"The Cove" Is Getting Attention

We posted about "The Cove" a few months ago. It's a documentary about an annual Japanese dolphin hunt that occurs in the village of Taiji. It's gruesome, bloody and disturbing. It has just been screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

Here is a glowing review from Joel Reynolds with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The review is on Huffington Post.

Dolphin Slaughter Captured on Film

If you're a dolphin lover, brace yourself. It's not pretty.

Members of the group Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) spent seven months filming the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, part of Japan. The film is due for worldwide release this summer.

There are some powerful images captured for the film.

Captured dolphins were filmed writhing in pain as Taiji whalers speared them repeatedly or cracked their spines with spiked weapons. Stricken dolphins are also shown thrashing about wildly, blood pouring from their wounds until they finally succumbed. Meanwhile, a number of dolphin trainers and officials from the Taiji Whale Museum are shown cooperating in the slaughter — some even laughing — as the killing cove's bloodied, ruby-red water swept round into the adjacent capture cove.

But perhaps the most iconic scene is one in which a baby dolphin leaps to its death on the rocks after its mother is killed. This really was a surreal and incredibly sad sight to see.

What is especially mind-boggling is that the dolphin meat is not even considered safe for human consumption due to high mercury levels.

One of the officials OPS filmed was Taiji City Councilman Junichiro Yamashita, who organized certified tests on local dolphin meat bought from retail outlets in the town. The shocking test results revealed mercury and methylmercury levels that were 30 and 16 times, respectively, above advisory levels set by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. As a result, Yamashita hastily distributed newsletters to Taiji residents warning them to avoid consuming the meat — which he called "toxic waste."

So, another example where harm to humans and harm to animals clearly intersect.

Photo by Farl.

Canadian Seal Hunt to Start Friday

The Canadian seal hunt starts Friday. Oh joy. Certainly something to make Canada proud.

Canada's contentious seal hunt starts on Friday with new rules requiring hunters to make extra sure the animals are dead before they are skinned.

So regulations are necessary to make extra sure animals are DEAD before they are SKINNED?

Sick.

Photo by animalrescueblog.

Groups May Take Novia Scotia to Court

More seal troubles up in Canada...

Animal rights groups say they are considering taking Nova Scotia and seal hunters to court to prevent a repeat of the grey seal hunt on Hay Island, a protected wilderness area off Cape Breton.

Officials from Humane Society International and the Atlantic Canada Anti-Sealing Coalition, which spent a couple of days observing the hunt, released pictures and video on Monday of seals being clubbed and skinned, evidence they said of a "violent slaughter."

"We want to hold the Nova Scotia government accountable so that we don't ever see this again," said society spokesperson Rebecca Aldworth.

"The fishing industry is trying to scapegoat grey seals for its own destructive fishing practices."

Nova Scotia Fisheries Minister Ron Chisholm said his department was looking to protect fish species around Hay Island when he authorized a cull earlier this month.

Photo by giles.breton.

Let's Be Fair, Russians Kill Baby Seals Too

Canada is to seal hunting as Japan is to whaling. Neither is the sole actor in the massacres, but each has the highest profile. However, it is important that the spotlight be shared with the other perpetrators of these sad atrocities. They are just as guilty.

In other words, Russians kill baby seals too.

In Defense of Animals knows this and recently held a protest at San Francisco's Russian Consulate against hunts that take place in Russia's Archangelsk region.

Russia is the only country that allows seals less than 2 weeks old to be killed, organizers said.

Photo by perfil.

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.

Canadian Seal Industry Hurt by Import Bans

Oh, boo hoo.

Canada's centuries-old commercial sealing industry faces a "crisis" because of growing opposition throughout Europe that threatens to close vital markets, the head of the Fur Institute of Canada said Tuesday.

In a stark address to a gathering of about 100 sealers, Bruce Williams, chairman of the organization, said the future of the seal harvest is bleak if support for bans on the import of seal products continues to build in Europe.

"Unfortunately, the animal rights organizations around the world have come to realize that the easiest way to kill something - for maybe lack of a better term - is to kill the market," Williams said.

"If you can't sell the product, if it has no commercial value, then I would say that it is doomed."

Good!

Photo by yeimaya.

EU Scientists Say Seal Hunters Need Training

It's good to see scientists stepping in to the debate over Canadian seal hunts. It's not just those crazy animal rights activists that have concerns.

A committee of European scientists is recommending that Canadian seal hunters be trained to kill the mammals in a more humane way.

The panel has told the European Food Safety Agency there's little peer-reviewed scientific evidence on the hunting and skinning of seals. However, the panel said in a news release Wednesday that available evidence on killing techniques shows there are "obvious areas of concern for seal welfare."

The panel said if a single bullet or clubbing doesn't kill the animals, then hunters should shoot or club them again before they're dragged to a vessel.

The panel also said some methods of killing seals, such as trapping them underwater or herding them before a slaughter, are inhumane.

In addition to calling for more training of hunters, the panel called for independent monitoring of the hunts in Greenland, Namibia and Canada.

In response to the findings, here's a statement by Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has released a scientific study on the animal welfare aspects of global seal hunts. We are supportive of EFSA's recommendations since they uphold the legitimacy and humaneness of hunting practices and techniques that are used, regulated and enforced in Canada's annual commercial seal hunt.

Independent and peer-reviewed studies have shown - time and again - that the vast majority of seals in Canada are taken in a humane manner. We believe that Canada's current practices are consistent with EFSA's general recommendations and we are already taking measures to address some of the issues raised in the study....


Photo by divedi.

Irish Hare Coursing Study Issued

The Irish Council Against Blood Sports is pretty angry about a study issued by Queen's University College. The study was partially based on independent video footage collected at hare coursing events over the past 20 years.

A recent Queen`s University College study, saying that hare coursing presents no threat to the Irish hare population has been angrily rejected by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports.

The research team led by Dr Neil Reid of the school of biological sciences, said mortality during coursing removed less than 0.1 per cent of the total adult hare population annually.

The study, published in the journal Animal Welfare, showed that when the ICC introduced compulsory muzzling of greyhounds in 1993, mortality dropped from 16 per cent to 4 per cent.

"Further reductions in mortality since then may be attributed to improved care in captivity", the report added.

"The most recent estimates of the hare population in Ireland suggest that mortality during coursing removes less than 0.1 per cent of the total adult population annual" said Dr. Reid. "Therefore at its current level, mortality during coursing is likely to have negligible effect".

The Irish Council Against Blood Sports, Aideen Yourell said she was shocked at the findings of the study which she rejected out of hand. "How can you base a scientific study on video footage from an organisation which has forbidden photography at its meetings for many years.

For those of you who don't know what hare coursing is, here is a description from Wikipedia.

Most hare coursing is open coursing, that is, it takes place in the open (as opposed to Irish coursing which takes place in an enclosure with an escape route). There are two forms of open coursing. In driven coursing (such as the Waterloo Cup), hares were "driven" by beaters towards the coursing field. As they enter the field, a person known as a slipper releases two dogs at the same time, in pursuit of the hare, which is given a head start (known as 'fair law'), usually between 80 and 100 yards (70–90 metres). In walked-up coursing, a line of people walk through the countryside and a pair of Greyhounds are released when a hare is disturbed.

The object is to test pairs of dogs, not to kill the hare; and the greyhounds which pursue the hare will, being faster, start to catch up with it. Since the Greyhounds are much bigger than the hare, and much less agile, they find it hard to follow the hare's sharp turns, which it makes as the greyhounds threaten to reach it. This agility gives the hare an important and often crucial advantage as it seeks to escape.

Under National Coursing Club rules, the dogs are awarded points on how many times they can turn the hare, and how closely they follow the hare's 'course'. The contest between the Greyhounds is judged from horseback.

Photo by picturestation.

Australian Fur Seals Killed in Shooting Spree

I'm not sure of the motive behind this killing spree. The seals' bodies were left behind and it sounds like the fur was intact. So, no trophy hunting and no poaching.

Just a little target practice?

Rare and protected Australian fur seals have been killed in an apparent shooting spree in Australia's island state of Tasmania, conservation officials said Wednesday.

At least nine seals had been found dead along the island's east coast, conservation official Andrew Irvine told Australian Associated Press.

Three had been confirmed shot, he said.

The Australian fur seal is one of the world's rarest and its numbers are recovering slowly after it was hunted to the brink of extinction.

Photo by davelight.

Australian Scientists Say Japanese Whale Killing Unnecessary for Research

Australian scientists are saying that the Japanese don't need to kill whales for research purposes.

Researchers from Southern Cross University in New South Wales said they have developed a more humane technique for collecting the scientific data.

The process involves DNA testing of the whales' skin flakes, which naturally shed when they breach the water, said Peter Harrison, an associate professor at the university.

''The skin samples can give you the genetic information of the whale, they can tell you the relationships to the other whales, who's the mother, who's the father, etc.,'' Harrison told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

The Japanese whaling fleet is due to set sail for the Antarctic Ocean within weeks. Once there, the whalers plan to kill more than 1,000 minke, fin and -- for the first time -- humpback whales.

The whales, Japan says, are taken to collect their genetic information, which in turn is needed for the future management of the ocean mammal's stocks.

These methods do not allow for exact age determinations for population studies, but that breakthrough may only be a matter of time. For now, it is at least possible to humanely estimate the age of a whale from its genetic material.

Let's be honest though. In my opinion, Japanese whaling is not about research. It's about PRODUCT and PROFIT. This sentence from the article says it all.

'Japan's research makes a valuable contribution to the management of Antarctic whale species to ensure that any FUTURE COMMERCIAL WHALING REGIME is robust and sustainable TO PROVIDE A RELIABLE FOOD SOURCE for generations to come,'' {Institute of Cetacean Research Director General Minoru} Morimoto said.

Photo by jmcar.

Canadian Hunting May Be Hurting Polar Bears

I didn't even know Canada had hunting policies for polar bear. It's amazing what one learns from running a blog. Anyway, not only are polar bears in danger of drowning from melting ice caps, but their male population is threatened by hunting. Because it takes two to reproduce, this hunting could endanger the survival of the species.

Here are the highlights....

New research suggests that Canadian polar bear hunting policies could be pushing populations of the iconic Arctic predator toward sudden, steep declines.

Hunters focus mostly on male bears. {Peter Molnar of the University of Alberta} said that about two-thirds of the bears taken by hunters in Canada are males.

That means the bears could be edging toward what biologists call the Allee effect - a sudden collapse of breeding success after the male-female ratio passes a tipping point.

Scientists say two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be gone by 2050 as melting sea ice slowly robs them of their habitat.

Animal rights activists such as the U.S. Humane Society have used those statements to argue for a ban on sport-hunting. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering declaring the bears an endangered species, even though the lowest estimate of their worldwide population is 20,000.

But Inuit, who can earn up to $30,000 for guiding a single sport-hunting trip, say bear numbers are healthy and some populations are actually growing - testimony often referenced by climate change skeptics.

The report was done in collaboration with the government of Nunavut. Although polar bear quotas are proposed by community-based hunter's groups, the territory has the ultimate responsibility for deciding how many of the bears can be taken.

Photo by intrepidberkeleyexplorer.

Japanese Whaling Hypocrisy

The Japanese are so full of it when they argue cultural prerogative as the basis for their whaling practice. My parents are Portuguese and whaling was a big part of Portuguese history. Are they still whaling now....uh, no. So why should the Japanese?

Apparently, the Japanese aren't even consistent in their own application of the culture argument.

Whaling is part of Japan's culture, they say. They point to archaeological evidence that whale meat has been a Japanese staple for more than 2,500 years. Respect for the "brave fish" courses through Japanese literature and paintings, they say, and has inspired folk festivals and puppet shows. Whales are so revered that the souls of the hunted and killed are commemorated in the Buddhist temples of Japan's hunting ports.

Yet despite contending that tradition justifies the whale hunt, the Japanese government BALKS AT ACCEPTING SIMILAR ARGUMENTS from the Ainu people on the northern island of Hokkaido who want to fish for wild salmon. The Japanese government has long PREVENTED THE INDIGENOUS AINU PEOPLE FROM EXERCISING THEIR TRADITIONAL HUNTING AND FIHING RIGHTS, including the right to catch salmon as they return to Hokkaido's rivers to spawn.

Salmon have always been a food staple for the Ainu, such a fundamental element of their culture that they annually perform ceremonies to give thanks for the fish. Only in recent years has the government bent to Ainu lobbying and agreed to permit a small salmon haul that allows a few fish to be caught for ceremonial purposes.

This year's allowance is 1,700 salmon, up from the 20 approved in previous years.

I would not claim that my government is always consistent," Joji Morishita, director for international negotiations for the Japanese government's Fisheries Agency, said when asked about the discrepancy between how Japan wants its whalers to be treated and the restrictions it imposes on the Ainu community. "You cannot be perfect on every issue and unfortunately that's happening in the case of the Ainu."

How noble of him to admit it.

Photo by Greenpeace_Flor.

Japanese Kill Dolphins Too

Is there any animal the Japanese won't eat?

Hayden Panettiere and some fellow animal rights activists drew angry shouts and some shoving from fishermen in Japan when they tried to interfere with a dolphin hunt, according to video footage shot by the protesters.

The six activists from the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd paddled out on surfboards to a cove in the town of Taiji in southwestern Japan on Tuesday to interfere with the annual hunt.

The local fishermen and their supporters say hunting dolphins - in this case, pilot whales - is a Japanese custom that outsiders have no business interfering with.

"Whales and dolphins are traditionally being used (as resources) in Japan," said Hideki Moronuki, chief of the whaling section at the Japanese Fisheries Agency. "In this light, we cannot accept an argument simply based on emotional causes."

Sounds like he's using an emotional argument too by claiming it's a Japanese custom and, therefore, implying a cultural prerogative. Oh boo hoo (insert crying baby here).

Photo by chatallot.