Sea World

Many visitors travel to Sea World to see the most famous Orca of all time, Shamu. However, the original Shamu died in 1971, after living in captivity for only six years. Now, Shamu is just a trademark used by Sea World.
The killer whales are among one of the most popular attractions at Sea World, but are manifestations of  animal stress causing the orcas to turn against their trainers and attack them? Aggression towards trainers has been increasing rapidly over the past few years. In 2010, a trainer with 16 years experience was rubbing a killer whale's head before a public performance and the whale grabbed her by the waist and pinned her underwater. When rescue officials arrived, she was pronounced dead and the stadium was immediately evacuated. Many feel that this is due to the compromised mental and physical health of Orcas held in unnatural habitats. When compared to Orcas that live free, the Orcas held in captivity have very different behaviors. The size of the tanks, and the lack of anything resembling their natural habitat is blamed for the variations in both health and behavior. A biologist and former animal trainer stated that “killer whales don’t attack humans in the wild and what we’ve seen in these injuries to people is a direct byproduct of the stress associated with captivity.”
For years, PETA has been calling on SeaWorld to stop confining oceangoing mammals to an area that to them is like the size of a bathtub, but nothing is yet to be done as Sea World generates most of its revenue from these animal shows.

 

Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins baseball team are planning on installing a fully functioning aquarium in their backstop. That means that the only thing standing between fans and a wild 100 mph fastball is, well, a thick layer of aquarium glass and about a hundred or so terrified fish. Although tank designers have assured everyone that there  is a very little chance of the glass shattering, there will still be very terrified fish getting hit with the occasional foul ball and being disturbed by thousands of screaming fans. Don Anthony, an animal rights spokesperson, states that"No matter how many shock absorbers they build into the system, if there are thousands of fans screaming and jumping during a sporting event it's going to affect the fish in there".

The Marlins want this aquarium in their stadium so badly that Marlins Executive VP for Ballpark Development Claude Delorme set up a pitching machine to launch baseballs at the tank with fish inside, to observe their reaction.

Is this animal cruelty?

The flamingos eye is LARGER than its brain!

Flamingos are found in Africa, Asia, North America, Central America, South America, and Europe. They can live in hot volcanic lakes and in icy lakes in the Andean mountains. They live an average of 20 to 30 years in the wild. Colonies of Flamingos in the wild can be up to 20,000 in number. Many of them are small though with only about 50 in them. The largest group of Flamingos is found in East Africa where a single colony has more than 1 million members.
Shrimplike crustaceans are responsible for the flamingo's pink color. The birds will turn pale in captivity unless their diet is supplemented.
Flamingos often rest on one leg when they are in shallow water. This greatly reduces the amount of body heat lost to the cool water. Sometimes, they also sit down on land, especially during the hatching period, to keep their eggs warm. Both the female and the male flamingo take turns sitting on the egg to keep it warm.

When chicks are a few weeks old, parents leave them in a crèche and go in search of food, taking turns coming back day and night to feed them. Though watched by a few adults, the young are vulnerable to predators such as dogs and jaguars.


Fun Fact: There are more plastic flamingos in the USA than actual real ones!

For more information on Flamingos, watch Disney's Crimson Wing.

FedEx

FedEx can help you ship what you want, where you want and when you want. It couldn't be easier or more convenient. But did you know that you can FedEx a panda?

On January 15, two pandas named Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, who were born at a Research and Breeding Centre, boarded a specially-chartered Boeing 777F flight known as the “FedEx Panda Express.”
During the non-stop flight to Paris, France (5,489 miles away), the pair of pandas passed the time snoozing and eating bamboo in custom-built enclosures. They were accompanied by a Chinese veterinarian and animal handler to their new home.

FedEx Express has a long history of transporting rare and delicate cargo, including other pandas, polar bears, white tigers, elephants, penguins, mountain lions, gorillas, eagles, and even a 13-foot tiger shark used in filming the movie “Jaws.”

Montreal SPCA- Rabbits

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) was the first humane society in Canada. It was founded in Montreal in 1869 by a group of dedicated citizens. Their mission is to protect animals against negligence, abuse, and exploitation, represent their interests and ensure their well-being, and to raise public awareness and help develop compassion for all living beings. The SPCA receives 14,000 abandoned animals each year and relies on their volunteers and donations.

Easter is approaching rapidly and as some of you may be aware, every year there is a large number of rabbits who are adopted during Easter and then subsequently abandoned at the SPCA and other shelters. Buyers are not aware of the commitment a rabbit entails, rather they only see how cute they are. One big problem with this tactic is rabbits are usually not the best pet to have in the home with small children. Children normally want to pick up their pet and most rabbits do not like being picked up because it initiates being caught by a predator. They will kick and scratch; even in some instances rabbits will bite. 

Another harsh reality is that many unwanted rabbits are released into the wild to fend for themselves. Domesticated rabbits often lack the instincts to survive on their own and fall prey to predators, are susceptible to disease, or end up starving because there is no adequate food source. 

 
Impulse buying of a pet is always a bad idea-give children stuffed animals or chocolate as Easter gifts.

African Elephants

Elephants, the biggest of all land animals, are among the most recognizable and beloved creatures on Earth. They are slightly larger than the Asian elephant and can be identified by their larger ears that look somewhat like the continent of Africa.  Female elephants live in family herds with their young, but adult males tend to roam on their own. Elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal—almost 22 months. They usually give birth to one calf every two to four years. At birth, elephants already weigh 200 pounds!!

Both male and female African elephants have tusks they use to dig for food and water and to strip bark from trees. Males use the tusks to battle one another, but the ivory has also attracted violence of a far more dangerous sort. They are hunted cruelly for these ivory tusks that are then traded on the black market Elephants are currently listed as endangered on the IUCN red list of threatened species.

Toronto Blue Jays

 

The Toronto Blue Jays will be starting their season on April 5^th at an away game in Cleveland. It will be the Jays 36th season as a Major League Baseball franchise, and the 23^rd full season of play at the Rogers Centre.

It is not easy to find many well-rounded major league catchers these days that can both call a great game and do some damage with the bat. Usually players are more talented in some areas than others. But the same cannot be said for Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia. He showed surprising power in 2011, hitting 23 home runs to go along with 78 RBIs, 47 runs scored, one stolen base and a .219 batting average, while spending most of the year near the bottom of Toronto's lineup. Arencibia also set the franchise record for home runs by a catcher last season.

Arencibia played baseball for the university of Tennesse until he was drafted by Toronto in 2007. Toronto managers speculated if Arencibia should stick as a catcher or whether a move to first base would be in order for him. After the draft the Blue Jays decided to keep him at the catcher's position and work with him on his defense. This is the best move that the Toronto Blue Jays could have made, as J.P Arencibia is a crucial component to the team when he is behind the plate.

 

 

 

 

Guinness Book of World Records

Indonesia has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the second year in a row... But for being the country with the highest rate of deforestation.

These record rates of destruction make Indonesia not only the fastest forest destroyer but also the world's number one greenhouse gas polluter. They destroy an area that is the equivalent to 300 soccer fields every hour! Illegal logging can be blamed for the forest depletion, as 73% of logging done in Indonesia is illegal so that oil palm plantations can be established.

As a result of this, Indonesia has the third highest number of threatened species, with 772 species. One of these species being the orangutan. The orangutan is on virtually every international top ten endangered animals list. Only two species of orangutan remain on earth, the Bornean orangutan and the Sumatran orangutan. In the 1990’s there were more than 230,000 orangutans wandering freely, but today there are merely 60,000 of them left in total.

“The survival of orangutans and other rainforest wildlife in Indonesia is seriously endangered by illegal logging, forest fires, including those associated with the rapid spread of oil palm plantations, illegal hunting and trade.” -United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)