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Gay3 
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Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Location: Miners Rest Status: Offline Points: 51994 |
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 Posted: 30 Mar 2019 at 9:18pm |
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Toni McMahon is in Innisfail, Queensland.
Agent Orange town in QLD Matthew Benns and Frank Walker | May 18, 2008 THE Australian Army tested chemical weapons on a town which now has deaths from cancer 10 times the state average.
Military scientists sprayed the toxic defoliant Agent Orange in the
jungle that is part of the water catchment area for Innisfail in
Queensland's far north at the start of the Vietnam War. Forty years later the site - which abuts farmer Alan Wakeham's land - is still bare, covered only in tough Guinea grass, but surrounded by thick jungle. "It's strange how the jungle comes right up to this site and then just stops. It won't grow any further," Mr Wakeham said. "These tests carried out between 1964 and 1966 were the first tests of Agent Orange and they were carried out at Gregory Falls near Innisfail," said Ms Williams, who has been awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her work on the effects of chemicals on Vietnam veterans. "I was told there is a high rate of cancer there but no one can understand why. Perhaps now they will understand." Ms Williams said: "It was
considered sensitive because they were mixing together all the bad
chemicals, which just made them worse. They cause all the cancers." "Those chemicals
stay in the soil for years and every time there is a storm they are
stirred up and go into the water supply," Ms Williams said. Queensland Health Department figures show Innisfail,
which has a population of almost 12,000, had 76 people die from cancer
in 2005. That is four times the national rate of death from cancer and
10 times the Queensland average.
Australia and Britain opened a joint tropical research unit at
Innisfail in 1962. In 1969 the Liberal defence minister Allen Fairhall
flatly denied chemical warfare experiments had been associated with the
unit at Innisfail. Innisfail local Ted Bosworth, 86, fought in the New
Guinea campaign in World War II, copped a bullet in the lungs in the
Korean War for which he was awarded the Military Medal and was in the
Army Reserve during the Vietnam War. "There was an English scientist and an Australian. I heard they both later died of cancer. Innisfail RSL president Reg Hamann suffers terrible effects from Agent Orange he was exposed to during the Vietnam War. "A lot of my unit have died of cancer. I've got cancer of the oesophagus and stomach. I have to sleep on a special bed that raises me 17 degrees or everything in my stomach rises up. I've had a subdural hemorrhage, a heart attack and a quadruple bypass. "It passes on to the next generation. My son was born with a deformed lung. My daughter has got the same skin problem I have from Agent Orange. Now my grandkids are going to get it." Mr Hamann is angry at the lies and deceit about the effects of Agent Orange on veterans and their families. Now he's discovered that while he was fighting in Vietnam the Australian government was experimenting with Agent Orange upriver from his home town. "We were sprayed regularly by Agent Orange as they cleared the river banks. We had no idea how dangerous the stuff was. They'd fly over us and give us a squirt just for fun and wiggle their wings. We took it as a joke. But the stuff turned out to be a curse." "I saw in Vietnam what Agent Orange did to an area and I am shocked to learn they used it here. It was kept secret. The army didn't tell anyone. It was just some of the old army guys and local farmers who knew they were experimenting up there. "I believe it must have something to do with the high cancer rates in Innisfail. The amount of young people in this area who die of leukaemia and similar cancers to what I got from Agent Orange is scary. The authorities are scared of digging into it as there would be lots of law suits. "The sad part is the number of kids who get cancer here. It's been that way at least since I came here in 1970. That means it can't be chemical spraying on the bananas as they only came here 15 years ago. "They've always used Innisfail as guinea pigs. They did it in World War II and they did it during Vietnam. It's time to set it right."
Val Robertson, 74, said a high number of local people aged in their 40s
were dying from cancer, about one a month for the last 12 months. Innisfail Mayor Bill Shannon said there was a high cancer rate in the area and there should be a full investigation. fwalker@fairfaxmedia.com.au |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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maccamax
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Posted: 30 Mar 2019 at 10:49pm |
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Much the same with the " Mustard Gas " from WW2 on the East of Queensland.
I read somewhere recently that they were still dismantling stored Gas , from way back. Many years ago there were former Servicemen getting compensation from being exposed to it. W e wouldn't know what was hidden away in the mountains etc , of stock piles material from those times. We had munition factories everywhere. |
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acacia alba
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Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41480 |
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Posted: 31 Mar 2019 at 11:00am |
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The Queensland Government and the Federal Government said they would look into the issue. Hope they do a quicker and better look than they have done on the contamination from the RAAF base. ( Cant remember what its called,,,Pfoss or some darn thing ). People in the red zone near Williamtown, ( and other bases ) have been in limbo for years with endless "pass the buck" put offs and not one ounce of help.
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animals before people.
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Gay3
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Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Location: Miners Rest Status: Offline Points: 51994 |
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Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 8:32pm |
Native birds bring more benefits than damage to crops, orchards and grazing land, research findsEncouraging bird populations on farmland could increase yield by more than 10 per cent, according to an Albury researcher. While it has traditionally been thought birds damage and eat crops, a new study by Charles Sturt University's Rebecca Peisley shows the benefits outweigh the costs. "A lot of farmers are really keen to find ways to reduce bird damage on their crops, but I was really interested in the other side of things — that birds can provide for farmers," Dr Peisley said. "And I found birds were overwhelmingly positive in the three systems I looked at." Dr Peisley observed the impact of birds on apple orchards, vineyards and grazing land during 2015 and 2016. "I could trade off how much damage was caused compared with how much was prevented, to come up with an overall trade-off value. "We always need to acknowledge that birds are doing damage, but we're now finding birds are providing some significant benefits." Feathery friends, not foesDr Peisley said birds had become accustomed to traditional repellents such as gas guns and balloons, but natural methods were an effective alternative. Her study showed native and predatory birds such as kookaburras and honeyeaters helped with animal and insect management, removed animal waste, reduced the spread of disease, and discouraged pests such as foxes. She found in orchards, birds reduced the impact of insects by about 20 per cent while causing only 2 per cent damage. In vineyards, predatory birds reduced damage by 50 per cent. But Dr Peisley said it was hard to predict how changes to the environment might influence the ongoing behaviour of birds. "I did my study during years of good rainfall … of course during other years, birds may do more damage than good, but that's all part of it. The study filled a gap in Australian research, because similar studies had only been undertaken in America. "I've really just touched the tip of the iceberg. There has to be birds in every single agricultural system we have in the country," Dr Peisley said. "Agriculture is our main land use, so birds really have the potential to be significant providers to our entire agricultural industry." Farmers receptive to researchDr Peisley said farmers had responded well to her findings, presented at industry workshops held by the NSW Department of Primary Industries. She said sustainable increases in yield had been the best way to illustrate the benefits to farmers who might be wary of birds. "Many farmers are interested in finding ways to decrease bird damage on their farm, but they're also really interested in the benefits birds can be providing for them for free," Dr Peisley said. She said farmers across the region had already started putting her research to the test, by installing perches in vineyards and maintaining native vegetation to help encourage birdlife. "They don't really have to do anything to get these additional benefits. If we can let nature just do its thing, it's going to work in the farmers' favour." |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Gay3
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Posted: 02 Jul 2019 at 6:18pm |
Brutality rules |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Gay3
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Posted: 28 Aug 2019 at 1:26pm |
Brazil’s President Is Actively Trying To Destroy Amazon Rainforest, Leaked Documents Show
By :
Lucy Connolly On : 23 Aug 2019 11:30 The documents show arguments put forward by Jair Bolsonaro that a strong government presence in the Amazon region is important to prevent any conservation projects going forward. Intending to build bridges, motorways, and a hydroelectric plant in the rainforest, the Brazilian government hopes to ‘fight off international pressure’ to protect the Amazon, according to the leaked information. As reported by The Independent, the plans were leaked to political website openDemocracy and include PowerPoint slides believed to have been presented at a meeting in February between Brazilian government officials and local leaders in Para state, which is home to the Amazonia National Park. During the meeting, Brazilian ministers put forward projects planned for the region by President Bolsonaro’s government, with one slide mentioning a priority to strategically occupy the rainforest. Brazil’s President Is Actively Trying To Destroy Amazon Rainforest, Leaked Documents Show
By :
Lucy Connolly On : 23 Aug 2019 11:30
The Brazilian president is actively trying to devastate the Amazon rainforest, leaked documents have revealed. The documents show arguments put forward by Jair Bolsonaro that a strong government presence in the Amazon region is important to prevent any conservation projects going forward. Intending to build bridges, motorways, and a hydroelectric plant in the rainforest, the Brazilian government hopes to ‘fight off international pressure’ to protect the Amazon, according to the leaked information.  PA ImagesAs reported by The Independent, the plans were leaked to political website openDemocracy and include PowerPoint slides believed to have been presented at a meeting in February between Brazilian government officials and local leaders in Para state, which is home to the Amazonia National Park. During the meeting, Brazilian ministers put forward projects planned for the region by President Bolsonaro’s government, with one slide mentioning a priority to strategically occupy the rainforest. The slide reads, as per openDemocracy:
 NASAThe ‘Triple A’ (Andes, Amazon and Atlantic) project is a conservation effort led by the organisation Gaia Amazonas, which aims to conserve 265 million square kilometers of jungle and ‘the lungs of our world’. But now Bolsonaro, Brazil’s controversial far-right president, appears to be sabotaging this effort as devastating fires rage through the Amazon. Fires which are causing a loss equivalent to three football fields per minute, according to the latest government data. The rainforest – which covers northwestern Brazil and extends into Colombia, Peru and other South American countries – has been burning for weeks, plunging Brazil’s Sao Paulo into darkness and devastating the Amazon. If the fire continues to burn at its current rate, this will be the
first month for several years in which Brazil loses an area of forest
bigger than Greater London, with many fearing it will never be able to
recover. According to the latest data from Brazilian satellites, as per The Guardian, 1,345 square kilometres of the region were cleared in July – a third higher than the previous monthly record under its current monitoring system, the Deter B satellite system, which started in 2015. Bolsonaro yesterday (August 22) claimed his government ‘lacks the resources’ to extinguish the fire, although environmental groups are now placing the blame for the devastation directly on him. Richard George, head of forests at Greenpeace, told The Independent:
The fire currently sweeping through the rainforest reportedly took hold after farmers announced a coordinated ‘day of fire’ on August 10, due to the president giving the go-ahead for farmers and illegal loggers to enter indigenous communities.  PAThe Amazon rainforest provides 20 per cent of the world’s oxygen, Business Insider reports. However, if it continues to burn it would not only stop producing this oxygen and supporting wildlife, but it could also worsen climate change by triggering a ‘doomsday dieback scenario’. This would ultimately result in dry leaves which, as well as being unable to absorb as much carbon, would be much more flammable and likely to spread fires – potentially causing the release of 140 billion tonnes of carbon stored in the Amazon into the atmosphere. As a result, global temperatures could rise even further. Since the public were made aware of the devastating fire, millions rallied together to sign a petition urging the Brazilian government to ban the burning of the Amazon – something which could easily play a detrimental role in the climate emergency we are currently facing. You can sign the petition to put an end to the burning of the rainforest here. If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via story@unilad.com A
Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ
level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside
Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has
reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about
mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is
unapologetically obsessed with). |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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acacia alba
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Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41480 |
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Posted: 28 Aug 2019 at 1:55pm |
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animals before people.
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Gay3
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Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Location: Miners Rest Status: Offline Points: 51994 |
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Posted: 15 Sep 2019 at 10:56pm |
86 Tiger Temple Tigers DeadAfter news broke on the 14th September 2019 that 86 of the 147 Tiger Temple tigers have died, Cee4life is releasing this statement on behalf of Sybelle Foxcroft who dedicated nine years of her life investigating, gathering the evidence, working with National Geographic in the last year (2015) to prove without doubt, that the Tiger Temple was involved in wildlife trafficking, killing and severe abuse of the tigers. Sybelle Foxcroft’s Statement“I went to the Tiger Temple in 2007 to do my university research report. After two days of being there I witnessed two female tigers taken in the night and two males approximately 2 -3 weeks old brought into the Tiger Temple as replacements. I was asked to be an undercover investigator for “Care for the Wild International” , I accepted as I was told by them that they were going to rescue the tigers. My task was to find evidence of drugging and abuse, but I found much more than that. I had found the evidence of wildlife trafficking and abuse within days. In 2007 I had already discovered and witnessed multiple tigers trafficked , both young cubs and adults who were mostly females. In 2007 there were only 18 tigers. I had reported the wildlife trafficking to the organisation “Care for the Wild International”. I had told them of dates and times of upcoming trafficking and was promised by them that they would be there and catch the Tiger Temple traffickers. But every time I informed them of this, they failed to stop the trucks and cars leaving the Tiger Temple grounds with the dead and some alive tigers inside of them. I removed myself from being their undercover investigator due to a gut instinct that they were not going to save any tiger. I continued to gather the evidence for the next nine years. When I think about that, I know that if action had occurred in 2007 when they only had 18 tigers, it could have all stopped if the people involved had integrity. I saw tigers that were so ill but they did not receive any veterinary treatment. I tried to help them myself, it was a nightmare when all I could do for some was sit beside them in their cage and try to comfort them. After the Care for the Wild International report was released, all it did was make a big media storm, but it didn’t save any of the tigers. My gut instinct was correct. Over the years, the tigers number began growing rapidly. The use of the same females being forced to breed over and over was horrifying. I called it “speed breeding” as when the female mother had her cubs, the cubs would then be taken off the mother, and the cubs were hand raised specifically for tourism purposes – ie: photo opportunities, and then the females would be put into cages with males to mate again and produce more cubs. It was harrowing to see this, know this, but feeling totally helpless. At approximately the 4th year of my investigations, I began seeing tigers being born with severe inbreeding traits eg: short bowed legs, bent spinal cords, crossed eyed tigers, short neck with over sized heads, tiny ears, very deformed and more. I also began seeing tigers become shockingly ill with various illness’s but they were not provided any veterinary aid. I had the evidence to prove trafficking and abuse from year 1 of my investigations, but it didn’t matter. There is Thai law and there is Monk law and there is corruption scattered amongst it all. The investigation was gruelling, and 2010 I spoke with the President of Cee4life, Michelle Cogley, and told her that no matter how much evidence I had (which by normal legal standards would have closed the place down in 2007) we needed a big media such as National Geographic to take this story on. Then in mid 2014 I told Michelle again that the only way to save the tigers from anymore killing, trafficking and inbreeding was to catch them on film doing it. In December 2014, three tigers were trafficked, but these tigers were micro-chipped (while others weren’t and they were the ones that were supposed to vanish) and a mistake was made when the three micro-chipped tigers were taken. These micro-chipped tigers could be traced directly to the Tiger Temple. I was contacted by a high ranking member of the inner circle of the Tiger Temple management, who had taken the CCTV plus recordings of the Abbot of Tiger Temple, the Veterinarian of Tiger Temple, and the staff of Tiger Temple all revealing in their own words, and on film, that they were trafficking the tigers. Twice the high ranking member of Tiger Temple (who had nothing to do with trafficking of tigers) tried to get authorities in Thailand to look at the evidence he had gathered, but he was turned away each time. So he contacted me and I was given all the film and recording evidence. This was finally the last piece of evidence that I knew would prove above and beyond any law, that the Tiger Temple was killing and severely abusing the tigers, amongst other things. I contacted National Geographic as I knew Cee4life was a small organisation and if we alone released the report, it would be easily forgotten and/or ignored, as I had experienced that before with this case. I knew without doubt that the only way to save the tigers was to get a huge media organisation to help unleash the truth. That media was National Geographic and I worked with Sharon Guynup and Steve Winter throughout 2015. (See report here – http://www.cee4life.org/wp-content/uploads/cee4life_tiger-temple-report.pdf Over the years, I had reported multiple times regarding the illness’s of the tigers and the severe inbreeding, but it was ignored. On 21st Jan 2016, Cee4life and National Geographic released both of our reports together. (See articles here – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/01/160121-tiger-temple-thailand-trafficking-laos0
I presented Cee4lifes Tiger Temple Report to The Department of National Parks, Thailand in December 2015. National Geographic also met with the Department of National Parks in Thailand in December 2015 and they had vital additional evidence. Within days of the release of both Cee4life’s and National Geographic’s reports, the Department of National Parks, Thailand had already put in motion the details of the final confiscation of the tigers and the closure of the Tiger Temple. The first 10 tigers were removed in January 2016, then the Tiger Temple began to put up a fight. I knew they would do that, so I had with held some information from the initial Tiger Temple report. When the Tiger Temple stopped anymore confiscations in January 2016, I submitted a second report to the Department of National Parks (that has never been released to the public due to the sensitive nature of it) which outlined the buying, selling and international movements of tiger body parts from the Tiger Temple. By June 2016 all tigers were removed and Tiger Temple was closed. During the raid on Tiger Temple multiple dead tiger bodies were found, plus approximately one thousand tiger skin amulets, and full adult tiger skins, plus other paraphernalia related to tiger body part sales. Sickness in the Tigers prior to confiscationJust prior to the June 2016 confiscation, a tiger died inside the tiger temple from an unknown illness. But for years prior, there were multiple tigers dying from illness’s that were unknown. I remember reporting on these illness’s from approximately 2010. The news regarding the deaths of 86 tigers from Laryngeal Paralysis is devastating, but it comes as no surprise to me. Laryngeal Paralysis is the first sign of general neurological paralysis. The neurological paralysis shows itself in a variety of ways. One particular tiger, Mek Jnr, showed severe symptoms in 2015 when he was walking into walls, his back legs weakening, disorientation at times. Again I wrote publicly about Mek Jnr and I was just about begging the Tiger Temple to help him, but they ignored it all and said he was fine. He was far from fine and he would end up dying in agony from this. The illness’s within the Tiger Temple tigers were obtained inside the Tiger Temple and not at the Department of National Parks facility. The severe inbreeding which caused lowered immune systems and other deformities occurred in the Tiger Temple prior to the confiscation of the Tigers. The deaths of 86 of the Tiger Temple tigers is not the Department of National Parks, Thailand fault, it is the Tiger Temples evil doings and those that hid it. To end this, I can say that I am devastated. I am heartbroken. I know that if in 2007, that organisation had acted on my findings that Tiger Temple would have ended then. On hearing about the 86 deaths, it was like being smashed in the chest by a sledgehammer. But, I also know that if the Tiger Temple had continued, and the tigers were not confiscated, they would have still died of the same illness’s, but the difference would be that the Tiger Temple would have skinned the dead bodies, and used the body parts for sales. This has always been a tragic case. It has tested me physically and mentally to the very limits of my endurance. While some supporters of Tiger Temple would like to throw the blame of tiger deaths at me, the truth is none of this would have happened if 1. In 2007 the Tiger Temple was stopped, 2. The staff and foreign volunteers had acted on the abuses and killings that they 100% knew was going on, but chose to hide it all. The story of the Tiger Temple tigers is not over yet. I remember every one of them with both love and sorrow. Sybelle Foxcroft Never Give Up
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Gay3
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Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Location: Miners Rest Status: Offline Points: 51994 |
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Posted: 13 Oct 2019 at 9:19pm |
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Gay3
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Posted: 28 Jan 2020 at 12:19pm |
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This is a surprisingly worthwhile, balanced & revealing watch  Someone mentioned fertiliser in another thread, the threat from these gargantuan amounts (US especially) is incredible  In this ground-breaking film, animal biologist and meat-eater, Liz
Bonnin, embarks on one of the toughest investigations of her career.
Taking her from cattle farms in the decimated Amazon rainforests, to
Dutch research labs growing in-vitro meat, Liz discovers the stark and
sometimes stomach-churning reality of the meat industry. |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Gay3
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Posted: 28 Sep 2020 at 10:04pm |
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What a sickening example of pulling wool over taxpayers & voters eyes SUNSHINE COAST AIRPORT - Remember this tragic and unnecessary death in 2018? Well it seems that maybe our hopes for wildlife at and near the airport, and assurances from the powers that be, could be a lot of hot air. Information recently brought to our attention about the wildlife corridor, or access for wildlife traversing through the new site, might also be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Mud pits and heavily waterlogged areas are allegedly preventing kangaroos from exiting through this corridor. We have had numerous reports about the lone kangaroo seemingly trapped behind the airport fencing over the last 2 years, and more worrisome is the rise in reports of not just this male but of others too. Our sources have also informed us that the new runway, 1331, is cutting right across a wildlife air corridor with excessively high numbers of bird strikes compared to runway 1836. Allegedly, up to 50 birds per day are being shot in the vicinity of the new runway. These are mostly black and white species like magpies. Up until now these shootings have been carried out by an airport employee but the volume of wildlife is apparently so great that a company in Brisbane has allegedly been contacted to manage the wildlife problem. We would like to know the daily ammunition sets being used. At other airports, shooting to kill wildlife is pretty much a last resort. Scaring birds off runways is usually undertaken by mobile runway security using firearms. Destruction of wildlife at a last resort. Magpies have been turning up with bloodied faces and dripping blood from their beaks where theyve been pepper-shot with lead pellets, not to mention those that have been killed outright. With the loss of the Ground Parrot Habitat, the hideous deaths of kangaroos in mud pits during construction, and now alleged mass bird killings it begs the question, did the Sunshine Coast community sign up for this land-grab? Not only sacrificing precious habitat and wildlife, but also an asset with the original airport? Pallisades is the big Superannuation company that now controls that land and our airport, and guess what Coasters, we are not benefitting from any of it! Not financially, and certainly not environmentally. The land grab will see other retail and commercial precincts move into the airport land held by Pallisades. Perhaps its not all about air travel, tourism, connectivity with other States after all. The rhetoric bundled up in clouds of smoke and mirrors is starting to look more and more like a very very bad deal for residents and rate payers too. Mayor Jamieson, weve been told is very keen on Pallisades, is there a beneficial connection there? Wasnt one of his financial supporters also project managing the new airport construction? Please correct me if Im wrong  Jobs for the boys, old school tie syndrome and favour-doing have no place in a transparent society. Are we a transparent community? Perhaps its time to just follow the money? Either way, if you have any information about anything raised here, please let us know. |
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Baghdad Bob
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Posted: 15 Jan 2021 at 12:18pm |
This might put environmentalists to the test. |
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Gay3
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Posted: 05 May 2021 at 10:59pm |
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https://abcnews.go.com/International/south-africa-end-captive-lion-breeding-bone-trade/story?id=77451913&fbclid=IwAR15ml5Y_fJ7foZhX54FUdf6wMD1ZRe7ALAmZ9HJ7TjJewFloVTvski7RaU South Africa to end captive lion breeding, bone tradeThe industry "poses risks to the sustainability of wild lion conservation." LONDON -- South Africa announced Sunday it plans to end its multimillion-dollar captive lion industry and said it wont oppose the international ban on the rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory trade.The announcement was made alongside the release of a nearly 600-page report by a special government-appointed advisory committee tasked with reviewing the countrys policies, legislation and practices related to the management, breeding, hunting, trade and handling of elephants, lions, leopards and rhinos. "The panel identified that the captive lion industry poses risks to the sustainability of wild lion conservation," South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy said in a statement Sunday. "The panel recommends that South Africa does not captive-breed lions, keep lions in captivity, or use captive lions or their derivatives commercially. I have requested the department to action this accordingly and ensure that the necessary consultation in implementation is conducted." The committee also recommended that Creecy consult with other countries in the region to determine under what conditions current stockpiles of rhino horn and elephant ivory can be disposed. Creecy said her department will move to adopt all recommendations in the report that were supported by the majority of the 25-strong High-Level Panel, which was established in October 2019. The committee came to a consensus on all recommendations except those for captive lion and rhino breeding, for which Creecy said she will take the majority view. She stressed the recommendations were not against the hunting industry and that implementing them "will result in both protection and enhancement of South Africas international reputation, repositioning the country as an even more competitive destination of choice for ecotourism and responsible hunting." "Preventing the hunting of captive lions is in the interests of the authentic wild hunting industry and will boost the hunting economy and our international reputation and the jobs that this creates," Creecy said. South Africa has drawn criticism in recent years for commodifying its captive-bred lions at every stage of life, from birth to death. There are hundreds of facilities across South Africa that are legally breeding and raising thousands of lions as well as other big cats, sometimes in tiny enclosures and unsatisfactory conditions. Cubs are separated from their mothers just days after birth, so the adult females can be continuously bred. The animals are then hand-reared so they grow up to be tame and used to humans. Cubs are used in petting attractions while they're very young and small. Adolescent lions are used in other tourist activities, such as walking with lions. When they get too big to safely interact with tourists, the lions are either recycled back into the breeding industry or sold to other facilities where they will be gunned down in canned trophy hunts or killed for their bones. Lion bones, teeth and claws are typically shipped to East and Southeast Asia, where they are often used in jewelry or falsely advertised as tiger parts for luxury products. Critics say it's a poorly-regulated and cruel business that exploded into an increasingly lucrative industry amid the rising demand for lion parts and at a time when the African lion, which is classified as "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, is already in steep decline across the continent. Conservationists say they have seen the detrimental impact that South Africas legal lion bone trade is having on the conservation of the regions wild lion populations, because poachers have caught on to the growing market for lion parts. The South African government had previously raised concerns that bones would be sourced illegally from wild lions to satisfy demand if the trade in captive-bred ones was prohibited. "Thousands of farmed lions are born into a life of misery in South Africa every year in cruel commercial breeding facilities," Edith Kabesiime, Africa wildlife campaign manager for World Animal Protection, a global animal welfare nonprofit organization, said in a statement Sunday. "This latest move by the government of South Africa is courageous -- taking the first steps in a commitment to long-lasting and meaningful change. This is a win for wildlife." |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Gay3
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Posted: 15 Jul 2021 at 8:04pm |
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Hopefully other States & Countries will follow suit  People caught releasing balloons in Victoria to be slapped with whopping finesVictoria has outlawed a common outdoor practice under strict new regulations and those who continue to do it face whopping fines. Individuals can now be fined a whopping $991 for the act, while companies can be forced to pay up to $4956. For a series of balloon releases, or if taken to court, penalties can rise to $16,522 for an individual and $82,610 for a company. |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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acacia alba
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Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41480 |
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Posted: 15 Jul 2021 at 8:18pm |
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Wish they would ramp up prosecution for unlawfull fireworks as well.
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animals before people.
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Gay3
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Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Location: Miners Rest Status: Offline Points: 51994 |
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Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 6:08pm |
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This guy sure is a mover & shaker when it comes to animals BREAKING: Only moments ago, a report was tabled in parliament, which recommended a ban on 1080 poison. I advocated for and won its acceptance into the final report of the Inquiry into Ecosystem Decline in Victoria. 1080 poison is cruel, indiscriminate and banned almost everywhere else in the world. It kills native species and non-target species - including domestic dogs. Now, we need to push the government to adopt the recommendation and make it law. Watch this space. |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Gay3
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Posted: 29 Nov 2022 at 4:21pm |
Orphaned brumby foal adopts Brahman cow as its mother on Mount Garnet cattle station  It's an unlikely pairing born out of necessity, but a Brahman cow has embraced motherhood by adopting an orphaned brumby foal on a far north Queensland cattle station. Key points:
Mount Garnet grazier Rob O'Shea recently noticed the wild foal around the cattle herd on his Tablelands property after its mother died. What happened next left him scratching his head. "I saw a cow looking after it," Mr O'Shea said. "The little foal was sucking the cow … I've never seen that in my life before." The cow had never calved, according to Mr O'Shea, but it was content to take on the role of stepmother. "That cow is worth her weight in gold," he said. "Looks like she would take anything on to rear it." The foal has been welcomed into the herd. "Now she sleeps with all the calves," Mr O'Shea said. "It whinnies to the cow and the cow bellows and answers it. "She bathes it and she's made a real mother of it." A social media post about the animals' bond has gone viral, with thousands of likes, shares and hundreds of comments. Mr O'Shea puts the interest down to the strangeness of the pairing. "Whoever I showed it to, they've never seen it in their life and probably never see it again," he said. Unlikely friendshipsJames Cook University associate professor of animal reproduction John Cavalieri said foals were critically dependent on milk for survival. They need to consume about 20 to 25 per cent of their body weight in milk each day. "If cows were the only thing that were available, it would potentially gravitate towards a cow," he said. "What's unusual in this case is that most cows reject any attempts even by other calves to suckle." Dr Cavalieri said there were differences between cow's milk and horse's milk. "If you do have an orphaned foal, we usually would recommend another mare's milk being provided," he said. "You can use goat's milk or cow's milk and supplement it with a little bit of extra lactose, so it's not impossible." But it seems all good things must come to an end. Mr O'Shea said while the foal was in a good condition, he had found it a new home. Copy/paste: https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-11-29/brahman-cow-adopts-brumby-foal-in-unlikely-animal-pairing/101709650 |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Fiddlesticks
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Joined: 31 Dec 2012 Status: Offline Points: 49955 |
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Posted: 01 Dec 2022 at 9:40pm |
This is why humans will one day be wiped off the planet by some virulent virus, and we deserve it.
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Panspermia.
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acacia alba
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Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41480 |
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Posted: 02 Dec 2022 at 11:01am |
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We visited the seal colony on the skeleton coast in Namib in Sept 2019, and there were literally millions of them . The smell was unbelievable. But the way they cull is inhuman. As I say when we get talking about brumbies. Cull if you must but do it humanely. Years ago there were ructions over the same type of killing on the ice banks in far north Canada and some other places like Norway. Its barbaric and to think it still happens in this day and age.
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animals before people.
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Gay3
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Posted: 04 Jan 2023 at 2:09pm |
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Brickbats 'Shameful and heartbreaking': largest wolf cull in modern history underway in SwedenA pair of gray wolves plays at Wolf Park in Indiana. "It's disastrous for the entire ecosystem," warned one activist. "The existence of wolves contributes to a richer animal and plant life. Human survival depends on healthy ecosystems." Wildlife defenders in Sweden and beyond decried the start on Monday of what's being called the largest wolf cull in modern times, arguing that killing nearly a fifth of the country's critically endangered lupine population could have grave consequences for biodiversity. Swedish public broadcaster SVTreports hunters in the five Swedish counties with the most wolves—Gävleborg, Dalarna, Västmanland, Örebro, and Värmland—will be allowed to kill a total of 75 wolves out of a national population of 460 animals. "The existence of wolves contributes to a richer animal and plant life. Human survival depends on healthy ecosystems." Last winter, Sweden authorized the killing of 27 wolves, while hunters in neighboring Norway had permission to kill 51 wolves—about 60% of the lupine population—and Finland approved the culling of 27 wolves. While Gunnar Glöersen, the predator manager at the Swedish Hunters' Association, says "hunting is absolutely necessary to slow the proliferation of wolves," Daniel Ekblom of Sweden's Nature Conservation Society called the cull "tragic." "It could have consequences for a long time to come," Ekblom told SVT. Other opponents of the cull noted Sweden's relatively low wolf population. Italy, for example, is only about half as large as Sweden but has around 3,000 wolves, which are strictly protected by law. "Wolves as top predators in the food chain are a prerequisite for biodiversity," Marie Stegard, president of the anti-hunting group Jaktkritikerna, told The Guardian, warning that killing so much of "the population through hunting has negative consequences for animals and nature." "It's disastrous for the entire ecosystem," she said. "The existence of wolves contributes to a richer animal and plant life. Human survival depends on healthy ecosystems." Stegard added: It is obvious that there is strong political pressure for licensed hunting for wolves, and also lynx and bear. The Swedish Parliament is also lobbying the European Union to remove wolves and bears from its list of species in need of protection. Hanna Dittrich-Söderman, who leads the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's wolf program, says the lupine predators hold a special place in national folklore, evoking primal fears and irrational hatred. "There is no other animal that is so easy to both demonize and glorify as the wolf—an imagined fear or hatred has been attached to it," Dittrich-Söderman toldThe Local. "We have almost made it a symbol of our fearful nature as a whole, it has almost mythical qualities." |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Hello Sunshine
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Joined: 21 Feb 2021 Status: Offline Points: 4168 |
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Posted: 04 Jan 2023 at 9:38pm |
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And koalas on the endangered list.
How did this happen? Clearing of land for more housing. Australia has an awful record as well.
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Hello Sunshine
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Posted: 04 Jan 2023 at 9:40pm |
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Behind Darwin's sweeping Lee Point beach is a patch of diverse bushland where Ian Redmond has his binoculars out, scanning the long native grasses for Gouldian finches. Key points:
"They've got all these yellows, greens, purples and blues, it's hard to believe you can put all that colour into one bird, and they're quite friendly, they come up quite close," the organiser of the Save Lee Point community group said. James Lambert is another birdwatcher who frequents Lee Point. "The first time I came here, I thought it looks a bit scrappy and there weren't many birds, but in fact it's very very rich in birds, practically any day you come you can see long-tailed finch, masked finch, chestnut breasted manikan, we've even had yellow rumped manikans here," he said. Today there aren't any Gouldians, but flocks of masked and double barred finches busily collect grass seed a few metres from where we stand. It's the absence of Gouldians at this late time of the year that has Mr Redmond worried. The federal government is currently deciding whether to bulldoze 130 hectares of this Defence land for a housing development. Its Defence Housing Australia company has started clearing the land for 778 houses for Defence personnel and to sell to the public. Commonwealth 'considering all available information'Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek halted the work in September after being alerted by the birdwatchers that they had spotted endangered Gouldians at Lee Point, and thousands of visitors had come from all over Australia and the world to see them. There is now a stand-off between the birders and the government housing company, as they wait to see if the minister will allow the development to continue. "Our wildlife is going to decrease if we don't look after our large trees and their nesting hollows, and that's why it's really important to look after habitat like this," Mr Redmond said. "The only park that has more habitats in the Top End would be Kakadu National Park which is about 4,000 times as large as Lee Point. "Lee Point has most of the bird species of Kakadu so it is a rich biodiverse area that we should look after for future generations." Asked what she intends to do, the minister referred the question to her environment department. In a statement the department told the ABC: "In late October 2022 Defence Housing Australia provided the department with a report on the outcomes of a Gouldian finch habitat survey at the Lee Point housing development site undertaken by its consultants. It said it is "considering all available information, including survey results" before making "recommendations to the minister on whether to vary, suspend or revoke the approval". Bird watchers such as David Percival claim the bird survey was carried out outside the peak breeding period for the Gouldian finches, adding they want more surveys carried out. "The government needs to wait and stop the development going ahead until they check out the tree hollows next year for potential breeding of Gouldian finches," he said. "That means looking for the Gouldian finches around their breeding period which is April, May, June," Mr Redmond said. There are estimated to be just 2,500 Gouldian finches left in the wild in northern Australia. In its environmental impact statement for the project in 2017, Defence Housing said it was "unlikely" Lee Point was Gouldian finch habitat. The Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority's recommendation that the development should be approved didn't mention Gouldian finches at all. Fears for habitat of 'iconic bird'Asked whether the Northern Territory Government is going to review any of its approvals, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said she was leaving it to the Commonwealth to decide. "Of course we need to have natural environmental areas so we can enjoy the great lifestyle, but we do need new homes," she said. There are precedents where the existence of endangered animals stopped has developments going ahead, including in Victoria where orange bellied parrot habitat was identified around a proposed wind farm. The Lee Point housing development opponents are arguing the federal government's commitment at the international COP15 biodiversity summit to protect 30 % of the Australian landscape for wildlife should include this area. "Between the two creeks here, Sandy and Buffalo, you've got a quarter of all the birds ever recorded in Australia, you've got 6,000 migratory shorebirds, you've got ten species of finches," Mr Percival said. "I saw a flock of about 130 Gouldian finches fly across this path that you're on last dry season. "Tell me how many other places in Australia get that? "Gouldians are protected, they're an iconic bird, why aren't they using brown field site, one that's already been degraded, for this development?" Ian Redmond said the finches and their watchers are in the minister's hands. "It's not possible to preserve all the habitats, we do need land for housing, but we should be aiming preserving the high-quality habitat like this that you just can't replace and you can't generate back in a lifetime," he said. |
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Carioca
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Joined: 13 Nov 2015 Status: Offline Points: 21821 |
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Posted: 04 Jan 2023 at 11:09pm |
I'm sure you remember the devastating bushfires down almost 2/3 rds of the East coast of NSW and into Vic. prolonged and rampant , keep up sunny , I know you mean well .
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Hello Sunshine
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 9:34am |
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Oh and those catastrophes as well.
Thank you for pointing that out  I suppose your argument is with the clearing for more housing means less bush to burn.... And bugger the environment.
Edited by Gay3 - 05 Jan 2023 at 10:07am |
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Carioca
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 12:35pm |
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Now you know what has depleted the koala pop. point out my argument with land clearing , I've forgotten where it is .
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Gay3
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Posted: 02 Feb 2024 at 7:37pm |
Horses, camels and deer get a bad rap for razing plants – but our new research shows they’re no worse than native animals |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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