Catherine de Medici might have considered wildlife poisoning schemes medieval Let me tell you about the birds and bees, and the cats and the rats, and the possums and the pigs, and the chemical-addicted descendants of Catherine de Medici at USDA Wildlife Services, Threatened Species Strategy of Australia, and Zero Invasive Predators of New Zealand, […]
Canada reviews “humaneness” of strychnine, sodium cyanide, & Compound 1080
Health Canada consultation to include public comments OTTAWA, Canada––Health Canada has extended until April 18, 2019 the public consultation period on a review of the “humaneness,” when used to kill wolves, coyotes, and bears, of the poisons strychnine, sodium cyanide, and sodium fluoroacetate, better known as Compound 1080. The Canadian consultation on what it […]
Snail & mountain goat race toward extinction in New Zealand Alps
Endangered native snail & introduced Himalayan tahrs thrived together until the New Zealand government got involved WELLINGTON, New Zealand––Plans for a cull of 17,500 Himalayan mountain tahr across the Southern Alps of New Zealand are on hold, likely to be scaled down but not abandoned, after the New Zealand Tahr Foundation and allied organizations […]
Nazi zombies from hell: VW monkey tests & New Zealand use of 1080
Pledging to quit animal tests, VW tries again to shake Nazi origin WOLFSBURG, Germany––Monkeys are no longer breathing diesel fumes. Volkswagen publicists are likely breathing sighs of relief. Nazi tactics and ideology live on elsewhere. Examples include the use of the Nazi-developed pesticide Compound 1080 to kill a targeted goal of two million feral […]
“We can still save them”: wild cat conservationist Alan Rabinowitz, 65
The “Indiana Jones of wildlife conservation” was an optimist in a field dominated by doom-and-gloom NEW YORK CITY––Wild cat conservationist Alan Rabinowitz died of cancer on August 5, 2018 in Manhattan, New York City, after an 18-year struggle that began with a diagnosis of leukemia in 2001 and spanned most of the achievements for […]
Koalas, “world’s cutest critters,” under fire: logging, disease, cars & pit bulls
Do koalas need better protected traditional habitat, or more new growth? BRISBANE, SYDNEY, Australia––Can a newly made $34 million commitment by the Australian government save koalas? Or are koalas already doomed by the deadly combination of global warming and development? Jeopardized by bushfires, dogs (especially pit bulls), disease, deforestation, and drivers speeding through fragmented […]
Down Under drive to kill brumby wild horses brings bill to save them
Man from Monaro stands in the bootprints of The Man From Snowy River SYDNEY, Australia––In a reversal of fortune as abrupt as a stallion wheeling on hind legs to strike at an aggressive rival, the wild horses of Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales are suddenly slated for protected […]
The poop on live transport, whaling, & Ramadan 2018
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 […]
Whalers claim a victory, but Sea Shepherds get the refund
Aussie Sea Shepherds pledge to continue chasing the Japanese whaling fleet TOKYO, LOS ANGELES––The Institute of Cetacean Research, the front organization for the Japanese whaling industry, and Kyodo Senpaku, the company that owns and operates the Japanese whaling fleet, on August 23, 2016 globally publicized a claimed courtroom victory over the Sea Shepherd Conservation […]
Should all feral cats go to heaven? Or hell?
Purges pursued with religious fervor (See also What to call cats, & why their name matters.) WORCESTER, Massachusetts––Named Australia’s first “threatened species commissioner” in July 2014, Gregory Andrews in July 2015, a year later, announced a five-year plan to exterminate feral cats. “Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt “is declaring war on feral cats, and he’s asked […]