John E. Marriott grew up in Salmon Arm, British Columbia and took his first trip to the majestic Canadian Rockies at the age of 1 month old. Although he has no memory of this trip it was the beginning of a life long love affair with the beauty and grandeur of the Rocky Mountains and Canada. He actually began photographing Canadian wildlife at the young age of 6 yrs. old during family vacations. He still keeps those early photos of wild bears and moose for sentimental value.

In his early twenties he was fortunate to be hired by Canada Parks
in Banff National Park to photograph people, wildlife, and wilderness scenes in the mountain environment. It was here that his career as an outdoor photographer was born. During the 1990's he photographed extensively in the frontcountry and backcountry of the parks in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia.

In the first decade of the 21st century his expeditions took him to more exotic places. He has traveled from the Yellowstone backcountry to the highlands of Scotland and Ireland. The vast majority of his work however has been done in Canada, where he has specialized in Canadian wildlife and nature photography. His images have been published in many magazines such as National Geographic Adventure, Backpacker, Canadian Geographic, Reader's Digest, Outdoor Photography Canada, Photolife, Ranger Rick and OWL. He has also written several bestselling coffee table books in Canada.

In 2010, he launched a very successful wildlife photography tour company, named, Canadian Wildlife Photography Tours. His goal is to have others fall in love with and experience the beauty and grandeur of the Rocky Mountains and Canada that stole his heart long ago. Enjoy several of his wonderful photographs featured below.

Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus

The great horned owl is the most common owl of the Americas, easily recognizable because of the feather tufts on its head. These "plumicorns" resemble horns or, to some, catlike ears.

Great horned owls are adaptable birds and live from the Arctic to South America. They are at home in suburbia as well as in woods and farmlands. Northern populations migrate in winter, but most live permanently in more temperate climes.

The birds nest in tree holes, stumps, caves, or in the abandoned nests of other large birds. Monogamous pairs have one to five eggs (two is typical), both the male and female incubate, and the male also hunts for food. Owls are powerful birds and fiercely protective parents. They have even been known to attack humans who wander too close to their young.

Like other owls, these birds have an incredible digestive system. They sometimes swallow their prey whole and later regurgitate pellets composed of bone, fur, and the other unwanted parts of their meal. Owls are efficient nighttime hunters that strike from above, and use their powerful talons to kill and carry animals several times heavier than themselves. Owls prey on a huge variety of creatures, including raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, domestic birds, falcons, and other owls. They regularly eat skunks, and may be the only animal with such an appetite. They sometimes hunt for smaller game by standing or walking along the ground. Owls have even been known to prey upon unlucky cats and dogs.

Great horned owls are largely nocturnal so they can be difficult to spot. But in the dark after sunset, or just before dawn, they can often be heard vocalizing with their well known series of "Hoo H'hoos!" (Via National geographic)

A mesmerising time-lapse video showing how Earth looks from space has been wowing the Web.

Nasa released the awe-inspiring footage which features a series of time-lapse sequences photographed by the Expedition 30 crew on board the International Space Station.

The clip, which plays to the haunting tune of ‘Walking in the Air’ by Howard Blake, begins over the southern United States at an altitude of 240 miles and finishes in Europe.

Stunning imagery from the Aurora Australis over the Indian Ocean to lightning storms in Africa, shows the planet in all its glory.

Heavily populated urban areas can be seen beautifully lit up in the dark of night.

The footage was put together using time-lapse photography, where the frequency at which the images are captured is much slower than that at which they are played back, giving the impression that the images are moving.

Nasa notes in order of appearance the places which are shown in the stunning clip.

0:01 Stars over southern United States
0:08 US west coast to Canada
0:21 Central Europe to the Middle East
0:36 Aurora Australis over the Indian Ocean
0:54 Storms over Africa
1:08 Central United States
1:20 Midwest United States
1:33 United Kingdom to Baltic Sea
1:46 Moonset
1:55 Northern United States to Eastern Canada
2:12 Aurora Australis over the Indian Ocean
2:32 Comet Lovejoy
2:53 Aurora Borealis over Hudson Bay
3:06 United Kingdom to Central Europe
Source

In broad daylight today, as reported in the Italian newspaper Giornale di Brescia, Italian activists conducted a bold and daring raid of Green Hill, one of Europe’s largest breeder of beagles for vivisection labs, and rescued at least thirty beagles destined for painful procedures inside laboratories and eventual death from either the fatal results of experiments or the slaughter afterwards when they are deemed no longer useful.

At least 1000 activists organized by Occupy Green Hill who came from all over northern Italy started their procession in Montichiari, a city about 60 miles east of Milan where Green Hill is located. Many of them wore signs saying “We are the 86%,” referring to the percentage of Italians polled who were opposed to animal-based experimentation. On their approach close to Green Hill they were met by police and roadblocks. Groups of activists then cut through the fields and across other streets to the fences surrounding the facility.

There, about 300-400 demonstrators tried to open gates in the perimeter as teams of mobile riot police and police who were deployed tried to contain them. On the side of the gates, however, the protesters opened a breach in the fence and broke into the farm, with others simply scaling the fence, carefully avoiding the barbed-wire. Once inside they scrambled into the sheds and rescued at least thirty dogs, many of them being handed over the fence to waiting hands on the other side.

At the end of the day, it was reported that police had arrested 13 people. Some protesters said they had suffered violence by some officials. View video of the march and the raid here.

So why Green Hill?

Within Europe, Green Hill is now the largest breeder of dogs destined for laboratories. Green Hill houses 5 sheds which imprisons 2500 adult dogs, plus several litters. The sheds are closed, aseptic, without open spaces and without natural light or air. Rows and rows of cages with artificial lighting and ventilation system are the environment in which these dogs grow before being loaded onto a truck and shipped to laboratories where abuse and pain await them.

Among the clients of Green Hill are university laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and renowned trial centers as the notorious Huntingdon Life Sciences in England.


Who profits from Green Hill?

Several years ago Marshall Farms Inc., an American firm, acquired the company. Marshall is infamous throughout the world as the largest “producer” of dogs for the vivisection industry. The Marshall beagle is actually a standard variety. For about €450-900 ($600-1200) you can buy dogs of any age. For those who are willing to pay more one can also obtain a pregnant mother. Green Hill and Marshall also offer its customers on-demand surgical treatments, such as the cutting or removal of vocal cords so “researchers” cannot hear their cries of pain.

Marshall’s dogs are shipped by air all over the world, but with the purchase of Green Hill as the European headquarters and the construction of a huge farm in China, Marshall is pursuing a plan of expansion and market monopoly.

To Green Hill and Marshall Farm, animals are merely merchandise, commodities to just breed and sell without any thought to the pain and suffering — both mental and physical — that they will suffer. Through the work of these activists, a few lives were saved from the horrors of industry, and shows to those who profit from the lives of innocent beings that oppression will not be tolerated. (SOURCE)

Quito, Ecuador — Over 25,000 people flooded Quito, Ecuador’s capital, on March 22 in the culmination of a two week march that began in the country’s Southern Amazon region and spanned roughly 700 kilometres.

The march, translated from Spanish to mean the “Plurinational March for Water, Life, and Dignity of the People,” was led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) in collaboration with other indigenous, environmental, student, worker, and women’s groups.

The movement was born out of a rejection of the constitutional violations and extractive environmental policies of President Rafael Correa’s national government, which is lead by the Alianza Pais party (“Proud and Sovereign Fatherland Alliance”).

Thousands left Ecuador’s Southern Amazonian province of Zamora-Chinchipe on March 8 – International Women’s Day – to begin their journey to Quito. They arrived on March 22, World Water Day.

The starting point was symbolically chosen to denounce the large-scale, open pit copper mining project initiated in Zamora’s Condor Cordillera following a contract signed at the beginning of the month with the Chinese transnational mining corporation, Ecuacorriente (ECSA).

ECSA is an international subsidiary of the Canadian natural mineral resource company, Corriente Resources Inc., based in Vancouver, BC.


The project is the largest scale mining development in the Ecuador’s history, and is contracted to last 25 years, with a $1.4-billion investment in the Southern Amazonian region by ECSA within the first five years.

Provincial coordinating committees sent roughly 5,000 to 6,000 people from each province to participate in the march, joining the movement as it moved northward from Zamora toward the capital. Together these bodies made 19 demands on issues including labour, environmental justice, and reproductive rights.

They declared three of these demands to be nonnegotiable: the elimination of large scale mining, decriminalization of social protest, and the reinstatement of employment of 5,600 public workers who had been laid off in Fall 2011 by a constitutional decree which instituted “mandatory resignation.”

On March 22, 20,000 demonstrators travelled the final stretch through Quito, arriving from the south to gather downtown at Parque del Arbolito. Another 5,000 arrived from the north. They carried with them large banners, flags, graffiti, and drums, chanting as they made their way through the city.


Though the protesters marched in unity, they represented a wide variety of issues.

“I am here because I believe in protest. I believe it is one of the greatest achievements of the people, and I join this struggle for two reasons; because water is a right for all, and because I am against the large scale mining project in Zamora,” said Pablo Torres, a demonstrator from Quito.

Another demonstrator, Marco Montagua from Pastaza in the South Eastern Amazon stated, “I am here in the spirit of solidarity between indigenous peoples and nationalities. Each people, each sector, has their own reason for being here. We, the Sapara Nation, are here to resist oil extraction on our land.”

Riot cops and military lined the march and police helicopters flew overhead. While the protest remained mostly peaceful, altercations broke out between riot police, police on horseback, and the demonstrators around 6:00 p.m.

The government had banned the contracting of interprovincial buses throughout March, which constrained the number of protesters present in the demonstration.


Despite this, Soledad Vogliano, Natural Resource and Legal worker for CONAIE, explained that the march has already yielded some positive results.

“The government has announced that they will begin a process of dialogue to evaluate how the nonnegotiable demands can be implemented,” said Vogliano. “This period will last six months, by the end of which, if there is no action, the organizations involved in the march have announced that there will be uprising.” (SOURCE)

A PAIR of abandoned seals, three orphaned song thrushes and a stray badger cub are among the first animals being nursed at Scotland’s newest wildlife rescue centre.

The nation’s first purpose-built facility was opened yesterday to cope with a major surge in demand for treating sick and injured wild animals, as the Scottish SPCA revealed it has had to deal with a 75 per cent increase over the past five years.

The new £3.5 million National Wildlife Rescue Centre at Fishcross, near Alloa, will provide unrivalled care for creatures ranging from seals and otters to swans and birds of prey.

The centre’s manager, Colin Seddon, hailed the facility as a “major step forward for wildlife welfare in Scotland”. He said it would give the Scottish SPCA increased capacity to rescue and rehabilitate up to 5,000 sick, injured and orphaned wild animals each year.

It is the only centre in Scotland with facilities to care for oiled birds, capable of dealing with up to 1,000 oiled bird casualties at once. The centre will also be able to care for up to 40 sick or injured seals at any one time, and the facilities include swan and otter pools, aviaries, wild mammal enclosures, paddocks and a stable block for deer.

Mr Seddon said: “We cared for 3,917 wild animals in 2011, including 2,678 birds, which is a staggering 75 per cent more than five years ago. The demands on our services have increased at such a rate that our previous centre at Middlebank in Fife, which was originally designed as an oiled-bird cleaning unit, was being stretched to cope with the volume and diversity of animals we were rescuing.


“We often had to transfer wildlife to other organisations to continue their rehabilitation but we can now care for every type of wild animal found in Scotland from rescue to release, with only whales and dolphins the exception.”

He added: “This is a major step forward for wildlife welfare in Scotland, with our ability to treat all kinds greatly enhanced.

“Animals will now be cared for in one place right up until they are ready to be released back into their natural habitat, keeping human interaction and stress to an absolute minimum.”

The new centre, funded entirely by donations, was officially opened by George Reid, the Lord-Lieutenant of Clackmannanshire and a former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament.

He said: “This is a state-of-the-art facility in which all Scotland can take pride. It is an ideal location, easily accessible from both coasts and from the north and south of the country.”

The new facility replaces the SSPCA’s previous rescue centre at Middlebank in Fife, which was originally designed as an oiled- bird cleaning unit. It is not open to visitors but members of the public can take sick or injured wild animals there for treatment.

• Already, 60 creatures have been rescued and are being cared for at Fishcross. Among the first were two young grey seals found stranded and injured on rocky beaches in the Outer Hebrides following a storm. They will be nursed back to health and re-released into the River Forth. A group of three newly fledged song thrushes, whose nest was destroyed, are being hand-reared along with other fledglings including mallard ducks, blackbirds, and a tawny owl.
Source

Sometimes, you just need somebody to hold your hand—err, paw.

This beautiful, if slightly neurotic, purebred Siberian husky has developed the "Most Annoyingly Cute" habit of holding her owner's hand while he's driving.

According to the YouTube description, the dog started doing this when she was 9 months old. Her owner believes that she can tell when they're on their way to his parents' house where he leaves his dog for a few hours to go to work. Not being able to bare the impending separation, the husky reaches for a hand to comfort her.

The owner writes.:
She is restrained albeit not as well as she should be the leash you see is actually hooked up to the car chair.
- Does she have car sickness? No. She has never been car sick or my carpets would know. My best guess is she doesn't like me leaving her alone at the end of the ride for a few hours. She is very attached.
- Video was taken early Feb and obviously it was freezing outside Shiro might not have minded but i would have haha! I leave the window down all the time now and she loves it

"She truly is the best thing that has happened to my life up till now,"

"My dog started doing this when she was 9 months old randomly. The video is of a 10 minute commute I do most days highlighting some parts of the trip. Her name is Shiro and she's a purebred Siberian Husky in this video she is 10 months old. Enjoy!"
(Source1 Source2 )

Women have a natural way around the wolves-if fear is not involved. Can we change the way we look at the wolf by changing our old fear programming? And bring in new knowledge of wolves? Part one with Gale Motter of Wolf Park.

Gale Motter works at Wolf Park. Wolf park is a wonderful place for captive wolves and offers great education to the public and more. As Mission: Wolf travels across the country with ambassador wolves we try to make an annual stop at WolfPark. During our visit they open up their "Huge" dog pen for our wolves to exrcise in.

Gale is amazing around the Mission: Wolf wolves. This footage is from 2003 and includes Rami, Raven and Magpie. gale is so confident with the wolves, its as if she has been around them all their lives.

This video demonstrates how animals mirror or reflect the energy and confidence of the creatures they encounter.Wolves read and responds to our attitude. The confidence of one woman instills confidence and trust in the wolves. Raven reponds to Gale's calm and loving energy. The Mission: Wolf program reaches thousands of people in an effort to change human attitudes toward wildlife.


Most people react with fear and anxiety in the presence of a wolf.This is not a new "fear" that stems from a spur of the moment encounter with a wolf or a bad experience with them. Rather it is a very old "fear" programmed into us by generations that believed wolves were nothing but scary, blood thirsty monsters. Sadly, many people do not believe animals are capable of understanding human feelings or actions. This fear based programming has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. As people learn to rely on their own instincts and use their body to communicate the basic messages we believe that conflicts will be reduced and eliminated.

The Native American Indian revered the wolf as a teacher. The white man persecuted the wolf to extinction in many places across the globe. It's time to change that programming of fear to tolerance and respect. Wolves still have much to teach us we only need to listen..

Women Who Understand Wolves will be a series of short videos showcasing confident and inspiring communication between women and wolves. These wolves are not pets. They live in a large natural habitat at The Mission: Wolf Sanctuary in Colorado. For More information www.missionwolf.com

Four decades after Kermit the Frog first sang "It's not easy being green," amphibians around the planet know all too well how he felt. It's not just difficult being green anymore — these are hard times to be a frog of any color.

Frogs and toads today face a gauntlet of environmental threats, part of what the International Union for Conservation of Nature calls an "amphibian extinction crisis." Nearly one-third of Earth's 6,485 amphibian species are on the brink of extinction, according to Save the Frogs, a California-based conservation group.

One of the biggest factors in this has been the deadly chytrid fungus, which is blamed for major declines or extinctions of more than 200 amphibian species worldwide. But the plight of frogs (and toads, which are technically frogs) is also compounded by many other dangers. Deforestation, wetland loss and climate change are wiping out their habitats; pollution and pesticides are permeating their skin; invasive species are stealing their food; and overharvesting for food and pets is draining their gene pools.

The fourth annual Save the Frogs Day is this Saturday, April 27, organized by Save the Frogs and observed by frog fans from Oregon to Ghana to Bangladesh. In honor of the holiday, here are a dozen photos of frogs and toads from around the world, highlighting the beauty and diversity of Kermit's embattled brethren:

LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP: An American bullfrog, the largest frog species native to North America, surveys its surroundings in Mountainville, N.Y. (Photo: Nick Harris/Flickr)













SOURCE

A black bear was tranquilized after it wandered onto the University of Colorado campus in Boulder.

The 200-pound animal was spotted near university housing on April 26. One woman said it brushed past her as she was putting money into a parking meter.

"It was like, 'Excuse me, pardon me, coming through.' It was running full speed," Rhonda Chestnutt told the Denver Post.

After about two hours, wildlife officials were able to tranquilize the animal, which had positioned itself atop a tree.

CU Independent photographer Andy Duann captured the astonishing images of the bear falling from the brush onto a pad that workers had positioned beneath the tree to ensure the animal had a soft landing spot.

Shortly after the image hit the web, the photo began going viral and brought in so much traffic that it temporarily crashed the Independent's site, according to Denver Westword.

Gil Asakawa, an adviser for the Independent, told Westword the photographer was simply "in the proverbial right place and right time."

A representative for Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the bear will be released back into the wild, The Denver Channel reported.

The black bear was not the first wild animal to wander its way onto the college campus this school year.

In October, officials had to tranquilize a mountain lion that was spotted near student dorms, according to the CU Independent.

Born Free USA has suggested that "As human development progressively encroaches on wildlife habitat, conflicts between wildlife and people increase."
Source

The following stunning photographs beat out the rest of the competition from the thousands of entries to be named finalists of the Nature Photographer of the Year. The photos, which show some of the most stunning scenes in nature from across Europe, were all finalists in the competition, organized by the Society of German Nature Photographers. There were more than 200 members of the society, from seven different countries that submitted 3,252 photos to the contest.

After a pre-jury had picked their choices from the 3252 submitted photos, the final ten photos were selected from each of the seven categories: Birds, Mammals, Other Animals, Plants & Fungi, Landscapes and Nature's Studio. There was also a special category this year called 'Marine Habitats in Germany'.

The overall competition winner was Klaus Tamm from Wuppertal, with his image 'Toad Migration'. Klaus said: "One evening in early April I was out to save common toads crossing the road from being run over by approaching cars. I had wanted to photograph this situation for quite some time, so I parked the car on a quiet road to compose some images of a migrating toad. The animal moved very slowly due to the cool evening temperatures and I managed to create a photograph in the vehicle's beam of light. The wet surface of the road with its reflections added to the successful composition of the image."

The exhibition of awarded photographs will be showcased at different venues throughout Germany. In addition to this a selection of the images will also be shown at the GDT International Nature Photography Festival which runs from October 26 to 28.