title: Cork (city)

text: Broadcasting companies based in Cork include RTÉ Cork, which has a radio, television and production unit on Father Matthew Street in the city centre. Communicorp Media opened a radio studio in 2019 in the city covering content on both Today FM and Newstalk.


title: Cork (city)

text: The city's FM radio band features RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ 2fm, RTÉ lyric fm, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, Today FM, Classic Hits, Newstalk and the religious station Spirit Radio. There are also local stations such as Cork's 96FM, Cork's Red FM, C103, CUH 102.0FM, UCC 98.3FM (formerly Cork Campus Radio 97.4fm) and Christian radio station Life 93.1FM. Cork also has a temporary licensed citywide community station 'Cork FM Community Radio' on 100.5FM, which is on-air on Saturdays and Sundays only. Cork has also been home to pirate radio stations, including South Coast Radio and ERI in the 1980s. Today some small pirate stations remain.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork is home to one of Ireland's main national newspapers, the "Irish Examiner" (formerly the "Cork Examiner"). Its <nowiki>"sister paper"</nowiki>, "The Echo" (formerly the "Evening Echo"), was for decades connected to the "Echo boys", who were poor and often homeless children who sold the newspaper. Today, the shouts of the vendors selling "The Echo" can still be heard in parts of the city centre. One of the biggest free newspapers in the city is the "Cork Independent". The city's university publishes the "UCC Express" and "Motley" magazine.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork features architecturally notable buildings originating from the Medieval to Modern periods. The only notable remnant of the Medieval era is the Red Abbey. There are two cathedrals in the city; St. Mary's Cathedral and Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral. St Mary's Cathedral often referred to as the North Cathedral, is the Catholic cathedral of the city and was begun in 1808. Its distinctive tower was added in the 1860s. St Fin Barre's Cathedral serves the Church of Ireland (Anglican) and is possibly the more famous of the two. It is built on the foundations of an earlier cathedral. Work began in 1862 and ended in 1879 under the direction of architect William Burges.


title: Cork (city)

text: St. Patrick's Street, the main street of the city which was remodelled in the mid-2000s is known for the architecture of the buildings along its pedestrian-friendly route and is the main shopping thoroughfare. At its northern end is a landmark statue of Father Mathew. The reason for its curved shape is that it was originally a channel of the River Lee which was built over arches. The General Post Office, with its limestone façade, is on Oliver Plunkett Street, on the site of the Theatre Royal which was built in 1760 and burned down in 1840. The English circus proprietor Pablo Fanque rebuilt an amphitheatre on the spot in 1850, which was subsequently transformed into a theatre and then into the present General Post Office in 1877.


title: Cork (city)

text: The Grand Parade is a tree-lined avenue, home to offices, shops and financial institutions. The old financial centre is the South Mall, with several banks whose interiors derive from the 19th century, such as the Allied Irish Bank's which was once an exchange.


title: Cork (city)

text: Many of the city's buildings are in the Georgian style, although there are a number of examples of modern landmark structures, such as County Hall tower, which was, at one time the tallest building in Ireland until being superseded by another Cork building: The Elysian. Outside the County Hall is the landmark sculpture of two men, known locally as 'Cha and Miah'. Across the river from County Hall is Ireland's longest building; built in Victorian times, Our Lady's Psychiatric Hospital has now been partially renovated and converted into a residential housing complex called Atkins Hall, after its architect William Atkins.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork's most famous building is the church tower of Shandon, which dominates the Northside of the city. It is widely regarded as the symbol of the city. The North and East sides are faced in red sandstone, and the West and South sides are clad in the predominant stone of the region, white limestone. At the top sits a weather vane in the form of an eleven-foot salmon. Another site in Shandon is Skiddy's Almshouse, which was built in the 18th century to provide a home to the poorest of the city.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork City Hall, another notable building of limestone, replaced the previous one which was destroyed by the Black and Tans during the War of Independence in an event known as the "Burning of Cork". The cost of this new building was provided by the UK Government in the 1930s as a gesture of reconciliation.


title: Cork (city)

text: Other notable places include Elizabeth Fort, the Cork Opera House, Christ Church on South Main Street (now the Triskel Arts Centre and the original site of early Hiberno-Norse church), and St Mary's Dominican Church on Popes Quay. Other popular tourist attractions include the grounds of University College Cork, through which the River Lee flows, the Women's Gaol at Sunday's Well (now a heritage centre) and the English Market. This covered market traces its origins back to 1610, and the present building dates from 1786.


title: Cork (city)

text: Parks and amenity spaces include Fitzgerald's Park to the west of the city (which contains the Cork Public Museum), the angling lake known as The Lough, Bishop Lucey Park (which is centrally located and contains a portion of the old city wall) and the Marina and Atlantic Pond (an avenue and amenity near Blackrock used by joggers, runners and rowing clubs).


title: Cork (city)

text: Up until April 2009, there were also two large commercial breweries in the city. The Beamish and Crawford on South Main Street closed in April 2009 and transferred production to the Murphy's brewery in Lady's Well. This brewery also produces Heineken for the Irish market. There is also the Franciscan Well brewery, which started as an independent brewery in 1998 but has since been acquired by Coors.


title: Cork (city)

text: With a population of over 222,000 Cork is the second-most populous city in the State and the 16th-most populous local government area.


title: Cork (city)

text: Under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, it was made a county borough, governed by a county borough corporation. This was altered by the Local Government Act 2001, under each of the five county boroughs became designated as cities, governed by city councils. Cork City Council is a tier-1 entity of local government with the same status in law as a county council.


title: Cork (city)

text: While the local government in Ireland has limited powers in comparison with other countries, the council has responsibility for planning, roads, sanitation, libraries, street lighting, parks, and several other important functions. Cork City Council has 31 elected members representing six electoral areas. As of the 2019 Cork City Council election, the political representation is: Fianna Fáil (8 members), Fine Gael (7 members), Green Party (4 members), Sinn Féin (4 members), Labour (1 member), Solidarity–People Before Profit (1 member), Workers' Party (1 member), Independents (5 members). Certain councillors are co-opted to represent the city at the South-West Regional Authority. A new Lord Mayor of Cork is chosen in a vote by the elected members of the council under a D'Hondt system count. Since June 2022, the mayor has been Deirdre Forde of Fine Gael.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork City Hall is located along Albert Quay on the south side of the city. It officially opened on 8 September 1936, following the previous building being destroyed in the "Burning of Cork" in 1920. The administrative offices for Cork County Council are also located within the city limits, on the Carrigrohane Road on the west side of the city.


title: Cork (city)

text: For elections to Dáil Éireann, the city is part of two constituencies: Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central which each returns four TDs. Since the 2020 general election, these constituencies are represented by three Fianna Fáil TDs, two TDs Fine Gael TDs, two Sinn Féin TDs and one People Before Profit/Solidarity TD.


title: Cork (city)

text: Historically, the city was represented in the Dáil by Cork City from 1977 to 1981, by the two constituencies of Cork City North-West and Cork City South-East from 1969 to 1977, and by Cork Borough from 1921 to 1969. In the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, it was represented by Cork City from 1801 to 1922, and the Irish House of Commons, it was represented by Cork City from 1264 to 1800.


title: Cork (city)

text: The retail trade in Cork city includes a mix of modern shopping centres and family-owned local shops. Shopping centres can be found in several of Cork's suburbs, including Blackpool, Ballincollig, Douglas, Ballyvolane, Wilton and at Mahon Point Shopping Centre.


title: Cork (city)

text: Other shopping arcades are in the city centre, including the "Cornmarket Centre" on Cornmarket Street, "Merchant's Quay Shopping Centre" on Merchant's Quay, home to Debenhams, Dunnes Stores and Marks & Spencer, and a retail street called Opera Lane off St. Patrick's Street/Academy Street. A mixed retail and office development, on the site of the former Capitol Cineplex, with approximately of retail space, was opened in June 2017. Retail tenants in this development include Facebook, AlienVault and Huawei.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork's main shopping street is St. Patrick's Street and is the most expensive in the country per sq. metre after Dublin's Grafton Street. The area was impacted by the post-2008 downturn, though retail growth has increased since, with Penneys announcing expansion plans in 2015, redesigning of some facades on the street, and opening of newer outlets, including Superdry in 2015. Other shopping areas in the city centre include Oliver Plunkett St. and Grand Parade. Cork is home to some of the country's leading department stores with the foundations of shops such as Dunnes Stores and the former Roches Stores being laid in the city.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork City is a hub of industry in the region. Several pharmaceutical companies have invested heavily in the area, including American companies Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Swiss company Novartis. Perhaps the most famous product of the Cork pharmaceutical industry is Viagra. Cork is also the European headquarters of Apple Inc. where over 3,000 staff are involved in manufacturing, R&D and customer support. Logitech and EMC Corporation are also important IT employers in the area. Three hospitals are also among the top ten employers in the city.


title: Cork (city)

text: The city is also home to the Heineken Brewery that brews Murphy's Irish Stout and the nearby Beamish and Crawford brewery (taken over by Heineken in 2008) which have been in the city for generations. 45% of the world's Tic Tac sweets are manufactured at the city's Ferrero factory. For many years, Cork was the home to Ford Motor Company, which manufactured cars in the docklands area before the plant was closed in 1984. Henry Ford's grandfather was from West Cork, which was one of the main reasons for opening up the manufacturing facility in Cork. Technology has since replaced the older manufacturing businesses of the 1970s and 1980s, with people now working at several IT companies across the city area – such as Amazon.com, the online retailer, which has offices at Cork Airport Business Park.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork's deep harbour allows large ships to enter, bringing trade and easy import/export of products. Cork Airport also allows easy access to continental Europe and Cork Kent railway station in the city centre provides good rail links for domestic trade.


title: Cork (city)

text: According to the 2011 Cork City Employment & Land Use Survey, the single largest employers in the city (all with over 1,000 employees) include Cork University Hospital, Apple Inc, University College Cork, Boston Scientific, Cork City Council, Cork Institute of Technology, Bon Secours Hospital, Cork, retailers Supervalu and Centra, the Irish Defence Forces at Collins Barracks, and the Mercy University Hospital.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork Airport is the second busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland and is situated on the south side of Cork city close to Ballygarvan. Nine airlines fly to more than 45 destinations in Europe. Scheduled airlines using Cork airport include Aer Lingus, Aer Lingus Regional, Air France, Flybe, Iberia Express, Ryanair, Swiss International Air Lines and Volotea.


title: Cork (city)

text: Public bus services within the city are provided by the national bus operator Bus Éireann. City routes are numbered 201 through 226 and connect the city centre to the principal suburbs, colleges, shopping centres and places of interest. Two of these bus routes provide orbital services across the Northern and Southern districts of the city respectively. Buses to the outer suburbs and towns, such as Ballincollig, Glanmire, Midleton and Carrigaline are provided from the city's bus terminal at Parnell Place in the city centre. Suburban services also include shuttles to Cork Airport, and a park and ride facility in the south suburbs only.


title: Cork (city)

text: Following the initial rollout of the BusConnects project in Dublin, as of October 2022 the National Transport Authority (NTA) were in the consultation process for similar changes in Cork. The NTA said that they were applying some of the lessons learned in Dublin, but many Cork homeowners voiced concerns over proposed bus corridors and the possibility of losing parts of their gardens and on-street parking, the risk of devaluation of their homes, worries about the impact of construction on the structural integrity of their homes, the loss of hundreds of trees along roads, and the impact on trade which may arise from reduced on-street parking. In an "Irish Examiner" article from October 2022, it was noted that at least one of the draft proposals, to build a flyover through the Mangala woods near Douglas, had already been "unofficially" dropped.


title: Cork (city)

text: The first 24-hour bus in Ireland, route 220, was initiated in Cork in January 2019. The 220 links the two major satellite towns of Ballincollig and Carrigaline with the city centre and operates once an hour between the hours of 01:30 - 05:30. One year after 24-hour service commenced, Bus Éireann announced they had witnessed a 70% growth in passenger numbers on the route, resulting in 1.3 million customer journeys. Local politicians have called for the introduction of further 24 hour bus routes in the city owing to the success of the 220.


title: Cork (city)

text: Long-distance buses depart from the bus terminal in Parnell Place to destinations throughout Ireland. Hourly services run to Killarney/Tralee, Waterford, Athlone and Shannon Airport/Ennis/Limerick/Galway and there are six services daily to Dublin. There is also a daily Eurolines bus service that connects Cork to Victoria Coach Station in London via South Wales and Bristol.


title: Cork (city)

text: Private operators include Irish Citylink, Aircoach and Dublin Coach. Irish Citylink serves Limerick and Galway. Aircoach operates an Express non-stop service which serves Dublin City Centre and Dublin Airport 18 times daily in each direction. Dublin Coach serves Dublin via Fermoy, Mitchelstown, Cashel and Cahir.


title: Cork (city)

text: The Cross River Ferry, from Rushbrooke to Passage West, links the R624 to R610. This service is used by some commuters to avoid traffic in the Jack Lynch Tunnel and Dunkettle area. The Port of Cork is situated at Ringaskiddy, SE via the N28. Brittany Ferries operates direct car ferry services from Cork to Roscoff in France.


title: Cork (city)

text: The city's road infrastructure improved in the late 20th and early 21st century, including the early 1980s construction of the Cork South Link dual carriageway which links the Kinsale Road roundabout with the city centre. Shortly after, the first sections of the South Ring dual carriageway were opened. Work continued extending the N25 South Ring Road through the 1990s, culminating in the opening of the Jack Lynch Tunnel under the River Lee. The Kinsale Road flyover opened in August 2006 to remove a bottleneck for traffic heading to Cork Airport or Killarney. Other projects completed at this time include the N20 Blackpool bypass and the N20 Cork to Mallow road projects. The N22 Ballincollig dual carriageway bypass, which links to the Western end of the Cork Southern Ring road was opened in September 2004. City centre road improvements include the Patrick Street project – which reconstructed the street with a pedestrian focus. The M8 motorway links Cork with Dublin.


title: Cork (city)

text: From 2012, cycle paths and bike stands were added in a number of areas. Subsequently, in 2014, a public bicycle rental scheme was launched. The scheme is operated by An Rothar Nua on behalf of the National Transport Authority, with funding supplemented by an advertising sponsor. The scheme supports 330 bikes with 31 stations placed around the city for paid public use.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork was one of the most rail-oriented cities in Ireland, featuring eight stations at various times. The main route, still much the same today, is from Dublin Heuston. Originally terminating on the city's outskirts at Blackpool, the route now reaches the city centre terminus of Kent Station via the Glanmire tunnel and Kilnap Viaduct. Now a through station, the line through Kent connects the towns of Cobh and Midleton east of the city. This also connected to the seaside town of Youghal, until the 1980s.


title: Cork (city)

text: Other rail routes terminating or traversing Cork city were the "Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway", a line to Macroom, the Cork and Muskerry Light Railway to Blarney, Coachford and Donoughmore, as well as the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway connecting Bantry, Skibbereen, Clonakilty and many other West Cork towns. West Cork trains terminated at Albert Quay, across the river from Kent Station (though an on-street rail system connected the two for rolling stock and cargo movement). There have been two tram networks in operation Within the city. A proposal to develop a horse-drawn tram (linking the city's railway termini) was made by American George Francis Train in the 1860s and implemented in 1872 by the Cork Tramway Company. However, the company ceased trading in 1875 after Cork Corporation refused permission to extend the line.


title: Cork (city)

text: In December 1898, the Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company began operating on the Blackpool–Douglas, Summerhill–Sunday's Well and Tivoli–Blackrock routes. Increased usage of cars and buses in the 1920s led to a reduction in the use of trams, which discontinued operations permanently on 30 September 1931.


title: Cork (city)

text: The wider city area, including the city's suburbs, is served by three railway stations. These are Cork Kent railway station, Little Island railway station and Glounthaune railway station.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork's Kent Station is the main railway station in the city. From here, Irish Rail services run to destinations all over Ireland. The main line from Cork to Dublin has hourly departures on the half-hour from Cork, and is linked from Limerick Junction with connections to Clonmel and Waterford. InterCity services are also available to Killarney and Tralee, and to Limerick, Ennis, Athenry and Galway (via Limerick Junction and the Limerick to Galway railway line).


title: Cork (city)

text: The Cork Suburban Rail system also departs from Kent Station and provides connections to parts of Metropolitan Cork. Stations include Little Island, Mallow, Midleton, Fota and Cobh. In July 2009 the Glounthaune to Midleton line was reopened, with new stations at Carrigtwohill and Midleton (and additional stations proposed for Blarney and elsewhere). Little Island railway station serves Cork's Eastern Suburbs.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork is an important educational centre in Ireland – There are over 35,000 third-level students in the city, meaning the city has a higher ratio of students in the population than the national average. Over 10% of the population of the Metropolitan area are students in University College Cork (UCC) and Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), including nearly 3,000 international students from over 100 countries. UCC is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland and offers courses in arts, commerce, engineering, law, medicine and science. It has been named "Irish University of the Year" four times since 2003, most recently in 2016. Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) was named Irish "Institute of Technology of the Year" in 2007, 2010 and 2016 and offers third-level courses in Computing and IT, Business, Humanities and Engineering (Mechanical, Electronic, Electrical, and Chemical).


title: Cork (city)

text: The National Maritime College of Ireland is located in Cork and is the only Irish college in which Nautical Studies and Marine Engineering can be undertaken. CIT incorporates the Cork School of Music and Crawford College of Art and Design as constituent schools. The Cork College of Commerce is the largest 'College of Further Education' in Ireland. Other 3rd level institutions include Griffith College Cork, a private institution, and various other colleges.


title: Cork (city)

text: Research institutes linked to the third-level colleges in the city support the research and innovation capacity of the city and region. Examples include the Tyndall National Institute (ICT hardware research), IMERC (Marine Energy), Environmental Research Institute, NIMBUS (Network Embedded Systems); and CREATE (Advanced Therapeutic Engineering). UCC and CIT also have start-up company incubation centres. At UCC, the IGNITE Graduate Business Innovation Centre aims to foster and support entrepreneurship. In CIT, The Rubicon Centre is a business innovation hub that is home to 57 knowledge based start-up companies.


title: Cork (city)

text: Rugby, Gaelic football, hurling and association football are popular sporting pastimes for Corkonians.


title: Cork (city)

text: Hurling and football are the most popular spectator sports in the city. Hurling has a strong identity with city and county – with Cork winning 30 All-Ireland Championships. Gaelic football is also popular, and Cork has won 7 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship titles. Cork is the only county that has won both championships at least 7 times and the only one that has won both in the 21st century. There are many Gaelic Athletic Association clubs in Cork City, including Blackrock National Hurling Club, St. Finbarr's, Glen Rovers, Na Piarsaigh, Nemo Rangers and Douglas GAA. The main public venues are Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Páirc Uí Rinn (named after the noted Glen Rovers player Christy Ring). Camogie (hurling for ladies) and women's Gaelic football are increasing in popularity.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork City F.C. are the largest and most successful association football team in Cork, winning three League of Ireland titles, four FAI Cup titles, and one "All Ireland" Setanta Sports Cup title. They play their home games on the south side of the city in Turners Cross. Several, now defunct, Cork clubs played in the League of Ireland before 1984. In total, teams from the city have won the league 12 times. Association football is also played by amateur and school clubs across the city, as well as in "five-a-side" style leagues.


title: Cork (city)

text: Rugby union is played at various levels, from school to senior league level. There are two first-division clubs in Cork city. Cork Constitution (five-time All Ireland League Champions) play their home games in Ballintemple and Dolphin R.F.C. play at home in Musgrave Park. Other notable rugby clubs in the city include Highfield, Sunday's Well and UCC. At the school level, Christian Brothers College and Presentation Brothers College are two of the country's better-known rugby nurseries.


title: Cork (city)

text: Munster Rugby plays a number of its home matches in the Pro14 at Musgrave Park in Ballyphehane. In the past Heineken Cup matches have also been played at Musgrave Park, but most of these are now played at Thomond Park in Limerick. In May 2006 and again in May 2008 Munster became the Heineken Cup champions, with many players hailing from Cork city and county.


title: Cork (city)

text: There are a variety of watersports in Cork, including rowing and sailing. There are five rowing clubs training on the river Lee, including Shandon BC, UCC RC, Pres RC, Lee RC, and Cork BC. Naomhóga Chorcaí is a rowing club whose members row traditional naomhóga on the Lee in occasional competitions. The "Ocean to City" race has been held annually since 2005 and attracts teams and boats from local and visiting clubs who row the from Crosshaven into Cork city centre. The National Rowing Center was moved to Inniscarra – approximately 12 km outside the city centre – in 2007. Cork's maritime sailing heritage is maintained through its sailing clubs. The Royal Cork Yacht Club located in Crosshaven (outside the city) is the world's oldest yacht club, and "Cork Week" is a notable sailing event.


title: Cork (city)

text: The most notable cricket club in Cork is Cork County Cricket Club, which was formed in 1874. Although located within the Munster jurisdiction, the club plays in the Leinster Senior League. The club plays at the Mardyke, a ground which has hosted three first-class matches in 1947, 1961 and 1973. All three involved Ireland playing Scotland. The Cork Cricket Academy operates within the city, with the stated aim of introducing the sport to schools in the city and county. Cork's other main cricket club, Harlequins Cricket Club, play close to Cork Airport. The provincial representative side, the Munster Reds, plays its home matches in the Twenty20 Inter-Provincial Trophy at the Mardyke Cricket Ground.


title: Cork (city)

text: The city contains clubs active in national competitions in basketball (Neptune and UCC Demons) and American Football (Cork Admirals). There are also golf, pitch and putt, hockey, tennis, and athletics clubs in the Cork area.


title: Cork (city)

text: The area is the home of road bowling, which is played in the north-side and southwest suburbs. There are boxing and martial arts clubs (including Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Karate, Muay Thai and Taekwondo) within the city, while the sports-based performance art of professional wrestling maintains a presence via local promotion Phoenix Wrestling. Cork Racing, a motorsport team based in Cork, has raced in the Irish Formula Ford Championship since 2005. Cork also hosts one of Ireland's most successful Australian Rules Football teams, the Leeside Lions, who have won the Australian Rules Football League of Ireland Premiership several times.


title: Cork (city)

text: Cork is twinned with Cologne, Coventry, Rennes, San Francisco, Swansea and Shanghai. As of February 2017, the city council was also in talks to twin with Bordeaux, Saint Petersburg and Miami.


title: Cork (city)

text: The population of Cork City and its suburbs was recorded as 208,669 by the 2016 census, with in excess of 300,000 in the Metropolitan Cork area. Preliminary reports from the 2022 census of Ireland indicated a population of 222,333 people.


title: Cork (city)

text: There were 119,230 people present in the Cork City Council-administered area at the time of the 2011 census, of these 117,221 indicated that they were usually present in Cork. In common with other Irish urban centres, the female population (50.67%) is higher than the male population (49.33%), although the gap is somewhat smaller than in other cities.


title: Cork (city)

text: In the 2011 census, of those usually resident, 100,901 (86.08%) were Irish citizens; 10,295 (8.78%) were citizens of other EU countries; 4,316 (3.68%) were citizens of countries elsewhere in the world; 1,709 (1.46%) did not state their citizenship. By the 2016 census, the population of the city and suburbs were 81% white Irish, 10% other white, 1.4% black/black Irish, 2.5% Asian/Asian Irish, 1.7% other, with 2.6% not stating an ethnicity. Also as of the census, the population was 76.4% Catholic, 8.1% other stated religion, with 12.8% having no religion and 2.7% not stated.


title: Cork (city)

text: While Cork saw some Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe in the 19th century, with second-generation immigrants like Gerald Goldberg holding public office, the community later declined and the synagogue closed. Later immigrant communities retain their places of worship. In the 2011 and 2016 censuses, Roman Catholicism was the most common religion in the city overall, followed by Anglicanism, Presbyterianism, and Islam. As of the 2016 census, an increasing number of residents (15%) indicated that they had no religion – a higher rate of increase and a higher overall percentage than the national average (10%).


title: Serval

text: The serval (Leptailurus serval) is a wild cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, except rainforest regions. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and hunting it is either prohibited or regulated in range countries.


title: Serval

text: It is the sole member of the genus Leptailurus. Three subspecies are recognised. The serval is a slender, medium-sized cat that stands at the shoulder and weighs . It is characterised by a small head, large ears, a golden-yellow to buff coat spotted and striped with black, and a short, black-tipped tail. The serval has the longest legs of any cat relative to its body size.


title: Serval

text: The serval is a solitary carnivore and active both by day and at night. It preys on rodents, particularly vlei rats, small birds, frogs, insects, and reptiles, using its sense of hearing to locate prey. It leaps over above the ground to land on the prey on its forefeet, and finally kills it with a bite on the neck or the head. Both sexes establish highly overlapping home ranges of , and mark them with feces and saliva. Mating takes place at different times of the year in different parts of their range, but typically once or twice a year in an area. After a gestational period of two to three months, a litter of one to four is born. The kittens are weaned at the age of one month and begin hunting on their own at six months of age. They leave their mother at the age of around 12 months.


title: Serval

text: The name "serval" is derived from "(lobo-) cerval", i.e. Portuguese for lynx, used by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1765 for a spotted cat that was kept at the time in the Royal Menagerie in Versailles; "lobo-cerval" is derived from Latin "lupus cervarius", literally and respectively "wolf" and "of or pertaining to deer".


title: Serval

text: The name "Leptailurus" derives from the Greek "leptos" meaning "fine, delicate", and "ailouros" meaning "cat".


title: Serval

text: "Felis serval" was first described by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1776. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the following serval zoological specimens were described:


title: Serval

text: The generic name "Leptailurus" was proposed by Nikolai Severtzov in 1858. The serval is the sole member of this genus.


title: Serval

text: The phylogenetic relationships of the serval have remained in dispute; in 1997, palaeontologists M. C. McKenna and S. K. Bell classified "Leptailurus" as a subgenus of "Felis", while others like O. R. P. Bininda-Edmonds (of the Technical University of Munich) have grouped it with "Felis", "Lynx" and "Caracal". Studies in the 2000s and the 2010s show that the serval, along with the caracal and the African golden cat, forms one of the eight lineages of Felidae. According to a 2006 genetic study, the "Caracal" lineage came into existence 8.5 million years ago, and the ancestor of this lineage arrived in Africa 8.5–5.6 mya.


title: Serval

text: In April 1986, the first savannah cat, a hybrid between a male serval and a female domestic cat, was born; it was larger than a typical domestic kitten and resembled its father in its coat pattern. It appeared to have inherited a few domestic cat traits, such as tameness, from its mother. This cat breed may have a dog-like habit of following its owner about, is adept at jumping and leaping, and can be a good swimmer. Over the years it has gained popularity as a pet.


title: Serval

text: The serval is a slender, medium-sized cat; it stands at the shoulder and weighs , but females tend to be lighter. The head-and-body length is typically between . Males tend to be sturdier than females. Prominent characteristics include the small head, large ears, spotted and striped coat, long legs and a black-tipped tail that is around long. The serval has the longest legs of any cat relative to its body size, largely due to the greatly elongated metatarsal bones in the feet. The toes are elongated as well, and unusually mobile.


title: Serval

text: The coat is basically golden-yellow to buff, and extensively marked with black spots and stripes. The spots show great variation in size. Facial features include the whitish chin, spots and streaks on the cheeks and the forehead, brownish or greenish eyes, white whiskers on the snout and near the ears, which are black on the back with a white horizontal band in the middle; Three to four black stripes run from the back of the head onto the shoulders, and then break into rows of spots. The white underbelly has dense and fluffy basal fur, and the soft guard hairs (the layer of fur protecting the basal fur) are long. Guard hairs are up to long on the neck, back and the flanks, and are merely long on the face. The serval has a good sense of smell, hearing and vision.


title: Serval

text: The serval is similar to the sympatric caracal, but has a narrower spoor, a rounder skull, and lacks its prominent ear tufts. The closely set ears can rotate up to 180 degrees independently of each other and help in locating prey efficiently.


title: Serval

text: Both leucistic and melanistic servals have been observed in captivity. In addition, the melanistic variant has been sighted in the wild, but rarely.


title: Serval

text: In North Africa, the serval is known only from Morocco and has been reintroduced in Tunisia, but is feared to be extinct in Algeria. It inhabits semi-arid areas and cork oak forests close to the Mediterranean Sea, but avoids rainforests and arid areas. It occurs in the Sahel, and is widespread in Southern Africa. It inhabits grasslands, moorlands and bamboo thickets at high altitudes up to on Mount Kilimanjaro. It prefers areas close to water bodies such as wetland and savanna, which provide cover such as reeds and tall grasses. In the East Sudanian Savanna, it was recorded in the transboundary Dinder–Alatash protected area complex during surveys between 2015 and 2018.


title: Serval

text: In South Africa, the serval was recorded in Free State, eastern Northern Cape, and southern North West.


title: Serval

text: The serval is active in the day as well as at night; activity might peak in early morning, around twilight and at midnight. Servals might be active for a longer time on cool or rainy days. During the hot midday, they rest or groom themselves in the shade of bushes and grasses. Servals remain cautious of their vicinity, though they may be less alert when no large carnivores or prey animals are around. Servals walk as much as every night. Servals will often use special trails to reach certain hunting areas. A solitary animal, there is little social interaction among servals except in the mating season, when pairs of opposite sexes may stay together. The only long-lasting bond appears to be of the mother and her cubs, which leave their mother only when they are a year old.


title: Serval

text: Both males and females establish home ranges, and are most active only in certain regions ('core areas') within them. The area of these ranges can vary from ; prey density, availability of cover and human interference could be significant factors in determining their size. Home ranges might overlap extensively, but occupants show minimal interaction. Aggressive encounters are rare, as servals appear to mutually avoid one another rather than fight and defend their ranges. On occasions where two adult servals meet in conflict over territory, a ritualistic display may ensue, in which one will place a paw on the other’s chest while observing their rival closely; this interaction rarely escalates into a fight.


title: Serval

text: Agonistic behaviour involves vertical movement of the head (contrary to the horizontal movement observed in other cats), raising the hair and the tail, displaying the teeth and the white band on the ears, and yowling. Individuals mark their ranges and preferred paths by spraying urine on nearby vegetation, dropping scats along the way, and rubbing their mouth on grasses or the ground while releasing saliva. Servals tend to be sedentary, shifting only a few kilometres away even if they leave their range.


title: Serval

text: The serval is vulnerable to hyenas and African wild dogs. It will seek cover to escape their view, and, if the predator is very close, immediately flee in long leaps, changing its direction frequently and with the tail raised. The serval is an efficient, though not frequent, climber; an individual was observed to have climbed a tree to a height of more than to escape dogs. Like many cats, the serval is able to purr; it also has a high-pitched chirp, and can hiss, cackle, growl, grunt and meow.


title: Serval

text: The serval is a carnivore that preys on rodents, particularly vlei rats, small birds, frogs, insects and reptiles, and also feeds on grass that can facilitate digestion or act as an emetic. Up to 90% of the preyed animals weigh less than ; occasionally it also hunts larger prey such as duikers, hares, flamingoes and young antelopes. The percentage of rodents in the diet has been estimated at 80-97%. Apart from vlei rats, other rodents recorded frequently in the diet include the African grass rat, African pygmy mouse and multimammate mice.


title: Serval

text: The serval locates prey by its strong sense of hearing. It remains motionless for up to 15 minutes; when prey is within range, it jumps with all four feet up to in the air and attacks with its front paws. To kill small prey, it slowly stalks it, then pounce on it with the forefeet directed toward the chest, and finally lands on it with its forelegs outstretched. The prey, receiving a blow from one or both of the serval's forepaws, is incapacitated, and the serval bites it on the head or the neck and immediately swallows it. Snakes are dealt more blows and even bites, and may be consumed even as they are moving. Larger prey, such as larger birds, are killed by a sprint followed by a leap to catch them as they are trying to flee, and are eaten slowly. Servals have been observed caching large kills to be consumed later by concealing them in dead leaves and grasses. Servals typically get rid of the internal organs of rodents while eating, and pluck feathers from birds before consuming them. During a leap, a serval can reach more than above the ground and cover a horizontal distance of up to . Servals appear to be efficient hunters; a study in Ngorongoro showed that servals were successful in half of their hunting attempts, regardless of the time of hunting, and a mother serval was found to have a success rate of 62%. The number of kills in a 24-hour period averaged 15 to 16. Scavenging has been observed, but very rarely.


title: Serval

text: Both sexes become sexually mature when they are one to two years old. Oestrus in females lasts one to four days; it typically occurs once or twice a year, though it can occur three or four times a year if the mother loses her litters. Observations of captive servals suggest that when a female enters oestrus, the rate of urine-marking increases in her as well as the males in her vicinity. Zoologist Jonathan Kingdon described the behaviour of a female serval in oestrus in his 1997 book "East African Mammals". He noted that she would roam restlessly, spray urine frequently holding her vibrating tail in a vertical manner, rub her head near the place she has marked, salivate continuously, give out sharp and short "miaow"s that can be heard for quite a distance, and rub her mouth and cheeks against the face of an approaching male. The time when mating takes place varies geographically; births peak in winter in Botswana, and toward the end of the dry season in the Ngorongoro Crater. A trend generally observed across the range is that births precede the breeding season of murid rodents.


title: Serval

text: Gestation lasts for two to three months, following which a litter of one to four kittens is born. Births take place in secluded areas, for example in dense vegetation or burrows abandoned by aardvarks and porcupines. Blind at birth, newborn weigh nearly and have soft, woolly hair (greyer than in adults) and unclear markings. The eyes open after nine to thirteen days. Weaning begins a month after birth; the mother brings small kills to her kittens and calls out to them as she approaches the "den". A mother with young kittens rests for a notably lesser time and has to spend almost twice the time and energy for hunting than do other servals. If disturbed, the mother shifts her kittens one by one to a more secure place. Kittens eventually start accompanying their mother to hunts. At around six months, they acquire their permanent canines and begin to hunt themselves; they leave their mother at about 12 months of age. They may reach sexual maturity from 12 to 25 months of age. Life expectancy is about 10 years in the wild, and up to 20 years in captivity.


title: Serval

text: The degradation of wetlands and grasslands is a major threat to the survival of the serval. Trade of serval skins, though on the decline, still occurs in countries such as Benin and Senegal. In West Africa, the serval has significance in traditional medicine. Pastoralists often kill servals to protect their livestock, though servals generally do not prey on livestock.


title: Serval

text: The serval is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List, and is included in CITES Appendix II. It occurs in several protected areas across its range. Hunting of servals is prohibited in Algeria, Botswana, Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tunisia and South Africa's Cape Province; hunting regulations apply in Angola, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia.


title: Serval

text: The association of servals with human beings dates to the time of Ancient Egypt. Servals are depicted as gifts or traded objects from Nubia in Egyptian art.


title: Serval

text: Servals are occasionally kept as pets, although their wild nature means that ownership of servals is regulated in some countries.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, songwriter, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into the United States Army. Though perhaps best known for his children's books, Silverstein did not limit his audience to children. During his rise to prominence in the 1950s, his illustrations were published in various newspapers and magazines, notably the adult-oriented "Playboy". He also wrote a satirical, adult-oriented alphabet book, "Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book", under the stylized name "Uncle Shelby", which he used as an occasional pen name.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: As a children's author, some of his most acclaimed works include "The Giving Tree", "Where the Sidewalk Ends", and "A Light in the Attic". His works have been translated into more than 47 languages and have sold more than 20 million copies. As a songwriter, Silverstein wrote the 1969 Johnny Cash track "A Boy Named Sue", which peaked at number 2 on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100. His songs have been recorded and popularized by a wide range of other acts including Tompall Glaser, The Irish Rovers and Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. He was the recipient of two Grammy Awards as well as nominations at the Golden Globe Awards and Academy Awards.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein had two children, Shoshanna Jordan Hastings (June 30, 1970 – April 24, 1982) and Matthew De Ver (born November 10, 1984). Shoshanna died of an aneurysm at age 11, and the book "A Light in the Attic" is dedicated in her memory. Silverstein died at his home in Key West, Florida, of a heart attack on May 10, 1999, at the age of 68.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Sheldon Allan Silverstein was born into a Jewish family in Chicago on September 25, 1930. He grew up in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, where he attended Roosevelt High School. He then attended the University of Illinois, from which he was expelled. He enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, which he was attending when he was drafted into the U.S. Army; he served in Japan and Korea.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein began drawing at age seven by tracing the works of Al Capp. He told "Publishers Weekly": "When I was a kid—12 to 14, I'd much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls, but I couldn't play ball. I couldn't dance. Luckily, the girls didn't want me. Not much I could do about that. So I started to draw and to write. I was also lucky that I didn't have anybody to copy, be impressed by. I had developed my own style; I was creating before I knew there was a Thurber, a Benchley, a Price and a Steinberg. I never saw their work 'til I was around 30. By the time I got to where I was attracting girls, I was already into work, and it was more important to me. Not that I wouldn't rather make love, but the work has become a habit."


title: Shel Silverstein

text: He was first published in the "Roosevelt Torch," a student newspaper at Roosevelt University, where he studied English after leaving the Art Institute. During his time in the military, his cartoons were published in "Pacific Stars and Stripes", where he had originally been assigned to do layouts and paste up. His first book "Take Ten", a compilation of his military "Take Ten" cartoon series, was published by "Pacific Stars and Stripes" in 1955. He later said his time in college was a waste and would have been better spent traveling around the world meeting people.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: After returning to Chicago, Silverstein began submitting cartoons to magazines while also selling hot dogs at Chicago ballparks. His cartoons began appearing in "Look", "Sports Illustrated" and "This Week".


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Mass-market paperback readers across America were introduced to Silverstein in 1956 when "Take Ten" was reprinted by Ballantine Books as "Grab Your Socks!"


title: Shel Silverstein

text: In 1957, Silverstein became one of the leading cartoonists in "Playboy", which sent him around the world to create an illustrated travel journal with reports from far-flung locales. During the 1950s and 1960s, he produced 23 installments called "Shel Silverstein Visits..." as a feature for "Playboy". Employing a sketchbook format with typewriter-styled captions, he documented his own experiences at such locations as a New Jersey naturist community, the Chicago White Sox training camp, San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, Fire Island, Mexico, London, Paris, Spain and Africa. In a Swiss village, he drew himself complaining, "I'll give them 15 more minutes, and if nobody yodels, I'm going back to the hotel." These illustrated travel essays were collected by the publisher Fireside in "Playboy's Silverstein Around the World," published in 2007 with a foreword by Hugh Hefner and an introduction by music journalist Mitch Myers.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: In a similar vein were his illustrations for John Sack's "Report from Practically Nowhere" (1959), a collection of humorous travel vignettes previously appearing in "Playboy" and other magazines.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: A cartoon he made during the 1950s was featured on the cover of his next cartoon collection, titled "Now Here's My Plan: A Book of Futilities", which was published by Simon & Schuster in 1960. Silverstein biographer Lisa Rogak wrote:


title: Shel Silverstein

text: The cartoon on the cover that provides the book's title would turn out to be one of his most famous and often-cited cartoons. In the cartoon, two prisoners are chained to the wall of a prison cell. Both their hands and feet are shackled. One says to the other, "Now here's my plan." Silverstein was both fascinated and distressed by the amount of analysis and commentary that almost immediately began to swirl around the cartoon. "A lot of people said it was a very pessimistic cartoon, which I don't think it is at all," he said. "There's a lot of hope even in a hopeless situation. They analyze it and question it. I did this cartoon because I had an idea about a funny situation about two guys."


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein's cartoons appeared in issues of "Playboy" from 1957 through the mid-1970s, and one of his "Playboy" features was expanded into "Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book" (Simon & Schuster, 1961), his first book of new, original material for adults.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein studied briefly at Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. His musical output included a large catalog of songs; a number of them were hits for other artists, most notably the rock group Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. He wrote Tompall Glaser's highest-charting solo single "Put Another Log on the Fire", "One's on the Way" and "Hey Loretta" (both hits for Loretta Lynn, in 1971 and 1973 respectively), and "25 Minutes to Go", sung by Johnny Cash, about a man on death row with each line counting down one minute closer. Lynn recorded five songs written by Silverstein. Lynn's producer Owen Bradley once said Silversteins style of song writing was the most similar to that of Lynn's own writing. Silverstein also wrote Cash's biggest hit, "A Boy Named Sue" as well as "The Unicorn", first recorded by Silverstein in 1962 but better known in its version by The Irish Rovers. Other songs co-written by Silverstein include "The Taker" written with Kris Kristofferson and recorded by Waylon Jennings, and a sequel to "A Boy Named Sue" titled "Father of a Boy Named Sue", which is less known, but he performed the song on television on "The Johnny Cash Show". He also penned a lesser known song titled "Fuck 'em."


title: Shel Silverstein

text: He wrote the lyrics and music for most of the Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show songs on their first few albums, including "The Cover of "Rolling Stone"", "Freakin' at the Freakers' Ball," "Sylvia's Mother", "The Things I Didn't Say" and "Don't Give a Dose to the One You Love Most". He wrote many of the songs performed by Bobby Bare, including "Rosalie's Good Eats Café", "The Mermaid", "The Winner", "Warm and Free", and "Tequila Sheila". He co-wrote with Baxter Taylor "Marie Laveau". The third album by Tompall Glaser contained eight songs by Silverstein and three by Silverstein and others.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein's "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan", first recorded by Dr. Hook in 1975, was re-recorded by Marianne Faithfull (1979), Belinda Carlisle (1996), and Bobby Bare (2005) and later featured in the films "Montenegro" and "Thelma & Louise". "Queen of the Silver Dollar" was first recorded by Dr. Hook on their 1972 album "Sloppy Seconds", and later by Doyle Holly (on his 1973 album "Doyle Holly"), Emmylou Harris (on her 1975 album "Pieces of the Sky") and Dave & Sugar (on their 1976 album "Dave & Sugar").


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein composed original music for several films and displayed a musical versatility in these projects, playing guitar, piano, saxophone and trombone. He wrote "In the Hills of Shiloh", a poignant song about the aftermath of the American Civil War, recorded by The New Christy Minstrels, Judy Collins, Bobby Bare, and others. The soundtrack of the 1970 film "Ned Kelly" features Silverstein songs performed by Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and others. He also co-wrote with Waylon the song 'A Long Time Ago'.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein had a popular following on Dr. Demento's radio show. Among his better-known comedy songs were "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout (Would Not Take the Garbage Out)", "The Smoke-Off" (a tale of a contest to determine who could roll—or smoke—marijuana joints faster), "I Got Stoned and I Missed It" and "Stacy Brown Got Two." He wrote "The Father of a Boy Named Sue", in which he tells the story of the original song from the father's point of view, and the 1962 song "Boa Constrictor", sung by a person who is being swallowed by a snake. The latter song was recorded by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, and also by Johnny Cash for his 1966 album "Everybody Loves a Nut".


title: Shel Silverstein

text: One of the latter musical projects Silverstein completed in his lifetime was "Old Dogs", a 1998 album with songs about getting old, all of which Silverstein wrote or co-wrote.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: A longtime friend of singer-songwriter Pat Dailey, Silverstein collaborated with him on the posthumously released "Underwater Land" album (2002). It contains 17 children's songs written and produced by Silverstein and sung by Dailey (with Silverstein joining him on a few tracks). The album features art by Silverstein.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: He was a friend of Chicago songwriter Steve Goodman, for whom he wrote the final verse of "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" (refusing a songwriting credit for his contribution).


title: Shel Silverstein

text: In 2010, Bobby Bare and his son Bobby Bare Jr produced a CD called "Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein" which was released on Sugar Hill Records. Other artists recording Silverstein songs include the Brothers Four, Andrew Bird, My Morning Jacket and Bobby Bare Jr.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: In January 1959, "Look, Charlie: A Short History of the Pratfall" was a chaotic off-Broadway comedy staged by Silverstein, Jean Shepherd and Herb Gardner at New York's Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue in the Lower East Side. Silverstein went on to write more than 100 one-act plays. "The Lady or the Tiger Show" (1981) and "Remember Crazy Zelda?" (1984) were produced in New York." The Devil and Billy Markham", published in "Playboy" in 1979, was later adapted into a solo one-act play that debuted on a double bill with Mamet's "Bobby Gould in Hell" (1989) with Dr. Hook vocalist Dennis Locorriere narrating. In 1990, Silverstein's one-act modernized version of Hamlet starred Melvin Van Peebles playing all the roles. Karen Kohlhaas directed "An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein", produced by New York's Atlantic Theater Company in September 2001 with a variety of short sketches:


title: Shel Silverstein

text: A production of "An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein" was produced by a Hofstra University theater group named The Spectrum Players, founded by Francis Ford Coppola in 1959. The production used a "victorian sailors on shore leave watching a play" aesthetic and used live rag-time and a character of an emcee not in the script to transition between pieces. The production was directed by Richard Traub of Chicago and starred several of Hofstra's most promising young actors: Nick Pacifico, Amanda Mac, Mike Quattrone, Ross Greenberg, Chelsea Lando, Allie Rightmeyer, and Paolo Perez as the MC.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: In December 2001, "Shel's Shorts" was produced in repertory as two separate evenings under the titles "Signs of Trouble" and "Shel Shocked" by the Market Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "Signs of Trouble" was directed by Wesley Savick, and "Shel Shocked" was directed by Larry Coen.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: On November 29, 2022 a revival of Shel Silverstein's "Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back" opened at the Gishen Hall of the Niavaran Cultural Center in Tehran, Iran. The performance was reviewed in the Tehran Times on December 15, 2022.The review said "But is a famous, successful, and admired lion a happy lion? Or is he a lion at all? Told and drawn with wit and gusto. Shel Silverstein's modern fable speaks not only to children but to us all!"


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein co-wrote the screenplay for "Things Change" with David Mamet. He also wrote several stories for the TV movie "Free to Be... You and Me". Silverstein wrote and narrated an animated short of "The Giving Tree", first produced in 1973; a remake based on Silverstein's original screenplay but without his narration was released in 2015 by director Brian Brose. Other credits include the shorts "De boom die gaf" (based on his novel) and "".


title: Shel Silverstein

text: His songs have been used in many TV shows and movies, including "Almost Famous" ("The Cover of Rolling Stone"), "Thelma & Louise" ("The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan"), "Postcards from the Edge" ("I'm Checkin' Out"), and "Coal Miner's Daughter" ("One's on the Way"), as well as the Dustin Hoffman film "Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?" ("Bunky and Lucille", "Last Morning").


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Ursula Nordstrom, Silverstein's editor at Harper & Row, encouraged Silverstein to write children's poetry. Silverstein said that he had never studied the poetry of others and had therefore developed his own quirky style, laid back and conversational, occasionally employing profanity and slang. In an interview with "Publishers Weekly" in 1975, he was asked how he came to do children's books:


title: Shel Silverstein

text: "I didn't," Shel said, "I never planned to write or draw for kids. It was Tomi Ungerer, a friend of mine, who insisted—practically dragged me, kicking and screaming, into Ursula Nordstrom's office. And she convinced me that Tomi was right; I could do children's books." The relationship between Ursula Nordstrom and Shel Silverstein is mutually rewarding. He considers her a superb editor who knows when to leave an author-illustrator alone. Asked if he would change something he had produced on an editor's say-so, he answered with a flat "No." But he added: "Oh, I will take a suggestion for revision. I do eliminate certain things when I'm writing for children if I think only an adult will get the idea. Then I drop it, or save it. But editors messing with content? No." Had he been surprised by the astronomical record of "The Giving Tree", his biggest seller to date and one of the most successful children's books in years? Another emphatic no. "What I do is good," he said. "I wouldn't let it out if I didn't think it was." But "The Giving Tree", which has been selling steadily since it appeared almost 10 years ago and has been translated into French, is not his own favorite among his books. "I like "Uncle Shelby's ABZ", "A Giraffe and a Half", and "Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back"—I think I like that one the most."


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Otto Penzler, in his crime anthology "Murder for Revenge" (1998), commented on Silverstein's versatility:


title: Shel Silverstein

text: This anthology was the second in a series, which also included "Murder for Love" (1996) and "Murder and Obsession" (1999). All three anthologies included Silverstein contributions. He did not really care to conform to any sort of norm, but he did want to leave his mark for others to be inspired by, as he told "Publishers Weekly":


title: Shel Silverstein

text: I would hope that people, no matter what age, would find something to identify with in my books, pick up one and experience a personal sense of discovery. That's great. I think that if you're a creative person, you should just go about your business, do your work and not care about how it's received. I never read reviews because if you believe the good ones you have to believe the bad ones too. Not that I don't care about success. I do, but only because it lets me do what I want. I was always prepared for success but that means that I have to be prepared for failure too. I have an ego, I have ideas, I want to be articulate, to communicate but in my own way. People who say they create only for themselves and don't care if they are published... I hate to hear talk like that. If it's good, it's too good not to share. That's the way I feel about my work. So I'll keep on communicating, but only my way. Lots of things I won't do. I won't go on television because who am I talking to? Johnny Carson? The camera? Twenty million people I can't see? Uh-uh. And I won't give any more interviews.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: From around 1967 to 1975, Silverstein lived on a houseboat in Sausalito, California. He also owned homes in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts; Greenwich Village, New York; and Key West, Florida. He never married, and according to the 2007 biography "A Boy Named Shel", slept with "hundreds, perhaps thousands of women". He was also a frequent presence at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion and Playboy Clubs.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein reportedly met a woman from Sausalito named Susan Taylor Hastings at the Playboy Mansion, and they had a daughter named Shoshanna Jordan Hastings (born June 30, 1970). Susan died on June 29, 1975, one day before Shoshanna's fifth birthday, and Shoshanna went to live with her uncle and aunt in Baltimore, Maryland. Shoshanna died of a cerebral aneurysm on April 24, 1982, at the age of 11. Silverstein's book "A Light in the Attic" is dedicated to her. Silverstein later met Key West native Sarah Spencer, who drove a tourist train and inspired Silverstein's song "The Great Conch Train Robbery". They had a son named Matthew De Ver (born November 10, 1984), who later became a New York City–based songwriter and producer.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: On June 25, 2019, two decades after Silverstein's death, "The New York Times Magazine" listed him among hundreds of artists whose material had been destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: On May 10, 1999, Silverstein died at age 68 of a heart attack at his home in Key West, Florida. He was buried at Westlawn Cemetery in Norridge, Illinois.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein's song "A Boy Named Sue" won a 1970 Grammy. He was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his song "I'm Checkin' Out" from the film "Postcards from the Edge".


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Together with longtime friend and producer Ron Haffkine, Silverstein released "Where the Sidewalk Ends" on cassette in 1983, and as an LP phonograph record in 1984, winning the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Recording For Children.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein was posthumously inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. Silverstein was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame in 2014.


title: Shel Silverstein

text: Silverstein believed that written works needed to be read on paper—the correct paper for the particular work. He usually would not allow his poems and stories to be published unless he could choose the type, size, shape, color, and quality of the paper. Being a book collector, he took seriously the feel of the paper, the look of the book, the fonts, and the binding. Most of his books did not have paperback editions because he did not want his work to be diminished in any way. Silverstein's estate continues to control copyright permissions on his work and has blocked the quotations of that work in at least one biographical treatment.


title: Venus flytrap

text: The Venus flytrap ("Dionaea muscipula") is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. It catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids—with a trapping structure formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves, which is triggered by tiny hairs (called "trigger hairs" or "sensitive hairs") on their inner surfaces.


title: Venus flytrap

text: When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap prepares to close, snapping shut only if another contact occurs within approximately twenty seconds of the first strike. Triggers may occur with a tenth of a second of contact. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against wasting energy by trapping objects with no nutritional value, and the plant will only begin digestion after five more stimuli to ensure it has caught a live bug worthy of consumption.


title: Venus flytrap

text: "Dionaea" is a monotypic genus closely related to the waterwheel plant ("Aldrovanda vesiculosa") and sundews ("Drosera"), all of which belong to the family Droseraceae.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Although widely cultivated for sale, the population of the Venus flytrap has been rapidly declining in its native range. The species is currently under Endangered Species Act review by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.


title: Venus flytrap

text: The plant's common name (originally "Venus's flytrap") refers to Venus, the Roman goddess of love. The genus name, "Dionaea" ("daughter of Dione"), refers to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, while the species name, "muscipula", is Latin for both "mousetrap" and "flytrap". The Latin word ("mousetrap") is derived from "mus" ("mouse") and ("trap"), while the homonym word ("flytrap") is derived from ("fly") and ("trap").


title: Venus flytrap

text: Historically, the plant was also known by the slang term "tipitiwitchet" or "tippity twitchet", possibly an oblique reference to the plant's resemblance to human female genitalia. The term is similar to the term tippet-de-witchet which derives from tippet and witchet (archaic term for vagina). In contrast, the English botanist John Ellis, who gave the plant its scientific name in 1768, wrote that the plant name tippitywichit was an indigenous word from either Cherokee or Catawba. The plant name according to the "Handbook of American Indians" derives from the Renape word "titipiwitshik" ("they (leaves) which wind around (or involve)").


title: Venus flytrap

text: On 2 April 1759, the North Carolina colonial governor, Arthur Dobbs, penned the first written description of the plant in a letter to English botanist Peter Collinson. In the letter he wrote: "We have a kind of Catch Fly Sensitive which closes upon anything that touches it. It grows in Latitude 34 but not in 35. I will try to save the seed here." A year later, Dobbs went into greater detail about the plant in a letter to Collinson dated Brunswick, 24 January 1760.


title: Venus flytrap

text: This was the first detailed recorded notice of the plant by Europeans. The description was before John Ellis' letter to "The London Magazine" on 1 September 1768, and his letter to Carl Linnaeus on 23 September 1768, in which he described the plant and proposed its English name "Venus's Flytrap" and scientific name "Dionaea muscipula".


title: Venus flytrap

text: The Venus flytrap is a small plant whose structure can be described as a rosette of four to seven leaves, which arise from a short subterranean stem that is actually a bulb-like object. Each stem reaches a maximum size of about three to ten centimeters, depending on the time of year; longer leaves with robust traps are usually formed after flowering. Flytraps that have more than seven leaves are colonies formed by rosettes that have divided beneath the ground.


title: Venus flytrap

text: The leaf blade is divided into two regions: a flat, heart-shaped photosynthesis-capable petiole, and a pair of terminal lobes hinged at the midrib, forming the trap which is the true leaf. The upper surface of these lobes contains red anthocyanin pigments and its edges secrete mucilage. The lobes exhibit rapid plant movements, snapping shut when stimulated by prey. The trapping mechanism is tripped when prey contacts one of the three hair-like trichomes that are found on the upper surface of each of the lobes. The mechanism is so highly specialized that it can distinguish between living prey and non-prey stimuli, such as falling raindrops; two trigger hairs must be touched in succession within 20 seconds of each other or one hair touched twice in rapid succession, whereupon the lobes of the trap will snap shut, typically in about one-tenth of a second. The edges of the lobes are fringed by stiff hair-like protrusions or cilia, which mesh together and prevent large prey from escaping. These protrusions, and the trigger hairs (also known as sensitive hairs) are likely homologous with the tentacles found in this plant's close relatives, the sundews. Scientists have concluded that the snap trap evolved from a fly-paper trap similar to that of "Drosera".


title: Venus flytrap

text: The holes in the meshwork allow small prey to escape, presumably because the benefit that would be obtained from them would be less than the cost of digesting them. If the prey is too small and escapes, the trap will usually reopen within 12 hours. If the prey moves around in the trap, it tightens and digestion begins more quickly.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Speed of closing can vary depending on the amount of humidity, light, size of prey, and general growing conditions. The speed with which traps close can be used as an indicator of a plant's general health. Venus flytraps are not as humidity-dependent as are some other carnivorous plants, such as "Nepenthes", "Cephalotus", most "Heliamphora", and some "Drosera".


title: Venus flytrap

text: The Venus flytrap exhibits variations in petiole shape and length and whether the leaf lies flat on the ground or extends up at an angle of about 40–60 degrees. The four major forms are: 'typica', the most common, with broad decumbent petioles; 'erecta', with leaves at a 45-degree angle; 'linearis', with narrow petioles and leaves at 45 degrees; and 'filiformis', with extremely narrow or linear petioles. Except for 'filiformis', all of these can be stages in leaf production of any plant depending on season (decumbent in summer versus short versus semi-erect in spring), length of photoperiod (long petioles in spring versus short in summer), and intensity of light (wide petioles in low light intensity versus narrow in brighter light).


title: Venus flytrap

text: The plant also has a flower on top of a long stem, about 6 inches long. The flower is pollinated from various flying insects such as sweat bees, longhorn beetles and checkered beetles.


title: Venus flytrap

text: The Venus flytrap is found in nitrogen- and phosphorus-poor environments, such as bogs and wet savannahs. Small in stature and slow-growing, the Venus flytrap tolerates fire well and depends on periodic burning to suppress its competition. Fire suppression threatens its future in the wild. It survives in wet sandy and peaty soils. Although it has been successfully transplanted and grown in many locales around the world, it is native only to the coastal bogs of North and South Carolina in the United States, specifically within a 100-kilometer (60 mi) radius of Wilmington, North Carolina. One such place is North Carolina's Green Swamp. There also appears to be a naturalized population of Venus flytraps in northern Florida as well as an introduced population in western Washington. The nutritional poverty of the soil is the reason it relies on such elaborate traps: insect prey provide the nitrogen for protein formation that the soil cannot. They tolerate mild winters, and Venus flytraps that do not go through a period of winter dormancy will weaken and die after a period of time.


title: Venus flytrap

text: They are full sun plants, usually found only in areas with less than 10% canopy cover. The microhabitat where it thrives is typically sparse with grasses, herbs, sphagnum, and often bare patches where there are not enough nutrients for noncarnivorous plants to survive, or where fires regularly clear competition and prevent cover from forming. Thus, natural fires are an important part of its habitat, required every 3–5 years in most places for "D. muscipula" to thrive. After fire, "D. muscipula" seeds germinate well in ash and sandy soil, with seedlings growing well in the open post-fire conditions. The seeds germinate immediately without a dormant period.


title: Venus flytrap

text: "Dionaea muscipula" occurs naturally only along the coastal plain of North and South Carolina in the U.S, with all known current sites within 90 km of Wilmington, North Carolina. A 1958 survey of herbaria specimens and old documents found 259 sites where the historical record documented the presence of "D. muscipula", within 21 counties in North and South Carolina. As of 2019, it was considered extirpated in North Carolina in the inland counties of Moore, Robeson, and Lenoir, as well as the South Carolina coastal counties of Charleston and Georgetown. Remaining extant populations exist in North Carolina in Beaufort, Craven, Pamlico, Carteret, Jones, Onslow, Duplin, Pender, New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, Bladen, Sampson, Cumberland, and Hoke counties, and in South Carolina in Horry county.


title: Venus flytrap

text: A large-scale survey in 2019, conducted by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, counted a total of 163,951 individual Venus flytraps in North Carolina and 4,876 in South Carolina, estimating a total of 302,000 individuals remaining in the wild in its native range. This represents a reduction of more than 93% from a 1979 estimate of approximately 4,500,000 individuals. A 1958 study found 259 confirmed extant or historic sites. As of 2016, there were 71 known sites where the plant could be found in the wild. Of these 71 sites, only 20 were classified as having excellent or good long-term viability.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Most carnivorous plants selectively feed on specific prey. This selection is due to the available prey and the type of trap used by the organism. With the Venus flytrap, prey is limited to beetles, spiders and other crawling arthropods. The "Dionaea" diet is 33% ants, 30% spiders, 10% beetles, and 10% grasshoppers, with fewer than 5% flying insects.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Given that "Dionaea" evolved from an ancestral form of "Drosera" (carnivorous plants that use a sticky trap instead of a snap trap) the reason for this evolutionary branching becomes clear. "Drosera" consume smaller, aerial insects, whereas "Dionaea" consume larger terrestrial bugs. "Dionaea" are able to extract more nutrients from these larger bugs. This gives "Dionaea" an evolutionary advantage over their ancestral sticky trap form.


title: Venus flytrap

text: The Venus flytrap is one of a very small group of plants capable of rapid movement, such as "Mimosa pudica", the Telegraph plant, starfruit, sundews and bladderworts.


title: Venus flytrap

text: The mechanism by which the trap snaps shut involves a complex interaction between elasticity, turgor and growth. The trap only shuts when there have been two stimulations of the trigger hairs; this is to avoid inadvertent triggering of the mechanism by dust and other wind-borne debris. In the open, untripped state, the lobes are convex (bent outwards), but in the closed state, the lobes are concave (forming a cavity). It is the rapid flipping of this bistable state that closes the trap, but the mechanism by which this occurs is still poorly understood. When the trigger hairs are stimulated, an action potential (mostly involving calcium ions—see calcium in biology) is generated, which propagates across the lobes and stimulates cells in the lobes and in the midrib between them.


title: Venus flytrap

text: It is hypothesized that there is a threshold of ion buildup for the Venus flytrap to react to stimulation. The acid growth theory states that individual cells in the outer layers of the lobes and midrib rapidly move H (hydrogen ions) into their cell walls, lowering the pH and loosening the extracellular components, which allows them to swell rapidly by osmosis, thus elongating and changing the shape of the trap lobe. Alternatively, cells in the inner layers of the lobes and midrib may rapidly secrete other ions, allowing water to follow by osmosis, and the cells to collapse. Both of these mechanisms may play a role and have some experimental evidence to support them.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Flytraps show an example of memory in plants; the plant knows if one of its trigger hairs have been touched, and remembers this for a few seconds. If a second touch occurs during that time frame, the flytrap closes. After closing, the flytrap counts additional stimulations of the trigger hairs, to five total, to start the production of digesting enzymes.


title: Venus flytrap

text: If the prey is unable to escape, it will continue to stimulate the inner surface of the lobes, and this causes a further growth response that forces the edges of the lobes together, eventually sealing the trap hermetically and forming a "stomach" in which digestion occurs. Release of the digestive enzymes is controlled by the hormone jasmonic acid, the same hormone that triggers the release of toxins as an anti-herbivore defense mechanism in non-carnivorous plants. (See Evolution below) Once the digestive glands in the leaf lobes have been activated, digestion is catalysed by hydrolase enzymes secreted by the glands. One of these enzymes includes GH18 chitinase, which breaks down chitin-containing exoskeleton of trapped insects. Synthesis of this enzyme begins with at least five action potentials, which will stimulate transcription of chitinase.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Oxidative protein modification is likely to be a pre-digestive mechanism used by "Dionaea muscipula". Aqueous leaf extracts have been found to contain quinones such as the naphthoquinone plumbagin that couples to different NADH-dependent diaphorases to produce superoxide and hydrogen peroxide upon autoxidation. Such oxidative modification could rupture animal cell membranes. Plumbagin is known to induce apoptosis, associated with the regulation of the Bcl-2 family of proteins. When the "Dionaea" extracts were pre-incubated with diaphorases and NADH in the presence of serum albumin (SA), subsequent tryptic digestion of SA was facilitated. Since the secretory glands of Droseraceae contain proteases and possibly other degradative enzymes, it may be that the presence of oxygen-activating redox cofactors function as extracellular pre-digestive oxidants to render membrane-bound proteins of the prey (insects) more susceptible to proteolytic attacks.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Digestion takes about ten days, after which the prey is reduced to a husk of chitin. The trap then reopens, and is ready for reuse.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Carnivory in plants is a very specialized form of foliar feeding, and is an adaptation found in several plants that grow in nutrient-poor soil. Carnivorous traps were naturally selected to allow these organisms to compensate for the nutrient deficiencies of their harsh environments and compensate for the reduced photosynthetic benefit. Phylogenetic studies have shown that carnivory in plants is a common adaptation in habitats with abundant sunlight and water but scarce nutrients. Carnivory has evolved independently six times in the angiosperms based on extant species, with likely many more carnivorous plant lineages now extinct.


title: Venus flytrap

text: The "snap trap" mechanism characteristic of "Dionaea" is shared with only one other carnivorous plant genus, "Aldrovanda". For most of the 20th century, this relationship was thought to be coincidental, more precisely an example of convergent evolution. Some phylogenetic studies even suggested that the closest living relatives of "Aldrovanda" were the sundews. It was not until 2002 that a molecular evolutionary study, by analyzing combined nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequences, indicated that "Dionaea" and "Aldrovanda" were closely related and that the snap trap mechanism evolved only once in a common ancestor of the two genera.


title: Venus flytrap

text: A 2009 study presented evidence for the evolution of snap traps of "Dionaea" and "Aldrovanda" from a flypaper trap like "Drosera regia", based on molecular data. The molecular and physiological data imply that "Dionaea" and "Aldrovanda" snap traps evolved from the flypaper traps of a common ancestor with "Drosera". Pre-adaptations to the evolution of snap traps were identified in several species of "Drosera", such as rapid leaf and tentacle movement. The model proposes that plant carnivory by snap trap evolved from the flypaper traps, driven by increasing prey size. Bigger prey provides greater nutritional value, but large insects can easily escape the sticky mucilage of flypaper traps; the evolution of snap traps would therefore prevent escape and kleptoparasitism (theft of prey captured by the plant before it can derive benefit from it), and would also permit a more complete digestion.


title: Venus flytrap

text: In 2016, a study of the expression of genes in the plant's leaves as they captured and digested prey was published in the journal, "Genome Research". The gene activation observed in the leaves of the plants gives support to the hypothesis that the carnivorous mechanisms present in the flytrap are a specially adapted version of mechanisms used by non-carnivorous plants to defend against herbivorous insects. In many non-carnivorous plants, jasmonic acid serves as a signaling molecule for the activation of defense mechanisms, such as the production of hydrolases, which can destroy chitin and other molecular components of insect and microbial pests. In the Venus flytrap, this same molecule has been found to be responsible for the activation of the plant's digestive glands. A few hours after the capture of prey, another set of genes is activated inside the glands, the same set of genes that is active in the roots of other plants, allowing them to absorb nutrients. The use of similar biological pathways in the traps as non-carnivorous plants use for other purposes indicates that somewhere in its evolutionary history, the Venus flytrap repurposed these genes to facilitate carnivory.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Carnivorous plants are generally herbaceous, and their traps the result of primary growth. They generally do not form readily fossilizable structures such as thick bark or wood. As a result, there is no fossil evidence of the steps that might link "Dionaea" and "Aldrovanda", or either genus with their common ancestor, "Drosera". Nevertheless, it is possible to infer an evolutionary history based on phylogenetic studies of both genera. Researchers have proposed a series of steps that would ultimately result in the complex snap-trap mechanism:


title: Venus flytrap

text: Phylogenetic studies using molecular characters place the emergence of carnivory in the ancestors of "Dionaea muscipula" to 85.6 million years ago, and the development of the snap-trap in the ancestors of "Dionaea" and its sister genus "Aldrovanda" to approximately 48 million years ago.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Plants can be propagated by seed, taking around four to five years to reach maturity. More commonly, they are propagated by clonal division in spring or summer. Venus flytraps can also be propagated "in vitro" using plant tissue culture. Most Venus flytraps found for sale in nurseries garden centers have been produced using this method, as this is the most cost-effective way to propagate them on a large scale. Regardless of the propagation method used, the plants will live for 20 to 30 years if cultivated in the right conditions.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Venus flytraps are by far the most commonly recognized and cultivated carnivorous plant, and they are frequently sold as houseplants. Various cultivars (cultivated varieties) have come into the market through tissue culture of selected genetic mutations, and these plants are raised in large quantities for commercial markets. The cultivars 'Akai Ryu and 'South West Giant' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Although widely cultivated for sale as a houseplant, "D. muscipula" has suffered a significant decline in its population in the wild. The population in its native range is estimated to have decreased 93% since 1979.


title: Venus flytrap

text: The species is under Endangered Species Act review by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The current review commenced in 2018, after an initial "90-day" review found that action may be warranted. A previous review in 1993 resulted in a determination that the plant was a "Potential candidate without sufficient data on vulnerability". The IUCN Red List classifies the species as "vulnerable". The State of North Carolina lists "Dionaea muscipula" as a species of "Special Concern–Vulnerable". The species is protected under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meaning international trade (including in parts and derivatives) is regulated by the CITES permitting system. NatureServe classified it as "Imperiled" (G2) in a 2018 review.


title: Venus flytrap

text: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has not indicated a timeline to conclude its current review of "Dionaea muscipula". The Endangered Species Act specifies a two-year timeline for a species review. However, the species listing process takes 12.1 years on average.


title: Venus flytrap

text: The Venus flytrap is only found in the wild in a very particular set of conditions, requiring flat land with moist, acidic, nutrient-poor soils that receive full sun and burn frequently in forest fires, and is therefore sensitive to many types of disturbance. A 2011 review identified five categories of threats for the species: agriculture, road-building, biological resource use (poaching and lumber activities), natural systems modifications (drainage and fire suppression), and pollution (fertilizer).


title: Venus flytrap

text: Habitat loss is a major threat to the species. The human population of the coastal Carolinas is rapidly expanding. For example, Brunswick County, North Carolina, which has the largest number of Venus flytrap populations, has seen a 27% increase in its human population from 2010 to 2018. As the population grows, residential and commercial development and road building directly eliminate flytrap habitat, while site preparation that entails ditching and draining can dry out soil in surrounding areas, destroying the viability of the species. Additionally, increased recreational use of natural areas in populated areas directly destroys the plants by crushing or uprooting them.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Fire suppression is another threat to the Venus flytrap. In the absence of regular fires, shrubs and trees encroach, outcompeting the species and leading to local extirpations. "D. muscipula" requires fire every 3–5 years, and best thrives with annual brush fires. Although flytraps and their seeds are typically killed alongside their competition in fires, seeds from flytraps adjacent to the burnt zone propagate quickly in the ash and full sun conditions that occur post a fire disturbance. Because the mature plants and new seedlings are typically destroyed in the regular fires that are necessary to maintain their habitat, "D. muscipula"'s survival relies upon adequate seed production and dispersal from outside the burnt patches back into the burnt habitat, requiring a critical mass of populations, and exposing the success of any one population to metapopulation dynamics. These dynamics make small, isolated populations particularly vulnerable to extirpation, for if there are no mature plants adjacent to the fire zone, there is no source of seeds post-fire.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Poaching has been another cause of population decline. Harvesting Venus flytraps on public land became illegal in North Carolina in 1958, and since then a legal cultivation industry has formed, growing tens of thousands of flytraps in commercial greenhouses for sale as household plants. Yet in 2016, the "New York Times" reported that demand for wild plants still exists, which "has led to a 'Venus flytrap crime ring. In 2014, the state of North Carolina made Venus flytrap poaching a felony. Since then, several poachers have been charged, with one man receiving 17 months in prison for poaching 970 Venus flytraps, and another man charged with 73 felony counts in 2019. Poachers may do greater harm to the wild populations than a simple count of individuals taken would indicate, as they may selectively harvest the largest plants at a site, which have more flowers and fruit and therefore generate more seeds than smaller plants.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Additionally, the species is particularly vulnerable to catastrophic climate events. Most Venus flytrap sites are only 2–4 meters (6.5 –13 feet) above sea level and are located in a region prone to hurricanes, making storm surges and rising sea levels a long-term threat.


title: Venus flytrap

text: Venus flytrap extract is available on the market as an herbal remedy, sometimes as the prime ingredient of a patent medicine named "Carnivora". According to the American Cancer Society, these products are promoted in alternative medicine as a treatment for a variety of human ailments including HIV, Crohn's disease and skin cancer, but available scientific evidence does not support the health claims made for Venus flytrap extract.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: General Pervez Musharraf (; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the federal government in 1999. He also served as the 10th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1998 to 2001 and the 7th Chief of Army Staff from 1998 to 2007.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: Born in Delhi during the British Raj, Musharraf was raised in Karachi and Istanbul. He studied mathematics at Forman Christian College in Lahore and was also educated at the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom. Musharraf entered the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961 and was commissioned to the Pakistan Army in 1964. Musharraf saw action during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 as a second lieutenant. By the 1980s, he was commanding an artillery brigade. In the 1990s, Musharraf was promoted to major general and assigned an infantry division, and later commanded the Special Services Group. Soon after, he also served as deputy military secretary and director general of military operations. He played an active role in the Afghan civil war, encouraging Pakistani support for the Taliban.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: Musharraf rose to national prominence when he was promoted to four-star general by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1998, making Musharraf the head of the armed forces. He led the Kargil infiltration that brought India and Pakistan to a war in 1999. After months of contentious relations between Sharif and Musharraf, Sharif unsuccessfully attempted to remove Musharraf as the army's leader. In retaliation, the army staged a coup d'état in 1999, which allowed Musharraf to take over Pakistan as president in 2001. He subsequently placed Sharif under strict house arrest before launching official criminal proceedings against him.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: Musharraf initially remained the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Chief of the Army Staff, relinquishing the former position upon confirmation of his presidency. However, he remained the Army Chief until retiring in 2007. The initial stages of his presidency featured controversial wins in a state referendum to grant him a five-year term limit, and a general election in 2002. During his presidency, he advocated for the Third Way, adopting a synthesis of conservatism and socialism. Musharraf reinstated the constitution in 2002, though it was heavily amended within the Legal Framework Order. He appointed Zafarullah Jamali and later Shaukat Aziz as Prime Minister, and oversaw directed policies against terrorism, becoming a key player in the American-led war on terror.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: Musharraf pushed for social liberalism under his enlightened moderation program and promoted economic liberalisation, while he also banned trade unions. Musharraf's presidency coincided with a rise of overall gross domestic product by around 50%; in the same period, domestic savings declined, and economic inequality rose at a rapid rate. Musharraf's government has also been accused of human rights abuses, and he survived a number of assassination attempts during his presidency. When Aziz departed as prime minister, and after approving the suspension of the judicature in 2007, Musharraf's position weakened dramatically. Tendering his resignation to avoid impeachment in 2008, Musharraf emigrated to London in a self-imposed exile. His legacy as leader is mixed; he saw the emergence of a more assertive middle class, but an open disregard for civilian institutions greatly weakened democracy in Pakistan.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: Musharraf returned to Pakistan in 2013 to participate in that year's general election, but was disqualified from participating after the country's high courts issued arrest warrants for him and Aziz for their alleged involvement in the assassinations of Nawab Akbar Bugti and Benazir Bhutto. Upon Sharif's re-election in 2013, he initiated high treason charges against Musharraf for implementing emergency rule and suspending the constitution in 2007. The case against Musharraf continued after Sharif's removal from office in 2017, the same year in which Musharraf was declared an "absconder" in the Bhutto assassination case by virtue of moving to Dubai. In 2019, Musharraf was sentenced to death in absentia for the treason charges, although the death sentence was later annulled by the Lahore High Court.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: Musharraf was born on 11 August 1943 to an Urdu-speaking family in Delhi, British India, the son of Syed Musharrafuddin and his wife Begum Zarin Musharraf (c. 1920–2021). His family were Muslims who were also Sayyids, claiming descent from prophet Muhammad. Syed Musharraf graduated from Aligarh Muslim University and entered the civil service, which was an extremely prestigious career under British rule. He came from a long line of government officials as his great-grandfather was a tax collector while his maternal grandfather was a "qazi" (judge). Musharraf's mother Zarin, born in the early 1920s, grew up in Lucknow and received her schooling there, after which she graduated from Indraprastha College at Delhi University, taking a bachelor's degree in English literature. She then married and devoted herself to raising a family. His father, Syed, was an accountant who worked at the foreign office in the British Indian government and eventually became an accounting director.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: Musharraf was the second of three children, all boys. His elder brother, Javed Musharraf, based in Rome, is an economist and one of the directors of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. His younger brother, Naved Musharraf, is an anaesthesiologist based in Illinois, US.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: At the time of his birth, Musharraf's family lived in a large home that belonged to his father's family for many years called "Nehar Wali Haveli", which means "House Next to the Canal". Sir Syed Ahmed Khan's family lived next door. It is indicative of "the family's western education and social prominence" that the house's title deeds, although written entirely in Urdu, were signed by Musharraf's father in English.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: Musharraf was four years old when India achieved independence and Pakistan was created as the homeland for India's Muslims. His family left for Pakistan in August 1947, a few days before independence. His father joined the Pakistan Civil Services and began to work for the Pakistani government; later, his father joined the Foreign Ministry, taking up an assignment in Turkey. In his autobiography "", Musharraf elaborates on his first experience with death, after falling off a mango tree.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: Musharraf's family moved to Ankara in 1949, when his father became part of a diplomatic deputation from Pakistan to Turkey. He learned to speak Turkish. He had a dog named Whiskey that gave him a "lifelong love for dogs". He played sports in his youth. In 1956, he left Turkey and returned to Pakistan in 1957 where he attended Saint Patrick's School in Karachi and was accepted at the Forman Christian College University in Lahore. At Forman, Musharraf chose mathematics as a major in which he excelled academically, but later developed an interest in economics.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: In 1961, at the age of 18, Musharraf entered the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul. During his college years at PMA and initial joint military testings, Musharraf shared a room with PQ Mehdi of the Pakistan Air Force and Abdul Aziz Mirza of the Navy (both reached four-star assignments and served with Musharraf later on) and after giving the exams and entrance interviews, all three cadets went to watch a world-acclaimed Urdu film, "Savera" (lit. "Dawn"), with his inter-services and college friends, Musharraf recalls, "", published in 2006. With his friends, Musharraf passed the standardise, physical, psychological, and officer-training exams, he also took discussions involving the socioeconomics issues; all three were interviewed by joint military officers who were designated as Commandants. The next day, Musharraf along with PQ Mehdi and Mirza, reported to PMA and they were selected for their respective training in their arms of commission.


title: Pervez Musharraf

text: Finally, in 1964, Musharraf graduated with a Bachelor's degree in his class of 29th PMA Long Course together with Ali Kuli Khan and his lifelong friend Abdul Aziz Mirza. He was commissioned in the artillery regiment as second lieutenant and posted near the Indo-Pakistan border. During this time in the artillery regiment, Musharraf maintained his close friendship and contact with Mirza through letters and telephones even in difficult times when Mirza, after joining the Navy Special Service Group, was stationed in East-Pakistan as a military advisor to Eastern Corps.