http://www.league.org.uk/news-and-opinion/press-releases/2014/july/northern-ireland-says-no-to-fox-and-stag-hunting

29 July 2014

Animal welfare charity, the League Against Cruel Sports, are appealing to the animal loving public of Northern Ireland to support their anti-hunting campaign by attending a rally against fox and stag hunting this Saturday 2nd August, from 2pm at the Stormont Buildings.

The Rally which is being held by Noelle Robinson, Green Party Councillor for Bangor Central in partnership with the charity, will highlight that Northern Ireland is now the only region within the UK that has not introduced a complete ban on fox and stag hunting.

In 2002, the introduction of the Protection of Wild Mammals Act made it illegal to hunt a wild mammal with a pack of hounds in Scotland. In 2004, after 80 years of tireless campaigning by the League, England and Wales followed suit and the Hunting Act was passed. Ten years on, there is currently no hunting legislation that exists…

Sign here.

News Release from NASA Science News

Perseid Meteor Showers Versus The Supermoon

July 28, 2014:  Every year, sky watchers and summertime campers circle on their calendars a few key August nights—the 11th, 12th and 13th.  These are the dates of the annual Perseid meteor shower, which rarely fails to please those who see it.

This year they’re adding a note: “supermoon.”

During the second week of August, the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year will face off against everyone’s favorite meteor shower—and the outcome could be beautiful.

This video is called Restoration Project of Asiatic Black Bear in Korea.

From Wildlife Extra:

Black bear sighting in Vietnam indicates conservation success

A rare Asiatic black bear has been recorded by WWF camera traps in Quang Nam Province in central Vietnam.

Due to its white patch on its chest the Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus), is also known as the moon bear or white-chested bear, and is classed by the IUCN as a vulnerable species.

The sighting is an important indicator of the success of the conservation efforts by WWF and the Vietnamese government to improve the quality of the area’s forests and preserve the unique species diversity.

The framework of the Carbon and Biodiversity Programme (CarBi) covers an area of more than 200,000ha of forest, along a vital mountain range that links Laos and Vietnam in Southeast Asia.

It aims to protect and regenerate unique forest…

Source: www.theguardian.com

Arachnids are essential for biodiversity and we are only starting to understand the medical and scientific benefits they could bringMost ecologists talk about saving the worlds wildlife from the animals perspective, which is a public relations…

“Most ecologists talk about saving the world’s wildlife from the animals’ perspective, which is a public relations mistake. Humans – one of the most wildly successful species of the Cenozoic era, which began about 65m years ago – have trouble empathising with polar bears, tropical frogs and dolphins as those animals sink toward extinction. A better way is to appeal to a human’s unstoppable desire to forward his own self-interest. This is how Norman Platnick talks about spider conservation.

“If spiders disappeared, we would face famine,” says Platnick, who studies arachnids at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, where a live spider exhibit debuted last month. “Spiders are primary controllers…

tiny toad
on a wild lily leaf
soaking up the sun

This video is about a great egret feeding in Lepelaarplassen nature reserve in the Netherlands; where, this spring, a new nesting colony of this species started.

Otte Zijlstra made the video.

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