Animals 24-7

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

CITES doomed the vaquita, sold the elephant in the room, & worse

By

U.N. Environment Assembly calls for yet another report on “the interlinkages between animal welfare,  the environment and sustainable development” after ignoring a mountain of others produced at least since 1950             LYON, France––This is not just a fish story,  nor just a fish-and-elephant story,  nor even just another story about the failures and shortcomings of […]

Wildlife Waystation founder Martine Colette, 79, goes to “walk with tigers”

By

Rescued,  sheltered,  & rehabilitated wildlife for 43 years LAKE HAVASU,  Arizona––Wildlife Waystation founder Martine Colette,  79,  died on January 23,  2022. Reported CBS-Los Angeles,  “Colette, who had been suffering from lung cancer,  died at her Lake Havasu home, according to her publicist.” Wrote Mike Barnes for Hollywood Reporter,  “She died surrounded by friends,  and one […]

Are pigs among our closest kin? Heart transplant revives debate

By

Ethics,  genetics,  & relationship of pigs to humans             BALTIMORE, Maryland––The world’s first pig-to-human heart transplant,  performed on January 7,  2022 at the University of Maryland Medical Center,  may or may not extend the life of transplant recipient David Bennett,  57. Certainly it shortened the life of the pig,  trucked five hours from a company […]

Richard Leakey, 77, saved elephants & found missing links to veg past

By

Richard Leakey both extended human history backward & helped Kenyan wildlife survive into the future NAIROBI, Kenya––Richard Erskine Frere Leakey,  77,  known to the world as simply Richard Leakey,  died on January 2,  2022,  in Nairobi,  the Kenyan capital city and his home for most of his life. Born in Nairobi on December 19,  1944,  […]

Irish farmers have a beef––and that’s our problem, too

By

Pastoral nations object to cattle cutbacks recommended for greenhouse gas emissions based on factory farm data GLASGOW, Scotland––“Cutting methane,”  specifically methane emitted by cattle,  “is the biggest opportunity to slow [global] warming between now and 2040,”  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead reviewer Durwood Zaelke suggested in August 2021,  during the run-up to the 2021 […]

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

By

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 […]

Factory-farmed pigs get a break from vaccine breakthrough

By

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 […]

“Conserving” rhinos to the brink of extinction

By

Zoo births one rhino,  scientists make five rhino embryos,  trophy hunters buy rights to shoot dozens,  & poachers kill 1,000-plus per year DUBBO, Australia;  BERLIN, Germany––The Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo,  Australia,  on March 1,  2021 informed media that it “is celebrating the birth of a critically endangered black rhino calf.” Born to a four-time […]

Ravaging Asia & Africa: a much deadlier plague than COVID-19

By

World fiddles while grasshoppers munch             NINGBO,  China;  NAIROBI,  Kenya––A much deadlier plague than the COVID-19 coronavirus is sweeping westward from China through Pakistan,  across Central Asia,  and throughout the Horn of Africa,  flying 100 miles a day,  devouring crops enough to feed as many as 34 million people,  according to the United Nations Food […]

Leading Kenyan conservationist barred from Nairobi National Park

By

Paula Kahumbu opposed rock concert where Elsa the lion cub was “born free”             NAIROBI,  Kenya––Bringing immediate global attention to his own lack of anything resembling conservation credentials,  Kenya Wildlife Service director general John Migui Waweru on February 18,  2020 reportedly barred Wildlife Direct executive director Paula Kahumbu from Nairobi National Park. Waweru,  59,  appointed […]