Whatever happens, most of the world will eat less pork SYDNEY, Australia; HONG KONG––Will African swine fever, a viral disease now projected to kill at least half the pigs in China and a quarter of all the pigs in the world, accelerate the trend toward vegan eating? Or speed the transition toward factory farming? Or […]
Elephants, giraffes, sharks, Asian otters & seahorses fare well in Switzerland
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 […]
Will Nairobi shoot dogs, vaccinate them, or serve them for dinner?
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 […]
Finches found in hair curlers: trafficked to sing, or to fight?
Singing said to be behind smuggling busts, but the money may be in fights among caged finches NEW YORK, N.Y.––Circumstantial evidence hints that some or perhaps all of a parade of men caught in the act of allegedly bootlegging Guyanese seed finches into the U.S., purportedly to sell for use in high-stakes singing contests, might […]
Will lawsuits slow use of dogs as “ambassadors” for dangerous breeds?
Attacks by “service dog” and “reading dogs” illustrate risky practices ATLANTA, Georgia; BAKERSFIELD, California––Pending lawsuits on behalf of the victims of dog attacks aboard a Delta Airlines flight and in an elementary school classroom could potentially slow down the deployment of dangerous dog breeds as “canine ambassadors” in public places––or not, depending on the […]
Will feral pigs eat Hong Kong before Hong Kong eats the pigs?
Feral pigs may be poached as African swine fever & trade war cut off pig imports HONG KONG––A three-way collision among African swine fever, feral pigs, and the global pork industry, U.S. interests included, may be only days away in Hong Kong. Whatever the outcome, pigs––both factory-farmed and living free––are already the big net […]
Vaquita, totoaba: Gunfire on the Sea of Cortez
Alleged poacher tried to recover net confiscated by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society SAN FELIPE, Baja California, Mexico––An alleged poacher and two apparently uninvolved passers-by were reportedly hit by gunfire in a March 28, 2019 confrontation with Mexican marines in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. The shooting incident was among the most violent yet in […]
Will Santa Anita figure out what’s killing race horses? Don’t bet on it!
Investigators are only 3,500 years behind Chinese potters in figuring out that wood ash hardens clay ARCADIA, California––Cro-Magnon troglodytes apparently never figured out that wood ash hardens clay, despite having many millennia of opportunity to do so. Thus the failure of the Santa Anita Park management to investigate the effects of soot and ash fallout […]
No, China did not ban sales of pangolin scales. But it might.
National People’s Congress has been asked to consider banning sales of pangolin scales BEIJING, China––Pangolins, perhaps the cutest and most harmless animal jeopardized by poaching and wildlife trafficking whom hardly anyone has heard of, remain in as much trouble today as yesterday, two years ago, and five years ago, despite news items, activist alerts, […]
Russians bust alleged “whale jailers”
The suspects are already in Siberia ––where else can they go? MOSCOW, VLADIVOSTOK–– Responding to orders from Russian president Vladimir Putin, the Russian agency for border security has reportedly brought criminal charges against four related companies for allegedly illegally capturing and holding more than 90 beluga whales and as many as 13 orcas in […]