Tierisch aktuell
Surfing on four paws
DEL MAR DOG BEACH, CA: Gus is a 2 year old English Bulldog who was adopted in March 2011. He took his first surfing lesson in July 2011 at Del Mar Dog Beach and proved to be a natural. Gus is looking forward to next years surfing season.Rather than begging their owners for walkies the surf was up for these wave addicted doggies as they rode their surfboards for a barking mad 2012 charity calendar. You may be forgiven for thinking the Californian sun had gone to their heads but these beach bum mutts are perfectly happy to catch the waves as they roll into the dog-friendly beaches near San Diego in the US. In one side-splitting picture of a dog owner surfing with his Jack Russell, little eight year-old Zoey who was hanging ten toes over the board before being launched into the air from the force of the wave. All the surfing dogs have lifejackets and the calendar’s producer, Dina Demeo-Grover, 55, confirmed that if the surf gets too much for them the pooches were free to simply hop off the board and swim back to shore. s01488
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Capybara Caplin
Standing two foot tall at the shoulder, weighing in at 100 pounds and resembling a giant guinea pig, Caplin Rous is the most famous capybara in the world. With a Twitter following of 3,377, three year old Caplin Rous is as house trained as a dog and even manages to stand on his hind legs for owner Melanie Typaldos, 55 at their Buda, Texas, home. Acting as an ambassador for capybara's the world over, Caplin Rous and his wild relatives are recognised as the largest species of rodents in the world. Picked up from a traveling fair in Macogdoches, Texas weighing only four pounds and 11 days old, Melanie paid a little under £200 to take baby Caplin Rous home. s01034 Open StoryBM MOOSE 01019958
Giant Jack the moose stands six foot tall at the shoulder and weighs almost 1000 pounds and his best friend is tiny Vanessa Gibson-The Moose Whisperer. The 23-year-old has nurtured Jack since he was three days old and the enormous Alaskan moose is fiercely protective of his 'mum'. Playing tag and run and taking walks around the beautiful grounds of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre in Portage, Vanessa and three year old Jack are inseparable. So much so that gentle giant Jack doesn't let other people talk to Vanessa when he is around, preferring to keep her all to himself.s01550 Open StoryVon Tieren und Menschen
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Scientists feed with disguised arm to help the whooping cranes mature on December 16, 2011 in Russellville, Alabama.Bad weather has temporarily halted the southward migration of some of the rarest birds in the world. Four ultralight aircraft are being used to lead a flock of nine juvenile whooping cranes, raised in captivity in cold Wisconsin, to their warm winter home in Florida. The birds - trained to fly in formation with the light aircraft - need their human pilot pals to help them navigate their first trip - and later can do it alone. Strong winds hit the team in Alabama this week and have grounded them. Some migrations take only 47 days but the current journey is already over 60. Officials of Operation Migration, a Canada-based organisation, is leading the effort to restores North America’s wild whopping crane population, which is less than 400 birds. Joe Duff, CEO of Operation Migration, said the trip would resume when the weather improves. s01517 Open Story
wildkatzen 011
Stamm für Stamm hob der Greifer die Holzstämme, die am Waldrand bei Maria Laach in der Vulkaneifel aufgestapelt waren, auf den LKW. Da entdeckten die Waldarbeiter drei Wildkatzenbabys zwischen den Stämmen. Erst wenige Tage alt hatte ihre Mama sicher nicht damit gerechnet, dass ihr Versteck so bald verschwinden würde. Die Kätzchen wurden geborgen und ins nahe Tierheim gebracht. Wo man schnell erkannte, dass es sich bei den Findelkindern um junge Wildkjätzchen handelte. Ein Fall für Gisbert Geissler und seine Mitstreiter vom Wildkatzenzentrum auf der Wildenburg im Hunsrück. s01524 Open StoryMy pet hyena
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JANUARY 27: Shandor Larenty, 16 year old son of British lion trainer Alex Larenty interacts with Themba ( One Year and 7 months old hyena ) at the Johannesburg Lion Park on January 27, 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa.MEET the 16-year-old school boy who is so close with his 14 stone pet HYENA that they kiss, cuddle and even eat together. Living in Africa means that this schoolboy of British descent has taken on a hyena as a pet rather than the puppy dog he might have got if his dad had stayed in Oxfordshire. Teenage animal trainer, Shandor Larenty, son of British lion wrangler, Alex Larenty from the Lion Park near Johannesburg, South Africa is such a chip off the old block that he was training juvenile lions from the age of eleven, and has now progressed to hyenas and cheetahs. But Shandor is closest with his best-friend, Thender the 18-month-old spotted hyena – who will eat out of Shandor’s mouth and even let him clean his teeth afterwards. Thender was rejected by his mother, so Shandor’s dad, Alex agreed to take him in to live with four other hyenas at his lion park. In the wild they eat animals as large as wildebeest - and are ruthless scavengers known to chase even the king of the jungle, the lion, away from his meals.s01548 Open Story
No allergenic cat
Allergic cat lovers can rejoice - because they may be able to own their own moggy after all. Lifestyle Pets, a company dedicated to providing hypoallergenic pets, has developed a hypoallergenic kitten, which according to their website, has a 95% success rate amongst their extremely allergic clients. The company, now in its seventh year, did extensive research and development in its first two years, and sold its first cat in 2006. Since then the company has sold over 500 hypoallergenic pets - costing £4,500 each. Owner, Simon Brodie, who runs his business in Delaware, said, "Not only are the cats hypoallergenic, but they have a fantastic temperament. "This comes down to the heavy socialisation the kittens receive from an early age." Our Lifestyle Pets are the only scientifically proven pets that do not cause allergies. s00258 Open StoryReportagen
BBQ with Bonobo
It was a pivotal moment in history that separated man from other primates. Over a million years ago humankind began to conquer its fear of fire and use it as a tool. But now one special ape - a 31-year-old bonobo chimpanzee called Kanzi at the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa - is showing us just how close we really are. Astonishingly the male chimp's favourite things to do is make campfires. With impressive dexterity 12 stone (170lb) Kanzi collects firewood and breaks it into appropriate sizes. He arranges the sticks in a pile, ignites them with matches or a lighter, and then watches the flames take hold. Then Kanzi erects a grill over his fire so he can cook burgers and marshmallows over it, using a frying pan. According to Dr Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, his main handler and the only scientist ever to conduct language research with bonobos, he does it all because it fascinates him. Watching Kanzi make fire is particularly interesting to scientists at the facility - a world-class research centre dedicated to studying the behaviour and intelligence of great apes - because they are investigating the big cultural events that led to differences between humans and other primates. Because we share 99.5% genes with bonobos - our closest relatives - Dr Savage-Rumbaugh argues our differences are mainly cultural.s01520 Open StoryMeerkats new family
Erdmännchen Michaela mit Kater Fetty Open StoryCATERS Jellyfish Lake
Diving into a sea of jellyfish is likely to strike fear in the bravest of swimmers but astonishingly there is one lake in the world where tourists are invited to do just that. Jellyfish Lake is the only place in the world where you can safely swim amongst millions of jellyfish - because these sometimes deadly creatures, have lost their sting. The lake on the Pacific island of Palau, was once connected to the Pacific Ocean but when the sea level dropped the jellyfish became isolated in the algae rich lake. With no risk of being eaten by predators the jellyfish population thrived and there are now up to eight million jellyfish living in the lake.s01553 Open StoryUnglaubliche Tierwelt
Kissing Manatees
CIRCUS COUNTY, FL: Curious manatee calves are seen swimming at the Three Sisters Spring in Circus County, Florida.KISSING manatees calves prove that sibling love can be found in the strangest of creatures. On the other end of the generation-gap a up-close picture of an elder manatee, who could be up to 60-years-old, shows the gentle giant up-close, with a carpet of sea-weed growing on its back. These friendly sea-beasts captured while floating off the Florida coast are so good-natured that they even swim with human divers. These 10 foot-long mammals are vegetarian and eat sea grasses found on the ocean floor – and they so much they can reach a mighty 1,200 pounds. Photographer, Jon Cornforth, 39, from Seattle travelled to the opposite corner of North America to take these heart-warming pictures. s01490 Open Story