Month: April 2016

Does Climate Change Pose a Significant Threat to Polar Bears?

Evan 25 Comments

Jules Galligan – Geology
Olivia Smith – Pre-Veterinary Science
Kathy Tran – Animal Science

A polar bear carries away it's meal for the day--a young cub. Image retrieved from: http://www.trvl.com/cache/img/c-1024-768/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/047-130136481-11.jpgA polar bear carries away it’s meal for the day–a young cub.
Image retrieved from: http://www.trvl.com/cache/img/c-1024-768/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/047-130136481-11.jpg

One cold, icy December afternoon, researchers scanned the Arctic ice below, hoping to track a polar bear they tagged a few months earlier expected to recently give birth to cubs. In the distance, a splash of red caught their eye–a polar bear presumably feasting on a previously killed seal. As they got closer they could not believe their eyes. To their dismay, the mother bear they had been tracking was ripping apart a clump of white fur–her own cub. The bear looked up as they approached, the cub’s head dangled from the mother’s mouth. This polar bear cannibalism was not their first encounter. In fact, studies show that more polar bears are practicing cannibalism more frequently for the purpose of securing reliable sources of nutrition (Amstrup, Stirling, Smith, Perham & Thiemann, 2006). Continue Reading →

Do concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), or “factory farms,” negatively impact the health and welfare of livestock?

Evan 31 Comments

Inside a hog CAFO. [Untitled image of pig CAFO] Retrieved from http://wuwm.com/post/opposition-flares-around-supersize-pig-farm-proposed-northern-wisconsin#stream/0

Inside a hog CAFO. [Untitled image of pig CAFO] Retrieved from http://wuwm.com/post/opposition-flares-around-supersize-pig-farm-proposed-northern-wisconsin#stream/0

Jack Tallboy (B.S. Pre-Veterinary Science), Rachel Spurgeon (NRC, Environmental Conservation), Miranda Cashman (B.S. Geology)

What do 7 billion people share in common? A group that size, with all the diversity of races, religions, cultures, and languages, still unites over a meal. Access to food is a central issue and growing problem in our world.  The harder question is, how do we produce the food needed for the world’s booming population without compromising the traditional family farm and healthful agricultural practices?  Growing and raising enough food while still holding to good animal health and welfare practices becomes increasingly difficult as the global population increases. Continue Reading →