Latest Scavengers Stories
The 27 painted wolf statues in Abington, Va., are an endangered species after two were stolen soon after they were placed throughout town, police say. Police and local officials said the wolf statues were noticed missing from outside of the Barter Theatre and a downtown business Monday, only two days after they had been installed, The wolves were decorated by local artists, with themes including flags, eagles, butterflies, tuxedos and polka dots. They also have names such as Hollywolf...
A U.S. study has determined sport hunters are depleting lion and cougar populations in both the United States and Africa. The study, led by University of Minnesota Professor Craig Packer, looked at the number of lions and cougars killed by hunters during the past 15 to 25 years in Africa and the western United States. The analysis suggests sport hunting takes a significant toll on the large feline species because replacement males routinely kill their predecessors' cubs to improve their...
According to a new study to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Zoology, great white sharks appear to have a "serial killer" hunting strategy as they stalk their victims while skulking in the distance, rather than at random as was previously believed.Predatory behavior is one of the most intriguing interactions seen in nature, with sharks being one of the most ferocious and violent on Earth. Until recently, the predation of sharks has been difficult to observe and therefore...
United States and Africa see decline in lions and cougarsSport hunters are depleting lion and cougar populations as managers respond to demands to control predators that threaten livestock and humans, according to a study published in the June 17 issue of PLoS ONE. The study was led by Craig Packer, a University of Minnesota professor and renowned authority on lion behavior, who worked with an international team of conservationists.The study looked at numbers of lions and cougars killed by...
A New York researcher says dogs that appear guilty when being scolded by their owners can be innocent and simply responding to owners' verbal attacks. Researchers such as Barnard College assistant professor Alexandra Horowitz insist they found that dogs appear to have a guilty look after being accused of misbehaving due to being scolded and not always due to actual guilt, The Daily Telegraph (Britain) said Saturday. The study involved researchers informing participating dog owners their...
In what could be a breakthrough in animal breeding, a team of scientists from Germany, Russia and Sweden have discovered a set of genetic regions responsible for animal tameness. This discovery, published in the June 2009 issue of the journal GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org), should help animal breeders, farmers, zoologists, and anyone else who handles and raises animals to more fully understand what makes some animals interact with humans better than do others. It may also lead to more...
The bitter debate over gray wolves in Wyoming and Montana will be decided by a pair of federal judges that will determine which states in the Northern Rockies have enough wolves to allow public hunting.According to the Associated Press, a lawsuit filed on Tuesday by environmental groups will seek to restore protections for more than 1,300 wolves in Montana and Idaho. In April, the Obama administration upheld a Bush-era decision to take wolves off the endangered species list in those two...
New York officials say complaints about rats are down overall this year, but residents of the West Village say they're having a rough time with the vermin. Some residents of the area -- which is home to many celebrities -- have told Fox 5 TV rats are overrunning the neighborhood. Some are even chasing down mice and eating them. The health department has dispatched the rat patrol, the TV station said, and advised residents to call 311 to complain if a building has a rat problem and the...
Johns Hopkins scientists in Baltimore say they've found inner city rats, though appearing to roam freely, form distinct neighborhoods which they rarely leave. The researchers from the university's Bloomberg School of Public Health studied nearly 300 Wild Norway rats -- also called wharf rats, sewer rats or brown rats -- that they trapped from 11 residential areas of the city. They then conducted genetic studies to see how the rats were related. The scientists found that East Baltimore rats...
Sheepherders in northern China are dealing with once endangered wolf packs looking to feast on their flocks, and since the wolves are protected, there's currently very little they can do about it, AFP reported.Delger, a 44 year-old sheep herder in northern China's Inner Mongolia region, has lost six of his 40 sheep in the past two years to stealthy attacks by the wolves that roam the area. "They come at night, but you never hear them. When you do hear something, it is the sheep crying...
Latest Scavengers Reference Libraries
The Spearfish remora, Remora brachyptera, is a remora of the family Echeneidae, found circumglobally in tropical and subtropical seas. Its length is up to (50 cm). The spearfish remora is an elongate round-bodied fish, with a large oval suction disc on top of the head. This disc is actually a highly modified first dorsal fin with a raised flattened edge that acts as a seal, and a series of horizontal septae that can be moved so as to create a vacuum in a sealed chamber. Using this device...
The Gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, is one of two surviving members of the family Gavialidae. The Gharial (also known as gavial) is found in small numbers in India and other small populations in the Kaladan and Ayeyarwady River basins in Myanmar. Most gharials are adapted to calmer areas in deep fast moving rivers. They rarely leave the water and do so only to bask in the sun or nest on sandbanks near the river. The gharial is the second-longest of all living crocodilians. A large male can...
The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is a member of the canidae family (which includes dogs, wolves, and foxes) and is indigenous to East Asia. It is not a true dog, and is the only species in its genus Nyctereutes. It is named for its superficial resemblance to the non-canidae raccoon. The animal carries historical and cultural significance in Japan. Raccoon dogs are native to Japan, southeastern Siberia, and Manchuria. Between 1929 and 1955 they were introduced to the European part...
The African Wild Dog, Lycaon pictus, also known as the African Hunting Dog Cape Hunting Dog, or Painted Hunting Dog, is a mammal of the Canidae family. It is related to the domestic dog. It is the only species in the canid family to lack dewclaws on the forelimbs. They are, as their name indicates, found only in Africa. They are found especially in scrub savanna and other lightly wooded areas. Individuals can easily be recognized in the basis of coat patterns. The pelage is an irregular...
The dog is a type of canid, a mammal in the order Carnivora. The term includes both wild (feral) and domestic variants, but commonly excludes other canids such as wolves. Over time, the dog has developed into hundreds of breeds with a great degree of variation. Intelligence Among dog lovers, dogs are generally valued for their intelligence. Both anecdotal evidence and scientific research suggest that dogs have a reasonably high intelligence. This intelligence is expressed...
