Entertainment, education or unnecessary invasion of their space? It is a fine line to walk between using a documentary or wildlife show as a way to become a celebrity or showman. Steve Irwin, alias Crocodile Hunter, achieved celebrity status. He died tragically. His actions, although adored and respected, could be seen as…
Recently, I had the pleasure of spending a day with a group consisting of 14 Asian elephants in the Kulen elephant forestin Cambodia. This is a new retirement home for the Angkor Wat Elephants that spent their entire lives providing tourist rides around the temples. In Cambodia, wild elephants are in…
The conservation hype should not fool visitors to animal attractions. The Born Free Foundation criticized Longleat Safari Park in October 2018 for importing five southern Koalas from eastern Australia, half way around the world, to stock its new “Koala Creek”. Longleat has strongly denied that this was a money-making venture and…
Another American huntress has caused worldwide outrage with her social media posts and brought attention to the subject of big game trophy hunting. One could say that they do this on purpose. Of course, that’s what they want. Social media is their best tool to get us angry and, strange as it may…
Don’t fall for the “conservationist” phrase when you support charities. We all have different ideas about how we would like our money to be spent when it comes to supporting animal charities or donating to them. It could be on conservation, animal welfare, rehoming, animal rights, helping animals overseas or…
Hares are not protected by law Many people may be surprised to learn that the iconic hare, which is loved by many, is a pest animal and a wild game animal. It has no closed season and is therefore not protected under UK law. It is therefore not protected from poachers,…
Farmers are given free soil in order to barricade their countryside against hare-coursers. The “sport” of hare chasing has been on the rise and is practically impossible to stop. Even though it takes a lot of resources to police, there are few deterrents or punishments for offenders who are caught. While it’s banned in…
This month, the Japanese whaling ship returned triumphantly from its first commercial three-month hunt. It had almost caught a full quota, 223 whales, which amounted to 1,430 tonnes of frozen meat that costs $140 per kilogram to purchase. The Japanese government, encouraged by its success, wants to spend an additional $48…