May 8

The Last Show at SeaWorld

Killer Whales Jumping 09

The Shamu Show at Seaworld. Amaury Laporte via Compfight

You are sitting in the splash zone waiting to get wet, he is over there not too far away. He finally comes over and… SPLASH! In an instant you’re soaked! Watching the Shamu show at SeaWorld is always really exciting! There are only 3 SeaWorlds in America, and San Diego is one of them. What if i told you that the show at SeaWorld San Diego is coming to an end? Sadly it’s true, the last show was on a Sunday in April 2017.

7 years ago there was an incident where killer whale, Tilikum killed trainer, Dawn Brancheau. Since then there has been less comfort and more worry. The whale Tilikum died very soon before the show ended and it shouldn’t be her fault the trainer died. It was mainly under the stress the whale has been through and being forced to perform.The whales are killer and that’s probably how it got its name. No animal can ever kill these underwater mammals. The animals get stressed out and put under pressure from not being able to do their thing and roam with no worries.

There is no need to worry about shamus completely vanishing from SeaWorld, because they will still be in the exhibits and the only thing ending is the show. There will still likely be a Shamu Store. There will still be a place where you can get Shamu souvenirs and take them home. It wouldn’t make sense to get rid of everything Shamu related since SeaWorld is mostly known for Shamus. It just wouldn’t be right!  

The main reason this show is ending is because of the incident and the stress over the Shamus. I think we all learned that we should let animals do what they want to do, especially when the word “killer” is a part of their name. Another reason is also that the show was teaching children all animals were friendly when they really aren’t.

I think all of us are sad about the show ending but it was for the best. If it didn’t end quickly enough more trainers could have been killed or Shamus could have gotten an illness from all the pressure and stress they are put under every day from training too hard and performing too hard.  I’m upset too but we should all learn to accept it. You could still catch the dolphin show, but sadly, it will end soon too.

 

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May 8

Precious Pandas

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heights.18145 via Compfight 

They are about 2,000 pandas left in the world which is not many.Pandas are mostly found in China on high mounts like black bears they are apart of the bear family. Panda can be black and white and brown and white. The brown and white pandas are rare to find in china.In 1972 the United States president Richard Nixon visited China’s president to ask if they can send 2 pandas to the US and they did. In the next 10 years, an estimated number of 75 million people came to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park to see the pandas because they were the first 2 pandas in the US   

The pandas have to live in a habitat with grass, bamboo, trees and water to life. The pandas eat bamboo and leave from trees all day besides having fun. The panda spends up to 10 to 16 hours eating bamboo and leaves to stay strong. Have you ever wondered how many pounds a panda a panda gains a day well the panda eats about 27 pounds each day? The panda grabs the bamboo by its claw and puts its thumb on top to grip it.They can be 5 to 6 foot long which is about 1.5 meters long.

The giant pandas are endangered because the people in China people are taking their habitat away and they have been being killed by the people in china or getting sick. Also, they have predators which are weasels, leopards, and wild dogs. Poachers also illegally hunt the pandas. Humans also cut down the bamboo so they will starve.

If pandas were not endangered how many do you think there would be? Also, about 18,000 pandas died.Know you learned the habitat of pandas what they eat how they are becoming an endangered species. Hopefully, you learned a lot about pandas.If you think that pandas try to bite you when you try to pet them because they are apart of the bear family well you are wrong they are calm. Here is a panda quote ”Keep Calm and Love Pandas”             

Watch the pandas live at the San Diego Zoo: >Panda Cam | San Diego Zoo.

  

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May 8

Man’s Best Friend

Winning combination Vitto Dema via Compfight

One Hundred Ninety. Why is that number important? That is the estimated amount of the different breeds of dogs in the world. Dogs are also known as “Man’s Best Friend” because dogs are the most energetic, loving, and interactive animals. Dogs come in many different shapes and sizes. Chihuahuas can fit in a small bag. The Great Dane is the tallest dog breed in the world, with a height up to forty-four inches when they are standing up.

The Origin Of Dogs

A long time ago, dogs hunted for their own food, made their own houses, and fought for territory. They didn’t they know that in the next 32,000 years they would evolve to a domestic creature and live with humans. They would get fed, and live with a family that loved them. That is because, over many centuries, some wolves evolved and became domestic animals. Domestic describes any animal that is not hunting and is living with humans. Dogs evolved from a wolf that is now extinct. The wolves that dogs evolved from are called European Wolves. Dogs have gone hunting in the wild to being fed by humans over thousands of years. Dogs were supposedly domesticated in England, around 18,800 – 32,500 years ago. They were domesticated from people in hunter-gatherer cultures, to hunt for food, and guard homes. Now dogs are mostly everyone’s favorite animal. They play, they sleep, and you can teach them almost anything.

Dog Jobs

You wouldn’t think of a dog going to work and helping people right? Well, some specially trained dogs do. Dogs go to sick people in hospitals and give some joy by licking them and letting people pet them. Dogs can also help firefighters and police officers. They help the firefighters by sniffing and leading them to a victim in the fire. Other dogs are used for the police. They help them by sniffing out drugs and lost items. Imagine you lost your phone, they sent a dog out to find it and found it! You would be pretty satisfied when the dog did. Another thing dogs do is guide people with blindness around the house or city. The dog will know when to cross the street and when to not, this can really save somebody’s life. Lastly, dogs can sniff out low blood sugar, they can help anyone in the condition and alert his or her parents. This saves a lot of time because you don’t have to watch your child every second of every day. Overall, dogs are a very important part of this world and making humans happy.

Keeping Your Dog Healthy

Dogs need people to help them stay healthy and live happily. The disease rabies is deadly, and lots of other diseases are too. Even colds and fevers can be serious when talking about dogs. That is why all house dogs are treated with a number of different shots to prevent disease before exploring the world. There are 7 different vaccinations that dogs have to take and are spread out through the age of 5-15 weeks old. The list of vaccinations is, 5 weeks Parvovirus, 6-9 weeks combination vaccine and Coronavirus, 12 weeks Rabies, 12-15 weeks Leptospirosis another Coronavirus, and Lyme. Once your dog has had all of the listed shots, they are ready to explore the outdoors. Your dog also needs to be feed on a daily basis. You should also walk your dog at least once a day, and not put your dog in a cage for more than 4 hours a day. Puppies would be more energetic that adult dogs.

Conclusion

Dogs are very intelligent, and energetic animals that can run, swim and be taught almost anything. You need to know how to take care of your dog, what breed to get, and where dogs originally came from. You can help your dog by following feeding schedules and playing with your dog for most of your day. If your dog gets sick you can call a veterinarian to see what’s wrong. Look at the links down below to find out more about dogs, their origin, how to take care of them, and what breed to pick. There are many choices, start looking today at your local animal shelters if you want one, remember, dogs come in different shapes and sizes. Find the one that is right for you.

Links for More Information

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/14/health/dogs-domesticated-europe/

http://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog

http://discovermagazine.com/2016/dec/the-origins-of-dogs

http://www.neshaminy.org/cms/lib6/PA01000466/Centricity/Domain/439/Cp6%20-%20HANDOUT%20CNN%20Types%20of%20lead-ins.pdf

 

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May 8

April the Giraffe

April and her baby.

April, the giraffe, and her new baby.

On February 22, 2017, Animal Adventure Park in New York, put up a live feed of a giraffe who was expected to give birth at any time.  The giraffe was known to the World as April the Giraffe.  The World quickly became obsessed with watching and watching and watching the feed and waiting and waiting and waiting for the arrival of the baby giraffe. 

With over one million eyes watching, April’s baby boy was born on April 15, 2017,  He was 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 129 pounds.  April gave birth while standing up which is normal and when the calf falls to the ground the umbilical cord severs.  About 45 minutes after the calf was born he stood up on wobbly legs with his mom’s help.  The zoo is currently having a contest to name the calf. 

As I said earlier the world became obsessed with April the Giraffe.  As a matter of fact a group of second and third-grade students wrote a book to document the internet sensation April had become.  The book is being sold here on Amazon.  Being able to watch April have her calf was amazing and really cool to see. You also watch the giraffes live here.

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May 8

Weird creatures

You look around you. Suddenly you see a weird looking lumpy blob. What could it be? It’s a blob fish! These are nasty looking creatures who live in water up to 1,200 meters deep ( 3,900 feet )! They live off the coast of: Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Blob fish tend to be 30 centimeters or a foot long.

Aye-Aye 1

The weird aye-aye!

Have you ever heard of the aye – aye? These are strange creatures that don’t look like they are related to chimpanzees, apes, and humans but are related to them. Aye-ayes use echolocation to find their prey. They are the only primates that do this. They live on the island of Madagascar. They have an average lifespan of 20 years and their head and body length is 14 to 17 inches and their tail length is 22 to 24 inches.

This weird creature is most likely the biggest crab you will ever hear about. This is the Japanese spider crab. These crabs obviously live in Japan as stated in their name. The spider crab can reach a length as long as 18 feet. They can also be up to 42 pounds in weight. They can be found in water as deep as 1,970 feet!
In my opinion, this is the craziest shrimp ever. These are the mantis shrimp. There are more than 450 kinds of mantis shrimp. The largest mantis shrimp ever caught was 18 inches long most are 15 inches. These shrimp are extremely aggressive. They can be known as thumb splinters. In captivity, some of the larger species of mantis shrimp can break through aquarium glass in a single strike!   

These next animals look like bats and flying squirrels. This animal is the sunda colugo. They are lemurs that can glide. These are one of only two species of lemurs that can glide. These creatures can glide up to 100 meters in 10-meter elevation. These animals can be up to 27 inches long. These lemurs weigh up to 2.9 pounds. These animals are located in these places: Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia.

In Conclusion, these animals are small and large, weird and weirdest. These animals are all around us most of the time you just don’t notice. You see animals every day but these animals everyday. These animals can be weird and freaky or they can be beautiful and cool. What do you think would you like to be a creepy weird animal?

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May 5

Clouded Leopards and their Pro Skills

Did you know that clouded leopards are the smallest of the big cats, yet they have the biggest teeth for their skull size? In this post you can read about the amazing clouded leopard – its origins and relations, climbing skills, and its prey and predators.

The clouded leopard originally came from a line of cats that divided into snow leopa

Image result for clouded leopard hanging upside down from tree

Picture from www.wildcatsmagazine.nl

rds and clouded leopards. Clouded leopards are related to snow leopards, leopards, lions, tigers, and jaguars. The clouded leopard can be found in Asia, mostly on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

 

The clouded leopard’s prey can be attacked from the trees and the ground. Clouded leopards mostly hunt birds, monkeys, deer, squirrels, and wild pigs. They are prey to tigers and leopards. They are also poached for their skins by humans.

Clouded leopards are great climbers. They have a low center of gravity and a long tail which are great for balancing. Amazingly, they can hang upside down from tree branches. They are also the only big cat that can run down trees head first.

The two types of clouded leopards (Normal and Sunda) are great climbers and hunters, and are related to some of the coolest big cats. What is your favorite fact about clouded leopards?

This video shows good close up shots of a Borneo clouded leopard.

Video credit: WWF-Australia

 

 

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February 22

Do animals have emotions?

 

elephants-kissing-1.jpg (550×825)Imagine two elephants that have not seen each other in 20 years and when they see each other again,  they are extremely happy to see each other. So that means animals have emotions just like people. Animals can get sad, angry, joyful, jealous or happy.

One reason, animals have emotions  is  orangutans get happy when they play with lights. They  usually slide to try to touch the lights. Same thing  with cats except they do not slide around they run around.

The second reason is a rhino can get along with donkeys because they would walk together as if they were talking to each other. Also they would eat together. So that means that rhinos can be friendly with other animals like donkeys. Rhinos are much happier when other animals are around.

Then the third reason is that chimpanzees can throw temper tantrums. In an experiment chimpanzee likes to eat bananas but if it gets a mystery food which means a food  they do not like,Also if they get a food they do not like they can throw a temper tantrum which means they can get very angry.       

And finally the last reason is a dog can get jealous when its owner because the owner would play a stuffed animal dog. Then the real dog would push it aside and tried to get attention so the owner would play with the real dog.

In addition, I think that animals have emotions because an animal could be sad, angry, joyful or friendly for example So i think that animals have emotions. Try to pay attention to your dog when you leave it might get sad or angry.

 

       

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January 29

Do Elephants have Emotions?

 

Elephant and a Saddle Billed StorkHave you ever seen elephants  holding trunks or putting them in each others mouths? This is one of a couple of reasons I think elephants have emotions. Elephants care for each other and they comfort one another.

First, elephants comfort each other when they are sad. They calm each other by locking trunks or putting their trunks in the other elephant’s mouths.

Another reason is elephants have one of the greatest memories and care deeply for each other. After 20 years of not seeing each other elephants will still remember each other. This happened to two elephants named Shirley and Jenny. They bent metal bar that were separating them to get closer together.

Elephants care for each other. Shirley and Jenny were the closest thing to family they ever had. They give each other baths. They snuggled with each other. They also comfort one another.

Finally, I think elephants have emotions.  Just like humans. Elephants comfort each other. They also have great memories so they always remember  each other and how they feel about one another. They help each other when they sad. Do you think elephants have emotions? If you don’t think about Shirey and Jenny? How they played with each other and loved each other. I think elephants have emotions. How about you?                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Creative Commons LicenseBrian Lauer via Compfight                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

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