Rhino Poachers Beware

 

Have a Compassionate Holiday: Save a Turkey

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Do a turkey a favor and have a vegetarian or vegan holiday celebration. For ethical and health reasons, vegetarians don't eat animals, including beef, poultry, pork, lamb, and fish). In addition to meat, vegans don't eat animal products like milk, eggs, and cheese, or any foods that contain these ingredients.

A plant-based vegan feast will do far less damage nutritionally than the traditional Thanksgiving meat-based meal, as it cuts out a good deal of fat, sodium and all of the cholesterol, since cholesterol is found only in animal foods. Best of all, serving a cruelty-free holiday dinner will honor the animals customarily used as ingredients - a gentler way to gather with loved ones in the spirit of giving thanks for our lives, health, and happiness.

Here are some tips to avoid ruffling feathers this holiday:

• Try a delicious "faux" turkey by checking out Gardien, Quorn, and Tofurkey products in your store's freezer section. Alternatively, update your main dish style with a stuffed squash, legume (beans, lentils), or nut roast.
• Make holiday gravy and stuffing using vegetable broth instead of meat-based broth.
• Soy and coconut milk (unsweetened) are great swaps for milk in your soup, mashed potato, pumpkin pie filling, cookie, and other baked goods recipes.
• Replace butter with margarine (Earth Balance has buttery spread and shortening versions) and eggs with egg replacer for your cooking and baking.
• Search online for seasonal recipes that offer compassionate alternatives to the conventional turkey dinner. You can find recipes for all your faves, including soups, breads, vegan stuffing, candied yams, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin and pecan pies - or simply "vegetarian holidays."

Adopt-A-Turkey Project

Twenty-five years ago, Farm Sanctuary, an organization that rescues mistreated, abused, and neglected farm animals, challenged the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with an event that celebrated and cultivated kindness, encouraging people to "adopt" turkeys instead of eating them. This "first Thanksgiving" has grown into an organized movement in which sponsorships help them rescue animals and provide care for them at their sanctuaries, as well as educate and advocate for farm animals everywhere.
Ellen DeGeneres, the national spokesperson for the project for the second year in a row shares,

"Did you know that every year between 250 and 300 million turkeys are bred for slaughter in the United States? More than 46 million for Thanksgiving alone. So, this Thanksgiving, instead of eating a turkey please join me in adopting one, from Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project and you can give a turkey something to be thankful for."

To save even more lives this year, you can adopt a turkey with a donation gift of $30 by visiting adoptaturkey.org or calling the Turkey Adoption Hotline at 1-888-SPONSOR. You will receive a certificate with a photo and details on your new turkey beneficiary. And for the ultimate cool, original holiday gift of compassion, you can adopt farm animals for your loved ones and yourself, including cows, pigs, goats, sheep, ducks, geese, turkeys, and chickens by visiting farmsanctuary.org/get_involved/aafa, email sponsorship@farmsanctuary.org, or phone 607-583-225 ext 225. Visit your new adoptee at the Watkins Glen, NY, or Orland, CA, shelters on your next vacation.

 

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/have-a-compassionate-holiday-save-a-turkey.html

 

Help protect the Gray Wolf

A large, tawny gray wolf (Canis lupus) that formerly occupied diverse habitats throughout northern North America and Eurasia but now lives in fewer, more limited areas because of human encroachment. Also called timber wolf.

 

Wolves are highly social animals that live in family groups called packs. At the top of the food chain, they have a very important role in the ecosystem. In the years since they were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho, wolves have helped reduce an overpopulation of elk in the Park, and have kept elk from lingering undisturbed in Aspen groves and along streams. Biologists now believe this has led to the recovery of over-browsed trees and shrubs in these areas, which in turn, has helped birds, fish, beavers, moose and other wildlife find new places to call home. Gray wolves were deemed “recovered” in the N. Rockies and removed from federal protection in 2011. The restoration of this large carnivore has been one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act, and a remarkable example of wildlife restoration in America.

The gray wolf is the smallest subspecies and most edangered . In North America, the largest gray wolf is found in Alaska and western Canada and the smallest is found in Mexico. They weigh 50 to 90 pounds. The wolf is 4 ft. long and has a tail about 1ft. 3 inches long. Their coats can vary from black, gray, to white. The underparts and legs are a yellowish white.

Wolves can travel for hours and can run up to 20mph. The alpha wolves are dominant and generally the mother and father of the pack. The alpha wolves eat first, but the other members of the pack try to steal the food before their turn. The gray wolf is a predator of larger animals than itself, like deer, moose, and elk.

Gray wolves have strong family ties. They often mate for life. The female wolf has four to six cubs in April or May. The cubs are born after two months. We can only guess about the behavior of the wolf because humans destroy their habitat.

In 1973, the gray wolf was on the endangered species list in the U.S.A. The government said to kill the wolves. But, when the wolves went on the endangered species list the government had to change their plan.

Some reasons why the gray wolf is endangered is because they are misunderstood. A long time ago, people paid hunters to kill the wolves. This is called a bounty. The bounty lasted until 1967. 55,000 wolves killed each year between 1870 and 1877. Hunters shot them. They poisoned the wolves with strychnine and they also poisoned them with a poison compound 10 80 1080. The hunters trapped the wolves. The wolves were trapped and hunters infected them with mange which the wolf would bring back to destroy the pack later. The hunters would capture the wolves and put ropes around each of the wolves legs then pulled them off one at a time and watched them die a slow and painful death.

We can help the gray wolf by trying to understand them better. We can also help them by trying not to shoot them and not destroying their habitat. The wolves are part of the ecological system and what would happen if they weren't here?

No Reprieve in the Rockies

One year after feds strip protections, states go all-out against wolves

May marked a year since Congress made the unprecedented political move of stripping Endangered Species Act protections from wolves in the Northern Rockies—leaving Idaho and Montana in charge of managing wolves in their states. The result: Hundreds of wolves have been hunted, trapped and aerial-gunned in an aggressive attempt to undo one of conservation’s greatest success stories.

In just a year, Idaho cut its wolf population by about 40 percent, to 600 or fewer. Under the state’s plan, which was approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho has permission to lower the number of wolves to fewer than 200.“It’s as though Idaho has been transported back to the 1890s—to a time when wolves were aggressively targeted for eradication,” says Suzanne Stone, Defenders’ Rocky Mountain representative. “These extreme wolf-killing policies have no place in modern-day wildlife management.” Idaho is now planning to more than double the number of wolves—to 12—that a single hunter can take in the upcoming 2012-2013 hunting season.

THANK YOU!

Defenders supporters sent more than 150,000 messages to Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, Congress and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking them to stop Idaho’s extreme anti-wolf policies. A big shout out to all those who spoke out on the wolf’s behalf.
 

Meanwhile, Montana lost more than a third of its wolf population since May, with Reuters reporting about 260 wolves killed. State officials are now moving toward an aggressive anti-wolf policy similar to Idaho’s. At press time, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission approved a fall hunt that would eliminate quotas in nearly all hunting districts, extend the hunting season by two months into the breeding season, allow wolf trapping for the first time and permit the use of electronic calls—something that is generally not allowed for other game species.

“Caving to political pressure, Montana is basing its decision on anti-wolf rhetoric rather than science,” says Stone. “There is no justification for state officials to abandon what was once a more measured approach to wolf management. Livestock losses are at a five-year low and elk populations are above population objectives in the majority of the state.”

In Wyoming, home to about 328 wolves, federal protections have not yet been removed. But assuming they will be by fall, Wyoming officials have proposed allowing hunters to kill up to 52 wolves in a trophy game area adjacent to Yellowstone National Park. More than 30 wolves are in a zone where they can be shot on sight without a hunting license. That means about 30 percent of the wolves outside of Yellowstone are likely to be killed later this year if federal delisting of wolves in Wyoming moves forward. Their fate now rests in the hands of the Obama administration.

 

“Officials in these states are pursuing some of the same short-sighted, predator-control strategies that put wolves on the endangered species list in the first place,” says Jamie Rappaport Clark, Defenders’ president. “They’re treating wolves like vermin instead of managing them like valuable native wildlife. That’s not how these states manage other species like black bears and mountain lions, and it’s not a responsible way to manage wolves either.”

The wolf-kill mentality comes mostly from anti-predator residents who care more about protecting livestock and having easy hunting opportunities than safeguarding native species. But conservationists and biologists credit wolves, along with grizzlies, for helping to restore balance to an ecosystem that had been out of whack for decades because of artificially inflated elk herds, which overgrazed native vegetation.

In fact, the loss of major predators in forest ecosystems and the resulting explosion of large herbivores cripples the growth of young trees, causing stream bank erosion and reducing biodiversity by harming fisheries and other wildlife, according to a recently published Oregon State University report reviewing 42 scientific studies done over the last 50 years.

“Wolves are part of America’s wildlife heritage and play a vital role in maintaining a healthy environment,” says Clark. “States should be managing for robust, sustainable populations, not the absolute bare minimum to keep the species from going extinct. The American people made an investment in wolf recovery that continues to pay dividends in the form of tourism dollars and healthier landscapes. Studies have shown that wolf tourism brings in millions of dollars every year to the Yellowstone region. We should be building on that investment instead of undermining it.”

See personalized photos of hundreds of Defenders’ passionate and creative wolf supporters—and add your own—at www.defenders.org/wolfweek.

Thandi the Rhino - 6 Months later

On the 2nd of March 2012 one cow and two bull rhino’s were poached at Kariega Game Reserve. Tragically, one bull was fatally wounded and died during the course of the night, whilst the remaining two were severely injured, but showed an incredible will to survive.

For 24 days wildlife veterinary expert, Doctor William Fowlds, worked tirelessly with the Kariega team to give these survivors the best possible care and chance for recovery. Their bravery was unbelievable, and inspired our rangers to nickname them Thandiswa and Themba, two Xhosa names meaning courage and hope.

Sadly Themba (HOPE) suffered a leg injury on the night he was poached and as a result of infection passed away on the morning of the 26 of March 2012.

Six months after their brutal attack, Thandi continues to inspire and amaze us with her incredible fighting strength and miraculous recovery.

Sacred white buffalo killed, skinned

Posted: May 05, 2012 10:36 AM
Updated: May 05, 2012 10:36 AM

Source: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/18153114/sacred-white-buffalo-killed-and-skinned-at-texas-ranch

 

 

GREENVILLE, Texas. -- A rare white buffalo considered sacred among members of the Native American community was found killed and skinned in Texas.

The non-albino white buffalo, named Lightning Medicine Cloud in a special ceremony last summer, was discovered Thursday by Lakota Buffalo Ranch owner Arby Little Soldier near Greenville, 50 miles (80km) northwest of Dallas.

Little Soldier said, "My people -- my brothers, my sisters -- are hurt for what has happened here at this ranch. You don't think things like this are going to happen to such a sacred animal, a sacred family."

The following day, the white buffalo's mother was also found dead on the ranch and the animal's father was killed by a lightning strike last month.

Little Soldier said the animal was a symbol of hope and he would bury all three animals together along a tree line.

He said, "He was the hope of all nations. You have taken the inner spirituality. You tried to stop what we're bringing back to ya'll, but you just opened the doors to release the message to all people."

 

Prince William Takes Aim At Poachers

Prince William, Britain's future king, has taken up the cause elephants and rhinos, who are being poached to extinction in Africa.

After hearing, in February, that white rhino Max, who had been hand-reared by his friend Ian Craig, owner of the Lewa wildlife reserve in Kenya, had been shot 17 times by poachers, he issued a statement saying:

The Duke of Cambridge is appalled to hear about this senseless slaughter. He remains very concerned about rhino and elephant poaching and has asked Tusk Trust to keep him updated on this issue in Africa.

William, himself a hunting enthusiast, became a supporter of the Tusk Trust when he spent six weeks on the reserve in 2001.

Max had already had most of his horn removed - as is increasingly done to protect the animals from being killed for their horn. But the criminals killed him anyway in order to saw off the last bit that remained.

Rhino horn sells for around $34,000 a pound in several Asian countries, where it's ground up for quack medicines and turned into jewelry.

Last week, in Garamba National Park in the Congo, 22 elephants were shot and killed from a helicopter. After hacking off their tusks and genitals, the killers are thought to have smuggled them out through South Sudan or Uganda, which are considered the "Ivory Road" out of Africa to Asia.

"Last year we believe that as many as 35,000 elephants may have been slaughtered for their ivory," Charlie Mayhew, co-founder of the Tusk Trust, told reporters. "South Africa lost 434 rhino last year. This year we know that they've lost more than 170 rhino. That's more than an average of one every 15 hours and that is just South Africa alone."

Speaking of Max the rhino, Mayhew said:

"Max's slaughter by poachers is a shocking illustration of what is now happening the length and breadth of Africa to meet the growing demand for rhino horn in China and Vietnam. The fact that this rhino had been hand reared at Lewa meant that many visitors to Lewa including our Royal Patron had the opportunity to get extremely close to him. It of course makes it all the more shocking and sad when you know the individual animal that has been poached."

Speaking out on behalf of the wildlife of Africa, William said that if people and governments don't act immediately, "Tomorrow will be too late."

Hunting has, in fact, long been a pastime of the British royal family. And while we all want to protect the elephants and rhinos from being poached to extinction, if you're one of the animals that William and his family enjoys killing, it's small solace that he's concerned to protect animals thousands of miles away from his own killing fields on the family estates in the U.K.

Certainly, "sport" hunters are often avid conservationists, but this is largely to ensure a plentiful supply of the animals they enjoy killing.

We all appreciate anything William and other hunters can do to protect wildlife anywhere. But the biggest thing the prince could do to help the animals of Africa would be to give up hunting himself.