Microchip Your Pet

This article serves as a good reminder to microchip your pet!

Smartest Breeds of Dogs

It seems like several times a year, people come out with their list of the smartest breeds of dogs. Using results from obedience competitions, this researcher came up with the following list of the top 5:

1. Border Collies

2. Poodles

3. German Shepherds

4. Golden Retrievers

5. Dobermans

The problem with that method, naturally, is that many breeds aren't represented in large numbers in obedience competitions. One thing that is interesting, though, is that labs didn't make the top 5 though they are by far the most popular breed in the US. Sadly, I don't think dachshunds (or any other hound, really) will ever break into breed intelligence lists. ;)

Lucky Hawk! (?)

A hawk was released to the wild today from a wildlife clinic in California. The hawk had been hit by a car, and had gotten stuck in the car's grill! Amazingly, the bird survived, and the driver was given the honor of officially releasing the bird. Visit this link for a full story plus pictures and video.

Many hawks are killed along roadways. This one was certainly lucky!

Ghost Dog

Can you find the dog in this picture? If it wasn't for his collar, it would be nearly impossible to see him!

Smiling Dog

Another Japanese video, this one shows a smiling dog. I know some dogs who do that. We need to get recordings, apparently!

Cat Commercials

OK, I think these commercials are for an internet search engine? Or a hotel? Or sushi? I'm not sure, but they are kinda funny....

Tiger Populations Plummet

This may be the Year of the Tiger, but the tiger population is facing a huge crisis. Wild tiger populations in Southeast Asia have all but collapsed, only an estimated 350 remaining. Tigers are threatened by both illegal hunting due to demand for tiger parts in traditional Chinese medicine as well as habitat destruction and fragmentation (the artificial separation of habitats by deforestation and building). The next Year of the Tiger is in 2022, and it could very well be that there are no more wild tigers in Southeast Asia by that time. World tiger populations are also dropping, now numbering at about 3,200, down from an estimated 20,000 in the 1980s. Interestingly, Russian Prime Minister Vladimer Putin himself is going to be hosting a tiger conservation summit in Vladivostak this September.

Tigers, besides being amazing creatures, are a "flagship species." Flagship species are the major, headliner animals that live in particular habitats, and the health of their population gives an indication of the overall health of the ecosystem. Also, flagship species tend to be the large, flashy, popular animals that people are more interested in saving rather than the more "homely" creatures that count on the same ecosystem. By saving flagship species, you save many other species as well.

Tiger conservation certainly is a difficult proposition. Tigers are large, aggressive carnivores that are a threat to the people and livestock that live their habitat. That alone makes locals less concerned about tiger welfare than those of us who don't need to worry about tigers in our own backyards. Also, the long tradition of the use of tiger parts in traditional medicine is ingrained into the culture of the people. Deforestation and habitat loss are difficult problems that we face around the world, not just in Southeast Asia. Significant funding for tiger conservation would need to go into education of the locals in alternative agricultural practices and better access to Western medicine. A national park system such as has been present in the United States would be ideal, but lots of money would be needed to maintain it and keep up patrols for poachers.

Whatever is decided upon, action must be taken quickly. This magnificent creature, and the other animals that live in this habitat, are highly endangered, and may be extinct in the wild within the not-so-distant future.