Woman Leads Fight Against Circuses in Portugal

I like this story because I can only imagine the conditions of circus animals in Portugal. When I was in the Azores, there was a circus called Atlas I think and there were horrible, gaudy posters. I just had a sick feeling about the possible treatment of those animals. Being of Azorean heritage, and, therefore, Portuguese, I know personally that animal welfare is not a cultural value.

Anyway, here's a German woman who lives in the Algarve and is appalled at a particular circus' treatment of its animals. The EU apparently wants to "regulate" instead of banning circuses. Are they that much of an economic powerhouse?!

Ligers in China

A private zoo operator in Taiwan cross-bred lions and tigers, resulting in three "liger" cubs. One died and the other two were seized for sheltering at a research institution. Both species are endangered and it is illegal to cross breed them.

From Focus Taiwan...

The Environmental and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) said Huang, who possesses an array of wildlife, should be dealt with harshly to deter others from copying the behavior.

"Cross-breeding two protected species is completely against nature. We are urging the Council of Agriculture (COA) to seize the two cubs immediately and bring Huang to real justice. A fine of NT$50,000 is a mere slap on the wrist, " said Lin Tai-jing, an EAST researcher.

Phoenix Restaurant Serves Lion Burgers

No, I'm not making this up.

From the Associated Press....

A restaurant owner who put lion burgers on the menu in honor of the World Cup has felt a roar of anger from outraged animal rights activists.

Cameron Selogie, owner of the Il Vinaio restaurant in Mesa, served burgers made with African lion this week as a nod to the tournament in South Africa. Reservations sold out, with a waiting list 100 long.

But the burgers also attracted international attention and the scorn of animal rights activists, who picketed outside the restaurant. Selogie has even received some death threats.

And now Selogie himself is questioning whether the meat was fair game.

"I was led to believe they were not hunted, they were not shot, they were not abused," Selogie said. "I feel I was misled by this."

Serving African lion meat is perfectly legal, said Michael Herndon, a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration. Game meat such as lion can be sold as long as the species isn't endangered, and the CDC hasn't prohibited importation of African lion, although its Asiatic cousin is on the endangered list.

Lion Population Decreasing in Kenya

I've been reading a lot about threatened elephants and primate populations in Africa and wondered about lions. One rarely hears about how they are doing. But, unfortunately, they are in trouble too.

This article talks about the specific situation in Kenya. The storyline is all too familiar.

The national lion population has been falling by an average of 100 per year for the last seven years due to a combination of factors, particularly human-wildlife conflict, destruction of habitats, climate change, disease and increase in human population.

Kenya's lion population has dropped from an estimated 2,749 in 2002 to 2,280 in 2004 and probably just 2000 individuals in 2009.

Forensics Used to Solve Wildlife Crime in India

In India, forensic tests helped establish guilt in the killing of 10 endangered lions.

Between February and March 2007, 10 lions were killed by poachers in three different incidents at the Gir National Park (GNP) which houses 360 Asiatic lions, the only surviving population in the wild.

Eighteen months later, 30 tribals belonging to the Baheliya tribe were found guilty by a local court in Junagadh and sentenced to three years imprisonment

The accused were subjected to forensic tests, which established that their nails, spears and animal traps carried traces of flesh, blood and hair of the poached lions. The analysis determined the species of the sample as well as the unique DNA fingerprint of one particular animal, whose flesh was found on the equipment. The link was clearly established.

To confirm the line of investigation, in a yet another unprecedented move, a narco-analysis test was conducted on one of the accused, a woman. It confirmed the initial findings.

Lion Cubs Exploited in Some "Conservation" Parks

Some African wildlife parks that tout their lion conservation efforts are actually exploiting their animals.

It's a vicious cycle. Lion breeders remove cubs from their mothers in order to induce a new breeding cycle. They rent the cubs to tourist parks that offer visitors the chance to handle or be photographed with the cubs. But these cubs are often declawed and lacking teeth in order to be harmless. They are subsequently sold to big game hunting reserves for "canned hunts."

Antelope Park, in Zimbabwe, charges about £20 for a 90-minute lion encounter it describes as “not just a very privileged photo opportunity, [but] the chance for you to become a conservationist”.

The Sunday Times, however, has learnt that, far from being released into the wild, as many as 59 lion cubs raised at Antelope Park have been sold to big-game-hunting operations to be shot for sport.

So-called “canned hunting”, where rich trophy-hunters pay thousands of pounds to shoot big game in fenced enclosures, is big business in southern Africa. The price of shooting a lion bred in captivity ranges from about £9,000 to £16,000, and the breeders who supply the trade are struggling to keep up with demand.

Any place that offers an opportunity to "hang out" with lions sounds suspicious to me. These are not preserves for wild animals, but petting zoos instead.

Photo by WildImages.

Lion Hunting Industry Flourishes

It amazes me how I hear about species whose very existence is being endangered, but at the same time, individual members are being held in captivity and their live are basically "throw-aways." Examples include the chimpanzees being used for experimentation, elephants in circuses, and, now, lions for trophy hunters.

Trophy hunters are the worst to me. They don't need the kill, they don't eat it, they don't respect it and, most of the time, they don't even really hunt it. These "trophys" are often just the result of the "hunter" having the kill when the animal has already been tracked and caught by a professional. Or they are in a small enclosure, aka the "canned" hunt.

A trophy for cowardice I say. Or to boost some low testosterone levels.

But the industry heads believe they are protecting the lions from African farmers killing them and helping the economy at the same time. See what's happening in South Africa.

South African breeding operations...provided more than 300 lions for trophy hunters to stalk and kill last year, and are part of an industry that brought 1 billion rand ($146 million) into the economy. The farms have also sparked outrage from animal rights groups who say they permit ``canned hunting,'' where marksmen kill lions in small enclosures with no chance to escape.

Starting Feb. 1, South Africa will require that lions roam free for two years before they are hunted. Breeders say the rules will destroy the industry and force them to slaughter many of the 5,000 captive-bred cats. Game farms can't afford to have the lions hunting their other animals for such a long period, and there isn't enough room for them in the wild.

``The moment we can't hunt them they'll have no value,'' says Wouter Pienaar, owner of Bloemfontein-based Shot Productions Ltd., which films hunts for tourists. The farmers ``are just going to start killing them.''

Advocates of the new law say it will let lions adapt to the wild before they are killed, allowing for a fair chase.

``We are putting an end, once and for all, to the reprehensible practice of canned hunting,'' Marthinus van Schalkwyk, South Africa's environment minister, said in a February statement. ``We will not allow our achievements to be undermined by unethical and rogue practices.''


Photo by joriepollak.