Ban still must clear the House of Lords and gain Royal Assent, but these formalities are more likely to delay than prevent enforcement LONDON, U.K.––The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill cleared the House of Commons on March 17, 2023 by unanimous voice vote. The silence of pro-trophy hunting opponents, however, scarcely means that the bill […]
Kangaroo leather soccer shoes get the boot from Puma & Nike
Pumas do not hunt kangaroos anyhow BEAVERTON, Oregon––Pumas, native to almost all of the Americas, do not hunt kangaroos, native only to Australia. Neither will kangaroos be hunted any longer to supply the German sportswear manufacturer Puma with their hides, the Puma company has announced. Nor will kangaroo hides be impaled on Nike spikes, the […]
For auld lang syne: last ANIMALS 24-7 obituaries of 2022
John Neville Hare, Mark Stanley-Price, Faith Maloney, & Vivienne Westwood The camel man John Neville Hare, 88, died on January 28, 2022, but ANIMALS 24-7 did not learn of his death until almost a year later. Born in Bexhill, Kent, Hare became acquainted with working camels as a British army officer assigned to the Royal […]
Reptile diversity study findings are less scary than a snake in your boot
Mainstream reportage focused on the bad news, but reptiles remain likely to outlive us WASHINGTON D.C.––All dinosaurs except birds, all ichthyosaurs, and all pterosaurs are confirmed extinct. Dragons, griffins, and Godzilla are alive and well in human imagination, the only habitat they ever actually occupied. Among the other 10,196 reptile species for whom population and […]
CITES doomed the vaquita, sold the elephant in the room, & worse
U.N. Environment Assembly calls for yet another report on “the interlinkages between animal welfare, the environment and sustainable development” after ignoring a mountain of others produced at least since 1950 LYON, France––This is not just a fish story, nor just a fish-and-elephant story, nor even just another story about the failures and shortcomings of […]
Seaspiracy: seas, piracy, & Cowspiracy meet fishy business
Fishing industry screams bloody murder Reviewed by Merritt & Beth Clifton Seaspiracy, whose title is a fusion of “seas” and “piracy,” and a play on Cowspiracy, the 2014 independent blockbluster documentary also produced by Kip Anderson, on March 24, 2021 premiered worldwide on Netflix. Within 10 days Seaspiracy had become a runaway hit, seen by […]
World Federation for Animals seeks “One ring to bind them all”
But progress for animals is not achieved with “rings of power” BOSTON, Massachusetts––Any resemblance between mild-mannered World Federation for Animals founder Wim DeKok, a longtime exemplar of peaceful cooperation, and Sauron, the vengeful Satanic wizard of the Lord of the Rings trilogy authored by J.R.R. Tolkien, would be difficult to discover. Yet there is […]
Free Willy! six years later (June 1999)
Quick victory for Ric O’Barry OSLO, Norway––Responding on four days notice to a Japanese plan to capture four orcas in Norwegian waters, former Flipper trainer Ric O’Barry recently scored one of the biggest, quickest victories of his 30-year crusade against marine mammal captivity. Yet mass media and even Internet animal rights forums scarcely noticed. O’Barry […]
Mink ranching survives in Denmark despite risky COVID-19 mutation
Danish mink industry was to be liquidated from fear that COVID-19 mutation could neutralize vaccines in development COPENHAGEN, Denmark––The Danish mink industry, on the verge of liquidation as of November 4, 2020 to control a COVID-19 coronavirus mutation, appears to have politically mobilized to win a reprieve––for the mink ranchers, however, not the mink […]
Feds quit funding guns & ammo for “anti-poaching” militias
MacGregor throws the World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society & others out of the lettuce patch WASHINGTON D.C.––Deputy Interior Secretary Katharine MacGregor on September 18, 2020 quietly ordered major reforms of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Agency for International Development [USAID] programs which have for decades routed millions of dollars in funding […]