Chimps Can Still Remember Faces After a Quarter Century

Chimps Can Still Remember Faces After a Quarter Century

Long-term memories may have been vital to our own evolution, suggests a new study of chimpanzees and bonobos.

By Carl Zimmer for The NY Times
Published Dec. 18, 2023 Updated Dec. 19, 2023

In 2015, while working as an undergraduate researcher at the North Carolina Zoo, Laura Lewis
became friends with a male chimpanzee named Kendall. Whenever she visited the chimps, Kendall
would gently take her hands and inspect her fingernails.

Then she disappeared for the summer to study baboons in Africa. When she returned to North
Carolina, she wondered if Kendall would still remember her face. Sure enough, as soon as she stepped
into his enclosure, Kendall raced up and gestured to look at her hands. read more

One-in-a-Million White Spirit Bear Seen in Michigan: ‘Sign of Great Change’

One-in-a-Million White Spirit Bear Seen in Michigan: ‘Sign of Great Change’

Ed Browne for Newsweek

A spirit bear has been spotted in Michigan for the first time. The one-in-a-million white-colored bear is considered a symbol of change for Indigenous peoples. Spirit bears are a type of black bear, but instead of dark fur they have white or cream-colored fur and nearly white claws. They are not polar bears or albinos; their coloring is down to a different genetic condition.

There are only about 100 spirit bears in the world, according to the North American Bear Center. Most of them live in a couple of islands along the coast of British Columbia in Canada: Princess Royal and Gribbell islands. read more

Wild Bison Are Returning to England’s Forests for the First Time in 6,000 Years

By Andy Corbley for GoodNewsNetwork.org

A relative of the iconic beast that roams the American Great Plains is going to be released in an ancient forest in Kent, England—where they haven’t resided for 6,000 years.

But the four animals won’t be arriving by way of South Dakota or Wyoming because Europe has their own subspecies—the European wood bison.
The project is slated to begin in Spring of 2022, when a single male Bison bonasus and three females arriving from Poland and the Netherlands will be allowed to roam and reproduce naturally in the remaining wilds of Britain—and it is hoped that their presence will ignite a chain reaction throughout the forest. read more

Hair From Ghostly Bears Reveals New Genetic Secrets

Hair From Ghostly Bears Reveals New Genetic Secrets

First Nations peoples along British Columbia’s Central Coast led research to help preserve the area’s white-furred Spirit bears.

Lesley Evans Ogden for The New York Times

Douglas Neasloss was skeptical that Spirit bears existed. A member of the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation in Canada, he had heard the stories of white-furred bears that roamed British Columbia’s rainforest. But Mr. Neasloss, a former tour leader and cultural interpreter, had never seen one until 2005, when he experienced “one of the most magical moments” of his guiding career. During a hike, he caught sight of a cinnamon-tinged white bear as it walked out ahead of him, then lay down 50 feet away to munch on a freshly caught salmon. read more

Zohara Featured on the Night-Light Radio Show with Barbara DeLong

Zohara Featured on the Night-Light Radio Show with Barbara DeLong

White Spirit Animals: Prophets of Change by Dr Zohara Meyerhoff Hieronimus portrays these amazing animals as a bridge between the spiritual and physical worlds, between humans and animals, White Spirit Animals are calling us to open our hearts to the wild, to the sacredness of the wind, the water, the earth, and dream a new world into being to heal our own personal and collective wounds and restore the earth to balance.

Barbara DeLong hosts the Night-Light/Spiritually-Speaking radio show, a forum for spiritual enlightenment, cosmic understanding and insight into those etheric realms that ever surround us.

More Than 220 Sheep Saved From Australian Bushfires After Heroic Pup Herds Them to Safety

More Than 220 Sheep Saved From Australian Bushfires After Heroic Pup Herds Them to Safety

By McKinley Corbley - Jan 13, 2020 for www.GoodNewsNetwork.org

This courageous pup is being credited for saving an entire flock of sheep from impending bushfires in Australia earlier this month.

On New Year’s Eve, Stephen Hill saw the wildfires approaching his sister’s farm in Corryong, Australia sometime around 4:15AM. read more

New Zealand Now Recognizes ALL Animals As Sentient Beings!

New Zealand Now Recognizes ALL Animals As Sentient Beings!

Published on www.TrueActivist.com by Sophie McAdam

New Zealand has just set a great example to the world by recognizing what animal lovers have known forever- that our furry friends are as sentient as we are, and (obviously, dur) they have feelings just like we do. It’s a theme we have coveredtime and again here at True Activist, but this landmark ruling by NZ is the first time this shift in perception and policy has been extended to all animals, not just chimpanzees, orangutans, or dolphins.

The Animal Welfare Amendment Bill, passed last month, aims to make it easier to prosecute people in animal cruelty cases, as well as banning animal testing and research. read more

How To Prevent Year Zero, When All Wild Animals Are Gone

Words by Dr. Sailesh Rao

In 2015, I was visiting India on a project field trip when the main news in New Delhi was the spate of farmer suicides occurring on a daily basis. And I was shocked to discover that the farmers were committing suicide because they had harvested a bumper crop of potatoes! The price of potatoes plummeted and many farmers were dumping their potatoes by the side of the road instead of taking them to market in New Delhi. They were then drinking pesticides and killing themselves because they couldn’t repay their debts.

We live in a socioeconomic system that depends on scarcity and it tries its best to turn natural abundance into artificial scarcity. Globally, 7.5 billion human beings consume about 1.5 billion tons of food annually. However, we procure almost 9 billion tons of food, six times as much food as we really need. But we turn this natural abundance into an artificial scarcity through Animal Agriculture. We feed nearly 7.5 billion tons of food to our animals and in return, they give us less than 190 million tons, a nearly 40 fold reduction in dry weight. Since animal foods are scarce, we compete over them and in fact, around 9 million people actually die of starvation each year, despite the fact that we are procuring 6 times as much food as we really need! read more

When Beloved Local Crocodile Passes Away After 130 Years, 500 People Attend His Elegant Funeral

By McKinley Corbley for Good News Network.

Though most people might be afraid of a giant crocodile, this particular reptile has always been considered a beloved part of his village. So when he finally passed away of natural causes earlier this week at the age of 130, the village gave him a funeral fit for a king.

The ancient crocodile, named Gangaram, had grown to be almost 10 feet long (3 meters) at the time of his passing. Despite his intimidating size, the Indian residents of the Bawamohatra village in Chhattisgarh adored the scaly giant. read more

Belugas to Become Residents of the World’s First Retirement Home for Ocean Animals in Show Business

By McKinley Corbley for Good News Network. Photo by Sea Life Trust.

These two beluga whales have been performing for spectators at a water park in China for the last 7 years – but soon, they will be the residents of the world’s first retirement home for oceanic animals in show business.

Little Grey and Little White are the two whales currently living in a concrete tank at Changfeng Ocean World in Shanghai. For years, animal rights activists have been urging the aquarium to rehome the 12-year-old belugas to a healthier, more humane environment – but since the whales have been raised in captivity, they would be unable to survive in the wild. read more

Large pride of lions spotted in the Kruger National Park

by Erene Oberholzer for TheSouthAfrican.com

An overseas visitor recently caught 15 Lions – one of the largest pride of Lions ever spotted in the Kruger National Park – on camera.

Ram Goyel was reportedly so mesmerized by his astonishing lion encounter one day on the H6 near Satara that his heart was literally beating outside of his chest.

To his greatest delight, the white lion was among this pride as well.

Ram told Latestsightings.com:

“We were just returning from the N’wanetsi Picnic spot and this beautiful sighting came along and greeted us. It was a quiet morning and there were no other cars at the time. It was sheer disbelief!

“In the end, my family and I were jumping out of our skin. We were so lucky and thankful that the lions were walking towards us. I pulled over to the side and just let them come to us. My hand was shaking with exhilaration so the video is not perfectly still I’m afraid.

“The sighting ended a few minutes later when a few other cars showed up, and then literally pushed the lions off the road into the bushes.”

Era of ‘Biological Annihilation’ Is Underway, Scientists Warn

By Tatiana Schlossberg for The New York Times, July 11, 2017
 
From the common barn swallow to the exotic giraffe, thousands of animal species are in precipitous decline, a sign that an irreversible era of mass extinction is underway, new research finds.

The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, calls the current decline in animal populations a “global epidemic” and part of the “ongoing sixth mass extinction” caused in large measure by human destruction of animal habitats. The previous five extinctions were caused by natural phenomena.
read more

White Whale Spotted Off North East Coast of New Zealand

By Ryan Dunlop, Reporter, NZ Herald

A rare white humpback whale was spotted off the coast of Gisborne. Expert Ingrid Visser says it is likely Migaloo, a white humpback known to frequent Australian waters.

A white humpback whale sighted off the coast of the North Island is a significant find, according to whale biologist and expert Dr Ingrid Visser.

It is likely the whale is Migaloo, a famous white humpback found in Australian waters, or the first sighting of a new white whale, both extremely rare finds.

Commercial cray fisher Joshua Whitley was out casting pots about 16km off the coast of Gisborne when he noticed something strange near the boat.

"I just happened to look up and see a whale spout. We decided to go over and have a look."

Upon approach Whitley noticed something wasn't quite right with one of the whales - "It was completely white".

White Chipmunks in Worcester, Mass.

By George Barnes for the Telegram & Gazette Staff

WORCESTER — Hoping to give his mother something pleasant to look at off her balcony at Plantation Towers, Bill Chappell set up a bird feeder and spread some seeds on the ground in a garden space near the parking lot.

He got a lot of birds, but he also attracted a couple of nature’s oddities. “I put out the seeds, and I was out watching birds, when I noticed something white,” he said. “It was an albino chipmunk.”
read more

Rare White Orca spotted in Bering Sea

June 11, 2018 by Pete Thomas

A white orca has been spotted by Russian researchers near the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea.

The extremely rare sighting was of a leucistic female orca that had not been documented in several years.

Russian Orcas, a research group, announced the sighting early Monday on Facebook:

“On the first day of our fieldwork in the Commander Islands, we encountered a large aggregation of several groups, including one with a white individual.

“Not the famous Iceberg this time, but the female CO210 also known as ‘Mama Tanya’ (named after the main photo ID researcher of our project Tatiana Ivkovich, who is also blonde).

“CO210 was encountered for the first time in 2009 and re-sighted several times in 2010, but then disappeared for a long time. We are happy to greet her again!”

White Bison “Ghostbuster” expecting in Hays, Missouri

Baby bison born in Hays; more calves expected

May 14, 2018 byCristina Janney

Hays Post

The city of Hays welcomed two baby bison to its herd last week at Frontier Park.

Jeff Boyle, director of the city’s parks department, said the bison’s keeper thinks all five of the cows in the herd will likely have calves this season, including the herd’s white bison, sometimes referred to as Ghostbuster.

The bull in the herd does not exhibit any albino traits, so it is unknown if Ghostbuster would have a white or brown calf.

Rare White Deer Fawn in Wisconsin

Photo courtesy of Trent Zimmerman.
Just moments after finding the only morel of the day near a cluster of elm trees, Zimmerman and Maggie walked a few steps and surveyed the forested landscape.

Twenty yards ahead stood a tiny four-legged form shining like a full moon in the shaded woods: a white deer fawn.

The deer locked eyes with what were likely the first human and dog it had seen in its young life.

"We just sort of pulled up in shock," said Zimmerman, 38. "What a sight."

The fawn was standing, Zimmerman said, but didn't try to run.

The fawn tottered on its spindly legs as Maggie, a 1-year-old Labrador retriever, walked over to investigate. Zimmerman can be heard on the video telling his dog to back off, an order to which Maggie promptly complied.

As with all young wildlife, it's important to leave fawns where they are found. An adult is likely near and will return soon. Female deer will leave their offspring in grassy or brushy areas and return several times a day to feed them. The process continues until the fawns are strong enough to run and follow the doe.

White animals are also revered in American Indian lore.

Charlie Russell, Who Befriended Bears, Dies at 76

Charlie Russell in an undated photograph with a young grizzly bear at a lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.
Credit: Maureen Enns Studio Ltd.

By Neil Genzlinger

Charlie Russell, a Canadian naturalist who researched grizzly bears by living among them and argued for a view of the animals based on coexistence rather than fear, died on May 7 in Calgary, Alberta. He was 76.

The cause was complications after surgery, his brother Gordon said.

Mr. Russell was outspoken in his belief that the view most people — including many of his fellow naturalists — held of the bear was wrong.

“I believe that it’s an intelligent, social animal that is completely misunderstood,” he said in a PBS “Nature” documentary about his work. To prove the point, he and his partner at the time, Maureen Enns, a photographer and artist, spent months each year for a decade living among bears in a remote part of eastern Russia.

Exploring the Bizarre (KCORradio) on the powers and wisdom of sacred White Spirit Animals

Exploring the Bizarre (KCORradio) on the powers and wisdom of sacred White Spirit Animals

Hosts Tim Beckley and Tim Swartz welcome J. Zohara Meyerhoff Hieronimus who explores the powers and wisdom of sacred White Spirit Animals. Says the author: ” Beautiful rarities of nature, all-white animals are held sacred by many indigenous cultures and offer deep wisdom to all who will listen. In addition to the White Buffalo, there are other revered white animals, such as the White Wolf, White Lion, White Elephant, and White Bear. Each of these White Spirit Animals belongs to a species at the apex of their ecosystem, meaning the environment in which they live will unravel without them. Speaking through ancient and modern prophecy and the many humans who communicate with them, these White Spirit Animals are urgently calling to humanity to restore balance and protect our animal kin, ourselves, and the earth”.

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZHoHpJTx4ZA

Read more about Exploring the Bizarre on KCORradio

Indie Shaman Book Review of White Spirit Animals

This book explores the author’s journey and relationship with several White Spirit Animals; namely the Bear, Lion, Elephant, Wolf and Buffalo and is based on both her own Shamanic and Telepathic dreaming and conversations, as well as numerous interviews with animal conservation enthusiasts and professionals in order to give a vibrant picture of these animal ambassadors. These shamanic animals who have been considered by many indigenous peoples to be great teachers and wisdom keepers and who, for thousands of years, have provided a sacred link between the mundane and spirit worlds.

It is the author’s assertion that these animals carry a message of, to use her own phrase, Conservation, Preservation and Restoration (or C.P.R.) for the Earth and that trans-species communication can be used to learn the lessons they have to offer.

N.Y.T. Opinion – Pet Owners Gone Wild

Illustration by Joe Sutphin

By Margaret Renkl

Being the caretaker of two very old dogs means frequent visits to the pet-supply store, but I don’t take my geriatric companions with me when I shop. In their sore, deaf, rickety old age, they are made anxious by the bounding puppies in the store’s cavernous fluorescence. For my dogs, a pet supermarket is a chamber of tortures.

And not just for them. I recently crossed the main aisle just as a big man pushing a stroller was coming the other way. The screen covering the stroller was zipped, and the animal inside had scooted back as far as it could, so I caught only a glimpse. “That dog looks just like a fox,” I said.

“It is a fox,” the man said. read more

Zohara on the Maiden, Mother, and Crone podcast

Zohara on the Maiden, Mother, and Crone podcast

The Maiden, Mother, and Crone of Green Egg bringing aspects of the magazine to life on the Pagan Musings Podcast, you can find their live shows on alternating Saturdays.

Zoh has been called a visionary and futurist and is as well, a trans-species telepath who communicates with animals both wild and domestic. Zohara is well known for her participation in consciousness studies, the spiritual science of self mastery as described in kabbalah, and is a broadcasting personality hosting numerous radio shows over the past 30 years.

Listen to this show on the Maiden, Mother, and Crone page

White Bison Spotted in Park County, Colorado

Image Credit: Coleen Graybill

Life on the Summit: Hey, Spike! writes on Graybills and white bison

by Miles F. Porter IV

It was two rare white wildlife species — a red-tailed hawk in the San Luis Valley and a bison in Park County — that brought about this week's column.

...

Knowing Native American folklore about the spirituality of albino-like creatures piqued Coleen's interest. read more

White Spirit Animals Featured in InnerSelf Magazine

Photo credit: Stano Novak, CC BY 2.5

In the land where trees are called “growing people” and ancestral spirits are consulted in community decisions, we meet the White Lions of Timbavati, South Africa.

Like indigenous leaders in whose homeland other White Spirit Animals are born, here too, in Africa, Zulu elders teach that there is vital significance in the appearance of the White Lions in Timbavati at this time. As with all the other White Spirit Animals, the White Spirit Lions have come to warn us of dramatic Earth changes, encouraging us to work together in these perilous times. Protecting the Earth, as Lions have protected humans throughout time, is our noble-hearted duty.

Watkins Mind Body Spirit Magazine features White Spirit Animals

Watkins Mind Body Spirit is a quarterly magazine published by Watkins Books in London. Like the famous bookshop, the magazine covers a wide range of subjects from contemporary spirituality to self development and mysticism to Eastern philosophy. Each issue contains specially commissioned author’s articles and interviews, alongside the very latest book releases.

Zohara's article with excerpts from White Spirit Animals features many photographs from the book. Read the article (PDF).

Visit Watkins Magazine online

Calling All Earth Guardians – Zoh’s article in Species Link Journal


Species Link focuses on our many ways of being in relationship with all animals and our natural environment. To have a vibrant and honest relationship with our animal kin and our ecosystems requires developing greater compassionate action, establishing personal, political and financial will to restore our precious earth. The entire world faces serious challenges we must respond to.

Conscious Community Magazine Review of White Spirit Animals

Review by Kayla Hancock

White animals have always been honored by indigenous cultures as great spiritual teachers. As Zohara Meyerhoff puts it, they act as a connection between the physical and the spiritual worlds, reaching out to humanity to restore balance on our planet. Meyerhoff shares sacred lore, science and her own telepathic dream experiences with readers to take a deeper look at White Spirit Animals and their role as the guardians of animal wisdom. She also tells of their importance in opening our hearts and healing the collective consciousness on Earth.

Read it online at www.ConsciousCommunityMagazine.com

Joanna Harcourt-Smith interviews Zohara on the Future Primitive Podcast

Joanna Harcourt-Smith interviews Zohara on the Future Primitive Podcast

In this week’s episode Zohara Hieronimus speaks with Joanna about: who are the White Spirit Animals; a waking vision with a message from them; trans-species and dream telepathy; a constellation of meaning about Bear; what Buffalo said; an antidote to the human species entitlement; the alchemical teachings of Lion; the sacred purpose of each of the White Spirit Animals; restoring the local soil together; a new way of feeling and being; small acts of love matter.

Zohara on Supernatural Girlz

Zohara on Supernatural Girlz

Supernatural Girlz host Patricia Baker and co-host PK had author Zohara Hieronimus on their show to share her knowledge of White Spirit Animals in spiritual traditions and prophecy from around the globe.

All-white animals are held sacred by many indigenous cultures and offer wisdom to those who will listen. They call to us to listen to all things sacred. Visit their archive page.

View the video on Facebook.

Film & Pictures of White Sacred Animals

Film & Pictures of White Sacred Animals

Sacred White Animals herald both a Blessing and a Warning Apart from the prophesized white Buffalos (which are among the most sacred animals a person could ever encounter), other rare and beautiful white animals have begun to appear the world over: Lions, Servals, Giraffes, Zebras and Gorillas; Robins, Foxes, Sparrows, Bats and Hedgehogs; Tigers, Elephants, Raccoon Dogs, Pythons, Cobras, Monkeys, Leopards and Peacocks; Kangaroos, Wallabies, Kookaburras, Koalas, Possums, Emus, Echidna and Kiwi; Ravens, Crows, Deer, Black Bear, Skunks, Moose, Squirrels, Pronghorns, Coyotes, Horned Owls, Hummingbirds, Rheas, Pumas, Rattlesnakes, Alligators and Lynx and Whales, Penguins, Fur Seals, Dolphins and Sea Turtles, with many appearing in the last four years, or directly before, during or after world events that call for peace and global unity.

According to Chief Arvol Looking Horse, traditional leader of the Lakota clan of the Sioux nation and 19th generation Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Bundle, the appearance of these white animals heralds a time of great urgency for the Earth and humanity as a whole. It is said that the appearance of such unusually coloured animals is a sign; an omen calling for us to unite as a People and walk as One; to see past the colour of our neighbours skin or the ancestry of their people and to come together and embrace them as brothers, sisters and all-related children of the Earth Mother.