PETA: Camels, Llamas, and Sheep Abused in New York!

“This is outrageous….please visit the link below & show you care about animals….they are not machines, they are sentient beings like us, afraid of loud noises, crowds, stress etc. I wouldn’t let my dogs live in those conditions, let alone these other poor animals who are used to wide open spaces! Please click the link below to sign the petition!”

Using live animals for entertainment is NEVER acceptable, yet this is exactly what the Madison Square Garden Company is doing to promote the Radio City Music Hall‘s Christmas Spectacular holiday shows.

No animal should be forced to live in these conditions!

The camels, llamas, and sheep used in these shows are imprisoned in cramped holding pens and forced into stressful and terrifying situations—including being paraded down streets amid the traffic and huge crowds of New York City.

When they’re not confined to their tiny pens or weaving through crowded streets, these animals are put on stage under bright lights in rooms with amplified sound systems.

You KNOW that this is wrong. The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and kindness, but these animals won’t experience either this season.

Urge the Madison Square Garden Company to have a heart this holiday season and stop using live animals in shows!

TAKE ACTION NOW & SIGN AT THE FOLLOWING:-https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=5AA9D547A8740D92003FC3464A34C01B.app304a?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5766

News Link:-https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=5AA9D547A8740D92003FC3464A34C01B.app304a?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5766

CM orders inquiry in tiger count decline in Pilibhit

“Something like this would ring alarm bells to me, what or who is causing such a decrease in the number of tigers? If there was only 23 last year, what is the current number & where have these tigers gone. Is it poachers or hunters, the numbers are declining too fast for it to be of a natural death!! Something has to be done to find out why there is a decline in numbers & get onto it ASAP before these majestic tigers have gone for good!!!”

Keshav Agarwal,TNN | Nov 26, 2014, 10.05 PM IST

PILIBHIT: Taking cognizance of the matter related to rapid decrease in number of tigers in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in three years, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has decided to set up an enquiry in the matter.

Special secretary to the chief minister, GS Naveen Kumar, has referred the matter to the principal secretary of the forest department for taking further steps, MLA Hemraj Verma told TOI.

The issue was raised by the SP MLA from district Pilibhit, who had written to the chief minister in the third week of November. He had said that the forest department had counted more than 40 tigers in the forest area of Pilibhit district in 2010 and the figure had dwindled to 30 in 2012. The count had further declined to 23 in 2013, he had pointed out.

Retired chief wildlife warden Mohammad Ahsan welcomed the move and said special emphasis should be placed on the counting of tigers also in the adjoining Surai forest range of Uttarakhand and parts of Shahjahanpur district. This would help in determining whether the tigers of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, especially the mother big cats, have not migrated to other forest regions to find safe habitats for their cubs or in search of easy prey.

An environmentalist from Pilibhit, Parvez Hanif, said that the investigation of missing tigers in PTR would not be complete if the process of capturing foot-prints of tigers was not applied simultaneously with picture capturing method through cameras.

He observed that the method of collecting footprints of tigers, which he claimed was applicable till 2007, , can assist the investigation team reach more exact conclusions.

The vice president of Wildlife Biodiversity Conservation Society Amitabh Agnihotri said that the investigation team should find out the effects of human encroachment on the tiger population and devise ways to reduce such interference.

News Link:-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/articleshow/45288095.cms?intenttarget=no

500 Dead Sea Lions Mysteriously Found on Peruvian Beach

This doesn’t seem like a coincidence; more like something killed these sea lions, amongst others, either from a disease we are not aware of; or from the waste products that get thrown back into the sea; i.e poisons! I can’t see 500 sea lions at the same time dying from plastic waste, or entangled in nets! It seems more logical to me that they died of some sort of man-made waste product going into the ocean…like oil etc. But nobody is going to own up to that…are they??

By Jenna Iacurci Nov 24, 2014 11:39 AM EST

A hoard of 500 dead sea lions was mysteriously found recently on a Peruvian beach, leaving scientists puzzled.
(Photo : Reuters/Mariana Bazo)

A hoard of 500 dead sea lions was mysteriously found recently on a Peruvian beach, leaving scientists puzzled.

Bodies of adults as well as young juveniles were scattered across Anconcillo beach in the Santa Province, Ancash region, located just 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Lima, BBC News reports.

Environmental experts told local news agency Andina that they suspect fishermen of poisoning the sea mammals, which usually come close to the shore looking for food. However, Peruvian police are looking into other possible causes of these rotting corpses as well, including disease, entanglement in fishing nets and the accidental ingestion of plastic.

Due to a possible public health hazard, city workers quickly hauled away the bodies and took them to a local dump.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first incident of dead sea lions to occur in Peru. According the Agence France-Presse, earlier this month in the Piura region farther north, the bodies of nearly 200 sea lions, along with four dead dolphins, sea turtles and dozens of pelicans, washed ashore.

Officials are still investigating the causes of those mysterious deaths. Given the similarity between these two recent cases, it’s possible the same rational can explain them both.

Not to mention, BBC notes, that in 2012 hundreds of dolphins were found dead along a stretch of Peruvian coastline.

While the environmental group named Orca blamed the deaths on the noise and pressure waves caused by ongoing oil exploration in the area, a government report said otherwise.

The Sea Institute of Peru (IMARPE) at the time ruled out oil exploration as a possible explanation, as well as infection by a bacteria or virus for these puzzling fatalities, and instead blamed natural causes.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, sea lions are vulnerable to the effects of climate change on ocean currents, which impacts the number of feed they rely on for food. They are also victims of bycatch in fisheries and subject to diseases spread by other species, such as dogs.

News Link:–http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/10595/20141124/500-dead-sea-lions-mysteriously-found-on-peruvian-beach.htm

29 Arrested In Arson Attack After Tiger kills Teacher In Madhya Pradesh

“I totally understand the loss of a loved one & the fear factor that big cats are prowling around; but I hardly think burning Forest Official vehicles, is going to help the matter. If anything it will have hindered the Forest Officials from tracking the tiger!  The problem is obvious, the big cats are losing their forests & the animals they would normally pray on. I don’t think a tiger can be called a man-eater, he isn’t biased about what he eats…he just has to eat to survive! Granted humans shouldn’t be on the menu, but if there is no meat left to hunt in the wild, of course they are going to stalk areas where they see food; i.e humans! Their habitat is being cut down for wood & to grow crops or build houses; so the tigers have no way to survive…they will kill anything when hungry. I’m sure they would rather stick to their own diet of forest animals but if there are none, due to lack of habitat, what do you expect? They can’t survive on fresh air!!”

“I’m sure the Forest officers were just as shaken by the latest tragedy’s & intend on trying to find & relocate the tiger! I hope & pray they get hold of that tiger before the villagers do, because once they get into mob mode, it’s a free for all, who knows what they will do to the tiger. Perhaps burn & torture it like they did when they caught a leopard poaching on human land! However, even if the tiger is caught & relocated, I’ll bet there is another tiger, just waiting to take its place! Something radical has to be done to save both human & animals from being killed…They must stop cutting down the tigers habitat, which includes the tigers natural pray. Or use the land to build more houses & grow more crops to fulfill India’s growing population. The attacks on humans won’t stop, until humans stop poaching the tigers habitat & food supply!! “

P Naveen,TNN | Oct 25, 2014, 06.06 PM IST

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh police on Saturday arrested 29 people over an arson attack after a school teacher was mauled to death a tiger in near Bandhavgarh National Park in Katni district on Friday.

The mob had attacked forest personnel, including local forest range officer while keeping some of them hostage, besides policemen and local journalists.

They said forest officers were overlooking the fact that some tigers had turned into man-eaters. 

Two motorized vessels and a dozen vehicles owned by the department were also set on fire, said officials. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC were issued to bring situation under control. Amod Lakda (55), posted at Karchulia village’s government middle school, was attacked by the tiger in the buffer area near a water tank inside Khitouli range. He was a native of Chhattisgarh‘s Jashpur area.

Villagers claim this was the fourth incident of an attack by a big cat. Forest officers had been ignoring their pleas to shift the tiger. They say the matter was taken with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, but in vain.

“Extensive damage has been caused to forest department property. The death of a teacher following tiger attack provoked people to go berserk,” said Narendra Kumar, chief wildlife warden.

Meanwhile forest officers have launched a hunt for the tiger for shifting it to a safe location.

News Link:–http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/29-arrested-in-arson-attack-after-tiger-kills-teacher-in-Madhya-Pradesh/articleshow/44933010.cms?intenttarget=no&utm_source=TOI_AShow_OBWidget&utm_medium=Int_Ref&utm_campaign=TOI_AShow

Tiger Kills Tribal Woman In Kanha Buffer Zone

TNN | Oct 28, 2014, 04.32 PM IST

BHOPAL: Three days after a tiger mauled a teacher to death in Katni district, another tiger killed a 22-year-old at Manjhipur village of Mandla district in buffer zone of Kanha National Park.

The woman went missing on Saturday and the body was found in a jungle the next day.

Rambai Dhurve, 22, a resident of Manjhipur village, went into jungle to collect wood along with other villagers, but she did not return, sources said. Next day, when villagers went to look for her into the forest, the body was found there.

“It is an unfortunate incident and a natural accident. Incidents like these have rarely been reported here. The girl went to collect wood and the carnivore was in the trench. The animal attacked her. It is nothing like animal specifically attacked a human being,” Kanha National Park director J S Chauhan told TOI.

“The entire area was searched using elephants on Monday to spot animal, but the big cat could not be trapped. Pugmarks were seen near river and it was quite possible that animal had escaped into the jungle. However, the area will be searched again on Tuesday,” he said.

News Link:-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Tiger-kills-tribal-woman-in-Kanha-buffer-zone/articleshow/44959639.cms?

Kaziranga; Elephant Killed In Tiger Attack

Surely this could have been prevented? The park officials were treating the elephant, they knew it was weak, why didn’t they keep it protected? Another four including  a calf were injured by tigers; the elephants are used to patrol the parks…when not working (in an area where tigers are known to kill)  the elephants should have had some level of protection from tigers; even if it meant keeping them behind bars, there owners should have kept them safe!! I can only presume the elephants were chained or left in an open area; where tigers could get easy access!!! One can’t blame the tigers, it is nature! But a working animal (as much as I hate them being worked) should at the very least, be kept safe & away from harm, when not working!!

TNN | Oct 22, 2014, 06.00 AM IST

Eastern India; JORHAT: A 28-year-old elephant fell prey to a group of tigers at Kaziranga National Park on Tuesday. ‘Konwar’, the pachyderm, was attacked by a herd of tigers in the Mihimukh area of the park under the Kohora forest range when it was grazing there.

Park officials said the elephant was not keeping well and was under treatment. “Konwar had become weak and could not fight back,” said divisional forest officer (Kaziranga) S K Seal Sharma. The veterinarians have conducted a post mortem on the carcass and are awaiting the reports.

Another park official, who spotted the carcass near the Mihimukh anti-poaching camp, said, “Konwar was missing since Saturday morning. We had launched a search operation in the area and found Konwar lying dead around 1.30 pm. We saw four tigers roaming near the carcass.” According to records available with the park authorities, the elephant was brought here from Sonitpur district in 1986 when it was less than a year old.

Konwar was trained and the park started using it in anti-poaching operations and patrolling from 1994. The park staff mourned its death. In September four elephants, including a calf, sustained injuries in tiger attacks at Mihimukh near the second tower in the same forest range.

News Link:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Kaziranga-elephant-killed-in-tiger-attack/articleshow/44902721.cms?intenttarget=no&utm_source=TOI_AShow_OBWidget&utm_medium=Int_Ref&utm_campaign=TOI_AShow