masterwordsmith-unplugged

True Friends 

After losing his parents, this 3 year old orangutan was so depressed he wouldn't eat and didn't respond to any medical treatments. The veterinarians thought he would surely die from sadness. The zoo keepers found an old sick dog on the grounds in the park at the zoo where the orangutan lived and took the dog to the animal treatment center. The dog arrived at the same time the orangutan was there being treated. The 2 lost souls met and have been inseparable ever since.

The orangutan found a new reason to live and each always tries his best to be a good companion to his new found friend. They are together 24 hours a day in all their activities.

A tourist camp in Africa -- You will love this video.

You can tell that the guy was stunned by his experience.

This is a great video of the Silverback Gorilla coming into camp for a visit.

Quite an unusual experience. Not sure I could have stayed that calm.

CLICK HERE to watch.

Thanks to Mr Krishnan for sharing.

Riding a five-ton elephant, whom she called ‘my brother’, chilling with a cheetah or hugging a giant bullfrog as if it were a Teddy bear. The childhood of a French girl Tippi Degre sounds more like a newer version of Mowgli, rather than something real. A white child, she was born in Namibia to French wildlife photographer parents, and grew up in Africa. Tippi spent her whole childhood playing with wild animals including lion cubs, a mongoose, a snake, a cheetah, baby zebra, giraffes and crocodiles.

The little girl saw nothing unusual about her company: “I don’t have friends here. Because I never see children. So the animals are my friends,” she once said.

Tippi is now 23 years old, and the only child to wildlife photographer parents Sylvie Robert and Alain Degre, who published her photos in a book called Tippi of Africa. “It was magical to be able to be free in this nature with this child. She was a very lucky little girl – she was born and raised until the age of 10 totally in the wild.” said Sylvie.

CLICK HERE for fascinating photographs.

Thanks to Mr TSK who shared the story. I googled for the post and found it HERE. This story has received 1.8 million views! Amazing! Don't miss it!

According to Huffington Post:

Soy sauce may be able to revive a dull dish, but it hardly has the ability bring dead things back to life. Yet, that's exactly what the condiment appears to do in a GIF recently posted on Reddit.

Borrowed from a 2010 Youtube video, the GIF shows a cuttlefish seemingly coming back to life when soy sauce is poured atop it. The cephalopod's body lifts up and writhes in the bowl, prompting viewers to ask: Is it really dead?

Indeed, the cuttlefish in the video -- part of a seafood dish named odori-don -- is no longer living. The cuisine, sometimes prepared with squid and known as the "dancing squid rice bowl," rose to prominence after Japanese sushi restaurant Ikkatei Tabiji began preparing the plate in this particular fashion, according to CBS News.

So how does the squid "come back to life?"

The reaction is an automatic response to the sodium chloride, or salt, in the soy sauce. The recently deceased squid may lack a brain, but its muscle cells, which receive electrical commands, are still intact, NPR reports.

CLICK HERE for the rest of the entry.

CLICK HERE for the video.

Thanks to Angela who sent me another related post by Amanda Blain and that sent me on a search for more information till I came across this post.

Have a lovely evening!
You are reading this in Masterwordsmith's blog. I am stating this because there is one particular blogger who has been copying my blog content and hosting it in a website url that is very similar to mine just so to steal traffic for advertising revenue. He even proclaimed MY SONS to be HIS SONS!!! ????? Even the header is the same as mine!!! Utter audacity and unscrupulousness!  I have already reported it to DMCA, Google and Blogger. If you like my site, please subscribe to the RSS feeds or follow me on Twitter to catch my posts.  Thanks!





You are reading this in Masterwordsmith's blog. I am stating this because there is one particular blogger who has been copying my blog content and hosting it in a website url that is very similar to mine just so to steal traffic for advertising revenue. He even proclaimed MY SONS to be HIS SONS!!! ????? Even the header is the same as mine!!! Utter audacity and unscrupulousness!  I have already reported it to DMCA, Google and Blogger. If you like my site, please subscribe to the RSS feeds or follow me on Twitter to catch my posts.  Thanks!

By chance, I came across this album that showcases incredible photos of animals in the womb.

Each photograph has a brief but informative explanation.

It all started when I came across this article about a half-sheep half-human baby. 

Then I clicked on a tab of another site about MUTANTS. Then I came across this link about 14 freaks of nature.

I am still reeling from shock and could only view till Slide No.5. I can feel the puke in my mouth. Arrrggh!!!

By the time I reached Slide #5, I shut my eyes tightly.

 and asked my son to view each subsequent slide and then to benchmark it against Slide #5.

*hyperventilating from shock*

Sorry. I am a fainthearted old lady.the

My verdict: Slide #2 and #5 are the worst of the lot. :-(

So if you are brave and can stand gelifying stuff, CLICK HERE and view the slides.

I disclaim responsibility for any puke or shock that anyone may suffer. :-( I am barely recovering from the horror of it all.

The ost features an osprey in action.

In the first sequence, he catches half a dozen fish in one strike.

In the second sequence, he plunges talons into deep water right to the bottom to grab his prey.

In the third sequence, he captures a big old fat fish that looks as if it weighs more than he does!

This  clip has Incredible photography and is best viewed in full screen mode!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE CLIP.

Thanks to Angela who sent me this link.

If you want to know more about ospreys, CLICK HERE.

This film should be seen by the entire world......

Make sure you watch it on FULL screen if possible.

This video is about an island in the ocean at 2000 km from any other coast line.

Nobody lives there, only birds... and yet ...............

According to this official website:


Midway Atoll is a collection of three small islands in the North Pacific, and one of the most remote places on earth. In many ways, this film could be shot in many places on the planet where we find tragedy and despair, but here- about halfway between the U.S. and Asia- on an island teeming with life and wonder, it is the proverbial canary in the coal mine.

Midway Atoll is located near the apex of what is being called the Pacific Garbage Patch, a swirling soup of millions of tons of plastic pollution. In fact, much of this plastic can not be seen at, but it can’t be avoided as it comes ashore on these pristine beaches and in the stomachs of the birds. The islands are literally covered with plastic garbage, illustrating on several levels the interconnectedness and interdependence of the systems on our finite planet. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

The biodata of the team can be accessed AT THIS LINK.

According to their Youtube channel:

The MIDWAY media project is a powerful visual journey into the heart of an astonishingly symbolic environmental tragedy. On one of the remotest islands on our planet, tens of thousands of baby albatrosses lie dead on the ground, their bodies filled with plastic from the Pacific Garbage Patch. Returning to the island over several years, our team is witnessing the cycles of life and death of these birds as a multi-layered metaphor for our times. With photographer Chris Jordan as our guide, we walk through the fire of horror and grief, facing the immensity of this tragedy—and our own complicity—head on. And in this process, we find an unexpected route to a transformational experience of beauty, acceptance, and understanding.


We frame our story in the vividly gorgeous language of state-of-the-art high-definition digital cinematography, surrounded by millions of live birds in one of the world’s most beautiful natural sanctuaries. The viewer will experience stunning juxtapositions of beauty and horror, destruction and renewal, grief and joy, birth and death, coming out the other side with their heart broken open and their worldview shifted. Stepping outside the stylistic templates of traditional environmental or documentary films, MIDWAY will take viewers on a guided tour into the depths of their own spirits, delivering a profound message of reverence and love that is already reaching an audience of tens of millions of people around the world.



Click and watch this fantastic film by Chris Jordan AT THIS LINK. FIVE STAR RATING!!!!

The purpose of the journey to Midway:


Midway Atoll, one of the most remote islands on earth, is a kaleidoscope of geography, culture, human history, and natural wonder. It also serves as a lens into one of the most profound and symbolic environmental tragedies of our time: the deaths by starvation of thousands of albatrosses who mistake floating plastic trash for food.

The images are iconic. The horror, absolute. Our goal, however, is to look beyond the grief and the tragedy. It is here, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, that we have the opportunity to see our world in context. On Midway, we can not deny the impact we have on the planet. Yet at the same time, we are struck by beauty of the land and the soundscape of wildlife around us, and it is here that we can see the miracle that is life on this earth. So it is with the knowledge of our impact here that we must find a way forward.

You can follow all their videos HERE.

I salute the team and all involved in this project not just for their effort but for the fact that they cherish and value life and nature so much that they are ready to give up their time and resources to try to find a solution. Keep up the good work!

I came across this article about twenty animals that you could eat but won't.

The post has interesting slides and accompanying information so don't miss it!

I was quite shocked to learn that squirrels are the most hunted animal in US and that eating squirrel's brains is a delicacy in Kentucky!

CLICK HERE to read all about it.

This evening, I came across an article about how some marine biologists have discovered that sea otters of Monterey Bay indulge in rape, murder and necrophilia.

A weaned harbor seal pup was resting onshore when an untagged male sea otter approached it, grasped it with its teeth and forepaws, bit it on the nose, and flipped it over. The harbor seal moved toward the water with the sea otter following closely. Once in the water, the sea otter gripped the harbor seal’s head with its forepaws and repeatedly bit it on the nose, causing a deep laceration. The sea otter and pup rolled violently in the water for approximately 15 min, while the pup struggled to free itself from the sea otter’s grasp. Finally, the sea otter positioned itself dorsal to the pup’s smaller body while grasping it by the head and holding it underwater in a position typical of mating sea otters. As the sea otter thrust his pelvis, his penis was extruded and intromission was observed. At 105 min into the encounter, the sea otter released the pup, now dead, and began grooming.

Recently, Matt Black of Daily Mail wrote an article on bizarre bamboo rat farms in China. No kidding! Read the following excerpt and then click on the link to view the photographic evidence.

Excerpt:

• Shi Beidan has 2,000 bamboo rats that she plans to sell at market
• She is fattening them up with bamboo to be eaten or turned into fur coats
• Cash-strapped farmers in Guizhou Province are breeding rats for income
• They can grow up to 50 centimetres in length and four kilograms in weight
• Rat meat costs four times more than chicken or pork and twice that of beef
• It is also believed to cure baldness in some parts of China

Think deep-sea squid have sex in the missionary position? Now the first video capturing a pair in the act is revealing the unexpected details of cephalopod coupling in the abyss.

The clip, filmed by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) submersible in the Gulf of Mexico last year, allowed Michael Vecchione from the Smithsonian Institution and colleagues to observe for the first time how a male squid uses its penis to transfer packets of sperm. They were surprised at the sexual position the pair adopted: the male was upside down on top of the female and back to front, with his arms around her head. There are a few possible reasons for this arrangement: it could be out of comfort (for the female), or to allow the male to access the best spot for his sperm, but it's also thought to prevent the female from grabbing and perhaps eating her partner.

CLICK HERE to watch this fascinating video and to read the rest of the post by Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV.

How many of you have tried horse-riding? I have - a couple of times and it was terrifying for me because of my acrophobia (fear of heights).

My first experience was when I was six at the Penang Turf Club and again when I was 12 at the same place. My last experience was in 1987 in Medan when I went on a horse-ride tour of a hilly area. The stable boy said he had never heard anyone scream as loud or as long as I did (for the whole duration of the tour). Since then, I have never tried to get on a horse and never will again. Still, I love horses because they are really beautiful creatures.

Enjoy these magnificent beauties from The Netherlands.....

The KFPS Friesian Horse - YouTube

Kenya's Wildlife Service says it is pursuing a gang of poachers they suspect of killing an entire family of 11 elephants.

The family was gunned down on Saturday in the single worst incident of ivory poaching recorded in the country.

Kenya has recently taken a more aggressive stance against poaching as it tries to combat a surge in demand for ivory from Asia.

About 100 elephants are killed each year in Kenya by poachers.

Despite a long-standing ban on the international trade, ivory from elephants is often smuggled to Asia for use in ornaments, while rhino horns are used in traditional medicine.

Saturday's killings took place in Tsavo National Park, Kenya's largest single continuous ecosystem, which is home to some 13,000 elephants.

CLICK HERE to read more.

You might think this is an ordinary story of a baby stuck in a well and a frantic mother wailing with worry for her darling. I am sure many of us can relate to such a situation when our babies are in danger. The following video clip showcases the despair of a  mother elephant fretting over her baby calf which was rescued by elephant conservationists from the Amboseli Trust for Elephants in Keny.

On that fateful day, a team of elephant conservationists from the Amboseli Trust for Elephants in Kenya received a call about a baby stuck in a five-foot hole dug by Masai tribesmen. They raced to the site of the accident.

They discovered that the calf was fine the eight-month-old baby elephant could not climb out because the hole was too deep. The mother was nearby - helpless and visibly in great distress.

Worse still,  the mother elephant regarded the rescuers as a threat to her baby and almost sat on the Land Rover.

According to the driver, Dr. Vicki Fishlock who is resident scientist of the elephant trust, recognized the mother, Zombe, from a mark on her ear.

The video shows how she scared Zombe away with a high-pitched yell and maneuvered her jeep around her - a means to distract the mother elephant while the two men managed to get rope around the baby.

Then they attached the line to their vehicle, reversed the car and succeeded in pulling the elephant calf out of the hole.

What a beautiful ending we can see at the end of the video clip. The baby quickly runs to the mother's side :-). The following photo from The Daily Mail shows how the mother Zombe and baby elephant are running towards each other after the great rescue mission is over. Great is a mother's love :-).

Where the conservation of species is concerned, the giant panda is surely the most powerful symbol in the world. Recent developments indicate that panda diplomacy is now in vogue.

Pandas eat the leaves, stems, and shoots of various bamboo species.

Since bamboo contains very little nutritional value, pandas must eat 12-38kg every day to meet their energy needs.

About 1% of their diet is made up of other plants and meat. Sometimes,  the panda will hunt for pikas and other small rodents.

Pandas belong to the bear family and have the same digestive system of a carnivore. However, due to environmental factors, they have adapted to a vegetarian diet.

Hence, it is essential that they live close to areas where bamboo is abundant. A key threat to their survival is the loss of bamboo habitat.

Wikipedia refers to "Panda Diplomacy" as China's use of Giant Pandas as diplomatic gifts to other countries. The practice existed as far back as the Tang Dynasty, when Empress Wu Zetian (625–705) sent a pair of pandas to the Japanese emperor. From 1958 to 1982, China gave 23 pandas to nine different countries.

By 1984, however, pandas were no longer used purely as agents of diplomacy. Instead, China began to offer pandas to other nations only on ten-year loans. The standard loan terms include a fee of up to US$1,000,000 per year and a provision that any cubs born during the loan be the property of the People's Republic of China. Since 1998, because of a World Wildlife Fund lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allows a U.S. zoo to import a panda only if the zoo can ensure that China will channel more than half of its loan fee into conservation efforts for wild pandas and their habitat.
Pandas have become important diplomatic symbols, not only to China. In a visit by Hu Jintao to Japan in May 2008, China announced the loan of two Pandas to Japan. The President was quoted as saying "Giant pandas are very popular among the Japanese, and they are a symbol of the friendly ties between Japan and China." CLICK HERE for more.

The Star reported that Malaysians will soon be able to see the iconic but endangered Giant Panda in real life. China will loan two baby pandas to the country for 10 years.

This follows an agreement between the Government and China Wildlife Conservation Association, in commemoration of the countries' 40th anniversary of diplomatic relationship, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

According to a Bernama statement:

Earlier this afternoon, I came across this report on Last stand in Asia for shy, defenseless anteater by Dennis D. Gray of Associated Press and was horrified to discover this:

The pangolin trade — banned in 2002 by CITES, the international convention on endangered species — resembles a pyramid.

At the base are poor rural hunters, including workers on Indonesia's vast palm oil plantations. They use dogs or smoke to flush the pangolins out or shake the solitary, nocturnal animals from trees in often protected forests.

"Everything is against them. ... They have no teeth. Their only defense is to roll up in a ball that fits perfectly into a bag," Shepherd says. Under stress, pangolins can develop stomach ulcers and die

Middlemen set up buying stations in rural areas and deliver the animals through secretive networks to the less than dozen kingpins in Asia suspected of handling the international connections.

Factories in Sumatra butcher the pangolins, slitting their throats, then stripping off and drying the valuable scales. CLICK HERE for more.

1. As each bird flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the bird following. In a "v" formation the whole flock adds 71% more flying range than if each bird flew alone.



Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.


2. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the "lifting power" of the birds immediately in front.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose, we will join in formations with those who are headed where we want to go and they will give us "uplift".

3. When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position.

Lesson: If we have much sense as a goose, we would take turns doing the hard tasks, and sharing leadership ... with people, as with geese, interdependent with each other.

4. The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage whose up front to keep up their speed.

Lesson: We need to make sure our honking form behind is encouraging ... not something less helpful.

5. When a goose gets sick or wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow their fellow member down to help and provide protection. They stay with this member of the flock until he or she is either about to fly again or dies. Then they launch out on their own, with another formation or to catch up with their own flock.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as the geese, we'll stand by each other like that.

Written by Milton Olson

Since 1896, our nation had adopted the tiger in its emblems, crests and coat-of-arms. The king of our jungle. The symbol of courage, strength, bravery, agility and beauty. So majestic that they grace the crests of the government, universities, and private corporations. The national animal without a doubt. Our heritage.



But what have we done with our national icon? We have killed more than 80% of them. By clearing forests without proper planning, we have deprived them of their homes. Hunting has decimated many. Now there are less than 500 tigers left in the wild. And if the current rate of habitat destruction and poaching continue, these remaining tigers will be wiped out rather soon (perhaps by year 2020 when we all can be proud and call ourselves a developed nation). We owe it to our children and their children to protect our tigers in the wild. Much needs to be learnt and much more needs to be done to protect them.

There are many organizations and dedicated individuals who are working very hard to raise awareness about the tiger, protect their habitats and to reduce poaching. But it is not enough. We need to reach out to more Malaysians.

This week from April 19th to April 23rd ia The Tiger Blogfest 2010 orgaized by Dr. Bala of Planet of the Monkeys. It is an avenue for the blogging community to contribute towards protecting our national heritage. A total of 107 bloggers are participating in this event.



The tiger is our national animal. Our heritage. But today only less than 500 of them
remain in the wild. As Malaysians, we need to stand up and protect our heritage.
Speak to your children. Speak to your leaders. Everyone of us can make a difference.
For further information, please visit MYCAT (www.malayantiger.net), WWF Malaysia
(www.wwf.org.my) and Department of Wildlife & National Parks (www.wildlife.gov.my)

Take a look at this video HERE which shows a snared tiger rescued in Belum-Temengor forest.

You can also check out this video HERE on Channel 4 news on tiger poachers at work.

Finally, in remembrance of the many tigers who were killed mercilessly all over the world, here's William Blake's The Tiger.