Two endangered Javan rhino calves spotted in Indonesian park

 France24 – AFP, 20 Septemebr 2020

Two extremely rare Javan rhinoceros calves have been spotted in an Indonesian
national park Handout ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTRY MINISTRY/AFP

Jakarta (AFP) - Two extremely rare Javan rhinoceros calves have been spotted in an Indonesian national park, boosting hopes for the future of one of the world's most endangered mammals. 

The rhino calves -- a female named Helen and male called Luther -- were seen with their mothers in footage taken from nearly 100 camera traps installed in Ujung Kulon national park between March and August, authorities said in a statement on Sunday. 

On the westernmost tip of Java in Banten province, Ujung Kulon is the last remaining wild habitat for Javan rhinos. 

After years of population decline, the arrival of the new calves brings the total number of the rare mammals to 74. 

The sanctuary comprises some 5,100 hectares (12,600 acres) of lush rainforest and freshwater streams. 

The Indonesian government has been surveying other areas across Java and Sumatra islands to relocate the rhinos from the danger of Mount Krakatau, an active volcano not far from the national park. 

"These births bring a big hope for the continuation of the life of the critically endangered special Javan rhino," said Wiratno, a senior official at the environment ministry. 

Javan rhinos have folds of loose skin giving them the appearance of wearing armour plating. 

They once numbered in the thousands across Southeast Asia, but have been hard hit by rampant poaching and human encroachment on their habitats.

Leopards, wolves vanishing from panda conservation areas: study

Yahoo – AFP, 3 August 2020

It may be one of the most recognisable symbols of conservation, but efforts to protect the giant panda have failed to safeguard large mammals sharing its habitats, according to research published Monday showing dramatic declines of leopards and other predators.

The giant panda is seen as an 'umbrella' species because its conservation is
considered to help many less well-known animals, plants and birds

The giant panda has won the hearts of animal lovers around the world and images of the bamboo-eating creature with its ink-blot eye patches have come to represent global efforts to protect biodiversity.

Since conservation efforts began, China has cracked down on poachers, outlawed the trade in panda hides and mapped out dozens of protected habitats.

The strategy is considered one of the most ambitious and high-profile programmes to save a species from extinction -- and it worked.

The panda was removed from the International Union for Conservation of Nature endangered species list in 2016 although it remains "vulnerable". 

But a new study published on Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution has cast doubt over the idea that efforts to protect the panda automatically help all other animals in its territory.

Researchers found that the leopard, snow leopard, wolf and dhole -- also known as the Asian wild dog -- have almost disappeared from the majority of giant panda protected habitats since the 1960s.

The findings "indicate the insufficiency of giant panda conservation for protecting these large carnivore species," said Sheng Li, of the School of Life Sciences at Peking University, who led the research.

The authors compared survey data from the 1950s to 1970s with information from almost 8,000 camera traps taken between 2008 and 2018.

They found that leopards had disappeared from 81 percent of giant panda reserves, snow leopards from 38 percent, wolves from 77 percent and dholes from 95 percent. 

The predators face threats from poachers, logging and disease, the study found.

The authors said a key challenge was that while pandas may have a home range of up to 13 square kilometres (5 square miles), the four large carnivores can roam across an area exceeding 100 square kilometres.

Sheng Li told AFP that individual panda reserves -- typically around 300-400 sq km -- are too small to support a "viable population of large carnivores like leopards or dholes".

- 'Enormous charisma' -

Panda conservation has helped protect other animals, he said, including small carnivores, pheasants and songbirds.

"Failing to safeguard large carnivore species does not erase the power of giant panda as an effective umbrella that has well sheltered many other species," he added.

But he called for future conservation to see beyond a single species, or animals with "enormous charisma", to focus on broader restoration of natural habitats. 

He said he hoped this can be achieved as part of a proposed new Giant Panda National Park, a long-term programme that would link up existing habitats over thousands of kilometres to allow isolated populations to mingle and potentially breed.

The recovery of large carnivore populations would "increase the resilience and sustainability of the ecosystems not only for giant pandas but also for other wild species", the researcher added.

The IUCN estimates there are between 500 and 1,000 mature adult pandas in the Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu regions of China.

The conservation group lists the leopard and snow leopard as vulnerable across the areas they are found in, while the dhole is listed as endangered.

Mushroom never seen before in the Netherlands pops up in Drenthe

DutchNews, August 8, 2019

A sample of pycnoporellus fulgens. Photo: Mushroom Observer via
Wikimedia Commons

In national park Drents-Friese Wold a species of mushroom has been found that had never been seen before in the Netherlands, RTV Drenthe reports. 

Pycnoporellus fulgens, which has no Dutch name because it never needed one before, only occurs in ancient pine forests where human intervention has been kept to a minimum. 

‘The find shows that the beautiful old pine forests in Drenthe can be compared to the natural, unspoilt pine forests in Scandinavia,’ said mycologist Rob Chrispijn who discovered the mushroom. 

The species is rare and usually grows in mountainous areas. Mycologists are now trying to find out why the mushroom suddenly put in an appearance in the lowlands. 

The Dutch Mycological Society has proposed to name the species the ‘Oranje sparrenhoutzwam’, or Orange sprucewood mushroom.

Nine deer dead in Japan after eating plastic: wildlife group

Yahoo – AFP, July 10, 2019

Tourists are forbidden from feeding the deer any food other than the crackers
(AFP Photo/Behrouz MEHRI)

Tokyo (AFP) - Nine deer have died after swallowing plastic bags in Japan's Nara Park, a wildlife group said on Wednesday, warning that a surge in tourism may be to blame.

The Nara Deer Preservation Foundation said that masses of plastic bags and snack packets were found in the stomachs of the deer which died between March and June this year.

"The biggest litter found in one of the nine amounted to 4.3 kilograms (9.5 pounds)," foundation official Yoshitaka Ashimura told AFP.

"We were surprised. It was so big," he said.

The picturesque park in Japan's ancient capital is home to more than 1,000 deer, which can even be found roaming the streets in search of special tasty crackers offered by tourists.

Tourists are forbidden from feeding the deer any food besides the crackers but Ashimura said some visitors offer the animals other types of snacks.

"The deer probably think that the snacks and the plastic packs covering them are both food," he said, adding the animals normally eat grass and acorns.

"They might also eat plastic bags dropped on the ground," he said, adding that he believed such cases had increased recently "due to the growing number of visitors".

"The only way to prevent this is to remove all the garbage."

The sprawling park that also includes wooden temples and shrines built centuries ago is a major tourist attraction.

The number of tourists visiting Nara city where the park is located has increased in recent years, with 16 million visitors in 2017.

The deer at the park -- numbering on average about 1,200 -- are protected as a national treasure.

Rare all-white panda spotted in China reserve: State media

Aljazeera –AFP, 26 May 2019

China's Wolong National Nature Reserve is in Sichuan province which is home to 80 percent of the world's wild pandas.

Pandas are currently listed as a vulnerable species, with fewer than 2,000 living in the
wild according to the World Wildlife Fund [Handout Wolong National Nature Reserve/AFP]

A rare all-white panda has been caught on camera at a nature reserve in southwest China, showing albinism exists among wild pandas in the region, state media reported.

The bear was photographed while trekking through the forest in mid-April in southwest Sichuan province, said official news agency Xinhua on Saturday.

The panda is an albino between one to two years old, said Li Sheng, a researcher specialising in bears at Peking University, who was quoted in Xinhua's report.

The Wolong National Nature Reserve - where the animal was spotted - told AFP it had no further details about the albino panda.

More than 80 percent of the world's wild pandas live in Sichuan, with the rest in Shaanxi and Gansu province.

Giant panda park

There were about 548 giant pandas in captivity globally as of November, reported Xinhua.

The number living in the wild has dwindled to fewer than 2,000, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Famed for its "panda diplomacy", in which China dispatches the rare animals to other countries as a symbol of close relations, Beijing has invested in different programmes to protect its furry ambassadors in recent years.

In 2018, China announced plans to create a bastion for giant pandas three times the size of Yellowstone National Park to link up existing wild populations and encourage breeding of the notoriously slow-reproducing animal.

At least 10 billion yuan ($1.45bn) had been budgeted for the Giant Panda National Park in mountainous southwestern China the state-run China Daily reported.

Pandas are currently listed as a vulnerable species, which means that while their survival is still threatened, conservation efforts have helped reduce their danger of extinction.

Zimbabwe sells 100 elephants to China, Dubai

Yahoo – AFP, May 15, 2019

Zimbabwe has sold nearly 100 elephants to China and Dubai for a total price of
$2.7 million over six years, the country’s wildlife agency said Wednesday,
citing overpopulation (AFP Photo/MARTIN BUREAU)

Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe has sold nearly 100 elephants to China and Dubai for a total price of $2.7 million over six years, the country’s wildlife agency said Wednesday, citing overpopulation.

Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo told AFP Zimbabwe's elephants were overcrowding national parks, encroaching into human settlements, destroying crops and posing a risk to human life.

"We have 84,000 elephants against a carrying capacity of 50,000," he said, justifying the sales. "We believe in sustainable use of resources, so we sell a few elephants to take care of the rest.

Farawo said 200 people have died in "human-and-animal conflict" in the past five years, "and at least 7,000 hectares of crop have been destroyed by elephants".

The animals' natural habitat has been depleted by climate change, he added, while recurrent droughts have added to strain on the overburdened national parks, forcing the pachyderms to seek food and water further afield.

Farawo said money from the legal sales was allocated to anti-poaching projects, conservation work, research and welfare.

According to the Zimbabwe Chronicle newspaper, 93 elephants were safely airlifted to parks in China and four to Dubai between 2012 and 2018, They were sold in a price range of between $13,500 and $41,500 each.

Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe have called for a global ban on elephant ivory trade to be relaxed due to the growing number of elephants in some regions.

But over the past decade, the population of elephants across Africa has fallen by about 111,000 to 415,000, largely due to poaching for ivory, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Malawi hails 'historic' relocation of 520 elephants

Yahoo – AFP, August 3, 2017

African Parks officials load elephants into a truck, to be translocated from Majete
Game Reserve in southern Malawi to Nkhotakota Game Reserve to increase the
animal population and boost tourist attraction in the country's central region.
(AFP Photo/Amos Gumulira)

Blantyre (Malawi) (AFP) - Malawi on Thursday celebrated the successful conclusion of a two-year project moving 520 sedated elephants by truck to a reserve where the animals had been nearly wiped out by poaching.

Described as one of the biggest-ever wildlife translocations, the elephants were transported 350 kilometres (220 miles) from two southern parks to the Nkhotakota reserve in the centre of the country.

"We have taken extraordinary measures to secure a future for Malawi's elephants, and at the same time are helping people who live around these critically important wild areas," said Brighton Kumchedwa of the national parks department.

The elephant population in Nkhotakota fell from 1,500 to just 100 in 2015. Since then security work and community relation programmes have made the reserve safe for wildlife.

Africa Parks, a conservation organisation that led the translocation, described it as "historic", adding that 261 elephants were moved last year and the remainer this year.

Only two elephants died in the process, which was completed on August 2.

The elephants were selected family by family and darted from a helicopter, before being winched by their legs into crates on the back of 30-tonne trucks.

They were driven overnight from the two parks, which had a overpopulation of elephants, to their new home in Nkhotakota.

Their new home is now surrounded by a high electric fence and has also re-filled with buffalo, antelope, warthog and zebra.

"This successful translocation is a pivotal moment for Malawi," said Peter Fearnhead, head of African Parks.

"Rehoming more than 500 elephants, and knowing they will thrive in Nkhotakota, is a story of hope and survival, and a real example of what is possible with good collaboration."

Britain's Prince Harry assisted in the first stage of the relocation.

Project organisers said there were more than 10 million African elephants 100 years ago, but only an estimated 450,000 remain today.

About 40,000 are poached every year to feed the insatiable demand for ivory.

Baby bison put down after tourists put it in their car

Yahoo – AFP, May 16, 2016

Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived
continuously since prehistoric times (AFP Photo/John MacDougall)

Los Angeles (AFP) - A bison put in a car by tourists because it looked like it was cold had to be put down, officials at Yellowstone National Park said on Monday.

The tourists loaded the animal into their trunk last week and drove it to a ranger station after taking a photograph that prompted a backlash on social media.

The newborn had to be euthanized because its mother had rejected it as a result of "interference by people," officials said.

"In this case, park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the newborn bison calf with the herd. These efforts failed," the park said in a statement on its website.

"The bison calf was later euthanized because it was abandoned and causing a dangerous situation by continually approaching people and cars along the roadway."

Animals, they’re not just like us. A father and son arrived at  Lamar Buffalo Ranch

 in Wyoming on Monday, with a bison calf in the back of their SUV. They believed

 that the bison was cold and in danger, so they decided to kidnap the animal and

bring it to a park ranger.

The park berated visitors for taking selfies and recording video near the bison, flouting regulations demanding people stay at least 25 yards (23 meters) away.

"In a recent viral video, a visitor approached within an arm's length of an adult bison in the Old Faithful area," it said of the park's famous geyser. "Another video featured visitors posing for pictures with bison at extremely unsafe and illegal distances."

Five visitors were seriously injured last year after approaching bison too closely, the park said.

In the latest incident, a father and son transported the bison calf in their Toyota Sequoia to a ranger station in the park's northeast corner, a witness told the online East Idaho News.

"They were demanding to speak with a ranger. They were seriously worried that the calf was freezing and dying," said Karen Richardson, one of several parents chaperoning a group of fifth-graders on a field trip.

A grizzly bear and her two cubs approach the carcass of a bison in Yellowstone

 National Park in Wyoming, United States, July 6, 2015. Reuters/Jim Urquhart/File Photo

The website quoted another parent who told the tourists to remove the bison from their car, warning they could be in trouble.

"They didn't care," he said. "They sincerely thought they were doing a service and helping that calf by trying to save it from the cold."

Critics shared the picture of the calf in the car on Twitter, scolding the "dumbass," "stupid" and "idiotic" tourists.

Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times.

The park is home to 4,900 of the animals, which it says injure more people than any of its other animals.

Some Dutch deer may be moved to Bulgaria rather than shot

DutchNews, August 26, 2015

Photo: K Vliet via Wikimedia Commons

Some of the ‘surplus’ fallow deer in Amsterdam’s dune area near Zandvoort may be taken to Bulgaria next year, rather than shot dead, if the full council agrees. 

City alderman Udo Kock says he is prepared to cooperate with the experiment, which would involve transporting the deer to a national park in the south west of Bulgaria, where, according to the Telegraaf, they will form prey for wolves. 

Amsterdam city council executives two years ago voted in favour of plans to cull hundreds of fallow deer in the city’s water catchment area in the dunes south of Zandvoort.

The city has for years resisted pressure from locals and other local authorities for a cull, saying time is needed to give other measures time to work. Some 3,000 fallow deer live in the dunes, as well as several hundred roe deer. 

A high fence some 12 kilometres long has been built around much of the reserve to stop the deer moving into farmland and residential areas where they are said to damage crops and cause road accidents. 

Experts at the Alterra institute now say the dune area, some 3,400 hectares in size, can only cope with 600 to 800 deer and that 2,400 need to be killed. 

Biodiversity

However, according to the Parool, wildlife group Rewilding Europe is in touch with the people who run the Rhodopen national park in Bulgaria about moving some of the Dutch deer there. They are keen to repopulate the area with deer because it will be good for the biodiversity. 

The Amsterdam water board Waternet expects to begin the deer cull next year, the Parool says. Meanwhile, animal protection group Dierenbescherming has launched a petition against the cull, saying its reasoning is faulty. 

A similar plan to move hundreds of deer to other parts of Europe in 2013 was dropped because of the cost and the likely stress it would cause the animals.

Related Article:

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.

Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.

(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."

(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.

(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.

Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.

Lion kills guide in Zimbabwe park where Cecil lived

Yahoo – AFP, 25 Aug 2015

Cecil the lion was a major tourist attraction at Zimbabwe's Hwange National

Park before he was killed by an American dentist in July (AFP Photo)

Harare (AFP) - A lion mauled to death a guide leading tourists on a walking safari in the Zimbabwean national park where Cecil the lion lived before he was shot, police said Tuesday.

The guide was attacked on Monday after the group left their vehicle to inspect a pride of lions with cubs under a tree in the Hwange National Park, the country's largest natural reserve.

"Some cubs came near the tourists and one adult lion identified as Nxaha charged at them," police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told AFP.

"The adult lion retreated for a while and then came charging at the guide. It knocked him down and mauled him on the neck and shoulder."

The guide, Quinn Terence Swales, 40, was airlifted from the scene but pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

Owners of the safari camp confirmed the incident in a statement.

"It is with deep regret and great sadness that we are able to confirm the death of Quinn Swales, a Camp Hwange professional guide, who was fatally mauled by a male lion whilst out on a walking safari," Camp Hwange said.

"We can confirm that Quinn did everything he could to successfully protect his guests and ensure their safety, and that no guests were injured."

Quinn was leading six tourists when he was killed.

Charamba urged visitors to game parks to "remain wary even when the animals appear friendly because with an animal you can never predict its next move."

The killing of Cecil the lion in July provoked worldwide outrage when it emerged he was a favourite attraction among visitors to Hwange and was wearing a tracking collar as part of an Oxford University research project.

Cecil was reportedly lured with bait from the safety of the park before being killed by Walter Palmer, an American dentist armed with a bow and arrow who paid $55,000 (50,000 euros) to shoot a lion.

Palmer's guide on the expedition, Zimbabwean Theo Bronkhorst, appeared in court last month and was granted $1,000 bail pending his trial on September 28 on charges of organising an illegal hunt.

Killer of Cecil the lion was dentist from Minnesota, claim Zimbabwe officials

Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force alleges trophy hunter shot one of Africa’s most famous lions near Hwange national park

The Guardian, Ashifa Kassam and Jessica Glenza, 28 July 2015

Conservationists in Zimbabwe have accused an American man of being the alleged killer of Cecil, one of Africa’s most famous lions and the star attraction at the Hwange national park.

On Tuesday, the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said the man thought to have paid $50,000 (£32,000) for the chance to kill Cecil was not a Spaniard as originally believed, but US citizen Walter Palmer, from a small town near Minneapolis. The man left the lion skinned and headless on the outskirts of the park, the ZCTF’s Johnny Rodrigues said in a statement.

The hunt took place around 6 July. “They went hunting at night with a spotlight and they spotted Cecil,” Rodrigues said. “They tied a dead animal to their vehicle to lure Cecil out of the park and they scented an area about half a kilometre from the park.”

Walt Palmer, left, and one of his many trophies.

The hunter first shot at Cecil with a bow and arrow but failed to kill the lion. “They tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot him with a gun,” Rodrigues said.

A spokesman for Palmer told the Guardian that the hunter was “obviously quite upset over everything”.

“As far as I understand, Walter believes that he might have shot that lion that has been referred to as Cecil,” the spokesman said. “What he’ll tell you is that he had the proper legal permits and he had hired several professional guides, so he’s not denying that he may be the person who shot this lion. He is a big-game hunter; he hunts the world over.”

On Tuesday, Palmer - a dentist and married father of two - became a target as the Facebook page of his dental clinic was flooded with angry comments and threats. An online petition demanding justice for Cecil had gathered more than 12,000 signatures.

Palmer’s love of hunting is well-documented online. In 2009, he was interviewed by the New York Times about his slaying of an elk that was touted as a kill for the archery record books.

Noting that Palmer had learned to shoot at age five and was “capable of skewering a playing card from 100 yards with his compound bow,” the article said Palmer had paid $45,000 at auction to take part in the hunt, with the proceeds being used to help fund the elk habitat. As the hunting season began, Palmer was on probation for lying to authorities over the exact location where he had killed a black bear in northern Wisconsin in 2006.

A 2008 Flickr photo album by Trophy Hunt America and Porcupine Creek Outfitters, a company that leads hunting expeditions, shows Walter Palmer posing next to avariety of slain animals, including a wood bison and a lion. In another online photo Palmer and his bow and arrow sit next to a slain rhino, the captionstating that the photo was taken in South Africa.

The same company advertises trips to Africa, under the name Safari Connection. Photographs to advertise the company’s services show hunters posed next to elephants. Other expeditions show hunters posed next to polar bears amid snowy backdrops.

Two people who accompanied the hunter on his Zimbabwe trip were identified by authorities and arrested earlier this month, including Theo Bronkhorst, the founder of Bushman Safaris Zimbabwe which is believed to have organised the hunt. Both are facing poaching charges and due to appear in court in early August.

Zimbabwe National Parks confirmed the charges. “In this case, both the professional hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify the offtake of the lion and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt,” it said in a statement. Bronkhorst’s hunting license has been suspended and efforts were being made to interview another employee of Bushman Safaris who was believed to have also taken part in the hunt.

The 13-year-old lion was wearing a GPS collar as part of an Oxford University research project that had been running since 1999, making it possible to trace his last movements. Rodrigues said the hunters tried to destroy the collar, but failed.

Walt Palmer and a Nevada California Bighorn.

The death of Cecil comes as Zimbabwe, like many countries in Africa, attempts to crack down on illegal hunting and poaching, said Rodrigues. “This has been going on too long. Cecil is the 23 or 24th lion that has been collared and then killed in Hwange. We have to try and stop it.”

Initially his organisation had said the whereabouts of Cecil’s head was unknown, sparking concerns that it would be sent abroad as a trophy. The fear brought conservationists and politicians together this week to call on the European Union to ban the import of lion heads, paws and skins as hunters’ trophies from African countries that cannot prove their lion populations are sustainable.

On Tuesday, Rodrigues said the head of the lion had been located in Zimbabwe and had been impounded to be used as evidence in the investigation.

The ZCTF said on Tuesday that it continued to mourn Cecil. Rodrigues pointed out that the hunter was believed to have paid just $50,000 to kill a creature that would have brought millions of dollars worth of tourism to the reserve.

Conservation authorities said they were also dealing with the likely consequences of Cecil’s death for his six cubs. “The saddest part of all is that now that Cecil is dead, the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho, will most likely kill all Cecil’s cubs so that he can insert his own bloodline into the females.”

Cecil was a major tourist attraction at Zimbabwe's largest game reserve in

Hwange National Park, due to his distinctive black mane (AFP Photo)

Related Articles:

Another US hunter suspected of killing lion in Zimbabwe - New

Zimbabwe wants US to extradite Palmer for killing Cecil

Trophy hunting 'no help' to Zimbabwean people
Zimbabwe hunter given bail over death of Cecil the lion

Pakistan prepares for Saudi royal to hunt 'protected' birds

Bustard act: Saudi prince accused of slaying 2,000 near-extinct birds while on safari in Pakistan (April 24, 2014)

Hunt: Fahd bin Sultan is said to have killed

1,977 houbara bustards in just 21 days while

on holiday

Tanzania ditches plan to evict Masai for Serengeti 'wildlife corridor'

Botswana to ban wildlife hunting

Spain's King Juan Carlos poses in front of a dead elephant

on a hunting trip in Botswana, Africa. Photograph: Target

Press/Barcroft Media

Spain's king ousted as WWF honorary president
Spain's King Juan Carlos under fire over elephant hunting trip

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.

Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.

(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."

(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.

(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.

Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.

Live leak: Camera captures panda peeing while doing handstand

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-04-21

The panda makes its mark. (Photo/Xinhua)

A nature reserve in northwest China's Gansu province has captured its first film footage of some striking courtship behavior by a male panda — urinating while doing a handstand.

In the clip shown to media on Sunday, the giant panda pushes his left hind leg up against a tree and starts to urinate on the bark in a half upside-down position. He then gets down, walks to another tree some 10 meters away, smells it for a moment and repeats the action.

The video was taken on January 15 at the Baishuijiang National Nature Reserve using infrared cameras. This technology, installed about three years ago, has been helping the reserve record valuable evidence of behavior among the reclusive inhabitants of the forest.

Reserve staff explained that urinating in a handstand position is a common courtship act by giant pandas. The urine contains pheromones and the scent can spread further, attracting more potential partners, if the urine is higher up a tree.

At the same time, pandas also use their urine to mark territory and warn rivals to stay away, increasing their chances of mating.

Covering over 200,000 hectares, the Baishuijiang reserve is one of China's largest habitats for wild pandas. Census data shows that there are 132 pandas in the province, 110 of them in Baishuijiang.

Yuan Fengxiao, head of the reserve's management bureau, said the infrared cameras have also captured footage of rare species including takins, golden monkeys, forest musk deer, Chinese monals and golden cats.

Germany Pledges €13.5m to Support Indonesian Forest Protection: Report

Jakarta Globe, Mar 15, 2015

Germany has pledged $14 million to help support biodiversity conservation
 and watershed rehabilitation in Central Sulawesi. (AFP Photo)

Jakarta. Germany has pledged €13.5 million ($14 million) for a forest and biodiversity conservation program in Sulawesi, state-run news agency Antara has reported.

The funding will be invested in the Forest Progam III, which is part of Indonesian-German REDD+ cooperation, and is focussed on the Palu/Miu watershed and Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi.

A feasibility study, which looked at biodiversity conservation and watershed rehabilitation, as well as land use conflict in the area, was carried out last year.

Antara reported on Friday that the agreement is due to be signed by Germany’s ambassador to Indonesia, Georg Witschel, and Robert Pakpahan, the Finance Ministry’s risk management directorate, on Monday.

Germany and Indonesia have cooperated on REDD+ projects in the past, including the Forest for Climate Change Program (FORCLIME), which aimed to reduce Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions from the forestry sector.