Animals 24-7

News on dogs, cats, horses, wildlife, zoonoses, & nature

Will captive lions caught in wildfire light a fire under South African legislators?

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Promised bill to ban breeding lions for cub-petting, trophy shoots,  & bone commerce awaits introduction––and action             BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa––Five months after South African minister of forestry, fisheries & the environment Barbara Creecy announced that she would pursue legislation to ban breeding captive lions for cub-petting,  trophy shoots,  and exports of lion bones for use […]

Passed on: a Kenyan hero, others who served, & a questionable Canadian

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Mwachofi Ngonyo,  among the last of the Tsavo Watha “The curtain has fallen for a great man in conservation!” emailed Africa Network for Animal Welfare founder Josphat Ngonyo on September 5,  2021. “Please join me,”  Josphat Ngonyo asked,  “in celebrating the life of my uncle and father figure Mwachofi Ngonyo.  “He was among the last of […]

The Supremacist Syndrome, by Peter Marsh

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How Domination Underpins Slavery, Genocide, the Exploitation of Women, & the Maltreatment of Animals Lantern Publishing & Media,  128 Second Place,  Brooklyn,  NY 11231;  www.lanternpm.org. Available in both Kindle and paperback editions. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Many ANIMALS 24-7 readers will remember Supremacist Syndrome author and New Hampshire attorney Peter Marsh as an occasional presenter […]

Behind the veil: live animal shipping & the Islamic New Year

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Why what goes on quietly matters more than public slaughter after Ramadan JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia;  GRAHAMSTOWN, South Africa––Tonight,  August 9,  2021,  nearly two billion Muslims worldwide will quietly celebrate Hijri 1443,  the Islamic New Year,  marking 1,443 years since Muhammed led his disciples from Mecca to Medina in 622 Anno Domini on the Christian calendar. […]

Factory farming scheme in Zambia threatens wildlife over half of Africa

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Straw-colored fruit bats,  giving birth in just one place,  pollinate trees throughout central Africa             LUSAKA, Zambia––Public comment on what appears to be one of the most ecologically destructive development projects in all Africa,  menacing Kasanka National Park,  Zambia,  and especially threatening to straw-colored fruit bats,  closes on June 16,  2021. Who cares about African […]

South Africa debates end to “canned lion” industry & ivory sales

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“High-Level Panel Report on Lions, Rhinos, Elephants & Leopards” recommends turnabout in national wildlife policy             JOHANNESBURG, South Africa––A South African government wildlife policy study recommends an end to breeding captive lions for cub-petting, trophy shoots of captive-bred and raised lions,  and exports of lion bones for use in traditional Chinese medicine. The paper also […]

Factory-farmed pigs get a break from vaccine breakthrough

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For factory-farmed pigs,  avoiding African swine fever may be about as good as the grim news gets GREENPORT, New York––With all eyes on the progress of vaccination against the global COVID-19 pandemic,  which has to date killed nearly 3.5 million people,  the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Service in early May quietly announced a breakthrough […]

Remembering Rory Young, Glenn Summerlin, & Helen Marston

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Soldier,  fundraiser,  & campaigner:  three animal advocates whose work & approaches could scarcely have differed more Rory Young,  49,  founder of the anti-poaching organization Chengeta Wildlife,  was killed on April 26, 2021,  along with Spanish journalist David Beriáin,  44,  and photographer Roberto Fraile,  47,  in an ambush in Burkina Faso attributed to the jihadist militia […]

Did Namibia sell 170 elephants to China to make way for oil drilling?

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Murky Namibian elephant deal might involve as much as $22 million paid to someone,  even if oil rights are not involved WINDHOEK,  Namibia––Two weeks after the Namibian government sold 170 elephants to five undisclosed buyers,  to be transported to parts unknown,  Namibian minister of environment and tourism Pohamba Shifeta has yet to reveal the details […]

Did Chinese zoos buy 170 Namibian elephants sold at secret auction?

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Namibian officials say disclosing purchasers might jeopardize the deal             WINDHOEK, Namibia––Who bought 170 elephants,  auctioned off by the Namibian government against international law,  despite months of protest? Suspicion is growing that Namibia will not disclose the elephants’ buyers until the elephants have already been flown to their destinations,  probably Chinese zoos,  the buyers of […]