Posts tagged "India"

Kids Mistake Leopard Cub for New Pet Kitten

by Kirsten Taylor (Subscribe to Kirsten Taylor's posts): Oct 26th 2009 4:00PM Filed Under: Exotic Pets

Getty Images

It's an age-old story: Kids find an adorable kitten, bring it home and plead "Can we keep it? Pleeeease?" But this time, the kitten wasn't just any cat.

Children in the Indian village of Bhatvadar brought home a kitten one night last week and played with the fuzzy feline throughout the following day, the Times of India reports. That is, until the kitty growled. "It was only when we heard the cub growling that we realized it was not a kitten, but a leopard," villager Bharat Sakat told the Times of India.

Leopards prowl across Africa and Asia, and a unique subspecies is native to the Indian subcontinent, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The striking, spotty big cats can weigh up to 200 pounds, sprint 36 miles per hour, and leap 20 feet forward in a single bound, the San Diego Zoo reports.

While they're undeniably adorable, the powerful predators clearly don't make great pets. Fortunately, the Indian villagers quickly figured out that they had a leopard on their hands. "Fearing that its mother might be nearby, we released it in the wild near where the children had found it," Sakat said.

So the next time your kids come home with a kitten, whining "pleeeease," remember that it could be worse.

Reform School for Rogue Monkeys

by Michelle Toglia (Subscribe to Michelle Toglia's posts): Aug 10th 2009 11:00AM Filed Under: Exotic Pets, Pets News, Pet Training

Monkeys are an integral part of life in India, where they live in thousands of numbers.
Photo: Raveendran, AFP / Getty Images

Officials in the Indian state of Punjab are putting an end to all monkey business -- literally. The government has sought permission from the Central Zoo Authority to set up a monkey rehabilitation center to provide medical care and behavior training to violent monkeys.

"In addition to veterinary doctors, the center will have experts and it would be a sort of good manners school for the monkeys," a senior official of the Punjab Wildlife Department told The Hindu, India's National Newspaper.

The first-ever monkey reform school intends to target monkeys who invade villages and pose a severe threat to the people in Punjab, where the monkey population has reached 50,000. These badly behaved primates have been caught biting, attacking, stealing residents' belongings, and even terrorizing children.

"Besides people landing in hospitals after encounters with monkeys, the animals also often get hurt when house owners try to chase them away or keep them out by using live electric wires and other means," said Chief Wildlife Warden of Punjab R.K. Luna.

Divisional Forest Officer of Wildlife Jasmer Singh hopes that the school will catch monkeys from residential areas and educate them on being well-behaved and living socially with other monkeys.

While the monkey delinquents are probably not going bananas over the new rehab center, we wish them the best of luck.

Source

Can't Miss Galleries

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=748445&pid=748444&uts=1268346491

http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf

Camouflage Animals

Madagascar Day Gecko
The green Madagascar Day Gecko lives in the dry regions of forests in Madagascar and neighboring islands. They usually grow to be between four to six inches long. Their tail makes up almost half of their length.

Getty Images

Camouflage Animals

Argentine Horned Frog Reptiles
The Argentine Horned Frog, also known as the Horned Frog or Pacman Frog, originated in South America. The green and black amphibian, which can grow up to six inches long, is a popular pets and can live for as long as 10 years.

Camouflage Animals

Walkingstick
The Walkingstick takes its camouflage abilities to the next level by creating the appearance of a stick or twig to hide from predators. While they normally stand still, these insects are able to walk around as though they were a twig caught in the wind. They can be found in tropical forests or woodlands all across the world.

Camouflage Animals

Dwarf Puff Adder
Found in Nambia, the venomous Dwarf Puff Adder hides from the hot desert sun by burying itself in the sand, where only its eyes show.

Camouflage Animals

Stonefish
Often resembling a rock, the brown colored Stonefish camouflages itself perfectly in the ocean. With 13 venomous dorsal spines on its back, the Stonefish can cause tissue damage and respiratory distress, which can lead to cardiovascular shock if left untreated.

Camouflage Animals

Chameleons
Chameleons, the quintessential color-changers, can transform their skin color when their mood, temperature or the amount of light around them is altered. Their hue, which can vary from yellow and pink to brown and black, is also altered when they communicate.

Camouflage Animals

Green Anole
Often confused with chameleons, Green Anoles turn brown when they're stressed or sick. Found in the trees and shrubs of the Southeastern United States, these lizards are popular pets.

Camouflage Animals

The Eastern Wood Frog
The Eastern Wood Frog tricks competitors by changing colors to match its surroundings. Found in North American woodlands, the frog also has a dark black patch from its eye to the base of its front limb that can change colors.

Camouflage Animals