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African Big Game

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Topic: African Big Game
Posted By: Gay3
Subject: African Big Game
Date Posted: 22 May 2017 at 10:05pm

Is African Wildlife Headed for Extinction?

Remaining Herds Plagued by Hunting and Reduced Habitat


by Earth Talk
Updated June 18, 2014

Dear EarthTalk: What is the population status of Africa’s large mammals, such as elephants, lions, rhinos, and hippos? Are they all headed for extinction?
--Elias Corey, Seattle, WA

Overall, the variety and abundance of wildlife in Africa, as elsewhere around the world, is shrinking fast as human population grows and encroaches ever more on once wild and pristine landscapes. While illegal hunting (known in Africa as “poaching”) still runs rampant despite government crackdowns, the spread of logging and agriculture contributes even more to the decline of many species of large mammals.

African Wildlife Killed for Products
The population of the continent’s biggest mammal, the African elephant, has declined by more than 99 percent since the 1930s, when as many as 10 million of the great creatures roamed free there. At last count, biologists estimated that only about 600,000 elephants are left in all of Africa.

Elephant populations are thriving in areas of southern Africa, thanks to massive government conservation efforts, including a ban on the ivory trade as part of the 144-nation strong http://www.cites.org/" rel="nofollow - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which limits trade in wild animals and their parts and accords varying degrees of protection to more than 33,000 species of plants and wildlife.

Ban on African Ivory Helps Elephants, Hurts Hippos
Africa’s hippopotamus population is also suffering, partly because of the very ban on ivory. Bullied out of the ivory trade, many African poachers have turned to hippo teeth, which measure as long as 24 inches and have become a valuable substitute for ivory.

A 2003 census of the hippos of Virunga National Park in the African Republic of Congo, for example, found only 1,300 animals, down from an estimated 29,000 in a previous count three decades earlier. In neighboring Burundi, another recent census found that two thirds of that country’s hippo population—some 200 animals—had disappeared in just a five-year period.



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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!



Replies:
Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 22 May 2017 at 10:06pm

African Rhinos Hunted Illegally for Their Horns Alone
As for rhinos, only 10,000 individuals exist around the world, down 85 percent since just 1970. Poaching has been the main culprit in the decimation of these animals, with a single pair of black rhino horns—coveted by Arabs in oil-rich Yemen who collect them as symbols of wealth and status—fetching as much as $50,000 on the black market. Of the two rhino species in Africa, the white rhino is faring slightly better and has rebounded from near extinction but isn’t quite in the clear yet. The black rhino, down to only about 2,500 animals, is still considered critically endangered, however. Where it once roamed across the entire African continent, the black rhino is barely hanging on in just a few East African countries.

African Lion Population Cut in Half Since 1950s
Lions may be faring a little better, but not much. The nonprofit http://www.awf.org/" rel="nofollow - African Wildlife Foundation reports that the continent’s lion population has fallen off by half since the early 1950s when an estimated 40,000 “kings of the jungle” ruled. Besides contending with habitat loss to ever expanding human settlement, Africa’s lions have also had to deal with hunting and poisoning by livestock ranchers.

Wildlife Conservation Efforts Have Limited Impact
Although limited conservation efforts within Africa and internationally are helping some of these species remain barely viable, fighting extinction is an uphill battle, especially when expanding human population and sputtering economies force people to occupy previously wild lands and generate income by any means necessary. Individuals can help by donating money and time to organizations committed to saving these magnificent animals. With the extinction clock ticking fast, there’s no time to waste.

Lion Conservation — The Facts

  • The African lions' numbers are diminishing rapidly due to habitat destruction, persecution by livestock farmers outside of protected areas, and human greed. 
  • Trophy hunting not only depletes the population of the African lion, but threatens its gene pool as well. Killing the dominant male of a pride (normally the target of a trophy hunt) sets off a chain of instinctive behaviour in which the subsequent dominant male kills all the young of the previous male (6-8 estimated deaths result from each male thst is shot). 
  • In the late 20th century, wildlife preserves were created to restrict safari hunting, but the African lion population continues to decline. Their numbers have declined from 100,000 in the 1980s, halving to 50,000 in 1990, to as few as 16,000 today.
  • An ever-expanding human population has led to competition between herders and lions for land and food. Lions living at the edge of the preserves sometimes stray from protected areas in search of easy prey. The Maasai and other ranchers will often kill them to protect their livestock and source of livelihood.
  • The retaliatory killing of lions by pastoralists is a serious threat to lion conservation in Maasai Steppe.
  • Over the past six years, pastoralist families have lost more than 500 herds of livestock including cattle, goat, sheep and donkeys due to predation by lions, while more than 226 lions have been killed in retaliation for livestock predation.


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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 22 May 2017 at 10:07pm

While humans have been poaching African elephants for their tusks for centuries, the continent is currently in the midst of an elephant slaughter that is worse than at any previous point in history. Experts say that poachers are wiping out tens of thousands of elephants a year which could lead to their extinction in the near future. A ban on the international sale of ivory went into force in 1990, but rising demand from Asia, and increasingly insecure political environments in Africa, have ratcheted up the number of elephants under threat. 

Key Milestones in Elephant Conservation

1500s - Estimates put the number of elephants on the African continent around http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/a-short-timeline-of-elephant-poaching-9016055.html?action=gallery" rel="nofollow - 26 million when Europeans first started exploring.

Late 1800s - The mass production of combs, piano keys, brush handles and pool balls fuels an ivory frenzy in Europe. http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/history-ivory-trade/?ar_a=1" rel="nofollow - Learn more

Early 1900s - Shooting an African elephant is considered to be a great honor for Europeans on safari. http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/history-ivory-trade/?ar_a=1" rel="nofollow - Learn more

1913 - The U.S. is consuming two hundred tons of ivory per year. The African elephant population has dropped to an estimated 10 million. http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/history-ivory-trade/?ar_a=1" rel="nofollow - Learn more

1950s – Elephant slaughter begins to drastically increase with estimates that 250 elephants are killed every day. The increase correlates with many African regions gaining independence from colonial rule. 

1973 - The http://www.cites.org/" rel="nofollow - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is agreed to on March 3, 1973.

1973 - The http://www.fws.gov/endangered/laws-policies/" rel="nofollow - Endangered Species Act is signed into law on December 28, 1973, becoming immediately effective.

1977 - The African elephant is listed on CITES. International trade for commercial purposes continues; the international African ivory trade is regulated by CITES. http://www.hsi.org/assets/pdfs/Elephant_Related_Trade_Timeline.pdf" rel="nofollow - Learn more

1978 - The African elephant is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A “special rule” allows for the commercial ivory trade to continue, including for the import and sale of African elephant ivory. http://www.hsi.org/assets/pdfs/Elephant_Related_Trade_Timeline.pdf" rel="nofollow - Learn more

1979 – Elephant population is reported at http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/a-short-timeline-of-elephant-poaching-9016055.html?action=gallery" rel="nofollow - 1.3 million  according to the results of the first Pan-Africa elephant survey led by Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton.

1988 - After ten years it becomes clear that the supposedly well-regulated international trade of African elephant ivory is a failure. The African elephant population has been cut by more than half in 10 years. http://www.hsi.org/assets/pdfs/Elephant_Related_Trade_Timeline.pdf" rel="nofollow - Learn more

1989 - CITES agrees to list the African elephant on Appendix I, as a result a ban on the international sale of ivory goes into effect in early 1990.

1989 - Only 600,000 elephants remain. The http://www.fws.gov/international/laws/aeca_fv.html" rel="nofollow - African Elephant Conservation Act is passed, banning the import of African elephant ivory into the U.S.

1990s - Some elephant populations begin to show signs of recovery, especially in East Africa and in some southern African countries. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/a-short-timeline-of-elephant-poaching-9016055.html?action=gallery&ino=6" rel="nofollow - Kenya’s population grows to more 30,000 by 2007 from an historic low of 16,000.

1997 - Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe submit proposals downlist their populations to Appendix II and to http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/a-short-timeline-of-elephant-poaching-9016055.html?action=gallery&ino=7" rel="nofollow - sell their ivory stockpiles . CITES approves the sales based on the positive status of these countries’ national herds.  The first “one-off sale” occurs in 1999 to a single CITES-approved buyer, Japan.

2002 - South Africa submits a proposal to downlist their populations to Appendix II. South Africa plus Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe seek another “one-off sale”.  This second one-off sale occurs in 2008 to two CITES-approved buyers, Japan and China. Conservationists fear that opening up a legal ivory market in China will lead to increased poaching. 

2007 - The African Elephant Coalition (AEC) countries are successful in passing a CITES-instituted a 9-year moratorium on new ivory stockpile sale proposals.

2009-2013 - Empirical research, MIKE PIKE levels and ETIS ivory seizures demonstrate poaching of elephants for their tusks and trafficking of ivory is occurring at alarming levels, surpassing a level at which elephant populations can naturally reproduce -- populations across the continent go into net decline. 

2011 - Numbers of poached elephants and large-scale ivory seizures are so high that it is labeled annus horibilis for the species. 

2012 - Sudanese Janjaweed poachers travel across the Sahara desert to massacre several hundreds of elephants in the span of a few days in Bouba Ndjida National Park, Cameroon -- the scale of the killing is labeled as unprecendented.

2012 - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton makes a Call to Action to world leaders to stop the epic slaughter of Africa’s elephants.

2012 - Growth of a consumer class in China increases demand for ivory. The price reaches $1,000 per pound in Beijing; low wages in Africa drive poachers to increasing harvesting. CITES recognizes that elephant poaching has again reached “unsustainable level.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/world/africa/africas-elephants-are-being-slaughtered-in-poaching-frenzy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&" rel="nofollow - Learn more

2013 - U.S. President Barack Obama passes Executive Order combating Wildlife Trafficking to attack the issue through a whole government approach.

2014 - Paul Allen and Elephants Without Borders launch The Great Elephant Census, the first-ever pan-African aerial census that will provide new, accurate data about the number and distribution of African elephants, information that will be critical to their future survival.

2015Great Elephant Census flights over 50% complete, some preliminary individual country data suggests dramatic drops in populations in some regions, and a few surprise herds in places where elephants did not previously exist. 

2016 - Great Elephant Census results are announced, elephant populations have dropped 30% in surveyed areas with comparable data.

2016 - CITES passes resolution calling for all countries to close domestic ivory markets and votes down proposals by Namibia and Zimbabwe to open legal ivory trade from their countries. CITES rejects proposal for elephants in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to be uplisted to Appendix I. 



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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 22 May 2017 at 10:08pm

Lion


Conservation Status:                                    Vulnerable

  • Population decreased 42% in 21 years
  • Regionally extinct in 7 African countries
  • Declared as 'vulnerable' in 1996 by IUCN


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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 22 May 2017 at 10:12pm
This is in response to a remark made by Sneck in De Little Engine thread (yes it's derailed LOL) where he said:

"Look into how big game hunting actually works, they are helping to protect the population of these endangered species by providing the locals with an economic incentive.

Would you rather they continued to poach these animals?"

There doesn't seem to be much evidence of this & time's running out fast Unhappy


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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 22 May 2017 at 10:14pm

Poaching statistics

(c) Lowveld Rhino Trust

In just a decade, more than 7,137 African rhinos have been lost to poaching.Will a recent decline in South African poaching mark a new dawn for rhinos?

 

https://www.savetherhino.org/get_involved/donate" rel="nofollow - Donate

In February 2017, the Department for Environmental Affairs released poaching statistics for 2016, showing a 10.3% decline in rhino poaching as compared with the previous year. There’s no reason to celebrate: 1,054 rhinos killed in South Africa alone during 2016 works out nearly three rhinos being killed every day. And while poaching is down in Kruger National Park, it is significantly up in other provinces, particularly KwaZulu-Natal.

Furthermore, there are continuing and worrying signs that poaching gangs are increasingly moving beyond South Africa’s borders; gaining a foothold in other African countries – many of which have less resources available to protect wildlife. We’re certainly not out of the woods yet.

 

South African rhino poaching 2007-2016

 

South African poaching explained

South Africa has by far the largest population of rhinos in the world and is an incredibly important country for rhino conservation. From 2007-2014 the country experienced an exponential rise in rhino poaching – a growth of over 9,000%. Most illegal activity occurs in Kruger National Park, a 19,485 km2 of protected habitat on South Africa’s north-eastern border with Mozambique. Kruger consistently suffered heavy poaching loses, and so in the last few years the government and international donors have channelled ever more funding and resources into securing the Park.

In 2016, figures show a dip in poaching in South Africa for the second year in a row, indicating that increased protection efforts are paying off. Although it is encouraging to see South Africa’s poaching levels fall, the losses are still extremely high. A rise in incidents outside Kruger National Park also points to the growing sophistication of poaching gangs that are gaining a wider geographical coverage and – it would seem - expanding their operations across borders.

The wider African context

The current poaching crisis actually began in Zimbabwe, where the difficult socio-economic and political climate facilitated rhino poaching. Once the easy pickings had been had in Zimbabwe, poaching gangs turned their attention to neighbouring South Africa, which saw massive increases in poaching from 2009-2014.

In around 2013, the South African crisis spread to other countries in Africa. First Kenya was hit hard – its worst year for poaching was in 2013, when 59 animals were killed (more than 5% of the national population). In 2015 both Zimbabwe and Namibia were hit hard: Namibia lost 80 rhinos to poaching, up from 25 in 2014 and just two in 2012; while in Zimbabwe at least 50 rhinos were poached in 2015, more than double the previous year. For Africa as a whole, the total number of rhinos poached during 2015 was the highest in two decades.



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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 22 May 2017 at 11:42pm
Sneck is full of it if he believes a set up hunt, like the one mentioned in the other thread, is saving wildlife.
I am all for Botswana,s shoot to kill law on poachers.  All the states who want to keep their wild herds, and hence their tourist dollars, should take the same approach.
And I read recently some parks are even removing their Rhino,s horns,  and Elephant,s tusks under anathestic, to make them of no value to poachers. 



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animals before people.


Posted By: Aurelius
Date Posted: 23 May 2017 at 9:15am
Why not fight back.

Monkeys are very intelligent, give them guns and teach them to shoot.

Poachers would have no chance with a tree full of armed any monkeys.


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 23 May 2017 at 9:27am
Originally posted by Aurelius Aurelius wrote:

Why not fight back.

Monkeys are very intelligent, give them guns and teach them to shoot.

Poachers would have no chance with a tree full of armed any monkeys.




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Posted By: Aurelius
Date Posted: 23 May 2017 at 10:35am
Ha ha.........


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 23 May 2017 at 1:46pm
Seems this famous game hunter wasnt so clever after all.  The elephant lifted him and then fell on him when shot by another of his group.  And his mate, another hunter, got taken by a croc a few weeks ago.
There is karma after all.
What do these sickos get out of walking out with their high powered rifles , getting the game driven in front of them, and then shooting it and posing for photos with a dead animal ??
And its called sport ??Sick



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animals before people.


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 23 May 2017 at 2:03pm

Well-Known South African Game Hunter Dies After Elephant Falls On Him

by Safia Samee Ali

A well-known South African game hunter died after an elephant ravaged by gunshots collapsed on him at a Zimbabwe animal reserve on Friday, according to local authorities.

While on a 10-day hunting expedition with several clients, 51-year-old big game hunter Theunis Botha "unknowingly" came across a herd of breeding elephants near the Hwange National Park, park spokesman Simukai Nyasha told the http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_ZIMBABWE_HUNTER_KILLED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-05-22-07-09-06" rel="nofollow - Associated Press .

https://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2017_21/2008616/170522-theunis-botha-hunter-se-424p_cc44009a38768ece1743d6e4d3c447da.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.jpg" rel="nofollow"> Image: Hunter Theonis Botha with a leopard
Hunter Theonis Botha sits next to a slain leopard in a screengrab from Botha's YouTube channel. Theonis Botha / via YouTube

Botha's group spooked the herd and three elephant cows immediately charged at them — prompting Botha to open fire on the animals, according to http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/hunter-dies-after-shot-elephant-falls-on-him-20170521" rel="nofollow - South Africa's News24 .

A fourth cow stormed at the group from the side, lifting Botha up with its trunk. One of the members of the group fired shots at the elephant causing the animal to collapse on Botha, crushing him to death.

Zimbabwe Parks did not immediately return requests for comment by NBC News.

Botha and his wife, Carike, ran Theunis Botha Big Safari's since 1983 with private hunting ranches in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, according to the http://www.tbbiggamehounds.co.za/Unique_Safaris/Leopard_hunting_Safari_in_Africa.html" rel="nofollow - company's website .

Botha touted his perfection of "traditional European Style Driven Monteria hunts in South Africa," which uses "hounds" to round up big game for hunter clients.

https://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2017_21/2008286/170522-elephant-hwange-zimbabwe-se-1213p_8ca2289e4a3b293c8e3e4d278b0a992a.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.jpg" rel="nofollow"> Image: An African elephant walks in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe
An African elephant walks in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe on Nov. 19, 2012. Martin Bureau / AFP - Getty Images file

The company displayed several photos and videos of many of Botha's safari hunts, and billed him as a "passionate and professional hunting outfitter operation" that gave "clients a unique exciting African safari experience."

His first client was a Montana man who came to South Africa to hunt a leopard, and Botha prided himself that the man "got his cat," according to the company's website.

The company did not return requests for comment by NBC News.

Botha's wife is expected to go Zimbabwe on Monday to identify her husband's body and return him to South Africa for funeral services, according to the http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/hunter-dies-after-shot-elephant-falls-on-him-20170521" rel="nofollow - News24 . He is survived by five children.

Botha's death garnered a large share of negative comments on social media from many who are opposed to big game hunting.



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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 23 May 2017 at 2:07pm

Humanity, in plenty of ways, has had a profoundly negative impact on wildlife. From throwing them https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinandrews/2017/05/21/yes-people-still-throw-animals-into-volcanoes-to-please-the-gods/#adf6fd335024" rel="nofollow - into volcanoes to overzealously http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/sealion-drags-girl/" rel="nofollow - feeding them when we shouldn’t, it’s not surprising that animals sometimes decide that they’ve had enough, and fight back.

Big game hunter Theunis Botha reportedly learned this lesson the hard way. Stalking around the Zimbabwean village of Gwai, his colleagues stumbled across a breeding herd of elephants. Spotting the threat, the elephants then charged at the group, and Botha fired off a shot or two.

Ambushing him from the side, one of the elephants charged towards him, and lifted him up in the air with her trunk. Another hunter shot the elephant, hoping that it would drop Botha and flee. The shot proved to be fatal, however – and as the elephant collapsed, Botha fell beneath it and was subsequently crushed to death.

Big game hunting is controversial for several obvious reasons. Although some https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talks-hunting/" rel="nofollow - argue that there are some ecological benefits to carefully managed hunting, in reality, most of it involves helping to wipe out extremely vulnerable species, which is undoubtedly a terrible thing to engage in. Sure, http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/national-park-rangers-licence-kill-poachers/" rel="nofollow - poaching is far worse, and habitat destruction does not help, but legal hunting is only http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151715-conservation-trophy-hunting-elephants-tusks-poaching-zimbabwe-namibia/" rel="nofollow - exacerbating things further.

On a very basic level, the fight is unfair: these rather majestic animals are not expecting humans to sneak up on them, and when they do, they’re armed with long-distance rifles, cars and sometimes a helicopter. There’s nothing dignified about killing a harmless animal for sport, especially when the odds are stacked so heavily against it.

This fatality, if anything, shows that wildlife shouldn’t be underestimated. If people decide to try and kill them, they’re going to resist – and sometimes, they’ll score a win, even in death it seems.

Botha, from South Africa, was reportedly a well-known hunter in the region, and he often ventured to the US to encourage high-income Americans to join in on the sport. He was often seen hunting with his dogs.

His demise isn’t the first hunt-related death this year. One of Botha’s friends, Scott van Zyl, was on the search from some big game trophies in Zimbabwe back in April when he was attacked and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/18/remains-found-crocodiles-believed-missing-south-african-hunter/" rel="nofollow - eaten alive by crocodiles on the banks of the Limpopo River.



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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 23 May 2017 at 5:16pm
Ir could only be sport if the animals had guns and could shoot back.
If he was such a clever hunter how come he "stumbled " on a herd of breeding animals by accident ?



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animals before people.


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 01 Jun 2017 at 2:38pm

More Elephants Are Being Born Tuskless Thanks to Poaching

  • May 25, 2017
by http://bigthink.com/experts/robby-berman" rel="nofollow - Robby Berman

Natural selection as a means of evolution is generally thought of as a slow process, and it usually is. That is, unless there’s some unnaturally strong influence at work. And that’s exactly https://www.inverse.com/article/24539-africa-elephants-tuskless-evolution-natural-selection?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=ScienceDump&utm_campaign=influencer" rel="nofollow - what’s happening to African elephants. The unnatural influence is humans, or more specifically, poachers, and it’s causing an increase in the births of tuskless elephants. Those who do have tusks are becoming less likely to reproduce since they’re hunted down and killed for their ivory.

Not every elephant has tusks. In a population without significant poaching going on, from 2% to 6% of females are born without tusks. Males without them are less common because they’re required weapons for earning procreation rights, and tuskless males don’t generally get to reproduce.


In areas where there is poaching, however, the story’s very different, and the quest for elephant ivory is changing the types of offspring now being produced. In Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, half of the older females have tusks. The situation has improved since poaching was brought under control there 20 years ago, but a third of the younger elephants are tuskless nonetheless, a meaningful increase over the historical norm.

In Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park and the Lupande Game Management Area, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2028.1995.tb00800.x/abstract" rel="nofollow - - tuskelessness increased from 10·5% in 1969 to 38·2% in 1989 The numbers have improved slightly since then there as well, but only due to more tusked females migrating from nearby areas.


There’s been big money in China’s black market for ivory, from a peak of $2,100 USD per kilogram in 2014 to http://www.savetheelephants.org/about-ste/press-media/?detail=dramatic-changes-in-china-s-ivory-trade" rel="nofollow - - $730 per kilogram in February of 2017. There are several factors in the reduction, most notably the easing of demand for luxury goods due to the country’s economic slowdown, the government’s efforts to shut down the ivory business, and changes in Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward ivory and its cost to elephants.


But between 2007 and 2014, some 144,000 African elephants were killed, placing the species perilously close to extinction in some areas. Researchers warn that over time, African elephants may evolve into primarily tuskless creatures, as Asian elephant have.

And that, in itself, is a problem. For elephants, tusks perform a http://www.eleaid.com/elephant-information/elephant-tusks/" rel="nofollow - - number of important functions . They’re weapons for use against predators and other elephants, watering holes can be dug with them and bark can be stripped from trees, and they’re useful for pushing away brush and other obstacles in their path. (Interestingly, elephants, when it comes to tusks, can be “lefties” or “righties” — there’s evidence that they prefer one tusk over the other.)

So while an elephant without tusks may be safe from poaching, it’s in a precarious position when it comes to survival, especially on its own, and being affiliated with a herd that has enough tusks to take care of the necessary tasks is the only real defense.


“Conservationists say an elephant without tusks is a crippled elephant,” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/elephants-africa-tusks-ivory-poaching-born-without-a7440706.html" rel="nofollow - - says the BBC.

 



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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 01 Jun 2017 at 9:07pm
I see another hunter bit the dust today.
A bloke from Newcastle , NSW ,  hunting near Franz Joseph in NZ fell down a crevice and died.
Karma.



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animals before people.


Posted By: ThreeBears
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 1:47pm

I grew up with one of the good guys. Julian was the younger brother of my mate Michael. He's now co founder and director of GCF. He and his wife dedicate their lives to the giraffe. Not bad for a boy from Moorabbin. Any donations go to a most worthy cause. More effective than "donating" 50K to kill a lion.

 
https://giraffeconservation.org/our-team/" rel="nofollow - https://giraffeconservation.org/our-team/
 
 


Posted By: Whale
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 4:33pm
A lot of PhD's there doing great work.  Just waiting for the right wing goons on TBV to chime in saying academics do not live in the real world and are a waste of time, leave everything to the ordinary man who has "common sense "Confused


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Victor Orban 1.74 m, Michael Bloomberg 1.73 m, Emmanual Macron 1.77 m, George Soros 1.8 m


Posted By: JudgeHolden
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 7:50pm
Good stuff TB, I've chipped in. I was going to do the same with RR Martin's wolf sanctuary- 20 large and apparently he'd write you in as a character in the next edition. Given what happens to most on Game of Thrones I thought I might stick with the minimum.


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 8:25pm
60% of direwolves have been wiped out 

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Posted By: JudgeHolden
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 8:30pm
I didn't realise the dire wolf was actually an extinct animal. For the religious folk here they must have lived around the same time as Noah and the dinosaurs. What 3 or 4 thousand years ago?


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 8:32pm
Was it North American?

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Posted By: JudgeHolden
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 8:35pm
You know it. And it was the biggest, baddest mofo going around. All the continents were joined back then


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 8:38pm
Were the dinosaurs drowned in the great flood, because there was no room on the Ark for them?

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Posted By: JudgeHolden
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 8:46pm
Ken Ham assures us they were there. Along with about 5 billion other species. What I don't get is, how did they save all the freshwater fish?


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 9:04pm
Ken should know, but if they were on the Ark and survived, where are they hiding?

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Posted By: oneonesit
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 9:20pm
This almost sounds like a one on one conversation. Sorry if I've interrupted - pls continue...   !

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Refer ALP Election Promises


Posted By: oneonesit
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 9:27pm
Academics never get it right in the "real world". They lack common sense !

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Refer ALP Election Promises


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2017 at 9:29pm
Apparently

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Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 04 Jun 2017 at 1:39pm
Originally posted by oneonesit oneonesit wrote:

Academics never get it right in the "real world". They lack common sense !

I think thats pretty right.
I saw a mob of horses shot in a N.P. because the academics , (  Pitt Street greeneis,  who had never even visited that particular park/region  ) claimed  they had evidence that the horses were killing native vegetation of a certain species. So approx 12 horses were shot, their stomaches opened and the contents examined .
Just grass. No special species of native vegetation to be found.
On further studies by a couple of prominent equine vets ( done out of their own interest ) it was found that particular vegetation would have poisoned the horses if they had eaten it.
So much for those academics .




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animals before people.


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 04 Jun 2017 at 1:57pm
How bloody typical Evil Smile  Similar to Bunnings headquarters in Melb. decision to drop supplies of rural irrigation products 'cos they weren't selling in the Graeter area of Melb. LOL Knobs the lot of them!


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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2017 at 6:20pm


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Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2017 at 11:54pm
I can never understand what a bloke gets out of cutting off an elephant tail ( or any of the other gross things they do and call it hunting )  and posing with it for a picture .
Does it make them feel   ????
1. Clever.
2. Powerful.
3. Masculine .
4. Talented.
5. Desirable.
Because if that is the case , most people view them as none of those.  They just view them as dick heads with small minds and even smaller bits. He is gripping on that tail as if he thinks its a replica of his no doubt rather small appendage.
Sick, sick people.





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animals before people.


Posted By: Whale
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2017 at 12:15am
I agree with you AA as usual Smile

it sickens me, cannot watch wildlife documentaries because there is always something about dwindling numbers.

Chinese are the worst for their mad obsession with ivory and natural "health remedies"

I believe 150,000 elephants were killed in 2012, sickens me


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Victor Orban 1.74 m, Michael Bloomberg 1.73 m, Emmanual Macron 1.77 m, George Soros 1.8 m


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2017 at 1:27am
Originally posted by Whale Whale wrote:

I agree with you AA as usual Smile

it sickens me, cannot watch wildlife documentaries because there is always something about dwindling numbers.

Chinese are the worst for their mad obsession with ivory and natural "health remedies"

I believe 150,000 elephants were killed in 2012, sickens me

This Chinese belief of parts of animals being magical sickens me, too, Whale.
These people are supposed to be smart people, but if you look at these sick beliefs they have,  they are not very smart at all.
If every single one of us who cares about this just does one small thing to help prevent the needless slaughter,  even just write a letter,   speak out loud,  we can only hope to make some progress.
Look at the plight of the  Snowy Brumbies.  The greenies were all up for shooting them,   not just some but all,  but so many ordinary Australians who dont even know which end eats and which end poops , stood up, signed up, spoke up, and said NO.
They have been reprieved and its now looking at them being heritage listed.  So at least they wont be shot out.
And there is a wonderful initiative in the Barrington Tops, saving the Tasmanian Devil .  Breeding up disease free devils for the future, all done with donations from people, and not the Govnt. 
Lets hope more and more people come on board for all the animals, before its too late.
And lets hope Karma visits the likes of the bloke holding the tail, and all those other big brave people who kill animals for fun.





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animals before people.


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2017 at 3:43pm
36 year old spanish matador gored to death in France, at a bull fight.
Karma .


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animals before people.


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2017 at 3:47pm
 

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Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 23 Jun 2017 at 9:57pm

Zimbabwe: Bow Hunting - Zimbabwe's Great Wildlife Dilemma


By Andrew Kunambura

A worsening foreign currency crisis has armed safari operators with the ammunition they desperately needed to build a case for reintroduction of the bow hunting sport in Zimbabwe.

The sport, borrowing from ancient forms of hunting game, came to an abrupt end following the killing of Cecil the lion in July 2015.

The famous feline was first wounded with an arrow shot by recreational big-game hunter, American dentist Charles Palmer.

The lion was then killed with a rifle, approximately 40 hours later on 1 July 2015, triggering a loud global outcry from animal rights groups.

Government reacted by immediately banning bow hunting.

Hunters then migrated to South Africa, which, however, banned the sport last year, forcing cash-rich American bow sport hunters to seek a return back to the Zimbabwean forests.

And for cash-starved Zimbabwe, the lure of greenbacks is tempting, but conservationists are refusing to give in and a battle is looming.

Zimbabwe is one of only four countries in the world where any form of lion hunting is still permitted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The country also offers opportunities for hunting of big game like elephants and buffalo.

While there is nothing wrong with hunting, it is the undeveloped type of hunting that is raising consternation.

Bow hunting is the practice of hunting game by archery, in which hunters typically shoot several arrows to trees while tracking their quarry.

Once an animal happens to stray within range, hunters then set off the arrows.

Quick kills are rare, and animals suffer prolonged, painful deaths when the hunters only injure and fail to kill them.

Local safari operators cannot, however, wait to cash in on the sport, which they say has potential to bring in at least $5 million revenue every year.

Conservationists contend that more effort should be made to preserve Zimbabwe's rich wildlife diversity which attracts game viewing tourists from all over the world.

The question being asked is: Should government prioritise the quick gains of bow hunting over long term benefits of game viewing tourism?

Like so many hot button issues, the answer to the question depends on who is asked.

On the one hand, some say nothing could be more natural than hunting, and indeed just about every animal species has been either predator or prey at some point in its evolution.

Ironically, hunting has wiped out many animal species, while at the same time helping to cull some wild animals that have been allowed to freely reproduce beyond the environment's carrying capacity.

Using this argument, the country's safari operators may just have a compelling case.

For instance, the American bow hunters currently knocking on the country's doors are specifically targeting the buffaloes, elephants and lions, which are said to be off CITES red list in the country.

Elephants and buffaloes, for example, still roam the wild in great numbers in Zimbabwe, and have often posed danger to local communities and destroyed crops.

On the other hand, environmental and animal advocates see bow hunting as barbaric, arguing that it is morally wrong to kill animals just for the fun of it.

Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe president, Emmanuel Fundira, is encouraging government to review the blanket ban on bow hunting as a sport, which he says would open "an exciting period for the safari industry at a time when other parts of the economy are in crisis".

He said there was huge earning potential for the country if it allowed bow hunting to resume.

"It is therefore my fervent hope and belief that the regulators will consider helping us capture this growing market to the best interest of economic development," Fundira said.

Bow hunting grew in the 1960s in the United States when conservation lobbyists started discouraging gun hunting.

Mainly limited to hunting for food, the practice was popularised as a sport in the 1980s.

Overall, it was a pastime for older men, but there has been growing interest now among the affluent young generation.

But to the conservationists and animal rights activists, frivolous killing cannot be ethical, let alone be termed a sport.

They have declared that the role of hunting has always been to obtain protein for some populations living in areas infested with wild animals.

However, today the thrill of slaying mighty big mammals like the buffalo, elephant and lion that can be skinned and their hides hung on the wall of the basements of living rooms has brought a whole new dimension to the practice of hunting.

Considering how desperate the Zimbabwean government is at the moment in its search for liquidity, there is every reason to believe that conservationists might lose this fight.

But they will not go down without a fight.

California-based organisation, Animals Voice's Glenn Kirk said bow hunting "causes immense suffering to individual wild animals and is gratuitously cruel because unlike natural predation, hunters kill for pleasure".

He said despite hunters' claims that hunting keeps wildlife populations in balance, hunters' license fees are used to "manipulate a few game species into overpopulation at the expense of a much larger number of non-game species, resulting in the loss of biological diversity, genetic integrity and ecological balance".

The same sentiments were echoed by another American group known as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which is vehemently opposed to the sport.

PETA is the world's largest animal rights group with over 6,5 million members and supporters.

"Hunting might have been necessary for human survival in prehistoric times, but today most hunters stalk and kill animals merely for the thrill of it, not out of necessity. This unnecessary, violent form of 'entertainment' rips animal families apart and leaves countless animals orphaned or badly injured when hunters miss their targets," PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said.

Local animal rights organisation, the Veterinarians for Animal Welfare of Zimbabwe (VAWZ), said it was opposed to bow hunting because of the pain it inflicts on animals.

"Hunting is often called a sport as a way to pass off a cruel, needless killing spree as a socially acceptable, wholesome activity. However, sports involve competition between two consenting parties and the mediation of a referee. And no sport ends with the deliberate death of one unwilling participant," said VAWZ animal welfare officer, Mel Hood.

While the country's safari operators argue that controlled hunting was necessary to keep herds and pride populations within healthy sizes, conservationists argue that nature had its own way of delicately balancing ecosystems thereby naturally ensuring the survival of most species.

While natural predators help maintain this balance by killing only the sickest and weakest individuals, hunters strive to kill animals they would like to hang over the fireplace. And these usually are the largest, most robust animals, which are, however, critical in keeping the gene pool strong.

"If communities decide that buffalo herds must be managed, it is wrong to reduce the taking of animal life to a recreational activity for bow hunting enthusiasts. Instead, a truly humane solution must be found, whether that solution is to hire professional sharpshooters to observe the herd, taking the old and infirm, or to implement an immune-contraception program for the herd," says Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals general manager, Mark Beru.

As a signatory to the International Convention on Biodiversity a multilateral treaty signed at the United Nations Rio Earth summit of 1992 -- Zimbabwe, which has a commitment to the sustainable use of its natural resources, finds itself in a tight corner over bow hunting.



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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 24 Jun 2017 at 1:17am
Killing for fun is sick.Sick
Dont we all agree ,  to kill a human ,  just for the fun of it,  is sick,  and done by a sicko  ??
So why does anyone think its any different when killing animals.Confused
Killing for fun is a sick and sorry occupation.
Those people who take part in it are sickos,  shielded by wealth, to make it look good.
Big gun, small d**k , and small self esteem.  




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animals before people.


Posted By: max manewer
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2017 at 12:10pm
I see that the son of Cecil the Lion, shot by that crazy yank dentist in Africa, has himself been dispatched by another one of these deplorable trophy hunters. As the Great Oscar Wilde said of fox hunters......" the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible."


Posted By: maccamax
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2017 at 4:33pm
Hunters are Brave

     When the Rabbit doesn't have the gun.


Posted By: ThreeBears
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 6:23pm
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke ( of Walmart and Asda fame ) has announced a new app TV channel for diehard hunting fans.
 
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40773618" rel="nofollow - http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40773618
 
DeadThumbs Down
 
Another worthless billionaire


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 6:52pm
Shame he doesnt put his money to better use.   

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animals before people.


Posted By: Whale
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 6:53pm
Originally posted by ThreeBears ThreeBears wrote:

Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke ( of Walmart and Asda fame ) has announced a new app TV channel for diehard hunting fans.
 
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40773618" rel="nofollow - http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40773618
 
DeadThumbs Down
 
Another worthless billionaire


agree, there are a few around, POTUS


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Victor Orban 1.74 m, Michael Bloomberg 1.73 m, Emmanual Macron 1.77 m, George Soros 1.8 m


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 7:12pm
'They' may as well get what they can out of the wildlife, while there's still some left Unhappy Unhappy


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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 07 Sep 2017 at 4:00pm
Every forward step seems to be countered by 5 backwards Cry

Op-Ed: South Africa opens the door to the sale of wildlife parts

By Don Pinnock

There’s a thin line between the marketing of, and the genuine conservation of, wildlife. In the past few weeks that line was definitively crossed by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs. By DON PINNOCK.

Ignoring the findings of environmental organisations, its contractual compliance with CITES, a worldwide online petition and its own strategic plan for rhinos, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) is about to open the door to the commodification of rhino horn. This follows the permitting of 800 lion skeletons a year to be exported for fake tiger-bone wine and regulations for the hunting of leopards as soon as the present year-long moratorium is lifted.

There is also an ongoing political spat concerning the “donation” of R100-million worth of animals from North West Province Parks to private individuals. The result of these moves means a good deal of money for well-placed individuals in the wildlife business.

Let’s start with rhinos. Last year, following the findings of a committee of inquiry into the feasibility of South Africa trading in rhino horn, the government announced that it was not in favour of this trade. Its position was reinforced at the CITES CoP17 meeting in Gauteng late last year where it was clear that a large majority of member states were against legalising the trade. The voting was 100 against, 26 in favour, with 17 abstentions on a proposal by Swaziland.

Last year the South African ban on rhino horn trade was challenged by private sector rhino breeders, who won on a technicality. The Environment Minister, Edna Molewa, took the result on appeal to the Constitutional Court and there it languished.

Photo by Don Pinnock.

Then, on February 8, the South African government did a complete about-turn, announcing new draft regulations to permit legal internal trade in rhino horn and setting out conditions favourable for its export. If passed, each person will be able to buy, own, sell or export two rhino horns. The new regulations will render Molewa’s appeal redundant and is a total capitulation to the breeders. The public have 30 days from date of the gazette to make representations or objections.

But if it’s a capitulation, it’s been carefully framed. It brackets both black and white rhinos, though they have a different conservation status, and would permit the sale of two horns per person and their export by locals or foreigners as long as the conduit is OR Tambo Airport. It requires a freight agent and a raft of DNA, microchip and document checking which the DEA has no hope of administering. It will simply open the gate on wholesale laundering of poached horn by syndicates well versed in getting greedy officials onside.

You’d imagine the proposal would be related to hunting trophies, but though trophies are passingly mentioned, the proposal deals almost exclusively with horn as a commodity in itself and even discusses horn shavings, which have nothing to do with trophies.

Molewa seems unsure about how to explain the swerve to horn trade. She scheduled a briefing about it in Cape Town last week, changed it to Gauteng, then cancelled it altogether.

Photo by Don Pinnock.

DEA biodiversity director Thea Carroll confused the matter even further. She told Chris Barron of the Sunday Times that the department’s decision was that a commercial trade in rhino horn “will not be introduced”. But a few questions further she said the DEA’s position was “to allow for domestic trade in rhino horn and to regulate that trade in rhino horn”. Excuse me?

The public is left with a number of questions:

  • Who did the minister consult in drawing up the draft regulations and how did she arrive at a figure of two horns per person?
  • How will an already stretched and under-funded regulatory and policing force cope with monitoring internal trade?
  • How will she ensure that the horns will not enter the illegal international markets?
  • And is this the first step towards South Africa putting forward a proposal for full international trade in rhino horn at the next CITES conference in 2019?

According to environmentalist Ian Michler, “There is no realistic way of ensuring that the two horns per person do not end up being traded. The follow-up regarding trophy horns taken to other countries has been pathetic.

I don’t think any country, including the US, has ever systematically followed up on trophy hunters who have exported legally hunted horn out of South Africa to check that they still have them and have not sold them on. We should demand that the Minister present evidence of this follow-up and not just say that it’s happened.

There’s another problem with the proposal. It includes black rhinos in its scope, but these are listed as Appendix 1 by CITES so they (or parts of them) may not be traded internationally. But the DEA regulations would permit sale of their horns internally which, realistically, means exporters are sure to cheat because only a DNA test can tell the difference.

All this is hot on the heels of another startling proposal by the DEA: the sale of lion bones for the manufacture of fake tiger-bone wine. In a move clearly supporting the canned lion hunting industry, the DEA plans to permit the annual export of 800 skeletons for this purpose. It’s a lifeline to an increasingly discredited lion hunting industry that’s hurting following a US ban on the import of trophies from the country.

The move has come under fire from a wide array of local and international environmental organisations and follows an ongoing controversy about South Africa’s lion breeding industry that promotes cub petting, lion walks, canned lion hunting and the supply of lion body parts.

The decision is misguided and shameful,” said Audrey Delsink, Africa’s director of the Humaine Society International. “Breeding captive lions is not only cruel and contrary to the global shift against captive wildlife, but is a potential threat to wild lions.”

Pippa Hankinson, the producer of the film http://www.bloodlions.org/" rel="nofollow - - Blood Lions , said the quota appears to lack the requisite scientific basis and was arrived at without consideration of proper welfare or conservation protocols. There was no formal document to support how the quota of 800 skeletons was arrived at or how it would be enforced.

South Africa [is showing] complete disregard for the overwhelming response by key global conservation leaders calling for the termination of captive lion breeding,” she said.

According to Michelle Pickover of the http://emsfoundation.ca/" rel="nofollow - - EMS Foundation , there should be a moratorium on issuing any wildlife export permits because of the country’s extremely poor legislative and enforcement issues.

The DEA does not know how the lion industry operates, who the breeders or bone traders are, how many lions are in the industry and how many ‘facilities’ there are.

They leave this totally up to the industry itself. So it’s in essence secret and self-policed. There is also no transparency and this situation is worsened by massive corruption.”

For the DEA to think that farmed wildlife sale has no impact on those truly wild, it would have to ignore the fact that stimulating what are almost limitless Asian markets through the sale of limited goods soon bleeds into illegal procurement through poaching.

The leopard issue is more nuanced but equally worrying. There was celebration among environmental conservationists and no doubt grumbling among many farmers and hunters when the DEA accepted the negative non-detrimental finding (meaning it found it detrimental) to hunt leopards this year. But this was followed by legislation detailing how, when and where to hunt them as soon as the ban is lifted.

It’s worth stepping back from this legislative flurry and asking what’s going on here? A government department tasked with the protection of the environment appears to be engaged in assisting wealthy people to sell it bit by bit. Its reasoning appears to be its increasingly market-driven interpretation of sustainability, assisted, no doubt, by an industry keen to sell its wares. The core of the problem is an ambiguity in the definition in the Constitution.

While the Constitution states that citizens and future generations have the right to an environment protected from environmental degredation, it also promotes the “ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources”.

The former implies sustainable habitat protection in and of itself, the latter implies sustainablity for human use. With regard to protection of a natural geographical area or to a wild species, they are not compatible.

Sustainable habitat protection recognises that life is a set of relationships that, over time, is self-regulating and that these relationships – in place and over time – are what it’s important to sustain as part or the fabric of life on this planet. This is the logic of true conservation, of wild parks left as much as possible to their own internal logic with minimal human interference.

Sustainable use is about the maximum you can crop without collapsing a system, species or herd. It’s essentially a farming concept applied to wildlife.

The DEA’s logic on the use of rhinos, lions, leopards or essentially anything under its protection is that these species only matter to the extent that they are useful to humans.

By this ethic, individual animals have no moral worth other than in terms of the money we can gain from their lives and their death. Sustainability is only about ensuring there will be species in the future that we can exploit.

Between legislative direction and eventual outcome, of course, lies the shadow. Sustainable use of high-value objects is soon undermined by a combination of oversight ineptitude, huge profits and a sophisticated criminal underworld alert to any gaps or weaknesses.

Poached rhino horn will soon sidle into legitimate sales, legitimate trophies will rematerialise in the East as high-priced products, lion skeleton quotas will be overtopped, CITES permits will be forged, officials will be bribed, leopard skins will become Shembe cloaks or floor mats in wealthy pads, and ivory poachers will benefit from shifty transit systems spiriting wildlife parts out of the country. All under the unbrella of sustainable use.

The question we are left with is why our environmental protection agency has increasingly shifted over into a market-enabling one. There are those who would seek the cause in brown envelopes passed beneath the table, but I suspect it’s a genuine belief by the DEA of the second interpretation of the constitutional imperative – sustainablity for human use.

But if this is so, it needs to think deeply about who makes money out of rhino horn, lion skin or leopard pelt sales and vastly expensive hunts. It is certainly not “the people” defined in the Constitution. The biologist Ed Wilson warned us that “in the end, success or failure will come down to an ethical decision, one on which those now living will be judged for generations to come”.

That judgement, he added, may not be a positive one: “We have created a Star Wars civilisation with Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology. We thrash about. We are terribly confused by the mere fact of our existence, and a danger to ourselves and to the rest of life.”

It’s now too late for concerned citizens to stop the lion bone regulations, but there are a few days left to object to the sale of rhino horn. It seems a good call. DM




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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 07 Sep 2017 at 6:40pm
Nothing would surprise me about those countries. There is so much corruption in the Govnt, if there is money to be made they will do anything.

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animals before people.


Posted By: Whale
Date Posted: 07 Sep 2017 at 6:48pm
so sickening, those people will do anything for money, is Trump involved


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Victor Orban 1.74 m, Michael Bloomberg 1.73 m, Emmanual Macron 1.77 m, George Soros 1.8 m


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 07 Sep 2017 at 7:19pm
Originally posted by Passing Through Passing Through wrote:



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Posted By: maccamax
Date Posted: 07 Sep 2017 at 7:34pm
Originally posted by Aurelius Aurelius wrote:

Ha ha.........



HUNTING IS A GREAT SPORT,     WHEN THE RABBIT HASN'T GOT THE GUN.


Posted By: Tlazolteotl
Date Posted: 07 Sep 2017 at 8:05pm
I thought Viagra would kill the rhino horn demand from the midget-dicks. Boy was I wrong.


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 11 Sep 2017 at 2:10pm
https://bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-africa-41163520" rel="nofollow - https://bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-africa-41163520

How big game hunting is dividing southern Africa

http://www.bbc.com/news/correspondents/markeaston" rel="nofollow - By Mark Easton


Image copyright Getty Images An elephant kicks up dust outside Kingspool Luxury Safari Camp in the Okanvango Delta on June 18, 2010

Drifting down the Zambezi in Zimbabwe, I overheard two American men swapping hunting stories.

"First shot got him in the shoulder," a white man in his late sixties explained to his friend. "Second hit him right in the side of the head!" Pointing at his temple, he passed his phone with a picture. The animal in question was a dead crocodile.

Crocodiles are easy to find on this part of the Zambezi: lying in the sun on the banks of the river, boats can float just a few feet away. And given that they are motionless for most of the time, not hard to shoot, I imagine.

The second American showed his pal a picture of a Cape Buffalo he had killed, and planned to have shoulder mounted. He complained he couldn't afford the $19,000 (£14,500) Zimbabwe demands for the licence to kill an elephant. His buffalo cost him $8,000 (£6,100).

"Are they saying an elephant is worth more than two buffalo?" he lamented. "I saw hundreds of elephants today. Far too many. You have to see it here to realise. In California they are saying these animals are endangered!"

The first man's wife then talked of the thrill she gets at the kill, discussing how different calibres of bullet explode the vital organs of African wildlife. I left to look at the hippos watching from the river.

A trophy hunting company welcomes customers in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Image caption A trophy hunting taxidermist welcomes customers in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

But, curiously, I have felt obliged to consider the ethics of big game hunting at home in London in the last few months.

I'm an Arsenal fan, and it recently emerged that my team's owner, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40773618" rel="nofollow - American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, had launched a TV channel in the UK featuring lion and elephant hunting .

High profile supporters

The corporate values of family brand Arsenal do not sit easily with pay-to-view videos of hunters shooting animals for fun, and after a couple of days of hostile publicity, Kroenke ordered his channel to stop showing the killing of some big game.

But both sides in the hunting debate claim they are the true guardians of animal welfare.

Supporters of African trophy hunting, including some in very high places - two of President Trump's sons are avid big game hunters - argue that a ban on hunting would harm wildlife and local people.

It would stop much needed revenue reaching some of Africa's poorest communities, discourage conservation and cut funds for wildlife management that would make it easier for poachers to operate, they say.

  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-34017235/why-big-game-hunting-is-big-business-in-south-africa" rel="nofollow - Why big game hunting is big business in South Africa
  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33722688" rel="nofollow - What Cecil the lion means to Zimbabwe
  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33699347" rel="nofollow - When is it hunting and when is it poaching?

Opponents counter that little of the profit from trophy hunting money ends up in the communities where it takes place. They say poachers use legal hunting as cover for their illegal activities, and argue that there are more efficient and humane ways to support the welfare of southern Africa's animals and people.

I was travelling in Zimbabwe and neighbouring Botswana last month - two countries with opposing policies towards big game hunters. Hunting is still big business in Zimbabwe, as the rich Americans on the Zambezi demonstrate, but http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37230700" rel="nofollow - since 2014 it has been completely banned in Botswana .

Majestic animals

The difference in approach between Botswana and its neighbours - South Africa, Namibia and Zambia also allow trophy hunting - was brought dramatically home to me in the country's glorious Chobe National Park.

In the late afternoon, I watched a herd of around 600 Cape Buffalo snake its way down to the Chobe River that marks the boundary with Namibia. It was mesmerising to see these majestic animals following each other, nose to tail, across the water.

Cape Buffalo cross the Chobe River from Botswana into Namibia where hunters are waiting
Image caption Cape Buffalo cross the Chobe River from Botswana into Namibia where hunters are waiting

Then my guide pointed out two vehicles on the horizon, across the river. "Hunters," he explained, simply. Through the binoculars we could see six men with rifles. Apparently oblivious to the risk, the buffalo continued to cross the border towards them. Later, shots would be heard.

In a move interpreted as a direct challenge to the wildlife policies of other southern African nations, Botswana's President Ian Khama is marching his country towards a new model of African tourism: "low impact/high value".

Botswana believes that by protecting its animals and minimising humankind's footprint on the natural world, it can turn the country into an exclusive tourist destination that brings in far more than it loses from the ban on hunting.

Hostile environment

Botswana is home to more than a third of Africa's dwindling elephant population, and - since the hunting ban - these intelligent animals have increasingly sought refuge there.

The concentration of elephants is a huge draw for tourists but, as predicted by opponents of the ban, it is also a huge temptation for less scrupulous hunters and poachers.

Botswana's answer is to make the country a hostile environment for those who want to harm the wildlife.

Military bases have been moved to the borders of the national parks. Armed patrols on foot and in the air are ready, if necessary, to kill people coming to kill animals. Some poachers have been shot dead.

The hunting ban doesn't just apply to rich trophy hunters.

It also limits or outlaws the shooting of game by local people for food or to protect crops and livestock. The Botswana government believes if there is any legal shooting of animals, the big poaching syndicates and illegal hunting operations will use that as cover for their activities.

Farmer Chibeya Longwani shows me his bucket of tabasco chillies
Image caption Farmer Chibeya Longwani shows me his bucket of tabasco chillies

In Mabele village, close to the Namibian border, I watched a man mixing an extraordinary cocktail: crushed tabasco chillies, elephant dung and engine oil. With a flourish he set the contents on fire and stood back to admire his handiwork.

"That is supposed to stop an elephant trampling my crops," Chibeya Longwani told me, pointing at the ash in the tin.

Compensation

He spread it along the sides of his field, beside plastic chairs, broken electric fans and beer crates, as instructed by the Ministry of Agriculture.

"They said that bees stop elephants too," Mr Longwani said. "But they don't have the boxes at the moment." His frustration was obvious.

As well as advice on deterring elephants, farmers can claim compensation from the government if wild game does damage property. But if they kill the animals, they are likely to get nothing.

Plastic refuse is used to try and deter elephants from farmland
Image caption Plastic refuse is used to try and deter elephants from farmland

To police the new approach, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks has recruited an army of Special Wildlife Scouts, operating in rural villages. Their job, for example, includes ensuring families don't take more than the five guinea fowl they are allowed each day, and that farmers are honest in their compensation claims.

It is a nationwide exercise in social engineering - trying to change the ancient relationship between the rural population and the wild animals around them. The government believes the long-term rewards justify the rules. Many farmers remain unconvinced.

For those tourists coming to Botswana with cameras rather than guns though, the policies have created an utterly captivating wild landscape teeming with amazing African animals and birds. And "elite travellers" are prepared to pay big money for the privilege of seeing it.

Anti-poaching initiatives

During the high season, a single room in one of the most exclusive lodges on the Okovango Delta can cost more than $5,000 (£3,830) a night, equivalent to the price of a Namibian licence to shoot a single leopard.

Many tourist lodge operators work in partnership with local villages. I encountered one lodge where 10% of the business turnover will soon go to the community nearby. Villagers often have a direct say in development plans.

Image copyright Paula French Cecil the lion
Image caption There was a huge backlash after the much-loved Zimbabwean lion Cecil was killed in 2015

International tourism is expected to bring in $210m (£160m) to Botswana this year, rising to $370m (£280) by 2021 - more than trophy hunters spend across the whole of southern Africa.

Many in Zimbabwe, by contrast, see hunting as an inextricable part of Africa's cultural heritage, believing that, if done sustainably and responsibly, it can be a valuable addition to the region's economy and wildlife management.

The walking guides who take tourists into the bush there aren't allowed to operate until they have passed a state exam that includes shooting an elephant and a buffalo. I asked one guide how he had felt about doing it. "It depends if you like hunting," was his enigmatic reply.

The Zimbabwean government argues that 75% of proceeds from trophy hunting goes towards wildlife preservation and anti-poaching initiatives.

Toxic impact

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/wildlife-african-elephants-population-decrease-great-elephant-census/" rel="nofollow - The recent Great Elephant Census project suggests Zimbabwe's elephant population has fallen 11% in a decade, with poaching and illegal hunting threatening to wipe out whole herds in parts of the country.

The http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34508269" rel="nofollow - killing of Cecil the lion by an American trophy hunter just outside Zimbabwe's protected Hwange National Park area in 2015 made headline news around the world.

The furore prompted http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/32750891/airlines-ban-wildlife-hunting-trophies-on-board" rel="nofollow - a number of airlines to ban the transport of "trophies" from Africa , another sign of how toxic hunting has become for international brands.

Three years after introducing its hunting ban, Botswana is so far holding firm, despite huge pressure from other southern African nations.

It is a critical time for the policy. Any stumble, and the hunters are waiting on the horizon.



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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: max manewer
Date Posted: 11 Sep 2017 at 2:22pm
These hunters are suffering from FITH Syndrome, imo.


Posted By: maccamax
Date Posted: 15 Sep 2017 at 11:33am
I used to feel sorry for the big cats until I saw a Buffalo being eaten alive by a pride of Lions.
    That's natures way I expect but so is Humans knocking a few off as practice for North Koreas masses when the time comes.
Most of Australia wouldn't know how to aim a gun so we are easy prey for any invader.     ( unlike WW2 , The population were good marksmen)


Posted By: max manewer
Date Posted: 15 Sep 2017 at 1:08pm
Originally posted by maccamax maccamax wrote:

    Most of Australia wouldn't know how to aim a gun so we are easy prey for any invader.     ( unlike WW2 , The population were good marksmen)

Not in Darwin, in Feb '42 apparently. The seeming imminence of a Jap invasion caused a civilian bug-out which left only a few looters in town, and a smattering of servicemen with precious little arms and ammunition, guarding the beaches. No weekend hunters in sight !


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2017 at 2:14am
I know in Botswana, at every border post they have huge posters everywhere , saying that our wildlife is our future. Our wildlife is our road to prosperity.
As we travelled around we used to see all these high wire fences topped by barbed.   Private game reserves.  Some for hunting.  Potted lion our guide called it.  They just breed the animal and then the hunter comes in and shoots it.  SICK.  No sport,,,just sit and wait until the lion,,or whatever ,,walks past about 50 mtrs away, and blast it.  What do they get out of that ??
Others were for game viewing only.
Our guide had been a hunter guide as a young bloke.  He is now into conservation.  I ask him about Cecil. He said the hunter in charge deliberatley lured Cecil out of the park,,,he set his rich American up just to wait for Cecil to come into view, while he went and lured him out with a food trail.
Corruption in those countries is just so bad its disgusting.  Anything that will get the rich richer is a go-er. We were told the money we think goes to helping kids, when we donate, those kids would be lucky if they ever saw $1 in $50.    The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
As to poachers.  OMG.  I thought they crawled in thru fences at night.  Not so.  They drive in like ordinary tourists,,,guns in the boot,,,they go out looking around like tourists, and pick their animal and go back at night, shoot it, take the bit they want in the car boot, and drive out of the park the next day.   If they waste time on a de horned rhino, they kill it anyway, so they dont waste time on it again !!!!
When we were in Etosha there was a huge search going on , of all cars, at the gates , with sniffer dogs. Our guide said there must have been some sort of tip off or hint or something, and they believed poachers were moving in.
In Chobe there was a huge army camp on the river bank just near the big population of elephants.  They told us they guard the elephants at all time and they shoot to kill, no questions ask.
Lets hope Botswana hold strong.  
Without the wildlife, tourists wont go to that dry dusty dreary place, so they better wise up.



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animals before people.


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 05 Jul 2018 at 10:49pm

More than one alleged poacher thought to be killed by lions

Three poachers are known to have entered the Sibuya Game Reserve, owner says

By Gareth Wilson - 05 July 2018


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DObuFO7VYZy6nBQgCMINbHU-aiZLLI2V9iJIJt9vxgf4n2NuIwBCZSKRgSzyIzLE0YDcpoM6V1xkNP5It_Ff7kT_RunlLw=s1200" rel="nofollow -  

At least two alleged poachers, maybe even three, were killed by a pride of lions on the Sibuya Game Reserve outside Kenton-on-Sea this week.

This was revealed by reserve owner Nick Fox following the discovery of human remains in the lion camp on the reserve earlier this week.

A hunting rifle with a silencer attached and a long axe and wire cutters were recovered at the scene by police.

What we did see is the rifle on the ground as well as food, mainly bread, scattered everywhere. Human remains were also clearly visible.

Fox said he suspected more than one person was attacked by the lions – based on the evidence found on the scene.

“Judging from the shoes and items found on the scene, I suspect it is about two or maybe three (alleged poachers) who were killed. The remains were scattered over a very wide area making it difficult to comb the scene and get all the evidence,” he said.

Fox added that he suspected alleged poachers had entered the reserve on Sunday night or early Monday morning.

Fox said the discovery was made after the Anti-Poaching Unit Dog started barking while on patrol.

“The dogs' reaction was then followed by a commotion coming from the pride of lions. On Tuesday afternoon we were then alerted to a skull that was seen near the lions,” he said.

“I went to investigate together with the anti-poaching unit. Because it was too dangerous to get out of the car, we could not examine the scene as the lions were close-by. What we did see is the rifle on the ground as well as food, mainly bread, scattered everywhere. Human remains were also clearly visible.”

Fox said police were alerted but, due to bad lighting and the lions being active, a decision was made to dart and tranquilise the lions on Wednesday morning.

“It was a pride of six lions that we darted in order to give police time to comb the scene. The evidence was covered over a very wide area and obviously, due to the tranquiliser only lasting a certain period, we had limited time.”

Fox said that the rifle, fitted with a silencer, as well as an axe was found on the scene.

“They were obviously poachers. The axe that was found on the scene is what is used to by these poachers to hack off the horn after they kill the animal. Judging by the number of shoes and evidence on the scene, I estimate at least two or maybe three were killed.”

Asked if he was happy that the rhinos were safe, Fox said that he was extremely happy.

“It is huge relief that they did not get to the rhino. We had a poaching around this exact same time two years ago,” he said.

Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said that investigators and specialists combed the scene and managed to retrieve remains which were taken by the department of health for forensic testing Wednesday morning.

“The firearm has been taken by police and will be sent to the ballistics laboratory to establish if it has been used in any other poaching or crimes.”

In June 2016, two white rhinos were killed and a third died later from injuries sustained in the poaching incident.

This year alone, nine rhinos – all shot with a high-calibre hunting rifle – were killed by poachers on Eastern Cape reserves.Last week, Bella, a rhino at the Kragga Kamma Game Park, was killed just a week after she was dehorned.

The Sibuya reserve is situated fairly close to Port Alfred, where three rhinos were killed in May.




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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: djebel
Date Posted: 05 Jul 2018 at 10:50pm
Always good to read the animals getting one or two back for the team.




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reductio ad absurdum


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 05 Jul 2018 at 11:24pm
Go the lions Clap


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animals before people.


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 6:20pm

Giraffes just silently went to the list of endangered animals facing extinction

Giraffes have been widely overlooked in conservation practices for a little too long. They just made their entry into the Red List of endangered species.


New Delhi
UPDATED: December 15, 2018 16:00 IST
Two subspecies of giraffes were recently added to the list of “critically endangered” species for the first time ever, as per the latest report by IUCN.

Two subspecies of giraffes were recently added to the list of "critically endangered" species for the first time ever, as per at the latest report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which administers the world's official endangered species list.

The IUCN reported on Saturday that they have moved the giraffe from the list of 'Least Concern' to that of 'Vulnerable' status in their Red List of Threatened Species report.

The next slots after 'vulnerable' are 'endangered', 'critically endangered', 'extinct in the wild', and 'extinct'. Thus, if we do nothing about it, giraffes could become extinct in the wild in the medium-term future.


Which giraffe species are facing extinction?

There are nine subspecies of giraffes. Five of them are declining in numbers, two are improving, and one is stable, reports the New York Times.

Two subspecies of the world's tallest land animal -- the Kordofan giraffe and the Nubian giraffe - were added to the list of "critically endangered. These giraffe subspecies are found mainly across East, Central, and West Africa.

Another subspecies living in the Horn of Africa -- called the reticulated giraffe - was listed as "endangered".

Giraffe subspecies which got a status upgrade

Even though the Kordofan giraffe and the Nubian giraffe are now critically endangered, the West African and the Rothschild's giraffe species have seen an increase in their numbers, leading to an upgrade in their conservation status.

The smallest subspecies of West African giraffes grew from just 50 in the 1990s to 400 today, thanks to immense work by the Niger government and conservationists.

Giraffes are overlooked in conservation practice

Giraffes have never been considered to be at any big threat of disappearing, but the truth is -- they have been steadily decreasing in number over the years.

However, this new classification came as a surprise even to some conservationists, as observing them often in zoos or in movies makes us believe "they will be fine" and we barely guess that they could be in danger. The cries for help have centred on rhinos, elephants and the illegal trade of pangolins for the last decade.

The dwindling populations of giraffe species -- some as low as 400 -- happened so quietly that barely anyone got an idea of the tallest land animals reaching so close to disappearing off the face of Earth. They are shockingly more endangered than any gorilla.

As per a report by The Guardian by Damian Carrington, the number of giraffes has dropped from 157,000 in 1985 to 97,500 in just the last 31 years. That's a decline of almost 40 per cent.

Giraffes have already disappeared from seven countries -- Eritrea, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Malawi, Mauritania, and Senegal. They have been in danger for the last century in Africa.


Cause behind giraffes becoming endangered

As with the endangerment or extinction of any animal or plant species now, humans are at the root of it. Increased urbanisation, poaching, illegal hunting practices, and civil unrest in parts of Africa prove to be an increasing danger for giraffes.

The top cause for concern is that the world's tallest land animals are losing their habitat primarily because of land being taken over for agriculture, mining or construction. Stopping this is a huge task as it essentially means hampering the economy and livelihood of people and stopping land development.

Other than poaching or villagers eating its meat for food scarcity, they are also shockingly killed just for their tails as they are seen as a status symbol in some cultures and can be used as a dowry, as per National Geographic reports by Jani Actman.

https://indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/giraffes-now-endangered-species-and-threatened-animal-can-become-extinct-html-1407091-2018-12-11?fbclid=IwAR2KvGEc4UwYJ09mZ59UlUsK4fqPsKE7xAPmGQ-lfBMqpYY6n0Rem1cL5P4" rel="nofollow - https://indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/giraffes-now-endangered-species-and-threatened-animal-can-become-extinct-html-1407091-2018-12-11?fbclid=IwAR2KvGEc4UwYJ09mZ59UlUsK4fqPsKE7xAPmGQ-lfBMqpYY6n0Rem1cL5P4

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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: Isaac soloman
Date Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 8:41pm
i cant stand to hear about this.

i look away.

just let china go ahead a nd kill the lot, and be done with it.

lets not forget what they have done to the sharks, for shark fin soup

which is very hush hush nowadays.

need to find an attractive use for cane toads that the chinese have to have.


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 9:10pm
I also see on the news Japan is going to be hunting whales again this coming year.  Thankfully not in the southern oceans around us, but anywhere is horrible.


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animals before people.


Posted By: Isaac soloman
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 2:01pm
Wildlife photographer of the year winner 2017 (also wildlife photojournalist award: story category; World Press Photo, Rhine Wars, nature category, first prize stories)Memorial to a Species by Brent Stirton, South Africa.The killers were probably from a local community. Entering the Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve at night, they shot the black rhino bull using a silencer. Working fast, they hacked off the two horns and escaped. The horns would have been sold to a middleman and smuggled out of South Africa to China or Vietnam.


Posted By: Isaac soloman
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 2:02pm
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2017/dec/26/the-best-of-the-wildlife-photography-awards-2017-in-pictures#img-1" rel="nofollow - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2017/dec/26/the-best-of-the-wildlife-photography-awards-2017-in-pictures#img-1


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 9:40pm
Arnt people just Christmas puddings ?   Look at that rhino.   Thats so bad.  And even worse to think the so called modern country ,  powerful country, ( with their people hacking our security systems, )( China ) think that horn is going to make them root like a rabbit.  How dark ages stuff is that ??    God help us if they get power in our part of the world.   They will probably go all out on the wombats, because they will believe wombats eats roots and leaves


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animals before people.


Posted By: Baghdad Bob
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2019 at 11:17am
With the Sydney test commencing today and the support of the community of the Jan McGrath Foundation I am still unable to get out of my mind around ,one hand ,Glen McGrath's killing an elephant for sport, and then setting up a foundation to respect of his late wife's battle with cancer.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/glenn-mcgrath-african-hunting-photos-spark-death-threats-20150223-13mba4.html" rel="nofollow - https://www.smh.com.au/national/glenn-mcgrath-african-hunting-photos-spark-death-threats-20150223-13mba4.html


Posted By: maccamax
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2019 at 1:26pm
   I save the antelope , Giraffe's , Buffalo , elephants and other grass eating animals.

    I only shoot The big cats & hyenas.


Posted By: Gay3
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2019 at 2:13pm
I'm pretty sure all the big cats are now on the endangered list with some ranked as critical, along with the African Hunting dog so I'm afraid you're restricted to the hyenas macca Wink
The way I see it, only a few will care if the wild population in its' entirety is wiped out Cry Those making ludicrous profits from their trade will soon find an equally viable venture & their end of the line customers may actually discover the merit of alternative health treatments.



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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 06 Jan 2019 at 10:40pm
The chinese who pay huge amounts for rhino horn, causing so much killing of the animals, are complete idiots.  The horn is just keratin, same as their finger nails. 
Come in suckers !!!!!


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animals before people.


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2019 at 9:37am
See the picture today of the creep who shot  the 2 police in Glenn Innes, NSW ?  A big game hunter, posing with a dead giraffe, like he has really done something clever !!  OMG, how sick is that .


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animals before people.


Posted By: Whale
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2019 at 10:44am
Originally posted by acacia alba acacia alba wrote:

The chinese who pay huge amounts for rhino horn, causing so much killing of the animals, are complete idiots.  The horn is just keratin, same as their finger nails. 
Come in suckers !!!!!


I accept most things the Chinese do but not their primitive, savage ridiculous attitude to animal therapies, sick bastards Ouch


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Victor Orban 1.74 m, Michael Bloomberg 1.73 m, Emmanual Macron 1.77 m, George Soros 1.8 m


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2019 at 11:33am


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Posted By: Whale
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2019 at 11:39am
I understand sick people of all races hunt big game but it is an industry in China and supplying them is by far the largest source of wildlife slaughter 

Shark fin soup too, sharks are not cuddly animals but the unbelievably cruel fate they suffer Cry


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Victor Orban 1.74 m, Michael Bloomberg 1.73 m, Emmanual Macron 1.77 m, George Soros 1.8 m


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2019 at 11:42am
Big guns = little willies.


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animals before people.


Posted By: Passing Through
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2019 at 11:45am
Mushroom shaped apparently.

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Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2019 at 3:16pm
what would you expect of fungus ?  it lives in the dark and feeds off rotten mulch.


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animals before people.


Posted By: TIGER
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2019 at 11:07am
Glen McGrath loves elephant hunting

Sad world we live in

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EAD


Posted By: maccamax
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2019 at 11:15am
I love to see those big cats slaughtered ,    They are out killing every day.
Almost as bad as Humans , who rear little lambs like pets and then eat them.


Posted By: TIGER
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2019 at 11:30am
Hyenas are the biggest pest

-------------
EAD


Posted By: acacia alba
Date Posted: 26 Jan 2019 at 12:29am
Speaking from experience ???   LOL


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animals before people.



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