Fought against many schemes to kill one species to “help” another PORTLAND, Oregon––Few changings of the guard anticipated among animal advocacy leadership in 2023 may be felt more than the impending retirement of Bob Sallinger, 55, longtime public face of the 124-year-old Portland Audubon Society and a distinctly different voice from the stodgy, conventional […]
Vultures circling overhead are good news for Planet Earth
Both black vultures & turkey vultures are rapidly expanding U.S. range and numbers Feeling down about global warming, chemical pollution, and reports about loss of species? See the vultures circling overhead? Both black vultures and turkey vultures are rapidly expanding in numbers and range across the U.S. Turkey vultures have even appeared in southeastern Alaska […]
Frustrated Georgia turkey hunters take it out on raccoons & opossums
Experts warn killing raccoons & opossums won’t boost the over-hunted turkey population––but new open season will give hunters animals to shoot year-round ATLANTA, Georgia; BERKELEY, California––Lest anyone doubt that sport hunting is all about finding the opportunity to kill something, anything, on any pretext, both houses of the Georgia state legislature in late March […]
Is the ivory-billed woodpecker––declared extinct five times––still with us?
Or have scientists just held a seance? TALLULAH, Louisiana––“Multiple lines of evidence indicate survival of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Louisiana,” insist a nine-member team in a newly posted paper by that name. The lineup of co-authors, headed by Steven C. Latta, director of conservation at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, […]
“Eejit” John Robins shuffles off after 41 years fighting for animals in Scotland
Transformed sleepy Scottish Anti-Vivisection Society into butt-kicking Animal Concern DUMBARTON, Scotland––John Frederick Robins, 64, probably the most colorful and dynamic animal advocate in Scottish history, despite his self-conferred title “The Eejit,” has announced his impending retirement after 41 years of directing pro-animal campaigns initially for Friends of the Earth, but chiefly as campaigns manager and […]
Hunters & birders get boost under Biden
Biden administration claims credit for unprecedented expansion of hunter access to National Wildlife Refuges initiated under Trump WASHINGTON D.C.––Why would the Joe Biden administration want to claim credit for one of the most odious actions of the Donald Trump administration pertaining to animals and habitat? Specifically, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service under Biden appointee […]
Murder along the equator: seven die defending parrots & gorillas
Colombian and Congolese wildlife guardians were ambushed RONCESVALLES, Colombia; VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, Democratic Republic of Congo––Simultaneous sad reminders of the human cost of wildlife conservation came on January 10, 2021 from the Reserva Loros Andinos in southwestern Colombia and Virunga National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Reserva Loros Andinos and Virunga […]
When parrot “conservation” consisted chiefly of shooting them
Vista Nieve by Melbourne R. Carriker Blue Mantle Press (36901 Marshall Hutts Rd., Rio Hondo-Arroyo City, TX 78583), 2001. 312 pages, paperback. $18.95. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton On July 28, 2002, Colombian ornithologists Jorge Velasquez and Alonso Quevado photographed 14 examples of Fuertes’ parrot among tall trees in an alpine forest near the summit of […]
Law protects birds from poaching but not oil spills, says Trump administration
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service makes “permanent” abdication of Migratory Bird Treaty Act enforcement against “accidental” bird kills WASHINGTON D.C.––The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on November 27, 2020 published a Final Environmental Impact Statement on amendments to the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act enforcement rules which will allow businesses, in the mineral extraction industries […]
How Henry Bergh threw pigeons to the dogs for the next 150+ years
ASPCA founder Henry Bergh hated pigeon shooters, except when he wanted something from them Henry Bergh, who founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866, might have perfectly understood Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder Steve Hindi’s frustration, expressed on November 14, 2020 in his ANIMALS 24-7 guest column “Talk […]