SAN FRANCISCO — A dog that survived the catastrophic wildfire in Northern California apparently protected the ruins of his home for almost a month until his owner returned.

Madison was there waiting when Andrea Gaylord was allowed back to check on her burned property in Paradise this week. Gaylord fled when the Nov. 8 fire broke out and destroyed the town of 27 ,000. Shayla Sullivan, an animal rescuer, who responded to Gaylord’s request to check on Madison first spotted the male Anatolian shepherd mix several days later.

Shayla Sullivan said the outdoor guard dog was mentally upset and kept his distance. Sullivan left food and water for him regularly until Gaylord got back on Wednesday. She also helped locate Madison’s brother Miguel, another Anatolian shepherd mix that was taken to a shelter 85 miles (135 kilometers) away after the wildfire.

“If the evacuees (疏散人员) can’t be there, I’m going to be there and I’m not going to give up on their animal until they can get back in,” Sullivan said.

The dogs reunited Friday when Gaylord came back to the property with Miguel and brought Madison his favorite treat: a box of Wheat Thin crackers.

Gaylord told news station ABC10 she couldn’t ask for a better animal. “Imagine the loyalty of hanging on in the worst of circumstances and being here waiting,” she said. “Their job is to watch the sheep and we’re part of them.” Gaylord said about her dogs. “It’s a comforting feeling.”

Many people believe that language belongs to human beings. However, cats have developed a language not for each other, but for the human beings who have them as pets.

When communicating with each other, cats “talk” with a system of signals. Their tails, rather than any kind of “speech”, act as an important way to express themselves. They also touch each other to express s their feelings. With other cats, they will use their voices only to express pain. Unbelievable, all of that changes when a human walks into the room. Cats use many different kinds of vocal (声音的) expressions when they communicate with a person. Since these vocal expressions are not used to communicate with other cats, it seems that cats developed this “language” to communicate with their human owners.

This fact is shown more clearly when watching rooms that have only one cat and those with several cats. An only cat is usually very vocal, since the only creature(动物)around with whom the cat can communicate is its owner. Cats with other cats, though, are much quieter. If they want to have a conversation, they only need go to other cats and communicate in their natural way.

Since cats learned to meow(喵喵叫)for the only purpose of communicating with human owners should take the time to learn what their different meows mean. If an owner knows, to name just a few examples, which meow means the cat is hungry, which means the cat wants to be petted, and which means the cat wants to have a little “conversation”, the relationship between cat and owner will be closer.

The European wood bison population has grown so much as to no longer be considered "Vulnerable" according to the global authority on conservation,the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN),in their latest Red List update.

A century ago,only 50 European bison remained on Earth,and they were mostly restricted to nature reserves.

“The conservation successes provide living proof that the world can set,and meet, ambitious biodiversity targets,” said Dr. Jane Smart,Global Director of IUCN' s Biodiversity Conservation Group in a statement.

Eight of the 47 bison herds have special genes for long-term survival, so scientists need to move animals in and out of herds in order to make healthy genes continue. Establishing greater numbers of separate herds will also help prevent possible losses due to things like diseases or natural disasters.

This led to the creation of a project called “Wilder Blean" where Blean Woods in Kent, England,will receive Dutch and Polish bison to create the first wild herd on the island for 6,000 years.

English conservationists and wildlife managers are interested in the effects bison have on the landscape. As large grass-eating animals, the constant foraging, digging and breaking they do on the forest floor have been assumed to have positive effects on the ecosystem.

Bison kill weak or dead trees by eating their bark or rubbing against them to remove their thick winter fur. This turns the tree into food and habitat for insects, which in turn provide food for birds.

In this way they act like forestry experts, and the Kent Wildlife Trust hopes that this significant species will maintain declining populations of plants, birds, insects, and mammals by way of their unique habits.