Animals 24-7

News & perspective for the humane community

From gorillas to shelter dogs: animals caught in the COVID-19 crunch

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No animals other than bats & humans are known to get COVID-19,  but millions are affected by the human response             WASHINGTON D.C.––Animals and animal-related projects from Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo to National Institutes of Health-funded laboratories are feeling the impact of the international COVID-19 scare underway throughout early 2020,  […]

Ancestors of the Tiger King: Peter Batten & Living Trophies

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Living Trophies:  A Shocking Look at the Conditions in America’s Zoos by Peter Batten Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.,  1976.  246 pages,  hardcover.  Available from major online booksellers at prices ranging from $7.50 to $25.00. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton First aired on March 20,  2020,  the six-part Netflix documentary series Tiger King,  produced by Eric […]

Noted in passing: “Turtle God” & rhino, elephant, & lion advocates

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Victims of cancer,  assassins,  & two killed by the species they loved “Turtle God” Peter Pritchard,  76,  died in hospice care on February 26,  2020.   Known as “the Turtle God,”  recalled longtime Tampa Times environmental reporter Craig Pittman,  Pritchard at his home in Oviedo,  Florida kept what Pittman believed to be “the largest private collection […]

Cat Tale:  The Wild,  Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther

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by Craig Pittman Hanover Square Press,  2020.  336 pages. Hardcover,  Kindle,  and MP3 CD editions available from all major online booksellers. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Cat Tale:  The Wild,  Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther could in many ways be called a sequel to longtime Tampa Bay Times environmental reporter Craig Pittman’s previous four […]

Pogo: the Porpoise with a Purpose

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A Serious Appeal to Kids for Ocean Life,  Conservation,  & Climate Change by Lorie Givens Available in hardcover,  paperback,  and ebook formats from Amazon,  Barnes & Noble,  and other major online booksellers.  43 pages.  Prices vary by seller and format. Reviewed by Beth Clifton Pogo,  a harbor porpoise with a purpose and a message comes […]

Elephant trophy auction covers for opening bushmeat trade

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Global warming intensifies pressure to profit from wildlife before habitat loss depletes species GABERONE,  Botswana;  HARARE,  Zimbabwe;  DAR ES SALAAM,  Tanzania––Big as they are,  the 60 elephants whose lives were auctioned at Bobonong Kgotla,  Botswana on February 7,  2020 may be the least of the casualties from attempts by the governments of Botswana and Tanzania […]

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 […]

Poisoning Australia in the name of wildlife recovery after bushfire losses

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And kangaroos shot,  koala trees bulldozed             MELBOURNE,  CANBERRA, SYDNEY,  BRISBANE––Six months of bushfires ravaging Australian coastal forests and grasslands stretching into parts of the Outback are reportedly almost at an end. The last two dozen fires in New South Wales and a comparable number left in Victoria state are smoldering on at the lowest […]

Denver repeals pit bull ban on night that pit bulls kill two people

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Ink dried in Denver before the tears in Chicago,  Los Angeles,  & Tampa DENVER,  CHICAGO,  LOS ANGELES,  TAMPA––Pit bulls made news in four major U.S. cities on the night of February 10,  2020. In Plainfield,  Illinois,  a Chicago suburb,  25-year-old Devin J. White died from severe bites to his arms inflicted two nights earlier by […]

Are conservationists becoming an endangered species?

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Three alleged murders among five recent deaths of note The butterfly guys             OCAMPO,  Mexico––Monarch butterfly conservationists Homero Gómez González, 50,  and Raúl Hernández Romero,  44,  were found dead on January 29,  2020 and February 1,  2020,  respectively,  at the El Rosario butterfly preserve that they helped to found and develop […]