Boston, Mass. Federal court charges Chinese National with leading a conspiracy to illegally export (smuggle) $700,000 worth of wildlife items made from rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and coral from the United States to Hong Kong #AceNewsDesk – @AceNewsServices

ESA Under Attack on Capitol Hill

The Extinction Chronicles

19 JULY 2017

They’re at it again. Today Congress reviewed six bills over the course of two legislative hearings in both the House and Senate that would undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This is just the latest chapter in the ongoing assault against the ESA by one of the most anti-wildlife Congresses we’ve seen in decades.

Here’s a quick run-down of the bills being considered, each of which carries the potential to weaken our nation’s landmark wildlife protection law.

• H.R. 717 introduced by Representative Pete Olson (R-TX), would put financial cost considerations above species preservation. It would require decision-makers to first consider the economic costs of protecting an animal or plant being considered for listing, and it would remove deadlines for completing the listing process.
• H.R. 1274 introduced by Representative Dan Newhouse (R-WA), would consider any information submitted by a state or…

View original post 495 more words

SPEAK OUT AGAINST PROPOSAL TO ALLOW WOLF-BAITING IN IDAHO!

The Extinction Chronicles

https://idfg.idaho.gov/idfg-rulemaking/consider-allowing-bait-hunting-gray-wolf-during-specific-seasons

Consider allowing bait for hunting gray wolf during specific seasons

Develop rules to allow use of bait to hunt wolves in game management units and seasons to be set by Commission proclamation

Description

The purpose of this rulemaking is to consider changes to the allowed use of bait for hunting gray wolf. Currently gray wolf may be taken incidentally to permitted black bear baits, where hunting seasons are open for both black bear and wolf, but big game rules do not allow use of bait specific to hunting wolf. The Commission allows or prohibits use of bait for black bear on a game management unit basis in big game season proclamations. There may be management circumstances for which the Commission may want to allow use of bait for hunting wolf at times and places where bait use is not allowed or seasons are not open for black bear, such…

View original post 383 more words

Petition update · Puppy Doe Trial Postponed! · Change.org

Justice for Puppy Doe: Tell Craigslist to Help Stop Violence Against Pets
by FEND · 413,934 supporters

Petition details
Community

Petition update
Puppy Doe Trial Postponed!

Jul 25, 2017 — The trial of the man accused of torturing Puppy Doe after having purchased her via a Craigslist ad, has been delayed once again. Jury selection was scheduled to start today, July 25th, but the the Massachusetts Assistant District Attorney has experienced a medical emergency, delaying the trial.

There is a new hearing date set for August 7th when a new trial start date is expected to be announced. Click the link below to read the full report.
Puppy Doe Trial Postponed! | FEND Library
The trial of the man accused of torturing Puppy Doe after having purchased her via a Craigslist ad, has been delayed once again…

https://fend.ngo
Puppy Doe Trial Date Set for August 2017
Share this petition
413,934 supporters
86,066 needed to reach 500,000

Justice for Puppy Doe: Tell Craigslist to Help…

https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-puppy-doe-tell-craigslist-to-help-stop-violence-against-pets?recruiter=44240641&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=petition_update
© 2017, Change.org, Inc.Certified B Corporation

Real / Faux Fur and Vegetarian Diet Food Facts – Information Sheets.

Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

View original post

Petition: FWS: Protect Giraffes as Endangered Species Before It’s Too Late

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/646/830/122/

Petition: Save the Rainforest: Say No to Deforestation for Biofuels

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/893/488/232/

Petition: New Zealand: Protect Vulnerable Seabirds from Commercial Fishing Now

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/140/439/073/

Petition: Ban Shark Finning in Singapore

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/151/178/578/

Petition: Help End The Pet Owl Trade in Indonesia

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/888/812/752/

Petition: Wisconsin: This horse is suffering and has no voice!, Wisconsin

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/916/193/943/

Illegal Indonesian Owl Trade Might Be Harry Potter’s Fault | Care2 Causes

Care2 Causes | Illegal Indonesian Owl Trade Might Be Harry Potter’s Fault
Illegal Indonesian Owl Trade Might Be Harry Potter’s Fault
By: Susan Bird
July 17, 2017

When you hear the words “Harry Potter,” certain indelible images come to mind. You likely remember Harry, Hermione and Ron. And you probably think of Hogwarts and all those fascinating professors of magic. But don’t forget the magnificent owls. You’d love to you get your mail delivered by a friendly owl, wouldn’t you?
Of course, that’s all fiction. Unfortunately, though, where those owls are concerned, people seem to forget that they aren’t meant to be pets. You see, those lovely, inspiring Harry Potter novels and movies might be responsible for sparking an upsurge in the illegal black market for owls, according to a new study.

You’ll recall that each Hogwarts student had some type of animal familiar. Harry’s happened to be a beautiful white owl named Hedwig. The books and movies included several scenes in which students communicated with family and friends by “sending an owl,” which carried a message much like a carrier pigeon would.

Indonesia, where birds have long been a popular type of pet, has witnessed a spike in demand for pet owls. In that country, the Harry Potter books first came out in 2000 and the movies were released in 2001.

This study, published in the journal “Global Ecology and Conservation,” discovered a rather striking correlation between Harry Potter’s popularity and the rise in demand for owls.
Vincent Nijman and co-author Anna Nekaris of Oxford Brookes University found that only a few hundred owls were traded in Indonesian bird markets in 2000. But after Harry Potter became a worldwide sensation, the number of owls captured for sale zoomed to a heartbreaking 13,000 birds per year by 2016.

These owls are mostly wild-caught, which means this trade relies on poaching — and is, therefore, illegal.
Caged owl in Indonesian bird market. Photo credit: Thinkstock
“In the 1990s, when surveying the bird markets I would typically see one or two owls for sale amongst the thousands of wild-caught birds on offer but equally often not a single owl was on display,” Nijman said in a statement. “Now, returning to those same markets we can see dozens of owls for sale of a wide range of species and owls are always present, all taken from the wild.”

Specificall, the study found:

The increase in the number of owls offered for sale since 2010 not only in Jakarta but throughout Java and Bali, coincided with an increase in the number and level of organization of the pet owl communities, online and offline, and this, as much as the Harry Potter films and novels, might explain the popularity of owls as pets in Indonesia.

And tragically, the study’s authors say about 2,000 of the captive owls they saw in cages in bird markets were downy chicks. These owls had obviously been stolen from their nests. At such a young age, few would likely survive more than a few weeks.

“It is particularly heart breaking to see nocturnal animals like owls in the markets,” Nekaris said in the statement. “Looking stunned and stressed under the bright sun, they are often only fed water and rice, making the situation all the more pitiful.”
This is how owls should live — wild and free. Photo credit: Thinkstock
While no one wants to blame the Harry Potter phenomenon for what’s befallen Indonesia’s owls, the indicators are all there. Nijman, a wildlife-trade researcher, says Harry Potter “normalized keeping owls as pets.”

The Malaysian name for owls is Burung Hantu, but these days they call them Burung Harry Potter – “Harry Potter birds.”

Ultimately, of course, this isn’t really Harry Potter’s fault. The blame should be attributed to all the unthinking people who believe that, because they see a tame animal in a movie, it might be cool to own one. To those people, I say: You’re not being cool; you’re just demonstrating incredible ignorance.

The most traded owl is the scops owl. Scops owls are endangered, which makes this issue even more serious. Unfortunately, Indonesia isn’t doing anything to stop this illegal black market trading.

And that’s surprising, considering that under Indonesian law, wildlife trade is prohibited when there is no officially designated quota.

Indonesia, it’s time for you to do something. Every owl sitting sad, frightened and lonely inside a cage is just waiting to die in captivity. Show the world that this issue matters to your country.
Copyright © 2017 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved

Petition: Reintroduce the lynx to the UK to improve wildlife diversity

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/516/581/551/

Petition: Demand that foxhounds be muzzled when outside off-leash, United Kingdom

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/126/132/820/

Reward for catching British fox cub poachers

Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video from Britain says about itself:

23 July 2013

Very soon (middle to late) in August, fox hunts up and down the country will be training their hounds to kill in one of the most hateful and disgusting parts of the hunting season; cub hunting.

Cub hunting is normally called autumn hunting … because the very idea of hunting baby animals with new hounds is abhorrent even to them.

They will send out the terrier ‘men’ to block known fox earths when the breeding vixen is out with her cubs during the night. On returning, the vixen and cubs, tired from the night before, will not be able to return to the safety of their home; that’s when the hounds are sent in to kill them.

They will ‘hold up’ a fox covert in order to scare any foxes – vixen, dog or cub back into the…

View original post 561 more words

Stop puppy mills: It starts with YOU – The Humane Society of the United States

https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=6041&autologin=true&s_src=em_ha_072517&mi_u=7601230

Many Endangered Species Threatened By Trump At Papahānaumokuākea (and other) Marine National Monument(s): Comment By Wednesday Night 11.59 PM EDT

Mining Awareness +

Comment on this and other threatened US Marine Monuments here, deadline JULY 26TH, 11.59 PM (night) : https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NOAA-NOS-2017-0066-0001

Hawaiian monk seal UFWS

The endangered Hawaiian monk seal, for instance, forages well into the monument expansion area threatened by Trump who apparently wants to turn it over to energy and mining special interests.

The protected area was recently expanded to include the actual offshore Midway battle site, where many lay buried at sea and the foraging ground for endangered species. This is at stake. See too: https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2017/07/23/wwii-midway-battle-site-national-ocean-monument-endangered-species-threatened-by-trump-comment-deadline-26-july-11-59-pm-et-1-min-to-midnight/

Why? They make it clear that it’s Trump’s greedy buddies, donors, and/or greedy Trump investments: The opportunity costs associated with potential energy and mineral exploration and production from the Outer Continental Shelf, in addition to any impacts on production in the adjacent region.” https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NOAA-NOS-2017-0066-0001

From the World Heritage Inscription:
“Papahānaumokuākea as a Refuge for Rare and Globally Significant Species

Many species of…

View original post 1,623 more words

A Brand New Editor for the WordPress Mobile Apps

The WordPress.com Blog

Now that so many of us carry around tiny pocket-size computers, more and more of our Internet time happens on phones and tablets — not just browsing, but creating. You’ve been asking for a better publishing experience in the WordPress app to make mobile publishing smoother. Today we’re introducing a new editor for iOS and Android, codenamed “Aztec.” It’s speedy and reliable, works with posts and pages, and is ready for beta testing!

What’s New?

At first glance, the Aztec editor might look like the old editor — which means you already know how to use it, with no learning curve.

What’s different, exactly? A lot:

• The overall user experience is smoother and snappier, with improved scrolling and faster image insertion.
• Spellcheck now works reliably.
• The addition of Undo and Redo tools means you can easily fix mistakes or move between different versions of your text when writing (and re-writing!).

View original post 480 more words