Animals 24-7

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

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 […]

“Conserving” rhinos to the brink of extinction

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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

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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

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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 […]

Feds probe alleged rapes & murders by WWF-funded anti-poaching militias

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U.K., Germany,  & Switzerland also concerned about World Wildlife Fund-backed paramilitary operations             WASHINGTON D.C.–– The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and other federal agencies are investigating allegations repeatedly raised for more than a dozen years by media––chiefly by the online periodical BuzzFeed News,  but also including ANIMALS 24-7––that funds granted by the U.S. government […]

Elephants, giraffes, sharks, Asian otters & seahorses fare well in Switzerland

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African elephants win protection near where exports for display began             GENEVA, Switzerland––Live elephant exports from Africa for exhibition at least nominally ended by plenary vote at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Triennial Conference of the Parties on August 27,  2019 in Geneva,  Switzerland,  about 200 miles north from where the […]

Wildlife Waystation closed & to be dismantled, after 43 years

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If a cat has nine lives,  Wildlife Waystation had dozens             SYLMAR, California––Wildlife Waystation,  the often embattled prototype for dozens of other sanctuaries for former exotic pets and animals used in laboratories and entertainment,  has closed,  after 43 years. The closure came nearly four months after the reportedly forced retirement of founder Martine Colette. Colette […]

Will Nairobi shoot dogs, vaccinate them, or serve them for dinner?

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Governor’s proposals confuse & alarm Kenya             NAIROBI, Kenya––Does Nairobi County governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko want to shoot street dogs,  vaccinate them against rabies,  or serve them for dinner? Three and a half months after the Sonko administration began running the three proposals up the flagpole to see who might salute,  neither Nairobi citizens,  news […]

Why vultures are not circling over the drought-parched world

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It isn’t that vultures don’t feel the threat from global warming             GABORONE,  Botswana––Scarce over much of drought-parched India,  Central Asia, and Africa,  vultures still converge over dead livestock and wildlife in Botswana,  stripping the corpses of even elephants and hippos down to the bones within hours––but for how much longer? The Botswana Department of […]

Man-eaters of Kenya: The Ghost & The Darkness

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Maneless lions legendary for more than a century The Ghosts of Tsavo by Philip Caputo Adventure Press (c/o National Geographic Society,  1145 17th St. NW,  Washington,  DC   20036),  2002.  275 pages,  hardcover.  $27.00. The Lions of Tsavo: Exploring the Legacy of Africa’s Notorious Man-eaters by Bruce D. Patterson McGraw-Hill Co. (Two Penn Plaza,  New York, […]