Born Free USA Blog
Sanctuary Stay — Part 2
Born Free USA’s Lorry Marvin Can See the Primates Are in Good Hands
The action continues as I regale you with another tale from my visit to the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary!
Because our sanctuary is not open to the public, I want to share a few highlights of the amazing (and backbreaking) work that goes on down there with a series of blogs. And if you want to help the monkeys, consider making a donation to the sanctuary. I can say for sure that every cent goes a long way toward giving our sanctuary residents the best care possible!
Leonardo DiCaprio and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that a “foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” But there is nothing foolish about consistent ethics with respect to our treatment of animals. The beaver, cow, dog, eagle, fin whale — you get the idea — they all deserve to live free from cruelty, suffering, abuse and distress.
Why Do Hunters Feel Like Criminals?
A Weird, All-Canadian Outcome of Parliamentary Vote on Long-Gun Registry
Most Canadians will know that last week a Conservative Party private member’s bill to scrap the long-gun registry in Canada was narrowly defeated by a vote of 153 to 151.
Nature Filmmaker Says Much Wildlife Footage Is Faked
Veteran filmmaker Chris Palmer has written a tell-all book asserting that many wondrous things we see on nature documentaries — animal births, scorpions mating, lemmings plunging to their deaths in Disney’s “White Wilderness” from 1958, signature scenes in 2001’s critically acclaimed film “Winged Migration” — are staged. According to an article by Daniel de Vise last week in the Washington Post, Palmer says it’s common for wildlife TV shows and movies to include footage of captive animals who were used as stand-ins, predator vs. prey confrontations that were set-ups, and animal noises that were generated artificially, in sound studios.
Sanctuary Stay — Part 1
Born Free USA’s Lorry Marvin Watches Chatter Explore His New Digs
Being a development associate with Born Free USA involves a lot of time indoors, behind a computer. One of my responsibilities here is to help raise money for our 500 primates living as free as they can be at the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary — so I jumped at the chance to get outside (in the hot Texas heat, no less) to help the sanctuary’s director, Tim Ajax, and his crew care for the primates for a week. It was hard work, but so rewarding!
Lions, Leopards and How Not To Save Them
Don’t Count on Hunters or Zoos To Save Endangered Wild Cat Species
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the fact that 80 percent of the world’s wild cat species are at some level of risk of endangerment, including many species unknown to most people. But two species that are very well known, the African lion and the spotted leopard, are the subjects of a scientific paper just published in the journal Conservation Biology. The title of the paper is “Effects of Trophy Hunting on Lion and Leopard Populations in Tanzania.”
Snopes’ Frustration Is My Frustration
Truth Matters Not At All to a Very Large Minority
Have you heard of Snopes.com? It’s a website dedicated to putting the lie to “urban myths” and misinformation, and sorting out, among the countless allegations making the electronic communications rounds, which are false, which are true, and which are a mountain of fabrication built on a molehill of fact. The site also provides information on where rumors originated. Many have a multitude of variations and have been around for ages.
Animals in Entertainment: A Deadly Bad Idea
File Casinos’ Latest Lion Attack Under ‘Asking for Trouble'
The Mirage has a garden and dolphin “habitat.” Mandalay Bay has a shark reef. MGM Grand has a lion exhibit.
Las Vegas has a problem, clearly, with animal exploitation.
