Puppy farms/mills

If you have a dog, you might feed him/her everyday, bring him/her out for a walk, hug him/her when you're sad, and play with him/her and pet him/her. You probably treat your dog nicely. But sadly, not everyone is.

A puppy mill is a place where dogs are bred. They strive for profit and put the animals' welfare below the importance of profit.

Puppies are supposed to socialize during the first couple months of their life with their mother and siblings. At puppy mills, puppies are separated from their mother and littermates at around six weeks old. This can cause a puppy to be extremely shy, aggressive, or anxious.

Puppies can also become very ill at a puppy farm. (You can see some common diseases puppies catch here.) Their homes are often dirty and their food and water isn't very clean. Some dogs don't even get to enjoy the outdoors and feel the sun.

To read more about puppy mills, see http://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/puppy-mills/

Info from http://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/puppy-mills/

Sand kittens – maybe cutest of the endangered?

Young sand cats are adorable. Their fur is poofed up, soft, and they have round eyes that are simply too cute. But the bad news is they've been labeled as near threatened since 2002.

Sand cats are declining in population because of habitat destruction (See Why they're endangered and how we can help). But it's hard to keep sand cats in captivity too, because they're really sensitive to respiratory infections.

According to Wikipedia (March 4th, 2014), "Of 228 sand cats born in zoos globally to the year 2007, only 61% lived to day 30. They died primarily due to maternal neglect by first-time mothers." Sand cats, which are shown in their name, live in sandy areas such as deserts.

Image from http://www.animalfactguide.com/2011/08/rare-sand-cat-kitten-born-in-israel-zoo/

Why they're endangered and how we can help

There are several reasons why animals become extinct, endangered, or threatened.

One of these reasons is that we are destroying their habitats. Forests are destroyed in the process of clearing out land for homes, buildings, and roads. Trees are chopped down to be manufactured into the paper that we use everyday. Several animals live in trees; they are called arboreal animals.(To see some of the animals that live in trees, check this out.) Though one tree by itself can produce over 8,000 sheets of paper, imagine how much paper is being printed, used, bought, and thrown away everyday.

What are some ways you can help?

1. To reduce the use of paper, which reduces trees being cut down, which reduces habitat loss, you can go electronic! Type things instead of writing them. (Or, you can find apps that can write virtually!)
2. Books are wonderful, but they're also harmful to the environment because, guess what, they're made of paper and sometimes plastic for the outside flimsy cover that you find on some library books. Instead of buying a physical book, you can buy ebooks to help save paper. Checking out books from the library is also a good idea.
3. Recycle! Instead of throwing that useless paper into the trash can, put it in a recycling bin. If your home doesn't have one, you can start finding ways to get an extra bin for recycling. Also, instead of screwing the cap tight on a half-finished water bottle and letting it thump into the trash, empty it out at a sink and recycle it.

This is the process of producing paper and recycling paper. By recycling, you can save a lot of trees!

Image from http://www.iqsdirectory.com/industry/recycling_equipment/

Another cause of endangered animals is pollution. Everyday, factories, homes, and transportation is polluting the air, water, and land of the Earth. In terms of air pollution, manufactured goods are responsible for a lot of the pollution. It's okay to get a hand-me-down sometimes, you're saving a bit more of the earth.

How to reduce pollution:

1. Don't just toss trash outside. If you have to, you can hold on to it until you see a trash can (or better, a recycling bin).
2. Try reusing materials in fun crafts during spare time. (Here's a list of over 300 fun ways to make crafts out of old materials.)
3. Carpool with someone. Cars emit a lot of CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the air. 
4. Plant some trees and plants in your backyard. They take sunlight (which you don't need to provide) and water (as long as the rain's well, you don't need to worry either) and go through a process called photosynthesis to take carbon dioxide and make it into oxygen. They're the air-cleaners of our earth!

Image from http://www.cleanerandgreener.org/resources/air-pollution.html

Endangered Animals Quiz

Endangered Animals

National Wildlife Federation

America harbors a remarkable array of plant and animal species, ranging from majestic mammals like bison and grizzly bears to tiny desert wildflowers.

Unfortunately, many of our species have not fared well over the past few decades suffering from things such as habitat loss and the spread of invasive species.

Scientists estimate that up to one-third of U.S. species are at increased risk of extinction, and more than 1,300 U.S. plants and animals already have been federally listed as threatened or endangered and protected under the Endangered Species Act.

National Wildlife Federation has long has been focused on protecting the most vulnerable of our wild species. 

From http://www.nwf.org/what-we-do/protect-wildlife/endangered-species.aspx

Panthera onca vs. Panthera pardus

Right now, an art competition for depicting endangered animals in the US is about to begin. (If you want to check it out, here's their website.) I love felines, and I decided to do an acrylic painting of a jaguar. Actually, first, I wanted to paint a leopard. But, I didn't know it had to be an endangered species in America. So––I decided a jaguar was similar enough to paint.

But scientifically, they have differences, and I always wondered how exactly they are different. So, I decided to do a blog post on it.

The jaguar is often confused with the leopard. Their pelts look especially similar and the shapes of their feline bodies are quite similar. However, the leopard is the fourth greatest cat in the world, while the jaguar is the third greatest cat in the world. Above them, the tiger and the lion lead for the size champion.

Now about the prints on their fur––a jaguar has a rosette with small spots inside the rosette, if you look closely. It is also usually larger than a leopard's rosette, which are plain in the middle with no spots.

This is a jaguar's pelt:



On the contrary, this is a leopard's fur:



Images from http://blog.londolozi.com/2013/10/the-difference-between-leopard-and-jaguar/

A jaguar has a different style than the leopard––-for killing prey! Therefore, the head's shape and size is different. Leopards kill their prey by giving them a bite that will suffocate them, given to the throat or the mouth. If a jaguar has an advantage in size, they might kill their prey by piercing the skull, or jaguars will snap the neck of their prey by tackling their backbones. Unlike other cats like cheetahs, these cats hunt sneakily, stalking their prey unhidden.

Both jaguars and leopards can climb trees, though leopards are more swift in the high branches and jaguars do not like climbing trees as much.

Information from http://blog.londolozi.com/2013/10/the-difference-between-leopard-and-jaguar/

Endangered Species in the US

There are many, many endangered species in the world. Many of them can be found in this very country.

Can you guess how many endangered species there are in the US? There are more than a thousand different species endangered or threatened in the US. 1,481 species are endangered.

To see a list of all the different endangered animals in the US, click here.