View allAll Photos Tagged extinct
South Australia’s Coober Pedy Opal Field is famous for having fossils that have been replaced by precious opal (hydrous silica - SiO2·nH2O). Recovered opalized fossils from Coober Pedy include bivalves, gastropods, belemnites, crinoids, ichthyosaurs, and plesiosaurs. Here is an example of an opalized belemnite.
Belemnites are a group of extinct cephalopods having a squid-like body and a solid, calcareous, internal, elongated, bullet-shaped skeleton called a guard.
Two species of Peratobelus belemnites have been reported from the Coober Pedy area: Peratobelus oxys Tenison-Woods, 1883 and Peratobelus bauhinianus Skwarko, 1966. The material shown above appears consistent with Peratobelus oxys.
Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Cephalopoda, Coleoidea, Belemnitida, Dimitobelidae
Locality: unrecorded mine field in Coober Pedy Opal Field, north-central South Australia State, southern Australia
Stratigraphy: “weathered zone” of the Bulldog Shale, Marree Subgroup, Aptian Stage, upper Lower Cretaceous
-----------
Some info. from:
Williamson, T. 2006. Systematics and Biostratigraphy of Australian Early Cretaceous Belemnites with Contributions to the Timescale and Palaeoenvironmental Assessment of the Australian Early Cretaceous System Derived from Stable Isotope Proxies. Ph.D. dissertation. James Cook University. Townsville, Queensland, Australia. 5+50+25+47+46+9+18+(21) pp. 5 pls.
---------------------------
See info. at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belemnitida
and
1. The spiritual entity Qalb
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Adam
In the Urdu language the fleshy meat, (the heart) is known as dil, and in Arabic it is called fawad. The spiritual entity that is next to the heart is the Qalb and according to a Prophetic statement the heart and the Qalb are two separate entities.
Our solar system is the physical human sphere. There are other realms and spheres, for example the realm of the angels, the realm of the throne of God, the realm of the soul, the realm of the secrets, the realm of unification and the realm of the essence of God. These spheres and life forms inhabiting these spheres have existed before the eruption of the ball of fire, our Sun, which created our solar system. Ordinary angels were created alongside the creation of the souls when God commanded "Be" but the Archangels and the spiritual entities (which are placed inside the human body at birth) have existed in these realms before the formation of our solar system.
Many planets in our solar system were inhabited but subsequently these life forms became extinct. The remaining planets and their inhabitants are awaiting their destruction. The Archangels and the spiritual entities (of the human body) were created seventy thousand years before the command "Be."
Of these spiritual entities God placed the Qalb in the realm of love. It is with this that a human being is able to become connected with God. The Qalb acts like a telephone operator between God and the human being. A human being receives guidance and inspiration through it. Whereas the worship and the meditation done by the spiritual entities themselves can reach the highest realm, the Throne of God, with the aid of the Qalb. The Qalb itself, however cannot travel beyond the realm of the angels, as its place of origin is the Khuld, the lowest heaven in the realm of the angels.
The Qalb’s meditation is from within and its vibrating rosary is within the human skeleton (the heartbeat). People that failed to achieve this meditation of the Qalb in this lifetime will be regretful, even though they may be in paradise. As God has stated regarding those who will go to paradise, that do they, the inhabitants of paradise think that they will be equal to those who are elevated (reached higher realms by practicing the spiritual disciplines and becoming illuminated). As those that have achieved the meditation of the Qalb, they will enjoy its pleasures even in paradise when their Qalb will be vibrating with the Name of God.
After death physical worship ceases to exist and the people whose Qalb and spiritual entities are not strengthened and illuminated with the light of God are afflicted and distressed in their graves and their spiritual entities waste away. Whereas the illuminated and strengthened spiritual entities will go to the realm where the righteous will wait before the final judgement.
After the day of judgement a second body will be given, the illuminated spiritual entities along with the human soul will enter that body. The people that taught their spiritual entities, meditation, whereby the entities chanted the Name of God Allah in this life time will find that the spiritual entities will continue with this meditation even in the hereafter. Such people will continue to be elevated and exalted in the hereafter.
Those that were “blind of heart” (not illuminated) in this life time will be in darkness in that realm also, as this world was the place of action and effort. Those in the latter category will become quiescent.
Besides the Christians and the Jews the Hindu faith also holds a belief in these spiritual entities. The Hindu faith refers to them as Shaktian and the Muslims know them as Lata’if.
The Qalb is two inches, to the left of the heart. This spiritual entity is yellow in colour. When it is illuminated in a person, that person sees the colour yellow in their eyes. Not only this but there are many practitioners of alternative medicine who use the colours of these spiritual entities to heal people.
Most people regard their heart’s word, “inner feeling” to be truthful. If the hearts of people were indeed truthful, then why are all the people of the heart not united?
The Qalb of an ordinary person is in the sleeping or unconscious state and it does not possess any appreciation or awareness. Due to the dominance of the spirit of the self, the ego, and the Khannas, or due to the individual’s own simple- mindedness the heart can make judgements in error. Placing trust in a sleeping Qalb is foolish.
Only when the Name of God Allah, does vibrate in the heart does an appreciation of right and wrong and wisdom follow. At this stage the Qalb is known as the awakened Qalb. Thereafter due to the increase in the meditation by the Qalb, of the Name of God Allah, it is then known as the God-seeking Qalb. At this stage the heart is capable of preventing the person from doing wrong but it is still incapable of making a right or just decision. Thereafter and only when the Light and the rays of the Grace of God (theophany) start to descend upon that heart, is it known as the purified and illuminated Qalb that stands in the presence of God (witnessing Qalb).
A Prophetic statement:
“The mercy of God descends upon a broken heart and an afflicted grave.”
Thereafter when the heart reaches this stage then one must accept whatever it dictates, quietly without question because due to the rays of the Light and the Grace of God the spirit of the self, (ego) becomes completely illuminated, purified and at peace. God is then closer to that individual than that person’s jugular vein.
God then says, “I become his tongue with which he speaks and I become his hands with which he holds.”
2. The Human Soul
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Abraham
This is on the right side of the chest. This is awakened and illuminated by the meditation and one-pointed concentration on it. Once it becomes illuminated, a vibration similar to the heartbeat is felt on the right side of the chest. Then the Name of God, Ya Allah is matched with the vibrating pulse. The meditation of the soul is done in this way. At this point, there are now two spiritual entities meditating inside the human body, this is an advancement in rank and status and is better than the Qalb. The soul is a light red in colour and when it is awakened, it is able to travel to the realm of the souls (the station of the Archangel Gabriel). Anger and rage are attached to it that burn and turn into majesty.
3. The spiritual entity Sirri
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Moses
This spiritual entity is to the left of the centre of the chest. This is also awakened and illuminated by the meditation and one-pointed concentration on it with the Name of God, Ya Hayy, Ya Qayyum. Its colour is white and in the dream state or by spiritual separation from the physical body “transcendental meditation” it can journey to the realm of the secrets. Now there are three spiritual entities meditating within a person and its status is higher than the other two.
4. The spiritual entity Khaffi
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Jesus
This is to the right of the centre of the chest. It too is taught the Name of God Ya Wahid by meditation. It is green in colour and it can reach the realm of unification. Due to the meditation of four entities one's status is further increased.
5. The spiritual entity Akhfa
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Mohammed
This is situated at the centre of the chest. It is awakened by meditating on the Name of God, Ya Ahad. It is purple in colour and it too, is connected to that veil in the realm of unification behind which is the throne of God.
The hidden spiritual knowledge relating to these five spiritual entities was granted to the Prophets, one by one and half of the knowledge of every spiritual entity was granted from the Prophets to the Saints of their time. In this way there became ten parts of this knowledge. The Saints in turn passed this knowledge on to the spiritually favoured (Godly) who then had the benefit of the sacred knowledge.
The apparent knowledge of the seen is connected to the physical body, the spoken word, the human realm and the spirit of the self, this is for the ordinary mortals. This knowledge is contained in a book that has thirty parts. Spiritual knowledge was also given to the Prophets by revelation brought by Gabriel and for this reason it is known as the spiritual Holy Scripture.
Many of the verses of the Qur’an would sometimes be abolished, since the Prophet Mohammed would sometimes mention matters relating to this “hidden spiritual knowledge” before ordinary people, which was only meant for the special and Godly. Later this knowledge passed on spiritually from the chest of one Saint to another, and now it has become widespread by its publication in books.
6. The spiritual entity Anna
This spiritual entity is inside the head and is colourless. It is by the meditation on the Name of God Ya Hu that this spiritual entity reaches its pinnacle. It is this spiritual entity that when it becomes illuminated and powerful it can stand in the Presence of God, face to face, and communicate with God unobstructed. Only the extreme lovers of God reach this realm and station. Besides this there are a few and extremely exalted people who are granted additional spiritual entities, for example the spiritual entity Tifl-e-Nuri or a spiritual entity of the Godhead, Jussa-e-Tofiq-e-Ilahi, the spiritual status of such people is beyond understanding.
With the spiritual entity, Anna, God is seen in the dream state.
With the spiritual entity of the Godhead, God is seen in the “physical meditating state” when the spiritual entity itself leaves the human body and transcends to the essence of God.
Those possessing the spiritual entity, the Tifl-e-Nuri, see God whilst they are fully conscious.
It is these people who are the majesty and power of God in the world. They can either occupy the people by prescribing worship and austerities or by their spiritual grace send a person straight to the realm of God’s love. In their sight, concerning dispensing spiritual grace the believers and the non-believers, the dead and the living are all the same. Just as a thief became a Saint, in an instant, by the passing glimpse of the Saint Sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani, similarly, Abu-Bakr Havari and Manga the thief, became instant Saints by the passing glimpses of such Saints.
The five major Messengers were given knowledge of the five spiritual entities separately and in order of their appearance, as a result of which spirituality continued to prosper. With whichever spiritual entity you practice meditation you will be connected to the corresponding Messenger and become worthy of receiving spiritual grace (from that Messenger).
Whichever spiritual entity receives the rays of the Grace of God (favour), the Sainthood granted to that spiritual entity will be connected to the corresponding Prophet’s spiritual grace.
Access to seven realms and gaining elevated spiritual status in the seven heavens is obtained through these spiritual entities.
The functions of the spiritual entities inside the human body
Akhfa: Due to the spiritual entity, Akhfa a person is able to speak. In its absence a person may have a normal tongue but will be dumb. The difference between human beings and animals lies in the presence or the absence of these spiritual entities. At birth, if the entity, Akhfa was unable to enter the body for whatever reason, then a Prophet appointed for the rectification of this ailment would be called to treat the condition as a result of which the dumb would start to speak.
Sirri: A person is able to see due to the spiritual entity, Sirri. If it does not enter the body the person is blind from birth. An appointed Prophet had the duty to find and place the spiritual entity into the body, as a result of which the blind would start to see again.
Qalb: Without the spiritual entity of the Qalb, in the body, a person is like the animals, unacquainted, far from God, miserable and without purpose. Returning this entity into the body was the task of the Prophets also.
The miracles of the Prophets were also granted to the saints, in the form marvels and mystical wonders as a result of which even the impious and liberal became close to God. When a spiritual entity is returned by any allocated Saint or Prophet, the deaf, dumb and the blind are healed.
Anna: When the spiritual entity, Anna, fails to enter the body, a person is regarded as insane even though the brain may be functioning normally.
Khaffi: In the absence of the spiritual entity, Khafi, a person is deaf, even if the ears are opened wide.
These conditions can be caused by other defects in the body, and can be treated. There is no cure in the case, where the defect is caused by the absence of the associated spiritual entity except where a Prophet or a Saint intervenes and cures the defect.
Nafs, self: As a result of the spiritual entity of the self (ego) a persons mind is occupied with the material world and it is because of the spiritual entity Qalb that a persons direction turns towards God. For more detail visit www.goharshahi.org or visit asipk.com and for videos visit HH rags
A Mammoth is a large extinct elephant with a hairy coat and curved tusks.
On my day out 'photo hunting' with my friend Loretta I found this one on top of Mammoth Hill at the Watermead Country Park , Birstall. Prehistoric remains of mammoth, bison and deer were discovered in the now flooded gravel pits of the Watermead Country Park. This one was quite happy to pose for me, lol.
Watermead is a two mile long park, with a wetland area and lakes. An ideal spot for walking, fishing, cycling, picnics, birdwatching and watersports. Plenty ducks and swans on the lake, and loads of dragonflies. It is adjacent to the canal and a river.
Extinction Rebellion à Lausanne, après les scientifiques ce sont les médecins et soignants qui les ont rejoints cette fois.
Courageux ou inutiles, ils ont au moins le mérite de ne pas laisser indifférents... comme une piqûre de rappel dont on a bien besoin.
Extinct monsters and creatures of other days : a popular account of some of the larger forms of ancient animal life / by Rev. H. N. Hutchinson. With illustrations by J. Smit, Alice B. Woodward, J. Green, Charles Knight, and others.
London : Chapman & Hall, 1910.
Baby Kat is concerned about the environment and her future. What if someday all tuna fish becomes extinct? :-)
I found this poor bugger stuck in the Museum of Natural History in New York. He was dumped at the top of a staircase, with no fanfare. I can't imagine many people taking notice of it unless they happened to recognise that it was a Tasmanian Tiger. The thing died in a Boston zoo. I got really sad, even a little teary looking at it. It was a skinny stuffed thing, but I thought it was very beautiful, which kind of suprised me. I thought if this is all that's left, then it should really be back home in Tasmania. The sadness of the animal's extinction tends to get lost behind stories about whether there are survivors out there in the wildness. There aren't, and humanity's to blame. We suck.
PS. Another Tassie Tiger photo can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/cenz/11848145/
Title: Monumental ruin of palace of Parthian king at Ctesiphon, near Bagdad.
Creator: Unknown
Date: 1890s-1900s
Part Of: Banks McLaurin, Jr. Stereograph Collection
Place: Baghdad, Iraq
Physical Description: 1 photographic print on stereo card: gelatin silver; 9 x 18 cm
File: ag2000_1296_02_d08_iraq_07r_ctesiphon.jpg
Rights: Please cite DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University when using this file. A high-resolution version of this file may be obtained for a fee. For details see the sites.smu.edu/cul/degolyer/research/permissions/ web page. For other information, contact degolyer@smu.edu.
For more information and to view the image in high resolution, see: digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/bml/id/325
One of dozens of original paintings by Julian P. Hume housed at the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.).
On a visit to the Smithsonian in October 2003, Helen James & Storrs Olson showed us several wonderful paintings of an artist depiction of extinct Hawaiian subfossil avifauna. The truth is, however, that no one alive really knows what they actually looked like. But, Julian does a great job of bringing the bones to life with his world class paintings!
Helen & Storrs allowed me to take photographs with the condition that they not be shown publicly until published. The photos were finally published in "Extinct Birds of Hawaiʻi" (2016) by Michael Walther and generously illustrated by Julian P. Hume.
This comparison painting shows a scaled reconstruction of extinct Hawaiian geese with nēnē (far right).
From left to right:
+ Giant Hawaiian goose (Branta sp.), Hawaiʻi Island; extinct
+ Kauaʻi Turtle-jawed goose (Chelychelynechen quassus), Kauaʻi; extinct
+ Maui nui moa-nalo (Thambetochen chauliodous), Maui, Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi (Maui Nui); extinct
+ Oʻahu moa-nalo (Thambetochen xanion), Oʻahu; extinct
www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/5121400716/in/photolist-...
+ Stumbling moa-nalo (Ptaiochen pau), Maui
+ Greater Hawaiian goose or Nēnē-nui (Branta hylobadistes), Maui and possibly Oʻahu and Kauaʻi; extinct
+ Nēnē or Hawaiian goose (Branta sandvicensis), exant on Kauaʻi, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaiʻi Island
Helen working
www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/30645181485/in/photostream/
Helen & Storrs
www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/30012540014/in/photostream/
'Endangered and Extinct' by creative recycling artist Val Hunt, an exhibition at Gloucester Cathedral, Saturday 26 September-Sunday 1 November 2020 in the Cloisters
From the Cathedral's website:
"This exhibition presents a subtle message about recycling and preservation, raising awareness of why the creatures on show are endangered or extinct...
Having worked for the past 29 years as a professional maker, Val Hunt continues to be amazed at the versatility of creative recycling. There is an enormous variety of discarded material just waiting to be reconstructed and given a new identity, especially Val's favourite material of drinks can metal. Intricate constructions and interesting textures are key elements found in her work, humour is also an added ingredient whenever possible.
Through experimentation, ingenuity and skill her work is always changing as she discovers new techniques and ways of constructing recycled materials to signal a new meaning. Her works recycles a diverse selection of throwaway material, from these she creates a fascinating selection of large and small sculptural pieces which are both appealing and informative.
Despite her use of manufactured materials, her main inspiration comes from the natural world. Val has a special interest in endangered and extinct species and most of her work reflects this. She makes animals, exotic birds, dinosaurs, insects and species of flora all on the edge or now extinct.
The increasing awareness of the effects of pollution, climate change, plastic in the Ocean and environment destruction on the habitat have influenced Val's work. She now dedicates her making to highlighting the plight of species that are on the edge or gone forever in her touring educational exhibition 'Endangered and Extinct'...
Val's work has been shown in exhibitions around the UK, Denmark, Japan, United Emirates, USA and toured overseas with the British Council. She has work in many permanent collections."
Leptictidium, which means graceful or delicate weasel, was around 50 - 40 million years ago. A little hopping creature about the size of a cat, similar to today's Elephant Shrew.
Nope, it's a sawn down trunk! I must admit if gave me a bit of a turn on spotting it for the first time in the hedge bottom!
Although this First livery is not yet extinct in other areas I thought it had gone from the Manchester Streets but I was wrong as there still some of these little Optare Solos running in the old colours. My assumption was they were probably scheduled for early disposal so repaint was not cost effective but it would appear that they are fairly recent imports to Greater Manchester and retain the livery they previously carried and the likelihood is they will now never carry the later First livery..
First Bus 53808 WX05RSY is seen in Ashton Bus Station
The Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus americanus) of Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York – This unique sea-dwelling rabbit, which is actually a close relative of the sea lion, was officially discovered and investigated by Henry Hudson when he first visited this land to colonize the area by order of the Dutch government. It was named New Amsterdam -- today’s New York City. This island was named after he saw the beach covered with strange swimming wild rabbits. The word “Coney Island” means “wild rabbit island” in Dutch (originally Conyne Eylandt, or Konijneneiland in modern Dutch spelling). Sea rabbits were also referred mermaid rabbit, merrabbit, rabbit fish or seal rabbit in the natural history documents in the 17th century. The current conservation status, or risk of extinction, of the sea rabbit is Extinct in the Wild.
This website features two species of sea rabbits, which have been taken care of by Dr. Takeshi Yamada (山田武司) at the Coney Island Sea Rabbit Repopulation Center, which is a part of the Marine biology department of the Coney Island University in Brooklyn, New York. They are – Coney Island Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus americanus) called “Seara” and Coney Island Tiger-striped Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus konjinicus) called “Stripes”.
The photographs and videos featured in this website chronicle adventures of the Coney Island sea rabbits and the world as seen by them. This article also documented efforts of Dr. Takeshi Yamada for bringing back the nearly extinct sea rabbits to Coney Island in the City of New York and beyond. Dr. Yamada produced a series of public lectures, workshops, original public live interactive fine art performances and fine art exhibitions about sea rabbits at a variety of occasions and institutions in the City of New York and beyond. Dr. Yamada is an internationally active educator, book author, wildlife conservationist and high profile artist, who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sea Rabbit
Other Common Names: Coney Island Sea Rabbit, Beach Rabbit, Seal Rabbit, mer-rabbit, merrabbit, Atlantic Sea Rabbit.
Latin Name: Monafluffchus americanus
Origin: Atlantic coast of the United States
Description of the specimen: In the early 17th century’s European fur craze drove the fleet of Dutch ships to the eastern costal area of America. Then Holland was the center of the world just like the Italy was in the previous century. New York City was once called New Amsterdam when Dutch merchants landed and established colonies. Among them, Henry Hudson is probably the most recognized individual in the history of New York City today. “This small island is inhabited by two major creatures which we do not have in our homeland. The one creature is a large arthropod made of three body segments: the frontal segment resembles a horseshoe, the middle segment resembles a spiny crab and its tail resembles a sharp sword. Although they gather beaches here in great numbers, they are not edible due to their extremely offensive odor. Another creature which is abundant here, has the head of wild rabbit. This animal of great swimming ability has frontal legs resemble the webbed feet of a duck. The bottom half of the body resembles that of a seal. This docile rabbit of the sea is easy to catch as it does not fear people. The larger male sea rabbits control harems of 20 to 25 females. The meat of the sea rabbit is very tender and tasty.” This is what Hadson wrote in his personal journal in 1609 about the horseshoe crab and the sea rabbit in today’s Coney Island area of Brooklyn, New York. Sadly, just like the Dodo bird and the Thylacine, the sea rabbit was driven to extinction by the European settlers’ greed. When Dutch merchants and traders arrived here, sea rabbits were one of the first animals they hunted down to bring their furs to homeland to satisfy the fur craze of the time. To increase the shipment volume of furs of sea rabbit and beavers from New Amsterdam, Dutch merchants also started using wampum (beads made of special clam shells) as the first official currency of this country.
At the North Eastern shores of the United States, two species of sea rabbits were commonly found. They are Coney Island Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus americanus) and Coney Island Tiger-striped Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus konjinicus). Sadly, due to their over harvesting in the previous centuries, their conservation status became “Extinct in the Wild” (ET) in the Red List Endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Currently, these sea rabbits are only found at breeding centers at selected zoos and universities such as Coney Island Aquarium and Coney Island University in Brooklyn, New York. The one shown in this photograph was named "Seara" and has been cared by Dr. Takeshi Yamada at Coney Island University.
The sea rabbit is one of the families of the Pinniped order. Pinnipeds (from Latin penna = flat and pes/pedis = foot) are sea-mammals: they are homeothermic (i.e having high and regulated inner temperature), lung-breathing (i.e dependant on atmospheric oxygen) animals having come back to semi aquatic life. As soon as they arrive ashore, females are caught by the nearest adult male. Males can maintain harems of about 20 females on average. Several hours to several days after arriving ashore, pregnant females give birth to eight to ten pups with a dark brown fur. As soon as birth occurs, the mother’s special smell and calls help her pups bond specifically to her. The mother stays ashore with her pup for about one week during which the pup gains weight. During the first week spent with her newborn, the mother becomes receptive. She will be impregnated by the bull, which control the harem. Implantation of the embryo will occur 3 months later, in March-April. During the reproductive period, the best males copulate with several tens females. To do so, males have to stay ashore without feeding in order to keep their territory and their harem. In mid-January, when the last females have been fecundated, males leave at sea to feed. Some of them will come back later in March-April for the moult. The other ones will stay at sea and will come back on Coney Island only in next November. After fecundation, the mother goes at sea for her first meal. At sea, mothers feed on clams, crabs, shrimps, fish (herring, anchovy, Pollock, capelin etc.) and squids. When she is back, the mother recovers her pups at the beach she left them. Suckling occurs after auditive and olfactory recognition had occured. In March-April, the dark brown fur is totally replaced by an adult-like light brownish grey fur during the moult that lasts 1-2 months. This new fur is composed by 2 layers. Externally, the guard fur is composed by flat hairs that recover themselves when wet. By doing so, they make a water-proof barrier for the under fur. The underfur retains air when the seal is dry. Because of isolating properties of the air, the underfur is the insulating system of the fur. In March-April, the fur of adults is partially replaced. First reproduction occurs at 1-yr old in females. Males are physiologically matures at 1 year old but socially matures at +2 years old.
NOTE: The name of Coney Island is commonly thought to be derived from the Dutch Konijn Eylandt or Rabbit Island as apparently the 17th century European settlers noted many rabbits running amuck on the island.
www.takeshiyamada.weebly.com/performances.html
www.takeshiyamada.weebly.com/sea-rabbit-center.html
===========================================
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbits23/
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit22
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit021/
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit20
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit19
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit18
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit17
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit16
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit15
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit14
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit13
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit12
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit11
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit10
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit9
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit8
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit7
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit6
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit5
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit4
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit3
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit2
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit1
www.flickr.com/photos/diningwithsearabbits03
www.flickr.com/photos/diningwithsearabbits02
www.flickr.com/photos/diningwithsearabbits01
www.flickr.com/photos/yamadaimmortalized2/
www.flickr.com/photos/takeshiyamadaimmortalized/
www.flickr.com/photos/yamadabellhouse2014/
www.flickr.com/photos/museumofworldwonders3/
www.flickr.com/photos/museumofworldwonders2
www.flickr.com/photos/museumofworldwonders/
www.flickr.com/photos/takeshiyamadapaintings/
===========================================
For any questions, please email contact Takeshi Yamada, Art & Rogue Taxidermy, Museum of World Wonders, official website. www.takeshiyamada.weebly.com/
================================================
For any questions, please contact Dr. Takeshi Yamada. His email address is posted in the chapter page (the last page or the first page).
(Updated April 7, 2015)
Once common throughout the country, by the 20th century the species had become extinct from the majority of Ireland, surviving only in a few isolated and fragmented populations mainly in the west. The main reasons for the species’ decline were related to hunting for its fur; loss of habitat through the destruction of forests; direct and indirect poisoning and persecution as a potential predator of livestock/game populations. Taxonomically, the species belongs to the Mustelid group of animals and it is related to wildlife such as the stoat, otter and badger. Adult pine marten are about the size of a domestic cat, hence the Irish name ‘Cat crainn‘, and have a long tail that can be half the length of their body. They have a rich fur coat, typically dark brown in colour and a distinguishing creamy-yellow throat patch. Pine marten are habitat specialists, requiring forest or scrub habitat to exist in an area. They are adept at climbing trees as they have powerful non-retractable claws. The species is primarily active at night and individuals live in territories that can vary in size from 60 hectares to 430 hectares. Males typically have bigger territories than females and there can be partial overlap between adjacent territories. Life expectancy can be up to ten years, although the majority of individuals are unlikely to survive past five years in the wild.
Distribution
Pine marten occur throughout mainland Europe, stretching from the Ural mountains in the east to Ireland at the western edge of the species global distribution. They can also be found in parts of the Middle East. In Europe, pine marten exist with a similar species called the beech or stone marten, although that species tends to be more associated with areas of human habitation. Also, in the eastern parts of pine marten distribution (mainly Russia) there is some overlap with a related marten species known as the sable.
In Ireland, pine marten were once widely distributed throughout every county. Current pine marten distribution is largely concentrated in western counties and the midlands of Ireland. The species now occurs in approximately 50% of its historical range. Pine marten remain extinct throughout the majority of Munster and are very rare in Ulster.
Den & Refuge Sites
Pine marten can utilise a variety of den sites, which are used for breeding. Den sites can include rock crevices, tree cavities, subterranean burrows, buildings (abandoned or occupied), old bird nests, squirrel dreys and log piles. These sites provide cover from weather extremes and safety from potential predators. Den sites are normally only occupied during the breeding season. Outside of this period, pine marten use what are termed refuge sites. Refuge sites can be very varied although normally they are located several metres off the ground in forest canopy. Upturned or blown over tress are often used as refuge sites but the species can exploit any habitat feature that provides cover and safety. Pine marten will tend to have refuge and den sites that are used repeatedly in a forest and they can have a high fidelity to these sites.
Reproduction
Pine marten are solitary and adults avoid contact with each other throughout most of the year. The species only breeds once with mating typically occurring in early summer between adults that are at least two years old. Pine marten have what is termed ‘delayed implantation’, which means that fertilised eggs are not implanted in the uterus until the following January. This is a strategy to ensure that young (known as kits) are born during the most favourable time of year, which for pine marten is during March and April. Typically, two to three kits will be born in spring, each weighing less than 30g. The kits will stay in the den for about six weeks and are totally dependent on the female. Kits will then start exploring the area around the den and will stay with the female for at least six months, up to a maximum of 12–16 months. After this period, juveniles will disperse and attempt to establish their own territory. Only a small number of juveniles will survive to become adults and breed. Pine marten are considered to be slow breeders both in the terms of the number of young that are produced and the age at which reproductive maturity is reached.
Foraging/Hunting/Diet
In terms of diet, pine marten are omnivorous taking both plant and animal material. In Ireland, pine marten exploit a variety of resources including berries, fruits, small mammals, invertebrates, birds and amphibians. In some areas where pine marten occur close to towns and villages the species will exploit rubbish bins for food. In other countries, pine martens rely heavily on microtine rodents such as voles and also in colder countries on carrion, especially in winter. When foraging, pine marten will usually stay within their own territory, which will have a variety of food resources available within it.
Botswana, Moremi National Park, Moremi Game Reserve, Private Reserve, Farm, Chobe National park, Chobe Game Reserve, Zambia, Zambezi River, Livingstone, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Wildlife Conservation Project, Maramba River Lodge, South Africa, Krugger National Park, Okavango Delta, Kalahari region, Kalahari Desert.
Rhinoceros /raɪˈnɒsərəs/, often abbreviated as rhino, is a group of five extant species of knee-less, odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia.
Members of the rhinoceros family are characterized by their large size (they are some of the largest remaining megafauna, with all of the species able to reach one tonne or more in weight); as well as by a herbivorous diet; a thick protective skin, 1.5–5 cm thick, formed from layers of collagen positioned in a lattice structure; relatively small brains for mammals this size (400–600 g); and a large horn. They generally eat leafy material, although their ability to ferment food in their hindgut allows them to subsist on more fibrous plant matter, if necessary. Unlike other perissodactyls, the two African species of rhinoceros lack teeth at the front of their mouths, relying instead on their powerful premolar and molar teeth to grind up plant food.[1]
Rhinoceros are killed by humans for their horns, which are bought and sold on the black market, and which are used by some cultures for ornamental or (pseudo-scientific) medicinal purposes. The horns are made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails.[2] Both African species and the Sumatran rhinoceros have two horns, while the Indian and Javan rhinoceros have a single horn.
The IUCN Red List identifies three of the species as critically endangered.
The word rhinoceros is derived through Latin from the Ancient Greek: ῥῑνόκερως, which is composed of ῥῑνο- (rhino-, "nose") and κέρας (keras, "horn"). The plural in English is rhinoceros or rhinoceroses. The collective noun for a group of rhinoceroses is crash or herd.
The five living species fall into three categories. The two African species, the white rhinoceros and the black rhinoceros, belong to the Dicerotini group, which originated in the middle Miocene, about 14.2 million years ago. The species diverged during the early Pliocene (about 5 million years ago). The main difference between black and white rhinos is the shape of their mouths - white rhinos have broad flat lips for grazing, whereas black rhinos have long pointed lips for eating foliage.
There are two living Rhinocerotini species, the Indian rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros, which diverged from one another about 10 million years ago. The Sumatran rhinoceros is the only surviving representative of the most primitive group, the Dicerorhinini, which emerged in the Miocene (about 20 million years ago).[3] The extinct woolly rhinoceros of northern Europe and Asia was also a member of this tribe.
A subspecific hybrid white rhino (Ceratotherium s. simum × C. s. cottoni) was bred at the Dvůr Králové Zoo (Zoological Garden Dvur Kralove nad Labem) in the Czech Republic in 1977. Interspecific hybridisation of black and white rhinoceros has also been confirmed.[4]
While the black rhinoceros has 84 chromosomes (diploid number, 2N, per cell), all other rhinoceros species have 82 chromosomes.
White rhinoceros
Main article: White rhinoceros
There are two subspecies of white rhino: the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) and the northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni). In 2007, the southern subspecies had a wild population of 17,480 (IUCN2008) - 16,266 of which were in South Africa - making them the most abundant rhino subspecies in the world. However, the northern subspecies was critically endangered, with as few as four individuals in the wild; the possibility of complete extinction in the wild having been noted since June 2008.[5] Six are known to be held in captivity, two of which reside in a zoo in San Diego. Four born in a zoo in the Czech Republic were transferred to a wildlife refuge in Kenya in December 2009, in an effort to have the animals reproduce and save the subspecies.[6]
There is no conclusive explanation of the name white rhinoceros. A popular theory that "white" is a distortion of either the Afrikaans word weid or the Dutch word wijd (or its other possible spellings whyde, weit, etc.,) meaning wide and referring to the rhino's square lips is not supported by linguistic studies.[7][8]
The white rhino has an immense body and large head, a short neck and broad chest. This rhino can exceed 3,500 kg (7,700 lb), have a head-and-body length of 3.5–4.6 m (11–15 ft) and a shoulder height of 1.8–2 m (5.9–6.6 ft). The record-sized white rhinoceros was about 4,500 kg (10,000 lb).[9] On its snout it has two horns. The front horn is larger than the other horn and averages 90 cm (35 in) in length and can reach 150 cm (59 in). The white rhinoceros also has a prominent muscular hump that supports its relatively large head. The colour of this animal can range from yellowish brown to slate grey. Most of its body hair is found on the ear fringes and tail bristles, with the rest distributed rather sparsely over the rest of the body. White rhinos have the distinctive flat broad mouth that is used for grazing.
Black rhinoceros
Main article: Black rhinoceros
The name black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) was chosen to distinguish this species from the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). This can be confusing, as the two species are not really distinguishable by color. There are four subspecies of black rhino: South-central (Diceros bicornis minor), the most numerous, which once ranged from central Tanzania south through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to northern and eastern South Africa; South-western (Diceros bicornis bicornis) which are better adapted to the arid and semi-arid savannas of Namibia, southern Angola, western Botswana and western South Africa; East African (Diceros bicornis michaeli), primarily in Tanzania; and West African (Diceros bicornis longipes) which was declared extinct in November 2011.[10] The native Tswanan name Keitloa is used to describe a South African variation of the black rhino in which the posterior horn is equal to or longer than the anterior horn.[11]
An adult black rhinoceros stands 150–175 cm (59–69 in) high at the shoulder and is 3.5–3.9 m (11–13 ft) in length.[12] An adult weighs from 850 to 1,600 kg (1,900 to 3,500 lb), exceptionally to 1,800 kg (4,000 lb), with the females being smaller than the males. Two horns on the skull are made of keratin with the larger front horn typically 50 cm long, exceptionally up to 140 cm. Sometimes, a third smaller horn may develop. The black rhino is much smaller than the white rhino, and has a pointed mouth, which it uses to grasp leaves and twigs when feeding.
During the latter half of the 20th century their numbers were severely reduced from an estimated 70,000[13] in the late 1960s to only 2,410 in 1995.[14]
Indian rhinoceros
Main article: Indian rhinoceros
The Indian rhinoceros, or the greater one-horned rhinoceros, (Rhinoceros unicornis) is now found almost exclusively in Nepal and North-Eastern India. The rhino once inhabited many areas ranging from Pakistan to Burma and may have even roamed in China. However, because of human influence, their range has shrunk and now they only exist in several protected areas of India (in Assam, West Bengal, Gujarat and a few pairs in Uttar Pradesh) and Nepal, plus a few pairs in Lal Suhanra National Park in Pakistan. It is confined to the tall grasslands and forests in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The Indian rhinoceros has thick, silver-brown skin which creates huge folds all over its body. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps, and it has very little body hair. Fully grown males are larger than females in the wild, weighing from 2,500–3,200 kg (5,500–7,100 lb).The Indian rhino stands at 1.75–2.0 metres (5.75–6.5 ft). Female Indian rhinos weigh about 1,900 kg and are 3–4 metres long. The record-sized specimen of this rhino was approximately 3,800 kg. The Indian rhino has a single horn that reaches a length of between 20 and 100 cm. Its size is comparable to that of the white rhino in Africa.
Two-thirds of the world's Indian rhinoceroses are now confined to the Kaziranga National Park situated in the Golaghat district of Assam, India.[15]
Javan rhinoceros
Main article: Javan rhinoceros
The Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is one of the rarest and most endangered large mammals anywhere in the world.[16] According to 2002 estimates, only about 60 remain, in Java (Indonesia) and Vietnam. Of all the rhino species, the least is known of the Javan Rhino. These animals prefer dense lowland rain forest, tall grass and reed beds that are plentiful with large floodplains and mud wallows. Though once widespread throughout Asia, by the 1930s the rhinoceros was nearly hunted to extinction in India, Burma, Peninsular Malaysia, and Sumatra for the supposed medical powers of its horn and blood. As of 2009, there are only 40 of them remaining in Ujung Kulon Conservation, Java, Indonesia. The last rhinoceros in Vietnam was reportedly killed in 2010.[17]
Like the closely related, and larger, Indian rhinoceros, the Javan rhinoceros has a single horn. Its hairless, hazy gray skin falls into folds into the shoulder, back, and rump giving it an armored-like appearance. The Javan rhino's body length reaches up to 3.1–3.2 m (10–10 ft), including its head and a height of 1.5–1.7 m (4 ft 10 in–5 ft 7 in) tall. Adults are variously reported to weigh between 900–1,400 kg[18] or 1,360–2,000 kg.[19] Male horns can reach 26 cm in length, while in females they are knobs or are not present at all.[19]
Sumatran rhinoceros
Main article: Sumatran rhinoceros
The Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is the smallest extant rhinoceros species, as well as the one with the most hair. It can be found at very high altitudes in Borneo and Sumatra. Due to habitat loss and poaching, its numbers have declined and it is the most threatened rhinoceros. About 275 Sumatran rhinos are believed to remain.
A mature Sumatran rhino typically stands about 130 cm (51 in) high at the shoulder, with a body length of 240–315 cm (94–124 in) and weighing around 700 kg (1,500 lb), though the largest individuals have been known to weigh as much as 1,000 kilograms. Like the African species, it has two horns; the larger is the front (25–79 cm), with the smaller usually less than 10 cm long. The males have much larger horns than the females. Hair can range from dense (the densest hair in young calves) to scarce. The color of these rhinos is reddish brown. The body is short and has stubby legs. They also have a prehensile lip.
Rhinocerotoids diverged from other perissodactyls by the early Eocene. Fossils of Hyrachyus eximus found in North America date to this period. This small hornless ancestor resembled a tapir or small horse more than a rhino. Three families, sometimes grouped together as the superfamily Rhinocerotoidea, evolved in the late Eocene: Hyracodontidae, Amynodontidae and Rhinocerotidae.
Hyracodontidae, also known as 'running rhinos', showed adaptations for speed, and would have looked more like horses than modern rhinos. The smallest hyracodontids were dog-sized; the largest was Indricotherium, believed to be one of the largest land mammals that ever existed. The hornless Indricotherium was almost seven metres high, ten metres long, and weighed as much as 15 tons. Like a giraffe, it ate leaves from trees. The hyracodontids spread across Eurasia from the mid-Eocene to early Miocene.
The Amynodontidae, also known as "aquatic rhinos", dispersed across North America and Eurasia, from the late Eocene to early Oligocene. The amynodontids were hippopotamus-like in their ecology and appearance, inhabiting rivers and lakes, and sharing many of the same adaptations to aquatic life as hippos.
The family of all modern rhinoceros, the Rhinocerotidae, first appeared in the Late Eocene in Eurasia. The earliest members of Rhinocerotidae were small and numerous; at least 26 genera lived in Eurasia and North America until a wave of extinctions in the middle Oligocene wiped out most of the smaller species. However, several independent lineages survived. Menoceras, a pig-sized rhinoceros, had two horns side-by-side. The North American Teleoceras had short legs, a barrel chest and lived until about 5 million years ago. The last rhinos in the Americas became extinct during the Pliocene.
Modern rhinos are believed to have began dispersal from Asia during the Miocene. Two species survived the most recent period of glaciation and inhabited Europe as recently as 10,000 years ago: the woolly rhinoceros and Elasmotherium. The woolly rhinoceros appeared in China around 1 million years ago and first arrived in Europe around 600,000 years ago. It reappeared 200,000 years ago, alongside the woolly mammoth, and became numerous. Eventually it was hunted to extinction by early humans. Elasmotherium, also known as the giant rhinoceros, survived through the middle Pleistocene: it was two meters tall, five meters long and weighed around five tons, with a single enormous horn, hypsodont teeth and long legs for running.
Of the extant rhinoceros species, the Sumatran rhino is the most archaic, first emerging more than 15 million years ago. The Sumatran rhino was closely related to the woolly rhinoceros, but not to the other modern species. The Indian rhino and Javan rhino are closely related and form a more recent lineage of Asian rhino. The ancestors of early Indian and Javan rhino diverged 2–4 million years ago.[21]
The origin of the two living African rhinos can be traced back to the late Miocene (6 mya) species Ceratotherium neumayri. The lineages containing the living species diverged by the early Pliocene (1.5 mya), when Diceros praecox, the likely ancestor of the black rhinoceros, appears in the fossil record.[22] The black and white rhinoceros remain so closely related that they can still mate and successfully produce offspring.
In the wild, adult rhinoceros have few natural predators other than humans. Young rhinos can fall prey to predators such as big cats, crocodiles, wild dogs, and hyenas. Although rhinos are of a large size and have a reputation for being tough, they are actually very easily poached; because it visits water holes daily, the rhinoceros is easily killed while taking a drink. As of December 2009 poaching has been on a global increase whilst efforts to protect the rhinoceros are considered increasingly ineffective. The worst estimate, that only 3% of poachers are successfully countered, is reported of Zimbabwe. Rhino horn is considered to be particularly effective on fevers and even "life saving" by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, which in turn provides a sales market. Nepal is apparently alone in avoiding the crisis while poacher-hunters grow ever more sophisticated.[26] South African officials are calling for urgent action against rhinoceros poaching after poachers killed the last female rhinoceros in the Krugersdorp Game Reserve near Johannesburg.[27] Statistics from South African National Parks show a record 333 rhinoceros have been killed in 2010.[28]
Horns
Rhinoceros horns, unlike those of other horned mammals (which have a bony core), only consist of keratin. Rhinoceros horns are used in traditional Asian medicine, and for dagger handles in Yemen and Oman. Esmond Bradley Martin has reported on the trade for dagger handles in Yemen.[29]
One repeated misconception is that rhinoceros horn in powdered form is used as an aphrodisiac in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as Cornu Rhinoceri Asiatici It is, in fact, prescribed for fevers and convulsions.[30] Neither have been proven by evidence-based medicine. Discussions with TCM practitioners to reduce its use have met with mixed results since some TCM doctors see rhinoceros horn as a life-saving medicine of better quality than substitutes.[31] China has signed the CITES treaty however, and removed rhinoceros horn from the Chinese medicine pharmacopeia, administered by the Ministry of Health, in 1993. In 2011 in the United Kingdom, the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine issued a formal statement condemning the use of rhinoceros horn.[32] A growing number of TCM educators have also spoken out against the practice.[33] To prevent poaching, in certain areas, rhinos have been tranquilized and their horns removed. Armed park rangers, particularly in South Africa, are also working on the front lines to combat poaching, sometimes killing poachers who are caught in the act. A recent spike in rhino killings has made conservationaists concerned about the future of rhino species. During 2011 448 rhino were killed for their horn in South Africa alone.[34] The horn is incredibly valuable: an average sized horn can bring in much as a quarter of a million dollars in Vietnam and many rhino range States have stockpiles of rhino horn.[35][36] Still, poaching is hitting record levels due to demands from China and Vietnam.[37]
Historical representations
Albrecht Dürer created a famous woodcut of a rhinoceros in 1515, based on a written description and brief sketch by an unknown artist of an Indian rhinoceros that had arrived in Lisbon earlier that year. Dürer never saw the animal itself and, as a result, Dürer's Rhinoceros is a somewhat inaccurate depiction.
There are legends about rhinoceros stamping out fire in Malaysia, India, and Burma. The mythical rhinoceros has a special name in Malay, badak api, where badak means rhinoceros and api means fire. The animal would come when a fire is lit in the forest and stamp it out.[38] There are no recent confirmations of this phenomenon. However, this legend has been reinforced by the film The Gods Must Be Crazy, where an African rhinoceros is shown to be putting out two campfires.
Conservation
International Rhino Foundation
Save the Rhino
Nicolaas Jan van Strien
Individual rhinoceroses
Abada
Clara
Rhinoceros of Versailles
See also: Fictional Rhinoceroses
Other
Rhinoceroses in ancient China
A wine vessel in the form of a bronze rhinoceros with silver inlay, from the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) period of China, sporting a saddle on its back
A rhinoceros depicted on a Roman mosaic in Villa Romana del Casale, an archeological site near Piazza Armerina in Sicily, Italy
Dürer's Rhinoceros, in a woodcut from 1515
Monk with rhinoceros horn. Samye, Tibet, 1938.
Indricotherium, the extinct "giant giraffe" rhinoceros. It stood 18 feet tall at the shoulder and weighed up to 20 tonnes (22 short tons).
Coelodonta, the extinct woolly rhinoceros
The thick dermal armour of the Rhinoceros evolved at the same time as shearing tusks[20]
The Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest of the rhino species
Smaller in size than the Indian rhinoceros, the Javan rhinoceros also have a single horn
The Indian rhinoceros has a single horn
The black rhinoceros has a beak shaped lip and is similar in color to the white rhinoceros
The white rhinoceros is actually grey
Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) at the Saint Louis Zoo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Infraclass:Eutheria
Order:Perissodactyla
Suborder:Ceratomorpha
Superfamily:Rhinocerotoidea
Family:Rhinocerotidae
Gray, 1820
Extant Genera
Ceratotherium
Dicerorhinus
Diceros
Rhinoceros
Extinct genera, see text
NEW DELHI: A total of 631 animals, including 19 rhinos, died in the recent floods in Kaziranga National Park of Assam, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
In a written reply to the House, forest and environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan also said that flood is a natural and recurring phenomenon in Kaziranga and it creates a variety of habitats for different species.
"Mortality of wild animals due to flood has been reported during the year only in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve. As reported by the state, a total of 631 animal deaths, including 19 rhinos, have occurred in Kaziranga due to excess water brought by the flood during June-July 2012," she said.
She also informed the House that the flooding results in damage to infrastructure such as roads, anti-poaching camps, artificial high grounds.
"Similar high floods of 1988 and 1998 recorded animal mortality of 1203 and 652 respectively," Natarajan said.
Replying to a separate question on tiger deaths reported in Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, she said from 2008 till now, there are 19 such incidents of the big cats dying due to natural and other causes.
She said only two incidents of poaching were reported from the national park.
In reply to another question on Tiger Project, she said, "The country level tiger population, estimated once in every four years using the refined methodology, is 1706."
While the lower limit of the tiger population is estimated to be 1520, the upper limit has been fixed at 1909.
Providing details of the 'India State Survey of Forest Report 2011', Natarajan told the House that "Forest and tree cover in the country is 78.29 million hectare, which is 23.81 per cent of the total geographical cover. This includes 2.76 per cent of tree cover."
On the forest cover in hilly and tribal areas, she said, "In the hill and tribal districts of the country, a decrease in forest dover of 548 sq km and 679 sq km respectively has been reported as compared to the previous assessment."
The northeastern states account for one-fourth of the country's forest cover but, "A decline of 549 sq km in forest cover as compared to the previous assessment", she said.
Replying to a query on mangrove cover in the country, Natarajan said there has been an increase of 23.34 sq km during the same period.
More expensive than cocaine, rhino horn is now the party drug of choice among Vietnam’s young things.
Instead of a razor blade and mirror, a textured ceramic bowl is used for grinding down rhinoceros horn into a powder to be mixed with water or wine.
Rhino horn is made of keratin, the same protein as fingernails. Scientists say it has no medicinal value, and users aren’t getting high. The belief in Vietnam is that drinking a tonic made from the horn will detoxify the body after a night of heavy boozing, and prevent a hangover. One Vietnamese news website described rhino horn wine as “the alcoholic drink of millionaires.”
This is the latest twist in South Africa’s devastating rhino poaching crisis, which began with a sudden boom in illegal killings of the endangered animal in 2008 and has worsened every year since. Demand among the newly wealthy in Vietnam is the root of the problem, says TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring group.
Tom Milliken, a rhino expert with TRAFFIC, said that in Vietnam, offering your friends rhino horn at a party has become a fashionable way to show wealth and status.
The way it happens is like this: “I would get my closest friends and we’d go into another room. I would bring out some rhino horn and we’d all take it and then come back to the party,” said Milliken, who studied the phenomenon.
A new TRAFFIC report, co-authored by Milliken, details how surging demand for horn in Vietnam, corruption in South Africa’s wildlife industry, loopholes in regulations and criminal networks have all fed into the poaching epidemic.
Vietnam’s new rich have become the world’s largest consumer group of rhino horn, spurring demand and the continued slaughter of rhinos in South Africa.
Another key group of Vietnamese consumers is people with serious illnesses, in particular cancer, who believe rhino horn can cure them despite the lack of any medical evidence. The TRAFFIC report describes the phenomenon of “rhino horn touts” stalking the corridors at hospitals, seeking out desperate patients with cancer.
An update released by South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs said that 339 rhino have been killed illegally in the country since the start of 2012, on track to be the worst year for poaching yet. There have also been 192 poaching-related arrests this year.
South Africa is the primary target for poachers because it is home to 21,000 rhinos, or more than 80 per cent of the world population.
South Africa and Vietnam are beginning to cooperate on the problem, although progress has been slow.
Vietnam’s deputy foreign affairs minister Le Loung Minh visited South Africa last week for talks on illegal trade in wildlife with his counterpart Ebrahim Ebrahim. The two governments are set to sign a memorandum of understanding that would encompass cooperation in criminal investigations. But it has taken a year of sporadic talks to reach this point — a sign of the lack of urgent action.
“South Africa has progressively scaled up its response to rhino crime,” the report noted, pointing to a plan that is being implemented and the recent increase in “high-value arrests.”
South Africa’s environment ministry hired Mavuso Msimang to bring together South Africans in private and public sectors to find the best way to save the rhino.
The project involves studying the potential legalising of the rhino horn trade, a contentious issue. “The government has done a good job of putting their effort behind the saving of the rhino,” Msimang said at the launch of the TRAFFIC report. “It’s got shortcomings, coordination is not always great, but the will to do well is with us,” he said.
Every day in South Africa, a rhinoceros will bleed to death after its horn has been hacked off by poachers. The horns are sold on the black market in Asia, mostly in Vietnam, where they’re believed to have powerful medicinal properties. Dutch veterinarian Martine van Zijl Langhout works together with local wardens to try and protect this threatened species.
Van Zijll Langhout stalks as quietly as possible through the tall grass at Mauricedale Park in the east of South Africa near the famous Kruger Park. She pulls back the trigger on her special tranquiliser rifle, takes aim and fires. The rhinoceros in her sights wobbles groggily for a few minutes before sinking onto its knees and rolling unconscious onto its side. Van Zijll Langhout and her team, carrying a chainsaw, approach the animal cautiously.
Brutal killings
There are some 20,000 rhinos in South Africa, 80 percent of the world population. And every day these animals are slaughtered savagely by poachers. First the rhino is shot to bring it down, and then the horn is hacked off with axes and machetes. The poachers cut as deeply into the animal’s head as possible. Every extra centimetre of horn means more money in their pockets. In 2007, thirteen rhinos in South Africa fell victim to poachers. Last year that number had soared to 448, and the toll so far this year is 312.
Reducing risk
Loud snoring can be heard. The vet blindfolds the rhinoceros and then the park manager starts up the chainsaw and proceeds to slice into the beast’s horn. Van Zijll Langhout monitors its breathing: “This is one way to stop the poachers” she explains. “They want as much horn as possible so rhinos with a small horn are a less attractive target”.
Van Zijll Langhout came to South Africa in 1997 when she was still a student and worked at Kruger Park with lions, elephants and rhinos. She knew she’d found her dream job, and five years ago she returned as a qualified vet. “It’s an unquenchable passion, such an adventure, and every day is different,” she says, “It’s such a privilege to work with African animals and an honour to be able to do something for them”.
No better option
The preventive removal of the rhinoceros’ horn takes about ten minutes. Van Zijll Langhout, an energetic woman in her thirties with wildly curly hair, compares the process to clipping nails or having a haircut: “It’s completely painless; we cut above the blood vessels”. Again she checks the animal’s breathing as its snores echo through the bush. “It’s not nice that we have to do this, but I don’t really see a better option”, she sighs, “and the horn does grow back, otherwise we wouldn’t do it.” The fact that visitors to the park might be disappointed and expect to see rhinos complete with proud curving horns doesn’t bother her: “What matters is the animals’ survival”.
Organised crime
The fight against poaching is a difficult one. “These are professional criminals”, explains Van Zijll Langhout. “This isn’t about poor locals living in huts. Poachers have advanced weapons and sometimes even use helicopters.” The horns are worth more than their weight in gold, so it’s a lucrative trade for organised crime syndicates.
The horn falls to the ground; the team will preserve it and register it. The rhino is given an injection. Within minutes he’s back on his feet and walking off into the bush. His newly weightless head is no guarantee of safety though. A rhino was poached in the park the same week as the horns were sawn off. Even the stump that remains after the procedure is worth big money.
Both black and white rhinoceroses are actually gray. They are different not in color but in lip shape. The black rhino has a pointed upper lip, while its white relative has a squared lip. The difference in lip shape is related to the animals' diets. Black rhinos are browsers that get most of their sustenance from eating trees and bushes. They use their lips to pluck leaves and fruit from the branches. White rhinos graze on grasses, walking with their enormous heads and squared lips lowered to the ground.
White rhinos live on Africa's grassy plains, where they sometimes gather in groups of as many as a dozen individuals. Females reproduce only every two and a half to five years. Their single calf does not live on its own until it is about three years old.
Under the hot African sun, white rhinos take cover by lying in the shade. Rhinos are also wallowers. They find a suitable water hole and roll in its mud, coating their skin with a natural bug repellent and sun block.
Rhinos have sharp hearing and a keen sense of smell. They may find one another by following the trail of scent each enormous animal leaves behind it on the landscape.
White rhinos have two horns, the foremost more prominent than the other. Rhino horns grow as much as three inches (eight centimeters) a year, and have been known to grow up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) long. Females use their horns to protect their young, while males use them to battle attackers.
The prominent horn for which rhinos are so well known has been their downfall. Many animals have been killed for this hard, hair-like growth, which is revered for medicinal use in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The horn is also valued in North Africa and the Middle East as an ornamental dagger handle.
The white rhino once roamed much of sub-Saharan Africa, but today is on the verge of extinction due to poaching fueled by these commercial uses. Only about 11,000 white rhinos survive in the wild, and many organizations are working to protect this much loved animal.Fast Facts
Type:
Mammal
Diet:
Herbivore
Size:
Head and body, 11 to 13.75 ft (3.4 to 4.2 m); tail, 20 to 27.5 in (50 to 70 cm)
Weight:
3,168 to 7,920 lbs (1,440 to 3,600 kg)
Protection status:
Endangered
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:
Both black and white rhinoceroses are actually gray. They are different not in color but in lip shape. The black rhino has a pointed upper lip, while its white relative has a squared lip. The difference in lip shape is related to the animals' diets. Black rhinos are browsers that get most of their sustenance from eating trees and bushes. They use their lips to pluck leaves and fruit from the branches. White rhinos graze on grasses, walking with their enormous heads and squared lips lowered to the ground.
Except for females and their offspring, black rhinos are solitary. Females reproduce only every two and a half to five years. Their single calf does not live on its own until it is about three years old.
Black rhinos feed at night and during the gloaming hours of dawn and dusk. Under the hot African sun, they take cover by lying in the shade. Rhinos are also wallowers. They often find a suitable water hole and roll in its mud, coating their skin with a natural bug repellent and sun block.
Rhinos have sharp hearing and a keen sense of smell. They may find one another by following the trail of scent each enormous animal leaves behind it on the landscape.
Black rhinos boast two horns, the foremost more prominent than the other. Rhino horns grow as much as three inches (eight centimeters) a year, and have been known to grow up to five feet (one and a half meters) long. Females use their horns to protect their young, while males use them to battle attackers.
The prominent horn for which rhinos are so well known has also been their downfall. Many animals have been killed for the hard, hairlike growth, which is revered for medicinal uses in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The horn is also valued in North Africa and the Middle East as an ornamental dagger handle.
The black rhino once roamed most of sub-Saharan Africa, but today is on the verge of extinction due to poaching fueled by commercial demand.
The rifle shot boomed through the darkening forest just as Damien Mander arrived at his campfire after a long day training game ranger recruits in western Zimbabwe's Nakavango game reserve. His thoughts flew to Basta, a pregnant black rhinoceros, and her two-year-old calf. That afternoon one of his rangers had discovered human footprints following the pair's tracks as Basta sought cover in deep bush to deliver the newest member of her threatened species.
Damien, a hard-muscled former Australian Special Forces sniper with an imposing menagerie of tattoos, including "Seek & Destroy" in gothic lettering across his chest, swiveled his head, trying to place the direction of the shot. "There, near the eastern boundary," he pointed into the blackness. "Sounded like a .223," he said, identifying the position and caliber, a habit left over from 12 tours in Iraq. He and his rangers grabbed shotguns, radios, and medical kits and piled into two Land Cruisers. They roared into the night, hoping to cut off the shooter. The rangers rolled down their windows and listened for a second shot, which would likely signal Basta's calf was taken as well.
It was an ideal poacher's setup: half-moon, almost no wind. The human tracks were especially ominous. Poaching crews often pay trackers to find the rhinos, follow them until dusk, then radio their position to a shooter with a high-powered rifle. After the animal is down, the two horns on its snout are hacked off in minutes, and the massive carcass is left to hyenas and vultures. Nearly always the horns are fenced to an Asian buyer; an enterprising crew might also cut out Basta's fetus and the eyes of the mother and calf to sell to black magic or muti practitioners. If this gang was well organized, a group of heavily armed men would be covering the escape route, ready to ambush the rangers.
As the Land Cruiser bucked over rutted tracks, Damien did a quick calculation—between his vehicles he had two antiquated shotguns with about a dozen shells. Based on the sound of the shot, the poachers held an advantage in firepower. If the rangers did pick up a trail and followed on foot, they would have to contend with lions, leopards, and hyenas out hunting in the dark.
In the backseat of one of the speeding Land Cruisers, Benzene, a Zimbabwean ranger who had spent nearly a year watching over Basta and her calf and knew the pair intimately, loaded three shells into his shotgun, flicked on the safety, and chambered a round. As we bounced into the night, he said, "It is better for the poachers if they meet a lion than if they meet us."
AND SO GOES A NIGHT on the front lines of southern Africa's ruthless and murky rhino war, which since 2006 has seen more than a thousand rhinos slaughtered, some 22 poachers gunned down and more than 200 arrested last year in South Africa alone. At the bloody heart of this conflict is the rhino's horn, a prized ingredient in traditional Asian medicines. Though black market prices vary widely, as of last fall dealers in Vietnam quoted prices ranging from $33 to $133 a gram, which at the top end is double the price of gold and can exceed the price of cocaine.
Although the range of the two African species—the white rhino and its smaller cousin, the black rhino—has been reduced primarily to southern Africa and Kenya, their populations had shown encouraging improvement. In 2007 white rhinos numbered 17,470, while blacks had nearly doubled to 4,230 since the mid '90s.
For conservationists these numbers represented a triumph. In the 1970s and '80s, poaching had devastated the two species. Then China banned rhino horn from traditional medicine, and Yemen forbade its use for ceremonial dagger handles. All signs seemed to point to better days. But in 2008 the number of poached rhinos in South Africa shot up to 83, from just 13 in 2007. By 2010 the figure had soared to 333, followed by over 400 last year. Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring network, found most of the horn trade now leads to Vietnam, a shift that coincided with a swell of rumors that a high-ranking Vietnamese official used rhino horn to cure his cancer.
Meanwhile in South Africa, attracted by spiraling prices—and profits—crime syndicates began adding rhino poaching to their portfolios.
animals architecture art asia australia autumn baby band barcelona beach berlin bike bird birds birthday black blackandwhite blue bw california canada canon car cat chicago china christmas church city clouds color concert dance day de dog england europe fall family fashion festival film florida flower flowers food football france friends fun garden geotagged germany girl graffiti green halloween hawaii holiday house india instagramapp iphone iphoneography island italia italy japan kids la lake landscape light live london love macro me mexico model museum music nature new newyork newyorkcity night nikon nyc ocean old paris park party people photo photography photos portrait raw red river rock san sanfrancisco scotland sea seattle show sky snow spain spring square squareformat street summer sun sunset taiwan texas thailand tokyo travel tree trees trip uk unitedstates urban usa vacation vintage washington water wedding white winter woman yellow zoo
Azores - São Miguel -
Church of São Jorge
Located in the town center, next to City Hall, in Nordeste, this church is the most important and beautiful church in the county. It was built in 1796, date inscribed on the front, and inside one will find pictures of the extinct franciscan convent from 1642 and a cinquecentist image of the saint patron, São Jorge.
Take one last look, because you will never again see me in the red jacket and blue scrubs!! Nor will I ever torture you with tales of work life. Nor will I attempt to find hidden spaces within these walls to make my own. Nor will I attempt to carry my 20 pound camera bag a half-mile to work and shove it in my locker.
Ever
Again
It has been a challenge to make this project work in the dark working months when i arrive and leave this place in the dark. And since increasing my work hours, it has just meant one more day of trying to be creative here at work. I am thankful to be leaving work today knowing I will never have to bring my camera here again ..........
ʻIhiʻihi, ʻIhiʻihilauākea or Hawaiian waterfern
Marsileaceae (Pepperwort family)
Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands (Niʻihau, extinct?; extant on Oʻahu, Molokaʻi)
Endangered
Oʻahu (Cultivated); Oʻahu variety
Growing well in the wettest portion of my Native Hawaiian Fern Garden.
Often, Marsilea spp. have been mistakenly sold on the market as "Shamrock" or "Four-leaf Clover." All belong to very different families: shamrock belongs to Oxalidaceae; clover to Fabaceae, peas and legumes; ʻihiʻihi to Marsileaceae, water ferns.
Etymology
The generic name Marsilea is named for Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli or Marsili (1656-1730), Italian botanist at Bologna.
The Latin specific epithet villosa, hairy, in reference to the hairy rhizomes and sporocarps.
When Robert Griggs first arrived here in 1919 he found it as a geothermal area. It became known as The Yellowstone of the North. It was however, not geothermal at all. The fumeroles had been created by super-heated steam created by the molten lava and ash boiling the River Lethe. Fumeroles are long gone now however. It is said that the Lunar Rover and astronauts trained here for the moon landings. Just saying! .... It is 1985 here. Filmed on Kodachrome 64 and scanned at 4000dpi.
The Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus americanus) of Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York – This unique sea-dwelling rabbit, which is actually a close relative of the sea lion, was officially discovered and investigated by Henry Hudson when he first visited this land to colonize the area by order of the Dutch government. It was named New Amsterdam -- today’s New York City. This island was named after he saw the beach covered with strange swimming wild rabbits. The word “Coney Island” means “wild rabbit island” in Dutch (originally Conyne Eylandt, or Konijneneiland in modern Dutch spelling). Sea rabbits were also referred mermaid rabbit, merrabbit, rabbit fish or seal rabbit in the natural history documents in the 17th century. The current conservation status, or risk of extinction, of the sea rabbit is Extinct in the Wild.
This website features two species of sea rabbits, which have been taken care of by Dr. Takeshi Yamada (山田武司) at the Coney Island Sea Rabbit Repopulation Center, which is a part of the Marine biology department of the Coney Island University in Brooklyn, New York. They are – Coney Island Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus americanus) called “Seara” and Coney Island Tiger-striped Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus konjinicus) called “Stripes”.
The photographs and videos featured in this website chronicle adventures of the Coney Island sea rabbits and the world as seen by them. This article also documented efforts of Dr. Takeshi Yamada for bringing back the nearly extinct sea rabbits to Coney Island in the City of New York and beyond. Dr. Yamada produced a series of public lectures, workshops, original public live interactive fine art performances and fine art exhibitions about sea rabbits at a variety of occasions and institutions in the City of New York and beyond. Dr. Yamada is an internationally active educator, book author, wildlife conservationist and high profile artist, who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sea Rabbit
Other Common Names: Coney Island Sea Rabbit, Beach Rabbit, Seal Rabbit, mer-rabbit, merrabbit, Atlantic Sea Rabbit.
Latin Name: Monafluffchus americanus
Origin: Atlantic coast of the United States
Description of the specimen: In the early 17th century’s European fur craze drove the fleet of Dutch ships to the eastern costal area of America. Then Holland was the center of the world just like the Italy was in the previous century. New York City was once called New Amsterdam when Dutch merchants landed and established colonies. Among them, Henry Hudson is probably the most recognized individual in the history of New York City today. “This small island is inhabited by two major creatures which we do not have in our homeland. The one creature is a large arthropod made of three body segments: the frontal segment resembles a horseshoe, the middle segment resembles a spiny crab and its tail resembles a sharp sword. Although they gather beaches here in great numbers, they are not edible due to their extremely offensive odor. Another creature which is abundant here, has the head of wild rabbit. This animal of great swimming ability has frontal legs resemble the webbed feet of a duck. The bottom half of the body resembles that of a seal. This docile rabbit of the sea is easy to catch as it does not fear people. The larger male sea rabbits control harems of 20 to 25 females. The meat of the sea rabbit is very tender and tasty.” This is what Hadson wrote in his personal journal in 1609 about the horseshoe crab and the sea rabbit in today’s Coney Island area of Brooklyn, New York. Sadly, just like the Dodo bird and the Thylacine, the sea rabbit was driven to extinction by the European settlers’ greed. When Dutch merchants and traders arrived here, sea rabbits were one of the first animals they hunted down to bring their furs to homeland to satisfy the fur craze of the time. To increase the shipment volume of furs of sea rabbit and beavers from New Amsterdam, Dutch merchants also started using wampum (beads made of special clam shells) as the first official currency of this country.
At the North Eastern shores of the United States, two species of sea rabbits were commonly found. They are Coney Island Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus americanus) and Coney Island Tiger-striped Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus konjinicus). Sadly, due to their over harvesting in the previous centuries, their conservation status became “Extinct in the Wild” (ET) in the Red List Endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Currently, these sea rabbits are only found at breeding centers at selected zoos and universities such as Coney Island Aquarium and Coney Island University in Brooklyn, New York. The one shown in this photograph was named "Seara" and has been cared by Dr. Takeshi Yamada at Coney Island University.
The sea rabbit is one of the families of the Pinniped order. Pinnipeds (from Latin penna = flat and pes/pedis = foot) are sea-mammals: they are homeothermic (i.e having high and regulated inner temperature), lung-breathing (i.e dependant on atmospheric oxygen) animals having come back to semi aquatic life. As soon as they arrive ashore, females are caught by the nearest adult male. Males can maintain harems of about 20 females on average. Several hours to several days after arriving ashore, pregnant females give birth to eight to ten pups with a dark brown fur. As soon as birth occurs, the mother’s special smell and calls help her pups bond specifically to her. The mother stays ashore with her pup for about one week during which the pup gains weight. During the first week spent with her newborn, the mother becomes receptive. She will be impregnated by the bull, which control the harem. Implantation of the embryo will occur 3 months later, in March-April. During the reproductive period, the best males copulate with several tens females. To do so, males have to stay ashore without feeding in order to keep their territory and their harem. In mid-January, when the last females have been fecundated, males leave at sea to feed. Some of them will come back later in March-April for the moult. The other ones will stay at sea and will come back on Coney Island only in next November. After fecundation, the mother goes at sea for her first meal. At sea, mothers feed on clams, crabs, shrimps, fish (herring, anchovy, Pollock, capelin etc.) and squids. When she is back, the mother recovers her pups at the beach she left them. Suckling occurs after auditive and olfactory recognition had occured. In March-April, the dark brown fur is totally replaced by an adult-like light brownish grey fur during the moult that lasts 1-2 months. This new fur is composed by 2 layers. Externally, the guard fur is composed by flat hairs that recover themselves when wet. By doing so, they make a water-proof barrier for the under fur. The underfur retains air when the seal is dry. Because of isolating properties of the air, the underfur is the insulating system of the fur. In March-April, the fur of adults is partially replaced. First reproduction occurs at 1-yr old in females. Males are physiologically matures at 1 year old but socially matures at +2 years old.
NOTE: The name of Coney Island is commonly thought to be derived from the Dutch Konijn Eylandt or Rabbit Island as apparently the 17th century European settlers noted many rabbits running amuck on the island.
www.takeshiyamada.weebly.com/performances.html
www.takeshiyamada.weebly.com/sea-rabbit-center.html
===========================================
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbits23/
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit22
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit021/
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit20
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit19
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit18
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit17
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit16
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit15
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit14
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit13
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit12
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit11
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit10
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit9
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit8
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit7
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit6
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit5
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit4
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit3
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit2
www.flickr.com/photos/searabbit1
www.flickr.com/photos/diningwithsearabbits03
www.flickr.com/photos/diningwithsearabbits02
www.flickr.com/photos/diningwithsearabbits01
www.flickr.com/photos/yamadaimmortalized2/
www.flickr.com/photos/takeshiyamadaimmortalized/
www.flickr.com/photos/yamadabellhouse2014/
www.flickr.com/photos/museumofworldwonders3/
www.flickr.com/photos/museumofworldwonders2
www.flickr.com/photos/museumofworldwonders/
www.flickr.com/photos/takeshiyamadapaintings/
===========================================
For any questions, please email contact Takeshi Yamada, Art & Rogue Taxidermy, Museum of World Wonders, official website. www.takeshiyamada.weebly.com/
================================================
For any questions, please contact Dr. Takeshi Yamada. His email address is posted in the chapter page (the last page or the first page).
(Updated April 7, 2015)
Image created for a blog post I have written called "The ECM Dinosaurs" www,documentboss.com. The dinosaurs are from "Toys R Us" the setting is Egypt from a holiday a few years ago. The rest is Photoshop. I took the photographs of the dinosaurs on a perspex curved table using two lights a small beauty dish behind with a diffuser to simulate the early morning sunrise from behind to the right and a large square diffused soft box to my left on low power as fill-in.
I had to tone down the highlights a lot in Photoshop to make the dinosaurs skin look more realistic. All the dinosaurs are fairly close in size. I did some research and calculated that a Tyrannosaurus Rex head height would be just under twice my height. So I placed the camera low with the centre of the lens half way up the T-Rex body.
I discovered that even T-Rex has a best side and angle for the camera.
CO2 good or bad ? The one gas essential for all life on earth is now universally termed a pollutant. Nuclear power is now classed as green energy?
O'h I forgot debate is not allowed any more. I must burn those old science books and ask the search engine providers to algorithm out alternative science from results as fake news. Silly Me I am too late they thought of it first.
It was even worse in the 1970's when they told us were were heading for an ice age and electricity was in short supply in the hard winters. They said Nuclear power was deadly and would pollute the planet for 10's of thousands of years so we needed to burn more coal instead. Yes they had us in fear then too.
Wake up world question everything and your consciousness will rise.
Agendas politics and science need clear boundaries for us to grow in understanding of the world we live in.
If someone in power tells you there is no debate it means they can't win one.
The politics of fear must be ignored and understood for our consciousness to rise a level.
The greening effect of CO2 is real and even recognised at NASA also know as Never a Straight Answer. Temperature rises do release CO2 from the oceans. Does CO'2 release increase air temperature ? A chicken an egg situation.
I am more inclined to think the sun's activity and changing distance from the earth which causes ice ages as the magnetic poles shift has some relevance to the peaks and troughs in out climate, Varying amounts of cosmic rays as the sun travels through the universe could also be important.
The thousands of nuclear explosions below the pacific oceans in the 20th century may just have warmed the sea a bit too and melted some ice. Oh no it looks like three is a debate, Silly me we are not allowed one. Blame yourselves for impending doom not the governments. They will be happy then.
Lets not keep protesting for the World Government Agendas and question more. Science can contain the mind or free it. The choice is yours,
Black mamo
Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands (Molokaʻi, extinct 1907)
Subfossils have also been found on Maui.
Other names for this species are hoa, Molokaʻi mamo, ʻōʻō nukumū, ʻōʻō nukuʻumu, which meant "ʻōʻō with sucking beak", and Perkins’ mamo, after ornithologist R.C.L Perkins (1866--1955) who has provided most of the information about this species.
Upper background:
Hawaiʻi ʻōʻō (Moho nobilis)
Exhibit that enclosed several extinct native Hawaiian birds
www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/28160654715/in/datetaken...
First Transpennine Express and Northern Rail now have new operators in the shape of TransPennine Express (solely First, no Keolis) and Arriva Rail North, transferring on the 1st April 2016. No fool joke here. Here is a photo taken before the changes, when the prior operators were still there earlier in March 2016, during a visit to Manchester.
This is a photo of the logo on a poster advertising the Class 319 trains, showing the old Serco/Abellio alliance operating the previous Northern franchise.
CN 5545, an SD60F, leads IC 1025 and multiple other units westbound at Dyer, Indiana. Almost all the SD60F units are now in storage.