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New App Allows Humans to Communicate with Bonobos

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:13:51 +0100

Have you always wanted to communicate with a bonobo? Now there's an app for that.

Researchers at the Bonobo Hope Great Ape Trust Sanctuary in Des Moines, Iowa, are developing an app that acts as a human-ape translator, allowing both species to communicate with one another using a tablet.

All seven of the bonobos at the Sanctuary are already trained to use a vocabulary of over 400 words, but since they can't vocalize those words, researchers have taught them to associate words with lexicons on a touchscreen, which the apes touch accordingly when they want to speak. Needless to say, this format lends itself extremely well to the interface on a tablet.

One of the coolest features of the app will be that human users won't be required to understand the apes' lexicons. Rather, humans merely need to talk into their device and the app will translate that speech into the corresponding lexicons on the bonobo's device. After the bonobo responds in turn by using its touchscreen, the app performs a reverse translation and delivers a spoken message to the human's device.

Since the communication occurs over a tablet, this will also allow the bonobos to communicate over the internet with people from anywhere around the world.

The development of the app is just one part of a larger plan to offer bonobos more control over their environment using their lexicon language. Eventually, researchers hope for each ape to have its own tablet, which will also give them control over things like opening doors, operating vending machines or changing the channel on their television.

The plan also entails giving the apes fuller control over RoboBonobo, a remotely controlled robot which shares a likeness to a bonobo. The robot gives the bonobos a way to interact with human visitors and other objects outside of their enclosure, since visitors aren't typically allowed in with the apes. RoboBonobo even comes equipped with a playful water cannon -- because obviously apes need control over a weaponized telepresence to satisfy their mischievous side.

While some may be concerned that the idea of giving bonobos access to the internet and control over robots sounds disturbingly like a plotline from Planet of the Apes, it's all in the name of offering these animals a more enriching environment. Researchers hope that a more enriching environment will also help the apes to advance in their language use.

If you'd like to help out, the Bonobo Hope Great Ape Trust Sanctuary is currently raising funds for the development of the app on Kickstarter. Pledges of 500 dollars or more will get you an exclusive Skype chat with one of the Sanctuary's charming apes. A squirt from RoboBonobo is not necessarily included.

Exotic Manure Is Sure to Lure the Dung Connoisseur

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:11:27 +0100

ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2012)

Although the preference of dung beetles for specific types and conditions of dung has been given substantial attention, little has been done to investigate their preference for dung from exotic mammals found on game farms or rewilding projects.

In "A Comparison of Dung Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Attraction to Native and Exotic Mammal Dung," an article appearing in the latest edition of Environmental Entomology, Sean D. Whipple, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and W. Wyatt Hoback, a biology professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, used pitfall traps baited with various native and exotic herbivore, carnivore, and omnivore dung to evaluate dung beetle preference in the Great Plains of North America.

After spending two years capturing more than 9,000 dung beetles from 15 different species, they found that omnivore dung was the most attractive, with chimpanzee and human dung having the highest mean capture. This can largely be attributed to omnivore dung being more odiferous in comparison to that of herbivore dung.

Surprisingly, native Nebraskan dung beetles which coevolved with bison showed little attraction to bison dung compared with waterbuck, zebra, donkey, and moose dung.

"Our results suggest that even closely related species of generalist-feeding dung beetles differ in their response to novel dung types," said Dr. Whipple. "In addition, preference for a specific manure does not appear to be correlated with dung quality, mammalian diet, or origin of mammal."

"This novel research indicates that native dung beetle species will respond to dung from exotic animals, and that there is an apparent mismatch of species to resources," said Dr. Hoback. "This mismatch will be addressed in continuing research and may shed light on ecological and evolutionary patterns among detritivores which encounter new resources. As such, there are implications for both conservation and exotic species biology."

Sparrow Migration Tracked for First Time from California to Alaska

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:07:21 +0100

ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2012)

Using tiny tags to track a bird's location, biologists from PRBO Conservation Science (PRBO) have unlocked the mystery of where Golden-crowned Sparrows, which overwinter in California, go to breed in the spring. Published this week in the journal PLoS ONE, the study reveals for the first time the exact migration route of this small songbird to its breeding sites in coastal Alaska.

During a time when birds are experiencing the negative impacts of climate and land-use changes, being able to pinpoint the most important breeding and stopover places is critical to prioritizing conservation investments.

PRBO scientists attached small tags that record day length to Golden-crowned Sparrows wintering in and near Point Reyes National Seashore before they headed north on spring migration. When the birds returned the following fall, four tagged birds were safely recaptured, the tags were removed, and the data downloaded to a computer.

"This study is helping to unravel the mystery of bird migration and answer the age-old question of where birds go, which helps protect habitat along their entire migratory journey," said lead author, PRBO's Dr. Nat Seavy.

Each bird, which weighs approximately 30 grams, migrated from 1600 to 2400 miles one-way to their breeding grounds. Their individual breeding locations spanned approximately 750 miles along the coast of Alaska, and their north migration averaged only 29 days while southbound migration averaged nearly twice that (53 days).

"Until now, all we knew was that these birds bred far to the north and undertook one of the longest migrations of all songbirds that winter in central California. We're very excited to finally pinpoint exactly where some of our Golden-crowned Sparrows breed," explained Diana Humple, PRBO's Palomarin Field Station Manager and a co-author of the study.

Operating since 1966, PRBO's Palomarin Field Station has been one of the premier west-coast locations for long-term studies on birds and their habitats. These data sets that extend over several decades allow scientists to assess human-caused and natural changes over time to guide conservation action.

The breeding locations for the four birds included areas of Katmai National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, and the Chugach National Forest.

"Today we are facing unprecedented changes in land-use and our climate" explained Nat Seavy. "The information in this study will help us understand where our migratory birds may be vulnerable to these changes, and what we can do to help protect them and the ecosystems on which they -- and we -- depend."

For sale: the rarest animals on earth

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:31:43 +0100

A flourishing illegal online trade in exotic animals is threatening the survival of many species. Sonia Van Gilder Cooke investigates just what creatures are for sale.

From Burmese Pythons to Pygmy Marmosets, there is a roaring illegal trade in animals online. A recent convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species found one rare species – the Kaiser's Spotted Newt (an orange and black salamander in the highland streams of Iran) – now numbers fewer than 1,000 adults in the wild because of internet trading. So what can you find on the internet? In just one day, I discovered dealers who appear to be selling some of the rarest species on earth.

Ploughshare Tortoise

Within a few hours, I was staring at an advert for one of the world's most endangered creatures. It read, "Very superb, jumbo size and most of all very rare". Only 200 mature ploughshare tortoises survive in the bamboo scrublands of north Madagascar; the rest, it seems, are online. And what would this pair of 30-year-old tortoises cost? £24,000, and a trip to Kuala Lumpur: there's no international shipping.

Burmese Starred Tortoise

It is against the law to remove the critically endangered Burmese starred tortoise from the forests of Myanmar, but I easily found an apparent seller in Bangkok, Thailand. The dealer's picture features 35 turtles in a laundry basket lined with newspaper and wilted lettuce. Ten years ago, a survey by the Wildlife Conservation Society found few specimens in the wild. They did, however, find a tortoise trader in every village. This seller was asking £320 in cash for each specimen.

Bosc's Monitor Lizard and Ball Python

One classified advert offered a "snake show" and "horse riding" along with Bosc's monitor lizards (£70) and ball pythons (£75). International law requires that these African species come with permits from their country of origin – conservationists worry that few wild-caught Bosc's survive to maturity in captivity and supplies are replenished from wild populations. The ad doesn't mention permits.

Elephant Ivory

In 2008, eBay banned the sale of ivory, finding it impossible to ensure trade was legal. It's still available online, however. I called one dealer who seemed knowledgeable about the required permits; the same can't be said of many online sellers. Some nod to legality by claiming their ivory is antique; others don't bother. On Craigslist I found an "Endangered Species Ivory Neclace" [sic] in California ($120). The seller claims it's "circa 1980", but without a permit, there's no way to tell.

Hawksbill Turtle

In Japan, artisans began carving hawksbill shells – the only true source of tortoiseshell – in the 1700s, but banned import of the critically endangered sea turtle in 1993. I found what appeared to be a tortoiseshell item on eBay: a "Brand New Takayama Ex-Takahashi Chikudo Model Shamisen Bekko Bachi Plectrum". It's a pic for a banjo-like Japanese instrument. The seller in New York promised a "natural material" of premium grade. Price $370, will ship worldwide.

Shahtoosh

It takes the wool from five dead Tibetan antelope to make one shawl. That means you could get about 30,000 luxury garments from the herd estimated to remain in north-western Tibet. It's illegal worldwide to sell the wool, but I found an online dealer in Kashmir claiming to sell shahtoosh shawls along with "fancy wicker baskets". Price unlisted.

Radiated Tortoise

In the wild, the radiated tortoise spends its days munching cactus in the bushlands of southern Madagascar. "Sub zero", a dealer in Prai, Malaysia, has two that are two-and-a-half years into a life that can last for 100. This pair could outlive the population as a whole: scientists have predicted it is headed for collapse in the next half century because of habitat loss and the wildlife trade. Price £710 and £1,220, although Sub zero is offering a "mega discount".

Parrots and Macaws

A Google search for pet birds turned up an eight-year old Tucuman Amazon (£450) in Canada. The seller claimed the bird is from the wild, which would make it illegal: after 20,000 Tucumans left Argentina in the 1980s to become pets, international trade in the species was banned in 1990.

Push Attorneys General to Charge BP With Criminal Cruelty to Animals!

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:42:35 +0100

Animals have no use for payouts—they can't move to another town, they can't eat something else, and they can't pursue another line of work. So BP owes animals something different! As oil continues to wreck the water and destroy animals' breeding, nesting, and feeding grounds in the Gulf of Mexico, tens of thousands of animals are suffering and dying painful and lingering deaths—and there is no end in sight. PETA is calling on the attorneys general of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi to file charges of cruelty to animals against the BP executives who allowed this to happen and, because of their negligence, continue to let it go on.

The homes of countless animals have been destroyed. Oil-soaked birds slowly drown, turtles endure chemical burns and organ damage when they ingest tar balls, and many marine mammals, such as dolphins, have already been found dead along the coast. Experts say that whales will not escape the disaster unharmed either.

BP's "disaster plan" deliberately disregarded possible damage to native species and their habitats, listed a long-dead expert as a primary contact, totally overstated the company's ability and readiness to deal with such a catastrophe (it had no real plan!), and purposely underestimated the extent of the carnage that could occur and is still occurring.

Bathynomus Giganteus: Terrifying Sea Beast Hauled Up

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:40:33 +0100

A submarine exploring the ocean’s depths recently returned with an unexpected visitor: a crablike critter called Bathynomus giganteus (commonly known as giant isopod) that has left many readers startled and horrified.

This giant isopod (a crustacean related to shrimps and crabs) represents one of about nine species of large isopods in the genus Bathynomus. They are thought to be abundant in cold, deep waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Photo of Bathynomus giganteus courtesy of NOAA Vents Program

In a posting to social bookmarking site Reddit, a deep-sea technician detailed finding the Bathynomus giganteus, asking the site’s readers to help identify what exactly the bizarre-looking creature was.

The post reads, “I work for a Sub-sea Survey Company, recently this beast came up attached to one of our ROVs. It measures a wee bit over 2.5 feet head to tail, and we expect it latched onto the ROV at roughly 8,500 feet depth.

“Unfortunately, the e-mail that these pictures were attached to came from a contractor, and the ship he was operating from (and therefore location) is unknown, so I can’t tell you what part of the Earth this beast was living.”

The pictures reveal Bathynomus giganteus to be a giant isopod, a large crustacean that dwells in deep Atlantic and Pacific waters. This particular creature is a deep-sea scavenger that feeds on dead whales, fish and squid.

Scientists have long remarked on the massive scale of Bathynomus giganteus.

C.R. McClain, writing about Bathynomus giganteus on ScienceBlogs, explained one theory for the size, that “deep-sea gigantism, for all crustaceans, is a consequence of larger cells sizes obtained under cold temperatures,” citing a research paper from 1996.

He also speculated that “in crustaceans, bathymetric gigantism may also in part reflect decreases in temperature leading to longer lifespans and thus larger sizes in indeterminate growers.”

Bathynomus Giganteus Post Inspires Curiosity, Horror

Responses to the original post ranged from the curious to the horrified.

One reader notes the connection between Bathynomus giganteus and a more familiar household pest: “The giant isopod is related to the “woodlouse”–turns out this is the common bug that I grew up calling a “roly poly” or pillbug. Neat!”

Others were more disgusted with Bathynomus giganteus. “I remember watching some documentary (Blue Planet maybe?) with a time lapse of these things swarming a whale carcass. it was horrifying,” writes one reader.

Another reader saw nothing but dinner in the flesh of Bathynomus giganteus, writing “It could be because I really like seafood, but those isopods look tasty. Land bugs = ew! Sea bugs = mm mmm good.”

Top Ten Items Surgically Removed From Pets

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 03:00:05 +0100

Our pets are sure curious, and their curiosity can definitely get them into trouble sometimes. Especially when they swallow something they shouldn’t have. Have you ever had to have something surgically removed from your pet?

Here are the top ten most common items surgically removed from pets, according to Veterinary Pet Insurance:

Socks
Underwear
Panty Hose
Gravel
Balls
Chew Toys
Corn Cobs
Bones
Hair Ties/Ribbons
Sticks
Look at some of these

Other frequently ingested objects include nails, sewing needles and nipples from baby bottles. But VPI has also received medical records for pets that have swallowed pagers, hearing aids, drywall, snail bait, batteries, rubber bands, toy cars, and sand with bacon grease poured on it.

“It’s no secret that cats are curious and dogs like to chew on things,” said Dr. Carol McConnell, vice president and chief veterinary medical officer for VPI. “Unfortunately, those traits can motivate pets to chew on, bite, or swallow items they shouldn’t. Some of these objects will pass naturally, but others have a tendency to become lodged in pets’ gastrointestinal tracts, resulting in pain, vomiting, or internal injury. In those cases, surgery may be a necessity.”

The best thing pet owners can do to prevent costly foreign body removal surgery is keep a clean living space. This includes making sure that personal items are not left on the floor or within easy reach of pets and remaining aware of each pet’s chewing tendencies.

Certain objects may appeal more to some pets than others. Knowledge of a pet’s tastes and tendencies can help pet owners exercise caution when letting a pet near objects that could be accidentally swallowed. Also remember that table scraps can contain excessive grease, bones or other objects not easily digested by pets.

“Most of these incidents occur without the pet owner’s knowledge,” said McConnell. “Pets can get anxious if left alone and start chewing on objects to relieve boredom or stress. Never ignore the signs that a pet may have swallowed something inedible: continual vomiting, dry heaving and/or coughing. If these symptoms occur, your pet should be examined by a veterinarian.”

Unbelievable and Shocking Discovery: Animals That Resemble Humans

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 02:39:51 +0100

What if one day, you happen to see any of these bizarre animals, appearing half human and half animal? Will you run away from this weird animal? Will you scream out in shock, or will you just release it back to the wild?

A fisherman who is known as Scott Curry hooked a 20-pound (or 6.5 kilos) unusual fish at Buffalo Spring Lake, Texas. He said he has reeled over thousands of fish at this lake and lived near the lake for over 36 years but he has never seen anything like this incredible fish. Later, he knew that his catch wasn’t a typical catch as the fish was noticed to have human-like teeth. This fish found with human like teeth has also been reported by the National Geographic channel.

Curry said he saw another similar fish while he was on the lake. A Texas television station then reported that $100 would be awarded by the lake officials for those who succeeded in catching the similar fish. The Texas Parks & Wildlife and scientists believed that this catch was unusual and the fish was identified as a Pacu fish, a cousin to the piranha called “frugivores” primarily found in South America. It was documented that this Pacu fish has teeth look like they belong to a human that can even crack fruits and nuts.

Following the catch of the human-teeth fish by Curry, not long after that, fisherman Valery caught another similar feature fish in a small lake located approximately 40km further away from the city of Chelyabinsk. While fishing in a boat, he was very sleepy but all of a sudden he knew that some fish were being trapped in a net. He pulled the net out of the water, finding several dead fish alongside with one large size living fish in it. To his surprise, this weirdest fish has a row of white strong teeth in its mouth just look like teeth belonging to the human.

Endangered: are Scotland's wildcats running out of lives?

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 01:28:53 +0100

By Robin McKie

Persecuted by man since prehistoric times, Britain's most elusive mammal is to be found only in the Highlands. Now the wildcat is under threat from loss of habitat, speeding traffic – and its domesticated cousins

Distinguishing between a hungry Scottish wildcat and a ray of sunshine is rarely difficult. Hamish, top feline at the Highland wildlife park in the Cairngorms, provides a perfect example. It is lunchtime and he is in a stroppy mood. His keeper is late with his dish of raw meat. Hence Hamish's display: a tail bristling like a Christmas tree, a set of snarling fangs and a barrage of hissing and yowling for the humans standing outside his enclosure. This is an animal with a grievance – and a temper.
Hamish is massive, as big as a medium-sized dog, and weighs almost 8kg, double the weight of an average household tomcat. This is a real muscled bruiser. "I have come out of that enclosure with blood dripping from my hands on many occasions," says Robbie Rankin, a keeper at the wildlife park.
A solitary hunter that kills rabbits, not to mention the occasional hare or young roe deer, the Scottish wildcat is ferocious, elusive – and endangered. Once widespread across the British Isles, the wildcat has disappeared from all but a few ecological niches in the Highlands. And numbers continue to tumble, an issue that will be addressed in two Scottish Natural Heritage reports, on wildcat distribution and wildcat genetics, that are to be published this month.
For several years, conservationists have warned that loss of habitat, road accidents and – worst of all – the spread of domestic cat populations are having a devastating impact on the Scottish wildcat. Populations of a species which has earned itself a reputation for its aloof ferocity and independence are plunging to catastrophic levels. There are now fewer pure-bred Scottish wildcats than there are tigers in the wild. It is estimated only 400 or so survive in the wild, mostly in the Cairngorms area.
"Until recently, we thought there were about 3,500 wildcats in Scotland," says Dr David Hetherington, manager of the Cairngorms Wildcat Project which was set up to help save the species.
"But then a detailed study was done on animals that had been killed in accidents. It was found that only about 12% of them were actually pure wildcats. The rest were either feral cats or hybrids of wildcats and feral cats. As a result, we had to drop our estimate of wildcat numbers from several thousand to only a few hundred. That was the wake-up call to the seriousness of the situation."
Today, saving the Highland wildcat has become a key concern for Scottish conservationists and understanding its relationship to its domestic cousin, the household cat, will play a pivotal role in that work, say scientists.
The origin of the world's cats has been a source of dispute among animal experts for decades. Most domesticated animals, such as dogs, lived in packs or herds in the wild and had clear dominance hierarchies that were exploited by the first farmers who took over the role of their leaders. By contrast, cats are solitary hunters that defend their territories fiercely against transgressors. So how were they transformed into domestic moggies? And for that matter, where did this change take place? In the past, some scientists argued that cat domestication occurred in a number of different locations, with each domestication spawning a different breed. By this reckoning, British tabbies were descendants of British wildcats. Others claimed that domestic cats were ancient Egyptian in origin, and pointed, as evidence, to the fact they were worshipped as gods in the days of the pharaohs.
Then, in 2000, the issue was resolved – in an unexpected manner – by researchers led by Carlos Driscoll of Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit. His team took samples from 979 wildcats and domestic cats from across the world and found the wildcats grouped into three main genetic clusters: the European wildcat, Felis silvestris silvestris; the Middle Eastern wildcat, Felis silvestris lybica, and the southern African wildcat, Felis silvestris cafra.
The team looked at domestic cats in the UK, the US, Japan and elsewhere and found that they were all made up of members of Felis silvestris lybica. The inference was clear. "That the domestic cats grouped with Felis silvestris lybica alone among wildcats meant that domestic cats arose in a single locale, the Middle East, and not in other places where wildcats are common," states Driscoll and colleagues in a paper in Scientific American.
Combined with other evidence, the research paints a clear picture of the domestic cat's origins. As neolithic men and women created the first, primitive townships and settlements 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East, mice, rats and other vermin moved in to raid their grain stores and their rubbish heaps. Middle Eastern wildcats followed after these pests and before long they had adapted to life among men and women. The cats did little harm to humans and would have been encouraged to stay because they were such effective pest-controllers, says Dr Andrew Kitchener, principal curator of birds and mammals at the National Museums of Scotland. "The scientific evidence indicates that the ancestry of domestic cats goes back to Mesopotamia where genetically similar wildcats now live."

Then as agriculture spread from the Middle East, the cats came with the farmers. They spread into Europe and then into Britain. And still the cats followed. Thus the household moggie, a feline immigrant from the Middle East arrived in the homes of Britain, while the nation's own wildcats – made up of members of the larger, stronger striped species of European wildcat, Felis silvestris silvestris, were pushed to the margins of the nation as settlements spread and its wild places were stripped away.
"Wildcats disappeared in lowland England around 1800," says Hetherington. "Then they vanished from Wales and northern England around 1860. Finally, they went from southern Scotland. All we have left is a few hundred around the Cairngorms and places like the Black Isle. The trick now is to find a way to stop them from disappearing completely."
The Cairngorms Wildcat Project was set up last year with the specific remit of halting the animal's decline. It has a simple logo – "Highland Tiger, the Scottish wildcat" – to hammer home the fact that the animal has become as endangered as the tiger and that it is, pound for pound, as ferocious as any other feline on the planet. It also happens to be the only one native to the British Isles.
"Our first aim is simply to raise awareness," adds Hetherington. "We have this special animal living in the Highlands that we should be tremendously proud of. The more people that start to care for it, the easier it will be for us to save it."
Routine risks facing wildcats include crossing major roads and avoiding being shot, by mistake, by gamekeepers. (It is against the law to kill a wildcat but not a feral cat in Scotland.) But most of all it is the danger posed by interbreeding with domestic cats that worries conservationists like Hetherington.
"The problem is not one caused directly by domestic cats," he adds. "The trouble arises when household animals go wild, mate and create colonies of feral cats. These form at the edges of villages and in farms. Some of these feral animals meet up with wildcats and they mate. Female wildcats become pregnant and give birth to kittens that are not purebred wildcats. Slowly, the species loses its unique status and vigor and animals become hybridized. That is the real problem today."
The short-term answer, he says, is to promote vigorously the principles of good cat ownership: neuter all pets and make sure they are properly vaccinated for all major feline diseases. "We are trying to turn off the taps in terms of the supply of feral cats in the countryside," adds Hetherington. "They pose a risk not just of interbreeding but of bringing diseases from domestic populations into the wild so they affect wildcats. We need to involve gamekeepers, vets, cat protection officers and a range of other conservationists. The trouble is that it will take us a long time to find out if we are succeeding. These are very elusive animals, after all. Studying them is very difficult."
And that is a problem for many wildcat experts. Merely waiting around collecting data without forming a plan of action is not enough, says Kitchener. "Just look at the Chinese river dolphin. A lot of people were supposedly working towards its conservation, but no one actually did anything practical. Then one day they realized that it had just disappeared."
The answer for the Highland wildcat, he argues, is not just to tackle the dangers it faces from feral animals, but to launch a full captive breeding program as a matter of urgency. "That may involve taking some animals from the wild to make sure we can build up the best genetic stock but we will have just to face up to that. In five or 10 years' time, if you find the game is up for the animal in the wild, you will then be able to think practically about reintroductions in particular areas. But if you just keeping saying we are not sure and don't do anything, we could end up with no wildcats left at all."
Not every wildcat expert agrees. Some point out that there is little point in reintroducing animals to the wild if the causes of their eradication there have not been dealt with. The new animals will just get killed like their predecessors or hybridized with domestic cats.
Yet Kitchener insists it is imperative that work begins on building up a reintroduction stock before populations crash any further.
"Look at the Iberian lynx. A few years ago, its numbers were down to around 100. So conservationists collected a third kitten from every litter on the basis that a third kitten is normally killed by wild parents. Then they reared the kittens and are now ready to start reintroducing them into the wild. We should be planning that now. The alternative is a future with no wildcats left in the British Isles."

Service Dog Keeps Child Safe

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 04:06:00 +0100

By Pet News

Imagine how scared Destiny O’Brien’s parents were when they witnessed their child’s first seizure. At age 6, Destiny was diagnosed with Landau-Kleffner Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that effects children ages 6 to puberty.

Tests from Destiny’s first hospital visit showed that she had multiple seizures. The severity varies from simple to violent. Destiny was having both. After her diagnosis, she was on a lot of medications.

Her mom works in a school right next door to Destiny’s elementary school in Tennessee. “I was afraid to leave her alone,” says Rachel, Destiny’s mom. “The seizures happen suddenly.”

Destiny, now age 11, has friends who come over to her house. Her parents understandably don’t want to leave her with people who won’t know how to react to her seizures. Over the course of the last 5 years, Destiny has had a series of seizures. She spent two weeks in the hospital where doctors removed four inches of her brain, a small part of her skull, and put in six clamps, which will eventually come out. The clamps are helping to reform her brain.

When Destiny was first admitted, her doctor suggested she get put on a list for a therapy dog. It took 5 years, and now Salsa, a 2-year old Golden Retriever is always at Destiny’s side. “Salsa is my SBFFE,” says Destiny, which her mom translated to: “Super Best Friend Forever and Ever.”

Training Service Dogs

Salsa was trained by Meghan Hopkins, who works with Canine Assistants, a nonprofit organization that trains service dogs for people with physical disabilities and seizure disorders. “We start training the dogs from the time they are a few days old and they graduate when they are between 18 months and 2 years of age,” says Meghan.

Meghan, a former school teacher, explains, “Destiny’s service dog, Salsa, was born and raised at our facilities in Milton, GA. She was trained to help people with physical disabilities and seizure disorders so she learned how to do things such as picking up dropped items, opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, and going to get help. When Destiny has a seizure, Salsa can go get Destiny’s mom. She can bring her medication or the phone and will lay next to Destiny. Salsa has also begun to alert Destiny to her seizures about 15 minutes before she seizes. This isn’t something we can train the dogs to do; we aren’t even really sure what they are picking up on. It could be a sense of smell but we can’t guarantee that the dogs will do this.”

Detecting Seizures before they Occur

Shortly after Salsa came to live with Destiny, she woke up the entire house around 1 a.m. “Salsa sleeps in Destiny’s room,” says Rachel. “She was acting strange, jumping on and off the bed. We let her out because we thought she needed the potty. That wasn’t it. She just kept on jumping on and off the bed. Finally, she got tired of us not knowing what she wanted to tell us, and she jumped on the bed and lay across Destiny. Then Destiny said, ‘Mom, I think I’m going to have a seizure.’ I rushed and got her medicine, and she was fine.”

Since Salsa has entered Destiny’s life, Destiny takes less meds and has had fewer seizures. Her parents hope that she grows out of this entirely. Some children with this rare form of epilepsy do grow out of it when they reach early adulthood. Her parents don’t know what the future holds, but they are a lot calmer having Salsa around.

Service Dog Goes to School

Salsa sits quietly at Destiny’s side at school. When she is “working” the other children in the class leave her alone. “We let people play with her during play dates at our home,” says Rachel. “In school, she is working, and shouldn’t be a distraction.”

However, one day at school, Salsa acted out of the ordinary. She left Destiny’s side and lay across the teacher’s legs. Salsa didn’t want to leave the teacher. Later that day, the teacher had her first seizure. “I got a call from the teacher’s husband, and he said his wife had a seizure, and that Salsa picked up on it,” says Rachel.

Love at First Sight

Destiny, her parents, and her 9-year old brother, Devon, got to meet Salsa a few weeks before she came to live with them. “Destiny and Salsa seemed to have an instant connection,” says Meghan. “Destiny came to one of our training camps where she worked with a few different dogs. Salsa pretty much picked her out; they loved each other right away! The camp is 10 days long and the recipients are matched with their new dogs on the second day. We teach them our training methodology and show them how to get the dogs to work for them.”

Destiny always loved animals. Her family owns 5 horses, 3 cats, and another dog.