In regards to my Advocacy Project, before completing the problem-solution section of the paper, I was ignorant of the whole fact that not only cows, pigs, chickens are farmed, but so are bears. Bears? Yes, bears. In Asia, bears are harvested for their bile which is thought to have medicinal properties for illnesses that range from cancer to hangovers. Despite the great evidence for more humane alternatives that actually are effective, human perceptions and attitudes have still led to bear exploitation in Asian bile farms. The degree of harm is so severe, that many bear species in Asia, like the Asiatic black bear are considered a threatened specie. As I researched, read, and watched videos about this serious issue, I would ask myself why this was happening. How could it be that people are trapped in the mindset of feeling above any other animal?
kAlthough, I have never been a true meat lover, the only meats I do eat is chicken, beef, and sometimes fish. But then again, I am not a fan of meat, I honestly rather eat vegetables and fruit. However, ever since I saw watched these videos, each time I see meat of any kind I think about of what I have learned. So now I have tried to cut other animal derived food products, like dairy, but I know I have a long path to go. Back to my problem stated in my AP, ever since I found out about bear bile farming not only have I decided to raise awareness through my paper, and Twitter, I have also been talking about this issue with my roommates, friends, and family. After the extensive research conducted for my AP, along with the assignments that helped me organize my essay, I think, perceive, and act different. Now I desire to be a better person for those species that are neglected rights they equally deserve as us. Another impactful learning experience was the fact that through this class, I was able to become a better researcher. Before, taking this class all of my research was done through Google. While this search engine was helpful throughout my years in school, in college I discovered the importance of finding sources with validity, and credibility to establish my own academic ethos. Hence, I had to do more than Google searching, if I wanted to become a true researcher. Through the class, I learned to locate peer-reviewed sources through databases provided to me by the UCI Libraries, like the Academic Search Complete and Web of Science. Researching was not always easy though, since at points in time I would struggle to access full research articles as I describe in my blog post, “The AP Process: From the Start to Now.” But to me being a researcher also means being persistent until the information is gathered. With persistence, I achieved in gathering good sources of information that allowed me to advocate against the bear bile industry. Overall, I know I have become a better researcher because I have developed a skill for information literacy, where more than researching, I have learned to discern and critically evaluate source materials of different types, in different media, genres, and discourses. Along with reflecting on my transformative learning experiences, I think it is important to also mention the areas of improvement, because not everything was easy in the course. One thing I did not expect was the work to be done on the social media platform, Twitter. Before this class I had never been used to checking my feed, posting, and navigating Twitter daily. However, this class forced upon me a Twitter routine. At first, like stated in my first Twitter update blog, I was still struggling to tweet and retweet. For instance, when I would forget to add the course’s hashtag #39canimals, I wanted to edit the tweet, but soon found out that was not possible. Therefore, I had to delete the Tweet and then fix and post it again. However, I have slowly become more comfortable with Twitter, and so by continuing to be active on Twitter, I think I can master my Twitter skills. Another area for improvement is the writing process. Although I think I did a decent job in writing the major assignment, the AP, I do think that the process following writing is an area where I can improve. Writing the AP itself, I think was not as painful as I probably feared at the beginning. It was fairly easy to compose because of the research, reading, and smaller assignments I did throughout the 10 weeks. However, I think revising my draft was the hardest part. Revising I learned consisted of checking for my essay to meet the requirements of the AP. I learned that a lot of writing is actually rewriting, and this is where I had to spend the most time. Shortening my essay and removing details, I felt was one of the issues I faced in the writing process. It was a struggle to cut down sections of my essay to meet the page requirement, while simultaneously adding more evidence to develop a stronger argument. To tackle this issue, I personally believe I probably have to work on being less wordy and get straight to the point. I think to achieve a smoother revision in the writing process, I have to put in practice my revision skills in future writing assignments. Most importantly, I have to continue to give constructive, detailed feedback to my peers, because I have learned that to give is better than to receive. I leave the course, full of satisfaction knowing that I have accomplished more than writing a scholarly argumentative research paper. All of my accomplishments in the class though would not have been possible without the guidance of Dr. Haas.
0 Comments
This week on Twitter I tweeted, retweeted, and followed new accounts. All of my tweets and retweets were focused on the issue covered in my Advocacy Project, bear bile farming. Bear bile farming is an industry that cages bears to harvest their bile, a digestive fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, which is used in traditional Asian medicine. One of my tweets for example, provided facts about this industry in Vietnam which has more than 300 farms despite its ban 26 years ago. Another post was a retweet of Animals Asia, in which a video captures how rescued bears in sanctuary find peace with each other, something deprived to them in bile farms. Moreover, another of my tweets demonstrated other consequences of bear bile farming, one in which bears after 10 years of age are seen as “unproductive,” and so they are killed for their body parts. Part of my activity on Twitter is also dedicated to finding new accounts to follow, so as to find new avenues with valuable information. Moon Bear Rescue and AnimalsAsiaRoma were some of the new accounts I found through the hashtag #moonbear (another name for the Asiatic black bear). Moreover, through the page of Moon Bear Rescue, I found other accounts to follow like AnimalRescueCrusade, an account that is dedicated to raise awareness about animal cruelty by posting graphic content. Last but not least the last tweet for this week, was one that emphasized to care for the bears species that remain in this world. It is our responsibility to consider for all aspects of animal well-being, including proper management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, and habitat conservation. Science demonstrates we are more similar than different. It is time to treat them just like we would like to be treated. With the course, Writing 39C coming to an end, I would like to inform you all this is the last Twitter update blogpost. As I reflect back through my journey in Twitter, I must admit that navigating and accustoming to this new social media platform took time. However, since the beginning my feed was always full of news stories, research, infographics, petitions and many more other posts that provided me with resources to get through the major assignments in this class. I became a better reader, researcher, writer, and advocate thanks to Twitter. Twitter proved to be especially valuable for my AP. I found organizations dedicated to ending bear bile farming like AnimalsAsia, Education for Nature-Vietnam, World Animal Protection, and many more. Furthermore, the news stories like of bears showing impressive cognition skills, as well as devastating stories of bears suffering in captivity were also stepping stones in developing my AP. For instance, through Twitter I found out that the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea had chosen an Asiatic black bear as their cuddly mascot. I used this source of information to further demonstrate how our human thinking sometimes does not align with our actions, especially when it comes to treating other species. Twitter was also a space where I could share my thoughts, opinions, and feelings concerning animal-related issues. I think even though I did not reach a wide range of people, I did have people like and retweet my posts, including strangers. I stay with the satisfaction that at least one more person is aware of the need to end bear torture and exploitation in bile farms. Although, I will not be continuing with the weekly blog updates on my online activity in Twitter, I will remain active in Twitter. Before this class, it never crossed through my mind of creating a Twitter account. Now, I have learned the positive side to Twitter, therefore I will continue to use my Twitter account. The purpose will be to trigger further awareness on animal cruelty issues. Additionally, I think that it is vital for me to keep informed and updated to what is happening with animals worldwide, and Twitter has demonstrated to be a good informational tool. That said, keep up to date with my Twitter activity by following me @DCSiquin.
Thank you. The major assignment of the quarter has been the Advocacy Project (hereafter AP). The AP is a multimedia essay in which I presented a current problem concerning the animal-human relationship and then recommended solutions to the problem. The problem I presented was the major ethical issue behind bear bile farming in Asia that has threatened to the point of extinction bear species in the area. The final product (to be posted) is the outcome of thorough researching, multiple drafts, extensive peer-reviewing and revising. As you have read in my previous blog posts, I started off with a focus on bear cognition to later demonstrate with scientific foundation that bear bile farming is a serious ethical problem that needs attention and needs to be resolved. Since the start of the course I have always been interested in bears (read my previous blogs). After confirming that bears was going to be my specie of research, I choose to conduct deeper research on their cognitive abilities. As you have read in my Week 4 blog, cognition caught my attention because it is interesting to know how animals view, interpret, learn, adapt, and reason through their daily lives. Hence, my scientific literature review would be focused on bear cognition. Shaping the HCP into a Scientific FoundationAs you might have seen in my previous blog posts the first portion of my AP, was the Historical Conservations Project (hereafter HCP). In my HCP (the scientific literature review) I outlined the different cognitive abilities like tool-usage, counting, and understanding object properties discovered over the past six years. My HCP at the beginning was 8 pages, containing lots of details on the latest empirical studies conducted on bear cognition. However, for the purpose of my AP I had to revise and cut portions that were not necessary. My introduction was like two pages, but revised to remove sentences that did not add to the meaning of my AP. Additionally, in the methodology section I provided great details on how the trials were conducted, so I later shortened it to be a summary of 1-2 sentences. In general, my revisions for the HCP consisted of removing out all repetition and anything from that draft that was not directly relevant to setting up my AP's problem and solution. How did I come to know about this problem? Why this problem?Once I began researching for the scientific literature review portion of my AP, I learned about the eight living species of bears: the American black bear, Asiatic black bear, brown bear, giant panda bear, polar bear, spectacled bear, sloth bear and sun bear. I admit that growing up I was only aware of the American black bear, panda bear, brown bear and polar bear, but was not informed about the other bear species. For that reason, I decided to be more informed about the species so I began gathering information on all of the bear species. When reading about the Asiatic black bear specie, I learned that the biggest threat to their population has been bear bile farming, where they are exploited for the bile in their gallbladders, a highly prized ingredient in traditional Asian medicine. I was really touched by this problem, I could not believe that the well-being, health, needs of humans were met at the costs of risking not only the welfare of these bears, but to the extent of converting them into a threatened specie. ResearchThe next step after defining my problem for the AP was researching credible sources that would not only demonstrate the severity of this issue, but also ones that contribute to my academic ethos. Researching, the second step in completing my AP, was one where I had to learn to locate sources using a variety of tools, methods, and databases to gather the best of the best sources. Through the experience in finding sources for my scientific literature on bear cognition, I decided to take the same route when searching for potential sources for my problem. Therefore, first I utilized the Academic Search Complete, a database provided by the UCI Libraries, and typed keywords like bear bile farming, problems, well-being, and stress. I was able to find a variety of research articles, but after skim-reading through each one, I discovered one with incredible findings relevant to the fact that the well-being of bears is at risk in bile farms. The peer-reviewed article was “Analyses of fecal and hair glucocorticoids to evaluate short-and long-term stress and recovery of Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) removed from bile farms in China,” by Karl Malcolm, regional wildlife ecologist and researcher. The article was relevant because it outlined a scientific study that evaluated short-and-long term changes in activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) in farmed bears to determine the stress status. The research findings supported the fact that the conditions of bile bear farms threaten the health and welfare of bears, to the point that their HPA activity functions like bears who suffer from terminal or untreatable diseases. Not only that, but just like the sources for my scientific literature on bear cognition this recent study just published in 2017, referred to other studies like “The Veterinary, Behavioural and Welfare Implications of Bear Farming in Asia”, that eventually became sources cited in my AP. However, the researching process did not mean things would be easy. Based on my experience in researching for the sources, one of the difficulties was getting the full text of research articles. This usually occurred if I did further research on broader databases like Google. Through Google. I was able to identify some potential sources after reading their abstract, but was not allowed to view the whole research study unless I purchased the text. For instance, through Google I was able to find one of my main research articles that further explained the issue of bear bile farming, “Understanding public perceptions and motivations around bear part use: A study in northern Laos of attitudes of Chinese tourists and Lao PDR nationals,” by zoologist, Elizabeth Oneita Davis (hereafter Davis et al.), which explained how the trade in bear bile is the leading factor in the decline of Asian bear populations, and hence the high demand could lead to the extinction of some bear species in the wild. Knowing that this article could offer more information and evidence, I persisted in finding the whole text of the article, therefore I returned to the databases provided by the UCI libraries, and searched the article in the Web of Science and the Academic Search Complete, but failed to find the articles. I even chatted with an online librarian to see if she could assist me in finding the article, but surprisingly they struggled to access it as well. However, I was determined to find the whole research article, therefore I returned to my Google search and went to Science Direct the site that had the article. I scrolled to the bottom of the page and went over the options of locating the whole article. After clicking on the option to see if I have access to the publication via my institution, I was able to have access and download the pdf because I reported being part of UC Irvine. If it was not for my persistence, I could have lost such valuable research article. The research conducted for my AP has taught me to discern and critically evaluate source materials of different types, as well as to be persistence, and flexible in face of the obstacles that might come along the way. WritingAfter completing the research portion for the problem explained in the AP, it was time to draft. I wanted to frame the problem of bear bile farming as one that raises ethical concerns, not only because of the exploitation and suffering farmed bears live, but because the issue is serious that if the problem is not addressed the bears in the area can eventually become extinct. I usually do not do a written outline of what I will be writing, yet as I reflect back in this step, I notice that every time I came across a source during the researching process I always thought of where in my essay it would best fit. Thus, when writing my drafts I already had a mental outline of what I was going to write about. Like any first draft, I know mine is full of mistakes and repetition, but what I focus on is writing all my thoughts down. I have learned that the best thing when writing the first draft is to write all of my thoughts down, because afterwards during the revision process I can delete, connect, and adjust things to better present the information and argument in my paper. I feel writing the problem section of my AP in general was not difficult, the hard part was being concise and clear with the evidence that demonstrates the issue of bear-bile farming. Therefore, instead of talking about all the negative side effects of bear bile farming, I decided to cover the main consequences of this industry. Those main points became the toll housing conditions, "milking" extractions, and people's perceptions take on the welfare of bears. Furthermore, when writing I knew that engaging with the rhetorical appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos, I would have a much stronger paper. I really believe that in this writing process I further developed my writing my skills by incorporating rhetoric because it guided me in making my paper clear and understandable. Last but not least, in writing my problem section of the AP, I took in consideration the five Ws: who, what, where, when, and why, since they are key basic points in defining and informing the readers about my chosen problem. Peer-ReviewThe next step in the process of completing the AP, was peer-reviewing. Why is peer-review important? Peer-review is an essential part of this process, because the essay is meant to be a scholarly research written paper, in which reviewers help validate research, and provide criticisms that can enhance the writing. In this case, my reviewers were my fellow classmates who are also knowledgeable of the requirements of the AP and general research on animal science based on the coursework done in class. The peer-reviews completed through Connect, Google Docs, and in-class, have exposed me to the good writing techniques of my peers, but also made me aware of the mistakes to avoid in my own writing. It also important to note that through the peer-reviews I have further learned the importance of responsibility and openness. Revising someone’s else work is a responsibility that takes time and seriousness so as to offer the best advice and feedback to a peer. The most recent peer-review I have conducted has been on the problem-solution section of the AP of one of my classmates. In the paper I peer-reviewed, the researcher was advocating on how habitat loss is a major threat to chimpanzee population. Along with this, it was interesting to find out that habitat loss also impacts chimpanzee behavior, since they can show physical aggression in a desperate effort to protect their remaining territory which displays the need to intervene and implement global and grassroot environmental solutions. Although, the draft showed strong academic ethos with the multiple citations of credible sources, and strong opposing viewpoints, I did suggest the writer to work on the problem section. One of my best recommendations was to make more concise and clear the problem section. For instance, the writer mentioned other problems (e.g. illegal hunting and bushmeat) threatening chimpanzees as a result of habitat loss, but as I was reading, it was not clear to me if they were problems caused by habitat loss or other separate minor problems threatening chimpanzees. I had to read that section twice because the fact that it contained long paragraphs with multiple ideas made it hard to know what part of the problem I was reading about. From this peer-review, I liked how the solutions were presented in great detail, especially the social media avenue to get Tanzanians to plant trees as a way of combating deforestation of areas where chimpanzees habitat. Therefore, I will be revising specifically my grassroot solution section to see where I can provide further details like statistics or examples to make it a stronger argument. RevisionAfter going through the feedback received from my peers, the next and final step is revision. The last step before the final product is usually revising structure, arrangement, word choice, transitions, grammar and other writing components. As of right now I have a full draft of my AP from the introduction to the conclusion, it is time to do a last round of revisions. For my next set of revision, I plan to spend most of my time on the problem-section portion of the AP. This portion, is the most essential because this is where my research, ethos, and argument will take place. I think there are key parts in my essay (e.g. introducing the problem, and grassroot solutions) which can be improved by either adding more statistics, more information, citations, and opposing voices. My other focus will be verifying that I expand on the opposing voices I have incorporated throughout my paper. After completing the first revisions already mentioned, at the end I will focus on my word choice, grammar, and sentence structure, so as to make sure that my paper is easy to read without stutters. My final AP to be posted soon!
The first draft I revised was regarding dolphin social structures and their major threat, human drive hunts. At the beginning I was not sure what the essay was going to be about since the first paragraph provided details of the sophisticated communication skills of dolphins. In fact, I suggested the writer to maybe add a story relevant to dolphin societies or to not go that in deep about dolphin communication if that was not going to be his area of research. The other area I thought needed revision was how the writer introduced its main sources in the literature review. For instance, instead of providing the title of the article, the writer just wrote, “The study was published in 2008, by K.L. Hartman et. al…” The other suggestion was to make his or her ethos stronger. For example, in the section that covered the problem, the writer provides general facts. Thus, my suggestion was to add more statistics so as to show that he or she is well-informed about the situation concerning dolphin slaughtering. I think the best advice I provided my peer was to make it more clear from the start what the literature review is about. I think that is important since it provides the reader with a sense that the writer is a well researcher. One of the areas I suggested further revision was the bridge between the literature review and the statement of problem. Although it was an “okay” bridge, I recommended the writer to make it better by adding the importance of the research findings and why it is significant in the problem.
That said, I also felt the scientific literature review was quickly summarized. Besides the findings, as a reader I did not know what was the methodology used by the researchers or the article’s type of study (e.g. case study, observational, experimental). One of the best advice I think I gave this writer was too add more sources to support claims or to include citations. I felt the writer did not include sources in places where they were needed to further explain the issue of hunting. For example, the writer states that wolves are important for ecosystem, but I recommended to look for a source that briefly states why they are important or how their extinction causes the ecosystem to collapse. That said, I felt the writer was a little to broad and could create more ethos by adding details and sources to the paper. The peer-reviews completed through Connect, Google Docs, and in-class, have exposed me to the good writing techniques of my peers, but also made me aware of the mistakes to avoid in my own writing. Not only that, but in-class when I have the opportunity to share with others what I plan on writing, or what I meant to present through my paper, it helps me form a brief mental outline of the work to be done. A few weeks ago, Dr. Haas presented to us to a research study, “To Give is Better than to Receive,” which declared that it is better to provide feedback than to receive feedback, because when we are giving our thoughts, we effectively construct better ways to develop or improve our writing. Like Dr. Haas mentioned in class, high school peer reviews were not the best, since they were not really emphasized or taken serious. I think the study was right because so far during the peer-review process I have become more informed of the flaws in my writing. Additionally, when I revise my own paper I incorporate techniques I considered of value while revising the papers of my peers.
One of the first hashtags I came across this week was #MoonBearMonday, which is the main specie covered in my AP. Moon bear is another name for the Asiatic black bears, and reports label them as the main victims of bear bile farming in many countries throughout Asia. Like the hashtag indicates, I happened to become aware of this hashtag on a Monday, while I was scrolling through my feed. One of the accounts I followed, Animals Asia included #MoonBearMonday in a tweet that shared the story of a bear who almost died as a consequence of contracting an illness at bear bile farms. I clicked on the hashtag’s feed and then came across different bears that were rescued from bear bile farms, as well as posts that showed the horrific situations farmed bears live through. Additionally, this hashtag lead me to follow a new account on Twitter, PeaceFurPaws, a branch of Animals Asia in Canada that is dedicated to stopping bear bile farming, ending the cat and dog meat trade, and re-homing of unwanted pets.
Moving on, through the search engine on Twitter, I found another valuable feed of information, #BearBile. Through this hashtag's feed, I found news on the illegal international trade of bear bile, but I also found many petitions that demanded for the Asian governments to shut down all bear bile farms Through the hashtags, I was able to identify a few relevant accounts to the purpose of my AP (Advocacy Project). For instance, #MoonBearMonday reemphasized to me the importance of Animals Asia, an organization devoted to completely eliminating bear bile farming practices in countries like China and Vietnam. Animals Asia, provides statistics, petitions, and stories on the topic of bear bile farming. In fact, they are one of my cited sources in my Advocacy Paper. Another account I became aware of was ENV, a non-governmental organization that combats the illegal wildlife trade by reducing consumer demand, strengthening law enforcement, and improving policy and legislation. I think ENV is a great source because after navigating through their website I discovered a plentiful of outreach and awareness they are doing in Vietnam to end bile farming that includes: working with government and authorities, public awareness campaigns, working with bear farmers and school informational awareness campaigns. What I really liked was that this organization brought to my attention solutions I had not come across through my previous research. Want to learn more about bear cognition and the cruelty of bear bile farming? Follow me then @DCSiquin!
This week I took part of a Social Media Campaign (hereafter SMC), which included researching, adopting two organizations, and campaigning on Twitter for 6 days. The first part of the SMC consisted of researching and gathering information on issues associated with my specie of focus, bears, and searching for possible solutions offered for these issues. To begin with after reading through websites of organizations that are dedicated to the protection of wildlife, especially bears, I had a general list of the main problems bears face that include: loss of habitat, poaching, recreational hunting, global warming, and human conflicts. Now, that I had a general idea of the issues threatening bears, I decided to do research on each of the eight bear species that currently live. I choose to do this since I thought I would have a better knowledge of the degree to which each of the issues previously mentioned, impact each bear specie. In order to find such information, I began researching the articles published by the organizations I followed on Twitter. Some of the organizations that provided me valuable insight into bear threats, were World Wide Fund (WWF), Bear Trust International, Defenders of Wildlife, and Animals Asia. Other sources of information included articles by National Geographic, and Scientific American. Not only that, later through more deep research, I was able to find scholarly articles like “Poachers, Tigers, and Bears...Oh My--Asia's Illegal Wildlife Trade” written by Joonmoo Lee, a member of the Northwestern University, which specifically presented the issues and possible solutions to the serious threats that American black bears face, that can eventually turn them into an endangered species. Another important source I discovered through the Academic Search Complete was, “Analyses of fecal and hair glucocorticoids to evaluate short- and long-term stress and recovery of Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) removed from bile farms in China,” which demonstrated that hair glucocorticoids indicated high levels of stress when in bile farms, but decreased after the bears were placed in rescue homes. For every source, I researched the author or organization more in detail and then proceeded to skim through the pages and see if it contained potential information on bear threats. From researching issues that threaten bears, I concluded that they were all either caused by or side effects of human actions. Most of the habitat loss, especially that of Andean bears, great pandas, and sun bears were all a consequence of infrastructure development, land clearing for industries, or inequity in land tenure. While habitat loss remained an issue for all the bear species, the other major problem currently harming bears, especially Asiatic black bears and sloth bears, was poaching and captivity. In regards to Asiatic black bears, many are in bile farms in China, Vietnam, and Laos, where they are basically stabbed to extract bile from their gallbladder. The high demand on bear bile comes from its traditional use in medicine as well as in cosmetics, and other household products. Sloth bears while they are also victims of bile farming, their biggest threat is poaching and hunting. Usually sloth bear cubs are abducted or taken brutally from their mothers who are killed; the babies then grow up to become roadside entertainment puppets. While the problems bears face seem to never come to an end, there has been solutions proposed by both the people, organizations, and governments. For finding solutions, again I went first to websites of organizations I followed on Twitter; the organizations that provided possible solutions included The League, World Animal Protection, In Defense of Animals, and Free The Bears. Other insightful general texts came from the Scientific American and The Guardian. Some of the solutions included signing petitions, smart design and roadside management, creating legislations pro-wildlife and anti-hunting, and creating awareness. While most of the solutions were somewhat broad, I did find a specific solution to the specific problem of bear bile farming. After reading The Guardian article, “Is the end of 'house of horror' bear bile factories in sight?,” I found out that the chemical in bear bile is ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) could be substituted by herbal and synthetic alternatives (artificial bear bile) which means bear bile farming is not necessary. Then through a Google search, I was able to find a literature review, “Substitutes for Bear Bile for the Treatment of Liver Diseases: Research Progress and Future Perspective,” published by Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, in which it summarizes the recent research progress in potential substitutes for bear bile in the last decade. As part of the SMC, I along with other classmates had to adopt two organizations, to promote and encourage others on Twitter to follow such organizations. My group and I were working on different species (bears, hyenas, and wolves), yet we are all interested in issues that concerned human participation. After going through everyone’s choice of organization, we decided to adopt Animal Defenders International (ADI) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) which are both organizations that advocate for animal welfare and animal safety. ADI, specifically exposed issues that threaten the welfare of animals, circus suffering and animal poaching. We also choose both of these organizations because on their websites they provided more information regarding our species. I navigated through their website, and not only found the campaign work ADI and IFAW do, but also the experts they have conducting research to better secure animal well-being. My part was specifically to inform my followers how they can help protect and rescue animals through the organizations. Signing petitions, volunteer work, internships, and even working in the organization were all different ways of getting involved in the mission. Additionally, I learned that even if one does not have the time or transportation to get to locations, one can get involved online by helping sign petitions, sharing news and updates and helping spread the word. Basically then, I did online volunteering for the organizations by tweeting about the opportunities they have for one to be part of the movement that seeks animal safety and well-being worldwide.
Overall, the SMC was an organized campaign of tweets along with my group to start researching and gathering information for my Advocacy Project, where I will define a problem caused by the relationship or interaction between humans and bears, and thus present possible solutions to the issue.
This week on Twitter I continued to post, follow, and search for potential information on bears and cognition. While I did my usual routine on Twitter, this week I focused on my topic for the Historical Conversations Project, bears. Like usual I started by searching on Twitter and finished by following relevant accounts for the purpose of my research project. I found a couple of more accounts covering bear research and advocacy. Out of all the one that stood out to me though was Animals Asia, an organization that advocates for animal welfare in China and Vietnam. Their main concern is specifically on the Asiatic bears that have their bile extracted on a regular basis, which is used in traditional medicine and in various ordinary household products. If it was not for this account I would have not known the great suffering many bears go through in bile farms, where thousands of bears (mostly Asiatic black bears) are caged and deprived of basic needs.
Moreover, a few of my posts were threads that provided basic facts on bears, like my Asiatic black bear thread that explains what specific threat this type of bear specie faces. After creating this thread, later in the week I decided to research the overall threats that all or some bear species face. I found out that the factors that place bears in danger include the following: loss of habitat, poaching, recreational hunting, global warming and human conflicts. Lastly, I also thought of sharing with my followers videos that showed a couple of tasks bears can do, like climbing trees as well as scratching and communicating by rubbing on trees.
It’s week 5 of the quarter, that means I am half-way through this journey of reading, composing, and researching in order to become a better researcher and communicator. So far, I have read a Special Edition of Time titled “The Animal Mind: What they're thinking and feeling, and how to understand,” and an informational book named Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel. Those two texts covered the detailed cases of animal behavior along with the latest scientific research that demonstrates each species unique way of thinking, feeling, communication, and behaving. Never before, had I been exposed to the extensive research on the field of animal science, but these sources made me realize of the abilities that non-human species are capable of. It is true I would read occasionally in the news or online about a certain animal doing or having a certain ability, but never did I imagine the extent of their capabilities. I think I was ignorant and unaware of many of the things for one of the reasons mentioned in both the article and the book, which is that many researchers, scientists, and people want to assess and evaluate everything animals do according to human measures. In reality each species is unique while they have similarities with other species including humans, each one should be understood and analyzed not according to what humans are and do. I have learned to look at animals not through my own lens, eyes or mindset as human, but as what they are. Aside from this, I have also became aware of the great similarities the human specie shares with non-human species. Whether it concerns cognition, social groups, friendships, emotions, or communication, the barrier between humans and animals ceases. Humans are animals, so then it is our responsibility to be respectful and aware that we have no right to poach, destroy habitats, trade or abuse of non-human species. Many claim in Twitter having the “right to hunt,” which I consider barbaric because of the instability and chaos caused within those affected is something that can potentially carry on to future generations of the specie. Even though I always heard humans are animals, I now truly understand how close we are to animals besides primates. These five weeks have also been focused around my goal of becoming a better reader, writer, and communicator. I have done work in class, at home, and online all targeted to help me reach higher writing, researching, and communicating skills. One of the things I have learned through this process work is the importance of creating thorough annotations. I would describe good annotations as ones that contain important information on the author, the main theme, the main ideas that the writer is trying to get across the reader, along with a list of unfamiliar and familiar words. Also, annotations can include quotes, paraphrases and summaries of important pieces of the text. With the recent work on Connect with the Process of Power, I feel I have developed better strategies when annotating. Annotations so far have made my research easier, especially after reading, I can go back and remember what the text was covering without having to read the whole text again or complete the chapters again. The second thing that I consider as an important skill developed is the ability to search and navigate through research databases. Before taking this class, my only research engine would be Google. However, with Writing 39C I have learned about other research databases like the Web of Science and the Academic Search Complete that are accessible as a UCI student through the UCI Libraries. Now that I was aware of these search tools, I had to learn to navigate and play around with the different search categories, search fields, and many other click on buttons. The first few times I was on the databases I would struggle either finding the appropriate articles or downloading pdf versions of the articles. Now, through the research databases though I learned to be persistent, a characteristic of a good researcher.
This week on Twitter I followed my routine: searching for potential sources of animal science research findings, making daily posts, and gaining followers!
From my favorite retweet of this week, I also was able to gain new followers. Peter Lombard, a popular animals rights activist was among my new followers!
More in depth, the sources I found on bear cognition consisted mostly of articles that report important scientific research findings of different experiments that tested different bear cognition skills. The first source I came across on bear cognition was through using the UCI Libraries resource the Academic Search Complete. Out of all the results of my bear and cognition search, I was drawn to an article published by The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour in 2012 titled, “Bears ‘count’ too: quantity estimation and comparison in black bears, Ursus americanus,” in which cognitive psychologists Jennifer Vonk and Michael Beran concluded that bears have numerical cognitive abilities like other primates. After “googling” Dr. Jennifer Vonk the lead researcher for this study, I found her personal website and her faculty page at the Oakland University website. Aside from finding out that Dr. Jennifer Vonk, currently focuses her research on animal cognition and cognitive development, I discovered countless of her other research publications on bear cognition along with studies on other species like gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans. Thus, I concluded that with so much knowledge and experience with primates, I felt her article possessed the credibility in stating that bears have similar numerical cognitive abilities to primates that are well-known for their cognitive abilities. I also liked this article because it provided figures and charts that helped in understanding what the bears were seeing when tested. Furthermore, the second source I also found in the Academic Search Complete after taking a look at Dr. Jennifer Vonk’s 2012 research publication on black bears’ numerical cognitive abilities. Scrolling through the results of the Academic Search Complete, another one that caught my attention after skimming the abstract and headings was the article, “Understanding of object properties by sloth bears, Melursus ursinus ursinus,” published by The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour in 2017. This research article was written by Federica Amici, Trix Cacchione, and Nereida Bueno-Guerra all psychologists and researchers interested in animal cognition. The main researcher Federica Amici, currently is a post-doc researcher at the Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and is an expert in the field of animal cognition, evolutionary anthropology, ethology, and primatology. After reading through her profile at Researchgate, she has headed research on not only bear cognition, but giraffe and primate cognition as well. What I liked about this research study is that it tested both female and male sloth bears on three tasks that included object permanence, short-term memory and the ability to use acoustic cues to infer food location. In addition, in the article’s introduction it mentioned other studies realized attempting to understand the cognitive skills of other bears like giant pandas, and Andean bears. The introduction also presented some history on what has been some beliefs and thoughts throughout time concerning bear cognition.
These are just two of the many scientific sources I found on bear cognition. I thought both were some of the best because they were not just looking at the learning aspect but also at other cognitive aspects such as numerical abilities and object permanence. Keep up with my next blog posts to see how the research and soon writing process is going! |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2018
Categories |