Mittwoch, 31. Oktober 2012

Little Bat Orphans...Kleine Flughundwaisen


Dieses Foto fand ich vor kurzem hier auf facebook, und da wir noch immer im 2. Internationalen Jahr der Fledermaus sind und es nun Halloween ist, dachte ich, ein paar mehr Fotos und links könnten nicht schaden.-

This photo I found last week on facebook, and since we are still in the 2nd International Year of the Bat with Halloween around the corner, I thought a few more photos and links would come in handy.


Baby bottle-fed fruit bat orphans
source

Es gibt eine ganze Reihe von Ursachen, die dazu führen, dass kleine Flughunde Waisen werden. Zumeist ist die Mutter entweder gestorben (z.B. durch die von einer Zeckenart übertragene Erkrankung, die unbehandelt zu Lähmung und Tod führt, Stacheldrahtverletzungen, Stromschläge durch Stromleitungen, Verfangen in Netzen, andere Trauma), Ablehnung des Jungtiers (zB.wg. Geburtanomalien) oder andere unbekannte Gründe.Zyklone sind eine große Gefahrenquelle für Flughunde, einmal wegen der Wetterbedingungen selbst und andererseits führen Zyklone zu Nahrungsmittelmangel, der sie aus Hunger von den Bäumen treibt, wodurch sie leicht Opfer von anderen Tieren (Katxen z.B.) und Krankheiten werden können. -

Young flying foxes may be orphaned in a number of different ways - the mother has either died (eg tick paralysis, barbed wire, net entanglement, electric shock on power lines, other trauma), rejected the baby (eg birth abnormalities) or for unknown reasons.Cyclones are a major source of risk for bats, both because of the weather conditions themselves, but cyclones lead to food shortages, the hunger drives them out of the trees, so they can be easy prey for other animals (eg Katxen) and diseases.


Sky, Abinger, Bell and Elsa and Hercules get comfortable for a snooze.
Photo: Bruce Magilton/ Herald Sun


Immer, wenn es einen Sturm oder heftige Regenfälle gibt, können solche Bilder gefunden werden, vor allem in Australien.Glücklicherweise gibt es Projekte wie die Australian Bat Clinic, das Wildlife Trauma Center und das Tolga Bat Hospital, die sich um die Jungtiere kümmern.Die Babys werden mit der Flasche gefüttert, an Wäscheleinen gehängt oder kommen in die Intensivstation, bis sie bereit sind, wieder zu fliegen, was meist vier Wochen dauert.

"Wenn Flughunde herunterkommen um sich auf dem Boden zu ernähren, sind sie anfällig. Es ist kein natürliches Vorkommen und zeigt, dass es Probleme in der Umwelt gibt. Sie sind ein Barometer, und zeigen, dass etwas in der Umwelt nicht stimmt. Sie sind unsere Kanarienvögel in der Zeche."
 
Whenever there is a storm or torrential rains, then pics like the ones above can be found especially in Australia. Fortunately there are projects like the Australian Bat Clinic, the Wildlife Trauma Centre and the Tolga Bat Hospital who care for the young. The babies will be bottle fed and kept hanging on clothes lines or in intensive care units until they are ready to fly again in about four weeks.

When bats are coming down to feed on the ground, it "makes them vulnerable. It's not a natural occurrence and shows there is trouble in the environment. Bats are a barometer to what is going on in the environment. They're our canaries down the coal mine."
Bubs on the ground

The delicate tiny wings of little Lil Drac, a hand raised fruit bat bub in Texas
 Red Flying Fox entangled in barbed wire


Die vergangenen Monate waren hart für Flughunde in Australien. Seit September dürfen im Bundesstaat Queensland Obstbauern Flughunde wieder töten, eine Praxis, die vorher als unmenschlich verboten war. Dann im Oktober stießen die Mitarbeiter des Tolga Bat Krankenhaus auf 108 kleine rote Flughunde, die verstrickt in einem fast 2.5 km langen Stacheldraht waren.

The past few months have been rough on flying foxes in Australia. In September, the state of Queensland reinstated fruit-growers' right to kill flying foxes, which had been prohibited as inhumane. Conservation groups are urging the state to reconsider. Then in October, the Tolga Bat Hospital encountered 108 little red flying foxes entangled in a 1.25-mile stretch of barbed wire fencing.
 
 
 The Tolga Bat Hospital in Australia

Das Tolga Bat Hospital ist "eine Community-Gruppe in Australien, die für die Erhaltung von Fledermäusen und ihrem Lebensraum arbeitet, aktiv seit 1990, dem Jahr in dem Zeckenllähmung bei Flughunden in den Atherton Tablelands entdeckt wurde. Man arbeitete ursprünglich mit den Bebrillten Flughunden (Spectacled Bats) die im Tolga Scrub vorkommen, daher der Name.Mittlerweile arbeiten sie nun mit allen Arten von Fledermäusen, Mega- und Microbats, egal auch wenn sie in anderen Gegenden heimisch sind, es kommen auch Fledermäuse aus Zoos in die Station, zumeist nach Verletzungen oder um ihren Ruhestand dort zu verbringen."

The Tolga Bat Hospital is " a community group in Australia working for the conservation of bats and their habitat, active since 1990, the year tick paralysis was discovered in flying foxes on the Atherton Tablelands. They originally worked with the Spectacled flying foxes resident at the Tolga Scrub, and hence their name. They now work with any bat, megabat or microbat, from anywhere. Bats come to them for rescue from hundreds of kilometres away, and they also take bats for sanctuary who are being retired from zoos."

More on bats and bat orphans can be found on the excellent web site of the Tolga Bat Hospital in Australia.
Sources & more:
- Going into Bat for Orphans/Cruxcatalyst January 2011
- Regional bat conservation issues: Australia and SW Pacific Islands/Lubee Bat Conservancy
- Bat-friendly fences for Australia/Bat Conservation International October 2012
- Tolga Bat Hospital: About Tick Paralysis
- Tolga Bat Hospital: About barbed wire injuries

Heute mal Vampire....Happy Halloween 2012



Sie wiegen nur 15 bis 50 Gramm und doch fürchtet man sich vor ihnen. Sie sind die einzigen Säugetiere, die sich ausnahmslos von Blut ernähren.Sie sind nachtaktiv und man weiß, dass sie Tollwut übertragen können, Rinderzüchter in Südamerika würden sie lieber tot als lebendig sehen. Dabei sind die "Blattnasen" höchst faszinierende Tiere, die im Gegensatz zu vielen anderen Fledermäusen auch auf dem Boden laufen und hüpfen, und spinnenartig sogar senkrechte Wände erklimmen können.Wenn sie rennen, schaffen sie bis zu 7.9 km/Std.
Vampirfledermäuse leben in Gruppen, die aus bis zu 100 Tieren bestehen können. Insbesondere der Gemeine Vampir hat ein hoch entwickeltes Sozualverhalten entwickelt, zu dem die gegenseitige Fellpflege und auch das Heraufwürgen des verzehrten Blutes gehört, das er mit weniger erfolgreichen Artgenossen seiner Kolonie selbstlos teilt.Und sie sind die einzige Fledermausart, die Jungtiere adoptiert, wenn der Mutter etwas zustößt.-


They weigh only 15 to 50 grams, yet they are feared a lot. They are the only mammals who solely feed on blood.They are nocturnal and everybody knows that they can transmit rabies, cattle breeders in South America would rather see them dead than alive.

Yet, the "leaf-nosed bats" as they were grouped are most fascinating animals that can walk contrary to many other bats on the floor and jump, and can even climb vertical walls like spiders do.On top of it one has found out that they are even capable of running at speeds of up to 7.9 km per hour (4.9 miles per hour).

Vampire bats live in colonies, which can consist of up to 100 animals. In particular, the common vampire has developed a sophisticated social behaviour including mutual grooming and sharing food selfflessly with less successful members of his group by regurgitation of ingested blood. A vampire bat can only survive about two days without a meal of blood, yet they cannot be guaranteed of finding food every night. This poses a problem, so when a bat fails to find food, it will often "beg" another bat for food. The "host" bat may regurgitate a small amount of blood to sustain the other member of the colony.
Vampire bats are believed to be the only bat species to adopt another young bat if something happens to the bat's mother, a sign also how stong the family bond is with the members of theirt colony.

Und noch etwas, was sie von allen anderen unterscheidet, zu Halloween sind sie die Einzigen, die wirklich kein Kostuem brauchen...:))-
 
And as to Halloween....they are the only ones who really do not need a mask...:))




More on vampire bats
- Wärme führt Jäger zur Blutmahlzeit/Spiegel 04.08.2011
- Vampirfledermäuse auf wikipedia
- Vampire Bats on wikipedia


Related:

Samstag, 13. Oktober 2012

Stop the Eviction of Animals Asia's Bear Sanctuary in Vietnam....Sign the Petition



Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre and sole sanctuary for bears in Vietnam faces eviction and relocation. The director of Tam Dao National Park, Do Dinh Tien, has successfully lobbied the Ministry of Defence to issue an order to evict the sanctuary and its 104 rescued bears.

It is believed that he intends to hand the land over to the Truong Giang Tam Dao Joint Stock Company, of which his daughter is one of the owners. The company intends to build commercial property, including hotels, and a tourism park.

The closure would see 104 bears that have been rescued from the bile industry evicted, 77 local Vietnamese staff made unemployed, and financial losses to Animals Asia of more than US $2 million.

Beside the troubling effects on the bears which would cause a relocation, starting a new centre would take years. 

Only last month on September 13, the inaugural bears' day was celebrated in Vietnam, and here you can see a video where the same park director who causes now so much distress had commented positively on the importance of the bear sanctuary when it was opened.





Photo: EPA/Barbara Walton

Here is "Mara, a moon bear rescued from a bear bile farm where she had a life in a small cage, enjoying a hammock and a branch with leaves, in the bear enclosure at the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre, operated by international organization Animals Asia, in Tam Dao national park, about 70 kms north of Hanoi, Vietnam, 19 September 2012. Vietnam's Ministry of Defence ordered the eviction of the bear sanctuary from the national park on the grounds of ' national defence '. The Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre hosts 104 bears confiscated from bile farms or given up by pet owners. The sanctuary has been hailed as one of the most successful conservation stories in the South-East Asian country, which is known for a brisk trade in animal products."

Two little Moon bear cubs, Lai Chau and Sin Hoe, were just rescued from smugglers in September.

The two rescued bear cubs getting used to their new home
Photos & more: Animals Asia

Animals Asia is fighting this eviction notice every step of the way, appealing directly to the Vietnamese authorities, enlisting help from the international community, the media and other NGOs. But most of all they need our help.

How you can help

Please write to the Prime Minister of Vietnam, and appeal to him to allow Animals Asia’s Vietnam bear sanctuary, which he previously approved and endorsed, to continue operations, and expand, in line with the government’s original agreement.

1. Email Prime Minister Mr Nguyen Tan Dung
Alternatively, to mail/fax the Prime Minister click here

2. Sign our online petition

3. Spread the word

Learn more on the Stop the Eviction site of Animals Asia or in articles like this one



Sources:
- Stop the Eviction /Animals Asia 
- Bear sanctuary faces eviction /Bulgarian News Agency 09.10.2012

Related:
- Vietnam celebrates inaugural bear day/ WSPA International 13.09.2012


See also:
- Rescue Center for Bears Opens in Vietnam - video on YouTube (2008)

This is a video from the 2008 opening of the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre. Our friends Jill Robinson and Tuan Bendixon comment on the importance of the sanctuary and its mission. Interestingly the Director of the Tam Dao National Park who has since caused the facility such grief is filmed here commenting on the its very important work.( Thanks for sharing, Else!)

Previous article on the K-files about the project in Vietnam:
- The sad news at the end of February - Kleines Kragenbärchen Tiger...Moon bear cub Tiger RIP/28.02.2010
 
- End Bear Bile Farming/Animals Asia

...
Vietnam: 104 gerettete Bären in Gefahr: Bären als lebende Gallensaft-Spender missbraucht - weiter lesen auf FOCUS Online: http://www.focus.de/panorama/welt/vietnam-104-gerettete-baeren-in-gefahr-baeren-als-lebende-gallensaft-spender-missbraucht_aid_835703.html

Mittwoch, 10. Oktober 2012

Biber....Beavers












Am Sonntag gab es hier im Fernsehen Richard Attenboroughs sehenswerten Film "Grey Owl", der auf dem ungewöhnlichen Leben eines Engländers basiert, der als junger Mann in die Wildnis von Kanada auswanderte und dort indianische Lebensweisen annahm. In seiner Beziehung zur jungen Anahareo beginnt er sich für den Schutz von Bibern einzusetzen. Mehr über Grey Owl hier.

On Sunday I watched Richard Attenborough's fine movie "Grey Owl" which is based on the unusual life of an English man who decided as a young man to live in the Canadian wilderness where he adopted the way of living of Native Americans up to a point that he was believed a Native American himself.He earned his living by guided tours and hunting but in his relationship to the young woman Anahareo he becomes more and more a conservationist, committing himself to the protection of beavers.More about "Grey Owl" here.

One of his books "Pilgrims of the Wild" can be found as e-book here, that is where I found also the photos.

Sonntag, 7. Oktober 2012

Floh zum Sonntag...Meet Tiny the Flea

Im Flohzirkus läuft Floh "Tiny" mit einer Balancierstange über ein Seil.-
Tiny the flea during a balance performance in a flea circus...

Ich glaube, dies ist mein erster Floh in den K-files.Ich fand ihn heute per Zufall und konnte, wie soll es auch anders sein, nicht widerstehen, auch wenn es sich hierbei um eine Zirkusnummer handelt...-

I believe this is my first flea in the K-files. I found it today, as usual by accident, and could not resist to share it here, desperately hoping that people critical of circus acts with animals will not take it out on me...

For those interested in the topic flea circus, find more here
- Victorian Flea Circuses:A Lost Art Form/Dark Roasted Blend March 2009