Well things have been busy here – just preparing new drilled logs for the ‘Bee Hotel’ to keep our bee friends happy and also so that they can pollinate all the apple trees in the orchards.
Read more about the process by looking at the very recent post that I did on the subject of the bees and the hotel – you may find the process interesting – I know I do !:
Here are a few new photos of the latest drilled logs which will replace some of the old and very used chambers in the hotel – see photo below of old logs:
Above – Ready for delivery.
(Above) – The box on the right is not bad carpentry ! – the little slits front and back of the floor let fresh air to circulate and any urine escape from our little friends when they want to have a pee during their hibernation / sleep cycles.
Also, as you can see from these new pictures, I have just finished the last 3 dormouse boxes for our little friends. They are the same ones as shown in the above link, and so far they have not yet gone off to Jeskyns.
I hope this will encourage you all to become involved in drilling out some log chambers for the solitary bees. By far they are the best pollinators and a ‘must’ for your garden.
So get cracking; ad get the bees and maybe some dormice into your patch.
Regards Mark
One of ‘our’ dormice (a boy) gets a health check and is weighed – all good !
Sweet ‘nutty’ dreams !
(Above) – A drilled newer log (left) at our hotel and other older ones which we will now replace.
Note some of the chambers sealed up with mud – read the process in the top link.
Pollen covered solitary bee.
Our bee hotel before it was given a new roof recently.
Me with Denise the Head Ranger in front of our hotel.
One of my favourite English bands – ‘The Cure’ – song – ‘A Forest’ – Enjoy:
The “Jagd & Hund (Hunting and Dog)” fair, which takes place annually in Dortmund, Germany, is Europe’s largest hunting fair.
The organizers advertise themselves with the participation of exhibitors from over 40 nations from all continents.
Among them are almost 180 tour operators who offer the shooting down of individuals of endangered and protected species such as various deep sea birds and songbirds, polar bears, rhinos, elephants, lions, leopards, giraffes, monkeys, brown bears, and wolves – quite legally.
As in colonial times, wealthy trophy hunters shoot endangered animals.
We are currently experiencing the greatest loss of species since time immemorial.
Hunting methods are used that are prohibited in Germany for good reasons: hunting with a bow and arrow, crossbow, or revolver. A hunting license is often not even required. In some places, wild animals such as for example Lions specially bred in hunting farms to have them shot by trophy hunters in large enclosures.
In Africa alone, 18,000 trophy hunters kill over 100,000 wild animals each year.
The shooting down of an individual animal often endangers their entire family and group system.
The Australian Government authorizes the slaughter of millions of kangaroos every single year. They are shot at night in the vast outback, away from public scrutiny. 40 percent of kangaroos are not expertly killed, they suffer wounded for hours.
Farmers have a financial interest in the mass murder:
Around half of the merino wool produced worldwide comes from Australia. The herds and the need for pasture land are correspondingly large.
Wild kangaroos take away the pastures from the flocks of sheep. This annoys the Australian farmers – they consider the national symbol like a plague and a threat to their financial income from the sale of the merino wool.
The flesh and leather of the killed kangaroos are exported in large quantities. Germany is one of the main sales markets for kangaroo products.
And I mean…It is the largest annual massacre of wildland animals on the planet. And one of the most brutal.
Shame on Australia for murdering their iconic kangaroos to make meaningless purses, wallets, jackets, shoes, or sporting goods! The killing is a disgrace – cruel and entirely profit-motivated.
Shame on Australia,on farmers and murderous hunters who always want to protect their businesses with murder.
This corrupt government is not only to blame for the annual mass murder of the harmless kangaroos but also for the murderous business model of ship transport with sheep to Kuwait and the Arab Emirates.
The Australian government must go, Morrison must go.
The Court of Session has, instead, chosen to double the court time available for our case – and the hearing is now expected to take place in October.
The battle against cruelty isn’t over yet, but we’ve secured a first, big victory. A huge thank you to everyone who has backed this campaign so far. If you haven’t already done so, please:
Take action – Call on the Scottish Government to drop their defence of the appalling live export trade.
Donate – 100% of your gift will support Compassion’s work in the UK.
Spread the word to fight live exports, using ciwf.org.uk/JusticeForCalves
Thank you! Together, we will keep up the fight for #JusticeForCalves.
With best wishes,
Nick
STUCK ON A TRUCK
Every year, thousands of unweaned calves are sent from Scotland to fattening farms in Spain. These vulnerable, young ‘by products’ of the dairy industry suffer journeys that are both horrific and, we believe, illegal.
Animal transport law states that unweaned calves cannot travel for more than 8 hours – unless, after a maximum of 9 hours’ transport, they are rested, given water and, “if necessary”, fed.
In reality, the ‘rest’ usually just means the lorry stops moving for an hour. And, because milk substitute can’t in practice be provided on the trucks, calves may go as long as 23 hours without food. They must be stressed, exhausted, and desperately hungry.
Whilst they’re on British farms, these young animals must legally be fed twice a day. Yet the transporters think it’s not ‘necessary’ to feed them until they’re first unloaded in Northern France!
WAV Further Comment:
During 2010 – Yes, 10 years ago !
Mark worked with the Dutch investigator friends at ‘Eyes on Animals’ http://eyesonanimals.com/ , as well as with ‘Animals’ Angels’ (Germany) http://www.animals-angels.de/startseite,en_ORG.html and PMAF (France) http://www.pmaf.org/ to produce a 125 page official investigation report for the EU Legal Affairs team in Brussels, Members of the European Parliament (MEP’s) and UK Parliamentarians (MP’s) – a report which specifically investigated live animal (calves) transport between certain, specific (EU) member states.
We have always known that live calf transport does not adhere to the EU rules which allegedly ‘protects’ animals in transport.
You can read and see a lot more in relation to this by visiting, and scrolling down at:
Or, If you care to click on the following link below you will see a written summary of just 1 of the 5 trails which was undertaken and clearly proved that Irish calves were not being given adequate food and rest at an approved Staging Post facility after they had made the crossing from Ireland to France.
Remember, this (link below) is just 1 of the 5 investigation reports that we produced in our ‘overall’ document of 2010;
and it also lists all the non compliances with the EU Regulation 1/2005 for this specific trail / investigation are given at the end of this specific investigation report. Remember also that these investigations and reports do not just appear by magic. Many people, their time, money and several vehicles are often involved – they all take effort and time to record all the exact details which you can see detailed in the report.
Thus, it can be annoying in the least when all this work is undertaken, compiled and presented to the EU, and then they do nothing about it ! – something is wrong somewhere; hence our gripes as detailed in many current posts re live animal transport and the EU ignorance. This is typical of the work involved to ‘do the trail / investigation job’ properly; and when you do and then get completely ignored at EU level you begin to ask questions about those same people and the EU ‘organisation’ who are supposed to be ‘enforcing’ the ‘animal welfare’ regulations.
Click on the following link to read a very small part (1 of 5 investigation reports) of the overall trail / investigation report:
Hundreds of new corona cases were registered this week in a slaughterhouse of the Tönnies company in Germany.
At the Tönnies headquarters in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, around 5,300 employees will have to be tested in the next few days.
As a result, all schools and daycare centers in the Gütersloh district were closed again. Around 7,000 people are now in quarantine around the company.
Federal Labor Minister of GermanyHubertus Heil called the situation “shocking”.
For him, one of the main problems in the industry is that work in slaughterhouses is increasingly done with employment contracts and subcontractors, so that workers, most of whom are from Eastern Europe, are “not treated fairly”.
He now wants to end this “basic evil”, said Heil in the state television channel ARD.
But is that it?
The meat industry has other problem areas:
1. Too much manure
More animals also mean more animal excretions.
But where to put the manure? A large part of it ends up in the meadows and fields of farmers – and thus contaminates soil and groundwater with nitrogen. Agriculture is responsible for around 57 percent of the nitrogen that is released into the environment in Germany, according to the Federal Environment Agency.
We’ve finally received the go-ahead to rescue a lonely moon bear in desperate need of love and care. Our emergency response team are on their way right now.
We were first alerted to her plight back in March. But due to the Covid-19 outbreak causing widespread travel restrictions in Vietnam, and this poor bear being held in the border region of Gia Lai province, over 700 miles away from our sanctuary, we couldn’t reach her.
But we didn’t forget. And we’ve been preparing for her arrival ever since. Her house has been cleaned, her bed made and a delicious feast is being prepared for arrival. But that’s not all…
Back in March, the spring sunshine was warming the air, and the magnificent red cotton blossoms were blooming. Though we couldn’t rush to her aid there and then, we remained hopeful that her many years of darkness were coming to an end and she would soon blossom at our life-saving sanctuary. To mark her eventual arrival we planted a Cotton Blossom tree. And in honour of the bear you’ll help us rescue, we’ve named her Cotton Blossom.
Currently, we know precious little about her. What we do know is that she’s been forced to endure painful bile extraction and we can almost be sure that she’ll have serious health issues as a consequence.
She’ll need special ongoing care and treatment for the rest of her life. Which we hope could be another 15 years or more. Hopefully, with enough love and time, all of the pain, anger and fear she feels will fade into distant memories.
In these dark times, will you be the ray of sunshine she’s been waiting for? You can help this sweet girl on the road to recovery and beyond by making a donation today.
Our rescue team plans to arrive tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we’ll do our very best to keep you updated, and I hope to bring you more information soon. For live updates, and to see your kindness in action, please be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there for Asia’s animals when they need you most.
With bear hugs of gratitude and of hope,
Jill Robinson MBE, Dr med vet hc, Hon LLD
Founder and CEO, Animals Asia
PS It takes a lifetime of care to help rebuild a broken bear.
Louisville Zoo, Kuntacky, USA, continues to hold three elephants captive in a cramped exhibit. A mother elephant, her young calf, and their one companion named Punch — all held in a cramped enclosure in order to generate profits from paying customers.
Elephants are naturally evolved to live within close-knit herds and to enjoy endless space in which to roam. Louisville Zoo is falling short when it comes to giving these elephants the lives they deserve.
Please urge Louisville Zoo to send these three elephants to an accredited sanctuary now!
Louisville Zoo forces Mikki to endure a bittersweet motherhood
Credit: Matt Stone/Courier Journal, Louisville Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC
After seven years of repeated and failed artificial insemination attempts by Louisville Zoo staff, 35-year-old African elephant Mikki finally gave birth to a calf this year.
Baby Fitz is the Louisville Zoo’s second elephant birth in its fifty-year history. In 2010, Mikki’s calf named Scotty died at age three from colic.
Like his mother, Mikki, and cell-mate Punch—who were both taken from the wild—Fitz will be robbed of the relationships he would naturally form with other elephants including other family members near his own age.
Louisville Zoo forces Mikki to endure a bittersweet motherhood
World Animals Voice 