Hey, Everyone, Good Morning. 

I found this write in my blog files. From Business Insider:

12 rare animals that are teetering on the brink of extinction

Every day, species around the planet are going extinct. And for each species that goes extinct, many more become and remain endangered due to habitat loss, poaching, human activities, and climate change. Some are so critical that they are teetering on the brink of extinction.

All these threatened animals are included on the International Union for Conservation (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, a non-prescriptive list that is the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of species.

“The IUCN red list tells us how close to extinction species are,” Craig Hilton Taylor, head Red List Unit of the Global Species Programme at the IUCN, told Business Insider. “It is a fairly coarse measure [but] we have a set of quantitative criteria that we try to rank species under, and if a species moves into one of the threatened categories — vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered — then we know that a species either has a high, very high, or an extremely high risk of going extinct in the wild unless we do something about it.”

For example, he said, polar bears are considered vulnerable to extinction, while tigers are endangered (a more critical category), and just this July, the IUCN declared that the Bornean orangutan critically endangered.

Here are 12 species at risk of extinction, including some that you probably didn’t even know existed.

The Bornean orangutan

A two-year-old Bornean orangutan.REUTERS/Tim Chong

Found only on the island of Borneo, Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) have a broader face and shorter beard than their cousins, Sumatran orangutans. This July, the IUCN changed their status to critically endangered because their population has declined by 60% since 1950, and, according to Scientific American, new projections estimate that their numbers will fall by another 22% by the year 2025.

The main threats for these animals are habitat loss (forests are turned into rubber, oil palm or paper plantations) and illegal hunting. Aggravating the problem, females only reproduce every six to eight years — the longest birth interval of any land mammal — which makes conservation efforts slow.

Pika

The ili pika was photographed for the first time in more than 20 years on July 9, 2014 by Weidong Li, the conservationist who first discovered the species.

Ili pika (Ochontana iliensis) is a small mammal (only 7-8 inches long) that’s native to the Tianshan mountain range of the remote Xinjiang region of China. Living on sloping bare rock faces and feeding on grasses at high elevations, this little creature is very rare — there are less than 1,000 left.

The species was only discovered in 1983, but its numbers have declined by almost 70% since then, reports CNN. This is because its habitat is being drastically affected by climate change. Rising temperatures have forced the pikas to retreat up into the mountain tops. In addition, grazing pressure from livestock and air pollution have likely contributed to their decline.

Giant Otter

A giant otter with a Sailfin Catfish in the Cuiabá River of Brazil.Bernard DUPONT/Flickr

Found only in South America, Giant otters, or Pteronura brasiliensis, are the largest otters in the world, with some as long as 6 feet. They are also the rarest otters in the world, with only a few thousand believed to be surviving in the wild. Sometimes known as the “river wolf,” their fur is chocolatey brown and extremely soft. They also have a creamy white patch on their throat that is unique to each otter, Meg Symington, managing director of the Amazon for WWF, told Business Insider.

“They are extremely smart animals, and sort of like wolves or lions, they can be cooperative hunters. They live in groups and they hunt fish together as a group, herding the fish,” she said. “They’re active during the day, so they’re actually a large mammal that you can see easily in the Amazon, which is unusual since a lot of large animals are hard to see in the jungle.”

Historically, giant otters were hunted for their pelts, causing a huge decline in their numbers. While they are no longer hunted today, they remain endangered because many of their aquatic habitats (rivers and lakes) have been degraded and destroyed, causing the fish populations they rely on for food to dwindle. They are many times viewed as nuisances by humans, especially by fishermen. They are also threatened by gold-mining in the region, which leads to mercury poisoning. “Because they are an apex predator, they accumulate mercury because they eat so much fish,” Symington explained.

Amur Leopard

Amur leopards are critically endangered with maybe 60 living in the wild and around 200 in zoos around the world.

The solitary and nocturnal Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is one of the world’s most endangered wild cats. It has a thick yellow or rusty orange coat with long dense hair, and can weigh up to 120 pounds. It can leap more than 19 feet, and it can run at speeds up to 37 miles per hour.

Today, it is found only in the Amur River basin of eastern Russia, having already gone extinct from China and the Korean Peninsula. According to WWF, there are around 60 amur leopards left in the wild. The wild cat faces numerous threats to its survival, including encroaching human populations, poaching, and climate change.

Black-footed ferret

A black-footed ferret crawls out of its burrow in the Aubrey Valley near Seligman, Arizona.AP Photo/Arizona Game and Fish Department, George Anderson

As a member of the weasel family, the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) is the only ferret native to North America. They have tan bodies, black legs and feet, a black tip on their tail and a black mask. They are highly specialized carnivores, with prairie dogs making up more than 90% of their diet. “Black-footed ferrets evolved with prairie dogs, so they are long and tubular,” Kristy Bly, senior wildlife conservation biologist for WWF’s Northern Great Plains Program, told Business Insider. “They evolved to be these ferocious little predators and they’re designed to navigate tunnels and boroughs.”

The main threats endangering these little carnivores are disease (notably the plague) and lack of habitat, brought on largely because prairie dogs were poisoned for a large number of years, eliminating their food source in many of their habitats.

“It’s kind of a miracle that ferrets are still with us,” said Bly. The black-footed ferret was twice thought to be extinct, but recovery efforts — notably captive breeding and reintroduction to the wild — have helped bring the animals back from the brink of extinction. Today, there are about 300-400 black-footed ferrets in the wild, all of whom are descendants of the 18 ferrets that were part of captive-breeding efforts in the late 1980s. Conservation efforts have also included vaccines against the plague.

Darwin’s Fox

Darwin’s fox is an endemic species to Chile.Fernando Bórquez Bórquez/Flickr

Named after the famous scientist Charles Darwin, who discovered the species in 1834, Darwin’s fox (Lycalopex fulvipes) is found only in Chile in two places: the Nahuelbuta National Park and the island of Chiloè. Dark in color with short legs, this carnivorous creature is active mostly at twilight and dawn.

These carnivores creatures are considered an “umbrella species,” which means that protecting them and their temperate forest homes helps preserve the entire ecosystem. According to the IUCN, they are threatened by habitat loss, hunting, and non-native species, particularly domestic dogs.

Sumatran Rhinoceros

Ratu, a 8 year-old female Sumatran Rhinoceros, at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in the Way Kambas National Park, Indonesia.

As the only Asian rhino with two horns, the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is the smallest of the rhino family, living in isolated pockets of dense mountain forests in Malaysia, Indonesia and possibly Myanmar (Burma). They are recognizable because they are covered in long hair, which helps keep mud caked to their body to cool them and protect them from insects.

They are one of the most endangered rhinos in the world, along with the Javan rhino, with maybe only 220-275 Sumatran rhinos left in the world, according to WWF. Greatly threatened by poaching, they are, like other rhinos, hunted for their horns. There is no indication that the population is stable and only two captive females have reproduced in the last 15 years.

White-rumped vulture

A white-rumped vulture flying near water.Deepak sankat/Wikimedia Commons

One of three critically endangered species of vulture, the white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) has suffered what the IUCN classifies as a “catastrophic decline” across the Indian subcontinent, to the point that it is highly threatened with extinction. Over 99% of its population has been wiped out since the 1980s, making it the fastest decline of any bird species in recorded history, according to Mother Nature Network.

“Vultures are in a really, really bad way,” said Taylor from the IUCN. “But they play such an important role in the ecosystem.” In India, the vultures played a key role in cleaning up the remains of fallen cows and in doing so, Taylor explained, they were poisoned because they ingested the livestock drug diclofenac from the animal carcasses. The loss of vultures as a result of this drug has had a cascading effect, Scientific American reports, increasing the number of feral dogs, as well as spreading disease to humans.

Pangolin

A pangolin is released into the wild by Natural Resources Conservation Agency officials at a conservation forest in Sibolangit, Indonesia on March 1, 2013.AP Photo/Jefri Tarigan

Found in forests and grasslands, pangolins are solitary, nocturnal creatures with scales covering their bodies and long sticky tongues to slurp up ants and termites. They are about the size of a house cat, and look a little bit like artichokes on legs. When frightened, they defend themselves by rolling up into a ball.

These critters, found in Asia and Africa, are endangered because they are increasingly the victims of wildlife crime for their meat and scales. In fact, according to CNN, they are believed to be the most trafficked mammal in the world. It is estimated that 100,000 are captured every year.

Saola

A 4-5 month-old female Saola at the Forest Inventory & Planning Institute botanical garden in Hanoi, VietnamDavid Hulse / WWF

First discovered in May 1992, the saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) is often called the “Asian unicorn.” It is a rarely-seen, critically endangered mammal. In fact, it is so rare (and so elusive) that scientists have only seen it in the wild four times, according to WWF, causing us to know very little about the creature.

Both male and female saolas have two parallel horns on their heads, they have white markings on their face, and they sort of look like antelopes (though they are actually cousins of cattle). They live only in the the forests of Annamite mountains in Vietnam and Laos. According to the IUCN, saolas are threatened by hunting and the continued fragmentation of their habitat as a result of human activities, such as the building of roads.

Vaquita

A vaquita in the Gulf of California.Paula Olson, NOAA/Wikimedia Commons

First discovered in 1958, the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), also known as the Gulf of California harbor porpoise, is the smallest cetacean — an order of animals that include whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Only about five feet long, this porpoise has a gray body, a pale gray or white belly, a dark patch around its eyes, and dark patches forming a line from its mouth to its pectoral fins.

As the world’s rarest marine mammal, the vaquita is on the edge of extinction: According to the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita, only about 60 of these animals remain. This marks a 40% decrease in their population since 2014. These little porpoises are often caught and drowned in gill-nets used by illegal fishing operations within Mexico’s Gulf of California, according to WWF. Because there are so few left and they are confined to such a small region, they may also be vulnerable to climate change, as warming temperatures could affect their food availability and habitat conditions.

Peruvian Black Spider Monkey

Black spider monkeys feeding on moldering wood out of a hole in a dead tree in Manu National Park, Peru. 

Found in eastern South America north of the Amazon River, the Peruvian Black Spider Monkey (Ateles chamek) spends much of its time in the canopy of the rainforest. Eating mainly fruit, these monkeys are an essential part of the tropical rainforest ecosystem, playing a role in seed dispersal.

Also known as red-faced or Guiana spider monkeys, their population is believed to have declined by at least 50% over the past 45 years, according to the IUCN. They are threatened by hunting, fragmentation, and the destruction of their tropical rainforest homes.

🌾🐒🌾

Readers: These endangered creatures are beautiful, cute, majestic, fascinating…you name it. Even though I’m not familiar with many, I hate the thought of any of them going extinct.

Every one of these creatures are here on Earth for a reason. The existence of the animals/mammals are collectively finely tuned for their sustenance and the sustenance of our environment. Breaks in that ecosystem creates ripple effects that we may not even be aware of until it is too late.

#ProtectTheAnimals

Thoughts? Blog me.

/SB: The key point, as you stated in your comment: “…men, of all cultures, are still trying to control women.” Unfortunately for our ME sisters, it is so much worse than one can imagine. The men aren’t trying, they are controlling their women (I know you know this – I just wanted to stress the truth for ME women) down to degrees we western women thankfully don’t have to live with daily or at all. Our life is not on the line, though daily we do need to fight to keep from being controlled. I have no doubt that if western men had their way we would be under their thumbs in the same disgusting degree. I HOPE all is good with you. 

Peace & Love. Happy Saturday!

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

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Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2016

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

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Good morning.

Many of you know the strong affinity I have for all animals. I speak about my beloved Lucy every now and then. With so much going on in the world with humans hurting and killing humans, I have neglected to post about my furry and feathered friends for quite some time.

Perusing Facebook, I run across so many cute videos of animals, especially our domestic pals. Last week, I came across a horrific video depicting the cruel and inhumane treatment of chickens – chickens raised and packaged by Foster Farms. I don’t buy Foster Farms chickens but I know they are widely sold throughout California and beyond.

I am going through a challenging time in my family concerning a beloved animal so I am extra sensitive over the fact that animals cannot speak for themselves and need advocates to fight for them. I’ve always been an animal activist and I will always be one.

In 2008 I was very verbal about getting Prop 2 passed which required, amongst other things, that by January 1, 2015, egg-laying hens raised in California be able to stand up, lie down, turn around, and fully extend their wings.  It was a huge step in favor of the hens.

Unfortunately “cage free” doesn’t always mean that the animals will have a good life. And the label “Humanly Raised” isn’t always the truth.

From the LA Times:

Foster Farms suspends 5 workers after chicken slaughter video released

Foster Farms’ “Simply Raised” chicken bears the American Humane Assn. certification. An animal rights group, Mercy for Animals, released a video Wednesday that it says shows cruel practices at Foster Farms plants in California. (Foster Farms)

A video purporting to show inhumane slaughter practices at a Foster Farms chicken plant in Fresno County has led to the suspension of five workers and a criminal investigation by the sheriff’s office.

Mercy for Animals released graphic video footage showing chickens that appeared to have bypassed the slaughter knife and wound up being scalded to death in a plucking tank. Workers also can be seen throwing and shoving birds, while other footage showed what appeared to be overcrowding of live birds.

Foster Farms said it has suspended five employees and is cooperating with a Fresno County Sheriff’s Office investigation.

“It is Foster Farms’ policy to take disciplinary action against animal welfare violations up to and including termination of employees,” Foster Farms said in a written statement. “Foster Farms is reinforcing animal welfare training companywide and in its plants.”

The advocacy group, based in West Hollywood, sent two investigators to work at the plants, and they gathered hours of footage in March and April at a facility where chicks are raised for slaughter, and another where adult chickens are killed and prepared for market.

Watch: 

“The cruelty that we documented at Foster Farms was ongoing. It was widespread and it was rampant,” said Vandhana Bala, general counsel for the group. The three-minute video, she said, was just “a representative sample” of the behavior recorded at the facilities.

One of the group’s investigators reported the situation to his supervisor and to a company hot line but saw no remedial action, Bala said.

In its complaint, the organization cited “an ongoing pattern of criminal animal cruelty that was permitted to go unchecked and uncorrected by Foster Farms management.”

A spokesman for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said the case has been referred to the agency’s agricultural crimes task force.

The revelations come amid a campaign by the group, alleging that the poultry company’s certification by the American Humane Assn. masks poor animal welfare practices.

Mark Stubis, a spokesman for the American Humane Assn., said organization officials met Wednesday with Foster Farms regarding the content of the video, which he called “surprising.”

“Foster Farms has worked very hard to create a culture of humane treatment,” Stubis said. “In the three years that we’ve been working with them, they have never failed an audit. This is an extremely rare situation for us.”

Those audits are conducted by independent auditors that check about 200 standards established by the association, he said.

“The certification program can’t stop one or two employees who break those rules,” Stubis said. “We certainly expect any certified farm to take immediate corrective action against anyone who abuses animals.”

Bala said the organization may take other legal action against the company and the association regarding the certification logo displayed on chicken meat.

“It’s a betrayal of both the animals and the consumers who are purchasing these products based on the existence of that certified humane logo,” Bala said.

🐥❤️🐥

Readers: As you can see, sociopaths live on the farm too. They start off torturing and killing innocent helpless animals and if they have the chance they move onto humans.

It’s challenging when we see videos of people who are perfectly OK with injecting humans with something hurtful – it has been done before – If people are accepting of that evil why would anyone be concerned about a few (10′s of thousands!) chickens being slaughtered by a knife and scalded while still alive till death?

But I can’t help it. My heart cries for them as it does for humans. I know that we are not able to take action on everything but if this pulls at your heart like it does mine I HOPE it inspires you to check it out and do something. Here’s two ways to get involved: Mercy for Animals.  Sign the petition at Change.org. Thank you.

Thoughts? Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2016

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Happy Saturday, Everyone!

Rico: Thanks for your post. I respect Obama’s decision. If only more men in politics, corps, etc., would take a stance against other countries who don’t respect their women and treat them as equal. Hint: The countries who supply us with our oil – you know who they are. Men would stop doing the sick things they do to their women if enough men said “enough,” and backed it with action.

I’m taking the day off from politics. (And perhaps the weekend…we’ll see.)

I haven’t written about my four-legged furry friends in awhile. Today’s the day.

From Men’s Journal:

The Science Behind How Dogs Make Us Happier, Healthier, and Fitter

The health benefits of owning a pup go far beyond extra exercise. New research shows canines help ward off disease, lower stress levels, and even detect cancer. Here’s a breakdown of how your dog is saving your life. 

SPECIAL FEATURE: Why Owning a Dog Adds Years to Your Life

The Eyebrows

Dogs may use facial expressions — raising their eyebrows to make their eyes look bigger — to elicit affection and deepen the bond with their owner.

The Tongue

Researchers discovered a protein in dog saliva that may help human cuts heal twice as fast. So go ahead and let your pup lick your wounds.

ALSO: A Navy SEAL’s 5 Tips to Train Your Dog

The Nose

A dog’s sense of smell is up to 100,000 times more accurate than ours. Canines are being trained to detect the scents of early-onset diseases in humans.

The Eyes

“Imagine looking at your dog and he looks back at you — in about 30 seconds, oxytocin courses through your body,” says psychologist Chris Blazina. This hormone, associated with feelings of trust and bonding, could increase by as much as 300 percent, research suggests.

The Fur

Pet and play with a dog, and your brain soon releases the feel-good endorphins serotonin and prolactin. After 15 minutes, your levels of the stress-hormone cortisol decrease significantly.

The Paws

Service dogs use their paws to dial 911 for a diabetic owner with dangerously low blood sugar or to turn on lights for PTSD sufferers. Dogs also use their paws to comfort us when we’re anxious, similar to giving us a soothing pat on the back.

The Legs

Owning a dog means you’ll walk an average of five hours per week (non-owners log fewer than three). Compared with cat owners, you’ll also be leaner, have a stronger heart, and live longer.

❤️🐾❤️

Readers: My little Lucy girl means the world to me. The love I feel for her and her for me is just as precious as you can imagine. Whenever I’m stressed a few minutes playing with my girl is all I need. Her mischievous looks keeps the oxytocin a flowin’ when our eyes connect, and the excitement she shows me when I walk into the house gives me wonderful dose of endorphins that elevate my mood no matter how I’m feeling.

Does she add to my life? Oh yeah…a steady stream of happiness on a daily basis. I am joyously grateful.

Do you have a little love in your life?

Blog me.

Peace & Puppy Love 🐶

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2016

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good Monday morning!

From Think Progress:

Gold Mining Has Devastated The Peruvian Amazon

When Meraldo Umiña moved to the Madre De Dios region of Peru in 1983, the toxic gold rush that’s destroyed swaths of Amazon rainforest there was in its infancy. There were no laws regulating informal or illegal mining, and artisanal miners like him were few.

“Gold was cheap,” Umiña, 59, told ThinkProgress in Spanish — “a gram was about $12.” Using simple but still harmful chemical methods, miners worked just by the rivers then, and the gold was easy to get, he said. There was no need to encroach on the jungle, and no financial incentive to use machine-intensive techniques of extraction.

But as the 1980s waned and the 1990s rolled in, the Peruvian economy that had been in shambles improved as insurgency groups were defeated, and corrective macroeconomics took hold. Foreign markets turned their eyes on Peru. The price of gold gradually increased, Umiña said, and people from other areas of the country soon saw the same opportunity he had discovered years before and migrated to Madre de Dios. “People started to invade the lands of established residents,” he said, and “it was hard to control the labor.”

Yet land disputes were just the first bump that mining brought to the least populous department of Peru. Alluvial mining, in which small gold flecks are sifted out of sandy sediments deposited by runoff from the Andes over centuries, has now also caused a wide range of environmental harms that have reached catastrophic levels in one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Most miners in Madre de Dios use liquid mercury to extract gold from soils they explore with suction hoses, and during the purifying process, the mercury is burned off and at best recovered in water if miners have the equipment available. Mercury pollution contaminates soil, water, and air — and when it enters the human body, it can harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system.

Now some four decades after mining moved into Madre de Dios, rivers are polluted, fish are toxic, people have elevated levels of mercury running through their blood, and deforestation is rampant, according to authorities and studies. Between 1999 to 2012, illegal mining in Madre de Dios went from less than 25,000 acres to more than 123,000. For perspective, one acre is roughly the size of a football field, which means large forests that served as biodiverse carbon sinks are instead greenhouse gas emitters thanks to mining machinery, all while soaking up toxic waste.

All reached for this story agree that a state of emergency issued last week for Madre de Dios is unlikely to alleviate a problem that’s been years in the making. The country is also poised for presidential elections in less than a week, and experts said any emergency plan will suffer from the uncertain policies of a new administration. Experts also agree that balancing the livelihood of informal miners versus the pressing need to end illegal mining will be a lengthy, cumbersome process as regional and national agendas often conflict with each other.

“The outlook is quite grim, and this probably won’t change in many years,” Gisselle Vila, social scientist and professor at the Catholic University of Peru, told ThinkProgress.

This aerial photo shows a deforested area known as La Pampa, in Peru’s Madre de Dios region

Environmental degradation has been a problem in the Amazon for decades. But whereas before deforestation stemmed from poor subsistence farmers, now industrial activities like oil extraction and mining are playing a larger role in the world’s biggest rainforest. Attention on the topic has intensified in recent times in every Amazonian country facing the long-lasting effects of chemical pollution, particularly after the collapse of two dams in Brazil tainted the ecology of two states and caused the largest environmental disaster in Brazilian history.

For its part, Peru has been dealing with series of oil spills — most recently in the north of the Amazon — while in the south it’s tried to stifle illegal mining to no avail. In fact, mining pollution has become so severe that last week Peru declared a 60-day emergency to curtail mercury poisoning from illegal gold mining. “Forty-one percent of the population of Madre de Dios is exposed to mercury pollution,” Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said when announcing the move, Reuters reported. The government said it will give uncontaminated fish to residents, set up mobile health clinics and monitoring centers, and implement educational campaigns. There are also talks to start a massive reforestation plan, though all reached for this story doubt the emergency plan because of the presidential elections. President Ollanta Humala will leave office on July 28.

Like many administrations before, the incoming president will inherit thousands of informal miners like Umiña who may have lawfully leased lands but nonetheless live in a legal limbo since laws were introduced in 2002. Moreover, thousands of uncounted illegal miners live off protected wildlife areas, or pay natives to exploit ancestral lands like those that exist in Madre de Dios. Thus far, efforts to formalize procedures have failed and policing hasn’t fared much better. In February, more than 1,000 police and soldiers raided camps and dynamited and dismantled mining machinery valued at $3 million, the Associated Press reported. That raid came on the heels of many others, but Umiña, vice president of the Peruvian National Society Of Small Scale Mining (SONAMIPE), said illegal miners often know of the raids ahead of time and simply return to the camps once officials leave.

Illegal miners “have methods of communications, they have Internet, they have cell towers. As soon as police are leaving for the camps they know and prepare,” Umiña said. “We believe there is terrible corruption when it comes to policing.”

Formalizing miners has proved a daunting task plagued with bureaucratic hurdles since the idea was introduced almost three administrations ago. Part of the problem is that the government has used a uniform policy for all artisanal mining, experts said, when in fact, mining in Peru is different depending on the region. In the highlands mining mostly happens underground whereas in the rainforest it happens outdoors. As a result, the one-size-fits-all standard creates confusion or permitting tools simply don’t exist. For instance, getting a permit for tree logging is a requirement prior to mining, but Umiña said no agency gives out that permit. “The state doesn’t have the will to say who will authorize the land,” he said.

Hundreds of police officers gather for the second day of an operation to eradicate illegal mining in the area known as La Pampa, in Peru’s Madre de Dios region in Aug. 2015.

Experts and activists reached agreed with Umiña. “There was no will,” Franco Arista, gold program manager for the nonprofit Solidaridad, told ThinkProgress in Spanish. He said about 70,000 artisanal miners have tried to formalize across Peru, but only 2,000 miners from the highland have succeeded. “None of those are in Madre de Dios,” he said.

Some studies suggest that at least 90 percent of gold mining in Madre de Dios is either illegal or informal, and note that dangerous mining practices now threaten other parts of Peru as the price of gold is generally on the rise. Through May, gold was over $1,200 per ounce. On a good day, a mining team of about 10 people in Madre de Dios can get about 45 grams (just over an ounce and a half). Some 87 percent of Peruvian gold goes to Switzerland and Canada, while the rest goes to the United States and Italy.

While much-needed revenue is moving into areas that would otherwise profit from agriculture, tourism and fishing, mining is bringing an added harm that’s making conservation and even public health more complicated. That’s because sustainable mining is difficult to achieve. On top of that, mercury is intertwined with gold mining, yet often miners mishandle the substance or simply disregard proper practices. Important “soils are being washed to extract gold,” said Arista. “Mining there needs extensive technical assistance.”

In the past 20 years, more than 3,000 tons of mercury have been dumped into Amazonian rivers, according to the Peruvian Society of Environmental Law. Moreover, some 78 percent in Madre de Dios, a region of more than 100,000 people, have elevated levels of mercury. Some natives even reportedly go over the safety levels by a factor of six.

Peru, the top gold-producing country in Latin America, has been unable to placate this mounting problem for multiple reasons, including business pressure. “In Peru, people can mine almost anywhere they want,” said Lenin Valencia, researcher at the Peruvian Society of Environmental Law. In part, the corporate mining lobby has pushed against laws that could hamper them while national politics have traditionally favor business and the market as a source for solutions and growth, Valencia told ThinkProgress.

However, other forms of politics are also at play. Vila, the social scientist, said pro-mining local governments and regional candidates are many times at odds with the central government — or have a different agenda altogether — causing “a divorce in their vision of development.” As a result, strong police actions become the only alternative to the lack of coordinated political solution, said Vila, who went on to add “policy should be less oriented towards criminalization and more towards flexibility.”

The Tambopata River, which traverses the Tambopata National Reserve in Madre de Dios.

CREDIT: FLICKR/ESBUX

Experts and activists reached also said the emergency declaration seemed to be coming too late and didn’t include more funding for agencies to respond accordingly. “But it was necessary. I hope this is the beginning of more serious actions,” Valencia said. Yet whether swift actions will come before the environmental wound grows deeper is unclear, and for many, unlikely in the short term.

Presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of convicted President Alberto Fujimori, favors formalizing small-scale mining, but said she wants to start from scratch.

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who in polls is trailing the former Peruvian first lady by 5 percentage points, wants to continue the formalization process while creating a financing bank for miners who want to be environmentally friendly through better technology.

Umiña, the miner, is in the meantime taking matters into his own hands. He said he’s leading a small group of miners who want to be certified as environmentally friendly in buying equipment that extracts gold without the use of mercury, or even borax, which is a substance that can remove gold from soils while polluting less. Environmental mining means investing more time to extract the gold, Umiña said, but it’s the only way forward.

“We know that mercury is a toxic liquid that evaporates and accumulates in people and the environment, so we have to figure out a way to reach economic, environmental and social sustainability,” said Umiña, adding his group is reaching that goal. “And once that happens and others see us,” he said, “everybody will want to work like this.”

*****

Readers: I wish people had the foresight to see just how devastating their actions were before things become devastating. We seem to always be cleaning up the messes we make, and not just when they are small and manageable, but when they have escalated and gotten way out of hand…when damage is almost irreversible to the planet and its inhabitants.

After decades of using equipment that pollutes the environment, only now environmentally friendly equipment is being considered. When will we ever learn to prevent damage on the onset when it is first discovered instead of when it becomes a state of emergency?

Greed at the expense of the environment and human lives. Not much has changed with our behavior.

What’s your take? Blog me. 

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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Good morning!

All day Sunday I was out on the beautiful San Francisco Bay boating with good friends. It was a stellar hot day, no wind, and clear blue skies. We saw seals swimming which we expected. That was thrilling enough. But when we were blessed with wonderful glimpses of Dolphins too it was simply spectacular. And each time one of us spotted a dolphin, we would point our finger in glee and shout “Look! There’s another one!” so that all of us could enjoy the wondrous sight. A rare day on the Bay – absolutely perfect - super special and magical.

I came home that night thinking about those Dolphins and how free and beautiful they were, only to be reminded that in my queue I had a horrific write waiting to be posted. Every year Dolphins are hunted and killed in Japan, and every year I post something that speaks of the cruelty. I so look forward to the day when this cruel and barbaric practice has come to an end. But until it does, I will be posting in support of these beautiful creatures that grace our planet and are subjected to such atrocities from humans.

From CNN.

Dolphins killed as Taiji’s controversial hunting season resumes in Japan

Tokyo (CNN) – The slaughter of dolphins has begun again in a small Japanese village, in a controversial annual hunt that pits Western environmentalist values against what locals say are traditional hunting practices.

Taiji, a coastal town of 3,500 people in the Japanese prefecture of Wakayama, has a dolphin hunting season from September to March every year.

Local fishermen are permitted by the Wakayama prefectural government to hunt an annual quota of nearly 2,000 dolphins and porpoises from seven different species, in accordance with what the government says is traditional practice.

Most of the dolphins are killed for their meat, but many are sold live to aquariums around the world.

‘Eerie’ killing cove

In recent years, the Taiji dophin hunt has become a focal point for activists, particularly since the release of the Academy Award-winning 2009 film The Cove, which documented the hunt and raised awareness of Taiji’s dolphin hunting industry internationally.

Conservationist group Sea Shepherd has had a presence in Taiji during hunt season for the past five years, broadcasting tfrom the village via a livefeed, and mobilizing a social media campaign against the hunt.

The campaign has drawn celebrity and other high-profile supporters, with comedian Ricky Gervais and U.S. ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy tweeting their support in recent years, and former Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed actress Shannen Doherty visiting Taiji last week to witness the hunt.

“It’s eerie,” Doherty said in a statement. “You wonder how they (the hunters) are able to go to bed at night… I think being here rocks even the most hardened human being, because it is just atrocious.”

Melissa Sehgal, Sea Shepherd’s campaign co-ordinator for the Taiji project, which it calls “Operation Infinite Patience,” said that after 15 days without the capture or killing of dolphins, the fishermen had begun killing pods of Risso’s dolphins last week.

Four dolphin pods had been driven into the cove for killing so far this year, the group said.

“These dolphins are a gentle and docile species, but they continued to fight and struggle to stay alive,” Sehgal told CNN.

Japan officials defend dolphin hunting at Taiji Cove

Locals defend practice

The Wakayama prefectural government declined CNN’s request for an interview, referring instead to a statement on its website outlining its position on the issue.

It said that residents viewed dolphins and whales as a legitimate marine resource, and that the hunt, a local tradition, was integral to the town’s economic survival.

“Located far away from the centers of economic activity, the town has a 400-year history as the cradle of whaling, and has flourished over the years thanks to whaling and the dolphin fishery,” the statement said.

“The dolphin fishery is still an indispensable industry for the local residents to make their living.”

‘Barbaric’ technique

Sea Shepherd is particularly opposed to the method used to herd and capture the dolphins, a technique known as “drive hunting” which Sehgal described as “barbaric.”

“Using metal banger poles to create a wall of sound to disorient and deafen the pod… forces them to swim away from the boats and into the shallows of the killing cove,” she said.

“Once netted into the cove, the dolphins are literally wrangled and tethered, often sustaining bloody wounds… The dolphin hunters use large metal rods to penetrate the spinal cord. This is hammered into the dolphins and small whales. The dolphins do not die immediately, but are left to either bleed out from internal injuries or drown in their own blood.”

The Taiji fishermen’s union has previously told CNN that the spine-severing technique had been introduced as a more humane method of killing the dolphins.

Opinion: How hunters slaughter dolphins in Japan

Fishermen harassed?

Sea Shepherd’s operations in Taiji involve live-streaming activity in the village, including following suspected fishermen they believe to be transporting dolphin meat. A recent live-stream showed men retreating into garages when the Sea Shepherd crew approached.

This activism from foreign conservationists is interpreted by some locals as harassment.

“The Taiji dolphin fishery has been a target of repeated psychological harassment and interference by aggressive foreign animal protection organizations,” reads the Wakayama government’s statement.

“Taiji dolphin fishermen are just conducting a legal fishing activity in their traditional way in full accordance with regulations and rules under the supervision of both the national and the prefectural governments. . . Such criticisms are an unfair threat to the fishermen’s rights to make a living and offend the history and pride of the town.”

The statement also likens the killing of the dolphins to the killing of cows and pigs for food, implying hypocrisy on the part of activists for their criticism of the dolphin hunt.

“Not only dolphins but also other animals including livestock such as cows and pigs display emotion and intelligence,” it read. “We, however, cannot help killing livestock to eat their meat. Do people criticize these activities as barbaric?”

‘Terrorized’ dolphins

But activists say any comparison between the killing of wild dolphins and domesticated livestock is spurious.

“They’re terrorized for hours on end,” says Ric O’Barry, a former dolphin trainer who trained the animals used in the popular U.S. show Flipper, before undergoing a sea-change in his views about holding dolphins in captivity.

He has campaigned against the live dolphin trade with his organization The Dolphin Project, and also featured in The Cove.

“They’re self-aware like humans and the great apes. They look in the mirror and they know what they’re looking at. They’re not domesticated animals,” he told CNN.

Besides, he said, while many of the dolphins were killed and sold for meat, the most attractive specimens were rounded up during the drive hunting were taken alive and sold to aquariums for sums in excess of $100,000 an animal. These captures were the real “economic underpinning” of the annual hunt, he said.

“You’d get $400-500 for a dead dolphin’s meat, but there’s a lot of money for a live one, and that’s what keeps this thing going,” he said.

Group: 250 dolphins await slaughter, lifetime of captivity at Japan’s Taiji Cove

Live dolphin trade

Sehgal said that local dolphin trainers who “claim to love dolphins” were often seen assisting hunters in wrangling the animals to shore.

“Only the young, beautiful and more suitable are selected. These dolphins are then forced to witness their families brutally slaughtered in front of them,” she said.

According to Sea Shepherd estimates, 850 dolphins were killed and 160 taken into captivity last season, 920 killed and 249 caught the previous season, and 820 killed and 54 caught the season before that.

Conservationists argue that it is this lucrative trade in captive dolphins that is the real motivation for the hunting season, a practice they say has only existed since the late 1960s.

“The argument that it is (an older) tradition is simply untrue,” said Lisa Agabian, Sea Shepherd’s director of media relations.

“Even if it were, I can say with absolute certainty that at no time would ancient fisherman have gone out with motorized fishing vessels and skiffs and modern technology to aid them in their capture of dolphins. The way they are hunting now, the dolphins don’t have a fighting chance. That is certainly not traditional culture at work.”

Said Sehgal: “This is blood money . . . (there’s) nothing cultural about kidnapping wild dolphins for profit.”

But Japanese defenders of the hunt maintain that the hunting of dolphins and whales has been a traditional industry and economic lifeline since the 17th century.

An official at the Taiji town office told CNN it was natural that hunting techniques had evolved with new technologies.

Staff at Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Institute of Cetacean Research said they were not available for comment.

*****

Readers: This is tragic..truly horrific…my heart is heavy. I wish I knew what to do to stop it but I have no answers. Do you? Blog me.

Peace & love…

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"