USA (EXOTIC ANIMAL NEWS) – Sad news comes to the animal lovers out there, who are concerned about the world’s populations of endangered animals.

66 wolves were initially re-introduced to the Northern Rocky Mountains from Canada back in the middle of the 1990s. Today, there are approximately 1650 in the population.

The issue is that the White House is ready to accept a budgetary bill including an unprecedented lifting of the Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in five US Western states, which has been a law in effect for 37 years, and it being the 1st time Congress has approached a species that’s protected as a target.

These lawmakers are trying to justify this provision in the budget because they’re calling it an intervention to a wildlife problem they are painting to seem as out of control. Apparently, wolf attacks are on an increase on livestock and big game herds in these states, and ranchers & sportsmen are complaining, full of resentment.

Any endangered species acts are typically unpopular entities when it comes to conservatives who feel their existence hinders economic development.

The frightening portion of this story is the future ramifications by setting a precedent for even the most endangered and vulnerable species of animals, fish and plants as negotiation chips when it comes to receiving political pressure.

Unfortunately, states such as Montana and Idaho are reeling and ready with planned public hunts in the works to eradicate these “pests,” who just so happen to be quite endangered and one of the most majestic animals of North America.

Patrick Parenteau, a professor of environmental law from the Vermont Law School, claims:

“The president could have used some political capital to influence this and he didn’t…The message to the environmental community is, don’t count on the administration to be there [for the protection of endangered species].”

Some feel this issue is being passed over too quickly and handled too rashly in the hopes of quickly pushing the budget plan through. However, environmentalists are still hoping that President Obama will stand up for climate change, wilderness preservation, oil and gas exploration, but at this point, they aren’t holding their breath with this new ploy. These hopes came with Obama being elected as president, since these types of laws were much ignored during the Bush administration.

Also in the works is a 2012 budget request from the Department of Interior that would put into effect a serious spending cap on a program allowing citizens to petition & list species considered endangered; this program has been used over past decades to list the endangered species that are currently on it!

Kieran Suckling, a representative of the Center for Biological Diversity, explains:

“We are having the worst attack on the Endangered Species Act in 30 years while we have a Democratic Senate and a Democratic White House…They are trying to shut citizens and scientists out of the endangered species process.”

An expert of Endangered Species Act from Florida State University, J.B. Ruhl, believes we should take the wolf provision with a grain of salt, as it was attached to a bill considered a “must-pass,” which was designed & needed to stop the government shutdown that was to ensue otherwise.

“It seems to me the planets had to be aligned just right to make this happen…There might be a wing of the Republican party that would love to see the Endangered Species Act reformed, but I don’t think they are going to be able to ram that through anytime soon.”

We don’t only have the Obama administration to blame, as this idea was first posed during Bush’s administration to lift this wolf’s protection.

Instead of directly answering questions, the White House has directed these to the office of Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar. The funny thing is Kendra Barkoff, a spokesman for the Interior, refused to directly answer any questions regarding this legislation about the Endangered Species Act, touting it as a “critical safety net” that has, over the years, prevented innumerable species from going extinct, but emphatically stated:
“It is our responsibility to continue implementing the law.”

Irregardless, people aren’t happy and they are up-in-arms about it, including Democratic Senators, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Barbara Boxer of California, and Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts. Representative Markey is the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. He is accusing the accused the GOP, aka “Grand Old Party” or Republicans (“Old Boys Club”), of wanting to:

“…kill wolves instead of cutting pork.”

Who exactly can we “thank” for this piece of legislation? Montana’s two Democratic senators, Jon Tester and Max Baucus, which is mind-boggling, since they are democrats. Baucus explains:

“It was a little hard persuading Sen. Boxer and Sen. Cardin that we’re not gutting the Endangered Species Act…They don’t have the same understanding of the wolf problem that we have.”

Fred Cheever of University of Denver: Sturm School of Law, claims:

“It’s a scary road to go down…Everything is a bargaining chip, from bombers to baby care. Riders aren’t limited to the Endangered Species Act.”

Question:

• What’s your take on this provision to life protection of the endangered gray wolf?
• Who is to blame?
• How will you fight back?

photo: wallcoo.netКартиниИдея за подаръкикониикони

Congress Lifts Protection of Gray Wolf, Seen as Precedent? is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal News:

The month of March is Adopt-a-Rescued-Guinea-Pig Month.

As often as possible, it’s important we scoop up the pets that need homes from rescues.

Not everyone has the ability or patience to work with a “damaged” pet to rehabilitate it or bring it out of it’s shell, but in the instances where a person can do so, most animal enthusiasts will agree to encourage this person.

I, myself, haven’t seen a guinea pig rescues out there, but that would be because I haven’t actually searched for one, but when I searched today on Google, there were 226,000 results for “guinea pig rescue.”

I wanted to bring this to everyone’s attention, and hopefully, some of you out there will resort to a rescue situation when debating the adoption of a guinea pig.

Did you know that the domestication of the common guinea pig was back as far as 5000 BC?  Unfortunately, it was for a food source, but that’s what started it all.

Did you also know that the Capybara of South America is a much larger cousin of the guinea pig, weighing in at up to 140 lbs as an adult?

My favorite guinea pigs are the long-haired variety.

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I hope you enjoyed this excerpt of Animal News! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

photo: guineapigcare.com.au

Technorati Tags: guinea pigs, guinea pig, adopt-a-rescued-guinea-pig month, animal rescue, guinea pig rescue

A Few More Days to Participate in Adopt-a-Rescued-Guinea Pig Month is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

The month of March is a month to celebrate and raise awareness of dolphins globally.

They are extremely intelligent creatures with bubbly personalities.

They are mammals, and are closely related to, but are not themselves, whales or porpoises.

There are so many species of dolphin in our oceans that they are too numerous to name here, but there are a few that I will mention that are commonly misnamed as whales, but are actually dolphins in their own right.

These include the “killer whales” (or orca), pilot whales, and the melon-headed whale. Very interesting indeed.

So varied and marvelous they are, there is even a pink dolphin in the Amazonian Rainforest!

Have you seen dolphins play with bubbles? Be sure to check out that link.

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

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more News of all sorts, check out a new website we love, NewsTabulous.com!

Technorati Tags: dolphins, dolphin, Dolphin Awareness Month, Animal news, mammals, marine animals

March is Dolphin Awareness Month is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

Watch Kimberly’s LIVE Interview right NOW with Patrick Harb!

*

Founder of ExoticAnimalLover.com, LivingPink.info & Kapow Models, and international model, Kimberly Edwards will have an exclusive 1 hour LIVE interview with Patrick Harb on February 4th @ 7:00 – 8:00 pm EST.

• If you like to be WITH US in the studio, give us a call at: 905-617-3365
• If you have QUESTIONS that you would like to ask during the interview, you can place your questions in the DISCUSSION BOARD, and they will answer it accordingly.

I will be discussing so many aspects of what’s going on in my life right now! My modeling & acting career, the modeling agency I just launched – Kapow Models & Talent Agency, being the host of Model Rage International, my jewelry line “K, Turn Around” Jewelry, my upcoming Cooking with Kimberly Show, the “Living Pink Movement” for Breast Cancer, my new charity RhabdomyosarcomaInfo.com, ExoticAnimalLover.com…and so much more! ~ Kimberly

• Be sure to tune in LIVE here on Feb. 4 from 7-8pm:

http://ustream.tv/channel/a-saturday-in-hamilton-show

• For more information, check out the Facebook Event :

KIMBERLY EDWARDS Exclusive on USTREAM TV with Patrick Harb

Be sure to go to the ExoticAnimalLover.com Fan Page on Facebook & leave a comment too!

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I hope you enjoyed this Exotic Animal Newsflash! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kenney

P.S. Be sure to grab your autographed prints of Kimberly Edwards!

Technorati Tags: A Saturday in Hamilton Show, international model, k turn around jewelry, Kapow Models, web chef, cooking with kimberly, Kapow Models founder, Kimberly Edwards, Kimberly Edwards interview, Patrick Harb, Living Pink, ExoticAnimalLover.com

Watch ExoticAnimalLover.com Founder – Kimberly Edwards – LIVE Interview NOW! is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

We would like to wish you a very Happy New Year from Exotic Animal Lover!

Here’s some exciting things going on:

• More videos will be coming this year!
• Have you checked out the designs from “K, Turn Around” Jewelry of animals in our Exotic Animal Lover Store?
• Hopefully, Kimberly will be able to get more traveling in this year. That means more cool stories, photos & videos of indigenous
• Looking for exotic animal experts to write on ExoticAnimalLover.com – If you’re interested, please email me with your information: kimberly@exoticanimallover.com
• To request information about certain animals, feel free to email it or comment on a post.

We like to “think outside the box” here @ Exotic Animal Lover!

• If you have a great idea for a project or collaboration with us, be sure to email the details: kimberly@exoticanimallover.com

Happy New Year – 2011!!!

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

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

Technorati Tags: animal news, exotic animal lover, happy new year, animal lovers, animal, animal kingdom

Happy New Year 2011 from Exotic Animal Lover is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

Flag of Papua New Guinea

Scientists from the United States, Great Britain and Papua New Guinea stumbled upon one of the greatest wildlife discoveries ever.

They identified 40 new species of animal never before scientifically recorded in a 1 km deep volcanic crater on Mt. Bosavi in Papua New Guinea.

Among these amazing finds were a species of fanged frog, possibly the largest rat species in the world (Bosavi woolly rat) that had absolutely no fear of humans, the Henamo grunter (a grunting fish that makes noises from it’s swim bladder), a new bat, 2 other fish species, and 15 other frog species.

Animals of the world’s rain forests are proving to be extremely diverse and unique, especially ones that have been in any type of isolation. In this particular area, this crater is 4 km wide and 1 km deep with a volcano that hasn’t erupted 200,000 years ago.

In this “Lost World” there are no big cats or monkeys as the top predators. Instead, at the top of the food chain are giant monitor lizards.

Kangaroos have adapted to living in the trees. Another new species, the Bosavi silky cuscus is a marsupial creature that lives up trees and eats fruits and leaves, had no fear of humans either and came right down to sit on one of the scientists shoulders.

Currently, the rainforest of Papua New Guinea is being destroyed at an alarming rate of 3.5% per year! It’s truly time to stop this destruction to save such endangered species that are not found anywhere else on Earth.

* For more information on this scientific discovery, check out: Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea

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

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more information on the amazing scenery and wildlife of Papua New Guinea, check this out:

Lonely Planet Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea (Lonely Planet Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea) Lonely Planet Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea (Lonely Planet Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea)

Technorati Tags: fanged frog, Papua New Guinea, bushwalking, Mt. Bosavi, Bosavi Crater, woolly rat, grunting fish, Henamo grunter, rainforest, rainforest animals, new species, scientific discovery

News of a Fanged Frog and Other New Species in Papua New Guinea is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

Seven brand new species of deep ocean worms were discovered that actually cast green glowing body parts when they’re disturbed or attacked.

The team was led by Karen Osborn of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

Thought to be used as a defense mechanism to confuse predators, which are unknown as of yet, the  appendages glow green when they’re cast by the worm, and they will actually continue to be “let go” as they’re more and more disturbed.

It’s hypothesized that fish would be their predators as is the case with other swimming worms.

Living between 5900 – 12000 feet below sea level, these species are difficult to find only because it’s difficult to get to. These worms were, then, discovered by remotely operated submarines.

In fact, the worms seem to be very plentiful, often numbering in the hundreds when seen. So, they’re no a rarity deep below the ocean in the northeast and western Pacific Ocean.

They’re thought to have evolved from worms that burrow into the sea floor at deep places in our Earth’s oceans, who also have a bioluminescing attribute.

Their new scientific name is Swima bombiviridis.

Makes you wonder what else is lurking in the great, wide and deep oceans of our planet!

For more information on this discovery and a photo, go to: New species of worms release ‘bombs’

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

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more information about bioluminescence, check out this awesome book about our strange friends in the oceans:

The Winking, Blinking Sea: All About Bioluminescence

Technorati Tags: Swima bombiviridis, ocean worms, bioluminescense, animals that bioluminesce, green bombers, deep sea worms, worms, exotic animal news, Karen Osborn, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, new species

Brand New Species of Deep Sea Worms – The Green Bombers is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:
Scientists have finally discovered where the heck those basking sharks go during the winter months.

Previously thought to be a cold water fish, this shark will migrate from New England in the Western Atlantic all the way down to the Bahamas!

They even recorded one of the sharks they tracked hanging out for 1 month at the mouth of the Amazon River.

Animals are just full of surprises, arent’ they?

What was most intriguing about basking sharks is that no one has ever seen a baby or a pregnant female or a basking shark giving birth.

They measure up to 35 m long and are the 2nd largest fish in the world behind the whale shark.

They are slow moving and generally harmless in nature. Even though they’re sharks, this species is a filter feeder.

They are labeled a threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Lamniformes
Family: Cetorhinidae
Genus: Cetorhinus
Species: C. maximus

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

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Exotic Animal Lover Updates are Just 1 Click Away!

Technorati Tags: basking shark, sharks, shark, fish, marine animals, North American animals, South American animals, ocean animals

Basking Shark Mystery Migration Solved is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Some of you work for Parks & Wildlife commissions or something similar to that.

Some of you are simply ATV enthusiasts for the recreation of it, or for the ability to get out into the wild to see fabulous animals!

What you all need to be aware of is the inherent danger of ATV rollovers, which usually occurs due to a high center of gravity on the machine and a narrow wheel base.

Rollovers can cause serious injury or even a fatality because of their sheer size and weight and the fact that you are not covered and often don’t have doors to protect you if a rollover occurs.

In particular, the Yamaha Rhino Rollover has resulted in numerous lawsuits, which further resulted in Yamaha recalling more of it’s Rhino Side by Side (SxS) ATV vehicles because of this risk.

Riders were experiencing serious injuries such as broken legs, arms, serious spinal cord and head injuries.

Many of these Rhinos didn’t have doors, so when a rollover was occuring, the driver or passenger would try to put their leg down to stabilize or prevent it from happening. However, their legs would often get crushed because the vehicle or the momentum was too heavy and forceful.

Please, be aware of these risks, especially if you have a child with you.

Go slow, especially over terrain you are unfamiliar of and exercise good common sense.

It’s not a race…It’s recreation!

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I hope this was a helpful post in Animal News on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

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

Technorati Tags: ATV rollover, ATV, all terrain vehicles, recreation vehicles, rollover dangers, rollover injuries, Yamaha Rhino, Rhino Side by Side, Rhino SxS

ATV Rollover Dangers is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

As of yesterday, January 18th, 2009, the leatherback sea turtle has been moved to the critically endangered list from being only a vulnerable species in Australia.

Photo left: baby leatherback sea turtle

The leatherback sea turtle is the fourth largest reptilians in the world behind 3 crocodilians.

What is most sad about this fact, is that the leatherback is the only species of animal in the genus Dermochelys. Once they’re gone, there’s none left! NONE!

Why Are They In Peril?
Because the eggs and meat are being harvested in waters outside of Australia, which is causing this animal to seriously decline in numbers.

What’s cool about the leatherback is that it doesn’t have a bony shell, it’s covered by skin and oily flesh. That’s why it’s called the leatherback.

Adults are between 1-2 meters long, and weigh anywhere from 250-700 kg! Wow! That’s huge!

The largest one ever recorded was 3 meters long and 916 kg! Crazy huge!

The interesting thing about this turtle is that it has a huge chance of survival as it can inhabit most of the waters on the planet.

It goes to show you what a state our planet is in if they are suffering to such a degree for survival!

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I hope you find this Turtle post informative on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. To find out more about the Threat to the Leatherback Turtle, check out this book:

Threat to the Leatherback Turtle $25.06

Technorati Tags: leatherback sea turtle, sea turtle, turtle, leatherback turtle, endangered animals, endangered species, animal news

Leatherback Sea Turtle Placed on Endangered List is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover