Animal News
CITES Ivory Policy Is On Drugs
Poaching and ivory trafficking have skyrocketed in the post-China ivory sale years. The Chinese government recently built the world’s largest ivory carving factory and is funding the training of a new generation of ivory carvers. Can CITES stop this madness?
Antiques, Furniture, and…Parrots? Why Animals Don’t Belong at Swap Meets
From exotic birds to reptiles, the health and safety of wildlife sold at outdoor markets is the focus of a new bill, AB 339 sponsored by Born Free USA and the State Human Association of California and authored by California Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento). “Very frequently, I found the animals didn’t have food or water, even when it was really hot out,” Monica Engebretson, senior program associate for Born Free USA,
Link: www.takepart.com
Born Free Executives Warn of the End of Many of the World's Most Iconic Species
Adam Roberts, executive vice president of Born Free USA, a leader in wildlife conservation and animal welfare, and a board member of Species Survival Network (SSN), warned February 25, “We are presiding over a slide towards extinction for many of the world's most iconic species.”
Link: Examiner.com
African Lions: The Killer Kings in Mortal Danger from Man and Sham Medicine
In 2002, I spent 10 days in Kenya. I'll never forget lying in a tent on the Maasai Mara trying to sleep against the awful, blood-curdling roar of lions hunting on the moonlit plains. I would wake every hour, swearing a beast was at my door. Seven years later, a trip to Botswana ended without seeing (or hearing) a single lion, and while the safari was magnificent, something powerful and fearsome was notably absent. It made me wonder: What would Africa be without lions?
Link: Guardian.co.uk
Rhino Killed Before Protest in India
Poachers have preyed on yet another Kaziranga rhino, the horn-shorn carcass of which was recovered from the Bagori range of the national park this morning (Feb. 18). This was the ninth rhino killed in the state this year and the seventh in Kaziranga. Forest officials said the male rhino's carcass was recovered near the Kaoimari forest camp in the Bagori range of the park. Empty .303 rifle cartridges were also recovered from the site.
Link: Yahoo! News India
Mike the Fearless Brown Bear Shot by Swiss Gamekeepers
A brown bear dubbed Mike by its fans has been shot and killed by gamekeepers in a mountainous border region in southeastern Switzerland after several run-ins with locals, Swiss officials said on Wednesday (Feb. 20). How to deal with the bear, known as M13 by authorities, had sparked controversy between gamekeepers and environmentalists far outside the Graubuenden canton, which borders on Italy and Austria and where the animal was most often spotted.
Link: Yahoo! News
The Gathering: Sri Lanka's Great Elephant Migration
Poachers have decimated elephant populations across Africa and parts of Asia, killing thousands of animals for their revered ivory. Yet in Sri Lanka, home to some 7,000 wild Asian elephants, a different, more hopeful story is playing out.
Link: CNN.com
Legal Precedent Will Protect Migratory Birds from Fatal Window Strikes
A significant legal precedent was set today that will protect migratory birds from lethal collisions with the highly reflective windows of office buildings. Cadillac Fairview, one of Canada’s largest commercial property owners and managers, was charged under s. 14(1) of the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) and s. 32(1) of the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). In a ruling released Monday, Judge Melvyn Green of the Ontario Court of Justice found that hundreds of birds, including threatened species, had been injured and killed at the company’s Yonge Corporate Centre, consisting of three office buildings in Toronto, during the 2010 spring and fall migrations.
Link: EcoJustice.ca
