“Harp seals safer”

January 4, 2012 at 11:17 pm (ancient animals, endangered animals and plants, Nature's wonders, sea life, working together)
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International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)’s Seal Team Director, Sheryl Fink, has just let me know that Russia has banned the import and

Seal pups slaughtered for fashion

export of harp seal skins. This is a huge victory as the Canadian Government estimates that Russia receives 90% of Canada’s exports of seal skins.

IFAW supporters have worked so hard to help us close down the markets for seal products around the world.

Next goal end to Canada’s commercial harp seal hunt. 

Mother Nature and her seals thanks everyone for their continued support and for saving their skins for them(the seals) to wear.

For more seal info

Image courtesy of NC library

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“Elephant pyre such a waste!”

July 21, 2011 at 5:56 pm (ancient animals, animal cruelity, animals/medicine, Saving endangered animals + plants, working together)
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Don’t you think that we could have found a better tribute to honor the lives of these innocent elephants than letting their remains go up in smoke?  This was not a well conceived plan. I realize a message was sent to poachers and illegal traders, but this seems to add insult to injury.

Do any of NC readers have a better green way to honor the elephants and make money to support elephant research too?

Well Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki on Wednesday did not ask for our input when he ignited five tons of ivory stockpiled in the country since being seized in Singapore nearly a decade ago. Some 335 tusks and 42,553 ivory carvings went up in smoke at the Manyani wildlife rangers training institution in eastern Kenya

The vanities of man fueled this slaughter of elephants for their ivory  in Asia and the Middle East where elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns are used to make ornaments and traditional medicines.

Kenya in 1989 torched 12 tons of ivory, three years later Zambia also burnt a stockpile of smuggled tusks.

Africa is home to 472,269 elephants whose survival is threatened by poaching and illegal trade in game trophy as is rising population causing wildlife habitat loss.

The site of the Wednesday’s ivory burning also bore symbolism. The national wildlife rangers institution is in the Tsavo National Park, which is Kenya’s leading elephant sanctuary home to 12,572 elephants.

Wildlife officials said a monument will be erected at the burning site.

In the last few years  several smugglers were arrested at its Nairobi international airport, a major regional hub.

Trafficking animal parts is also linked to other crimes such as document falsification, corruption, money laundering and other organised crime, according to wildlife authorities.

Protecting and develop our wildlife resources is a national focus, because eco tourism has become a huge revenue source for the country.

Excerpts and image courtesy of  http://www.terradaily.com

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“Can you help Mixer and friends?”

May 15, 2011 at 5:50 am (animals, working together)
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The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), pet rescue team in Johannesburg has come across some desperate situations through the years. But this one stunned even them. They would like to share it with you.

In Africa, AIDS is at epidemic proportions. Sadly, there are many children left as orphans when their parents pass away from the awful disease.

At an AIDS hospice near to IFAW’s veterinary clinic, people suffering from AIDS receive emotional and financial

support for themselves and their families. Many of the needy are mothers with young children.

It was to this AIDS clinic that a desperately hungry woman arrived with a sweet puppy named Mixer. She was so desperate to feed her family, in fact, that she came to the clinic to trade their beloved puppy for food for her children.

The hospice, of course, gave assistance to her and her family. And they took in Mixer – not as payment for the food, but because they didn’t want Mixer to be a burden on the struggling family.

The hospice then called IFAW, and we immediately fetched Mixer and brought him back to our veterinary clinic.

Mixer is such a sweet puppy – and he has taken quite a liking to a litter of kittens also at the clinic. He curls up and sleeps with them and gently plays with them.

It’s heartbreaking to think of the struggle that so many families dealing with AIDS face every day. The work of the AIDS hospice and other human-aid charities is so needed.

Of course, the pets of these families, and many other animals in these impoverished communities, also face great hardship and desperately need help.Without us, these animals have chance for survival.

They’d likely end up on the street with no food, and they’d quickly face starvation. And they’d be easy targets for painful infections like mange, heartworm, and the many other diseases that afflict street dogs. Even if they did survive, they’d likely live a life of great suffering.

The IFAW’s clinic and friends like you have saved Mixer and his kitten friends and given them a chance to find loving new homes, free from the threat of starvation and painful diseases.

Please make a donation today to help IFAW rescue animals, care for them, and find them new homes.

Thanks for your donation to puppies like Mixer and his friends.

Story and Image courtesy of   http://bit.ly/lgNOgw

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“Sea Shepherd saving whales”

February 14, 2011 at 8:10 pm (ancient animals)
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Sea Shepherd Interrupts Illegal Whale Slaughter

The Nisshin Maru approaches the Gojira at full speed. Photo: Simon AgerThe Sea Shepherd scout vessel Gojira found the illegal Japanese whaling ship Sea Shepherd calls the Cetacean Death Star at 2115 NZST on February 9th. The Nisshin Maru was caught in the process of unlawfully flensing a whale on their aft deck at the position of 74 degrees 16 minutes south and 149 degrees 2 minutes west.

The Gojira immediately gave chase as the Nisshin Maru attempted to escape by entering a field of ice. The Gojira attempted to block the huge factory ship to buy time for the Bob Barker to arrive from some 28 miles away. Captain Locky MacLean engaged the Nisshin Maru in a skirmish, and notified the Japanese whalers that they were not to continue their illegal whaling.

The Nisshin Maru seemed to be engaged in flensing operations at the time it was discovered. Work lights illuminated the deck as water was being flushed over the sides and brown-red stains were visible along the aft deck of the vessel around the scuppers/ drain holes, while black smoke bellowed from the factory smoke stack.

Crewmembers observe the Nisshin Maru from the bow of the Bob Barker. Photo: Gary StokesCrewmembers observe the Nisshin Maru from the bow of the Bob Barker. Photo: Gary StokesThe Gojira was stopped in an area of growlers and floe ice as the Nisshin Maru proceeded to bear down on her. Despite several VHF calls to alter course, the Nisshin Maru closed in on the Gojira. When the Nisshin Maru was 40 meters away, Captain MacLean fired a flare to signal the Nisshin Maru to alter course. The Japanese factory ship altered course to starboard, as the Gojira slid 20 meters down her port side.

At 0220 on February 10th, the Nisshin Maru and one of the harpoon boats entered thick pack ice after several hours of zigzagging through loose floe ice. The Gojira kept up skirting the ice edge, meeting the Nisshin Maru on the far side of each floe using her speed advantage.

The Nisshin Maru proceeded to the south towards an area of pack ice. It appeared as if the Gojira was about to lose the factory ship in the thick ice when the Bob Barker arrived just in time to take over the pursuit.

At 0400 hours, the Bob Barker placed itself immediately aft to the stern slipway of the Nisshin Maru to block any further attempts to offload dead whales. The Bob Barker is now easily pursuing the Nisshin Maru through thick pack ice with the Gojira continuing to skirt around the ice looking for harpoon vessels.

The Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin departed from Wellington, New Zealand at 1800 hours on February 9th and is expected to meet up with the Sea Shepherd fleet and the Japanese whaling fleet in about five days.

The Bob Barker needs to hold position on the stern of the Nisshin Maru until the Steve Irwin can assist it. By blocking the stern slipway, the factory ship is unable to load dead whales from the harpoon vessels, allowing Sea Shepherd to effectively shut down their illegal whaling operations.

The Nisshin Maru approaches the stern of the stopped Gojira. Photo: Simon AgerThe Nisshin Maru approaches the stern of the stopped Gojira. Photo: Simon Ager A Sea Shepherd crewmember readies the slingshot to unleash red paint, symbolic of blood, on the factory ship. Photo: Simon Ager
The Nisshin Maru gaining on the Gojira. Photo: Simon AgerThe Nisshin Maru gaining on the Gojira.
Photo: Simon Ager		 Sea Shepherd crewmembers gather at the bow of the Bob Barker. Photo: Sam SielenSea Shepherd crewmembers gather at the bow of the Bob Barker. Photo: Sam Sielen
Operation
No Compromis

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Sea Shepherd welcomes your support.

Please make a generous donation  today.

Excerpts and Images courtesy of seashepherd.org

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“Who will protect these pups?”

February 14, 2011 at 7:44 pm (ancient animals, endangered animals and plants, Environmental crisis, mammals, working together)
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There’s not a lot of love for wolves or wildlife on Capitol Hill today.

In fact, some in Congress are trying to use a must-pass spending bill to eliminate lifesaving protections for gray wolves across the U.S., opening the door to widespread trapping and poisoning of wolves in the Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone. These pups can not survive without their mom.

Worse, they are proposing deep funding cuts that could be disastrous for wildlife protection in the U.S.

Don’t let them get away with it. Urge your U.S. representative to oppose attempts to attach anti-wolf, anti-wildlife legislation to a bill intended to keep the government running.

The spending bill, called a continuing resolution, is designed to ensure that military and government workers continued to get paid, that social security recipients receive their checks and that the government continues to function.

Unfortunately, some in Congress are using this legislation as a vehicle to attack protections for wolves and enact some of the deepest cuts in recent memory for the agencies that protect our wildlife and environment – a move that would have dire consequences across the country for your wildlife and for the quality of your environment .

Some of the crucial programs that will be slashed include those that protect imperiled species, acquire key habitat around the country, including for our national wildlife, refuges, parks, forests and other public lands, help state protect wildlife before they decline to the point where they are endangered, and assist wildlife in surviving climate change.

It’s a sneaky, backdoor assault on protections for wildlife, and I need your help to stop it, Mary.

It’s up to caring wildlife supporters like you to stop this assault on the precious natural treasures we all love. Please take action now.

The U.S. House of Representatives will consider the continuing resolution this week, and we need to make a strong showing against this assault on our wolves, wildlife and environment.

Help us send 65,000 messages to Capitol Hill by Wednesday. Please take action, forward this email and share our message on Facebook.

We can protect our wolves, wildlife and environment, but only if we work together. Will you take just a few moments to help today?

For the Wild Ones,

Rodger Schlickeisen

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“A real bear hug-want one?”

January 7, 2011 at 6:17 pm (animals, Nature's wonders, Saving endangered animals + plants, working together)
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Living on the frontier in Alaska requires developing a harmonious relationship with Mother Natures most awesome wild animals.
Can we not learn to live as peacefully and respectfully with each other?

Video courtesy of YOUTUBE.com Click here

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“The grinches trying to steal a Happy New Year from Rockies’ wolves”

December 27, 2010 at 9:15 pm (Saving endangered animals + plants, working together)
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Wildlife Services is you did not realize is not a service to the wolves of the Rocky Mountains. The wolves New Year’s gift is to be

killing entire packs

gassing helpless pups in their dens

shooting/ slaughtering wolves from a helicopter

surgically sterilizing alpha wolf pairs after killing their extended families.

The ewanton killing of the grey wolves has begun

Is this the New Years gift to the balancing of our ecosystems you want? Jan. 3, 2011 deadline.

Get active today!  Adopt a wolf today.

Life  in abundance is about balance and harmony not eradication for the convenience of a few.

*Please sign this petition to the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, urging hom to stop Wildlife Services from imposing and enacting this extreme plan for the Rocky Mountain states, the Greater Yellowstone.

Make sure your letters stay to the facts-no name calling please.

Deadline for the petition is Jan. 3, 2011.

*Please give an end of year donation to help support wolves and other endangered species today.

Be a wildlife protector in your community.

Here are ways you can get involved to help Mother Nature’s best in 2011.

The recent elections have given anti-wolf forces more power in both the House and the Senate. We fully expect those forces to mount a new, all-out effort to pass legislation that would strip wolves of their life-saving protections.

Their strategy is a blatant attempt to bypass court orders and good science, which say that wolves should remain on the Endangered Species List, protected from mass killing, until they’re fully recovered.

If they succeed, it will lead to “open season” on wolves in Greater Yellowstone and across the Northern Rockies. Hundreds of them could be gunned down.

That’s why NRDC must be ready to defend wolves from the very first day of the new Congress.

Your tax-deductible gift will enable our rapid response operation to reach out to key lawmakers at the first sign of attack … arm the media with the truth about endangered wolves … and mobilize our formidable network of 1.3 million Members and BioGems Defenders. Your support is what allows us to protect our environment in the most effective way possible.

 

Resources

Excerpts courtesy of    http://bit.ly/dU2Qc6

Excerpts courtesy of   http://www.defenders.org

Image 1. courtesy of   http://bit.ly/eXjVLR

Image 2. courtesy of Nature’s Crusaders library

 

 

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“Dingo crusader Jennifer Parkhurst arrested for feeding starving animals”

October 31, 2010 at 5:02 am (animal cruelity, Saving endangered animals + plants, working together)
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Please show your support for Jennifer Parkhurst who has been charged with alleged feeding of Fraser Island Dingoes and faces trial 3rd of November Maryborough Magistrates Court. For 7 years she has witnessed first hand the suffering and starvation of the dingos, a major tourist attraction on Fraser Island.

igh Court of Australia decision in another case found that it was unfair for the law to place the entire burden of educating the community on the shoulders of one person.

The hope of the authorities is that by starving the dingos and jailing their  most active verbal supporter the road to more lucrative tourism can be developed.

Resources

Image 1. courtesy of    http://bit.ly/9JsoX4

Image 2. http://bit.ly/cRgh0x

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“The endangered African penguin has protection”

October 17, 2010 at 12:54 am (Saving endangered animals + plants)
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Good News!

The Interior Department announced last week that the African penguin will be listed as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Thanks in large part to a legal settlement with Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Center for Biological Diversity concerning a lack of protection for the penguin.

This is great news for African penguins, who have suffered a major decline in population throughout the past several decades — a 95 percent drop since pre-industrial times.

The African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus), also known as the Black-footed Penguin, is found on the south-western coast of Africa, living in colonies on 24 islands between Namibia and Algoa Bay, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with the largest colony on Dyer Island, near Kleinbaai. Because of their donkey-like braying call they were previously named Jackass Penguins. Since several species of South American penguins produce the same sound, the African species has been renamed African Penguin, as it is the only penguin species that breeds in Africa. The presence of the penguin gave name to the Penguin Islands.

There are three other colonies of penguins near Cape Town at Boulders Beach, near Simon’s Town and Stony Point in Betty’s Bayand in Namibia,

The closest relatives of the African Penguins are the Humboldt Penguin and Magellanic Penguin.

Thanks to Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Center for Biological Diversity fwho are the driving forces behind the work concerning a lack of protection for the penguin.

 

Resources

Excerpts courtesy of    http://bit.ly/dnoS41

Excerpts http://bit.ly/druI7Y

Image courtesy of  http://bit.ly/druI7Y

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“Western Wolves again a target”

September 30, 2010 at 12:28 am (animals, endangered animals and plants)
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Despite this summer’s ruling by a federal court to restore Endangered Species Act protections for Greater Yellowstone and Northern Rockies wolves, Wildlife Services agents are targeting hundreds of wolves in the region, including helpless pups in their dens.

Please take action now.

Urge President Obama’s head of the Department of Agriculture (which oversees Wildlife Services) to end the program’s plan to expand their wolf-killing role in Idaho.   Tell USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack we want wolves protected.

Resources

Excerpts courtesy of defendersofwildlife.org

Image courtesy of Nature’s Crusaders library

Wolf in crosshairs in Utah again


Speak out now.    Take action.

Thanks to a recent court ruling in our court fight for wolves, these magnificent animals are once more protected under the Endangered Species Act, but the Wildlife Services has decided to begin exterminating wolves in central Idaho. The agency wants to expand their wolf-killing operations, working with Idaho officials to kill up to 80 percent of the wolves in some areas.

Their plan also includes killing entire packs. Their plan includes using helicopters to chase down and kill wolves. And their plan includes gasing helpless wolf pups and their mothers in their dens, surgically sterilizing alpha wolf pairs and more.

Speak out now to stop the out-of-control wolf killing plan — before the government-sponsored killing starts.

The agency has other, more reasonable options. But rather than helping ranchers co-exist with wolves and other native wildlife with proven non-lethal techniques, Wildlife Services is expanding their role as the nation’s top wolf-killers and relying on the lethal approach that helped the program eliminate wild wolves in the Lower 48 United States during the 1940s.

Click here to help stop the federal Wildlife Services plan for killing more protected wolves in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Rockies region.

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