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The World’s Most Famous Surfer Turns Up the Heat on SeaWorld
When Kelly Slater couldn’t ask SeaWorld directly when it would free its captive killer whales, he took the question to his millions of fans instead.
JUN 11, 2015David Kirby
Champion surfer Kelly Slater had a question for SeaWorld about how it treats its killer whales. But the company didn’t answer.
On Wednesday, SeaWorld held its annual meeting in an online forum that allowed shareholders to submit questions for Joel Manby, the company’s new CEO, and other board members.
The nonprofit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which owns stock in SeaWorld, recruited Slater to ask when the company would retire its captive killer whales to coastal sanctuaries. Slater is an 11-time World Surf League Champion and arguably the most famous surfer in the world.
“He has seen firsthand the beauty, intelligence, and personalities of these animals,” said PETA’s Stephanie Shaw, “and he’s profoundly touched by their imprisonment at SeaWorld.”
Slater waited patiently for his question about retiring the company’s killer whales to be posted to the online forum. It never happened.
“We tried several ways to send the question in, but they never responded,” Shaw said. SeaWorld officials countered to Forbes magazine that they never received Slater’s question.
SeaWorld did not respond to TakePart’s requests to access the online meeting or for comment on Slater’s question.
Whether intentional or not, SeaWorld’s failure to address Slater’s question during the meeting may have only increased public attention on the firm and its killer whale practices, because later that day the surfer took it directly to his 1.5 million Facebook followers.
“The veil has been lifted on SeaWorld,” he wrote. “All the ads in the world won’t change what the public now knows to be true: that the company imprisons highly intelligent, emotionally complex, social animals in tiny, barren concrete tanks, which leads to aggression and disease.”
Slater noted SeaWorld’s declining attendance and revenue and mentioned that companies such as Southwest Airlines, Panama Jack, and Mattel recently severed their corporate ties with SeaWorld.
“Please, tell us, when will SeaWorld allow the animals it holds captive to return to their home—the ocean—by retiring them to a seaside sanctuary?” Slater asked on Facebook. “And wouldn’t this at least be viewed, if nothing else, as a public relations win for you?”
Slater joins dozens of celebrities who have attacked SeaWorld for its controversial killer whale captivity program.
Someone else at the annual meeting did ask whether SeaWorld would send its whales to seaside sanctuaries, and the answer generated a lot of media heat.
“SeaWorld’s new chairman and chief executive insists that its captive orcas…would get sick and die if released into ocean sanctuaries,” the New York Post reported.
“More than 80 percent of our whales were born in our care, and sea pens would be a poor choice for them,” Manby told shareholders, according to the Post. “Uncontrollable exposure to pollution, ocean debris and life-threatening pathogens in ocean waters are just a few of the factors that make sea pens an unhealthy living environment for any of our animals.”
(Note: 54% of SeaWorld's 80% captive bred Orcas have been bred by Tilikum via artificial insemination.)
A few marine mammals have been successfully relocated to the sea from captivity, although such projects can be costly and have involved animals originally captured in the wild. Keiko, the whale featured in the hit 1993 movie Free Willy, spent several years in a sea pen and one year back in the wild before he died in 2003.
A recent report on the successful rehabilitation and release of two long-captive wild dolphins named Tom and Misha suggested that with careful attention to their health, a marine mammals can transition from captivity to an ocean pen, which is what Slater and PETA hoped to ask SeaWorld to do.
PETA said in a statement that it may take legal action “over SeaWorld’s lock-out of dissenting voices who speak for the animals they hold prisoner.”
Posted : June 12, 2015 1:28 pm
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Georgia’s Awful Flood Highlights Why Zoos Shouldn’t Exist
Chris Sosa
Jun 15, 2015
Currently, lions are on the loose in the streets of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Tigers are also still thought to be roaming the area. Some wolves have already been shot and killed outside of a hospital.
Why are these dangerous predators suddenly posing a risk to human communities? The answer is simple: a devastating flood swept the region and allowed the animals to escape a zoo.
Now, in addition to handling the expected aftermath of a deadly and tragic natural disaster, emergency services are dealing with a decidedly unnatural second disaster. Animals who belong in the wild have been kidnapped and put on display for people’s entertainment. Zoos may claim the purpose is “education,” but this claim is patently ridiculous.
We don’t kidnap people groups and put them on display to teach children about other cultures. Kids aren’t charging into storms to learn about natural disasters. Learning isn’t always meant to be hands-on, especially when such learning exploits other beings or poses unnecessary risks to the students.
In Georgia’s case, both occurred. An already sad situation in which animals were exploited turned into an even more tragic situation as parents now have to fear lions and tigers in their backyards.
Making matters worse, these animals are ending up dead, because the community doesn’t possess the resources to relocate all of them safely.
The Guardian reports:
“Carcasses of wild animals that have been shot dead litter the streets and tangled heaps of wreckage scar a large area around Tbilisi’s zoo after Saturday night’s flash flood.”
Residents are understandably traumatized and scared. Official reports aren’t currently acknowledging if some of the flood-related fatalities are actually due to escaped zoo animals killing people.
Terrified citizens are already shooting at animals that have the possibility of being saved, despite the fact Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili is asking them to refrain.
This tragedy is a terrible reminder that the archaic concept of zoos needs to be eradicated. We know better than to take animals from their natural habitat and lock them in cages. It’s unnecessary. It’s not about conservation.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals explains:
“Warehousing animals for life is not the way to save them from extinction. Their salvation lies in protecting habitats, not in creating animal prisons. Instead of patronizing zoos, you can help animals by supporting organizations that work to protect captive animals from exploitation and preserve habitats.”
We’re sending the wrong message to our kids about how to have healthy relationships with animals. When things go terribly wrong, non-human animals aren’t the only ones who suffer. Human families do, too.
Posted : June 16, 2015 11:02 am
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Victory! Captive Chimps Listed as Endangered
Alicia Graef
Jun 15, 2015
In a victory for chimpanzees, wildlife officials have announced that both wild and captive chimpanzees will be protected equally as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Even though wild and captive chimpanzees are obviously members of the same species, until now they were protected differently depending on where they lived.
Populations of wild chimpanzees, who once numbered in the millions, have severely declined over the years and they continue to face a number of threats ranging from habitat loss and fragmentation to disease and poaching for meat and the pet trade.
They were protected in the wild as endangered under the ESA in 1990, but their captive counterparts were listed as threatened, which exempted them from the same protection that their free-living relatives received.
In 2010, a status review was prompted by a petition filed by several organizations seeking to have captive chimpanzees reclassified. In response, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) just announced it has finalized a rule that will upgrade them to endangered ending the unique “split-listing” that has divided them.
Now advocates for this species are applauding the change and are hopeful that it will bring much needed awareness to their plight, in addition to restricting actions that harm them.
“This change shows that many people are finally beginning to understand that it is not appropriate to subject our closest relatives to disrespectful, stressful or harmful procedures, whether as pets, in advertising or other forms of entertainment, or medical research. That we are beginning to realize our responsibilities towards these sentient, sapient beings, and that the government is listening,” said Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, which was one of the co-petitioners.
Less protection for captive chimpanzees has allowed us to continue to exploit them in entertainment, as pets and in biomedical research.
Their continued uses have made it seem like they weren’t in trouble, and even though some believed increasing numbers in captivity would help, many others believe it has only backfired.
“At the time we thought it was important to encourage breeding of captive chimps to expand their numbers,” FWS Director Dan Ashe told the New York Times.” But we expanded a culture of treating these animals as a commodity for research, sale, import and export, and entertainment. That has undermined the conservation of chimpanzees in the wild.”
While the change won’t end private ownership, it will impact how chimpanzees are used and treated by requiring permits for interstate sales and the import and export into and out of the U.S., in addition to requiring permits for anything that could constitute “take” under the ESA, which means anything that could cause them stress, harm or death.
When it comes to research, permits would only be issued for projects that are intended to directly benefit chimps, such as habitat restoration, researching wild chimps to contribute to improved management or recovery or studying diseases that specifically affect them.
While the agency says it will now focus efforts on protecting chimpanzees in the wild, the Humane Society of the United States, another one of the co-petitioners, says it is now going to work on creating more sanctuary space for more than 700 publicly and privately owned chimpanzees who are waiting to be retired from research facilities.
Posted : June 16, 2015 11:07 am
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80 Baby Elephants Snatched From the Wild to Be Sold Into a Life of Captivity
Abigail Geer
Feb 27, 2015
In an attempt to raise much needed cash, the struggling Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe is planning to sell more than 80 baby elephants into a life of captivity, much to the horror of animal welfare groups.
Last year, it was reported that national park sold at least 60 elephants to zoos in foreign countries, and now the park is in the final stages of yet another large elephant sale, but at what cost?
A Care2 petition started by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has already been signed by 70,000 people from around the world. See link for petition:
The IFAW is urging supporters to back the campaign demanding that Zimbabwe’s government put a stop to this trade and return the animals to the wild before it’s too late.
What It Means for the Elephants
Snatching 80 baby elephants from their families and shipping them off half-way across the world to a life of captivity causes suffering impossible to contemplate.
Joyce Poole, co founder of Elephant Voices, an advocacy organization based in Kenya, says that Zimbabwe’s plan is horrifyingly unethical.
http://www.elephantvoices.org/
“Elephants are highly intelligent, self-aware, and socially complex animals,” she said. “They feel joy and grief and are capable of empathy. Like us, their emotional well-being depends on being cared for and raised in the context of close family relationships.”
Poole, who has been working with elephants for decades, says, “Abducting baby elephants from their families is traumatic for the entire family and causes great and long-term suffering to the captured calf. Confinement of these large and highly social animals in captivity causes a myriad of physical and psychological ailments and early death.”
The baby elephants that are being abducted are experiencing unthinkable fear, grief, panic and all manner of emotional trauma. Sources in Zimbabwe, who refer to the captured elephants as prisoners, have reported: “The prisoners are so stressed, they’re always crying for their mothers. They sometimes take days without eating because of stress. In the process some became very weak.”
Legal Doesn’t Equal Right
Providing that the authorities “minimise the risk of injury, damage to health, or cruel treatment” during the transport of the elephants, it is legal for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authorities to capture the elephants from the wild and send them to foreign buyers. However, the fact that it is legal doesn’t make it right.
It is planned that 27 of the baby elephants will be shipped to Thailand and a further 60 to China, but once they arrive nobody is able to track their welfare or wellbeing, and there are no adequate animal welfare laws in those countries to prevent mistreatment. The elephants are being taken from the wild and held in captivity before being sent on a lengthy journey to Asia, where many of them will end up in small concrete zoo enclosures, be harvested for ivory, or disappear off the radar altogether.
The Numbers Game
According to the CITES trade database, Zimbabwe sold around 150 elephants between 2000 and 2013, with each elephant reported to be worth close to $60,000.
Geoffreys Matipano, director for conservation at the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority claims that the park is overrun with elephants, with more than 43,000 in an area that can only support 15,000, and that population control is a necessary part of the conservation program. However, the number of animals being sold under these questionable conditions would not even make a dent in the overpopulation problem, making that reasoning very suspicious.
The annual costs of running the park exceed $2.3 million, but it is not ethical to separate baby elephants from their mothers and sell them to foreign buyers in order to help fund the conservation project; after all, the very animals that are supposed to be under protection are now being exploited for monetary gains.
Posted : June 16, 2015 11:22 am
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Orca Populations in the Southern Resident Appear to be Rebounding
Lindsay Pattonuhh 17, 20151
In recent years, the orca population has been on a decline, with no calf births since 2012. That changed this year, as there have been four calf sightings off the coast of Canada.
The most recent calf sighting was confirmed just this month, when a whale-watching group spotted the new member of L-Pod. This particular pod has faced its fair share of troubles, with two orcas within the pod presumed missing or dead.
The calf, whose official name is L-121, now puts the official population of southern-resident orcas at 81. The southern resident is the smallest of the three resident orca populations that are found between Alaska and Washington. L-121 joins three other orcas born to the southern resident J-Pod earlier this year. Before these four births, the population was down to 78 orcas, a number the southern resident population has not seen since 1985.
Between 1995 and 2001, the southern resident population faced an unexpected 20.4 percent decline. The average reproductive rate of a female orca is one calf every five years. If the southern resident orcas followed that pattern, their population would be able to reach steady numbers. But that is easier said than done, as a result of potential factors that affect orca population in this particular habitat.
While researchers have not been able to pinpoint the causes of this decline, they have come up with three hypotheses: Decline in Chinook salmon, the orcas’ primary prey; whale watching disturbances; and exposure to high levels of toxicants. According to Michael Harris, executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, young orcas in the wild have a 50-percent mortality rate.
Currently, researchers are trying to understand the effects of their three hypotheses and create solutions to the population decline in the southern resident. The Center for Conservation Biology is working to better understand the orcas’ environment and diet by analyzing fecal samples from the pods. The organization is partnering with Conservation Canines, which trains dogs to detect orca fecal samples.
These southern-resident populations are protected under the Endangered Species Act of 2005 and are made up of three pods: J, K and L. The world’s oldest-known orca lives in J-Pod. J-2 – or Granny, as she has been affectionately named – is 103 years old and the matriarch of the pod. Since Granny couldn’t be tagged and tracked, like we do now with wild orcas, her age was determined by studying life cycles, or calculating her age based on her reproductive cycle and number of offspring. Also within the J-Pod is an 85-year-old orca, making J-Pod home to the two oldest-known orcas on Earth.
Adopt an Orca:
http://whalemuseum.org/collections/adopt-an-orca
Posted : June 18, 2015 1:28 pm
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Issues Affecting the Orcas
Declining Fish Populations
Killer whales are opportunistic feeders which means they will take a variety of different prey species. J, K and L pods are almost exclusively fish eaters. Some studies show that up to 90% of their diet is salmon, with Chinook salmon being far and away their favorite. During the last 50 years hundreds of wild runs of salmon have become extinct due to habitat loss and over-fishing of wild stocks. Many of the extinct salmon stocks are the winter runs of chinook and coho. Although the surviving stocks have probably been sufficient to sustain the resident pods, many of the runs that have been lost were undoubtedly traditional resources favored by the resident orcas. This may be affecting the whales' nutrition in the winter and may require them to change their patterns of movement in order to search for food.
Other studies with tagged whales have shown that they regularly dive up to 800 feet in this area. Researchers tend to think that during these deep dives the whales may be feeding on bottomfish. Bottomfish species in this area would include halibut, rockfish, lingcod and greenling. Scientists estimate that today's lingcod population in northern Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia is only 2% of what it was in 1950. The average size of rockfish in the recreational catch has also declined by several inches since the 1970s, which is indicative of overfishing. In some locations, certain rockfish species have disappeared entirely. So even if bottomfish are not a major food resource for the whales, the present low numbers of available fish increases the pressure on orcas and all marine animals to find food.
Toxic Exposure
Toxic substances accumulate in higher concentrations as they move up the food chain. Because orcas are the top predator in the ocean and are at the top of several different food chains in the environment, they tend to be more affected by pollutants than other sea creatures. Examinations of stranded killer whales have shown some extremely high levels of lead, mercury, and polychlorinated hydrocarbons (PCBs). Abandoned marine toxic waste dumps and present levels of industrial and human refuse pollution of the inland waters probably presents the most serious threat to the continued existence of this orca population. Unfortunately, the total remedy to this huge problem would be broad societal changes on many fronts. But because of the fact that orcas are so popular, they may be the best species to use as a focal point in bringing about the many changes that need to be made in order to protect the marine environment as a whole from further toxic poisoning.
Surface Impacts
The waters around the San Juan Islands are extremely busy due to international commercial shipping, fishing, whale watching and pleasure boating. On a busy weekend day in the summer it is not uncommon to see numerous boats in the vicinity of the whales as they travel through the area. The potential impacts from all this vessel traffic with regard to the whales and other marine animals in the area could be tremendous.
The surfacing and breathing space of marine birds and mammals is a critical aspect of their habitat which the animals must consciously deal with on a moment-to-moment basis throughout their lifetimes. With all the boating activity in the vicinity, there are three ways in which surface impacts are most likely to affect marine animals:
collision
collision avoidance
exhaust emissions in breathing pockets
The first two impacts are very obvious and don't just apply to vessels with motors. Kayakers even present a problem here because they're so quiet. Marine animals, busy hunting and feeding under the surface of the water, may not be aware that there is a kayak above them and actually hit the bottom of it as they surface to breathe.
The third impact is one most people don't even think of. When there are numerous boats in the area, especially idling boats, there are a lot of exhaust fumes being spewed out on the surface of the water. When the whale comes up to take a nice big breath of "fresh" air, it instead gets a nice big breath of exhaust fumes. It's hard to say how greatly this affects the animals, but think how breathing polluted air affects us (i.e., smog in large cities like Los Angeles, breathing the foul air while sitting in traffic jams, etc).
To see how The Whale Museum is trying to alleviate these surface impacts vist the The Soundwatch Boater Education Program.
Underwater Noise
Similar to surface impacts, a primary source of acoustic pollution for this population of orcas would also be derived from the cumulative underwater noise of vessel traffic. For cetaceans, the underwater sound environment is perhaps the most critical component of their sensory and behavioral lives. Orcas communicate with each other over short and long distances with a variety of clicks, chirps, squeaks and whistles, along with using echolocation to locate prey and to navigate. They may also rely on passive listening as a primary sensory source. The long-term impacts from noise pollution would not likely show up as noticeable behavioral changes in habitat use, but rather as sensory damage or gradual reduction in population health.
A program at The Whale Museum called the SeaSound Remote Sensing Network has begun studying underwater acoustics and its relationship to orca communication.
Posted : June 18, 2015 1:37 pm
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If SeaWorld Commercials Told The Truth
June 17, 2015
See video on link:
http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/if-seaworld-commercials-told-the-truth/#ixzz3dbqClSdB
Posted : June 20, 2015 12:38 pm
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Top 6 Dumbest Things SeaWorld Has Said About its Orca Program
Tex Dworkin
Jun 19, 2015
http://www.care2.com/causes/top-6-dumbest-things-seaworld-has-said-about-its-orca-program.html
Since the documentary Blackfish began raising serious concerns about SeaWorld’s captive orcas program, SeaWorld has stepped up its marketing efforts to win back the public’s support. In the process, SeaWorld has made some truly hard-to-believe claims about its captive orca program. Here are six of them:
1) Recent science suggests that the life spans of killer whales at SeaWorld are comparable to those in the wild.
Actually, a recent scientific paper published in Marine Mammal Science found that survival rates of captive killer whales is poor when compared to wild killer whales.
Dr. Jeffrey Ventre, co-author of the paper and a former SeaWorld trainer, told The Dodo, “In regard to the captivity debate, the survival to age milestones data does undermine recent claims made by SeaWorld that its whales live just as long as killer whales in the wild,” adding, “The evidence suggests otherwise.”
2) A female orcas’s average life expectancy is 46 to 50 years and a male’s life expectancy is 30 to 38 years.
Government estimates via the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration state that orcas typically live up to 50-100 years. Males live on average for 30 years, but can live as long as 50 to 60 years, while females live about 50 years but can live as long as 100 years. (Unless you’re granny, in which case you live to be 103 and counting!)
3) No one knows for sure how long killer whales live.
No one knows how long humans live either, but we can venture a guess. There is plenty of data available about the lifespan of orcas, and the numbers are higher than SeaWorld claims and decrease when orcas are in captivity.
Granny the 103-year-old orca is living proof that whales left in the wild are capable of blowing even the best guess averages out of the water.
4) “Our guests will be able to walk alongside the whales as if they were at the shore, watch them interact at the depths found in the ocean.” – Jim Atchison, chief executive officer and president of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., speaking about the new larger SeaWorld orca tanks
SeaWorld officials announced plans to expand its killer whale tanks in what the company refers to as the Blue World Project. The new killer whale ‘environment’ is expected to have a total water volume of 10 million gallons, with a planned maximum depth of 50 feet and spanning more than 350 feet in length.
Actually, SeaWorld, the average depth of the ocean is about 14,000 feet. The new tanks will nearly double that of the existing facility, but most if not all people are aware that the world’s vast oceans are infinitely bigger. If it were air we were talking about, try comparing a single room to the great outdoors.
As one seattlepi writer put it, “No matter how big SeaWorld builds their tanks they will always be hopelessly tiny compared to the environment where orcas live.”
5) Sea pens can be effective for transitioning a rescued animal back to life in the open ocean, but they are not appropriate for long-term care. – Fred Jacobs, vice president of communications at SeaWorld, responding to a CNN question about sea pens as an alternative solution where humans can not only study and research killer whales, but enjoy them as well.
So sea pens are not appropriate for long-term orca care but containment tanks are? Hmm.
6) Orcas at SeaWorld facilities have “a phenomenal quality of life.” — Christopher Dold, vice president of veterinary services at SeaWorld
Quality of life diminishes the moment an animal in captivity is deprived of the opportunity to perform its natural behaviors.
Orcas in the wild typically live in pods consisting of five to 30 whales, although some pods may combine to form a group of 100 or more, and travel long distances to where their food is, migrating with their prey. Can a SeaWorld tank provide for that?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the best place for a healthy wild orca is in the wild, and SeaWorld can say what it will, but it cannot deny its past:
In 1965, the first-ever orca show at SeaWorld was performed by a female orca named Shamu at SeaWorld San Diego. When she was captured, her mother was shot with a harpoon and killed before the young orca’s very eyes. At least 44 orcas have died at SeaWorld, and it currently has in its possession at least five orcas who were kidnapped from their ocean homes.
44 have died at SeaWorld:
http://us.whales.org/wdc-in-action/fate-of-captive-orcas
Posted : June 20, 2015 3:16 pm
The Ivory Crush:
Yesterday, the USFWS conducted its Ivory Crush on Times Square in NYC.
http://www.fws.gov/le/elephant-ivory-crush.html
Posted : June 20, 2015 5:27 pm
The Wind, The Cry....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRbyZ3eD-9M
Swan
Posted : June 22, 2015 3:45 am
Topic starter
Thanks for posting, swans. Beautiful.
On the other side of the coin, please see link to this article:
5 Heartbreaking Photos That Remind Us Why We Need to Recycle
http://www.care2.com/causes/5-heartbreaking-photos-that-remind-us-why-we-need-to-recycle.html
Posted : June 22, 2015 2:38 pm
From Alana 33 : Le Vent, Le Cri....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mg04UvUl_k
Posted : June 22, 2015 5:50 pm
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Japan Says It Has a Right to Hunt Whales
Despite an international court ruling against the hunt, Japan may be gearing up to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean later in the year.
JUN 22, 2015 by Emily J. Gertz
A Japan whaling official told reporters on Monday that his country has the right to hunt whales in the Southern Ocean during the coming Antarctic summer, despite an international court ruling against it and no clear permission from the International Whaling Commission.
Reports from the press conference differ on whether Japan will or will not resume its whale hunt later this year. Japan’s representative to the IWC, Joji Morishita, called the country’s current whaling proposal to the International Whaling Commission a “research plan,” according to a reporter for the journal Science.
Morishita’s statements came just a few days after the IWC’s scientific advisory committee ended its annual meeting in California without offering a unified opinion on Japan’s proposal to hunt 330 minke whales a year in the Southern Ocean between 2015 and 2027.
Japan is a member of the committee.
Japan insisted that killing the whales would be the only way it could gather certain scientific data on the minke population and diet.
However, an expert panel advised the committee last week that Japan had failed to justify killing the whales on scientific grounds.
The committee deferred a potential decision until its next meeting, in 2016, but 44 committee members from 13 countries signed a statement agreeing that there was no scientific reason to kill whales for research. They released it as an attachment to the committee’s final report.
Japan submitted the reworked plan because in 2014, the United Nations’ International Court of Justice ruled that its earlier whale hunts were harvests of whale meat for commercial sale, not efforts to collect scientific data, despite the country’s claims to the contrary.
“The ICJ ruling applied to Japan’s previous whaling program, not this new proposal. So technically it would not be a violation of the letter of the ruling but could be argued to violate the spirit of it,” said Molly Herrmann, a spokesperson for the World Wildlife Fund, which opposes all hunting of whales in the Southern Ocean.
So, Why Should You Care? Many nations and conservation groups oppose whale hunting on ethical grounds and say the treaty loophole that allows hunting to be justified for “scientific research” should be closed. While the minke whale is not considered endangered globally, it’s unclear how many of the species live in the Southern Ocean, which is one of its primary feeding grounds.
Posted : June 23, 2015 3:53 am
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Despite Criticism, Half of Japan’s Captured Dolphins Sold
Lindsay Patton
Jun 24, 2015
Documentaries like Blackfish and The Cove have changed the way we view marine mammals – particularly dolphins and orcas – as entertainment.
The Cove was released in 2009 and won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010. The film focuses on the process wild dolphins endure when being forced into captivity so humans can be entertained at theme parks. Featured in the film is activist Ric O’Barry, who was one of the people who captured five dolphins for the 1960s television show, “Flipper.” The experience led O’Barry to become a voice for dolphins in captivity.
Blackfish directly takes aim at SeaWorld and its captive orca, Tillikum, held in captivity since his capture off Iceland’s coast in 1983. Since his capture, Tillikum has been responsible for three deaths at the amusement park. Particularly the most notable of those was the 2010 death of trainer, Dawn Brancheau, which prompted the film’s development.
The Cove paved the way for people to start thinking differently about marine mammals as entertainment, but Blackfish really drove the issue home. Since Blackfish’s release, SeaWorld’s stock has plummeted in just two years. In 2014, sales fell by 5.6 percent and its per-share earnings fell by 3.4 percent. These numbers keep falling, too. Recently, revenue fell 2.7 percent and attendance fell 2.2 percent. Last year, Southwest Airlines ended its partnership with SeaWorld and many musicians like Willie Nelson, Heart and Barenaked Ladies have spoken out against the park and boycotted performing there.
Despite these exposés and the backlash they’ve helped fuel, half the dolphins caught in Taiji, Japan have been sold. Between 2009 and 2014, there were 760 dolphins captured and sold. China bought 216 dolphins, the Ukraine bought 36, South Korea purchased 35 and Russia took in 15. Despite the mass outcry in the United States, one dolphin was sold to the country. These dolphins were primarily purchased by zoos and aquariums across the world.
The annual Taiji dolphin hunt is cruel in every sense of the word. The dolphins are driven into shallow waters by numerous boaters. These boats create a deafening sound that frightens the animals, with hunters banging metal poles against the boats. The boaters strategically place their boats in order to corral the dolphins into these shallow waters.
The dolphin hunt is not just for zoos, aquariums and amusement parks, either. From September to March, the Wakayama government permits up to 2,000 dolphins to be hunted and captured per season.
Once the dolphins are ushered into shallow waters, they are tethered and large metal rods are driven into their spinal cords by the hunters. This technique results in a slow and painful death, with the dolphins bleeding out from internal injuries or drowning in their own blood.
While Japanese zoos and aquariums have voted in May to stop buying Taiji dolphins, there are still a number of other countries that contribute to this cruelty. The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Waza), however, is currently fighting against the Taiji hunt. Earlier this year, the organization suspended its Japanese members (Jaza) and threatened expulsion if they continued to be associated with the annual hunt, which supplies 40 percent of the dolphins to its zoos and aquariums. There are currently 89 zoos and 63 aquariums that belong to Waza, which came under fire in March for its complicit stance on the dolphin hunt. Since then, the organization has worked to maintain a strong stance against the Taiji hunt, which will hopefully put a dent in the number of dolphins demanded from these cruel practices.
http://www.care2.com/causes/despite-criticism-half-of-japans-captured-dolphins-sold.html
Posted : June 25, 2015 10:24 am
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The World’s Smallest and Rarest Porpoise Could Disappear in a Few Years
Alicia Graef
Jun 24, 2015
http://www.care2.com/causes/the-worlds-smallest-and-rarest-porpoise-could-disappear-in-a-few-years.html
Conservationists have been concerned with the future of the the world’s smallest and rarest porpoise for decades, but an alarming new report has raised concerns that they’re doing even worse than we thought.
The tiny porpoise at the center of concern is known as the vaquita, who can be found only in a small area of the Gulf of California, off the coast of Mexico.
Despite past efforts to protect them, including the creation of a refuge in 2005, their population was recently believed to have dwindled to fewer than 100 individuals just a year ago.
Unfortunately, according to a recent report released by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), that brought to light new information from the Mexico-based International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA) that was collected through its acoustic monitoring program, which records the number of vocalizations heard in the Gulf.
Between 2011 and 2013 scientists believed their numbers were dropping at an average rate of 18.5 percent each year, but now it’s up to 30 percent. Between 2013 and 2014 alone they declined by a staggering 42 percent.
Now scientists believe there are only 50 or fewer individuals left in existence, and at the rate they’re declining, they’ll be gone forever in as little as three years.
“It’s horrifying to witness, in real time, the extinction of an animal right in front of our eyes,” said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Without drastic help, vaquitas could vanish completely in just a few years. We need the world to wake up and help save these incredible porpoises.”
One of their main threats is being killed as bycatch after getting entangled in gillnets used to catch shrimp and other fish, but they’re also suffering as a result of illegal fishing targeting endangered totoaba for its swim bladder, which is used in Chinese medicine and is also considered a delicacy.
A recent undercover investigation conducted by Greenpeace found the black market that brings dried bladders from Mexico, through the U.S. to China is alive and well, bringing in prices as high as $645,000.
In response to pressure to act, Mexico announced a two-year ban on gillnet fishing in the northern Gulf in April, in addition to increasing monitoring and enforcement of the ban in the area and compensating fishermen for their lost catches.
While the effort was applauded as a step in the right direction, CIRVA and conservation organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Center for Biological Diversity believe the only thing that will save the vaquita from extinction now is to make the temporary ban on gillnets permanent throughout the vaquita’s entire range.
Now, in addition to calling for a permanent ban, conservation organizations are encouraging a number of actions that could potentially help them recover from asking the Obama administration to impose trade sanctions on Mexico in an effort to stop illegal fishing and urging authorities to increase customs enforcement to stop the trade in totoaba.
They’re also petitioning the World Heritage Committee to designate more than 6,900 square miles of ocean and islands in northern Mexico as “in danger,” which they hope will raise both awareness about the plights of the vaquita and the totoaba, in addition to raising funds for conservation efforts.
Posted : June 25, 2015 12:36 pm
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Fishing litter travels nearly 3,000 miles from North America to Scotland
http://www.worldanimalprotection.us.org/news/fishing-litter-travels-nearly-3000-miles-north-america-scotland
June 17 2015
The impacts of fishing litter on the marine environment are widely reported, but finding the source of much of the litter and ghost fishing gear can be more difficult.
Heritage organization Shetland Amenity Trust in Scotland recently coordinated Shetland’s 28th annual spring clean, Da Voar Redd Up, during which over 4500 volunteers collected around 70 tons of debris washed up during winter storms. Among the litter were a number of quite telling finds from Scousburgh Sands and other local beaches in Shetland, Scotland. The organization amassed a range of washed-up tags from lobster pots, which they have traced all the way back to North America.
Jane Outram from the Shetland Amenity Trust said: “We come across all kinds of litter from our beach cleans, but research into these tags and their lettering revealed that these lobster trap tags have indeed made a transatlantic journey from Newfoundland and Maine, traveling over 3000 miles to end up here in Shetland. Some of the tags were set on traps as long ago as 1988!”
Shetland Amenity Trust reported the tags to us so we could measure the devastating impact of ghost fishing gear on the marine environment.
Elizabeth Hogan, our U.S. Oceans and Wildlife Campaigns Manager, saiCopyright: Shetland Amenity Trust. d: “We work with many other organizations in the U.S., particularly along the Northeast coast, to track and record these types of lost fishing gear. Our Sea Change campaign aims to bring an end to the damaging impact ghost fishing gear has on marine wildlife and local fish stocks.
We have added these lobster tags into our database, and we encourage other beach users to take photos of any ghost gear they see and share it with us for our research.”
We're working to lessen the volume of ghost gear in the UK and off the Northeast coast of the United States. Earlier this year, we partnered with the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation and local fishermen to remove some 147 derelict fishing traps, as well as 1,000 pounds of rope and line, from local waters. All animals found inside lost traps, including lobsters, crabs, sea stars, urchins and fish, were released back into the Gulf of Maine, and 44 traps that were still in good condition were returned to their owners.
Most fishing gear is made out of plastic, meaning that it persists in the oceans for centuries, accumulating year over year. We estimate that more than 136,000 seals, sea lions and large whales are killed by ghost fishing gear every year. An unimaginable number of birds, turtles, fish and other species are also injured and killed.
Members of the public can upload their sightings of ghost fishing gear at http://worldanimalprotection.org/sea-change-map
Posted : June 25, 2015 2:58 pm
Fishing litter travels nearly 3,000 miles from North America to Scotland
http://www.worldanimalprotection.us.org/news/fishing-litter-travels-nearly-3000-miles-north-america-scotland
June 17 2015The impacts of fishing litter on the marine environment are widely reported, but finding the source of much of the litter and ghost fishing gear can be more difficult.
Heritage organization Shetland Amenity Trust in Scotland recently coordinated Shetland’s 28th annual spring clean, Da Voar Redd Up, during which over 4500 volunteers collected around 70 tons of debris washed up during winter storms. Among the litter were a number of quite telling finds from Scousburgh Sands and other local beaches in Shetland, Scotland. The organization amassed a range of washed-up tags from lobster pots, which they have traced all the way back to North America.
Jane Outram from the Shetland Amenity Trust said: “We come across all kinds of litter from our beach cleans, but research into these tags and their lettering revealed that these lobster trap tags have indeed made a transatlantic journey from Newfoundland and Maine, traveling over 3000 miles to end up here in Shetland. Some of the tags were set on traps as long ago as 1988!”
Shetland Amenity Trust reported the tags to us so we could measure the devastating impact of ghost fishing gear on the marine environment.
Elizabeth Hogan, our U.S. Oceans and Wildlife Campaigns Manager, saiCopyright: Shetland Amenity Trust. d: “We work with many other organizations in the U.S., particularly along the Northeast coast, to track and record these types of lost fishing gear. Our Sea Change campaign aims to bring an end to the damaging impact ghost fishing gear has on marine wildlife and local fish stocks.
We have added these lobster tags into our database, and we encourage other beach users to take photos of any ghost gear they see and share it with us for our research.”
We're working to lessen the volume of ghost gear in the UK and off the Northeast coast of the United States. Earlier this year, we partnered with the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation and local fishermen to remove some 147 derelict fishing traps, as well as 1,000 pounds of rope and line, from local waters. All animals found inside lost traps, including lobsters, crabs, sea stars, urchins and fish, were released back into the Gulf of Maine, and 44 traps that were still in good condition were returned to their owners.
Most fishing gear is made out of plastic, meaning that it persists in the oceans for centuries, accumulating year over year. We estimate that more than 136,000 seals, sea lions and large whales are killed by ghost fishing gear every year. An unimaginable number of birds, turtles, fish and other species are also injured and killed.
Members of the public can upload their sightings of ghost fishing gear at http://worldanimalprotection.org/sea-change-map
Seriously? The forty-four traps that were in good condition were returned to the owners? That is like returning a weapon back to the criminal. Instead, the traps should have been rightfully destroyed, the trappers fined/ jailed, their licenses burned, and the names of the irresponsible trap owners publicized! They committed an atrocious act of animal abuse and showed total disregard for the welfare of our environment. Something's not logical here...
Posted : June 25, 2015 5:53 pm
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Have to agree.
Posted : June 26, 2015 1:32 pm
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Conservation successes overshadowed by more species declines – IUCN Red List update
23 June 2015
Successful conservation action has boosted the populations of the Iberian Lynx and the Guadalupe Fur Seal, while the African Golden Cat, the New Zealand Sea Lion and the Lion are facing increasing threats to their survival, according to the latest update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Ninety-nine percent of tropical Asian slipper orchids – some of the most highly prized ornamental plants – are threatened with extinction.
Today’s update also shows that over-collection and habitat destruction are placing enormous pressure on many medicinal plants.
The IUCN Red List now includes 77,340 assessed species, of which 22,784 are threatened with extinction. The loss and degradation of habitat are identified as the main threat to 85% of all species described on the IUCN Red List, with illegal trade and invasive species also being key drivers of population decline.
“This IUCN Red List update confirms that effective conservation can yield outstanding results,” says Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General. “Saving the Iberian Lynx from the brink of extinction while securing the livelihoods of local communities is a perfect example. “But this update is also a wake-up call, reminding us that our natural world is becoming increasingly vulnerable. The international community must urgently step up conservation efforts if we want to secure this fascinating diversity of life that sustains, inspires and amazes us every day.”
Following six decades of decline, the population of the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) increased from 52 mature individuals in 2002 to 156 in 2012. The species has now moved from the Critically Endangered to Endangered category on the IUCN Red List. This was achieved thanks to intensive conservation action including the restoration of rabbit populations – the main prey species of the Iberian Lynx - monitoring for illegal trapping, conservation breeding, reintroduction programmes and compensation schemes for landowners, which made their properties compatible with the habitat requirements of the Iberian Lynx. The species can be found in two regions of southwestern Spain as well as southeastern Portugal, which hosts its small reintroduced population.
“This is fantastic news for the Iberian Lynx, and excellent proof that conservation action really works,” says Urs Breitenmoser, Co-Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Cat Specialist Group. “However, the job is far from finished and we must continue our conservation efforts to secure future range expansion and population growth of the species.”
Guadalupe Fur Seal (Arctocephalus townsendi) Photo: Casandra GalvezThe Guadalupe Fur Seal (Arctocephalus townsendi), which was twice thought to be Extinct due to hunting in the late 1800s and 1920s, has now improved in status. Is has moved from the Near Threatened category to Least Concern thanks to habitat protection and the enforcement of laws such as the USA Marine Mammal Protection Act. The species’ population rebounded from some 200 to 500 individuals in the 1950s to around 20,000 in 2010. Prior to exploitation for its dense, luxurious underfur, the Guadalupe African Golden Cat (Caracal aurata) Photo: Laila Bahaa-el-dinFur Seal was likely the most abundant seal species on the islands of southern California, with a population estimate of 200,000.
According to the update, several mammals are facing increased threats from hunting and habitat loss. The extremely reclusive African Golden Cat (Caracal aurata) has moved from Near Threatened to Vulnerable due to population decline. The New Zealand Sea Lion (Phocarctos hookeri) – one of the rarest sea lions in the world – has Lion (Panthera leo) Photo: Craig Hilton-Taylormoved from Vulnerable to Endangered, mainly due to disease, habitat modification caused by fishing, and accidental death as a result of bycatch. The species has never recovered from the severe population depletion which occurred due to commercial hunting early in the 19th century.
Despite successful conservation action in southern Africa, the Lion (Panthera leo) remains listed as Vulnerable at a global level due to declines in other regions. The West African subpopulation has been listed as Critically Endangered due to habitat conversion, a decline in prey caused by unsustainable hunting, and human-lion conflict. Rapid declines have also been recorded in East Africa – historically a stronghold for lions – mainly due to human-lion conflict and prey decline. Trade in bones and Purple Paphiopedilum (Paphiopedilum purpuratum) Photo: VanLap Hoangother body parts for traditional medicine, both within the region and in Asia, has been identified as a new, emerging threat to the species.
Assessments of all 84 species of tropical Asian slipper orchid – some of the most beautiful ornamental plants – show that 99% of the species are threatened with extinction, primarily due to over-collection for horticultural purposes and habitat loss. All international commercial trade in this species is prohibited under the Convention on Karstama balicum Photo: Tony WhittenInternational Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). However, highly damaging illegal trade continues due to a lack of adequate enforcement at national levels. Although these species are mostly represented in cultivated collections, their loss in the wild will have major impacts on their genetic diversity and the species’ continued existence. For example, the Purple Paphiopedilum (Paphiopedilum purpuratum), a rare species found in Viet Nam, China and Hong Kong, is listed as Critically Endangered. Threats include habitat fragmentation and Peppermint Goby (Coryphopterus lipernes) Photo: Laszlo Ilyesdegradation, and ruthless collection in the wild for the regional and international horticultural trade.
Forty-four Indian species of medicinal plant have been added to the IUCN Red List in this update. All are threatened with extinction, mainly due to over-collection and habitat loss. Aconitum chasmanthum, a highly toxic plant endemic to the Himalayan region of India and Pakistan, is listed as Critically Endangered due to unsustainable collection of tubers and roots, as well as habitat loss from avalanches and the construction of high-altitude roads. The roots and tubers, which contain alkaloids, are used in Ayurvedic and homeopathic medicine and are collected in huge quantities.
Two species of crab, Karstama balicum and Karstama emdi, have been listed as Critically Endangered as their only known habitat – Bali’s Giri Putri Cave – is threatened by increasing tourism and religious ceremonies carried out in the cave. Studies of the crabs are being carried out in order to identify appropriate conservation strategies.
Of the 143 species of goby assessed in the Caribbean region, 19 are threatened with extinction mainly due to a 59% decline in coral reef habitat between 1979 and 2011, and the invasive Lionfish (Pterois volitans). Gobies are one of the largest families of marine fish. They comprise more than 2,000 species, including some of the smallest vertebrates in the world, such as the Critically Endangered Dwarf Pygmy Goby (Pandaka pygmaea), which is only 1 to 1.5 cm long. The Peppermint Goby (Coryphopterus lipernes), which grows to a maximum of 3 cm, has been listed as Vulnerable. Previously listed as Least Concern, the Glass Goby (Coryphopterus hyalinus) is now Vulnerable due to increased threat from the invasive Lionfish.
Whilst no new species have been listed as Extinct, 14 species have been assessed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct). These include the evergreen Magnolia emarginata, a tree endemic to Haiti, which has suffered from an estimated 97% reduction of its forest habitat during the last century. Ten species of orchid endemic to Madagascar, such as the white flowering Angraecum mahavavense, have also entered The IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) primarily due to loss of forest habitat and illegal collection.
"It is encouraging to see several species improve in status due to conservation action,” says Jane Smart, Director, IUCN’s Global Species Programme. “However, this update shows that we are still seeing devastating losses in species populations. The IUCN Red List is the voice of biodiversity telling us where we need to focus our attention most urgently – this voice is clearly telling us that we must act now to develop stronger policy and on-the-ground conservation programmes to protect species and halt their declines.”
For more information or interviews please contact:
Ewa Magiera, IUCN Media Relations
+41 76 505 33 78
ewa.magiera@iucn.org
Lynne Labanne, IUCN Global Species Programme, IUCN
+41 79 527 7221
lynne.labanne@iucn.org
Posted : June 27, 2015 11:44 am
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SeaWorld Puts Its Whales On Valium-Like Drug, Documents Show
Orcas under stress.
posted on Mar. 31, 2014
Justin Carissimo
The theme park chain SeaWorld, already facing wide criticism from animal rights advocates, treats some of its marine mammals with psychoactive drugs, according to a document obtained by BuzzFeed.
Trainers give their orcas, also known as killer whales, the psychoactive drug benzodiazepine, according to the sworn affidavit filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in a dispute between the park company and the rival company Marineland over the transport of a prized killer whale, Ikaika, to SeaWorld.
Benzodiazepines are a type of drug that includes the common human medications Valium and Xanax. The orcas’ mental health issues, SeaWorld’s critics say, are a direct result of their keeping the mammals in captivity.
Jared Goodman, Director of Animal Law at the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), told BuzzFeed that he believes the leaked documents will play a key role in SeaWorld’s future.
“The veterinary records show that orcas at SeaWorld are given psychotropic drugs to stop them from acting aggressively towards each other in the stressful, frustrating conditions in which they’re confined instead of funding the development of coastal sanctuaries - the only humane solution,” Goodman said.
The questions about the drugs given to the whales, which also include a range of antibiotics, come as SeaWorld is reeling from a critical documentary. Blackfish tells the story of a killer whale named Tilikum, who’s been accused of killing three people but is still retained by SeaWorld. Tilikum’s genes are found in 54% of the whales in SeaWorld’s current whale collection, and has fathered at least 21 whales from artificial insemination.
A spokesperson for SeaWorld Fred Jacobs defended the medication in an emailed statement. “Benzodiazepines are sometimes used in veterinary medicine for the care and treatment of animals, both domestic and in a zoological setting,” Jacobs said. “These medications can be used for sedation for medical procedures, premedication prior to general anesthesia, and for the control of seizures. The use of benzodiazepines is regulated, and these medications are only prescribed to animals by a veterinarian. Their use for cetacean healthcare, including killer whales, is limited, infrequent, and only as clinically indicated based on the assessment of the attending veterinarian. There is no higher priority for SeaWorld than the health and well-being of the animals in its care.”
But animal advocates say the orcas’ condition is far from normal.
The founder of the Orca Research Trust, Ingrid Visser, said the drugs are likely treating a condition caused by captivity, and that their violence is the result of stress, not native aggression.
“They do not cope with being kept in these tanks. They survive to some degree, but they don’t thrive to any degree,” Visser said. “They show stereotypical behaviors that are abnormal, repetitive behaviors like head bobbing, chewing on concrete, and self mutilation by banging the side of their heads on the side of the tank, and there isn’t a single orca living in captivity where you cannot see one of these behaviors, and in many of them you see multiple examples of these behaviors.”
PETA’s president, Ingrid Newkirk, accused SeaWorld of “pump[ing] these marine slaves full of psychotropic drugs in order to force them to perform stupid tricks.”
Read the affidavit in full here.
Go to link to read: http://www.buzzfeed.com/justincarissimo/seaworld-puts-its-whales-on-valium-like-drug-documents-show#.onnx1G6nX
Posted : June 27, 2015 7:25 pm
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3 Zoo Elephants Who Need Us for an International Day of Action
Alicia Graef
Jun 27, 2015
On June 28, elephant advocates from around the world will be coming together for an international day of action intended to raise awareness about the plight of elephants in zoos and why they don’t belong there.
The International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos was first launched in 2009 by In Defense of Animals (IDA) in an effort to help educate us about the devastating impact captivity has on elephants, and to push for moving them to accredited sanctuaries.
While IDA is working to protect all captive elephants, this year it’s focusing the campaign on three lonely individuals in North American zoos who particularly need advocacy on their behalf. According to IDA, “All of these solitary elephants are female – perhaps a particular tragedy given that in the wild, they would be living in close-knit, multi-generational social groups, as aunties, grandmothers, mothers, daughters, maybe even granddaughters. The females would normally stay with their matrilineal families for life! Of course, we do not forget the males who also maintain ties to their maternal groups for life if given the chance.”
Asha
Asha is an African elephant who was taken from the wild in Zimbabwe in the 1980s after her mother was culled. She was moved to the Natural Bridge Zoo in Virginia, which received the shameful distinction of being the worst zoo for elephants on IDA’s most recent top ten list for keeping her alone, forcing her to give rides in the sweltering summer heat, confining her to a barn in the winter and using a bullhook on her in front of visitors, who later complained about the abuse.
The zoo was also the subject of a recent undercover investigation conducted by the Humane Society of the United States that uncovered a multitude of problems concerning her treatment and the care of all of the animals there, which resulted in the suspension of its exhibitors permit earlier this spring.
Lucky
Lucky is an Asian elephant who was taken from the wild in Thailand as a baby before being moved to the states and eventually the San Antonio Zoo in Texas, which came in second on IDA’s list of worst zoos for keeping her alone. Her advocates have been campaigning to get the zoo to do something about her situation, but it has stubbornly refused to let her go and plans on keeping her until she dies. Earlier this spring the Animal Legal Defense Fund initiated a lawsuit over the zoo’s failure to provide her with proper care and companionship, with the ultimate goal of moving her to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.
Lucy
Lucy is an Asian elephant living at the Edmonton Valley Zoo in Canada who was bought by the from a wildlife dealer in the 1970s when she was a baby. Despite claims from the zoo – which was IDA’s most recent Hall of Shame winner – that her life is good, her advocates have been fighting to have her moved for years over concerns that she is being kept in isolation, in an inadequate enclosure in a cold climate we know is inappropriate for elephants.
These zoos are also acting in defiance of updated regulations issued by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which at least recognizes the social needs of captive elephants, and now requires zoos with less than three elephants to either add more to their facilities or relocate their current residents by September 2016.
Unfortunately, isolation isn’t the only issue surrounding these three elephants and others around the world who also suffer from health issues related to confinement, including foot infections and arthritis, broken bonds, failed breeding programs, psychological distress and shortened lifespans.
Zoo supporters continue to push the importance of keeping elephants in captivity to enhance education and conservation efforts, but seeing these intelligent, social, far-ranging animals trapped in artificial environments doesn’t teach us anything about who elephants are as individuals or as a species, or how we should be respecting and protecting wild populations.
At least some places are making changes for the better. Already more than two dozen zoos have closed, or will be closing, their elephant exhibits for reasons that range from a lack of funding to expand exhibits to welfare concerns, such as inadequate space, unsuitable climates and insufficient social groups.
How to Help
Animal advocates will be holding events at these three zoos on Sunday, June 28 and IDA is encouraging people to attend, but for those who aren’t local, you can show your support contacting reps who live in these zoos’ districts urging the relocation of these elephants and by sharing photos, poems, graphics, art, words, or other information supporting the freedom of captive elephants on their Facebook event page.
You can also help by signing and sharing the Care2 petitions going on behalf of Asha, Lucky and Lucy, urging officials to do the right thing for each of these elephants.
For more information about how to support efforts to help elephants, visit In Defense of Animals.
http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/wild-free2/elephant-protection/
Posted : June 28, 2015 10:20 am
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The Islands Where Watching Whales Could End Their Lives
A new Faroe Islands law forces tourists to report whale sightings—so hunters can find them too, activists say.
JUN 29, 2015
David Kirby
The Faroe Islands, a North Atlantic archipelago, have put a new twist on the phrase “If you see something, say something.” But it has nothing to do with terrorism.
In June, the parliament of the Faroes, an autonomous region owned by Denmark, approved a measure mandating that tourists report sightings of whale and dolphin pods to local authorities.
Critics such as Sea Shepherd Global, which monitors and tries to interfere with the annual whale hunt in the Faroe Islands, known as the grindadráp, say the law was created to help whalers drive the animals toward shore, where they are slaughtered for meat and blubber.
So, Why Should You Care? Whale grinds are permitted in 22 Faroese bays, where up to 120 pilot whales can be killed at a time. According to Sea Shepherd, 1,200 pilot whales are killed during the hunt season in the Faroes.
Visitors who fail to report sightings are now subject to fines of up to 25,000 Faroese króna, or about $3,550, and two years in jail. The law also increases penalties for trying to interfere with the grindadráp.
Faroese law enforcement officials called Sea Shepherd leaders into meetings and warned them about the new legislation and penalties. According to Rosie Kunneke of Sea Shepherd Global, the land team leader for the group’s summer anti-whaling campaign, Faroese officials told Sea Shepherd that any volunteer who injures a dolphin faces up to 10 years in prison.
Last summer, several Sea Shepherd volunteers were arrested for allegedly trying to interfere with the hunt.
“We can go to jail if an animal is harmed as they are being driven to their death,” Kunneke said. “It doesn’t even make sense that you can send somebody to jail for trying to protect life.”
Whale watching is a tourist attraction in the Faroes, but the new law could drive visitors away, Kunneke believes, especially as any boat—including a whale-watching vessel—can be forced by grindadráp foremen to participate in driving whales to shore.
Rannva Solheim, a legal adviser at the Faroese parliament, confirmed that the law is in effect.
“There is a penalty if visitors don’t tell officials about seeing whales,” Solheim said. “Not reporting it is considered gross negligence.”
She said she doubted that anyone failing to report a sighting would receive the maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment.
This year’s hunt is already under way. On Monday, 25 to 30 pilot whales were killed on the island of Viðoy, reported the Arctic Journal, while 154 pilot whales were killed on the island of Vágar on June 6.
Sea Shepherd says that its vessel Sam Simon is heading to the islands to deploy sonic devices that may divert whales from the shore. Kunneke declined to say whether Sea Shepherd will comply with the mandatory reporting rules or the ban on interfering with the hunt.
Posted : June 30, 2015 5:06 pm
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African Lions Have Declined by 42 Percent. Here’s How You Can Help.
Jessica Ramos
Jun 30, 2015
African lions desperately need our help. According to new data, their numbers are suffering at an unprecedented rate, particularly in West Africa.
African Lions have Declined by 42 Percent
As reported in Scientific American, new data from International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) paints a grim picture for our beloved lions. According to the data, over the course of 21 years, African lions have declined by a whopping 42 percent.
The fate of the lions could be much worse. Conservation efforts in African countries like Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe have kept the lions off the IUCN Red List’s endangered category. But they’re close. And these successful protected reserves can’t handle more lions.
While these four African countries have stepped up for lions in big ways, the rest of the continent has not. In some parts of Africa, the lion population has been reduced to 60 percent. West African lions have been the least protected, and these lions are considered critically endangered. A 2014 study highlighted that only 400 lions remained in 17 West African nations.
4 Main Threats to African Lions
So what’s causing this alarming African lion population decline? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but here are four of the main threats:
1. Prey and Habitat Loss: Prey and habitat loss go hand in hand. Lions are losing these two vital elements because of increased agricultural activities “to feed Africa’s growing human population.” As Dereck Joubert explains to Defenders of Wildlife: “With the human population explosion there is an associated cattle explosion.” And grazing cattle have a knack for moving deeper and deeper into lion protected areas.
But if we’ve learned anything about world hunger, it’s that agricultural land is also used to feed animals in richer nations. For instance, as Viva highlights: “At the height of the Ethiopian famine in 1984-5, Britain imported £1.5 million worth of linseed cake, cottonseed cake and rape seed meal. Although none of this was fit for humans to eat, good quality farmland was still being used to grow animal feed for rich countries when it could have been used to grow food for Ethiopians.”
2. Human Conflict: Habitat loss puts the lions closer to us and human property, like livestock. So it’s not uncommon for a farmer to take out a lion who has hurt his animals or to kill a potential threat to his livelihood.
3. Lion Parts: The demand for lion parts, e.g. medicinal lion bones, in some countries has driven lion hunting and poaching. A lion (or tiger) bone wine is believed to enhance virility.
4. Weak Management: The IUCN Red List says that weak management of existing protected areas also contributes to lion decline. In some instances, pastoralists have breached protected areas to persecute lions.
4 Ways You Can Help African Lions
1. There’s no doubt that human population growth is hurting our iconic lions the most. According to Joubert, “Every time we add a billion people to our roster we cut their populations in half. We are in essence squeezing big cats out of existence.” So a global effort is needed to use our shared resources better for the lions and the rest of our precious wildlife. The global community needs to move towards a more plant-based diet. This diet destroys less habitats and reduces human-lion conflict as there is no/less livestock to protect.
2. Don’t buy or participate in the lion bone wine market.
3. Invest in lion protected areas to make them more effective.
4. Take Action!
Sign and share this petition demanding West African leaders take responsibility in protecting lions. West Africa needs a political will similar to Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Experts fear that if we do nothing, then majestic lions could be extinct as early as 2050. Extinction is forever — lions are not.
http://www.care2.com/causes/african-lions-have-declined-by-42-percent-heres-how-you-can-help.html
Posted : July 1, 2015 10:37 am
Topic starter
Would-Be Rhino Poacher Caught Before He Had a Chance to Kill
Tex Dworkin
Jun 30, 2015
http://www.care2.com/causes/would-be-rhino-poacher-caught-before-he-had-a-chance-to-kill.html
It brought me immense pleasure to tell you about the apprehension of the first two fugitives from Interpol’s Most Wanted Environmental List which first launched in October 2014.
Similar arrests have taken place since, including the arrest of Nepal’s top wildlife criminal Rajkumar Praja who was caught in Malaysia. He’s the ringleader of a rhino poaching network in Nepal and was the subject of a global INTERPOL environmental fugitive operation. Information exchanged between the INTERPOL National Central Bureaus in Nepal and Malaysia led to his arrest by the Royal Malaysian Police in January 2015, and now Praja is due to serve a 15-year sentence for rhino poaching and trading internationally in rhino horns.
Continuing with the good news for those who appreciate justice for wildlife criminals, another rhino poacher has been nabbed, and this time authorities apprehended the criminal before the crime was committed.
South African National Parks announced earlier this week that Mozambican National Elliot Manzini was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition with the intention to kill rhino, and illegally entering Kruger National Park (KNP) with the intention to poach rhino.
In case you’re wondering, the heaviest sentencing to date for a South African rhino poacher is 77 years of jail time. The culprit: Mandla Chauke, who was arrested in 2011, also at Kruger National Park, after he and two other poachers shot and killed three rhinos.
When Manzini was arrested in May by South African National Parks (SANParks) Rangers, he was in possession of a .458 rifle and ammunition. Unfortunately two of Manzini’s companions fled back into Mozambique, but hopefully in time they too will be caught and held accountable for their inhumane actions.
SANParks welcomed the sentencing, and KNP Managing Executive Glenn Phillips commended the courts for imposing the lengthy jail term, stating:
“We are happy that the courts have rewarded the hard work done by the Rangers, our Environmental Crime Investigative Unit and the South African Police. The sentencing will also help to lift the morale of all men and women in uniform who constantly have to react to dangerous situations involving rhino poaching.”
Well said, Phillips. Dealing with poachers can be extremely dangerous business for rangers, many of whom risk their lives to protect animals.
If you’ve ever been to South Africa’s Kruger National Park, where Manzini was caught, you know that it is a wildly special place. Animals large and small roam free, but apparently not free from harm. (If you’d like a glimpse of Kruger wildlife, feel free to check out some of my amateur-at-best-photos on Flickr.)
While the world needs national parks to provide a safe haven for wildlife and ensure that future generations of unique species survive, poachers continue to pose a direct, serious threat to their survival, even in protected areas like Kruger. As I explained before, to poachers, rhinos are worth more dead than alive because their horns can fetch as much as $250,000 in underground markets.
Of course, you can’t put a price on one’s life.
There’s no telling how many animals Manzini may have illegally killed in his lifetime, but hopefully his capture will prevent him from harming rhinos in the future.
While catching this poacher before he had the chance to kill may be good news, there are so many illegal wildlife killers out there, on the loose, and although rhino populations may be growing healthily overall, some subspecies are still listed as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Poaching poses a serious threat to rhinos, as Dr. Joseph Okori, head of WWF’s African Rhino Programme, explains:
“The African rhino is under serious threat from poachers who have intensified their search of rhino for their horns since 2007, driven by growing market demands in Asia. The rhino poaching trend is extremely worrying. If it is not stopped, the world could lose African rhinos. This is a tragedy we do not want to contemplate.”
Rangers and other officials are using everything in their means to stop poachers in their tracks, including drones, but it’s difficult and risky work for wildlife protectors on the ground, so INTERPOL is seeking the public’s support in locating international fugitives.
If you want to help officials nab would-be poachers before they have a chance to kill, familiarize yourself with INTERPOL’s Infra Terra Most Wanted Persons list before you head to national parks like Kruger. Of course, never confront a suspected poacher yourself. Leave that to the professionals. Instead, if you have information about any of the people listed, send an email to INTERPOL’s Fugitives Unit.
How gratifying would that be to help catch a known wildlife criminal who is on the run from justice?
Posted : July 1, 2015 11:00 am
Topic starter
After a Long Absence, Lions Are Returning to Rwanda
Alicia Graef
Jul 1, 2015
Conservationists are cheering the return of lions to Rwanda after a long absence as part of a plan they hope will restore balance in the ecosystem and help promote tourism to the area.
According to the conservation group African Parks, the genocide in 1994 that took hundreds of thousands of human lives also brought about the disappearance of the the last lions in the area, who were poisoned by cattle herders over fears of conflicts after parks were left unmanaged.
Now in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board, African Parks is working to translocate seven lions from reserves in South Africa to the Akagera National Park, who are scheduled to arrive this week in what park officials are calling a “ground-breaking conservation initiative for both the park and the country of Rwanda.”
The group of new lions includes five young and sub-adult females and two young males who African Parks says were chosen based on their reproductive potential and their ability to contribute to social cohesion.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rdbrwanda/sets/72157655099676995
After arriving, they will be quarantined in a specially built enclosure and monitored for two weeks before being fully released into the wild. Even though the park is fenced in, they will still be fitted with satellite collars so park managers can be monitor them and reduce the risk of them breaking out into neighboring communities.
“It is a breakthrough in the rehabilitation of the park under the public private partnership between the Rwanda Development Board and African Parks. Their return will encourage the natural balance of the ecosystem and enhance the tourism product to further contribute to Rwanda’s status as an all-in-one safari destination,” said Ambassador Yamina Karitanyi, the Chief Tourism Officer at the Rwanda Development Board.
Expanding their presence in the wild won’t just promote biodiversity in Rwanda, but give disappearing populations of these iconic big cats an extra foothold.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified African lions as a vulnerable species years ago, but the updated Red List that came out this month has confirmed they continue to face a serious risk of extinction.
According to the IUCN, the species as a whole has declined by an estimated 42 percent over the past 21 years, while populations in West Africa are now listed as Critically Endangered.
While they face the threats of habitat loss, a loss of prey, development, hunting and conflicts with us, along with a lack of political will and funding to save them, the trade in their parts has also grown over the past few years and has led to an increase in poaching and commercial hunting.
Conservationists in the U.S. are pushing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finalize a rule that would protect them under the Endangered Species Act in an effort to limit the trade in their parts and import of trophies, along with helping to promote funding and conservation efforts in range states.
http://www.care2.com/causes/after-a-long-absence-lions-are-returning-to-rwanda.html
Posted : July 2, 2015 1:18 pm
