June 2012
The World’s Cutest Baby Wild Animals
Historically, the sweltering, late-summer months are when obstetricians witness an increase in the arrival of newborns.
“It must have something to do with the time of conception and whether there are timing issues with the outcome of pregnancy, besides just a live birth,” Mathews told LifesLittleMysteries.
Why August?
Seasons and weather conditions play a role in birthdays, according to Paul Sutton, another CDC health statistics demographer. He theorizes that as the mercury drops in the late fall and winter, things heat up at home as people spend more time indoors. About nine months later, a summer baby is born.
The most common day of the week to deliver in 2006 in the United States was Wednesday, stealing the No. 1 spot from Tuesday, which had been the most common birth day since 1990, according to the CDC.
Below are some of the cutest baby animals in the world. Enjoy.
The Clouded Leopard
These two male clouded leopard cubs, named Sa Ming (“brave warrior”) and Ta Moon (“mischievous child”), were born in March 2009 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The species gets its name from the shape of the cat’s markings, which can look like dark clouds on a tan background. Clouded leopards are native to Southeast Asia and are listed as vulnerable to extinction due to deforestation and hunting.The creatures have been difficult to breed in captivity, so the birth of the cubs was especially exciting to zoologists.
The Prehensile-tailed Porcupine
Though they grow up to be decidedly un-cuddly, baby porcupines are comparatively soft. This baby girl prehensile-tailed porcupine was born in April 2005 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C.As the babies grow to adult size over about a year, they gradually losetheir red hair and grow stiff, sharp spines. These creatures are rodents native to Central and South America. Their tails (“prehensile” means adapted for grasping or holding) act as fifth limbs to help grab branches while climbing.
Batagur Baska Turtle
This adorable Batagurbaska turtle is one of only 20 individuals known to exist in the wild and in captivity among this critically endangered species. Six of those, including this baby, live at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria. This baby’s birth was the first time this species was successfully bred in captivity. At home in the rivers of Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh, Batagur baska turtles were hunted almost to extinction for their meat and eggs, which are considered a delicacy.
World’s Cutest Baby Asian elephant
Even newborn elephants are still some of the animal world’s heftiest creatures. This baby Asian elephant, named Baylor, was born weighing 348 pounds (158 kilograms) in May 2010 at the Houston Zoo. Mom Shanti endured a pregnancy lasting almost 23 months. About two hours after birth the calf was able to stand on his own.
The American Flamingo
Adult flamingos may be known for their garish colors and lofty grace,but their babies look like little white balls of fur. This chick was born at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Flamingo chicks take between 24 and 36 hours to hatch out of their eggs, which they do by pecking with a special growth on their bill called an egg tooth. This false “tooth” falls off soon after hatching. Meanwhile, their thin-legged mother birds teeter over them.
Malayan Tapir
This male baby Malayan tapir called Kamal, whose name means “perfection,” was born in April 2010 at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. These pointy-nosed creatures are related to rhinos and horses. Found in the forests of Malaysia, Thailand, Burma and Sumatra, Malayan tapirs are endangered due to habitat loss and hunting. The mammals grow up to look very different than they do when young; instead of a black coat dotted with white spots and stripes, adults have a black body with one thick white band in the middle. Tapirs grow this adult coat when they are around 6 months old.
The Sumatran orangutan
As primates, orangutans are relative cousins of humans, though they’re a bit more hairy. This Sumatran orangutan, named Menari, was born at New Orleans’ Audubon Zoo in June 2009. In the wild, the species is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and is endangered due to loss of its natural habitat.
Polar bear babies
Though they are cuddly creatures when young, polar bear babies grow up to be ferocious predators. They are controversial zoo inhabitants, as many conservationists argue that it’s unnatural to breed these violent bears in zoos, rather than in their natural habitat. However, that habitat is swiftly disappearing as the polar bear’s home –the arctic ice – is diminishing rapidly due to climate change.
Baby Masai giraffe
Baby Masai giraffe Miles was born in January 2009 at the Houston Zoo. Giraffes are the tallest living terrestrial animal. While adult males average about 17 feet (5 meters) tall, Miles was born at 5.8 feet (1.8 m) tall – still not bad, compared with us little humans! Miles was able to stand up on his own a little over an hour after his birth.
Baby gentoo penguins
Baby gentoo penguins are basically fuzzier and softer versions of their adult counterparts. This penguin chick was hatched in May 2010 at Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo. Until they are about 3 months old, the chicks are dutifully fed by both mother and father penguins. At that point, they start to grow in their adult feathers and fend for themselves a bit more. These penguins, native to Antarctica, are the fastest known underwater swimming bird.
Giant panda Tai Shan
Giant panda Tai Shan is a celebrity in his own right. When he was born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in July 2000 5he prompted a 50-percent increase in zoo attendance and a rash of fan Web sites. He earned the nickname Butterstick after a zoo worker described him shortly after birth as about the size of a stick of butter. Because Tai Shan’s parents are on lease from China, even though the cub was born in the United States, he still belongs to China by law.In February 2010 Tai Shan boarded a special FedEx cargo jet to his permanent home at the Bifengxia Panda Base in Sichuan, China. In this image Tai Shan is 11 weeks old.
Baby meerkats Lia & Roo
Baby meerkats named Lia and Roo at London Zoo At first the babies had to be syringe-fed every two hours day and night, but now it has reduced to every five hours.“They are also developing their own little personalities. Like any sisters they are very different, Lia is much calmer and more sedate than Roo, who is very mischievous and wants to play all the Ms Hyde said: “At first it was quite difficult getting up with them every couple of hours but now it’s a lot easier and I even wake up naturally now, whether I’m doing the feeds or not“They can both stand up on their hind legs, doing the famous meerkat look-out pose
January 2012
The cute and curious Fox may have an undeserved reputation
FEW animals better highlight the urban-rural divide in Ireland than the fox.
The fox is not alone bound up in mythology, it is also very much part of real life no matter where you go.
It can be found prowling city streets and suburbia, after dark, and is viewed by urban people with a mixture of fascination and curiosity. Their country cousins, however, tend to take a different view, treating an madra rua with a suspicion which is ingrained.
Going back to the days when most rural people kept fowl, the fox was seen as an enemy. An early lesson in life learned from an ageing grandmother was to ensure that all hens and chickens were safely locked up well before dark. Securing the henhouse was the last chore of the day for many a country child. An important task it was, too.
Any hen not accounted for in the evening’s round-up was unlikely to survive the night in the open.
Though fowl have long since disappeared from most farmyards, the fox is still seen as a pest in the countryside. To sheep farmers, for instance, the fox is a predator of young lambs. There is a school of thought that the fox has sometimes been blamed in the wrong — it can be unclear whether it has actually killed a lamb, or just feeding on a lamb carcass, according to a new book, Ireland’s Wildlife Year.
General editor Eric Dempsey, well-known bird guide, author and photographer, points to some overlooked facts concerning this highly adaptable creature. The fox, for example, plays an important role in controlling rabbits, rats and mice and much of its diet consists of earthworms, beetles and a variety of fruits.
Not quite as a familiar as the fox, though we are beginning to see more of it, is the humpback whale.
Watching this giant launch its 40-tonne body out of the ocean, before crashing back with a huge splash, is a breath-taking sight.
Once almost hunted to extinction, the whale is making a recovery and can be seen more frequently off the south and west coasts, as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group regularly reports.
Wildlife enthusiasts will have heard recordings of the song of the humpback whale and some people believe the haunting traditional tune, Port na bPucai, from the Blasket Islands, is based on it.
A newcomer to Ireland is the Muntjac, a small, hunched deer about the size of a setter dog. There have been sightings in Wicklow and Wexford of what, according to the book, is almost certainly the Chinese Muntjac, which has become well established in southern England.
But, it is uncertain if the Muntjac was deliberately imported and released here, or escaped from private collections.
The 264-page book, which surveys the four seasons in the natural environment, is beautifully illustrated with photographs of numerous mammals, birds, plants and landscape scenes. It traces the growth of plants and animal movements throughout the calendar year.
As might be expected, the photography is superb. Some of the pictures almost jump, or fly, out of the page and a magnificent image of a long-eared owl caught the eye.
The Irish translation of the owl’s name, ceann cait (cat’s head), is apt for it does look like a cat in feathers. Long-eared owls are rarely seen before dark, but their distinctive ‘oo-oo’ call can be heard emanating from woodlands where they nest. The young can give loud, squeaking calls, quaintly described as being like the ‘creaking of a rusty gate’.
How nature is governed by the seasons is also traced in this valuable book. Animals have developed strategies by which they can live and breed in varied conditions. There is a good time to give birth — when the weather is warmer and there’s enough food for a lactating mother and the weaned young. Thus, most animals rear their young during the late spring and high summer.
For birds, winter can be a tough time, but our food supply and the variety of native habitats ensures enough birds survive to either breed again in Ireland, or migrate back to their northern breeding grounds. Also, more people seem to be feeding birds.
In late autumn, many birds grow new feathers to combat the cold, while extra fat put on means some can weigh as much a third more in winter than they do in summer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 2011
Animals of 2011: The Cutest, Most Inspiring Creature (Photos) Etc..
Cute, Funny Or Heartbreaking: Animals that Have Made Our Year
Cute, funny or heartbreaking, animals have helped provide some light relief throughout the mad news year of 2011.
Patient pooches have become internet stars with owner’s creative costumes, while Boo the Pomeranian was unofficially named the “world’s cutest dog.”
A nod has to be given to the BBC’s Frozen Planet for providing some of the best animal stories of the year,
From podgy penguins to rutting musk ox.
Fantastic footage showed fluffy baby polar bears emerging from ice nests and slippery seals sliding into the black depths of the Arctic ocean.
Click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhiG6_83pbc You tube video: The antics of the criminal penguins
The blundering bison became hits on YouTube as well as impressing viewers at home. The final episode of Frozen Planet, focusing on climate change, is a warning to all animal lovers to look after our furry or feathered friends,
Smokey’s purr is so loud it is starting to reach dangerous levels of sound. Hear it for yourself click here: the loudest purr ever recorded.
At over 80 decibels, Smokey’s feline vibrations are equivalent to the noise of a lawnmower, hair dryer or even a Boeing 737 coming in to land.
Northampton owners Ruth and Mark Adams struggle to hear the TV or have a conversation over the din of their musical mogg, who often makes herself cough with the louds purrs, her throat becoming dry after making all that noise. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Baby rhinoceros Lara, half a day old, explores her enclosure at the Serengeti Park zoo in Hodenhagen, central Germany, on February 22, 2011
Chimpanzee bottle feeds tiger cubs. July 30, 2011
How cute is that? Watch video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH6_JCxocBs
Dodo the Baby Chimp Feeds Aron the Tiger Cub.wmv
The sight of a chimp feeding two tiger cubs milk thrilled zoo keepers in Thailand, who wanted to challenge Dodo the monkey as he had no fear of the tiny cubs.
Dodo only fails to keep up with the feeds when he spends too much time playing with the cubs, reported keepers at the zoo in south east Bangkok.
However the adorable sight will soon be no longer, as the tiger cubs will be separated from their surrogate mum after growing too big to stay in the same enclosure.
Donie Conway's Ireland News 