World's Largest Bird - The Great Bustard

The Great Bustard is one of the largest birds capable of flight. Weight: males up to 17 kg, females up to 8 kg; length: male may be 1.2 m long with a 2.4 m wingspan.

The Great Bustard is a vulnerable species. It is distributed throughout many countries in Europe, Russia and Asia. The population may number as many as 31,000 - 37,000 individuals. However, its Palearctic range has all but disappeared and there have been rapid declines throughout eastern and central Europe and in parts of Asia particularly Kazakhstan and Mongolia. It occurs in steppe, secondary and pasture grassland and open, non-intensive agricultural land. Areas with little or no disturbance are required if breeding is to be successful. Hunting is a major threat in Ukraine and China. Mechanisation, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, fire and predation all contribute to high mortality in eggs, chicks and juveniles.

The Great Bustard is legally protected in some European countries. Future conservation targets for the species include conducting research into limiting factors, protecting and managing breeding areas, ensuring the availability of winter habitat, upgrading existing and establishing new protected areas in east Asia, implementing agri-environment measures for low intensity farming, preventing steppe fires, preventing illegal hunting, prevent collisions with power-lines and raising public awareness.

Baboons Embrace a Peaceful Culture

Savanna baboons, a species notorious for internecine squabbles, have learned to give peace a chance. A new study by Robert Sapolsky of Stanford University, California, demonstrates that the deaths of resident bullies can foster a new and lasting culture of calm.

Nearly 20 years ago, all the troop's dominant males died from tuberculosis contracted while foraging at a tourist lodge dump. The outbreak left the troop with half the original males, all subordinates who used good social skills, not violence, to get ahead in life. Accustomed to befriending females to obtain mating opportunities and using affection and grooming to forge alliances, they never reverted to the teeth-slashing habits of their former rulers.

Despite the influx of new and belligerent young males, the troop has managed to transmit its harmonious code of conduct to the newcomers and retains a relatively amicable demeanor to this day, Sapolsky reports in the online journal PloS Biology. The findings suggest peace can prevail in even aggressive primate societies.

The "Money Dog"

Darlene Hall is now calling her pooch the "money dog".

When Darlene purchased a brown vinyl ottoman for a $1 at a yard sale last year, she never thought it would be stuffed with money. It wasn't until she returned home one day and found a mess on her front porch. It seems her puppy, Cha-Cha, an Australian shepherd/blue heeler mix, had shredded the ottoman along with the money that was stuffed inside.

Darlene gathered up the shredded money and took it to her friend who works at a local bank. She was given the phone number for the Department of Treasury, who then told her to send it to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C, and they would send her a check.

Her friends don't believe that she will receive anything for it, but she tells them what was she going to do with a bunch of shredded money anyway?

Alaska Extended Life Animal Shelter
Tim Colbath
Photo Troy Snow

www.AELAS.Petfinder.org

Welcome to Alaska's No-Kill animal sanctuary for adoptable animals. No kill does NOT mean we are a warehouse of animals. It does mean that we will not kill an animal because we have not found them a home yet. We are forming a coalition of City shelters and reputable rescue groups across the State. All members are working to stop killing adoptable animals statewide by 2012, the Kenai Peninsula by 2006. Our agressive spay and neuter program, coupled with Friends of Pets & STOP's voucher programs, and the AlaskaSPCA's mobile clinic, we are making a differance. Kenai Veterinary Hospital handles the majority of our animals, they accept BOTH spay & neuter voucher programs. Soon to come will be links to all members, and to Best Friends.org, and We are Alaska's representative in the National No More Homeless Pets Campaign. The coalition members are Not affiliated with the " SPCA of the Kenai Peninsula Inc.", nor Michele DeMilta. We are members of: The National No More Homeless Pets campaign, The National ASPCA, Give Voice To Animals, & The Alaska Animal Control Association, as well as the National Animal Control Association. We currently work directly with: The Alaska SPCA, The Alaska Humane Society, Houston animal control, Valdez animal control, Haines city shelter. The 4 city shelters on the Kenai Peninsula. We are IRS 501 (c) 3 approved, & State Registered, all donations are Tax Deductable! Our ultimate goal is to bring about a time when animals again have value, and sanctuaries like this are no longer needed! Please contact us to donate time or needed materials, monetary donations also appreciated! Please take a minute to Donate!

• My normally mild dog goes ballistic when someone comes to the door!
• How do I socialize my kitten?

Hutchinson Correction Facility - Inmates Donate Money for Shelter
Wayne Brawner, Prison Administrator
www.WildhorseAndBurro.blm.gov

Hutchinson, Kansas-AP -- Some prison inmates have given a boost to a planned animal shelter in south-central Kansas.

Things were looking a bit bleak for the proposed shelter in Hutchinson. In the first month of a fund-raising drive, only a few hundred dollars trickled in.

Then inmates of the Hutchinson Correction Facility got involved, thanks to a warden who's an animal lover. Prison staff members organized a pizza sale -- which raised four-thousand dollars.

Prison administrator Wayne Brawner called the inmates' response "pretty good for a bunch of guys who make a dollar-five a day."

Organizers hope that by fall, they'll have about 200-thousand dollars for the shelter, which will be built on land donated by the prison.

Leashes & Lovers - Cocktail Parties for Dogs
Sheryl Matthys

www.LeashesandLovers.com

She's the "Greyhound Gal". Sheryl Matthys is an avid dog fan hoping to make a dog lover out of everyone and a people lover out of every dog! It took Sheryl 10 years to persuade her husband to share their lives with a dog, and he now loves it. She's hoping to have quicker results with New Yorkers! Sheryl is looking to bring dogs and dog lovers together through Leashes and Lovers.

Sheryl's pet passions are her greyhounds, Shiraz and Buffett. Both are from a Connecticut racetrack by way of Greyhound Friends West Rescue. Together, their favorite pastimes are running on the beach, being couch potatoes, and then running some more.

Life is not always at the beach though. Sheryl's professional experience includes work as a television news and internet reporter, show host, principal talent for national commercials, infomercials, industrials, "live" trade show narration, voice-overs, and hand-modeling. Talent extends also to Shiraz who is already a cover girl. This svelte beauty has been on the cover of Delawares, Dewey Beach Newspaper and in a PC Richard TV commercial. Currently, the trio is gearing up to host their own TV show featuring city dogs and their lifestyles (www.GreyhoundGal.com). Sheryl also has two "dogumentaries" in the works: one about greyhounds and another about Caribbean island dogs.