(01/11/2003) Baby Dolphins Swept Along in Mother's Slipstream
LONDON - Young dolphins have long baffled scientists by seeming to swim fast enough to keep up with their mothers, but according to new research they are sucked along in a slipstream.
A dolphin calf will spend up to three years at its mother's side. An aerospace engineer who studied the mammals in San Diego found that calves position themselves between 10 to 30 cm (4-12 inches) away from their mother's body and align the midpoint of their bodies with her tail...
[Link]
(05/11/2003) Dear Sea Shepherd Members and Friends,
Thank you for the hundreds of heartfelt emails you have sent us regarding the Taiji dolphin slaughter and Sea Shepherd's efforts to put an end to this cruel hunt and other atrocities committed against marine mammals and wildlife. We very much appreciate your feedback, feelings, and support. We've recently improved the
Sea Shepherd Website so that information and ways to support our efforts are much easier to find and access.
In the past week, the Taiji story has made headlines around the world - the Associated Press and global media outlets are providing the public the details, including the graphic pictures and video documenting the hunt on October 6, 2003, which we have available at our updated
Taiji Dolphin Campaign Webpage.
The public outrage against this hunt is clear and Sea Shepherd is
determined as ever to keep this issue in the world media spotlight until
Japan stops brutally killing innocent, defenseless dolphins and small
whales.
Despite the fierce local opposition to our conservation efforts, the vigilant Sea Shepherd volunteers in Taiji have effectively disrupted the fishermen's attempts to resume the dolphin drive, and very few cetaceans have been killed since Oct. 6th. World famous dolphin expert and protector, Ric O'Barry (dolphinproject.org) recently traveled to Taiji to join the campaign. Ric and the Sea Shepherd crew will stay in the area as long as possible to prevent any additional dolphin and small whale slaughter.
Many of you have inquired where to write to protest and put pressure on the Japanese government to stop the hunt. We recently added the contact info on our
Taiji Dolphin Campaign
Webpage. Please send your protests to the officials as soon as possible. Also, please contact your local papers, radio, and TV and ask them to cover the story (if they haven't yet) or to continue their coverage. And here's a great way to take the protest to the streets this Tuesday, November 4:
Sea Shepherd is organizing this world-wide protest event with the help of other groups and individuals on Nov. 4, 2003, starting at 12:00pm (noon). Simply arrive at the selected Japanese consulates or embassies (you can find the location by visiting the Nov. 4 protest link above), and be ready to shout, waive home-made signs, distribute flyers & petitions, and make the statement "Japan, Stop Killing Dolphins and Whales". Be as creative as you want with the message, but please no profanity. Try to arrive by 12pm so you can be briefed by the organizers at each location. Be sure to wear your Sea Shepherd T-shirt if you have one!
Other Ways To Support Sea Shepherd:
Financial Assistance:
In addition to the usual high costs of conducting a direct-action conservation campaign like the one in Taiji, our budget is affected by the expensive prices in Japan. We need financial assistance to keep Sea Shepherd volunteer crewmembers in Japan until the hunt season is over. If you support our efforts on
behalf of the dolphins, and/or want to contribute to our other life-saving campaigns, please visit our improved and easy to use
Join & Donate Webpage
. NOTE: If you've been having problems donating via credit card from outside the USA, this revised webpage will provide you simple directions how to make it go through.
Donate Frequent Flyer Miles:
Sea Shepherd welcomes donations of your airline frequent flyer miles (25,000 miles or more) which greatly help us transport our volunteer crew to areas of trouble, like Taiji. To donate your airline miles, please send an email to
donations@seashepherd.org.
Join Our Volunteer Crew:
Interested in joining the most active direct-action conservation group in the world? We're always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help in areas like Taiji or crew upon on large ocean-faring conservation ships. For more info, please visit our
volunteer webpage
Newspaper Article Clippings & Media Coverage For Our Archives and Press Kits:
Sea Shepherd is a volunteer network and depends on people like you to send
us newspaper articles that report on Sea Shepherd and our campaigns. If
you've read about Sea Shepherd in one of your local papers and can provide
us an original clipping or photocopy (please include the front-page banner
for the paper), please mail it to our headquarters:
Sea Shepherd
P.O. Box 2616
Friday Harbor, WA 98250 USA
Arrange Speaking Engagements and/or Fundraisers:
In addition to commanding the Sea Shepherd ships and supervising the campaigns, Captain Paul Watson is a prolific writer and speaker. If you know of a local university, college, bookstore, or other venue that would like to provide Captain Watson a large audience opportunity, please make initial contact with the point person at the venue and then call our main office at (USA) 360-370-5650 to discuss the Captain's schedule. If you want to put together a fundraiser, small or large, please call the main office and speak with one of our dedicated staff.
More Info:
For recent and past media releases on Taiji Campaign and other important Sea Shepherd conservation activities, please visit the
our media
page, or start at our home page:
www.seashepherd.org.
(06/11/2003) ISLAMABAD: Oil spill may affect marine life for 500 years
The oil spill from Tasman Spirit may continue to affect human and marine life in the coastal areas of Karachi for up to 500 years, reveals an
official document submitted to the federal government.
According to the
document titled "Impact of Oil Spill and Bioremedial Measures to Mitigate the Effects on Marine Environment Along the Clifton Beach and Adjoining
Areas of Karachi", crude oil and its components are highly poisonous and recalcitrant, some of which may even persist for up to 500 years in soil and
sediment.
"Recent oil spill from Tasman Spirit may cause severe damage to
fish and shellfish population and other marine life by creating anaerobic conditions and by exerting toxic stress on the physiology, productive cycle
and growth," the document states.
[Link]
All you have to do is click on the above link, and put your sound on...
(08/11/2003) Hong Kong Steps Up Hunt for Elusive Crocodile
HONG KONG - Armed with bait, cages and tranquilizer guns, Hong Kong conservation workers are hunting a 5-foot-long crocodile, the first ever
sighted in the city.
Residents in a rural area of the New Territories alerted police after they spotted the reptile on the weekend, but it has evaded several attempts
to trap it, using dead chickens as bait...
[Link]
(09/11/2003) U.S. to Help Reunite Mischievous Young Orca With Pod
by Patricia Collier
Efforts will begin in the spring to relocate "Luna", a 4-year-old orca
whale, who has been pestering boaters in Canada's Nootka Sound. The young
killer whale will be transferred to more tropical digs in the Strait of
Juan de Fuca.
Luna, known to researchers as L98, has lived in the sound for more than two years, but his quest to make friends with area boaters has placed humans - and himself - in danger.
One official involved in the project said Luna recently was bouncing a sea
plane one day, "just for fun."
That kind of playful behavior could have proven deadly to everyone
involved.
Scientists said Luna became separated from his family in 2000 and has
been living as an orphan. He is highly intelligent and social and they
fear the longer he attempts to bond with humans, he will lose his ability
to interact with other killer whales.
A good solution, they said, will be to reunite Luna with his pod since
his mother and a younger sibling are both still alive.
Funds from the National Marine Fisheries Service won't cover Luna's
relocation expenses, so the United States has pledged $100,000 toward the
effort. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), announced October 30 they will
match the funding from the U.S.
Officials from DFO said they will not attempt to relocate Luna until
next spring, when he can more successfully be reunited with his pod.
"Given that the opportunities for L98 to connect with his pod diminish
rapidly as winter approaches, our best chance for a successful
reintroduction will be to wait until the spring when L98's pod returns to
these transboundary waters," said Dr. John Ford, head marine mammal
scientist with DFO's Pacific Region.
"Our goal is to undertake the relocation in a manner that will
maximize the likelihood of a successful reintroduction. Rushing relocation
at this time presents a very uncertain outcome," Ford said.
If efforts to reintroduce Luna to his pod are not successful, Ford said other alternatives, such as captivity, will be explored.
[Link]
(10/11/2003) Ninth mad cow case confirmed by ministry
Bull youngest yet to test
positive for BSE
A slaughtered 21-month-old cow in Hiroshima Prefecture has been confirmed to
be infected with mad cow disease, the health ministry said Tuesday. It is the ninth such case in Japan.
The Holstein bull was slaughtered Wednesday at
a slaughterhouse in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture. Tissue samples tested positive for the disease both in primary and in more detailed examinations
at the Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo, ministry officials said...
[Link]
(11/11/2003) PAL: Dog meat may be 'deadly'
By Carl Suller
POLITICAL Animal Lobby (PAL) Veterinarian Dr. Arturo Pangan Tuesday warned the public about the deadly diseases that may be transmitted through eating dog meat.
Pangan warned that eating dog meat might not only cause rabies. "Eating dog meat may cause anthrax, hepatitis, leptospirosis (through the urine), and internal parasites."
He added that vrucellosis, a virus that causes abortion in both human
and animals, might also be contracted through eating dog meat, especially
stray ones.
"However, the most dangerous are the E. Coli 107 virus and the salmonella virus, most common in contaminated meat," he said...
[Link]
(12/11/2003) Celebration as rare bird thrives
One of the UK's rarest birds has come back from the brink of
extinction, according to a new survey.
The population of cirl buntings has increased six-fold over the past
14 years, from 118 pairs to nearly 700.
Conservationists say the bird was saved thanks to a scheme where farmers were paid to maintain their land in a "cirl bunting friendly way".
The scheme was organised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, with funding from government bodies...
[Link]
(13/11/2003) Horror Continues for Stranded Australian Sheep
Compassion in World Farming can today reveal the horrific fate awaiting over 50,000 sheep unloaded from the ill-fated livestock ship the Cormo Express. After spending almost 3 months at sea, unable to find a port to take them, the ship finally docked in Eritrea. Observers from CIWF witnessed the arrival of the sheep.
“Many sheep were dead on arrival and there was a foul smell from the ship”.
Official mortality figures report that 5,691 sheep died (9.8% of the total loaded).
The sheep were unloaded from the ship to a compound near a slaughterhouse in Asmara. The compound had inadequate feed and water for the massive number of sheep leaving fears that many sheep would perish before being slaughtered. At the small slaughterhouse the sheep would be slaughtered - over a lengthy period of time - by having their throats cut.
“We were able to see some carcasses which had their throats cut but the heads were still attached to the bodies. There was definitely no evidence of pre-stunning”
Joyce D’Silva, CIWF’s Chief Executive says: “This tragic saga is a tale of ruthlessness and deceit. The livestock industry and the Australian Government contended that the welfare of these sheep was a priority, but delivered them to a country where there is no humane slaughter (and without bringing their own team and stunning equipment). This is an international disgrace.
“Furthermore, Livecorp, the industry body that the government protects so zealously, reports in its news release of 27 October that the loading was ‘going smoothly’, with the sheep ‘running and jumping as sheep do’, yet our observers saw many limping at the Ghathelal holding facility. Judging from these recent observations, calling this ‘spin’ is too charitable. The industry is clearly fighting for the survival of the trade, backed by their allies, the Australian government, but CIWF and the international animal protection movement will do everything in their power to bring the barbaric and anachronistic live export trade to an end.”
(14/11/2003) New Jersey Seizes 24 Tigers from 'Tiger Lady'
TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey authorities aided by specialists from a
Texas wildlife sanctuary raided an animal preserve run by a former circus
trapeze artist known as the "Tiger Lady" this week and removed 24 Bengal
tigers, officials said.
Following a four-year court battle, officials from the state Fish and Wildlife Division drove trucks into the Tigers Only Preservation Society compound in Jackson Township, 25 miles southeast of Trenton, and rounded up the big cats. One animal had to be tranquilized with a dart...
[Link]
(16/11/2003) Barcelona May Ban Bullfighting
by Sherry Morse
Public opinion in Barcelona has turned against the ancient sport of
bullfighting; there is now talk of a ban on bullfighting by the city
council.
Talk of the ban has been ongoing in the parliament of Catalonia, the
region of Spain that includes Barcelona, as well.
The parliament has already prohibited children under fourteen from
attending bullfights, and several towns in the region have halted
bullfights as well.
Opponents of bullfighting say that the slaughter of over 100 bulls
each year for public entertainment is incompatible with Barcelona's
ambition to become one of the world's leading centers of arts and culture.
Animal welfare groups, including the World Society for the Protection
of Animals and the Associacion Defensa Derechos Animal, would like to see
the sport banned by the end of this year to avoid tainting the Universal
Forum of Culture festival, which Barcelona will be hosting in 2004.
The festival will focus on cultural diversity, sustainable development and peace.
The two groups hope to add culture without cruelty to those themes.
One Barcelona politician, who supports the ban, said, "We are forging
our own, distinctly Catalan identity based not on the outdated public
slaughter of animals but on the arts, music and architecture."
But not everyone displayed such an enlightened attitude. German
Jimenez of the Catalan Bullfighting Federation stated, "Bullfighting is an
art form and a vital part of our history and culture."
Jimenez predicted that thousands of bullfighting supporters would
protest if a ban was brought up for a vote by the city council.
Only four bullrings exist in Catalonia, with just one of those being in Barcelona.
[Link]
(17/11/2003) GOOD BYE BAIXINHA
Dear Friends,
This morning it is cold at SanWild. We have been waiting for much needed
rain in vain and the terrible drought has continued for so long now that
it almost seems that one can get use to it. Some of the animals are
hanging around our office waiting for the lusern that is keeping them
alive daily. We know all of them by site already, the magnificent kudu bulls that have gradually lost condition as the drought continued, the injured warthog female and her two young babies they are by now almost fully grown.
Today however the drought seems worse, the animals seem sadder especially the one kudu bull in particular who have for the past 12 months shared his life with a magnificent creature called Baixinha...
[Link]
(18/11/2003) Disease Wipes Out Rare Rhinos in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Disease has wiped out the entire population of rare Sumatran rhinoceroses at a captive breeding program in Malaysia, one of the species' few remaining havens.
The last of seven Sumatran rhinos at the Sungai Dusun Rhino Conservation Center in central Malaysia died Monday afternoon, a conservationist said, bringing to an end a 16-year-old program that is one of just a handful in the world trying to save the species from extinction...
[Link]
(19/11/2003) Oblivion threat to 12,000 species
Another 2,000 species have been added to the annual Red List of the
world's most endangered animals and plants.
The "official" catalogue produced by IUCN-The World Conservation Union
now includes more than 12,000 entries.
This year, IUCN has highlighted the problems faced by many island
habitats which it claims face a bleak future.
It says many native animals and plants on the Seychelles and the Galapagos,
for example, are being driven to extinction by invasive species...
[Link]
(20/11/2003) SEA SHEPHERD ACTION ALERT:
Japan Arrests Crewmembers, Seizes Cameras, Film & Video
Dear Sea Shepherd Members and Friends,
If you've been visiting our website regularly and/or been receiving emails
from us, then you're well aware that Sea Shepherd is currently in the midst
of an urgent life and death campaign in Taiji, Japan, to stop the annual Japanese dolphin slaughter.
Since late September, several Sea Shepherd volunteers have been Taiji, Japan, risking their lives to document and try to stop the dolphin drive
which claims the lives of thousands of dolphins and small whales each year.
Despite death threats, police harassment and constant hardship, the Sea Shepherd crewmembers have remained in the area on a round-the-clock vigil.
On October 6th, Sea Shepherd crewmembers exposed the atrocities of the Taiji
dolphin slaughter to the world by providing major media the gory images and
video of the hunt (can be seen at our website). This made headlines around
the world and fueled a global protest on Nov. 4th in 22 cities. Another protest is planned for Dec 10th - details are below.
Although the dolphin hunt continues in Taiji, the ruthless fishermen are not
able to kill as many as last year due to Sea Shepherd's direct intervention
and the embarrassing media coverage provided by our documentation.
Rather than helplessly witness and document more dolphins being killed, on
November 18 (in Japan) two Sea Shepherd crewmembers - Allison Lance-Watson
of the USA and Alex Cornelisson of the Netherlands - jumped into the frigid
waters and swam for an hour to untie and sink the nets penning a pod of dolphins awaiting slaughter. Together Allison and Alex were able to save the
lives of 15 dolphins by creating an escape route back to the open sea.
Both crewmembers were immediately arrested by police when they swam
on-shore and taken to a jail in nearby Shingu. The arrest left two other
Sea Shepherd crewmembers to continue the campaign in Taiji - Nik Hensey of
the USA and Thomas Heineman of Germany. Nik has been in Taiji for over 2
months.
During the evening of Wednesday, November 19 (in Japan), Japanese police raided the trailer park where the Sea Shepherd crew are based in Taiji.
The Shingu police ordered Nik Hensey and Thomas Heineman to leave the trailer. The police then entered and boxed up all the property in the
trailer including cameras, film, clothing and a laptop computer, leaving them stranded in a hostile village in Japan without personal assets.
Neither of the men was charged with a crime.
The police have continued to hold Allison and Alex Cornelisson in the jail
at Shingu. They have not been allowed to communicate with any persons outside of the jail. Sea Shepherd has been trying to reach them through
diplomatic channels.
In defense of the horrifically cruel slaughter of the defenseless dolphins
at Taiji, the Japanese are exercising a police-state approach to any person
who attempts to document the atrocities - it is now illegal to photograph or
film the slaughter of dolphins and small whales.
**WHAT YOU CAN DO TO
HELP**
Contact the Japanese government offices below and request that they
immediately:
1) Release Allison Lance-Watson and Alex Cornelisson from jail and drop any
charges.
2) Return the personal property, cameras, film and documentation belonging
to the Sea Shepherd crew in Japan.
3) Reverse any new law or regulation which makes it illegal to photograph,
film, or videotape the dolphin slaughter.
4) Permanently stop the barbaric slaughter of dolphins and whales in Taiji
and all coastal fishing villages in Japan.
Japanese Embassies and Consulate Offices - To find a Japanese embassy or consulate office near you, link here:
http://www.mofa.go.jp/...
Mr. Yoshiki Kimura, the governor of Wakayama Prefectural Office of Wakayama
1-1 Komatsubaradouri, Wakayama-shi Wakayama-ken, 640-8269 Japan
Tel: +81-73-441-2034
Fax: +81-73-423-9500
Email:
teigen-s@office.wakayama.go.jp
Prime Minister of Japan
Mr. Junichiro Koizumi,
1-6-1 Nagata-cho 1 Chome
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. 100-8968 JAPAN
Tel: +81-3-3581-2361
Send an e-message by completing the form on this webpage:
http://www.kantei.go.jp/...
*DEC. 10 INTERNATIONAL PROTEST AGAINST DOLPHIN SLAUGHTER*
Sea Shepherd is organizing another "International Day of Protest Against Japanese Dolphin Slaughter" for December 10th at Japanese Consulates around
the world. This will compliment to our successful world-wide demonstration
held on Nov. 4 and keep the pressure on the Japanese government.
(Notice) Lettre ouverte d’Helmut F. Kaplan à toutes les organisations de protection/libération animale
Que déjà le fonctionnement de l’abattoir normal soit une affaire qui fâche, la
plupart des gens le soupçonnent bien.
Mais ils seraient certainement effarés, s’ils savaient à quel point les cruautés «
illégales » sont à l’ordre du jour dans les abattoirs. Par conséquent on pourrait
exploiter ce dégoût des humains au profit des animaux.
Les cruautés illégales dans les abattoirs comme l’absence / l’insuffisance
d’étourdissement préalable ou bien les tourments sadiques infligés aux animaux
sont très bien documentées.
Ce qui manque, c’est la publication large, systématique et répétée de ce matériel. Il devrait ensuite être possible de mobiliser les gens et d’exiger des mesures pour empêcher ces cruautés inutiles et illégales. Même les gérants d’abattoirs devraient trouver un intérêt à être libérés du reproche qui leur est fait d’enfreindre la loi en permanence.
La vidéo-surveillance permanente serait un moyen simple et efficace de garantir l’observation des dispositions juridiques dans les abattoirs.
J’appelle ainsi toutes les organisations de protection/libération animale à se mobiliser à tous les niveaux avec force et sans concession pour une surveillance vidéo permanente de tous les abattoirs.
Et qui sait ? : Peut-être la révélation à travers cette campagne des cruautés illégales dans les abattoirs amèneront aussi les hommes à remettre en question les cruautés que la loi permet.
(21/11/2003) New Species of Living Baleen Whale Discovered
LONDON - Japanese scientists have identified a new species of living baleen whale after examining the skeletons of several specimens caught in the 1970s.
Shiro Wada and researchers at the National Research Institute of Fisheries Science in Yokohama said the specimens resembled fin whales although they were smaller...
[Link]
(22/11/2003) It's a dog's life for animals in southern China
Using a pair of giant clippers, the bare-chested Chinese man lunges into one of many wire cages on a truck and pins down a yelping dog.
Exhausted and terrified, the animal shakes uncontrollably, leaving trails of urine as she is dragged off the truck and hurled into a cage on the ground.
The scene is repeated countless times a day in this wholesale market in the southern city of Guangzhou, where dozens of animals -- from ordinary domestic pets to exotic creatures such as civet cats -- are destined for the the dinner table.
Trucks arrive stacked high with scores of cages packed with dogs that have not been fed or watered for days ahead of their slaughter...
[Link]
(23/11/2003) Driftnets Said Decimating Mediterranean Dolphins
GENEVA - Driftnets are killing tens of thousands of dolphins in the Mediterranean despite bans on the fishing method by the European Union and United Nations, a major environmental group said yesterday.
The Swiss-based WWF-International said fishermen from Italy, France, Turkey and Morocco - and probably other countries - were decimating the dolphin population as well as shark and turtle species by using the nets...
[Link]
(24/11/2003) Oil Drilling Gives Cancer Risk to North Sea Fish - Study
OSLO - Pollution from the oil platforms in the North Sea may be raising risks of cancer in fish, a Norwegian-led study showed last week.
"Overall chemical contamination from the oil industry in the North Sea
is very low, but in some fish there is a long-term effect on DNA that
might in the worst case cause cancer," said Jarle Klungsoyr of Norway's
Institute of Marine Research.
Klungsoyr, who led the survey of pollution with other Norwegian groups and Stockholm University, told Reuters that the experiments indicated that some oil-related chemicals might disrupt the DNA genetic makeup of cells.
[Link]
(25/11/2003) Rescue Mission Begins For Premarin Mares
Eighteen mares who were formerly used in the production of the drug Premarin have been rescued from Manitoba and taken to Ontario.
The mares are the first group of Canadian 'PMU' horses to be rescued since Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals announced its recent decision to reduce Premarin production by 50%.
"We felt that we had to get involved and help as many of these mares as possible," said Susan Wagner, president of Equine Advocates, the group who organized the rescue.
Officials now taking care of the horses said they are in "rough to poor" condition, especially their feet, which they described as "atrocious" and in "terrible shape". Some of the mares are thin and some even have minor injuries. All but two of the rescued mares are pregnant
[Link]
(26/11/2003) Talking Free Range - From the Royal Courts of Justice to the Food Consumer
Show of the Year
On Wednesday 26th November leading farm animal welfare organisation, Compassion in World Farming will meet face to face with the British consumer
at the BBC Good Food Show at the NEC in Birmingham.
CIWF will be just one of over 400 exhibitors at the Show ranging from
supermarkets to specialist food shops, organic food producers and kitchen
appliance suppliers. However, unlike their show colleagues, CIWF will not
be at the Good Food Show to sell wares but to educate the British consumer
about the tragic realities of low-cost, factory farmed chicken.
Each year over 800 million meat chickens (broilers) are reared in the UK. This makes them by far the most numerous of all farm animals. In the EU as
a whole, over 4,000 million broilers chickens are reared each year.
Modern broiler chickens have been selectively bred to reach their slaughter
weight of around 2 kg. in just 41 days, which is twice as fast as 30 years
ago. What grows quickly is the muscle (meat), but the legs, heart and lungs
often fail to keep pace with the rapid body growth. As a result, millions,
probably tens of millions of meat chickens in the UK suffer from painful, sometimes crippling, leg disorders and many die of heart or lung failure.
Earlier this year CIWF was granted permission by the High Court to bring Judicial Review (JR) proceedings against DEFRA (The Dept for Food and Rural
Affairs) in respect of the use of these fast-growing broiler chickens. The
case was heard in the Royal Courts of Justice on 29th and 30th October and
the judge will announce his ruling at 10.30 am on the second day of the Show, Thursday 27th November. Having taken the message into the courts,
CIWF is now focusing on those with the power to change production methods,
the UK consumer.
As CIWF's Campaigns Director, Kerry Burgess says, "Not only were our chickens bred slower 30 years ago, but they were also not the low-cost food
option they are today. Chickens have gone from being reared free-range to
being ruthlessly factory farmed. We've got our cheap chicken at the cost of
an immense amount of animal suffering."
CIWF will be talking with Show visitors about the free-range and organic alternatives to factory farmed chickens, and urging them to use their
shopping baskets to promote the welfare of farm animals.
(27/11/2003) Spain Bids Farewell to World's Only Albino Gorilla
MADRID - Spain yesterday bade farewell to the world's only known albino gorilla, Snowflake, a national favorite who died after a long struggle with skin cancer.
The main attraction at Barcelona zoo since he was brought there 37 years ago from Equatorial Guinea, Snowflake's fight with cancer made front-page news in Spain and brought thousands of well-wishers of all ages to see him.
Jordi Portabella, the zoo's director, told a news conference that Snowflake died early yesterday after veterinarians decided to have the animal put down to avoid further pain. His skin cancer was first discovered in
2001...
[Link]
(28/11/2003) Whale births linked with climate
US scientists say monitoring the North Atlantic climate can predict the birth rate of an endangered species of whale.
There are thought to be just 300 right whales left in the North-West Atlantic.
Atmospheric conditions above the ocean can affect zooplankton concentrations on which the whales depend for food, impacting their reproductive success...
[Link]
(29/11/2003) UN experts demand action to save great apes
PARIS - At least $25 million is needed to save great apes such as gorillas and chimpanzees from the threat of extinction, a United Nations official said on Wednesday.
"The clock is standing at one minute to midnight for the great apes,
animals that share more than 96 percent of their DNA with humans," said
Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environmental
Programme (UNEP).
"$25 million is the bare minimum we need, the equivalent to providing a dying man with bread and water," he said in a statement before a three-day international conference on the great apes starting in Paris on Wednesday...
[Link]
Important Notice : Contributions and articles
published on the animal_net website are the responsibility of the
individuals who wrote them, and do not necessarily represent the
opinions of animal_net
