amounts. Since it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for that purpose in 2002, Botox has become a highly popular non-surgical procedure to remove frown lines, crow’s feet and creases in the forehead.

In 2005, more than 3.2 million Botox treatments were performed, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In 2003 alone, Allergan earned $226 million in net sales from Botox injections.

But there’s a dark side to all of this. Before Botox is released to doctors, it has to be tested for the right potency. This is carried out by a questionable test known as LD50 or Lethal Dose 50 that kills 50 percent of animals in the process. About a hundred mice are used in the test although Allergan claims it has reduced this number.

“This test involves giving mice a single injection of the product into their abdominal cavity and seeing if animals die within 3-4 days. The mice are first assigned to one of various groups; each group will receive a different strength of the product in order to estimate the strength that kills half of the targeted group. That strength (the LD50 value) is then considered a single ‘unit’ of Botox; from there, Allergan packages a given number of units into a vial for human use,” the HSUS explained.

“Of all the tests done on animals, the conventional or classical LD50 is one of the most brutal. In Botox testing, animals endure differing levels of muscular paralysis and suffer from impaired vision and dry mouth. Animals that die do so from suffocation, after their diaphragms become paralyzed, and they can no longer breathe. Those who don’t die immediately may languish with varying degrees of paralysis before being euthanized at the end of the three- to four-day test,” the HSUS said.

Furthermore, studies have shown that the LD50 test is unreliable and as early as 2002, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international trade organization that produces testing guidelines, stopped recommending this test. Sadly, Allergan continues to ignore this recommendation resulting in the deaths of many lab animals.

In my quest to share my blog all across the world wide web, I join different blog communities. In one of the communities I posted a thread titled, ‘Do snakes interest you?’ That simple. To my surprise I receive a few comments such as………..

‘I’m scared of snakes…. ‘

‘I hate snakes.’

These comments I can take, I understand that not all people share my passion for serpents. The next one, however, managed to strike my nerves. Note that I did not edit anything out except for the name. These were his exact words:

‘I’m with YOU, —-! Sheesh, I had a flickr widget on my blog with a Nature Group Pool and one day, after a year, I asked them, politely casually, not to include snakes in the Pool. Those amateur snappers went Bonkers. So nasty. I was so ‘crushed’ it took me an Entire 42 seconds to dump the bums and put up a Classy Group! They lost a TON of traffic –every day my readers clicked on those photos to look at their pics. Serves ‘em right!

And most people don’t know: snakes have salmonela on their gross skin. Easy to get sick touching those filthy things, but who would want to, you’d hafta look at ‘em. YUCK. Totally Diz-gusting. (Geez, why did I read this…now I’m going to have a nightmare, sheesh.)’

To the dimwit who posted this on that particular site, first off, you misspelled salmonella. hahaha.

Second, HOW DARE YOU CALL THEM GROSS, FILTHY, AND DISGUSTING! Did you know that snakes play a very significant role in many ecosystems around the world. Saang planeta ka ba nakatira??? Snakes benefit humans by controlling rodent populations (hallur, ever heard of the bubonic plague??? tingin ko hindi, mwahaha). Even snake venom has been used to treat various diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and hemophilia.

Third, yes, I have heard that reptiles do carry some strains of salmonella. But so do amphibians, mammals, that includes us humans (o baka naman alien ka???). Even common house pets like dogs and cats. Chickens can even carry up to 2,000+ species of salmonella. Sources of salmonella include contaminated meat, improperly cooked meat, undercooked eggs, animal feces, even raw milk or certain fertilizers and animal feeds. It is probably associated with them because they do come into contact with their feces dahil hallur, hindi sila nakakalakad katulad mo. They can move in 4 different ways; rectilinear movement, serpentine movement, concertina movement, and sidewinding, notice walang ‘walking’ dahil wala naman silang legs (o baka hindi mo rin alam yon???). Correct me if I’m wrong [calling all herpetologists (as in scientists who study reptiles and amphibians, hindi sila manggagamot ng herpes baka kasi yun ang akala mo) please help me out here............], I once heard that there is a solution to getting salmonella from reptiles, hand washing and alcohol!! I hold (even kiss) Sedira a lot, but one thing I always do is to wash my hands afterwards. It’s so easy to wash one’s hands: water + soap + common sense lang yan, unless of course you lack the latter (turuan din kita maghugas ng kamay gusto mo???). You have more chances of getting the bacteria from improper food handling than you would from a reptile, intyendes???

Fourth, ever heard of CONSERVATION????? Why the heck do you think Steve Irwin wrestled all those crocodiles??? Did you actually think he had nothing better to do??? Did you know that some 200 species of snakes are considered threatened or endangered? The biggest threat being habitat loss resulting from human activities like logging that causes deforestation. They are hunted for their beautiful skin which we humans turn into bags, belts, wallets, etc. In some countries, they are killed for their meat which is considered a delicacy. Others hunt them for their blood which is valued for its alleged pharmaceutical effect of warming the blood of the drinker. In fact, WE ARE A THREAT TO THEM AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. And FYI, snakes do not bite humans and are harmless unless provoked.

So unless you start taking an interest in their survival, snakes may find themselves banished from our planet. Unless you start caring, baka sa books o sa pictures mo nalang sila makita.

There a lot of things I still do not know about them. In fact, I only started reading about salmonella in reptiles when I heard Mr. Ignoramus Stupidus Maximus (ginawan pa kita ng scientific name…….bonggacious da va). There a lot of species I would love to learn more about, read about, and if I’m lucky, to hold and handle. But alas, I can only drool in envy as I watch reruns of the late Steve Irwin handle the most venomous species. Whenever I go to zoos, I head straight for the serpentarium as they never fail to mesmerize me. In case you didn’t notice (my username alone screams snakes, black_mamba, duh), I LOVE SNAKES MORE THAN ANY OTHER ANIMAL ON THE PLANET!

So to the a–hole who said that, next time you feel like saying anything bad about them, think again. Or better yet, start watching more Nat Geo or Animal Planet instead of watching Paris Hilton’s porn videos. Or read more books instead of all those Playboy and Hustler magazines.

Some say it is to answer the indigence to be different and unique. Some have this obsession for something exotic. Others are minimally called into the windswept.

No issue what the reasons may be, everybody who wants to own an exotic pet will definitely do everything to do so.

Basic Requirements in Owning an Exotic Pet

There are many stuff to respect in owning a pet. However, there are necessary considerations before bringing home the exotic animal.

The household must have the physical structures wanted to sustain the passage and ‘lifestyle’ of the pet. For example, there must be enough area for the big pet.

Financial considerations should also be factored in. Most exotic pets involve uncommon diet. The food unaided can sometimes be burdensome.

There are also definite exotic pets that may be restricted or regulated by the regional and national laws like monkeys and tigers. Make definite bringing home despoiled no law the exotic mortal.

Consent of everyone in the household must be acquired first. This is to duck any troubles or fights in the family and to argue harmonious existence. Support or help in the household may also come in useful in caring for the pet.

Finally, one must also know how to properly agreement with the conduct of the pet. In this repute, the next tips may be considered:

1. Research First Before bringing home the exotic pet, be constant that the nature will suit the wishes and stress in the household. There could also be unusual behaviors that may infuriate the household.

Will it fit in the house? Should it lodge internal or outdoor? What are its toilet habits? Does it ever get noisy? Does it ought a mate or can it live alone?

2. Consult the Veterinarian Exotic pets behave differently than household pets. They may have wishes that are beyond what the house can provide and only a veterinarian can answer.

However, not all veterinarians will accommodate an unruly pet. Find a willing one that you can turn to when effects get a bit complicated.

3. Get a Professional Trainer There are behaviors in exotic pets that can be qualified. Get a professional coach that can tutor this to them to make life with the pet easier and if probable, more fun.

4. Know the Limitations Owners must know the limitations in the behavior of exotic pets. There are those that can be played with but be alert forever of the limitations.

Conclusion

Originally this route formed part of an idea of two prominent South African families to link nine properties by focussing on tourism and the niche birding market. People were recruited from the local communities and provided with specialist bird guide training. In varying degrees this project was succesful in bringing publicity and visitors to each of the different sites on the route. It became apparent that the diverse assets of these properties went well beyond birding. And so evolved the Diamond Route, freed of the limiting constraints of a birding focus and geared to the full range of possibilities from culture and history to all aspects of the natural environment.

Mopane woodland, riverine forest, savannah plains, highveld grasslands and riverine bush is just some of the diverse set of habitat that covers this area. Added to this are the historic gardens of Brenthurst, the Namaqualand Diamond Coast, the unique Karoo/Kalahari interface in the Kimberley area, and the Kalahari dunes of the desert. This Kalahari Desert Lodge boasts 70 species of mammal including lion, cheetah, desert black rhino, sable and roan antelope. More than 200 species of bird can also be found. The initial birding focus provided a foundation framework, on which other stunning tourism offerings could develop. The Kleinzee seal colony, the petroglyphs and Cecil John Rhodes’ “Shooting Box” at Rooipoort, the amazing variety of rarely-seen small mammals on night drives at Benfontein, the impressive wilderness of the Kalahari at Tswalu to the Wild Dogs of Venetia and Japanese Garden at Brenthurst.

The Diamond Route provides a common thread of communication between these destinations, training guides for birding and in other specialties, whilst marketing their assets, and helping the destinations to develop new products. The incredible beauty of the Kalahari sourrounds you in this are. A variety of wildlife and unforgettable expriences form part of this safari in the Kalahari desert. Here is the opportunity to observe many endangered animals in their natural habitat and see a variety of birds, insects and desert vegetation.

The Diamond Route is an interface with the general public, showcasing the commitment of two families to the environment and to people, whilst developing self-sustaining tourism operations. Along this route you will step into a past that is rich in history, and includes highlights like birding tours, Wild Dog tracking tours, Namaqualand flowers every August, Mine Tours, archaeological sites, and the meeting of local Nama people. Don’t miss out on all these wonderful adventure.

When we look at nature, we see the majority of living things display amazing self-sacrifice in order to protect and provide the best care for their offspring, incomparable to any form of sacrifice shown by human beings. Furthermore, these living things risk their lives for their young without a moment’s hesitation. So, how did such self-sacrifice in animals develop?

Evolutionists claim that self-sacrifice displayed by living things, especially that shown towards their offspring, is instinctive behavior. What then does the word instinct mean?

Evolutionists define instinct as a sense of intuition inherent in living things. They claim that an inner voice whispers to a spider, a bird, a lion or a tiny insect to practice self-sacrifice to keep the generations going. In reply to a question regarding the source of this voice, they desperately say “mother nature”. In the view of evolutionists, every phenomenon in nature is a miracle of nature.

However, it is evident that this claim is futile and meaningless, because nature itself, is already a created entity consisting of the stones, flowers, trees, rivers and mountains familiar to all of us. It is obvious that these entities cannot come together to furnish a living being with a new trait, which is a product of intelligence.

As a matter of fact, even Darwin himself was aware of this logical failure from the very beginning. In his book The Origin of Species, which he wrote in 1859, he expressed his self-doubt about his own theory in the following words:

So wonderful an instinct as that of the hive-bee making its cells will probably have occurred to many readers, as a difficulty sufficient to overthrow my whole theory. (Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, p. 233)

Research conducted by scientists on living things has revealed that they live in an astounding harmony, coordination and collaboration with one another. Wherever one turns in nature, one is likely to see examples of this. For instance, some little birds utter a shrill alarm call when they see a bird of prey like a hawk or eagle approaching their flock, to warn their companions of the danger. Thus, they attract the attention of the attacker to themselves. This behavior considerably reduces the chance of survival of the bird who sounded the alarm. But despite this, the bird puts its own life at risk for the hundreds of other birds in the flock.

A majority of animals undertake all kind of self-sacrifice for their young. For example the incubation period of penguins is during the polar winter. Female penguins lay only one egg, leave incubation to the males, and return to the sea. During the four months of incubation, the male penguin has to resist violent polar storms at times reaching speeds of 120 kilometers per hour. Making great sacrifices for four full months without leaving the egg, the male penguin loses half of its body weight, because it has no chance of going hunting. Although it goes without any food for months, it does not go hunting, and resists the violent storms without ever leaving the egg. After the end of the four months, the female penguin shows up with a huge store of food. She has not wasted time in the meantime, but has worked for her young and stored food for it. She empties her stomach and takes over the job of caring for the young.

The care provided by the crocodile, a particularly savage animal, for its offspring is also quite astounding. First, the crocodile digs a hole for the incubation of its eggs. The temperature of the hole must never rise above 30ºC. A slight rise in temperature would threaten the lives of the offspring in the eggs. The crocodile takes care that the holes in which it places its eggs are located in rather shady places and goes to extraordinary efforts to keep the eggs at a constant temperature. Some crocodile species build nests of weeds on cold water. If the temperature of the nest still rises despite these measures, then the crocodile cools the nest by sprinkling urea on it.

The time when the eggs hatch is most important, because, in the event the crocodile failed to hear the noises coming from the nest, the young would be suffocated. The mother crocodile brings the eggs out and helps the offspring out of their eggs by using her teeth as tweezers. The crocodile, with her razor-sharp teeth, avoids the slightest movement likely to injure her young. The safest place for the newly born is the protective pouch in its mother’s mouth which is specially designed to shelter half a dozen newly born crocodiles.

The meticulous care and concern a wild animal like the crocodile shows its offspring is only one of the examples proving the invalidity of the evolutionist claim of the struggle for life which maintains that the strong survive while the others are defeated and disappear.

The dolphin is another animal known for its self-sacrificing behavior. Dolphins raise their offspring with great care from the moment they are born. As soon as the newborn dolphin is born, it has to go up to the surface of the water for oxygen. To provide this, the mother dolphin shows amazingly conscious behavior and, using the tip of her nose, gently pushes the offspring above the surface of the water.

Just before birth, the movements of the mother dolphin slow down considerably. For this reason, two other females always accompany the mother dolphin during birth. Always remaining on either side of the mother, the assistant dolphins assume the responsibility of protecting her from possible attacks by sharks that might be attracted by the smell of blood.

How can this instinct, defined by evolutionists as “a drive observed in animals but not completely understood”, guide animals to become civil engineers while building their nests, perfect soldiers while protecting their young or colonies, and turn even the most aggressive species into compassionate and gentle creatures towards their young?

Indeed, Darwin also had difficulties in answering this query, which he, himself, put forward. He often left related questions unanswered too. In his book The Origin of Species, he asks the following questions:

Thirdly, can instincts be acquired and modified through natural selection? What shall we say to so marvelous an instinct as that which leads the bee to make cells, which have practically anticipated the discoveries of profound mathematicians? (Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, p.205)

As seen, Darwin’s doubts on “Natural Selection” are quite precise. Although Darwin himself confesses that Natural Selection is not a reasonable explanation, the majority of evolutionists still insist on adhering to this fallacy.

Yet, every human being who observes nature with a clear consciousness sees that living things are not brutal, tough or uncompassionate because of the so-called struggle for life. On the contrary, living beings are self-sacrificing because of the “inspiration” their Creator bestowed upon them.

As expressed in the 68th verse of the Surat an-Nahl, which says “Your Lord revealed to bees…”, “God” the Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything in between, the Infinitely Compassionate and Oft-Forgiving has control over all living things. Their instincts, which Darwin was unable to explain within the scope of evolution, are actually the inspiration given by God to all living things.

All life in nature is created by God. All living things come into being by the Will of God and behave in compliance with His inspiration. The self-sacrificing behavior, kindness and care living beings display towards their young are merely the reflection of God’s name, the “Compassionate”. This is revealed in the 7th verse of Surat an-Nahl:

“Your Lord is All-Gentle, Most Merciful”

If your secondary interest runs down the line of science or biology, you should take a closer look at a career as a zoologist. Maybe you’re interested in the healing aspects; the field of a veterinarian would be a good career choice. A career in wildlife management would fulfill your interests in animals and the enviroment, as well as some politics.

Wildlife managers usually work closely with park rangers and other officials, who’s interests are similar to your own. A lot of the work required for wildlife management is done out in the field in the outdoors. A wildlife manager’s basic job is to oversee the animal population to sustain a healthy ecosystem. This holds a great importance in the field of wildlife management.

What could be classified as a simple problem; could cause the ecosystem of one small section of the planet to be thrown out of control. It is the wildlife managers responsibility to maintain a certain level of control over these seemingly ’simple problems’.

An example…if the population of the possum, grows to a surprisingly large number; this event will impact that wildlife area. The increased population would result in an increased level of feeding on plant life which would produce a decline in the vegetation production. This could set off a chain reaction and affect other wildlife in the geographical area, due to the lack of available food.

This example proceeds in the opposite direction as well, but is just as important. If the population of a predator, maybe a mountain lion, increases; the prey it hunts stand the risk of becoming endangered or worse extinct. This is where the wildlife management job is so important.

Wildlife managers monitor the population increase or decline of any group of animals, in any given area on the planet. As you research wildlife management careers, you will see the efforts made, help to keep a stable and healthy environment for both man and animal. Whether a wildlife manager is assigned to a specific park or a full state; their objective is to monitor, and record the results of their findings, the animals and wildlife in that given area. If the open range of change occurs, the wildlife manager can react quickly and control the change efficiently.

If you are proficient in math and biology; plus, have an interest in the environment, politics and animals; a career in wildlife management is worth looking into. This job is not for everyone, once you collect your informatio, you decide if it is right for you.