Unicorns may not exist, but did you know that “magical rabbits” do? Okay, so they’re not really magical, but they’re certainly something special. “Magical rabbits” are also known as Ili Pika, and they are one of the most endangered species on the planet. Pictures of them are exceptionally rare. In fact, the pictures seen in this post are the first images to surface of the elusive rabbits in 20 years. Conservationist Weidong Li first discovered these cute animals in the 1980’s. The second time they were spotted was in the Tianshian mountains, located in the northwestern region of China. The species was originally known as “Ochotona iliensis”, but Li changed its name in honor of his hometown. Sadly, the species population has plummeted even farther since they were first discovered. Experts now estimate that there are fewer than 1,000 of these rabbits still alive.
Li feels a great responsibility to keep them safe, being as he was the person who discovered them in the first place. He’s said that he would feel very guilty if they went extinct on his watch. So he actually retired from his day job early in order to spend more of his time observing these creatures in their natural habitat. But because of their rarity, it’s hard to establish any scientific data on them. What scientists do know definitively is that they are a member of the rabbit family, and there aren’t many of them left. This is one of many issues that is blamed on global warming. Humans play a big part in the elimination of species in general, and this case is no different. We need to come together and make an effort to save the creatures of our planet. Images of the Ili Pika have been released in order to raise some awareness about these special animals and their endangered status.
Bringing rescue dogs and prisoners together in a remarkable rehabilitation programme in California is helping inmates learn valuable lessons On an idyllic sun-drenched day in California, I find myself in jail. But unlike the 5,000 or so inmates of North Kern State Prison, located 150 miles north of Los Angeles, I’m here voluntarily, accompanied by Zach Skow, a man on a mission to bring dogs into every US prison. Skow is the founder of Pawsitive Change, a rehabilitation programme that pairs rescue dogs with inmates. He began a pilot programme at California City Correctional Facility in January 2016, teaching inmates to become dog trainers, and it’s now been rolled out to four more California state prisons and one female juvenile correction centre. To read more on this story, click here:Pets in Prison: The Rescue Dogs Teaching Californian Inmates Trust and Responsibility
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Humans and animals share many diseases. And as dramatically shown by the tigers that tested positive in the Bronx Zoo, the coronavirus is one of them. As three veterinary epidemiologists who study infectious disease, we have been asked a lot of questions about if and how the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 affects pets. Can my pet get the coronavirus? When talking about a virus, the words "get" or "catch" are vague. A more precise question is: Can my cat or dog become infected with SARS-CoV-2? The answer is yes. There is evidence from real-world cases as well as laboratory experiments that both cats and dogs can become infected with coronavirus. In Hong Kong, health officials have tested 17 dogs and eight cats living with COVID-19 patients for the coronavirus. They found evidence of the virus in two dogs: a Pomeranian and a German shepherd, though neither became sick. None of the eight cats were infected or had been sick. However, there is a separate report of an infected cat from Hong Kong. To read more on this story, click here:Can Pets Get The Coronavirus, And Can We Catch It From Them? Here's The Science
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Pet food is considered an essential item here in Ohio and in Pennsylvania, and it can get expensive LISBON, Ohio (WKBN) – We’ve seen thousands of people go through food donation lines here in the Valley, but one thing that often gets overlooked is the need for pet food. Pet food for dogs and cats was one of the items we saw people panic buying in March. During that time period, dog food sales spiked almost 54 percent, which made finding it difficult. Pet food is considered an essential item here in Ohio and in Pennsylvania, and it can get expensive. Buying dog food when you’re unemployed or furloughed can be tough as the average bag costs about $20 to $30. To read more on this story, click here:Lisbon Business Donates 50,000 Pounds of Pet Food
Spain, which is enduring one of the world’s biggest and deadliest outbreaks, grapples with moral and practical questions on caring for animals when their owners are suddenly sick. MADRID — The coronavirus strikes. The patient — at home, sometimes alone — becomes desperately ill. The ambulance finally arrives to take the person away. Then, a second team, clad in hazmat gear, follows to rescue a household member abandoned in the chaos and suddenly in need of a new caregiver: the patient’s pet. The teams, from the Madrid animal shelter El Refugio, end up placing the pets in foster homes with people who will care for them temporarily while Spain’s strict lockdown is in place and so much is in flux. To read more on this story, click here:When Pet Owners Fall Ill With Coronavirus, What Happens Next?
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While the impact of this pandemic has ranged from absolute boredom to more serious things like job losses and health issues, some of our pets are coping in their own ways. A local veterinarian who focuses on animal behavior and stress is not surprised to hear our pets are stressed, too. Matt O'Donnell spoke with Dr. Carlo Siracusa of Penn's Ryan Veterinary Hospital about Bailey, his generally happy and spoiled 8-year-old Shichon. To read more on this story, click here:Pet Owners Note Behavioral changes in Their Cats and Dogs During the Coronavirus Pandemic
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They loved us long before they looked domesticated. By answering an age-old question about man’s best friend, scientists have figured out how wolves became the dogs we all know and love today. It’s pretty common knowledge that dogs are related to their wild canine cousins, but the new study lays out how the transformation occurred. Namely, it asserts that wolves became good boys behavior-wise before they started looking more like domesticated dogs than wolves. To read more on this story, click here:How Dogs Went From Wolves to Man’s Best Friend, According to Scientists
If you have a pet that you’ve adopted, you know just how wonderful of an experience it was to give your little furbaby a second chance at life. There is nothing sweeter than seeing their faces light up when they realize that they’re leaving the shelter. And it makes you feel good knowing that you helped save a life and make a difference. But how much more of a good feeling would it be knowing that you’re being rewarded for choosing adoption? One state might soon be giving tax credits to those who adopt animals. To read more on this story, click here:Proposed Law Would Give $125 Tax Credit To People Who Adopt Rescue Pets
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You’re a honeybee. Despite being around 700,000 times smaller than the average human, you’ve got more of almost everything. Instead of four articulated limbs, you have six, each with six segments. (Your bee’s knees, sadly, don’t exist.) You’re exceptionally hairy. A shock of bristly setae covers your body and face to help you keep warm, collect pollen, and even detect movement. Your straw-like tongue stretches far beyond the end of your jaw, but has no taste buds on it. Instead, you “taste” with other, specialized hairs, called sensillae, that you use to sense the chemicals that brush against particular parts of your body. To read more on this story, click here:What Is It Like to Be a Bee?
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The nation's hospitals, facing dire shortages of lifesaving ventilators as the coronavirus outbreak continues, are finding help from an unlikely source: animal doctors. The country's largest veterinary schools, animal hospitals and even zoos are offering up ventilators to hospitals that are scrambling to care for a growing number of critically ill coronavirus patients. Similar efforts elsewhere could produce hundreds of machines and save countless lives. "Every single one of these ventilators makes a difference," Dr. Andrew T. Maccabe, chief executive officer of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, told ABC News. To read on this story, click here:Ventilators shipped from veterinarians to hospitals to combat COVID-19 shortage
The thought of being anywhere near a giant spider is terrifying to most of us. It’s easy to see why gigantic arachnids appear in books and films as villainous creatures — they just look like the stuff of nightmares. Luckily, big bad spiders like Shelob in Lord of the Rings and Aragog in Harry Potter only exist in the fictional world. However, there are scary spiders in this world that are very much real, like the Goliath Birdeater. To read more on this story, click here: Meet The Goliath Birdeater, The World’s Largest Tarantula That Eats Sparrows
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The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, in effect the executive committee of the Chinese Communist Party, in late February issued an edict banning the country’s “wet markets,” including those in Wuhan, the source of the current COVID-19 outbreak. The statement notes that “it is necessary to strengthen market supervision, resolutely ban and severely crack down on illegal wildlife markets and trade, and control major public health risks from the source.” The Straits Times of Singapore has reported that eight laws have been passed in the last week. We have no details on the contents of the legislation. It’s too soon to know, though, whether we have been down this road before. To read more on this story, click here:The Chinese Wild-Animal Industry and Wet Markets Must Go
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If you’ve ever noticed angry, red circles on your dog’s stomach, then your first reaction would be to rush them to the vet’s – and rightly so. However, it turns out that they may not be as bad as you might initially think. A while back, the Morinville Veterinary Clinic based in Alberta, Canada, shared a message regarding a common affliction to their Facebook page in order to reassure worried pet owners. To read more on this story, click here:Vet Says More Owners Have Been Seeing ‘Red Circles’ On Their Dog’s Stomachs
For many of us, it's the coronavirus lockdown, and our entire daily routines are now contained within the comfort of our own homes. For our beloved pets, however, it's a day like any other. Well, with a few exceptions—pets that are freaking out over why the heck we're at home for so long. But, other than that, business as usual. For the humans, however, it's more like dealing with our pets throughout our workdays. Or having fun with them. Or both. Here is a list of how quarantined cats are spending their days with their owners during the lockdown. To see these adorable kitties, click here:People Are Sharing Photos Of Their Cats In Quarantine And Here Are 32 Of The Best Ones
