| Poachers target rhinos' ivory
Johannesburg - Images of rhinos with severed horns and elephants with bleeding feet mangled by snares illustrated a report on wildlife poaching in southern Africa released by an animal rights group on Monday. Rhinos and elephants are being increasingly targeted by poachers for the rhino horn and ivory trades, while smaller mammals such as antelope are being tracked for bush meat, said Animal Rights Africa (ARA). In its Consuming Wild Life: The Illegal Exploitation of Wild Animals in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia report, the group notes the illegal killing of wild animals, using guns, snares, poison or hunting dogs, falls into three categories. Traffickers, often operating as part of international criminal networks, trade meat, ivory and rhino horn on local and international markets.
Kenya hopes to safeguard wildlife
Nairobi - Kenya's wildlife authorities forecast on Wednesday that their annual revenues would more than triple to $100-million (about R750-million) in three years, helping to safeguard animals threatened by land clashes, poaching and global warming. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) - which runs more than 60 parks, reserves and sanctuaries in the east African nation - hit its target of 1.9 billion shillings (about R200-million) for the current financial year three months early. "Revenues are going to keep rising. By 2010, we expect to be a seven-billion shilling-budget organisation," said KWS boss Julius Kipng'etich, opening the service's first scientific conference in its 17-year history. .
Murder in the elephant yard
Monday's visit to the Ramat Gan Safari will not soon be forgotten, as visitors witnessed the elephant yard's male leader attack and kill his female counterpart. Around 2 pm, toward closing time, Yossi, the 33-year-old male African elephant attacked 46-year-old Atari, brutally slamming her against the yard's wall. The blow caused her to fall to the ground, and left her groaning for a few moments before dying. The elephant keepers quickly arrived at the scene and removed Yossi, making way for the safari's veterinarian Yigal Horowitz to approach Atari, only to pronounce her dead.
Atari was crushed to death within minutes (Photo: Tibor Yeger) "She didn't stand a chance against him," said one elephant keeper, "Yossi is a giant, very powerful elephant.
SC News Lab: Audubon’s Mammals
When we hear about ecological destruction, few people would think of America's lost prairie grasslands. In the video blog at the right, ScienCentral's Victor Limjoco reports from a new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History that captures the lost history of the largest ecosystem in North America. A Lost Ecosystem This week I visited a new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, "The Unknown Audubons: Mammals of North America." At first, paintings of bears, foxes, and deer didn't seem that exciting, but I was grabbed by the story of the lost ecosystem that these paintings represent. The paintings, drawings, and prints were created by John James Audubon and his sons in the mid-19th century. Audubon, an artist and naturalist, was most widely known for his book "Birds of America," which catalogued the birds in North America.
Roadside vendors find rewards among the restrictions
Size: There are 133 permitted mobile food units and 82 full-service food units in operation in Albuquerque, said Lorie Stoller, environmental health supervisor with the city. Mobile food vendors include things like ice cream trucks and people selling prepackaged items such as burritos and hot dogs, whereas full-service units contain kitchens and self-powered refrigerated storage areas. Estimates on nonfood vendors are difficult to come by because the business registration licenses they are required to obtain don't have a specific classification. Becoming a vendor: Depending on what you're selling, vendor license fees are annual and range from $35 to $95. Food vendors are required to get extra permits and regular inspections by the state Department of Health. Permits for special events like the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta are $45 and include a $35 business registration fee but are limited to the duration of the event.
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