News Story: Dippy is being moved!

Well, it was announced this week that the Natural History Museum in London are moving Dippy the Diplodocus out of the main entrance and replacing it with a skeleton of a Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus).

For those of you who have never visited the museum, you are probably wondering who the hell is Dippy? Well, Dippy is a cast of a skeleton of a Diplodocus. Dippy first went on display in 1979 although it was given to the museum on 1905. So it has been greeting visitors for over 30 years.

The museum has been open to the public since 1881, so was there anything else before Dippy?

The first big attraction in the main hall was a skeleton of a Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) this stayed in the hall form the 1890's till 1907 when it was replaced by Geogre the African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) who remained there for 70 years until it was finally replaced by Dippy. 

The display change is big news, as the specimen of the blue whale  won't be a cast but it a real specimen which currently on display in the mammal hall, above a replica of the actual animal. So the plan is to remove the skeleton and scan all the bones in so that it will be in a digital skeleton, which could be used to print 3D bones in the future for research. It will then be hung from the ceiling in the main hall in a diving position to greet visitors to the building. 

What does this mean for Dippy? 

Well there are plans to put Dippy into another exhibition or maybe put her on display on the outside of the building. There could also be a possibility of Dippy going on tour to other musuems around the country. 

Changing the display to the skeleton of the Blue Whale should attract many visitors plus it put emphasize on the real skeletons that the museum have and the research that they undertake using specimens that are within those walls. I think this is a great step for the msuem to take and I can't wait to see in unveiled. But don't worry, if you want to see Dippy, she will still be there till 2017. If you want to plan a visit then go to the Natural History Musuem site (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/). 

Thanks for reading =) 

Colchester Zoo and their Wolves.

On the 26th November 2013, 5 of the 6 wolves that are in Colchester Zoo escaped from their enclosure from through a hole in the fence. One went back on its own accord, another stayed within the zoo and was then tranquilized and returned to its enclosure. unfortunately the others had gone out of the zoo, all three were found but had to be shot.

There has been a lot of upset about the 3 Wolves being put down. After having a long debate with a few people yesterday I really started to get thinking if their decisions were just.

The zoo did not alert the public immediately to avoid panic from the public but they did corner off the part of the zoo which the wolf enclosure was in. I do think was a correct way for the zoo to handle it.

The media was alerted at 2pm that day and at 4pm the last wolf had been shot. Now a lot of people are saying that the wolves should have been tranquilized and then returned to the zoo because they are shy and timid animals so would be unlikely to to attack anyone. I do agree that it would have been unlikely for them to harm anyone.

However, there are many risks with tranquilizers, as you have to get the correct dosage which can take time to figure out, it would also take time for it to take effect and with the animals under a lot of stress the anaesthetic may not have taken effect. Plus no one knows how much stress the wolves were under (I assume a lot!) and no one knows how this would have changed the wolves behaviour. If they had felt threatened then they would have attacked someone. If this had occured then someone could have been injured and the situation then it would have been a very different situation.

I do believe that the zoo and police involved made the right decisions. It is a very sad event to occur and I hope that it doesn't effect the zoo's reputation. Below is a statement from Colchester Zoo's facebook page:


"Keepers devastated by loss of wolves

At 7.30am on Tuesday 26th November, it was discovered that the perimeter fence to Colchester Zoo’s wolf enclosure had been damaged and five of the six timber wolves had left the enclosure. It is not known at this stage how the damage occurred despite the fence being routinely checked on a daily basis.

One of the wolves returned immediately of its own accord and one was darted and recaptured. Unfortunately, an anaesthetic dart takes 15 minutes to take effect and may not work at all in a stressed animal so two wolves that had left the perimeter of the zoo had to be shot. They are wild animals and in an unpredictable situation they would have posed a risk to the public.

The remaining wolf has now been located and very sadly also had to be destroyed.

We have obviously had a devastating day and would be grateful for your consideration. We have nothing further to add at this time."


Please let me know if you think they made the right decision and your own opinion on the matter.

Blackfish

So this is my own opinion about the programme, Blackfish. I would just like to mention that this film is meant to show the bad side of SeaWorld and is very biased, I am not saying that any of this is acceptable but this is very biased, so any positives that come from SeaWorld having killer whales are not shown. Just to let you know I am writing this blog as I am watching the programme on catch up services.

Capturing Killer Whales

These scenes are very distressing to see young Orcas taken away from there families, these are intelligent animals and the stress that both the pod and the individual young must have been dreadful.

I would like to mention that all animals in zoo collections start off as wild animals and this was a regular practice in zoos, which is used a lot. Several animals have been taken out of their wild habitat and away from families. There is no other way to begin to keep exotic animals. So don't think this a new practice which only SeaWorld does. The whole zoo culture is like this, for example, David Attenbourgh's first series was called Zoo Quest, in which he went around the world and collected animals for zoos. This would vary from insects, lizards and mammals. With captive breeding programs improving though, this is far less common than it used to be.


Keeping the whales captivity

Killer Whales are large animals, it is going to be difficult to have a large enough enclosure for this animal, nothing will be able to compare to its natural habitat. Hence, this I would have thought will cause a lot of tension and anxiety to an animal. There is no way of knowing an Killer Whales minimum needed space but I can guarantee that it isn't going to be a size that can be achieved by zoos.

Separation of Mother and Child

For me this is heartbreaking to watch. Again this is a common practice in zoos to move across the animals and mothers and daughters are separated regularly. But for an animal with such intelligence and emotional sense, it is just horrible. I so feel sorry for the keepers cause it is out of their hands and their is nothing they can do.

Different facts

They have footage of keepers telling facts which just aren't true but this is told to them. Even if they know that it isn't true they would not want to risk their jobs. And they do it for the love of the job and because they are thinking that they are helping the animals by being there. I do not think that the keepers are to blame for any of this.

Attacks on Keepers

Some of the attacks are shocking and it amazes me that many keepers had no idea about previous attacks before signing on. I think all employees should be fully aware of the risks that come with the job. Again, this doesn't just happen with Killer whales, there has been many reports around the world this summer of keepers dying because of the animals. One fairly close to home happened this summer, at South Lakes Zoo, a keeper had been attacked by a tiger and unfortnately couldn't be saved. They say it was down to keeper error, but this program shows that you may not actually know what the cause was. I think some people forget that these are wild animals, even if they born in captivity. Those behaviours are innate, no amount of training will be able to get rid of these behaviours. No one will understand these behaviours or what causes these behaviours to occur in captivity. The incidents could have several contributing factors that caused the outcome

Loro Parque

I think it was a poor choice for SeaWorld to move the whales to Loro Parque, with them having an poor reputation and with them possibly knowing that things weren't ready for them. However, once the whales are there it is totally Loro Parques responsibility for the training of whales, trainers and the actions of the whales!

The Attack

I can't believe the way that PR handled this situation. It was dreadful. It is appalling to blame an expert trainer with many years of experience, for her own death, which it is clearly not. The whole situation is just not a nice thing.

Conclusions

If this was a case with any other animal they would have been put down. An animal, like a tiger, would have been put down after maybe two incidents but for the whale to have 7 to his name and nothing be done to either release him or in the worse case put him down, just seemes odd to me. I do think he should be released into the wild back where he was caught, how successful he would be I am not sure but I really think this is the right thing to be done.

I don't think places like SeaWorld and other zoos are bad places, I know that they raise a lot of money and do a lot of work for conservation and raising awareness for animals, which people may not realise are in trouble. I certainly have no problem with the keepers, they are there to do good and generally do a really good job and the bonds between the animals and keepers have shown to reduce stress of the animal. I think the main problem lies with PR and the owners, many owners are just in it for the money rather than the principles of the zoo. Zoo's wouldn't do this if it wasn't for public demand, SeaWorld will continue to keep Killer Whales until there is absolutley no public demand for them. Money is where the problem lies, they will take an animal on even if they are not fully prepared for it, like the example of Loro Parque, just because they will gain a lot from it. Being in their position, a lot of people will do the same, even if you don't think you would. They are trying to run a business and keep it profitable, this is their livelihood after all.

I do feel that keeping large animals in zoos is a very pressing issue. It will have an effect on the animal, I think the same of any species. Some individuals do very well, whereas others don't take to captivity and display aggressive behaviours which can results in themselves, other animals or people to get hurt.

There was a quote from the show saying something along the lines of "in 50 years we will look back and see brutal this is". I do think this true, as if you look back 50 years from now animal welfare was shocking, very little thought or research went into how animals reacted to captivity and what they wanted, it was there just to attract the public. Zoos will only continue to improve the way they run things and this should have a positive effect on the animals and reduce risk of injury to keepers.

I would recommend people to watch Blackfish, which is currently on iPlayer. But please remember that there are positives to what SeaWorld do. I think the heart of all zoos lies with the keepers not with PR or the people who own them (I know there are exceptions, for example Durrell in Jersey). I also know that we will never fully understand animals behaviours and the causes for them, but as more research is done on this area and if establishments like SeaWorld, collaberate fully with them, then there are going to be a lot of improvements for animals in terms of enrichment and welfare.

I would just like to give my condolences to the families that were effected by this.

Thank you for reading.

News Story - Primate calls give clues to human speech

So it has been found that the Gelada (Theropithecus gelada) call contains a 'wobble' which may be similar to that made my primitive humans. 

So lets have more information about the Gelada (Theropithecus gelada). There are two subspecies that have been described: T. g. gelada and T. g. obscurus. They are found in Ethiopia and restricted to the high grassland. They are widespread throughout their range, which means they are of least concern on the ICUN red list.

The 'wobble' is thought to sound something like a cross between a yodel and a baby's gurgle. This can be heard on the link (below) for the article on the bbc site. This may show us some link to how speech evolved in our ancestors. The complexitiy of the vocal chords isn't found in any primates bar humans. This 'wobble' along with "lip-smacking" that has been found in some primates could have allowed us to speak. 


The question that I find myself thinking is that do you think that if we hadn't evolved the ability to speak and communicate properly with each other. would we be where we are now?  Would we have evolved another way to communicate? A thought to ponder on. 

References:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22067192 (News Story)

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/retrieve/pii/S0960982213002091 (Actual paper)

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21744/0 (ICUN Red List on the Gelada Baboon)

New Story - Butterfly Population in 2012

Butterfly population for 2012 in the UK

I am going to try and discuss a news story at least every 2 weeks. How much detail I will go to, will depend on how much time I have throughout the week.

My first news story is on the populations of Butterflies throughout 2012. 

Let's face it 2012 was a pretty dull year, we had few weeks or so of lovely weather in May but apart from that the rest was cold, wet and with not a hint of snow (but I think 2013 has made up that!). Last years summer was the second coolest since 1998 (first being 2011, but only by 0.2°C). The average temperature for the summer (Jun-Aug) last yes was -0.4°C below the average from the years 1981-2010, which may not seem like a huge deal, but this could be a huge problem for native insects and flora. Which then can lead to problems for birds and other animals that rely on them for food. As well as the drop in temperature there was a lot of rain! So much that the UK had a total of 371mm, this is wettest summer, bar 1912 (284mm), since 1910! 

So how did this effect the butterflies?

With the rain and the cold it became difficult for them to find food, shelter and mates. Here are some of that stats given in the story about certain butterfly species, the percentages the change in the population numbers when compared to 2011:

• Black Hairstreak (Satyrium pruni) fell by 98% 
• White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album) fell by 71%
• Brown Fritillary (Argynnis adippe) fell by 46%
• Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) fell by 60&

However, not all species suffered during this year. Some had a population increase, these include the Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina), whose numbers increased by 8893. This species along with Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) and Marbled white (Melanargia galathea). This is believed to be because they are grass feeding species, with the dry start to the year followed by the heavy rains grass grew very well. Even though this a good sign that some species can cope it was only 4 out of 56 that saw an increase. 

The question is how will they fare this year? So far there has been cold snaps and a lot of snow that could prohibit or delay the growth of some the plants that the butterflies need. Even grass may suffer a little. It could be a case that many larvae have died throughout this time! Since many organisms base their biological clocks on the length of day (which remains pretty much constant each year) some may have hatched and not had any food. How the butterflies have coped will be worked out in annual surveys done by the leading organisations. 

My concern is that not only will our butterflies decrease in population size but other insects as well. The bees are already suffering, with honeybees having a lot of trouble at the moment. We need our insects to be in healthy numbers to keep all our ecosystems going and support all other forms of life. I am not sure on the situation for insects from around the world but I think it has got to the point were most speices need our help to maintain the populations. I know that not everybody is a huge fan of our 6 legged friends but I think everyone needs to know how important they are to our world. 

If you do want to get involved and do your bit there are several things you can do. If you have a garden and are keen to help you can plant insect friendly flowering plants that will keep you garden busy throughout the summer. You can also take part in the surveys, you don't have to be experienced there are identification guides to help. I will put some links below so you can go and investigate. 

Hope you enjoyed reading =)

Sources:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomalygraphs/
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/2012/summer.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20983930

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21934075

Extra Reading:

UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (http://www.ukbms.org/Default.aspx)

Butterfly Conservation [I did a survey for these last year] (http://butterfly-conservation.org/)

The British Beekeeping Associatino (http://www.bbka.org.uk/learn/gardening_for_bees)

Chigwell Nursery (http://www.chigwellnursery.co.uk/Site/Bee_Friendly_Plants.html)

UK Flowering Plants (http://www.ukbutterflyplants.co.uk)