Understanding Animal Conservation

The oldest bird on record is a Manx shearwater that lived to be approximately 55. These foot-long birds have an average wingspan of 33 inches. They live in colonies of hundreds or thousands; and when they nest, they burrow into sand or dirt to hatch their eggs underground. Shearwaters spend much of their day foraging for food from the ocean – sometimes flying as far as 600 miles from their nesting grounds. More amazingly, shearwaters migrate from the UK to their winter home off Brazil’s coast – 5,000 miles a year. Because of their accuracy, however, these birds of a feather flock Read more

For those of us who have had pets in our lives, it’s no great surprise to learn that interactions with animals can have therapeutic and healing benefits. Many animals soothe, comfort, and calm, just by their quiet presence. And animals are now also being used as a form of autism therapy.

A New Mexico Highlands University School of Social Work graduate student named Jennifer Baról lead a research project to study the benefits and impact of animal-assisted therapies on children with autism when used as a treatment tool.

The study, entitled “The Effects of Read more