Category: Asia

Cattle gifts put habitat, humans, and animals at risk in southern India

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2012:

Cattle gifts put habitat, humans, and animals at risk in southern India

KOCHI, Kerala, India–A livestock gift scheme meant to increase the incomes of 30 families living within the nominally protected Vazhachal Forest, within the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve buffer zone, is putting the forest, the families, and the donated cattle at risk, Wildlife Division of the Kerala Forest Research Institute chief E.A. Jayson told K.S. Sudhi of The Hindu in May 2012. Read more

SCAD/Soi Dog Foundation merger falls through

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  June 2012:

SCAD/Soi Dog Foundation merger falls through

BANGKOK— -Soi Cat & Dog Rescue,  of Bangkok,  and the Soi Dog Foundation,  of Phuket,  will not merge after all,  SCAD advisory committee chair Annelize Booysen announced on May 19,  2012.  The two leading expatriate-founded humane societies in Thailand had jointly announced a merger on February 28,  2012.

“Despite the announcement,”  Booysen said,  “we have not been able to successfully conclude our merger.  The Soi Dog Foundation will proceed with their expansion plans in Bangkok without SCAD and we wish them all the best.  This development has forced us to take a very long and hard look at SCAD,”  Booysen continued,  describing SCAD as “an overstretched team with overstretched finances.” Read more

Indian official lynched for stopping crocodile show called "sacrifice"

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  June 2012:

Indian official lynched for stopping crocodile show called “sacrifice”

    BANGALORE–Madan Naik,  54,  assistant conservator of forests in Danduli,  Karnataka,  India,  was on May 6, 2012  allegedly dragged from his car and stoned by a group of 16 drunken visitors to Crocodile Valley,  a tourist attraction illegally operating on the bank of the Kali River near the Dandelappa temple,  inside the Dandeli-Anshi tiger reserve. Read more

New Indian data cuts worldwide human rabies death toll by 40%

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  June 2012:

New Indian data cuts worldwide human rabies death toll by 40%

DELHI,  CHENNAI,  VISAKHAPATNAM–New Indian data on April 29, 2012 cut the estimated worldwide human death toll from rabies by more than 40%,  with global repercussions for street dog population control,  public health,  and disease eradication funding priorities that are just beginning to be felt as rabies control experts become aware of the finding.
Presenting the most recent Indian government statistics on mortality from all causes to the Lok Sabha,  the Indian parliament, Indian health minister Gulam Nabi Azad mentioned almost in passing, after discussing heart disease,  diabetes,  and cancer,  that only 223 human rabies deaths were recorded in India in 2011,  barely 1% of the 2002 government estimate,  and just a seventh of the Indian toll from snakebites. Read more

South Korean judge tells marine park to release dolphins

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:
South Korean judge tells marine park to release dolphins

    JEJU, South Korea–-Jeju District Court Judge Kim Kyeong-seon on April 5,  2012 ordered the dolphin show promotion company Jeju Pacific Land to release five dolphins who were illegally captured from waters surrounding Jeju Island.  Judge Kim Kyeong-seon also fined Jeju Pacific Land $9,000 and issued suspended jail sentences to the company president and one employee.  The five dolphins who are to be released were among 11 who were allegedly captured for Jeju Pacific Land.  The newsaper Dong-A Ilbo reported that five of the dolphins died.  One was traded to a zoo for two sea lions. Read more

Cockfighting & H5N1–again

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

Cockfighting & H5N1–again

    BALI--Responding to an outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza that was rumored to have killed a child,  health officials  on April 26, 2012  killed 230 gamecocks at the Satria Bird Market in Denpasar, the Balian capital.
“Since the onset of the H5N1 panzootic in Eastern Asia in 2004,”  posted  www.ProMed.org moderator Arnon Shim-shony, “fighting cocks have been incriminated many times as the vector of the virus, including in Thailand,  Vietnam,  Malaysia and  Indonesia.  For instance,  smuggled fighting cocks from Thailand were found by the Malaysians to be the mode of the H5N1 avian influenza virus introduction in August 2004.  Similarly,  Indonesia reported that the virus was introduced by smuggled fighting cocks.”

Cockfighting, murder, & a lawsuit over use of a wheeled tank to make a bust

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

Cockfighting,  murder,  & a lawsuit over use of a wheeled tank to make a bust

McALLEN,  Texas;  ALEOSAN, North Cotabato, Philippines–Cockfighting preceded mass murder twice during the second week of April 2012.  The killers in each case escaped,  and if identified,  were not named to media by survivors and law enforcement.
Ramiro Garcia,  49,  his brother Juan Santos Garcia,  53, and Arturo Buentello Garza,  42,  were shot dead and eight people were wounded on April 20,  2012 by two to four gunmen who allegedly fired “indiscriminately” into the crowd at a cockfight 20 miles northeast of McAllen, Texas,  Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino told media.  “Trevino said Garza was likely a bystander,  but the Garcias were known to authorities for previous criminal activity, including drug possession,”  reported Christopher Sherman of Associated Press.  Arraigned for promoting cockfighting were land owners Heriberto Leandro,  51,  his wife Leticia Leandro,  52,  and Humberto Blanco,  37,  the alleged organizer. Read more

Thai charities Soi Cat & Dog Rescue and Soi Dog Foundation merge

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

    BANGKOK,  PHUKET–Soi Cat & Dog Rescue,  of Bangkok,  and the Soi Dog Foundation,  of Phuket,  on February 28,  2012 announced a merger.  Often confused with each other,  SCAD and the Soi Dog Foundation have parallel programs,  emphasizing dog and cat sterilization,  and have parallel histories.  British expatriate Sheridan Conisbee founded SCAD,  then called Soi Dog Rescue,  in 2002.  Early mobile sterilization campaigns were assisted by Danish veterinarian Mogens Hansen.  Dutch expatriate Margot Park formed the Soi Dog Foundation in September 2003,  assisted by then newly arrived British expatriates John and Gillian Dalley. Read more

Raids on wildlife rescue charities put Thai wildlife agency chief under the spotlight

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

    BANGKOK–Making a show of belatedly cracking down on wildlife trafficking,  especially commerce in elephants to work at tourist camps,  Thailand Department of National Parks,  Wildlife & Plant Conservation chief Damrong Phidet entered April 2012 “under attack from both the goodies and the baddies,”  assessed The Nation sub-editor and  Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand board member Jim Pollard.
“The owners of camps along the Burma border and others in Surin,  some of them thought to be deeply involved in elephant smuggling,  have talked about blocking highways and petitioning to try to get Damrong Phidet removed,”  Pollard continued. Also seeking Damrong Phidet’s removal were more than 58,250 petitioners declaring support for Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand founder Edwin Wiek and Elephant Nature Park founder Sangduan Lek Chailert,  whose animal charities were the targets of apparent retaliatory raids by wildlife officials in February 2012. Read more

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