Author: sharonstjoan

Poet, writer, and advocate for wildlife, wild lands, and the earth. President, Forest Voices of India - a U.S.-based group which aids charities in India that further education, culture, the well-being of women, children, and animals, and the restoration of sacred groves. websites: https://wordpress.com/view/forestvoicesofindia.com https://wordpress.com/view/echoesinthemist.com https://wordpress.com/view/wildvoices.world book: Glimpses of Kanchi https://www.amazon.com/Glimpses-Kanchi-Sharon-St-Joan/dp/1982901179/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Glimpses+of+Kanchi&qid=1581769003&sr=8-1

animals

One Million Protest Stripping Wolves of Endangered Listing

December 18, 2013December 18, 2013by sharonstjoanLeave a Comment

Wolves still need protection, but may be delisted anyway….

Exposing the Big Game

http://ens-newswire.com/2013/12/17/one-million-protest-stripping-wolves-of-endangered-listing/

WASHINGTON, DC, December 17, 2013 (ENS) – The public comment period closed today on a proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove federal protections for all gray wolves across the country. Close to one million Americans stated their opposition to the plan – the largest number of comments ever submitted on a federal decision involving endangered species.

Also today, conservation groups challenged as “premature” the Service’s removal of federal Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in Wyoming. Arguments were heard at the U.S. District Court in Washington this morning.
wolves
The court’s decision will determine whether Endangered Species Act protections will be restored to gray wolves in Wyoming unless and until state officials develop a stronger wolf conservation plan.

The delisting of wolves in Wyoming turned wolf management over to the state, which the plaintiff groups say is “promoting unlimited wolf killing across more than…

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animals, the earth

Pakistan: Letter requesting protection for migrating cranes and bustards

December 14, 2013December 14, 2013by sharonstjoanLeave a Comment

Honorable Mr. Nawaz Sharif, Prime minister of Pakistan,

It’s Winter, and it’s the time for the arrival of Migratory Birds from Europe, Central Asia and Siberia to the wetlands of Pakistan. Several endangered migratory birds including Siberian cranes and bustards are being hunted indiscriminately. Both species of the migratory birds flying into Pakistan from Siberia during the winter months are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) with 14,000 other endangered species in Pakistan including birds, other animals and plants.

The locals have been found shooting at flocks of Siberian cranes flying overhead during winter with their AK-47 machine guns just for leisure and on the other hand members of royal families from the Middle East, particularly those in Saudi Arabia, are often given licenses to hunt endangered migratory birds, such as bustards, despite the stringent restrictions. International laws are been violated. These birds are of much Ecological importance as they prey on insects and weeds and thus contributing towards the betterment of Agriculture and Environment. In an era of unstable climate change the environmental disaster is elevated by the mass killing of such birds.

I request your honor to kindly take strict actions against hunting of Migratory Birds in Pakistan and impose a complete ban on hunting of these Birds. I, hope that this request will get your kind consideration and mercy towards your “Guests” the beautiful and innocent Migratory Birds.

Sincerely,

Khalid Mahmood Qurashi,

President, Animal Save Movement Pakistan

H # 1094 / 2 Hussain Agahi Multan , Pakistan

Photo: Photographer: BS Thurner Hof / Wikimedia commons / “This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.” / A Siberian Crane; this one is in captivity in a zoo.

To view the Facebook page of Animal Save Movement Pakistan, click here. (Caution: graphic photos)

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Wonderful 3-minute video of joyful cows…

December 13, 2013by sharonstjoanLeave a Comment

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Nelson Mandela

December 6, 2013by sharonstjoanLeave a Comment

Echoes in the Mist

Without the leadership of Nelson Mandela, there is no doubt that South Africa would have descended into chaos. He turned the looming prospect of turmoil and upheaval into a beacon of light for the nations.

The amazing courage he exemplified in his lifetime, together with his great spirit, which enabled him to embrace his enemies — made him one of the greatest men in history — leading the way forward to peace and justice.

He was born into a tribal royal family, but spent his early years tending sheep in the hills. He became a boxer, then a lawyer.

He started the armed wing of the ANC, launching a course of armed struggle. He spent 27 years in brutal prisonment.

Upon his release from prison, he set South Africa not on a course of vengeance, but instead on a course of reconciliation. The Truth…

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animals

Egypt: ESAF’s Pyramids Project has helped 6,000 animals

December 5, 2013December 5, 2013by sharonstjoan1 Comment

The program for horses and camels who work at the Pyramids, giving rides to tourists, has provided feeding and vet care to over 6,000 animals since this past July.

This is one of a series of such programs carried out by ESAF and other Egyptian animal groups, over a number of years, for the working animals at the Pyramids. This most recent special project has come to a successful close. Their ongoing, regular work with the Pyramids animals will continue.

The periodic unrest in Egypt has caused great hardship for the animals because, when there are few tourists, there is no income for the animal owners, who then have difficulty providing food and vet care to their animals. ESAF’s programs are a great help to them, and they will be continuing twice-weekly clinics in the Pyramids area, as well as their usual work in the area around ESAF’s shelter.

Ahmed El Sherbiny, ESAF Chairperson, writes that there was a slight increase in the number of tourists during the month of November, and a consequent decrease in the numbers of animals needing special feeding. He wrote, “We have also noticed a slight improvement in the animals overall condition.”

Any improvement at all is really wonderful news, and, for the sake of the animals, it is to be hoped that there will be peace and stability in Egypt, so that more tourists will return. While working animals do not ever lead ideal lives, good food and vet care can make a huge difference to their well-being. ESAF also conducts ongoing educational programs with the owners to encourage kind treatment of the animals, with good, practical solutions, like replacing wire bridles with soft nose pads.

Ahmed El Sherbiny expressed his heartfelt thanks to the people and organizations that made possible this latest Pyramids Project: Animal Aid Abroad, Wereld Asielen, Sue Evans and her UK group, Richard Gabriel, and Humane Society International (HSI).

The total number of animals treated and fed during the month of November was 1,002 horses and 379 camels.

During the course of the project, which ran from July 10 through the end of November, the total number of animals fed and treated was 5,471 horses and 663 camels.

Thanks to ESAF and their generous sponsors for doing so much to make the lives of the Pyramids animals easier and more comfortable.

To go to ESAF’s Facebook page, click here.

Photos: Courtesy of ESAF

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Good African black rhino news

November 29, 2013by sharonstjoanLeave a Comment

Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video is called Saving the Black Rhino.

From Fauna & Flora International:

East Africa’s largest black rhino population hits 100
Posted on: 28.11.13 (Last edited) 28th November 2013
The birth of Ol Pejeta Conservancy’s 100th black rhino offers new hope for a species on the brink.
On a continent where rhino populations have been plagued for decades by illegal wildlife trade, and where poaching is just as much a threat today as it was three decades ago, the birth of a new black rhino shows there is still hope for this Critically Endangered species.
October saw the arrival of Ol Pejeta Conservancy’s 100th black rhino, making the Kenyan sanctuary’s black rhino population the most important in East Africa for conservation.
The conservancy, located in Kenya’s Laikipia County, has steadily built up its black rhino population from 20 individuals in the 1990s to the 100…

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animals, the earth

A prayer for turkeys

November 28, 2013November 28, 2013by sharonstjoan2 Comments

Holy One,

Thank you for blessing the souls of turkeys, that they may rest in peace, released from the pain and suffering of this world.

May they, who are forever innocent, walk once again in the sunlit grasslands of heaven, may they fly under the blue sky, may they dance at sunrise by the streams that flow through the meadows.

May they be blessed always with happiness and the companionship of their mates and friends, for in your sacred world there is no distance, no time, and no separation.

May these children of the earth hear, in the air, the music of the wind, the singing of the songbirds, the silence of the snowfall, and the enchanted whisper of the forest leaves.

May they may be free, now and always, protected from all harm, held in the grace of your hands, in the infinite peace and power of your presence.

Holy One, may all your creatures of innocence be blessed, that the dolphins may play in the waters, the cats may walk in the moonlight, the birds may fly in the wind.

That the arrows of hate may be broken, that man’s tyranny may be ended,

That the wings of your Holy Spirit may soar again in the sunlight of your land.

May the wild ones and the tame ones live in peace, forever, in your kingdom.

Amen.

Photo: © Dule964 | Dreamstime.com / A Wild Turkey in the wild.

animals, Artwork

Laura Merrill: Stained glass artwork

November 20, 2013November 20, 2013by sharonstjoan4 Comments

These are a few of the remaining pieces of Laura Merrill’s beautiful stained glass artwork:

Totem Mandala - Cardinals — Totem Mandala – Cardinals

For pricing and to read about Laura’s book Secret Voices from the Forest, as well as many other articles about trees, visit her website, the Treetalker.

animals

China to lift requirement for cosmetics testing on animals

November 19, 2013by sharonstjoan1 Comment

By Animals Asia

Animals Asia (www.animalsasia.org) has welcomed news that China intends to end laws requiring cosmetics to be tested on animals.

Guidelines from the China Food and Drug Administration suggest animals testing will no longer be mandatory from June 2014. This will initially be applied to China-made products and eventually, it is anticipated, to imports.

Animals Asia Animal Welfare Director Dave Neale said:

“This is not the first time in recent weeks that we have talked of significant breakthroughs in terms of animal welfare in China. Young people are turning in greater numbers to animal welfare activism and they are being heard.

“This change has been long hoped for but few anticipated it happening quite so soon. In many ways this is a victory for all anti-testing campaigners. The people who persuaded Western governments to ban animal testing have caused a domino effect that has resonated with both the authorities and people of China resulting in this ground-breaking progress.

“The world has long talked of China being open for business – well now it’s open to discussion too. China is listening and it’s taking action.”

Past regulations meant that if international cosmetics companies wanted to market ranges in China they were forced to test on animals – a fact unlikely to go down well with customers elsewhere.

It’s hoped that while testing on animals has not been outlawed, the option now to create “cruelty free” brands will see increasingly aware consumers lured away from brands associated with animal testing.

Animals Asia founder Jill Robinson added:

“A changing China is the biggest story in international animal welfare activism today. Just as regulations for testing cosmetics can become internationally standardised – so can concepts of animal welfare and conservation.

“Environmentally speaking China is more self-aware than it has ever been. Young people, journalists, politicians, businessmen, China’s citizens – they are all pushing hard for change and there is much evidence to suggest they’re making headway.”

animals

Odisha, India: Maitri Club has rescued 2,000 animals from flooding

November 18, 2013by sharonstjoan1 Comment

By Kailash Chandra Maharana

The Maitri Club, Odisha, India

The power has been down here since the area was hit by cyclone Phailin and the floods that followed; this has meant that we’ve had no way to communicate.

Most recently, we rescued more than 1,000 animals from severe flooding in the Aska block of Ganjam District, where three villages were cut off for two days by floodwaters. They were in great danger, but thank God, we were able to save them.

(The Ganjam District of Orissa is on the border of Andhra Pradesh.)

Thanks to all our volunteers and supporters, and with the help of local farmers, we were able to give the animals shelter, a safe place for them to rest, and food.

We’ve continued our work of repairing shelters, and we’ve been educating the owners in the care and adequate feeding of their animals, sometimes returning to the same sites three and four times, as needed. Having repaired more than 1200 shelters so far, we’re happy to see the animals now resting in a dry place, with proper food to eat.

We wish we could cover the entire flooded area of Odisha, but we do as much as we possibly can, as much as time and our finances will allow. We are pleased that we’ve been able to help so many animals.

To visit the website of the Maitri Club, click here.