Solomon Islands villagers kill 900 dolphins in conservation dispute

“WTF…this is just an appalling injustice; it’s a bloody tragedy to the sentient dolphins & setback for all those who try to protect them. Have people lost the use of their voices? Couldn’t they have sat down & discussed this issue like grown adults; before going off & slaughtering up to 900 innocent dolphins. I’m sickened by this barbaric act…which as always…comes down to money & greed!”

“Read more at the links below, watch a video & please also sign the petition!”

Islanders claim Berkely-based Earth Island Institute failed to fulfill deal to pay $400,000 to stop hunt.

Villagers in the Solomon Islands have slaughtered up to 900 dolphins in the course of a dispute with a conservation group, Earth Island Institute.

http://solomonstarnews.com/news/national/16985-villagers-slaughter-700-dolphins-in-retaliation

Accounts of the dispute vary. The islanders say the Berkeley-based conservation group failed to pay them, as agreed, for stopping the traditional hunt. Earth Island says the slaughter was the work of a “renegade group” trying to sabotage conservation work.

What is clear, however, is that a misunderstanding between the villagers and Earth Island has resulted in one of the worst cases of dolphin slaughter in the Solomon Islands for some time, and delivered a huge setback to conservation efforts in a world “hot spot” for the dolphin trade.

The Solomon Islands were notorious among conservationists as a source of live dolphins for sea aquariums in China and Dubai. A captive dolphin sells for up to $150,000.

“We are very very disappointed,” said David Phillips, who oversees international dolphin protection efforts for Earth Island. “This is a tragedy. It’s bad for dolphins. It’s bad for the community. It’s bad for the Solomon Islands as a nation to have this blot on the record.”

Earth Island had been working with islanders of Malaita for two years to try to stop the hunt. The islanders’ account, which was aired by Australian broadcasting, accused the conservation group of failing to live up to a deal to pay up to $400,000 to people in the village of Fanalei, to stop the dolphin hunt. The villagers said they received barely a third of the promised funds before the money dried up.

Atkin Fakaia, a community leader now living in the capital, Honiara, told Radio Australia the disillusioned Fanalei villagers had gone back to hunting when the money did not come in.

“The issue of them going back fishing for and killing dolphins was on the understanding that Earth Island had been reluctant to pay the agreed amount that was due to the community,” he said. “They were just disappointed and dissatisfied over the attitude of Earth Island.”

The Solomon Islands were notorious among conservationists as a source of live dolphins for sea aquariums in China and Dubai. Photograph: Robin Moore/NGS/Corbis

Phillips said the causes of the dispute were far more complicated – although he did not dispute the charge villagers in Fanalei had not seen the money they were expecting. Under the agreement, funds were supposed to be paid out as small grants for community projects in the village, and for income generating efforts. However, Phillips said villagers living in the capital had seized control of the funds, and had not distributed the money.

“The renegade group grabbed funds that were supposed to go to the community and that resulted in a lot of the discord,” he said. “In our view there are proper charges of corruption in what has happened in the community.”

Phillips said the conservation group was still working with two other villages on the island, and hoped to resolve the dispute with the people of Fanalei. Fakaia told Australia radio the dispute would now likely end up in court.

News Link:-http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/24/solomon-islands-villagers-kill-900-dolphins

Read part of the interview broadcast on Australian Radio;  Speakers: Lawrence Makili, The Director of the Earth Island Institute; Atkin Fakaia, Chairman of the Fanalei Honiara Association

Traditionally the animals are used to provide meat and income for the village, with the men also using the mammal’s teeth to pay a bride’s price.

For the past two years, that village, as well as other villages on Malaita have been parties to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Conservation group the Earth Island Institute, which provides funding to develop other income producing projects, in return for the villages not hunting dolphins.

But now that MOU appears to be have been scrapped.

FAKAIA: The issue of them going back fishing for and killing dolphins, was on the understanding that Earth Island has reluctant to pay the agreed amount that was due to the community and so they just felt as if they was just disappointed and dissatisfied over the attitude of Earth Island.

The Director of the Institute, Lawrence Makili has disputed the villager’s version of events leading up to the slaughter.

MAKILI: The communities use that as an excuse to have a reason for them to do what they were doing. Our institute has played their part by providing small grants to the communities for them to set up small income-generation projects. Within the two years term, we first gave out some money to the community which was 300-thousand dollars SPD, that is Solomon Island dollars , and during the distribution of the funds to the government to individual members of individual families.

The strategy that they set up in the community for the distribution of funds was not happy by other members of the community and we also went back to the community and had some sort of, discuss with them and they do agree that the funds should be channelled to the Fanalei people based in Honiara, in the city, but that second can’t say that we gave it to them is worth about 400-thousand SPD dollars, Solomon Island dollars, and that money never reached the community. It was sink in Honiara by their own community members that, who were given the trustee for them.

Listen to or read the full broadcast about the slaughter & the international outrage:–http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/international-outrage-over-solomon-islands-dolphin-kill/1077808

Please sign this petition:-http://www.thepetitionsite.com/705/176/384/solomon-islands-villagers-kill-900-dolphins-in-conservation-dispute/

Dolphin Massacre in Solomon Islands 2009 (this shows how they are captured not slaughtered)

Uploaded on 23 Sep 2009

Dolphin Massacre in Solomon Islands

Baby Elephants Captured, Tortured into Submission VIDEO

“Please, if you want to see elephants on your vacation in Asia, visit them at a shelter or sanctuary…please do not feed this appalling industry by riding on an elephant, no matter how inviting it looks…remember how horribly abused they are as babies!!”

Published on 18 Jul 2012 by linktv

Thailand’s tourist industry is driving a brutal trade in baby elephants. Illegal and brutal cross-border trade in endangered wild Asian elephants continues. On the Thai-Myanmar border at least 50-100 calves and young females are removed from their forest homes every year and are traded illegally every year to supply tourist camps. Countless elephants die in the process threatening the remaining populations of this endangered species.

Capturing elephants from the wild for this trade often involves killing of mothers and other protective family members with automatic weapons. Captured calves are subjected to an extremely brutal breaking-in process where they are tied up, confined, starved, beaten and tortured in order to break their spirits. It is estimated that only one in three survive this inhumane “domestication” process. This original investigative report by The Ecologist Film Unit in association with Earth Focus/Link TV and Elephant Family exposes this practice.

Find more at http://www.linktv.org/earthfocus.

PLEASE – sign the petition to save the Asian Elephants:–http://www.elephantfamily.org/sign-our-petition

Learn more and find out what you can do at www.elephantfamily.org.

Recent video has captured the dreadful treatment of captured endangered Asian elephants as a result of cross-border capture and trafficking in the animals.  The Ecologist Film Unit in association with Earth Focus/Link TV and Elephant Family shows the inhumane practices involved in capturing the baby pachyderms, often by killing their mothers and others of the herd, and the brutal “breaking in” of baby elephants before they are sold into animal slavery:

This is the despicable way baby’s are treated, beaten, tortured, deprived of food & water…until they stop resisting humans, then they can be trained. Trained to carry tourists, performing in circuses, or begging the streets with their mahouts for money. Is their any wonder some of them go crazy??

Going on an elephant ride is a key part of many vacation’ trips to Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Doubtless few realize the cruel treatment involved in capturing and “training” these intelligent creatures. The video claims that for every captured calf, five adult elephants are killed while trying to protect their young.

Supply and Demand Endangers a Species

Though elephant hunting is illegal in Thailand, it is widely practised in neighbouring Burma, and an active smuggling has been documented as poor Burmese capture, break and sell the baby elephants for what is, to them, huge sums of money. With so much money involved in poor countries with corrupt officials, it is hardly surprising and profoundly depressing that  90% of Asian elephants have been lost in the past century.

The NGOs trying to halt the cruel capture and treatment of the elephants call for practical steps to at least regulate the trade in elephants to require earlier registration of captive-born calves and a DNA database to ensure that the few remaining wild Asian elephants stay both wild and protected by international efforts to enforce the law.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/baby-elephants-captured-tortured-into-submission-video.html#ixzz21kUiUCKl

Read more about the phajaan:

• http://phajaan.webs.com/
• Every thing you need to know about the Phajaan. News stories on the Phajaan & Hell for wildlife in tourism:-
• http://scienceray.com/biology/ecology/the-phajaan-method-of-elephant-training/
• Petitions to sign:
• http://www.elephantfamily.org/sign-our-petition
• http://forcechange.com/16043/protect-elephants-from-the-practice-of-breaking-their-spirit/?utm_source=ForceChange%20Newsletter
• http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/beaten-elephants-to-drill-them-for-work/
• http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/thailand-elephant-abuse.html
• https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3192

 

PARTICIPATE IN JAPAN DOLPHINS DAY 2012!

 

July 18, 2012 by Ric O’Barry, Earth Island Institute

Ric O’Barry

Campaign Director

Save Japan Dolphins

Dear Friends and fellow Dolphin Lovers:

I am asking you for your help. On or around Sept. 1, please head to your local Japanese embassy or consulate to voice your concern about the dolphin slaughters!

This time of year always makes my heart heavy. September 1 marks the official beginning of the dolphin drive hunting season in Taiji, Japan, as I helped to show the world in the Oscar-winning movie The Cove. Every year, thousands of dolphins are brutally killed; some are then sold into a lifetime of slavery in captive facilities around the globe, and the rest are used for their flesh – which is highly contaminated with mercury and other toxins, rendering in dangerous for human consumption.

We absolutely must keep the international spotlight on Taiji in order to stop these senseless murders once and for all. This is why I am asking you to lend your voice to the cause and join or organize a Japan Dolphins Day event in your area.

The good news is that we already have many events in countries around the world, put together by dedicated people like you. We have created a map which allows you to find one in your area:

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=218328447128658910358.0004c363570a91076da24&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=54.59667,-5.930203&spn=91.259621,292.160024&t=m&source=embed

If you don’t see an event in your area, I STRONGLY encourage you to organize your own! Please contact laurab@earthisland.orgfor more information on how to get started.

This year, September 1 falls on a Saturday. Organizers have the option of holding their event on August 31, but only for the purpose of attempting contact with the embassy staff. The most important thing to keep in mind is that these events should be focused around MEDIA – try to get as many newspapers, journalists, and television stations there as possible – because these are the people who will make sure our message gets heard around the world.

Please keep in mind that we are not speaking out against the Japanese people – we are opposing the handful of corrupt government officials who allow and even encourage the hunts to continue. I do not condone any racial slurs or anti-Japanese sentiments of any kind. We are also speaking out against any captive facility that keeps dolphins and small whales. These places, such as aquariums, marine parks and dolphinariums, are abusing animals purely for their profit. This should come to an end. Remember – don’t buy a ticket to a dolphin show!

Also, it is important to note that most Japanese do not eat whale or dolphin meat, and the market for such meat is drying up — so much so that dolphin hunters in Taiji last season killed fewer dolphins than ever.  Our efforts to convince the Japanese people to stop eating whale and dolphin meat are working!  Keep up the pressure by emphasizing the human rights that are being violated by the Japan government’s silence on mercury contamination of dolphin and whale meat!

Throughout last year’s hunting season, our Cove Monitors reported regularly on the hunts, to the consternation of the dolphin hunters and the Japanese government alike. See our blog postsand be sure to regularly check our Facebook page for this year’s updates.

I hope you will join me and participate in a Japan Dolphins Day event near you. Together, we can get this stopped!

Contact laurab@earthisland.org to organize an event near you.

News Link:-http://savejapandolphins.org/blog/post/participate-in-japan-dolphins-day-2012

Please sign the petition:- The Cove: Help Save Japan’s Dolphins:-

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/724/210/624/