Celebrating World Animal Day today

 

Dear Readers,

Today is World Animal Day.

Over the past century, a number of animal species have gone extinct or are on the verge of extinction. The reason in most cases is human activity that results in deforestation and other ways in which man disturbs the natural equilibrium of ecosystem.

We humans need to remember that we are also part of the ecosystem and not above it. We are all part of the same family that is Mother Nature and have a specific role to play to ensure that a healthy balance is maintained.

Let us take a pledge to remember our roots and treat our animal brethren with the respect and compassion that they richly deserve.

“All life deserves respect, dignity, and compassion. All life”

                                                                               - A.D. Williams.

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Celebrating World Environment Day 2021

 

Dear Readers,

Close on the heels of Earth Day, today marks yet another effort to recognize the peril that the world is in. Every year, June 05 is recognized as World Environment Day.

Let us stop paying lip service and start taking small steps to protect our planet. Every individual has the power to make a difference. It is up to each one of us to choose to act responsibly.

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Celebrating Earth Day 2021

  

Dear Readers,

Today is Earth Day. Even as humanity is going through a global pandemic, let us not forget about Mother Nature. Still our planet is getting polluted on a daily basis and we do need to be mindful. We have only one home and we cannot continue to ignore the peril that she faces.

Let us pledge ourselves to take care of Mother Earth and treat her with the respect and care that she deserves.

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Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey Episode # 2 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" - Review

The second episode of Cosmos takes a look at the evolution of life on our planet.

The host and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson first explains the differences between artificial selection and natural selection. An example of artificial selection is the domestication of wolves by our human ancestors. The wolves that were more submissive were accepted and the more aggressive ones hunted.

The genes of the domesticated wolves were passed down, leading to the species we call today “Man's Best Friend”: Dogs. This technique is referred to as “Selective breeding”.

This practice is still continued today and can be seen in shows like Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Dogs are subject to unnatural grooming and sometimes eugenics to promote their chances at winning the title. The show is very similar to the beauty pageants that objectify women. 

Contrast this with the theory of natural selection proposed by Charles Darwin in 1859. Neil gives the example of how the population of bears evolve over generations.

In the Arctic regions, Polar bears enjoyed a distinct advantage over other bears with non-white colored bodies. This coloring helped polar bears camouflage themselves better and enjoy higher levels of success in hunting their prey. This led to the slow dying out of non-white bears over the passage of time.

Neil then focuses on the fact that that we human beings share a common ancestor with not only apes like chimpanzees and gorillas, but also trees, mushroom, sharks and owls. The only difference is in the DNA. Each and every living being has an unique DNA.

This is very significant in today's world where the exploitation and abuse of other living beings by humans has become the norm. Man is killing animals indiscriminately for superficial reasons like non-existent health benefits or trophy hunting or for making decorative items.

Take for example, the practice of killing rhinos for their horns or bear bile farming or the dog meat industry. In certain parts of the world, these objects are believed to hold medicinal value. For this reason, dogs are brutally tortured and killed (usually right in front of other dogs). Bears are kept in small cages for their entire life and subject to inhumane farming for their biles.

There is no scientific basis or proof for any health benefits from consuming these products. Rhino horns are made of Keratin, the same substance that constitutes human fingernails.

People need to see this show to realize that all living organisms share the same DNA. We humans need to understand this fact and respect the right of other living beings to live their life to the fullest on our planet.

We are then introduced to the “Tree of Life”, which represents the beauty of evolution. The trunk represents the common ancestor and each branch represents close relatives. The tree is 3.5 billion years old. The beauty and power of the natural theory of selection evolution is that it can disguise a bird as an animal and vice versa.

Another proof of the natural theory of evolution is the human eye. It is far more complex than any man made device.The show explains how a microbe would have developed the power of sight. Each living being that exists today has a different set of eyes, that provide them distinct advantages for survival.

The episode then takes a look at the natural calamities that have resulted in widespread destruction of life. There are five “Halls of Extinction”: Ordovician, Devonian, Triassic, Cretaceous and Permian. Each of these has led to mass extinction of life on earth, a process Neil refers to as “The Great Dying”.

Neil then introduces us to the Tardigrade or the Waterbear. This amazing organism is about the size of a pin head and can live in boiling water and solid ice. It can survive for ten years without a drop of water. It can travel naked in the cold vacuum or intense radiation. The Waterbear has survived all five mass extinctions.

The final part of the episode explores the possibility of life on Titan, Saturn's giant moon. Titan has a nitrogen rich atmosphere, similar to earth but is four times denser. But the atmosphere has no oxygen and is much more cooler than any parts of earth.

Using the “Ship of the Imagination”, Neil is able to visit Titan. Titan is so cold that rivers are frozen solid and are made of ethane and methane. These two elements form natural gas on our planet.

Life on earth depends on liquid water. We earthlings inhale oxygen and give out carbon dioxide. Neil theorizes that living beings on Titan would inhale hydrogen and exhale methane.

The episode concludes with a beautiful montage of how life evolved from an one celled organism to the most dominant species on our planet: Humans.

Dogs are my favorite animals and I enjoyed understanding the process of domestication. I also found the section on Titan very enlightening. I often read reports of UFOs and the possibility of extra-terrestrial life has always intrigued me.

But the most revealing part of the episode was the information about Tardigrade, the organism that has survived so many natural catastrophes and still continues to thrive.

As I mentioned earlier, the ending montage has been executed very well.

A very informative episode and a must watch for everyone.

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Image Sources: Cosmos Studios, Fuzzy Door Productions, National Geographic Channel, Six Point Harness, Fox Network

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CNN Blackfish (2013) - Review

The movie opens with 911 distress calls about killer whale attacks on their trainers.

We then go back to the 1970s, when killer whales (also called “Orcas”) were captured for display purposes. Baby orcas were specifically targeted. It is heart-breaking to see the families not leaving the captured ones behind, even when they had the option to do so.

When SeaWorld was legally told to stay away from Washington, they immediately moved to Iceland to procure more orcas.

Now comes the focus of the movie, a male killer whale called “Tilikum”. Captured in 1983, he showed extraordinary physical growth right from a young age.
 

Tilikum was initially placed at Sealand of the Pacific, where he was paired with a trained killer whale. Based on Tilikum's performance, both were offered food (as positive reinforcement) or denied food as punishment.

Tilikum's mistakes made him the unfortunate victim of physical attacks by other orcas. On top of that, the orcas were put in a small enclosure that limited their mobility. All these incidents are suggested to have caused a growing psychosis in Tilikum.

This would soon manifest in 1991, when Tilikum claim his first victim, Keltie Byrne. He would go on to claim two more victims: Daniel P. Dukes (with his private parts bitten off) and a trainer, Dawn Brancheau.

But Tilikum is the only killer whale to go rogue in the documentary. Kasatka initiates an assault on his trainer, Ken Peters that goes on for a few minutes and is gripping to watch. To watch a human at the complete mercy of a huge animal underwater is frightening.

The director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite has done a tremendous job. Kudos to her for presenting an objective view of the dangers inherent in holding such powerful and intelligent living beings in captivity. Even worse is subjecting such life forms to perform actions and tricks, that they would never do in the wild.

Along with the director, the other stars of the documentary are the ex-SeaWorld trainers who honestly express their concerns about the hazards and reality of holding killer whales in captivity. The initial parts of the documentary has some scenes, where the trainers discuss their fascination with killer whales and how they were inspired to work for SeaWorld.

It is tough to accept one's lapse in judgment and full credit to these real life heroes for their profound contributions.

Orcas have very advanced brains and are very social beings. They are capable of communicating with each other using sounds and language. It has been documented that each pod of whales have their own set of signs and communication signals.

Orcas live as long as humans do (unlike how some of the SeaWorld employees in the documentary would have us believe).

Again, it is interesting to note that there has not been a single human casualty due to killer whale attack in the wild. All the casualties have occurred in the marine theme parks.

The movie raises some hard hitting questions:

1. Is it ethical to subject such intelligent and caring living forms to a captive life in a relatively small enclosure for their entire lives? Who is responsible for causing the killer whales to attack (and sometimes kill) their trainers? Is it the orcas themselves or the marine mammal parks or the people who encourage this industry by buying tickets to such shows?

2. Is it a wise move to use Tilikum's genetic material to create new babies, given his track record of aggression towards his human handlers? Does not that tantamount to taking unnecessary risks of having such incidents recur?

3. Was it ethical in the first place to take away baby orcas from their families to live their entire lives in captivity? Even now, baby orcas are taken away from their mothers, to be transported to other branches of SeaWorld. The decisions are made based on monetary considerations, without any regard for the emotional well being of the whales themselves.

4. Further, does it make any sense to let children watch other equally (if not more) intelligent living beings behave in an unnatural way. For example, killer whales are trained to “wave” to the audience using their fin. This is something that the whales never do in the wild. Is that way we want the young children to take away from such shows?

Unfortunately, Tilikum and other orcas are still held captive. Let us hope that this movie will help create the necessary public awareness and consensus to have these killer whales released to the wild.

Gabriela Cowperthwaite and her crew have delivered a one of a kind experience that will change your perception of Orcas/Killer Whales and marine theme parks forever.

Click on the link below to buy your copy:

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Image Sources: CNN Films, Cable News Network (CNN), Magnolia Pictures, Manny O Productions

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Please ADOPT a Shelter Animal and help stop Animal Cruelty

Dear Readers,

Every day, thousands of animals are killed in "rescue" shelters, presumably for lack of space. Please do NOT buy your pet from a pet store or an online store. Pet stores/online stores are supported by the barbaric puppy mill industry.

Please ADOPT your pet from a rescue shelter. You will earn a loyal and loving companion forever.

Click here to know more about the No Kill Revolution. Please help make a positive change to stop Animal Cruelty.

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Image Source: Animal Cruelty Exposed

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Celebrating World Dog Day today

Happy Dog Day to everyone. Let us celebrate Man's Best Friend today and every day.

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Image Source: A Place to Love Dogs

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Celebrating World Elephant Day today

Elephants are gentle giants. There are 2 species of elephants surviving today: the African Elephant and the Asian Elephant.

Elephants are social beings and lead very emotional lives. Elephants live in herds, led by a matriarch. All the female elephants in the herd work together to care of their young.

Elephants, like most other species of animals, have been hunted down to near extinction. The reason is again, sheer human greed and arrogance: The tusks are used as status symbols in certain parts of the world.

Please visit The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to learn more about Elephant Conservation and how YOU can help save this magnificent species.

Elephants need our help now more than ever.

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Photos were taken at Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

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