The Return Of The Short-Tailed Albatross

The albatross, a bird made famous from its role in the poem "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" just might be making a comeback. Once thought to be extinct, and until last year only thought to inhabit a small area of Japan, the short-tailed albatross has been spotted on several Hawaiian islands.

Scientists have concluded that this isn't a new community of short-tailed albatrosses, but rather an existing one that has managed to breed well and cause somewhat of a population surge in the last few years. This is a positive sign to scientists, and conservationists, who think this could be the begining of the return of this rare bird.

The short-tailed albatross once numbered in the millions, making in one of the most prominent alabtross species. But turn of the century feather hunting nearly decimated the species, and it was thought to be extinct by the late 1940s.

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Animal Facts: How Elephants Communicate

Did you know that elephants communicate in sound waves that are in such a low frequency that humans are unable hear them? This is called infrasound, and the elephants use it to talk to each other over great distances.

Can you hear me now?

Picture Of The Week - A Friendly Firefighter & Grateful Koala

We found this picture on Tumblr and it has been by far one of the most popular things we've ever posted! This sweet shot is of a firefighter giving water to a koala bear after the Black Saturday fires that ravaged Victoria, Australia back in 2009.

Seriously, doesn't this almost bring a tear to your eye? We love that this firefighter cares enough about the koala to give him water, and you can tell by the way the bear is holding onto his hand that he appreciates it! It's just so precious.

Animal Facts: Hippo Sweat

How are hippos able to stand out in the hot sun all day and never get a sunburn? Because their sweat is a natural sunblock!

Hippo sweat contains microscopic particles that scatter the light, so it's not concentrated on the hippos' skin. The sweat is also red in color due to orange and yellow pigments, which are able to aborb untraviolet light. While this red sweat helps keep the hippos from burning, it does tend to make it look like their bleeding - not a pretty sight!

This hippo isn't hurt, just really hot!

Folkmanis Puppets Win Parents Choice Awards

A couple weeks ago we posted about a few of our brands that had been recognized by Dogster.com for having cute and realistic stuffed dogs. Now we're proud to brag about another one of our favorite brands, Folkmanis, whose puppets (also very cute and extremely realistic) have been honored by the Parents Choice Foundation in their annual Parents Choice Awards!

American Alligator Puppet: Gold Award

Parents Choice says: "Eerily realistic except for size, this beautifully-constructed 32-inch puppet can be used not only for fun and entertainment but also for curriculum development in science... A printed attachment provides interesting facts about alligators and related folklore. This highly appealing toy may be correlated with numerous storybooks, such as Mercer Mayer's There's an Alligator under My Bed or Maurice Sendak's Alligators All Around. Stylish young practical jokers could even attach a gold chain and carry this puppet as an alligator "purse."

Nibbling Mouse Puppet: Silver Award

Parents Choice says: This six-inch-tall furry mouse has a feature rarely found in puppets: a 360-degree rotating head. The body cavity typically used for hand/finger insertion contains a plastic stick that may be grasped and rotated. Such maneuvering can mimic the shaking head gesture (for "no") or other quick, darting movements... The story "Church and Cheese" is attached, and numerous children's books could be correlated with this lovable critter, such as Laura Joffe Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Little Puppets: Silver Award

Parents Choice says:  The Folkmanis set of "Little Puppets" includes six half-body hand puppets ranging from six to ten inches in height. These tiny but fierce creatures (an alligator, hare, brown bear, polar bear, chipmunk, and lion) all have four "finger openings" that allow puppeteers... to "bite" their own two front legs/paws-or to "talk" and gesture at the same time. All are sturdily constructed with both realistic and cuddly features.

 

And those are just a fraction of the wonderful, realistic puppets we carry from Folkmanis. Visit their brand page on our site to see all of the animals - from dogs and cats to bugs and even dragons - they bring to life!

Celebrate World Ocean Day

June 8 is World Ocean Day, a day meant to celebrate the bodies of water that link us all together, and to raise awareness about conservation and keeping our oceans clean. Did you know that our oceans account for 71% of the planet, but less than 2% of them are protected?

So how you can help World Ocean Day? Try one of these activities, courtesty of OneWorldOneOcean.org!

• Organize a beach clean up (or river clean up if you don't live by the coast).
• Cook a sustainable seafood dinner.
• Visit an aquarium or marine park.
• Watch a movie or show that celebrates the ocean: The Living Sea, Coral Reef Adventure, Dolphins, The End of the Line, The Cove, Blue Planet, Dolphin Tale, The Present, the list goes on...

Another way you can celebrate World Ocean Day? Make a donation! Below are a few conservation organizations that are raising money to help fight pollution, overfishing and other threats to our waters.

• The Nature Conservatory
• The Ocean Project
• The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation

Animal Fact: Inebriated Bees

Did you know that there's a certain type of orchid that can actually get bees drunk? The bucket orchid of South America produces a potent intoxicating nectar to get the bee drunk. As the bee falls into the slippery slope of the blossom's petals, it’s only way out is through a small opening in the base of the flower. As it squeezes through this channel, it picks up pollen, which it drunkenly drops off when it stumbles into the next flowers stigma.

Careful boys, don't drink too much!

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Pic Of The Week - Extreme Whale Watching

We come across so many wonderful photos on the web, which we post regularly on our Pinterest boards and Tumblr page, but some times the best pictures never make their way onto our blog. So we're starting a new feature, where we show you our favorite animal photo of the week.

A photographer gets an unexpected close up shot of a whale. Image via.

We hope you like this new segment, and if you come across any outstanding animal photos, please feel free to leave a link to them in the comments!

Water Wars: Giraffes Vs. Camels

Camels get all the good publicity for being able to go weeks in the desert without water (and that IS an impressive feat) but did you know giraffes can actually go longer without water?

Giraffes have a diet of plants and fruit that a has naturally high water content, so they don't need to drink water as often. And when they do, they go all out, drinking up to 12 gallons at one time! With all due respect to the camels, we've got to give some props to the giraffes on this one.

Educational Toys: Safari Limited Toobs

It's a sad truth that educational toys aren't always fun. Although they might have seemed entertaining to the toy developers, they fall flat when presented to actual kids who, if they have to learn, want it to be fun.

The Toobs from Safari Limited do NOT fall into this category. Their realistic mini figurine sets are the type of toys that encourage imagination and play while still presenting educational opportunities. The Toobs cover a variety of themes, from animals to vehicles, dinosaurs to historic humans. Take a look at a few of our most popular Toobs.

Space Shuttle Toob

 On The Farm Toob

Coral Reef Toob

Knights And Dragon Toob

Dinosaurs Toob

Cats Toob

Toobs are the perfect toys to take with you anywhere, since the figurines come in a resuable plastic tube for easy and portable storage! They're also great for dioramas or educational projects and presentations. AND, each Toob retails for only $9.98! To see our entire selection of Toobs from Safari Limited, click here.