Benji used to be a whopping 10.80kg! That was enormous when you consider that the average weight of a healthy adult tomcat is around 4 or 5kg and Benji was more than double this! He has now lost 30% of his body weight (3.35kg) thanks to a Pet Slimmer programme, but he still has a little bit further to go!
But if he keeps up with his exercise and takes it easy on the cat food he should be in great shape in no time. It looks like humans aren’t the only ones trying to start diets for their New Year’s Resolutions!
Shellshock Adventure Opens in Dublin
Dublin Zoo is giving visitors the opportunity to take part in a fabulous adventure. The ShellShock Adventure will be open on Saturday the 10th of September and Saturday the 24th of September.
Children will meet the Zoo’s Reptile Keeper, who will introduce them to the Zoo’s tortoises. They will also be brought on an adventure with their ShellShock Guide who will accompany the group as they explore the Zoo on the ShellShock Adventure-Quiz!
All children participating on the day will receive a special ShellShock Information Pack. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times. Places must be booked in advance by calling (01) 474 8932.
Cost: Members: €7, Non-members: €10.
All takings for the ShellShock tour will go directly to the Dublin Zoo ShellShock campaign
China Welcomes Four New Arrivals In Three Days
Zookeepers in China have their hands full after two sets of twin pandas were born in the space of three days. The new arrivals are relaxing in the Wolong Giant Panda Centre.
The 2nd set of twins was born on the 10th of July to seven-year-old Guo Guo. It was her first time giving birth and her carers were very surprised that she had twins.
One of the junior Pandas was taken away to be looked after by zoo staff, as Guo Guo would not be able to manage on her own. Once the baby is old enough to look after itself it will go back to its mother and brother.
Esso Wildlife Challenge Awards
Nikita McGarry an 11-year-old student in Presentation Senior School, Mullingar was announced the national winner of the Esso Wildlife Challenge 2005 at the recent awards ceremony in Collin’s Barracks, Dublin.
The theme of this years challenge was Irish wildlife and the winning
picture was a forest scene with a pony grazing in the background.
Nikita was chosen as winner over 38,000 other entrants from all over
Ireland and received a state of the art digital camera along with loads
of other art goodies
Five other finalists were commended on the day for their artwork; these were Adam Newe, Conor Hession, Amie Twomey, Elizabeth Madden and Ailbhe Keane. Each finalist received a huge hamper full of cool art supplies and got to bring their classmates to the awards ceremony in Dublin.
‘Den’ presenter, Don Conroy and children’s author, Gordon Snell were among the judges and they really had their work cut out for them this year trying to pick a winner from all the fantastic entries, they found it very difficult to pick just one as the standard this year was so high.
Don will be visiting all of the finalists’ schools over the next few weeks to plant a tree and talk to the children.
Scientists Report new Species of Ape
Scientists have reported the discovery of a new species of ape that lived about twelve and a half million years ago.
A skeleton was found near Barcelona in Spain, which scientists got the information about the news species from.
The name given to the new species is “Pierolapithecus catalaunicus” and scientists believe the ape was male and weighed about 35 kilograms.
Dolphins Saved Our Lives!!
A group of divers who got lost in the
Red Sea say thanks to a group of dolphins, they
were found by rescue workers.
A huge air and sea search was started when
the 12 people went missing, but boats and planes
couldn't find any sign of them.
Eventually a boat saw dolphins jumping across the
water in the direction of the missing divers.
The divers say they heard the dolphins splashing near them and they think the dolphins drew attention to them.
The Biggest Bunny Contest
Roberto the Rabbit may be the biggest bunny in Britain. He is 3 and a half foot long and weighs 2 and a half stone.
Roberto is so big, he has to sleep in a dog’s bed!
His owner, Annette Edwards believes he is the biggest bunny in Britain. His food bill is expensive - £10 instead of just the £1.50 a week that keeps a normal-sized bunny in food.
Clever Bird Knows how to Sew
A very clever cockatiel in England has learned how
to sew with a needle and thread.
Baggio, a cockatiel from Bristol in England can put
thread through a needle using his beak after watching
his owner, a tailor do it for many years.
Clever Dog can understand as many as 200 words.
Scientists have proven that dogs can understand the English language.
Rico, a Border Collie in England proved that he knew the different names of toys. His owners called out the names of 40 different toys and Rico was able to recognise 37 of them.
Some of the words that Rico understands are: "Cheese", "Tiger", "Whale", "Gorilla" and "Baby".
The amount of words a dog can learn is similar to the number a three year old child can learn.
Dancing Dolphins in Waterford
The fishermen going by in their boats are getting
plenty of enjoyment watching them.
Experts say it is very unusual to see dolphins
in that part of the country. They can regularly
be seen off the coast of Kerry, home of the
infamous Fungi. Fungi has lived in Dingle harbour
for 15 years and entertains tourists every summer.
Nature lovers are very excited to see the scores
of dolphins in Waterford. We don't know why
they are having a party but we are definitely
delighted that they are having their celebrations
in Waterford's waters.
Summer has arrived
Summer is here and just in time for the school holidays. Sunday 16th May was one of the sunniest days of the year so far.
Thousands of families all over Ireland were enjoying fun
in the sun in their gardens, on the beaches, and in the parks.
Last year saw the hottest summer in Ireland for more than 40 years.
We were sunbathing and playing in temperatures of 30 degrees. This year
school goers all over Ireland are hoping that it will be just as nice..
While the sun is wonderful, it can also be quite dangerous
so it is important to slap on the suncream if you're outside
playing. You should also remember to drink lots of water, as the hot
weather is likely to make you thirsty.
School will soon be finished for the summer
holidays and we look forward to nature walks, long evenings
and endless games of rounders and football.
Brave Donegal Man Saves Drowning Dog
John McGinley from Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
saw a helpless puppy drowning in a local river.
He thought quickly and tied a rope to his car
to use as an anchor as he lowered himself to
save the struggling pup.
It is thought that the puppy had been thrown
into the water three days earlier. The little
dog must have clung to a ledge, with all his
strength, to stay alive.
The ISPCA (Irish Society for the Protection
against Cruelty to Animals) praised John for
his courage. However they urged people to call
them if they discover an animal in danger.
For more information on caring for animals please
log onto www.ispca.ie,
or call 043 250 35.
Young Girl from Russia has X-Ray Vision.
Natasha Demkina is a 17-year-old girl from Russia and can see into people’s bodies.
Briony is an English lady who was recently in a car crash. She has several broken bones from the accident.
To test Natasha’s powers the doctors took off Briony’s bandages and introduced her to Natasha who immediately pointed out where Briony had broken bones in her body.
Natasha has had these powers since she was ten years old. She would like to become a doctor when she grows up so she can cure people.
Natasha is a real-life super hero.
Wexford vet wins award.
A vet from Wexford was thrilled this week when she heard that she had won an award thanks to her customers.
Annette Quegan was nominated by 70 grateful pet owners for the special care she took when caring for their animals.
Annette says she feels she won the award because she really cares about the animals and their owners and that makes the difference.
Father and son, Liam and Shane Guerin won third prize in the competition as well as a lifetime achievement award, which is great news, especially as Liam is about to open one of the country’s largest animal hospitals which will cost
€1 million..
Ireland - The land of the frogs?
St. Patrick may have driven all the snakes out of Ireland, but he certainly didn’t get rid of the
frogs
Hopo-to-it carried out an Irish frog survey recently and found that there are frogs in every single County in Ireland.
The survey also showed that frogs can be found on almost 80 per cent of total land area.
Funny enough, there are less frogs in Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny than any other County in Ireland.
Belgians take pet snakes for a walk.
You can now take your pet snake for a walk in the park - if you live in Belgium that is.The decision comes after a 23 year old was arrested at a fair in a Belgian city called Anderlecht because he had a 2-metre Boa Constricter snake on his shoulder.
When he was brought to court, the judge decided that it is ok to take your pet snake for a walk as long as you make sure that it cannot attack.
A normal "Red Tail" Boa Constricter will grow to the region of 8-10 foot and as thick as a mans mid thigh. When ANY snake reaches these proportions it is capable of killing an adult human and younger specimens will be capable of killing children.
Although the Boa Constricter is capable of killing, in most cases it is not disposed towards it.
5 new baby animals at Fota wildlife Park
Two baby giraffes, a European bison calf, an oryx calf and a zebra foal were all born in Fota Wildlife Park, Co. Cork in the last 2 weeks.
The births are great news for the park, as it will
bring more visitors, which will help the conservation
of these animals and secure the future for
them. Administrator of the wildlife park,
Ms Carmel Conroy, says as oryx calves and
European bison calves are endangered
species, they are particularly delighted.
European bison calves were in danger of being extinct and thanks to conservation parks, such as Fota, they are now being released back into the wild.
The two baby giraffes have been named
Caoimhe and Cillian.
Unwanted Irish Sheepdogs becoming heroes in Germany.Unwanted Irish sheepdogs will be able to start a new, happy life in Germany thanks to a Collie Rescue centre in
Co.Westmeath.
In the Irish countryside, unwanted collies, or sheepdogs, are usually put down, but the Uisneach Border Collie Rescue in Mullingar have come up with a much better solution.
They train the unwanted dogs and abandoned puppies to work on search-and-rescue teams or to provide company to disturbed children.
One Irish Border collie called Glen has already proved what heroes Irish sheepdogs can be. Glen was an assistant to a child called Antonia in Germany. One day, Antonia went missing and no one could find her. Antonia's brother suggested they send the dog to look for her, so they sent Glen to find her. Everyone was delighted when Glen found the girl.
Kerry Bog Ponies fly to the US
Five small rare ponies from the Kerry Bog Society of Ireland will fly to the US from Ireland to live on a farm for Irish ponies in Ohio. There are now less than 200 of these ponies left. They nearly became extinct 20 years ago until the Kerry Bog Pony Society of Ireland realized this and began to care for them.
They are usually chestnut in colour and are a little bigger than Shetland ponies.
However they are extremely graceful in their movements and love to gallop through the forests and over bogs. They are usually found in a place called Glencar and Glenbeigh in Co Kerry.
Cuckoo, Cuckoo
The Cuckoo bird is one that is often heard but rarely seen in your backyard. Its coloured feathers help it to hide safely among the shrubs and trees away from the quick paws of cats and dogs. The cuckoo bird is famous for its
"kookoo" sound that it uses when trying to court a female bird.
It has pointed wings and a long white spotted tail. Every year about 4,000 pairs of these beautiful birds fly to Ireland all the way from Africa to enjoy our sunny Irish weather and build a nest in your back garden. If the weather is sunny the cuckoo will sing out from May to June. In July he returns back to his homeland in Africa.
Dublin
Zoo To Save Wild Tigers
Dublin Zoo along with 270 other zoos around the world are joining together to take part in the campaign to save wild
tigers. The tiger population around the world is becoming smaller and smaller and the roar of the big cats will disappear forever unless action is taken.
Tigers habitats are being destroyed and there fur is very much sought after in certain countries. There are now only 5,000 tigers in the wild compared to 100,000 at the turn of the century.
Indah, a male tiger is one of the two Samutran tigers at Dublin Zoo. Dublin Zoo hope that the two tigers will produce
a cub in the near future.
Puppies take the lead.
Young puppies are beginning their training to become guide dogs.
Families across the country are taking puppies into their homes for a year to train and educate them. When the year with the foster family is up they will begin an eight month
intensive training course that will hopefully turn
them into fully fledged guide dogs.
The Puppy Walking scheme set up by the Irish Guide Dogs Association is a very important programme as the guide dogs play a significant part in the life of a blind person. This year over 40 puppies will join the programme. A pet food company called Pedigree are giving a helping hand by paying the training fees and they will also give the foster families food, toys, bowls and identification tags for the puppies.
Frog Spotting.
Its spring time and frogs are waking up from their long winter sleep. The four legged slippery creatures are hopping around the country looking for fresh water spots in your neighbourhood such as a stream or pond to lay their spawn.
The Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC) are running a nationwide survey to find out where frog spawn, tadpoles, adult frogs or froglets are and they need your help by completing the Hop to It survey card.
So if you have spotted a frog in your neighbourhood visit www.ipcc.ie and record your sighting.
It's Show time at the Spring Show.
The RDS Spring show is happening again this summer. There will be plenty of four legged animals to look at and pet at the show. Families from all around the country will visit this years Spring Show in Goffs of Kildare on May 10th.Moss an Aubrac cow will be one of the animals on show for the first time and he will be one of the few hundred cows going head to head to win the many competitions.
New baby at Dublin zoo
Dublin Zoo is having huge celebrations following the
birth of their first baby gorilla in 4 years.
Animal lovers are delighted at the news of the arrival
of the baby as the gorilla is an endangered species.
There are only a few thousand gorillas left in the wild as poachers have hunted
the gorillas for years.
Mummy and Daddy gorillas, Harry and Lena were thrilled to welcome their little baby into the family.
The Director of the zoo, Leo Oosterweghel says the baby is alert and healthy.
The only problem is coming up with a name for the new baby, as the zoo hasn't figured out whether it's a boy or a girl yet.
The baby gorilla was born on February the 9th, which makes its star sign Aquarius.
Animals at Dublin Zoo celebrate Valentine's Day
Dublin Zoo has launched a special Love Trail starting this Valentine's weekend.
The special tour leads visitors on a tour
of the love habits of the different animal couples.
There is a special map to follow
to see all the stars of the trail, and loads
of information about animal and even tree relationships!
The female hippo is an interesting one for the
girls to look out for. Apparently she does the
dumping and the choosing! The peacock is a typical
show-off, dressed up in his beautiful coloured
feathers, prancing around flirting with all
the ladies. One woman is not enough for the
peacock and he will mate with a large number
of females.
On the other hand, the Peahen is more ordinary
looking, but once again the female does the
choosing, so the male needs to put on a good
show if he is to be chosen by the selective
bird!
Visitors to the zoo are asked to 'blush' if
they recognise themselves as a peacock or a
peahen!
The Love Trail has dozens of animals all gearing
up for the Valentine's special, including orang-utans,
lions, gorillas, rhinos and even snakes.
Visitors can take the Love Trail from February
14th until March 2nd.
Hero Dog Saves Owner's Life
A super dog, who saved his owner from a raging house fire has won Pet of the Year award. Brave Elkhound Prince who lives with his owner, Nuala O'Shea in Askeaton, Co. Limerick was chosen from hundreds of entries as this year's top dog.
Nuala says thanks to her extremely intelligent pet she is still alive. The fire broke out in the middle of the night in May 1999, while Nuala was fast asleep in her bed. She didn't wake up as the fire spread throughout the house. Prince realised that he had to act quickly and hurried to his owner's aid. He kept barking and scratching frantically at Nuala's window until she woke up.
Nuala jumped up immediately when she realised her home was on fire and hurried to safety. She says she was horrified to realise what danger she was in.
Her home was destroyed in the fire that was caused by an electrical fault, but Nuala and Prince were extremely lucky and escaped unhurt. She is extremely proud of her beautiful dog and delighted that he won the award he deserved.
Micropets dance into record books
Tiny model pets that sing, dance and even look grumpy when told to, entered the record books yesterday as the smallest toys of their type in the world. Measuring just 3.5cm (1.3 ins) high, Chumsley the cat, Sprocket the Dalmatian and the others in the Tomy MicroPets collection have become that latest toy craze for young children, selling nearly one million items since their launch in August. In all there are ten individually designed characters currently available. Using sound recognition technology, the toys respond to hand claps and voice commands, can sing, walk, flash their eyes and show either happy or grumpy moods.
Seven-year-old Jessica McConkey enjoyed playing with the toys for the first time yesterday. "I like the Dalmatian and I wrote to Father Christmas for one," she said. The monster characters are being phased out after Christmas but a new range of MicroPets will be available next year.
Guinness World Records expert Dave Hawksett said: As the worlds of technology and toys collide Guinness World Records is constantly discovering impressive innovations and congratulates those tireless Tomy technicians for finally creating the toy they dreamed of as kids.
Love is in the air for orphan hippo
Orphaned
hippo Hoovie will have a girlfriend
flown in from Switzerland just in
time for Christmas. Federal Express has offered to fly Hoovie's new girlfriend Heidi the hippo from Basel Zoo, in Switzerland to Dublin Zoo.
The company said it decided to help out after it heard of the death of Hoovie's mum Linda last September.
Leo Oosterweghel, Director of Dublin Zoo said: "We were very concerned about Hoovie when Linda died and we set out immediately to find him a suitable partner, which was not an easy task. Luckily for Hoovie, we managed to locate a suitable female at Basel Zoo in Switzerland. Thanks to FedEx Heidi will now join Hoovie when she flies in on a chartered flight from Switzerland before Christmas. This is a wonderful ending to a very tragic story. We will just have to wait and see if romance blossoms."
Shaggy dog tale has happy ending
A Dublin woman, who was devastated when her cherished dog went missing while she was on holiday, was reunited with him on her 60th birthday after her daughter bumped into the pet on the street!
Benson the golden retriever went missing from a kennels while Lil Hannigan was on her first holiday in five years with her two daughters. They were devastated to return and find out that the golden retriever went missing from the kennels a few days into their holiday. The family launch a massive search for Benson and it was on one of her poster pin-up routines that Elizabeth, Lil's daughter just happened to find Benson.
"I was in a sweet shop in Donabate when the girl behind the counter told me she was sure she'd seen the dog in Swords," said Elizabeth. "I drove into Swords and ran into a few shops and pubs when who was walking up the same street as me only Benson! I called his name and he cam running up - he was screaming he was so happy."
Benson had lost weight - about a stone or more - she said, and had obviously been rambling desperately trying to get home for the whole eight days. "We took him home. My mum was out shopping and when she came back all she could see was Benson's tail wagging. He was so excited," said Elizabeth.
Heroine, Meghan, saved her father's life
A brave little girl who saved her father's life revealed last night: "I was nervous and scared but it came as second nature to me." Meghan Cleary, nine, was among a number of youngsters who were recently honoured for bravery as part of National Children's Day. Meghan was at home with her father in Waterford when she heard a loud thud from the bathroom. Her dad had suffered a massive brain haemorrhage and collapsed behind the locked door.
She quickly went outside and climbed on to the windowsill where she saw her father slumped over and getting sick. Meghan rushed back into the kitchen and climbed onto the worktop, remembering where her mother's emergency numbers were kept. She contacted her mum and then took care of her panic-stricken seven-year old brother. She kept her cool, even remembering to turn off the oven and deep fat fryer. "I was scared but I knew what to do," said Meghan, who was honoured at the National Children's Day gala awards' ceremony. Her father, Martin later recovered from the ordeal at Cork University Hospital.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern presented Meghan with her Outstanding Bravery/ Courage Award. She was among 8 children presented with awards on the 40th anniversary of National Children's Day.
Children
Rally to Cheer Hoovie the Hippo
Children all over the country have been sending cards and presents to a baby hippo who lost his mother to an accident in Dublin zoo.
Youngsters have been swamping zookeepers Joe Byrne with Mass cards, photographs
and even cash gifts to cheer up little Hoovie whose mother Linda died after swallowing a tennis ball thrown by a visitor into her enclosure.
The zoo has sent out a request across the world looking for a girlfriend for the 14-month old. 21-stone calf and a new partner for his father Henry who has been widowed since the accident three weeks ago. "The support has been amazing," said Joe. "Even today I got three letters for
Hoovie. One was from a little boy who sent him a Mass card and a picture of himself on his Communion day. He put a €5 note into the card to buy Hoovie a present.
"There have been all sorts of letters and little pictures kids have asked me to stick up in his bedroom. It's been absolutely lovely. But I would like everyone to know that Hoovie is doing well. He is a resilient little fellow and he is getting on ok."
Joe, who looked after Linda for 25 of her 28 years, said the little hippo was totally lost without his mother in the first couple of weeks after her death. "In the beginning he was just wandering around looking for her all the time," he said. "But he has gotten used to her not being around in the past week and he is doing quite well. We were hoping to introduce him to his father but that is something that will take time."
Henry was cordoned off from pregnant Linda before
Hoovie, her eighth calf, was born last year. Male hippos can be jealous of their babies. Dublin zoo, which has been one of the most successful zoos in the world for breeding hippos, is hopeful that it can find females to continue the baby boom. "Unfortunately female hippos seem to be in very short supply, but we are hopeful that one or two will show up that will be suitable," Joe said.
Animal Antics - Did you know…
- The Asian elephant has the longest tail of any land mammal - it can be up to 5 feet long
- The smallest flying mammal in the world is the Bumblebee bat from Thailand. It has a wingspan of 160mm, about the same as a large butterfly.
- It takes a baby elephant six months to learn how to use its trunk.
- The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump.
- Giraffes are six foot tall when they are born.
- A crocodile cannot move its tongue.
- Octopus and squid have three hearts.
- The cow produces approximately 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.
- A single little brown bat can catch 600 insects in one hour.
- The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds.
- Slugs have 4 noses.
- Baby robins have 14 feet of earthworms every day.
Three
Queens of Egypt
Girls of ancient Egypt had it a lot better than most.
By age 12, they could wear makeup. They walked their pet
geese and played ball for fun. As women, they had rights not accepted elsewhere. They could buy and sell property, inherit stuff-even sue someone! Still, men were usually in charge. But that didn't stop some women from defying tradition and taking over. Cleopatra,
Hatshepsut, and Nefertiti were three outrageous queens who showed the ancient world what girl power was all about.
Cleopatra: Political Party Girl
(Reign: 51 B.C. to 30 B.C.)
Marc Antony was fuming. The ruler of half the Roman
empire waited impatiently for the queen of Egypt to arrive. She was late-on purpose. And when she finally glittered up the Cydnus River on a ship with silver oars, Cleopatra had the nerve to make him board her ship. How dare she?
Antony shouldn't have been surprised at the queen's bold
behaviour. Cleo had star power with the brains to match. Queen by 18, she had her hands full: bad harvests, a forced marriage to her brother, plots to overthrow her. (To fight back, she even ordered hits on some of her relatives!) Forced to flee her capital of Alexandria, she convinced powerful Roman leader Julius Caesar to help her regain control. But four years later Caesar was assassinated. Cleo was back to square one.
Enter Marc Antony. She needed his political support. He needed money. Rich party girl Cleo tempted him with excess by betting that she could blow a fortune on dinner. Intrigued, Antony watched as Cleo crushed a pearl earring into her now-priceless drink. That's all it took for the charmed yet greedy Antony to become hopelessly devoted to the queen. With his help, Cleopatra battled to keep Egypt out of the hands of her enemies. She lost. But instead of surrendering, she took her life-probably with the help of a poisonous snake.
Cleopatra left few words. But Egyptologists think they may have found an order signed by the queen. On it, the busy ruler had scribbled: "Make it so."
Hatshepsut: Built to Last
(Reign:1479 B.C. to 1458 B.C.)
Wearing the royal headdress, with a pharaoh's traditional fake beard on her chin, Hatshepsut was officially the "female king" of Egypt. Not bad for a girl who was forced to wed her 8-year-old half brother at 13.
Now for action! Hatshepsut waged successful warfare against fierce invaders. She created a magnificent temple to the sun god,
Amun. Organizing a five-ship expedition to faraway lands, she brought ivory, ebony, gold, and trees to Egypt. Trees? Egypt needed them to grow fragrant incense, burned by the ton in the temple's ceremonies.
To celebrate her 15th year of rule, Hat had two 100-foot obelisks erected. (They looked a lot like the tall, narrow Washington Monument.) Getting the granite for the structures down the Nile River took a long barge, 27 boats, and 850 rowers!
Hat was an excellent ruler-so good that she kept the pharaoh-to-be on the sidelines until she died. But she lives on in spirit. In modern Egypt, Hatshepsut's wonders, from an obelisk to an incense tree, are still standing after nearly 3,500 years.
Nefertiti: Rebel With a Cause (Reign:1336 B.C.
to 1334 B.C.)
Although Nefertiti translates as "the beautiful one has come," Egyptologists hotly debate what she really looked like. But this queen was more than just a face.
Nefertiti co-ruled with her pharaoh-husband, and they had big changes in mind. One day they made a shocking proclamation that Egyptians would now worship only one god. To honor the religion, the royal couple built a new capital city called Akhetaten that was filled with exciting new art and architecture.
Their world didn't last. When
Tutankhamun (King Tut to us) became
pharaoh, the new capital was
abandoned. Though some of the art
was rescued, gone was the one-god
religion from the ancient world. In
the modern world, though, Nefertiti
remains a name-and a face-that won't
soon be forgotten.
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