Animals 24-7

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

Could Zambia contracept wild hippos instead of culling?

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Or is hippo overpopulation even really the issue? LUSAKA,  Zambia––Why has Zambian tourism minister Charles Banda revived a five-year-old plan to cull up to 250 hippopotamuses per year from South Luangwa National Park,  only two years after scrapping it? “The South Luangwa National Park has a population of more than 13,000 hippos but the area […]

TNR protects African wildcats from “genetic pollution” & ferals from cruelty

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Alley Cat Rescue begins project at Kruger National Park             KRUGER NATIONAL PARK,  South Africa––Alley Cat Rescue,  of Mount Ranier,  Maryland,   is now “working to implement trap-neuter-return programs for stray/feral cats around Kruger National Park,”  according to founder Louise Holton,  to keep African wildcats from hybridizing with their domestic descendants. Having “advocated for the humane […]

Helpful links for Pit Bull Victim Awareness Day

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Both animal & human victims to be remembered on October 27,  2018 With “Pit Bull Victim Awareness Day,”  October 27,  2018,  fast approaching,  including activities on behalf of both animal and human pit bull attack victims,  many readers may find the Pit Stop Archive useful––a special sub-menu offered by ANIMALS 24-7 to help access our […]

“Undertaker birds” replace street dogs in African cities

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Marabou storks eat everything along the roads except the cars             NAIROBI,  Kenya––Marabou storks have replaced the street dogs. Twenty years ago the drive from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport past Nairobi National Park and into the central city via the Mombasa highway was an exercise in start-and-stop driving and sudden swerves to avoid the […]

Trophy hunting scheme & Chinese-built railway fire debate in Kenya

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ANIMALS 24-7 reports from the scene             NAIROBI,  Kenya––Most of the delegates to the 2018 Africa Animal Welfare Conference,  opening on September 3 at the United Nations Complex in Nairobi,  will have already seen the second most controversial wildlife-related topic in Kenya,  a four-mile Chinese-built railway overpass crossing Nairobi National Park,  on their 20-mile ride […]

“Kenya’s wildlife should remain in the wild” –– Sidney Quntai, 57

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Little known outside Kenya, hugely influential within             NAIROBI,  Kenya––Pioneering Kenyan journalist and wildlife advocate Sidney Quntai Tauwo,  57,  died “on the morning of April 20,  2018 after a short illness which he courageously fought,  but lost,”  Africa Network for Animal Welfare senior officer for communications and advocacy Sebastian Mwanza emailed to ANIMALS 24-7 on […]

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 […]

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,  […]