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China Protects Pandas Against Swine Flu

We have evidence here in the United States that both cats and ferrets can catch swine flu (H1N1) from humans. Officials in China are concerned that pandas may also be susceptible to the disease. A panda research center has been closed to visitors in hopes of protecting the endangered pandas from swine flu. The Shaanxi Wild Animal Rescue and Research Center started seeing increased numbers of swine flu cases and flu symptoms in general after the weather turned cold and snowy in November. Now they’ve put a halt on recruiting new volunteers and are not allowing staff members with flu-like … Continue reading →

Celebrating a Second Anniversary as a Pets Blogger

Two years ago today I officially started on with Families.com as one of their newest Pets Bloggers. Ironically enough, two years later on my anniversary date, here I’ve turned in my two weeks notice. (I just realized as I started writing this that I did that on my start date anniversary.) It’s been a good ride, a very fun ride, and an amazingly informative one. I’ll still be around for the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to take a moment and reflect on some of my favorite blogs from the past couple of years. A Few of My … Continue reading →

The Pets Blog Week in Review for January 14-20

Aimee and I once again strove to bring you a slew of interesting, thought provoking, and otherwise entertaining articles last week. In case you missed any days, here’s the recap of what we wrote on: Monday, January 14 Would You Make a Good Parent for a Deaf Pet? It’s hard enough being a stray in a shelter, but imagine being a deaf one. The chances for adoption go even lower. My plea was to consider adopting such a pet to give them a fair chance too. Tuesday, January 15 Shelters are Bad Enough, Deplorable in Tennessee For some reason the … Continue reading →

Teaching Survival Skills to Pandas

Less than a year ago, China released a five year old panda into the wild. Why is this news? He was the world’s first artificially bred panda to be released. Unfortunately, Xiang Xiang didn’t survive. Scientists believe the panda fell from a height after a fight with wild animals (possibly other pandas) over food or territory. This is a terrible loss for the Wolong giant panda breeding center. But the loss of Xiang Xiang is inspiring scientists to work on better preparing future pandas for life in the wild. China has been making a serious effort to save the giant … Continue reading →

Encouraging Panda Repopulation

There are less than two thousand giant pandas living in the wild. What’s worse is that pandas are notoriously difficult when it comes to breeding. They are shy about getting together, and can have real trouble conceiving. At the National Zoo in Washington D.C., two resident pandas recently attempted to mate. Yay! But it didn’t work. Boo! So the zoo officials artificially inseminated the female, Mei Xiang. Yay? Last year’s artificial insemination attempt did not take, but zoo staff is hopeful that this year’s attempt will be a success. (Mei Xiang already has one cub, so here’s hoping for a … Continue reading →

Giant Panda Ling Ling Passes Away

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The fifth-oldest male panda in the world passed away at the end of April. Ling Ling was Japan’s oldest giant panda. He was born at China’s Beijing Zoo in 1985 and was given to Japan as a symbol of friendship in 1992. Ling Ling was a star attraction at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo for more than fifteen years. This is the first time in a long time that Ueno Zoo has not had a giant panda in residence — Ling Ling’s predecessors arrived from China to commemorate the signing of a peace treaty between China and Japan in 1972. The Ueno … Continue reading →

Animals Buried in Six Million Pounds of Garbage

Volunteers from the Ocean Conservancy spent a single day collecting debris from beaches around the world. What they found is disgusting and disturbing. More than 375,000 volunteers in seventy-six different countries combed the places where water meets land — ocean beaches and inland lakes and streams — to take a close look at the ocean trash problem. In just one day, the volunteers picked up an average of one hundred and eighty-two pounds of trash for every mile of shoreline. That works out to a grand total of more than seven million pieces of trash weighing around six million pounds. … Continue reading →