My hubby and I watched the movie Seven Pounds with Will Smith a few nights ago, which was fabulous, I might add!

In the movie, the main character has a box jellyfish as an exotic pet in a large cylindrical tank!

What an amazing creature, which just happens to have the most deadly venom in the animal kingdom!

In fact, there have been 5,568 human fatalities due to the box jellyfish recorded since 1954.

Extreme care and caution needs to be taken when caring for a pet of this danger level.

Also, you cannot store the jellyfish with any other creature in the tank, as they’ll paralyze it and eat it.

Although so high venomous, the sea turtle is immune to the sting of the jellyfish and is one of their food sources.

However, it is a fantastical invertebrate that you could watch for hours at a time as it pulsates through the water.

In the wild, the seasons of highest risk are from October through May, although they are quite evident throughout the rest of the year too.

Box jellyfish are concentrated in tropical areas such as Australia, Vietnam, Phillippines and Hawaii.

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Cubozoa
Order: Cubomedusae

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I hope you enjoyed this Invertebrate post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. If you haven’t seen the movie “Seven Pounds”, you really must – it’s dramatic, heart warming, a story of love and loss – Fantastic:

Seven Pounds Academy Award nominee Will Smith (2006, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, The Pursuit of Happyness) stars as Ben Thomas, a man at a crossroads searching for a way to redeem his heavy conscience. He discovers he has the power to change the circumstances of seven strangers who deserve a second chance. But when one of them captures his heart, he must decide if he should reveal his secret — even if it means giving up on his plan. From the creators of The Pursuit of Happyness, Seven Pounds is an emotionally charged, captivating mystery with a soulful, tender love story and a tearful but joyfully inspiring ending (Movieguide).

Technorati Tags: box jellyfish, jellyfish, invertebrates, tropical animals, marine animals, venomous animals, dangerous animals, Seven Pounds

A Box Jellyfish for a Pet? is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Have you ever heard about the plight of the sun bear, in particular, but some other species of bear as well?

They are put in a cage where they cannot move, their bile is continually drained from their stomachs through a permanent wound for their entire lives.

Often, each paw is harvested, while they are still alive, as a bear paw soup is ordered in many Asian restaurants.

So, they have the wound in their tummy with their bile being drained, and their paws are cut off one by one as they suffer in their cage that they can’t even move in…Are you kidding me???

Is that okay with you?

It’s NOT with me…Every time I think about this it makes me want to cry!

Please, help by donating and spread the word to save these animals from their awful plight!

What’s worse? The sun bear is vulnerably endangered species…

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I hope you found this Mammal post informational on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Please be sure to Subscribe to Exotic Animal Lover Updates!

Technorati Tags: sun bear, animal welfare, WSPA, bear bile, endangered animals, mammals, Asian animals

Please Stand Up To Save Sun Bears! is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

The majority of them live in Northern Australian waters…

I’ve had the amazing opportunity to see them out in the wild in Shark Bay off of Western Australia. Fantastic creatures! What an awesome blessing! (I know the video below is of dugongs in Shark Bay, but it will still tell you a lot about them and how they live…)

Dugong bodies are fusiform, which means they are wide in the middle and taper off at both ends.

Their front limbs are more like paddles than fins. It’s tail is similar to that of a dolphin, being “fluked”.

Dugongs graze on seagrasses, which means they stay close to coastal shores, and use a sharply down-turned muzzle, specially adapted to this type of feeding.

Conservation Status:
The Dugong is a Vulnerable Threatened species of animal.

Why?
For thousands of years, they have been hunted for meat and oil, and their hides have been used by many different cultures for various reasons.

They are still being hunted, their habitats are substantially degraded, and they often get trapped in nets, not to mention being hit by speedboat propellers, as they stay close to shore to feed.

Apparently, it’s rare to find a dugong, or a manatee for that matter, that doesn’t have some kind of injury or scar from speedboat propellers.

Natural population killers include parasites, predators like sharks, killer whales and crocodiles, as well as storms.

Dugongs can live 70 years, and have a very slow rate of reproduction, which makes it difficult for the population of the species to increase.

What’s Cool About Dugongs?
They have small hairs all over their bodies, which allow them to sense the features of their underwater environment.

Females are larger than males and are just under 3 meters long.

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Sirenia
Family: Dugongidae
Subfamily: Dugonginae
Genus: Dugong
Species: D. dugon

For more information on how to save the Dugong, check out: Save The Dugong @ Greenpeace.org
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I hope you enjoyed this Mammal post on Exotic Animal Love during Great Barrier Reef Month! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more information on plans to save the Dugong, check out this awesome and information book:

Dugong: Status Report and Action Plans for Countries and Territories

Technorati Tags: dugong, siren, marine mammal, mammal, ocean animals, Australian animal

Dugongs Are an Extremely Vulnerable Species is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

However, it’s neither a bear nor a cat! LOL…It just resembles both of those animals. To me, it looks like a large raccoon species.

It, too, is an arboreal species that is nocturnal – instead of sleeping in a nest of sorts, it simply sleeps on branches of rainforests in Asia, India & Indonesia.

Although it is classified as a carnivore, it is omnivorous! It eats mostly fruit, but has been known to dabble in eating eggs, small animals like rodents and birds, shoots and leaves.

Binturong are known for their happy chuckling sounds and high-pitched wails when annoyed. It also communicates using it’s tail and scent gland.

It has a prehensile tail, meaning it works as a 5th limb or hand. Bearcats are the size of a small dog and has a coat that is thick, coarse and black.

Conservation Status:
The Binturong is considered to be a Vulnerable species in endangerment.

Why?
It’s drastic drop in numbers is mainly due to deforestation in their habitat, and poaching for it’s fur and medicinal uses.

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Viverridae
Subfamily: Paradoxurinae
Genus: Arctictis
Species: A. binturong
Subspecies: There are 6 subspecies of binturong.

Why is This Animal So Important?
It’s the only animal known to be able to eat the seed coating of the Strangler Fig, which is a crucial tree in the rainforest. This means the binturong is very important for seed dispersal.

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I hope you enjoyed this Mammal post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. The Bearcat is a quite popular mascot. In fact, the University of Cincinnati boasts this animal as their mighty mascot! Get a U. of Cincinnati ringtone for your phone:

University of Cincinnati Bearcats Ringtone $5.99

Technorati Tags: binturong, mammal, carnivore, Indian animal, Asian animal, bearcat, Asian bearcat, Palawan bearcat

You Say Bearcat – I Say Binturong is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

As stated above, there are 2 species of orangutan. They are considered primates or apes.

They differ from other apes in that they have longer arms than other species, twice as long as their legs, and have reddish hair, instead of the characteristically black hair other apes possess.

Adult males can be up to 5′9″ tall – taller than me, and weigh up to 260 lbs…Females are typically half as heavy and reach 4′2″ tall.

Orangutans are especially known for their great intelligence.

These apes live in trees, making them an arboreal species, living in rainforests natively in Malaysia and Indonesia.

However, they are only found in Borneo and Sumatra, where everyday, they make themselves a new nest to sleep in made of branches and leaves.

They are often “hermits” of sorts, coming together mainly only to mate…But, mothers stay with their babies until they are 6 or 7 yrs old.

Only “flanged” males have territories that they protect, which will not overlap with other flanged males land. It should be mentioned that any individual that is not flanged, male or female, will not have a territory.

What Does Flanged Mean?
Some males will develop face flaps of sorts on each side of their face like cheek pads, they’ll have longer hair, and a throat pouch.

The girls run after these males and want to be a part of their group. Although other males are able to mate, they must force themselves upon the females to do so.

Apparently, in Malaysian & Indonesian, orangutan means forest person. They look like forest people, don’t they?

What Do They Eat?
Mostly fruit…but they’ll also eat a little bit of this and a little bit of that including: birds eggs, insects, leaves, shoots, honey and a number of other nourishing foods, making them omnivorous.

Conservation Status:
The Sumatran Orangutan, as many apes, is Critically Endangered! The Bornean Orangutan is Endangered!

Why?
Mainly deforestation of their habitat and food source, and human development. Forest fires, logging and mining are among the main contributors to their demise, as well as growing other plants on plantations for commerce.

These aren’t the only problems. They are still being hunted for bushmeat and by poachers, not to mention illegal pet trade.

Scientists have predicted their extinction by 2012 due to these activities.

For more information on How to Help Save Orangutans – Check out The Orangutan Conservancy @ Orangutan.net

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I hope you found this Primate post informational on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Get your own computer wallpaper of a baby orangutan! Awww:

Baby Orangutan Wallpaper $5.99

Technorati Tags: orangutan, apes, primates, mammals, Indian animals, Asian animals, orangutang, omnivore

Orangutan May Be Extinct by 2012! is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

The reason for it’s nickname is that it is a black bear with a cream or white colored “V” on it’s chest in the shape of a crescent moon facing up.

They are a medium sized bear and a close relative to the American black bear.

Adult females are typically half the size of the adult male, the latter weighing in at 220-480 lbs. Their lifespan is about 25 years.

They inhabit high elevations and lowlands alike, often sharing habitat with the larger and stronger brown bear, and the giant panda.

Although this bear is considered to be carnivorous, meat is only a very small part of it’s diverse diet of nuts, berries, grasses, fruit and other plants. They are actually omnivorous animals that eat both meat and plant-life alike.

This particular bear has been known to be quite aggressive towards humans with documentation of attacks and deaths, but although they have very few enemies in nature, the Siberian tiger has been known to target them as prey.

Conservation Status:
The moon bear is currently listed a vulnerable species. Deforestation and loss of habitat is the main aggressors in the endangerment of the moon bear.

However, the moon bear is also known as the “bile bear”, where they are held in captivity so that their bile can be extracted over and over again and sold as traditional Chinese medicine in Vietnam and China. It’s terribly painful for the bear and a terrible existence for them, as they can live up to 25 years and be kept in a cage where they can’t even move to acquire the bile. Terrible!!!

Methods of Extracting Bile: (as taken from Wikipedia.com)

“Latex catheter
In a crude surgical procedure, a latex catheter is implanted into the bear’s abdominal wall and gall bladder, where the bile is stored. This method allows 10 and 20 ml of bile to be tapped from each bear twice daily, but is liable to clogging.

Metal jacket
A rubber catheter drains the bile into a fluid bag attached to the bear via a metal jacket. At up to 10kg in weight, this crude device is locked in place for years at a time, leading to infection, hairloss and painful irritation for the bear.

Metal catheter
Similar to the latex catheter method, the bears are forced to lie flat on the bottom of cage for more effective ‘milking’. Often a metal ‘crush’ forces the bears to remain in the flat position permanently, in some cases for years at a time.

Free Drip
A supposedly more humane method, instead of a catheter, a permanent hole or fistula is punched in the bear’s abdomen and gall bladder, from which bile can freely drip out. This open wound is, unsurprisingly, highly liable to infection.”

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species: U. thibetanus

* Please sign this petition to end the tortuous captivity of these bears for the harvesting of their bile by going here: Online petition – BEAR FARMS IN KOREA – Save Bears!

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I hope you enjoyed this Bear post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Are you a moon bear lover? If so, check out this fabulous book for ages K-12:

Search for the Golden Moon Bear (Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 (Awards)) Join Sy Montgomery as she travels far and wide in search of the golden moon bear. Along with her research companions, she delves deep into the jungles of the Elephant Mountains, visits the bustling streets of Cambodian cities, explores remote villages, and attends a Club Med for bears in Thailand, all while carrying marshmallows and tweezers for her encounters with the bears along the way. The quest for the golden moon bear takes us on an exhilarating journey and chronicles the detective work and science behind tracking a new species in a different part of the world, where bears are kept as pets and where sometimes things aren’t quite what they seem… $3.48

Technorati Tags: moon bear, Asian black bear, Tibetan black bear, Himalayan black bear, bears, bear, mammals, Asian animals

Help Save the Moon Bear! is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

A baby giant panda! LOL

If you haven’t seen this video before, it’s must-see! Too funny & waaaaaaay too cute!

Conservation Status:
The giant panda is on the endangered species list!

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ailuropoda
Species: A. melanoleuca

Adult males can weigh up to 253 lbs and live to be 25-30 yrs old in captivity.

It is estimated that there are only about 1590 giant pandas still living in the wild.

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I hope you enjoyed this Bear post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Get more information on their endangerment of extinction:

Giant Panda: In Danger of Extinction! $2.56

Technorati Tags: panda, bears, baby bears, baby, giant panda, panda bear, cute, mammal, bear

Giant Pandas – Giant Cute is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

I’ll bet you’ve never heard of apricot oranda before, and I had never seen anything like them before.

They were actually labeled orange and black oranda and were in a tank full of them, except these two weren’t the typical orange or “gold” color. They are clearly apricot in color and stood out to me!

Of course, loving unique animals, I fell in love right away.

I left the pet store and ran a bunch of errands for most of the day, but could not get these two off my mind.

So, What Did I Do?
I drove right back to the pet store and hoped for the best that they would still be there.

They were meant for us…They were staring me in the face when I got there.

I was only going to get one, but they followed each other all over the tank through the crowd of other orandas.

I didn’t have the heart to break them up, so they both came home with me.

They both are unique in their black markings, and are both equally beautiful!

I hope they’re a breeding pair! My “guess” is that the one with black markings on his lion-head is a boy, and the one that has no markings on her head is a girl…

Problem is, we don’t have names yet. As most of you know, we name ALL of our animals with “K” names.

So, we want your help with name suggestions for these beautiful apricot & black oranda…

Our 3 other fish are named, “Kalypso” (red-capped lion-head oranda), “Kalico” (calico ryukin), “Mr. Klean” (pleco/sucker fish)…

Be Kreative and be Klever people! LOL…Leave your suggestions in the Comment Box below!

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I hope you enjoy this Fish post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Check Out the Ultimate Guide To Gold Fish With Mind-Blowing Information Seen Nowhere Else:

Goldfish Secrets

Technorati Tags: orange and black oranda, oranda, goldfish, fish, apricot oranda, Asian animals, fish, unusual pets

Our New Pair of Apricot & Black Oranda Goldfish is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

I noticed they had thin slices of zucchini in the tanks for the goldfish…I didn’t look at the tropicals.

I had to ask…They said they give them a treat in each tank every day. Sometimes thin slices of zucchini, cucumber or oranges.

Since then, I’ve been “treating” my goldfish with something tasty every couple days.

* Tip: Slice the vegetable as thinly as humanly possible, so that they can actually eat it, and easily. It may be of use to you to use a mandolin or use a peeler to peel the vegetable, but extremely thin.

What I’ve noticed they especially like are Goji Berries! I put a couple dried goji in the tank and it plumps up nicely and relatively quickly. They will all try to take pieces off of it.

Since Goji is the new “miracle” food of today, I thought it would be especially healthy for them. I’m glad they enjoy it too!

Try it with your fish too!

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I hope you enjoy this Exotic Animal Tip on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Check Out the Ultimate Guide To Gold Fish With Mind-Blowing Information Seen Nowhere Else:

Goldfish Secrets

Technorati Tags: fish treats, fish, goldfish, goji berries, fish food, exotic pet food, zucchini slices

Treats for Your Fish? is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

I didn’t know I’d get addicted to all of the brilliant colors and crazy mutations of different sub-species of goldfish.

I have a goldfish wishlist – I’d love a bright orange Bubble-Eye, a chocolate brown Pom-Pom with vibrant orange puffs, a gorgeous colored Celestial Eye, and a blue Oranda!

I need a bigger tank…LOL!

When you go into a good pet store and look at the community goldfish aquariums, it is simply awesome with glitters of so many different colors.

What’s even neater is that when I get these amazingly colored and unique sub-species, they will interbreed giving even more amazing babies!

I can hardly wait until Spring when I can figure out which sex my goldfish are.

I have guesses and have named them appropriately, but I may find out that the fish I thought were one sex are an entirely different one then.

Until I get a larger aquarium, I’d better not get more goldfish than I have already, so I’ll just have to admire the beautiful goldfish at the pet store when I buy food for our animals, and grow my wishlist!

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I hope you enjoy this Fish post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Check Out the Ultimate Guide To Gold Fish With Mind-Blowing Information Seen Nowhere Else:

Goldfish Secrets

Technorati Tags: fish, goldfish, bubble eye goldfish, celestial eye goldfish, chocolate goldfish, pom pom goldfish, blue oranda, aquarium

Apparently, I’m a Goldfish Freak! is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover