Animal Photo: September 2006

Ballica Cave

Ballica Magarasi (Ballica Cave) is located high on the slopes of Mount Akdag (1,915m asl). The location is rather remote, and so it never was a popular vacation spot. The cave is known since Roman times.
Ballica Cave is located in a small patch of marble, unbedded but faulted and fractured. The tectonic cracks are filled with calcite. Beneath the cave there are other karst features like dolines and swallow holes in the area.
The cave has two floors. The main direction of the first is northeast-soutwest. This passage is more or less horizontal showing a wealth of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, flowstones, draperies, soda straws, dripstones, pools, and cave pearls. The second floor is orientated northwest-southeast and is going down continually, following fractures in the rock. Having also many beautiful speleothems, it also contains an extraordinary 6.5m long stalactite, which is one of the longest in Europe. There is no corresponding stalagmite under this stalactite.
Rather unusual is the high influence of tectonic movements, earthquakes, on the cave development. Fallen blocks on the floor of the cave are interpreted as debris of regional earthquakes. Thick columns show horizontal fractures, and there are numerous stalagmite-free stalactites in the lower part of the Yeni Saloon.

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Little Wild Cats, Wallpapers

Here is something to cheer you up! :)

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Beautiful Mountain Peeks

The Bietschhorn (the "king of the Valais") is one of the highest mountains in the Bernese Alps. The northeast and southern slopes of the mountain are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that also includes the Jungfrau and the Aletsch Glacier.
It was first climbed on 13 August 1859 by the Englishman Leslie Stephen, supported by Anton Siegen, Johann Siegen and Joseph Ebener.

The Matterhorn (Italian: Monte Cervino, French: Mont Cervin or Le Cervin) is perhaps the most familiar mountain in the European Alps. On the border between Switzerland and Italy, its graceful pyramid towers over the Swiss town of Zermatt and the Italian town Breuil-Cervinia in the Val Tournanche.

Sajama is the highest mountain in Bolivia. It is an isolated, symmetrical volcanic cone that rises near the border of Chile. It rises in a cluster of easily climbed volcanoes. Sajama, however, is more challenging than its neighbors due to its higher elevation and steep ice cap. The Bolivian eastern side of the mountain receives much more rainfall than the Chilean western side, and is correspondingly more lush. The villages of Tameripi, Sajama, and Lagunas lie at the north, west, and south bases of the mountain respectively. The summit is a direct ascent from either of these villages.

And here are some other mountain peeks, but the only thing that I know about them is that this first one is from Nepal. If You recognize some of them please e-mail me or post a comment.

All pictures have dimension 1024 x 768 so be free to download them and use them as wallpapers. :)

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Cutest Animals

Cute animals that will make you melt. :)

Nature's Textures

Enjoy in these patterns and natural formations that I took during my visit to China.

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Coolest Picture Ever

Please click here and view it full size. Amazing!

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Hybrid Animals, Part 2

The top spot goes to ti-ligers/ti-tigon/li-tigons/li-ligers because it is a hybrid among the hybrids. It is a cross breed between a male tiger and a female liger/tigon or a male lion with a female tigon/liger. Do note that female ligers or tigons are fertile. They are extremely rare and are in mostly private ownership within a behavioural studies programme. In the case of ti-ligers, they have unusual striping where it breaks up and display a blotchy appearance. Since they are 3/4 tiger, their characteristics inhibit more of those of a tiger than a lion.

A zorse is the result of crossbreeding a horse and a zebra. A zonkey is the result of crossbreeding a donkey with a zebra. The Zony is the result of crossbreeding a pony to a zebra. All these three are called zebroids - defined as a cross between a zebra and any other equid. Zebroids are preferred over zebra for practical uses such as riding because of its body shape. However it is more inclined to be temperamental and can prove to be difficult to handle.

Zony

Zonkey

Liger/Tigon

Though they are fascinating animals, they get the last of the list because they are the most popular known among the hybrids. Ligers are crossbreeds between a male lion while Tigons are crossbreds between a male tiger and a female lion. Ligers are the world's largest cats. Tigons on the other hand, are prone towards dwarfism and are usually smaller than either of their parents. Male Ligers/Tigons are sterile while the females are often fertile. Below shows a liger and its trainer Dr. Bhagavan Antle at a Renaissance Festival in Massachusetts, USA, October 2005.

A wolphin is a rare hybrid formed from a cross between a bottlenose dolphin and a false killer whale. There are currently only two in captivity at the Sea Life Park in Hawaii. A wolphin's size, colour and shape are intermediate between the parent species. The first captive wolphin was Kekaimalu, which shows mixed heritage even in its teeth: bottlenose dolphins have 88, false killer whales have 44 and Kekaimalu has 66!

Dogs and wolves tend to crossbreed rather freely. The wolf is a shy animal depending on nuances in body language, facial expression and on hunting skills to survive. Their jaws are much stronger than those of a dog and are often used to exert dominance. For a dog wolf hybrid, it is not known when it will display a wolf behaviour or dog behaviour or something in between. Obedience training is a must in order to tame the animal.

Hybrid Animals, Strange Nature

A grolar/pizzly hybrid is the product of a grizzly bear and a polar bear. Although the two bears are genetically similar, they tend to avoid each other in the wild. During 16 April 2006, a hybrid bear was shot dead by Jim Martell,a hunter from the United States, in Canada. It was the first time a hybrid was found in the wild where previous records of grolars or pizzlies have only been found in zoos.

A grolar, pizzly displayed at the Rothschild Museum, Tring, copyright Sarah Hartwell

Domestic Tamworth pigs are crossbred with wild boar to create 'Iron Age Pigs'. The hybrids are tamer than wild boar but less tractable than domestic swine and generally become specialist pork sausages. Most of them are bred for the specialist meat trade.

Leopon

A Leopon is the result of breeding a male leopard and a female lion. The head of the animal is similar to that of a lion while the rest of the bodies carries similarities to leopards. The most successful breeding programme was at the Koshien Hanshin Park in Nishinomiya City, Japan. Leopons are larger than leopards and likes to climb and enjoy water.

A Golden Pheasant

A Lady Amherst Pheasant

The Golden Phesant has commonly been crossed with the similar Lady Amherst's Pheasant. The result is a hybrid with distinguished colors from its parents.

A Cama is a hybrid between a camel and a llama. They are born via artificial insemination due to the huge difference in sizes of the animals which disallow natural breeding. A Cama usually has the short ears and long tails of a camel but the cloven hooves of a llama. Also most noticeably is the absence of the hump.

Cama 2 days old

Cama 2 years old

Animal Photo