Yes, it’s true. In the USA, about every 8 seconds a cat or a dog is put to sleep. ~8 million pets are brought into shelters each year, and only half make it out alive. By alive, I mean out with an owner who loves them. The rest find themselves in a deep sleep until their hearts stop beating.
Why Jeff Kremer from Big Cat Rescue is Amazing April 28, 2011
Jeff Kremer & Gabby Wild before entering the haven
It was Jeff that welcomed me so kindly to the Big Cat Rescue centre. Without him, all my BCR posts could not be! Jeff introduced me to the cats individually at length (no hand-paw shaking, of course). In detail he shared with me their stories, the donor appreciation engraved plaques, and the history of the centre. He filled me with even greater desire to excite the public about wild cat rescue so that we could better promote their conservation. Hopefully I’ve been pumping you guys up, too!
For those of you who do not particularly know everyone from BCR, who is Jeff? Jeff is a super-sonic, gold-hearted, 1/8 full-time and highly accredited employee at the Big Cat Rescue. He specifically is in charge of donor appreciation, but it’s evident from his record he is more than just that. And each and everyone of you are more than just “that” (or whatever it is that you think defines “you”) by the fact that you care, as Jeff cares, for such creatures. But why is Jeff really so special?
Wacky Wednesday: The Red Panda April 27, 2011
Red Panda (photo from Wikipedia)
It’s the only one of its kind. Literally. The red panda is not part of the bear family and is not a strange variant to the giant panda. The red panda is alone in its genus, making it the only species in the family Ailuridae. Everyone has had trouble truly deciding where in the “evolutionary tree” it belongs because of its similarities to the raccoon family (Procyonidae), bear family (Ursidae), and the giant panda (Ailuropodidae). But do you know which “panda” was discovered first?
Unlikely Friends April 25, 2011
Cameron and Zabu (Photo Generously Supplied by Big Cat Rescue)
They never should have met- at least in the wild, they never could have met. One is predominantly from Africa and the other from Asia. But when cruelty prevails, so, too, does this. These two unlikely friends are none other than Cameron and Zabu, a magnificent male lion and a female Siberian tigress that have made their way to the haven of Big Cat Rescue after a series of unfortunate events. Although their tales may seem adventurous they were much more inglorious for creatures of their stature- or for any creature, for that matter. (more…)
Hippity Hop: A Tribute to Easter April 24, 2011
For some this may come as a shock, but rabbits are a completely different species from hares! Rabbits and hares make up the phylogenetic family known as Leporidae, which is split into two groups: 1) the jackrabbits and hares of the genus Lepus and 2) the 10 genera of rabbit.
From what I read, originally the Easter “bunny” was known in Germany as the “Easter Hare”. So whether you support celebrating Easter with the hare or the rabbit, here is a little tour into their differences that few seem to realize!
The Rabbit:
1) Has been domesticated! This process is believed to have occurred in North Africa or Italy during the Roman Times. Today there are over 100 different subspecies of rabbit;
2) Has shorter legs than the hare;
3) Avoids predators by seeking shelter underground in burrows or by hiding beneath cover;
4) Baby rabbits are known as “kittens”;
5) Kittens, on the other hand, are altricial, meaning that they are born with their eyes closed and are virtually helpless for the first few days of life. They open their eyes after 4-10 days;
6) Gestation is shorter in the rabbit, lasting 27-30 days;
7) Kittens thus are born naked (or with little fur);
8 ) Almost always, rabbits live in areas that have dense covering or ability to form deep tunnels or that already has burrows/tunnels (many rabbits don’t make their own burrows and instead are opportunists that take already-dug-up-burrows);
9) Rabbits use covering for shelter against a present predator;
- Bunnies usually have their floppy ears down, which is typical of baby rabbits.
vs
The Hare:
1) Typically is not considered domesticated;
2) Has longer legs than the rabbit;
3) Avoids predators by outrunning attackers. Some hares have been able to reach speeds of 45 mph (72 km/h)!
4) Baby hares are known as “leverets”;
5) Leverets are precocial, which means that they are born “a little more cooked”. For example, their eyes are open and soon thereafter they are more readily able to hop about in case danger arises (i.e. have more fully coordinated movement);
6) Gestation is longer in the hare, lasting 37-50 days;
7) Leverets are born fully covered in fur;
8 ) Most hares (except for a few forest-dwelling species like the snowshoe hare) live in wide, open terrains that have just a little bit of cover (i.e. vegetation);
9) Hares will use shelter to hide from predators during the day but will run out of the covering and “race” the predator if the pursuer is present!
- Also, according to Aesop’s Fable, the tortoise won the race against the hare, not the rabbit!
These species have many unexpected similarities, but I will reserve all of that for another Gabby Wild post!
For those celebrating the holiday, Happy Easter!
For to all of you, though, Stay Wild,
Gabby Wild
Wacky Wednesday: The Serval April 20, 2011
Serval (photo generously supplied by Big Cat Rescue)
Jumping from the Americas to Africa, we bring you the serval, a medium-sized cat weighing between 15-49 lb and standing between 52-66 cm tall,
depending on the sex. These kitties may remind you of another cat. If you are thinking “strange-looking, little, cheetah”, you would be thinking of the correct cat. In fact, it is believed that cheetahs are descended from an ancient serval.
Servals are classic creatures of the African savannah. Their black-on-tawny spotted fur is well-adapted for the environment, making them able hunters of small mammals, birds, and reptiles. Variations to this classical colouration exist. Just like the leopard, servals can be melanistic (i.e. black). These ones, again like leopards, are mainly found in more forest-dense, mountainous regions. There have supposedly been four white servals observed, but they were all born in captivity.
One thing you may notice upon looking at a serval is the size of their ears. These cats have incredibly acute hearing due to their rather large ears and prominent auditory bullae, which is a vital bone required to optimally hear, as they enclose part of the middle and inner ear.
And as though the serval wasn’t already a cool enough cat, it has one other feature that may be surprising: it has the longest legs of ANY cat for its body size! Wacky, right?
Many of these servals have found their way into the hands of private owners (instead of staying into their own private paws). And the story is “same old, same old”: the owners often don’t know what they are getting into, they adopt the cat, realize they can’t handle it, and then the cat often suffers. Well, not all cats- especially those that are salvaged by Big Cat Rescue.
Keep your claws tucked in your paws because we are still going full-force on adventures to Stay Wild,
Gabby Wild
The “Dwarf Leopard” April 19, 2011
Ocelot (photo generously supplied by Big Cat Rescue)
Also known as the dwarf leopard, the ocelot is one of ten “small cats”. The in-crowd of small cats consists of a posse of 1) the ocelot; 2) the Tiger cat; 3) the Jaguarundi; 4) the European wildcat; 5) the African wildcat; 6) the Black-footed cat; 7) the Sandcat; 8 ) the Jungle cat; 9) the Leopard cat; and last but certainly not least, 10) the Asiatic golden cat. And what makes a small cat different from a big cat is, well, the obvious (i.e. their size) and the fact that they can’t roar. The rest of the differences are genetic…
Our showcase small cat, the ocelot, has gotten quite a bit of attention over the past fifty years. In the 1960′s and 1970′s, small cats such as the ocelot were in such high demand for their fur that ~250,000-600,000 small cat pelts each year were being distributed. The cats with the heaviest hit were the Geoffroy’s cat and, of course, the ocelot, with its beautiful jaguar/clouded-leopard-like colouration. From 1980 to 1990, the number of pelts fell from 450,000 to 100,000. In the 1990′s the fashion trends changed, and popular pelts swapped from being ocelot to lynx and leopard cat. Fortunately the ocelot species as an entirety is not an endangered species, though subspecies of ocelot are endangered. Regardless, endangerment shouldn’t be a criteria for keeping fur on their backs!
So where can you find one of these beauties in the wild? They range from Arizona to Argentina with some being spotted in Trinidad and the Caribbean. They are kitties that prefer living out in leafy vegetation (especially that found in rainforests). But because these ocelots deceptively appear like our domestic cat, many people think that they make phenomenal and loving housecats. Those people who were so duped find out the hard way that these are no purring Persians. Once the angry behaviours from mere tearing up the house to urinating on the furniture like its going out of style take shape, the next thing to fear is their bite. They are WILD! They may purr, but there is no cuddly kitten in the heart of that creature. It longs to breathe in the warm, dew-dropped air of freedom, catch small animals, climb trees, and swim in freshwater lakes.
Some people who did find out the hard way at least had Big Cat Rescue to turn to. At the time they had space for these ocelots, but only so many people can make this grave mistake!
More to come of other small cats and Life ‘O Wild!
Until then, Stay Wild,
Gabby Wild
Baby Elephant Video! April 14, 2011
Gabby Wild is finally on Youtube! Check out the first video and subscribe to future ones:
Enjoy and Stay Wild!!!
Love of a Prince April 13, 2011
Smiling Khun Chai (he's making little happy squeaks here)
Not many know truly what turned Gabby “wild”. I have always been obsessive with all animals since I was a child, but there was one creature who did it to me. It was just one little creature who called to my “wild” side. This “little” creature was only little compared to how big he could have been. His name was Khun Chai, which in Thai translate into “Prince”. He was an Asian elephant, and he was my adopted baby.
Humans can be cruel, but to imagine taking a baby away from its mother is something I don’t want to ever fathom. And this is what happened to Khun Chai and his “biological” mother. A man wanted to take him, raise him/train him to suit his own needs, and didn’t even realize that Khun Chai was way too young to be removed from his mother. So what did this do to poor Khun Chai? It did all too much, including, but not limited to, having Khun Chai feel extremely lonely, disallow Khun Chai to relate and bond with other elephants, weaken his bones resulting in Rickets (a disease of malformed bones due to deficient calcium or activated vitamin D that helps solidify calcium into bone), and be the root cause to why Khun Chai (my baby elephant) died.
As tears stream down my face, I wish to tell you my story with Khun Chai and reflect on the happy memories we shared together.
The first day I arrived in Lampang, Thailand to work at the Elephant Hospital, Prasop, the head mahout, which is a term for “elephant master”, joined me for dinner to discuss the work I would be doing at the hospital. My tasks, which included traveling on the mobile clinic to various private elephant cases around the north of Thailand and to other elephant conservation centres, admitting elephants into the hospital, and taking care of minor surgeries, sounded incredible and proved later to be more than exceptional. Then he said, “We have a baby elephant.” He then saw my eyes grow larger than they normally are, and so he decided to continue, “Maybe you could feed him in the mornings and afternoons if you have time?” Feed a baby elephant! I thought. I would certainly make the time!
I was in love with Khun Chai the moment my eyes fell upon his, which were brown in the dark and grayish in the light. He flopped his big ears and tried to understand me by “petting” me with his trunk. He quite loved my red Coca Cola hat, and then after realized that I wasn’t all that bad, he made little squeaks. I think he was trying to welcome me and tell me he was hungry, so I took the bottle out that I was carrying. I began feeding him by sliding the tube into his mouth (but not too deeply so as not to possibly induce choking) and then allowed him to suck the bottle. As he began to finish the bottle, I would lift it a little higher for him to get out those last few savoury drops. He took a few breaks in between to chew on the little bits of rice and beans that got caught in his teeth. Then when he finished, he squeaked and made it clear that he wanted to follow me to the hospital where I was working. Everyone knew that something special had formed, and every spare moment I had that day, I went to him to play.
Trying to catch Khun Chai's trunk
Got your trunk! (pure play that he loved)
Truce!
Each morning thereafter I would wake up early to prepare his rice, beans, milk + calcium supplemented breakfast, and I would do the same thing for his dinner. I would heat the brew on a classic fire stove, and I would then wait for the temperature to cool down (usually with a fan), testing the temp by a) dropping some milk on my skin and then b) tasting it. I soon realized that this wasn’t scientific, so I standardized the procedure by evaluating the exact amounts of each protein + carbohydrate + mineral content he was receiving for his body weight, and I also picked the best temp in which to give this to him using a thermometer. At the hospital I was given access to his medical files, where it showed how he clearly had rickets and that his calcium to phosphorus ratio showed that he had a great amount of calcium (and thus did not need extra calcium in his diet)! But why did he have problems with his bones if he had more than enough calcium? Then it hit me: he didn’t walk enough to strengthen his bones, and he didn’t get enough sunlight to allow for vitamin D to be activated to then allow the body can use the calcium!
Chef de cuisine, Gabby Wild
Gabby Wild Testing Khun Chai's Milk
Mamma-Gabby-Wild came out of her shell and got her baby up twice a day to go on 30 minute walks through the jungle and around the elephant conservation centre. In doing so, he got to see other elephants (even if he would look at me like, “Momma, what are those creatures with big ears and trunks?”)
The veterinarians all knew that Khun Chai was no longer a wild elephant, even if he was born wild. He would never be able to survive out that world that requires lessons only taught by a mother- a biological one, that is. So they made it their objective to have him learn various different elephant tricks, such as responding to commands and painting. This program at the Elephant Conservation Centre is vital for the better understanding and protection of Asian elephants, and it was the one way to have Khun Chai forever taken care of.
Gabby Wild on a walk with Khun Chai
The mahout who was given the blessed responsibility to tend to Khun Chai for the duration of his life was Pi Tan. His eyes showed love and compassion for the poor orphan who I had adopted (or did he adopt me?). Pi Tan felt the struggle of Khun Chai, and he clearly desired to make Khun Chai his best friend. What is most beautiful about this situation is that they would have become best friends…
Gabby Wild with Pi Tan and Khun Chai
But while I was with Khun Chai for that month, I began to help teach him commands such as how to bow. He learned all this through operant conditioning, the positive reward being a fruit such as banana (his favourite). But his cunning later led him to develop the nickname of “Dwaseop” which, translated from Thai, is like calling him a “little monkey” or “trouble-maker”. He knew when I had a banana in my pocket or behind my hand. He knew when he was going to get a bath or when he was going to be put in his pen (so that I could do work at the hospital).
Resting on my baby while giving him a treat
One day, I peeled a banana for him, and he quite liked the taste of this well-peeled delicacy. So when a tourist came by later that day and handed him an unpeeled banana, he looked at her like, “Excuse me. My mother peels my bananas for me. My name isn’t “Prince” for nothing.” Soon he realized that she wasn’t going to peel the banana for him, so he took the banana, and with his tonial tooth (which looks like a little “baby tusk” but is just large tooth), he peeled the banana himself!
Gaby Wild walking Hand-In-Trunk with Khun Chai
Perhaps the most magical bond that I had with Khun Chai was during our bi-daily walks. We would tour the lakes, walk beneath lush trees, and dawdle through greenery filled with exotic flowers. Never did he did follow behind me or run ahead of me. He walked always beside me holding my hand with his trunk.
Unfortunately I had to leave Thailand and return to my studies at Cornell University in the United States. If I could have taken him with me, I would have, but the winters of Ithaca, NY are polar opposite to the deliciously humid and warm winters of Thailand. So I had to find a way to say “goodbye”, but I really didn’t know how to. I decided it would be best if Pi Tan fed him that morning for breakfast without me around. After he ate, I would go say “goodbye”. When I came by to say those words I didn’t want to say, he could tell I was leaving. I don’t know how he knew, but perhaps it was by the way he could read my eyes or by the fact that I wasn’t there in the morning to feed him or perhaps it was because I wasn’t wearing my normal Thai garb. Regardless of how he knew I was leaving him, he expressed his terribly sadness: a tear fell down his left cheek. (Please know that I am not exaggerating this.) He then took his trunk and grabbed my arm softly but firmly. After making him bow for the last time and rewarding him with a banana, I whispered to him, “I love you, my little prince.” My throat became thick with trying to hold back tears. As I left the beautiful baby elephant on the side of the mist-filled mountain side, I thought of how wonderful it would be to see him when he got older and bigger. I knew that he would always remember me and always be my friend- elephants really do have incredible memories. Sadly, it was the last time I would ever see him. And how I still love him and miss him.
Supposedly from depression, he began eating a little less, and two months after I left he broke his leg. His health went downhill from there, and he passed away. Due to my bond with him, I was not told this until recently (and I do thank the mahouts and veterinarians for waiting because I was nervously studying and preparing for veterinary school applications. Had I known of his death during that time, I would perhaps have gone “madder” than I already am naturally.)
Broken Leg- left in a sling to reduce pressure on broken limb and other limbs
Veterinarians and mahouts working to save Khun Chai
Khun Chai’s life was not in vain in the least. He sparked the passion of this wind-blown, thrill-driven, aspiring veterinarian, and she is going to do whatever possible to NOT let this type of tragedy happen again to another baby animal or any another animal, for that matter. I, Gabby Wild, solemnly swear to be a protector of animals. While animals may certainly be loud and thus not necessarily need someone to be their voice, they certainly need a translator because very few humans seem to understand their cries, calls, howls, chirps, squeaks, gurgles, and buzzes.
Who’s ready to get wild with me?
Gabby Wild!!!
