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)

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Lizard skins, swordfish horns and two tonnes of coral recovered in police raid

DutchNews, August 29, 2016

Picture: Dutch police. 
Police and customs officers have seized a record haul of illegal animal products, including swordfish horns, mounted crocodiles and coral. 

Altogether two tonnes of coral, as well as snake and lizard skins and ivory from protected species, were recovered from five storage units in North Brabant, together with €500,000 in cash and gold. 

A spokesman for Rotterdam police said researchers spent three days categorising the collection, which was characterised by a ‘bizarre range and diversity’. 

The trail to the illegal depot began after a routine check at Rotterdam harbour uncovered 345 kilos of coral contained in 15 packing cases on a container ship from China. 

The owner of the company where the items were stored, a 53-year-old man, is under investigation but police said no arrests have been made.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Rare elephant with 'sabre-tooth' tusks found in Malaysia

Yahoo – AFP, August 12, 2016

An elephant with downturned tusks pictured at a palm oil plantation in the Malaysian
state of Sabah on Borneo island, in a picture released on August 11, 2016 by the
 Sabah Wildlife Department (AFP Photo)

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - A rare pygmy elephant with tusks growing downwards instead of up to give it a look like a sabre-toothed tiger has been found in Malaysia, a wildlife official told AFP on Friday.

The unusual looking animal was found by a team of wildlife experts at a palm oil planation in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island on Thursday.

"It is very rare," said Sabah Wildlife Department's assistant director Sen Nathan.

"We're not exactly sure why the tusks are like that but it could be a congenital defect or maybe because of inbreeding."

A similar elephant was caught on camera a few years ago and in 2015 in Sabah, Nathan said.

The wildlife department plans to send the animal to an elephant sanctuary in Sabah on Saturday until a suitable area in the wild is found where it could be released with a tracking device attached.

"The tusks resemble the prehistoric sabre-tooth tiger, but of course, they are not related," said Andrew Sebastian, co-founder of the Ecotourism and Conservation Society Malaysia.

"It could make wildlife watching in Sabah more interesting."

But Sebastian warned that the rare elephant's reversed tusks might create some problems when it comes to jostling with other elephants.

A study done a decade ago showed there were about 2,000 elephants in Sabah. Wildlife officials said a new study will be conducted soon.

The biggest threat to elephants in Sabah was not poaching, but loss of habitat due to modernisation and an increase in the human population, said Nathan.

Friday, August 5, 2016

Orangutan Infant Found Abandoned in C. Kalimantan

Jakarta Globe, Norjani & Ratri M. Siniwi, August 05, 2016

A baby orangutan held by a resident of West Kalimantan's Kubu Raya district, in
this October 2015 file photo. (Antara Photo/Jessica Helena Wuysang)

Jakarta. An infant Bornean orangutan was found abandoned in a rubber plantation in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, on Thursday morning (04/08).

"At sunset [last night], I heard what sounded like someone wailing, which turned out to be the orangutan. It was sitting in a rubber tree in my plantation. Then this morning I saw that there was no mother, and I took it to Sampit and reported it [to the authorities]," local resident Martono said, as reported by state-run news agency Antara.

The Central Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) went to Martono's house to examine the infant, and established that it is an 18-month-old female. Infant orangutans are completely dependent on their mothers for the first two years of their lives.

"An orangutan mother would never leave her child. We cannot conclude whether the mother was killed, but what is clear is that the infant has been rescued,"Sampit BKSDA post commander Muriansyah said.

According to Martono, it was his first time seeing an orangutan in the area, as most of the trees in his rubber plantation have burned down, making it hard for the animals to survive and find food. He said he pitied the infant as she looked malnourished, and suspected that she was starving.

"I was scared that the baby [orangutan] would die [from hunger]; I reported it so the officials could save her. I gave her a banana, but she only ate a little of it," Martono said.

The infant has been taken to the BKSDA regional office at Pangkalan Bun in West Kotawaringin district. According to the officials, orangutans can take up to two years of rehabilitation before they are ready to be released into their natural habitat.

The Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) in Central Kalimantan claims that this is the 10th orangutan reported by Sampit residents so far this year.

The Bornean orangutan is a cousin of the Sumatran orangutan, both of which have been listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of critically endangered animals, due to population loss driven by hunting and habitat degradation.