Hi everyone
I thought I would just give an update, I have been busy working hard in the laboratory for the past few weeks, I have some even busier times coming up.
I have been looking at deadly animals recently just for some light reading and I found some interesting links which I would like to share:
I have found an interesting image recently, see this article and image (see image below)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2615737/Forget-sharks-mosquitoes-SNAILS-worlds-deadliest-animals-Graphic-reveals-human-races-biggest-killers.html
I thought it was quite interesting, I am not surprised by the mosquito, they carry a fair few parasites and viruses etc... I was quite surprised at how many people are killed by snakes and rabies from dogs.
I also found this list and image on deadly animals:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/101315-10-deadliest-animals-in-the-world/
and
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/worlds-top-10-deadliest-animals.html
Again I was surprised by some of the figures, i think its amazing how there are so many different views of which animals are the most deadly, there are so many factors that could be considered.
I found that a documentary called Worlds worst venom which is also very interesting, I think it is a very good documentary on venomous animals.
I am very interested in diseases transmitted by the mosquito, especially parasitic diseases, I may begin to focus on this in my next post.
Hi all
This post will be about elephant facts and a couple of elephant conservation issues, I will post further issues next week.
Elephant facts:
1. Elephants can spend upto 16 hours a day eating
2. They are herbivores, eating leaves, plants and twigs
3. The trunk is used to pick up food and water which is then put into the mouth
4. Elephants have no natural predators. Though carnivores such as lions may prey on younger, weak, old vulnerable elephants
5. Male elephants are called bulls and females are called cow. Young elephants are called calves
6. They are the biggest land animal
7. Wild elephants are found in Africa and Asia
Poaching:
Poaching and hunting elephants for their tusks has been happening for centuries, the ivory is made into trinkets and souvenirs. Poaching may be causing an imbalance between the sexes, as males are killed for their tusks leaving only the females behind.
This website gives some good information on recent poaching incident: http://www.bloodyivory.org/
Poaching is not only for ivory, but for meat, hide, medicinal use and poaching for the entertainment industry. This involves taking elephants from the wild and using them for entertainment such as circuses.
Another interesting website: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/iv-drip/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-elephant-poaching-8983276.html
Human elephant conflict:
In recent years conflict between humans and elephants has been increasing. With human encroaching on land that elephants have used as migration routes for centuries.
This conflict usually happens when elephants end up on farmers land, sadly some farmers shoot these animals. Many deterrents have been trialed to see if they can deter elephants from entering farm land and destroying/eating the crops. Such deterrents include bees or sounds of bees, chilies and lights.
There are many interesting articles surrounding this subject:
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/elephants/human_elephant_conflict.cfm
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/animals/asian-elephants/projects/sri-lankan-human-elephant-conflict/
