clipped from www.independent.com

Condors Arrive at Zoo

Endangered Condors: Four young California condors arrived at the Santa Barbara Zoo early Friday to their new home in a hilltop complex due to open on Earth Day, April 22.

The Santa Barbara Zoo becomes one of only three zoos in the world to display the endangered California condor, joining Condor Ridge at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City.

clipped from www.brownfieldnetwork.com

Dog breeders hoping agriculture will join HSUS fight

As agriculture grapples with exactly how to confront the growing animal rights movement, the dog breeding industry—and other domestic animal groups—are anxious to see the ag industry become more involved.

“I would like to see them ‘cowboy up’,” says Cindy Cooke, legislative director for the United Kennel Club, the world’s largest all-breed registry for working dogs. “Get in the trenches and stand up for agriculture.”

Cooke and her organization have battled the Humane Society of the United States, at different levels, for several years. She suggests that all segments of agriculture need to unite against HSUS.

“Most Americans still want to eat meat,” Cooke says. “If it’s presented to the average American in a sensible way they can understand, most times they’re going to take our side. That’s been my experience and I believe it can be true for agriculture. But everybody’s got to stand up, because they focus on the weak links.”

clipped from www.timesonline.co.uk

Animal terrorist group foiled by informant dressed as a beagle

“If something came up in conversation, I would go to the loo and write it on
my body. Later I’d pull up my shirt and show it to a handler.”

clipped from www.mbari.org

Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute recently solved the half-century-old mystery of a fish with tubular eyes and a transparent head. Ever since the “barreleye” fish Macropinna microstoma was first described in 1939, marine biologists have known that its tubular eyes are very good at collecting light. However, the eyes were believed to be fixed in place and seemed to provide only a “tunnel-vision” view of whatever was directly above the fish’s head. A new paper by Bruce Robison and Kim Reisenbichler shows that these unusual eyes can rotate within a transparent shield that covers the fish’s head. This allows the barreleye to peer up at potential prey or focus forward to see what it is eating.