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Siberian Husky Dog

AnimalAqua — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 12:07:40 +0000

Look into the light-blue eyes of an alert, intent Siberian Husky and you can see him thinking. This is a haughty, almost imperious breed, but the Siberian Husky is suffering from a surfeit of fashion. I’ve seen them in Tokyo and Rome, as well as in New York and London. Their numbers are ever increasing, but this is not a city dog. It’s a breed that thrives best in the outdoors, the rural outdoors, and especially in crisp, cool weather, pulling something.

Living on the edge

For centuries, the native peoples of the north survived in the harsh Arctic climate only with the help of their dogs. The draught-pulling husky dogs in Alaska, Canada, and Greenland were invariably large, but those used by the Chukchi people of Siberia were smaller and lighter. Just under 100 years ago, fur traders first brought these dogs to Alaska, where they excelled in local sled-pulling dog races. Within 50 years, the Siberian Husky was popular across North America, and in the last 50 years it spread to Europe and Japan.

A primitive breed

Genetic studies suggest that this is a truly ancient breed, and like other ancient breeds, such as the Chow Chow and Akita, the Siberian Husky is naturally aloof and seldom shares its emotions with others. These are independent dogs, and it takes an experienced dog person to train them. However, their innate love of extreme sports makes them ideal companions for people who want to develop recreational winter pursuits with dogs. Small as they are, Siberian Huskies are excellent sled pullers, even better at skijoring or “ski-pulka” – wearing a special harness and pulling a skier.

Personality

Stubborn, aloof, predisposed to fighting with other dogs, hard to obedience train, unlikely to back down, this isn’t a breed for the inexperienced. On the other hand, it is as handsome as dogs come, and with early experience it can learn to become part of the human household.

Health

With the exception of several eye conditions, the breed is free from serious health conditions.

Time taker

The dense coat needs constant attention. Training is time consuming, and behaviour off the lead unreliable. Hours of daily exercise are needed, as is time to find your delinquent dog after it has wandered off. These are award-winning time takers.

Siberian Husky Dog Info:

Height: 51-61 cm (20-24in)
Weight: 16-27.5kg (35—60lb)
Life expectancy: 13 years
First use: Sled pulling Country of origin: Russia
Colour: Any colour for both coat and eyes
Excitable: 8
Trainable: 2
Vocal: 5
Playful: 1
Pushy puppy: 9

Tiger

AnimalAqua — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 01:02:27 +0000

Tiger (Panthera tigris)

Tigers used to occur across Asia as far west as Turkey, and isolated populations developed into eight different subspecies. Within their huge range tigers have adapted to conditions ranging from bleak mountain forests to mangrove swamps and jungle. Since the beginning of the 20th century numbers have sharply declined, usually through conflict with humans. Tigers are large and fierce animals. They need to kill to eat and will often kill domestic animals and even people. Their own habitat has been reduced by farming and logging to the point where natural prey is difficult to obtain in sufficient quantity. Humans hunt the same prey, leaving few animals for the tigers. By the 1950s three of the tiger subspecies (Bali, Caspian, and Javan) had become extinct. The remaining populations occur in widely separate places: India, Vietnam, Sumatra, China, and Siberia. The largest subspecies, the Amur (or Siberian) tiger, once ranged throughout the forested areas of China and Korea, north to the forested edges of Siberia.

However, in the late 19th century tigers were a major threat to railway construction and increased settlement, so they were persecuted. By the 1940s tigers survived only in about five separated areas. Since then they have benefited from protection, and they have now increased in numbers and distribution again. There were about 450 Amur tigers in 1996. However, climate change now poses new threats. On Bali and Java the extinction of the tiger was a result of habitat fragmentation, loss of natural prey, and finally, in the 1960s, conflict with groups of heavily armed men hiding in big-game hunters, and many thousands were shot. The tiger is the largest member of the cat family. There are thought to be about 4,500 in India, the species’ main stronghold. Throughout Asia the tiger is believed to have magical powers, and many of its body parts are highly prized in traditional Oriental medicine. Killing a single tiger, therefore, can bring huge rewards to a poacher willing to risk the penalties for breaking the law.

Captive Breeding

Tigers breed well in captivity, so they are unlikely to become extinct. However, the captive population has become seriously inbred in the past, and there has been genetic mixing between the different subspecies. In addition, tigers cost a lot to feed, so most zoos give the animals contraceptives as a way of controlling the numbers of young born. It would be relatively easy to breed captive tigers for reintroduction to the wild, but there is not enough suitable habitat left for release of captive-bred stock. The future lies in careful management of the remaining tiger habitats and reserves. Conservation measures will include linking small, isolated groups of animals and preventing poaching and further habitat loss. It is also vital to have plenty of prey animals; huge areas of land need to be set aside to maintain the prey populations required to support just a few tigers. The dangers of inbreeding may be reduced by using captive-bred animals as a fresh gene source.

Statistics:

Family: Felidae
World population: 5,000-7,500 (1998 estimate)
Distribution: From India east to China and Vietnam and south to Indonesia (Sumatra)
Habitat: Dense cover: forests, scrub, and tall grass thickets; also mangroves
Size: Length head/body: 4.5-9 ft (1.4-2.7 m); tail: 24-43 in (60-110 cm); height at shoulder: 31-43 in (80-110 cm). Weight: up to 790 lb (360 kg) in the largest Siberian tigers
Form: Unmistakable, large orange cat with black stripes and long tail
Diet: Mostly deer and wild pigs weighing 110-440 lb (50-200 kg). Occasionally smaller animals such as monkeys, fish, and even birds. Needs about 33-40 lb (15-18 kg) per day
Breeding: Two or 3 cubs per litter, born after 14-week gestation; about 2 years between litters. Life span 15 years in wild, at least 26 in captivity
Related endangered species: Snow leopard (Unoa uncia); lion (Panthera leo); clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa); also several smaller species of cat, including Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus)

Importance To Humans: Mammal

AnimalAqua — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 08:08:04 +0000

Wild and domesticated mammals are so interlocked with our political and social history that it is impractical to attempt to assess the relationship in precise economic terms. Throughout our own evolution, for example, humans have depended on other mammals for food and clothing. Domestication of mammals helped to provide a source of protein for ever-increasing human populations and provided means of transportation and heavy work as well. Today, domesticated strains of the house mouse, European rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, gerbil, and other species provide much-needed laboratory subjects for the study of human-related physiology, psychology, and a variety of diseases from dental caries to cancer. The study of nonhuman primates (monkeys and apes) has opened broad new areas of research relevant to human welfare. The care of domestic and captive mammals is, of course, the basis for the practice of veterinary medicine.

Wild mammals are a major source of food in some parts of the world, and many different kinds, from fruit bats and armadillos to whales, are captured and eaten by various cultural groups. In addition, hunting, primarily for sport, of various rodents, lagomorphs, carnivores, and ungulates is a multibillion-dollar enterprise. In the United States alone, for example, it is estimated that more than two million deer are harvested annually by licensed hunters. Geopolitically, the quest for marine mammals was responsible for the charting of a number of areas in both Arctic and Antarctic regions. The presence of terrestrial furbearers, particularly beavers and several species of mustelid carnivores (e.g., marten and fisher), was one of the principal motivations for the opening of the American West, Alaska, and the Siberian taiga. Ranch-raised animals such as the mink, fox, and chinchilla are also important to the fur industry, which directly and indirectly accounts for many millions of dollars in revenue each year in North America alone. Aside from pelts and meat, special parts of some mammals regularly have been sought for their special attributes.

Rhinoceros horn is used for concocting potions in the Orient; ivory from elephants and walruses is highly prized; and ambergris, a substance regurgitated by sperm whales, was once widely used as a base for perfumes. Some mammals are directly detrimental to human activities. House rats and mice of Old World origin now occur virtually throughout the world and each year cause substantial damage and economic loss. Herbivorous mammals may eat or trample crops and compete with livestock for food, and native carnivores sometimes prey on domestic herds. Large sums are spent annually to control populations of undesirable wild mammals, a practice long deplored by conservationists. Not only do they have an impact on food resources, but mammals are also important reservoirs or agents of transmission of a variety of diseases that afflict man, such as plague, tularemia, yellow fever, rabies, leptospirosis, Lyme disease, hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The annual economic debt resulting from mammalborne diseases that affect humans and domestic animals is incalculable. Many large mammals have been extirpated entirely or exist today only in parks and zoos; others are in danger of extinction, and their plight is receiving increased attention from a number of conservation agencies.

Perhaps at least some species can be saved. One of the most noteworthy cases of direct extirpation by man is the Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas). These large (up to 10 metres, or 33 feet, long), inoffensive marine mammals evidently lived only along the coasts and shallow bays of the Komandor Islands in the Bering Sea. Discovered in 1741, they were easily killed by Russian sealers and traders for food, their meat being highly prized, and the last known live individual was taken in 1768 Of final note is the aesthetic value of wild mammals and the relatively recent expense of considerable energy and resources to study and, if possible, conserve vanishing species, to set aside natural areas where native floral and faunal elements can exist in an otherwise highly agriculturalized or industrialized society, and to establish modern zoological parks and gardens. Such outdoor â€œlaboratoriesâ€ attract millions of visitors annually and will provide means by which present and future generations of humans can appreciate and study, in small measure at least, other kinds of mammals.

Animal Life From China

AnimalAqua — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 06:07:27 +0000

Profusion of vegetation and a variety of relief have fostered the development of a great diversity of animal life and have permitted the survival of animals that elsewhere are extinct. Notable among such survivals are the great paddlefish of the Yangtze, the small species of alligator in eastern and central China, and the giant salamander (related to the Japanese giant salamander and the American hellbender) in western China. The diversity of animal life is perhaps greatest in the ranges and valleys of Tibet and Szechwan, to which region the giant panda is confined. The takin, or goat antelope, numerous species of pheasants, and a variety of laughing thrushes are to be found in all the Chinese mountains. China seems to be one of the chief centres of dispersal of the carp family and also of old-world catfishes.

The regional affinities of Chinese animal life are complex. In the Northeast there are resemblances to the animal life of the Siberian forests. Animals from Central Asia inhabit suitable steppe areas in northern China. The life of the great mountain ranges is Palearctic (relating to a biogeographic region that includes Europe, Asia north of the Himalayas, northern Arabia, and Africa north of the Sahara) but with distinctively Chinese species or genera. To the southeast the lowlands and mountains alike permit direct access to the eastern region. This part of China presents a complete transition from temperate-zone Palearctic life to the wealth of tropical forms distinctive of southeastern Asia. Tropical types of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals predominate in the southernmost Chinese provinces.

Animal Life From Ural Mountains

AnimalAqua — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 05:46:00 +0000

There are no specifically mountain animals in the Urals, primarily because of the low elevations and easy accessibility, and fauna differs little from that of the adjacent areas of eastern Europe and western Siberia. The most valuable animal of the tundra is the Arctic fox. Ob lemmings, snowy owls, tundra partridge, and reindeer are other inhabitants, though the latter are few. Many wild ducks, geese, and swans breed there in summer. But the richest and most varied fauna in the Urals, including the brown bear, lynx, wolverine, and elk, are found in the forested zones.

Some have valuable furs: the sable (in the north), ermine, fox, marten (in the south), Siberian weasel, and squirrel. In the taiga there are such birds as the wood grouse, black grouse, capercaillie (another member of the grouse family), cuckoo, and hazel hen (a woodland grouse). In the mixed, broad-leaved forests of the Southern Urals’ western slopes live roe deer, badgers, and polecats, as well as many birds typical of the European part of Russia, such as the nightingale and oriole. The commonest animals of the steppe and semidesert regions are rodents, including susliks (a type of ground squirrel), jerboas (a social, nocturnal, jumping rodent), and other agricultural pests. Reptiles include the common adder and grass snake. The rivers and lakes of the Northern Urals abound in fish, the most valuable being the nelma (a species related to the whitefish), common salmon, grayling, and sea trout. Farther south, in the densely populated and industrial regions, animal life is less abundant.

The vigorous economic development and growth in population that have occurred in the Urals in the 20th century have altered considerably the chain’s landscape and the abundance of wildlife. Conservation measures during the Soviet period included establishing national nature preserves such as Pechoro-Ilych in the Northern Urals, Basegi and Visim in the Central Urals, and Ilmen and Bashkir in the Southern Urals.

Animal life ( from Kalahari Hindu Kush )

AnimalAqua — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 05:16:57 +0000

Well-adapted species of wildlife are found throughout the mountains. The Siberian ibex and the markhor (both wild goats) negotiate the high crags, while Marco Polo sheep and urial (another wild sheep) occasionally are found in the high pamir. Black and brown bears still exist in isolated valleys, and the Chitral valley wildlife preserve is a domain of the rare snow leopard. The rich birdlife of the mountains includes vultures and eagles. The streams of the northern slope contain brown trout in abundance. Human depredation has reduced the variety and distribution of wildlife throughout the Hindu Kush, although efforts to create wildlife preserves in unpopulated areas have met with some success. The display of horns at pagan and Muslim religious sites demonstrates the cultic importance of the ibex. A vestige of this cult persists in domesticated animal husbandry, where, by custom, only males may milk goats.

[tags]animals, hindu, kalahari[/tags]

Animal Life From Mangolia

AnimalAqua — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 04:51:26 +0000

The varied natural conditions, the interior location, and the sparse human population of Mongolia all contribute to a rich and diverse wildlife that has attracted international attention and has commercial importance. Lying on the borders of several distinct zoogeographic regions (the Tibetan, the Afghano-Turkistani, the Siberian, and the North-Chinese-Manchurian), the country has a fauna combining species from each of them. The northern forests harbour lynx, maral (Asiatic red deer), elk, roe deer, musk deer, brown bears, snow leopards, wolverines, wild boars, squirrels, and sables.

The steppes are the home of, among others, the marmot whose pelts are important economically and the lithe Mongolian gazelle. Clustering around water holes in the semidesert and desert region may be found the wild sheep known as argal, Asiatic wild asses (kulans), wild camels (khavtgays), and the Gobi bear (mazalai); some of these species are extremely rare and found nowhere else in Asia. Domesticated animals include sheep, camels, cattle, the hairy highland yak, goats, dogs, and the famous Mongolian horses. Birdlife includes larks, partridges, cranes, pheasants, bustards, and falcons in the steppes; geese, ducks, gulls, pelicans, swans, and cormorants in the rivers and lakes; the snowy owl, the golden eagle, and the condor, which frequent some areas.

The freshwater lakes and rivers harbour some 70 fish species, including salmon, trout, grayling, perch, and pike. Hunting and fishing, for sport and for commercial purposes, are important; but the government has introduced stringent hunting regulations and other conservationist measures, including the establishment of national parks and nature reserves.