tagged w/ wildlife-trade
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Two different forms of shark fin go into this cup of shark fin soup. (Photo: Jeff Young)
At CITES, the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, representatives from 175 countries will focus on the necessity of developing management plans for marine animals, including the bluefin tuna and eight species of shark. Sharks are routinely hunted for their fins, which are used as a delicacy in shark fin soup. Stony Brook University professor Demian Chapman does DNA research to identify shark species and geographic origin. He tells host Jeff Young why it’s important to regulate international trade of sharks.
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=10-P13-00011&segmentID=1Two different forms of shark fin go into this cup of shark fin soup. (Photo: Jeff... more
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"The Bushmeat Crisis" - the commercial hunting of many critically endangered species
(DRC, Africa)
GORILLA HANDS FOR SALE AT A MARKET IN THE
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO... FOR 6 US DOLLARS.
*WARNING: GRAPHIC & DISTURBING IMAGES
This slideshow includes other critically endangered species also for sale.
Some are STILL ALIVE.
Please follow link to 'Endangered Species International' (ESI) for more information & to see what you can do to help..
For the first time, ESI reveal's photos of their field monitoring using undercover methods at key markets in the republic of Congo. Their research reveals that most of illegal bushmeat sold in markets originates from one single region where primary and unprotected rainforest still remains.
ESI estimates about 300 gorillas are illegally killed each year for the bushmeat market in the city of Pointe Noire.
With your help, ESI can stop the illegal commercial hunting of endangered species in Central Africa.
DID ANYONE HEAR THIS?
$6.OO...
THIS IS UNEXCEPABLE!"The Bushmeat Crisis" - the commercial hunting of many critically endangered... more
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PHOTO: A mountain gorilla is having a snare removed. Illegal logging/deforestation has created access for illegal hunting and illegal wildlife-trade. The snares are used to catch "bushmeat" (anything that ends up in the trap).
Large numbers of endangered animals have been killed by armed groups at Africa's oldest national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the start of the year, park officials and environmental groups said Tuesday.
Chimpanzees, elephants, antelopes, birds and hippos have been slaughtered after Virunga National Park became the scene of intense fighting.
The park, on the frontier with Uganda, was made a world heritage site by the UN's cultural body UNESCO, and is home to endangered species such as the mountain gorilla.
"Four chimpanzees were killed last week in the central zone and 11 elephants since the start of the year," park director Emmanuel de Merode told AFP.
He added "a large number of game animals", including antelopes, had also been slaughtered.
Bantu Lukamba, from local environmental NGO Innovation, said: "At least 31 animals, including 11 migratory birds and three hippos were killed over 21 days."
They died between May 25 and June 16, he said.
Armed groups have overrun the park since violence flared up last year.
It became the theatre of intense fighting, mainly between government forces or their proxies and rebels of the National Congress for the Defence of the People.
"It is impossible to get control the situation in the park, given the huge number of armed men who exploit its resources," Merode said.
The park is also home to Lake Edward, which in 1980 was the world's most important hippopotamus sanctuary with 27,000 of the animals.
There are now less than 300, according to Merode.
Created in 1925, Virunga National Park is the oldest in Africa.PHOTO: A mountain gorilla is having a snare removed. Illegal logging/deforestation has... more
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Eyelids are sewn shut to study effect of light deprivation.
HIDDEN CRIMES: A Photographic exhibition on vivisection
(WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS)
Please visit my blogger at: http://julesrs007saveanimals.blogspot.com/ for information on how you can help end the atrocity to our fellow creatures.Eyelids are sewn shut to study effect of light deprivation.
HIDDEN CRIMES: A... more
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Born Free USA united with API's dynamic circus campaign aims to end the exploitation and suffering of wild animals used in circuses through public education about the animals' quality of life, training and transportation methods, myths about conservation, and the inherent dangers to the public that exist by having wild and exotic animals in traveling exhibitions and performances, and by working to pass state and local laws aimed at prohibiting or restricting the use of wild and exotic animals in circuses.
The good news is that you as an individual have tremendous power to help change the lifetime of misery faced by animals that perform in circuses. There are a number of things you can do to start helping right away.
Please sign our petition to Kenneth Feld, Chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, Inc. and owner/producer of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey animal circus.
http://action.bornfreeusa.org/site/TellAFriend?page=http%3A%2F%2Faction.bornfreeusa.org%2Fsite%2FSurvey%3FSURVEY_ID%3D1341%26ACTION_REQUIRED%3DURI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&type=0&id=0&taf_sec_cat_id=1
Let him know that the use of animals in the circus is an unnecessary and inhumane practice that is harmful to both the animals and the public. Urge him to update his circus by making it compassionate and truly fun with only human performers.
Please sign and send in our pledge to show your support and promote animal-free circuses.
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/downloads/pdf/API-Ringling-Pledge.pdf
We will collect signed pledges and deliver them to Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus — letting them know just how many people prefer animal-free circuses. Feel free to make copies to share with others! Send your completed pledge to:
Born Free USA united with API
Circus Pledge
P.O. Box 22505
Sacramento, CA 95822Born Free USA united with API's dynamic circus campaign aims to end the... more
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Baby gorilla rescued from suspected traffickers -
Undercover officers rescued a baby gorilla from suspected animal traffickers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a national park in the country announced Tuesday.
The gorilla, thought to be about two years old, was hidden at the bottom of a bag and covered with clothes when Congolese Wildlife Authority officers arrested the suspected trafficker on Sunday, Virunga National Park said.
The gorilla, a female, was overheated and dehydrated after six hours in transit. She also had a puncture wound on her right leg, among other injuries, and is malnourished, but is responding to treatment, the park said in a statement.
It is not clear if the young gorilla's mother is alive or dead, park spokeswoman Samantha Newport said.
"You can assume that a gorilla family was attacked in order for the traffickers to obtain a baby -- but it is impossible to know if a whole family was wiped out, just a few individuals, or none at all," she said. "In most cases gorillas have to die to get a baby -- but we cannot know specifically for this case."
The animal is now being looked after by specially trained carers, Newport said.
"This is of course not an ideal replacement for a mother -- but the best option we have," she told CNN via e-mail. Carers often have some veterinary training, but are not fully fledged vets, she added.
But gorillas do not do well in situations like this, she warned.
"Gorillas, it is worth noting, are notoriously difficult to keep alive," she said. "Chimps are fighters, as are bonobos. But gorillas -- when the going gets tough -- tend to just shut down. So it really is a critical time right now to ensure she gets the veterinary attention and human warmth that she needs to get through this."
The suspect was getting off a plane from the interior of the country, near the gorillas' habitat, the park said.
One person has been charged under the country's law forbidding the destruction of flora and fauna, Newport told CNN. The park did not name the suspect.
Gorillas can fetch up to $20,000 on the black market, the head of Virunga National Park said.
"Investigations have yet to reveal where these animals are being sent and who is buying them, but on the ground sources tell us that a baby gorilla can fetch up to $20,000," said Emmanuel de Merode, the director. "We must remember that for each trafficked baby gorilla, several gorillas have probably been killed in the wild."
He led the three-month undercover operation that netted the suspect and the gorilla, the park said.
The gorilla is a lowland eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri), also known as the Grauer's Gorilla, a subspecies of Eastern Gorilla only found in the forests of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the park.
Virunga National Park calls itself the oldest national park in Africa, established in 1925. It lies in a region that has been badly affected by the long-running war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The gorilla section is in a strategically important area near the borders of Rwanda and Uganda.
A ranger was killed earlier this year, and rangers lost control of a large part of the park to rebels for over a year.
But a census earlier this year suggests mountain gorillas are surviving despite poaching and war.
Officials have long said that the 250-square kilometer gorilla reserve in the southern part of Virunga National Park is where around 200 of the world's 700 mountain gorillas live.Baby gorilla rescued from suspected traffickers -
Undercover officers rescued a... more
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The Burning Season
Video: Full Episode
Every hour in Indonesian rainforests, an area the size of 300 soccer fields is mowed down and burned. Often this clearing is done to make way for oil palm plantations. The resulting palm oil is used for cooking, cleaning and even as a biofuel. But the fires farmers set to clear their land have helped to make Indonesia the world’s third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide — exceeded only by the U.S. and China.
A 29-year-old Australian “green” entrepreneur named Dorjee Sun believes he has a solution to reduce those harmful greenhouse gas emissions. He has canvassed the world pitching the sale of Indonesia’s carbon credits to polluters in the West.
His business model would maintain the standing swaths of Indonesia’s rainforests by selling their carbon credits. Burning Season follows Dorjee Sun on a whirlwind trip into boardrooms around the world – from Starbucks to eBay to Merrill Lynch – as he tries to convince skeptical financiers that his proposal is viable.
To carry out his plan, local political leaders in Indonesia must also agree that their forests are worth more alive than dead. Small farmers like Achmadi, who makes a living by cutting down trees to plant oil palms, fear the layers of government officials will be the only profiteers from the carbon credit sale.
Burning Season kindles both sides of the climate divide and explores whether capitalism can step in where altruism has so far failed to succeed.The Burning Season
Video: Full Episode
Every hour in Indonesian rainforests, an... more
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FYI: 300 football fields worth of trees are destroyed every hour. The wildlife and native peoples have no 'claim' to the land. The animals are simply killed or sold into the wildlife-trade as pets, meat, or as laboratory research specimens.
PLEASE BE A RESPONSIBLE CONSUMER!
Look at ingredients when you purchase food. You'll be surprised to see how many products contain some form of palm! PLEASE call or write the manufacturer and let them know that you do not support palm derived from unethical or unsustainable methods (ex. destroying rain-forest for palm plantations!).
Efforts to slow the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations at the expense of natural forests across Southeast Asia are being hindered by industry-sponsored disinformation campaigns, argue scientists writing in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. The authors, Lian Pin Koh and David S. Wilcove, say that palm oil may constitute the "single most immediate threat to the greatest number of species" by driving the conversion of biologically rich ecosystems — including lowland rain-forests and peat-lands.
"Why have efforts by conservationists failed to halt the expansion of oil palm plantations at the expense of tropical forests? We contend that part of the reason could be the aggressive public relations campaigns undertaken by the oil palm industry to promote public acceptance of palm oil and to dismiss the concerns of conservation biologists and environmentalists," Koh and Wilcove write. "It is not unlike the campaign that some energy companies waged against efforts to curb global climate change."
Under fire from environmental groups, which are now pushing for consumer boycotts of products containing palm oil in some markets, industry groups have launched marketing campaigns to depict palm oil as a environmentally benign — or even ecologically beneficial — product. Despite substantial scientific evidence to the contrary, the industry claims that expansion has not occurred in natural forest areas and that oil palm plantations sequester more carbon than rain-forests.
Ultimately, pressure on the industry to improve environmental performance will hinge on whether environmentalists can overcome this propaganda to convince consumers and governments on the merits of eco-friendly palm oil. Until then, biodiversity will continue to be at risk from the palm oil industry, conclude Koh and Wilcove.
"To effectively mitigate the threats of oil palm to biodiversity, conservationists need to persuade consumers to continue to demand both greater transparency in land-use decisions by governments and greater environmental accountability from oil palm producers."
"A prohibition on the conversion of primary or secondary forests to oil palm is urgently needed to safeguard tropical biodiversity. Until that happens, oil palm might well be the single most immediate threat to the greatest number of species."
* Lian Pin Koh and David S. Wilcove. Oil palm: disinformation enables deforestation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution Vol.24 No.2FYI: 300 football fields worth of trees are destroyed every hour. The wildlife and... more
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PHOTO: Described in 2005, the Laotian Rock Rat [Laonastes aenigmamus] was first encountered by scientists on sale at an outdoor food market in Lao
Over one thousand new species have been discovered in the Greater Mekong Region of Southeast Asia since 1997, says a new report by WWF.
Among the most incredible finds documented in 'First Contact in the Greater Mekong' are the Lao Rock Rat, thought to have gone extinct 11 million years ago but discovered in a Lao food market; the hot-pink “dragon millipede” that produces cyanide in self-defense; the world’s largest huntsman spider, which has a leg span of over 30 centimeters; and a new species of purple banana from Southern China.
All told, over 500 plants, 250 fish, 80 frogs, 40 lizards, and 20 snakes, as well as 15 mammals, 4 birds, 4 turtles, 2 salamanders and a toad, were found throughout the six countries of the Greater Mekong region, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.
In documenting such a prolific rate of discovery—an average of two species per week were discovered over the past decade—the report’s findings reaffirm the importance of the Greater Mekong as a biodiversity hotspot and conservation priority. As a result of such high biodiversity, the region is also recognised as a hub for the illicit trade in wildlife. Plants and animals of all sizes and description are poached from their natural habitats, transported across the region to major markets such as China and Viet Nam.
However, while many of these discoveries are new to science, Sulma Warne, Co-ordinator of TRAFFIC’s Greater Mekong Programme, says it is likely that many of the species have been known by local communities, and in some cases have long been harvested for food, medicine or other reasons.
While excited about the recent discoveries and recognizing the importance of sharing such news with the rest of the world, he was, however, concerned that high levels of publicity might motivate a demand for some species that was previously non-existent beyond low level local consumption.PHOTO: Described in 2005, the Laotian Rock Rat [Laonastes aenigmamus] was first... more
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The reptiles, especially softshell turtles, are prized in China as food and as a source for traditional medicines. U.S. experts fear the trade could lead to extinctions.
The turtle tank at Nam Hoa Fish Market is empty, but not to worry: The manager of this bustling Chinatown store says he has plenty in back.
As Asian economies boomed, more and more people began buying turtle, once a delicacy beyond their budgets. Driven in particular by Chinese demand, Asian consumption has all but wiped out wild turtle populations not just in China, but in Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and elsewhere in the region.
Now conservationists fear that the U.S. turtle population could be eaten into extinction.The reptiles, especially softshell turtles, are prized in China as food and as a... more
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Exotic animals are trapped within a 65 ft enclosure in Grainger County, Tennessee, and being cruely hunted and killed for sport and profit, without hope of escape or a chance of survival. They live in this enclosed area for the reason of being shot at by people as 'sport'. There are even treestands inside the area. This is inhumane, and horrible, and should not be allowed to have ever been opened.
Please look at the animals on this website, and please forward and sign this petition:
http://www.clinchmountainhuntingadventures.net/SPECIES-INFO.html
Petition Link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/animals-being-brutally-killed-in-canned-hunts-in-clinch-mountain-tennessee-with-no-chance-of
To view news video of actual footage, and animals walking right up to the camera, along with neighbor's protest go here: http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=61587&catid=2
News Release:
Along the quiet Dry Valley Road in Grainger County, a cow is about as exotic as you'll get.
That was before Robert Haun moved in and brought dozens of animals with him.
"You just can't go anywhere and get ONE," Haun said of the exotic animals. "Some people
have phobias of flying or not being able to afford the expense to go across sea and get ONE, so we're bringing IT to them."
"They're going TO HAVE TO go into the woods and sit down and hunt and walk and look and stalk for the animal that they choose, and it's not ALWAYS going to be a hundred percent success," Haun said.
He's responding to some criticism from some neighbors and animal rights supporters.
The Grainger County Humane Society opposes the hunting preserve, calling it a "canned hunt," but members make clear they do not oppose hunting.
"I was horrified," neighbor Betty Rich said. "I'm almost 80 years old, and I did not know that these facilities existed in this country."
Rich has written a letter to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, asking commissioners to consider changing their rules about the hunting preserves.
Right now, the preserves have to be a minimum of 20 acres. Rich says that's not nearly enough. She's pushing for 1,000 acres.
She and her daughter also are collecting signatures for a petition they plan to send to the state legislature.
"I'm against raising exotic animals domestically and putting them in a fence and shooting them for trophies. I'm against that. I think it's wrong," she said.
Meanwhile, Haun is defending his facility, saying the acreage and foliage make it MORE THAN A FAIR CHASE for the animals. Plus, he points out he will also CATER to young hunters and people whose DISABILITIES may prevent them from hunting elsewhere.
"They just don't understand, they don't understand," Haun said of his critics. "They think it's up here behind a big, high fence, the animals have NOWHERE to go. As you can see, there's PLENTY of places for animals to HIDE that we CANNOT access."
Clinch Mountain Hunting Adventures is set to open in September. The prices range between $600 and $10,000.
Exotic animals are trapped within a 65 ft enclosure in Grainger County, Tennessee, and... more
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SERIOUS alarm has been raised over official plans to shoot three of Namibia's rare desert-adapted elephant bulls in the Kunene Region as trophies for big-game hunters, which conservationists fear could cause a collapse in their dwindling numbers.
The permits for shooting what could be three of only five breeding-age elephant bulls left were issued in spite of warnings that this was unsustainable in a population that already showed alarming signs of high natural mortality and genetic problems due to in-breeding.
Documentation seen by The Namibian shows that the Ministry of Environment and Tourism had issued three hunting permits to six conservancies in the Kunene Region for shooting three elephant bulls in the current hunting season.
These conservancies, controlled by the local communities, typically sell their rights on to professional hunting companies, earning on average about N$60 000 per elephant.
The professional hunting firms however sell these on to wealthy hunters willing to pay up to US$60 000 for the privilege of bagging such a rare trophy.
The desert elephant, so called because of their smaller stature and physical adaptation to their arid environment, range in the dry riverbeds of southern Kunene where they feed primarily on Ana tree pods.
Regarded as a keystone species in the local eco-system, they are also a key attraction in Namibia's estimated N$6,2 billion tourism industry.
While the elephant largely keep to unpopulated areas, increasing encroachment from pastoral farmers have over the past years has brought them into conflict with local communities.
A man was killed in the Bergsig area late last year by a bull which a local NGO said had become aggressive after he had been previously shot at.
The Ministry has not, as far as could be established, conducted any recent census of the elephant population but apparently based its decisions on complaints from local communities about "problem animals."
According to research by Australian researcher Dr Keith Leggett, there are fewer than 240 of these elephant left in the southern Kunene Region, ranging from the Ugab to the Bergsig area further north.
Elephant-Human Relations Aid (EHRA), a NGO that constantly monitors these elephants and manage conflict between the elephants and local populations by constructing elephant-proof water points, however says there are fewer than 60 adult cows, and as of 2006, only five bulls of breeding age.
EHRA's Johannes Haasbroek believes their and Leggett's data overlap, as the elephant range up 70 kilometres in a single day, with the herds of about six to 10 animals moving between rivers in search of food and water.
Even more alarmingly, EHRA reported on their website that they have only spotted three breeding-age bulls over the past few months -the same number as the trophies now up for sale.
The three permits appear to have been issued by Director of Wildlife Management Ben Beytell, in spite of several recommendations by the Ministry's own staff to the contrary.
SERIOUS alarm has been raised over official plans to shoot three of Namibia's... more
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Tiger skins and rare caged primates openly sold at markets in the heart of Indonesia's capital are the most brazen and visible aspect of a thriving illegal wildlife trade.
Indonesia is struggling to take on a multi-million-dollar industry that is stripping the archipelago nation's vast forests of endangered species for enormous profit by selling them to buyers around the world.
With corruption rife and authorities overwhelmed, conservationists say police and forestry officials have barely made a dent.
Activists and the government estimate Indonesia loses at least 80 million dollars a year through the illegal trade, with rare animals -- dead and alive -- being sold at huge mark-ups once they get to overseas markets.
"What's interesting is that an orangutan caught in Kalimantan (on Borneo island) costs no more than three million rupiah (327 dollars) and is sold in Jakarta for five million rupiah," said Asep Purnama from the non-government organisation ProFauna.
"Once they get to Taiwan they will sell for around 100 million rupiah and in Europe they'll sell for 400 million," he said, adding that an estimated 100 orangutans are taken every year from Kalimantan's forests alone. Purnama's group estimates around 10,000 animals found only on Sumatra island were poached in 2007 to supply the illegal trade.
Most buyers likely don't know trade in the seemingly cute animals is illegal -- or that they usually die within weeks from the stress of captivity -- but the sellers do, and they are extremely camera shy.
Occasional raids have driven most of the high-profile endangered animals from clear view, but buyers from around the world still place orders for goods as exotic as tiger cubs and ivory, den Haas said.
While conservationists have been pushing for a crackdown, they say authorities are often either under-resourced, corrupt or unaware of the problem.
Tiger skins and rare caged primates openly sold at markets in the heart of... more
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Wildlife trade's dark side:
What do elephants, rhinos, great apes, bears, big cats, sharks, parrots and marine turtles have in common? They're all threatened by the illegal wildlife trade.
View images of the trade in bushmeat that international conservationists are hoping to curb. WARNING: SOME ANIMAL IMAGES ARE GRAPHIC. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/interactive.aspx?id=WildlifeTrade_2008&navid=3032492&pg=7#WildlifeTrade_2008
Great Apes:
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/interactive.aspx?id=WildlifeTrade_2008&navid=3032492&pg=7#WildlifeTrade_2008
An appetite in China for traditional medicines, and hunger in Africa for protein from apes and other wildlife, dubbed bushmeat.
There’s heavy bushmeat hunting in Central and West Africa, says Russ Mitermeier of Conservation International, and heavy poaching for meat and medicinal uses in Southeast Asia and China.
"In Central Africa alone, about one million tons of wild meat is hunted every year," estimates Liz Bennett of the Wildlife Conservation Society. "That is equivalent to 9 billion 1/4 pound hamburgers each year. It has been estimated that that includes some 28 million bay duikers; 16 million blue duikers; 7.5 million red colobus; 1.8 million red river hogs; 34,000 leopards; 15,000 chimps; and 6,250 lowland gorillas."
A 2008 report by the wildlife monitoring group TRAFFIC found that the lack of meat in refugee rations in Tanzania is causing a flourishing illegal trade in bushmeat, including chimpanzees.
Two dozen refugee camps are near wildlife areas, making it easy for poachers. The bushmeat is covertly traded and cooked after dark -- and referred to as 'night time spinach' inside many refugee camps.
'BLACK MARKET' : A Multimedia Interactive: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25677681/Wildlife trade's dark side:
What do elephants, rhinos, great apes, bears, big... more
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PHOTO: An orphaned gorilla curls up with her caregiver.
After the July 2007 killings of endangered mountain gorillas, possibly by people involved in the illegal charcoal trade, a mobile antipoaching force stayed close to gorillas in Virunga National Park. But the Democratic Republic of the Congo's parks authority, ICCN, must keep the animals safe when these guards are needed elsewhere.
Many groups are working to protect the gorillas and support the people fighting for their survival.
WildlifeDirect
Nairobi-based WildlifeDirect, founded by anthropologist Richard Leakey, helps outfit wildlife rangers in Virunga National Park and supplement their government salaries. The group's website hosts blogs where rangers and others post news and pictures from the field. Online donors can specify where their funds go—for patrol rations, medical kits, or support for the families of rangers killed on duty.
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
Founded by the gorilla researcher murdered in 1985, this organization helps care for young gorillas like the one whose mother was killed in July.
Frankfurt Zoological Society
FZS has trained and equipped hundreds of rangers; it also provides aircraft to help the ICCN monitor gorillas and direct antipoaching forces from the air.
International Gorilla Conservation Program
This coalition works with the governments of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda.
Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project
Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project field vets make routine health visits to habituated gorilla groups in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in partnership with park rangers, guides, patrols, monitoring agents, and scientists from various organizations.
Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is one of the only organizations in the world working to protect all four gorilla subspecies—each of which is threatened by extinction. For nearly half a century the WCS has initiated and supported gorilla research and conservation projects throughout Africa.
Zoological Society of London
In addition to helping supplement rangers' salaries, the ZSL works with D.R. Congo's park authority to help manage Virunga National Park as a whole.
PHOTO: An orphaned gorilla curls up with her caregiver.
After the July 2007... more
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Don't Let Global Warming Take Out Our Irreplaceable Wildlife
The Petition Site
Target: U.S. Congress
Sponsored by: Earthjustice
The polar bear - an icon of a rapidly disappearing Arctic - has just been listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. While this is a symbolic step, we need to do much more to protect the polar bear from global warming, which is threatening wildlife not just in the Arctic, but across the world.
The polar bear currently faces great challenges, such as oil and gas development in its rapidly melting habitat. The recent listing, for example, includes a loophole that enables energy exploration to continue in the Arctic despite its obvious threat to the bear's survival.
The action is part of Irreplaceable - a unique campaign that brings together groups from the worlds of art, justice, science and faith. These groups show that people from all walks of life are uniting to protect wildlife such as gray whales, grizzly bears and whooping cranes from global warming.
You can help by telling Congress to save the polar bear and other wildlife threatened by global warming. Please sign the Call to Care today!Don't Let Global Warming Take Out Our Irreplaceable Wildlife
The Petition Site... more
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TWO women were killed and three people injured when a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) vehicle was attacked in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The WWF vehicle was travelling with 11 people in the Nord-Kivu sector of the vast territory - famed for sheltering more than half the world's 700 remaining wild mountain gorillas - when it was ambushed by armed men, the United Nations-sponsored radio Okapi said.
An 18-year-old girl and her mother, the wife of a park warden, were shot dead, while two conservationists and the wife of another park warden were injured.
Members of the Congolese conservation institute ICCN were also travelling on board with WWF agents.
The attackers stole GPS devices and other personal belongings.
Okapi radio quoted local officials who attributed the attack to Mai-Mai resistance fighters.
Militia in this region have frequently carried out attacks, violating a January ceasefire signed by all Congolese armed groups.
The Virunga park spreads across the DR Congo-Rwanda border.
TWO women were killed and three people injured when a World Wildlife Fund (WWF)... more
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