Wildlife/FreeLiving Animals
Endangered: Blue-Throated Macaws
Published June 01, 2009 @ 10:05AM PT
Search for "blue-throated macaw," and above and below links to sites covering their plight, you'll also find links providing info on the birds as pets. And that's frustrating considering that the (now illegal, but still alive) pet trade in blue-throated macaws is a primary reason that the species is critically endangered. The other major reason they're in trouble? The same reason so very many other wild, free-living animals are losing their homes and seeing their numbers dwindle: habitat destruction for cattle ranching.
A Note on the Shark Finning Action
Published May 29, 2009 @ 08:19AM PT
I don't have time to write a detailed post on shark finning and fishing in general right now, but I do want to quickly make a request of you regarding the action in support of a bill aimed at stopping finning, about which you may have receieved an alert. First, for sake of clarity, do understand that no killing of sharks is humane or necessary, and this law will not make killing sharks illegal (unfortunately). But the narrowly focused Shark Conservation Act of 2009 does seek to stop the heinous practice of finning, in which people pull sharks from the water, hack off their fins, and then throw them back into the water--suffering terribly--to die terribly, unable to swim. And this is all for something as selfish and unnecessary as a specialty soup.
Here's what I want to ask of you before you sign the petition:
The default language of the petition remarks that the bill "will help put an end to the wasteful practice of 'finning.'" And I'm sure many of you know exactly what I'm going to request: get rid of that "wasteful," will you? This isn't about "wasting" the remaining body parts of a living being; it's about extraordinary cruelty and the decimation of species. So feel free to customize and personalize your e-mail in whatever other ways you see fit as well, but at least please change that "wasteful" to "cruel" before you hit send. We're not talking about throwing out half a loaf of bread because it got a little stale; we're talking about a sentient animal's suffering.
A Mother's Loving Protection, A Father's Dedication: A Family Like Any Other
Published May 28, 2009 @ 06:39PM PT
From the Telegraph comes the most heartwarming, beautiful story of the day. And it's a tear-jerker. "Bird brain" is an insult I despise because it implies that birds themselves are unintelligent, unthinking beings when they certainly are not. And this remarkable story tells us that we shouldn't underestimate the size of their hearts either.
Because Calves Apparently Aren't as Cute or Worthy as Seals
Published May 28, 2009 @ 10:16AM PT
As I was walking with my dog friends this morning, just after publishing the morning's post on Governor General Jean, her public gnawing on a seal heart, and her remarks on eating veal calves and lambs, my line of thinking started going in another direction. And it started with this: Well, at least she's consistent in her view of animals. And that's more than I can say for a number of the people who oppose the annual seal hunt.
Michaelle Jean made a food choice and remarks regarding seals that sparked outrage. But for her latest remarks, there will be no widespread outrage. The general public will not care that Jean casually eats the bodies of calves and lambs or that she casually remarked on it--even though the dairy/veal industry is every bit as cruel and unnecessary as Canada's annual seal hunt, even though the number of domesticated, confined animals being killed barbarically far outnumbers the seals being killed, even though dairy/veal calves and other animals (including the mother dairy cows, animals raised primarily for flesh, and egg-laying hens) suffer as much as, or in many cases fare more than, the seals. And again, all this is as unnecessary as the seal hunt. People don't need the flesh and skin of calves and lambs to survive anymore than they need the flesh and skin of seals.
There have undoubtedly been people expressing fury and disgust over Michaelle Jean's actions and statements in the last week while absentmindedly snacking on cheese and flesh and eggs imbued with far more cruelty than even the eating of a seal's heart. Likely few of them will pause when they read her new remarks on calves and lambs or would pause if they saw her putting a piece of bloody calf (or piece of cheese for which that calf was killed) in her mouth. I hope at least some of them will stop and consider the irony.
Governor General Jean Likes Veal and Lamb as Much as Seal Heart
Published May 28, 2009 @ 06:41AM PT
Many of you have probably heard by now about Michaelle Jean's public seal-eating stunt earlier this week. The Canadian Governor General, the Queen of England's representative to Canada, helped cut open and gut a slaughtered seal and ate a piece of the animal's heart, all in front of television cameras. And to be clear, she apparently asked if she could try the heart. This comes, of course, on the heels of the EU's ban on the import of seal products because of the horrid, despicable nature of the commercial seal hunt in Canada. But Jean wants to show solidarity with oh-so-oppressed seal hunters. And she is certainly not offering any apologies for it.
Marc Bekoff on Animals, Animal Emotions, Science, and More
Published May 22, 2009 @ 07:50AM PT
I adore Marc Bekoff. He's a brilliant biologist and ethologist, a compassionate and dedicated animal advocate, and a compelling author. I've been moved and educated by his books, and by chance, I was lucky enough to be one of the copyeditors on the wonderful four-volume Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships he edited a few years ago. This video marks the first time I've actually had the chance to see him speak, even via video. Watch.
Endangered: The Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar Salamanders
Published May 20, 2009 @ 02:28PM PT
New feature here on the Animal Rights blog at Change.org: short, once- or twice-weekly profiles of various endangered or threatened animals.
First up are the Scott Bar and Siskiyou Mountains salamanders. The Center for Biological Diversity explains that the salamanders have small home ranges on the Oregon-California border, and "their special habitat requirements make them highly sensitive to logging, and studies prove that cutting always precipitates their decline or disappearance":
The Siskiyou Mountains salamander was once protected under the Survey and Manage Program, a provision of the Northwest Forest Plan established for unprotected species dependent on old-growth forests. The program employed a “look-before-you-leap” strategy that required the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to survey for old-growth species and create logging buffers around where the species were found. But in 2004, the Bush administration eliminated the program, leaving the Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar salamanders, among hundreds of other species, without protection. Along with our allies, the Center filed a petition to protect these two salamanders under the Endangered Species Act in 2004. After several lawsuits, in 2007 the Service announced that listing for the salamanders may be warranted— but the next year declared that neither species merited listing.
The loss or decline of salamanders from forest ecosystems has important consequences up and down the food chain. Salamanders play a key role in forest nutrient flow, regulating the abundance of soil invertebrates that are responsible for the breakdown of plant detritus. Salamanders’ loss from forested stands is indicative of changes that will likely affect a broad array of species.
Read more here and here. For more on the biologically rich Klamath-Siskiyou region, where animals' habitat is in danger from logging and other human activities, see this site.
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Photo courtesy Eugene Weir, via EPIC
