Critter News

DECEMBER 12, 2009

Another animal dies at the Calgary Zoo and more questions are being raised about their practices. They were a part of the zoo’s breeding program for the rare birds. In November 2008, a virus killed a 15-month-old Asian elephant calf named Malti. I don't track zoos, but this seems like an unusually high number of casualties.

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Zoos Animal Welfare Welfare Elephants 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2012

They reside there at the top of a small mountain sanctuary as mythical as my first remembrances of ancient thunderbirds, living, mating, and raising young. Condors, like all New World vultures, can disturb the human psyche. Their hallmark: They don’t kill. My first view of them was at a distance.

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California Condor California Idaho North America 202

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

No one in the room–neither dog nor human–can tell which cup hides the biscuit. Understanding a pointed finger may seem easy, but consider this: while humans and canines can do it naturally, no other known species in the animal kingdom can. “Humans are unique. Hare could run a very profitable shell game.

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Wolves Fox Dogs Puppies 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

A lovely looking and distinctive sounding bird (so they say, I sadly have not seen one…yet), the Kirtland’s Warbler can only be found during its breeding season in Jack Pine forests 5 to 20 years old in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Most of the chapters are in the first two sections; the future is a brief, open question.

Michigan 221

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 221

Animal Ethics

APRIL 27, 2008

There is no happy ending for even the most humanely raised animal. And there is no good reason to breed, confine and kill animals for food unless we believe that economic benefit justifies killing. More and more people do not. We call ourselves vegetarians. Patti Breitman Fairfax, Calif.,

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New York Times New York Meat Sheep 40

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation. As the names and habitats imply, not all owl species are alike, in behavior, adaptation, relationship to humans, and in how humans perceive them.

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Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2023

The latter is even captured in a somewhat gruesome video , in which the hornbill plucks a caged bird out of its cage and kills and eats it. At 15h59, the female picked up the fourth chick and killed it by repeatedly crushing it with her beak. One paper describes them breeding in a human settlement in abandoned clay jars.

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Rhinoceros Singapore Transported Hunting 124

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

After one 3 year stint, they left with 131,405 specimens including birds, mammals, reptiles, plants and even human remains (which were only recently repatriated for burial in Africa!) This bird breeds in the forests of the Transkei area and is only a winter visitor to KwaZulu-Natal. Image by Hugh Chittenden.

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Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 182

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 6, 2007

Consider some of the victories: On November 5th, 2002, more than two and a half million Floridians voted "Yes" on Amendment 10 to amend the state constitution and prohibit the use of gestation crates , narrow metal cages where breeding pigs are kept for most of their lives. The full text of the amendment is available here.

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Factory Factory Farm Factory Farming Gestation Crates 40

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2013

There are three things that will go wrong: 1) The inland zones that would become the new wetlands are already, in many cases, occupied by human-built things that will severely interfere with this process. Also, these human-occupied area are probably full of toxins and other impediments to normal use by wildlife.

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Maryland Birds Penguins Wildlife 215

Animal Ethics

MARCH 8, 2009

This sort of question can also be raised without benefit of hypothetical examples from future genetic engineering. Suppose further that such blood is obtained without killing the animal and without causing the animal pain. If, on the other hand, the legs are produced in factory conditions, there is a moral objection.

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Vegetarian Morals Suffering Vegan 40

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

Islands, with their high levels of endemism and specialization, are particularly fragile and vulnerable to human activity. This bird was in serious trouble by the mid-19th century due to the adults being killed for food and young being taken for pets. Nests were in hollows in palm trees.

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Cuba Parrots Collecting Columbus 238

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

We immediately get a sense of the pigeons’ abundance, beauty, and danger to human activity. She portrays humans merged with Passenger Pigeons; the images are then framed to look like 19th century calling cards. In both countries, birds have been killed for reasons of food, commerce, and sport.

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2014 Killing Michigan Kentucky 159

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

Another 170 are in captivity, many of them breeding stock for reintroduction efforts. What could motivate gunmen (I cannot call them hunters) in two states to deliberately kill North America’s tallest and most critically endangered bird? One percent of the wild population of whooping cranes fell to guns this winter alone.

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2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 239

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

March 14, 2011 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Jon Gassett, Commissioner One Sportsman’s Lane Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 Dear Mr. Gassett, I am a writer, naturalist and artist with a special interest in human/bird interactions. Kills in Canada, Alaska and Mexico are not included in the count.

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2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 239

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

The adults presumably have already learned that humans are not usually good news even if not named Donald Trump. A Lesser Cuckoo stayed in one of the Nanhui microforests for a few days, not being afraid of humans at all. However, this September, a friend alarmed me to the presence of a Fairy Pitta a little bit past 6 a.m.

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Birds Tigers Humane Ecuador 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

None fly, most are curious and social, which probably contributes to our cultural perception of penguins as one step away from human. Eight to eleven photographs illustrate each two-page species account, and a map shows breeding sites and population strongholds. Some are cute, some are dignified (and royal!).

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Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 191

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2022

As with Chinese male humans, having your own building is still vital to raising young. One of the established ways to evaluate self-cognition in animals (including humans) is the mirror test. There was a breeding pair at Binjiang Forest Park this June. Humanity is not very human. You should try it too.

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Birds Sparrows Protection Humane 179

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Hopefully, the winter time in Shanghai gives the Black-faced Buntings some time to relax from the challenges of the breeding season. In contrast, the females need to make sure not to get duped into raising actual cuckoos – the buntings are a targeted host species ( source ). The White-browed Thrush is not a lot more attractive.

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Birds Eggs Bangladesh China 197