RHINOS, RED HERRINGS AND RUSES: ARA RESPONDS TO SANPARKS CEO

PRESS RELEASE: 16 July 2009

“Red herrings and spin-doctoring” is how Animal Rights Africa (ARA) spokesperson, Michele Pickover, reacted to claims made by SANParks CEO, Dr David Mabunda, during a media briefing in Pretoria on July 14, 2009.

Mabunda was responding to an earlier press release by ARA in which concern was expressed about the SANParks decision to sell off over 300 White Rhino from Kruger National Park this year. “We were, and still are, concerned about the destination and fate of those animals once they are sold, and nothing Mabunda said during his media address has made us any less concerned. Far from being a ‘cacophony of baseless emotional outbursts’, as Mabunda referred to the assertions in our statement, comments made by him during his media briefing on July 14th and during interviews on Radio 702 on the 14th and 15th July, confirm the validity of our concerns”

“Mabunda persists in denying that rhino are not trophy hunted in national parks in spite of the fact that we have never made any claims to this effect. What we have expressed concern about is that rhino from KNP are moving across unfenced boundaries on the park’s western border into the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR) and on the parks Eastern border into Mozambique where they can then be privately sold to foreign trophy hunters for exorbitant sums. Whilst on the one hand denying that SANParks sells rhino to be hunted at the whim of the buyer, Mabunda admits that SANParks has no control over the fate of the purchased rhino once they leave the KNP, saying that hunting permits are issued by the relevant provincial authority without SANParks’ involvement. This is consummate obfuscation and doublespeak. The fact is that SANParks has no policy regarding the destination and fate of the rhino it sells, which means that those animals could end up in zoos and hunting facilities.

Mabunda’s indignation at claims by ARA that KNP rhino could end up as hunting trophies is nothing more than a smokescreen for SANParks’ problematic rhino management policy. Also, his claims that the “recent emotional outburst by animal rights organizations is informed by an anti-hunting campaign deliberately directed at a soft target and cleverly disguised with our rhino population management intervention as a scapegoat to celebrate Animal Rights Week”, is nothing short of ludicrous, particularly as Animal Rights Week has never been observed in South Africa in 2009 and ARA has never heard of such an event.

Adding to ARA’s concerns about the sale of KNP rhino is the July 15, 2009 Beeld report which quoted Mabunda as saying during his July 14 media briefing that there are between 9000 and 12000 White Rhino in KNP. “If this in fact what Mabunda claims then we are very concerned that up 3000 White Rhino could disappear from KNP and the park management would be none the wiser, “says Pickover.

Responding to an invitation by Mabunda during a Radio 702 interview on July 14 that ARA should join him for a “cup of tea”, Pickover said, “We will certainly take him up on his offer and hope that such a meeting actually does materialise. Two previous attempts by us to meet with Mabunda have come to nothing, and a recent request to meet with Kruger National Park scientists to discuss issues relating to elephant management was also denied. However, should such a meeting take place we have a number of questions we would like answered. These are:
What is the exact figure for the number of rhinos (both black and white) killed by poachers in national parks and protected areas since 2005?
How much money has been made from these recent rhino sales?
Can SANParks provide us with a detailed breakdown and proof of how this money will be spent?
Will SANParks heed/support the call made by ARA for rhino management to be subjected to a public participation process and for the establishment of National Norms and Standards for Rhino Management in South Africa?
Does SANParks have a written policy regarding the post-sale hunting of Kruger animals and sale of Kruger animals to hunting destinations, zoos and circuses? If yes what is it, if no why not?
What role does the SANParks Ethics Committee play in decisions to sell rhino? Is the sale of rhino approved by the SANParks ethics committee? If so what is the process for approval?
How does SANParks evaluate and investigate potential destinations? If SANParks does not allow the sale of rhino to hunting destinations, is this a condition of the sale and clearly articulated in the tender documents, sale agreements etc.? If not, why not?
Will SANParks provide ARA with access to their register of buyers of rhinos from national parks since 1999?
How many rhinos have been sold by SANParks since 1999, including their ages and sexes?
If SANParks is not specifically selling rhinos to hunters, hunting outfitters and hunting destinations then why did they advertise the auction sale of the rhinos recently in hunting magazines?
How did SANParks arrive at the number of 350 “surplus” rhinos and determine which rhinos would be removed? ARA is concerned about the ecological and scientific validity of this decision and therefore requests the scientific data and evidence to support this.
How does SANParks ensure that Kruger animals are not being hunted outside the boundaries of Kruger where fences have been removed with SANParks approval?

“ARA believes that the management of all wildlife in South Africa should be totally transparent and with stakeholder participation wherever practically
possible, hence the transparent response by ARA to Mabunda’s dismissal of our concerns and the public airing of the questions we will put to
Mabunda should he go through with his offer to meet with us, “said Pickover. “We remain committed to policies that underpin ethical conservation and
which show respect for the inherent value of every animal.”

Ends.

Contact persons for ARA:
Steve Smit +27 (0) 82 659 4711
Michele Pickover +27 (0) 82 253 2124
ARA email - info@animalrightsafrica.org

ARA website – www.animalrightsafrica.org

HSUS-They Shoot Endangered Animals,Don't They?

The recent decision by a federal court in the District of Columbia to overturn a controversial federal policy allowing the killing of captive and endangered exotic mammals at some of the nation’s estimated 1,000 “canned” shooting ranches was a particularly satisfying victory in our long-term campaign to end the unethical practices of Safari Club International, the world’s largest trophy hunting organization.

This is the group that has manufactured a set of awards programs to encourage competitive killing of rare animals—such as “Bears of the World” or “Cats of the World.” To secure all of SCI’s awards, including the “grand slams” and "inner circle," a trophy hunter would have to kill more than 320 different species and subspecies of mammals.

It’s a selfish, all-consuming passion to kill and display trophies and to occupy a higher place in the hunting pantheon—whether they are shot in the wild or dispatched in one of these drive-by shootings on a fenced preserve. Typically, those involved have the means to pursue any form of entertainment or pastime, yet they choose to spend their dollars and their limited time shooting the world’s rarest and most beautiful animals. How sad.


© iStockphoto
The endangered addax is targeted by SCI.
Our lawsuit, filed jointly with several conservation groups, successfully challenged a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruling that permitted the shooting of three critically endangered species bred and raised on game ranches—scimitar-horned oryx, addax, and dama gazelle. These antelope have magnificent horns which trophy hunters prize.

SCI argued that charging high fees to kill endangered animals creates a market that encourages money to flow to overseas conservation programs that could benefit the beleaguered species. That bit of twisted logic—kill them to save them—didn’t stop the court from striking down the program.

Last year, The HSUS won another major victory over SCI, which had earlier persuaded Congress to allow U.S. sport hunters to kill Canadian polar bears and import their trophies. We helped persuade the USFWS to list the bears—imperiled by climate change—as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This prohibited the import of polar bear trophies, removing a major incentive to shoot them. But SCI and its trophy hunting cohorts are so bent on killing these imperiled animals, they have filed several lawsuits challenging the decision to list polar bears, and are even lobbying Congress to reopen the polar bear trophy trade. That's right, these groups would rather see the polar bear stripped of federal protection, and potentially go extinct, than temporarily refrain from shooting just one of the hundreds of species regularly sport-hunted around the globe. Yesterday, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced a bill to authorize the import of sport-hunted polar bear trophies.

John J. Jackson III, a former SCI president, once tried to explain what motivates the group's members: “A trophy of any species attests that its owner has been somewhere and done something, that he has exercised skilled persistence and discrimination in the agile feat of overcoming, outwitting, and reducing game to possession.”

This is a chilling rationale for participation in this so-called sport. Is it “skilled persistence” on display when the trophy collector is driven to a feeding station at one of these canned hunting operations to shoot semi-tame, captive animals with the kill all but guaranteed?

SCI thinks these kinds of captive shoots are fine and permits them to be counted in its record books. In fact, SCI has one hunting achievement award—"Introduced Trophy Animals of North America"—that can be claimed only by patronizing captive hunting ranches. It’s in effect a marketing effort that drives hunting participation at the ranches in Texas and elsewhere around the country. Yet even other hunting groups that encourage and maintain trophy records, such as the Boone and Crockett Club and the Pope and Young Club, do not permit the listing of trophies from fenced enclosures.

The fight to weaken Endangered Species Act protections and its Orwellian “killing is conservation” theme are woven throughout SCI’s 38-year history. The Tucson-based organization once sought to circumvent the federal law by seeking government approval to import an astonishing 1,125 trophies of 40 species on the endangered list. They included gorillas, cheetahs, tigers, orangutans, and snow leopards.

With a straight face and not a hint of irony, SCI claimed its goal was “scientific research and incentive for propagation and survival of the species.” There was one small problem. The animals they wanted as trophies weren't yet dead. Request denied by the USFWS.

Now a U.S. District Court judge, agreeing with The HSUS, once again held the line on animal protection. An organization that in reality operates as an enemy of the world’s endangered species while masquerading as a conservation organization has been stymied yet again.

URGE E-BAY TO STOP SELLING TROPHY HUNTS OF LIONS,LEOPARDS,BEARS WOLVES!ACTION ALERT!!!

URGE EBAY TO STOP SELLING TROPHY HUNTS OF LIONS, LEOPARDS, BEARS, WOLVES


TAKE TWO SIMPLE STEPS TO SAVE WOLVES, BEARS, LEOPARDS, LIONS
1) Contact eBay directly to urge the company to ban trophy hunt sales




2) Sign onto Big Wildlife letter to eBay urging the company to stop selling trophy hunts of carnivores

In February, Big Wildlife, Alaska Wildlife Alliance, and Raincoast Conservation urged eBay to halt the sale of trophy hunts of lions, leopards, bears, wolves, and other predators on its website. (Scroll down to end of alert to see trophy hunting items recently posted on eBay.) The online auction website regularly permits postings of guided hunts of carnivores throughout the world. Unfortunately, recently we received a letter from eBay Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Tod Cohen, informing us that the company had no interest in halting its sales of trophy hunts. (Read Los Angeles Times story, eBay Will Continue to Allow Postings of Guided Trophy Hunts.)




WHAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP eBAY'S TROPHY HUNTS:

*Contact eBay directly and urge the company to immediately stop posting sales of trophy hunts of carnivores including lions, leopards, bears, wolves, coyotes, and other predators:

Ebay employees to contact:
Jack Christin, eBay Senior Regulatory Counsel
Phone: 408-376-5145
Cell: 408-679-3621
Email: jchristin@ebay.com

Terri Deanzo, eBay, Office of the President
Phone: 408-376-7400 (After dialing number, you will hear a recording. Press "0." An automated voice message will ask you to spell the person's last name. Key in "Deanzo.")
Email: csme@ebay.com


Amy Skoczlas-Cole, eBay's Global Citizenship Group

Phone: 408-376-7400 (After dialing number, you will hear a recording. Press "0." An automated voice message will ask you to spell the person's last name. Key in "Skoczlas.")
Email: askoczlascole@ebay.com

BOBCATS IN NEVADA THREATENED BY TRAPPING

The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners will meet June 27th, in Lovelock, to establish trapping regulations for bobcats for the next two years. Unfortunately, Nevada wildlife officials have resisted ending trapping “season” to protect this fragile animal. State data suggests Nevada’s bobcat population faces possible collapse from over-trapping. Trapping is also incredibly cruel and should be banned altogether. WHAT YOU CAN DO:*Attend the Saturday, June 27 Commission hearing in Lovelock. Urge wildlife officials to ban trapping of bobcats and all other furbearing animals.Hearing locati on:Lovelock Community Center, 820 6th St., Lovelock, NevadaTime for public comment: 8:30 AM*If you can’t attend the hearing, contact the Nevada wildlife commissioners. Note, the Commission does not have one central email address so you will have to cc all the commissioners at the addresses below. You can also call the Commission chair, Gerald Lent, at (775) 852-4636. Email addresses for Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners:ga.Lent@yahoo. comron.lurie@azcharlie s.comtmcavin@charter. netmichaelkmcbeath@ cox.net

URGENT ACTION ALERT FROM BIG WILDLIFE!LETTERS NEEDED!

URGENT: Please sign Big Wildlife's letter below as instructed and return it to Brian Vincent <brian@bigwildlife.org>.
Contact information for EBay is also below for your own letters to protest the sale of hunted-animal "trophies."
Please cross post.
Deadline to sign onto letter: Friday, June 5, 2009




Two Simple Steps to Save Lions, Leopards, Bears, Wolves, Other Predators
ACTION ALERT
TAKE TWO SIMPLE STEPS TO SAVE WOLVES, BEARS, LEOPARDS, LIONS
1) Sign onto Big Wildlife letter to eBay urging the company to stop selling trophy hunts of carnivores
2) Contact eBay directly to urge the company to ban trophy hunt sales
Scroll down for more details
In February, Big Wildlife <http://bigwildlife.org/> , Alaska Wildlife Alliance <http://www.akwildlife.org/> , and Raincoast <http://www.raincoast.org/> Conservation <http://www.raincoast.org/> urged eBay to halt the sale of trophy hunts of lions, leopards, bears, wolves, and other predators on its website. (Scroll down to end of alert to see trophy hunting items recently posted on eBay.) The online auction website regularly permits postings of guided hunts of carnivores throughout the world. Unfortunately, last week, we received a letter from eBay Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Tod Cohen, informing us that the company had no interest in halting its sales of trophy hunts. (Read Los Angeles Times story, eBay <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/05/ebay-will-continue-to-allow-postings-of-guided-trophy-hunts.html> Will Continue to Allow Postings of Guided Trophy Hunts <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/05/ebay-will-continue-to-allow-postings-of-guided-trophy-hunts.html> .)
TWO EASY STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO STOP eBAY'S TROPHY HUNTS:
Step 1.) Sign onto Big Wildlife letter to eBay:
Big Wildlife is urging groups and individuals to add their names to a letter we've drafted to eBay (see letter below). To include your name to Big Wildlife's letter, please send the information below to Brian Vincent at brian@bigwildlife.org. Brian will then add your name to our sign-on letter. Big Wildlife will send the final letter to eBay on June 5.
Information to send to brian@bigwildlife.org to add you name to sign-on letter:
Your name:Title:Organization:Address:Email:Phone:URL:
Deadline to sign onto letter: Friday, June 5, 2009
Big Wildlife sign on-letter:
Dear Mr. Donahoe:
We, the undersigned, urge eBay to halt the sale of trophy hunts of lions, leopards, bears, wolves, and other large predators on its website. As you are aware, in February the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, Big Wildlife, and Raincoast Conservation wrote to you requesting that your company ban such trophy sales. We were deeply disappointed to learn from eBay Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Tod Cohen, that the company has no interest in halting its sales of trophy hunts. In a May 5 letter to the wildlife groups, Mr. Cohen wrote:"While these decisions are never easy for us to make, the conclusion to this broad decision-making process is that we will not be expanding the scope of hunting experiences prohibited at this time. eBay is an open marketplace based on the principle that anyone can buy or sell just about anything, as long as those sales comply with applicable laws and our policies..."
Mr. Cohen also clarified that eBay has refused to post the sale of items the company and the general public find "offensive." For example, Mr. Cohen wrote, "Nazi paraphernalia is not only offensive to millions of people but much of it is illegal to possess and sale in Germany, Austria, Italy, and France. So eBay decided years ago to prohibit the sale of most Nazi items within our 'Offensive Material" policy. This policy also gives us the direction to remove items'when the item or description graphically portrays violence or victims of violence and lacks substantial social, artistic, or political value.'"
Expansive hunting of top predators such as lions, leopards, wolves, and bears ignores the importance these species play in natural systems. As "keystone species," they help maintain ecological integrity and preserve species diversity. The disappearance of carnivores triggers the loss of other species and the intricate connections among the remaining residents begin to unravel. Most of these species face growing threats from habitat destruction, aggressive lethal "management," and poaching. Trophy hunters target the largest and most healthy animals, disrupting the intricate social structures of predators and eliminating those individuals who are most critical to sustaining viable populations.
In addition, trophy hunting of carnivores is unethical, cruel, and unnecessary. It is important to note that hunters kill these animals simply for "sport" and for a trophy head and hide, not for subsistence. Some of the methods used by trophy hunters and included in some of the eBay sales are especially barbaric. For example, a number of eBay postings advertise using hounds to chase bears and cougars and placing bait to lure lions, bears, and wolves.
Again, we urge eBay to end its practice of selling these types of trophy hunting opportunities. Thank you.
Sincerely,Big Wildlife will add your name here along with other cosigners
Step 2.) Contact eBay directly and urge the company to immediately stop posting sales of trophy hunts of carnivores including lions, leopards, bears, wolves, coyotes, and other predators:
Ebay employees to contact: Jack Christin, eBay Senior Regulatory CounselPhone: 408-376-5145Cell: 408-679-3621Email: jchristin@ebay.com
Terri Deanzo, eBay, Office of the PresidentPhone: 408-376-7400 (After dialing number, you will hear a recording. Press "0." An automated voice message will ask you to spell the person's last name. Key in "Deanzo.")Email: csme@ebay.com
Amy Skoczlas-Cole, eBay's Global Citizenship GroupPhone: 408-376-7400 (After dialing number, you will hear a recording. Press "0." An automated voice message will ask you to spell the person's last name. Key in "Skoczlas.")Email: askoczlascole@ebay.com
SOME RECENTLY POSTED ITEMS ON eBay (Click highlighted text to go to eBay posting):" <http://cgi.ebay.com/AFRICA-DANGEROUS-GAME-MAILE-LION-HUNT-24-999_W0QQitemZ390045804571QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item390045804571&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1> Africa Dangerous Game Maile Lion Hunt: <http://cgi.ebay.com/AFRICA-DANGEROUS-GAME-MAILE-LION-HUNT-24-999_W0QQitemZ390045804571QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item390045804571&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1> This auction price of $12,500 is the 50% deposit required to book the hunt the remaing 50% will be due on arrival, which is $12,500. The main difference between the different Lions is the size of the mane. The more expensive Lions have bigger black manes while the ones with less pronounced manes cost less. This is all based on good genes."
" <http://cgi.ebay.com/AFRICA-DANGEROUS-GAME-LEOPARD-HUNT-16-999_W0QQitemZ390045794935QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item390045794935&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C> Africa Dangerous Game Leopard Hunt: Dreamin of having a leopard trophy on your wall, dream no more. We could help you with leopard hunting in South Africa...African leopard hunting is usually done by baiting with freshly killed antelope and other prey species. African leopards may also be hunted by tracking. Some African leopards are hunted after being spotted by a hunting party on safari. Once a leopard is spotted it can be tracked and taken by the hunter. Some countries in Africa currently allow leopards to be hunted with dogs and this has become a popular and effective way of hunting them." Price: $8,500.
³ <http://cgi.ebay.com/ONTARIO-TIMBER-WOLF-HUNT-NEAR-100-OPP-ON-http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390045814530&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX&refitem=390026932972&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refw> Ontario Timber Wolf Hunt, Near 100 Opp on Wolf: The hunt is a real hunting adventure! Near 100% opportunity on timber wolf, we hunt over bait in a heated treestand...Choose any weapon.² Price: $699. ³ <http://cgi.ebay.com/2009-ALBERTA-WOLF-HUNT-100-OPP-HUNT-OVER-http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390046370978&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX&refitem=390027588479&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refw> 2009 Alberta Wolf Hunt, 100% Opp, Hunt Over Bait: We¹re overrun with wolves, we have trophy wolves.² Price: $1,199.00. ³ <http://cgi.ebay.com/2009-B-C-SPRING-BLACK-BEAR-HUNT-WITH-HOUNDS_W0QQitemZ390045858864QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item390045858864&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%> 2009 Spring Black Bear Hunt With Hounds: Price Includes 2 Bears. We hunt Black Bears with hounds, hunters have the opportunity to hunt black bears or the desirable colour phased bear in brown, blonde or cinnamon tones." Price: $3,999.00
³ <http://cgi.ebay.com/ALASKA-SPRING-or-SUMMER-GRIZZLY-BEAR-HUNT-5-899_W0QQitemZ390045843910QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item390045843910&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%> Alaska Spring or Summer Grizzly Bear Hunt: "Wow Fall Sale, Only $5899, That's Over $7,000 in Savings. "
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Vincent at brian@bigwildlife.org
*NOTE: While Big Wildlife is opposed to all trophy hunting of wildlife, we are focused primarily on protecting top, at-risk carnivore species. We do, however, support other campaigns by animal rights groups against eBay.
-- BE SURE TO CHECK OUT BIG WILDLIFE'S WEBSITE AT: www.bigwildlife.org <http://www.bigwildlife.org>
Big Wildife is a project of the Earth Island Institute. Visit Earth Island at: www.earthisland.org <http://www.earthisland.org>
"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."-- Leonardo Da Vinci
"One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds."-- Aldo Leopold

Opposition to Ringling Brothers Circus

What: Brooklyn Community Board 13 monthly meeting
When: April 28, 2009, at 7 p.m.
Where: Coney Island Hospital, 2nd Floor Auditorium, 2601 Ocean Pkwy.

We recently learned that Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey Circus, with the help of Taconic Investments and city officials, will set up a summer circus on Coney Island. As you know, Ringling has a long history of animal abuse and neglect.

On April 28 at 7 p.m., you can speak up in behalf of the elephants, tigers, and other animals who suffer in Ringling shows. Brooklyn Community Board 13 is having its monthly board meeting. If you sign up, you can give a comment for up to three minutes on why you will boycott Coney Island upon Ringling's arrival. The abusive training and extreme confinement inherent in animal acts is widely condemned by elephant experts, law enforcement officers, and animal protection groups. Animals in circuses are whipped, shocked with electric prods, and beaten with bullhooks-cruel devices with sharp steel tips that resemble fireplace pokers.

Undercover video footage of Ringling's elephant supplier, Carson Barnes Circus, shows standard circus industry training methods. The trainer who beats and shocks elephants in the video is the brother of Joe Frisco Jr., Ringling's Red Unit elephant superintendent. Other footage shows a bloody bullhook wound, Ringling handlers who aggressively hook elephants, and lame elephants who are kept on the road.
Urge your community to reject the abuse and confinement of animals by Ringling by boycotting Coney Island and asking the board never to allow the circus to return. Help show a united front by wearing a "Boycott Ringling at Coney Island" sticker, which will be available at the meeting.


Please also join us for a demonstration at Taconic Investment Partners which is responsible for bringing this cruel circus to Coney Island.What: Demonstration against Taconic Investment Partners:
When: Friday, April 24, 11:45 a.m.
Where: Taconic Investment Partners, 111 8th Ave. (8th Avenue and W. 16th St.), New York

A pending federal lawsuit alleges that Ringling's routine abuse of elephants violates the Endangered Species Act. During the trial, the circus's CEO admitted that elephants are "struck" with bullhooks. Documents presented in court revealed that elephants are chained for an average of 26 hours straight (and up to 100 hours during transport) and that a Ringling animal behaviorist and veterinary assistant saw bullhook injuries on the elephants. Former Ringling employees have come forward with shocking reports of abuse, including that an elephant bled profusely following a violent 30-minute bullhook beating.

Thank you for taking action to help stop the suffering that animals endure in circuses like Ringling.

URGENT APPEAL FROM LION RESCUE!

Urgent Appeal!


Dear All



We have once again been inundated with pleas to provide sanctuary to abused lions.



We currently have five lions desperately looking for homes, but at this time lack the funds to enable us to provide a lifetime home to the five lions involved.



Our sanctuary is almost full to capacity and in order to accommodate these animals we will have to construct new enclosures.



We need to raise R900 000.00 if we are to save these animals lives. Although this may seem like an insurmountable amount of money, the Born Free Foundation in the UK recently managed to raise more than 1.1 million rand for just one lion! We hope that with your help we will be able to change these five animals’ lives forever.



Gaucho, a young male lion who has been horribly abused in a circus in South America.



Brutus, he has been beaten so badly that his jaw was broken and never reset. Brutus’s claws were also all pulled out, effectively maiming him.



Above is a lion who has suffered intolerable abuse He is malnourished and close to death.



Two male circus lions. They have both been castrated and the one has had his tail cut off! They live in a small barren cage and suffer constant abuse.



All five of the above lions desperately need our help. We can only save them with financial support.





Donate online and help us save these lions! www.lionrescue. org.za/donate. htm





Paul Hart



www.lionrescue. org.za

Tel/Fax: 27 21 8633290



You can help us save more lions! - http://www.lionresc ue.org.za/ donate.htm



ADOPT A LION and help us meet the care costs of our rescue animals - http://www.lionresc ue.org.za/ ourlions. htm



PLEASE DON'T PLAY WITH LION CUBS! Read why - www.lionrescue. org.za/playwithc ubs.htm



Saving one animal may not change the world, but surely for that one animal the world will change forever!

Save the Neglected Exotic Wild Cats in Cancun-Petition To Sign!

Save the Neglected Exotic Wild Cats in Cancun-Mexico
Target:Profepa - Mexican Government Wildlife
Sponsored by: Cancun Big Cats



13 Tigers and Lions and 2 Jaguars are living in deplorable conditions in Cancun, Mexico at two locations under the guardianship of one owner. The level of neglect is appalling! For at least FIVE years these animals have lived in substandard conditions. For an accurate description of the state of these living conditions, please read this web page published in 2004 and keep in mind that nothing has changed in the quality of life for these exotic cats:

http://www.sick56.org/tigers.htm

FOUR PAWS VIDEO!

FOUR PAWS RETURNS CAPTIVE LIONS TO LIFE IN FREEDOM IN AFRICA!

FOUR PAWS returns captive lions to life in freedom in Africa
Wild animals are provided with a better future at the big cat sanctuary LIONSROCK.

watch the video

FOUR PAWS transferred seven lions from European zoos to a new home in the South African big cat sanctuary LIONSROCK on Friday. The four Austrian lions, along with their Romanian counterparts, will finally live their lives according to their natural requirements.

The Austrian lions were one of the main attractions at a private zoo in Carinthia, southern Austria. Laas (13), Suga (16), Bonnie and Clyde (7) were raised by the owner. The zoo no longer complies with modern standards and was unable to finance the necessary alterations required to remain open. It closed in 2008. In October of the same year, FOUR PAWS was approached by the owners with the request to offer the lions a new home.

The lions’ owners did everything they could to care for the animals. However, this case shows once again that wild animals should never be held in captivity. We are proud to be able to offer the lions a new home that meets their needs, and gives them a better life.

A new future also awaits the three Romanian lions. Octavian (6), Cezar (15) and Aurica (6) were kept in a zoo in Tecuci, Romania. The zoo was closed down in October 2007 because it also no longer met European standards. These lions, too, have now found a new home in LIONSROCK.

LIONSROCK offers animals in captivity an environment which meets their needs, but where they are safe from predators. These seven lions now have a chance for a better life, but there are still many wild animals throughout the world suffering in captivity.

The road to the new home took the animals first to Frankfurt Airport, and then by aeroplane to OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg. Following a ten-hour flight, the animals were loaded onto a truck for the last leg of the journey. Three hours later, they reached their destination – the big cat sanctuary near Bethlehem in the South African province of Free State.

This is only the first step in the new life of the lions at LIONSROCK. For the next six months they will be carefully monitored and provided with any health care required. They will then be moved to larger enclosures where they can live in peace and dignity for the rest of their lives.

DISAPPEARING TIGERS FROM PANNA!TAKE ACTION!

Disappearing Tigers from Panna.
I hope you will not mind me contacting you but as a visitor to my website I thought that you should be aware of the current problems facing the wild tiger in India. You are probably aware that three years ago all the tigers disappeared from Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. This should have been a 'wake up' call for all the project tiger reserves in India but unfortunately another reserve-Panna in Madhya Pradesh has gone the same way. Now the State Government in MP. are starting to move tigresses from other reserves within the state to Panna before an official independent enquiry has been set up by the Government of India to establish the cause of the disappearing tigers, which almost certainly will be down to poaching. I feel strongly that before tigers are relocated from their existing reserve that proper infrastructure and protection should be in place before relocation is considered. I have been asked by a prominent NGO in India to politely write to the Prime Minister of India urgently requesting a high-level enquiry into the disappearance of ALL the tigers at Panna and also to request that only 'dispersing' young tigers should be considered for relocation and not tigresses that have already established a home range within their existing reserve. I have attached an extract from the email that I received with all relevant details and it would be greatly appreciated if like myself you would kindly write to Dr Manmohan Singh expressing your concern over the tragic loss of up to 40 tigers from Panna together with the two points mentioned above. More information can be found on my website in the section 'Save the Tiger'. Very best wishes Michael www.tigersinthefore st.com Please forward this message to as many people as possible, and request them to send an email to the Prime Minister of India.
We should ask for (i) a high-level enquiry into the disappearance of ALL the tigers in Panna Tiger Reserve, and (ii) that only 'dispersing' young tigers should be relocated, rather than established tigers from the core of protected areas. Here are the contact details:
Dr Manmohan SinghPrime Minister of IndiaEmail: ,
You can also go to the website www.pmindia. nic.in and click "Feedback" at the bottom.

ANIMAL NEWS

Heartbreaking News: Last Known U.S. Jaguar Dies After Capture


As many of you know, a tragedy transpired this Monday when Macho B, a wild endangered jaguar captured and outfitted with a radio collar in February, was recaptured and euthanized by the Arizona Game and Fish Department after being found suffering from kidney failure. More details are coming out daily that his repeated capture and sedation were the leading cause of Macho's untimely death. At 15 to 16 years old, Macho B was believed to be the oldest wild jaguar, and currently the only wild jaguar, living in the United States. For 15 years the Center for Biological Diversity has worked in the courtroom to protect this rare big cat, and the devastating loss of Macho B comes just weeks before our lawsuit -- calling on Fish and Wildlife to develop a federal recovery plan and protected habitat -- is slated to begin. The death of Macho B is a harsh illustration of why a recovery plan that evaluates the risks of capture to the animal and the species before any snaring or collaring occurs is desperately needed for wild jaguars to survive here.
The Center, joined by more than 60 concerned citizens and the emailed comments of supporters, held a memorial service for Macho B outside the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Tucson, Arizona offices yesterday, calling for a recovery plan and protected habitat for jaguars. The loss of Macho B is being felt all over the country, and we need your help now to use this sadness to keep the pressure on the Fish and Wildlife Service for real protections. Please take a moment now to tell the Obama administration to protect and recover jaguars and make a gift to the Jaguar Recovery Fund.
Read more on Macho's death in the Arizona Republic and check out what veterinarian Dr. Dean Rice had to say about its causes in the Los Angeles Times.


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Obama Announces Endangered Species Act Rescue

Our country's best wildlife law will soon rise from the ashes of its Bush administration near-demise, according to a Tuesday memorandum issued by President Obama announcing he'll rescind Bush's rules eviscerating the Endangered Species Act. The undoing of the rules means that thousands of potentially species-harming federal activities exempted by Bush from independent review -- including activities generating greenhouse gases -- will again be the rightful subjects of scientific scrutiny by federal agencies. A full defeat of the rules may require more action by the new administration, but Tuesday's announcement is an essential first step. The Senate is now considering a bill that would let the Obama administration, with the stroke of a pen, rescind both Bush's Endangered Species Act changes and a special rule weakening protections for the polar bear.
When Bush's Endangered Species Act regulations were finalized in December, the Center for Biological Diversity was already in court to fight them. We're glad to see scientists back in the driver's seat for endangered-species management and hope Obama will fully rescind both the Endangered Species Act changes and the polar bear rule.
Read more in the Washington Post.


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Pacific Fisher Closer to California Protections

Finally responding properly to a Center for Biological Diversity petition, this week the California Fish and Game Commission did a complete 180 on its position regarding safeguards for the Pacific fisher, voting to deem the rare forest carnivore threatened or endangered under the California Endangered Species Act. The plucky, slender-bodied Pacific fisher, one of the few species that preys upon porcupines (no, it doesn't really eat fish), has been devastated by historic fur trapping and continued logging in its old-growth habitats, and fishers in California are now reduced to two small populations. Still, upon a recommendation by the California Department of Fish and Game, last August the Commission rejected our petition to protect the species. After a Center public-records request showed that most of the Department's own biologists had supported our petition, the Commission decided to reconsider its fishy August decision.
Thanks to another Center petition, the Pacific fisher is also a candidate for federal protections, and we'll be watching to make sure it gets those protections soon.
Check out our press release and learn more about the Pacific fisher.


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Capitol Power Plant Shut Down at Gathering -- Watch the Center's Videos

In the largest act of peaceful civil disobedience on climate change in U.S. history, this Monday more than 2,000 climate activists from across the country braved a snowstorm and freezing temperatures to take part in Capitol Climate Action, an event that successfully blocked and shut down the coal-fired Capitol Power Plant in Washington, D.C. In addition to sponsoring the event, the Center for Biological Diversity's Francisca Santana, climate associate with our Climate Law Institute, participated alongside protesters, including environmental activist Bill McKibben and climate scientist Dr. James Hansen.
The Center has long been behind Dr. Hansen's scientifically supported avowal that atmospheric greenhouse gases must be reduced to 350 parts per million or below in order to avoid the most profound effects of global warming. As Hansen declared at the gathering, "What has become clear from the science is that we cannot burn all the fossil fuels without creating a very different planet." In order to get to 350 ppm and save life on earth as we know it, the Center is actively working to stop the construction of all new coal-fired power plants and the phaseout of all existing coal-fired plants.
Read more in USA Today, read Francisca's firsthand description of what went down -- complete with videos -- and check out this slideshow of the action.


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Lawsuit Looming Over Oil and Gas Sale in Kit Fox Habitat

To stop a sale of 23 oil and gas leases in California's San Joaquin Valley, last week the Center for Biological Diversity and Desert Survivors filed a formal protest and warned the Bureau of Land Management we'll sue over the sale's impacts on habitat for the endangered San Joaquin kit fox. In approving the sale, the Bureau authorized the leasing of 4,402 acres of public lands for oil and gas development -- including building wells, running seismic lines, and building roads -- while glossing over the lease sale's harmful effects on the kit fox, whose numbers have been declining since 1967. All parcels in the sale are in critical kit fox habitat and would exponentially step up one of the greatest threats to the species: habitat fragmentation. Besides allowing harm to the kit fox and other San Joaquin Valley species, the oil and gas sale would ensure more greenhouse gas pollutants are spewed into the air.
"The information in the Bureau's environmental documents misrepresents the full nature of continued oil and gas development in the San Joaquin Valley," said Melissa Thrailkill, staff attorney with the Center's Climate Law Institute. "It is based on outdated information, and if allowed to stand, will damage the local environment and push the kit fox ever closer to the edge of extinction."
Peruse our press release, where you can also read our notice of intent to sue, and learn more about the San Joaquin kit fox.



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Feds Announce Rewrite (But Not Demise) of Bush Oil-shale Plans


Last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced plans to withdraw the Bush administration' s proposal for expanded oil-shale leases in the Southwest -- but instead of rescinding Bush's illegal regulations, Salazar announced Interior would offer a second round of research, development, and demonstration leases for oil shale on public lands in Colorado and Utah. While it's good that Bush's proposal was scrapped, any plans for oil-shale development are bad news for Southwest lands and the global atmosphere: Producing oil shale is dirtier than the dirtiest coal, more land-intensive than conventional oil, and more water-intensive than farming in the desert --and it isn't even yet commercially viable.
The Center for Biological Diversity is involved in two lawsuits opposing the Bush administration' s oil-shale regulations, which violate a series of laws and fail miserably in adequately addressing environmental impacts.
Read more in the Houston Chronicle.


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Alaska Mayor Backs "Whalin' Palin" Against Endangered Beluga

February proved another bad month for Alaska's endangered Cook Inlet beluga when Mayor Dave Carey of the Kenai Peninsula Borough, adjacent to Cook Inlet, expressed his support for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's pending lawsuit contesting protections for the whale. Meeting with the Kenai Peninsula chapter of the Industry Support Alliance, Carey showed complete agreement with Palin's adamant opposition to the whale's October 2008 Endangered Species Act listing, which it so desperately needs to survive in Alaska's dirtiest, fastest-growing watershed. In protecting the beluga, Carey childishly declared, the federal government has chosen to "punish" all the boroughs that surround (and, ahem, pollute) the whale's Cook Inlet home.
Also in February -- about a month after Palin's chief of staff wrote an Anchorage Daily News op-ed unbelievably titled "Protection Requirements for Cook Inlet Belugas Are Silly" -- online magazine Salon.com fought back with "Whalin' Palin," a clear-eyed article revealing the backwardness of Palin's recent actions against the beautiful white cetacean. The article highlights quotes from our own Brendan Cummings, ocean program director for the Center for Biological Diversity -- who first petitioned, and then sued, to help earn the whale's protections.
Check out a radio transcript on Mayor Carey's statements and read Salon.com's article for yourself.


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Center Supports Speak-out Against Overpopulation

February 2009, the "littlest" month of the year, has been fittingly declared a month of action and communication on a huge issue: skyrocketing human population growth that's hurting our planet and pushing other species toward extinction. Last week, the Center for Biological Diversity announced our support for the Global Population Speak-Out, a collaborative effort by scientists, activists, and others worldwide to highlight the issue of overpopulation in efforts to restore the planet's health. Humans are now hogging up to 40 percent of the world's "net primary productivity, " a measure of solar energy converted to life-sustaining resources by photosynthesis -- and in the process, we're fueling nearly every ecological problem, from species extinction to resource depletion to the biggest threat of all: climate change.
"Many of us are working hard to reduce our carbon footprints," said Randy Serraglio, conservation advocate with the Center. "But in the end, unless we get a handle on runaway population growth, it may simply become a case of too many feet."
Check out our press release and learn more about the Global Population Speak Out.


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FOX News Belittles "Pint-sized" Pika's Plight

More than two weeks after the administration settled a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit over protecting the American pika, last Friday FOX News finally covered the issue in a slyly disparaging piece taking stabs at the most innocent party involved: the pika itself. Instead of directly attacking "pika partisans" for efforts to stem the climate change that threatens the pika with extinction (or as FOX so deceitfully describes it, "forcing businesses, manufacturers, and energy producers to shut down across the country"), the article turns the pika's admittedly appealing appearance against it by rattling off words like "cute" and "furry" right and left in a subtly demeaning way. Not only is the pika "hamster-like" and "pint-sized, " FOX says, this "runty relative of the rabbit" is also apparently at fault for its own imperilment -- it just can't cut it in the modern world due to some pesky thick fur that leaves it tiresomely "unable to survive in temperatures warmer than 80 degrees."
Runty or not, the pika is making progress: Thanks to the Center's lawsuit, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to decide by May on whether to protect it under the Endangered Species Act.

ALTA AMUR LEOPARD CONSERVATION/ANIMAL CAMPAIGNS

With a total population of 30-35 individuals, the Amur leopard, or Far Eastern leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), is one of the most - if not the most - endangered large cats on earth.

In the wild
Eight subspecies
Of all the cats in the world the leopard has the widest distribution. Leopards were originally found in almost the whole of Africa and in large parts of Asia, ranging from Turkey and the Middle East to Indonesia and Russia. At one time there were thought to be over thirty distinct subspecies of leopard, but most cat specialists now believe that the majority of these subspecies are not valid; eight have been proposed instead (Miththapala and Seidensticker 1995), and revision of the taxonomy is still under debate.

Of the eight subspecies the Amur, or Far Eastern leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) shows the strongest divergence in coat pattern. The coat is pale cream (especially in winter) and has widely spaced rosettes with thick, black rings and darkened centres. The length of the coat varies between 2.5cm in summer and 7.5cm in winter.

Ecology
Male Amur leopards weigh 32-48 kg, with exceptionally large males up to 60-75 kg. Females are smaller than the males at 25-43 kg.

The main prey species of the Amur leopard are roe and sika deer, along with hares and badgers.

Whilst it has been found in other regions that leopards do not do well in areas where they share territory with tigers, this has not proved to be the case in Russia. Studies have indicated that an increased tiger population in the Southwest Primorye area has not adversely affected the leopard population.

Amur leopards in zoos show some evidence of breeding seasonalilty with a peak in births in late spring/early summer. After a gestation period of around 12 weeks cubs are born in litters of 1-4 individuals, with an average litter size of just over 2. The cubs will stay with their mother for up to two years before becoming fully independent. Females first breed at an age of 3-4 years.

In the wild, leopards live for 10-15 years and they may reach 20 years in captivity.