Latest EDGE Species Stories
THE Wuhan Zoo in central China has been feeding its two pandas home-cooked chicken soup twice a month to reduce stress and give them a nutritional boost. (c) 2008 Daily Mirror. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
BEIJING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The current national holiday Chinese people are celebrating also meant a feast for the captive animals in Wuhan, the Hubei Province capital. Thursday's Changjiang Times reported Wuhan Zoo had experienced an influx of tourists in the first four days of the "golden week" holiday that began on Monday. Wednesday's peak resulted in the arrival of about 30,000 visitors. The animals at the zoo were all overworked in keeping the visitors entertained. Zoo keepers...
Experts attending a meeting of the Asian Rhino Specialist Group in Nepal said Thursday that the South Asian endangered Great One-horned Rhinoceros is being forced out of its natural habitat into the hands of illegal poachers as the massive animals seek to find food.Their feeding grounds are being invaded by "exotic species" of weeds and wild plants, the experts said, and the rhino could soon see its natural sources of food depleted."Grassland is being invaded by weeds and other...
By Lewis South all MAKING Science real for 140 Year 9 pupils took us to Chester Zoo. We spent time exploring the 110 acres carrying out research and taking loads of photos! We were lucky enough to see many animals that are endangered in the wild such as the Jaguar, Red Panda and Sumatran Tiger. Everyone had a great time and we would like to thank Miss Jordan for organising the trip and all the other staff who came too. (c) 2008 Evening Gazette - Middlesbrough. Provided by ProQuest LLC....
By Jaswinder Kaur WILDLIFE experts in Sabah were caught off guard on Aug 5 when a Sumatran rhinoceros ventured out of its forest habitat and made its way into an oil palm estate. Sabah Wildlife Department veterinarians and rangers, with field officers from SOS Rhino Borneo and WWF-Malaysia in tow, rushed to the estate to see an adult male in his prime roaming one corner of the plantation. It seemed like an answer to their prayers. The animal's sudden appearance comes at a time when...
A LEADING animal charity has accused the Government of being "stuck in the colonial era" after Edinburgh Zoo agreed to import two giant pandas from China. The Born Free Foundation said it was "alarmed" that the move appeared to have the support of the Scottish and UK Governments. The charity said Gordon Brown would have being involved in the negotiations, which would have involved paying the Chinese government a "substantial" amount of money for the animals. Will Travers, chief executive...
Rebuilding a major habitat for giant pandas destroyed by the devastating earthquake that struck China in May would cost about $290 million, planners said. The giant panda research center in the Wolong nature reserve would be moved from its current site and would include a larger lab, a panda hospital, a larger cub pen, a bamboo planting field and an area to help acquaint pandas with wildlife, Xinhua, China's official news agency, reported. Five staff members and one panda were killed in the...
China's major panda reserve resumes field inspection after quake CHENGDU, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Staff at Wolong nature reserve, a major habitat of giant pandas in southwest China's Sichuan Province, have resumed field inspections to evaluate the living environment of the endangered species. Despite frequent landslides and mudslides, a 26-strong team has struggled in the past five days to collect first-hand evidence of damage to the giant panda's habitats, said officials at Wolong National...
All remaining giant pandas at a major breeding base in China's earthquake-devastated Sichuan Province will be evacuated as landslides and other post-quake dangers remain a significant threat, China's Chengdu Business Daily reported Tuesday. The decision to evacuate the pandas followed conclusions by experts that Sichuan province's terrain was still too hazardous for the Pandas and their keepers."The threats to safety from geological hazards in the Hetaoping Center's location are very...
SEATTLE _ If all goes well, Sneezy and Chai should become the proud parents of a 200-pound baby by Thanksgiving _ 2009. Chai, the Woodland Park Zoo's 29-year-old female Asian elephant, appears to be pregnant for the first time since losing her 6-year-old daughter, Hansa, to a fatal strain of elephant herpes last year. But rather than being a joyous occasion, Chai's apparent pregnancy has renewed concerns among animal-rights groups about the risks of elephant herpes and the ongoing mystery...
Latest EDGE Species Reference Libraries
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), also known as the panda, is a species of bear that is native to southwestern and central western areas of China. Its range includes mountain ranges located primarily in Sichuan province, but pandas can also be found in the Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It once preferred a habitat within lowland areas, but human encroachment has driven the giant panda into small areas, which contain forested habitats. There are two recognized subspecies of the giant...
The falanouc is a mongoose type creature that is native to Madagascar. Its closest extant, or living, relative is the fanaloka, but it is distinct from this animal in many ways. Unlike the fanaloka, the falanouc has no anal or perineal glands. It has non-retractable claws and a mouth structure that consists of backwards sloping premolars and canines. It is thought that this is due to its primary diet of invertebrates such as snails, slugs, and worms. The falanouc prefers habitats within...
Baird’s Tapir (Tapirus bairdii) is native to Central America and northern areas of South America. It is among three species of tapir that is native to Latin America. Baird’s tapir was named after Spencer Fullerton Baird, an American naturalist who observed the creatures in 1843 on a trip to Mexico, even though W. T. White, another American naturalist, made the first documentation of the tapir. Commonly known as danta by people throughout its range, this tapir has been given other...
The Somali Wild Ass (Equus asinus somalicus), is a subspecies of the African Wild Ass. It is found in the Southern Red Sea region of Eritrea, the Afar Region of Ethiopia, and Somalia. The legs of the Somali Wild Ass are horizontally striped with black, resembling those of a zebra. Photo Credit: Robert Lawton
The Mongolian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus hemionus), is a subspecies of the Onager. It is found in Mongolia and northern China, and was previously found in Kazakhstan before it became extinct due to hunting. The numbers in China and Mongolia are also vulnerable due to poaching and competition grazing. Numbers have dropped severely in the 1990s and by 2003 the total Mongolian population was estimated at only 20,000 specimens. Poaching for meat seems to be the biggest threat for guanacos in...
