TORONTO, June 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — National animal protection organization Animal Alliance of Canada is calling on the government of Manitoba to order an immediate suspension of the current black bear hunt in light of continuing active wildfires.
At least 21 fires, including eight deemed to be out of control and scattered throughout the three hunting zones, are currently burning in the province. A province-wide state of emergency was declared on May 28.
While 21,000 residents have been evacuated and travelers asked to reconsider non-essential travel to free up hotel rooms for these evacuees, the province continues to allow foreign hunters in. The fire hazard presented by these hunters’ guns and all-terrain vehicles present unnecessary additional risks for new fires.
Black bears are the only large mammal species allowed to be hunted in the spring while cubs are reliant on their mothers for food and protection. As bears hide their cubs in trees before foraging and because their fur is too thick to be able to see if they are lactating, even bear biologists cannot reliably identify the sex of a bear. As a result, every spring, female bears are killed, leaving orphaned cubs, most of whom perish by starvation, dehydration or predation.
A newly released report (see below) commissioned by the Animal Alliance of Canada Fund, which draws upon published studies as well as the Manitoba government’s own data from seasonal bear hunts, indicates that in 2023 (the most recent year for which data is available) as many as 224 cubs were left orphanedby the spring bear hunt.
In addition, black bears are the only mammal species allowed to be baited for hunting. During the spring hunt, hungry black bears newly awakened from hibernation and restricted by limited food sources are drawn into established bait stations loaded with meat and sugary foods, where hunters wait for them. These stations, which are permitted just beyond 200 metres of a dwelling or 500 metres from a cottage subdivision or campground, may cause bears to become acclimated to finding human foods in close proximity to people. The allowance of such bait stations contradicts government instruction and legislation discouraging members of the public from feeding bears.
This year, these issues are compounded by the devastating forest fires and resulting habitat loss, altered food availability, and increased potential encounters with humans as the bears are forced to move into new territories.
“We are urging the government to order an immediate suspension of the hunt,” said Lia Laskaris, Chief Executive Officer of the Animal Alliance of Canada. “We are further calling for a moratorium on the spring bear hunt until a full survey and assessment of the damage can be conducted,” added Laskaris.
This course provides an introduction to the problem of wild animal suffering. It covers the situation of animals in the wild as individuals, including the many harms they suffer, and ways of improving their situation, including some of the ways this is already being done.
This is the opening video for the course. It gives an overview of the topics that will be addressed in the videos of the course.
Wild animal suffering: an overview of the course
Concern about the suffering of wild animals and the ways we can help them has increased a lot in the past decade. A growing number of people are now aware that the lives of animals in the wild are not idyllic, and that they face threats that dramatically impair their wellbeing. There is more awareness now that this affects not just a few animals, but large numbers of them. While in the past, concern for wild animals was mostly focused on their ecological roles or their conservation status, many people now are concerned about what happens to them as individuals, as sentient beings.
Some people may think that it is unfortunate that wild animal suffering occurs, but be unsure about how widespread or how serious it is. Others may think this is an important issue, but not know how tractable it is, or what we can do to address it.
This course sheds some light on these questions and helps give a more clear understanding of the reality of wild animal suffering and, what is more important, of what can be done about it. It is intended to provide an introduction to this question for anyone interested in it, and to be especially useful to those involved in animal advocacy who want to know what can be done to help wild animals. The course will also benefit people working in natural sciences with an interest in learning how their work can help animals.
The course will include three parts.
Part I has been completely published already. It explains the ways that wild animals suffer and how we can help them. Part II details the arguments about the moral consideration of animals, and Part III explores the scientific study of the situation of animals from the point of view of their wellbeing. This new field of study has been called welfare biology.
Each part will consist of a set of videos, around 10 minutes each, focused on some specific problems. The entire course contains 28 videos including this one, which you’ll see listed in the course table of contents.
The first part begins with a general presentation summarizing the question of wild animal suffering. Following this, we will clarify in more detail what the concept of “wild animal suffering” entails. The following videos will then explain the different ways in which animals suffer in the wild. We will see the impacts of harmful weather conditions, natural disasters, diseases, parasitism, hunger, psychological stress, conflicts between animals, and accidents. We will also see how the prevalent reproductive strategies significantly increase the proportion of suffering among wild animals. Then, we will see some of the ways to provide help to these animals, including rescues and vaccination programs. Finally, we will see the kinds of things that each of us can do to make a difference for wild animals.
Some people think that we shouldn’t worry about wild animals because we shouldn’t be concerned about what happens to animals at all. We will believe this if we think, for instance, that only humans matter. In order to asess this concern, and to understand better how we can argue for the moral consideration of animals, the second part of the course presents an overview of contemporary debates about ethics and animals. The part will begin by explaining the concepts of speciesism, as well as related concepts like moral consideration. We will next examine the main defenses of the idea that human interests matter more than equally strong interests of other animals. We will then see the main arguments against this view. After that, we’ll cover how the moral consideration of animals relates to different ethical theories. We will then examine the differences between the views defending the moral consideration of animals and those defending other criteria, such as the ones held by some positions in environmental ethics. In the last part of this part, we will see what sentience is, and consider some indicators of its presence in different animals, especially invertebrates.
Finally, the third part of the course will examine the ways to promote research in academia about how to best help wild animals. In the videos of this part, we will examine the concepts of wellbeing, animal welfare, and wild animal welfare. We will also discuss welfare biology, the study of the situation of animals with regard to their wellbeing. We will see how it is different from other fields that currently exist. We will then see reasons to promote academic research in welfare biology, and what some promising lines of research for this field are. We will see how welfare biology can benefit from work in other cross-disciplinary fields. In light of the work welfare biology could carry out, we will see responses to objections to helping wild animals.. Finally, we will share some ideas concerning the advance of this new field of research, and its importance, especially in the long term.
We hope this course will be interesting to you. Our intention is to help you become familiar with the issues discussed in it, and to share some tools that enable you to do further research on them. We provide information about how to take action in defense of wild animals and to help you make informed decisions about which efforts to support or promote.
If you want to learn more, you can visit our website, where you’ll find much more detailed information about many of the issues addressed in the course.
European Turtle-dove by: Tony Brindley/Shutterstock
The European Commission has announced EU countries may re-open the hunting season for the European Turtle-dove (Streptopelia turtur) in parts of Western Europe if they choose to do so. The reopening follows a three-year hunting pause despite the species’ ongoing decline and weak enforcement of hunting laws.
Hunting of iconic species paused since autumn 2021 will continue pushing species to brink.
European Turtle-dove (Streptopelia turtur) in parts of Western Europe if they choose to do so [1]. The reopening follows a three-year hunting pausedespite the species’ ongoing decline and weak enforcement of hunting laws. The moratorium, introduced in 2021, had halted hunting in Spain, France, Portugal, and northwest Italy (Western Flyway) and in 2022 for Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Malta, Romania, and Cyprus (Central-Eastern Flyway). Hunting is a major driver of the species’ decline, yet instead of strengthening protections, the Commission is opening the door to more killing.
The hunting pause worked. Data shows that after years of decline, the Turtle-dove population in the Western Flyway has started to recover [2]. But in the Central-Eastern Flyway, where hunting bans have not been properly enforced, no recovery has been observed. The species continues to be classed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss and food shortages from intensive farming and pesticide use, and unsustainable hunting.
Despite these fragile gains, the European Commission has recommended resuming hunting in the Western Flyway for the 2025/2026 season, allowing hunters to kill up to 1.5% of the population. The Commission’s recommendation to end the moratorium was based on three conditions:
A population increase for at least two consecutive years
A rise in survival rates
Effective monitoring, control, and enforcement systems
But one of these conditions has still not been met. While population numbers have improved, the enforcement systems remain weak and unreliable [3]. The Commission is relying on a 1.5% hunting quota, assuming it will be sustainable, but there is no way to ensure that hunters will stick to this limit. The risk is clear. Without proper controls, overhunting will resume, and the species will start declining again.
Barbara Herrero, Senior Nature Conservation Policy Officer at BirdLife Europe, said: “The Turtle-dove did its part. Left alone, it started to recover. But governments failed to uphold their end of the deal. Instead of fixing weak enforcement and protecting habitats, they’re rushing to lift the ban. This is reckless and shortsighted. We know where this path leads – straight back to the brink. The European Commission should have stood firm and kept the moratorium.”
Meanwhile, in the Central-Eastern Flyway, illegal and unsustainable hunting continues unchecked. The Ionian Islands in Greece remain a hotspot for illegal killing during migration. Malta also continues its unlawful spring hunting of Turtle Doves. BirdLife Europe urges these countries to enforce the hunting ban before it’s too late.
The Turtle-dove is not safe. Without strong protections, we risk another devastating population crash. The European Commission must act responsibly and put nature before politics.
The Royal Horticultural Society, arguably the UK’s foremost gardening charity, has had a change of heart when it comes to our garden gastropods and whether we should be poisoning them. But what about other animals deemed pests, or those who simply don’t have a convenient role or value in our human lives? Claire Hamlett discusses.
Whenever it rains and snails dot the wet pavements, I watch my step, often pausing on walks to move snails to a place of greater safety. But not everyone takes such care over the slow-moving molluscs. Indeed, snails and their bare-backed cousins, slugs, have long been considered the bain of a gardener’s life. If you search for them on the internet, many of the results are about how to kill them or get rid of them. Garden centres are full of poison with which to dispatch them (and any other creature that mistakenly ingests it). But the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is now trying to redeem its image by no longer classing them as pests.
The RHS wants gardeners to see the ecological role that slugs and snails play, including eating decomposing matter and being a source of food for animals including birds and hedgehogs. This change of heart is part of the RHS’s broader campaign for ‘Planet-Friendly Gardening’, which it launched last year. While it’s good that an influential organisation like RHS is moving towards a more compassionate outlook, it also feels rather like it is having to do damage control for the prejudice that it has helped to create against these creatures. The current RHS page on snails, which will hopefully get an update soon, leads with an accusation that they “can cause a lot of damage in the garden” and has a whole section on controlling their numbers, including with pesticides.
I do wonder why it took the RHS so long to start thinking about how it demonises species given that the serious trouble the UK’s wildlife is in has been known for many years. Now it has seen the light on slugs and snails, hopefully, it will soon also update its thinking or many other species it currently classes as pests, and work instead to educate people about their role in the ecosystem and how to keep a balance of species in gardens without resorting to chemicals.
Unfortunately, the murderous mindset that categorises some species as ‘pests’ does not end in people’s back gardens or with molluscs.
Foxes are not only hunted illegally across the countryside but are persecuted for living their lives in and around the grounds of schools and businesses, as well as in the parks and on the streets of our cities. Fox cubs orphaned after their mother was killed were also shot at a school in North London last year for pooping in the playground and supposedly posing a risk to pupils’ health. There have been fox culls in London, where urban foxes are a common sight, especially after the Christmas period when there is more rubbish left out on the streets for longer. One ‘pest-controller’ interviewed by the Evening Standard said he had shot and killed thousands of foxes over his 30-year career.
But with public pushback, sometimes foxes’ lives are spared. A cull of foxes on a London golf course was halted in 2020 after campaigners including Animal Aid urged the golf club to choose an alternative humane solution. In 2021, hunt saboteurs raised the alarm about a planned fox cull on the grounds of Coca-Cola’s factory in Sidcup. The soft drink giant apologised for the upset and promised to use a humane alternative.
Rats and mice are among the prime ‘villains’ of the animal world in the minds of many people. While it’s understandable to not want rodents living in your house (though I did cohabit with a mouse for many months without any problems), these creatures are subjected to some particularly gruesome methods of ‘control’. Traps set with bait snap their spines. Poison can cause internal bleeding or death by dehydration. Some kill the animals slowly over days. There are humane, no-kill alternatives, but poison and traps sadly seem to be the most popular methods.
Sometimes an animal comes to be considered a pest simply because it disturbs the neat and tidy aesthetic that people prefer. One recent story I found particularly disturbing was a Guardian feature on a man called Jason Bullard in North Carolina, US, who kills armadillos for money. Driven north by climate change from their native habitat in South America, people in North Carolina were so “perturbed at their lawns being torn up by the newly arrived mammals” that they started paying Bullard to hunt and shoot them.
All too often animals are demonised for simply existing and trying to live their lives. Animal behaviour expert Marc Bekoff argues that calling these animals ‘pests’ “devalue[s] them as if they’re non-sentient objects.” Animals often find themselves in urban contexts because humans have taken over so much of what was once their habitat. Sometimes they benefit from living near us, such as by being more easily able to access food and shelter. As Bekoff writes, what we need is a “culture of coexistence”, in which killing is no longer the go-to option for resolving our conflicts with other species. With advocacy from organisations like the RHS, perhaps hearts and minds can finally start to change.
Shrinking tiger habitat has led to man-animal conflict in Assam state
A Royal Bengal tiger was killed and dismembered by a mob in India’s north eastern state of Assam, a forest official has said.
Angry residents from a village in the Golaghat district reportedly took the step because the tiger had killed livestock in the area and posed a threat to their lives.
The state’s forest department has registered a case.
Instances of man-animal conflict are not new to Assam. This is the third tiger killing that has been reported this year.
Top forest official Gunadeep Das told Times of India newspaper that the tiger had died from sharp wounds and not gunshots.
The carcass was later recovered in the presence of a magistrate, reports say.
Mr Das told a local newspaper that “around a thousand people had gathered to kill the tiger” and that some of them attacked the tiger with machetes. He added that the tiger’s carcass had been sent for an autopsy.
Mrinal Saikia, a lawmaker from Assam state condemned the killing on X. He shared a video that showed the purported dead body of the tiger with parts of its skin, face and legs missing.
The BBC has not independently verified the video.
“This is a very painful act. The Earth is not only for humans, it is for animals as well,” he said in the post, adding that strict action will be taken against those involved in the killing.
Another forest official, Sonali Ghosh told local media that the origins of the tiger were unclear. According to reports, the animal was killed about 20km (12 miles) away from the Kaziranga National Park.
Latest data by Assam’s forest department shows the population of tigers in the state has steadily increased from just 70 in 2006 to 190 in 2019 due to various conservation efforts.
However, instances of tigers being killed due to conflict with villagers have been often reported in the media, which could be because of shrinking habitat and lack of protection of tiger corridors between different national parks in the state.
Tigers are a protected species under India’s Wildlife Protection Act (1972), which prohibits poaching, hunting and trade of tiger parts.
Hobby hunter has cat torn to pieces by hunting dog
In Triebes in the Free State of Thuringia, a hobby hunter was filmed committing a serious offense.
Disgusting scenes in a video from the everyday life of hobby hunters were leaked to IG Wild beim Wild by a whistleblower.
This hobby hunter, too, is completely numb and internally crippled. Typical symptoms of years of hunting. A hunting license always gives you two things: a license to kill and a license to become stupid. The faces, eyes, and activities of these older hobby hunters speak volumes.
Video on Page
As is so often the case, the hobby hunter has absolutely no control over his dog. Time and again, we receive videos of hobby hunters setting their dogs on defenseless animals. It’s hard to imagine what happens in the forests, where wild animals are defenselessly at the mercy of these sadists. These are not isolated cases, so hobby hunting must finally be banned, and the children of hobby hunters must be protected.
The person who recorded the video is an old man who can only move with pain using a walker and therefore could not intervene.
Little Luna was unfortunately the victim of this cruel act. She was a very special and trusting kitten. However, because of this act, she never even lived to be two years old.
The cat’s owner is shocked. The community is wondering how sick the alleged former managing director of the German Hunting Terrier Club (name withheld from the editors) is to give his hunting dog such commands, or even to watch.
The cat presumably suffered for a few more minutes before succumbing to her injuries. Her body has not yet been returned to her owner. This suggests that the hobby hunter later disposed of little Luna after her death.
Legal action has been initiated and the local animal welfare association is providing support.
The hobby hunter—the police have no doubt about this—is a 64-year-old local man. Officials are now investigating him on suspicion of violating the Animal Welfare Act.
Dogs are abused for hunting
The abuse of dogs for recreational hunting is systematic. For their “training,” they are forced into obedience with electric shock devices, spiked collars, kicks on the paws, pinches in the ears, and sometimes even beatings.
The wild animals that hobby hunters set their four-legged friends on also pose a great danger: When dogs are forced to chase foxes or badgers out of their dens, bloody life-and-death fights often ensue. It’s not uncommon for the four-legged friends to be bitten by the terrified wild animals. Because the animals are sent headfirst into the den, they often suffer injuries to their eyes, lips, jaws, and necks. However, most dogs are injured by wild boar. Training dogs on live foxes in dens or on ducks is common practice.
Predators were once virtually extinct in Europe, but thanks to conservation efforts their numbers have rebounded
Wolves face being hunted in greater numbers after the European Union voted to downgrade their protected status.
The European Commission’s proposal, backed by a qualified majority of EU ambassadors, would allow greater flexibility in organising hunts by downgrading the wolf from “strictly protected” to “protected”.
Ministers will meet to formally vote on the proposal on Thursday, with only Ireland and Spain expected to vote against it, diplomatic sources said. Other member states are expected to abstain.
Wolves were virtually extinct in Europe a century ago but, thanks in part to EU conservation efforts, numbers have rebounded, with more than 1,000 of the predators in some countries.
Amid a backlash against the burden of EU green rules triggered by the cost of living crisis, farmers have complained that rising numbers of the predators are endangering their livestock.
However, conservationists have criticised the “outrageous move” to ease the hunting restrictions.
Hunting of problem wolves is already allowed under exceptions to the EU protections. Limited legal wolf hunting is carried out in Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia, but it could now become more widespread.
The vote comes after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s favourite horse, Dolly, was killed by a wolf in September 2022 at her home in Germany.
Ursula Von Der Leyen with her pony ‘Dolly’ who was killed by a wolf Credit: Instagram
The keen equestrian and mother-of-seven said her family was “horribly distressed” by the loss of the 30-year-old horse at the lower Saxony compound.
The culprit was identified through DNA evidence as a wolf known as GW950m. But a permit to kill it expired before it could be hunted down, meaning it could still be at large.
The keen equestrian and mother-of-seven said her family was “horribly distressed” by the loss of the 30-year-old horse at the lower Saxony compound.
The culprit was identified through DNA evidence as a wolf known as GW950m. But a permit to kill it expired before it could be hunted down, meaning it could still be at large.
Brussels was forced to deny that Mrs von der Leyen had intervened in the permit process to take revenge for the death of Dolly. The permit was applied for before the horse was killed.
The Eurogroup for Animals said wolf populations had increased but had not reached “favourable” conservation status, as it decried a move that “seriously jeopardises the conservation efforts of the past decade and prioritises politics over science”.
‘Long-overdue’
“Wolves are our allies, not our enemies and it is crucial to protect them,” said Léa Badoz, of the Eurogroup for Animals. More than 300,000 EU citizens had signed a petition to stop wolf hunting.
“This is a very outrageous move and shows that member states are ignoring their citizens’ calls and science,” she said. “We urge the other parties to the Bern Convention to reject this proposal.”
Centre-Right MEPs from Mrs von der Leyen’s European People’s Party (EPP), which campaigned to loosen the protections before June’s EU-wide elections, said the decision was the start of a “long-overdue process” to bring wolf populations under control.
“As these populations grow, their conservation status must evolve too,” said Alexander Bernhuber, an EPP member of the European Parliament’s environment committee.
Italy was among the most vocal countries demanding protections be weakened. The wolf was pushed to the verge of extinction in Italy by the 1970s, when the population dipped to just 100 individuals. Numbers are now estimated to be about 3,300.
“It is a step forward that fills us with satisfaction,” Paolo Borchia, an Italian MEP from the Right-wing League party, said on Wednesday. “It is unacceptable that it took years to come to terms with a situation that is clear for everyone to see.”
Kruger Park rangers on the poisoning scene. (Photo: EWT)
08 May 2025
Eighty-four vultures have been rescued after a mass poisoning event in the Kruger National Park, one of the largest incidents of its kind recorded in southern Africa.
An elephant carcass, laced with poison and surrounded by more than 100 dead vultures, marked one of the most devastating wildlife poisoning events yet seen in the Kruger National Park. Remote sensing triggered a scramble to save birds that were still alive.
In a coordinated emergency operation spanning helicopters, ambulances and nearly 24 hours of intensive care, 84 poisoned vultures were pulled back from the brink.
The operation this week was undertaken by a combined team of South African National Parks rangers and Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) officials in the park’s Mahlangeni Section, where the elephant carcass was found.
According to Gareth Tate, head of EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme, the organisation’s wildlife poisoning detection system triggered an alarm, flagging suspicious activity.
“The following morning, SANParks rangers conducted surveillance and uncovered a mass poisoning event involving more than 120 dead birds,” Tate said. “It was a shocking, gruesome scene.”
By 8.20am the joint team had arrived on site. They discovered 122 dead vultures, including 102 white-backed vultures, 20 Cape vultures and one lappet-faced vulture – all species listed as endangered or critically endangered. Several vultures were found alive but severely affected.
Tate described the rescue as a “world-class operation” involving two ground teams, helicopters, 12 vehicles and the EWT’s specialised Vulture Ambulance. Emergency treatment was administered in the field, including atropine to reverse the effects of the poison on the birds’ nervous systems, activated charcoal to bind toxins, fluid therapy and a procedure to flush and milk the vultures’ crops to remove ingested poison.
“We’ve developed a strict protocol over the years and we’ve achieved about a 98% success rate for birds found alive,” Tate explained. “Those first 24 hours are critical. If we can get them through that, they have a good chance of survival.”
Vultures were being deliberately targeted both to conceal illegal activities and to harvest body parts for the illegal wildlife trade and traditional medicine markets.
A total of 84 vultures were rescued alive. Of these, 45 were transported in the EWT’s mobile vulture ambulance and 39 were taken by helicopter to care facilities. Five of the rescued birds died despite treatment, but 83 remained alive as of the following morning, representing a 96% survival rate.
SANParks Pilot Bradford Grafton with one of the rescued vultures. (Photo: SANParks)
Eighty-four vultures have been rescued by a joint team of SANParks rangers and Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) following a devastating poisoning incident in the Kruger National Park. (Photo: EWT)
Reinforcements were swiftly deployed. Support teams from the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Briner Veterinary Services and Wildscapes Veterinary Services were mobilised within hours and worked through the night to stabilise each bird and keep them alive.
“This was one of the largest and most coordinated vulture rescues ever conducted in the region,” Tate said. “The collaboration between SANParks, vets, NGOs and rangers was remarkable.”
This is intentional genocide of vultures. It’s absolutely malicious and a silent killer.
The poisoning involved agricultural toxins placed on an elephant carcass, a method increasingly used by poachers to kill vultures that might otherwise alert rangers to poaching sites by circling overhead. Tate said vultures were being deliberately targeted both to conceal illegal activities and to harvest body parts for the illegal wildlife trade and traditional medicine markets.
“Vultures are being systematically removed from the landscape,” Tate warned. “This is intentional genocide of vultures. It’s absolutely malicious and a silent killer.”
“They’re targeting vultures for their brains, heads and feet,” Tate said. “There’s even evidence that poisoned vulture parts are ending up in muti markets, meaning that toxic substances are being sold to unsuspecting users.”
Broader crisis
This incident forms part of a broader crisis facing vultures across southern Africa. The birds play a key role in ecosystems by consuming carcasses and reducing the spread of disease. Their absence leads to carcasses lingering longer in the environment, increasing the risk of disease transmission to other wildlife and humans.
The decline of vultures has been linked to knock-on effects seen in other regions: in India, the collapse of vulture populations due to veterinary drug poisoning led to a boom in feral dog numbers and a corresponding rise in rabies cases.
Kruger hosts at least five regular vulture species: the white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus), the most common; the Cape vulture (Gyps coprotheres), mainly found in the park’s north; the lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotos); the hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) and the rarely seen white-headed vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis). Each species occupies a niche at carcasses, forming an efficient clean-up system.
Each adult vulture killed is not just an immediate loss – it’s a loss of future generations.
However, their numbers are declining due to a number of pressures. Many species breed slowly, raising only one chick per year. Their nesting habitats are shrinking as large trees along rivers are lost, often from increased elephant activity. Without sufficient nesting sites, reproductive success drops. Poisoning events exacerbate these losses, wiping out breeding adults and chicks alike.
Poisoning incidents targeting vultures have increased. Poachers use pesticides like carbofuran, a highly toxic agricultural chemical, to lace carcasses. Vultures that feed on the poisoned remains are removed as natural sentinels from the ecosystem. Other scavengers, including jackals, lions, hyena and ground hornbills, also fall victim.
“Unlike targeted poaching of individual animals, poisoning takes out entire species indiscriminately,” Tate said. “Each adult vulture killed is not just an immediate loss – it’s a loss of future generations.”
Efforts to address the issue include increased patrols, training poison response teams and establishing artificial feeding sites to provide uncontaminated food. Conservationists stress that long-term solutions will require stronger regulation of agricultural poisons, improved enforcement against wildlife crime and engagement with communities living near protected areas.
Community outreach initiatives by the Kruger Park have begun, aiming to reduce demand for vulture parts in belief-based practices and build support for conservation. However, scaling these measures to meet the size of the problem remains a challenge.
Tate emphasised the need for stricter penalties for those responsible. “These individuals need to be caught and the penalties must reflect the seriousness of the crime – they’re killing critically endangered animals.”
Natural waste disposers
The rescued vultures continue to recover under veterinary care and will be released once they are fit to return to the wild. “Some of them are so strong that we’re planning to release them this Saturday,” Tate said.
Conservationists hope the surviving birds will resume their vital ecological role as natural waste disposers, limiting the spread of disease in the ecosystem. The poisoning incident highlights the vulnerability of vultures to deliberate targeting, the ecological consequences of their decline and the urgent need for interventions.
“Without vultures, carcasses take longer to decompose, leading to increased risks of disease,” Tate said. “Their loss disrupts a delicate balance. We need to act now to protect them.”
As the surviving vultures recover, conservationists warn that the battle to save these birds is ongoing. Preventing future poisonings, preserving nesting habitats and raising awareness about their ecological importance will be essential to ensure that vultures remain part of Kruger’s skies. Each circling silhouette is a sign that the clean-up crew is still at work, maintaining the health of the ecosystem for wildlife and humans alike.
So – here we go. Found this truly wonderful publication serving the good people of Michigan, and their clearly totally derailed connection to nature and all that lives within her. Calls itself the “Michigan Enjoyer” (?????). Your average nutcases’ daily publication.
Far be it from us to give this filth a forum here, we think we need to show what happens out there in remote uncivilised corners of the North-American continent – the better to understand why it is the US is such a great, internationally respected leader of the free world ….
Right – tell you what’s cool: seeing these guys hang head down from a tree with a small fire underneath .. if they’re so keen on the Wilds, and bygone times of “Adventure” and all that “strong men” shit, bring back the scalpers and skinners of the white invader! Clearly it’s been too long …
And as if that wasn’t enough from lovely Michigan, here’s more: (Nuisance???)
A new lethal and legal way to deal with nuisance geese will be implemented in Michigan this year. As annoying and bullish as these Canada geese may be, I still don’t feel very good about this new method to remove them. Here’s what we know so far:
According to a report from MLiveMichigan is moving forward with the new pilot goose removal program– despite pushback. While the state isn’t exactly encouraging the gassing of nuisance Canada geese it will be permitted in certain circumstances.
Canadian Geese v. Canada Geese
There is a difference. I, like many, have referred to the black and brown geese spotted all throughout Michigan as “Canadian geese” in the past however that’s not quite accurate. The term Canada goose refers to a particular species, Branta canadensis, while grammatically, the phrase Canadian goose could refer to any goose from Canada. Get it?
The Michigan DNR has long offered help and relocation services to private landowners and has even adapted hunting regulations when it comes to Canada geese in particular, but what are landowners, businesses, and golf courses supposed to do when they exhausted every option? DNR Wildlife Biologist and Acting Waterfowl Specialist Kaitlyn Barnes told MLive,
The Michigan DNR has long offered help and relocation services to private landowners and has even adapted hunting regulations when it comes to Canada geese in particular, but what are landowners, businesses, and golf courses supposed to do when they exhausted every option? DNR Wildlife Biologist and Acting Waterfowl Specialist Kaitlyn Barnes told MLive,
Why is This Necessary?
Not only is the highly contagious bird flu a factor but think about all the nuisance geese that pester children and families at parks, loiter outside nursing homes, and leave so many droppings that beaches are forced to close due to E.coli. I hadn’t even considered this, but MLive mentions goose feathers and feces can clog pipes at local wastewater treatment plants.
Again, I understand why this would all be necessary but I really don’t think it’s fair to the geese and their young. I’m not for the killing of innocent animals and that’s exactly what they are!
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Update: More Animals Added to Michigan’s Year-Round Hunting List
The Michigan DNR has added the following animals to the state’s year-round hunting list. Land owners may kill these animals on their property with no special permits required.
Gallery Credit: Lauren Gordon
FOX SQUIRREL
According to the Michigan DNR nearly 70% of the state’s Fox Squirrel population can be found in southern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. You’ll see them everywhere from forest to farmlands to city parks– and everywhere in between.
GRAY SQUIRREL
Also called the Eastern Gray Squirrel, these critters typically nest and live the majority of their life within a single nest tree and is the least social of Michigan’s six squirrel species.
BEAVER
The majestic beaver was added to Michigan’s year-round kill list as their dams can cause flooding and block culverts.
MUSKRAT
It’s hard to tell a beaver from a muskrat, but the difference is in the tail! The Michigan DNR warns that muskrat burrows can weaken shorelines, dikes, and riverbanks.
COTTONTAIL RABBIT
Poor, Peter Cottontail. Much like squirrels, these rabbits are known to chew through structure or equipment wires.
Animals You Can Hunt All Year in Michigan
Gallery Credit: Maitlynn Mossolle
RUSSIAN BOAR
Uh…yeah…did you know these even exist here in Michigan because we sure didn’t until we saw the DNR say you can freely hunt these all year! According to Michigan.gov these are a highly invasive species that were only introduced either by “Intentional release” or “escape from captivity.” They are particularly dangerous which is why you are welcome to hunt them and encouraged to report when you do see them.
OPPOSSUM
While some may think these critters are pretty cute, they are also commonly known to be pests. That’s why, though people may not actively hunt these for their meat or for the “thrill of the hunt” but if you happen to kill one that’s been rummaging your trash, harassing your pets, etc. you are welcome to kill them as well.
FERAL PIGEONS
Now we’re not entirely sure what the difference is between regular pigeons and “feral” ones but the Michigan DNR says you can hunt the feral ones as you please. We assume there are some people keep for pets for some reason?
RED SQUIRRELS
Now, regular squirrels are pretty cute and pretty harmless (for the most part) but RED SQUIRRELS…well, they were put on this Earth for one purpose: Chaos. They get into everything, chew on electrical wires and just really do not know their place other than to ruin everything. The Michigan DNR says you are welcome to kill them as much as the day is long.
WOODCHUCK “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck, could chuck…” Yeah, these critters may have inspired a fun little rhyme but at the end of the day, MSU Extension’s Fisheries and Wildlife division says you can kill them if they are causing damage to private property. And boy, can it be extensive.
HOUSE SPARROW
Now these birds may look all teeny and cute, but MLive reports they are known for displaying behavior that can threaten the survival of other birds. You can CLICK HERE to read more but long story, short, these little guys are actually kind of a**holes. You are welcome to shoot them all year, though, it may be easier to find some way to trap them instead.
PORCUPINES
We probably don’t have to go into too much detail about what is wrong with these animals and why you are able to hunt them year-round…however, a point we would like to make is that people had pet hedgehogs forever and they’re basically just mini porcupines, no?
GROUND SQUIRRELS
Am I missing something here, these are what we commonly refer to as “chipmunks” right? Has our entire lives been a lie? Should it really be “Alvin and the Ground Squirrels”? Anyways, here is yet another animal that probably needs no explanation as to why you can kill it year round with no interference from the Michigan DNR…just don’t get ridiculous with it…that could mean you have some deeper issues.
STARLING
Much like the house sparrows, Starlings also pose a threat to other native bird species. Michigan.gov says, “English sparrows, feral pigeons, and starlings may be taken by hunting statewide, year around except within state park and recreation areas from April 1 to September 14.”
WEASELS
While like other animals on this list, weasels are cute, but they are considered pests here in Michigan. Of course, with our state’s history in the fur trade it’s not all that surprising, yet it still somehow is. According to Michigan.gov, “Opossums, porcupines, weasels, red squirrels, skunks, ground squirrels, woodchucks, and feral swine may be harvested year-round, statewide with a valid Michigan hunting license. There is no bag limit for these species.”
SKUNKS
As mentioned with the previous critter, skunk is still part of Michigan’s fur trade which means you are open to kill them. However, I have to wonder, are they like stink bugs where if you kill them, it releases the stench? Someone please explain.
. and so forth …
It truly does make you wonder about the clearly highly disturbed mental health of the people of Michigan, or certainly a large portion. What, one cannot but wonder, do they do with themselves, if they do not go out and kill wildlife???
Now, Germany is a Speed Maniacs’ paradise. This is commonly known. All the time terrible accidents happen, caused by people racing their fast cars on motorways without speed limits. Increasingly even in traffic-calmed areas inside cities, with speed limits of 50 km/h. The German automobile industry has no interest in any speed limits ever being established, and due to successful political lobby work things remain as they are. Being a driver myself in this country, I daily encounter reckless drivers, and their often aggressive behaviour.
Sadly a huge number of animals fall victim to their unthinking, uncaring, and often intentional conduct on the roads. And also, sadly, the German “ADAC” (“Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Club” – General German Automobile Club) advises its numerous members accordingly … against due consideration for the (smallest and) most vulnerable animal road users.
Two recent accidents reported in the news, with drivers trying to avoid hitting a pigeon and a squirrel, were commented accordingly by police/the ADAC.
“… The police point out that, even in road traffic, human life always comes before animal life. Braking for small animals such as rabbits or squirrels should only be performed if it does not endanger vehicle occupants or other road users, the police explain. “
Smaller animals (e.g., pigeons, rabbits, cats): Do not brake or swerve abruptly! The protection of human life takes priority – risky maneuvers can lead to serious accidents
Larger animals (e.g. deer, wild boars, dogs): Controlled braking is permitted and required to avoid a collision as far as possible – provided that other road users are not endangered.
(Source: ADAC)
Now, accidents happen – we are all aware of that. And the least one should do is stop and see if help can be given. Or, should that fail, to remove the body from the road – the decent thing to do – lest it be run over time and again by other drivers (once read an interview with one, German, who enjoyed aiming for the heads of prone animals on the road, alive and dead).
Should I just keep driving or stop? As harsh as it may sound, stopping to check on a hedgehog or squirrel that’s been run over makes little sense. Small wild animals are usually killed instantly after a collision with a car or are so severely injured that they can no longer be helped. These include, for example, foxes, hares, wild rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, songbirds, and game birds like pheasants. Well-intentioned rescue operations on the road, especially in poor visibility or darkness, are unlikely to be successful, according to ADAC traffic expert Christoph Hecht.
Well at least they advise, here, to look after a cat or a dog. But small wildlife clearly is screwed …
In the event of an accident involving a dog or cat, you should stop in a safe place, turn on your hazard lights, put on a high-visibility vest, and secure the accident scene with a warning triangle. Then you can go to the injured animal. If the animal is dead, you should pull it off the road. If the injured pet is still alive and injured, it must receive medical attention.
As regrettable as every dead hedgehog is, risky evasive maneuvers endanger people and are disproportionate. Car insurance companies also consider emergency braking that leads to an accident (a rear-end collision) to be disproportionate. This can lead to the loss of benefits.
Hedgehogs that have been hit by a car are usually beyond rescue. Anyone who still wants to try should be especially careful, especially in the dark and in areas with poor visibility, as there is an increased risk of accidents with even more serious consequences.
No one wants an attempt to save an animal life on the road to end in serious harm to other parties, or their property. However, personally, I disagree with most of this. And as regards property – and here the all-important car (to most Germans anyway) – that can never have priority over an irreplaceable life.
In my personal experience not all small animals involved in road accidents are necessarily dead or beyond saving. Sadly the ADAC seems to think that to try is not worth it – so potentially leave them to suffer and die slowly of their injuries.
As concerns wildlife that is listed in the hunting law in Germany, which goes for most species, it is strictly forbidden to remove an injured animal from the site of the accident, even with the intent of having it receive medical attention or for transport to a wildlife station. It is considered poaching, and the rule is to wait for the local hunting tenant to dispatch the animal – even IF it would otherwise have survived. For vets it is illegal to give such an animal medical attention, even to euthanise it!!
I have personally witnessed such an incident a few years ago, with a young wild boar, having fled a drive hunt in November, and running across a busy road in its panic, being hit by a car. The poor animal lay in the middle of the road, trying to rise and could not, while the accident driver looked on. I pulled the creature from the road onto the verge. Police arrived, and it was decided to summon the local hunter to deal with it. What followed was the longest half hour of my life. Being left alone with the animal, I tried to stand it up on its legs, so it could flee. I knew what was to come. However, the back injury was too severe, and I’ll never forget the panicked gasping, the rolling eyes seeking a way out …
The hunter arrived.
He shook everyone’s hand, pulled a pistol from his jacket, aimed and shot. Once, twice – in the chest. The poor animal screamed in agony, and with two bullets in its chest, was yet alive. Shamed with his inability to do the job right, the hunter grabbed the hind legs of the boar and pulled it out of sight, in the dark, to the verge of the field. No doubt, there, out came the knife …
We all stood there, no one reacted. The two police officers should have put a stop to this, but did not. After this, I swore to myself: never again will I watch such an “execution”. I’ll do whatever needs doing, fuck the law.
On many other occassions I also came upon animals injured on the road, or dead. Only yesterday, within a hundred yards of each other … a cat, and what, presumably, was a deer, judging by the amount of blood. The latter already removed by the hunting tenant. The cat, laid at the roadside by a lady who got out of her car in front of me. The accident driver had clearly kept going …
On another occasion, in the August of 2021, I travelled through a local village, and came past a hit squirrel in the middle of the road (speed limit!), with cars passing, but no one stopping. I parked, got out, and found the little guy still alive, twitching, with eyes open, and still having the hazelnuts it had carried in its bloody mouth. I took it and carried it to my car, with many passing in theirs, gloating ..
The local vet I saw could only euthanise it, so severe were the head injuries.
It’s a brutal world out there – and getting worse every day. The statement, “human life always comes before animal life.” and all that results of it, is, I think, THE main cause of most of what we see here on WAV being done to fellow animals.
World Animals Voice 