Sunday, November 15, 2009

Abandoned piglet is lost and hound:

Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon by adopting it as one of its own

By Liam Milller



A giant farm dog and a tiny piglet cuddle up as if they were family after the baby runt was dismissed by its own mother.

Surrogate mum Katjinga, an eight-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, took on motherly duties for grunter Paulinchen - a tiny pot-bellied pig - and seems to be taking the adoption in her stride.

Lonely Paulinchen was luckily discovered moments from death and placed in the care of the dog who gladly accepted it as one of her own. Thankfully for the two-week old mini porker, Katjinga fell in love with her at first sight and saved her bacon.

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Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon

Motherly love: Baby piglet feeds on its new surrogate mum

And the unlikely relationship has made the wrinkly piggy a genuine sausage dog. In these adorable images Paulinchen can even be seen trying to suckle from her gigantic new mum.

The two animals live together on a huge 20-acre farm in Hoerstel, Germany, where Katjinga's owners Roland Adam, 54, and his wife Edit, 44, a bank worker, keep a pair of breeding Vietnamese pigs.

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Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon

Nose place like home: The baby piglet nuzzles up to its new mum

Property developer Roland found the weak and struggling piglet after she was abandoned by the rest of her family one evening after she was born.

He said: "The pigs run wild on our land and the sow had given birth to a litter of five in our forest.
"I found Paulinchen all alone and when I lifted her up she was really cold.

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Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon


"I felt sure some local foxes would have taken the little pig that very night so I took it into my house and gave her to Katjinga.

"She had just finished with a litter of her own, who are now 10 months, so I thought there was a chance she might take on the duties of looking after her.

"Katjinga is the best mother you can imagine. She immediately fell in love with the piggy. Straight away she started to clean it like it was one of her own puppies.

"Days later she started lactating again and giving milk for the piggy. She obviously regards it now as her own baby."

Mum of the year? Quite possibly.

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Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon

Doting: Caring pooch checks up on her new addition

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1210909/Abandoned-piglet-lost-hound-Giant-farm-dog-saves-baby-pigs-bacon-adopting-own.html#ixzz0QoJNV1O0

According to ARAs this is unnatural

An elephant produced an impromptu balancing act to make the most of an opportunity to get its trunk on a treat.



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Elephant produces balancing act to snatch treat

Elephant: It reached out its long trunk out to gently grab the food from the toddler tourist who was being held up by his father. Photo: BNPS

The animal spotted a curious toddler holding a snack clambered up onto a narrow wall on the edge of its enclosure to snatch it.

Balancing on its tiptoes the elephant teetered precariously on the four inch wide ledge.

It then reached out its long trunk out to gently grab the food from the toddler tourist who was being held up by his father.

The moment was captured by amateur photographer Tobias Haase, during a visit to Hamburg Zoo in Germany.

Mr Haase, 34, from Hamburg, said: "The zoo is famous for its open animal areas.

"They keep the harmless animals like elephants in these enclosures without a real fence – just a big ditch which they can't jump over.

"People bring vegetables and other green food to give to the elephants – it's not forbidden and they love it.

"They're quite used to it and have learned to reach over and pluck the food out of visitors' hands.

"Sometimes they even do a bit of acrobatics to get there.

"On this day, the elephant was particularly agile. It saw the tourist holding out a bit of food and scrambled up on the ledge.

"It teetered there for a while, trying not to wobble off, as it stretched its trunk out for the food.

"It stayed there for a while trying to get more before it climbed down.

"It even looked like it was nodding thank you to the tourist before it wandered off into its enclosure."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6162152/Elephant-produces-balancing-act-to-snatch-treat.html

Giant pandea faces extinction in two to three generations

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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


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China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'




China's giant pandas could be extinct in 'two to three generations' as the country's headlong rush for economic development destroys the animals' habitat, the WWF has warned.


By Peter Foster in Beijing
17 Aug 2009

Giant pandas: China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'


The threat to the country's signature animal is caused by the increasing fragmentation of its living areas. This is making it difficult for different panda populations to inter-breed, said Fan Zhiyong, a leading conservationist and the species programme director for the World Wide Fund for Nature in China.

"If the panda cannot mate with those from other habitats, it may face extinction within two to three generations," Mr Fan told the state-run Global Times newspaper. "We have to act now."

Many Chinese panda populations are living in belts of bamboo less then a mile wide, leaving them dangerously vulnerable to human interference, he said.

In-breeding among pandas, who are notoriously selective when it comes to mating in captivity, leads to reduced resistance to disease and lower reproductive rates.

"The construction of highways at nature reserves permanently dissects the panda's habitat, obstructing migration, mating and healthy gene exchange," Mr Fan said.

"We may have to give up building some infrastructure or the panda will face a bigger threat to its existence than in 1980," he said.

Wild panda numbers dropped to as low as 1,000 in the late 1970s, but a painstaking conservation programme has increased numbers to around 1,600 today scattered across six mountain ranges in southwestern China.

However, according to WWF estimates, 43 per cent of panda habitats and 29 per cent of its population are not yet effectively protected by nature reserves and protected areas.

The conservation programme was suffered a set-back last year when the Wolong Reserve was devastated in the Sichuan earthquake. Restoring the reserve is now Mr Fan's top priority.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6041990/Chinas-giant-panda-faces-extinction-in-two-to-three-generations.html

Tiger pups

These cubs belong to Tom and Allie Harvey, owners of the Safari Zoological Park — a private zoo in Caney, Kansas.

The Harveys' have published a book, Tiger Pups, that tells the popular story of how Isabella came to raise the tiger cubs and is filled with exclusive images by Tom Harvey and National Geographic photographer Keith Philpott.

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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups


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Tiger pups

You can read more about this story here, and watch viseos too:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26778656
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/25945650/ns/technology_and_science-science/
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26787955/
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/31541834/?GT1=43001