Blue Shark Teeth

Teeth are the first things that come to your mind when you read or hear the word "shark". The following article deals with the details and various interesting aspects of blue shark teeth.
Picking up from where I left in the preceding segment, the blue shark's dental structure is based upon its dietary preferences. The blue shark mostly feeds on fish, squids, octopuses, shrimps, lobsters, cuttlefish, crabs and a few varieties of bony fishes. Squids are a hot favorite with blue sharks! They are also known to feed on dead bodies of mammals that they comes across in their aquatic course and are occasionally known to hunt sea birds but these instances are rare and mostly occur when the blue shark is driven to feed on these due to absence of other sea food options. Since its primary diet consist of squids and various fish and other slimy sea creatures that have slippery bodies, the teeth of a blue shark have serrated edges, enabling them to have a better grip on such food material which would, otherwise, slip out of reach. A very interesting fact about blue shark is the shape and size of the teeth in its upper and lower jaws. The teeth in the upper jaws differ in shape and magnitude than the teeth in the lower jaw of a blue shark. The upper teeth are triangular in shape and curved inwards, giving them a very hook-like appearance. The edges are serrated and the bases of adjacent teeth often overlap. The lower teeth are less wide and triangular. They do not curve inwards and are straighter in appearance. Their edges are also serrated, though the serrations are finer than those on the upper teeth.

The serrated edges enable the blue shark to hold on to the slimy exteriors of slippery squids and fish by hooking each tooth into their skins at regular intervals, acting as anchors that keep the food from getting lost. Even edged teeth would may capture such food but may not be able to hold on to it as the smooth edges would simple slip or pass over the slimy body surfaces, making it easier for the prey to escape or for other sharks and food-competitors to snatch the prey from their mouths. The teeth are arranged in rows that rotate into place as and when required. A fresh set of rows is always ready to take place of a worn out row that falls off.

Random Blue Shark facts

• Blue sharks are mostly found in temperate and tropical oceanic regions and often swim very close to shore in temperate oceans. When in tropical waters, blue sharks usually stay in the depths and very rarely rise to the surface or swim close to the shores.
• While mostly feeding on fish and seafood, blue sharks are known as opportunistic feeders and would not hesitate to take a bite of any other creature or a human being that has being attacked and wounded by other sharks or other larger marine carnivores.
• The biggest predator of blue sharks is humans, though younger individuals often get eaten by other larger marine carnivores. Human activities contribute to blue shark mortality mostly as a result of by-catch. Its flesh is eaten in some parts of the world though it is not that great a favorite among lovers of shark flesh. Most of its active hunting takes place owing to its value as a game fish rather than for food.
• On an average, an adult blue shark measures somewhere around 12 feet from nose to tail.
• Most blue sharks assume a darker shade as they grow older.
• A typical blue shark litter can consist of anywhere between 25 to 100 pups! The eggs hatch inside the body of the female, making it appear that she is giving birth to live pups.

The number of blue sharks is rapidly dwindling as a result of human activity in tropical and temperate continental waters. Also, attempts at keeping blue sharks in captivity have shown disastrous results as the captive sharks mostly die out within two to three months after being caught. Blue shark skin is highly regarded as a raw material for good quality leather, leading to its increased hunting. I am sure you enjoyed reading about blue shark teeth facts and details. Oh, and no need to thank me for those extra facts that I threw in, though!

Life Cycle of Sharks

Sharks have been the most feared and wild marine creatures. These animals have been prowling in the oceans for around 400 million years and have evolved into 440 different species. Sharks are known to live for many years. So, let's read through the article and know all about the life cycle of sharks.
harks are spread in all the seas and are known to be the strongest predators among marine creatures. These wild marine animals can live for up to 20-30 years while the whale sharks have a long lifespan of up to 100 years. Sharks have excellent eyesight and can see objects moving even in dim light. Strong smell and touch senses make them amazing and smart predators. With the gift of such wonderful sensory abilities, their prey animals can hardly escape these deep water beasts, once they are tracked by them. Sharks have cartilage and have less bones. Such a body structure brings flexibility which speeds up swimming for these predators. There are all types of sharks that have been prowling in the ocean for years and have become a subject of interest for many. Take a look at the shark life cycle as you read through this article.

Sharks carry their young ones in three forms namely;

• Oviparous: Some sharks lay eggs in the sea. These eggs are differently shaped depending on the type of the shark. The egg has a hard cover, that protects the unborn till it hatches.
• Viviparous: Certain sharks have a placenta that holds the young one inside. The female shark then feeds and nurtures its young one through the placenta. Towards the end of the gestation period the young ones are born into the sea.
• Ovoviviparous: There are many sharks that lay eggs inside themselves. After the eggs hatch the young ones remain inside till they are mature enough to be given birth. Till this time, the female shark keeps them inside and provides them with complete nutrition. Once the pups are well developed inside, the shark gives birth to the babies into the wild. The gestation period for such sharks may range from few months to even two years.

Life Cycle of Sharks

Life Cycle of Great White Sharks
This robust great white shark mainly resides in the temperate waters and is often spotted alone. These sharks grow up to a length of 21 feet and weigh around 680 kg. The great white shark feeds on many marine animals such as porpoises, seals, sea turtles and other small sharks. These sharks are categorized as ovoviviparous. The females are reported to give birth to around 2-14 pups. The gestation period is unknown for sharks that are ovoviviparous. The female white sharks reach sexual maturity when they are around 12-14 years of age, while males become mature at the age of 9-10 years. The young ones of white sharks measure up to 100 cm at birth and weigh 40 pounds. Sometimes these offsprings eat the unfertilized eggs too.

Life Cycle of Hammerhead Sharks
The most unusually structured hammerheads are known to live up to 30 years. These sharks are found in all the oceans and are great at tracking their prey with its distinctively shaped head. The female hammerhead shark produces a litter of 30-50 pups each year. The gestation of these sharks last for up to 10-12 months. The young ones separate from their mother soon after the birth and move to shallow waters for hunting food. These sharks measure 13-20 feet in length and weigh around 500 to 1000 lbs. Hammerheads are known to migrate to cooler waters every year and mainly feed on squids and octopuses.

Life Cycle of Bull Sharks
These aggressive species of sharks swim in shallow waters and are known to attack people, who happen to encounter them. The female bull sharks appear larger than the males and measure up to 11.5 feet in length and weigh 500 pounds. The males grow up to 7 feet and weight around 200 pounds. Bull sharks are categorized as viviparous as they give birth to live pups. Female bull sharks produce a litter of 1-13 pups and their gestation period lasts for up to a year. The pups are 28 inches long at birth and have a lifespan of 15 years.

Life Cycle of Thresher Sharks
Thresher sharks are ovoviviparous marine animals. When males reach the height of 2.7 meters they reach their sexual maturity while female thresher sharks mature at 3 meters. The female thresher can give birth to 4-6 pups which measure around 1.37-1.55 meters in length and weigh about 5-6 kgs. The young ones when born grow quickly in the water. The thresher sharks dwell in warm waters and are even seen in coastal areas, hunting for food. On an average a thresher shark lives for up to 20 years or more.

Sharks have been into existence for around 420 million years now and have evolved into many different species. The physical appearance, diet and habitat all together determine the shark life cycle. Every existing shark has unique and distinctive features that make them the most amazing predators among marine animals.

Extreme Weather Events Can Unleash A 'Perfect Storm' Of Infectious Diseases, Research Study Says

ScienceDaily (June 25, 2008) — An international research team, including University of Minnesota researcher Craig Packer, has found the first clear example of how climate extremes, such as the increased frequency of droughts and floods expected with global warming, can create conditions in which diseases that are tolerated individually may converge and cause mass die-offs of livestock or wildlife.

The study suggests that extreme climatic conditions are capable of altering normal host-pathogen relationships and causing a "perfect storm" of multiple infectious outbreaks that could trigger epidemics with catastrophic mortality.
Led by scientists at the University of California, Davis, the University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota, the research team examined outbreaks of canine distemper virus (CDV) in 1994 and 2001 that resulted in unusually high mortality of lions in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. CDV periodically strikes these ecosystems, and most epidemics have caused little or no harm to the lions.
But the fatal virus outbreaks of 1994 and 2001 were both preceded by extreme drought conditions that led to debilitated populations of Cape buffalo, a major prey species of lions. The buffalo suffered heavy tick infestations and became even more common in the lions' diet, resulting in unusually high levels of tick-borne blood parasites in the lions. (These parasites are normally present in lions at harmlessly low levels.)
The canine distemper virus suppressed the lions' immunity, which allowed the elevated levels of blood parasites to reach fatally high levels, leading to mass die-offs of lions. In 1994 the number of lions in the Serengeti study area dropped by over 35 percent after the double infection. Similar losses occurred in the Crater die-off in 2001.
The lion populations recovered within 3-4 years after each event, but most climate change models predict increasing frequency of droughts in East Africa.
"The study illustrates how ecological factors can produce unprecedented mortality events and suggests that co-infections may lie at the heart of many of the most serious die-offs in nature," said Packer, Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota.

Lions in Greece, the Reforestation of the West and the Use of Satire in Environmental Conservation

As the Greek economy maintains its slide towards default and the global climate continues to change for the worse, one organisation, writing in Biotropica, has come up with some novel answers to both problems. Reforest the country to offset historic deforestation and reintroduce long extinct animals such as lions, boosting the economy through eco-tourism.

The Coalition of Financially Challenged Countries With Lots of Trees (CoFCCLoT) also count the introduction of wild gorillas to Spain and the return of forests in G8 nations back to pre-industrial levels, among its suggestions for global sustainability.
CoFCCLoT of course does not exist. However, argue Erik Meijaard and Douglas Sheil, from the University of Queensland and the Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation respectively, this fictitious organization's demands are an example of the effective use of satire to bridge seemingly impassable gaps in the understanding of politically contentious issues.
"Mockery is seldom part of the scientific approach, but it is effective when it comes to sustainability and the environment," said Meijaard. "Scientists tend to approach problems using objective logic and data, ignoring the emotional content and subjective values. Conservation science is especially vulnerable as it is about values as much as facts."
The use of satire to cut to the heart of a crisis has a noble history stretching back to 1729 and Jonathan Swifts Modest Proposal to consider cannibalism as an answer to the economic plight of the improvised Irish community. It is this tradition, Meijaard and Sheil argue, which should be embraced by climate and conservation communicators today.
In their Biotropica paper Meijaard and Sheil consider a range of issues to compare the demands 'the West' makes of the developing world and how this contrasts hypocritically with how western consumers and politicians view their own actions. For example it's perceived that 'the West' lambasts developing economies for focusing on cash crops, while remaining firmly attached to the resulting morning cup of coffee.
"An effective use of satire and humor can clarify the social, political or ethical obstacles to which conservation science is often blind," concluded Sheil. "These obstacles play a major role in the political impasse to combating problems such as climate change. Using satire to force a reader to consider an issue from a surprising new angle, even if that angle is ridiculous, can help bridge the gap in perspectives."

Global Warming Threatens Australia's Iconic Kangaroos

As concerns about the effects of global warming continue to mount, a new study published in the December issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology finds that an increase in average temperature of only two degrees Celsius could have a devastating effect on populations of Australia's iconic kangaroos.
  "Our study provides evidence that climate change has the capacity to cause large-scale range contractions, and the possible extinction of one macropodid (kangaroo) species in northern Australia," write study authors Euan G. Ritchie and Elizabeth E. Bolitho of James Cook University in Australia.
Ritchie and Bolitho used computer modeling and three years of field observations to predict how temperature changes that are considered to be likely over the next half-century might affect four species of kangaroos. They found that a temperature increase as small as a half-degree Celsius may shrink kangaroos' geographic ranges. An increase of two degrees may shrink kangaroos' ranges by 48 percent. A six-degree increase might shrink ranges by 96 percent.
Ritchie says that generally accepted climate models predict temperatures in northern Australia to be between 0.4 and two degrees warmer by 2030, and between two and six degrees warmer by 2070.
The most significant effects of climate change are not necessarily on the animals themselves, but on their habitats—specifically, in amounts of available water. This is particularly true in Northern Australia, says Ritchie.
"If dry seasons are to become hotter and rainfall events more unpredictable, habitats may become depleted of available pasture for grazing and waterholes may dry up," the authors write. "This may result in starvation and failed reproduction … or possible death due to dehydration for those species that are less mobile."
And although kangaroo species may be mobile enough to relocate as the climate changes, the vegetation and topography for which they are adapted are unlikely to shift at the same pace.
The antilopine wallaroo, a kangaroo species adapted for a wet, tropical climate, faces the greatest potential risk. Ritchie and Bolitho found that a two-degree temperature increase may shrink its range by 89 percent. A six-degree increase may lead to the extinction of antilopine wallaroos if they are unable to adapt to the arid grassland that such a temperature change is likely to produce.
"Large macropodids are highly valuable economically, through both ecotourism and a commercial meat trade, and many species are an important food source for indigenous people," they write. "Therefore, it is critically important that we understand the ecology of Australia's native herbivores to ensure any further economic development will occur in an environmentally sustainable way."
The paper appears in an issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology on the focused topic "Predicting Extinction: Investigating the Interface of Physiology, Ecology, and Climate Change."

Fry Me Kangaroo Brown, Sport

Skippy could be on more menus following a report that expanding the kangaroo industry would significantly cut greenhouse gases.  A paper in the journal Conservation Letters says reducing cattle and sheep populations and increasing the kangaroo numbers to 175 million by 2020 would lower greenhouse gas emissions by 16 megatonnes, or 3 percent of Australia's total emissions.
The paper's lead author, George Wilson, says a proposal to reduce sheep and cattle numbers on the rangelands by 30 percent should be considered.
Dr Wilson is involved with UNSW's Future of Australian Terrestrial Ecosystems (FATE) project and also runs the consultancy company Australian Wildlife Services.
"Sheep and cattle constitute 11 per cent of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions," says Wilson. "Kangaroos, however, produce relatively little methane because they are not ruminants."
UNSW Science Dean, Mike Archer, a long time advocate for sustainably farming Australian bush tucker, believes that kangaroo can be promoted as a means of increasing our health, wealth and happiness.
"Eating more kangaroo has an incredible array of benefits, for our environment, for dietary health and as a tasty red meat," he says. "The soft padded feet of kangaroos are far kinder to the land than the hooves of sheep and cattle, which have caused untold damage and consequent land erosion."
Kangaroos emit one-third as much methane as ruminant animals, such as cattle, sheep and goats, which are responsible for 60 percent of global methane emissions. Like carbon dioxide, methane is a greenhouse gas that is a real contributor to global warming and climate change.

First Kangaroo Genome Sequence Reveals Possible Gene Responsible for Characteristic Hop

Kangaroos form an important niche in the tree of life, but until now their DNA had never been sequenced. In an article newly published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, an international consortium of researchers present the first kangaroo genome sequence -- that of the tammar wallaby species -- and find hidden in their data the gene that may well be responsible for the kangaroo's characteristic hop.
  "The tammar wallaby sequencing project has provided us with many possibilities for understanding how marsupials are so different to us," says Prof Marilyn Renfree of The University of Melbourne. Renfree was one of the lead researchers on the project, which was conducted by an international consortium of scientists from Australia, USA, Japan, England and Germany.
Tammar wallabies have many intriguing biological characteristics. For example, the 12 month gestation includes an 11 month period of suspended animation in the womb. At birth, the young weigh only half a gram, and spend 9 months in the mother's pouch, where the newborn babies reside for protection. Researchers hope that the genome sequence will offer clues as to how tammar wallaby genes regulate these fascinating features of kangaroo life.
In addition to zeroing in on the "hop" genes, other exciting discoveries from the genome include the 1,500 smell detector genes responsible for the tammar wallaby's excellent sense of smell, and genes that make antibiotics in the mother's milk in order to protect kangaroo newborns from E. coli and other harmful bacteria. As Prof Renfree explains, lessons to be learned from the tammar wallaby genome "may well be helpful in producing future treatments for human disease."
The first kangaroo genome is a key milestone in the study of mammalian evolution. As the ancestors of kangaroos separated from other mammals at least 130 million years ago, it is hoped that the DNA sequence is in some senses a living fossil of the early mammalian species from which humans evolved. To understand this evolutionary journey better, the genome sequence is complemented by the "transcriptome" sequence, which represents a catalogue of how strongly each gene is turned "on" or "off" at different stages of the tammar life cycle and in different parts of the body. Study of the transcriptome will allow many more interesting questions to be asked about how kangaroo genes compare to their counterparts in humans.
The Genome Biology article is accompanied by a series of articles in the journals BMC Genomics, EvoDevo, BMC Immunology, BMC Molecular Biology, BMC Genetics, BMC Developmental Biology and BMC Evolutionary Biology, which collectively examine some of the most appealing biological stories arising from the genome sequence.
The tammar wallaby is only the third marsupial, and only the second Australian marsupial (after the Tasmanian devil), to have its genome sequenced. As the kangaroo is an icon of Australia, whose image appears on its coat of arms, currency and national airline symbol, the publication of its genome sequence in Genome Biology stands as a landmark day in Australian science.

Gator in Your Tank: Alligator Fat as a New Source of Biodiesel Fuel

Amid growing concern that using soybeans and other food crops to produce biodiesel fuel will raise the price of food, scientists have identified a new and unlikely raw material for the fuel: Alligator fat. Their report documenting gator fat's suitability for biofuel production appears in ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering  
Rakesh Bajpai and colleagues note that most of the 700 million gallons of biodiesel produced in the United States (2008 data) came from soybean oil. The search for non-food sources of biodiesel already has identified a number of unlikely candidates, including spent oil from deep fryers in fast-food restaurants and sewage. The scientists realized that alligator fat could join that list. Each year, the alligator meat industry disposes of about 15 million pounds of alligator fat in landfills.
They showed in laboratory experiments that extracted oil from alligator fat can easily be converted into biodiesel. The oil actually was more suitable for biodiesel production than oil from some other animal fats. The gator biodiesel was similar in composition to biodiesel from soybeans, and met nearly all of the official standards for high quality biodiesel.

How Do You Make the Perfect Sled Dog?

Over the last few hundred years, Alaskan sled dogs have been bred to haul cargo over Arctic terrain and, more recently, for racing. Now, researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Genetics have identified the contributions different breeds have made to the speed, endurance and work ethic of Alaskan sled dogs.
Heather Huson and Elaine Ostrander, from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA, worked with a team of researchers to carry out genetic analysis in 199 sled dogs and 681 purebred dogs from 141 different breeds. Huson said, "The Alaskan sled dog comprises several different lineages, optimized for different racing styles -- long or short distance. We sought to identify breed composition profiles associated with expertise at specific tasks, finding that the Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Husky contributions are associated with enhanced endurance; Pointer and Saluki are associated with enhanced speed and the Anatolian Shepherd has a positive influence on work ethic."
The researchers sampled sled dogs from eight kennels, rating them for speed, endurance, and work ethic, using established criteria specified for the distinct racing styles of sprint and distance. These attributes were correlated with genetic information taken from each dog and compared to likely ancestral breeds.
Speaking about the results, Huson said, "The Alaskan sled dog presents a case in which a genetically distinct breed of dog has been developed through the selection and breeding of individuals based solely on their athletic prowess. Interestingly, this continual out-crossing for athletic enhancement has still led to the Alaskan sled dog repeatedly producing its own unique genetic signature. Indeed, the Alaskan sled dog breed proved to be more genetically distinct than breeds of similar heritage such as the Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Husky."

Lion

The lion (Panthera leo) is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight,^[4] it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with an endangered remnant population in Gir Forest National Park in India, having disappeared from North Africa and Southwest Asia in historic times. Until the late Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans. They were found in most of Africa, across Eurasia from western Europe to India, and in the Americas from the Yukon to Peru.^[5] The lion is a vulnerable species, having seen a possibly irreversible population decline of thirty to fifty percent over the past two decades in its African range.^[2] Lion populations are untenable outside designated reserves and national parks. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are currently the greatest causes of concern.

Lions live for ten to fourteen years in the wild, while in captivity they can live longer than twenty years. In the wild, males seldom live longer than ten years, as injuries sustained from continual fighting with rival males greatly reduce their longevity.^[6] They typically inhabit savanna and grassland, although they may take to bushforest. Lions are unusually social compared to other cats. A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. Lions are apex and keystone predators, although they scavenge as opportunity allows. While lions do not typically hunt humans, some have been known to do so. and

Highly distinctive, the male lion is easily recognised by its mane, and its face is one of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture. Depictions have existed from the Upper Paleolithic period, with carvings and paintings from the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves, through virtually all ancient and medieval cultures where they once occurred. It has been extensively depicted in sculptures, in paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoos the world over since the late eighteenth century. Zoos are cooperating worldwide in breeding programs for the endangered Asiatic subspecies.

City animal shelter inadequate to meet its growing demands

Twenty or so years ago, a marmalade cat named Clyde huddled in the back of the first upper cage on the left at the Norman Animal Shelter. The room where he was held was dimly-lit and smelled of disinfectant and other, less pleasant, things.
The woman who had come looking for a cat walked right past his cage, her glance raking over him and away, dismissing him immediately. She did not see the cute white bowtie marking across his face or the intelligence in his gold-green eyes.
Clyde was 8-years-old and had lived a good life, residing with his female owner in Brookhaven and being treated regularly by a veterinarian.
But a sudden change in circumstances had dramatically altered his fate mid-life.
The woman paced in font of the three cages on the end, ignoring Clyde altogether.
“Is this all you have today?” she said.
The shelter employee walked over and opened the door to Clyde’s crate and reached in to stroke him.
“This is a nice, healthy cat,” he said.
And that changed Clyde’s fate again.
Clyde was adopted that day and went home to a new life and a new name. He lived for several years with a family who adored him.
Clyde was adopted prior to the addition of Norman’s Pet Adoption Center, but the cage he once occupied is still at the city’s animal shelter, and cats still sit in that same cage awaiting their fate.
The luckiest cats get to move forward from the old part of the shelter to the adoption center which was built to be a more cheerful environment for people looking to find a pet to take home. But nearly all of the cats and dogs at the Norman shelter are housed in double-stacked kennels in an aging facility that badly needs to be upgraded.
Shelter Director John Bowman said as the pet population continues to grow, more animals will have to be euthanized. Improvements are needed in order to prevent the spread of disease and to bring the center up to national standards.
Last week, a dozen puppies were put down at the shelter in approximately five days due to canine parvovirus, staff reported.
In the adoption center, a section of dog cages allowing access to the outside has resulted in happier dogs who eat and sleep inside and “do their business” outside, serving as natural house training, Bowman said.
In most of the cages, however, animals defecate within the same area where they eat and sleep.
And shelter staff must try to clean and sanitize that mess as best they can.
“There are no true standards for shelters,” Bowman said.
But the Association for Shelter Veterinarians has established “Best Practice” and “Not Acceptable” guidelines.
“Some of the practices that we’ve had are not acceptable to them,” Bowman said.
Double-stacked cages are one of the biggest issues.
“It’s not illegal, but it’s not right,” Bowman said.
If the stacked system currently in use is eliminated, more animals will have to be euthanized.
“We try our hardest to work with rescues to turn our animals as fast as we can, but we have to pick and choose what lives and dies.”
Making those choices takes an emotional toll on his staff, and that problem is only going to get worse, he said.

“I’m either going to have to euthanize more, or you’re going to have to give me more space,” Bowman said.

Funny cut cats wallpapers

Should cats be kept indoors to protect birds and other animals?

Let's face it.  Cats are killers when it comes to birds and small animals.  Experts say domestic cats are a major threat to many small bird species.  Yet, as human societies evolved, domestic cats played a valuable role in keeping rodents in check.  Some people believe that to deprive a cat of its natural birthright as hunter is a form of torture.
  How should we look at this problem?  We love birds.  We love cats.  Should cat owners be forced by local governments to keep their cats indoors?  If so,  is it fair to have them de-clawed to keep them from destroying  furniture?  Are there ways to give indoor cats the opportunity to express their natural hunting instincts without a tweety-bird in a cage?  How do we balance the rights of different members of the animal kingdom?
It depends on the circumstances and your feelings. When I moved to a small apartment with traffic outside I could not bear to have them gone and worry whether a car might run them over. I kept them in. I never had them declawed because it would render them helpless from most outside predators and less secure in their nature. I cut their nails instead which was brutal-since they were not ready to sit for a pedicure. For $10 I discovered I can take them to someone else to cut. Declawing cats is denaturing them. If you want to protect other wildlife cut their front nails this gives them less of an edge and allows them to climb trees for their own protection.
Cats teach us to behave. They live to be in our good graces. Like children they act out when they are angry or upset. Recognize the inconsistencies in their behavior, it tells you something. Than look at the way you are behaving. Cats help you to behave in a manner that belies consistency, if you are not they will show you.
Hannah's comments make a lot of sense. I like her "on the one hand"- "on the other" approach. Isn't that what so much of our lives interacting with the animal world entails? Balancing risks and rights among the planet's inhabitants.
I think that cats can live in or out. I would have my cat fixed so that he or she cannot produce more cats. But I have seen cats that live inside and outside and the cats that hunt do not kill that many birds anyway. It not our business to stop a cat from doing what is normal for him. If you do not want cats to kill the wildlife do not have one but leave the cat lovers alone. depending on where I would live would depend on whether the cat would be outside or not. You have to watch that they don't get runover by traffic. they are great for keeping the rodent population down.