Puerto Vallarta sits on the largest natural bay in Mexico, and it would be a shame to visit the city and not pay a visit to the area’s friendliest marine mammals. After all, some people speculate that cetaceans (the species that includes dolphins and whales) are extremely intelligent. They may be wrong, or they may be right; if they’re right, local dolphins may feel slighted if you overlook them.

It’s completely natural for visitors to gravitate toward the water; after all, it’s right there and it’s big. Folks bail out of their villa Puerto Vallarta each morning looking for some kind of adventure on the high seas. Many people jump on the chance to interact with dolphins; they set off on an excursion to see dolphins in their natural habitat or take a swim with the dolphins in a controlled setting. Either way, time spent in communion with these creatures is time well spent. Quite often, the experience leaves visitors with a new-found respect for the natural world.

Watch Them Blow

Dolphins fin around Banderas Bay throughout the year, and dolphin watching is not highly regulated in the same way as the government restricts encounters with whales. You may find that most tour operators focus their efforts on whales during the official whale-watching season, however, which creates something of a de facto dolphin-watching season.

Dolphin tour guides take guests onto the waters of the bay, where they can watch these playful animals do their thing in their own world. A dolphin tour in a small boat puts you up close and personal with the objects of your attention, and if you join a group led by marine biologists, you’ll pick up some fascinating information about the world of marine mammals.

Swim with the Fins

It may not be practical to try to swim with wild dolphins in the bay-they have the all the advantage in that environment. Don’t despair! That opportunity is there at one of the dolphin centers in Puerto Vallarta. And visitors have all kinds of great things to say about swimming with dolphins.

The Dolphin Center in Nuevo Vallarta is a favorite for many dolphin-lovers. You can choose how you want your dolphin encounter to unfold: meet dolphins in an intimate, small-group encounter; join a bigger group of humans interacting with dolphins in the water; or stay dry and enjoy the dolphins from the side of the pool. It’s entirely up to you.

Aah . . . Home Again

Whether you choose to meet Puerto Vallarta’s Pacific bottlenose dolphins on the waves of Banderas Bay or nose-to-nose at the dolphin center, you’ll have the experience of a lifetime. You’ll return to your Villa Rental Puerto Vallarta with wonderful memories, some great photos, and a finer appreciation for the wild world.

Found throughout the circumpolar Arctic, the polar bear is one of the largest land carnivores. Surviving mainly on a diet of seal, polar bears also eat kelp, scavenge on carcasses, and occasionally even kill a walrus or a small whale. Aptly titled Kings of the North, or Lords of the Arctic, polar bears are truly fascinating animals with unique characteristics, all of which enable them to survive in a harsh and unforgiving world.

So how does a polar bear start out in life? Well, sometime around midsummer, polar bears mate and then go their own separate ways. This is the point where things get very interesting. The fertilized egg divides into a hollow orb of cells called a blastocyst, then free floats in the uterus for four months before attaching to the uterine wall. This delay allows the female polar bear to build up the fat she needs, roughly 400 pounds of it, before the fetus or fetuses begin to develop. This also insures that the cub or cubs are not born too early. Typically, once the blastula begins to develop, one to three embryos will result with actual gestation taking another four months.

Not long after mating, the female polar bear begins preparing a den that she will enter sometime in mid October. Her den will be a hole dug into the deepest snowdrift she can find on a south facing slope and measures approximately 6.5 x 5 x 3 feet with an air vent in the top. There she will spend the winter in hibernation, the cubs being born sometime between November and January. At birth, a baby polar bear weighs around one pound and measures about twelve inches. Blind, deaf, and covered in very fine fuzz, the cubs are totally dependant on mom for food and warmth, spending all of their time nursing and sleeping. Roughly, one month later, the cubs will begin to hear sounds and shortly thereafter, they will open their eyes. At two months, they begin walking around the den. Finally, mom and cubs emerge from the den in March or April by which time the cubs weigh in at around 23 pounds.  

For the first 12 weeks, mom and cubs stick close to the den while the cubs get used to the colder temperatures and develop their leg muscles. Polar bear cubs stay with the mom for about 2.5 years. During this time, she fiercely protects them while teaching them how to hunt for food and the basics of survival. The cubs start eating solid food when they are around 3-4 months old but continue to supplement their diet by nursing for another 18 months or so. At around one year of age, the young bears will start trying to hunt on their own, not truly becoming efficient hunters until they reach about two years old. Not long after this, once the mother is again ready to breed, either mom or her new suitor, will chase off the cubs, forcing them to make their way in the world.

Polar bear cubs grow quickly, weighing in at around 99 pounds by the time they reach 8 months old. Once they reach adulthood, a female polar bear will weigh in at 350-550 pounds and can measure over 8 feet tall while a male can easily weigh anywhere from 1,000 to 1,400 pounds and measure over 9 feet tall. Their life span varies but polar bears in the wild have an average life span of span of 20 years with a few living as long as 30.

Survival for polar bear cubs is not high, only 55% will make it to adulthood. They do have some unique factors to help them. A polar bear’s fur is not actually white. Each hair is a clear hollow tube with highly reflective qualities (making it appear white) while their skin is black to absorb heat from the sun. They can also swim for long periods while their thick layers of fat and water repellent fur protect them from the freezing water. Partially webbed front paws and elongated hind paws, which act like rudders, allow the polar bear to swim more efficiently. The pads of their feet, the only place on their bodies with the exception of their nose that is not covered with fur, have a layer of  dermal bumps which combined with long hairs between the toes allow for friction against the ice.

Sadly, as of May of 2008, the classification of polar bears upgraded to “threatened” allowing them increased protection under the Endangered Species Act. A combination of melting arctic ice, oil drilling and over hunting have put these fascinating animals in danger of extinction, some experts saying there could be a reduction in the polar bear population of two thirds by 2050. The polar bear is the first animal whose decline ties directly to global warming. Let us hope that with continuing conservation efforts we can still save these magnificent creatures from disappearing along with the arctic ice that they call home.

The idea of having a pet is an idea that many people consider but they rarely take the various needs of their new pet into account when they start the process to adopt this pet. These people will just see about adopting any pet that they see in pet stores and at the pet shelters that look cute. It is only when the animal adoption process is finished and they have taken the new family member home, that they are confronted by the reality of their having adopted an animal.

For this reason and many others when you decide to adopt any type of pet you should see if you have the ability to take of that pet. There are many different animals that can be considered as pets. These pets are generally dogs, guinea pigs, cats, parrots, rabbits, hamsters, and different varieties of fresh water fish and saltwater fish.

While these are the main types of animal adoption pets that people consider having as companions or just plain pets, there are other exotic pets that some people think would be appropriate as pets. These types of pets include snakes, turtles, other reptiles and hawks, and even lion cubs.

Regardless of the type of animal that you may consider owning there are certain factors that need to be thought of before you go through with an animal adoption procedure. These factors will include the animal’s emotional state, mental state and the physical condition of this animal once you have taken the animal to your home.

While you may think that owning a pet is easy there are many requirements that your new pet will need seen to. As these various animals have different temperaments and requirements for their happiness and health, you will need to talk with an animal veterinarian or staff at animals shelters to understand the various needs of your new pet.

In an animal adoption you are taking home a pet whose likes and dislikes are already probably well established. These likes and dislikes will extend even to their dietary requirements. When you are looking into the types of food that are suitable for your new pet you should understand what are the foods that will provide them with a good nutritious meal.

These many facts are needed to be thought of when you are looking into an animal adoption. Even though there are lots of pets who need a home and lots of love you have to be suitable for their future needs and happiness. So until you are sure about giving a 100% of your time and attention to these animals you may want to wait a while before you adopt a pet.

It is not a secret that we humans have been destroying the environment for years. It is now that some of us are trying to make all people aware of the affects that our lack of care has had on the environment and what will happen if we do not make changes now and try to stop the progress of global warming. Our focus, or drive, is the thought of what type of world are we leaving our children. We also need to be looking at how global warming is affecting our animals now and in the future if we do not stop and make the needed environmentally safe changes.

There are numerous studies that are being conducted and have been conducted where watching animal behavior and traits to measure the status of the environment. These studies are showing that our Earth is changing in unnatural ways and it is disturbing. Think about the fact that right now as things stand, reindeer will no longer wander the places they currently do, they will disappear.

Marmots no longer hibernate the same amount of time that they used to. Actually compared to thirty years ago, they are ending hibernation three weeks earlier. The Canadian red squirrel is breeding 18 days earlier. Studies are showing that the red fox is moving north and invading the territory of its Arctic cousin. Polar bears are not as healthy as they were 20 years ago and they are thinner.

If we look at the sea and our creatures there we also see changes that should cause alarm. Coral reefs are expected to increase by up to a third in size. Elephant seal pups are thinner because their prey is migrating to cooler waters. Our turtles are changing behavior as well, the loggerhead is laying eggs 10 days earlier and the Hawkbill turtle hatchlings are having more females then males due to temperature changes.

Birds are changing their diets to insects that do not consume leaves that have been treated with high amounts of pesticides. What does all of this mean? It means that global warming is going to cause many of our animal species to become endangered if not extinct.

The melting ice, the warm seas, the spreading dessert are all threats to our animals. These changes, no matter how subtle have a dramatic influence on the lives of our wildlife. In the sea the disappearance of the tiny organisms that the larger creatures feed off of is causing the sea life to migrate northward.

Keeping in mind that global warming plays a huge part in our weather and climate, the increased storminess destroys the breeding colonies of the albatross that already battle the possibility of being captured and killed by fishing boats. The rise in sea levels wipe out the nesting sites of the sea turtles, seals and wading birds are also on the list of species to be affected by their habitats being destroyed.

Thought the very source of nature is change, and adaptation, the changes that are taking place in our environment due to global warming are just happening to fast. The speed is what makes it difficult for the animals to adapt effectively and this will cause us to loose a lot of our wildlife. Can you imagine a world with no reindeer? What about the day that the Sahara dessert covers all of Africa and makes migration impossible for birds?

These are changes that we can see everyday and we need to start paying attention to them. The predicted elevation of sea level by an amazing three feet coupled with the disruptions to the Earth life support systems should be our wake up call.

While you can look out your back window and see these changes taking place, the full effect will be seen by the year 2100 if the predictions of scientist come through and we do not change our ways. Think about is, 2100 is less then one hundred years away. You and I would probably not be here, but our grandchildren will and what will we have left for them? Help stop global warming, do your part to save the Earth, our children and our wildlife. They need us.

You are probably already aware that one of China’s national treasures are their beautiful but endangered Panda Bears. These beautiful bears can be found at the zoos in Shanghai and Beijing, and at places like the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base in Chengdu, or at the Wolong Nature Reserve in the Sichuan Province. In the United States, pandas can be seen at the National Zoo and the San Diego Zoo. Visitors can view the bears eating, sleeping and playing.

Giant Pandas are large, like most bears, but they typically have thick black and white fur with a short tail. The areas around a giant pandas eyes, ears, legs and shoulders and are black, while rest of their body is covered in white fur. The bears have very good eyesight. They also have strong jaws and teeth so that they can chew tough foods like bamboo shoots. Giant pandas have a special bones in their hand that works like an opposable thumb to aid in holding their food.

The pandas are native to only about six small locations in China. They live in the high mountainous areas near the center and southwest of China, among forests full of bamboo. The weather is mostly cloudy, rainy and misty throughout the year. The famous Chengdu Breeding Giant Panda Research is found on the mountain of Fu Tou. Giant pandas are considered carnivores, but the bears diet in the wild consists of almost all bamboo. It is by far the favorite food of a giant panda. However, bamboo is very low in nutrition, meaning a giant pand will need to eat for 10 to 14 hours a day.

The bears are very shy and prefer to live alone. The females and males only see eachother about twice a year, in the late spring or early summer seasons to breed. A few months later, the female bear will usually give birth to just one or maybe two cubs in a den she has dug in the ground. Usually, only one of the bear cubswill live to maturity. They are very small and helpless when they are born, and cannot see. The newborn pandas are pink with almost no fur on their bodies. The mother panda nurses her nurse for about six months. At about one year old, the panda cubs will be able to live on their own. On average, a giant pandas can live to be between 17 and 20 years in the wild.

Just a little over a hundred years ago there wer thousands of giant pandas in China, but their population has steadily declined because of the destruction of the forests to make way for new homes and businesses. Thankfully, pandas are protected by law and cannot be hunted. They can also live at safe places such as the the Wolong Nature Reserve.

In today’s society we very often hear about people fighting for animals that are in danger of becoming extinct. Is this something that worries you and something that lies heavy on your heart?

Not all animal lovers are in a position were they can be as active as they would like to when it comes to fighting for these animals, still if you would like to be able to do something to help in the fight to save the endangered animals there are many ways to go about this.

First and foremost no one can commit themselves to fight for every one of these animals but a smart thing to do is to pick one spices. This way you are able to go in depth and learn as much as possible about that certain one you have picked. Knowing as much as possible about what you are fighting for gives you a much better credibility and reputation when dealing with the public.

There are many different ways of helping out when it comes to all kinds of animals even the domestic ones. Regardless if you live in the city or out in the country there are animals that are abused and abandoned every day and these very often end up in your local animal shelters. Unfortunately if these animals are not adopted within a certain time many of them are being put asleep. This is were you can be a great help even if it is just to one single animal, one is much better than one.

Adopting an animal from a shelter is normally much cheaper than going out and buying one from private sellers or breeders. Another plus is if getting an animal from a shelter is that that they are normally spade, nurtured and up-dated on their shots. If the animal has been abused prior to getting to the shelter it is most likely to become a great pet but it will also require a lot of time and affection.

Other things you can do to help out animals in need is to donate time or money to different organizations which are helping or fighting for these animals or you can even provide foster care in order to prevent them from being put to sleep. Anything, even the smallest contributions will help an animal in need

rs are technically carnivores, but in practice most of their diet consists of plant matter such as sedges, grasses, bulbs, seeds, berries, and roots. They will also eat insects, fish, and small mammals. Some of these bears have even developed predatory practices on large animals, including moose, caribou, and elk.

The polar bear is a mighty hunter of seals. The most carnivorous of the bears, it is also the most patient. They will sit near a seal blow-hole for hours, waiting, until the animal surfaces. When it does, it is all over for the seal. One powerful blow from a forepaw brings a swift meal for the bear and a swifter death for the seal.

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The conditions of the polar north are harsh, with temperatures well below freezing almost constantly. In order to survive, the polar bear has to be an expert survivalist, able to cope with the grueling conditions of his environment. Like a giant solar panel, the skin of the bear is black to draw every bit of possible heat from the sunlight. The hairs if the pelt appear to be white, but are actually transluscent and transmit the light down to the skin. Below these hairs are “underhairs” of orange or yellow.

Like those of other bears, the ears of the polar bear are round. They are, however, smaller and closer to the head. This, along with the overall shape of the animal help to make it a formidable swimmer. The paws are large, and slightly webbed, which also contribute to the bear\’s abilities as a swimmer.

There is a great degree of sexual dimorphism among the bears as well. The males are huge, the heaviest of them weighing as much as 1300 pounds. The females are smaller, the largest of them being only about 600 pounds.

The boars do not generally hibernate, but remain active for most of the year. The pregnant females are the exception to this, however. They go through a denning and hibernation period, just like that of the black, brown, and other bears.

Polar bears are more agressive than other bears. Even in captivity.

The asiatic black bear has many similarities to its American cousin. Both are medium sized, and black. The ears of the asiatic bear are large and seem inappropriately sized to the rest of its head and those of other bears. These bears have a white patch of fur on their chest, which is often shaped like a V, with some varying amount of white on their chin as well. Occasionally, they can be found in a brown color phase.

The asiatic black bears are not as widely studied as the other bears, so very little information is available about their relative size and other statistics. Generally, they have been found to be 50-75 inches in length. The males usually weigh from 220-440 pounds, and the females from 110-275 pounds.

These bears can be found throughout Southern Asia. They are known in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Sikkim, Northern India, Bhutan, and into Burma. They can also be found in Northeast China, and Southeast Russia, Taiwan, and the Japaneese islands of Honshu and Shikoku. Mostly, these bears live in forested areas, especially hilly and mountainous places. The preferred elevations change seasonally. In summer, asiatic black bears have been spotted at over 9,900 feet–moving to lower elevations as the cold of winter comes on. In the northern parts of their range, they den for winter. Current thinking is that the bears in the southern reaches do not hibernate.

The diet of the asiatic black bear is quite diverse. They eat carrion, bee\’s nests, insects, invertibrates, small vertibrates, and fruit. They have been known to kill domestic livestock, but to what degree they exhibit this predation is not known. They are also known to make daybeds and feeding platforms in nut-bearing trees

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Keith Londrie II is the Webmaster of bears.about-animals.info A website that specializes in providing information on bears that you can research on the internet at your own pace. Please Visit bears.about-animals.info now!

If you want to swim with bottlenose and spotted dolphins, both trained and wild, the Florida coast is an ideal destination. Bottlenose and spotted dolphins are the most gentle and intelligent mammals next to humans and even more when you meet them. You’ll be able to swim with dolphins when you visit them in the Florida, Key Largo, Key West area, and Miami, Fort Lauderdale area.

You can choose from shallow-water swimming experiences with trained dolphins and deep-water encounters with wild dolphins. In shallow water enclave, you can spend time working with a trainer from a platform, as the dolphins perform tricks on command. You can also swim with the dolphins, as they will do toe pushes and body rubs. You can enjoy dorsal fin rides and snorkel with them.

Once the trained dolphin swim in captivity gives you an understanding how the dolphins behave in a controlled environment, you can go for wild dolphin encounter. You will need to go out in the sea in a boat with an experienced guide and boat captain, to find pods of wild bottlenose dolphins.

There are several facilities in Florida that offer the opportunity to swim with dolphins, both trained and wild. One such facility is Dolphins Plus, a dolphin research and education facility located south of Miami in Key Largo. Dolphins Plus houses 14 Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.

In the Florida Keys, there are three legally registered facilities that offer you the opportunity to swim and interact with dolphins – Theatre of the Sea, Dolphin Plus, and Dolphin Research Center.

There are structured and non-structured swims with the dolphins programs. In the structured program one can have an up front and personal dolphin experience. You can swim, dance, kiss, and enjoy a dorsal tow with the dolphins. In this swim, contact is guaranteed with the dolphins.

Pregnant women are not allowed in the water.

The non-structured swim is only meant for snorkelers who are comfortable in deep water. Since the dolphins in these sessions are not trained, contact cannot be guaranteed. The dolphins set the pace, and contact is up to them

In the event you are seriously considering escaping your daily grind at the office and departing upon an exciting and challenging vacation the only problem you may encounter is where you wish to travel to. Amongst the places you may possibly consider is the ancient and exciting country of China. China has a long history dating back thousands of years and represents a unique and varied lifestyle vastly different from our own way of living.

Perhaps you are already aware that China is home to the rare but amazing giant pandas. The pandas are considered to be one of China’s national treasures and these creatures are adored by both the young and old from all parts of the globe. Many people visit China every year for the sole purpose of seeing the Giant Pandas in person. The giant pandas can be readily found in the Chinese states of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi.

While visiting this amazing country you must make sure you stop at the Giant Panda Museum. The Giant Panda Museum was established in the year 1993 in order to advance the scientific studies associated with the Panda and to educate the public concerning the various issues which relate to protection of wild species and their environment.  This museum is slightly different then any found in the western world. The Giant Panda Museum is known to be the world’s only museum which is firmly dedicated to endangered and rare animals only.

When you visit the Giant Panda Museum in China you will notice they have three main exhibition areas which are named the butterfly Hall, the Giant Panda Hall and the Vertebrate Hall. The walls of the museum are filled with a variety of interesting and informative posters and pictures of various animals.

After spending time at the museum your next stop should be Beijing. In Beijing you can easily discover an abundance of activities created to keep you and your family occupied for hours at a time. The Forbidden City in China is a magnificent structure and is known to be the world’s largest Imperial Palace. This palace currently consists of 8000 rooms however during its lifetime the palace once amassed over 9,999 rooms. Due to wars and natural disasters the last room count was reduced to a mere 8000. Surrounding the palace you will discover a moat that is over 18 feet deep accompanied by a wall that is over 33 feet high.

Beijing over the centuries has served as the capital city of many dynasties including the Ming, Yuan and Qing. Apart from the imperial palace we have mentioned you will also find many royal mausoleums like the Ming Tombs, Western Qing Tombs and the Eastern Qing Tombs.

China is a different world then what we know and it possesses many attractions which draw people from the far reaches of the globe.

Teddy bears survived the Titanic! There were actually two teddy bears that survived the Titanic, one was a man’s bear and the other was a child’s. This just goes to show you that teddy bears will always be around and that everyone can love a bear.

Believe it or not while everyone was fighting to stay alive and get to a raft a man was separated from his teddy bear. Yes, Gaspare Luigi Gatti, was a man and not a young boy. Mr. Gatti carried the teddy bear everywhere he went, you didn’t see him on the ship without it. He drowned, along with 1500 other voyagers.  

Before getting on the ship this little teddy bear had already been through a journey. He’d survived the Blitz, the bombing of his own home in London and finally, he made it through the Titanic. This little teddy bear was seen floating in the water and retrieved, later it would be given back to Gaspare’s widow and she would in turn hand it over to a museum.

In 1992 Merrythought re-created this bear in honor of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, it was to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the ship. Only 5000 of these bears were made, each one had yellow mohair and stood to be 8 inches tall.  

But Gaspare wasn’t the only one with a teddy bear on the Titanic that day. A little boy named Douglas who had brought along his teddy bear, “Polar” and his mom. They all survived the sinking of the ship, however Douglas would soon die by a fatal car accident.  After the death of her son, Daisy Corning Spedden wrote a picture book titled, “Polar the Titanic Bear Book.” Daisy never did send this book out, in fact it was many decades later that her great grandnephew would find it hidden away inside her attic. The Steiff Company would make a reproduction of “Polar” of only 1000 bears.  * *