Gadling Take FIVE: Week of March 6 –March 13

Happy Friday the 13th. My day has actually gone well. I hope yours has as well. Once again there is a hodge podge of happenings around the world that have captured our notice here at Gadling.

The Best Places to View Wildlife

Yesterday we posted an article with the top places to view penguins in the world. Here are five more amazing places to view wildlife from around the globe.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
The wide open grasslands of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania have one of the most impressive displays of wildlife that you could ever hope to see. Each year, one of the greatest natural spectacles on the planet takes place when literally hundreds of thousands of zebra and gazelle, along with over a million wildebeest make the Great Migration across the great savannah in search of grasslands to graze upon. Following in their wake are lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo, and dozens of other species. The migration is unmatched for the size and scope of wildlife, and is awe inspiring to see.

The Amazon Rainforest, South America
The Amazon Jungle in South Africa is so vast that it it covers parts of eight countries. It is also the home to the highest concentration of birds and freshwater fish on the planet, and more than one third of the world’s animal species call the Amazon home. Highlights of these species include jaguars, anacondas, giant anteaters and a variety of monkeys. The Amazon River contains plenty of interesting creatures as well, such as electric eels, freshwater dolphins, pirarucu, which grow to more than 2 meters in length, and of course the piranha.Alaska, USA
America’s 50th, and largest state, is home to a wide variety of wildlife as well. The remote backcountry is a perfect habitat for migrating herds of caribou, moose, elk, and reindeer. Alaska also boasts polar, kodiak and black bear, large populations of bald eagles, and packs of wolves. Head out to the coastal regions, and you’ll find seals, sea lions, and walrus. But best of all, the waters that surround Alaksa offer some of the best opportunities for spotting whales that you’ll find anywhere anywhere on Earth, with beluga, blue, humpback, and even killer whales on display.

The Galapagos islands, Ecuador

The Galapagos Islands may have made yesterday’s list for great places to view penguins too, but they have plenty more to offer as well. Located 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, the small volcanic archipelago is home to a host of animals that are found no where else on Earth, such as marine iguanas the only lizard in the world that lives in the ocean. There are plenty of lizards that live on land as well, along with several breeds of turtles and sea tortoises, an array of distinct birds, and a large colony of sea lions and fur seals.

Kruger National Park, South Africa
When it comes to spotting wildlife in its natural habitat, few places on Earth can compare to Kruger National Park in South Africa. Kruger is the home to hundreds of species of animals, including more than 500 species of birds alone. But visitors to this park, the largest in South Africa, don’t really come for the birds. Instead, they come to see the hippos, zebras, giraffes and other exotic beasts. Kruger has a reputation, and deservedly so, for being the best place on the planet to spot the “Big Five”, which include lions, elephants, leopards, cape buffalo, and rhinos.

Any one of these places will give you the opportunity to see ome of the most impressive and amazing animals on the planet, and fortunately they are all accessable to travelers, offering unique and wondrous experiences.

Prostitution in Monkeyland?

If anyone says that they don’t stop in their tracks when they see animals mating (out of sheer curiosity, of course), they are probably lying.

When I was in India on a school trek, I remember seeing a chameleon getting it on with another and it changed colors in the process! It’s not something you see often, and I personally think it’s fascinating.

But, who would have thought that paying for sex extends to the animal kingdom?

According to the Discovery Channel, evidence has been found that male monkeys “pay” for sex by untangling and cleaning dirt and parasites from the fur of the females. The higher the ratio of male to female monkeys, the more grooming the male monkeys need to do to get their sex-life going. This process can last from a few seconds up to half-an-hour and turns the monkeys on. Scientists are guessing that this is how foreplay in humans developed. Also, it seems that materialism is part of primate social life as well: the higher status monkeys don’t have to work as hard as lower status monkeys have to for sex.

The research was conducted in Indonesia from 2003-2005 where the 243 grooming sessions of long-tailed macaques were analyzed.

Although we evolved from these animals, you hardly imagine that the prostitution and materialism of humans also have roots in our animal ancestors.

Monkey life in Delhi

If you have ever travelled to India you will agree with me that the strangest of things make it a special place. There is probably no other capital city in the world where monkeys walk around as freely as people. Alongside the “holy” cow, we in India have tremendous respect for monkeys, especially because they are seen as an embodiment of our God Hanuman — a monkey God from the epic Ramayana.

However these days, as about 5000 wild monkeys roam the streets of Delhi, jump onto trains and swing off residence balconies, enter homes and steal food from the fridge (!) — they have become an intolerable menace. Recently, the capital’s mayor died as he fell from his balcony while he was fending off some simians who attacked him.

To fix this problem, other than punishing people who feed the monkeys and encourage them to interact with humans, Delhi has hired tribal monkey catchers from Madurai in Southern India to capture and relocate the estimated 20,000 monkeys from the capital — budget Rs.10 million.

The monkeys are trapped harmlessly by luring them into a cage and locking them in, once inside. They are then sent to a monkey shelter in the south of Delhi. Here’s a clip from NDTV — the capital’s news channel — that gives you a glimpse into monkey life in the city.

Traveling doggy style!


It seems like more and more pet-owners want their dogs to match their lifestyle, not only at home, but also when they travel. Hence the recent popularity for doggy dining restaurants, and special welcome packs for dogs on check-in at hotels is no longer uncommon.

Dog food companies are taking advantage of the growing ‘in-separation’ between owners and their dogs and producing doggy latte drinks, doggy beer, and doggy donuts — how awesome is that!

In Spain every other person has a dog, but I haven’t really noticed the kick-off of dog beauty salons or clothes/accessories shops here in Madrid, let alone doggy dining. But, every 14th of January, on the day of Saint Anton (Saint of Animals), Spaniards get to take their pets to church. On this day, you will see queues of people waiting for their dogs and ducks to be blessed.

So, pets are going to restaurants, hotels and churches — do you think they’ll ever be able to fly with us rather than with our baggage?

[Via MSNBC]

Photo: Gavin Ashworth, MSNBC