World-News

Urge agency to protect elephants in zoos before December 11th

http://www.helpelephants.com/feature_061022.html

USDA seeking Public Comments on Elephant Petition
Speak out to improve living conditions for elephants in zoos

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently seeking public comments on space and living conditions for captive elephants in the U.S. This important decision is a result of intense media and public scrutiny of the plight elephants in zoos and circuses. It also follows the submission of a citizen's petition by In Defense of Animals to the USDA seeking enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act’s adequate space provision at zoos and circuses.

Specifically, the USDA is seeking comments on all aspects of elephant care, including lack of space, unnatural substrates, unnatural social groupings, and use of bullhooks, chains, electric hotshots and other instruments of force commonly used to control elephants.

Despite the poor condition of elephants, zoos are mobilizing their members to defend the status quo.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR EVERYONE WHO CARES ABOUT IMPROVING THE PLIGHT OF THESE MAGNIFICENT ANIMALS TO WRITE FORCEFULLY IN SUPPORT OF DRAMATICALLY IMPROVING CONDITIONS FOR CAPTIVE ELEPHANTS.

Please submit your comments to USDA by December 11.

Iceland Murders Its First Endangered Whale
http://www.omega-news.info/iceland_murders_its_first_endangered_whale.htm

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Stop Icelandic Whaling !

Iceland is a stunning, pristine land that attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, many of them to go whale watching in the clear arctic waters. Greenpeace has launched a "Whale tourism pledge" which nearly 70,000 people have signed: promising to visit Iceland if the government stops whaling.

That represents more than 80 million USD in potential tourist revenue for Iceland -- against a commercial whaling programme which was worth less than 4 million USD per annum in its heyday.

Help convince Iceland that whales are worth more alive than dead: take the pledge. If you've already taken the pledge, send this message to Tourism officials in Iceland.

Take action now!
http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/stop-icelandic-whaling

Take the Iceland Whales Pledge
http://www.email.greenpeace.org/hbdbsy_omviait.html

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Iceland Defies World Ban with Return to Whaling
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1018-07.htm

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Death on the high seas

Iceland's decision to resume commercial whaling has made it an international pariah - and blown a 20-year moratorium on hunting out of the water. But since no one actually wants to eat whale, why are the harpoonists heading out again?

John Vidal reports

Thursday October 19, 2006

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,1925584,00.html

Fishermen slaughter a 10m-long bottlenose whale / whaling [foto]
Fishermen slaughter a 10m-long bottlenose whale at the Wada port, east of Tokyo Photograph: Yoshika Zutsuno / AFP

I first tasted whale almost 10 years ago in the Faroe Islands. An unhappy hunter was getting drunk on one side of me, telling me about his urge to kill the largest creatures in the sea, and a secondary school headmaster who ran the islands' whaling association was kicking his shins under the table trying to keep him quiet. Even as the whaler slumped senseless in his cups, the plate of steaming minke arrived.

Every mouthful was a political and cultural booby trap, every forkful an invitation to offend a nation of blubber lovers. But I was genuinely divided. The fatty blubber was, honestly, rather tasty; but the black flesh was tough and rank as old puffin or wildebeest. "Ah," said the headmaster, quite enjoying my mixed reaction. "When we eat whale, we don't eat it to enjoy. We eat it to remind us who we are." Ha ha.

Yesterday, 280,000 Icelanders were reminded who they are: pariahs of the big green world community of animal lovers. As their government announced the breaking of an international moratorium that has banned commercial whaling worldwide for 20 years, the Australian government called Iceland's decision "a disgrace", and just about every western environmental group leapt to fire cliches at them. Icelanders were condemned as "irresponsible", "unacceptable" and "insane", and the decision was "the thin end of a dangerous wedge" and "deliberately provocative". Japan and Norway, the world's only other significant-sized whaling countries, watched the reaction carefully and, despite all the outrage, may now move to follow Iceland's lead.

In fact, however, Iceland's decision has changed very little. The three main whaling countries have never accepted the ban and have been effectively whaling commercially ever since it was imposed. Diplomatically, they have called it "scientific" whaling and, under the cloak of research, have been allowed to carry on killing as before. Iceland has, since 2003, been given a "quota" of 39 minke whales a year, enabling its scientists to declare that whales eat a lot of fish and that stocks of minke and several other species in the north Atlantic are in good health. Not, of course, that there was any need to kill several hundred whales to find this out.

Iceland's decision to resume commercial whaling is probably based on fear, more than money or even self-image. Polls have repeatedly shown that
70-80% of Icelanders support commercial whaling and the government has long threatened to play the nationalist card. It also claims that the industry is economically essential to the country. This, though, is nonsense. All of Iceland's whaling is done by one company, owned by one powerful family in Reykjavik who are subsidised by the Icelandic government. While the government says it is economically essential to continue whaling, there is little evidence that it supports more than a few seasonal jobs. Indeed, whale watching is far more important to the country.

And there is barely a market for the catch. In 2004, just a quarter of the whale meat taken by the Icelandic whaling fleet was actually sold. The country's industrial freezers are full of unsold whale from previous seasons. A recent poll of Icelanders by anti-whalers found that only 1% of Icelanders eat whale meat once a week or more, while 82.4% of 16- to 24-year-olds never eat whale meat. Meanwhile, the international market is saturated. The Norwegians, who maintain whaling to keep their remote northern coastal communities politically sweet, failed to meet their quota of whales last year, yet still had to turn some of the catch into pet food. Meanwhile, the Japanese are reportedly handing it out to schoolchildren.

Sigrun Davidsdottir, an Icelandic novelist and economic analyst, says that whaling was never a major economic factor in Iceland. "Foreigners were whaling in Icelandic waters from the 15th century, even running whaling stations there. In 1916, Iceland banned whaling to protect its dwindling fish stocks. Whaling was only a seasonal activity and most products were exported. It amounted to roughly 2% of the export of fish products. As in Norway and Japan, the issue is about the right to whale.

"The Icelandic republic was only founded in 1944 - the country had been under Danish rule - and, in the Icelandic mind, the battle for independence is still going on. Whaling doesn't matter very much, culturally or economically, to anyone in Iceland. But behind this decision is a real fear that if we allow ourselves to be dictated to about whaling, then the world will start telling us what we can and cannot fish. This is what is really important. The real issue is fishing, and safeguarding our fishing grounds."

But whaling is far too important to be left to whalers. For north American, British and European environmental groups, it is now the most important symbol of man's abuse of the global commons, and arguably animal conservation's greatest global success. The commercial ban, which has prevented thousands of whales being killed, is both popular and politically important. For most western governments with active animal conservation groups, being on the side of the whales is the one time they can be seen to support green activists. Indeed, the genuine passion with which the British and American governments have fought to maintain the whaling ban is only matched by their deep ambivalence about green issues in many other international meetings.

Humans' attitudes to whales have turned full circle in only two generations. From medieval times, whales - and their first cousins, dolphins - were regarded as no more than an economic resource and were slaughtered in vast quantities for oil, meat, "baleen" and ambergris whenever they came near European or American shores. The operation was strictly coastal: watchmen manned lookout towers and when whales were sighted, rang a bell to alert the boat crews. But as boats improved, the slaughter of the whales reached epic proportions. Populations were devastated in all oceans as an unregulated industry spread around the world. By the middle of the 20th century, many whale populations were severely depleted and by 1945 it was quite likely that some would be completely exterminated within years rather than decades.

The tide turned in the 1970s with the birth of Greenpeace. Images of small boats bobbing in front of harpoonists, and individuals trying to save whales from commercial hunters were some of the most potent of the past 50 years - they spoke of opposition to authority, protection of the innocent and, especially, revulsion at previous generations' casual slaughter of life. Images of bloody whales, vivid accounts of lingering deaths and film of harpoons exploding deep in whales' flesh revolted a generation and kickstarted both the animal rights movement and international conservation efforts.

Here is Captain Paul Watson, one of the original Greenpeace activists and now of Sea Shepherd conservation society, talking about the first time he tried to save a whale: "Above us a muscular blond ape of a man swivelled a mounted 90mm cannon. Jutting out from its mouth: a grenade harpoon five feet in length, with foot-long barbed flanges pivoted on hinges. The hooked flanges were bound down with light rope, waiting for the shock of impact to unleash its awesome promise of destruction. He was concentrating on the whales, oblivious to our presence. We were proud traitors to our species with the innocence to believe that somehow, someway, we could reach our fellow man with a message to end the whale wars and to silence the harpoon cannons."

Along with the horror at how they were being killed came wonder and knowledge at how whales lived. They were given human attributes, found to sleep about eight hours a day, communicate with each other through song and give birth to a single calf. The young were found to mature late, the old to live for as long as humans.

Sceptical scientists say that this does not make them intelligent, but earlier this year new research suggested that whales and dolphins have something close to self-awareness. Bottlenose dolphins were shown to be able to recognise themselves in a mirror, a behaviour that until recently has only been recorded in humans and great apes. And some were found to carry sponges on the ends of their beaks to protect them when foraging for food on the seabed.

Mark Simmonds, director of science for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, who published the evidence, is convinced that whales are emotional, intelligent beings: "Evidence of the typically human emotions - grief, parental love and joy - as well as the existence of complex social interactions and structures are indicators of the highly developed intelligence of whales and dolphins," he says. "In one example, despite the risk of dehydration, stranding and shark attack, a group of false killer whales floated for days in the shallows of the straits of Florida to protect an injured male. Such was their cohesion and reliance upon the group that individuals became agitated when rescuers tried to separate them, calming only when reunited."

Iceland's decision to resume commercial whaling comes at the most sensitive time for international whaling in a generation and threatens to set back marine conservation many years. Earlier this year, led by Japan and Norway, 30 small and poor developing countries with no real interest in whaling gained control of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the body that regulates worldwide whaling. Spurred by Iceland, it is possible that Norway and Japan will now leave the IWC and take a number of small countries with them. At the very least, the pro-whaling nations now hold the majority of votes, and the IWC is being slowly driven to abandon its conservation and welfare mandate.

Meanwhile, the whale wars are set to intensify, with the Japanese fleet preparing to head to the southern ocean in a few weeks' time to kill endangered whales, and environmentalists ready to risk life and limb to stop them. "Iceland has just changed the rules. It's going to get bloody," said one conservationist yesterday.

Endangered? A guide to whales

Northern right whale

The most endangered large whale in the world; the population is estimated to be about 350 animals. It was the first whale to be protected, in 1935, but numbers have barely recovered. Prized for centuries for its oils and bone.

Bowhead whale

Commercial whaling severely depleted stocks in the early
1900s. Since the mid-1960s, the IWC has classified bowheads as protected and in the 1970s they were added to the Endangered Species List. Bowhead whales live exclusively in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters.

Blue whale

The largest animal that has ever lived was down to perhaps
1,000 by 1950. Hunting stopped in 1967 and stocks are recovering. The latest estimate revealed 15,000 blue whales remaining worldwide. Pre-whaling populations were estimated at perhaps 300,000 individuals.

Fin whale

Too fast for early whalers to catch, but nearly three-quarters of a million were killed from the early 1900s until the 1970s. They are now highly protected and numbers have recovered well.

Sei whale

The global population is estimated at only 57,000, but numbers have plummeted following Japanese hunting. More than 25,000 were killed in 1964/5.

Beluga whale

Highly sociable creatures that move in large pods. Numbers stand at around 100,000. One of the commonest whales, but populations are in peril in some areas.

Beaked whale

Poorly known and believed to be very rare. Beaked whales are a deep-water, deep-diving species only rarely encountered by humans.

Sperm whale

Sperm whales have the largest brain and were widely hunted because of the large quantity of sperm oil in their heads, which was sold for making candles and make-up. Populations have recovered, and are now stable at around 1 million.

Grey whale

Hunted to the edge of extinction in the 1850s and again in the early 1900s. They were given full protection in 1947 and they have made a remarkable recovery. In 1999, there were 26,600 grey whales

Humpback whale

Among the most endangered of the great whales. Population estimates suggest 2,000-4,000 remaining in the western North Atlantic. They are popular with whale watchers, and are known as the most vocal of all whales.

Minke whale

At around 10 tonnes, the minke is the smallest of the seven great whales. Norway, Iceland and Japan argue that the minke is abundant and have been killing them regularly, even though they are on the endangered list.


Informant: binstock

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Icelandic Whalers Head Out to Hunt First Fin Whale; Global Outcry Pours In
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/1020-01.htm

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Iceland hunting endangered whales
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=474&aid=7623


Watch Iceland Whaling Video

Warning: Video contains graphic footage that may not be suitable for all viewers
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/ifaw/whales/icelandic_whaling_10-06.wvx

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Tell Iceland to Stop Hunting Whales
http://tinyurl.com/yxhkvf

Haze from Indonesian forest fires has disturbed orangutans living in a natural reserve on Borneo island, a park official said on Monday. The fires have been burning for weeks, creating smoke that has spread over much of Southeast Asia. Most fires are deliberately lit by farmers or at the direction of timber and oil palm plantation companies.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/101606EC.shtml

Forests.org, a project of Ecological Internet, Inc.
http://forests.org/ and http://www.ecoearth.info/

October 15, 2006

TAKE ACTION

Their survival depends upon maintaining and establishing corridors between large habitats
http://www.ecoearth.info/alerts/send.asp?id=india

Asian elephants once ranged throughout most of Asia, but their habitat has been reduced to isolated fragments, often with boundaries that restrict traditional migrations and gene flow. An expanding human settlement/wildland interface has lead to increased pressure on populations due to human-elephant conflicts ranging from poaching to crop-raiding and roadkills. Habitat fragmentation leads to the isolation of populations, and for wide-ranging animals, it may result in several isolated populations that are too small to be viable. It is imperative for continued existence of Asian elephants in India that immediate efforts be focused towards protecting known key populations and creating corridors that can facilitate animal migration and gene flow. The need for protection of these corridors was identified decades ago and has since been replicated in numerous studies. We are appealing to you to PLEASE immediately write to the Government of India, to DEMAND that they get serious about protecting South India's wild elephants!

TAKE ACTION NOW at: http://www.ecoearth.info/alerts/send.asp?id=india

Discuss this alert at: http://forests.org/blog/2006/10/an_appeal_for_south_indias_wil.html

Billions of animals endure deprivation of food and water, exposure to extreme temperatures, overcrowding, injury, and exhaustion while being transported to slaughter.

Stop the abuse.
http://www.care2.com/go/a/3970.1972441

UN-BEAR-ABLE: CHINA'S CRUEL ANIMAL OLYMPICS REACH NEW HEIGHTS

Daily Mail October 4, 2006

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=407693&in_page_id=1770

A black bear perches precariously on a scooter and is forced to drive a circus performer across a tightrope.

This shocking image is just the latest picture to emerge from the barbaric Animal Olympic Games in China, a country with a shameful animal rights record.

The event has provoked outrage and serious concerns among animal rights groups around the world including The Captive Animals' Protection Society.

Craig Redmond, UK-based campaigns manager, said: "The things these animals are being made to do are not natural acts, and there will no doubt be cruelty involved in making them perform these tricks."

Shirley Galligan from the Born Free foundation added: "This is degrading for the animals, insulting to our intelligence and a disaster for any possible chance of increasing respect for the wild animals we share the world with. The Shanghai Animal Olympics is about domination and manipulation."

Previous pictures from the 'games' have included kangaroos being forced to take part in boxing matches with their supposed keepers and a monkey cycling while tied by the collar to the children's bike.

Other events have included a sea lion high jump and a tug of war between an elephant and members of the audience, with more than 300 animals taking part.

The forth of the biannual events at the Shanghai Wildlife Park has attracted thousands of visitors, including rapturous school children.

But the 'cruelty Olympics' are being held just before the human Olympics take place in Beijing. The Captive Animals' Protection Society is writing to the Chinese Ambassador in London to complain about the event.

"The abuse of the animals is clear. The bears, for example, will be very distressed at being forced to wear muzzles, chained and made to fight," said Redmond.

The protests from animal rights groups has been felt by the Chinese Government, which is keen to improve its reputation among the international community in terms of both animal and human rights. This year's Olympics could therefore be the last.



LIVE ANIMALS THROWN TO THE TIGERS - FOR THE AMUSEMENT OF THE CROWD

By Nick Mcdermott
The Daily Mail
October 2, 2006

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=408053&in_page_id=1811

These images of a ferocious tiger sinking its four inch teeth into defenceless prey are not digitally created scenes from an upcoming Hollywood blockbuster.

In an all too real display of its savage nature, the orange and black-striped killing machine is seen dispatching live farmyard animals placed in its enclosure by handlers while visitors look on at the feeding frenzy.

The brutal scenes, reminiscent of the bloodthirsty displays in Rome's colosseum where animals were pitted against one another for the crowd's amusement, are being played out at a wildlife park in China.

According to officials at Changchung Wildlife Park, staff are training the big cats to kill live prey in order to hone their hunting skills.

But animal rights campaigners questioned the park's motives and said the practice of feeding goats and calves to caged tigers raised serious welfare concerns.

A spokesman for the RSPCA said: 'We would question the motives behind feeding live animals to tigers in a non-wild environment. It raises concerns over animal welfare on behalf of the livestock being fed to these tigers.

'Throwing live animals to caged tigers doesn't re-create anything that happens in the wild, if that is their aim.'

Tigers are one of the world's most endangered species, with only 6,000 remaining in the wild. In the past century alone, three sub-species of tiger has become extinct die to illegal hunting and a continued loss of habitat.

China, which has faced fierce criticism over its animal rights record, is under renewed pressure to improve protection after hosting the so-called Animal Olympics in Shanghai this week.

The event, in its fourth year, showcased a boxing bout between an Australian kangaroo and a man dressed in a clown suit. During the fight, the marsupial appears to reel backwards after receiving a right hook from its human opponent.

The kangaroo was just one of 300 'athletes' taking part in the annual event at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park, which also featured an elephant carrying the Olympic torch and various animals -- including zebras and mountain goats -- put through a series of events such as hurdles and races.

In July, the Daily Mail reported on the barbaric sport of horse fighting where cheering crowds in South West China took bets on which stallion would win a bloody battle.



SICKENING 'ANIMAL OLYMPICS' FORCES KANGAROOS TO BOX HUMANS

The Daily Mail
September 29, 2006

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=407435&in_page_id=1770

An Australian kangaroo receives a fierce blow to the head by a man dressed in a clown suit in a shameful contest that will further fuel fears over China's barbaric attitude to animals.

The bizarre marsupial-versus-human bout happened during the so-called Animal Olympics in Shanghai.

Animal rights campaigners say the Chinese have an appalling poor record for animal rights protection and have no laws to protect them.

In the fight, the Australian kangaroo appears to reel backwards after receiving a right hook from its garishly attired opponent.

But the 'roo, which was wearing boxing gloves on its front paws, fought back, grappling with the clown who was forced back towards the ropes by its onslaught.

The kangaroo is just one of 300 'athletes' taking part in the annual event, now in its fourth year, at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park.

The event held in a large arena also involves an elephant carrying the Olympic torch and various animals including zebras and mountain goats put through a series of events such as hurdles and races.

Also pictured at the event yesterday were bears standing with boxing gloves on their paws during another distasteful performance.



CHINA NOT READY TO GIVE UP 'BARBARIC' HORSE FIGHTING

By Bill Mouland
Daily Mail
July 11, 2006

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=395200&in_page_id=1770

With wild, rolling eyes filled with a mixture of fear and hatred, nostrils flaring, blood already flecking their ragged flanks, two stallions rise on hind legs to fight each other in a dusty arena.

All around them as they bite, kick and snort, an excited, cheering crowd takes bets on who will win. While animal welfare groups yesterday condemned the horse-fighting tradition, celebrated by China¹s Miao ethnic group in Rongshui county, Guangxi province, locals pointed out that it had been going on for 500 years.

The fighting, part of the summer Xinhe festival which asks for blessings on newly planted crops, such as corn, sweet potato and soya bean, is even included on some tourist itineraries in South West China.

"It is nothing but barbaric," said Vivian Farrell, president of the International Fund For Horses, which has led campaigns to ban horse fighting. "It¹s cruel and inhumane and I don¹t know why they do it."

While tourist guides tell tales of teams of horses being led into the makeshift arena to the sound of gunfire and a reed pipe band, they fail to mention that the stallions are whipped into a frenzy.

Mrs Farrell said: "First of all they get a mare in season to arouse the stallions, then they take the mare away and the fighting begins. They will rear at each other and kick and bite in the bid to show whose bloodline is superior.

"Sometimes the fights last 10 minutes ­ sometimes they go on for half an hour. It¹s not normally a fight to the death but occasionally animals have to be put down."

The Miao people, the fifth largest of 56 ethnic groups recognised by the People¹s Republic of China, regard the fighting as Œthrilling, exciting and fascinating.¹

One guide explains how two teams of horses, specially selected to be Œplump, sturdy and energetic,¹ are led to the arena and then pitted against each other one by one. They bite each other, turn their hooves and kick the other side heavily. The nervous and fierce fight makes audiences hold their breath or cheer and applaud loudly from time to time," says the guide.

If one horse falls down or runs away, the other one is declared the winner and another two take their place. The winning horses then fight each other. The last two battle it out to be champion.

While the losers are led away to lick their wounds, the sweat-soaked champion is draped in red while his owner Œfeels very proud for having such a brave and strong steed.'


Informant: NHNE

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1003-06.htm

Fish Farm Sea Lice Killed Up to 95% of Wild Salmon

A team of researchers has found that sea lice from a group of fish farms along the British Columbia coast infected - and then killed - up to 95 percent of the wild juvenile pink and chum salmon swimming past the pens.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/100306EC.shtml