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According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the Year of the Tiger begins on Valentine’s Day. There’s little reason, however, for tigers to celebrate considering as few as 3,200 remain in the wild. On the positive side, World Wildlife Fund is attempting to double the number of wild tigers by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022. You can help by clicking http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/tigers/year-of-tiger.html.
HAT TIP: secure2.convio.net.
NWF-Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat, originally uploaded by MissConduct*
How’d you like to have your backyard (or your front yard for that matter) qualify as a certified wildlife habitat? Follow a few relatively simple rules and the National Wildlife Federation will take care of it for you. Start by using native and indigenous plants (e.g., cactus gardens in deserty Los Angeles). Fertilize organically, watch water consumption, use all-natural compost, and you’re on your way. For more information, visit http://planetgreen.discovery.com.
Häagen-Dazs, which relies on honey bees for many of the natural ingredients that go into it’s ice cream, has donated more than $500,000 over the past two years to scientific research that will help save them. Last week, the company collaborated with TwitCause in a “sponsored tweets” campaign in support of the bees. Here’s how a “sponsored tweet” works: every time you send out a qualifying tweet in support of a cause, the sponsor (in this case Häagen-Dazs) makes a donation to that cause (up to a maximum, of course). In this case, the bees collected $7000 (a grand a day).
Check out helpthehoneybees.com (also sponsored by Häagen-Dazs) – a beautiful and informative website.
If you’ve ever dreamt of answering the call of the wild, click here to get your very own endangered species ringtone.
Three Fort Collins, Colorado researchers have found that vehicle and industrial noise is interfering with the way animals communicate, mate and prey on one another. One of them is quoted as saying that “many animal species evolved hearing sensitive enough to take advantage of the quietest conditions (and) their hearing is increasingly compromised by noise.” For example, when exposed to the sounds of highway traffic, female grey tree frogs have difficulty locating and finding calling mates.
Hat Tip: news.bbc.co.uk
Researchers have concluded that a recent installation of cell phone towers in Southern India is behind the sudden collapse of the local honey bee population. Dr. Sainuddin Pattazhy – who led the research – believes that electromagnetic waves emitted by the towers interferes with the navigational skills of worker bees. “If towers and mobile phones further increase, honey bees might be wiped out in 10 years,” Pattazhy says.
Note: there are many theories re. the disappearance of honey bees and the issue in general is highly controversial. Wikipedia offers a comprehensive look at the subject: en.wikipedia.org
Hat Tip: www.redorbit.com
Following the ancient tradition of using rugs as a means for communication and a cultural record, the Mexican design collective NEL produced a global warming rug that depicts a small polar bear surrounded by the sea.
The rug is manufactured by the Spanish rug and carpet company Nanimarquina. You can read more about NEL at their website: http://www.nel.com.mx.
When 8 year-old Erik Uebelacker learned that butterflies taste with their feet, he decided to write a book about them. Six months after self-publishing Butterflies Shouldn’t Wear Shoes, he donated the proceeds ($2000) to the World Wildlife Fund. Erik and his mom are still trying to get the book published by a real publisher so that it can be sold nationwide (with the profits again going to World Wildlife Fund).
Check Erik’s website at www.ButterfliesShouldntWearShoes.com.
Hat Tip: http://www.mnn.com
