Why Airlifting Rhinos Upside Down is Critical To Conservation (cnn.com) 14
Swinging above the African savannah, an upside-down rhino suspended from a helicopter looks comically surreal. But for the black rhino, flying to new territory is no laughing matter -- it's about survival. From a report: Most rhino translocations are carried out with trucks, but some remote locations can't be reached by road. So ten years ago, conservationists began using helicopters, on an occasional basis, to move rhinos to and from inaccessible terrain. The rhino is either placed on its side on a stretcher, or hung upside down by its legs. Conservationists like the upside-down airlift because it's faster, easier and less expensive than the stretcher option, but until now it hasn't been clear how being flipped affects the rhinos. Seeking to find out, the Namibian government asked a research team at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine to look into the practice. The results, published in January, were surprising. "We were anticipating that the rhinos would fare worse hanging upside down," says Robin Radcliffe, a senior lecturer in wildlife and conservation medicine. Instead, Radcliffe and his team found that although it looks like an uncomfortable experience, upside-down flying is the better option for rhino health. [...] Radcliffe says the upside-down position allows the spine to stretch which helps to open the airways. Additionally, the team found that when lying on their side, rhinos have a larger "dead space" -- the amount of air in each breath that does not contribute oxygen to the body. The difference between the two postures was small, but because the strong anaesthetic used on the rhino causes hypoxemia -- low oxygen levels in the blood -- even a minor improvement makes a difference to the rhino's welfare.
Q. How do you get four elephants into a Mini? (Score:2)
Re:Q. How do you get four elephants into a Mini? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Q. How do you get four elephants into a Mini? (Score:5, Funny)
A. Two in the front, two in the back.
Good thing it's even. Helps keep people calm.
After all, two in the front and one in the back would be a bit of a shocker.
Re: (Score:2)
How dare you, my mother and her friends are walruses at best.
Re: (Score:2)
You can, of course, fit five elephants in a Mini. Two in the front, two in the back, and one in the glove compartment.
That's ridiculous (Score:2)
Re:That's ridiculous (Score:4, Funny)
Not to be confused with RINOs ... (Score:2)
Airlifting RINOs [wikipedia.org] upside down hasn't shown to help ...
Re: (Score:2)
A malware phishing link (https://officess-setup.com/) with something relevant (albeit stupid) to say about TFS?
This is new...