Tourism-Fuelled Animal Abuse on the Gili Islands

Backpackers, honeymooners, and other tourists visit Indonesia’s Gili Islands to bathe in the blue seas and relax under palm trees, yet this idyllic resort has a dark, ugly side: more than 500 small, exhausted horses are forced to cart heavy loads of tourists and supplies around the islands every day.Whipped and Beaten

 

According to local animal advocates, the horses are badly neglected and often mercilessly beaten as they are literally worked to death.

Thirsty and Exhausted

Despite the sweltering heat, they’re rarely given water to drink, relief from their harnesses, or the opportunity to rest – and they’re worked long into the night, until the last tourists have left the bars.

Gili Carriage Horse Support Network (GCHSN), a local group working to end the exploitation, has stated that, in some cases, the equipment isn’t removed when the shift is over, so the horses are strapped to carriages all day and all night.

Although horses’ average life expectancy is 25 to 30 years, those on the Gili Islands typically live a mere one to three years.

An Endless Cycle

Local people and welfare groups such as GCHSN are trying desperately to end this misery, but until tourists speak out and refuse to pay for rides, the horses’ exploitation and suffering will continue.

What Can You Do?

If you’re travelling to the Gili Islands, please refuse to take carriage rides, and remember to leave reviews highlighting the cruelty on a variety of travel websites. When tourists stop contributing to this cycle of abuse, authorities will be forced to replace horse-drawn carriages with alternative means of transport.

Please also let your friends and family know about the plight of these horses – the more people who know, the better our chances of ending the cruelty.

https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/gili-islands-horses/?utm_campaign=ENT%20bali%2018horses&utm_source=ENews%20Email&utm_medium=Promo

RIP Lilbitluso: Horse Dies on First Day of Grand National Festival

The 10-year-old gelding was euthanised after falling at the Canal Turn fence.

Source: RIP Lilbitluso: Horse Dies on First Day of Grand National Festival

Colorado counties sue Exxon, Suncor over climate change #auspol #qldpol #StopAdani

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Colorado counties sue Exxon, Suncor over climate change

Alexa Lardieri Published 9 Hours Ago

Boulder and San Miguel counties in Colorado are suing ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy for their effects on the environment and their negative contributions to climate change.

Up until this point climate change lawsuits have been limited to coastal cities worried about sea level rise.

However, these Colorado cities say they are feeling the negative effects of climate change, too, namely when it comes to snow loss.

“These impacts have already harmed Plaintiffs’ property and impacted the health, safety and welfare [of] their residents. The damages will only multiply as climate change worsens,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit claims “that fossil fuel combustion was causing a dramatic rise in the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere,” which causes “significant temperature changes” and “dramatic climatic changes.” Because of the increase in temperature, there is dwindling snowpack in the…

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Earth Day and the climate message of the “hockey stick” graph

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Earth Day and the Hockey Stick: A Singular Message https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/earth-day-and-the-hockey-stick-a-singular-message/

On the 20th anniversary of the graph that galvanized climate action, it is time to speak out boldly

By Michael E. Mann on April 20, 2018 Two decades ago this week a pair of colleagues and I published the original “hockey stick” graph in Nature, which happened to coincide with the Earth Day 1998 observances. The graph showed Earth’s temperature, relatively stable for 500 years, had spiked upward during the 20th century. A year later we would extend the graph back in time to A.D. 1000, demonstrating this rise was unprecedented over at least the past millennium—as far back as we could go with the data we had.

Although I didn’t realize it at the time, publishing the hockey stick would change my life in a fundamental way. I was thrust suddenly into the spotlight. Nearly every major newspaper and…

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Petition: Bolingo the Gorilla Doesn’t Belong at an Amusement Park

by: Care2 Team
target: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

29,967 SUPPORTERS
30,000 GOAL
Busch Gardens, in Tampa Bay, is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. The amusement park is a place where all of us, young and old can go to unwind and be entertained. But while the tourists are laughing, some of the other guests are having far less fun.

Recently, the park shared a seemingly harmless video of Bolingo the gorilla and his trainer. The trainer does a handstand on one side of the glass and the gorilla agilely does one on the other. It truly is an astounding sight to see something so big, be so quick and flexible. What’s more, it’s amusing to see the gorilla mimic his human companion.

But it’s very likely that Bolingo isn’t as amused. Busch Gardens says these kinds of tricks provide the primate with “mental and physical stimulation.” And that’s the problem — in the wild, gorillas like other animals would not need stimulation. Their natural existence would be stimulating enough. In the wild, gorillas would be able to traverse wide ranges, explore the landscape, eat at their leisure and interact with others of their kind.

The fact that Busch Gardens has to devise things to keep Bolingo occupied is a sad reminder of just how boring life in captivity can be.

What’s worse is that Busch Gardens isn’t even a zoo, it’s a theme park where families go to ride waterslides and rollercoasters. Its abuzz with activity and noise, no place for a gorilla who would normally be tucked away in the thick jungles of the mountains of Africa, hidden from the noise of the cities far below.

Please ask Busch Gardens to stop subjecting their gorilla to a boring life. Sign the petition and ask them to release Bolingo to a sanctuary.

https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/380/307/816/