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Slate on Pepper: Stolen for Research

Animal Person

Pepper, the stolen dog who changed American science ," thankfully wasn't called Pepper, the stolen dog that changed American science," so that was an encouraging sign. Pepper was a beloved family pet. I look forward, with a tad of trepidation, to the part about Pepper being a turning point in science. Stay tuned.

Research 100
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The Parable of the Goat Mites

10,000 Birds

And so, injunctions were granted and lifted, granted and lifted, over the course of more than a decade; during one busy period in 1982, the official stance on killing the goats changed five times in two months. And so, most had been neutered, adopted out to soft-hearted landowners as odd pets, conversation pieces.

Goats 162
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Deconstructing Slate's "Pepper" Series

Animal Person

For those who didn't read the five-part Slate series " Pepper, the stolen dog who changed American science " by Daniel Engber , I recommend it for the history, but also for the misconceptions and assumptions that you might want to discuss on the Facebook discussion about the series. Let's deconstruct: Part I: Where's Pepper?

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From Today's New York Times

Animal Ethics

To the Editor: Soon after I read Gary Steiner’s article, my wife asked me to kill a spider, which I did. We kill so many living creatures when we build a house, construct a road, drive down that road or just walk on a path. But even then if we were to survive we would have to kill some animals in self-defense. Lawrence S.

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Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans

10,000 Birds

The single greatest challenge facing any book of science writing is balance. Otherwise, there would be no science writing, everyone would just go straight to the journals. They are right, I think, in saying it is perverse that we can kill crows but not coddle them. Pinyon Jay by Dave Menke of the US FWS.

Humane 148
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Birding the Kruger Park (3): Malelane area

10,000 Birds

When I asked for one in a German pet shop, they just laughed at me. Fate eventually caught up with him when he was killed by a wounded elephant in the Okavango area, though possibly the blow was lessened a bit by being elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences since the news of his death had not reached Sweden yet ( source ).

Swaziland 147
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Africa’s endangered species

10,000 Birds

More than 150 bird species are known to have become extinct over the past 500 years, and many more are estimated to have been driven to extinction before they became known to science. An adult (left) and subadult (right) White-backed Vulture with full crops after feeding on the remains of a Lion kill, Ndutu, Tanzania by Adam Riley.