Campaigns for wildlife conservation

This page is going to be used to promote campaigns highlighting animal welfare and conservation issues and allow people to get involved in these campaigns if desired.

Politics vs Science: The Grey Wolf Campaign

The Grey Wolf once roamed nearly all the the 
United States with a population of between 250,000 and 50,000.  However, at the beginning of the 20th century this species underwent a catastrophic decline to around 300 wolves by 1960. This was purely down to human persecution as wolves were seen as dangerous pests and this is one of the only species to be deliberately driven to the brink of extinction by humans.  Thankfully, the hunting of the species was halted in 1974 when it became protected under the Endangered Species Act and population numbers began to recover with there now being 3000 to date.

Although this is a tremendous recovery, these numbers are still significantly lower than what they were and what they could potentially be.  This species also only occupies a fraction of its original range (see maps). Therefore, this species still needs to be protected and conservation strategies put in place to boost numbers. 

However, this has not been the case as in April 2011 politicians from the U.S congress removed this species from the Endangered Species List.  This came from pressure from hunters that complained that wolves had caused a serious decline in game specie (e.g. elk) although there is no scientific evidence to support this claim.  In addition, the US Fish and Wildlife Services are now also considering taking this species off their Endangered Species List so there would be nothing standing against the repeated persecution of this species.

This change in law completely ignores scientific research which demonstrates that this species can recover beyond the original 'minumin targets' that have been achieved.  Research has demonstrated that in addition to having reduced population levels, there is significantly less genetic variation in wolves now compared to the past which makes them more vulnerable to potential environmental change.  In order to improve this, wolves needs access to broad ranges and large populations to increase gene flow and this cannot be achieved with their current numbers.

This species cannot afford to loose this additional protection as it would be devastating to witness a repeat of the near extinction of grey wolves and next time they may not recover at all.  To make a difference, please sign the petition (link below) to keep Grey Wolves in the Endangered Species List:

http://www.change.org/petitions/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-keep-the-gray-wolves-on-the-endangered-species-list  

Turmoil under the sea

A couple of cases of human persecution of marine animals have been reported in the last few days/weeks so I thought this blog had to be dedicated to these animals.

Firstly, I want to focus the Japanese town Taiji where bottlenose, striped and Risso's dolphins, Dalls porpoises and pilot whales are currently being hunted. This is a yearly event that is apparently a 'tradition' in this town so they refuse to stop it.  However, although this is the public reason for this hunt (which I personally think is indefensible anyway) the real reason is of course money.  These species compete with humans for fish, although this is highly unlikely to cause an affect on the fishing economy.  These species meat is also sold and live dolphins are sold to marine parks.  

This is outrageous in itself as there are no moral or scientific reasons for this hunt.  In addition, the methods used to slaughter these species are shocking. Hunters damage these animal's spinal cords which prevents them escaping but does not damage their brains.  Therefore, these animals are conscious whilst they killed through the use if knifes, a slow, painful and highly stressful death.

There is no way anyone can ever justify this kind of animal cruelty.  To add insult to injury, Taiji is not the only place where this is undergone as the Faroes Islands (Arctic sea island) conduct a similar practise where 700 whales and dolphins are killed yearly.  This is also classified as tradition as these animals used to be a source of meat.  However, this meat is now not even safe to eat due to a build up of toxins although it is still sold.  

This theme of unreasonable killing continues to sharks that are now being culled in Australia.  The reason for this is more obvious, it is to protect people from shark attacks even though only 7 people have been killed out of the 4000 that visited Perth's beaches over the last 3 years.  This strategy ignored polls where the majority of people protested against this cull and there may actually be an increase shark attacks due to these reason:

• it will encourage sharks to shore as they are following bait
• sharks are more likely to attack people if they are fired at 
• people who respect sharks are less likely to report them for fear that they will be killed.

A far better solution would be to manage people's behaviour to reduce the likelihood of these attacks.  This can include restricting certain beaches (maybe just at certain time), swim at times when sharks are less active (e.g. midday), don't wear shiny jewelry and many more.

Petitions have been set up to stop these cruel and unjustified actions threatening our marine animals which I hope everyone will sign (link below) and share. This needs to stop immediately.

Help Taiji's whales/dolphins here.  Protest against the shark cull here.

Vote for Bob

I have always been a big advocate for the RSPB, largely due to the personal experience I have gained through volunteering.  I always feel an inherent understanding with the people working in this charity that reassures me that this is the industry I wish to work in. Beyond this, the work they achieve is always very impressive and engaging for the public.  Their latest campaign 'Vote for Bob' is a definite example of this.  This campaign involves attempting to gain politicians support, and asking them the difficult questions on what they are planning to do to protect our wildlife.  This is particularly potent at the moment with the next general election coming up in May.


This campaign is fronted by a red squirrel named Bob.  This is an ingenious move as this endearing 'mascot' and simple strap line encourages everyone to get involved.  This includes people from all ages and ways of life, even those not overly interested or knowledgeable about conservation. This campaign signifies the motive beyond RSPB, that we should all fight for our wildlife together.  

I hope everyone gets involved and votes for Bob!