My Volunteer Work...Plus more Responsibility!

Remember Harry, that gopher snake at The Ogden Nature Center that I exercise as a volunteer? Now I get more of a part in taking care of him instead of just exercising him. I get to change his water, clean his tank, etc., and to top it all off I get to go inside an exclusive room for only volunteers that work with animals. Plus, I finally got my name badge to let everybody know I'm a volunteer and not some random kid walking in and messing around with the snakes. So even though I'm not the most experienced volunteer there, I love my work and will probably continue to do it for a long time. Me and Harry have become brothers. Sort of.

-PJ

Documentary Sheds Light on Little-Known SeaWorld Cetacean Cruelty

We all love SeaWorld parks. Full of aquatic animals of all shapes an sizes. But a new documentary, "A Fall From Freedom", made by Earthviews Productions (View the movie on the link below),  uncovers a controversy going on at SeaWorld parks that mistreats dolphins and orcas, especially during capture where people use explosives to scare orcas and/or dolphins or belugas to shore, and then wrestle them violently to put them on boats, only to be sent on a long, bumpy trip across the country in trucks or airplanes. But this is only the tip of the iceberg on the list of terrible things people have done just to ensure your entertainment during your family trip to San Diego this summer. As many people say in the documentary, SeaWorld should just rescue and then rehabilitate the animals, and that would be the "featured show" for us to enjoy.

-PJ

Click this link to view the documentary:

A Fall From Freedom

World Elephant Day!

Time to embrace the world's biggest land mammal! National Elephant day is tomorrow, August 12. Elephants are under threat because of poaching for their ivory tusks, but this holiday brings new hope for the beautiful mammals. You don't exact;y have to throw a party for the elephants, but just realize how precious they are and, even given terrible human obstacles, are still a species that has hope.

It is also a reminder of the terrible mass killing of elephants that occurred between January and March of this year, and the World Wildlife Fund has just let out video footage of it. Heavily-armed foreign poachers invaded Cameroon and killed over 300 elephants in Bouba N'Djida National Park. Surprisingly, I never heard of the incident until recently, or else I would have made a post about it much, much earlier. But the World Wildlife Fund has just released a video honing in on the incident, made like a mini-documentary.

This video is a reminder of the horrendous incident, and may not be for the weak-of-stomach:

                                               

We can all conclude that in order to save the elephants it's up to us. So donate to an organization that saves elephants, like WWF. Cherish these creatures of majesty, and forever realize there is hope for the elephants. And there's hope for every animal, for that matter.

-PJ

Phoenix's status:

Remember Phoenix, the young golden eagle who almost died in a Utah wildfire at Uintah County?  He recently had a vet check-up on July 31. He's doing well so far, considering nobody thought he was going to survive the blaze. However, there is one small problem. It's not major or anything, just a threat to Phoenix's  healing beak. The Utah Wildlife Rehabilitation Center says that Phoenix is becoming  a little rambunctious, and the bird could damage his own beak, which was softened and damaged by the fire and might take a while to heal up. To help deal with this, Phoenix's caretakers placed pads in the eagle's cage so there's less of a risk to his beak.  So,after going under anesthesia and getting a full check-up, Phoenix is expected to be fine, which is good news in my eyes.

                                                                        -PJ

Source & photo: WRCN facebook page

Some of Phoenix's feathers are still burnt and his beak was softened, but he's expected to be
fine.

                                                                                           

P.S. Please Comment!

Good News for Amur Leopards

The Amur leopard. an estimated 30 still exist in the wild, due to habitat loss and fatal human interaction. But a new safe haven has been made in Russia's Far East that provides the species a sanctuary. It's a newly-established national park named Land of the Leopard. Covering over 650,000 acres, it's part of a major project working to protect the Amur leopard. Inside the park's ranges, every single one of the species' breeding grounds are protected, and certain "zones" are being established, including protected areas and recreational areas, which will be used for Eco-tourism. But that's not all! The Land of the Leopard is also home to 10 Amur tigers, whom, even though brought back from the brink of near extinction, is still an endangered species. Even though Amur leopards are literally on the edge of oblivion, Land of the Leopard, along with conservation efforts, brings new hope to the leopard's-and the Amur tiger's- survival.

-PJ

Source: www.WorldWildlife.org 

Picture courtesy of LeopardPictures.com

1/2 Tonne of Ivory Seized at Bangkok Airport

Recently, nearly half a tonne of  illegally obtained ivory was found by Thai customs at the Bangkok national airport. The elephant tusks were found in wooden boxes on a flight from Kenya. In America, all the ivory combined would be worth over $700,000. Ivory shipped into Thailand is usually carved into jewellery, or sold to another country like China. Both actions are declared illegal. Like the very recent post about the illegal bird trade shenanigan, poachers were trying to find a way to launder valuable items into the Black Market. Ivory is said to be a "Universal Remedy", with some people claiming it cures everything from the flu to cancer, which is highly superstitious as elephant tusk is made from the same thing that human fingernails are. These superstitions are the same for tigers, bears and other animals. Remember the president of Gabon burning ivory to show his intolerance for poaching? Maybe the president of Thailand ought to do that, too.

-PJ 

Source: www.WildlifeExtra.com 

Picture Courtesy: BBC News

Vagary In illegal Bird Trade at Solomon Islands

Between 2000 and 2010 in Singapore, tens upon thousands of birds species, mainly consisting of parrots and cockatoos, listed as endangered were thrust into the illegal animal trade, with the smugglers declaring that the birds were captive-bred throughout all that time. Finally, local authorities explained to TRAFFIC (an organization that works to stop illegal animal trade) that Singapore is not known to behold captive breeding sites, especially for birds as endangered as the ones smuggled. More than 13,000 birds exported were species that weren't native to Singapore, most of them tracing back to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. TRAFFIC states that saying that thousands birds passing into the Solomon Islands were "captive bred" is a tell-tale indication of the shenanigan used to get around illegal bird trade.

                                              -PJ

Source: www.WorldWildlife.org