Fennec Fox Facts (Vulpes zerda)

Fennec Fox Facts (Vulpes zerda) The fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is known for its huge ears and diminutive size. It is the smallest member of the canid (dog) family. Whether the fennec truly belongs in the genus Vulpes is debated because it has fewer chromosome pairs than other fox species, lives in packs while other foxes are solitary, and has different scent glands. Sometimes fennec foxes are known by the scientific name Fennecus zerda. Its common name comes from the Berber-Arabic word fanak, which means fox. Fast Facts: Fennec Fox Scientific Name: Vulpes zerdaCommon Names: Fennec fox, fennecBasic Animal Group: MammalSize: 9.5-16 inch body plus a 7-12 inch tailWeight: 1.5-3.5 poundsLifespan: 10-14 yearsDiet: OmnivoreHabitat: North Africa and the Sahara DesertPopulation: StableConservation Status: Least Concern Description The fennec foxs most distinctive feature is its large ears, which may measure 6 inches. The ears help the fox identify prey at night and dissipate heat during the day. The fox is small, with a body ranging from 9 to 16 inches in length, plus a bushy 7 to 12 inch tail. Adults weigh between 1.5 and 3.5 pounds. The fennecs thick coat is cream-colored with a black-tipped tail. The fluffy coat insulates the fox against temperatures that range from below freezing at night to over 100 F during the day. Fur covers their paws, protecting them from getting burned by hot sand and improving traction on shifting dunes. Fennec foxes lack musk glands found in other fox species, but have glands on their tail tips that produce a musky odor when the fox is startled. Habitat and Distribution Fennec foxes live in North Africa and Asia. They range from Morocco to Egypt, south to northern Niger, and east to Israel and Kuwait. The foxes are most at home in sand dunes, but they will live where soil is compacted, too. Diet Foxes are omnivores. Fennec foxes are nocturnal hunters that use their sensitive ears to detect the movement of small underground prey. They eat rodents, insects, birds and their eggs, and also fruit and other plants. Fennecs will drink free water, but dont require it. They get their water from food, plus digging in the ground causes dew formation that the animals can lick. Behavior Fennec foxes communicate using a wide variety of sounds, including a purr resembling that of a cat. Males mark territory with urine. Other fox species are mostly solitary, but fennec foxes are highly social. The basic social unit is a mated pair and their offspring for the present and previous year. The group lives in elaborate dens dug into sand or compacted soil. Fennec fox kits are born with closed eyes and folded ears. Floridapfe / Getty Images Reproduction and Offspring Fennec foxes mate once a year in January and February and give birth in March and April. Gestation typically lasts between 50 and 52 days. The female or vixen gives birth in the den to a litter of one to four kits. A birth, the kits eyes are closed and its ears are folded over. Kits are weaned by 61 to 70 days of age. The male feeds the female while she is caring for the young. Fennec foxes reach sexual maturity around nine months of age and mate for life. They have an average life expectancy of 14 years in captivity and are believed to live about 10 years in the wild. Conservation Status The IUCN classifies fennec fox conservation status as least concern. The foxes are still abundant within most of their range, so the population may be stable. The species is listed under CITES Appendix II to help protect the foxes from international trade abuse. Threats The foxs most significant natural predator is the eagle owl. Fennecs are hunted for fur and trapped for the pet trade. But, the most significant threat comes from human settlement and commercialization of the Sahara. Many foxes are killed by vehicles, plus they may suffer habitat loss and degradation. Some people keep fennec foxes as pets. petrenkod / Getty Images Fennec Foxes and Humans The fennec fox is the national animal of Algeria. In some places, its legal to keep fennec foxes as pets. While not truly domesticated, they can be tamed. Like other foxes, they can dig under or climb over most enclosures. Most canine vaccinations are safe for fennecs. Although nocturnal by nature, fennec foxes (like cats) adapt to human schedules. Sources Alderton, David. Foxes, Wolves, and Wild Dogs of the World. London: Blandford, 1998. ISBN 081605715X.Nobleman, Marc Tyler. Foxes. Benchmark Books (NY). pp. 35–36, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7614-2237-2.Sillero-Zubiri, Claudio; Hoffman, Michael; Mech, Dave. Canids: Foxes, Wolves, Jackals and Dogs: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. World Conservation Union. pp. 208–209, 2004. ISBN 978-2-8317-0786-0.Wacher, T., Bauman, K. Cuzin, F. Vulpes zerda. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T41588A46173447. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T41588A46173447.en

Total Quality Management Survey Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Total Quality Management Survey Paper - Essay Example 3. Effective involvement and utilization of entire staff. 4. Constant and continuous improvement in the business performance. 5. Working through synergy with suppliers. 6. Establishing the performance measures for various areas. In this discussion, we would be analyzing three companies from manufacturing, service and not for profit organizations and would be further analyzing customer driven quality, leadership, employee management and training and measurement, monitoring with analysis for each and every organization. The Organization that I am going to discuss is the Caterpillar, the company was found in 1925 as a result of a merger with Holt Manufacturing Co. and it strived and settled it self because of the lack of competition, they were the pioneers in manufacturing the construction equipments of that time which were also used in the world war I and II effectively. The company is manufacturing seven types of products, but has a list of four hundred products as the seven are the main product types, originally it was formed as a heavy equipment industry and providing services such as construction and agricultural products, including tractors, engineering vehicles, bulldozers, loaders, but it has also diversified now keeping in view its customer's needs and wants, and so it also started making the rough and tough shoes. The company was having the revenue of about US $ 36.339 Billion in the year 2005 and it is currently employing about 77,000 people approximately, the organizational culture that the company is showing is strong enough in terms of services they are providing right now, it was all due to the fierce competition with Komatsu that the company decided to change its culture in 1990s as a result they are having very strong hold in the market, the culture was weak before 1990s as there were so many of the labor strikes and a lot of shutdown processing, but sooner the company identified its weakness and worked on it, one of the biggest reasons of its success is that now the entire union of employees work together and corporate at their level best with the customer as a result the company has achieved excellence, which was otherwise not possible if there wouldn't be any team work or if there was no maximum utilization of the work force they have. The Customers of Caterpillar are usually construction firms and also few contractors having construction business, as no body can buy the Caterpillar products for the personal use, thus all the efforts are directed on the industrial business zone rather than private customers. The customers are viewing Caterpillar a high quality product as the company has produced even the custom made equipments for them, without accepting nonconformance. The features, performance, conformance, reliability, durability, service, response and reputations are the quality dimensions, which have been attracting the customers from a long time. The leadership has played a major part in the survival of Caterpillar Co. No body can expect a company to resist the pressure when the labor turns against it, here the leadership played a vital role for Caterpillar, now the organization has recruited people who are already excelled in their fields and have no complaints against the organization, the employees are bei ng treated as family members and all of these

The world's oceans, Should Ocean Protected Areas Exist Essay

The world's oceans, Should Ocean Protected Areas Exist - Essay Example Should Ocean Protected Areas Exist (increase the area/rate)? Overexploitations of marine resources and overfishing have necessitated the need for ocean protected areas. Today marine protected areas have been proved to be essential for restoring fisheries, promoting marine biodiversity and increasing marine productivity in the oceans. Even though marine resources play a pivotal role in the economic development of the nation scientific studies reveal that â€Å"many of our marine resources are overexploited and face external environmental threats† (Sanchirico, Cochran & Emerson 1). Such overexploitation or overfishing adversely affect fragile ocean habitats, damage ocean ecosystems, cause disturbances in food chains and result in the loss of unique marine life communities. Marine resources are so much important for the humans as â€Å"97 % of all the water on the Earth is in the oceans† (Yang) and because â€Å"71% of Earth’s surface† (Woods Hole Oceanographic) is covered by oceans. Stabilizing climate temperatures, e xchanging of climate gases, and increasing biodiversity are parts of benefits that the ocean yields us. Similarly, ocean produces half of the oxygen that the humans breathe and offers a great environmental condition that keeps organisms alive and growing. As Langreth has rightly pointed out ocean offers shelter to an estimated â€Å"five million species, most of which have not yet been classified† (Langreth). However, man’s indiscriminate actions such as dumping waste materials, oils, overfishing, and noise pollutions pose great threat to the marine life in oceans. Therefore, it is imperative that man protects and conserves marine life through such radical measures as the marine protected areas. ... Certain species such as bluefin tuna have already been destroyed or disappeared from the ocean. While overfishing has led to the disappearance of tens of thousands of bluefin tuna across the seas of Northern Europe in the 1930s and 1940s it has contributed to the vanishing of Halibut from the North Atlantic during the 19th century (Overfished and under-protected: Oceans on the brink of catastrophic collapse). Similarly, trawling towards is one of the methods for fishing and it is really harmful to the ocean. Bottom-trawling which involves dropping a large net, â€Å"around 60 meters-wide into the sea and dragging it along with heavy weights from a trawler cause ‘worst and unnecessary damage’ to many species of fishes† (Overfished and under-protected: Oceans on the brink of catastrophic collapse). Marine pollution is another major harm done by the humans to the ocean. Mostly, man’s indiscriminate dumping of such harmful materials into the sea as pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, detergents, oil, sewage, plastics, and other solids result in massive marine pollution. These have caused around 400 dead zones around the world and these harmful materials â€Å"rob the water of oxygen, leaving areas where little or no marine life can exist† (Marine Pollution). In addition, noise pollution such as sound waves from the cargo ships also kills a lot of organism in the ocean. It has been identified that the presence of loud or persistent sounds from ships, sonar devices, oil rigs, and even from natural sources like earthquakes can â€Å"disrupt the migration, communication, hunting, and reproduction patterns of many marine animals, particularly aquatic mammals like whales and dolphins† (Marine Pollution). Marine protection is possible only through competent and

Commanding Heights Essay Example for Free

Commanding Heights Essay †¢ Episode 1: The Battle of Ideas begs a comparison between socialism and capitalism. †¢ It traces the world’s economic history from the early 1900’s to the events following 9/11. †¢ Asks the question which is a better and more foolproof economic system government control or free markets? †¢ It delves into how the First World War impacted two brilliant economists, Keynes and Hayek. And then follows both Keynes and Hayek through their respective career paths (Keynes role as an advisor to the British Government on wartime economy and Hayek as an Austrian soldier). †¢ Keynes predicted that the result of the treaty of Versailles and demanding reparations from an already bankrupt Germany and Austria would cause another war, The Second World War. †¢ Meanwhile Hayek and his disciple Zlabinger fought against hyper inflation and encouraged free markets. †¢ Simultaneously the American Economy was booming, till October 24th, 1930 when the great depression hit and unemployment soared and industry stopped and half of the US banks were closed down. †¢ During this time Keynes’s theory of government intervention helped lead the way out of the problem (Keynes wrote about Macroeconomics). †¢ Meanwhile Lenin had introduced the New Economic Policy which consisted of grass root level capitalism but the commanding heights would still be under the government. The reform was met with scrutiny from the left, soon after Stalin took power and employed centralised planning of every economic aspect. †¢ Owing to the recovery from the Great Depression and Keynes’ key role in the Breton Woods Conference, in America Keynesianism took control and Hayek faded into the background. †¢ In Britain a welfare state and socialism built the country back from the bottom up. †¢ Newly independent countries like India also employed Keynesian methods, allowing for State led industry. †¢ One third of the world followed aspects of socialism until Churchill and Margaret Thatcher and Keith Joseph were influenced by Hayek’s book, ‘Road to Serfdom.’ †¢ In Germany, Ludwig Erhard stopped price control and re-started the free market economy to combat hyperinflation. The success of his risky decision led to the German Economic Miracle. †¢ While Keynes’ still had a strong hold over Washington, a Chicago School of Economics was created and it emphasised Hayek’s theory as a measure to battle stagflation. †¢ Finally Thatcher’s election and confidence in Hayek’s theory allowed for free markets to be established again. Thus, after a period of a century came back to where it was at the beginning of the century, back to free markets.

Exploring Girls Participation in Violence Essay -- Exploratory Resear

Exploring Girls' Participation in Violence Introduction Youth violence, and particularly violence carried out by girls, has been the subject of intense media attention recently, with an ever-increasing number of girls portrayed as carrying guns in their mouths and participating in violent crime. Although the percentage of girls' involvement in delinquency and crime has increased in the last two decades, it is still far below the level of boys' involvement, and it differs quite significantly. There is a paucity of literature on girls' violence, as most research on youth violence does not distinguish between girls and boys. The most comprehensive and extensive literature reviews on young women's crime and delinquency have been conducted by Meda Chesney-Lind and her associates. While not focusing exclusively on violent girls, their work on girls in trouble with the law provides much insight into the complex issue of girls' aggression and violence. The summary of research in this brief is, for the most part, guided by their work. Overall, the brief reviews the extent of girls' delinquency and violence, the ways they differ from boys', the contributing factors, and effective program strategies to prevent female delinquency. The Scope of Girls' Delinquency, Crime, and Violence The Extent of Girls' Involvement An understanding of the extent of girls' delinquency can be gleaned from statistics, as compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other official agencies, and from self-report surveys conducted with young people. These data demonstrate that girls are far less likely than boys to be arrested; in 1994, for example, girls accounted for one-fourth of youthful arrests (Chesney-Lind & Brown... ...s in the Maryland juvenile justice system. Findings of the Female Population Taskforce. Presentation to the Gender Specific Services Training, Minneapolis, MN. Moore, J.W., & Hagedorn, J.M. (1996). What happens to girls in the gang? In C.R. Huff (Ed.), Gangs in America (pp. 205-20). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Rankin, J.H. (1980). School factors and delinquency: Interaction by age and sex. Sociology and Social Research, 64(3), 420-434. Tolan, P., & Guerra, N. (1994). What works in reducing adolescent violence: An empirical review of the field. Boulder: University of Colorado, Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. Webster, D.W., Gainer, P.S., & Champion, H.R. (1993). Weapon carrying among inner-city junior high school students: Defensive behavior versus aggressive delinquency. American Journal of Public Health, 83, 1604-1608.

A Summary Review on Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathebane

In the book Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathebane there are many obstacles that Mark the protagonist has to overcome. The first of his problems was to get through school in his poor South African ghetto. The second was to achieve his goal and receive a tennis scholarship to an American college. Mark†s father is one of the major antagonist, he was opposed anything to do with Mark getting an education in a school. He was a very traditional man and he didn†t like anything that had to do with the â€Å"white man†. He thought it was nonsense to get a whiteman†s education and he wouldn†t provide the money that was necessary to get Mark through school. Mark was helped through this situation by his Mother who was the person who wanted Mark so desperately to attend school. She decided to go against Mark†s Father and send Mark to school. She then had to get a job which was illegal for her to do so because she didn†t have the required pass from the South African government. With the little money that his mother made and some money that his grandmother gave him he was able to pay for his schooling or at least some of it. He often was without the required materials like a school uniform and books. This then resulted in Mark being beaten at school. These beatings became so intense and often that Mark thought about dropping out of school. His Mother helped him decide that he should stay in school because she knew that an education was the only way out of their life of poverty. Through the support of Mark†s Mother and grandmother Mark found success in school. He almost always was ranked in the top of his class and received scholarships to continue on in school. At the end of Mark†s schooling he receives a job offering in South Africa for him to work as a anger of the company, he decides to accept this job for the time being because his family needed the money to send his brothers and sisters to school. Mark end up successfully making it through school and ending up being one of the top in his class. The second major conflict in the book was that Mark wanted to get a scholarship to an American college. Mark first started playing tennis in the ghetto and became the best player in Alexandria. He practiced at a ranch that he found where he made friends with the owner of the tennis ranch. This was against the law because the owner was a white South African and native Africans could not play with them. Marked learned allot from the owner and gained experience because he was entered in some tournaments by the owner of the tennis ranch. When an international tournament came to South Africa Mark was asked to play in it as a native African player to show to the rest of the world that the apartheid laws separating the native Africans were being changed. This was not true though, the native Africans were being allowed to play in only a few selected tournaments as examples. Since this was not fair to the native Africans they decided to boycott the event. Mark decided to play in this tournament even though he was considered a traitor to his people and was banned from playing in the native African tournaments for life. This decision changed his life because he met a famous American tennis star which helped his apply to many American colleges. Through Mark†s own inner strength and self determination he achieves his goal and he received a full college scholarship to an American college.

History of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I (Otto the Great)

Otto the Great (Nov. 23, 912—May 7, 973), also known as  Duke Otto II of Saxony, was known for consolidating the German  Reich  and making significant advances for secular influence in papal politics. His reign is generally considered to be the true beginning of the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected king Aug. 7, 936 and crowned emperor Feb. 2, 962. Early Life Otto was the son of Henry the Fowler and his second wife, Matilda. Scholars know little of his childhood, but it is believed he engaged in some of Henrys campaigns by the time he reached his late teens. In 930 Otto wed Edith, the daughter of Edward the Elder of England. Edith bore him a son and a daughter. Henry named Otto  his successor, and a month after Henrys death, in August of 936, the German dukes elected Otto king. Otto was crowned by the archbishops of Mainz and Cologne at Aachen, the city that had been Charlemagnes favorite residence. He was twenty-three years old. Otto the King The young king was bent on asserting the kind of firm control over the dukes that his father had never managed, but this policy led to immediate conflict. Eberhard of Franconia, Eberhard of Bavaria, and a faction of disgruntled Saxons under the leadership of Thankmar, Ottos half-brother, began an offensive in 937 that Otto swiftly crushed. Thankmar was killed, Eberhard of Bavaria was deposed, and Eberhard of Franconia submitted to the king.   The latter Eberhards submission appeared to be only a facade, for in 939 he joined with Giselbert of Lotharingia and Ottos younger brother, Henry, in a revolt against Otto that was supported by Louis IV of France. This time Eberhard was killed in battle and Giselbert drowned while fleeing. Henry submitted to the king, and Otto forgave him. Yet Henry, who felt he should be king himself in spite of his fathers wishes, conspired to murder Otto in 941. The plot was discovered and all the conspirators were punished except Henry, who was again forgiven. Ottos policy of mercy worked; from then on, Henry was loyal to his brother, and in 947 he received the dukedom of Bavaria. The rest of the German dukedoms also went to Ottos relatives. While all this internal strife was going on, Otto still managed to strengthen his defenses and expand the boundaries of his kingdom. The Slavs were defeated in the east, and part of Denmark came under Ottos control; the German suzerainty over these areas was solidified by the founding of bishoprics. Otto had some trouble with Bohemia, but Prince Boleslav I was forced to submit in 950 and paid tribute. With a strong home base, Otto not only fended off Frances claims to Lotharingia but ended up mediating in some French internal difficulties.   Ottos concerns in Burgundy led to a change in his domestic status. Edith had died in 946, and when the Burgundian princess Adelaide, the widowed queen of Italy, was taken prisoner by Berengar of Ivrea in 951, she turned to Otto for aid. He marched into Italy, took up the title King of the Lombards, and married Adelaide himself.   Meanwhile, back in Germany, Ottos son by Edith, Liudolf, joined together with several German magnates to revolt against the king. The younger man saw some success, and Otto had to withdraw to Saxony; but in 954 the invasion of the Magyars set off problems for the rebels, who could now be accused of conspiring with enemies of Germany. Still, fighting continued until Liudolf at last submitted to his father in 955. Now Otto was able to deal the Magyars a crushing blow at the Battle of the Lechfeld, and they never invaded Germany again. Otto continued to see success in military matters, particularly against the Slavs. Otto the Emperor In May of 961, Otto was able to arrange for his six-year-old son, Otto (the first son born to Adelaide), to be elected and crowned King of Germany. He then returned to Italy to help Pope John XII stand against Berengar of Ivrea. On February 2, 962, John crowned Otto emperor, and 11 days later the treaty known as Privilegium Ottonianum was concluded. The treaty regulated relations between pope and emperor, although whether or not the rule allowing emperors to ratify papal elections was part of the original version remains a matter for debate. It may have been added in December, 963, when Otto deposed John for instigating an armed conspiracy with Berengar, as well as for what amounted to conduct unbecoming a pope.   Otto installed Leo VIII as the next pope, and when Leo died in 965, he replaced him with John XIII. John was not well-received by the populace, who had another candidate in mind, and a revolt ensued; so Otto returned to Italy once more. This time he stayed several years, dealing with the unrest in Rome and heading south into Byzantine-controlled portions of the peninsula. In 967, on Christmas Day, he had his son crowned co-emperor with him. His negotiations with the Byzantines led to a marriage between young Otto and Theophano, a Byzantine princess, in April of 972. Not long afterwards Otto returned to Germany, where he held a great assembly at the court in Quedlinburg. He died in May of 973 and was buried next to Edith in Magdeburg. Resources and Further Reading Arnold, Benjamin.  Medieval Germany, 500-1300: a Political Interpretation. University of Toronto Press, 1997.â€Å"Otto I, the Great.†Ã‚  CATHOLIC LIBRARY: Sublimus Dei (1537), www.newadvent.org/cathen/11354a.htm.REUTER, TIMOTHY.  Germany in the Early Middle Ages c. 800-1056. TAYLOR FRANCIS, 2016.