|
West Virginia State Wildlife Center
The West Virginia State Wildlife Center is a zoological park in French Creek, West Virginia. Operated by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, the Wildlife Center displays many of West Virginia's wildlife, including both native and introduced species. A few of the animals at the Wildlife Center were once found naturally in West Virginia, but were extirpated by the early 1900s. The Wildlife Center comprises and displays 29 different species of West Virginia mammals, birds, and reptiles, which are located along a trail through a mature hardwood forest. The animal exhibits are spacious chain-link enclosures within an actual West Virginian forest, which allows the animals to interact with the environment and behave in more natural ways than one would see in most other zoos that attempt to recreate the environment. Since 1978, the Wildlife Center has been the home of ''French Creek Freddie'', West Virginia's official Groundhog Day meteorologist. The Wildlife Cente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bison
Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North America, is the more numerous. Although colloquially referred to as a buffalo in the United States and Canada, it is only distantly related to the true buffalo. The North American species is composed of two subspecies, the Plains bison, ''B. b. bison'', and the wood bison, ''B. b. athabascae'', which is the namesake of Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. A third subspecies, the eastern bison (''B. b. pennsylvanicus'') is no longer considered a valid taxon, being a junior synonym of ''B. b. bison''. References to "woods bison" or "wood bison" from the eastern United States refer to this subspecies, not ''B. b. athabascae'', which was not found in the region. The European bison, ''B. bonasus'', or wisent, or zubr, or colloquially Europe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zoos
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, the study of animals. The term is derived from the Greek , , 'animal', and the suffix , , 'study of'. The abbreviation ''zoo'' was first used of the London Zoological Gardens, which was opened for scientific study in 1828 and to the public in 1847."Landmarks in ZSL History" , Zoological Society of London. In the alone, zoos are visited by over 181 million people annually. Etymology [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Picnic Tables
A picnic table (or picnic bench) is a table with benches (often attached), designed for working with and for outdoor dining. The term is often specifically associated with rectangular tables having an A-frame structure. Such tables may be referred to as "picnic tables" even when used exclusively indoors. Various types of tables have been used for outdoor dining throughout history, but the classic A-frame rectangular picnic table emerged in the United States in the early 20th century. The earliest similar table was described in 1903 and was based on the 18th-century sawbuck table; the most common modern design, known in initially as a "Lassen table", was first used in 1926. While the original and most common material for picnic tables is wooden boards, they may be made anything from split logs to concrete to recycled HDPE plastic. The frame, benches and platform may also be made of different materials. Picnic tables are made in various shapes, from circles to hexagons, and in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbecue Grill
A barbecue grill or barbeque grill (known as a barbecue or barbie in Australia and New Zealand) is a device that cooks food by applying heat from below. There are several varieties of grills, with most falling into one of three categories: gas-fueled, charcoal, or electric. There is debate over which method yields superior results. History in the Americas Grilling has existed in the Americas since pre-Colonial times. The Arawak people of South America roasted meat on a wooden structure called a barbacoa in Spanish. For centuries, the term ''barbacoa'' referred to the wooden structure and not the act of grilling, but it was eventually modified to "barbecue". It was also applied to the pit-style cooking techniques now frequently used in the southeastern United States. Barbecue was originally used to slow-cook hogs; however, different ways of preparing food led to regional variations. Over time, other foods were cooked in a similar fashion, with hamburgers and hot dogs being recen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gift Shop
A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections and other souvenirs, intended to be kept by the buyer as a memento of their visit, or given to another as a gift. Gift shops are normally found in areas visited by many tourists. Hotels and motels in Canada and the United States often feature a gift shop near their entrance. Venues such as zoos, aquariums, national parks, theme parks, and museums have their own gift shops as well; in some cases these shops sell items of higher value than gift shops not associated with a venue, as well as trinkets. These stores are sometimes a source of financial support for educational institutions. Mainstream businesses There are many mainstream shop businesses that target gift-buyers as their primary customer base. These retailers can vary in siz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservation Biology
Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on natural and social sciences, and the practice of natural resource management. The conservation ethic is based on the findings of conservation biology. Origins The term conservation biology and its conception as a new field originated with the convening of "The First International Conference on Research in Conservation Biology" held at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, California, in 1978 led by American biologists Bruce A. Wilcox and Michael E. Soulé with a group of leading university and zoo researchers and conservationists including Kurt Benirschke, Sir Otto Frankel, Thomas Lovejoy, and Jared Diamond. The meeting was prompted due to concern over tropical deforestation, disappe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Past
The past is the set of all events that occurred before a given point in time. The past is contrasted with and defined by the present and the future. The concept of the past is derived from the linear fashion in which human observers experience time, and is accessed through memory and recollection. In addition, human beings have recorded the past since the advent of written language. The first known use of the word "past" was in the fourteenth century; it developed as the past participle of the middle English verb ''passen'' meaning "to pass." Grammar In grammar, actions are classified according to one of the following twelve verb tenses: past (past, past continuous, past perfect, or past perfect continuous), present (present, present continuous, present perfect, or present perfect continuous), or future (future, future continuous, future perfect, or future perfect continuous). The past tense refers to actions that have already happened. For example, "she is walking" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Instincts
Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing both innate (inborn) and learned elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to medium length sequence of actions, without variation, are carried out in response to a corresponding clearly defined stimulus. Any behaviour is instinctive if it is performed without being based upon prior experience (that is, in the absence of learning), and is therefore an expression of innate biological factors. Sea turtles, newly hatched on a beach, will instinctively move toward the ocean. A marsupial climbs into its mother's pouch upon being born. Other examples include animal fighting, animal courtship behaviour, internal escape functions, and the building of nests. Though an instinct is defined by its invariant innate characteristics, details of its performance can be changed by experience; for example, a dog can impro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captivity (animal)
Animals that are held by humans and prevented from escaping are said to be in captivity. The term is usually applied to wild animals that are held in confinement, but may also be used generally to describe the keeping of domesticated animals such as livestock or pets. This may include, for example, animals in farms, private homes, zoos and laboratories. Animal captivity may be categorized according to the particular motives, objectives and conditions of the confinement. History Throughout history not only domestic animals as pets and livestock were kept in captivity and under human care, but also wild animals. Despite the fact that wild animals have been harbored by humans for thousands of years, this captivity has not always approximated present zoos. Some were failed domestication attempts. Also, in past times, primarily the wealthy, aristocrats and kings collected wild animals for various reasons.The affluent built the first zoos as personal collections to demonstrate thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species Reintroduction
Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustaining population to an area where it has been extirpated, or to augment an existing population. Species that may be eligible for reintroduction are typically threatened or endangered in the wild. However, reintroduction of a species can also be for pest control; for example, wolves being reintroduced to a wild area to curb an overpopulation of deer. Because reintroduction may involve returning native species to localities where they had been extirpated, some prefer the term "reestablishment". Humans have been reintroducing species for food and pest control for thousands of years. However, the practice of reintroducing for conservation is much younger, starting in the 20th century. Methods for sourcing individuals There are a variety of appro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starting with the Neolithic Revolution when animals were first domesticated, from around 13,000 BC onwards, predating farming of the first crops. By the time of early civilisations such as ancient Egypt, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs were being raised on farms. Major changes took place in the Columbian exchange, when Old World livestock were brought to the New World, and then in the British Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century, when livestock breeds like the Dishley Longhorn cattle and Lincoln Longwool sheep were rapidly improved by agriculturalists, such as Robert Bakewell, to yield more meat, milk, and wool. A wide range of other species, such as horse, water buffalo, llama, rabbit, and guinea pig, are used as livestock in som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overhunting
Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term applies to natural resources such as water aquifers, grazing pastures and forests, wild medicinal plants, fish stocks and other wildlife. In ecology, overexploitation describes one of the five main activities threatening global biodiversity. Ecologists use the term to describe populations that are harvested at an unsustainable rate, given their natural rates of mortality and capacities for reproduction. This can result in extinction at the population level and even extinction of whole species. In conservation biology, the term is usually used in the context of human economic activity that involves the taking of biological resources, or organisms, in larger numbers than their populations can withstand. The term is also used and defined som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
