Orangutan canines

PEKANBARU, Indonesia: Thousands of Indonesian firefighters are locked in an around-the-clock game of Whack-a-Mole as they battle to extinguish an invisible enemy - underground fires that aggravate global warming. Vast blazes are ripping across the archipelago's rainforests, unleashing a toxic haze over Southeast Asia that has triggered health fears and sent diplomatic tensions with Indonesia's neighbours soaring. READ: Death toll rises as millions in Indonesia suffer from raging forest fires Jakarta deployed more than 9,000 personnel to battle fires turning land into charred landscapes and consuming forests in hard-hit Sumatra and Borneo island. But many of the blazes smoulder deep underground in once-swampy areas known as peatlands, where they can last for months and release eye-watering amounts of thick, acrid smoke. "It's so much harder to fight fires on peatlands," a dirty and exhausted Hendri Kusnardi told AFP outside smog-hit Pekanbaru city in Sumatra. "Even … [Read more...] about Subterranean blaze: Indonesia struggles to douse undergound fires

BANGKOK: More than half of the tigers that Thai authorities confiscated in 2016 from an infamous Tiger Temple tourist attraction have died from a viral disease because their immune systems were weakened by inbreeding, media reported. The Buddhist temple west of Bangkok was a tourist destination where visitors took selfies with tigers and bottle-fed cubs until authorities removed its nearly 150 tigers in 2016 in response to global pressure over wildlife trafficking. The confiscated animals were taken to two state-run sanctuaries but it soon became apparent they were susceptible to canine distemper virus, said a senior official from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. "When we took the tigers in, we noted that they had no immune system due to inbreeding," the department's deputy director-general, Prakit Vongsrivattanakul, told the state-owned broadcaster MCOT on the weekend. "We treated them as symptoms came up," Prakit said. Prakit did not give … [Read more...] about Scores of tigers rescued from infamous Thai temple have died: Reports

BANGKOK: Luther lies patiently and quietly, head resting on the lap of his young owner. The 4-year-old black labrador retriever is wearing his guide dog harness - even though he is idle, he remains on duty. Deep down though, and despite his years of specialised training, Luther is still a dog. All around him fellow canines are enjoying a walk in the park. His head turns with interest, his ears prick and he sniffs at the breeze with curiosity. “He’s going like, ‘I’m a guide dog, I’m a guide dog, I’m a guide dog, I’m not supposed to do that’. He’s still certainly a dog,” laughs Kirin Techawongtham, who commonly goes by the name Sai. Luther and Sai are an intrinsically connected duo. Sai is blind and for the past two years, she and Luther have undertaken a rare and special journey together, as dependents, travellers and friends. A Facebook page starring the pair, set up in June, has made the adventure a viral one. In less than two months, the page has attracted more … [Read more...] about Meet Luther, Thailand’s only guide dog, and his brave owner fighting for understanding

I have dogs. I have four dogs. I have four dogs in New York City. In my defense, it happened by accident. See, I had two and my husband had two, so we Brady Bunch-ed them when we got married. I love them equally but this piece will focus on the eldest, Gixer, who’s 10-and-a-half. (I may refer to him here by one of his many nicknames: Jiggy, JigPig, Gixy, Jiggy Pie, Jiggus McPiggus, Jiggus M. Piggus Attorney at Dog, Bird, Turd, Bubba. He might have a couple more by the time I finish writing.) A few weeks ago, I was in the park with Gixer when a man and his young daughter walked by. “That dog looks so old,” the man said as he passed. I felt a pang in my chest. Despite my best efforts to freeze time, my boy is ageing and it shows: His beard and eyebrows have gone white, he moves with arthritic stiffness, he’s got a bum knee that causes him to limp sometimes. His eyes are a bit cloudy, though his vision is still good, and he has a few fatty lumps just below the skin – benign lipomas that … [Read more...] about Older dogs and cats require extra TLC – here’s how to take care of an ageing pet

KUALA LUMPUR: The giant panda enclosure at Kuala Lumpur’s Zoo Negara provided visitors a cooling respite from the hot and humid weather. On Tuesday morning (Jun 11), the zoo’s biggest attraction, a one-year-old giant panda cub, was enjoying the air-conditioned comfort as it lay sprawled on a wooden platform. The fluffy female cub, the second offspring of a pair of giant pandas Liang Liang and Xing Xing on loan from China, seemed oblivious that a tourist on the visitor platform, Mr Khaled Jafar from the United Arab Emirates, was trying to snap a close-up picture on his camera phone. “It’s so adorable and well worth the zoo entrance fee to be so close to a baby panda,” Mr Khaled told CNA. “I also appreciate that I don’t have to jostle with crowds and can take my own time to appreciate them.” The panda family outnumbered the total number of visitors at the enclosure, a reflection of the declining visitor problem at Zoo Negara. To address the issue, the zoo's management … [Read more...] about What Kuala Lumpur’s Zoo Negara is doing to attract more visitors