Category: Asia

Ending animal acts boosts Nanjing Zoo paid attendance

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2013: (Actually published on October 8,  2013)

NANJING,  China––Ending trained animal acts in 2011 led to two consecutive years of record attendance at Nanjing Zoo,  show attendance figures obtained by the Animals Asia Foundation.  The Nanjing Zoo attracted 867,513 visitors in 2010,  the last year that the zoo featured animal acts,  but drew more than a million visitors each in 2011 and 2012. “Too often zoos fail to realize that they are losing customers because appetites for animal performances and exploitation are diminishing fast,”  commented Animals Asia Foundation welfare director Dave Neale.

Mission Rabies vaccinates 60,000 dogs in 10 Indian cities in 30 days

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2013: (Actually published on October 8,  2013)

NILGIRIS,  Tamil Nadu,  India––Vaccinating 60,000 dogs in 30 days at 10 rabies hot spots around India,  Mission Rabies exceeded its preliminary target by 10,000 and kept right on rolling. Mission Rabies “will continue for three years,  with a goal of vaccinating two million Indian dogs,”  said Worldwide Veterinary Services founder Luke Gamble,  who set for himself the goal of eradicating rabies in India while visiting Nilgiris as the star of a veterinary television show in 2009. Read more

Ivory speculation makes captive elephants in Thailand & India worth more dead than alive

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2013: (Actually published on October 8,  2013)

BANGKOK,  Thailand;  THIRUVANATHAPURAM,  India––Unscrupulous owners of working elephants are increasingly often deciding that the rising cost of elephant care and soaring prices paid by speculators for ivory mean their elephants are worth more dead than alive––and are resisting legislation to protect the elephants,  who have often been illegally captured from the wild. Read more

Newly found ferret badger rabies strain raises concern about dogs

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2013: (Actually published on October 8,  2013)

Taipei,  Taiwan––A new rabies strain identified in Taiwanese ferret badgers may have the potential to exponentially increase the risk of rabies transmission by dogs.  But even if the new rabies strain does not behave in dogs as it does among ferret badgers,  it has ignited unprecedented public controversy in Taiwan over the value of animal testing. Read more

Killing of cow protection activist ignites riots

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2013: (Actually published on October 8,  2013)

Vikrant Singh Yadav,  25,  a bank clerk in Khwaspur village,  Haryana state,  India,  was killed on August 25,  2013 while chasing a truck believed to be driven by cattle rustlers who were taking cows to be illegally slaughtered.

Police and the local cow protection society Gae Bachao Samiti had reportedly been tipped that the rustlers were hauling cattle.  Yadav trailed the alleged rustlers’ truck on a motorcycle,  with other Gae Bachao Samiti members following in a car.  After police waved the truck through a checkpoint but briefly detained Yadev,  he resumed the pursuit at high speed.  He apparently caught the truck,  but was then either run over or hacked to death with an unidentified weapon,  according to conflicting accounts.  The truck drivers escaped.   Read more

Editorials: Asian dog & cat meat trade could be on the way out

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  July-August 2013:

Editorial feature: Asian dog & cat meat trade could be on the way out 

By Kim Bartlett & Merritt Clifton

Recent developments signify that dog and cat meat industries of Southeast Asia,  South Korea,  and China may be approaching the beginning of their end,  if current campaigns sustain present momentum.  The dog and cat meat industries are vulnerable to eradication through a combination of factors,  including rising education and affluence,  the increasing popularity of keeping dogs and cats as household pets,  and democratization of traditionally oligarchic and patriarchal societies,  so that women and younger people––who are more likely to be sympathetic toward animals––have more say in what goes on.  

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Vietnam replaces park director who tried to take over moon bear sanctuary

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May/June 2013:

HANOI––Longtime Tam Dao National Park director Do Dinh Tien on April 30,  2013 lost his job,  after losing a two-year effort to evict the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre from park property and redevelop the site as a “bear rescue and breeding center” open to the public,  adjacent to a hotel and other tourist accommodations and attractions.  The facilities were to be developed by the Truong Giang Tam Dao Joint Stock Company,  which listed Do Dinh Tien’s daughter Do Thi Ngan as one of four investors. The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development on May 1,  2013 named former Tam Dao National Park deputy director Ha Cong Khai to succeed Do Dinh Tien,  reported An Dien of Thanh Nien News. Read more

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