Environmental, General News

Pesticides have polluted our rivers and lakes – and there’s no quick fix.

From ‘The Guardian’, London.

Pesticides have polluted our rivers and lakes – and there’s no quick fix
Damian Carrington   I have been reporting on pesticides for more than a decade, but some revelations really stick in my mind. One was the discovery in 2013 of insecticide pollution in the ditches by Dutch fields that was so bad the water itself could have been used as an effective pest killer. Not surprisingly the impact on dragonflies, snails and other wild water creatures was devastating.

The situation does not appear to have improved. New research by the European Environment Agency showed excessive levels of pesticides in about a quarter of rivers and lakes across the EU, with the Netherlands the worst affected. More than half of all Dutch water bodies – 56% – had high levels of pesticides, including 62% of lakes.
Agriculture is particularly intensive in the Netherlands, but it is far from alone in dousing its landscapes in pesticides. In Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Finland, about half of water bodies were heavily polluted, as well as 38% in Germany, 33% in Ireland, and 26% in France.

The EEA also reported excess pesticides in groundwater in about 5% of sites. The striking aspect of this was that the most common pollutant was atrazine, which was banned in the EU in 2007. “It is very persistent,” said the EEA, which also noted that, unlike most pollutants, pesticides are specifically designed to kill living things.

The data analysed by the EEA was taken from more than 20,000 monitoring sites across the EU between 2013 and 2019, but it is far from the full picture. Only half the pesticides detected have exceeded limits set by Europe – the other half could not be included in the study.
The data is also reported voluntarily by countries, meaning considerable gaps remain, but there is no indication of an improving situation. The UK is no longer an EU member, so was not included in the EEA analysis, but insecticides were revealed to be polluting rivers in England in 2017.

The number of different pesticides reported in EU rivers and lakes was more than 100 in Germany and Italy. France detected 215 different pesticides in groundwater. That reminded me of another striking finding from France, from a study I reported in 2017: virtually all farms could significantly cut their pesticide use while still producing as much food. Most pesticides are applied “just in case”, the work showed, doing little other than harming nature.

Only a few months after that, another memorable study laid out the big picture: the assumption by regulators around the world that it is safe to use pesticides at industrial scales across landscapes is false, said senior scientists. With no limit on the total amount of pesticides used, and virtually no monitoring of their effects in the environment, the damage is done before it is detected.

The new EEA analysis comes at an important time. The European Green Deal plan is aiming to reduce the use of, and risks from, chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030. Addressing the risks, as well as the volume, of pesticides is vital – the amount being used is falling, but the increasing toxicity of the chemicals is outpacing that fall.

But cutting pesticide use it is not going to be easy. Last week, the website DeSmog published an investigation into the powerful companies and lobby groups working to water down the EU’s targets for more sustainable farming. These companies and groups spent €45m lobbying EU decision-makers between 2019 and 2020, DeSmog reported, and held hundreds of meetings with relevant bodies.

Natacha Cingotti, at the Brussels-based Health and Environmental Alliance, said: “When working on pesticide-related policies, the imbalance of stakeholders in favour of industry interests is striking. The dominating actors are those very companies set to profit from the sale of harmful chemicals, not those who stand for health and environment protection.”

It looks like I’ll be writing about pesticides for the next decade as well.  

Regards Mark    


Vivisection

Elon Musk’s new project: sending a “Noah’s Ark” of animals to Mars

When it comes to exploiting animals, Elon Musk is a true leader.

The Time 2021 Person of the Year—who has a long history of harming animals by shooting squid, mice, and tardigrades (aka “water bears”) into space as well as implanting a computer chip into a monkey’s skull and coin-size computer chips into pigs’ brains—has a new proposal: to send a “Noah’s Ark” of animals to Mars.

“[T]he next really big thing is to build a self-sustaining city on Mars and bring the animals and creatures of Earth there. Sort of like a futuristic Noah’s ark. We’ll bring more than two, though—it’s a little weird if there’s only two,” he said.

Any more than zero would be more than a little weird—it’d be cruel.

Musk should focus on humans, who can choose to participate, and stop exploiting animals in curiosity-driven experiments.

Another exploitative and pointless endeavor of Musk’s involves SpaceX—of which Musk is the founder, CEO, and chief engineer—and 128 baby glow-in-the-dark bobtail squid as well as 5,000 tardigrades.
These animals were sent to the International Space Station, where they were to be experimented on in the name of “research.”

News of the squid’s and tardigrades’ doomed trip followed a similar December 2020 stunt, in which mice—some of whom had first been injected with drugs at The Jackson Laboratory, causing their muscle mass to double unnaturally—were launched aboard a SpaceX rocket.
These experiments and the slew mentioned below are cruel wastes of time, with no relevance to astronauts or other humans.

In a separate experiment, Musk implanted a computer chip in a monkey’s skull, apparently to see if the animal could “play video games using his mind.”
He claimed that the monkey “looks totally happy,” but he’s no primatologist.
If he were, he’d never suggest that an animal strapped to a chair with a metal device implanted in his skull and forced to watch video games all day would be anything but miserable.

This monkey is not the only victim of cruel experiments carried out by Neuralink, another of Musk’s companies.
In August 2020, Musk introduced Gertrude—one of several pigs used—during a webcast demonstration.
The experiment involved implanting coin-sized computer chips in pigs’ brains in order to attempt to demonstrate that brainwaves can be tracked.

One clip showed a pig forced to trot on a treadmill.
Giant notches had been cut in her ears, just as is done to pigs on filthy farms without painkillers.
Aware that there would be backlash against his use of pigs, Musk used a PR reel to claim that he and his staff care about animals.

But no amount of “humane washing” can cover up the cruelty, speciesism, and bad science that underlie all such experiments.

PETA challenges Musk to behave like a true pioneer and have the implants put into his own brain instead.

Continue reading “Elon Musk’s new project: sending a “Noah’s Ark” of animals to Mars” →

Environmental, General News

England: London Mayor (Sadiq Khan) Leads Ambitious Plans To Rewild Hyde Park.
The Serpentine in Hyde Park, west London, in autumn.
The Serpentine in Hyde Park, west London, in autumn. Photograph: Tim M/Alamy

WAV Comment:  London town – home of the brash, outrageous and free !

We very much welcome this releasing of funds to bring nature directly into central London.  Hyde park and Richmond park are such wonderful places for city folk to escape into a more natural environment before they head off back to metropolis land.

Anything that brings back nature deserves support; and we very much welcome this proposal.

Regards Mark

London mayor releases £600,000 funding to help create green rooftops and reintroduce lost species

Hyde Park could be redesigned and lost species including beavers reintroduced to London under ambitious rewilding plans.

The city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, is working with Ben Goldsmith – a member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the brother of Khan’s former rival for the mayoral election Zac Goldsmith – to boost nature in the capital, including making the royal parks wilder and encouraging people to plant green rooftops.

Ben Goldsmith said the plans would involve “more wild spaces, more scrub, river rewiggling and species reintroductions”.

Khan has released £600,000 in funding to assist the project, which will help London reach its net zero goal. Further fundraising will take place, with members of the new London rewilding roundtable group tasked with sourcing private donations.

Goldsmith said: “I’m so excited to be working with Sadiq on this new rewilding taskforce for London. All people need to experience close connection with nature in their lives, and yet for many Londoners this is a remote possibility today.

“From green rooftops to pocket parks, nest boxes for peregrines and swifts, rewiggling streams and reintroducing long lost native species, our plan is to weave wild nature back through the very fabric of our city.”

There are 1,600 places designated by local authorities as sites of importance for nature conservation, covering 20% of the capital. These include Richmond Park, Sydenham Hill Wood and the downlands in Bromley and Croydon that inspired Charles Darwin’s discoveries. At the moment, just half of these are deemed appropriately managed to conserve or enhance the wildlife.

The project will focus on 20-30 of these sites to protect species including stag beetles, sparrows, peregrine falcons and water voles. Khan has stated an aim for all Londoners to live within a 10-minute walk of green space, with this scheme aiming to connect existing spaces so everyone in the capital can enjoy nature.

A red deer stag at sunrise on a winter’s morning in Richmond Park, south-west London.
A red deer stag at sunrise on a winter’s morning in Richmond Park, south-west London. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

It is also hoped the work will help tackle problems that plague Londoners including flooding and air pollution. Improving floodplains, rewiggling streams and boosting the health of rivers can alleviate floods, and planting more greenery can ease air pollution.

Khan said: “The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. In London, we need to take bold action to ensure we not only halt the decline of biodiversity in our natural environment but pave the way for growth and change.

“That’s why I’ve announced my new rewilding fund, which will help restore the capital’s precious wildlife sites, improve biodiversity and ensure all Londoners have a thriving web of nature on their doorstep. And as part of our green new deal, we’re supporting young Londoners to gain the skills required for jobs that help secure a future for London’s natural environment.”

Nature campaigners have been trying to add wildlife back to London, with a beaver group comprising Wildlife Trusts, the Beaver Trust and Citizen Zoo working on how to return the species to the capital.

The community wilding group Citizen Zoo is also involved with projects to return grasshoppers and water voles to areas in the city in which they have been depleted or lost.

Sadiq Khan leads ambitious plans to rewild Hyde Park | Rewilding | The Guardian

Regards Mark

Above – Hyde Park London.

History

King Henry VIII expropriated the park from the church in 1536. It then became a hunting ground (Boo !) for kings and aristocrats, and later a place for duels, executions and horse racing. The park was the site of the Great Exhibition in 1851, and during WWII became a vast potato bed. 

Above – The deer at Richmond Park, London

General News

European Parliament Shows Broad Political Support to Stop Circus Suffering.

16 December 2021

Thanks to 1 million citizens demanding action for wild animals in circuses, today the European Parliament (EP) discussed the topic in plenary for the very first time. The European Commission’s position is not committal and in sharp opposition to the EP’s demand for action. However, the debate showed a groundswell of political support to end the suffering of wild animals in entertainment, and a recognition for the public and civil society demands.

Back in October Eurogroup for Animals and its members, along with InfoCircos, handed over the 1 million signatures collected through the Stop Circus Suffering campaign to representatives of the European Parliament, Eleonora Evi MEP and Anja Hazekamp MEP. 

Today an “EU ban on the use of wild animals in circuses” made it to the Plenary agenda with an oral question: “Does the Commission intend to introduce a ban on the use of wild circus animals in the EU in order to ensure that the exposure to the risks of the illegal wildlife trade and risks to public health and security are uniformly mitigated across the Member States and to assist with the enforcement of national restrictions for the majority of Member States that already apply them?” and was discussed after a statement from the European Commission (EC).

The EC’s representative clearly stated that it’s an ethical issue for which only Member States (MSs) have competency. Even if the welfare of wild animals used in circuses raises concern, it’s only on the MSs to act, hence he invited them to follow the ones which have already implemented bans.    

MEPs from across the political spectrum and from a variety of MSs countered this statement and urgedthe EC not to hide behind a lack of competency. They stressed the need to listen to citizens and base the decision on science: in circuses wild animals are not only imprisoned and forced to behave unnaturally, they also pose a threat when it comes to the risk of disease transmission, to the accidents which impact trainers and public, and the use of endangered species could fuel their illegal trade.  

New circus performances without animals could keep the tradition alive without inflicting unnecessary suffering to animals and not losing anything in terms of creativity and performance. 

We welcome the strong crossparty support from the EP and the call for the Commission to not hide behind a lack of competence as several grounds could be used to enact a ban. We will not stop our efforts until the EC acts to safeguard all the wild animals currently trapped for “entertainment”, their welfare is a European responsibility and we’re going to make their voices heard

Reineke Hameleers, CEO Eurogroup for Animals

Yesterday, AAP Animal Advocacy and Protection, a member organisation of Eurogroup for Animals, signed a contract with the Portuguese authorities to rescue almost all of the remaining wild animals from Portuguese circuses. Portugal’s national ban on the use of wild animals in circuses, enacted in 2018, will enter into full force in 2024. To aid the enforcement, AAP offered suitable rescue solutions for all the remaining wild circus animals, to which most of the circuses agreed. 

The rescue community is always willing to step up and offer solutions to enforcement authorities in implementing these important bans. But we must not forget that this cruel and dangerous use of wild animals in circuses is inherently a cross-border issue, as is the rescue of these animals. We are being asked to coordinate rescues across the EU, because there are no mechanisms in place for this. These transboundary issues are still left solely to Member States to deal with nationally, while they so clearly require an EU solution. We really need the EU to step up and play its coordinating and harmonizing role here

David van Gennep, CEO, AAP.  

Text of the Oral Question

EU Stop Circus Suffering campaign

Read the report Wild Animals in EU Circuses : Problems, Risks and Solutions also available in French

Regards Mark

Environmental

The invisible slaughter on our seas

A covert investigation of the SOKO animal welfare (Germany)
(Short note: Please read the text first, it is the literal translation of the video from me)

A small fishing boat and the terrible massacre that causes every day.
Crime scene: our North Sea

https://fb.watch/9X1iHl-X-D/

Countless animals slowly suffocate, there is no anesthetic, only a slow, gruesome death.
Often the animals are torn open when fully conscious and eviscerated alive.

Millions of sharks die this way.

Not anywhere in Asia, but on the European coasts like here on video in France and Great Britain.
The little ones, the young ones, the unwanted, they are all suffocated, crushed, trampled underfoot.

When the fishermen only need the crab claws, they tear them out of the living animal and throw the mutilated creature back into the sea to die in agony.
The eyes of many of the fish, which are sensitive to pain, are pushed out of their heads by the rapid pressure difference when the net is rolled up.

If the catch is not welcome, the animal will be trodden on.

The trawler fishery is the total destruction of our sea.
Politics is silent.
They feel pain
and fear
they suffer
they are individuals
our fellow creatures
Save them
save yourself
it is the blue planet
their planet
if it dies we all will not survive

SOKO Tierschutz

And I mean…Just a small fishing trawler, one of thousands in the EU.
Every animal that is not suffocated is slaughtered. The agony of animals is terrible.
Such a cutter kills more sentient beings per day than Tönnies and Tyson combined.

Control and laws? – Nothing
Politics is failing all along the line, as is the case with any area of ​​animal welfare.
“Bottom trawling, with its total destruction of our seas, is to be equated with slashing and burning the rainforests,” says SOKO Tierschutz.

The fishing industry is by far the most destructive industry in our oceans.
There is no sustainable commercial fishing industry.
More than 2 trillion fish are caught from the sea each year, excluding the 120 billion that are killed on fish farms.

That killing is far greater than the estimated 65 billion animals killed for meat and fur each year.
Corruption, slavery and human trafficking are common in the fishing industry.

Around 300,000 dolphins, whales and porpoises are killed every year by fishing and up to 30,000 sharks every hour.
Fish is supposed to be healthy – we read that every day in the press – but have you ever asked yourself who pays for these studies?
It’s like the meat industry is telling you to eat meat every day.
A lot of money is involved, with $ 5 billion in subsidies going to the fishing industry worldwide.
There are even NGOs that make a profit by awarding eco-labels, even though sustainable fishing is next to impossible.

“When consumers order fish in a restaurant or buy it from the market, they are supporting the global destruction of marine ecosystems.
They support the impoverishment of craft and indigenous communities.
They support slavery and slave labor at sea, ”said Captain Paul Watson.

Most of us will likely no longer live to see the death of the oceans, but our children and grandchildren will endure the horrors of that destruction.

And the survivors will hate us all for it.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News

Medina Spirit- the new victim of the horse racing mafia

Update: December 10, 2021

After PETA requested a thorough investigation into the sudden death of 3-year-old racehorse and Kentucky Derby “winner” Medina Spirit, we’re taking it a step further to protect other horses trained by Bob Baffert. Yesterday, we called on the California Horse Racing Board to protect the surviving horses in trainer Bob Baffert’s barn by issuing what amounts to a restraining order against him.

Medina Spirit

Pending necropsy results, PETA is calling for 24/7 security guards and additional drug testing. We’re also pushing the board to ban Baffert from having unsupervised contact with the horses in his barn and from making any veterinary decisions about them, as well as appointing an independent veterinarian to make all medical decisions.

Update: December 7, 2021

Medina Spirit collapsed and died during a workout at Santa Anita racetrack.

Trainer Bob Baffert claimed that the horse died of a heart attack—but this isn’t the only time one of his horses has suddenly dropped dead.

Medina Spirit

Seven of Baffert’s horses died mysteriously during a 16-month period that was suspiciously linked to his reckless and routine administration of the powerful hormone thyroxine to horses without thyroid conditions.

He has continued to be embroiled in drug controversies since then, right up until Medina Spirit’s notorious positive drug test in the Kentucky Derby.

All of Medina Spirit’s veterinary records must be seized, and a thorough investigation must be conducted. Baffert’s attorneys must not be allowed to control the narrative.

PETA urges Del Mar and Santa Anita racetrack officials to bar Baffert pending the outcome of an investigation and necropsy.

Medina Spirit –  Bob Baffert

UPDATE: June 3, 2021

Now that a second sample from the Bob Baffert–trained horse Medina Spirit has tested positive for a prohibited substance, bettors who’ve been cheated by putting money down on the rigged Kentucky Derby may contact PETA or attorneys who are filing class-action lawsuits.

But it’s important to remember the other victim here: Medina Spirit.
He should be thoroughly examined by independent veterinarians to find out why he was administered a powerful medication and whether it was through injections to his joints rather than with a topical cream.
The racing industry must at last stop buying Baffert’s nonsensical excuses and kick him out for good.

Bob Baffert and Medina Spirit, the morning after the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

“Doping horses has got to stop—not only is it cruel, it’s also race fixing. This settlement serves as a shot across the bow to trainers who care more about their bank accounts than about horses: Stop cheating or risk having to pay up.”
(PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo)

Performance-enhancing drugs often mask horses’ pain, allowing them to race and train with injuries that would otherwise be disabling.
Illegal doping and the overuse of medication are rampant and frequently lead to injury, broken bones, and death.

As a PETA investigation showed, illegal drugging is common in horseracing, as is the misuse of anti-inflammatories, painkillers, muscle relaxants, and more to keep injured horses on the track and bringing in money when they should be recuperating from strains and injuries.

An average of three horses die every day on racetracks in the U.S.

https://www.peta.org/blog/bettor-sues-horse-trainer-owner-doping/

And I mean… Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was training on a California racetrack. Then suddenly the horse collapsed.
Betamethasone has been detected in Medina Spirit.
This is an anti-inflammatory steroid that can be administered no later than 14 days before a race.
Of course Baffert did not want to know anything about it, he emphasized that he had not given the horse the remedy.

In recent years, however, Baffert has repeatedly been targeted by the state horse racing authorities, as permanently prohibited substances have been detected in horses from his stables.

Many people view horse racing as a harmless sport in which the animals are willing participants who enjoy the thrill to the fullest.
The truth is that behind the scenes lies a story of immense suffering.

The life of a horse used for racing is miserable and painful:

-The use of performance-enhancing and pain-masking drugs is rampant in the racing industry. The horses are more likely to suffer from pulmonary bleeding and catastrophic injuries on the track as they’re pushed beyond their physical limits.

– While their bones are still growing and not yet strong enough to handle the speed of racing, the abuse of yearlings and 2-year-olds in training is commonplace, resulting in catastrophic injuries and often death.

– Jockeys have been known to whip horses so mercilessly that the animals’ eyes have hemorrhaged and they’ve sustained other injuries.
As if the races themselves weren’t hard enough, the horses endure repeated auctions, serial ownership, and constant travel throughout their careers.

Racehorse at the slaughterhouse – Australia

Retirement equals slaughter.
Whenthe animals are no longer making money, they’re shipped to Mexico, Canada, or Japan to be slaughtered for food.

The easiest and best way to speak out against the horceracing Mafia is by not supporting these tragic events.

We want an end to all horse racing because it is a cruel and exploitative industry.
We can all help: Avoid anything horse racing related and educate your friends about the cruelty to animals practiced by unscrupulous veterinarians and business people to make money from horses.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News

EU: Commissioner Stella Kyriakides & (England) Dr Jane Goodall: Improving animal welfare is in the interest of all of us.

Commissioner Stella Kyriakides & Dr Jane Goodall: Improving animal welfare is in the interest of all of us

14 December 2021

Last week, Commissioner Kyriakides and Dr Jane Goodall took part in the high level Conference “EU Animal welfare today & tomorrow”, gathering the main players in the field of animal welfare from the EU and beyond.

Animals are sentient beings. This is recognised in the EU treaties, and we have a moral and societal responsibility to ensure that on-farm conditions for animals reflect this. The reality is however that today, billions of animals around the world are kept in intensive conditions. Millions are shipped for very long distances. The fact that each farmed animal is a sentient being that is able to feel fear, despair and pain is at times ignored. They are not always treated with the care and respect they deserve. Changing this is a priority for the EU.

The Jane Goodall Institute has worked tirelessly, in partnership with local communities and farmers, to improve the lives of people, animals and the environment, introducing sustainable livelihood options that address local needs. These values mirror the beliefs and ambitions of the European Union, which places sustainability at the centre of improving its citizens’ lives, rights, working conditions, and the environment.

The EU is also leading by example on animal welfare in many areas. Since the adoption of the first EU animal welfare legislation in 1974, laws, regulations and multiple actions that protect our animals have been consistently expanded and reinforced, resulting in a better quality of life for millions of animals. 

A strong commitment to animal welfare is among citizens’ growing concerns and demands. Everyone can help make a difference, and in the EU, citizens have been given the power to do just that. In 2020, over one million people joined together through a European Citizens’ Initiative calling on the EU to ‘End the Cage Age’. This led to unprecedented action and the EU Commission’s commitment to propose, in 2023, to phase out and finally prohibit cages for animals such as sows, calves, rabbits, hens, ducks, and geese. 

But we still have a long way to go. Where possible, animals should live in an environment where they can behave naturally, and us, citizens, we need to move towards a more plant-based diet with less red and processed meat. 

As we all know, climate change and loss of biodiversity are threatening our future. The health of humans, animals, plants, and even our planet, are all intrinsically linked. We humans are part of the natural world and depend on it for air, food, water – everything. But we also depend on healthy ecosystems, each one made up of interconnected plant and animal species. 

The harm to the environment driven by our current demands on resources has led to increasing recurrences of droughts, floods, and new pests that pose significant threats to our food systems and habitats. To our future. They only highlight the need for sustainability in every aspect of our lives, including our food systems. 

Our task is to build a robust and resilient food system that guarantees citizens a sufficient supply of affordable food, of good and safe quality and with the wellbeing of farmed animals front and centre. Animal welfare and health is both a cornerstone of this shift and the way forward.

The Commission’s ambition is, with the help of farmers, industry, animal welfare organisations and consumers, to maintain the EU’s status as world leader in animal welfare. We can only achieve this objective by putting people and partnerships at the centre of our approach. 

The EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy is an unprecedented commitment to making food systems fair, healthy, environmentally and animal friendly and based on sustainable models of agriculture. A shift in this direction would not only benefit millions of farmed animals, but also the quality and safety of our food, our health, as well as the environment. 

With the Farm to Fork Strategy, we have a unique opportunity to improve the lives of every being, both human and animal, always having as our guiding force that animal welfare matters.

Let us aim high to the benefit of farming families, consumers, animals and our planet.

– Commissioner Stella Kyriakides & Dr Jane Goodall

Regards Mark

Jane studies primates as a young lady

Environmental, General News

Europe: Golden Jackal Spreading Across Europe as Climate Warms.

© Getty Images/iStockphotoGolden jackals are native to Asia, north Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans, but are now advancing north and west into Europe

Golden jackals are spreading out across western Europe for the first time in centuries, with the reclusive mammal spotted in places such as Italy, the Netherlands and Norway.

The dog-sized creatures are commonplace in southern Asia, north Africa and the Middle East but in recent years environmentalists have spotted them in regions hundreds of miles from their normal ranges.

Last week, one was snapped by a photo trap in Tuscany, in the heart of Italy close to the city of Florence.

Earlier this year a farmer stumbled across a jackal in the Netherlands, managing to grab a photo of the little-known animal on his phone before it fled.

The reasons for this sudden migration, thought to be one of the largest mammal movements ever seen in modern times, are highly debated.

Many believe golden jackals might be benefitting from climate change. As Europe warms, there are fewer periods of heavy snow in many countries, which suits the jackals.

Others argue they are flourishing as wolves, their larger canid competitor, are persecuted and hunted out of the ecosystem.

Golden jackals are from the same family as the more famous grey wolf but are smaller, closer in size to a large dog, and with a fur coat with varies from a creamy yellow to dark tawny beige depending on the season.

They are an adaptable scavenger and predator species which live in breeding pairs and will eat almost anything, from insects, fruit, birds, small mammals, rodents and human refuse.

Their traditional range has included a large swathe of southern Asia and the Indian subcontinent, much of the Middle East and Gulf, and parts of the Balkans and south-west Europe.

However, in the past five or so years it has increasingly been spotted in western and northern Europe, including as far as Norway where a camera trap snapped one jackal in 2020.

“It is one of the largest range expansions for a mammal that we have ever witnessed, anywhere in the world,” Nathan Ranc, an ecologist and golden jackal expert from the University of California Santa Cruz, told The Daily Telegraph.

“It’s a continent-wide trend. This week, for instance, we had the first report that golden jackals are reproducing in Germany. Jackals are turning up in new places.”

Mr Ranc believes the spread of the animal into new ground is related to the decline of wolves, which were once endemic across Europe but were mostly hunted to extinction by the early 20th century.

“We think there’s a correlation,” he said. “This is what happens when the population of a dominant carnivore goes into decline. We think the persecution of wolves was a trigger.”

However, others disagree, noting wolf populations bottomed out more than a century ago and since the post-war period have actually been rapidly bouncing back as they acquired environmental protections across Europe.

John Linnell, from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, said he believed a reduction in the use of poison by Eastern European nations since they joined the EU in the 2000s could have made the continent more jackal-friendly, since the scavengers regularly eat dead livestock they stumble across.

Mr Ranc said another factor could be climate change, which was warming Europe and leading to less snow. Jackals are known to avoid heavy snow drifts which they struggle to traverse.

Although the return of wolves since their near extinction in western Europe has been highly controversial with farmers and others, the emergence of the golden jackal has been broadly welcomed.

They never attack humans and while they might kill some small domestic farm animals such as chickens or lambs, they are not likely to cause major concerns, said Prof Luigi Boitani from Rome University, the chairman of the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/golden-jackal-spreading-across-europe-as-climate-warms/ar-AARL8cB?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

Regards Mark

General News, Uncategorized

Saudi Arabia: Sadly True: – Camels Enhanced with Botox Barred From Saudi Beauty Contest.

Yes, Very Sadly; It Is True.

$66 Million in prize money would feed a few hungry children or animals for quite a while.

The world has gone crazy in some ways !

The image below is not real. A simulated graphic only of a pathetic event.

Camels enhanced with Botox barred from Saudi beauty contest

Dozens of animals disqualified after owners manipulate their looks with hormones, fillers and facelifts

Saudi authorities have carried out their biggest crackdown on camel beauty contestants, disqualifying more than 40 “enhanced” camels from the annual pageant, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The camels disqualified in the competition, at the King Abdulaziz camel festival, were judged to have received Botox injections and other artificial touch-ups.

The popular festival, which started this month, invites the breeders of the most beautiful camels to compete for about $66m in prize money.

Botox injections, facelifts and other cosmetic alterations to make the camels more attractive are strictly prohibited. Jurors decide the winner based on the shape of the animals’ heads, necks, humps, dress, and postures.

Judges at the month-long festival, held in the desert north-east of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, are escalating their clampdown on artificially enhanced camels, the official news agency reported, using “specialised and advanced” technology to detect tampering.

This year, the authorities discovered dozens of breeders had stretched out the lips and noses of camels, used hormones to boost the animals’ muscles, injected heads and lips with Botox to make them bigger, inflated body parts with rubber bands, and used fillers to relax their faces.

“The club is keen to halt all acts of tampering and deception in the beautification of camels,” the SPA report said, adding organisers would “impose strict penalties on manipulators”.

The camel beauty contest is at the heart of the massive carnival, which also features camel races, sales and other festivities typically showcasing thousands of dromedaries. The extravaganza seeks to preserve the camel’s role in the Bedouin tradition and heritage as the oil-rich country ploughs ahead with modernising mega projects.

Camel breeding is a multimillion-dollar industry and similar events take place across the region.

Its a sad, sad, bad, bad world when things like this happen !

Regards Mark

Source – ‘The Guardian’ (England).

Camels enhanced with Botox barred from Saudi beauty contest | Saudi Arabia | The Guardian

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Shark Fin Trade Still Allowed in EU – 50 Days to Put it to an END. Please Sign Now.

Shark fin trade still allowed in EU – 50 days to put it to an end

13 December 2021

Only 50 days left to collect one million votes from EU citizens needed for a successful EU citizens’ initiative: A group of citizens from across Europe have united and demand the end of the shark fin trade in the EU, so as to increase the protection of sharks. If successful, a political process will be initiated.

Every year, between 63 and 273 million sharks are killed, and many species are increasingly threatened worldwide. Europe is one of the major players in the global fin trade. Globally, sharks are targeted for their meat and liver oil, but the biggest threat remains shark finning. Sharks commonly have their fins removed while alive on fishing boats, and are then left to asphyxiate or returned to die in the water.

In the EU, the cruelest way to get shark fins – so-called finning – is officially banned. Finning means cutting off the fins of sharks on board a fishing boat and throwing the shark itself overboard. This practice was used to save cargo space and bring only the profitable fins ashore. In the EU, a regulation has been in place since 2013, according to which caught sharks had to be brought ashore with their fins.

However, the hoped-for success failed to materialize:

Although the catch numbers initially declined, they quickly recovered. This is shown for example by the numbers of the blue shark, the most caught species in the Atlantic. Initially, the numbers fell, but they reached an unimaginable 53,000 tons again as early as 2016, even higher than in 2013. Added to this are a high number of unreported cases and concealment. In shark fin shipments, it is often not documented where the shark was caught, what species it is, or whether it was caught legally. Once the fins are on the market, no one can account for them. Thus, in the past, protected species have been discovered in shark fin shipments again and again, mostly by accident, even in Europe.

How long are we going to accept a hunt that serves to turn the animals’ fins into a prestigious and expensive soup? The end of the shark fin trade is urgently needed. Many ecosystems in the world’s oceans depend on stable shark populations.

The demand of the EU Citizens’ Initiative has already been joined by more than 400,000 citizens. 

50 days before the end of the vote, the EU Citizens’ Initiative will raise awareness about the EU’s role in the shark fin trade in many major European cities (Berlin, Paris, Rome, Lisbon, Barcelona, Dublin, Athens and many more).

Sign the European Citizens’ Initiative here.

Regards Mark