Creature Feature: Pangolin

In my last blog, I reviewed The Jungle Book. One of the elements I liked in the movie (which I didn't mention in my review), was the little side characters that added comic relief. For example, there was a porcupine that acted like the seagulls from Finding Nemo, saying "This is mine, and this is mine,". The one I'd like to talk about now is the pangolin. 

It's really no wonder that this little animal was in the movie- they are practically born to do comedy just by their hilariously weird anatomy. They look like something out of a Pokedex. Twenty percent of a pangolin's body weight is from their scales, which are made of keratin like our fingernails and hair. Unfortunately, they are poached for these scales, as well as their meat. There are eight pangolin species in Africa and Asia, and all are anywhere from "Vulnerable" to "Critically Endangered". 

According to WWF, "They certainly are one of the most trafficked mammals in Asia and, increasingly, Africa. Pangolins are in high demand in countries like China and Vietnam. Their meat is considered a delicacy and pangolin scales are used in traditional medicine and folk remedies to treat a range of ailments from asthma to rheumatism and arthritis. All eight pangolin species are protected under national and international laws but that is not stopping the massive international illegal trade in pangolins, which has increased in recent years because of growing demand. Based on reported seizures between 2011 and 2013, an estimated 116,990-233,980 pangolins were killed, which represents only the tip of the trade. Experts believe that seizures represent as little as 10 percent of the actual volume in pangolins in illegal wildlife trade."

Oh and to add to that, they are threatened by habitat loss, too. I wish there was a happy way to end this post, but unfortunately, I don't think there is. If you'd like to help, you can always check out World Wildlife Fund and click "How You Can Help", and you can learn more here and here. Don't want to read? I've got a video for you then: 

As always, thanks for reading! 

Movie Review/Dose of Disney: The Jungle Book

The other night, I finally got out to see Disney's The Jungle Book. It. Was. Amazing. I'm not even sure where to start! 
Let's start with the music. The original animated film got so many wonderful songs stuck in our heads, like "The Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You". These two were redone in a way respectful to the original, but in a new upbeat fashion. I was, however, disappointed that "Trust In Me" appeared only in the credits. In this movie, the talent was phenomenal. Of course Bagheera will always be my favorite character, but every other voice actor was perfect too, from Kaa to Baloo to King Louie (even though I'm not sure Christopher Walken's best role is a singer- yet still better than Iago). The actor who played Mowgli just blew me away, and I'm excited to see him in more movies hopefully soon. 

It was really nice that they expanded the story a bit. Very similar to how they gave Cinderella and Prince Charming more of a family history in the live action Cinderella, here Mowgli is shown how he comes to the jungle. There is also a larger focus on the wolf pack, which is only appropriate to the theme of family and friendship throughout the movie. Not only was it fairly accurate to the original animated movie, but it also included some references to other Disney darlings. As in The Lion King, there is a stampede in a gorge (Simba's down there!), an evil big cat villain with a physical scar, and said villain falls to a fiery death while trying to attack the hero. There's also a bit of Tarzan sprinkled in, especially with all of the Mowgli-runs-on-tree-branches scenes, and I can't help think Baloo's quest for honey is in homage to Winnie the Pooh.

Conservation-wise, the movie has a pretty obvious message: man destroys. But even deeper than that, man doesn't always destroy on purpose, it often happens from their carelessness. We can see the metaphor in Mowgli running through the forest with a torch and accidentally setting acres of woods ablaze. That's something we can all learn from. 

In conclusion, this is a great movie about love, family, and belonging, that keeps to the old story but adds in new ways. I think all Disney fans, young and old, will love this film. 


Thanks for reading everyone! 

Creature Feature: Giraffes

Today's tall topic: giraffes. An iconic part of Africa's megafauna, giraffes are a beloved animal in the eyes of many. And why? Let's look at a few reasons.

First off, their necks. The most distinguished feature of their anatomy makes them instantly recognizable by people of all ages and background. They can be up to 6 feet long and weigh over 500 pounds alone. That's like having a Siberian tiger hold up your head. Males will compete by swinging their necks against one another, in a display called necking. 

How about those patterns? Giraffe spots are unique to each individual, just like zebra stripes and human fingerprints. There are several subspecies of giraffes, nine to be exact, and they can be distinguished by the characteristics of their patterns.

Lastly, let's talk about their food. Using their insanely long necks, a giraffe is able to reach higher leaves than other animals. Not only does alleviate competition for food sources lower to the ground, it also allows the giraffes to have sole proprietorship over those high-up goodies. As if a giraffe didn't have enough length, they can also extend their 18-inch tongues, which are a blue/purple/black color to prevent sunburn.

Unfortunately, giraffes are being featured here not just because they are cool, but because they are also an animal we need to look at conserving. As of right now, the giraffe is species of least concern according to the IUCN Redlist, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned. Just like other animals in Africa, giraffes are not exempt from poaching. Poachers find a giraffe an easy target with their obvious silhouette and docile nature. They are killed for their hide, meat, tails that are used as bracelets, and brains that are used as a desperate and false cure for HIV. We tend to pay a lot of attention to elephants and rhinoceros when talking about poaching, but we cannot forget about other animals as well. They are also suffering from destruction of their habitat. Even if their immediate territory is not being destroyed, much of Africa's wildlife is hurting from habitat fragmentation, too. 

We're going to start seeing the results of all this in a very big way. Already, Rothschild's Giraffe is down to approximately 240 individuals. The overall population has seen a 40% decline in the past 15 years. To put that in perspective, 40% of the human population is 2.7 billion people. Take the number of people living in China and double it. Then poof all of those people off of the planet. Needless to say, this decline should not be taken lightly.

You can always check out the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to help! Thanks for reading everyone! 

News Review: McDonalds and More

It's a Royal Shame
In a recent trip to India, Prince William and Princess Kate visited Kaziranga National Park to spread awareness about conservation. William is very outspoken about his passion for wildlife conservation, supporting and campaigning for organizations such as United for Wildlife and Tusk, so it only makes sense that he would include conservation in his trip. However, the couple learned that an adult male rhinoceros was poached just hours after their visit. 

Plastic Recycling at Home 
At Precious Plastics , they want everyone to recycle plastic. Themselves. This young man has designed a series of machines to recycle plastic products in their very own homes. Pretty awesome if you ask me. Especially since experts now say that there will soon be more plastic than fish in the ocean. 

The Golden Arches Going Blue
Speaking of fish, if you care about the health of the ocean, you're familiar with the Marine Stewardship Council. Their little blue emblem let's you know if the seafood you're picking up in the store is sustainable. Well, now McDonald's will be making sure all of their fish has that little blue emblem! McDonalds is one of the largest single buyers of fish in the US, so to me, this is quite the victory! 

Tiger Numbers on the Rise
To end on an even happier note, according the the World Wildlife Fund, wild tiger numbers are growing for the first time in 100 years. That's grrrrrrreat! 

Thanks for reading everyone! 

Invention Connections with Wildlife

Coexisting with wildlife has always been a problem for mankind. New technology has given us the opportunity to coexist with wildlife like never before. Here are just a few nifty things:

Critter Crossing
If you live in a wooded area like I do, you are very familiar with the sight of roadkill. It's an unfortunate result of the expansion of human development that cannot be prevented....or can it? In the Netherlands, wildlife crossing bridges have been made to allow animals to cross over roadways safely. Not only is it good for the animals, it's also good for people- in the US there are 200 fatalities annually due to collisions with deer. For educational purposes, the bridges can be fitted with cameras to collect data about the animals using them, providing important information about wildlife populations. In North America, only Alberta, Canada, has these structures, but hopefully we will see them more widespread in the very near future! 

Shark Suits
The fear of sharks keeps many people out of the ocean. But sadly, most incidents with sharks are when they mistake a person for something else. These special wetsuits are meant to help mitigate that possibility. Some designs are blue and wavy to camouflage in the ocean, and some are striped to mimic lionfish- something sharks don't want to eat. However, these designs aren't guaranteed to help, and some scientists think it might have the opposite effect. Don't worry, if you're really paranoid you can just wear chain-mail underwater. 

Shining the Light on Lions 
This story is from 2013, but is by no means outdated. A 12-year-old boy from Kenya sought to stop lions from killing livestock in a non-lethal manner. He came up with a simple system of moving lights, and viola! the lions are deterred from livestock, and saved from the gun of an angry farmer. The moral of the story? Sometimes simple solutions are the best, and no matter what age you are, you can make a difference. Read more about it here. 

Edible Cutlery
I've talked about the horrors of plastic before, and this invention specifically tackles the problem of plastic utensils, such as the ones used by fast-food joints once then thrown away. This company has made edible cutlery out of sorghum flour, which is incredibly efficient to manufacture, saving energy and reducing plastic waste. They even come in different flavors! Less plastic means a healthier planet for us and wildlife. 

Thanks for reading everyone, and I hope you come back soon! 

Creature Feature: The Mighty Manta Ray

In today's blog, I'll be talking about these gorgeous animals: 

Manta rays are cartilaginous fish, just like sharks and sting rays. There are two main types: oceanic and reef mantas. The oceanic mantas are migratory animals, whereas the reef varieties tend to stay local. Some mantas can be 23 feet long and weigh over 4,0000 pounds! Despite their potentially massive size, they eat tiny zooplankton, arrow worms, copepods, and mysid shrimp. There is a lot of information we still need to discover about manta rays. For example, we don't even know their exact lifespan, although guesses are between 50 and 100 years old. 

A life-size model of an oceanic manta caught off of New Jersey in 1933. 

Their courtship rituals are very interesting: male mantas will follow a female in a train, copying her every move, until she determines which is most physically fit and persistent (see video below). Manta rays are ovoviviparous, meaning they reproduce with young in eggs that hatch inside the body of the mother. Although witnessed in captivity, there have been no wild manta births ever recorded.

Since March is Woman's History Month, let me take this opportunity to talk about a pioneering scientist. Leading the world in research on manta rays is Andrea Marshall. Known as "Queen of the Mantas", she is the first person in the world to complete a PhD on them, and has co-founded the Marine Megafauna Foundation. In the words of her website: "Aside from dramatically increasing the level of knowledge on manta rays themselves, Andrea’s discovery of a new giant species of manta ray in 2008 was one of the largest new species to have been described by any scientist in the last 50 years. She is currently working towards the description of a third Manta species. Using her extensive travels to uncover anthropogenic threats to manta rays and expose unsustainable fisheries for them, Andrea remains deeply committed to developing better management strategies for regional populations of these rays and their critical habitats." You go Andrea! 

It seems like I post a lot of pictures like this: a huge collection of body parts from a species of animal, taken by humans for their own selfish (and unnecessary) purpose.

Gill rakers, thin filaments in a manta ray's body, are used to filter food out of the water. But in recent years, they have been more harmful than helpful, since human's have decided they are valuable. Very similar to tiger bones or rhino horns, gill rakers can be used in traditional medicine, primarily in Southern China. They are also used as a substitute for shark cartilage in certain "medicines" (so we can only save one cartilaginous fish at a time I guess?). You can learn more from SharkSaver's website here. Some states and countries have banned the sale and trade of manta parts, but conservation efforts are nowhere near finished. A few blogs ago, I reviewed the show "Racing Extinction", and one of their feature stories was about a town in Indonesia. This village was responsible for the deaths of thousands of mantas, but after a decision by CITES, Indonesia became the world's largest manta ray sanctuary in January 2014. And what about the villagers you may ask? With help from organizations like WildAid, their town is becoming a thriving hub for ecotourism, and a shining example of how conservation efforts really can make a difference. 

There are lots of really awesome organizations out there that are promoting manta conservation. Here are just a few links you should check out: 
Manta Trust
Project Aware 
Manta Ray of Hope

You can also visit one of my favorite blogs, Voice for the Voiceless, for more information on the conservation of rays, sharks and whales. 

Thanks for reading everyone! 

Dose of Disney: Snakes

I've talked before about how I despise animal stereotypes. Stereotypes are destructive and unnecessary, and spread fear and misinformation. "We don't like what we don't understand, in fact it scares us," to quote Beauty and the Beast, so the more we know about animals, there will be less needless fear.

Today, I'd like to talk about one type of animal: snakes. Snakes are often perceived as evil creatures, when, just like any other animal, they're just trying to survive. Disney films influence what many people think of animals based on their animated characters. So I've decided to rank six of their snake characters, from Evil to Good: 

Jafar from Aladdin- EVIL

Jafar is your typical villain- cunning, manipulative, and obsessed over power. Towards the end of the movie, he transforms into a gigantic hooded cobra, like the hypnotic staff he carries in his human form. The message, therefore, is that snakes are far more dangerous and intimidating than humans. Even though Jafar isn't truly a snake, he's on this list because of the powerful impact his snake form has on his evil image. 

Monster Who Lives Under the Stairs from Nightmare Before Christmas- EVIL-ISH 

We are introduced to this odd creature in the opening song "This is Halloween". Even though he's pretty scary, it's not because he's a snake, it's because he's from Halloweentown and his job is to scare. I still think scaring just for fun is bad, so that's why he's still somewhat evil. As far as stereotyping snakes, this character connects them to something frightening, but then again, Tim Burton's animation of elves is fairly creepy too. 

Sir Hiss from Robin Hood- EVIL-ISH

Sir Hiss is the evil Prince John's henchman, er, hench-snake. I have to rank him as somewhat evil because he does help out the villain. However, by himself, he's really not that bad. Yes, he adds to the stereotype of snakes being hypnotic, and associated with evil, but when Prince John wants to kill Friar Tuck, Sir Hiss objects. Therefore, Hiss is only evil-ish. 

Kaa from The Jungle Book- JUST A SNAKE
Not a villain, not a hero, Kaa is just a snake trying to find his next meal. Some call him Shere Khan's sidekick, but he's not- he clearly lies to the tiger/dictator's face. He may try to eat Mowgli, but I'm not counting that as evil because any snake would try to eat a helpless small mammal out in the wild. My biggest complaint about Kaa is the inaccuracy in hypnotizing with his eyes, like Jafar and Sir Hiss. But who can be mad at a snake with such a good song, sung by Winnie the Pooh?

Toy Snake from Toy Story- JUST A TOY
This snake is probably the most adorable on the list. He's not evil, he's a friend of Woody's. However, he's not a main character, with no real effect on the plot, so he doesn't quite reach the rank of "good". I do appreciate the fact that Disney/Pixar included toys of reptiles (Yay Rex!) and gave them a positive image.  

Juju from Princess and the Frog- GOOD
Juju is the pet of Mama Odie, a wise, old, sorceress. I love this duo so much, I even dressed as the whimsical Mama Odie for Halloween one year! And Juju is so much more than a pet to her- he lets her practice magic on him.... 

....and he helps her cook...

...and helps out around the house...

Basically Juju is an awesome character. Even though he can't speak, he has a funny personality, and helps out our protagonists. He gives all snakes a great image, and completely dissolves any air of intimidation or scariness with loyalty, friendliness, and hilarious facial expressions. A+ on this one, Disney!  

I hope you all liked my Dose of Disney, and thank you for reading!