What are the benefits of raising goats?

You get a lot from keeping #goats. #Raising #goats can help you achieve a sustainable lifestyle. You can #milk them or eat their #meat, use their #fiber and their skin for making clothing, and even use their dung for fuel (if you are so inclined).

You may want to raise goats for a variety of reasons:

Becomingmore self-sufficient: Goats can give you milk to drink and food to eat, and even help you carry your belongings when backpacking.

Cuttingyour dairy bill: If you raise dairy goats, you might not have to buy cheese or milk ever again. Your goats need to have kids to give you milk, and then you can milk them throughout the year for up to three years without re-breeding.

Raisingyour own meat: Goat meat has always been popular in the developing world because goats are much more affordable and use fewer resources than animals such as cows. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the demand for goat meat is expected to continue growing.

Growingyour own fiber: Some of the finest fiber comes from goats: Angora and Pygora goats produce mohair, cashmere goats produce cashmere, and crosses between the two breeds produce a fiber called cashgora.

If you raise fiber goats, you can spin your own yarn and make hats, blankets, sweaters or other products. You can also sell the fiber to spinners or to companies that make these products.

Harnessinggoats' power as living weed whackers: Goats are well-known for their ability to wipe out weeds. In fact, some people have made businesses out of renting out their goat herds to cities and other municipalities to clean up areas that are overgrown with weeds or blackberry bushes. These leased goats decrease the need to use herbicides, improve the soil's fertility, decrease the risk of fire, increase the diversity of plants in the area, and control weeds in hard-to-reach areas, such as steep hills.

Breedingand selling: Unless your goats are just pets or brush eaters, you probably want to breed them. If you have dairy goats, you need to breed them to keep a good supply of milk flowing. And you need to replace any goats you sell or slaughter.

Keeping goats as pets: You can leash train goats and take them on walks throughout the neighborhood or around your property, which provides exercise for all of you.

Usingyour goat for packing: Goats are social animals and, after you establish a relationship with them, they love to spend time with you. They enjoy going for hikes and can carry your belongings; they find plenty to eat right there in the wilderness.

Raisinggoats as a 4-H project: Getting children involved in raising goats is a good way to teach responsibility. Keeping goats requires twice-a-day chores. Children quickly learn that the goats depend on them. They also find out about the cycle of birth and death and get outdoors to get regular exercise.

Caucasian Red Deer will be reintroduced in Armenia soon

WWF Armenia under the patronage of RA Ministry of Nature Protection and with the support of WWF Germany, Orange Armenia, Transboundary Joint Secretariat (TJS) and Prometey Bank launches a project on reintroducing the #Caucasian #Red #Deer in Armenia with the main goal to set up a breeding group of the species in Dilijan National Park.

The project activities include preparation of a breeding center in Dilijan National Park, purchase and transportation of 4 #male and 11 #female deer to Armenia, training of the breeding center staff, keeping and #breeding of #animals with further release and monitoring in the nature.

“This is an unprecedented project for Armenia since there hasn’t been any disappeared #species reintroduced in Armenia so far, said Karen Manvelyan, the director of WWF Armenia

The project is funded by WWF Germany (25,600,000 AMD) and Orange Armenia (10,000,000 AMD).

The Caucasian Red Deer is one of the most endangered wildlife species in the South Caucasus. This species, once largely spread in the #forests of Northern, Eastern and Southern Armenia, was disappeared a few decades ago due to poaching and habitat destruction. Now it is considered as a species which accidently enters the territory of Armenia from neighbouring countries.

Currently the Caucasian Red Deer is included in the Red Book of Armenia as “Critically Endangered” according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria. Major threats are poaching and habitat destruction.

Panda overload! 14 cute babies cuddle in a crib !

An adorable series of images of more than a dozen artificially bred #panda cubs was released Monday from the Chengdu Research Base of #Giant #Panda Breeding in China.

The giant panda, an endangered species, is native to China, and biologists and zoologists in the world’s most populous country have worked to make sure the adorable #animals don’t go extinct. Roughly 80 percent of the approximately 1,000 pandas left in the world live in Sichuan province, where Chengdu is located.

The panda cubs in the photos were born between July and September, and this marks the first time they were put together as a group since they were born.

All dogs in England to be microchipped by 2016

All #dogs in England will, from April 2016, have to be microchipped as part of a government attempt to cut the number of strays and make #pet #owners more responsible for their #animals.

Each year about 110,000 dogs in Britain are abandoned or lost, at a cost of £57m to the taxpayer and welfare charities. In more than half the cases the owners cannot be identified.

Microchips, which are the size of a grain of rice and are fitted under the skin between the dog's shoulder blades, allow vets, councils and charities to find out who owns a dog if it is thought to be a stray.

About 60% of the UK's 8m pet dogs are already microchipped, but from 6 April 2016 it will become compulsory, with the dog registered on one of the authorised commercial databases. Owners will also have to register the details of any new owner if they sell or give the dog away.

Anyone who breaks the rules gets a short period to comply with the law, then the next stage is a fine of up to £500.

The environment secretary, Owen Paterson, said: "It's a shame that in a nation of dog lovers, thousands of dogs are roaming the streets or stuck in kennels because the owner cannot be tracked down. I am determined to put an end to this and ease the pressure on charities and councils to find new homes for these dogs."