KANGAROO DOGS

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/06/dogkangaroos-turn-heads-in-the-philippines.html


This is the original story from a blog at the L.A Times.

"Dog lovers, meet Cute and Bambi, who have been dubbed "dog-kangaroos" by those who have encountered the pair in Quezon City, Philippines.
Cute and Bambi were apparently both born with only their two rear legs and are the pets of Lope Tulipas, a Quezon City street vendor. Many passersby are understandably taken by the pair -- some have even offered to buy them, but Tulipas has turned down all offers."

However, I distrust stories like this. For whilst they can well be seen as a "brave doggies triumph in the face of adversity" type story, it is only a few steps away from a "gosh oh gee, I want one of those" type story. Some months ago we printed a revolting story of how some people will exploit even the cruellest disability for financial gain. And amputations would be an extremely cheap form of body modification!

Forgive me for putting this distasteful thought into the collective conscioussness of the bloggo readership, but I have lived long enough to suspect fellow members of my own species of being capable of the most despicable crimes against nature, and with this cutesy news story I can see such a crime in the offing.

Let's hope I'm wrong!

Good News for World's rarest deer

The BBC have brought us good news for what is probably the rarest deer species in the world. The Visayan spotted dear is one of the rarest and most narrowly distributed mammals in the world, with only a few hundred wild animals thought to remain. Indeed, a survey in 1991 found that the species had already become extinct in over 95 percent of its former range, largely as a result of intensive hunting and extensive deforestation, with land having been cleared for agriculture and logging operations at a frightening pace. Hunting also poses a significant threat to this Endangered deer.

The Visayan spotted deer is afforded some degree of protection through its occurrence in Mt. Camlaon National Park, North Negros Forest Reserve, Mount Talinis/Lake Balinsasayao Reserve and the proposed West Panay Mountains National Park. Although Visayan spotted deer are legally protected, their distribution in remote, dense, inland forest makes the practicalities of guard patrolling very difficult, and hunting therefore continues. In 1990, the Philippine Spotted Deer Conservation Program was set up to initiate a captive breeding programme and a number of other conservation measures, including a public education campaign and an annual series of conservation workshops. Visayan spotted deer are currently held in captivity in Mari-it Conservation Centre in Panay, two breeding centres in Negros, and a dozen zoos in Europe.

However it has hardly ever been seen in the wild, and so the discovery by an expedition team led by Craig Turner and James Sawyer of tracks and scat, proving a small population survives in the wild, despite the ongoing threat to its survival from hunting and deforestation, is significant.

Well done guys, and thanks to Fleur for bringing this to my attention..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8061000/8061899.stm

Naomi and the buttonquail tragedy

Dear Naomi. She keeps on coming up with amazing stories that we would otherwise have missed.

A bird suspected to be extinct was reportedly photographed for the first time in the Philippines, and then sold to a poultry market as food. Worcester's buttonquail was known only through illustrations based on decades-old museum specimens until a television crew documented the live bird in the market before it was sold in January,

NationalGeographic.com reported....

Read on...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,496046,00.html

Wikipedia: The Luzon Buttonquail (Turnix worcesteri) is a species of bird in the Turnicidae family. It is endemic to the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.

Locally known as "Pugo", they are known to inhabit rice paddies and scrub lands near farm areas because of the availability of seeds and insects that they feed on regularly. These birds are characterized by their black heads with white spots, a brown or fawn colored body and yellow legs on males and the females are brown with white and black spots. These birds are very secretive, choosing to make small path ways through the rice fields, which unfortunately leads to their deaths as well, they are hunted by children and young men by means of setting spring traps along their usual path ways.