FRED DOMMER—Giving us a respite from the tons of propaganda dross they usually peddle as legitimate information, CBS Sunday included this morning a little story about an injured goose whose companion would not abandon him, after the humans had “captured” him. (In this case, fortunately for all, it was professional wildlife rehabilitators at The New England Wildlife Center who assisted the injured animal, baptised Arnold by the rehabbers, while his mate was called Amelia). If you have a friend who is a “sport” hunter, do show him this story. Maybe this Fall he won’t be joining the millions who go into the wild with shotguns and other implements of death to kill geese as if they were simply living targets.
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“It’s very bad when the same people that you are working with [in the community], telling them the importance of wild animals, and you find them killing those wild animals,” says Ruth Sikeita, one of the rangers on the scene.
Papatiti says that while bushmeat poaching incidents have increased over time, the killing of elephants for ivory has declined. He estimates that between three to five elephants were poached on community lands annually from when the OCWR was established in 2010 until IFAW began to support the unit in 2018, when only one elephant was lost. No more elephants have been killed on the Group Ranch since.
“I attribute the success to dedication from rangers and how we built a very good relationship with the community, which is our source of intel,” explains Papatiti.
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David Doel and David Pakman file reports on the latest successful prank by a/r activists against big Factory Farming.
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The No. 1 stressor on honeybee colonies is varroa mites. Largely found in Florida, these mites feed off of adult honeybees and those unhatched or maturing (called brood). The mites actually develop on the honeybee brood, allowing them to overtake adult bees as they grow, and move from colony to colony by attaching themselves to agricultural workers and drones.
Other pests and parasites like tracheal mites, small hive beetles, and wax moths, as well as the disease nosema, are also having a negative impact on the health of the honeybee population. Hive beetles are native to the sub-Saharan areas of Africa but have been found outside of the region around nests of the honeybee.
Pesticides, weather, and diseases have also had significant adverse impacts on the honeybee population in the U.S., together accounting for over 20 percent of colonies lost in 2015 and 2016.
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GEORGE WUERTHNER—Much of what is burning in the large California fires as well as elsewhere in the West is not forest at all, but chaparral, grasslands, sagebrush, and non-forested habitat. So “active forest management” would have no influence upon much of the acreage currently in flames.
