Saiga Antelopes Were Buried Alive in Western Kazakhstan
Source: tengrinews.kz
May 18, 2021
On May 13th, there were 372 carcasses of saiga antelopes found in Western Kazakhstan. During the utilization of animal carcasses, people buried some of the antelopes alive. The Ministry of Environment of Kazakhstan declared it will report the cruelty against animals to the police of the Western Kazakhstan region. “What happened is extremely unacceptable, thus, we intend to petition for the rigorous investigation of this case. Those who committed the crime shall bear the liability,” said the representative of the Ministry of Environment of Kazakhstan.
It was reported that saiga antelopes supposedly died because of the weather conditions - it was found that saiga carcasses had burns and through holes on their bodies. The investigation is still in process and the conclusion on their death will be declared after the final expertise.
Commentaries of IALA
The saiga antelope is a symbolic animal for Kazakhstan, however, they are threatened by various factors. These include mainly poaching for food consumption or sport hunting, but these animals also cannot survive extreme weather conditions in some regions of the country. Although the moratorium on hunting saigas was established approximately 10-11 years ago, some crimes of illegal hunting have been reported for this period of time. Lack of enforcement of such regulations does not protect these antelopes, and a weak monitoring system of those crimes makes it worse to prosecute illegal hunting. The public’s attitude towards animal protection shall be changed in its roots, so the treatment of animals will improve both to these animals and other categories of animals.
Delhi YouTuber Arrested for Animal Cruelty After Tying a Dog to Balloons
Source: gulfnews.com
May 27, 2021
A Delhi-based YouTuber was arrested for animal cruelty on Thursday after he allegedly made a video of his pet dog tied to a number of helium balloons thereby making the dog fly. In the video, the dog could be seen suspended in the air with balloons tied to his back as the YouTuber and his mother cheered on the ground. The local police station received a claim from one belonging to the "People for Animals Society". The video was shared on YouTube but was later deleted. After deleting the video, the YouTuber released another video and apologized.
Commentaries of IALA
Treating animals cruelly is prohibited in India under the Chapter III of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960). Prohibited cruelty practice in Article 11 includes:
Beating, kicking, overriding, overloading, torturing, and causing unnecessary pain to any animal;
Using an old or injured or unfit animal for work (the punishment applies to the owner as well as the user);
Administering an injurious drug/medicine to any animal;
Carrying an animal in any vehicle in a way that causes it pain and discomfort;
Keeping any animal in a cage where it doesn’t have a reasonable opportunity of movement;
Keeping an animal on an unreasonably heavy or short-chain for an unreasonable period of time;
Keeping an animal in total and habitual confinement with no reasonable opportunity to exercise;
Being an owner failing to provide the animal with sufficient food, drink, or shelter;
Abandoning an animal without reasonable cause;
Willfully permitting an owned animal to roam on streets or leaving it on the streets to die of disease, old age, or disability;
Offering for sale an animal that is suffering pain due to mutilation, starvation, thirst, overcrowding, or other ill-treatment;
Mutilating or killing animals through cruel manners such as using strychnine injections;
Using an animal as bait for another animal solely for entertainment;
Organizing, keeping, using, or managing any place for animal fighting; and
Shooting an animal when it is released from captivity for such a purpose.
Vietnamese Hotel Group Commits to Using 100% Cage-Free Eggs by 2025
Source: thepoultrysite.com
May 27, 2021
Fusion Hotel Group is the first Vietnam-based hospitality brand to agree to a 100% cage-free egg supply chain by 2025. The Hotel Group has announced that it is partnering with Humane Society International (HSI) in order to improve animal welfare in its supply chain, by committing to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs, both shell and liquid forms, in all existing and future properties in Vietnam, and beyond.
HSI actively supports South East Asian companies, like Fusion Hotel Group, in the implementation of their animal welfare policies. This includes conducting regular corporate and producer technical workshops.
Commentaries of IALA
Battery cage systems are infamous worldwide for confining hens in tiny spaces, no bigger than an A4-sized sheet of paper, therefore denying the ability to move freely. Unlike battery hens, cage-free hens are able to walk, spread their wings, and lay their eggs in nests, vital natural behaviors denied to hens confined in cages. Raising hens in confined cages is a cruel practice for hens, and the cage-free system can provide better animal welfare for them. Although cage-free is not cruelty-free, the ability for natural behaviors for hens is critical for their welfare.
Learn more about cage-free eggs here.
15 Wild Asian Elephants Surprise Residents on County Roads After a 400-km March Northward
Source: globaltimes.cn
May 28, 2021
The 15 elephants came to Eshan county in Yuxi City, a county in Yunnan Province in Southwest China. The elephants walked along a street under the dim road lights, with their huge bodies almost blocking the whole street. Monitoring images show that the herd includes six female adult elephants, three male adults, three sub-adults, and three cubs.
These wild elephants had marched more than 400 kilometers since leaving their habitat in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve in southern Yunnan on April 16, local authorities said. During the 40-day "journey" they had damaged 842 mu (561,333 square meters) of crops, which had caused nearly 6.8 million yuan ($1.07 million) in financial losses, as well as severe inconvenience for local people, it added. But no injuries or casualties were caused to local residents.
Residents were warned not to get close to or tease the animals to avoid being attacked. The local government told the public to keep away from the elephants, and not to "closely watch, tease, hurt or maliciously drive them away" as Asian elephants may "attack humans out of defensive instinct when frightened."
Commentaries of IALA
Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List. The challenges confronting elephant conservation in most elephant Range States are habitat loss and fragmentation, human-elephant conflict, and poaching and illegal trade of elephants.
Since 1958, Yunnan has established 11 national or regional-level nature reserves in the tropics. The number of Asian elephants in China has increased from about 170 in 1980 to today's 300, but the habitat area has decreased from 2,084 square kilometers in 1976 to less than 500 square kilometers in recent years.
The reason for the migration of the 15 elephants is still unknown. According to the ecologists, “It's unusual that elephants left their habitat and headed north at this time when the food for Asian elephants in the mountains and forests is scarcer in northern areas with higher altitudes.” A professor of ecology held that either the shrinking of rainforests in the elephants' home in Xishuangbanna, or the shortage inexperience of the leader of the elephant herd might be the reasons that led to the migration.
World’s Tiniest Pig at 10-Inches Tall, Once Thought Extinct, Is Returning to the Wild
Source: goodnewsnetwork.org
May 28, 2021
Like the keystone in an arch that holds all the others in place, the endangered pygmy hog of North India is the keystone species of the Terai grasslands, and while those other large mammals can live elsewhere, the hog cannot. Presumed extinct until it was discovered in 1971 in the Indian state of Assam by a tea plantation worker, it wasn’t until the 1990s that conservationists began breeding the pygmy hogs in captivity.
Grassland ecosystems often contain one or more species that act as regulators or engineers which keep the system healthy. Pygmy hogs play a role like this in the Terai grasslands. They tear up grasses to make small thatched nests over depressions in the ground, and the trails and corridors they make among the grass stalks help create space for light and for other plant species to grow, not to mention useful ready-made highways for other animals.
Commentaries of IALA
The pygmy hog is a species of hogs native to the grasslands of India and possibly Bhutan. These hogs represent the last living species in the genus porcula, and currently, it is estimated between 300-400 in the Terai grasslands. 74 animals are now kept in captivity until the later reintroduction into the wild. In India, these hogs are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act and listed in Schedule I of the Act, which imposes heavy penalties for committing offenses against them.
With Fire Contained, Sri Lanka Faces Plastic Pellet Problem From a Stricken Ship
Source: news.mongabay.com
May 31, 2021
Authorities in Sri Lanka say they have largely contained a fire onboard a cargo ship off the island’s west coast, but now face the task of cleaning up the tons of plastic granules it was carrying that have washed up along a wide swath of the coast.
The ship, newly commissioned in March this year, caught fire on May 21 shortly after leaving western India bound for Singapore. The fire broke out as it was anchored off Colombo, awaiting permission to unload Sri Lanka-bound cargo, but was brought under significant control by May 30 with help from India, authorities said.
Experts have called for more durable containers to be used to transport plastic pellets, but manufacturers continue to ship them in easily tearable polybags like these ones, on a beach in western Sri Lanka.
Commentaries of IALA
Plastic pollution is one of the major issues in conserving and protecting aquatic life. Lots of aquatic animals have been found dead due to plastic pollution, not to mention that most of the time, sea turtles, seals, sea lions are stranded in plastic bags, fishing nets, face masks, etc.
Nurdles are small and round elements of microplastic that are polluting the oceans. Oftentimes, marine species mistakenly consume plastic and die from that. In Sri Lanka, particularly, plastic pollution is one of the biggest issues for its coastal waters and their inhabitants. “In a recent report of maritime incidents in Sri Lankan waters since 1994, the Pearl Protectors identified 20 major incidents. More than half of them occurred in the last five years, indicating an increase in maritime activities around the island. Of the 20 major incidents, 12 involved an oil spill of some sort, underscoring Sri Lanka’s vulnerability to extensive marine pollution.”