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Tigers And Rhinos In Danger After China’s Surprising Announcement
China just issued an announcement that is causing public outcry across the world. Even though the buying and selling of tiger and rhino body parts in China has been banned for the past 25 years, suddenly the State Council announced that the domestic trade of these endangered animal parts would be allowed once again, if sourced from the country’s captive tigers and rhinos. “Powdered forms of rhino horn and bones from dead tigers can only be used in qualified hospitals by qualified doctors recognized by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine,” the announcement read. But making the domestic trade legal again could actually worsen the impacts of the trade…
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Video Shows Why Animals Don’t Belong In Circuses
It only took a second for a stressed-out circus lion to pounce through a safety net and into the crowd. The arena erupted in screams as the trainer struggled to pull the leashed lion off a 4-year-old girl — and then the footage went dark. This was the terrifying scene recently caught on camera at a circus in Krasnodar, Russia, which features animals doing tricks just feet away from the crowd. The young girl reportedly approached the flimsy fence while waving a small banner in the air, which prompted a predatory response from the lion. The lion pulled the girl into the ring before trainers were able to separate them.…
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Hunter Who Received Massive Backlash After Killing Goats In Scotland Responds
The US hunter who received death threats after posting photos of her posing with goats she’d killed while on a trip to Scotland has responded to critics telling them to ‘get educated’. Sharing a photo of herself set to leave the Scottish island of Islay, where she was on a hunting trip with pal Jason, she wrote: “My ride has arrived – I’m headed out on a bush plane for my next hunting adventure and will be out of service for two weeks. Beautiful wild goat here on the Island of Islay in Scotland. Such a fun hunt!! They live on the edge of the cliffs of the island and know how…
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US Wildlife Official Under Fire For Proudly Posing With Dead Animals He Killed In Africa
A wildlife official is facing backlash after boasting the number of animals he’s shot and killed while hunting. An Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner, Blake Fischer, and his wife have been slammed for posting photos with the 14 types of animals they’ve killed. Credit: Idaho Governor’s Office Some of the animals they’ve slaughtered included a giraffe, leopard, impala, sable antelope, waterbuck, kudu, warthog, gemsbok (oryx) and eland. He is then reported to have sent the photos and descriptions of the kills to more than 100 people. Many of the images show the animals posed in a stereotypical African game hunting style, with one caption reading: “So I shot a whole family of baboons.” Now a spokesman for Governor C.L ‘Butch’ Otter’s Jon Hanian told The Idaho Statesmaninthe governor’s office…
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WWF Court Order Approved To Save West Coast Rock Lobsters
The Western Cape High Court has ruled in favour of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) petition to reduce the total allowable catch of West Coast rock lobster. The court stated that last season’s Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 1 924.08 tons was “unsustainably high” and is not aligned with the Constitution, the National Environmental Management Atc and the Marine Living Resource Act. After the plight to bring the unsustainable catching of West Coast rock lobster to the attention of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), the WWF has made a positive stride in ensuring the conservation of these crustaceans and possibly save them from extinction. The High Court…
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Giraffes Could Go Extinct Because People Want Rugs And Pillows
Giraffes are one of the most loved animals in the world. These long-necked, black-tongued animals commonly feature in children’s books, and people flock to Africa to see them in the wild. But these iconic animals are being pushed toward extinction, thanks to a thriving market for giraffe body parts in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Humane Society International (HSI) recently investigated 21 stores in California, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, as well as the Dallas Safari Club expo, where giraffe skins, rugs and other trinkets are being sold to consumers. Unfortunately, giraffes aren’t protected under the Convention on International Trade…
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Raven Looking For A Quick Bite Gets Stuck In Someone’s Plastic
The raven had gotten himself into a very uncomfortable — and dangerous — situation. A plastic lid from a frozen drink had become lodged around his neck and mouth, and he couldn’t seem to get it off himself. “Ravens are scavengers, so I imagine he was rummaging for a bite to eat, and whatever it was was near the hole of the lid,” Gemma Hickey, an environmentalist based in Western Australia, told The Dodo. “It trapped his tongue and lower beak. He tried to eat by flicking food into his mouth but couldn’t get it to stay there long enough to get it down. The same with water.” Luckily for the…
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Man Kidnaps Sea Turtle Straight From Ocean — And Onlookers Do Nothing
One moment, the mother turtle was swimming around in her ocean home. The next, she was being stolen. She was nearly ready to lay her nest on the beach, but then a poacher plucked her straight from the water, carrying her across the beach over his shoulder. She squirmed and flapped her flippers in distress as onlookers videotaped the scene — but they did nothing to help her. This was the last time anyone saw this olive ridley sea turtle, a protected species often poached from the wild for their eggs. La Flor Beach Natural Reserve in Nicaragua is a hotspot for nesting females like this one — and despite it…
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Tigers Being Bred in South African Backyards for Petting and Bone Export
South Africa is one the world’s biggest exporters of endangered tigers, almost all of which end up as floor mats, wall hangings or skeletons submerged in vats of Asian tiger-bone wine. The trade is so lucrative that city householders in Gauteng are breeding them in their backyards. Words by Don Pinnock Because they’re not an indigenous species, trade in tigers is unregulated and flying below the radar of the DEA (Department of Environmental Affairs). When asked about it by Ban Animal Trading and the EMS Foundation, the DEA response was that tigers weren’t the department’s responsibility because they’re “exotics”. In reply to a request for information on tiger breeding facilities, Limpopo…
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Man Secretly Films Blind Elephant Being Beaten For An Hour At ‘Elephant Ride’ Camp
A camera lens peeks through a chain link fence at a tourist camp in Thailand, and focuses on something disturbing. Behind a copse of trees, a man screams and beats an elephant hard with a long wooden paddle. The elephant, who’s wearing a seat used to carry tourists, can’t get away — chains hold her in place, giving her no choice but to put up with the abuse. The beating goes on for over an hour, according to the person who recorded it. After filming the incident, the anonymous investigator submitted the footage to Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT). Then WFFT posted the video on Facebook — where many people responded with outrage. Phangnga elephant…