DAILY QUICK READ - JUNE 21, 2016

Leopards Got to Eat, Too

Stony Point is one of the bright spots in the effort to save African penguins from extinction.   It is the largest breeding colony for the penguins and through diligent conservation the number of breeding pairs has doubled in the last 20 years to over 2000.  Success does have a downside and the recent leopard attack has resulted in increased diligence from the CapeNature conservancy.

CapeNature has proactively increased nocturnal patrols and has introduced additional scent deterrents at the Stony Point penguin colony in Betty’s Bay after a leopard regrettably killed 33 endangered African penguins during a single visit.

On Saturday 11 June 2016 the leopard was spotted near the colony where it killed 33 birds and left one injured. A surviving chick and five penguin eggs were also found at empty nest sites in the area.

The injured penguin, chick and eggs, were sent to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) for rehabilitation, rearing and incubation. SANCCOB confirmed the wounds on the birds were consistent with those caused by a leopard.

Following the incident, CapeNature has been conducting daytime vigilance and nocturnal patrols at the colony by using scent deterrents such as lion scat and pepper spray to discourage the leopard from returning to the site. Dog patrols are conducted randomly to aid in defensive scent marking, while camera traps have been set up in locations to remotely monitor occurrences.

Blackfish is Propaganda

“What Freedom Could Look Like for SeaWorld’s Killer Whales” – is a bogus headline.  The war against Sea World continues even after the last battle has been won.  The forces that decimated Sea World with propaganda now want to set Sea World’s killer whales free.  Well, not really free.  They want them in contained ocean cages.  And, only the few whales actually born in the wild. 

“Welcome to Double Bay,” the marine mammal scientist, who has studied captive and wild killer whales for decades, said with a smile. “This, I think, would be a terrific home for Corky.”

As I survey the serene swath of wilderness, I find it hard not to agree. Corky the killer whale is one of the star performers at faraway SeaWorld in San Diego. In 1969, at around age four, the orca was snatched from her family (which still patrols this area each summer) in a notorious roundup in Pender Harbor, on the British Columbian mainland. Six whales were removed from their pod and sold to theme parks and aquariums, hungry for more of the crowd-pleasing ticket sellers. Now, nearly 47 years later, Corky is the longest-held captive orca.

It takes to page two or three of this article to discover that this massively expensive enterprise is only for one or two whales.  More or less this is a vanity project for the agitators of Blackfish.

Retiring captive animals to a seaside sanctuary for the rest of their lives—while complicated and expensive—is one thing. Rehabilitating them for return to the sea is quite another.

Although many people would like to see that happen, captive-born whales and dolphins are poor candidates for such release. Not only do they have no experience in the wild, but they have no families with which to reunite. They might learn to catch food, but without a social group to join they could become solitary social misfits. Though it’s possible to release captive-bred animals, it would not necessarily be ethical or sound.

“I seriously doubt we could teach them how to be normal in a social setting,” Rose said, even though solitary whales and dolphins have been documented in the wild. “The arrogance of thinking we can teach a captive-bred whale or dolphin how to be a wild, competent adult is pretty outrageous.”

Animals obtained from the ocean are better candidates for release. Hundreds of dolphins and several pilot whales and false killer whales (members of the dolphin family) held in tanks around the world were taken from places such as Russia, Korea, the Solomon Islands, Cuba and Taiji, Japan. There are also scores of wild-caught beluga whales, mostly from Russian waters.

Of the 56 orcas in captivity, only a small number were taken from the ocean; the rest were bred in captivity. But knowing where the animals were captured is not the same as knowing where their families are.

What Good Are Zoos?

Question to Jane Goodall.

What does Jane Goodall think of zoos and animals living in captivity? The world’s foremost primate expert says not all zoos uphold the same standards, but if they allow animals enough room, provide a social community, and have enrichment, she “believes that many species of animals can have a reasonable – even a good – life.”

Additionally, Goodall says “being in the presence of a living, breathing animal, knowing the way it smells, looking into his or her eyes, and above all sensing its ‘being-ness’ can be a life changing experience” for a child or an adult. On top of that, Jane points out that the wild isn’t helping animals in certain regions of the world. She said that “we have to realize that life in the wild, in many parts of the world today, is not providing animals with a good life.”

For instance, gorillas are hunted for bushmeat and chimpanzee infants are stolen from their mothers and sold to the exotic pet or entertainment trade. A significant amount of illegal hunting and wildlife crimes make unsustainable living for these and other wild animals.

Prairie Dogs Are Great Communicators

Researchers have discovered the rich and complex communications of what is basically a big squirrel.

You might not think it to look at them, but prairie dogs and humans actually share an important commonality -- and it's not just their complex social structures, or their habit of standing up on two feet (aww, like people). As it turns out, prairie dogs actually have one of the most sophisticated forms of vocal communication in the natural world, really not so unlike our own.

After more than 25 years of studying the calls of prairie dog in the field, one researcher managed to decode just what these animals are saying. And the results show that prairie dogs aren't only extremely effective communicators, they also pay close attention to detail.

According to Dr. Con Slobodchikoff, who turned his vocalization analysis on the Gunnison's prairie dog of Arizona and New Mexico, the chirps these animals use as 'alert calls' are actually word-like packages of information to share with the rest of the colony. Amazingly, these unique sounds were found to both identify specific threats by species, such as hawks and coyotes, and to point out descriptive information about their appearance.