There Are Three Species Of Philippine Deer

There are three species of Philippine deer: Visayan spotted deer, Calamian hog deer and Philippine brown deer (Cervus marianus). Only the Visayan spotted deer and the Calamian hog deer are presently threatened. Few heads of Visayan spotted deers are still found in the remaining forests of Negros and Panay islands. They were previously reported in Cebu, Guimaras and Masbate Islands but excessive hunting and deforestation lead to their extinction in these places. The Visayan spotted deer is a small, attractive animal measuring about 80 cm tall at the shoulder. Their characteristic white spots remain throughout their life.

The Visayan spotted deers are the most endangered deer in the world. They are listed in the Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), which means that trade of Visayan spotted deeris strictly regulated by law. It is believed that there only about 200 heads of Visayan spotted deer in the wild today. It is seriously threatened with extinction unless illegal hunting and rampant degradation of their habitat are stopped. Conservation measures that have been adopted included the International Philippine Spotted Deer Conservation Program a joint venture between the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the French Parc Zoologique et Botanique De La Ville De Mulhouse (PZBM) (Oliver, 1996). There were two components of the program: establishment of a new national park in Panay and the setting up of captive breeding and rescue centers.

The Philippine Wildlife Loan Agreement (PLWA) signed in 1987 by DENR and Mulhouse Zoo implemented these. Under this agreement West Berlin Zoological Society would provide financial assistance for faunal survey and preliminary management plan for the proposed Panay Mountains National Park. In 1990, the captive breeding component of the Philippine Spotted Deer Conservation Project was realized with the launching of the Philippine Spotted Deer Captive Program. Mulhouse Zoo and the Zoological Society of San Diego funded the project. Two breeding and rescue centers were initially established, one in Bitu Farm, Iloilo specifically for spotted deers of Panay origin and the other one in Siliman University, Negros Occidental for spotted deers of Negros origin. A third breeding center was later on put up in Bacolod, Negros Occidental.

The ultimate aim of the breeding centers was to establish a "world herd" ofVisayan spotted deers. The initial population inthese centers was composed of Visayan spotted deers donated by private persons who keep these animals as pets and also those caught from the wild. In 1995, DENR and Melbourne Zoo signed an agreement to establish a Philippine spotted deer Conservation Center for Panay Island population of the deer. This agreement was enlarged in 1998 to include the White Oak Conservation Center in Florida. Under this agreement, Melbourne Zoo, which provides financial support to the program, will receive a group of Philippine spotted deer in 2000 to start a regional Australasian zoo program. Incidentally, the Negros Forest and Ecological Foundation, Inc. (NFEFI) reported the birth of the first captive bred spotted deerfawn on November 20, 1996 at its Conservation Center in Bacolod. Research on basic nutritional requirements and reproductive physiology of the Philippine spotted deer should be encouraged to complement various conservation measures.Blood values, blood clotting time, respiratory rate, pulse rate and temperature important in disease diagnosis should be established in this species. Maala and Saguibo (1997) who examined the cuticular patterns of the hairs of Calamian deer, Visayan spotted deer and mouse deer by means of scanning electron microscopy claimed that it is possible to distinguish the Visayan spotted deer from the Calamian deer through the cuticular patterns of their hairs.

Tapir Habitat

Distantly related to the horse and rhinoceros, tapirs have lived on earth for about 35 million years. During that time they have hardly changed at all in appearance. There are four species. One of these lives in the forests of Malaysia and Sumatra, the other three in Central and South America. Tapirs once roamed Europe and North America too, but became extinct there long ago. About the size of a shetland pony, the tapir is a rather odd looking animal. Not only has it a long and flexible snout like a short trunk, but it has four toes on each of its fore feet and only three toes on the hind feet!

Malayan tapir
lives in densely forested areas of south-east Asia, from Burma to Malaysia and Sumatra. It differs from the South American species in its greyish black and white body markings. Seen in a zoo, this tapir's colouring might seem to be rather conspicuous, but in its natural surroundings deep in a humid jungle, the black and white markings help the animal to blend perfectly with its moonlight dappled background. This species spends much of its time in the water and it is an excellent swimmer.

Mountain Tapir or Woolly tapir
which lives in the Andes of Colombia, Peru and Ecuador at altitudes of up to 12,000 ft. They occur in isolated regions of the Andes and their numbers are becoming smaller day by day. Unfortunately, this species has suffered as a result of heavy exploitation of its habitat by man. It has also been hunted either as a source of food or by those who capture live animals for export to zoos.

Brazilian Tapir or South American Tapir
Brazilia Tapir, Central and South American Tapir is nearly always found close to water as, like other tapirs, it is a good swimmer. This blackish-brown species is also fast and sure-footed on land, however, even over the roughest terrain. It is a low land species and lives in marshy forests in parts of Columbia and Venezuela and southward to Brazil and Paraguay. It is the most common of the American tapirs, although it too is suffering from the exploitation of its natural habitat by humans.
Tapir Habits
Tapirs are shy, inoffensive animals, living in habitats varying from tropical rainforest to deciduous forest, from sea level to heights of at least 3350 metres. They are found close to water, in marshes, mangrove swamps, lakes and rivers. They are excellent swimmers and are said to be able to dive and walk along the river floor.
They also enjoy mud baths, the mud keeping the tapirs cool in the steamy heat of the forest. Solitary by nature, no more than two or three tapirs are ever seen together. The tapir is a nocturnal animal, spending much of its time feeding on water plants and browsing on twigs, leaves, grasses and fallen fruit. The compact streamlined shape of the tapir's body is ideal for pushing through the dense undergrowth of theforest floor.
The tapirs main natural predators are the big cats, the jaguar in South and Central America and the tiger and leopard in Malaya. A tapir cornered by a big cat can put up a good fight, and often manages to escape if it can get into water. Baird's tapir and the Brazilian tapir both have short, bristly manes stretching along the back of the neck, helping to protect the most vulnerable part of the body from the deadly bite of the jaguar. Bears sometimes prey on Mountain tapirs and caymans (a type of alligator) will attack young tapirs in the water.
Breeding
Tapirs have no fixed breeding season. After a gestation period of about 390 days, a single baby is born (twins are rare). The baby can follow its mother within minutes of being born and all new-born tapirs have a reddish-brown coat dappled with white spots and stripes. This pattern helps to provide the young one with excellent camouflage. Whenever there is danger lurking nearby, the baby 'freezes' and becomes part of its background. These coat markings last until the baby is about six months old, and then fade as the young tapir grows its adult coat. The youngster will remain with its mother for up to twelve months and then goes off on its own.
Tapirs have always been a source of food for the natives of the forest, but over-hunting by outsiders has drastically reduced their numbers in some areas. Probably the tapir's most serious problem is the everincreasing destruction of its forest habitat. All four species of tapir have declined over recent years. These strange but appealing animals need full protection if they are going to survive in the wild. Efforts are being made to give them that protection, by creating forest reserves - but nobody can be certain that action has been taken in time to save the tapir, and its forest habitat, from extinction.

The Hoary Fox Is A Slender Animal

The hoary fox is a slender animal with a relatively short, pointed muzzle, and large ears. Pelage colour is variable: the upper body regions are pale grey, whereas the underparts are generally buff yellow to chestnut including the neck, chest and patch behind the ears. The anterior part of the neck is buff white, but the underside of the lower jaw is dark, almost black, as is both the tail base and tail tip; a dark spot on dorsal surface of tail base variably present. Near melanic forms have been described (Cabrera 1931; Vieira 1946; Cabrera and Yepes 1960; J. Dalponte pers. obs.).

Similar species Crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous): sympatric throughout the geographical range of the hoary fox; more robust, larger (4.5–8.5kg), and has coarse bristly pelage; colour variation is substantial within and between populations, ranging from dark grey/black (e.g., Amazonia, central Brazil) to grey/yellow rufous (e.g., Ceará, north-east Brazil), with or without a dark dorsal line along the body to tail tip (specimens of the lighter colour type could be confused with the hoary fox); footpad (and footprint) differentiation of the two species is possible by the experienced field worker (Becker and Dalponte 1991). Pampas fox (P. gymnocercus): possibly sympatric with the hoary fox in southern São Paulo state; more robust and larger (4–6kg); pelage colour and body proportions are similar. Sechuran fox (P. sechurae): not sympatric, occurring in north-west Peru and south-west Ecuador; similar size (4–5kg), and pelage colour, but lacks the dark stripe along the dorsal line of the tail.

Habitat

Occurs in open cerrado habitats, but readily adapts to insect-rich livestock pastures and areas of agriculture(soybean, rice, corn, eucalyptus plantation). Rarely observed in densely wooded cerrado, floodplains, dry orgallery forests.

Conservation status

Threats The principal biome where hoary foxes occur is the cerrado which is being destroyed at a rate of 3% each year, largely in the interests of agriculture (livestock and soybean) (MMA-BRASIL 1998). It appears that hoary foxes adapt to livestock pasture rich in termites and dung beetles. Breeding hoary foxes are found in deforested wooded areas (J. Dalponte pers. obs.), thus it is possible that deforestation may not have a negative impact on the species. Areas of high human population density are unlikely to be suitable. There are no population estimates available.

Kangaroos Are Social Animals

Kangaroo are the largest mammal marsupials and they belong to the Marcropodidae family. Marsupials are animals that carry their young up to a certain age in a pouch. Examples of marsupials besides kangaroos are koalas, wombats, and opossums. Some marsupials have their pouch on their back; whereas kangaroos have their pouches in the front. The name of the family to which they belong comes from macropods, which means large or big foot. Kangaroos are to be found mainly in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea.

There are around 63 species of kangaroos and they vary in size as well as in the type of habitat in which they live. Depending on the specie, kangaroos can live in forests, woodlands, grasslands, plains, rocky hills, and even deserts. When people talk about kangaroos, they are usually referring to one of four types. There is the Red Kangaroo, which is the largest of the species and usually the male kangaroo could weigh up to 200 pounds and his height can reach over 7 feet. The other three species are the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, the Western Grey Kangaroo, and the Antilopine Kangaroo. There are other much small species that live in tress and can hop from branch to branch. The ones that are of smaller size are as small as a rabbit. Some examples of smaller kangaroos are tree and rat kangaroos. Kangaroos are herbivores and each species eats based on the habitat in which they live. Some eat shrubs, others graze, and others eat roots and fungi.

 Kangaroos have often been described as strange animals as they have heads like deer but without the antlers, can stand up straight like humans, and are able to hop like frogs. Kangaroos move only but hopping and they are the only animal of that size that travel and move in such a way. They, like emus, are unable to move backwards or go in reverse. Kangaroos have very strong and powerful hind legs, which they use to hop or defend themselves by kicking their enemies and predators. They also have long tails, which they use for balance when they are hopping. Kangaroos can hop at a speed of 40 miles per hour. They also have very good hearing and can move their ears all around to make sure that they are able to hear sounds from all directions.

Kangaroo are social animals that travel in groups called ‘mobs’ that may range from 3 kangaroos up to 100. The male kangaroo is called a buck, boomer, or an old man. The female kangaroo is called a doe or a flyer. A baby kangaroo is called a joey.

Female kangaroo give birth to one baby at a time. The gestation time, which means the time that a female kangaroo is pregnant is around 30 days. Newborns usually weigh around 0.03 ounces, and as soon as they are born crawl up into the mother’s pouch in which they stay for around 9 months or longer. A female kangaroo can have up to three children at a time. They can have one that just got out of the pouch, one that is in the pouch, and one that is in the womb. However, since female kangaroos do not carry their babies for very long in the womb, female kangaroos have the ability to pause the pregnancy to make sure that the newborn kangaroo does not come out before the one in the pouch has grown and developed. In the female pouch, there are 4 teats. Each teat provides different milk for the different stage of growth.

Dressing Up Your Pet Dog!

More and more, people in some circles are including their pets and perhaps yours in the milestone events of their lives. From weddings to birthdays to holiday parties, pets are becoming more accepted as guests. Are you and your dog invited to a pet friendly soirée? Maybe you should consider dressing up your dog to commemorate the special occasion.

The first thing to consider when deciding whether or not to dress your dog for a specific event, is whether or not that was something its host had in mind. Often the invitation will make mention of appropriate attire, even for your dog. For example, concerning a pet friendly wedding, the invitation may suggest that human dress is formal, as well as, for our doggie dates. Perhaps an invitation to a Christmas party will suggest semi-formal attire for the humans, but clothing optional for invited furry friends. In which case, the decision is up to you. And an invitation for a summer barbecue may suggest that human dress is casual and that our pets should attend “au natural”. To be on the safe side, if there is not a mention of doggie attire, check with the host before you invest in a new outfit for your pup.

Different occasions will have different wardrobe requirements. For example, when attending a wedding with your pet, there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, don’t dress your girls in white, just as you would not dress in white, white is for the bride only. Secondly, whether it is an outdoor wedding, or an indoor event, you may want to consider putting doggie pants (aka dog diapers) under your pet’s attire, to lessen the chance of accidental staining during potty breaks. And finally, make sure the outfit is comfortable and fits your pet properly. If she is tripping over her dress with every step, you may end up carrying her the entire day, or worse yet, having to shed the dress altogether.

For a less formal event, such as a birthday party in the middle of the day, less formal clothing would be appropriate. For the girls, a more simply designed dress, with less flair doesn’t mean she won’t be gorgeous. For the gentlemen, a simple vest or nice sweater, depending on the climate, would work well. And even if the host suggests “au natural” attire for invited dogs, you can still dress her up with a pretty pink bow, or have him don a bandana. Dressing up dogs for the special occasions in our life can make the memories for all in attendance that much more vibrant, not to mention all of the adorable pictures that will probably be taken.

So no matter the pet friendly occasion, a formal wedding, fancy Christmas dinner, backyard barbecue, or a birthday party, dressing our dogs up for these milestones can be fun for pets, their owners, and spectators, alike. Perhaps you should look into a lavish little number for your dog’s next formal event. It couldn’t hurt.