Really cute gorilla news!  Rare gorilla twin born.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Baboon “gangs” causing havok in South Africa! They even broke into houses and ransacked fridges! Read here.

Also, this was during the summer but when I was at a state park in Pennsylvania I saw a Great Blue Heron! Way cool, I never saw one in the wild before. I couldn’t get a picture though.

I thought this was very interesting. And I have read of previous instances about the emotional lives of elephants. Dying Elephant Elicits Compassion.

Elephants are just too smart and emotional to be used for entertainment purposes (well really all animals are). That’s why you see footage and stuff about elephants going crazy and attacking at circuses etc. And then they have to shoot the elephant when its not his fault to begin with.

The West African black rhino is now feared to be extinct, announced the IUCN last week.