Volume 15 / Issue 01 • MARCH 2015 YEARS ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
HOW DO BIRDS SHOW AFFECTION?
CHARMING, COLORFUL: THE GOULDIAN FINCH MARCH 2015 BUST DO YOU HAVE THOSE WHAT IT TAKES CAT MYTHS! TO FOSTER A FURBABY?
MANILA BULLETIN Head Office ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Display Ads Section Tel. 527-7515; 527-7517; 527-7520; 527-7524 Fax 338-4564; 527-7533 March 2015 • Volume 15 • Number 1 Classified Ads Section 4EL s &AX Circulation Department ATTY. HERMOGENES P. POBRE President & Publisher 4EL s &AX CHARLENE BOBIS Editor CEBU BRANCH MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING JEFFREY C. LIM Managing Editor Jakosalem corner Zamora Pari-an, Cebu, Cebu City Tel. (032) 256-0125; 256-0127; 256-0128 DAVAO BRANCH
Volume 15 / Issue 01 • MARCH 2015 YEARS MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING ANNIVERSARY C. Bangoy corner J.P. Rizal Streets, Davao City ISSUE Tel. (082) 225-0660; 225-0661; 225-0662 CAGAYAN DE ORO BRANCH MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING S. Osmena corner J. Ramonal, Cogon, Cagayan de Oro City HOW DO BIRDS Tel. (088) 857-1764 SHOW ILOILO BRANCH AFFECTION? MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING Quezon corner Delgado, Iloilo City Tel. (033) 336-9450; 336-9658 NAGA BRANCH MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING Penafrancia Avenue corner Dimasalang St., Naga City Tel. (054) 473-7522; 473-7526 SANTIAGO CITY BRANCH MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING Maharlika Highway corner Abauag Street Poblacion, Santiago City (078) 305-3339: 305-3378 METRO MANILA BRANCHES CUBAO BRANCH MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING 904 Aurora Boulevard corner Harvard Street, Cubao, Quezon City CHARMING, COLORFUL: Tel. 352-4390; 352-4396; 352-4397 Fax No. 352-5974 THE WEST AVENUE BRANCH G/F Delta Building, West Avenue corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City GOULDIAN 4EL s &AX GRACE PARK BRANCH FINCH MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING MARCH 2015 Rizal Avenue Extension corner 10th Avenue, BUST DO YOU HAVE Grace Park, Caloocan City THOSE WHAT IT TAKES 4EL s &AX CAT MYTHS! TO FOSTER ALABANG BRANCH Unit 104 G/F South Center Tower, 2206 Market, A FURBABY? Madrigal Business Park Alabang, Muntinlupa City 4EL s &AX
MAKATI BRANCH Ground Floor, Atrium of Makati, Makati Avenue, Makati City 4EL s &AX On the cover ORTIGAS BRANCH G/F East Galleria Building, Topaz Road, THE GOULDIAN FINCH Ortigas Center, Pasig City 4EL s &AX This gorgeous, colorful little creature is a Gouldian finch, and DUMAGUETE CITY BRANCH Unit 4 Paya Building, Bypass Road, Looc, Dumaguete City you can learn more about it (and why it needs foster parents) Tel. (035) 522-1068; (035) 522-1069 by turning to page 46! BAGUIO CITY BRANCH Unit 102 EGI Albergo di Ferroca Condominium #1 Villamor Drive, Brgy. Lualhati, Baguio City Tel. (074) 422-6070; 422-6204 Fax (074) 422-6324
For Ad placement please call: Direct: 527-7524; Trunkline: 527-8121 to 35 locals 305 or 309; Fax 527-7533 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] THE MANILA BULLETIN OFFICES ARE ALL LOCATED IN THE PHILIPPINES.
Menagerie Charlene Bobis
e’re slowly getting breeder Hansel was one of the more As always we’ve got animal news the hang of what fascinating interviews I’ve done so from around the world, the regular you like to read; it’s far for Animal Scene and it excites columns by Angel Ampil, humor, a shame those who me to know that there may be and more. We’re also always open W have contacted us more such interviews in store in the to your suggestions. Please let us prefer to remain future. While the Gouldian finch is know about what you’d like to read anonymous. We were happy not for beginners or casual fanciers, about in Animal Scene by dropping to hear that readers enjoyed it is still a lovely species of finch to us a line at mbanimalscene@ our compilation of animal love learn about; it is, after all, related gmail.com, or message us at superstitions for the February to the ubiquitous maya we see 63917.926.7431―and we’ll do our issue, and to get comments everyday outside our windows. best to find the relevant experts complimenting us on the revamped We’re also setting the record and to come up with articles you look and lineup is quite heartening. straight on cats; we haven’t will love. We’re also looking for Thank you very much, and please do neglected them, we simply haven’t contributors, especially those from keep writing and texting in; we do had the space, as there is so much animal clubs and those who raise love to hear from you! to feature! You can also learn about their own animals; just drop us a On our cover is one of the cutest their problems, how to travel with line. animals I’ve ever seen: the Gouldian them and other pets, how to deal We look forward to hearing from Finch. Learning more about it from with bird emergencies, and so on. you!
4 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
contents MARCH 2015
Menagerie 4 Contributors 10 Pet Bulletin 12 Animal Person 14 Events 16 Events 18 Pet Bulletin 26 Fish In Your Tank 30 Events 36 Events 79 Animals Seen 90 46 Cover Story Charming Colorful: Pet Quiz 94 The Gouldian Finch Pet Humor 98 Charming, colorful Gouldian finches are an Australian import; while they are delicate, they Pawprints 100 are a delightful feast for the eyes
52 Animal Potpourri The Butanding They’re called gentle giants for a reason. Learn more about the butanding or whale shark here!
6 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
contents MARCH 2015
67 Feature The Basics: Road Trip! Here are a few tips on how to take your pet along as a passenger What to do when you’re going on a short road trip with your pet―and advice for using local public transportation
56 Health The No-Scratch Claws Clause: How to Keep Your Feline from Vandalizing 70 Feature Your Home Love, Birds You asked for it, and you got it: an overview of common cat Here’s how your feathered friends show problems, and how to recognize them. affection Our cover features a pretty bird. But how do birds show affection? 61 AniMythBusting Cat Myths 72 Long the subject of many misconceptions, we set the record Animal Welafre straight about several things regarding cats. How to Foster When You’re Fostering How to foster when you’re fostering: how is it different from adopting a pet, and what does it entail?
64 Top 10 Animals, Animated 76 Feature Graphic novels are a relatively Cool Pets: Ways to keep pets cool this summer new genre, but they are How To: Summer is almost upon us, and we’re not powerful ways of telling the only ones who need to keep our cool. stories. Here are 10 of them for you to consider reading. 86 Feature How to tell if your bird is sick The 101: What can you do if your pet bird has an emergency? Learning how to recognize one is a great first step. 8 Animal Scene
Contributors
MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCENES Returning columnist ANGEL OF ANIMAL SCENE! AMPIL has been a fishkeeper since he was four years PATRICIA VEGA CLIFTON JAMES old. In the many is a dog person F. SAWIT is a years he has been among cat-loving lawyer, writer, keeping fish, friends. She and armchair he has gained has a day job philosopher. He the respect of his peers locally as in government has written for well as internationally. He has been but sometimes several other writing for Animal Scene for over a stays up nights publications, decade. He is a founding member of writing about including Rogue Philippine Cichlid Association (PCA), pop culture for various publications. and Esquire, Philippines. His current Philippine Bichir Brotherhood (PBB), Chuckie (a Shih Tzu mix) and Coco (a pet is a Siamese fighting fish named and Betta Club Philippines (BCP). He chocolate Labrador Retriever) have Machiavelli. He would like to have was formerly the president of the been part of her family since 2007. more, but unfortunately Siamese Aquarium Science Association of the fighting fishes don’t play nice with Philippines (ASAP) and is a corporate other fish. member of the Philippine Arowana and Luo Han Society (PALHS). Also known as “Fishyguy,” he is active in STEF DELA JOSE JOEL local fish shows and exhibits where CRUZ, M.D. QUIZON is a he is often called upon to judge the is a blogger- graduate of entries for specific fish groups like columnist. She Bachelor of goldfish, betta, cichlids, and bichirs. was conferred Arts in Mass the 2013 Communications Health Media at Lyceum of Recognition by the Philippines ANNA the Department University. GAMBOA of Health. She is the proud human During the day, he works as the At some of a cat and a dog, both of whom marketing manager for R2 Holdings, point in her she treats not as pets, but as Inc. and consults for various pre-teen family. Connect with her on www. companies. He regularly contributes life, Anna stefdelacruz.com or via Twitter and for online magazines, PinoyFitness. had 3 dogs, Facebook (@StefdelaCruzMD). com and WheninManila.com. 2 cats, 12 parakeets MAAN D’ASIS PAMARAN has been writing for several and two tanks full of fish all at the publications for more than a decade. While she writes same time--and it never occurred to about diverse topics running the gamut of lifestyle, her that she could’ve pursued Vet business, and showbiz, animal stories are close to her Med. Currently pet-free, she indulges heart. She picks up stray cats from the streets and swears other people’s pets with massages that they bring her good luck. She finds cat videos and the occasional long walk. highly entertaining.
10 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
Pet Bulletin
GRAY WOLF KILLED IN UTAH WAS PROTECTED ANIMAL
By LAURA ZUCKERMAN (REUTERS) gray wolf killed last year by a Utah hunter was “Echo,” a female that had garnered A international attention after roaming from Wyoming to become the first of the protected animals seen at the Grand Canyon in Arizona in 70 years, U.S. wildlife managers said on Wednesday. News that the lone wolf spotted last fall near the north rim of the Grand Canyon was the same animal later killed in Utah by a hunter who said he mistook it for a coyote ignited outrage among wildlife species and can be legally hunted. Western states since several dozen advocates. Federal wildlife officials said an were released in Yellowstone “It’s tragic that Echo traveled investigation into the incident is National Park and the central Idaho over 500 miles (800 km) only to ongoing. Echo was the first gray wilderness in the mid-1990s in a push be cut down by an incredibly wolf to appear in the national park by U.S. wildlife managers to restore irresponsible coyote hunter,” said in Arizona since the 1940s, when the an animal that had been hunted, Bethany Cotton, wildlife program last of the creatures there was killed trapped and poisoned to near director for WildEarth Guardians. as part of an extensive eradication extinction in the Northern Rockies. Authorities have not released the campaign, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ranchers and hunters in the name of the coyote hunter, who in Service said. region blame wolves for preying December reported to Utah wildlife The carcass of the wolf was on livestock and big-game animals officers that he had accidentally shot confiscated by federal authorities, like elk favored by sportsmen. and killed a radio-collared wolf near who submitted it to the University Conservationists argue wolves are the border with Arizona. of Idaho for genetic testing that restoring public rangelands and It is illegal to kill wolves without a confirmed it was the same animal mountain forests damaged from special permit in the Lower 48 states first collared in Wyoming in January overgrazing by deer and elk whose where most wolves are protected 2014 and seen later that year in the populations swelled in the absence under the U.S. Endangered Species Grand Canyon, Fish and Wildlife of natural predators. (Reporting by Act. Wolves in just two states - Idaho Service spokesman Steve Segin said. Laura Zuckerman in Salmon, Idaho; and Montana - are not on a federal Gray wolves have been at Editing by Cynthia Johnston and list of endangered and threatened the center of a bitter debate in Sandra Maler)
12 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
Animal Person TWO FOR THE ROAD
By NORMAN ISAAC have been training He mysteriously died right after the “Blackjack, four minus two?” Blackjack for almost shooting of the ad. I suspected it was Mang Selyo, with his weather- a year,” says Selyo poisoning,” he says with a sad face. beaten face, enthusiastically eggs Redolosa, with a Mang Selyo shares that Jack got PhP Blackjack for an answer. I white moustache, in 3,000 as his talent fee. “Aw! aw!” Blackjack barks Filipino. He is a 72- Mang Selyo, father to 9 children loudly; in volume, he competes year-old native of Leyte. and a former fisherman of Navotas, with the blaring horns of passing Blackjack is gray and white with opted for a less backbreaking job jeepneys. a yellowish tinge; he is also an ‘aspin’ due to health reasons. Now the dog “We will make it more difficult. or native dog owned by Mang Selyo. trainer of over two decades has an Fifteen divided by five?” the master He believes he puts smiles on the assistant: Eddie, 12, his youngest yells. lips of the motley crowd watching child, a fifth grader is fast learning Without hesitation his four- the dog tricks they perform every the tricks of the trade. legged pet snaps, “Aw! aw! aw!” Saturday and Sunday. Truth to tell, The crowd roars approvingly. the tricks the tandem perform wow THE DOG DOES MATH The dog-man team has other the passersby and the crowd milling “Blackjack is good in arithmetic,” acts: Blackjack walking on two around in front of Manila City Hall Mang Selyo proudly says. “Blackjack, feet; sitting and turning around a under the scorching sun. two plus three?” he shouts. basketball; fetching slippers and a “I used to have other dogs basket, where appreciative audience named Habagat, Amihan, and Blackjack barks, “Aw! aw! aw! put coins and paper bills; card tricks; Bagwis. All of them passed away aw! aw!” jumping through a hula hoop; already,” the lanky septuagenarian The students watching are crawling and playing dead when shares. “I even had a dog, Jack, amused; some are clapping, while ‘shot’ with a toy gun. which appeared in a TV commercial. others are laughing with delight. Justifying his street performance
14 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 ANIMAL PERSON
cum trick show, pony-tailed Mang Selyo says, “What I’m doing is THIS MAN FROM LEYTE AND HIS not cruelty to animals. This is just entertainment. I take good care of TRAINED DOG PUT SMILES Blackjack. We even sleep together. I bathe him twice a week.” ON THE FACES OF MANILANS Since he cannot afford to buy dog food, he gives him table scraps. “But I give him fried chicken without mall in Biñan, Laguna, doing our tricks may be just a pause that the sharp bones,” Mang Selyo says routine tricks, he won PhP 3,000 refreshes in the frenetic rat race of with a toothless grin while stroking cash and other goodies. Yes, dog urban living. Yet they put a little smile his white goatee. food!” he beams with pride. on the lips of Manilans on this dog day “Occasionally I enter Blackjack Mang Selyo, clad in a black afternoon. in dog shows. Just recently at a big T-shirt, and Blackjack, and their
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 15 Events CELEBRATING THE LEOPARD GECKO
PHOTOS By JEFFREY LIM ike many other reputable animal groups, Leopard Gecko Philippines – L Classifieds (LGPC) was established with the aim of educating the public about their chosen creature and its care as a pet. Two years ago, the group chose to center their efforts on helping other leopard gecko hobbyists learn more about their pets, particularly how to keep and care for them properly. Leopard geckos are lizards found in the deserts of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and some parts of India. They have been bred in captivity since the 1970s, though
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 16 Animal Scene EVENTS
they only became popular pets in Established on September 20, Roquios, Liezel Delos Reyes, North America ten years later. 2013, LGPC also had an urgent Albert Tagasa, Don Lima, Miguel These lizards are nocturnal mission: to make clear the Villanueva, Nyza Ho, Lemuel (active at night) and terrestrial difference between the Leopard Lauigan, and Jeff Diaz was aimed (land dwelling). They can live up Gecko and the Tokay Gecko, which at uplifting the hobby, expanding to 20 years in captivity under the is currently endangered due to the the public’s knowledge of the right conditions. These include the unfounded rumor that its body Leopard Gecko, and to encourage right temperature and a proper parts can help cure AIDS or cancer. breeders to do line breeding. enclosure, with dry/moist hides, a The group also aims to help Judges were Brian Santos and food dish and a water dish, and an other hobbyists identify the morphs Nick Leoncio, considered one of optional separate calcium dish. (or mutations) of their leopard the pioneer hobbyists for Leopard They also need adequate food. geckos; examples of some of these Geckos since 2007. The grand prize Their diet includes live feeder are also posted on their webpage was a 36 x 22 x 46 centimeter Otto worms, pinky mice, crickets, and for those who want to learn more. Aluminum Glass enclosure, and this roaches – all dusted with calcium A recent competition organized was taken home by the best leopard and vitamins. by LGPC administrators Norman gecko in the show, Blood Line from Geofrylle Benamer.
KNOW THE DIFFERENCE:
HABITATTOKAY GECKO LEOPARD GECKO
DISTRIBUTION Arboreal (tree dwelling), Terrestrial (land dwelling), Southeast Asia, Middle East Western New Guinea
STATUS Endangered species Considered of “least concern”
ENERGY STORAGE Lack of fat deposit in the tail Fat deposit in the tail
DIGITS (FINGERS) Presence of suction pads Presence of nails
AS PETS SIMILARITY Wild/untamed Domesticated/tamed
OTHER NOTES Is mistakenly rumored Can regenerate own tail to be a cure for AIDS/cancer
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 17 Events 2015 PET CITY EXPO A CELEBRATION OF PETS AND MORE
Photos By JEFFREY LIM Reporting By MELVIN TE
vents like Pet Expo 2015 tend to evoke nostalgic memories, especially for pet E fanciers who have early childhood memories of living with animals. It’s no wonder hobbyists looked forward to the second edition of Pet City Expo. What with the public interest being stoked by social media hype, organizers felt the pressure to make the exhibit this year better than the last. The idea of a “Farm Barn” theme for the Pet City Expo was floated during organizers’ meetings, and while there were initial hesitations about whether they Team Pet City: From left to right – Eric Tiu, Melvin Te, Mavi Clamor, Ryan Clamor, could pull it off given the limited James Luna and Boniface Lan
amount of time they had to prepare, the organizers went for it after several days of brainstorming. Finally, booths for the Pet City Expo 2015 included goldfish, betta fish, guppies, birds, hamsters and rabbits, geckos, cats, dogs, arowanas, stingrays, koi fish, and discus. Photobooth and balloon twisting stations were also installed in strategic locations, where kids and families could
18 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
EVENTS
easily see them, have some fun, and get their souvenirs. Inside the venue, there was a big tent where visitors could feast their eyes on displays of planted tanks, aquarium accessories, fish food, and the “Urban Jungle” of which Pet City is the sole distributor in the country. The exhibit lasted from January 29 to February 1, 2015 at the Bonifacio Global City High Street in Taguig City, open during mall hours, from 11:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. There was a ribbon cutting with special guest John Marc Buencamino of Bonifacio Global City leading the event. The event then opened with a short talk from Atty. Benjamin
City Planted Tank Competition; a Guppy Fish Competition; a Betta Fish Competition; and an Arowana Photo Contest. For the planted tank Tabios, Assistant Director of Bureau competition, “Aquascaping Level- of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Up,” 35 hardineros participated; (BFAR). all were provided with tanks for Four competitions helped make uniformity. Lighting and filtration Pet City Expo 2015 even more devices were also given during the exciting. These were the Third Pet contest proper.
20 Animal Scene
EVENTS
The entries this year stunned viewers and were declared by participants to have been far better than those in the previous years, Kudos to the hobby! There is much hope that the country will be able to produce winners in international competitions in the near future. True to its vision of “appropriately-equipped hobbyists and responsibly-owned pets make healthier happier lives,” Pet City sponsored several workshops on goldfish, betta, and guppy keeping, plus Pomeranian and hamster Basics. These were aimed at giving the spectators tips on how to take care of their pets, and ways how to become responsible hobbyists and pet owners.
22 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
EVENTS
Aside from the cash prize, winners were also given plaques and round-trip tickets to Macau.
Judges for all the competitions were from abroad: Taiwan, Malaysia, and Thailand. The event would not be complete without celebrities. Jhong Hilario of It’s Showtime was spotted enjoying the exhibit as well as Martin Nievera, Gwen Garci, and Richard Gomez, who joined the Betta Fish competition and emerged as the Grand Prize winner.
Judges for all the competitions The event would not be Organizers, judging the were from abroad; two were flown complete without celebrities. Jhong outcome of the event and the in from Taiwan, two from Malaysia, Hilario of It’s Showtime was spotted response it received, deemed and one from Thailand. enjoying the exhibit; also spotted themselves greatly rewarded for Aside from the cash prize, were Martin Nievera, Gwen Garci, their efforts in producing this one- winners were also given plaques and Richard Gomez, who joined the of-a-kind event. and round trip tickets to Macau for Betta Fish competition and emerged Looking forward to the bigger two courtesy of Air Asia, the airline as the Grand Prize winner. and more exciting 2016 Pet City of choice. Expo? See you there! (Additional photos courtesy of Pet Expo 2015 organizers.)
24 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
Pet Bulletin
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO TARGET ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING
By RON NIXON oping to stem illegal an “international crisis” - and try chiefly responsible for policing the wildlife trafficking, to reduce demand for those items wildlife trade. the Obama worldwide. Anti-trafficking experts praised administration “Right now, wildlife trafficking the effort as an important step, even H introduced is a very profitable enterprise,” as they said the government faced a Wednesday an said John C. Cruden, the assistant daunting task. aggressive plan for taking on attorney general for the Justice “It’s fantastic that we are doing traffickers that will include using U.S. Department’s Environment and this, but given that there are still intelligence agencies to track and Natural Resources Division. “Our limited resources, the government target those who benefit from the goal is to take the profit out of this needs to really focus its efforts and estimated $20 billion-a-year market. illegal trade with all the tools at our go after the criminal organizations The plan, which was outlined disposal.” behind the trade in the most critical by officials from the State, Justice Bt the planned actions, the result areas both here and aboard,” said and Interior departments, will also of a two-year administration review Crawford Allan, a wildlife trafficking increase pressure on Asian countries on how to limit wildlife trafficking, expert with Traffic, a program of to stop the buying and selling of will be supported by only a modest the World Wildlife Fund. “They can’t illegal rhinoceros horns, elephant increase in funding and staffing for have a scattershot approach where ivory and other items, which the law enforcement arm of the U.S. they put a little money here and a President Barack Obama has called Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency little there.”
26 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
PET BULLETIN
The action comes as the United “We have the same number of century old. But an investigation States has grown into the second- officers we had in the 1970s when of vendors in the Los Angeles and largest market for illegal wildlife the trade was nowhere like it is San Francisco areas last year by the products and a major conduit of now,” said Edward Grace, deputy Natural Resources Defense Council, the products to Asia, where rhino director of law enforcement at the an environmental organization, horns and ivory are believed to wildlife service. “We try to go after found that 77 percent to 90 percent cure ailments like headaches and the big smugglers, but a lot falls of the ivory sold by vendors in the hangovers. Officials say that millions through the cracks.” two cities might be illegal under of pounds of illegal animal products, Since 2012, records show that federal law. including bear and fish bladders, U.S. law enforcement officials have While many vendors tried to pass are sold every year to American and arrested 26 people and prosecuted the ivory off as 100-year-old pieces, foreign customers. The trade has 18 for trading in rhino horns and investigators said many of the pieces driven several animal species to near ivory as part of Operation Crash, a appeared to have been chemically extinction while fueling the growth nationwide criminal investigation aged or physically damaged to look of international criminal gangs. into the black market for wildlife, older. “The ongoing slaughter of rhinos records show. “These fake antiques are a and elephants in Africa is driven by In addition, officials have growing problem,” said Daniel rising consumer demand here, and smashed smuggling rings trading in Stiles, a wildlife investigator based United States citizens are intimately gallbladders and paws from black in Kenya, adding that many of the involved in illegal trade both here bears and the totoaba, a fish in pieces come from factories in China, and abroad,” said Daniel M. Ashe, Mexico that has been pushed to the Democratic Republic of Congo the director of the Fish and Wildlife the brink of extinction because of and Nigeria, where raw ivory taken Service. illegal trafficking. A totoaba bladder from poached elephants is carved As part of the administration’s can fetch up to $20,000 in Asian into statues and altered to look effort, the wildlife service is for countries, where it is prized in soups. older. the first time dispatching officers Court records and other Trafficking in wildlife has abroad to help combat trafficking documents show that the smuggling decimated elephant and rhino originating in Africa, Asia and South rings are made up of Chinese and populations in Africa. The latest America. One officer has been Japanese traders; individuals with figures from South Africa show that posted to Thailand, and three will links to Mexican and South American 1,215 rhinos were killed last year, up be sent to Tanzania, Botswana and drug cartels; Irish gangsters; U.S. from a little more than 300 in 2010. Peru later this year. In its most recent auction and antique dealers; and More than 100,000 elephants were budget request, the administration South African safari operators. killed for ivory since 2010, according asked for $75.4 million a year for the Most traffickers have little to to a 2014 Colorado State University wildlife service’s law enforcement fear, law enforcement officials said, report. Rhino horns can fetch prices division, $8 million more than the because only an estimated 10 percent as high as $30,000 a pound, and year before. are caught. Law enforcement ivory can command prices as high as About $4 million of the funding agencies often lack the resources to $3,000 a pound. would be used to support efforts fully police the illegal trade. Also, Congress is also trying to address to stop wildlife traffic in African fines for trafficking are low, and wildlife smuggling. Last month, Sen. countries and another $4 million to loopholes in the law still allow trade Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. expand forensic labs and add special in some items like ivory. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced agents. The shadowy wildlife trade takes a bill that would increase fines for But even with the increase, place in auction houses and antique trafficking in wildlife and allow law wildlife service officials say that the stores across the country, self-storage enforcement officials to confiscate staffing remains inadequate and facilities in New York, and on the the assets of traffickers. that investigations have fallen from Internet, officials said. Smugglers “The problem with these wildlife more than 13,000 in 2012 to about bring in the items mainly through crimes is that the penalties are too 10,000 last year. The service has 205 ports in New York and Los Angeles. low,” Feinstein said. “They aren’t investigators, and an additional 120 Stopping the ivory trade has much of a deterrent. We want to officers who patrol nearly 40 ports of proved to be especially problematic, change that.” entry, examining more than 180,000 officials said. Under U.S. law, ivory The bill is pending. (2015 New wildlife products last year. can be sold if it is more than a York Times News Service)
28 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
Fish In Your Tank If you have any questions or inquiries about the fish discussed here or if you wish to have your fish featured in this column, please write Angel Ampil at [email protected].
HAMPALA MACROLEPIDOTA: A GIANT AMONG THE BARBS
or a Filipino fish hobbyist, a Barb is a small fish that normally would F interest them when they were children or maybe novice aquarists. Mention a Barb and most likely, people will associate it with the Tiger Barb (Puntius tetrazona). The Tiger Barb is a very beautiful fish with a light orange base body color adorned with 4 vertical black stripes and a red face, fins, and tail. The species also comes in different variants like the Albino, Green Sumatra, and Glass. Surely most fish hobbyists have had this popular species of Barb one time or another. This 2-inch fish, after all, is probably
30 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 %JTUSJCVUFECZ /BUVSBM1FU$PSQ 5FM/PT $&--1)0/&
#OLLAPSIBPSIBLE #AGES 3TAINLESS 0OWDER #OATED #AGES ,EASH H #OLLAR #H #OLLAR #HOKER 'ROOMING +ITS $OG #ARRIER 3TAINLESS $OG "OWL 7ATER &EEDERS 4OYS ATTING FISH IN YOUR TANK
the most popular Barb species in the inches, they basically behaved like The H macrolepidota was first world. Aurelius Barbs and seemed to be described by German naturalist After some time, hobbyist will just another member of a peaceful Heinrich Kuhl and Dutch zoologist try their hands with other Barb community aquarium. Johan Coenraad van Hasselt in species. In the Philippines, other But the big boys are totally 1823. H macrolepidota is one of Barbs commonly bred locally for a different story. They are truly seven species in the genus Hampala. the aquarium trade are the Rosy what monster fish keepers would Incidentally one species, the H Barb (Pethia conchonius), Cherry like to see in a fish… big, fast, and lopezi, is endemic to Langbuan, Barb (Puntius titteya), Golden Barbs voracious eaters. Busuanga in the Philippines. (Puntius semifasciolatus), and Black These three fishes can gobble up H macrolepidota is found in Ruby Barb (Puntius nigrofasciatus), a handful of superworms before you the Mekong and Chao Phraya among others. can actually position yourself in front basins, the Malay Peninsula, and However, these are relatively of the tank to watch. To enjoy them Indonesia. It occurs mainly in clear Tiger Barb sized. eat, you will have to ask someone to rivers or streams with running water If you are looking for bigger drop the superworms for you while and sandy to muddy bottoms. It is Barbs that grow to about 6 inches, you sit and wait. found in most water bodies, except your choices would be the Aurelius Feeding is quite a sight, given small creeks, torrents, and shallow Barb (Puntius arulius), One Spot Barb how greedy they can be, and this swamps. (Puntius terio), Red Line Torpedo fish may actually out-eat a Peacock Barb (Puntius denisonii), and the Bass for food! T-Barb or Spanner Barb (Puntius The H macrolepidota is a large laterstriga), which used to be easily fish. The ones I have are not even available, but seems to be rare half grown. It grows to about nowadays. 70 centimeters or 28 inches, and weighs 7 to 8 kilos in the wild. It is The giant barb also a shoaling fish, so it needs the But among Filipino fish company of its own kind. hobbyists, the giant among the barbs is the Tinfoil barb (Barbonymus Their requirements schwanenfeldii). This 12-inch fish Thus, if you wish to have some dwarfs all the Barbs we are well in your tank, make sure you have an familiar with. That is so because we exceptionally large tank with plenty haven’t really seen the real monster of swimming space since they are Barbs. active and fast swimmers. Since it is Unknown to most fish hobbyists, a riverine fish species, the tank must there are many giant Barbs have a good current and be well- swimming in the mighty Mekong aerated. River that never made their way here A very good filtration system is to our tanks. One such species is the necessary, with adequate flow rate Hampala Barb (Hampala a must. Provide further current by macrolepidota). Thus, when my fish adding a powerhead near the top of supplier said he had three 12-inch the tank. The top of the tank should specimens. I told him to bring them also be kept covered at all times as right over. the H macrolepidota is a very good Actually, I am personally aware jumper. that the H. macrolepidota was imported to the country some ten years ago. In fact, I remember buying some 3-inch juveniles then, but I can’t remember enjoying them because they were small. At three
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 32 Animal Scene Ingredients: Lamb meal, beef meal, ground corn, whole ground wheat, wheat mill run, soybean meal, corn gluten meal, natural flavor, brown rice, beet pulp, salt, choline chloride, minerals (zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, sodium selenite, manganous oxide, mineral oil, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate), potassium chloride, vitamins (vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin, d-pantothenate acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), omega 3 & 6 fatty acids. FISH IN YOUR TANK
AMONG FILIPINO FISH HOBBYISTS, THE GIANT AMONG THE BARBS IS THE TINFOIL BARB (BARBONYMUS SCHWANENFELDII). THIS 12-INCH FISH DWARFS ALL THE BARBS WE ARE FAMILIAR WITH.
FEEDING H MACROLEPIDOTA IS EXCITING AS THEY ARE GREGARIOUS FEEDERS AND WILL EAT ANYTHING.
In Thailand it is known as Pla In the aquarium, the H The H macrolepidota can be Kasoop, and in Malaysia, it is called macrolepidota does well in water kept with other fishes so long as Sebarau. In both countries, the H with a pH range of 5.5 – 8.0 and they are too big to be considered macrolepidota is an important food hardness of 36 – 357 ppm. Being a food. Bear in mind, however, that fish commonly seen in local Southeast Asian fish, it is best kept tankmates should also be fast and fish markets and is said to be of in water temperatures ranging from quick so that they won’t be on H good eating but bony. 20 – 28 °C. macrolepidota’s menu and they It is also a popular game fish; In the wild, juveniles are won’t have to fight the bigger fish sports fishermen aspire to catch it generally omnivorous while they when feeding. using fly fishing gear or light tackle. become carnivorous as adults. When In this age, when keeping Anglers believe weight for weight young, they feed on planktons and monster fish is fashionable, I the H macrolepidota is the hardest zooplanktons. They then learn to hope the H macrolepidota will fighting freshwater fish in their side feed on small insects. be reintroduced to the Philippine of the world. As adults, the majority of their aquarium trade. We tried Personally, I would like to diet consists of fish and shrimp. reintroducing the H macrolepidota see the H macrolepidota in our In captivity, feeding the H 10 years ago, but somehow, its aquariums because it is such a macrolepidota is an exciting activity. popularity never took off. beautiful fish. It has a metallic They are gregarious feeders and will Maybe this time around, the H bronze body adorned by a black eat anything. They hardly refuse macrolepidota can reenter the scene bar or blot between the dorsal and anything thrown to them. Thus they with a lot of noise. pelvic fins. The dorsal fin is generally are very easy to feed. They take Maybe with the same noise you clear in color but the caudal fin or processed fish food like pellets as hear when it sucks down its prey at tail is a vibrant orange to red with well as fresh meats cut to size. the surface of the tank! a black longitudinal stripe at the Superworms are another Imagine a huge tank with a margin of both lobes. favorite. They easily pick these up large Arowana swimming gracefully The other fins are all orange to and swallow two or three pieces at about, a few large Tiger Danioides red in color. It has a large stocky a time. settling in their corner of the tank, head with the eyes located along the But nothing compares to feeding and some jumbo Clown Loaches upper side. The mouth is big, with the H macrolepidota live feeder fish. hugging the tank bottom―and a ‘barbels’ at the side. Its head is hard, Pandemonium ensues when feeder shoal of H macrolepidota swimming as you can hear the ‘thud!’ when fish is offered. All chaos breaks loose all over the tank. Wouldn’t that they accidentally bump the tank in the tank as they race against each “Little Mekong” be a magnificent walls. other trying to gobble up as many sight in your patio? fish they can.
34 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
Events BETTA WORLD CUP 2015
By ANGEL AMPIL he BEP Betta World Cup 2015, an International Betta Congress T (IBC)-sanctioned international Betta competition and exhibit, was recently held at Z Square Mall on Banawe Road in Quezon City, Metro Manila. With a total of 1,006 entries (714 entries for the IBC Division and 292 entries for the Junior Division) from 181 participants from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, and the USA, those curious about Betta fish and Betta fanciers alike enjoyed a weekend of viewing some of the (Left to right) Show host Mika Umali, 2014 BEP auditor & Philippines IBC judge Allan Paul world’s most prime specimens of this Francisco, BEP chairman & Philippines IBC judge Bryan Lim, Thailand Betta Club president & popular fish species. Thailand IBC judge Sarawut Korsoongsak, Betta Club Indonesia, Area 6 IBC representative & head judge Hermanus Haryanto, Indonesia Betta Splendens Club & Indonesia IBC judge Dominikus Ferdinand, and BEP president & Philippines IBC judge Mark Lester Hao.
Beta booth section Trophies and prizes for winners of the Betta World Cup 2015
36 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
EVENTS
BEP models Jannie Judging the Betta World Alipo-on, Honey Cup 2015 were International Lena Bloom,and Betta Congress certified judges Janna Roque Hermanus Haryanto (IBC Area 6 head/Indonesia), Dominikus Ferdinand (INBS/Indonesia), Sarawut Korsoongsak (Thailand Betta Club president/Thailand), Mark Lester Hao (BEP president/Philippines), Bryan Lim (BEP chairman/ Philippines) and Allan Paul Francisco (BEP auditor/Philippines). Betta keeping in the Philippines has gone a long way, observed IBC judge Hermanus Haryanto, who first visited the country seven years ago “This is my second visit in the Philippines and I am very happy to meet a lot of Betta enthusiasts…and a lot now participate in the show. Halfmoon Division The fish are of very good quality. Champion - Owner - I heard from the organizers that a Gerald Prodon lot of these come from Davao and ( Philippines ) they are very good quality too. I am happy that the entries are mostly from local breeders who can now produce competition grade Bettas.” The event was organized by a group that has played a major role in making the Betta a popular fish in the Philippines, the BEP or Betta Enthusiasts Philippines. This is a non-profit organization formed by a group of Betta (fighting fish) hobbyists, which include Mark Lester Hao, Bryan Lim, Bruce Kenneth Tan, Allan Paul Francisco, Genel Cordero, Marc Franco, Angelito Hernandez, and Sherwin Jabines. During the event, the BEP marked its first anniversary of becoming an official IBC Chapter.
38 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
EVENTS
Crowntail Division Best in Optional Champion / Grand Class - Owner - Champion - Owner Marlon Lim - Hendry Sutrisno ( Philippines ) ( Indonesia )
Halfmoon Plakat Division Champion - Owner - Jeffrey Duyan ( Philippines )
The BEP has conducted many shows and activities aimed at making Betta keeping one of the more popular hobbies in the Philippines. BEP president Mark Lester Hao says to Betta keepers and enthusiasts, “I would like to thank each and every one who supported BEP’s Betta World Cup 2015. You have made a significant contribution in catapulting the Philippine Betta hobby to the world scene. We are committed to stage more exhibits, seminars, and
42 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 EVENTS
show competitions for the upliftment of our hobby. Together let us fuel the passion of Betta keeping furthermore. Be one of us.” To know more about BEP and their activities you may view their video at this link: www.dailymotion.com/ video/x227xjn_bep-the-bubble-makers- highlights-hd_animals. Those interested in learning more about Betta keeping may join BEP through their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/ BEP.IBC (With additional reporting by the event organizers; additional photos courtesy of Marc Rozen Franco and Ace Santos)
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 43 Cover Story
COLORFUL, CHARMING: THE GOULDIAN FINCH
44 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 COVER STORY
By CHARLENE BOBIS PHOTOS By JEFFREY LIM
ptly also called the rainbow finch, the Lady Gouldian Finch originated in Australia. A glance will tell you why it’s popular; it’s small, utterly cute, and colorful. ManyA other finches are also attractive, but breeder and fancier Hansel Sy says, “Finches are nice to look at, and they look clean.”
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 45 COVER STORY
HANDLE WITH CARE feathers must be brilliant. Watch out for diarrhea and keep the bird Hansel explains that there aren’t from getting cold; you’ll know it’s too many finches in the Philippines cold if its feathers are standing up. to begin with; the birds are very If it is sick, put it in a ‘hospital cage’ expensive despite their small size. made of wood that’s draft-proof; But, being small birds, small Hansel explains that such boxes mistakes can kill them, he cautions. have screens or wire and have a light It’s worth mentioning that Googling inside to heat the birds. the breed will include some Currently classified by the sources that will say the bird is International Union for Conservation popular because it is easy to raise. of Nature (IUCN) as “endangered in Responsible breeders have carefully the wild” since 1992, the Gouldian reserved judgment on this but their finch’s population is declining, experience—and Hansel’s—have and it’s the serious hobbyists who taught them that the Gouldian finch are helping conservationists and is not a bird for a casual or beginning scientists save the species. bird keeper or fancier. Hansel says he’s been fascinated Finches of different subspecies with birds since childhood; back then, have different temperaments, Hansel all he had access to were lovebirds. cautions, and the Gouldian is one He considered them to be very of the more delicate of its kind. You colorful and cared for them; later, can, however, expect them to live up he saw finches such as star finches to 10 years with care. in magazines and on the Internet. For one thing, these birds are That’s what helped expand his not to be handled on a regular appreciation of the hobby. basis as they are quite sensitive to stress, he says. They are also easily DRAWING FROM EXPERIENCE scared, and should not always be disturbed. In short, they are creatures Hansel’s experience has taught best appreciated from a distance; him much about raising this delicate appreciating the Gouldian finch creature, which does not like to requires patience, imagination, and be startled. He credits a friend the ability to leave the bird alone. and fellow fancier, Raffy Yap, for Likely the fact that it does not have a teaching how to keep them. Along particularly sweet song compared to the way, he’s learned a few other other birds will make the latter piece things, including the fact that of advice fairly easy—in fact, it is Gouldian finches tend to be scared mostly silent. easily, so it’s best to leave them How do you know a Gouldian alone. “Don’t disturb them a lot,” he finch is healthy? Hansel says their cautions.
46 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 COVER STORY
“FINCHES ARE NICE TO LOOK AT, AND THEY LOOK CLEAN.”
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 47 COVER STORY
“THE GOULDIAN IS A VERY QUIET BIRD; JUST FEED IT WELL, KEEP ITS ENVIRONMENT CLEAN… DON’T HOLD OR PLAY WITH THEM THIS WILL STRESS THEM OUT AND CAN KILL THEM.”
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 48 Animal Scene COVER STORY
THE CHALLENGE OF BREEDING
Having plants nearby also Gouldian finches like company, helps; they appreciate having and ideally should be kept in, at foliage nearby. “They like shaded the minimum, pairs. When mating, environments not exposed to sun; the male Gouldian finch does an they like the outdoors,” Hansel says. interesting courtship dance that But as with any other bird, owners shows off its colors. Once mated, a need to ensure that their cages are female lays from 4-8 eggs (with the always clean so that these will not number decreasing as the bird ages), attract mice, rats, or other vermin and normally, both male and female that can prey on the Gouldian finch. brood the eggs. “You must study them first,” The interesting part, he says, is Hansel insists. “Don’t take the bird that even the males sit on nests; they lightly. You can join finch clubs to are parental in nature. And paired learn more about them. But be sure mature males can care for young you’re serious about it.” Unlike other, together; in 8 – 12 months, Gouldian hardier bird species, the Gouldian finches are mature, Hansel explains. finch requires that the owner be Pairs tend to bond together and familiar with the vagaries of bird- breeders do not recommend that keeping. You can’t wing your way they be separated. (apologies for the pun) through It can be somewhat different caring for a Gouldian finch. when the birds aren’t in the wild. For one thing, their temperature “It’s better if they are compatible; preference is “just right,” Hansel they’re like people, with individual explains; neither too cold nor too temperaments. The happier they hot, owners need to be alert to when are together, the better,” Hansel the weather is too hot (so that they says when asked about what it’s can bring the birds indoors) or when like to breed the Gouldian finch. But it’s too cold. While the Gouldian finch mating is just the first step. There is a is normally a seed eater, preferring behavior in which one of the parents grass seeds, those kept by fanciers, tosses a chick away; this is when Hansel explains, has a diet that a breeder knows it’s time to use a includes chicken eggs mashed with foster parent. bread crumbs. They can also have “We have foster parents for the fresh leafy greens. birds when we breed them; we use For a treat, you can feed them the Bangalesh or society finch,” he flatworms, Hansel says. Gouldian explains. finches are known to be insect eaters When the Gouldians have eggs in the wild during mating season, and have difficulty brooding, the after all. “You can buy the flatworms breeders give these to the foster from aquatic suppliers. Just feed a parent birds to care for. While other little; they eat those quickly!” He bird species also require foster also advises that the birds be given parents for their young, Hansel says Vitamin C; a powder can be bought it’s a breeder art to find them. from veterinarians or veterinarian “The Gouldian is a very quiet bird; supplies which can be dissolved in just feed it well, keep its environment their water. They particularly need clean…Don’t hold or play with them this when the weather is cold, and this will stress them out and can kill daily, they need clean water daily. them,” Hansel sums up.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 49 COVER STORY
“DON’T TAKE THE BIRD LIGHTLY. YOU CAN JOIN FINCH CLUBS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM. BUT BE SURE YOU’RE SERIOUS ABOUT IT.”
50 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 QUICK COVER STORY FACTS
Scientific Name Erythrura gouldiae
Native habitat Tropical savannah woodlands
Migratory behavior Nomadic within 40 square kilometers; they follow food and water sources
Estimated population About 100,000 birds worldwide
Appearance Brightly colored, featuring black, green, purple, red, and yellow; mutations like the ones featured here show even more colors. Males tend to be brighter-colored than the females. Color mutations include dilute, yellow-bodied, blue-bodied, silver, and pastel.
Size About 5 inches from head to tail
• Bastion Hills, next to the town of Wyndham in eastern Found at Kimberley, Australia (biggest concentration observed) • Northern Australia, from the Cape York Peninsula through north-west Queensland
• First described by British ornithological artist John Gould DidDid youyou know?know? in 1844, he named the finch after his wife Elizabeth. • Newly hatched Gouldian finches, which are born bald (feathers do not appear until they’re about two weeks old) have light-reflective (not luminescent as claimed by some) markings/nodules in and around their beaks. • In the 1989 “Batman” movie, the Catwoman character played by Michelle Pfeiffer swallows a bird in one scene— and it’s a Gouldian finch. • It is the only grassfinch that nests exclusively in tree hollows or holes in termite mounds. This makes it vulnerable to wildfires. • When this bird molts, it can lose so many feathers, it looks bald. The molting process can be stressful for the Gouldian finch. • A parasite called the “air sac mite” was largely responsible in the dramatic decrease in the number of Gouldian finches, as was the decrease in the woodlands they prefer to call home. • Female Gouldian finches can control the sex of their babies! • This colorful bird is part of the logo of the electronics company Viewsonic.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 51 Animal Potpourri BUTANDITHE N
here’s a ‘gentle giant’ two dorsal fins towards the rear of on the 100-peso bill, its body and a two-lobed tail. although you may A previous article in Animal not have noticed it. Scene stated, “The largest recorded T Billed as the biggest individual whale shark was almost 13 fish in the world, the meters long and weighed more than whale shark or ‘butanding’ is known 21.5 metric tons. Not actually a whale to grow up to 9 meters in length. and more of a shark, the whale Those who have traveled to Donsol shark is a filter feeder, like a whale, in Sorsogon in southeastern Luzon filtering tons of plankton, krill, small know that they can interact directly fish, and other tiny ocean tidbits with these fish. through its mouth and gills.” While in the past, local fishers This accounts for their large tended to kill this slow-moving fish, mouths (with 3,000 teeth) and five eco-tourism has helped preserve pairs of gills. Only three shark species their population. First identified in are known to filter feed, with the 1828 in Africa, this distinctly yellow- other two being the basking shark marked shark has a flattened head (incidentally the second biggest fish and a round, blunt snout―unlike in the world) and the megamouth most sharks, which have their shark. mouths under the head. It also has Unlike other sharks, the a spiracle or vestigial gill slit behind butanding need not swim forward to its eye for breathing when it rests on feed; it can stay in a vertical position the sea floor. and simply bob up and down, The mouth has two barbell-like swallowing water and filtering it for protrusions from its nostrils that food. When it shuts its mouth, water give it a friendly, almost comical leaves through its gills and whatever look. Overall, the butanding tends isn’t forced out through there is to be gray or brown with a white what the butanding feeds on. belly, and has vertical and horizontal Unlike most sharks, which elicit stripes. These markings are unique a shudder of fear, the butanding to each individual of the species and is harmless to humans. Donsol is can help identify them. a seasonal feeding site for a large Its skin can reach 10 centimeters school of them, and you can go in thickness, and females tend to be snorkeling with them; just avoid bigger than the males. It also has photos in which you harm or hurt
52 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 ANIMAL POTPOURRI NG
them! Also, swimmers and divers are offspring about 40-60 centimeters advised to keep clear of its large tail long. While the female can carry fin, which can accidentally hit and up to 300 embryos, only about 10% injure them. of these are expected to survive Tip: younger butandings tend to birth, and these take 30 years to be more playful! It’s easy to stay to reach maturity. Once born, the abreast of butandings, which reach mother leaves her offspring, making a top speed of, at most, 5 kilometers them vulnerable to predators. per hour; they move their entire There are long intervals between bodies from side to side to swim. pregnancies, though they are While their mating habits have expected to live up to 150 years in not been observed, whale sharks the wild if left alone. Given that are known to be oviviparous (eggs the Philippines has the highest hatch and develop in the uterus of concentration in the world of whale the female). They give birth to live sharks, when in 1998, it banned
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 53 ANIMAL POTPOURRI
all fishing, selling, importing, and exporting of whale sharks for commercial purposes, this was a good move for the preservation of the species. India (2001) and Taiwan (2007) followed suit. What a lot of people don’t know is that the whale shark is an important part of the marine ecosystem, linked to the survival of creatures like crab and other fish, and even coral reefs. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the butanding to be a vulnerable species, especially crucial because there are no population records for it. It is listed on the CMS Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks, along with 6 other shark species; it is also on Appendix II of the 2003 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that regulates the international trade of live specimens and their parts. (Compiled by CFB)
54 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 ANIMAL POTPOURRI QUICK FACTS
Scientific Name Average weight Found at Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) Approximately 750 to 1,500 Seasonal feeding areas, which kilograms include (in addition to Donsol Habitat in Sorsogon): Tropical, warm-temperate waters; Diet they seem to prefer the bottom of Plankton and krill • Southern and eastern parts of the sea South Africa; Also known as Habits Vietnam: Ca Ong • Saint Helena Island in the South Highly migratory (literally means “Sir Fish) Atlantic Ocean; Mexico and throughout Latin Depth America: Pez dama, or domino • Gulf of Tadjoura in Djibouti, Can dive to 1,200 meters (because for its patterns of spots) Gladden Spit in Belize; Africa: Papa Shillingi in Kenya (in the Size belief that God threw • Ningaloo Reef in Western Anywhere from 4.5 to 14 meters shilling coins on it, hence its spots) Australia; in length Indonesia (Java): geger lintang, meaning, “stars in the back” • Lakshadweep, Gulf of Kutch, and Saurashtra coast of Gujarat in India; • Útila in Honduras;
• Southern Leyte, Pasacao, and Batangas in the Philippines;
• Off Isla Mujeres and Isla Holbox in Yucatan and Bahía de los Ángeles in Baja, California, and México;
• Ujung Kulon National Park and Nabire National Park in Indonesia;
• Nosy Be in Madagascar;
• Off Tofo Reef near Inhambane in Mozambique;
• Tanzanian islands of Mafia, Pemba, Zanzibar;
• Dimaniyat Islands in the Gulf of Oman; and
• Al Hallaniyat islands in the Arabian Sea
Did you know? Butandings can process over 6,000 liters of water per hour when they feed.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 55 Health THE NO-SCRATCH CLAWS CLAUSE: HOW TO KEEP YOUR FELINE FROM VANDALIZING YOUR HOME
56 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 HEALTH
By STEF DELA CRUZ, M.D. woven mat with a soft blue-and- white fabric. An authentic ikat rug A with pretty fringes. A couch with a classic pinstripe pattern. A delicate, white curtain that touches the floor. No, this isn’t a wish list for someone trying to furnish a brand- new home. It’s a list of things which have been probably been torn, scratched, and vandalized by―who else?―your beloved cat! If you’re watching helplessly as your cat scratches your expensive bedsheets in blissful ignorance, consider this your emergency intervention.
THE FURNITURE VANDALIZER... A.K.A. YOUR CAT! Stop scratching your head and Why it’s more serious than you 1. Your cat thinks it’s an ugly, wondering how to keep your feline think useless thing. friend from ruining everything it “It’s just a cat that wants to You come home happy one gets its paws on! There’s no need to scratch stuff. What’s so serious about day with what promises to be the steer clear of fabric altogether, but that?” one might ask. solution to your problems. It costs a there’s no need for your upholstered Yes, the perennial scratching little more than you expected from furniture to go to waste, either. puts a strain on the budget, what something that looks blah, but the with furniture being thrown out saleslady over at the pet shop said WHY HE DOES IT or reupholstered and new curtains it will put an end to your cat-scratch All the seemingly destructive being purchased every now and misery. scratching is actually normal cat again. But that’s just scratching the Unfortunately, your cat pretends behavior, says veterinarian and pet surface. the expensive scratching post you expert Dr Rizalyn Zunio, co-founder What’s worse is this: It puts a bought doesn’t exist. Even after you of The Pet Project Veterinary Clinic strain on a cat’s relationship with his followed the vet’s instructions by and Surgery. She said that before beloved human! placing his paws on the scratching you scold your cat for poking Many frustrated cat owners label post, your cat just won’t use it. another hole through your blanket, their feline companions stubborn it’s best for you to understand that and uncooperative―some even go 2. YOU think it’s an ugly, useless they “need to scratch.” as far as to call them evil - once their thing. Your cat is itching to get his paws cats go on a scratching spree. This Whether or not it works, it just on almost every fabric it sees―he misunderstood feline habit puts a stands there in the corner, looking believes it’s part of his being a fab wedge between a cat and his human like an out-of-place tree that lost its feline. When he scratches his claws companion, one that may very well leaves after giving up on life. Yes, it’s on the carpet, he is simply trying to lead to a frustrated human and a not pretty―and it sticks out like a complete his daily grooming ritual homeless cat. sore thumb. by sharpening his claws. Life with a cat isn’t always purr- If he doesn’t keep his claws sharp, THE PROBLEMATIC SOLUTION fect. Your cat’s relentless scratching, he can’t paw his way up the walls or Buying a scratching post for your however, is something you can put a climb up his favorite bookshelf. He cat makes sense. It allows him to go stop to. might even hurt himself if he can’t on with his regular grooming, sans latch on while surveying his territory the furniture mayhem, of course. (a.k.a. your home) from atop the However, there are a few problems kitchen cabinet! you may encounter.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 57 HEALTH
WHO HASN’T HAD TO DEAL WITH CATS DAMAGING FURNITURE? HERE’S SOME ADVICE FOR DEALING WITH THIS COMMON PROBLEM. AND YES, CATS AND NICE FURNITURE CAN MIX!
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS If you can’t get that scratching post to work for you and your cat, there are two things to focus on: deterring your cat from scratching the furniture, and encouraging him to scratch where you want him to.
MARKING NO-SCRATCH AREAS Notice how your cat rubs against the legs of your table? He’s marking his territory by rubbing his cheeks against the wood. This transfers his scent onto furniture, effectively marking the vicinity as his territory. In other words, your cat uses scent as a way to communicate! This is something you can do if you want him to understand your message. Use odors to ward off a cat from areas he shouldn’t scratch. You can purchase deterrent sprays that smell “Shawn likes climbing trees,” says happy purrent Jonna Baquillas. of citrus, Dr Zunio advises. Your If your cat does, too, he needs to sharpen his claws by scratching them on anything cat has a keen sense of smell; his that provides resistance… including your couch. (Ouch!) sensitive nose will find the tangy odor too overwhelming. However, if your cat is unfazed by commercial lemon-scented sprays, PROVIDING DO-SCRATCH AREAS 2. Resilient woven mats as why not make your own? Mix With a little creativity and upholstery protection chopped chili peppers in a bottle of resourcefulness, you can live a happy If your cat loves scratching your water and spritz on areas where he life without ever having to buy a couch, protect the sensitive fabric likes to scratch! scratching post! Here are a few with a decorative mat that can “It may seem extreme, but it may alternatives. withstand his claws! There are many work in worst-case scenarios,” says woven mats that come in different Dr Zunio. Just make sure to do the 1. Area rugs made of tough patterns and colors. These can spraying while your cat is away. fibers prettify your couch even as they give Are curtains your cat’s preferred Cats are drawn to rough fibers; it a layer of protection. scratching area? Keep them from they know they make more effective Of course, don’t forget to reward becoming too much of a temptation claw sharpeners. Fake sisal rugs your cat when he scratches in the by tying their ends away from the make a good neutral palette for right places! Give him a healthy treat floor. (Having a do-scratch rug home decorating while also giving and tell him he’s doing a great job. nearby might also do the trick; see your cat a scratch-resistant area to below.) sharpen his claws!
58 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 HEALTH
CAT- (AND FURNITURE-) FRIENDLY SCRATCH SOLUTIONS
The first thing you need to understand is that scratching is normal cat behavior. It isn’t done to destroy a favorite chair or to get even. Cats scratch to remove the dead husks from their claws, mark territory, and stretch their muscles. Here’s a cheat sheet of solutions from this article for you to clip and keep:
1. For items resistant to staining: 5. Treats and rewards for when Citrus sprays or scents; chopped chili Kitty scratches the right thing mixed with water and used as a spray 6. Cheap slipcovers for expensive furniture 2. Do-scratch mats and posts placed near items you don’t want scratched 7. Weekly trims for kitty’s toenails (always cut only at the end and never cut anywhere near 3. Sisal (or fake sisal) rugs and the red part of the nail!) cheap woven mats as “do-scratch” mats 8. Why not try using a squirt gun filled with water? You just spray Kitty every time s/he scratches 4. Scratching posts placed all something inappropriate. over the house (added bonus: many makers of such items donate part of 9. Ask your vet about the their proceeds to animal causes and/ rubber or soft plastic caps that or shelters) can be attached to Kitty’s claws to keep him or her from scratching inappropriately.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 59 HEALTH
NO TO DECLAWING!
Declawing, also known as nerves, the joint capsule, collateral That’s because you’ve taken away onychectomy, is a cruel and pointless ligaments and the extensor or flexor a cat’s first line of defense―hence procedure, expensive, irreversible, tendons. Amputation of the third they become more aggressive. and with lifelong detrimental health phalanx or the first toe bone that Declawed cats walk with effects on a cat. PETA unequivocally houses the nail drastically alters constant pain, can no longer use declares, “If performed on a human the confirmation of the feet, which the litterbox (because the litter gets being, declawing would be like can lead to a whole host of physical into their wounds), and have to cutting off each finger at the last complications such as chronic small relearn how to walk. While a few knuckle.” bone arthritis, degenerative joint sites like webmd.com claim that Expert Dr. Karen Becker explains, disease, and neuralgia.” there is “no evidence” of all of the “Cats use their claws for balance, There are no known benefits above aftereffects on a declawed exercise, and stretching and toning to cats from declawing, no matter cat and that declawing is “okay,” the muscles of their legs, back, what mercenary veterinarians out the experience of a majority of shoulders and paws. They also use to make a quick buck will tell you. veterinarians, cat owners, humane them to hunt and capture prey, to Humanesociety.org explains, “People shelters and workers, and many escape or defend against predators, often mistakenly believe that other experts speaks volumes. and as part of their marking declawing their cats is a harmless If you feel you need to declaw behavior when they live outdoors.” “quick fix” for unwanted scratching. your cat, please give it up for Dr. Becker adds, “Declawing isn’t They don’t realize that declawing adoption instead of subjecting it a nail trim or even nail removal. can make a cat less likely to use the to a lifetime of pain and cruelty. It’s removal of the claw, bones, litter box or more likely to bite.” (Compiled by CFB)
60 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 AniMythBusting CAT MYTHS
Compiled and edited By CLIFTON JAMES SAWIT ats are mysterious, 1. CATS HAVE NINE LIVES to dangerous situations in order inscrutable creatures, to preserve the one life that they sometimes sacred We’ve all seen or heard about actually have. Cat owners should animals, sometimes feline brushes with death that leave make sure that their pets get regular C witches’ familiars. vet checkups and have a safe home them completely unscathed, like It’s no wonder then falling from great heights, going a environment away from high falls that we humans have accumulated long time without food, or narrowly and other hazards. Don’t leave your many myths about our feline friends, avoiding incoming traffic. This seems cat’s safety in the hands of myth! perhaps in an effort to explain their to lend some credence to this myth, sometimes bizarre behavior. But which appears to have started in 2. CATS ALWAYS LAND ON which ones are true and which ones ancient Egypt, where the Ennead, or THEIR FEET are simply old wives’ tales? Let’s the nine gods, sometimes assumed take a closer look at our domestic the form of a cat while entering the Speaking of high falls, we’ve companion and separate furry fact underworld. all heard of someone described as from fiction! But cats are simply nimble being like a cat, always landing creatures who can react quickly on their feet after a fall. Cats have
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 61 ANIMYTHBUSTING
a righting reflex that allow them The doctor’s unconfirmed ranting Still, cats should be supervised to reorient themselves in the air toward the local newspaper aside, when they are around babies, as they fall, using their unusually while cats have been known to curl and should be put out of the crib flexible backbones and their lack of up next to a baby while it’s sleeping, whenever the baby is sleeping. In collarbones. this is because cats like heat and fact pediatricians recommend that Contrary to popular belief, even comfort, not because they’re stealing the crib of a sleeping infant be clear tailless cats have this reflex, and the the baby’syg life essence through of anythingyg else, , whether it’s toys, y, tail is more of a counter-weight for mamagic.gic. However, there is a fear that ppillows,illows, or, yes,yes, cats. when the cat is running, jumping, or iiff the cat lies across the ffaceace ofof a turning at high speed, and is not a sleeping baby it might smother the 4.4. DDON’TON’T LETLET A BLACKBLACK CATCAT deciding factor in its ability to land cchild.hild. CCROSSROSS YYOUROUR PATHPATH on its feet. In 2000 a woman rereportedported that That being said, cats do need sshehe foufoundnd hherer six-week-oldsix-week-old sosonn Everyone’sEveryone’s heard this one: It’s bad at least 12 inches of height in order ddeadead with their cat lalayingying on its lluckuck to let a black cat cross yyourour to perform this maneuver. Any less fface.ace. However, furtherfurther examination ppath.ath. Gamblers in pparticulararticular avoid and there simply isn’t enough time showed that SIDSSIDS,, or Sudden Infant during the actual fall for the cat to DDeatheath SSyndrome,yndrome, not the ffamilyamily cat, right itself. Also, cats can still break wwasas tthehe cause ofof death.death. bones or even die from extreme falls, so condo and high-rise dwellers who own cats, make sure your cat doesn’t nap on the edge of your balcony!
3. CATS STEAL THE BREATH FROM BABIES
Here’s a strange one: According to one myth, cats have the mystical ability to suck the breath out of babies’ mouths while they are sleeping. Some people say it’s because cats can smell milk on the breath of babies and just can’t help themselves, while others think cats are jealous of all the attention babies get from other humans. This isn’t a new myth, and has been quoted in print since 1607. One jury at a coroner’s inquest in England found a cat guilty of stealing a baby’s breath, probably influenced by this superstition. A doctor in Nebraska was quoted in 1929 as having seen “the family pet in the very act of sucking a child’s breath, lying on the baby’s breast, a paw on either side of the babe’s mouth, the cat’s lips pressing those of the child, and the infant’s face pale as that of a corpse, its lips with the blueness of death.” Yikes.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 62 Animal Scene ANIMYTHBUSTING
black cats on their way to the casino. Charles I, the ill-fated 17th But why? And why black cats in century King of England, had a black particular? cat. When his beloved pet died, he Black cats weren’t always seen as declared that his luck was gone. The harbingers of doom. In the famously next day, he was arrested, charged cat-revering culture of ancient Egypt, with treason, and later executed. blackblack cacatsts were assocassociatediated withwith ththee So what was the PR disaster that goddessgoddess Bast, who ruled not onlonlyy turned public opinion against black ccatsats but also fifire,re, the home, and cats? It was being associated with pregnantpregnant womenwomen.. witches during the Middle Ages. The onset of the Black Death, the plague that killed millions of people across Europe, drove the local populations of cities and towns to blame outsiders, particularly those who did not practice the Christian faith, such as Jews and pagans. Soon, rumors of devil worship spread like the plague itself, and everything associated with witches gained a bad reputation, even all the way to America, with its famous Salem witch hunts. This meant that lonely old ladies who took care of neglected alley cats in cramped medieval towns and cities were often seen as witches, and their feline charges as their demonic familiars. But that’s just the way superstition works, isn’t it? Nonetheless, cultures across time viewed the black cat as a symbol of good luck. For instance, a strange black cat’s arrival at a Scottish home signifies prosperity. Black cats are also considered lucky in Japan, particularly for single women. A black cat is believed to bring a woman many suitors. Maybe they’re there to visit the cat? It gets even more complicated in Germany: if a cat crosses from right to left, it’s a bad omen, but if it’s from left to right, it’s a good omen. They neglect to mention what kind of luck you get when you see a cat sitting in the middle of your driveway refusing to move, though!
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 63 Top 10
By ANNA GAMBOA raphic novels or komiks have always featured some sort of hero or villain sporting G superpowers related to a member of the animal kingdom –hello Paul Rudd as Ant Man – and comicbook staples like Hawkgirl, Catwoman, etc. Pinoys aren’t slouches in that department 1. Pugad Baboy by Pol Medina Jr. 2. Elmer by Gerry Alanguilan either, having created a telenovela Featuring Polgas, “ang asong hindi” The creator of “Wasted” explores centered around winged folk in a who acquires the human ability to issues of emancipation, discrimination, fantasy kingdom with a caste system talk and walk on his hind legs after race, and disenfranchisement―from (Mulawin), a comic book series about several helpings of Mang Dagul’s the perspective of a chicken. In an a girl with rat-like features (which culinary experiments, the dog with alternate reality where sentient got turned into a movie starring Rio an appetite for beer/pulutan, good chickens talk and go through the Locsin, then remade into a telenovela sense and justice serves as the voice process of taking hold of their rights, series), then a more recent version of reason in the comic strip (from no quarter given, there’s no eyebrows about a girl with cat-like features print to digital formats), and its raised at interspecies love, a chicken (Felina) –and various iterations of subsequent incarnations as comic becomes a matinee idol, and an angry serpentine people (Zuma, Galema, book compilations, and Pugad Baboy young chicken ponders his future Kamandag). merchandise. and the freedom that was won by his forebears. Winning a Will Eisner award made this labor of love all the more sweeter as Alanguilan labored in between crushing deadlines for various projects. 64 Animal Scene TOP 10
4. Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson Almost a decade since the daily 5. Garfield comic strip ceased production, the Jim Davis’ orange feline, who will adventures of a tiny hyperactive boy forever be associated with dreaded and his equally mischievous stuffed Mondays and lasagna, has been tiger still register a significant beep immortalized in so much merchandise on everyone’s pop culture radar. from the 1980’s onwards, aliens from With wild adventures produced from another planet may conclude that sheer imagination taking readers for humans are cat worshippers (well, a fun ride, with most conjecturing when combined with Hello Kitty that Hobbes often represents the merch). Everyone may adore the daily rational ego or more mature aspects strip, or compiled comics, but grade- of Calvin’s personality, there are schoolers and wordsmiths in dire need moments of reflection befitting the of comic relief love the Webster’s series named after two philosophers. dictionary that incorporates the The collected Sunday comic strips are sardonic cat in its pages. a joy to behold with their riot of color after the discipline of black and white illustrations for the weekday strips. 6. Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman Featuring a fox as the protagonist in 3. Kuting Magiting by Robert the series, as she embarks on a perilous Magnuson quest to save the soul of a beloved, While marketed as a series of toddler Yoshitaka Amano’s lush illustrations board books by OMF Literature, provide the visuals for Gaiman’s Magnuson’s distinctively playful style Japanese-inspired land of dreams of depicting animals shines through or nightmares. As is with Gaiman’s words and pictures. The mischievous tales, while our fox heroine saves her antics of a super-powered kitten being loved one (and is foiled just before raised by a good-natured dog are triumphing), her revenge comes with currently available in the ingeniously a price, which she pays willingly. Called written “Run, Kuting! Run!” and “Go “a dark tale of enduring charm” it To Sleep, Kuting”. won the Bram Stoker Award for best illustrated narrative, and the Hugo for best related book, it’s a haunting story worth re-reading again on any weekend. Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 65 TOP 10
7. Sandman: A Dream of a Thousand Cats Presenting an alternate reality where 8. Manosaur by Elbert Or humans were tiny and enslaved No words populate the charming world of Manosaur (an overly civilized T-Rex to catdom, ultimately liberating with an adoring corgi for company), but there are moments when the reader themselves by dreaming of another may wonder if the dinosaur’s misadventures in trying to date once paralleled its reality where humans became masters, creator’s (who is now very happily married). But the sight gags are fun, involving and cats their pets, this single-issue the dilemma of a ridiculously large creature cursed with extraordinarily tiny story from “The Dreaming” series forelimbs. is food for thought―what WOULD happen if we found ourselves at the mercy of a cat’s paw, should one 9.Cerebus the Aardvark by Dave Sim 10. Honorable mention: Liz Climo’s cat succeed in her mission to get a Hailed by Alan Moore as the hydrogen series and Sandra Boynton thousand cats to dream the same to the periodic table of comics, the The heart-warming silliness of dream of freedom? 300-issue series tackled a variety of Liz Climo’s characters are great topics and its experimental tone had stress-busters in a busy day, and the protagonist shifting from parody Sandra Boynton is no slouch in that to social commentary. While the department either. Depicting various somewhat acerbic character may be adorable beasties―Climo often has hailed on some lists as part of the top sea creatures, reptiles or dinosaurs 50 or top 100 of comic book greats, in her repertoire, while Boynton it can certainly be said this aardvark often favors farmyard animals― is a tough act to follow, spawning the positive messages they spread the term “Cerebus Syndrome”― often talk about unconditional love, when a body of work becomes more acceptance, and the administration of ambitious than when it was first large quantities of candy or chocolate intended. in an emergency.
66 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Feature ROAD TRIP! Here are a few tips on how to take your pet along as a passenger
By MAAN D’ASIS PAMARAN
t is so adorable to see a cute little doggie sitting quietly in a car and staring out I the window as his owner zips by on the highway. That heartwarming sight gets you wondering if you can do that with your own little precious fluff of fur. Visions of strolling down a pet- friendly park where your big dog can run free flash through your mind, or maybe you can see your little baby sitting prettily in a pet satchel, popping her head up occasionally to give a tiny meow (yes, why not bring a cat if it’s well-behaved?) as you take her shopping. These are all possible, as more and more establishments are now setting themselves up to be pet- friendly. The first challenge would be: how to get your pretty little baby out there. Here are some tips on how to take your pet on a road trip:
1. Take baby steps. If you are planning to go on a long haul trip, it’s a good idea to start small. Acquaint your pet with the concept of riding in a moving vehicle. Days before your outing, go out on short distances, such as around the block in your car. This will help you observe how he behaves, which will then help you gauge whether you need to put your pet in a crate or carrier.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 67 FEATURE
2. Feed your pet just right. Don’t overfeed your pet before a car trip. Even if he is already used to long journeys, there is still a possibility of car sickness. A light meal three or four hours before the trip is ideal.
3. Don’t feed your pets while you’re on the move. Keep water intake at the right levels too, so there are fewer chances that your pet will need to pee while in transit.
4. Shake it off. Take your dog for a short walk or play with your kitty before your trip begins. This will help to calm him down and work off all the excess energy. If you are taking long trips, stop every two hours to stretch your legs―and those of your pet. Never forget to bring a leash or harness though so that your pet doesn’t accidentally run away!
5. Keep safety in mind. If you think your dog will be overly excited or anxious in the vehicle, it is better to use a crate. A cat is also better off boxed in, to prevent windows closed. Airflow and road 10. Cover up. Often, the only it from running loose and getting debris (not to mention Metro Manila reason why cats get to ride in a car under your car pedals. Under no pollution) can irritate your pet’s is to go to the vet, so keep your cat circumstances should you have your eyes and nose. There have also calm by covering the carrier with pet in the front seat or worse, on been instances where pets simply a light cloth. Arrange the cloth your lap when you drive. This is jump out the window in pursuit so that your cat can see you, if very distracting and therefore, very of something they see; you don’t possible, but not out the windows. unsafe. You might want to invest in want your pet to be the subject of According to the PETA website, the a pet harness for your car, especially another sad story. While you’re at it, sight of the earth or sky speeding if you plan to take frequent road employ a child-lock on the doors and past causes most cats to panic, begin trips with your furry co-pilot. windows. open-mouthed breathing, and howl miserably. 6. Pack it in. Some of the things 8. Zip and click. If you choose not you need to bring are food, a bowl, to use a crate, don’t just leave your 11. Be patient. Your dog or an extra leash, a pooper scooper, pet free to wander about in your car. cat may either become anxious plastic bags, and, of course, water. There are pet seatbelts that connect or overexcited, and may begin to You may opt to bring a favorite your dog’s harness to a regular bark, howl, meow, cry, or even try chew toy or a blanket to ease car seatbelt. However, restraining to escape their carriers. Remember boredom and anxiety. If you are devices should never be attached to that your pet is not human and putting your pet in a carrier, make a dog’s collar. that being in a vehicle can be a very sure to bring along extra lining. scary experience for it. He or she 9. Never leave your pet in the car isn’t doing that to irritate you; it is 7. Close that window. While alone. Even if the window is open a genuine emotion, and you owe it the quintessential image of pet on or even for just a “few minutes,” to your pet to understand how they the road may be that of a cute dog this is an absolute, total no-no feel. with its snout hanging out the car that is considered animal abuse. window, experts advise that it is best Temperatures can rise quickly inside to just blast that air-conditioning a parked car and this can cause if your pet needs it, and keep the heatstroke.
68 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 FEATURE
I DON’T HAVE A CAR; NOW WHAT?
Here’s the good news: RA8485, has a good reputation and whom the cab, you are obliged to pay for otherwise known as the Animal others can vouch for. cleaning it up. Never agree to place Welfare Act, Section 4, states, “It When commuting by jeepney, your pet in the trunk! If a driver shall be the duty of any owner or bus, or other local public insists on this, report him to his operator of any land, air or water transportation, it is best to use a company, as your pet may asphyxiate public utility transporting pet, carrier. You can borrow one from in the trunk. wildlife and all other animals to friends (carriers are not always Many bus companies allow pets provide in all cases adequate, clean in use, after all), because boxes to be carried on board. If necessary, and sanitary facilities for the safe and cardboard carriers will not pay for a second seat so that you conveyance and delivery thereof withstand a frantic dog or cat won’t have to be burdened by the to their consignee at the place of trying to get loose. Your pet may carrier. The same goes for a jeepney; consignment. They shall provide feel overwhelmed by the noise and it’s best to pay for both front seats sufficient food and water for such the feeling of being surrounded by so that the driver will be happy and animals while in transit for more unfamiliar people, so keeping him you and your pet will have space. than twelve (12) hours or whenever confined in a study plastic-lined box If your dog is not socialized, you necessary.” if you don’t have a carrier (with air may want to wait till you have a But this is for shipping your holes, of course) is your best bet. sturdy carrier and can use a taxi’s pets to other destinations. Other If traveling by taxi, it is best to services. You do not want your dog considerations apply when you’re use apps for booking cab services snapping at other passengers. If this traveling with your pet over a fairly and informing them ahead of time is a problem, consider investing in a short distance to bring him or her that you’ll be taking a four-legged home visit by the vet. It’s certainly to the vet. Here are some tips for passenger along for the ride. This is more expensive but will save you making the trip less painful for both crucial, because once they agree, it’s much aggravation and the potential of you: a contract they are obliged to fulfill. of having to pay for the medical Do your research. Find out who You will still need a carrier, though, expenses of whomever your dog the closest veterinarian is to you who and if your pet poops or pees in bites. (With additional research by CFB)
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 69 Feature LOVE, BIRDS Here’s how your feathered friends show affection
By MAAN D’ASIS PAMARAN
ou will often hear people say that they prefer keeping dogs or cats as pets Y because these can show their owners signs of affection. Animal experts say, though, that other animals have their own ways of showing their love. Here we give an insight into bird body language so you can tell if your pet thinks that you are the best thing since birdseed.
1. Look into his eyes. Birds can control their irises, enlarging and shrinking their pupils rapidly. This display is called ‘flashing’ or ‘pinning’; birds may do this when they are excited, greatly interested in something, or when they are angry, frightened, or aggressive. You have to take this into context and look into other cues to know if he is he is there. In the wild, birds often feeling frisky or threatened. chatter in the evening before going to sleep to connect with 2. Bring on the noise. Here are other members of the flock―sort of their some verbal cues that will let you way of telling the others how their day went at know if your bird is one happy the office. camper: b. Talking or whistling. As in the human world, a. Chattering. Happy birds whistling is a sign of appreciation―note that what generally chatter (but remember, goes through their minds are much different from what some bird breeds are silent so know a construction worker’s, though! In your bird’s case, these whether this is true about your bird vocalizations are often signs of a happy, healthy, content first). A soft chattering sound can be animal. Some birds love an audience and sing, talk, and a sign of contentment. When your whistle the most when others are around. Other birds will bird makes a louder chattering noise, remain quiet when they have an audience. Small birds such it could mean that he is trying to get as budgies chirp it up when they are feeling happy. your attention, or remind you that
70 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 FEATURE
c. Purring. This does not muscular pouch near the gullet or 7. Be a tree. Birds can be touchy- sound the same as a cat’s purr; a throat, often used to store food). feely too. Once out of the cage, bird’s sounds are more like a soft If your bird pins his eyes, bobs his affectionate bigger birds like growl. This can be a sign of either head, and stretches out his neck, cockatiels will often fly to your contentment or annoyance. When then regurgitates his dinner… well, shoulder to perch. Your cockatiel you hear him purr, you have to then be happy instead of grossed out. He may also nibble at your jewelry or take a moment to look at the other is simply showing you how much he play with your hair. He may try to indicators to be sure about how loves and appreciates you. Reach for groom your eyebrows for you. This the bird is feeling. If the purr seems a tissue to wipe away your happy is the same behavior that birds can more like a growl, it means that tears…then his mess. display with their mates. Birds can you need to back off as he is feeling nip playfully, but as with any species, aggressive. affection should never be painful.
d. Tongue-clicking. By clicking his tongue against his beak, your bird may be entertaining himself or asking to be petted or picked up (assuming your bird is the type that can and should be handled; again, you should know this about him BIRDIE BODY LANGUAGE first!). Here are more cues to look for to behavior is often displayed when a e. Beak grinding. When you hear see how your bird feels about you new bird arrives on the scene. That your bird grind his beak, it means said, birds are fastidious when it he’s happy, contented, and relaxed. Angry or agitated birds will pin comes to keeping up appearances, so their eyes. While this can also mean they may also wipe their beaks when 3. Check the crest. Birds such that your pet has seen something done with a meal. as cockatoos and cockatiels have exciting, it can also be a signal that beautiful, expressive crests. A bird he is getting mad and is about to When your bird does a cute with his crest held back, with just the strike. Another cue is when you see little curtsey with its wings slightly tip tilted up, is usually a picture of that the bird is flipping his wings at raised, it means that he is asking contentment. If he is happy to see you (yes, there is an ironic joke in for attention either from you or you, he will often lift his crest. there somewhere). Wing flipping from a potential mate. When your can mean that your bird is angry or feathered friend is crouching with 4. Wing it. A bird flapping his in pain. If he flips his wings and it is her head tipped downward toward wings may mean that he is trying accompanied by a hunching of the you, and perhaps bobbing her to get your attention or displaying shoulders and head bobbing, he is head, she is asking to be petted or happiness; it can also be taken trying to get your attention and is scratched. If you ignore his motions, literally as him getting his exercise. most likely asking to be fed. That he may try to cajole you into a head- said, flipping can also be a mating scratch by emitting a burst of little 5. Tell tails. Just like a dog, a bird behavior. begging chirps. may wag his tail to tell you that he is glad to see you. There is another side If a bird wants to show his Lastly, if you see your pet holding to it, though; tail wagging can also dominance, he may start tapping his their wings away from their body, it be a sign that he is getting ready to feet. This universal human sign for means that they are feeling too hot. poop. In any case, this sign is often impatience means territory marking Birds don’t sweat, so they depend helpful if you are trying to house- in bird world. This may happen when on air that reaches the underside of train your bird. your pet feels that something or their wings to keep them cool. The someone is invading his space. Some more uncomfortable he is with the 6. Let him spit it out. birds may also use beak wiping as high temperatures, the farther he Regurgitation is the expulsion a way to mark their territory; this holds his wings away from his body. of contents from the mouth, esophagus, or crop (expanded,
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 71 Animal Welfare HOW TO FOSTER WHEN YOU’RE FOSTERING
By PATRICIA VEGA very animal deserves a loving home. As responsible pet owners, we E make sure that our furbabies are raised in an environment that enables them to lead healthy, happy lives. But for every well-cared-for house pet, there are countless more stray cats and dogs roaming the streets―and if they’re lucky, they are rescued from inhumane conditions and placed in animal shelters. These shelters, operated by animal rights advocates such as Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) Philippine Animal Rescue Team, and Philippine Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) are not meant
72 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 ANIMAL WELFARE
to permanently house strays and rescuees, but sere ve only as a tempm orary home until they are readdy fof r adoption. But as non-profit organiizationo s, aniimal sheh ltl ers rur n on limited rer soouurces and are, more often than non t, strrettchede to fulll capacity (orr, moore often than nott, beyond) andd arre unable to take in additional animals,s exceppt for the most dire of cases. Whhile this ensn ures that theie r caretaakers are stit llll able to prorovide a modiicum off care for the ana imals,s an overrcrowded shele ter eenvironmennt is noto the most conduccive spaace fof r those in need of meedical andn emotionnal atttention. Even worsse:e other strays thaat could haave beeen shelteered are leftt to ror am free and
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 73 ANIMAL WELFARE
be in harm’s way, or impounded and their socialization skills when foster depending on the financial status euthanized by city shelters because pets are regularly introduced into a of foster parent and availability nobody stepped up and claimed household. of shelter resources. And lastly, responsibility. Fostered pets, or pet wards, they take in the pet wards once also receive basic manners and the contracted foster period is WHAT IS FOSTERING, AND HOW obedience training, which increases completed and have equally IS IT DIFFERENT FROM ADOPTION? their chances of adoption. The time- stringent protocols in place for bound aspect may also play a factor adoption. It will take the proverbial for some pet owners who have an Another way to foster pets village to solve the problem of abundance of love but not enough is to personally take in strays: no overpopulation and irresponsible resources to care for a new animal paperwork and approvals involved, pet ownership, but animal-loving full-time. but the responsibility to find households can help free up rescue Once you’ve made the decision adoptive homes for the animals rests and shelter services by fostering cats to foster a pet, the next step is to solely on you, the foster parent. and dogs until they are ready to inquire with your local foster pet Pet ward concerns vary per move into a new home. program; in Metro Manila, PAWS case, but foster parents will do Fostering pets is not a task to and Compassion and Responsibility well to keep an eye on their ward’s be taken lightly. Bringing a new for Animals (CARA) Welfare physical and emotional health animal into your home, however Philippines, offer foster programs for before introducing it to the other temporarily, entails affection, their shelter cats and dogs. household pets. Having a time frame commitment, resources, and the Potential fosterers undergo a makes it easier to plan the care and cooperation of the human and non- strict evaluation process and are rehabilitation of your ward: set human members of the household. asked to sign an agreement form realistic health and behavioral goals, Consider the responsibilities delineating their responsibilities; and above all, shower your ward of raising your own pet: the PAWS and CARA reserve the right to with the love and affection that it cost of food and healthcare, the decline applicants and to request for did not have in its previous living time and space allotted for play, care updates from their fosterers. situation. exercise, and emergency care, the While much of the costs Perhaps the most difficult discipline needed for training and and responsibilities rest on the part of fostering is returning your socialization. If you feel that you fosterer, fostering pets from shelter happy and healthy ward back to are up to these tasks, then you are organizations has its advantages. the shelter. Forming an attachment definitely ready to foster a pet. First, you are able to pick a pet ward is unavoidable, but knowing that But why foster, instead of that suits the level of care that you you have helped prepare a pet adopting a shelter animal outright? are able to give: you can pick a for its new home, should balance While the end goal of fostering smaller pet if you don’t have a big your feelings of loss with joy and and adoption are the same―to home, or pick difficult behavioral accomplishment. provide a loving home for strays cases if you have prior experience The American Society for the and rescues―fostering is usually the with obedience training. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals middle step between rescue and organizations will provide you with suggests becoming actively involved adoption. It allows shelter animals your prospective ward’s history to in finding an adoptive home for your to become used to interacting with help you assess suitability. wards to help ease the transition. caring humans and furry friends; CARA and PAWS also offer And if that doesn’t work, then the same holds true for house pets, discounted veterinary services and perhaps the adoptive home for your who are compelled to improve can contribute to the care costs ward is your own.
74 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 ANIMAL WELFARE SUCCESS STORIES Alice Sarmiento, writer and kitten foster parent
1) How many pets do you have at the moment (foster or otherwise)? Please identify by name, age, and species (or specific breed when applicable) I’m caring for 11 animals. Three live with me (Bush, Cheney, Little Penguin); four with my dad (Hobo, Little Hobo, Penguin, and Moses); and four with my mom (Sandwich, Florentine, Paul Stanley, and Ginger the dog). That’s 7 adult cats and one dog: domestic short-haired cats of unidentifiable mixed breeds, same Talia and Pancake are two of Alice Sarmiento’s fostered cats. goes for the dog. Two cats are going Both are still at the PAWS shelter awaiting a loving home. to be adopted out in a week by my aunt. there’s a period of adjustment when depleting their resources. Proper other cats are introduced into the care is always expensive, but there’s 2) When and why did you first clowder. Sometimes I isolate the no other option, and fostering is decide to foster a pet? How many newly fostered ones in an open just part of my belief that since cats pets have you fostered since then? carrier or separate room, to let didn’t have anything to do with the I began fostering in 2011 after them know there’s a safe space for urban conditions we’ve made so a stray I found died of intestinal them, then allow them to come out inhospitable to them, we have to at prolapse. I was supposed to donate whenever they’re ready. least make things easier. It’s a matter her carrier to PAWS, then ended up of pitching in to create a more taking home two kittens to foster: 5) As foster pet parents, what humane environment that benefits Sandwich and Maya. Maya has been development goals do you set when everyone in the end. adopted out through the shelter, caring for and training your pets? while I adopted Sandwich. How do you know when your foster 7) Have you adopted one of your pet is ready for adoption? How long foster pets? 3) Many foster pets are do foster pets stay in your care? Three. I’ve adopted three. abandoned pets or rescues from I make sure they’re spayed or inhumane conditions (abusive castrated and their vaccines and 8) Are you able to keep tabs on owners, natural disasters, etc.). deworming are complete before your former foster pets? If so, how What challenges or special needs they’re adopted out to new pet are they doing now? have you encountered in fostering owners, as in people who’ve never Some of them, especially the ones these pets? How different are these had cats. I know they’re ready once adopted by my friends. The ones I needs from those of non-foster pets? a vet clears them. Sometimes they fostered through PAWS, (I have to Many of the animals who are have problems socializing, and that trust) are in good hands because of fostered require attention (medical means they need to stay with me how rigorously they screen adopters. and emotional) they can’t get longer. Stress can be fatal to a cat’s living in a large shelter population. health. 9) Why should prospective pet Fostering is a form of rehab for most; parents consider fostering a pet? for others, it’s a way to alleviate 6) Is caring for a foster pet more Get a pet if you can take care the overburdened, volunteer-driven expensive than caring for a non- of it. It teaches responsibility and shelter system. foster pet? compassion and you learn to trust It can be, because as kittens other people to love what you love. 4) Do your foster and non-foster you get them at a period when pets get along? Do your non-foster they need to go through bi-weekly 10) Do you have any advice for pets get jealous of the attention you deworming and vaccinations. If people considering fostering pets? give your foster pets? If so, how do you foster through a shelter or Get a vet you can trust and you manage this? NGO, the shelter takes care of communicate openly with about They’re still animals, so of course the expenses―but it also means your pets.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 75 Feature
COOL PETS WAYS TO KEEP YOUR PETS COOL THIS SUMMER
By JOSE JOEL QUIZON s temperatures rise, humans have a relatively easy time keeping themselves cool during the dry and hot season. However, the same is not true for our pets. To start with, most of the furry friends many of us have in our homes were not even originally intended to live in tropical climates. The good news is A there are steps we can take to make sure they remain cool and safe for rest of season.
76 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 FEATURE
1. Get to know your pet. It fluids and prevent dehydration doesn’t get more basic than this. A by leaving out water or water lot of pet owners today still make alternatives that your pets can the mistake of not learning about access anytime. Water alternatives the quirks that come along with the are especially great for pets since kind of pet they are adopting. To they replenish electrolytes and taste make things simple for everyone, great. different breeds have different needs. This is especially true during 4. Timing is everything…at the summer. least when spending time outdoors. Let’s take cats and dogs as an If your pet needs walking, save your example. Much like cats, dogs daily walks for early in the morning dissipate heat by panting. For the or in the evening once the sun has most part, this technique allows set. Do this and you’ll actually make them to get by when exposed to the activity pleasant for your pet as high levels of temperature. However, he’ll have an easier time breathing there are certain breeds, like and the ground will be cooler on the bulldogs, pugs, Pekingese, Boston pads of his paws. terriers, and Persian cats that have compromised upper airways that 5. vBe sensitive. If going give them more difficulty removing outdoors during the day can’t be heat in their bodies through helped, be sure to pay attention to panting. If you have a pet you love the needs of your pet. Find him a and don’t know what its special shady place he can rest. Remember needs are, then it’s about time that that your pet does not wear shoes. you opened your browser and start He has nothing protecting his paws learning more about it and its special from scorching asphalt or other hot needs. street surfaces.
2. Making the cut. This one’s 6. Bath time. Be careful; you a no-brainer. If you own a pet that’s don’t bathe your pet every day, really on the furry side―like a not even during summer. Doing so Pomeranian or a Shih Tzu―chances can either make them sick or cause are you’ll need to get him groomed their skin to dry. A quick weekly to keep him cool. Don’t shave shower for pets that bathe (like your pet (and don’t do it yourself!) dogs and a few cats) is enough to though. The layers of dogs’ coats keep their coats clean and cool. Use protect them from overheating a moisturizing or mild shampoo so and sunburn. Go to a professional that you don’t strip away too much groomer and be sure to stay as your moisture from their skin. pet gets the treatment. Brushing cats more often than usual can 7. Read the signs. As pet keep them from getting sick due to owners, we can do everything we excessive heat. can to keep our pets cool. However, there will always be unforeseen 3. Hydrate. This is more crucial circumstances that can cause them for pets during the hot season. to overheat. If this happens, the Panting is effective in allowing best weapon you can use to keep animals to cool down because it your pet safe is knowledge. Be ready helps evaporate fluids from the to read the signs. Symptoms of respiratory tract. But not all animals overheating in pets include excessive can pant. You can help replace these panting or difficulty breathing,
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 77 FEATURE
increased heart and respiratory rate, drooling, mild weakness, stupor, or even collapsing. They can sometimes Quick cooling tips for popular pets; these are general also include seizures, bloody suggestions, and you should adjust them based on the diarrhea, and vomit along with an elevated body temperature of over breed of your pet and any special needs it may have. 104 degrees. (Compiled by CFB) 8. Out of the car and into the house. Never, ever leave your DOGS HAMSTERS, RABBITS, pets alone inside a car regardless of In addition to the many tips MICE, AND OTHER SMALL the circumstances. The temperature above, give them drinks of cool inside your car can quickly climb (even iced) water, let them play in FURRY PETS to 140 degrees Fahrenheit during water if they like, and keep them in Keep their cages clean so that the summer. If you’re going the shade. Do not use cooling gel flies and maggots won’t be attracted somewhere to beat the heat and pads on dogs. by the mess. Check if your particular you know there’s a chance that that pet can have its coat trimmed if it establishment does not allow pets, has long fur. Ensure their cages or CATS enclosures are not in direct sunlight then it’s better that you just leave As they only sweat through their at any time of the day. Provide fresh yours at home where they can enjoy paws, and can only cool down by drinking water daily. Some of these the cool tiled floor. licking themselves, give them access pets will appreciate moisture-rich to the bathroom when you’re not fruits like watermelons; check if their 9. Party animal. Taking your home. Use a mix of rubbing alcohol diet includes such fruits. Rabbits will pet with you to attend a beach and water to lightly mist their ears appreciate having their ears misted barbecue? Be sure to never forget to and paw pads if they are panting daily, and may appreciate having pay attention to him. Pets can often from the heat. You can also cool cold vessels in their cages. Make sure times wander off during parties. their fur down by moistening paper they have adequate ventilation. Especially if the event is held during towels and gently stroking them the day, your pet can end up in some with these from the head down their serious trouble if not taken care of. backs, bellies, paw pads, armpits, REPTILES In addition, you might want to bring underthe chin, and outside the ears. Yes, they are becoming popular, food and water for him or at least Avoid using cooling gel pads as cats and yes, they can suffer from the watch which items he gets access to. can be poisoned by what’s inside. heat. Even breeds that bask in Remember that most things served the sun need to be able to retreat during parties can be poisonous for to shaded areas when the heat pets. Keep them away from alcoholic BIRDS becomes too much for them. Fans If they are kept outdoors, beverages as these can lead to should only be used to circulate air; consider using an extra roof for intoxication or cause depression and some breeds will not appreciate their enclosure or cage, and moving even a coma. Also, avoid chocolates, having this aimed at them. them to a shadier area. Birds have raisins, grapes, onions, and products Amphibians will need cooler water no glands and cool themselves off with xylitol. temperatures, so do check their by panting, so provide them with Summer can be fun for everyone habitats daily. Air conditioning can fresh water daily. You can also mist if proper care and caution is taken. be a great help for most reptiles; if the plants and area near their cages Just always remember that your this is too expensive or not available, daily; some breeds of birds like pets cannot take care of themselves. monitor humidity levels in their being sprayed with water. Watch They need you to look after them, habitats instead. You can also use ice out for signs of heat stress, which especially during days when to help cool them down. temperatures are scorching. If you varies from breed to breed. If you can manage it, bring them inside can handle your bird, keep the airconditioned rooms, especially featherless area under their wings during the afternoon. Follow these clean. Ideally, their cages should be simple steps and you and your pet cleaned daily. are sure to have a great time with one another.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 78 Animal Scene Events
1
By ANGEL AMPIL Photos By JEFFREY LIM 2
oldfish Mania 2015, a national goldfish competition, was recently held at Z G Square Mall, Banawe, Quezon City, with the aim of promoting goldfish keeping among the general public, to teach them more about the standards of the hobby, and about how to select good quality fish. Enthusiasts and the curious alike found the opportunity to have fun while immersing themselves in the world of goldfish keeping. A total of 38 entries spread across 7 categories joined the show. Judges for Goldfish Mania 2015 were Bruce Kenneth Tan, Michael 3 Go, Phillip Kaw (Neuva Pet Center), and Derrick Gaw (Tropiquarium). 1. Visitors peer at the goldfish on display. 2. Trophies and prizes for the winners The event was organized by from PAGE. 3. (Left to right) Show organizers Bruce Kenneth Tan, Harry Lim, the Philippine Association Of Sigmund Munoz, Paul Luap, Galvin Garma, and Jeffrey Villegas. Goldfish Enthusiasts (PAGE), a non-profit organization and fish club composed of fish hobbyists with a distinct interest in keeping
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 Animal Scene 79 9
EVENTS 4
10 5
6
4. Ranchu/Lionhead Division Champion Owner : Bryan Lim goldfish. It is also concerned with goldfish husbandry and maintaining 5. Ryukin Large proper standards to achieve selective Champion / Grand quality for hobbyists and breeders in Champion Owner : the country. Bryan Lim “I can say that the Goldfish Mania 2015 is another milestone for PAGE. 6. Oranda Large It was successful and fun as it has Division Champion always been supported by the group, 7 Owner : Bryan Lim its members, and those who believe in goldfish keeping. This would not be 7. Oranda - Junior possible without the unending support division Champion from our sponsors (Pet City, Nueva Pet Owner : Derrick Center, Tropiquarium, and Sakura) and Pascual to our mentor who is always there to guide us, Mr. Danny Tio,” shares co- 8. Open - Junior founder Harry Lim. Division Champion PAGE was founded by Lim, Paul Owner : Mon Bautista, Galvin Garma, Lucky Chan, Bernardo Jehu Maderazo, and Patrick Garces, and Goldfish Mania 2015 is the second fish 8 9.Ryukin- Junior show PAGE has conducted. Division Champion Those interested in learning more owner : Jeffrey about goldfish keeping can join PAGE Villegas by searching for the “Philippine Association of Goldfish Enthusiasts” on 10. Open - Junior Facebook. (Additional reporting and Division Champion photographs by Bruce Kenneth Tan.) Owner : Mon Bernardo Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
Pet Bulletin NEW RULE FOR MAYOR AND RODENT: HANDS OFF
By MATT FLEGENHEIMER erhaps justice demanded a different coda, a sequel to redeem the suspect’s P questionable dexterity or enshrine it for all time. Even local officials acknowledged that many in the crowd Monday morning, like fans at a stock car race, were drawn to the prospect of a spectacular crash. But a layer of plexiglass and some half-dozen feet separated the mayor and his city from the ending they deserved: a throng of cameras, an icy rain and an elected leader clutching a marmot for salvation. It was not to be. One year after Mayor Bill de Blasio fumbled Staten Island Chuck, prompting international headlines and possible question, with officials proffering and into a portable habitat. The groundhog unrest, common sense an alternative timeline involving a groundhog sniffed, eyes darting, and responsible animal medicine second tumble. with its rear initially turned to de at last dictated a new way. Last On Monday, the next iteration Blasio and other dignitaries. Then year’s Chuck died of internal injuries of Chuck was lifted to the stage on it veered their way, brooding for shortly after the fall, though de what appeared to be a miniature a moment. A hush came over the Blasio’s culpability remains an open elevator, wandering out of a hutch Staten Island Zoo.
82 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
PET BULLETIN
A band played event-appropriate tracks like “Ain’t Nothing but a Groundhog” and a song whose apparent chorus included the line “zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you?” A costumed groundhog wiggled a few feet away, high-fiving passers-by. Children held signs cheering their bemused celebrity as it fidgeted in its enclosure. “Chuck!” one read simply. Peter Schultheis, 58, wore a groundhog hat he had acquired in Punxsutawney. He boasted that he was most likely the only person in attendance who had seen three famous groundhogs: Phil, Chuck and Malverne Mel of Long Island. The mayor’s return, he said, was essential for a creature held in high esteem. “It’s good that we have high-level No shadow, the zoo declared. convened a “task force of emergency representation,” he said. Spring was coming. Chuck remained preparedness officials and health Even before the ceremony, there untouched. officials” devising a plan to “wrap had been signs that the mayor was “Chuck, I want to thank you for me in platinum so that no harm moving beyond the episode. In this new approach,” the mayor said. would befall me or any groundhog December, de Blasio was named “I think we finally understand each in the vicinity of me.” “Person of the Year” for 2014 by other.” On Monday, he sustained the riff. People for the Ethical Treatment of Though an act of common In a fit of “groundhog diplomacy,” Animals - narrowly edging, the jokes rodenticide in New York might he said, both the National Institutes went, other elected leaders who had well be celebrated under the right of Health and the National Institutes slain two groundhogs. circumstances, de Blasio’s purported of Groundhog Health had been On Monday, though, some role in the incident last year seemed summoned. attendees could not help but to complicate an already fraught “I think we got NASA involved,” replay the last visit in their minds, relationship with Staten Island. It the mayor added. preserving the mayor’s perhaps- was the only borough he did not He grinned gamely as Ed Burke, too-slick yellow gloves as damning carry in the 2013 election, and early deputy borough president on Staten evidence. in his term, he ran afoul of local Island, told the crowd that 2015 “It was so quick,” Sophia custom by eating pizza there with a would not be a “leap year,” before Lombardo, 10, recalled, giving the knife and fork. introducing “our hands-on and, amended proceedings her blessing. After The New York Post revealed today, hands-free mayor.” Lucy DePeppo, 93, a zoo in September that the groundhog “Eddie Burke, ladies and volunteer, suggested the mayor had died shortly after the fall - and gentlemen, he’ll be here all week,” would have fared better if given that “Chuck” was, in fact, a female the mayor said. “Try the veal.” another chance with Chuck because named Charlotte - de Blasio and his Although the typical climax - a “he knows all about him now.” aides responded tersely to questions groundhog held aloft by a local She looked up at the stage, with about the episode. At one point, luminary - might never be seen the masses clustering and the band the mayor deferred a query about again, a certain pageantry remained. crooning “zoo, zoo, zoo.” his own feelings to the Staten Island De Blasio noted that the Weather “We live and learn,” she said, and Zoo. Channel had placed Chuck second on soon the groundhog had emerged at Yet in recent days, as the its list of the “Top 11 Groundhogs to its safe remove. anniversary approached, de Blasio Watch,” behind Punxsutawney Phil Spring was coming, and the fall appeared to embrace the legend of in Pennsylvania. (On Monday, Phil seemed far away. (2015 New York his villainy. On Friday, he said he had predicted a protracted winter.) Times News Service)
84 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
Feature How to Tell If Your Bird Is Sick
MAKING WEIGHT Birds usually consume a regular amount of food and water every day, so a decrease in the amount a bird eats or drinks can also be a sign of illness. Sometimes, a sick bird will sit around and peck at its food, but will actually drop more food than By CLIFTON JAMES SAWIT it swallows. Weighing your bird regularly at the same time each day, wning a pet bird ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING usually right after it wakes up and carries many unique Healthy birds are alert and before you feed it, will help you challenges that just responsive to everything that goes determine if your bird is eating right. aren’t present for on around them. They have excellent If your bird loses more than 10% of O owners of more balance and will maintain an upright its normal body weight, take it to a common pets like posture, using both legs equally to veterinarian as soon as you can. cats or dogs. Unlike those pets, carry its weight. If perched, they The keel, that extension of the which are mammals, birds are more will usually hold both wings close to breastbone present in birds, should closely related to reptiles than to their body at equal heights. be well-muscled but easy to examine us humans. That means it may be Sick birds, on the other hand, with your hands, or palpate. If trickier to understand your pet often sit around the bottom of the muscle definition is lacking, then bird’s health and physiology than cage. They may be aggressive toward your bird may be underweight. If the it would be with a mammalian pet. their cage mates, or they might have keel is hard to palpate, then your This is why it is very important to be difficulty maintaining their balance. bird is overweight and could use familiar with the signs of a sick bird A bird with its head tucked in all the some diet and exercise. Hold back on before they come up. time may also be sick or injured. those crackers for Polly!
86 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
FEATURE
BREATH OF LIFE disease in that area, causing itching from white to yellowish-green, Healthy birds have smooth, easy and self-trauma. A skin biopsy from might indicate a metabolic disease, breathing, with their beaks closed your vet can determine if a bird’s such as liver disease, or a viral or when they are at rest. A bird that feather picking is behavioral or bacterial infection. This is because of breathes with its mouth open while caused by an underlying infection or the presence of bile which stains the it is at rest is one of the clearest disease. Feathers that are clumped urate. Too much urine, or polyuria, signs that a bird is sick. In fact, open- up or stuck together can also be an can indicate diabetes, kidney disease, mouthed breathing suggests that indication of sickness. or excessive water intake. However, a bird has been sick for quite some an increase in all three portions may time. DROPPING HINTS simply mean that the bird is holding Another sign of breathing trouble A bird’s droppings can tell us a lot its droppings in for a longer time. in birds is known as tail bobbing. about how healthy it is. Fortunately For instance, a female laying eggs Unlike us humans, birds lack a bird droppings don’t smell like will only poop two to three times a diaphragm, and use muscles on the mammalian excrement! Birds do not day. bases of their tails to help expand have a cecum attacked to their large Blood in any of the droppings is their lungs while they inhale. If they intestines, and the gas and odors not normal and requires immediate are having trouble breathing, the that result from fermentation are medical attention. tail muscles have to work harder, not produced. Lucky for the owners, which causes the bird’s tail to bob up as pet birds can poop up to 40 to 50 VETERAN VETS and down. times a day! Becoming familiar with the signs Both of these signs of respiratory Normal bird droppings are made that your pet bird gives you can distress are very serious, indicating up of three parts: feces, urate, and go a long way toward monitoring the later stages of illness, and urine. The feces are usually an even its overall health. Still, there is no require an immediate trip to the vet, green in color, and come from the substitute for a visit to your local and possibly hospitalization as well. intestines. The urate is the white veterinarian. An experienced vet is Birds of a Feather portion that everyone is familiar better trained to read the symptoms A bird’s skin and feathers are with, and is usually equal in amount of animal illness, and can cut out also good indicators of its overall to the feces, and there is usually just much of the guesswork that goes health. Normal bird skin should be enough urine to make the dropping with raising a healthy, happy pet free of redness, swelling, lesions, or glisten with wetness. Both the urate bird. discharge. Check the skin under the and urine come from the kidneys. In fact, it is a good idea to take wings, the scales on the feet and This means that each of the three your pet bird to your vet regularly legs, and the bare facial patches parts can change with each other or without waiting for a crisis to erupt found in some species of birds. independently, sometimes because before you go for a consultation. Bare skin that should normally be of changes in diet or because of Many bird owners only take their feathered is usually a sign of disease, disease. pets to the vet during emergencies, such as mites or mange, although A complete lack of feces in the which means that the vet is not young birds sometimes pick at their droppings can indicate either a familiar with the normal disposition feathers before their first molt. This lack of food intake or an intestinal of that particular bird and will have should change as soon as they learn obstruction, which is uncommon in nothing to compare its current state to take better care of their feathers. birds. There may be an egg stuck if with. Build your bird’s relationship Sometimes birds that pick at the bird is female, or a foreign body with your local vet. After all, an the feathers in a particular area in the digestive tract. ounce of prevention is worth a are indicating a pain response to a A change in color in the urate pound of cure!
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Recto St., San Pedro Cebu City San Fernando City, La Union Lucena City, Quezon Mc Arthur Highway, Malolos City, Bulacan Davao City OPENING SOON DUMAGUETE CITY BRANCH MARIKINA CITY BRANCH SANTIAGO CITY BRANCH TARLAC CITY BRANCH URDANETA CITY BRANCH Philtrust Building Philtrust Building Philtrust Building Philtrust Building Philtrust Building :($&&(37R '(326,76 6$9,1*6$&&2817 &+(&.,1*$&&2817 7,0('(326,7 021(<0$5.(7 75867)$&,/,7,(6 )25(,*1&855(1&<'(326,7 27+(5'20(67,&$1')25(,*1&200(5&,$/%$1.,1*6(59,&(6 with Correspondents in Principal Trade Centers of the World PLEASE CONTACT OUR HEAD OFFICE OR ANY BRANCH FOR YOUR REAL ESTATE LOANS COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL LOANS, IMPORT & EXPORT FINANCING INTERESTED TO BUY OR LEASE CORNER PROPERTIES SUITABLE FOR BANK BRANCHES PHILTRUST BANK SHARES ARE TRADED IN THE PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE, INC. Member: Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) Member of the Philippines Deposit Insurance Corporation Member: Bankers Institute of the Philippines, Inc. (BAIPhil) Maximum Deposit Insurance for each Depositor 500,000 Animals Seen AROUND THE WORLD WITH ANIMALS AND ANIMAL LOVERS
Former U.S. Marine Joe Bonfiglio, 24, and his pit bull assistance dog Zen, walk in to a building on the campus of Mercy College, in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. Zen has allowed Bonfiglio, 24, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder , to get back to everyday activities. The Animal Farm Foundation in Dutchess County, New York, wants to change the stigma of pit bull dogs by training and donating rescued dogs to guide the blind and push wheelchairs or help people regain their mobility and avoid falls. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
90 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015
ANIMALS SEEN
Bart the cat, nicknamed “zombie cat” on social media when he crawled his way out of a grave after a seemingly fatal traffic accident, is seen in a handout picture from the Tampa Bay Humane Society in Tampa, Florida February 10, 2015. Bart, who made international headlines last month when he surfaced five days after he was hit by a car and buried for dead, is now ensnared in a legal dispute over This Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015 photo custody involving its owner and provided by the Fort Worth Zoo, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. shows a heart-shaped spot on a Bart’s owner expected he would yet-to-be named giraffe, in Fort come home after treatment, but the Worth, Texas. Zoo spokeswoman Humane Society has decided to keep A woman attempts to scare away Alexis Wilson says the marking on the cat after learning more about pelicans, to prevent them from the animal that was born Jan. 11, his home and “circumstances leading eating the leftovers of cut up fish, at has drawn attention, with Saturday up to his burial,” the agency said a market in Chorrillos municipality being Valentine’s Day. (AP Photo/ on its website. REUTERS/Tampa Bay in Lima, February 11, 2015. REUTERS/ Fort Worth Zoo, Jeremy Enlow/Steel Humane Society/Handout via Reuters Mariana Bazo Shutter Photography)
A zookeeper places a goat- shaped doll onto the back of an alpaca during a celebration event for the upcoming Spring Festival, at a wildlife park in Kunming, Yunnan province February 11, 2015. The Chinese Lunar New Year on February 19 will welcome the Year of the A Bedouin shepherd walks with his sheep during a sandstorm near the Sheep (also known as the Year of southern city of Arad February 11, 2015. Southwest winds and dust transport the Goat or Ram). REUTERS/Wong from North Africa caused air pollution levels that are the highest recorded Campion in the past five years, the Environmental Protection Ministry reported Wednesday morning. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
92 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 ADVERTISEMENTS CLASSIFIED ADS IN MANILA BULLETIN LET US UNITE THE NATION ARE READ BY MORE PEOPLE AND MOVE FORWARD TO ACHIEVE PEACE, AND PROSPERITY AND PROGRESS FOR OUR COUNTRY PRODUCE THE BEST RESULT ACCEPTING ADVERTISEMENTS AND SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS ON ANNIVERSARIES, INAUGURATIONS, ETC. IN COLOR OR BLACK & WHITE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Tel. 527-7520 • 527-7515 • 527-7517 •527-8121 Fax 527-7533 ADVERTISING RATES R315.00 PER COL.CM. (WEEKDAYS) R370.00 PER COL. CM. (SUNDAY) CLASSIFIED ADS SECTION Tel. 527-7523 • 527-7530 • 450-7094 OBITUARY 450-7095 FAX 527-7534 • 527-1627 CLASSIFIED ADS RATES LINE ADS: WEEKDAYS R103.04 PER LINE SUNDAY R116.48 PER LINE BOX ADS: WEEKDAYS R352.80 PER COL. CM. SUNDAY R414.40 PER COL. CM. CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Tel. 527-7522 FAX 527-7526 MANILA BULLETIN HEAD OFFICE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT DISPLAY ADS SECTION Tel. 527-7515; 527-7517; 527-7520; 527-7524 Fax 338-4564; 527-7533 CLASSIFIED ADS SECTION Tel. 527-7523; 527-7530 Fax 527-7534 CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Tel. 527-7522 Fax 527-7526 BRANCHES
CEBU BRANCH DAVAO BRANCH ILOILO BRANCH CAGAYAN DE ORO BRANCH GRACE PARK BRANCH MANILA BULLETIN MANILA BULLETIN MANILA BULLETIN MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING BUILDING BUILDING S. Osmeña corner BUILDING Jakosalem cor. Zamora Pari-an, C. Bangoy corner J.P. Rizal, Quezon corner J. Ramonal Cogon, Rizal Avenue Extension Cebu City Davao City Delgado, Iloilo City Cagayan de Oro City corner 10th Avenue, Grace Park, Tel. (032) 256-0125 * Tel. (082) 225-0660; Tel. (088) 857-1764 Kalookan City (032) 256-0127 * 225-0661; 225-0662 Tel. (033) 336-9450 (033) 336-9658 Tel. 363-22-16 * 363-13-33 (032) 256-0128 Fax 363-13-33 NAGA BRANCH SANTIAGO BRANCH CUBAO BRANCH WEST AVENUE BRANCH ALABANG BRANCH MANILA BULLETIN MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING G/F Delta Building, West Unit 104 G/F South Center BUILDING Maharlika Highway 904 Aurora Boulevard corner Avenue corner Quezon Tower, 2206 Market, Peñafrancia Avenue corner corner Abauag Street, Harvard Street Cubao, Avenue, Quezon City Madrigal Business Park Dimasalang, Naga City Poblacion, Santiago City Quezon City Tel. 373-3910; 373-3911; Alabang, Muntinlupa City Tel. 772-1901; 772-1902 Tel. (054) 473-7522 Tel. (078) 305-3339 Tel. 352-4390; 352-4396; 373-3912 Fax 373-3913 Fax (054) 473-7526 Fax (078) 305-3378 352-4397 Fax 352-5974 Fax 772-1903 MAKATI BRANCH ORTIGAS BRANCH DUMAGUETE CITY BRANCH BAGUIO CITY BRANCH G/F Atrium of Makati G/F East of Galleria Bldg., Unit 4 Paya Building, Unit 102 Algergo di Ferroca Makati Avenue, Topaz Rd., Ortigas Center, Bypass Road, Looc, Condominium #1 Villamor Drive, Makati City Pasig City Dumaguete City Brgy. Lualhati, Baguio City Tel. 811-4357; 811-4453; Tel. 631-0193; 631-0208; Tel. (035) 522-1068; Tel. (074) 422-6070; 422-6204 811-4391 Fax 812-3962 631-0346 Fax 631-0176 (035) 522-1069 Fax (074) 422-6324
ANG NANGUNGUNANG PAHAYAGANG TAGALOG SA BANSA
b. Animal breeder Animal b. your pet before getting one. getting before pet your
d. Gorilla d. a. Businessperson a. research on how to care for for care to how on research
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FROM LAST ISSUE, SO HAVE FUN! HAVE SO ISSUE, LAST FROM
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Volume 15 / Issue 01 • MARCH 2015 YEARS ANNIVERSARY ISSUE NAME
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Interest/s NOTE: Metro Manila ONE YEAR (12 issues) subscribers should submit CHARMING, COLORFUL: Cats at P1,200* (for Metro Manila) this form with their THE Dogs payment in any of the GOULDIAN and P2,000 (for provincial) branches while provincial Fishes subscribers should send FINCH their payments via postal MARCH 2015 Exotic Animals BUST DO YOU HAVE NEW RENEWAL money order or private THOSE WHAT IT TAKES Pet Clubs courier addressed to the CAT MYTHS! TO FOSTER Breeding main office. Please allow A FURBABY? * Rate inclusive of discount and postage delivery of all confirmed Training school paid subscription within one (1) to two (2) weeks. Others (please specify) Yes! I would like to subscribe.
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SPEND QUALITY Zip Code TIME AT THE GYM! HEALTHY SUBSTITUTES FOR YOUR SWEET PRESS PLAY: TOOTH MOVIES TO SWEEP YOU GUIDE TO OFF YOUR DATING? FEET GET IT FROM Tel. No. Fax E-mail KIEFER RAVENA, GRETCHEN HO, ROBI DOMINGO & CHA CRUZ! DRESS TO IMPRESS! CATCH HIS/HER ATTENTION WITH NOTE: Metro Manila THESE #OOTDS! Interest/s ONE YEAR (12 issues) subscribers should submit /HW/HW Health at P1,200* (for Metro Manila) this form with their Fitness payment in any of the /RYH and P2,000 (for provincial) branches while provincial Nutrition subscribers should send FEBRUARY 2015 Athletes their payments via postal NEW RENEWAL money order or private .LFN JAPOYJAPOY Mainstream Sports courier addressed to the LLIZARDOIZARDO & JANICEJANICE main office. Please allow LLAGMANAGMAN Unconventional Sports MAKE A * Rate inclusive of discount and postage delivery of all confirmed PPERFECTERFECT LQ PAIRPAIR Athletic gear and equipments paid subscription within one (1) to two (2) weeks. Others (please specify) Yes! I would like to subscribe.
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Delivery Address #GOING#GOING PLACESPLACES HOMAGE to 25 Zip Code MUST-SEE PH MUSEUMS VIGAN EXUDES A NEW VIBE Tel. No. Fax E-mail
Interest/s NOTE: Metro Manila ONE YEAR (12 issues) subscribers should submit Adventure at P1,200* (for Metro Manila) this form with their Cultures payment in any of the and P2,000 (for provincial) branches while provincial Exotic Food subscribers should send Motoring their payments via postal NEW RENEWAL money order or private Visit art galleries 3
- Tourist Spots courier addressed to the
526 all over Asia - 9 11 0 main office. Please allow N Discover Manila’s
ISS 770119 newest heritage hotel X-Games P120 5260059 770119 * Rate inclusive of discount and postage delivery of all confirmed Works of National VOL. 16 Great Buys paid subscription within ISSUE 9 Artists inside FEB. 2015 one (1) to two (2) weeks. Others (please specify) Advertorial
THEY’RE ‘KNIFE’ BUT THEY DON’T CUT
BY: JING T. EUFRACIO as Farolas has added yet another interesting fish species to its collection of the bizarre, huge, river monsters. The Black Ghost Knife Fish, as improbable as it Lsounds, is not that strange afterall. The Black Ghost Knife Fish, in all its splendor, is a slim fish – with a flat elongated body – with caudal fins that undulates. The fish effortlessly swims horizontally or stays at ease vertically, like a black rod. No, they’re not dead…it’s a natural movement! (clarifies Las Farolas’ COO, Bernie Repalbor) The Black Ghost Knife Fish is one of the varieties of the Apteronotidae family of Knife Fishes. A truly bony fish, it can reach approximately 20 inches in length. Unlike the Brown Knife Fish kind, this one has a shorter snout and a white band that runs throughout the caudal area. The ones at Las Farolas are about one foot long; and they’re handsomely black. The nickname has an unusual story. Some tribes at the Amazon jungle believed in the rumor that the souls of the dead inhabit the fish, so the name goes (although this story has never been substantiated). This species is nocturnal and is carnivorous. They hunt for food at night and hide among the vegetation and in the fine they are kept in an aquarium that is more they feed on all types of live foods, meat, gravel set up in the aquarium. It has been than big for their tank requirement. And chopped earthworms, shrimps, frozen and observed that when they come to the point they share the tank with friend Corydoras flaked foods. of being trusting, they even pick food from from South Africa. They are said to be timid and semi- their keeper’s hand. One very good news for those who aggressive. There is quite a condition is keeping will be stunned with interest for this fish Timid, when first brought to a new habitat. this kind of fish, though. Being a scale-less is that they are widely available from fish But may appear aggressive towards fish, Knife Fishes are prone to diseases. breeders. And, neither are they in the IUCN smaller fishes in the tank. However, Those that were just caught in the wild may Red List of Threatened Fishes. The Black hobbyists tell, once they get acclimatized to carry parasites that is why they need to Knife Fish at Las Farolas originated from their new environment, their temperament undergo sterilizing process. They are also the Amazon. changes to the usual; they become sensitive to changes in water condition. Las Farolas - the haven for freshwater friendly and no longer pose danger to That is why they require a tank set-up with fishes - exhibits a large variety of rare, the other fishes in the tank. They prefer the good filtration. Copper is the medication huge and the scariest creatures only seen darkly lit aquarium environment and they they are most sensitive to. At Las Farolas, in the wild.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 96 Animal Scene Subscribe now!
Volume 15 / Issue 01 • MARCH 2015 YEARS ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
HOW DO BIRDS SHOW AFFECTION?
CHARMING, COLORFUL: MANILA BULLETIN HEAD OFFICE THE Muralla Corner Recoletos Streets, Intramuros, 1002 Manila GOULDIAN Tel. Nos. 527-8121 up to 35 local 296 and 297 FINCH MARCH 2015 BUST DO YOU HAVE E-mail: [email protected]. THOSE WHAT IT TAKES CAT MYTHS! TO FOSTER A FURBABY? AYALA AVENUE BRANCH G/F NAtional Life Insurance Bldg., 6762 Ayalay, Avenue, Makati City MALL OF ASIA BRANCH DAVAO BRANCH Tel. Nos. 813-2142; 813-7476 Unit No. 112-113 SP Mall of Asia Central MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING Also out now: Fax 813-5826 Business Park Bayyy,yy City, Pasay City Bangoygy Corner Rizal, Tel. Nos. 556-1441; 556-0033; 556-0081 Davao City,y, Davao City y 8000 MAKATI BRANCH Tel. Nos. ((082) 225-0660; 225-0661; MAKE THIS YOUR BEST VALENTINE'S DAY EVER! Ground Floor,, Atrium of Makati, ALABANG BRANCH 225-0662 Makati Avenue,,y Makati City Unit 104 gg,/f South Center Tower, Tel. Nos. 811-4357; 811-4453; 811-4391 NAGA BRANCH 2206 Market,,g Madrigal Business Park LEARN TO PROTECT YOURSELF: WE'LL TEACH Fax 812-3962 Alabang,g, MuntinlupaCity p y MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING YOU KALI! SPEND QUALITY TIME AT Tel. Nos. 772-1901; 772-1902 Peñafrancia Avenue corner Dimasalang, THE GYM! HEALTHY SUBSTITUTES FOR ORTIGAS BRANCH YOUR SWEET PRESS PLAY: TOOTH MOVIES TO Fax 772-1903 Nagagy City SWEEP YOU GUIDE TO OFF YOUR DATING? FEET GET IT FROM KIEFER RAVENA, G/F East of Galleria Bldg.,g Topaz Rd., GRETCHEN HO, Tel. Nos. (054) 473-7522; 473-7526 ROBI DOMINGO & CHA CRUZ! DRESS TO Ortigg,gyas Center, Pasig City IMPRESS! GRACE PARK BRANCH CATCH HIS/HER ATTENTION WITH Tel. 631-0193; 631-0208; 631-0346 MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING CAGAYAN DE ORO BRANCH THESE #OOTDS! Fax 631-0176 Rizal Avenue Extension corner MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING /HW/HHWW 10th Avenue,,, Grace Park, Kalookan City S. Osmeña Corner J. Ramonal Cogon, /RYH/RYH CUBAO BRANCH Tel. Nos. 363-2216; 363-1333 Cagayan De Oro City LET ART BE PART OF YOUR TRAVEL! 904 Aurora Boulevard corner Fax 363-1333 .LFNFFNN JAPOYJAAPPPOOOYY LIZARDOLIIZZZAAARRDDOO Harvard St.,,, Cubao, Quezon City SANTIAGO BRANCH & JJAJANICEAANNNIIICCCEE LAGMANLAAGGGMMMAAANN MMAMAKEAAKKKEE A Tel. Nos. 352-4397; 352-4396; CEBU BRANCH MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING PPEPERFECTRRFFFEECCTT #GOINGIN PLACESPLACES LQ PAIRPAAIIRR 352-4397; 352-5974 MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING Maharlika Highwaygy corner Abauag Street, HOMAGE Fax 352-5974 Jakosalem Corner Zamora Pari-an, Poblacion, Santiago City to 25 MUST-SEE PH MUSEU M Cebu City VIGAN WEST AVENUE BRANCH EXUDES A Tel. Nos. (032)() 256-0125; DUMAGUETE BRANCH NEW VIBE G/F Delta Building,g West Avenue corner 256-0127; 256-0128 Unit 4 Payay Building, Bypass Road, Looc, Quezon Avenue,,y Quezon City Dumaggyuete City Tel. Nos. 373-3910; 373-3911; 373-3912 ILOILO BRANCH Tel. (035) 522-1068; 522-1069 Fax 373-3913 MANILA BULLETIN BUILDING Quezon Corner Delgado,g, Iloilo City y 5-0662 BAGUIO CITY BRANCH PASAY BRANCH Tel. Nos. (033) 336-9450; 336-9658 Unit 102 EFI Albergog di Ferroca Condominium Visit art galleries 3 -
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#1 Villamor Drive, Brgy. Lualhati, 770119 newest heritage hotel Taft Avenue Corner Libertad, Pasay City P120 5260059 770119 Baggyuio City Works of National VOL. 16 ISSUE 9 Artists inside Tel. Nos. 556-9415 TO 16 Tel/ ()(074) 422-6070; 422-6204 FEB. 2015 Fax (074) 422-6324 Pet Humor
1. A man walks into a pet store looking 4. The HR head of a company was for a bird. He sees parrots, finches, doves, surprised when a small finch turned up to and many other species; at the back of apply for the position of receptionist. Not the counter though is a what looks like a wanting to seem discriminatory, she let the beautiful hawk in a cage, priced rather high. finch take the aptitude test―and the finch He goes up to the salesperson and asks, passes with flying colors. “Let me guess, that bird is more expensive A bit surprised, she tells the finch, because it’s a bird of prey?” “You need to be able to type 60 words per “No, sir, but you’ll see why in a moment,” minute…” and the bird demonstrates the says the salesperson. ability to type 100 words per minute. She The bird then throws its wings into an then tests the bird on dictation, and the unmistakable praying position and bows its finch surpasses all other candidates. Not head. wanting to hire a bird, she finally tells it, “You see sir, it’s a bird of pray,” says the “You need to be bilingual for the position.” salesperson. Whereupon the finch opens the window 2. One morning, a duck walks into a and goes, “Meow, meow!” bringing cats drugstore and buys some lip balm. When it running from every direction. comes to the counter, the clerk asks if the duck will be paying by cash or charge. The 5. A magician with a show keeps getting duck says, “Just put it on my bill.” his act ruined by his new parrot, who keeps saying, “It’s up his sleeve!” or “It’s in his pants!” when he does sleight of hand. 3. A woman isn’t feeling well and is told Nonetheless he takes the bird along when by her company nurse she needs to go to a he performs on a cruise ship―and on the veterinarian. Puzzled, she asks why. first night, the ship sinks. “Because you may have either swine flu The magician is able to get to a lifeboat or bird flu,” says the nurse. “If you have the in time, accompanied by his parrot. They’ve former, all you need is oinkment, but if it’s been drifting for three days when the parrot the latter, you’ll need full tweetment.” turns to him and says, “I give up…so where did you hide the ship?”
98 Animal Scene Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 CLASSIFIED
Your pet ads will reach tens of thousands when FOR SALE you place themhem inin Animal Scene'scene's *pets*pe *ex*exotico pets Pet Classifiedssifieds **dogsdo **c*catsat PETA: +632 817-5292 *b*birdsird CARA: 353-3381; **fishfish 0910-7297026 *fo*foodso & supplements PAWB: +632 924-6031-35; *ac*accessoriesc +632 9240109 *ot*othersh PAWS: 475-1688
EVENTS
Las Farolas * sshowsh and training FONTERA VERDE, BRGY. UGONG, PASIGG CITY * sseminarse * eexhibits/x conventions Mondays to Fridays * ootherst 9:00 am to 7:00 pm
Saturday,Sunday, and Holidays SERVICES 9:00 am to 8:00 pm * ppetshopse Telephone Numbers: * vveterinarye 571-7634; 571-7636; 571-2494 * ppete schools/ trainers Fax: 571-7635 * cclinic/li hospitals * stustud services Email: [email protected] * others Website: lasfarolas.com
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’ve always heard two miniature horses which performed the spirit and the heart. many beliefs comforting and cheering-up duties at There are many decades-old about how local hospitals in a recent Pet Bulletin. studies by reputable institutes animals help with When I was in California several that show the connection between I healing those of years ago, I met an Iraqi war veteran humans, animals, and healing. us who are sick or who preferred to live on the street Simply petting your dog or can bring injured—and I have always been instead of in military housing so that down your blood pressure; those a believer in their power to do he would not lose his two cats. He let who have other types of pets can so. There are so many touching people pet the cats on the street, and derive a relaxing kind of pressure stories in print and online of pets we donated to their care. I asked why from merely watching them swim, who stay loyal and who give he preferred to live that way and he move around, sing, or just be. strength to depressed, injured, answered simply, “I can’t give them up. Petting a pet is also proven to raise incapacitated, and ill owners, They are my life.” levels of oxytocin, a hormone crucial and many a time we read about And those of us who love animals for healing and growing new cells. animals being there when other will understand why—because so I am learning a lot more about humans cannot, or will not, do many animals bring the gift of truly the healing connection between the same. In fact, we featured unconditional love, the kind that heals animals and humans. As I am still in the process of recovering fromfrf omm whatwhat was a life-threateningthhrreaateningg illneesss, I’ve founnd thaat thhee animmaals “I CAN’T GIVE aarouo ndn me seemm to hhaveve uppppeed ththeie r coc mmfortingg skillss. They hover THEM UP. THEY aarouundd me; thee catts currl up too me whw en I woro k onn my laapptopp andd puurr ARE MY LIFE.” mmighhtit ly, annd the dogs have tat ken too statayyingg aror und me in tuurns. Whhile wwe cana nnot sppeae kk,, I am veryr gratetefuf l ffor thheeir kinndneesss annd cono cernr forr mem . Doo yoouu haave ann aniimam l hheeaalinng sstoorry?y? It wwoould bbe wondederrffull to heh aar abob uutt it froom youou.
Volume 15, Number 1 • March 2015 100 Animal Scene