kalahari tails

The name Kalahari conjures up images of bleak, parched landscapes with animals struggling for survival – of days of unrelenting heat and nights of bitter cold. It is a vast area of land that stretches from South Africa’s Orange River northwards, for more than 2.5 million square kilometres – an area ten times the size of Great Britain. And yet it is also a land of the most exquisite beauty and delicate life forms, both animal and plant, all of which have had to adapt in order to survive the rugged weather patterns and harsh conditions……..

The stories of many of these creatures, large and small, are well known and documented, but there is one about whom less is known than most. It is one of the smaller animals, but also one of the most appealing in terms of its appearance, intelligence, amusing habits and eating styles. It is the Cape Ground Squirrel, small – cheeky – endearing, low down on the food-chain, and incredibly tough, the Ground Squirrels have had to adapt more than most in order to survive in the Kalahari.

In this documentary we follow the fortunes of a small sisterhood of Squirrels, led by Scarlet, a shrewd, tough little lady who is very adept at surviving in the harsh Kalahari conditions and has gained the respect of the others in the group.

They live in a network of burrows deep in the heart of the Kalahari and every day is a fight for survival. The constant threat from snakes, birds of prey, not to mention larger predators, means that ground Squirrels need to be constantly alert. Letting their guard down for a moment could have deadly consequences. Then there is the heat and the drought. Survival is all about adaptability and we see the almost miraculous ways in which these tiny creatures have figured out how to live in this remote part of the world…...

It is an uplifting story with moments of bleak hardship and struggle, balanced against other times of sheer joy and delight as these little creatures go about their daily routines…..

paradise birds

Phylum: Chordata

Common Name: Superb Bird of Paradise

Class: Aves

Location: New Guinea and the adjacent islands

Size: the average size of a bird of paradise is around 12 inch. and the smallest size of a bird of paradise is 6 inch. they can weight up to 17 lbs.

Habitat: the six plumed bird of paradice lives in jungles with lots of trees and they nest in trees and on the ground.

Living Requirements: The female builds a bulky nest of twigs in tree often in crown of a palm tree or tree fern, generally a few yards above ground

Life Cycle: The males take up to 5 years to mature. The females breed in there 2nd year. Its is thought that the bird of paradise is a long- lived bird, with some liveing more than 12 years.

Male and Female Differences: MALE: It is only the mature males that are flashy. They are usually black with some bizarre plumage. They have 3 wire-like feathers protruding from behind each eye. They also have a iridescent patch of feathers on their chest. The last thing they have is the unusual feathers they have on their sides that extend past their torso.
FEMALE: The women birds of paradise are not as spectacular to look at as the males are they are usualy a pale brown color and dont have ant\y flashy bright colors.

Facts: One fas\ct about the plumed bird of paradise is that the male birds dance for the females inorder to mate with them. the male will clear a little area for it to dance on and it would usually have a branch, twig, or vine for the females to stand on while they watch the show.

Human impact: There are no human impacts against the Superb bird of paradise.

magnificent frigate bird

Magnificent Frigate Birds (Fregata magnificens) and Great Frigate Birds (Fregata minor): The male birds have huge red air balloons under their beaks in order to attract the females. We observed their mating dance during which the male shakes his wings violently. After a male finds a female for mating, the air balloon deflates for the season. Males which do not get a mate must fly around with the big red balloon until next year.

the beauty of humming bird

This is the spatuletail hummingbird - one of the rarest birds, with an absolutely amazing tail...and mating dance. Check out how this little guy manages to fly in order to attract a female. It's stunning.

The Mating Dance - A must see!!!!

paridisaea rubra

Framed by its wiry tail feathers, a red bird of paradise is nature's valentine—an apt emblem for this family of birds famous for fanciful plumage and elaborate courtship rituals.

save the planet

The Save the Earth Foundation functions as a non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to the expansion of environmental awareness in our society. As an organization committed to raising public environmental consciousness by supporting scientific research and educational programs, we are optimistic that our work will have a very positive impact on the efforts currently under way to solve our earth's problems.

The Save the Earth Foundation embraces overall objectives which include: enhancing the quality of our global environment for the benefit of all people and promoting a better understanding of the effects our society has on the long term health of our planet.

The Save the Earth Foundation's research endeavors center on the selection and funding of environmentally beneficial programs within our institutions of higher education. In order to achieve our objectives we are committed to the continued support of vital research programs including:

Seminars and Workshops to coordinate and concentrate the research potential of associated campuses: Such as those held in 1989 at CU Davis to merge the efforts of all nine University of California campuses and their affiliated national laboratories.

Research focusing on the consequences of global warming through large scale modeling: Like the investigation under way at Duke University in their unique Deuteron Project.

Efforts to evaluate the current state of our planet's atmosphere: Similar to the endeavors of scientists within the Climate Center at Columbia University.

Studies centering on the psychological ramifications of our deteriorating environment: Analogous to the research currently underway at UCLA's Center for the Study of the Environment and Society where their efforts focus on interactions between the environment and social processes.

With the support of people from all walks of life we are confident that the Foundation's efforts will help to reverse the environmental deterioration of our planet. Thank you for your concern with regards to our planet's future.

Environmental Research Projects

Our support of research in the physical sciences will continue to find solutions to these numerous man-made problems of the past and present. We feel that our support of research will undoubtedly lead us to better understand how we can change our attitudes towards our environment and thus insure a healthy future for our planet. Learn more about how our contributions to leading universities have made a difference.

The Davidson Se amount is a spectacular geologic feature on which recent explorations have documented dramatic biological discoveries (some featured on the BBC production "Planet Earth").

The exploration of Se amounts is relatively novel, because we only recently have the technology to access these deep areas. This project would fund a postdoctoral researcher to compare the biology on Davidson Se amount to other sea mounts as well as non-sea mount surrounding areas in the Pacific Ocean. This work may help finalize decisions on whether to protect Davidson Se amount by including it as part of the National Marine Sanctuary.

University Of Washington: Department of Earth and Space Science Save The Earth is funding research to understand the natural baseline from which climate change occurs:

Climate change occurs in response to natural forces, but also in response to some of mankind's activities, but all we can observe is the resultant of changes from both sources. If we are ever to address some of the climate problems we are facing, it is necessary to understand the causes. What we are doing in Central Asia helps establish how the natural climate system behaved before there was any question of anthropogenic forcing.   The Environmental Science and Engineering (ESE) Program focuses on the critical environmental questions of the day: problems that transcend state and national borders, yet also have local relevance. ESE Program research and training activities are both experimental and analytical in nature, often involving laboratory or field studies but also modeling and policy analysis.

Both the research and instruction recognize the interconnections between soil, air, water and biota, as well as the interdependence of human and ecological health. Equally important, the Program emphasizes the interactions and interdependence's between science, engineering, public policy economics and law in the protection of the environment lic health.