Zoo- words

Interesting link listing some zoo- related words.

Gorilla Twins

Really cute gorilla news!  Rare gorilla twin born.

Gorilla News

http://gorilla.cd/blog/

Daily updates on the situation in the Congo and how its affecting the gorillas, the park, and the rangers. Check it out!

Animal Group Names

So I always wanted to know these, found it here:

aardvark:  aarmory
albatross:  rookery
alligator:  congregation
alpaca:  flock, herd
ant:  colony, nest, army, swarm, bike
antelope:  herd, cluster
ape:  shrewdness, troop
ass:  pace, drove, herd, coffle
auk:  colony, flock, raft
baboon:  troop, flange, congress, tribe
badger:  cete, colony, set, company
barracuda:  battery
bass:  shoal, fleet
bat:  colony, cloud
bear:  sleuth, sloth, slought, maul
beaver:  family, lodge, colony
bee:  colony, grist, hum, swarm, hive, cluster
beetle:  swarm
bird (general):  fleet, parcel, dissimulation, flight, volery, cast, flock, aviary
bison:  herd, troop, gang, thunder
bittern:  sedge, flock, siege
bloodhound:  sute
boar:  singular, sounder, herd
bovine:  herd
buffalo:  gang, troop, herd, obstinacy
bullfinch:  bellowing
bullock:  drove
butterfly:  rabble, flight, swarm
buzzard:  wake, flock
camel:  flock, train, caravan, herd
caribou:  herd
cat:  clowder, clutter, pounce, cluster, colony, glorying, destruction (wild cats)
caterpillar:  army, nest
cattle:  drove, herd, bow, bunch, draft, drift, mob
cheetah:  coalition
chicken:  brood, clutch, flock, peep, hatching, battery
chimpanzee:  cartload
chinchilla:  colony
clam:  bed, flaccidity
cockroach:  intrusion, swarm
cod:  lap, school
colt:  rake, rage
coot:  cover
cow:  herd, drove, pack, team
coyote:  pack, rout
crab:  cast
crane:  sedge, siege, flock, herd
cricket:  orchestra
crocodile:  bask, nest, congregation, float
crow:  murder, horde, parcel, hover, muster

Polar bears need help!

Hello! I have an urgent action alert from the NRDC about polar bears in the Arctic. Tell the Bush Administration to protect polar bears and their critical habitat. Ice is melting at a faster rate each spring, causing the bears to become separated from the mainland by melting ice and not being able to catch their prey, since they rely on ice holes to catch seals. Please send this message and thank you!

Evolutionary Studies

Some articles on evolutionary studies:

Early Man Couldn’t Stomach Milk.
Chimps Use Spears To Hunt Mammals.
Chimp “Stone Age” Finds Are Earliest Nonhuman Ape Tools.

Sad news

This is really sad and depressing news. Reports of Congolese Rebels eating Mountain gorillas. This article also contains a graphic image that may disturb some.

Also more bad news, 30% of Fish Species in China’s Yellow River are Extinct. Due to overfishing and pollution among others.

New Butterfly

New hybrid species of butterfly discovered!

Bad news for orangs

This is not good news for orangutans. Intentional forest fires in Indonesia killed up to a thousand orangutans this year. If this continues, they may be extinct within the decade.

Self-recognition in elephants

Elephants have been reported to recognize themselves in mirrors. Read the article here. Very cool. The only other animals that have this self-awareness are humans, great apes, and dolphins.