Today we’re going to be highlighting some of the more interesting animal related articles to hit the headlines. Ok, so maybe not the headlines, but there are definitely some interesting articles here for you to read.
Click the title of each summary to read more on the original website:
In America, tunnels called culverts are made beneath highways to allow water to drain. Recent investigations in to how animals respond to these tunnels shows that they use them to cross the road instead of risking their lives above ground. This might sound like a simple task for you or me, but for wild animals such as ducks or racoons, learning to safely cross the road is a big deal. In fact the parents have been seen to teach their own offspring to use the culverts for safe crossing of roads as well!
Most of us might be aware that we’ve sent chimpanzees and dogs into space, but did you know we’ve sent newts? I didn’t, if you didn’t either, then it might be worth checking out this list! There might be a few surprises in there as well!
An interesting look in to why animals may be able to sense earthquakes. It points out that animals fled the area of the destructive Tsunami of 2004 before it was visible from the shore. It’s suggested that animals can detect ‘infrasound’ which travels faster than the audible sound range.
Well this makes a change, instead of species disappearing due to ‘climate change’ and similar, over 200 new species have been discovered in the south-western Chinese province of Yunnan. One of the more interesting species is the snub-nosed monkey which puts it’s head between it’s legs during rain to stop water getting in to it’s upturned nose!
Horses and Other Animals Suffering Due to the Economy
An emotional review of how the economy is affecting pets and their owners. For instance, how owners can’t afford to keep their horses, which then end up abandoned. With proper health care costs for a horse per month being over £100, it is no surprise that people are struggling to afford them.
On the one hand, the reasoning behind this decision is that it could provide advances in medical science. On the other hand, it is downright scary! Especially when considering one drug company’s senior executive’s thoughts on the situation
“You can look at the NHS as one massive database with 60 million people in it.”
After flying in to Edinburgh from China, Yang Guang (Sunshine) has been treated like a celebrity! Plenty of paparazzi have captured his first week and Edinburgh Zoo have sold upwards of 10,000 advance tickets for their shows!
Each year in India, it is estimated that around 19 million animals are dissected for educational purposes! However, more favourable techniques such as educational and interactive software are being suggested as an alternative. Not only is this more humane, but it will also save the educational institutes some money!
Pregnant Posh ‘Craved’ Pets
Ok, so we know that people can develop some unusual cravings during pregnancy – normally for weird foods, but Victoria Beckham was apparently craving some four legged company! Unfortunately for Posh, David wasn’t as keen…
Obesity brings with it some unwanted diseases; from osteoarthritis to decreased life expectancy and it is costing our health services extremely large amounts of money. Well it seems like pets are following in our footsteps and just as obesity has negative effects on us, it can negatively affect them too – make sure to get them on a calorie controlled diet!