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The Emotional Lives of Animals

4 The Love Of Animals

Grief, friendship, gratitude, wonder, and other things we animals experience. Chimpanzees and elephants grieve the loss of family and friends, and gorillas hold wakes for the dead. Donna Fernandes, president of the Buffalo Zoo, witnessed a wake for a female gorilla, Babs, who had died of cancer at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo.

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On "Pets" and "Its"

Animal Person

Here are some observations: When reading a book about gorillas to/with a seven-year old, I was struck by the mixed messages the book sent. Here 's the book, and in the preview you can see that in the beginning when the gorilla being described is male he is referred to as "he." Also, the have families (as if other animals don't).

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Introducing the African Birding Beat

10,000 Birds

Families that are endemic to the continent include such strange birds as Shoebill , Secretarybird , Hamerkop , mousebirds and rockfowl ( picathartes ) and delightful groups including bushshrikes, sugarbirds, rockjumpers, woodhoopoes, turacos and hyliotas. What are the must do destinations and what must one see?