Tiger Attacks Handler in Australia's Park

A trained tiger handler has been hospitalised with injuries to her arm after being attacked by one of the animals at an Australian theme park.

 

Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) said the woman, who is in her 40s, is in a stable condition after sustaining cuts and scratches while working at Dreamworld in Queensland's Gold Coast.

 

The park which is visited by almost two million people every year, is home to nine Sumatran and Bengal tigers.

 

A Dreamworld spokesperson said that the company’s focus now is to provide the employee involved in attack with immediate support.

BBC

 

 

Russian Spy Whale Found Dead

A beluga whale that was suspected of spying for Russia after being discovered in Norwegian waters five years ago has been found dead.

This was according to the non-profit organisation, Marine Mind that had been monitoring the whale.

Marine Mind on social media said "Hvaldimir” was not just a beluga whale, but a beacon of hope, a symbol of connection, and a reminder of the deep

A marine biologist, Sebastian Strand, who works with Marine Mind, told newsmen that "Hvaldimir” was apparently in good condition as of Friday and no major external injuries were visible on the animal while investigations are on to ascertain the cause of its death.

According to a report, the body of the whale nicknamed “Hvaldimir”, a combination of the Norwegian word for whale and the first name of Russian President, Vladimir Putin was spotted floating in the sea by a father and son fishing in southern Norway over the weekend.

Hvaldimir was wearing a harness with what appeared to be a mount for a small camera when he was first found in 2019 near the island of Ingoya in Norway's north, around 300km from the Russian maritime border.

The harness was stamped with "Equipment St Petersburg" in English.

Report also noted that the whale was very interested in people and responded to hand signals, leading Norway's domestic intelligence agency to presume he had been held in captivity in Russia as part of a research programme before crossing into Norwegian waters.

Meanwhile, Moscow has never responded to the allegations.

CNA

India to Reduce Death Caused by Elephants through Mobile App.

The state of Assam in India has launched a mobile phone app. aimed at reducing deaths caused by wild elephants.

The Haati app. will warn people of approaching herds of elephants to allow them to get out of the way.

The app launched in Assam has been developed by Aaranyak, a biodiversity organisation in north-east India.

 It also contains a form enabling victims and their relatives to seek compensation from the local government in cases of injury or death as a result of an attack by the animals.

 Assam has one of the biggest elephant populations in India and a high number of elephant and human deaths caused by their interactions.

Conservationists said elephants are becoming more aggressive in Assam because their habitats are shrinking, and even their traditional natural corridors are being encroached upon.

Aaranyak has also unveiled a handbook on solar-powered fences which can deter elephants.

According to official data cited by newsmen in March, as many as 1,701 people were killed by elephants in India from 2020 to 2024.

Also, Wildlife Charity, WWF, said there are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants left in the wild.

The group estimated that half-a-million families in India are affected by crop-raiding elephants each year.

 Obtained/ BBC

Facts about Pythons

Python is a genus of constricting snakes in the Pythonidae family native to the tropics and subtropics of the Eastern Hemisphere. 

The name Python was proposed by François Marie Daudin in 1803 for non-venomous flecked snakes. 

Currently, 10 python species are recognized.

The reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) is the longest snake in the world, regularly reaching over 6.25 metres in length.

The Ball or Royal Python is the smallest of the Python species, reaching only 4-5 feet on average with longer individuals reaching 6 feet and weighing 3-5 pounds. The head is relatively small compared to their stocky bodies which can exceed several inches in diameter.

Python have about 40 species of snakes, all but one of which are found in the Old World tropics and subtropics. Most are large, with the reticulated python (Python reticulatus) of Asia attaining a maximum recorded length of 9.6 metres (31.5 feet).

Pythons feed by grabing its prey with its teeth, then wraps and squeezes it with its body coils. But contrary to popular belief, pythons don't actually crush and dismember their prey. Instead, they suffocate them by tightening their coils each time it exhales.

Other Facts About Pythons 

• They're an Invasive Species in the U.S.
• Pythons Swallow Their Prey Whole. ...
• Baby Pythons Survive on Their Own When They Hatch. ...
• Reticulated Pythons Can Eat Fully Grown Humans. ...
• Pythons Are Constrictor Snakes with No Venom. ...

Animal Love ❤️ 💕

Do animals show romantic love?

While it is not known if animals experience romance exactly the way humans do, recent studies show that for some animals there is indeed the capability to love.

How do animals show their love?

Both humans and animals produce the hormone oxytocin, known as the "bonding" hormone. This hormone is released in the brain when there are strong feelings of affection for another person or animal. 

How do animals express their feelings?

Changes in muscle tone, posture, gait, facial expression, eye size and gaze, vocalizations, and odors (pheromones), singly and together, indicate emotional responses to certain situations. Even people with little experience observing animals usually agree with one another on what an animal is most likely feeling.

However, we have animals that do not show or feel emotions, one is the Jellyfish.

There are various types of jellyfish, and they are all invertebrates. These animals do not have any brain networks. Because they are devoid of any centralized nerve or brain, they are unable to feel any emotion.

Crocos

The young crocodile emerges from the egg with a length of 20–30 cm (8–12 inches). At first it remains with its siblings concealed at the edge of its water habitat in order to avoid various predators. Principal among these are fishes and birds, but larger crocodiles also prey upon the young.

Crocodiles are mostly nocturnal animals. They are predators and spend most of their time in the water; although they are also known to make journeys of several kilometres over land. In the first weeks of life, crocodiles eat insects, crustaceans, snails, small fishes, frogs, and tadpoles. Older crocodiles mainly eat fish and are more apt to prey upon waterfowl and on mammals. Occasionally, a member of one of the larger species eats a human, though such incidents happen so infrequently that crocodiles cannot be generally regarded as man-eaters.

Crocodiles are sexually dimorphic, and adult males are larger than females. Copulation occurs in the water, and it is preceded by a complex courtship in which the animals signal each other using changes in body profile, touch, and vocalization. Chemical signals are probably also part of courtship. The male then mounts the back of the female, and both animals rotate their tails so that the respective cloacae are brought into contact and intromission of the male erectile organ is achieved.

Interesting Crocodile Facts

1. Crocodiles are carnivores, which generally means they eat only meat. However, a recent study proved they also enjoy an occasional taste of fruit.

2. Crocodiles can go through 4,000 teeth over a lifetime.

Crocodiles have between 60-110 teeth. When a crocodile loses a tooth, there is a small replacement already on standby. They are able to replace each of their 80 teeth up to 50 times over their lifespan.

3. A crocodile’s jaws can apply 5,000 pounds of pressure per square inch – the strongest bite of any animal in the world.

A human’s jaw only produces 100 pounds of pressure per square inch in comparison. A crocodiles bite is 10 times more powerful than a great white shark.

5. An easy way to tell the difference between a crocodile and an alligator, is when a crocodile closes it’s mouth, all teeth are visible – as the upper and lower jaw are the same width.

Whereas an alligator possesses small depressions in the upper jaw for the lower teeth, meaning they are not visible when their mouth is shut.

6. The longest crocodile captured alive measured 6.17 m (20.2 ft) and weighed at 1,075 kg.

7.facts-about-crocsCrocodiles swallow small stones to improve digestion. These stones help grind up the food in their stomachs.

Swallowing stones (known as ‘gastroliths’) is especially beneficial for crocodiles that eat their prey whole, or for tougher animals with shells and bones. A gastrolith can remain inside the stomach for years.

BLUE 🐋

The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters (98 ft) and weighing up to 199 metric tons (196 long tons; 219 short tons).

It is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can be of various shades of greyish-blue dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. 

Four subspecies are recognized: B. m. musculus in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, B. m. intermedia in the Southern Ocean, B. m. brevicauda in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, B. m. indica in the Northern Indian Ocean. There is also a population in the waters off Chile that may constitute a fifth subspecies.

Here Are Some Interesting Facts About Blue Whales

1. Blue Whales Can Grow More Than 100 Feet Long

They are gigantic. Generally ranging in length from 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters), the longest one ever recorded was a magnificent 108 feet (33 meters) long. That's about as long as three school buses lined up end to end.

2. They Can Weigh as Much as 30 Elephants

The average weight for these gentle giants is 200,000 to 300,000 pounds (90,000 to 136,000 kilograms), or about 100 to 150 tons. Some can weigh as much as 441,000 pounds (200,000 kg), or 220 tons. For comparison, an adult African bush elephant weighs up to 6 tons, so it may take 30 or more elephants to equal the weight of one blue whale. Wow!!! Amazing right?🤥

3. They Have Big Hearts

The blue whale's heart is huge. It's the largest heart in the animal kingdom, weighing about 400 pounds (180 kg) and roughly the size of a bumper car. Another amazing fact!!

9. They Have Long Life Spans

Blue whales are among the planet’s longest-lived animals. The oldest blue whale they’ve discovered this way was calculated to be around 100 years old, though the average life is thought to last around 80 to 90 years.

11. Their Future Remains Uncertain

While commercial whaling is no longer a threat, recovery has been slow and new threats plague blue whales, like ship strikes and the impact of climate change.

ALOPECIA AREATA

 

Have you heard of ALOPECIA AREATA? Well, let me take you on a ride on what it is all about.

Alopecia Areata is a disorder that often results in unpredictable hair loss. In majority of cases, hair falls out in small patches.

Sometimes, it can lead to complete loss of hair on the scalp or, in extreme cases, the entire body and the condition can affect anyone regardless of age or gender. Interestingly, it occurs in animals too.

FACTS ABOUT ALOPECIA AREATA

- One in five people with Alopecia Areata also had a family member     who experienced the condition, so it may be hereditary.

- It often develops suddenly, over the course of just few days.

- There is little scientific evidence that Alopecia Areata is caused by     stress.

- People with the condition who have only few patches of hair loss       often experience a spontaneous, fully recovery without the need    for treatment.

- And lastly, there is no cure for the condition if you loss the hair          completely.

How does Alopecia occur?According to research, it occurs when White blood cells attack the cell in hair follicles, causing them to shrink and dramatically slow down hair production.

It is unknow precisely what causes the body's immune system to target hair follicles in this way.

I mentioned earlier that Alopecia Areata occur in animals too, well, the development of the condition in animals is usually the sign of an underlying disease. Some animals may be genetically predisposed to hair loss, while in some, it may be caused by hypersensitivity of nutritional factors.

Here is a photo of a Chimpanzee suffering from Alopecia Areata.

And recently, BBC  featured a lady suffering from the condition. She spoke about stigmatization and how she was able to manged it.

Importantly, never stigmatized people on what you know nothing about. Be enlightened!!!

75 YEAR OLD TORTOISE UNDERGOES SURGERY IN SOKOTO

Last week, I read an exciting and heartwarming News about a 75 year old tortise that under went a successful surgery  in Sokoto State after it was ran over by a vehicle, and got its cracked and broken.

It warmed my heart, that a group of Veterinarians from the Clinic and the Department of Surgery and Radiology,Faculty  of Veterinary  Medicine, Usmanu Danfidito University ,took it upon themselves  to reconstruct the tortise's shell.

What gladen my heart most is that Nigerians, are having a change of attitude towards Nature/Wildlife preservation and conservation.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CLEAN AIR FOR BLUE SKIES, EVERY 7TH SEPTEMBER

 

Today September 7th, is International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, the day was established to recognize the need to substantially reduce the number of death and illness from hazardous chemicals released into the air.

Also, the day is to highlight and raise awareness at all levels- Individual, Community, Corporate and the Government that Clean Air, is important for Health, Productivity, the Economy and the Environment.

As this day is celebrated, the International Community acknowledges that improving air quality can enhance climate change mitigation and that climate change mitigation efforts can improve air quality.

Meanwhile always remember that clean air, is important for the health and day to day lives of people, therefore, be mindful of what you release into the air. It all starts with you!!!