Animals 24-7

Dogs, cats, horses, wildlife, zoonoses, & nature

COVID-19 kills Roy Horn, 75, of Siegfried & Roy, role model for “Joe Exotic”

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Manicured image as “positive reinforcement” trainer & conservationist was,  like the Siegfried & Roy show,  largely illusory             LAS VEGAS––Entertainer Roy Horn,  75,  whose illusion acts with longtime partner Siegfried Fischbacher famously featured white tigers,  pythons,  and elephants,  died on May 8,  2020 in Las Vegas,  his home for nearly 50 years,  from complications of […]

Guerrillas gun down 12 gorilla guards & five others in Virunga, DRC

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Resurgent Ebola and COVID-19 escalate threats to already high-risk habitat VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK,  Democratic Republic of the Congo––At least 17 people,  including 12 Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation rangers whose primary duty is protecting critically endangered mountain gorillas,  were killed in an April 24,  2020 ambush attack. No gorillas are known to have been caught […]

Add to COVID-19 toll expanded hunting on U.S. Wildlife Refuges

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Trump administration appointees open more federal refuges to hunting than last three administrations combined             WASHINGTON D.C.––Opponents of hunting might imagine that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service chief Aurelia Skipwith waited until the public was distracted by soaring daily death tolls from the COVID-19 global pandemic to announce the biggest-ever […]

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 […]