Animals 24-7

News & perspective for the humane community

The poop on live transport, whaling, & Ramadan 2018

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Old ships,  ancient customs             FREMANTLE,  Australia––Seventy thousand Australian sheep aboard the 38-year-old livestock carrier Al Messilah,  or anyhow those who survive the journey,  are due to reach Kuwait on May 14,  2018,  according to VesselFinder.com. The voyage continues a trade that Animals Australia likens to whaling in terms of cruelty and obsolescence,  but which […]

Daphne Sheldrick, 83, showed Kenya that wildlife is worth most when alive

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Known for elephant & rhino rescue,  but contributions were much bigger than that             NAIROBI,  Kenya––The facts of the life of the late Daphne Sheldrick,  who died at age 83 on April 12,  2018 after a long battle with breast cancer,  are much more easily summarized than her legacy to wildlife,  elephants in particular,  and […]

A matriarch remembers, by Daphne Sheldrick,  D.B.E. (1934-2018)

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The first 65 years of the life of the world’s first mom to orphaned elephants in her own words Editors’ note:  Daphne Sheldrick,  83,  founder of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and of the elephant orphanage the trust operates at the edge of Nairobi National Park,  Kenya,  died on April 12,  2018,  after a long battle […]

Yellow fever mosquitoes now killing at 10 times the rate of pit bulls

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Monkey killings contribute to disease outbreak death tolls in Brazil & India             RIO DE JANEIRO,  Brazil;  SINGHUDURG,  India––Panic-driven monkey massacres are contributing to human illness and death,  with yellow fever deaths up 60% since the end of fiscal 2017,  and could help to spark global epidemics,  warn Brazilian health officials. More than 718 Brazilians […]

South Sudan bans hunting; but will the ban last? by Sebastian Mwanza

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Does the history of South Sudan favor the ban? [Sebastian Mwanza is senior officer for communications & advocacy with the Africa Network for Animal Welfare,  based in Nairobi,  Kenya.] On March 6, 2018,  as ANIMALS 24-7 reported,  the world woke up to good tidings from the Xinhua News Agency that South Sudan’s Ministry of Wildlife […]

Two inches of rain means life or death to animals in Kenya

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Flash floods broke devastating drought, but not drought cycle menacing wildlife & livestock             NAIROBI,  Kenya––Just two inches of rain over two days,  about what Seattle gets on average in just two weeks, in mid-March 2018 triggered flash floods killing at least 15 Kenyans,  marooning six tented camps for wildlife tourists in the Maasai Mara […]

South Sudan bans hunting; follows Kenya, with Chinese support

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Kenya banned hunting in 1977             JUBA,  South Sudan––Emulating one of the longtime keys to economic success in neighboring Kenya,  the seven-year-old nation of South Sudan on March 6,  2018 “banned all forms of wildlife hunting,  including commercial trade in wildlife trophies,”  the Xinhua news agency reported. The specific mention of “wildlife trophies” by the […]

Trump words had no teeth: elephant & lion trophy imports resume

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Under current rules,  Walter Palmer might have imported Cecil’s head with little fuss             WASHINGTON D.C.–– In 20-20 hindsight,  the November 19,  2017 Twitter message by U.S. President Donald Trump hinting that he might protect African elephants and lions from trophy hunting by executive order looks more like camouflage than a decision. Twittering that trophy […]

South African lion breeders hear whispers of doom

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Death at game reserve overshadows Parliamentary resolution that could kill the wildlife breeding,  viewing,  & hunting industries JOHANNESBURG,  South Africa––The fatal mauling of a 22-year-old female visitor to “lion whisperer” Kevin Richardson’s tented camp in the Dinoken Big 5 Game Reserve stole headlines on February 27,  2018 from Parliamentary action promising to turn the South […]

More deaths in South Africa despite Pit Bull Federation warning

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National SPCA and U.S. counterparts continue pushing pits, heedless of consequence             PRETORIA––Has South Africa learned anything,  the National SPCA of South Africa in particular,  from the stern warning issued by the Pit Bull Federation of South Africa in November 2017 about rehoming pit bulls of dangerous history? Apparently not.  Retired police officer Henry Kleynhans,  […]