tagged w/ corrupt government
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Sydney (AFP) Sept 7, 2008
Australian koalas are dying by the thousands as a result of land clearing in the country's northeast, while millions of birds and reptiles are also perishing, conservation group WWF said Sunday.
The environmental body warned that unless urgent action was taken to stop trees being felled, some species would be pushed to the brink of extinction.
In an annual statement, Queensland state last week revealed that 375,000 hectares of bush were cleared in 2005-06 -- a figure WWF said would have resulted in the deaths of TWO MILLION MAMMALS.
Among those that perished as a result of loss of habitat would have been 9,000 tree-hugging koalas, WWF Australia spokesman Nick Heath said.
"It's a horrifying figure," Heath told AFP. "Two million mammals and that's all sorts of kangaroos, wallabies. We couldn't come to an exact figure on the birds, but I would say it would be OVER FIVE MILLION."
Heath said WWF's figures were based on earlier scientific assessments of animal density in each area of the state combined with the amount of land cleared over the 2005-2006 period.
He said the animals that died in the LARGEST NUMBERS were reptiles, including lizards and TURTLES.
Of particular concern was the impact on the koala, an iconic marsupial found only in Australia and which is most populous in Queensland state.
"People want koalas to exist, they don't want them to be on the endangered list. And if we kill 9,000 a year, even if they are not on the endangered list now, they will be if we don't stop."
Heath said that turning native bush into grazing paddocks meant that many of the animals killed DIED IN FIRES SET BY FARMERS to clear debris after bulldozers cut down the trees.
"So these animals die horrific deaths," he said. "They are either dead from being RUN OVER or FALLING FROMA TREE, or if they survive that, they are BURNT ALIVE."
The Queensland government has set up a task force to help conserve koala populations amid greater urban development in the state's southeast.
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Thousands_of_Australias_koalas_felled_by_land-clearing_WWF_999.html
Sydney (AFP) Sept 7, 2008
Australian koalas are dying by the thousands as a result of... more
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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) will sue the Interior Department over its decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species."We believe that the listing was unwarranted and that it's unprecedented to list a currently healthy population based on uncertain climate models," says Alaska Assistant Attorney General Steven Daugherty.
To green groups, that argument is, shall we say, unimpressive. "Even the Bush administration can't deny the reality of global warming," says Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. "The governor is aligning herself and the state of Alaska with the most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints by denying this." Palin's litigation comes mainly out of fear for Alaska's fossil-fuel-reliant economy, even though the wording of the Interior Department decision went to great lengths to ward off any new restrictions on oil and gas drilling.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) will sue the Interior Department over its decision to list... more
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Environmental police are investigating the deaths of at least 180 oil-soaked penguins which have been washed ashore in southern Brazil in the past week.
The police believe the incident was caused by a major fuel spill near the coast of Santa Catarina state.
Another 200 Magellanic penguins which washed up in the same area are being treated in an animal protection and recovery centre.
Environmental police are investigating the deaths of at least 180 oil-soaked penguins... more
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"Heavy fighting broke out at 3.30am today between rebels and the army around the Gorilla Sector, specifically near the patrol post of Bukima and going down toward Rumangabo park station. The situation had been calm for some months but all this has just changed.
This is Samantha. I was at Rumangabo this morning with Diddy, Innocent, Balemba, Pierre and others and you could hear the mortars being fired not so far away and reverberating through the hills.
It is not clear who attacked who first - ie the rebels attacked the army first or vice versa. But one thing is for sure, the army is sending in major reinforcements.
When we left Rumangabo heading toward Goma we came across a convoy of military vehicles carrying all kinds of heavy weaponry and soldiers. Weapons are not my area of expertise, but there was definitely a wide array on display of all shapes and sizes - and also something called Stalin’s organ, a weapon with multiple tubes that looks like an organ and presumably fires a rocket from each hole.
I just spoke to Diddy and the bombing continues as I write.
There is one thing for certain though. If we can hear the bombing and mortars, so can the gorillas. If human populations around this area feel threatened, so do the gorillas.
I will keep you up to date."
"Heavy fighting broke out at 3.30am today between rebels and the army around the... more
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EPA Buzz Kill: Is the Agency Hiding Colony Collapse Disorder Information?
{Natural Resources Defense Council, Via Common Dreams}
NRDC Forced to Sue to Get Public Records on Bee Mystery:
WASHINGTON - August 18 - The Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit today to uncover critical information that the US government is withholding about the risks posed by pesticides to honey bees. NRDC legal experts and a leading bee researcher are convinced that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has evidence of connections between pesticides and the mysterious honey bee die-offs reported across the country. The phenomenon has come to be called "colony collapse disorder," or CCD, and it is already proving to have disastrous consequences for American agriculture and the $15 billion worth of crops pollinated by bees every year.
EPA has failed to respond to NRDC's Freedom of Information Act request for agency records concerning the toxicity of pesticides to bees, forcing the legal action.
"Recently approved pesticides have been implicated in massive bee die-offs and are the focus of increasing scientific scrutiny," said NRDC Senior Attorney Aaron Colangelo. "EPA should be evaluating the risks to bees before approving new pesticides, but now refuses to tell the public what it knows. Pesticide restrictions might be at the heart of the solution to this growing crisis, so why hide the information they should be using to make those decisions?"
In 2003, EPA granted a registration to a new pesticide manufactured by BAYOR CropScience under the condition that BAYOR submit studies about its product's impact on bees. EPA has refused to disclose the results of these studies, or if the studies have even been submitted. The pesticide in question, clothianidin, recently was banned in Germany due to concerns about its impact on bees. A similar insecticide was banned in France for the same reason a couple of years before. In the United States, these chemicals still are in use despite a growing consensus among bee specialists that pesticides, including clothianidin and its chemical cousins, may contribute to CCD.
In the past two years, some American beekeepers have reported unexplained losses of 30-90% of the bees in their hives. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), bees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops grown in America. USDA also claims that one out of every three mouthfuls of food in the typical American diet has a connection to bee pollination. As the die-offs worsen, Americans will see their food costs increase.
Despite bees' critical role for farmers, consumers, and the environment, the federal government has been slow to address the die-off since the alarm bells started in 2006. In recent Congressional hearings, USDA was unable to account for the $20 million that Congress has allocated to the department for fighting CCD in the last two years.
"This is a real mystery right now," said Dr. Gabriela Chavarria, director of NRDC's Science Center. "EPA needs to help shed some light so that researchers can get to work on this problem. This isn't just an issue for farmers -- this is an issue that concerns us all. Just try to imagine a pizza without the contribution of bees! No tomatoes. No cheese. No peppers. If you eat apples, cucumbers, broccoli, onions, squash, carrots, avocados, or cherries, you need to be concerned."
Chavarria has spent more than 20 years studying bees, and has published a number of academic papers on the taxonomy, behavior and distribution of native bees.
NRDC filed the lawsuit today in federal court in Washington DC. In documents to be filed next month, NRDC will ask for a court order directing EPA to disclose its information about pesticides and bee toxicity.
More information on CCD can be found at NRDC's www.BeeSafe.org web site.
EPA Buzz Kill: Is the Agency Hiding Colony Collapse Disorder Information?
{Natural... more
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KINSHASA (Reuters) - Poachers in Congo have killed a fifth of the elephants in Africa's oldest national park this year as China buys more ivory, the park's director said on Friday.
Rwandan rebels have killed seven Savannah elephants in the past 10 days alone in the Virunga National Park, along Congo's eastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, Emmanuel de Merode told Reuters.
"We've definitely lost 20 percent of the population this year and probably more," he said. "We have rangers with them, and we're trying to reinforce them. But (the rangers) are outnumbered 20 to one."
The 790,000-hectare (2 million-acre) reserve was home to one of central Africa's largest Savannah elephant herds in the 1970s numbering around 5,000.
But a brutal 1998-2003 war, heavy poaching, corruption and mismanagement of the park have taken a heavy toll. Today conservationists believe no more than 300 elephants remain.
China, among the world's main destinations for illegal ivory, was granted permission last month to buy 108 tonnes of ivory stocks from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
De Merode singled out China's growing appetite for ivory as one of the root causes of this year's increase in elephant killings, as poachers attempt to launder their illegal ivory for legitimate sale.
"It's very difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal stocks," he said.
Despite the official end of the conflict in Congo, the eastern borderlands remain a volatile patchwork of rebel strongholds and militia controlled zones.
Armed clashes between rival armed groups are a regular occurrence, limiting the rangers' ability to patrol, and providing cover for poaching.
The Savannah elephant is a sub-species of the African elephant, which is classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
KINSHASA (Reuters) - Poachers in Congo have killed a fifth of the elephants in... more
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From the Pensacola News Journal:
http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080807/...
There doesn't seem to be much that can be done officially to force the release of a 100-pound snapping turtle fished from the Escambia River last week.
We can only hope public pressure will lead to its release by the Jay family that caught and is holding it.
It is sad that this large, old turtle likely more than 15 years old, can be valued by some mainly for its status as trophy to be hung on a wall. It is a mark of how alienated from nature our society is that people find value in destroying, not protecting, such a creature.
As for reputed plans by the family to create a "sanctuary" for the animal, it had everything it needed in the river it was plucked from.
The animal's status with the State of Florida, a 'Species of Special Concern' affords it only limited protection. An individual can only possess one, and it can't be sold.
But that status is based on the fact snapping turtles are in danger of becoming a threatened species, in part due to the risk of human exploitation.
However, state officials have issued a warning letter for violation of a caging requirement, and advised the Phillips family to either correct the problem or return the turtle, alive, to the river.
We urge the Phillips family to comply and set the turtle free.
********************************************************************************************************
HOW HORRIBLE!
The Phillips family even named the poor turtle! I live in this area & this is a disgrace. I am disgusted at the treatment of animals (both domesticated & wildlife) that takes place here. This entire family (which will probably reproduce) is a stain on what it means to be human.
2 comments made to the editor of the PNJ worth posting...
"PNJ failed to mention several items:
Another local newspaper was contacted first about this story and refused to publish it due to the possible exploitation. It appeared the family was interested in garnering publicity and funds and was in fact using public sympathy for the turtle to try to get money.
Secondly, Phillips has a record for wildlife violations as recent as May for possession of a migratory bird or "parts" of a migratory bird and going back for years to hunting at night with a light for turkey and deer. He also has a list of arrests several pages long for numerous crimes, including domestic violence and child abuse.
Finally, the News Journal did a great disservice by participating in the exploitation of this animal while photographing the turtle at the home of the family. Photographers and reporters stood by and watched as the animal was abused with sticks for the purpose of "great photos."
Great job PNJ. You could probably get a "great shot" of them eating a Bald Eagle..."
"I am almost at a loss for words. I did call and cancel my subscription to the PNJ, as I hold them partially responsable for Goliath's fate. Others may wish to do the same. The online photo's were disgusting!
Florida Fish and Wildfile should be ashamed, as should we all. Once again humans prove their true nature. I totally agree with the posts regarding the family being in dire straits and yet have the money to spend $500. to have Goliath stuffed."From the Pensacola News Journal:... more
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Current Law Allows Commercial Breeders to Shoot Dogs!
Pending legislation would have prevented the slaughter of these dogs!
Information on House Bill 2525, visit: http://www.doglawaction.com/
Please See Petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/pa-kennel-owner-shoots-80-healthy-dogs
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff released the following statement in response to the shooting of 80 dogs at two Berks County kennels:
"The recent shooting of 80 dogs at two Berks County kennels is saddening. The decision by commercial breeders to kill healthy dogs instead of paying to repair a kennel and seek veterinary care is alarming, and will likely outrage many people. Unfortunately, the killing of the dogs was legal under current Pennsylvania law.
"The two kennels involved have both voluntarily closed, but until our state's outdated dog law is changed kennel owners may continue to kill their dogs for any reason they see fit, even if it is simply to save money. We can't afford to wait any longer to pass legislation that would ban commercial kennel owners from killing their dogs.
"House Bill 2525, introduced in May, would allow only veterinarians to euthanize dogs in commercial breeding kennels. The bill would strengthen current dog laws and provide better standards for the health and safety of dogs in commercial breeding kennels without burdening other types of kennels that house dogs. The legislature has an opportunity to pass this important legislation this fall, and they should -- as doing so will assure that this activity will be illegal in PA commercial breeding kennels moving forward."
Rather than seek medical attention for dogs suffering from fleas and fly sores, kennel owners Ammon and Elmer Zimmerman of Kutztown shot all 80 of their dogs to save costs. The Zimmermans, owners of A&J Kennel and E&A Kennel, voluntarily surrendered their licenses on July 29 after killing the dogs.
Dog wardens inspected E&A Kennel on July 24, noting several violations for kennel sanitation and maintenance. Wardens also noted fleas and fly sores on 39 of the dogs and ordered veterinary checks. Wardens issued four citations for violations and planned to confirm the veterinary checks during a follow-up inspection. The wardens were notified on July 29 that the owners of both kennels chose to destroy the dogs and dismantle the kennels.
News Articles:
Maxatawny Township kennel owners kill 80 dogs rather than seek treatment:
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=102118
Thoughts on Paws: Maxatawny's Zimmerman brothers should be shot for killing dogs
http://readingeagle.com/blog.aspx?bid=17&id=17135&t=Maxatawnys-Zimmerman-brothers-should-be
PETITION: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/pa-kennel-owner-shoots-80-healthy-dogs
INFORMATION on the House Bill 2525:
http://www.doglawaction.com/
Current Law Allows Commercial Breeders to Shoot Dogs!
Pending legislation would... more
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As Beijing's polluted air came close to exceeding levels even the Chinese consider dangerous yesterday, one of the International Olympic Committee's most senior figures dismissed the yellow-grey haze that periodically hangs over the city as mist, and blamed the media for overstating pollution problems.
Air quality in Beijing remains a big cause for concern three days before the start of the games. Members of the US athletics team arrived in the city wearing face masks yesterday and organisers are preparing to postpone or relocate endurance events including the marathon and road cycling if smog levels reach dangerous limits.
But yesterday Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IOC's medical commission, said he was confident that pollution would not harm athletes or visitors, and suggested media coverage had created a false impression of pollution levels.
"The mist in the air that we see in those places, including here, is not a feature of pollution primarily but a feature of evaporation and humidity," he told the IOC's annual session. "We do have a communication problem here. Once the misconception has become sort of established in the minds of people, it's not that easy to get the right message through.
As Beijing's polluted air came close to exceeding levels even the Chinese... more
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Fish and pigs and chickens, oh my!
By Erik Hoffner, Guest Contributor
GRIST, June 27, 2008
SIX TIMES MORE FISH FED TO LIVESTOCK THAN TO HUMANS
According to the UBS Fisheries Centre in Vancouver, B.C., despite rampant over-fishing and depletion of world fish populations, globally, we are now feeding 14 MILLIOIN TONS of edible wild-caught fish to factory farm animals, like pigs and chickens, each year. That amounts to over six times the amount of fish the entire U.S. population eats annually. Wild fish fed to animals on a massive scale include perfectly edible anchovies, sardines, mackerel, and herring, which are ground into a cheap fishmeal and sold for animal feed. In other words a protein source is being fed to animals on corporate farms with a 90% energy loss. Given the global food crisis and the over-harvesting of many of the ocean's commercial fish varieties, careful analysis of resource use by the global industrial food complex is becoming a life or death imperative.
Here's a guest post from Jennifer Jacquet of the Sea Around Us Project and the UBC Fisheries Centre in Vancouver, B.C. ----- It is one thing to grind up wild fish to feed to farmed fish, but it is quite another to grind up these perfectly edible fish to feed factory-farmed pigs and poultry. After all, when is the last time you saw a chicken catch a fish?
In the not-so-distant past, pigs and chickens ate grass, some grains, and food scraps. Today, in the throes of a perverse industrial food system that favors cheap protein and quick growth (with often astonishing results such as Mad Cow disease), we now feed farm animals lots of small, tasty fish.
LOTS.
Each year we feed 14 million tons of wild-caught fish (including anchovies, sardines, mackerel, and herring) to pigs and chickens around the globe. That amounts to 17 percent of all the wild fish we catch. Pigs and chickens eat double the amount of fish that Japan consumes annually and six times more seafood than the entire U.S. population eats each year.
Is it efficient to feed these fish to pigs and chickens? Moreover, with rampant overfishing a global problem, is it ethical? This is not the same question of whether we should feed grains to cattle, which leads to an overall loss in energy but also a conversion of carbohydrates to protein. In the case of fishmeal fed to pigs and poultry, a perfectly edible (and rather scarce) protein source is being consumed and converted (with an energy loss of ~90 percent) by simply another protein source.
It's messed up.
What to do? In Peru, home to a large fishmeal industry, scientists and chefs came together to initiate a program to "discover the anchovy" and turn fishmeal into a meal of fish. But much of this program's success hinges on government action.
"We have the best oceanographer in the country at the Marine Research Institute and he insists we have to leave 5 million tonnes of anchovies in the water," explains Patricia Majluf, the architect of the Peruvian anchovy initiative. "The government also now insists on establishing the anchovy quota at the beginning of the season rather than the old way telling the fishermen when to stop, which led to lots of overfishing."
In places where government action is unlikely due to the mantra of free markets, it is more likely we would see some sort of awareness program, such as a seafood wallet card for pigs and chickens (who don't read).
"Better yet, we will tell pigs and chickens they can eat only what they catch," says Daniel Pauly, Director of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre.
Maybe we should feed pigs and poultry (literally) Michael Pollan's advice: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
And we should do the same.
Fish and pigs and chickens, oh my!
By Erik Hoffner, Guest Contributor
GRIST, June... more
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Wildlife researchers said Tuesday that they've discovered 125,000 western lowland gorillas deep in the forests of the Republic of Congo, calling it a major increase in the animal's estimated population.
The Wildlife Conservation Society, based at New York's Bronx Zoo, and the Republic of Congo said their census counted the newly discovered gorillas in two areas of the northern part of the country covering 18,000 square miles.
Previous estimates, dating to the 1980s, put the number of western lowland gorillas at less than 100,000. But the animal's numbers were believed to have fallen by at least 50 percent since then due to hunting and disease, researchers said. The newly discovered gorilla population now puts their estimated numbers at between 175,000 to 225,000.
"This is a very significant discovery because of the terrible decline in population of these magnificent creatures to Ebola and bush meat," said Emma Stokes, one of the research team.
The researchers in the central African nation of Republic of Congo _ neighbor of the much larger Congo _ worked out the population figures by counting the sleeping "nests" gorillas make. The creatures are too reclusive and shy to count individually.
The researchers in the central African nation of Republic of Congo _ neighbor of the much larger Congo _ worked out the population figures by counting the sleeping "nests" gorillas make. The creatures are too reclusive and shy to count individually.
Craig Stanford, professor of anthropology and biology at the University of Southern California, said he is aware of the new study. "If these new census results are confirmed, they are incredibly important and exciting, the kind of good news we rarely find in the conservation of highly endangered animals." He added that independent confirmation will be valuable because nest counts vary depending on the specific census method used.
Western lowland gorillas are one of four gorilla subspecies, which also include mountain gorillas, eastern lowland gorillas and Cross River gorillas. All are labeled either endangered or critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. --Stokes said it does not mean gorilla numbers in the wild are now safe.
"Far from being safe, the gorillas are still under threat from Ebola and hunting for bush meat. We must not become complacent about this. Ebola can wipe out thousands in a short period of time," she said.
The report was released as primatologists in Edinburgh, Scotland warned that nearly half of the world's 634 types of primates are in danger of becoming extinct due to human activity. That figure, carried in a comprehensive review of the planet's apes, monkeys, and lemurs, included primate species and subspecies.
Scientists meeting at the International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh said they hoped the report will help spur global action to defend mankind's nearest relatives from deforestation and hunting.
Primatologists warned that species from the giant mountain gorillas of central Africa to the tiny mouse lemurs of Madagascar are on the "Red List" for threatened species maintained by the IUCN.
The review was funded by Conservation International, the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, Disney's Animal Kingdom and the IUCN. It is part of an examination of the state of the world's mammals due to be released at the 4th IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain, in October.
"It is not too late for our close cousins the primates, and what we have now is a challenge to turn this around," said Russell A. Mittermeier, president of Conservation International and the chairman of the IUCN Species Survival Commission's primate specialist group.
"The review paints a bleak picture. Some primates are quite literally being eaten to extinction. But it is by no means a doomsday scenario. There is a lot of will here among these scientists in Edinburgh and in the countries where primates live."
Wildlife researchers said Tuesday that they've discovered 125,000 western lowland... more
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*Africa's Deforestation Twice the World's Rate*
http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/37370
KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congo, home to the world's second largest tropical forest, launched a review of all timber contracts on Wednesday in an effort to clean up a business rife with corruption and to recoup millions of dollars in lost taxes.
THE WORDL BANK SPONSERED initiative will look at 156 deals. Most were signed during a 1998-2003 war and subsequent interim government accused of awarding numerous dubious logging and mining contracts
In 2002, with the country partially under the control of rebels, the Democratic Republic of Congo issued a five-year moratorium on new logging contracts as part of efforts to stem rampant deforestation aggravated by the conflict.
The measure went largely unheeded and companies continued to sign new deals.
Logging and land clearance for farming are eating away the Congo Basin, home to more than a quarter of the world's tropical forest, at the rate of more than 800,000 hectares a year.
Many contracts are expected to be cancelled outright by a review panel made up of government officials and independent experts.
"What I'm hoping for is fewer concessions. What I'm hoping for is more revenues for the state. What I'm hoping for is better management of the forestry sector," Environment Minister Jose Endundu told reporters on Wednesday.
Endundu said last month he wanted to reduce land attributed to logging companies to 15 million hectares from 20 million.
Amongst the biggest timber firms operating in Congo are Siforco, which is a subsidiary of Germany's Danzer Group, and Portuguese-owned Sodefor, a unit of holding company NST.
Together with a third company, Safbois, they account for more than 66 percent of the timber exported from Congo, researchers say.
PROFIT LAUNDERING
Conservation campaigner Greenpeace accused the Danzer Group on Wednesday of employing a system of price fixing and off-shore accounts to avoid paying taxes on timber harvested from Congo and neighboring Republic of Congo.
Greenpeace said the losses to both countries in tax revenues between 2000 and 2006 could top $12 million -- or around 50 times the annual operating budget of Democratic Republic of Congo's Environment Ministry.
"(Congo) is one of the poorest places on the planet and that companies like Danzer Group are looking for ways to avoid paying taxes is simply outrageous," Michelle Medeiros, Greenpeace International Africa Forest Coordinator, said in Zurich.
Responding to the charges, Danzer said the Greenpeace allegations were "totally without foundation".
"They are an absurd, populist gimmick designed to cloud the current public discussion surrounding tax evasion in a misleading Greenpeace report," it said in a statement.
*Africa's Deforestation Twice the World's Rate*... more
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African elephants are being slaughtered for their ivory at a pace unseen since an international ban on the ivory trade took effect in 1989. But the public outcry that resulted in that ban is absent today, and a University of Washington conservation biologist contends it is because the public seems to be unaware of the giant mammals' plight.
The elephant death rate from poaching throughout Africa is about 8 percent a year based on recent studies, which is actually higher than the 7.4 percent annual death rate that led to the international ivory trade ban nearly 20 years ago, said Samuel Wasser, a UW biology professor.
But the poaching death rate in the late 1980s was based on a population that numbered more than 1 million. Today the total African elephant population is less than 470,000.
"If the trend continues, there won't be any elephants except in fenced areas with a lot of enforcement to protect them," said Wasser. He is lead author of a paper in the August issue of Conservation Biology that contends elephants are on a course that could mean most remaining large groups will be extinct by 2020 unless renewed public pressure brings about heightened enforcement.
African elephants are being slaughtered for their ivory at a pace unseen since an... 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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Olympic Committee: Stop Playing China's Games!
Target: The International Olympic Committee
Sponsored by: Care2
PLEASE READ & SIGN PETITION!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/287767058
Going against their own mandate to protect the independence of the Olympic Movement and to preserve human dignity, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has caved to Beijing's demands to censor the media's Internet access during the Games.
Sites from human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, or any search for a site with Tibet in the address have been blocked, making it difficult for journalists to find information on political and human rights stories the Chinese government dislikes.
Seven years ago, when bidding for the games, China promised to allow "complete freedom to report." But that didn't matter to the IOC officials, who have agreed to China's request to Internet censorship only a few days before the Games. A senior IOC official apologized for that decision, but an apology is not enough.
The IOC's mission is not to be China's accomplice but to "place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity," and that won't happen as long as the games are held against a backdrop of torture, political persecution and lies.
It's time for the IOC to stop playing China's Games. Cutting a deal with China to allow Internet censorship was wrong and we want more than a simple apology. Tell the IOC to demand free Internet access for journalists covering the Olympic Games and to pressure China to honor its pledge to improve human rights before the Games.
Olympic Committee: Stop Playing China's Games!
Target: The International Olympic... more
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The traders at Dallas County's half-filled horse auction knew the fate of their scrawny thoroughbreds even before they herded them into the ring. At least half of the horses for auction at the Dallas County Horse Sales last month were likely to end up in Mexico, where money can still be made off horse slaughter. About 25,000 horses have been shipped to Mexico for slaughter this year. And it wasn't to go back to the ranch.
The ones with visible backbones and skin stretched over their ribs – at least half of the 36 horses for sale – would probably end up in Mexico, where money can still be made off horse slaughter.
Horse owners say they're left with little option but to sell their horses to a "KILLER BUYER," or trader who buys the horses at a reduced price and takes them to Mexico for slaughter. "It's a CREED among Texan traders: We know we HAVE to do it; we just don't say," Mr. Oden said.
About 25,000 horses have been shipped to Mexico for slaughter this year, 10,000 more than this time last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The number of horses sent from Texas has doubled during the same period and makes up the majority of the shipments.
"KILLER BUYERS" purchase weak horses cheaply and transport them across the border, a process that has become more clandestine but also more popular since Congress banned the slaughter of horses for human consumption in 2007. --- The number of horses crossing the border has grown SIX times since then.. in Texas, shipments to Mexico are EASY..
Before the ban, up to 100,000 horses were slaughtered annually. Much of the meat went overseas to countries like FRANCE and JAPAN where horse appears on menus as a delicacy.
Still, advocates haven't stopped their fight to extend the ban. That includes Texas oilman and rancher T. Boone Pickens and his wife, Madeleine, who lassoed enough support to propel the first ban on slaughtering horses for human consumption. "We'll try to figure out how to get this stopped," the Dallas billionaire said about the shipments to Mexico. Economic difficulties are no excuse, he said.
"It's a killing job, and that's not much of a deal as far as I'm concerned."
Barbara Linke of the American Quarter Horse Association, which advocates humane slaughter over starvation, said she fears an extended ban could bring about more neglect.
"I think we are going to see a lot more cases of animal cruelty and a lot more horses abandoned if the bill passes," Ms. Linke said.
'Nothing will change' says Tom Lenz, a veterinarian and chairman of the Unwanted Horse Coalition, said buyers will find a way to get horses across the border even with tougher laws.
"KILLER BUYERS will simply ship them as riding horses and then resell them for slaughter across the border," he said. "Nothing will change."
Instead, the horse industry should avoid an overabundance by learning to breed more selectively, he said. Last year, the Unwanted Horse Coalition reported 170,000 abandoned horses throughout the country.
"We need to deal more with the front end, decreasing horse production," Dr. Lenz said. Few horse owners choose euthanasia because of the expense, he said. It can cost at least $100 for a shot, and that doesn't include disposal fees. ---Mr. Finch said putting horses to sleep is still more humane than slaughter, an argument shared by many animal rights activists.
"We don't slaughter and eat our dogs," he said. "A lot of people think horses are just livestock. They aren't."
The traders at Dallas County's half-filled horse auction knew the fate of their... more
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Help stop the trade in bear products, specifically bile and gall bladder.
A bill pending before Congress would amend the Lacey Act of 1981,16 U.S.C. §§3371, 3372, and ban the import, export and interstate trade of these bear parts.
Help stop the trade in bear products, specifically bile and gall bladder.
A bill... more
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UN PANEL PAVES THE WAY FOR ELEPHANT POACHING AND IVORY LAUNDERING
GENEVA, SWTIZERLAND, July 15, 2008 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- The illegal black market in ‘white gold’ seems ready to cause parts of Africa to run red with elephant blood once more after today’s decision by the Standing Committee of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to approve China as a ‘trading partner’ for over 100 tonnes of stockpiled ivory from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Many conservationists and wildlife managers have been left stunned and appalled.
“Unbelievable, naïve and deadly,” stated Will Travers CEO of the Born Free Foundation and President of the Species Survival Network. “It was bad enough when Japan was approved as a trading partner more than a year ago but approving China is, in my view, like pouring petrol on an open fire.”
The reasons why China should not have been approved are numerous:
The lack of comprehensive internal law enforcement and trade controls
The steady stream of illegal ivory shipments destined for China.
The increasing involvement of Chinese nationals based in Africa in ivory trafficking
The continued high levels of elephant poaching (estimated to be running at between 20,000 and 25,000 animals a year)
The rising price of ivory (poached Sumatran ivory tusks have reportedly increased in value by 300% since 2005)
The fragile nature of most African elephant populations (only half a dozen or so African countries have robust and significant elephant herds out of a total of 36 countries that are home to the species)
“Now, in addition to all these challenges and threats, we are faced with the prospect of China and Japan bidding against each other for the ivory stockpiles, driving up the price and heightening still further the incentive to poach and smuggle ivory” said Mr Travers, speaking from Geneva where the Standing Committee of CITES is convened. “Furthermore, it will be shocking to many elephant lovers globally to learn that the decision to approve China as a trading partner was supported by WWF amongst others.
Born Free and the SSN have comprehensive records relating to massive and entrenched levels of elephant poaching over the last 10 years. Together with other conservation groups, SSN has consistently argued against any relaxation in the original ivory trade ban approved by CITES in 1989 following a decade when Africa’s elephant population fell by more than 50% from 1.3 million to 600,000. Today, elephant numbers are estimated to hover at around 475,000 – 500,000. Asian elephant numbers stand at a precarious 30,000-40,000
UN PANEL PAVES THE WAY FOR ELEPHANT POACHING AND IVORY LAUNDERING
GENEVA,... more
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*Please See Petition!
The U.S. Army is planning to train soldiers by having them shoot live pigs with M16A2 and M4 rifles and then treat the poor animals' wounds. This "training" is taking place at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.
Maj. Derrick Cheng, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division that is conducting the so called military exercise, claims the US Department of Agriculture has licensed the cruelty. An Animal Care and Use Committee and veterinarians are watching the slaughter. Like they do when researchers perform experiments and testing on animals under a USDA license.
It does not concern the military that this bizarre, utterly cruel exercise will torture and terrify these intelligent, sensitive animals. The military claims it is necessary to train soldiers for Iraq.
Why not use high tech human simulators such as the Combat Trauma Patient Simulation System; Simulab Corporation's TraumaMan system, and the "living" cadaver perfusion model? Why not let soldiers shadow experienced medics in emergency situations? Wouldn't they really be better trained than from this archaic canned hunt model?
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Contact the military leaders at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii and ask them to stop this shooting exercise. It is cruel, terrifying for the animals and there are several other ways to train soldiers to handle medical emergencies. Be polite.
Col. Matthew T. Margotta
Commander, U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii
IMPC-HI-ZA
851 Wright Avenue, WAAF (Stop 107)
Schofield Barracks, HI 96857
Fax 808-656-3740; Phone 808-656-1153
Also, contact USDA/APHIS, the agency in charge of animal care in situations like this; let them know this is cruel torture, that the military should be required to use other methods to train soldiers.
Cindy Smith, Administrator, APHIS
Dr. Chester A. Gipson, Deputy Administrator for Animal Care, APHIS
USDA/APHIS/AC
4700 River Road, Unit 84
Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
E-mail: ace@aphis.usda.gov
Phone: (301) 734-7833
Fax: (301) 734-4978
Also, email Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer AgSec@usda.gov and urge him to stop this cruel training exercise.
*Please See Petition!
The U.S. Army is planning to train soldiers by having them... more
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Capitol Hill lost yet another Congressman to K Street recently, as one more elected official rolled down the hill to join a lobbying firm. Through the story of the latest defector, the American News Project examines this burgeoning trend, known in DC as the "revolving door."Capitol Hill lost yet another Congressman to K Street recently, as one more elected... more
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