GRAPHIC MEDIA: Auction of Black Rhino by Dallas Safari Club

By Omemee  |  Posted January 4, 2014  |  Omemee CNN PRODUCER NOTE     CNN is currently investigating this iReport. It has not been verified.  – Jareen, CNN iReport producer

The Dallas Safari Club has seen its organization in the cross-hairs of a worldwide debate since first announcing its plans for the execution of a highly endangered rhinoceros.

THIS IS NOT CONSERVATION IT IS JUST BLOODY MURDER

On January 11, 2014 at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, they will be auctioning the rights to kill an endangered Black Rhinoceros and are declaring this hunt a “heroic conservation” effort, the Dallas Safari Club and its supporters are attempting to deceive a gullible public into believing this hunt isn’t simply the slaughter of a rare species of rhino.

The club’s actions and rhetoric dares to make palatable what most would deem unjustifiable—killing an animal facing extinction. Some ‘lucky’ hunter-with a fist full of cash, gets to kill an endangered Black Rhino.

“Black rhinos tend to have a fairly high mortality rate,” Executive Director of DSC Ben Carter says. “Generally speaking, out of a population of 2,000, harvesting three rhinos over a couple or three years has no impact on the health of the rhino herd at all.”

“It’s going to generate a sum of money large enough to be enormously meaningful in Namibia’s fight to ensure the future of its Black Rhino populations,” Carter says.

ENDANGERED SPECIES

IMAGE FROM:-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2477873/Texas-Save-rhino-fundraiser-auctions-chance-shoot-endangered-black-rhino-dead.html

The money, in reality, may go to an already corrupt government, one that is willing to turn a blind eye to the destruction of its own resources for money. At the time of this writing, there is no clear indication who will get the money and for what conservation purposes.  Government corruption In Southern Africa is a well-known issue and regularly documented by various media sources. 

 In a second interview Ben Carter states “Namibia has an annual quota to kill five black rhinos and has ‘selected’ the club to auction one of them.” He then continues, “That said, if someone wants to cough up almost seven figures and use the permit to go shoot the rhinos with a camera, they are more than welcome to do so.” These statements are a direct contradiction of what they are claiming as “advanced, state-of-the-art wildlife conservation and management techniques”

“Conservation,” is the organization’s only argument to garner support, even within its own community. This is simply a selfish attempt to ensure its members can continue hunting rhinoceros and other species years from now.

This auction to hunt a Black Rhino is NOT conservation of a species. There is nothing ethical or heroic about it. It is a deliberate attempt to mislead the general public and disguise the true motives of the Dallas Safari Club and its members.

Exposing a Rhino Hunt By HSUS

According to Louisiana conservation attorney John J. Jackson, who said he’s been working on the auction project with federal wildlife officials, the hunt will involve one of five black rhinos selected by a committee and approved by the Namibian government. The five are to be older males, incapable of reproducing and likely “troublemakers … bad guys that are killing other rhinos,” he said.

These animals are farm-raised around humans and cared for by humans only to be killed by rich hunters in what has been coined as “canned hunts.” This is simply a method that allows them to farm more for harvesting later.

This auction is nothing more than abuse of Africa’s natural resources to the highest bidder. No ethical or moral motive drives the hunt club’s actions. What DSC touts as conservation, we label destruction of a nation.

Rhino poaching: After the killing: Farmers Rhino poached (Viewer Discretion)

Published on 30 May 2013

Three rhinos were poached during our recent visit to a rhino farm. Is trading their horns the only way to save them? WARNING: contains graphic images.

The DSC lawyer’s statements are shockingly arrogant and factually incorrect. “This is advanced, state-of-the-art wildlife conservation and management techniques,” Jackson, a Metairie, La.-based international wildlife attorney, said Wednesday. “It’s not something the layman understands, but they should. This is the most sophisticated management strategy devised,” he said. “The conservation hunt is a hero in the hunting community.”

Yes he is correct–the hunt may be a hero in the hunting community. But it has no conservation value other than the additional killing of rhinoceros and other species by rich Americans. This guise of “conservation” is not new but seems to be the only justification the group has.

The individuals who participate in these hunts are rich Americans and Germans-typically millionaires who could very simply donate towards the care and keeping of endangered species rather than killing them. If this club wants to be seen as ‘heroes,’ and it has such a concern for conservation, it could easily petition its rich members to save these animals by donating money, to be used towards conserving the species.

So we continue to ask–how is handing over a sum of money for the rights to kill an animal that is nearly extinct the most sophisticated management strategy, when most South African countries are banning Trophy Hunting?

These countries have found that it just does not work. There is a comprehensive list of researched and confirmed reasons that clearly explain why trophy hunting is not a good conservation method, even if cash is generated in the process. And, in fact, the numbers of threatened species have rapidly declined since the Hunting Lobby groups won the fight to continue “their conservation efforts”.

The real motive for this auction and hunt is not for the survival of the rhino species, and protection of the species’ inherent majesty and ecological importance, but rather for the expensive blood-lust thrill of killing. This opportunity is available only to an elite group of power hungry wealthy people to “conserve” a commodity for the continued planned, organized, and highly profitable execution of wildlife for fun!

News Link:-http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1072625

This has been done before, Facebook page of Hunter:-https://www.facebook.com/JohanCalitzSafaris

Jose Belismelis and Louis Pansegrouw did it again. Jose bought an auction elephant in NG35 and took this beauty. Heaviest tusk measured 19.5″x48″ and weighed 84lbs. The smaller one measured 19.25″x46″ and weighed an equally impressive 80lbs — in Botswana. Image of hunted Elephant:

MURDERER

Just a few of many petitions against this auction:-

• http://www.change.org/petitions/dallas-safari-club-stop-auction-to-kill-endangered-black-rhino#invite
• http://www.yousign.org/en/dallas-auction
  
• http://action.sumofus.org/s/black-rhino-auction-thanks/?action_id=15757112&akid=.3275504.MVCLHL&ar=1&form_name=act&rd=1&sub=tw
• https://www.causes.com/actions/1762628-a-petition-to-ben-f-carter-executive-director-of-dallas-safari-club-john-patterson-board-pres
• http://forcechange.com/89655/stop-hunting-club-from-killing-endangered-black-rhino/
• http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-legal-killing-of-wildlife-stop-hunting.html
• http://www.change.org/petitions/rhinoceros-in-south-africa-need-your-help-before-their-extinction

Earlier News Item:–

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2477873/Texas-Save-rhino-fundraiser-auctions-chance-shoot-endangered-black-rhino-dead.html
• http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/25/texas-hunters-pledgesavingblackrhinobykillingone.html
• http://janiallan.com/2013/12/06/rhinos-siege-poachers-customers-siege/
• http://victoriafalls24.com/blog/2013/10/31/killing-for-conservation-black-rhino/
• http://www.eturbonews.com/39386/texas-group-kill-rhino-africa-name-conservation

The rhino hunt is reportedly going to take place at Mangetti National Park, which is located in northern Namibia.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has granted Namibia an annual export quota of up to five hunter-taken black rhinos, South Africa Tourism Update reported. The Namibia government approved the permit in accordance with CITES provisions to generate funding for rhino conservation initiatives, including anti-poaching efforts.  BY NELSON ALCANTARA, ETN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | NOV 02, 2013

Quotes from the above website!

• http://alleghenycampus.com/2013/11/09/black-rhino-hunt-auctioned-january-conservationists-hope-raise-money-namibias-black-rhino-anti-poaching-efforts/

“Jeff Flocken, North American director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, believes that this auction sends the wrong message, implying that the black rhino is worth more dead than it’s worth alive. “Killing animals to save them is not only counterintuitive but ludicrous,” Flocken told National Geographic. “We’re talking a highly endangered species, and generating a furor to kill them in the name of conservation is not going to do anything to help them in the long run.”

“Every single rhino is under the threat of poaching at the moment,” said Director of the World Wildlife Fund’s Species Conservation Program, Barney Long, to Antara News. However, the WWF also sent a letter to the FWS in 2009, advocating for the removal of non-breeding males.

British conservation charity Save the Rhino has advocated for proactive hunting while still acknowledging the minor details in play. Save the Rhino has also argued positively for the auction being held in America rather than remaining within Namibian boundaries.

“Couldn’t they get $750,000 without having to suffer an animal being shot? Well, yes,” Save the Rhino said in a statement on the official website, savetherhino.org. “It would be nice if donors gave enough money to cover the spiralling costs of protecting rhinos from poachers. Or if enough photographic tourists visited parks and reserves to cover all the costs of community outreach and education programmes. But that just doesn’t happen.”

Quotes from above website

Facebook page:-https://www.facebook.com/pages/STOP-Trophy-Hunting-NOW/136918922995288

Save The Rhino:-http://www.savetherhino.org/latest_news/news/filter/trophy+hunting

WARNING VERY GRAPHIC – Rhino Wars- The Silent Slaughter

Published on 1 Nov 2012 – Gavrielle Kirk-Cohen

Rhino Wars- The Silent Slaughter is a short documentary about rhino poaching in South Africa, which has become a pandemic. If rhino poaching continues at its current rate, all rhinos will soon be extinct. It is imperative that more awareness needs to be created about rhino poaching, so that governments will act with greater resolve and political will to combat poaching. This documentary was filmed in South Africa in June 2012 in partial fulfilment of my Masters dissertation and is dedicated to Lawrence Anthony for his wonderful work in conservation and for doing everything in his power and beyond to save the rhinos.

GRAPHIC CONTENT: ‘A gruesome, medieval scene’: Shocking images reveal Japanese fleet is slaughtering whales INSIDE an international sanctuary

• Campaigners say they spotted vessels in Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
• Images of whale carcasses on bloodied ship deck captured from a helicopter
• Another minke whale was being butchered on board, says Sea Shepherd
• Commercial whale hunting outlawed in 1994

Japanese whaling vessels allowed ‘for research purposes’

Sea Shepherd said they had spotted the Japanese fleet today and captured evidence that four whales had been slaughtered, alleging the ships were found inside the sanctuary
MURDERERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Militant anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd says it spotted the Nisshin Maru sailing through the protected Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary during the annual whaling season.

As the Sea Shepherd’s helicopter flew above the Japanese ship, campaigners shot footage of the blood-streaked deck and the carcasses of three dead minke whales lying on the ship as another creature was butchered.

This photograph of three dead minke whales was taken by anti-whaling campaigners after they allegedly caught the Japanese vessel inside an internationally-recognised sanctuary. MURDERERS!!!!!

Sea Shepherd said it had spotted the Japanese fleet yesterday and captured evidence that four whales had been slaughtered this morning, alleging the ships were found inside the sanctuary.

Campaigners said they had located all five Japanese vessels and were now in pursuit, forcing the harpooners to cut short their operation and retreat.

Sea Shepherd said that another whale, also believed to be a minke, was being butchered on board. MURDERING BXXXXXD’S

‘That’s just a gruesome, bloody, medieval scene which has no place in this modern world.’

When the Nisshin Maru was first spotted from the air, Dr Brown said it was in Antarctica’s Ross Dependency, within New Zealand’s territorial waters and the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, which he described as a ‘gross breach of international law’.

The commercial hunting of whales is prohibited in the sanctuary, which was designated by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1994, but Japan catches the animals there under a ‘scientific research’ loophole in the moratorium on whaling.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully denied whaling was taking place within his country’s maritime jurisdiction, saying the site was considered international waters, as he condemned the ‘pointless and offensive’ practice.

Peter Hammarstedt, captain of the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker, said Japan had shown ‘flagrant disregard for international law’ by continuing whaling

‘The New Zealand government has repeatedly called on Japan to end its whaling programme. We reiterate this message today,’ he said.

‘There is nothing scientific about this, it is butchery,’ Mr Brown said.

‘The one thing that’s missing here is gumption – a bit of spine in Canberra and in Wellington to put an end to it.’

Australia has taken Japan to the International Court of Justice seeking to have its research whaling programme declared illegal, with a ruling due this year.

Peter Hammarstedt, captain of the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker, said Japan had shown ‘flagrant disregard for international law by continuing their illegal whale hunt while the world patiently awaits a decision from the International Court of Justice’.

Japan’s fisheries agency said its programme was being conducted ‘in line with a research plan submitted to the IWC’

Sea Shepherd left Australia for their 10th annual harassment campaign of the Japanese fleet last month, sending three ships to tail and run interference against the harpooners.

High-seas clashes between the two groups are common, resulting in the 2010 sinking of the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil.

Australia will be monitoring confrontations between the pair from a government jet which is due to fly surveillance missions over the Southern Ocean between January and March.

However, Dr Brown said there had so far been no sign of the aircraft.

News Link:-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2534478/Graphic-images-Japans-whaling-released-campaigners-Sea-Shepherd.html

Graphic whaling footage Sea Shepherd releases footage of whales being killed

Published on 6 Jan 2014

Graphic whaling footage: Sea Shepherd releases footage of whales … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nS3-Qnc0N0…‎T­raduzir esta página 3 horas atrás – Graphic whaling footage: Sea Shepherd releases footage of whales being killed. ITN ·10,626 videos.

Some Petitions to sign & Sea Shepherd support:– http://www.seashepherd.org/get-involved/

• https://www.causes.com/actions/1721564-to-stop-the-japanese-whale-hunt-for-good
• http://www.unleashed.org.au/take_action/petitions/stop-japanese-whaling/
• https://www.causes.com/campaigns/12092-stop-the-japanese-whale-hunt-for-good-we-need-whales
• http://savejapandolphins.org/
• http://forcechange.com/67673/stop-japans-commercial-whaling/
• http://www.avaaz.org/en/whales_last_push/

Seal Videos Brings National Spotlight On Animal Abuse : Videos From YouTube

“Isn’t it strange, that it’s ok to set up video surveillance to catch animal abusers on this beach; yet it’s not ok to set up a camera to catch animal abuse in a slaughter house…without being called a TERRORIST!!”

(CNN) — The images of seals being harassed on a California beach are perplexing and disturbing.

In the middle of the night, two women sit on harbour seals, kick them or pull their flippers, all the while snapping flash pictures. The animals eventually flee into the water.

Seals harassed at La Jolla Children’s Pool beach, February 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Video camera captures instances of abuse against seals on a California beach
• Other incidents of animal cruelty include people putting beer cans on sea birds
• Some people abuse animals due to peer pressure, but some enjoy doing it, ASPCA says
• Conservationists say more enforcement is needed, not more laws

A newly installed video camera captures that attack and others on the seals, who have been using the beach at Children’s Pool in La Jolla for decades.

Sara Wan of the Western Alliance for Nature said her organization installed the camera after years of people who are opposed to the seals’ presence on the beach being cruel to the animals, trying to scare them off the sand.

“One of the things we found with the camera is it shows what we knew was going on before,” she says. “Now people are seeing what is going on and saying, ‘You’re right, that’s wrong.'” 

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner placed a sunset to sunrise curfew on the beach, saying people can disagree about how a beach should be used, but they cannot abuse animals, CNN affilate KGTV reported. The restrictions end May 15 after pupping season is over.

The beach was a popular spot for parents to take their children for a safe place to swim, but harbour seals took over the beach in the early 1990s, KGTV said. Beach-access advocates want the area returned to its original use, the station reported.

Our Seals – The story of the Children’s Pool Seals of La Jolla

Uploaded on 30 May 2011

This award winning documentary follows the controversy of the Children’s Pool Seal Colony of La Jolla, California. It covers the history of how the pool was built for the children of San Diego by Ellen Browning Scrips to how the pool evolved to become the only “natural” marine haul-out site in Southern California. We interview lifeguards, scientists from Hubbs Research, volunteers from Friends of the seals, and tourists, and along the way learn important trivia like waters off La Jolla are the birthing ground for the Pacific Great White Shark. Written, Produced, Filmed and edited by Patrick Rea

Because most cases of animal abuse or neglect are never reported, it is difficult to say whether the number of incidents are increasing.

But with enhanced technology and social media, some of the most egregious cases have recently caught the attention of the media.

There were cases where people apparently were ignorant of the law, such as the woman in Florida who rode a manatee, and other more serious ones where people showed wanton disregard for wildlife, as in the case of two sea birds found struggling to breathe after someone forced beer cans over their heads.

In December, at least 10 dead dolphins washed up on beaches in the Gulf Coast. Some were shot, while others were stabbed.

It makes you wonder, what is wrong with people?

“I really don’t understand how someone can be deliberately cruel to an animal like that. It’s really baffling,” says Sharon Young, marine issues field director with the Humane Society of the United States. “They know it’s illegal, they know it’s wrong.”

Studies have shown that people who have little or no empathy for animals often have none for other humans, activists say.

Animal cruelty is a crime that mostly goes unreported. A 1997 report from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says that only 40% of people who witness abuse ever report it.

The same study found people who committed violent crimes against animals were five times more likely to commit violent crimes against humans than were other people who lived in the same neighbourhoods.

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, there are three reasons people abuse animals.

Most people, the ASPCA says on its website devoted to children, “don’t think about or realize what they are doing.” Take, for instance, the pet owner who doesn’t understand how cruel it is to tie a pet up all day on a chain that is too short.

Another type of abuser is the person who is bowing to peer pressure. In those cases, the person, usually someone young, doesn’t hurt or harass animals but a few times. Eventually, they learn to feel for the animal, the organization says.

The third category is people who enjoy hurting animals. These people are often looking to demonstrate their power, the ASPCA says.

Sometimes, people feel they are at odds with the wildlife, Young says. It’s a clash, where a growing human population wants the same space as the animal population, Wan says. The pressure is growing. “And more and more we are taking it out on wildlife,” she says.

Both Wan and Young agree that there isn’t a problem with the legal penalties for animal cruelty, but with catching and convicting the bad guys.

“We don’t need stronger laws, but clearly there is a need for stronger enforcement,” Young says. “We need to make proverbial examples of some people.”

Her organization works with groups to educate the public. In the case of the seals, the cruelty has “accelerated so rapidly” that activists are scrambling to do something, she said. They hope to create a video that draws attention to the problem.

For now, she and Wan hope the beach closure will help give the seals a respite from the types of incidents caught on camera.

News Link:–http://www.kctv5.com/story/21751923/seal-video-brings-national-spotlight-on-animal-abuse

Earthlings – The Feature Length Documentary About The Suffering Of Animals For Human Gain

“I posted this, way back in February, but have just noticed the video’s were removed??…so here it is again!” 

“Question?, why do humans inflict & perform the most heinous acts of cruelty on animals??

“Answer:- Because they can – simple! Animals can’t talk, they can try to fight back; but when they do, humans just use brute force to overpower them. When you think of it like that…you soon start to realise…it is humans that are the cowards; moreover it is humans are the animals!.”

“By posting this, I’m certainly not trying to convert everyone to become vegetarian or vegan…I’m just sharing the truth about what happens to animals from birth to slaughter. For those that choose to stay meat eaters, watching this might just give you a better understanding of why so many people are choosing  to be vegetarian or vegan.  Seriously, all I ask is that you try to watch as much as you can…as difficult as it is in some parts…it is very informative.”

“After viewing it, people are entitled to their own opinions regards the subject matter! I am not telling people what they should or should not eat, it’s a personal preference. However, the best thing that has happened since the release of this film, is that public attitudes have changed & paved the way for better animal welfare!”

“More & more people are learning, through video films like this, exactly what happens to animals, & more are demanding changes.  Like the great saying by Sir Paul McCartney “If slaughter houses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian’ not sure about all, but it would change many people!”

“Please read everything below the video first, as this gives information about watching in other languages, turning annotations on & off because this is a multi subtitled video. If you can follow English by listening, then you may want to turn off the subtitles to concentrate of the subject matter. Plus it gives a list of websites full of information about food!”

Earthlings – Full length documentary (multi-subtitles)

Uploaded on 13 Dec 2010

EARTHLINGS is the single most powerful and informative documentary about society’s tragic and unforgivable use of nonhuman animals, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix with soundtrack by Moby. Directed by Shaun Monson, this multi-award winning film by Nation Earth is a must-see for anyone who cares about nonhuman animals or wishes to make the world a better place.

PLEASE: don’t run from reality, watch the film and share your thoughts with other viewers in the comments section. Thank you.

For more information:
http://www.adaptt.org
http://www.chooseveg.com
http://www.30bananasaday.com
http://www.foodnsport.com
http://www.pcrm.org
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com
http://www.veganhealth.org
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007n…

If you are under 18 and not allowed to watch, press the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/v/ce4DJh-L7Ys

If you live in Germany and can’t see, press the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tszu9t…

The film’s official website:
http://www.earthlings.com

Use the [CC] button for subtitles in your language.

Subtitles / Captions currently available in 26 languages:
Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, German, Greek, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Galician, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese-BR, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

Dutch version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPTMYS…

A request: subtitles in Japanese and Hindi do exist somewhere. If you know how I can get one of them, please let me know. Thanks.

Still didn’t watch the best video I know on Animal Rights – Gary Yourofsky‘s amazing speech? Please do and SHARE it in any way you can.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00…

We are all Earthlings – Make the Connection!

About Unity – The next film 

UNITY is the newest film by Shaun Monson for Nation Earth. Written and produced over the past five years, it will be released in 2012. The structure of the film comprises six acts, which are as follows: Body, Mind, Heart and Soul, bookended by a Prologue and Epilogue.

The subject of the film focuses on humanity’s propensity for apathy and empathy. Shaun has described UNITY as a film about opposites, or rather, “Why we perceive opposites in one another despite our various religions (88% of the planet is religious), all our Self-Help books, our 12-Step programs, even our philosophies and vast technology.”

The imagery in UNITY will be an intricate collage of everyday life, some beautiful, some horrible. The film is filled with joy, wonder, sorrow and maturity. As with Shaun’s previous film, EARTHLINGS, the editing once again manages to lead viewers into new and intriguing directions by a mix of unprecedented beauty with heart-breaking tragedy. While it is a cautionary tale, UNITY also hopes to introduce a little grace, philosophy and awareness into more lives than ever before.

A web search will reveal how EARTHLINGS has been the subject of some of the most fanciful descriptions, tributes and accolades ever lauded on a documentary, especially one that tackles such a difficult subject matter. And even though the film was roundly ignored by distributors upon its initial release in 2005, there is no doubting the influence the film had on future documentaries dealing with the same topic, including three films by HBO: DEALING DOGS (2006), I AM AN ANIMAL (2007), and DEATH ON A FACTORY FARM (2009), as well as two Academy Award® nominated films in 2010: FOOD INC., and the Best Documentary Feature, THE COVE.

UNITY picks up where EARTHLINGS left off, except instead of focusing on our relationship with animals, the film explores man’s dualistic relationships with each other. Therefore, the point we wish to make with UNITY is to cast a light on this essential contrast between apathy and empathy. Our principle intention is to indicate to those who see the film that we have all (human, animal or tree) sprung from the same root: that root being the earth.

Link:-http://unitythemovement.com/about/

Ninth Rhino Killed This Year: Poached in Kaziranga

“Only just posted a story about the crackdown on poachers…yet here we are with another just killed! The only way to stop the poaching is for more more guards to patrol the park. I just don’t understand why, when it’s been proven that Rhino horn has no medicinal values; do they still take it?? I know it was tradition, but are people in the 21st Century still so stupid as to think it works like some kind of magic? Get some sort of media campaign going to explain to the people that they might as well take rat bones, as Rhino horn is useless for medicinal purposes. Target the shop’s that sell these stupid potions etc. Get more troops on the ground & shoot to kill poachers! Watch the video below, from last year; concerning poaching etc.”

Kaziranga:  A rhino was shot dead and its horns taken away by poachers in Kaziranga National Park, taking the total number of rhinos being killed this year to nine, Park officials said today.

Information purposes only

Patrolling forest guards came across the bullet-riddled body of a male mature rhino near Kawoimari forest camp in Bagori range of the Park this morning, they said. “Is this saying the body was found near a forest camp for the rangers? If so, surely they could have jumped into action as soon as shots were heard??”

The forest guards also found two .303 rifles and several rounds of ammunition from the spot, they said. 

A massive search operation with sniffer dogs has been launched in the area to nab the poachers, they said. This is the ninth incident of rhino being killed in the Park since January this year.

Meanwhile, a walkathon was organised by Kaziranga University in association with Assam government’s Forest department as a part of the campaign to stop poaching of one-horned rhinoceros. It was participated by Assamese cine star Nishita Goswami, Arjuna Awardee Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah, Guinness Book World Record Holder Abhijeet Baruah along with several people from school, colleges and sports persons.

Also, forest guards found two .303 rifles from Bishwanath Bhola Chapori in Sonitpur district. The two rifles were found in the jungles near the northern bank of river Brahmaputra, a part of Kaziranga National Park’s sixth addition, forest officials said.

The arms recovered today was suspected to have been used by poachers who killed a rhino and removed its horn in the Park’s western range, where two rifles and several rounds of ammunitions were already recovered.

A massive search operation was on to nab the poachers who were suspected to have escaped to the northern side of the Park, sources added.

News Link:–http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ninth-rhino-this-year-poached-in-kaziranga-332012

Endangered rhino: Displaced by floods, killed by poachers

 

Published on 30 Sep 2012

For years NDTV has been bringing you the Save our Tigers campaign, an effort that’s gone a long way in protecting our national animal. Tonight, we focus on another desperate situation, the condition of another endangered animal – the great one horned rhino – which is being decimated in Assam by machine gun wielding poachers, who are taking advantage of the flood emergency in the state.

Watch full show: http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/indi…

 

With Your Invaluable Support, The League, RSPCA And Other Organisations Will Continue To Oppose The Badger Cull in 2013.

“Please watch the video below, from last year…then please sign petitions etc. Together we can save the badgers”

The Government’s proposed badger cull, set to go ahead last year was postponed after a sustained and comprehensive campaign that involved numerous organisations, including the League and our supporters, coming together as Team Badger.

Last year over 160,000 people also signed a Government e-petition, far exceeding the 100,000 signatures needed to be considered for a House of Commons debate, which went ahead on 25th October.

The Parliamentary vote against the badger cull was overwhelming: 147 votes to 28 votes, with the majority of MPs agreeing with scientists, animal welfare organisations and the general public, that the cull is wrong and would be ineffective on scientific, humanitarian and practical grounds.

However, the vote is not binding and the Government are still planning to resume culling this summer.

The League, our partner organisations and supporters are committed, therefore, to continue with the campaign to ensure the cull isn’t just postponed, but abandoned for good, in favour of vaccinating badgers and developing an effective bovine TB vaccine.

As part of Team Badger, the League recently submitted evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee inquiry, which is looking into vaccination alternative to culling and is due to report later this year.

Vaccination has already been a proven success in Wales, where over 1,400 badgers have already been protected against bovine TB as part of a five year programme of work to eradicate TB completely. The badger vaccination initiative in Wales reflects the constructive alternative to culling that the League, along with “Team Badger”, is calling for. It also demonstrates the co-operation that is possible between the farming industry and government in taking swift, positive and decisive action against the spread of Bovine TB.

The League, alongside our campaign partners, believes strongly that vaccination of both badgers and cattle and better husbandry are the most effective and long-term way to tackle this terrible disease. Together we successfully came together to ensure badgers had a stay of execution in 2012 and we are now working for a full and permanent pardon in 2013.

What can I do to stop the cull happening this summer?

You should contact your MP to remind them that the badger cull is set to go ahead in summer of 2013. You should ensure that they know the evidence and science against the cull and ask them to make sure they will continue to oppose the cull in 2013.

Link:-http://www.league.org.uk/faq/32/Badger-Cull-FAQs

Keep checking back at this site for more news & next steps to take:- http://www.league.org.uk/content/643/Badger-Cull

Badger cull to begin from June, Environment Secretary confirms

Conservative MP Owen Paterson said that, if successful, the cull aimed at stopping bovine tuberculosis would be rolled out across the country next year.

It has not been confirmed where this summer’s pilot culls will take place, however the National Farmers Union (NFU) said it believed they would be in Gloucestershire and Somerset.

Animal rights campaigners expressed dismay, claiming there is still no scientific evidence to support the cull and that the move is against the wishes of the British public.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Paterson said: “We need to make sure that these two trials are carried out in a professional and scientific manner and if we prove that this works we will continue.”

The Government wants to stop the animals spreading the disease which has cost the taxpayer £500m in the last decade. That figure is expected to rise to £1bn in the next 10 years.

Adam Quinney, the vice president of the National Farmers’ Union, welcomed the decision and said they had expected the cull to go ahead this summer.

“The two licences have been issued for two areas in Gloucestershire and Somerset and they still stand.

“There have been discussions about looking at alternative areas just because it is prudent,” he said.

A spokeswoman for The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed: “The earliest the cull can take place is from June 1, and it will definitely be going ahead this summer.”

The cull cannot take place before then for a number of reasons, including licence restrictions and welfare concerns for badger’s caring for their young.

A spokesperson for the RSPCA said they were “deeply disappointed” with the plans to cull the animals tomorrow as there is no “real proof” that it will help either cows or badgers and called for Defra to look again at alternatives including vaccines.

They said: “The Government must think again and the RSPCA will continue to campaign against the cull until it does so.

“After this year’s postponement we had hoped that the government would finally see sense and pay attention to the vast amount of scientific research showing that a cull will be ineffective, wasteful and potentially damaging to the welfare of both farm and wild animals.

“The vaccination of both badgers and cattle along with more effective biosecurity is the only approach which addresses the welfare of both cattle and badgers and the long term livelihood of farmers.

“This announcement flies in the face of the views of a huge majority of MPs who voted against the cull as well as the majority of the British public and the overwhelming weight of scientific opinion. The RSPCA stands ready to work alongside all those seeking an alternative to this barbaric cull.”

News Link:–http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/farming/9828358/Badger-cull-to-begin-from-June-Environment-Secretary-confirms.html

British Badger Cull – Channel 4 News

Published on 19 Sep 2012

UK channel 4 news item with Brian May, badger supported and guitarist with Queen and Jan Rowe, cattle farmer, debating the badger cull which is taking part in the UK now. 
This programme was first shown in the UK on Monday, September 17th, 2012 
If you are against the cull please support http://www.teambadger.org

Relevant sites & petitions:-

• http://www.savethebadger.com/
  
• http://www.badger.org.uk/Content/Home.asp
• Petition :http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/badgers-petition#petition
• Petition: http://www.save-me.org.uk/BAD_badgersME.html
• Government Petition: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/38257
• Petition & Info:- http://www.badgerprotectionleague.com/
• http://www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutanimals/wildlife/laws/badgers
• Petition to government: http://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaigns/wildlife/badgers/takeaction
• Tweet to UK Prime Minister: https://twitter.com/Number10gov

A selection of related items, to find more, type Badgers in the search box in my blog:-

• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/kill-the-cull-not-englands-badgers/
  
• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/full-scale-badger-cull-set-to-get-government-go-ahead/
• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/brian-may-heads-to-bristol-for-badger-cull-rally/
• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/sign-the-petition-to-stop-the-english-badger-cull/

Elephants really do grieve like us: They shed tears and even try to ‘bury’ their dead – a leading wildlife film-maker reveals how the animals are like us

The pictures of a baby elephant in Borneo, nudging and nuzzling the body of its dead mother in obvious distress and bewilderment, cannot fail to move us.

Allegations that up to ten pygmy elephants were poisoned, perhaps by local farmers, are upsetting — perhaps because elephant emotions seem so like our own, so heartbreakingly close to human sorrow and grief.

Any scientist knows how dangerous it is to project human feelings on to an animal, to force them into human moulds or ‘anthropomorphise’ them, but it’s equally dangerous to ignore a wealth of scientific data based on decades of observation in the wild.

Heart-rendering: An African elephant mother mourns her calf, a victim of the three consecutive years of drought in East Africa

We may never know exactly what goes on inside the mind of an elephant, but it would be arrogant of us to assume we are the only species capable of feeling loss and grief.

I have been filming animals in the wild for more than 20 years, and that has often meant being around elephants: they live across a huge range of habitats. But mass poaching has put them into terrible decline — around 40,000 elephants a year are killed by poachers and, according to some estimates, since the Sixties the population has been culled from 3.5 million to just 250,000.

I am certain that the behaviour I have witnessed so often stems from real emotion. Understanding it is the biggest challenge for a wildlife cameraman. We have to get inside the heads of the animals, see how they are reacting and predict what they will do next, or we won’t get the shots we need.

Perhaps the most dramatic and emotional sequence happened in our current BBC1 series, Africa, narrated by David Attenborough. We filmed an elephant mother’s desperate attempts to keep her calf alive during the worst drought in 50 years in Kenya.

These animals were not dying of thirst: they were starving. Some volcanic springs were still flowing, so the animals could get water; what they couldn’t get were nutrients.

By that time, the drought was well into its second year and mother and baby were trying to survive on dry twigs. There was no hay in Kenya, there was a sense of utter helplessness, and we felt the most important thing was to document what was happening.

Cameraman Mark Deeble had been following the family for days. He saw that the mother stayed with her baby and felt she was distressed, trying to lift up the dead body and move it with her feet, before standing over the prone calf for about an hour, seeming to come to terms with the situation.

Whether you were actually there or watching events unfold on the screen, it was impossible to keep your emotions separate from what you were seeing. The mother’s bereavement transmitted itself so strongly.

In a more benign environment, an elephant might mourn for longer. I have heard of animals staying beside the bodies of dead friends for three days and nights, refusing to move.

This mother didn’t do that, possibly because she had been exposed to a lot of death around her. Fifteen thousand head of game died in that reserve during the drought. More than 400 elephants perished, including 60 per cent of all the matriarchs — a herd’s female leader. It was a terrible time for that population, and I think death had become familiar to them. You could draw a parallel with humans in wartime. The mother had to move on for her own survival.

We couldn’t save her baby, but we felt it was essential to put its death in context: Africa is infamous for its droughts and famines, and yet we very rarely see how seriously that affects its wildlife.

Scientists have observed extraordinary displays of emotion from elephants. When one tame animal called Abu died at a safari outfit in Botswana, his keepers brought the other elephants to say ‘goodbye’. One female, Cathy, was seen crying from both eyes, tears streaming down her face.

That doesn’t mean elephants know what death is. They can’t anticipate death in the way we can or imagine it as an abstract concept. Their grief is different: it’s simply about loss.

Dr Kate Evans, of the Elephants For Africa research foundation, has told me that on several occasions she has watched grieving elephants exhibit almost a sense of puzzlement.

They pick up, hold and examine bones, balancing a jawbone on their tusks or putting it in their mouths, as if they are saying to their dead friend: ‘Is that you?’ Perhaps the discredited myth of the elephant’s graveyard, a secret place where the animals supposedly went to die, had its origins in the fact that elephants interact with their dead.

Dr Evans has observed mourning among wild elephants that she knew well. On one occasion, a young bull came across three skulls. He ignored the first two, but paid particular attention to the third skull, from an elephant he had been friendly with. In Kate’s words, he seemed to know who the skull belonged to

Another time, a matriarch collapsed and died in the bush. Over the next three weeks, several lone males visited her body and spent time by her side.

Back in the Forties, George Adamson (the naturalist who, with his wife Joy, was the inspiration for the film Born Free) recalled how he once had to shoot a bull elephant from a herd that kept breaking into the government gardens of northern Kenya.

Adamson gave the elephant’s meat to the local Turkana tribesmen and then dragged the rest of the carcass half a mile away. That night, other elephants found the body, took the shoulderblade and leg bone, and returned the bones to the exact spot where the elephant was killed.

According to Charlie Mayhew, of the Tusk Trust, elephants will ‘bury’ their dead, covering carcasses with branches and even taking the tusks to be placed at a different spot. We cannot guess the precise meaning of that, but it’s clear that elephants are large-brained and social animals that live in complex groups. They recognise each other and, of course, they have marvellous memories.

When one animal dies, they will each need to assess how their social group has changed and how to re-evaluate themselves within this new hierarchy. The whole dynamic changes, and they need to know where they fit in within the crowd.

Those are not the only emotions they display. If you look at an elephant calf, chasing cattle egrets through the long grass, it is playing — it exhibits joy. In another episode of the Africa series, we showed a young bull elephant in ‘must’ or on heat — he was throwing his weight around, clearly in a heightened emotional state. We called it a ‘sexual fury’.

Elephants in zoos have reportedly shown symptoms of depression. The first African elephant to be taken to London Zoo, in the 1860s, was called Jumbo, and he posed problems for his keepers, who tried to keep him happy and amused.

For humans, the most complex and important emotion is love, and we describe it in a multitude of ways. The powerful bond between a mother elephant and her calf is an easy one for us to understand. But unlike humans, elephants don’t seem to have any notion of romantic love. You don’t get courting elephants — when they mate, it can be a pretty brief encounter.

Their society is a very female-based hierarchy, and the loyalty that a herd shows to a matriarch is intensely strong. They will follow her wherever she goes: perhaps that is a manifestation of love of a different sort.

Emotion requires communication, and the vocalisations of elephants are incredibly sophisticated.

They operate on some sound frequencies we can hear — trumpeting and grumbling — and others that we can’t. Much of their long-distance communication occurs through vibrations that are inaudible to us.

Low-frequency (or infrasonic) sounds are transmitted constantly, a deep rumble somewhere between  15-30 Hertz. The normal human range of hearing is between 20Hz and 20,000Hz.

These low frequencies can be sensed through the elephants’ trunks and even their feet, like vibrations on the skin of a drum.

They can talk to other elephants 50 miles away through the ground, communicating in ways that we are only just beginning to understand. It is possible that each elephant can recognise up to 100 other individuals by their infrasonic ‘voice’.

When we’re working with elephants, we can never let down our guard. I have been with populations that were utterly relaxed around humans; they just looked at us as being another kind of primate. Once, in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, on foot, I was part of a three-man camera team when we were surrounded by a herd of elephants.

That felt pretty scary — we were miles from our camp and could do nothing but crouch low beside a termite mound and keep murmuring, making small movements to show the animals that we were still alive. These were elephants very much in their natural state; they had never been hunted, and they were simply curious. In turn, three mothers brought their babies to show us to them. It appeared to be for their education — as if the mums were saying: ‘Come here, kids, and look at this!’

The babies approached us to within about five or six metres, wiggling their trunks and looking in all directions, and then they would suddenly lock on to us. We could hear these rumblings between mother and calf, as if they were discussing us. This happened three times within about ten minutes, before the matriarch led the herd away. That really was a magical experience.

When we’re on foot, especially in the forests of western Africa, we often have to use their trails. The only pathways are those made by elephants, so there is always a chance of an encounter. If one is coming head on, our only option is to get off the path: we have to rely on our guides because they know much more about the habits of those particular elephants than we do. And they will probably hear them coming a lot sooner.

You might imagine you could see an elephant coming a mile off, but it’s amazing how easy it is for an elephant to disappear. Give them a few small bushes and they can vanish completely. They are incredibly stealthy for their size.

Sadly, the impact of poaching is changing their behaviour. Some populations are becoming more aggressive because of it. Though I can’t prove it, I would readily accept that the elephant who wanted to shake our cameraman out of a tree was an animal who might have been hunted. All the others in the herd seemed relaxed, but this one was grumpy.

Why was that? Who can say how an individual elephant will respond to the loss of a close family member to poachers? All this feels particularly poignant as we examine in the next and last episode of Africa the future of the continent’s wildlife, and ask what the next few years hold for elephants.

Apart from the poaching crisis, elephants are coming into increasing conflict with farmers and expanding human populations. The incident in Borneo highlights that it’s not just an African problem.  One thing is certain: there will be many more dead elephants to mourn in the coming months.

News Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270977/Elephants-really-grieve-like-They-shed-tears-try-bury-dead–leading-wildlife-film-maker-reveals-animals-like-us.html#ixzz2JzKmOKP8
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The dolphin snatchers: Mail investigation exposes vile trade where animals are sold for up to £100,000 each to aquariums where they suffer unimaginable cruelty

For the men wearing wetsuits wading in a shallow bay teeming with trapped wild dolphins, the decision is as simple as it is ruthless. Running their hands carefully over each dolphin’s body, they check to ensure the creature is free from scars, particularly on the dorsal and tail fins.

At first glance this human interaction with one of the few creatures said to possess an intellect close to our own appears an act of caring tenderness. But in reality, these are businessmen selecting their merchandise for a multi-million-pound trade in live dolphins. The best specimens (usually young females, or cows) are removed from their families to be sold live for between £50,000 and £100,000 each to aquariums.

The dolphins they reject — the ones with minor blemishes on their skin — are slaughtered where they are trapped in that cove at Taiji on the south coast of Japan.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT – Discretion advised when scrolling down!

The cruel sea: A dolphin selected for sale last month in Japan. Others that are ‘not suitable’ are killed

In a frenzy of violence that has shocked animal lovers and marine environmentalists around the world, some are speared repeatedly by fisherman circling in motorboats whose propellers often slice the dolphins’ skin. Others are simply held underwater to drown.

Sometimes, a metal pole is rammed into their blubber in the hope of shattering the mammal’s spine. A cork stopper is then hammered into the hole where the rod was forced in, to try to reduce the blood spilt into the sea — to conceal the extent of the slaughter.

The rejects are slaughtered for their meat. Some are speared repeatedly by fisherman circling in motorboats whose propellers often slice the dolphins’ skin

Invariably a few dolphins try to make a break for freedom and attempt to jump over the netting that seals off the bay.

However, amid the blood-red waters almost all of them eventually succumb to their fate. These barbaric scenes took place just before Christmas, during a hunting season when Japanese fishermen ‘harvest’ dolphins to supply to aquariums for human entertainment.

Killer cove: The dolphins they reject – the ones with minor blemishes on their skin – are trapped in a cove at Taiji on the south coast of Japan

It is estimated that for every wild dolphin caught to be trained to perform tricks in captivity, around four times that number are slaughtered.

The fishermen then sell off the meat for about £10 a kilo. They see the creatures as a menace because they pose a threat to the dwindling reserves of fish in the Pacific Ocean.

Blood red: Japanese fishermen collect the bodies of harpooned dolphins from the bloody waters of a bay in Taiji

But for those that survive the slaughter, life might as well be over.The stress a dolphin suffers as a result of being captured, transported and imprisoned in a small tank dramatically reduces its lifespan

While wild dolphins live for up to 60 or 70 years, captured ones often perish when they are as young as eight, say environmentalists.

According to marine experts, some dolphins are so distressed by their capture that they commit suicide.

The odds: For every wild dolphin caught to be trained to perform tricks in captivity, around four times that number are slaughtered

One of the most vocal campaigners against the practice is also one of the most knowledgeable — he is the very man who helped create and promote the worldwide aquarium industry.

Ric O’Barry became famous in the Sixties as the on-screen trainer of the five dolphins that played Flipper in the popular U.S. TV series, which was also hugely successful in Britain.

For ten years he worked at Miami Seaquarium, where he trained the wild mammals after capturing them on hunting expeditions in the Pacific.

Rounding them up: Fishermen drive bottle-nose dolphins into a net during their annual hunt off Taiji. The ‘drive hunt’ involved five or six large fishing vessels sailing out to sea to find a pod of dolphins

But when Kathy, the main dolphin that played Flipper, died in his arms after apparently losing the will to live, he says it dawned on him how cruel captivity is for such intelligent and social creatures.

For the past 40 years he has travelled the world highlighting the plight of dolphins in amusement parks, and even releasing them from those parks into the wild, often getting arrested in the process.

Three years ago, he made a documentary called The Cove, which revealed the truth about the ‘drive hunts’ that take place at Taiji in Japan. Yet since then, the practice has continued unabated — as these photographs demonstrate only too graphically.

O’Barry, 73, says live dolphins taken from the waters in Japan are shipped to aquariums and ‘swim-with-dolphin’ centres mostly in the Far East. Speaking from his home in Miami, O’Barry says: ‘Taiji is the number one location to get dolphins for the dolphinarium industry — or what I called “abusement parks”.’

Some dolphins are so distressed by their capture that they commit suicide. the stress that they suffer as a result of being captured dramatically shortens their lifespan

Although there are no international laws banning the shipment of live dolphins to those countries prepared to accept them, O’Barry claims the dolphins undergo terrible suffering.

‘After enduring a painfully long period of transportation, they are put into often filthy and confined conditions at aquariums. ‘These are free-ranging creatures with a large brain whose primary sense is sound.

‘Some have been placed in aquariums at casinos where the noise is appalling. These environments are hell-holes to creatures used to the open seas and which often swim up to 100 miles in a day in search of food. ‘They are taken away from the two most important aspects of their life — the world of oceanic sound and their families. ‘They end up suffering depression. I believe they are also capable of trying to commit suicide.’

Two years ago at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in south-western Japan, hundreds of tourists at a marine show looked on in astonishment as a large dolphin rose up out of the water tank to balance precariously on the glass barrier of the aquarium. It then threw itself out of the water on to the ground.

Touchingly, the other dolphins in the tank swam to the glass wall to look at the plight of their companion, called Kuru (meaning ‘black’). The dolphin was eventually put into a huge tarpaulin sling and winched by a crane back into the water.

The hunt is on: Taiji’s fishermen are licensed by the national government to catch 2,100 dolphins and pilot whales in the six-month hunting season

The incident was filmed by an appalled American tourist, who passed the footage on to O’Barry. While many thought the mammal was trying to make a break for freedom, O’Barry believes it was more likely it wanted to commit suicide.

‘It was depressed and wanted to end it,’ O’Barry says, adding that it had been in captivity for six years after being taken from the wild. ‘I have seen it many, many times. They are living in a world of sensory deprivation, then bombarded with a wall of noise from the crowd.’

After the clip was made public the aquarium managers immediately issued a statement saying the dolphin was ‘playing around’ and suffered minor scratches and bruises on its head and fin. It was, they insisted, fine and enjoyed a healthy serving of mackerel and squid once returned to the tank.

They did admit, however, that dolphins occasionally jump out of the water on to dry land, so they have now placed crash mats around the perimeter of the three tanks in their amusement park to avoid serious injury.

A hidden practice: Due to worldwide concern, the fishermen now try to hide the slaughter. The kills take place out of sight underneath blue tarpaulins

The trade in wild dolphins to U.S. aquariums has ceased due to public outrage, and the high-profile campaigns of activists like O’Barry.

There are no captive dolphins in Britain either as a result of a public backlash against the shows. Only a few are on show in Europe, and these animals were born in captivity — although O’Barry fears even this poses a threat to the mammals’ welfare because there is now a problem with inbreeding. O’Barry exhorts the public never to attend dolphin aquariums.

‘The solution lies with the consumer,’ he says. ‘Don’t buy a ticket for a captive dolphin show. ‘This is a multi-million-dollar industry I helped create. I remember loading them onto the planes after the Flipper show became so popular. At one point there were more dolphins in the UK than in Florida.

‘But the consumer now has to bring his power to bear on this trade, which also results in the slaughter of all those other dolphins. There is more money in live dolphins than dead ones, but the one fuels the other.’

A fisheries worker guides the carcass of dolphins at ‘killer cove’ in Taiji, Japan. The fishermen claim that any kills that take place are humane and that it takes only seconds for the dolphins to die

In Taiji, Nicole McLachlan, of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is part of a team monitoring the capture and killing of dolphins that takes place from September to March each year in the small port where whales have been hunted since the 17th century. Last month alone, she claims up to 170 cetaceans were killed, including pilot whales, risso, striped and bottlenose dolphins. More than 100 were captured for aquariums.

Such is worldwide concern over the slaughter that the fishermen try to hide it. ‘Nowadays the kills take place out of sight underneath blue and brown tarpaulins that cover the bay,’ the Australian marine environmentalist says.

‘The carnage lasts about half an hour. It is harrowing. ‘They are terrified. You hear the dolphins screaming; it’s a high-pitched wailing sound. ‘There is splashing as they thrash around in the water. Young dolphin calves are often among those slaughtered within the cove; some are younger than a year old.’

Yet locals are adamant it should continue. Police monitor the activists while many of the town’s 3,500 residents — most of whom are linked to the fishing industry — arrive to support the fishermen in this Japanese tradition.

The ‘drive hunt’ (‘oikomiryou’ in Japanese) involves five or six large fishing vessels sailing out to sea to find a pod of dolphins. The fishermen bang metal poles against the side of the boat to disorientate and scare them.

More boats arrive, making the same noise, to corral the confused and by now terrified pod into the cove, which is then sealed off. The next day the inspectors arrive to examine their quarry and separate the dolphins for the aquariums from those to be killed.

According to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, between 1968 and 1972, only 77 live-caught bottlenose dolphins were sent to aquariums from such hunts. But now Taiji’s 120 fishermen are licensed by the national government to catch 2,100 dolphins and pilot whales in the six-month hunting season.

A fisherman tows away dolphins that have been tied by rope to the front of his boat. In 2011, about 15 per cent of dolphins were taken into captivity (68 were kept alive and 968 killed)

The fishermen claim any kills that take place, particularly those where the rod shatters the spine, are humane and that it takes only seconds for the dolphins to die. It is a claim vehemently refuted by marine environmentalists.

A spokesman for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said: ‘In 2011, about 15 per cent of the dolphins were taken for captivity (68 were kept alive and 968 killed). ‘The year before that (2010-2011), nearly 20 per cent were taken into captivity (213 were sold for aquariums and 1,100 were killed)  This year, however, may be even higher due to the 100 bottlenose dolphins already taken into captivity.’

In the summer months, long after the blood has been washed away from Taiji cove, tourists arrive to swim in the bay — with dolphins. The town has a whale museum and fish tanks in which dolphins are kept — in 2011, two dolphins were filmed in a tank so small it was nicknamed ‘the fish-bowl’.

Captured dolphins also swim in the bay, which is sealed off to ensure they cannot bolt to freedom.

And as tourists marvel at the antics of these sensitive creatures and play with them, almost every one remains blissfully unaware of Taiji’s bloody secret — and of how young healthy dolphins are snatched away from their parents to amuse humans in this callous multi-million-pound trade.

News Link:– http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2257426/The-dolphin-snatchers-Mail-investigation-exposes-vile-trade-animals-sold-100-000-aquariums-suffer-unimaginable-cruelty.html#ixzz2H3wYDyHM

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Please spare a moment to sign just a few of the many petitions – Thanks in advance:-

• http://www.takepart.com/actions/cove-help-save-japans-dolphins
  
• http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/040/232/solomon-islands—keep-promise-to-ban-dolphin-exports/?z00m=20429616
• http://www.change.org/petitions/aspro-international-purchases-six-dolphins-from-japan-s-killing-cove-stop-the-slaughter-stop-profiting-from-blood-dolphins
• http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-dolphin-slaughter-in-taiji-japan
• http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-annual-slaughter-of-dolphins
• https://www.change.org/petitions/waza-imata-top-upporting-the-dolphin-laughter-in-taiji
• http://www.change.org/petitions/imata-trainers-don-t-train-taiji-dolphins
• http://www.change.org/petitions/sky-broadcasting-cover-and-update-what-is-happening-in-taiji-japan
• http://www.change.org/petitions/japan-international-broadcasting-inc-research-what-is-going-on-in-taiji-wakayama-and-broadcast-what-you-find
• http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/get-60minutes-australia-to-cover-killings-and-captures.html
• http://www.change.org/petitions/bbc-take-a-crew-to-taiji
• http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/stop-dolphin-captivity/
• Please consider a donation to the Sea Shepherd to defend dolphin’s in Taiji https://my.seashepherd.org/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=353

Elephants ‘shot to eat’

TWO elephants that dodged poachers, illness and landmines to walk from Mozambique to South Africa have been shot dead and their meat donated to a local chief on the orders of KwaZulu– Natal Wildlife.

The elephants were killed last week even though the provincial nature conservation body, Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, did not have  permits to shoot them.

Parks and People general manager Sifiso Kheswa defended the shooting of the two animals, saying that there had been  numerous phone calls from locals who had contacted him to complain that the animals were threatening them.

African Elephant in South Africa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But the shooting was also possibly in violation of Ezemvelo’s policy on dealing with problem animals – which is that, whenever possible, problem animals should be chased away from people or darted and relocated.

The two elephants had been in the same area close to the Tembe Park for more than three weeks, and according to Ezemvelo staff, had not attacked any humans.
They had, however, walked over a small piece of agricultural land, causing minimal damage.

A retired former senior employee of Ezemvelo said that the animals had been shot, under protest, by a conservation manager. The source said that the manager had informed Kheswa that the animals posed little or no threat to humans.

He warned Kheswa in writing that there were no permits to destroy the specially protected animals. But Kheswa ordered the animals to be shot regardless.

The trunks, tusks, ears and feet were removed  and the carcasses donated to a local chief.

The source said: “That was the reason the animals were shot: for their meat.

“The local chief wanted meat … Every year elephants and other animals are killed unnecessarily because locals put pressure on head office to shoot the animals – knowing they will score the meat.”

News link:–http://www.citizen.co.za/citizen/content/en/citizen/local-news?oid=334312&sn=Detail&pid=334&Elephants-%E2%80%98shot-to-eat%E2%80%99

Tanzania chasing ivory money

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 03:21 AM PDT

Tanzania chasing ivory money

Despite the international ivory trade ban, Tanzania will seek approval to sell 101 tonnes of ivory at the next meeting of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) in March 2013.

A similar application was rejected two years ago, based largely on the result of investigations which showed that Tanzania was suffering from extensive elephant poaching, and that law enforcement was wholly inadequate to control this poaching crisis.

So have Tanzania’s circumstances changed?

To qualify for a green light from CITES, countries proposing trade in ivory must demonstrate that the trade will not be detrimental to the survival of elephants, they have full control of their internal ivory markets, and that adequate mechanisms are in place to prevent poaching and illegal trade.  In 2010, Tanzania was unable to demonstrate any of this, which led to the rejection of their request to trade.

From Born Free’s perspective, the situation for elephants in Tanzania has not improved.

Indeed, indications are that the situation is actually becoming worse and worse – incidence of elephant poaching are regularly reported as are seizures of large quantities of illegal ivory. The level of elephant poaching is dramatic, 42% of Tanzania’s elephant population was poached in the last 3 years, representing a staggering 31,348 elephants (or 29 elephants poached per/day).

Tanzania’s request is being met by widespread condemnation and incredulity in the face of the current poaching epidemic. Since the ivory trade ban was put in place in 1989, two legal ‘one off’ sales of ivory have taken place, in 1999 and 2008, releasing over 150 tonnes of ivory into the market.

Born Free believes that these sales have enabled unscrupulous criminals to launder illegal ivory into legal markets and have enhanced demand for ivory in China and other consumer States.  Elephants are dying across Africa as a result.

Born Free will be joining the fight against Tanzania’s proposal.   We will keep you posted on this and other proposals being made to CITES ahead of the forthcoming Conference of the Parties in Bangkok next year.

For more information about elephant poaching and the illegal ivory trade, and what you can to help, visit: www.bloodyivory.org.

News Link:-http://www.bornfree.org.uk/index.php?id=34&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=1141&cHash=306f0d51c69e53f7972b6c47b3155008&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BornFreeNews+%28Born+Free%3A+Latest+News%29