Robber fly - Nature photographer Thomas Shahan specializes in amazing portraits of tiny insects. It isn't easy. Shahan says that this Robber Fly (Holcocephala fusca), for instance, is "skittish" and doesn't like its picture taken.

Nature by Numbers (Video)

"The Greater Akashic System" – July 15, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) (Subjects: Lightworkers, Intent, To meet God, Past lives, Universe/Galaxy, Earth, Pleiadians, Souls Reincarnate, Invention: Measure Quantum state in 3D, Recalibrates, Multi-Dimensional/Divine, Akashic System to change to new system, Before religion changed the system, DNA, Old system react to Karma, New system react to intent now for next life, Animals (around humans) reincarnate again, This Animal want to come back to the same human, Akashic Inheritance, Reincarnate as Family, Other Planets, Global Unity … etc.)

Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.

Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.

(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."

(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.

(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.

Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.

Dian Fossey's birthday celebrated with a Google doodle

Dian Fossey's birthday celebrated with a Google doodle
American zoologist played by Sigourney Weaver in the film Gorillas in the Mist would have been 82 on Thursday (16 January 2014)

Friday, November 2, 2012

The elephant that speaks Korean

An Asian elephant has astonished his keepers by learning to imitate at least five words in their native tongue including "hello" and "good". 

The Telegraph, Nick Collins, Science Correspondent, 1 Nov 2012



Cases of mammals being able to make human-like sounds are extremely rare, because even close animal relatives like chimpanzees do not have enough vocal control to match our pitch and tone.

But Koshik overcame sizeable anatomical hurdles – the fact that elephants have no lips, for instance – to mimic human sounds by placing his trunk in his mouth and massaging his vocal tract into a different shape.

The unusual technique, which has never before been seen in animals, allows him to imitate human word sounds and match the pitch of his trainers' voices despite being much larger, and having a longer vocal tract and bigger larynx.

A study by researchers from the University of Vienna established that Koshik, who lives at Everland Zoo in South Korea, could mimic five words: "annyong" ("hello"), "anja" ("sit down"), "aniya" ("no"), "nuo" ("lie down"), and "choah" ("good").

Sixteen native Korean speakers were asked to listen to 47 recordings of the elephant "speaking" and spell out what they believed they had heard.

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Some 56 per cent of people provided the correct spelling for "annyong", 44 per cent agreed on "aniya" and 33 per cent identified "nuo".

Researchers observed that Koshik was better at mimicking vowel sounds than consonants, with many people mistaking "choah" for "boah" ("look") or "moa" ("collect").

Koshik's human mimicry was first noticed in 2004 at the age of 14, but researchers suggested that it most likely developed as a result of trying to communicate with his keepers while he was the only elephant at Everland between 1995 and 2002.

Writing in the Current Biology journal, they said: "The social circumstances under which Koshik's speech imitations developed suggest that one function of vocal learning might be to cement social bonds and, in unusual cases, social bonds between species."

Other documented cases of animals replicating human speech include Hoover, a harbour seal who was raised by a Maine fisherman and learnt to speak simple phrases, and an adult male beluga who could say his name "Logosi".

There have even been anecdotal reports of a "bilingual" Asian elephant in a Kazakhstan zoo which could pronounce words in both Russian and Kazakh, but there is no known evidence proving the claim.

Meanwhile, keepers at the National Zoo in Washington attached a harmonica to the trunk of an elephant named Shanthi earlier this year after noticing that the 36-year-old was "musically inclined". 


Cross-species friendships are springing up all over. Of them, Matthew said in 2010:

“The innocence of animals, who act from instinct, never from malice, automatically qualifies all except a few species to ascend with Earth. Along the way those who now are wild will become tame, predators will become vegetarians, and all will live peaceably with each other and humankind. Already there is evidence of cross-species friendship, even mothers of one species nurturing infants of another, and instances of bonding between wild animals and humans.”  (Matthew message - Channelled by Suzanne Ward, Aug 13, 2010)


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