Humans & bats evolved to live in frequent proximity, yet rarely meet. That keeps us both safe. ORLANDO, Florida––The January 14, 2018 death of Ryker Roque, 6, at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, just 20 minutes from Disney World and half an hour from Walt Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom, came as […]
Russ Rector, “the feared activist feared even among activists,” dead at 69
Said of marine mammal parks, “We’re all showing our age, but I don’t have to pass building inspections.” FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida––Russ Rector, 69, a former Ocean World dolphin trainer whose campaigns on behalf of marine mammals later closed Ocean World, unexpectedly died from natural causes at about 10:00 p.m. on January 7, 2018. Though […]
Time Is Short And The Water Rises
by John Walsh with Robert Gannon (E.P. Dutton & Co., 1967. 224 pages, hardcover.) Reviewed by Merritt Clifton One can still find battered copies of Time Is Short And The Water Rises through online book search services, often selling for less than the orignal cover price of $6.95, plus postage. My copy was discarded years […]
Favor to speedboaters: Trump administration downlists manatees
But manatees may benefit from global warming HOMOSASSA SPRINGS, Florida––After a record 104 Florida manatees were killed by speeding boaters in 2016, one might almost expect the March 30, 2017 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announcement that Florida manatees are no longer officially endangered to be followed by a shout of “April Fool!” But […]
Animal advocates cleared of Macarena barrio, Bogota bullring bombing
24 police, two civilians injured; six critical BOGOTA, Colombia––Preliminary investigation indicates that anti-bullfighting activists had nothing to do with a bombing on the morning of February 19, 2017 that rocked the Plaza de Toros La Santa María in El Barrio La Macarena. El Barrio La Macarena is the Bogota neighborhood where […]
The dolphin stories that made two authors famous
Build Me An Ark: A Life With Animals, by Brenda Peterson WW. Norton (500 5th Ave., New York, NY 10110-0017), 2000. 256 pages, hardcover. $23.95. Journey Of The Pink Dolphin: An Amazon Quest, by Sy Montgomery Simon & Schuster (1230 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10020), 2000. 320 pages, hardcover. $26.00. Reviewed by […]
Argentinian court grants zoo chimp a writ of habeas corpus
Verdict follows 2014 grant of habeas corpus to an orangutan––but writs set neither animal free MENDOZA, Argentina––A writ of habeas corpus granted on behalf of a chimpanzee named Cecelia on November 3, 2016 by Judge Maria Alejandra Mauricio, of the Third Court of Guarantees in Mendoza, Argentina, may expedite the proposed transfer of Cecelia […]
Questioning the claims of “crisis”
Bio-xenophobia (Part 4 of a four-part series. See also The animal issue that made Donald Trump a presidential candidate; How an ant doctor came to be driving public policy; and How the Twin Towers fell on animals too.) In the first decade after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 there was little opposition to mass killing […]
How to tell a dead baby dolphin from a dead parrot
or 150,000 alleged dead penguins no one has seen BUENOS AIRES, Argentina––Two of the most timeless axioms in journalism and a great opportunity to educate the public about endangered dolphins and global warming were overlooked during the third week of February 2016 amid an international media scrum and a frenzy of activist denunciations of Argentine […]
NASA finding means calcium chloride castration can be done on Mars
Calcium chloride appears to exist, but alcohol would have to be imported to fix Martian dogs & cats SAN FRANCISCO, California––Eight scientists who analyzed National Aeronautics & Space Administration data on September 28, 2015 announced in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Geoscience that they had discovered strong evidence of the presence of liquid water […]