One day hardly seems like enough for endangered tigers. To celebrate International Tiger Day a bit longer, here is a gallery of gorgeous tiger photos - and ten fascinating tiger facts. Enjoy!
It was in Russia that International Tiger Day was started nine years ago by The Phoenix Fund, a non-governmental organization founded by Russian and U.S. conservationists.
The first International Tiger Day began as a modest parade in Vladivostok, consisting of a few dozen school children and parents with faces painted like tigers.
Since then, the celebration has grown to become an annual city holiday with over 3,000 participants!
After six months of care and rehabilitation, a critically endangered Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) has been returned to the wild in the Ussuriisky Nature Reserve.
The orphaned tiger was found in March, weak and emaciated at just 17 kg, when it showed up in the village of Avangard.
The new study examined 166 countries in total. With climate change, it is hard to guess who will be hit the worst, but here is one scientific attempt at ranking the countries’ vulnerability to climate change.
The U.S position on Climate Change is overshadowing all other discussions in the lead up to Copenhagen, even at a conference I recently attended in Melbourne Australia - the 5th Australia-New Zealand Climate Change & Business Conference, August 24-26th. The Australian position requires global consensus for a greenhouse gas emissions target by 25% with a successful Post 2012 Agreement in place, but only 5% if that is not concluded. It all depends on what the U.S does in Copenhagen according to their minister Penny Wong.
The European Union is the only group that will continue with strong commitments independent of the U.S position with a 20% reduction of greenhouse gases on 1990 levels by 2020 and 30% if a global agreement is concluded.
Just like people, killer whales (Orcinus orca) get together to maintain social ties. Although the whales usually live in small pods of 20 or so, they also go in search of other pods, forming aggregate groups of approximately 100. These aquatic gatherings last from a few hours to nearly half a day, according to BBC Earth News.
Scientists from the Far East Russia Orca project observed the killer whales engaging in social behaviors with other pods, such as synchronized swimming and “rubbing flippers”, while in these larger groups. They also noticed that the whales’ sexual activity increased while in the “superpods” - indicating that these gatherings give the whales an opportunities to check out potential mates. Pairing with a whale from another pod likely increases genetic diversity throughout the whale population.
The question of possible repurposing of civil nuclear technology has been a talking point in US policy on Iran, and that question specifically has been a bone of contention in the triangular posturing between the US, Iran and Russia.
If you think your electricity bill is bad, you should see the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s. Having to import 95% of your energy makes for a fairly expensive monthly bill. In response to this ongoing electricity and energy challenge, Jordan has signed a 10 year agreement with Russia for the provision of four new nuclear power plants, desalination stations and related research facilities.This week, US President Obama and Russian President Medvedev are meeting in Moscow to negotiate a treaty to succeed START. President Obama seems to understand that if the US expects Iran and North Korea to give up their intentions to develop nuclear weapons, we can’t act as hypocrites hoarding our own nuclear arsenal. Russia and the United States currently own “90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons”.
One of the world’s most critically endangered whales, the western gray whale, is being pushed out of its annual feeding area by loud industrial activity from oil and gas exploration by Exxon, BP, and Rosneft, says a panel of top scientists.
“Western gray whale cows with their calves feed near the shore, but the industrial noise resulting from oil and gas development activities is pushing them out of the area.” - Doug Norlen, Pacific Environment
Neglecting its responsibility to protect & preserve the fragile Arctic ecosystem, Russia is planning to use floating nuclear reactors to power its oil drilling efforts in the region.
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