African Elephants Poached Like a Common Egg

Sometimes when you think you couldn’t possibly get more disappointed, you simply can. Apparently, 35,000 elephants are getting poached each year since 2010. At this rate, elephants will go extinct in the next 100 years. Are you serious? Yes, dead serious. Over the last 40 years, more than 600,000 elephants have been poached in Africa. This dramatic loss is creating countless baby orphans and breaking up entire elephant societies. They cannot sustain themselves at this rate.  

We all know that the trading ivory is illegal. Has been since 1989. But the thing is, it’s only gotten far worse since then. It’s now turned into this cluster of organized crime, forged documents, shoot outs, smuggling, and other nasty schemes.  Millions of dollars are in this black market business so there are few things low life people wouldn’t do for that kind of cash.

This demand is so deeply rooted in traditions and status of some Asian cultures, that it’s hardly possible to begin to think of a single idea about how to end this.  Maybe we need to start an Ivory Sucks campaign to nip the Worst Trend in the World Ever in the bud. I mean wearing teeth is far grosser than wearing cat hair on your jacket. Teeth/tusks/whatever. Don’t sport it, ancient art or fresh out of the face. Don’t do any of it. It’s gross. It’s selfish. It’s damaging. Are we cave people? I don’t even think the cave people were as dirty as we are today.  Honestly, these savages should just poach ivory out of their own face. Enough said. I need to stop myself before this gets too mean to post.

Over and out.

Britt

 via {Flickr, by Ed Yourdon}

Legit Sources

BBC

CBS

Victoria Falls Guide

Washington Post

PBS

Argentina, Let Arturo Go

Come on, Argentina. Isn’t it a little bit embarrassing and gross that you are holding a 29 year old polar bear captive in 100°F weather in your zoo? I thought the polar bear in the San Diego zoo had it bad.

Over 237,000 people have already signed a petition to have Arturo sent to the Polar Bear Conservation Center in Canada. Motherland basically. But get this, the director of the Argentinian zoo actually said that it would be “unsafe” to move him in his old age. Come again? Unsafe? Really? Are you truly concerned about the safety of Arturo? Suddenly, I feel like I’m missing something. Two years ago, didn’t Arturo’s cage buddy die in that same cramped, concrete enclosure? And now Arturo is all alone and expressing signs of loneliness and distress / living in unsafe conditions. If you want to keep him safe, build him a safe environment, give him what he needs or let the experts in the Arctic take it from here and save you from even more embarrassment. Maybe you don’t have a concept of what polar bears are, but  crying out loud, just say “Thank you Canada” and let our bear buddy go. He’ll have a better life. 

Over and out. 

Britt

Arturo, dubbed World's Saddest Animal {via Yahoo News}

Happy World Ranger Day!

Hello, welcome and good day!

I must admit that I did not know we have a World Ranger Day. But I am so glad we do. Trailblazed by the International Ranger Federation in 1992, every July 31, World Ranger Day is a day to celebrate and appreciate the rangers who risk their lives every day to protect wildlife and habitats from poaching and other threats. Rangers are our most precious allies in protecting wildlife, as they are out on the front lines and are generally under-equipped and under-paid. Rangers are up against terrorist organizations, rebel and militia groups who are extremely financed and often use machine guns, rocket launchers, helicopters and other military equipment for their dirty poaching operations. Big $$ in the black market for animal parts. People are so weird what they do with parts.

Pretty dark. Seriously though, these bad ass rangers are truly an asset to our wildlife and our world. This would be a very different place if we didn’t have these fighters out in the trenches. Sadly, over 1000 park rangers have been killed in 35 countries over the last 10 years. Their job is no joke. Thank you rangers who risk your life and those who gave it. No doubt this world would be 10,000 leagues under an even bigger mess without you. Know that you are needed. Know that you are appreciated. Know that you are important. Prince William wrote a little thank you. Props, Prince.  Thank you. Gracias. Grazzi. Asante. Спасибо. I am so glad you are fighting the good fight.

Thanks for swinging by. Good day and good night.

Over and out.

Britt

Honor Roll - those known to have died in the line of duty over the last 12 months.

via {International Ranger Federation}

Loophole Policy on Killing Endangered Species. Yes. It's true.

Hello, welcome and good day!

I want to tip my hat to all the fighters out there who are bringing attention to the US Department of Justice for allowing hunters/any person who kills endangered animals to go unpunished. Yes, amazingly, there is a 15 year old loophole called McKittrick policy that prevents criminal prosecution against people who kill endangered species. This includes grizzly bears, Mexican wolves, California condors, etc. RIP little buddies. Don’t know about your mind, but my mind is blown. Shame on you Department of Justice. Shame. On. You.

I read the LA Times article U.S. sued over policy on killing endangered wildlife by Julie Cart last night and was inspired to start this thing. I truly believe it is important to have a dialog about these issues. Ignoring the issue is no doubt, the absolute worst thing we can do about this. It is critical Friends that we are aware about these problems. Because not only is it an issue in Africa, Asia, the Arctic, but it’s a problem where I live, it’s a problem where you live, it is a problem where everybody lives.

Thank you Julie Cart for writing this article and getting it in the LA Times and now it is plastered around the internet. Thank you WildEarth Guardians and New Mexico Wilderness Alliance for standing up to the Justice Department since our little buddies can’t do it themselves. Best of luck to you and I hope you burry that McKittrick policy deep.

Thank you for swinging by. Come back for more updates on this issue and other endangered species info.

Images via {photobucket}