News
The number of news found: 19.
01/31/2011 PENGUINS BOWED IN MOURNING AFTER THE DEATHS OF THEIR CHICKS
Prostrate on the icy tundra of the Antarctic, they appear the picture of misery after the deaths of their chicks. The extraordinary image capturing penguins in an act of mass mourning was taken on the Riiser Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica by photographer Daniel J. Cox. He has spent 25 years travelling from pole to pole documenting everything from polar bears to penguins and getting up close and personal is all in a day's work. "Part of my job is to accept that with the spectacular sights of nature also come the stark facts of life, and to see Emperor Penguins mourning in a human-like way over the death of their chicks is heart-wrenching," he said. "They hunch over like they are in a state of grief and they wander around the frozen ice wastes attempting to locate their chicks. Weather and things like starvation, if there is a food shortage, can cause this kind of sad event."
01/29/2011 SWEDEN MUST RESPECT NATURE LEGISLATION IN PROTECTING ENDANGERED WOLVES
The European Commission is asking Sweden to respect EU nature legislation by adequately protecting its wolf population, which is threatened with extinction. The Commission is concerned about several aspects of Swedish wolf policy, and especially about the hunting of wolves when the species is not in favourable conservation status. Therefore, on proposal by Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik, it has decided to launch a formal infringement procedure by sending a Letter of Formal Notice.
01/27/2011 IRANIAN ZOO KILLS 14 LIONS
A zoo in Tehran killed 14 lions after they were infected with a bacterial disease called glanders. Glanders is an infectious bacterial disease that is normally contracted by domesticated animals like horses, donkeys, and mules. Wild animals, however, can be affected as well. The disease can also spread to humans. A veterinarian named Houman Maloukpour told Iranian newspapers that the lions most likely contracted the disease through mismanagement by zoo officials. He also stated that the lions didn't need to be killed, since glanders is treatable in wild animals, even though it is usually untreatable in domesticated ones.
01/26/2011 FRANCE: McDONALD'S WITHOUT BURGERS
Last year McDonald's opened some "prototype" restaurants in France offering salads, cakes and coffee... and no hamburger in sight! Customers can either choose standard salads from the menu or compose their own from a choice of 28 ingredients.
01/25/2011 CHINA BANS ANIMAL CIRCUSES
China has banned animal circuses and warned its zoos they must stop abusing animals or face closure. The Chinese government has issued a total ban, which came into force across the 300 state-owned zoos which are part of the China Zoo Association. "We are hopeful it will have an effect," said David Neale, the Animal Welfare Director at Animals Asia. "I visited Chongqing zoo before Christmas and their circus was clearing out, and Kunming zoo has also said its circus has been closed." Other zoos, however, said they had received no notice of the new rules. "We will help police the ban and report any cases we find to the government," vowed Mr Neale. The ban will also force zoos to stop selling animal parts in their stores and zoo restaurants will have to stop serving dishes made out of rare animals, another widespread practice.
01/24/2011 SWEDEN'S WOLF HUNT HEADINT TO COURT
Sweden's wolf hunt violates EU law, environment commissioner Janez Potocnik said, vowing to drag Sweden to court for allowing the hunt to continue this year. "I regret that Sweden has embarked on the licensed hunting of wolves without providing a clear answer to my letter sent on December 7th," wrote Potocnik, who is responsible for the protection of endangered species. He emphasised that the commission has called for an intensive dialogue with the Swedish government about the fact that, as the commission sees it, the hunt may be illegal in relation to EU law. Now, he pointed out, there is nothing else to do but to take Sweden to court.
01/22/2011 EUROPE GOES HALAL
The European Union, bowing to pressure from Muslim lobby groups, has quietly abandoned a new measure that would have required halal (religiously approved for Muslims) meat products to carry a label alerting consumers that the animals were not stunned, and therefore conscious, just before slaughter. With the exponential growth of Europe's Muslim population in recent years, thousands of tons of religiously slaughtered halal meat is now entering the general food chain, where it is being unwittingly consumed by the non-Muslim population. Muslims have the right to choose halal foods, but non-Muslims do not have the right to choose not to eat the ritually slaughtered meat. One such method, called dhabihah, consists of making a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck that cuts the jugular vein, leaving the animal to bleed to death without stunning.
01/21/2011 IFAW URGES CHINESE CONSUMERS TO REJECT CRUELTY-TAINTED SEAL PRODUCTS
The International Fund for Animal Welfare is skeptical about announcement that the Canadian Government has reached an agreement to sell seal products to China. IFAW believes that Chinese consumers, like those in the European Union, will not condone the horrific slaughter of seal pups and will reject meat and oil that is 'tainted' by cruelty. IFAW asserts that while this is a political agreement between China and Canada, Chinese consumers will be the ones to decide the fate of seal products. Once Chinese consumers are made aware of the realities of Canada's commercial seal hunt, IFAW believes that they will reject the products, thereby making the deal irrelevant.
01/20/2011 DUTCH PROFESSORS JOIN FORCES AGAINST FACTORY FARMING
The Dutch factory farming industry should be fundamentally reorganized and transformed into a system that meets the needs of all living beings and protects our environment. This is stated by more than one hundred full professors in a 12 page essay leading up to a simple conclusion: Reduce livestock, eat less meat and dairy products. This conclusion is accompanied by 10 recommendations, mostly directed at the Dutch government, to help realize a sustainable farming industry. The professors have joined a debate that in recent years has been gaining intensity by a growing awareness of the threats of factory farming to public health, nature and environment, climate, and animal welfare.
01/19/2011 SHOCKING CRUELTY IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA
It is reported that, in an attempt to control an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, up to one million farm animals have been culled in the Republic of Korea. With a suggestion that as many as 90 percent of these animals have been buried alive. According to a report from the Korean government another million animals could still be killed.
01/18/2011 THREE MILLION ANIMALS LIVE ON THE STREETS OF MEXICO CITY
An international animal rights group based in Latin America rang in the New Year with a protest about the suffering of 3 million homeless animals that live on the streets of Mexico City. The group says the sale of puppies and kittens in pet stores is to blame. According to AnimaNaturalis the number of cats and dogs living on the streets of Mexico City has grown to a crisis level. The group says that 8 out of every 10 dogs are abandoned by their owners. The organization staged a New Year's weekend protest to call attention to the problem and encourage people to adopt homeless pets rather than buy one from a pet store. More than 100 advocates participated in the event and two activists spent the day confined in a cage to further exemplify the problem.
01/17/2011 MISERABLE INDOOR ZOO IN BANGKOK SPARKS CONTROVERSY
The indoor Pata Zoo in Bangkok continues to cause controversy among animal advocates in Thailand. The Pata Zoo occupies the top two floors of a department store on a busy street in Bangok. Inmates of the prison-like structure include a female gorilla named Bua Noi, two emaciated tigers, and a single "dazed-looking" Humboldt penguin, the last surviving member of a group of a dozen penguins. The penguin occupies an air-conditioned room alone. Because of the structure of the zoo, the conditions of the enclosures, and the dreadful appearance of the animals, it is understandable why there are regular flare-ups of outrage about the Pata Zoo.
01/15/2011 CHINA CRACKS DOWN ON ZOOS
Last week, Chinese authorities cracked down on zoos and wildlife parks, ordering 53 parks to improve the conditions for their animals and revoking another 7 parks' certifications. The State Forestry Agency has six teams investigating over 500 zoos and parks displaying animals across the country. The investigation has been going on since October. The agents found problems ranging from parks being too broke to provide basic care for their animals to parks trading in illegal animal products. The inspectors said that the poor management of the parks was leading to the deaths of rare species, as well as human injuries from animal attacks and accidents.
01/14/2011 GERMAN HEALTH SCARE SHUTS CHICKEN FARMS
More than 1,000 chicken farms across Germany have been banned from selling their products and more than 8,000 chickens were culled after cancer-causing dioxin was found in chicken feed. Prosecutors were investigating whether chicken food producers could have used ingredients contaminated with dioxin. Chicken farms in the western states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein were shut down on Monday and can no longer sell their products.
01/13/2011 CHINA TO IMPORT SEAL MEAT AND OIL FROM CANADA
The Chinese government has agreed to allow edible seal products from Canada to be imported into its country, under a new deal that was announced Wednesday. Canada's federal fisheries minister, Gail Shea, who is in Beijing to promote Canadian seal products this week, said she had worked with Chinese officials for a year to reach a deal. A Fisheries and Oceans Canada media release indicates that China is the third-largest export market for Canadian seafood products. Canada sends more than $300 million worth of seafood products to China each year. The deal comes into effect on Thursday and will make Canada the only country that is able to export its seal meat and seal oil to China.
01/11/2011 SPANISH BROADCASTER BANS BULLFIGHTING
Spain's leading broadcaster says it will no longer show bullfighting in order to protect children from viewing violence. State network RTVE lists its new ban on transmitting bullfighting programs under a chapter called "Violence with animals" in its latest stylebook, and says it "will not broadcast bullfighting." One of the reasons given by RTVE for the ban is that bullfights "generally coincide with hours protected or specially protected for young viewers." Spain has seen a fierce debate over the blood-soaked pageant that has fascinated artists and writers from Goya to Hemingway. In July, the influential northeastern region of Catalonia became the second Spanish region to ban the centuries-old tradition of bullfighting, joining the Canary Islands, which outlawed the practice in 1991.
01/10/2011 INDIAN ELEPHANT CARNAGE IN KARNATAKA
On January 7 Karnataka High Court issued notice to the Centre and Karnataka government, returnable in four weeks, on the steps taken to prevent death of elephants due to electrification of fences in agriculture fields. Chief Justice Khehar directed both the governments to study the report submitted by a Committee appointed, on a suo-motu petition and come out with measures it intends to take to prevent recurrence of elephant deaths. The Committee, comprising wildlife and forest officials, was appointed by the Court last year following reports of death of elephants in the state either due to electrocution or shooting down of pachyderms which stray into agricultural fields and destroy the crops. Meanwhile, in the last two days, three elephant calves were electrocuted in an agricultural field at Hassan, about 200 km from Karnataka. Two calves-an 18 month-old male calf and a five month-old female calf, were killed in the incident of Vatepur in Alur Taluk in Hassan District. On January 7 one more calf was killed due to electrocution.
01/04/2011 JAPANESE WHALING FLEET FIRES ON ACTIVIST SHIP
Activist ships are doing battle with a Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean, 1,700 nautical miles southeast of New Zealand. Three vessels belonging to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have held the Japanese vessels, including harpoon vessels the Yushin Maru, Yushin Maru 2, and the Yushin Maru 3 at bay. Clashes between the warring factions has prevented the Japanese sailors from pursuing whales. "What an awesome way to begin the New Year," captain of the Gojira Locky MacLean of Canada said Saturday. The three Japanese harpoon vessels attempted to block Sea Shepherd's vessels including the Steve Irwin, Bob Barker, and Gojira from the pursuit of the Nisshin Maru factory ship. The Japanese fired water cannons at the activist vessels.
01/03/2011 SEA SHEPHERD TRACKS DOWN WHALING FLEET
Sea Shepherd activists have engaged Japanese whaling ships within days of reaching the Antarctic, raising the group's hopes that it will be able to prevent a substantial kill this year. The anti-whaling activists found two harpoon ships from the four-vessel whaling fleet on the edge of the Antarctic pack ice, about 1700 nautical miles south-east of New Zealand, Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson said.
The number of news found: 19.
