Tag Archives: animals

Jane Goodall speaks from atop a chair at Woburn Safari Park

October 4, 2014 Sarah Bell 2 Comments

Forward: This is a long post, but it is my hope that you will make it to the end. Getting the chance to meet someone as inspiring as Jane Goodall is an experience I could not limit to a few hundred words. And although this is a post that may not introduce to you a new species or a conservation crisis, I think that it can introduce you to hope if you will let it.

I arrived exactly one hour early. I stood and watched the meerkats outside of the Woburn Safari Park’s Safari Lodge, biding my time until the doors opened and I could find my seat. Even before seeing Jane Goodall standing a mere 10 feet from me the day was perfect. I had seen my first ever wild pheasant, which could seem silly to many people, but for me it was incredibly exciting. Even the mundane turns magical on the day you get to meet your life-long hero.

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Travel

Lions at the Tower of London

September 26, 2014 Sarah Bell 1 Comment

Since the early 1200’s the Tower of London has been home to more than monarchs, lords and prisoners. Keeping exotic animals at the tower became a tradition started by King John in 1210. Everything from lions to tigers to bears, oh my, have been kept in and around the tower grounds. Today not much remains of the fantastic menagerie except a few trained crows and metal statues where the real beasts once stood, but the stone walls pulse with the history that they have seen.

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Special Interest

hump day: cross dressers

January 8, 2014 Sarah Bell Leave a comment

Woah, woah, woah! What is this? A hump day post? Well, you see, every day when I go online and check my stats I see that ‘dolphins and rape’ always without fail has seen activity, even though it is one of my older posts. So let’s see if cross dressing animals can catch your attention the way my previous hump day posts have.

Mating garter snakes. Photo courtesy of NileGuide

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My Journey

my first ‘real’ job

August 25, 2013 Sarah Bell 2 Comments

As my study abroad plans to spend a semester in Costa Rica fell through I had to begin looking for an apartment back in Dallas. I was not thrilled because, as much as SMU has done for me, for a while it wasn’t my favorite place. I probably shouldn’t have chosen a school known for business and not at all for science, but at the time I was desperate to get away from Florida for a little while. But my plans of transferring were not looking bright and I was hoping to find a ray of sunshine to make my stay in Dallas more appealing. Enter, the Dallas Zoo.

My friends when I spent time in our "base camp" building — My friends when I spent time in our “base camp” building

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O.A.P.

odd animal profile: maned wolf

August 22, 2013 Sarah Bell 6 Comments

Down in South America lives the maned wolf, and like the last OAP, it’s name is a little deceiving. The maned wolf is related to wolves, but only very distantly, it is actually much more closely related to the fox, even then it is the only animal in its genus. The maned wolf is an odd animal because of its odd appearance of a fox on stilts, and its unique temperament.

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News

olinguito

August 21, 2013 Sarah Bell Leave a comment

Hiding deep in the Andean Cloud Forests of Columbia and Ecuador was the little, brown, arboreal animal that avoided detection until very recently. The olinguito is the first carnivore discovered in the Western Hemisphere in 35 years. For quite some time it was mislabeled in zoo’s and museums as an olingo, which looks fairly similar but tends to be about double the weight, but with a similar body structure. People simply believed it was just a small olingo.

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News

tragedy at yasuni

August 16, 2013 Sarah Bell 1 Comment

Yasuni National Park in Ecuador has been dubbed the most diverse place in the world. The nearly 4,000 square miles are home to 150 species of amphibians, 121 species of reptiles, 382 species of fish, 596 species of birds, over 100,000 species of insects, and a number of un-contacted indigenous tribes. It comprises a mere 0.15% of the Amazon Basin but holds almost 1/3 of its amphibian and reptile species. This area is teeming with life, and yesterday, the government of Ecuador approved a plan to begin drilling for oil inside the boundaries of Yasuni National Park.

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News

“non-human persons”

July 17, 2013 Sarah Bell 2 Comments

India is the fourth country to ban keeping cetaceans in captivity, behind Costa Rica, Hungary and Chile. Dolphins and other cetaceans have long been kept as a source of entertainment and guaranteed income in zoos and theme parks alike. But knowing what we know now about cetacean intelligence, is that really the right thing to do?

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News

orphaned for a horn

June 24, 2013 Sarah Bell Leave a comment

In April a greater one-horned rhino called ‘Rhino 17’ was shot and killed for her horn. These stories are all to common across India and Africa as rhino poaching is on the rise across the globe as the demand for ground horn soars. This rhino was a little different, however, because she had a new born calf by her side as she was killed. Now although this little rhino’s story is not a happy one, it may not have to end in tragedy.

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My Journey, News

canine distemper ruins lives

June 17, 2013 Sarah Bell 1 Comment

Canine distemper virus, or CDV, is a virus that attacks the digestive system, the respiratory system and degeneration of the nervous system. Though it mostly affects dogs, it can be found in wild animals like raccoons. It is an airborne virus, but is also present in any and every excretion from an infected animal. Recently 22 big cats were diagnosed with CDV at In-Sync Exotics.