Bear / oso / ours

12 juillet 2007


[b]La chasse à l’ours




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Deux camps irréconciliables se font face, les pro et les anti-ours, deux visions de la nature et de la place de l’homme. D’où une présentation des faits souvent déformée, faisant la part belle à l’émotion mais peu à la réflexion. L’homme et l’ours sont tous les deux des prédateurs et visiblement le partage de territoire pose problème. L’ours a besoin d’espace, de nourriture suffisante et de tranquillité pour mener sa vie. Or les Pyrénées sont de plus en plus fréquentées pour diverses activités (pastoralisme, tourisme vert, randonneurs, pêcheurs, chasseurs...), difficile pour ces pauvres ours d’avoir la paix. Alors ils se débrouillent.
Depuis son lâcher, Franska a bien compris que les zones d’élevage extensif où les troupeaux ne sont pas protégés sont un garde-manger facile d’accès, elle en profite. Qui pourrait la blâmer. Sommes-nous prêts à laisser un peu de territoire aux autres espèces, celles qui sont différentes de nous ? Nous avons déjà bien du mal à accepter la différence entre humains alors les non-humains.



Dans ce dossier ours il ne faut pas oublier non plus le poids de la tradition. Dans certaines vallées pyrénéennes, on se transmet de génération en génération la haine de l’ours, un ennemi commun qui permet d'exorciser les démons et d’éviter de se remettre en question. Commode, non ? Et si c’était justement le système pastoral pratiqué dans les Pyrénées qui était à revoir comme certains le préconisent ? Il faut se moderniser, un mot que l’on aime pas beaucoup en France.
Le pourcentage de brebis tuées par les ours sur une année est ridiculement faible. Chiens (errants ou de touristes), maladies, accidents, orages et conditions climatiques sont beaucoup plus préjudiciables aux troupeaux que tous les ours (ou loups dans les Alpes) réunis. Dans d’autres pays européens, la présence d’animaux sauvages n’est pas incompatible avec l’élevage.
Quant à l’hostilité manifestée à l’encontre des écologistes, qualifiés de « parisiens », ne connaissant pas le terrain, elle s’explique certes par l’histoire centralisatrice de notre pays et l’incompétence de pas mal de bureaucrates mais l’argument ne suffit pas pour convaincre. Ce n’est pas parce qu’on est né et qu’on a toujours vécu à la campagne qu’on est forcément respectueux de l’environnement. Toutes les traditions ne sont pas bonnes.

Le site du ministère sur la réintroduction de l'ours

Le pays de l'ours (Pétition contre la capture de Franska)

sur ces sites, ils parlent des ours

www.ours.ecologie.gouv.fr

17 décembre 2009

Video : Nourrissez un ourson pendant les Fêtes

M'aiderez-vous à remplir le biberon d'un ourson orphelin ?

En offrant un cadeau de la vie d'IFAW à quelqu'un de particulier en cette période de Fêtes, vous nous aiderez à fournir le lait en poudre riche en nutriments dont un ourson a besoin pour survivre.

Les oursons de la vidéo jointe sont adorables, et qu'ils aient réussi à survivre tient pratiquement du miracle. En effet, les oursons étaient très jeunes et vulnérables lorsque les chasseurs ont tué leur mère, laissant ces bébés orphelins et sans défense. Heureusement, ces oursons ont été secourus et apportés au Centre de sauvetage des ours d'IFAW.

Ces oursons ressemblaient à Ostakh, qui n'avait que quelques heures lorsqu'il nous a été apporté. Le personnel dévoué du Centre l'a immédiatement pris en charge... Ils l'ont nourri au biberon avec un lait spécial... l'ont maintenu au chaud sur des bouillottes... et l'ont même massé pour l'aider à digérer.

Leur ténacité a payé : Ostakh a survécu et devient chaque jour de plus en plus robuste. Chaque année, toutefois, des milliers d'oursons sans défense perdent leur mère et nous avons besoin de vous pour remplir les biberons des oursons chanceux qui arrivent au Centre de sauvetage des ours.

Avec un don commençant à 20 euros, vous pouvez remplir les biberons d'un ourson orphelin pendant un mois entier ! Si vous choisissez un don de 40 euros vous nourrirez deux oursons ! Visitez dès maintenant notre site web des Cadeaux de la vie et choisissez le montant qui convient le mieux à votre budget.

Un cadeau à double effet
Votre Cadeau de la vie est un excellent moyen d'aider les animaux, ET de montrer à vos amis et parents qui les aiment combien ils comptent pour vous.

En effet, votre cadeau est à double effet: Il donne une seconde chance à des animaux tels qu'Ostakh, et il montre aux membres de votre entourage combien vous les aimez.

Votre Cadeau de la vie est un cadeau que vous serez fier d'offrir et qu'ils seront enchantés de recevoir.

December 28, 2010


Polar Bears Not Endangered, Says Government
posted by Jake Richardson Dec 28, 2010 7:04 am
filed under: On The Go, Pets & Animals, Wildlife, polar bears

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Care2 is the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world.Care2.com send We hate spam. We do not sell or share the email addresses you provide.90 comments A bid to have the legal status of polar bears changed from “threatened” to “endangered” has failed. The Forest and Wildlife Service said they believe polar bears are only threatened because there are at least 20,000 of them, but they seem to contradict themselves by admitting, “The Service concluded that the incremental loss of sea ice habitat over time would limit the ability of polar bears to satisfy essential life-history requirements and would result in the bears likely being in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future.” (Source: USFWS)

What exactly are “essential life-history requirements”? Are they simply unwilling to even use plain language to communicate with the public that if polar bear habitat continues to be lost they will be in danger of going extinct? They seem to be playing word games to cover up the fact that polar bears are already endangered by the loss of sea ice, which they need to survive. Sea ice is melting due to climate change, but Alaska’s oil industry seems to have the upper hand in the battle to control natural resources there.

“The Obama administration delivered a lump of coal to the polar bear for Christmas. Once again President Obama’s Interior Department has sacrificed sound science for political expediency, and the polar bear will suffer as a result,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center’s Climate Law Institute. She was also the lead author on the original lawsuit in 2005 which led to the polar bear getting reviewed for any legal protection, though it was stopped at “threatened” by the government. (Source: Climatesciencewatch.org) Polar bears were just designated “threatened” in 2008, only because of a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2005. In other words, if that non-profit organization hadn’t started the ball rolling, the government would likely not even have listed polar bears as threatened, even though they are dying because of habitat loss.

If the Forest and Wildlife Service refuses to protect the polar bear as endangered until it is nearly extinct, and admits that scenario is likely to take place, what is the point of having the Endangered Species Act?

During the Bush Administration, an exemption was put into the Endangered Species Act which allows threats outside the polar bear’s habitat to not be disrupted, threats such as the release of mercury by industry, or climate change causing carbon emissions. The Obama administration has upheld this exemption, and Secretary of the Interior Salazaar has maintained the Bush administration’s attitude towards polar bears.

Recently scientific research stated again that reducing carbon emissions can save the polar bears, and not reducing carbon emissions will probably cause them to die off completely. “Scientists have been warning for some time that the melting of sea ice where polar bears hunt was jeopardizing their existence. In 2007 a group of federal scientists led by Steven C. Amstrup, an emeritus researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey, projected that if greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise as projected, only one-third of the world’s 22,000 polar bears might be left by 2050, and all of them could be gone by the end of the century.” (Source: Washingtonpost.com)

As previously reported on Care2, a seventeen year-old high school student understands these issues more clearly than the federal government, and has actually taken steps to reduce carbon emissions to save polar bears by creating a website where you can document your personal carbon output and work on reducing it.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/polar-bears-not-endangered-says-government.html#ixzz19syZqBpF

December 30, 2010


Bear Abuse Prevention Law Considered
posted by Jake Richardson Dec 30, 2010 7:02 am
filed under: Nature & Wildlife, News & Issues, On The Go, Pets & Animals, Wildlife, animal cruelty, bear baying, bear-baiting, bears

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Care2 is the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world.Care2.com send We hate spam. We do not sell or share the email addresses you provide.152 comments The practice of bear baying, an activity where a defenseless defanged and declawed bear is chained while dogs bark and sometimes bite it, is coming under fire in South Carolina — the only state where it is still legal. It has been defended as training for dogs that will be used to hunt bears, but critics have countered that dogs hunting bears will bark when they encounter one naturally, and attack it without training.

Critics have also pointed out that during bear baying, the bears suffer and those who attend these secret gatherings view them as entertainment, not unlike cockfighting or dog fighting. In other words, saying bear baying is an educational experience really is just a lie to try justifying the cruel and unnecessary treatment of bears for entertainment.

A Humane Society of South Carolina representative said, “This is going on right in our back yard. We found out that people are coming from West Virginia, Ohio, Georgia and Tennessee to participate because they know they won’t get arrested.” (Source: Groupstates.com)

The bear baying meetings are organized by the National Plott Hound Association. Plott hounds are dogs bred just for hunting bears, and other large predators. They have a reputation for fearlessness and persistence that lasts for days when on the hunt. A witness who attended a bear baying event said, “Although he estimates that some 300 Plotts hurled themselves at a staked bear over the course of a day, the result was that ‘the bear got chewed on a bit, and the dogs got cuffed around.’” (Source: Slate.com) If hundreds of dogs in small groups are going after the bear in a bear baying, that means the defenseless bear is on a short chain or tether being barked at and bitten for hours at a time. The damage to the bear would not be limited to just being chewed up a bit. The bear obviously would be terrified and greatly stressed, especially because it can’t move away or defend itself, and would have some recognition of its inability to deal with hundreds of dogs coming at it.

Republican Senator Glen McConnell has proposed Senate Bill 253 to ban bear baying. The proposed legislation would also ban the keeping of bears as pets, which is clearly another hazard both to people and to the bears because large predators sometimes revert back to their wild behavior and attack people or people harass and attack the bear. Of course, keeping a large mobile animal in a small cage or chained in a backyard is also cruel. There are 21 bears kept as pets in backyard cages in the state.

New York was the first state to ban bear baying (sometimes also called baiting), having done so in 1856. An online petition to ban bear baying in South Carolina has been created.



Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/bear-abuse-prevention-law-considered.html#ixzz19uJTSwGt

December 31, 2010

It's the final hours of 2010, and polar bears are in a state of emergency. Alaska has filed a legal motion to strike down their 120-million-acre habitat reserve.

It is the largest imperiled species habitat reserve in history -- bigger than 48 of the 50 states, bigger than the entire U.S. national park system -- and Alaska is trying to eradicate its protections to drill for oil and gas.

The Center for Biological Diversity has just a few weeks to beat back Alaska's lawsuit, and we need your help. Please make a generous donation today to our Endangered Species Action Fund. We're wrapping up fundraising for the year, so this is your last chance to help save the polar bear.

All donations made by midnight tonight -- December 31st -- will be tripled by one of our generous members.

This is an extraordinary opportunity to make your donation worth three times as much. We've never had such a generous match before, and no other environmental group is offering such a large multiplier this busy year-end.

The Center won the polar bear its place on the federal protected list and won the 120-million-acre wildlife reserve. We've got the legal firepower, scientific backing and political muscle to stop Alaska -- we just need the funds to make it happen.

So far our supporters have donated $121,000 to the Endangered Species Action Fund to save polar bears, wolves and all endangered species. We need to raise another $29,000 by midnight tonight to meet our $150,000 fundraising goal. Please help by making a donation today.

The Center doesn't waste money mailing wolf and polar bear plush toys. We don't offer calendars and tote bags. We spend our members' donations protecting endangered species, period. And we win: Our 93-percent success rate in the courts is unparalleled in the environmental movement. So is our protection of more than 500 species and 230 million acres of wildlife habitat.

December 2, 2010

Major Win for Polar Bear, 120 Million Protected Acres -- Take Action

In a historic win for polar bears -- and in response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies -- the federal government just protected more than 187,000 square miles (about 120 million acres) of "critical habitat" for the polar bear on Alaska's north coast. The critical habitat designation -- by far the biggest in Endangered Species Act history -- comes at a critical time for this iconic Arctic animal: Due to our litigation, the Interior Department is now under court order to reconsider its decision to declare the polar bear "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act rather than granting it the more protective status of "endangered." Interior is also considering whether to allow oil companies to drill for oil in the polar bear's newly designated critical habitat in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas of Alaska. The polar bear earned federal protection in May 2008 due to our petition and lawsuit.
Global warming is fast melting the sea ice polar bears depend on to hunt, mate and raise cubs. If current greenhouse gas trends continue, scientists predict two-thirds of the world's polar bears -- including allAlaska bears -- will likely be gone in 40 years or even much sooner. "The critical habitat designation clearly identifies the areas that need to be protected if the polar bear is to survive in a rapidly melting Arctic," said Brendan Cummings, senior counsel with the Center. "However, unless the Interior Department starts to take seriously its mandate to actually protect the polar bear's critical habitat, we will be writing the species' obituary rather than its recovery plan."
Get more from The New York Times and take action nowto help polar bears earn endangered status.

December 23, 2010

Help Save Polar Bears & Their Habitat

Among the largest carnivores in the world, polar bears are found only in Arctic regions of North America and Russia. Dependent upon the icy climate and surrounding waters for food, these resilient creatures are on course for extinction by the year 2050.
Climate change is affecting their habitat, as is the encroaching exploration by companies searching for oil and gas deposits. We need to save the home of polar bears in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Alaska before it is too late. Send a message to President Obama and other decision makers asking them to protect these creatures and the land they call home.

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/campaign.faces?siteId=3&campaign=PolarBearClimateChange&ThirdPartyClicks=ETA_122310_PolarBearClimateChange_F

December 28, 2010

Alaska just took its brutal war against the polar bear to a new level.
The state was already in court to strip federal protection from the polar bear, but last week it launched a new attack -- on the bear's habitat. It filed a legal notice to strike down the federal government's designation of a 120-million-acre polar bear reserve along Alaska's northern coast.
This is the largest imperiled species habitat reserve in history -- bigger than 48 of the 50 states -- and protecting it is essential to the survival of the polar bear.
The Center for Biological Diversity has just a few weeks to prepare to beat back Alaska's new antiwildlife lawsuit, and we need to raise the funds now to do it. Please, help us save the polar bear and the largest habitat reserve in history: Donate today to our Endangered Species Action Fund. A Center donor will triple-match any gift made by Dec. 31, so your donation will be worth three times as much.
The Center has been leading the charge to save polar bears since 2005.We got the majestic white bears placed on the federal list of "threatened species," we stopped oil drilling in their habitat and we won the 120-million-acre habitat reserve earlier this year.
We've been fighting for years to stop Alaska's bid to strip federal protection from the polar bear. And with your help today, we'll be in court again in just two months to stop the state's effort to eradicate the bears' habitat reserve as well.
Help us win the looming legal battle to save the polar bear's habitat by making a generous emergency gift to our Endangered Species Action Fund by the end of the year. Now is the best time to do it, since a Center supporter will make your gift worth three times as much by triple-matching donations made by Dec. 31.

The Center doesn't spend its money mailing wolf and polar bear plush toys. We don't offer calendars and tote bags. We spend our members' donations protecting endangered species, period. And we win: Our 93 percent success rate in the courts is unparalleled in the environmental movement. So is our protection of more than 500 species and 230 million acres of wildlife reserves.
Unfortunately, Alaska isn't the only one attacking polar bears. Last week Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made two stunning decisions that could drive the polar bear extinct if we don't stop him as well.
In lock-step with Bush administration policies already struck down by the courts, first Salazar opened up huge areas of polar bear habitat to offshore oil drilling -- despite the devastating spill impacts we saw in the Gulf of Mexico -- and then he refused to upgrade the polar bear's legal status from "threatened" to "endangered." Withholding full protection from the polar bear gives Salazar an excuse for not stopping fossil fuel pollution from coal-fired power plants that are driving the species extinct.
But with your generous support and our 20-plus years of winning life-saving results for endangered wildlife, the Center will take on Alaska and Salazar at the same time, saving the polar bear and its precious, disappearing habitat.

December 16, 2010

Imagine a polar bear in Times Square, its heart-wrenching struggle for survival on display for millions to see.It's a powerful image that could help mobilize people to action to save these beloved bears. And you can make it a reality.

Donate today to help run our powerful new video billboard ad near Times Square and put the plight of our polar bears – and what can be done to save them – front-and-center.

To highlight the desperate plight of these mighty Arctic hunters and spur action to save polar bears, Defenders of Wildlife has secured time on the CBS jumbotron near Times Square through Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

In a very public and prominent way, we’re calling on President Obama to secure vital habitat for these beloved bears and raising awareness about one of the most recognizable victims of climate change.

But we can’t make a difference for polar bears without you. We need to raise $65,000 by midnight tomorrow to make this ad a reality and support other polar bear-saving work.

Your tax-deductible donation will help run this powerful ad through Christmas and New Year’s and support essential work to save polar bears and other threatened and endangered animals from extinction in the wild.

This week alone, Defenders of Wildlife has mobilized nearly 45,000 caring people to contact the White House on behalf of our polar bears.

We’re not stopping there. The need for action is urgent. Scientists say that America’s polar bears could disappear from the wild by 2050… unless we act now.

That’s why we’ve joined environmental partners from across the country and around the world to call for new protections for polar bears and the habitat they need to survive. We’ve issued new recommendations that may well be key to saving America’s struggling bears from extinction in the wild.

And we’re gearing up for a tough new fight in the new Congress (which begins in just a few weeks) to prevent harmful drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Alaska’s Chukchi and Beaufort Seas – vital habitat for America’s remaining polar bears.

Defenders of Wildlife is doing everything we can to help save these majestic animals. Will you?

December 14, 2010

Days after endorsing the killing of more wolves, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has added the wolverine to his hit list in the war on endangered species.

With just 300 of the animals left, scientists predict wolverines will disappear from the United States unless something is done right now to save them. But just yesterday, Salazar refused to give them federal protection on the Endangered Species list.

Please help the Center for Biological Diversity save the wolverine and stop Salazar's war on wildlife by donating generously to our Endangered Species Action Fund today. A Center donor will triple-match any gift received by Dec. 31, so your gift will be worth three times as much this year-end.

Listing a species as "endangered" makes killing it illegal, requires that habitat reserves essential to its recovery be designated and protected, and makes federal restoration money available. It puts conservation agencies and scientists in charge of the wolverine’s future, not loggers and developers.

And it works: Species put on the endangered list are far less likely to go extinct and far more likely to recover than species left waiting without protection.

The Center successfully sued the Bush government in 2008 for refusing to help wolverines, handing the Obama administration a great opportunity to reverse course and save the species. But yesterday -- just as he did with wolves, grizzlies and polar bears -- Salazar instead repeated the anti-environmental policies of the Bush administration, dismissing federal scientists who rate threats to the wolverine as "high magnitude."

Unfortunately, the wolverine is not the only species under attack. Just last month, Salazar used the same reasoning to deny protection to the Pacific fisher, Rio Grande cutthroat trout, sage grouse and 250 other species spiraling toward extinction.

Refusing protection on political grounds will commit hundreds of species to oblivion -- unless the Center, our supporters and our allies take swift legal action to stop Salazar's war on wildlife.

The Center is already in court challenging his refusal to protect hundreds of species. Now we need to use our unique combination of science and legal strategy to save the wolverine as well. Please help by making a donation today to our Endangered Species Action Fund.

We have the best win rate in the environmental movement, succeeding in 93 percent of our legal cases and achieving real, on-the-ground protection for more than 500 imperiled plants and animals and more than 200 million acres of habitat.

With your help we'll save the wolverine, Pacific fisher, gray wolf and all 250 imperiled species being denied the protection they need to survive and recover.

Please join us by making a generous, tax-deductible donation to our Endangered Species Action Fund. If received by Dec. 31, your gift will be worth three times as much because a caring donor will triple-match every gift to the fund this year.

Thanks so much for helping to stop the war on wildlife.

December 22, 2010

Because of Your Support You Have Helped NPCA...


By joining a Cause that supports the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), you became part of a passionate community of national park enthusiasts, supporters, and activists. With 2010 quickly coming to a close NPCA would like to share with you what your support has helped us accomplish. With your help, NPCA raised corporate dollars on behalf of parks, and successfully took on initiatives that helped to protect Fort Davis, Great Smoky Mountains, Glacier, Joshua Tree, and the Grand Canyon. You also helped us to ensure that national parks have a place in the President’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative. Please enjoy the comprehensive list of 2010 accomplishments.






With your help, NPCA was able to raise $40,000 for our park protection work as national park fans like you joined “Support the National Parks” on Causes! Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water generously donated 50 cents for every new join (up to 80,000) to this Cause.








Nature Valley donated $100,000 to NPCA during a Facebook campaign. The concept: for every new “like” to their page over a 24-hour period, they would donate $1, up to $100,000. We made the goal with time to spare, and now these funds will help us do the work of protecting our national parks for future generations








Fort Davis National Historic Site in west Texas is one of the best preserved examples of a frontier military post in the American Southwest. So when a prominent 41-acre bluff overlooking the fort came up for sale generating concern that the pristine—and historic—view would be marred, NPCA and our allies stepped into action. After years of work, in January 2010, The Conservation Fund was able to purchase the property and began working with the National Park Service to add the land to Fort Davis National Historic Site.








In February 2010, Congressman Heath Shuler (D-NC) announced a settlement that brought a close to the decades-long fight to stop the proposed “Road to Nowhere” through the most wild and remote area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. NPCA and our Southeast Regional Office fought this proposal for years, creating and managing the Greater Smoky Mountains Coalition, and building considerable momentum for a settlement in lieu of building the road. Also in February, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell signed a historic agreement in Vancouver, British Columbia, that forever protected the Transboundary Flathead River Valley from all types of mining and oil and gas extraction. The wild, unsettled Canadian Flathead Valley is just upstream from Glacier National Park and provides critical habitat for Glacier's wildlife--including grizzly bears, wolverines, elk, and mountain goats.








For more than 35 years, NPCA has worked with conservationists, First Nations, business groups, and community leaders on both sides of the border to stop mining in the Flathead Valley. In fact, it was park activists like you who pushed this effort across the finish line by sending more than 50,000 letters and emails to leaders in Canada and the United States asking for change.








Years of legal wrangling and advocacy by NPCA and our allies to protect Joshua Tree National Park from the massive Eagle Mountain landfill finally paid off when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar decided not to pursue further legal avenues. This means that Joshua Tree’s landscapes and wildlife will be safe from the garbage dump which would have been surrounded by the park on 3 sides as it accepted up to 20,000 tons of garbage daily!








Visitors to Grand Canyon who enjoy the sounds of nature can truly celebrate! Through the swift action of NPCA's activists, and the work of Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), a potential disaster for the Grand Canyon was reversed almost as quickly as it arose. An amendment was proposed that would have made it more difficult to protect Grand Canyon National Park from intrusive aircraft noise--but thanks to Sen. Bingaman's leadership and our advocacy, the item was removed from the Senate's final FAA Reauthorization Bill!








As part of President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, NPCA activists and park supporters successfully placed national parks front-and-center in the discussion around the future of land conservation in our country. The message was simple: Protecting and enhancing our national parks must be at the heart of the America's Great Outdoors Initiative.








While NPCA staff, members, and allies were attending listening sessions across the country discussing our country’s conservation future, NPCA's 11 national park "ideas" received the support of more than 13,500 voters online at the America's Great Outdoors IdeaJam website. These ideas were among the top favorites on the site. And, as part of a larger coalition effort, more than 100,000 letters were sent to the president asking him to make our national parks a centerpiece of the initiative.









We simply couldn’t have done any of these things without you. And moving forward--as we prepare for the centennial of the National Park System in 2016--we must continue to work together to protect and preserve our national treasures for future generations. Thank you for standing with us.

DECEMBER 17, 2011

Bubu is still in captivity. A decision is pending about Coya.
We had hoped that I would be free before the end of 2010. However, after a failed attempt this week (mechanical failures with the helicopter), that will not now be possible. I am OK, but very stressed and I need time for the anaesthetics to get out of my system. So it will be several weeks before they can try again to liberate me.

This involves more costs in keeping me in captivity longer than planned. It also raises questions about whether the Andean Bear Foundation will still be able to rehabilitate Coya, the little female Andean bear they had hoped to release in 2011. The decision has not yet been made.

I know everyone is very busy and financially stressed by Christmas and the snowy weather. So for now, I would like to ask you all to help by just inviting your friends to join this Cause. We'd like to get as many Cause members as we can before the New Year, ready for a big fundraising push then to help the Andean Bear Foundation return both me and Coya to the wild.

If anyone has any spare dollars, my friends have nominated 22nd December as the "Date to Donate". If you can't donate, don't worry, come along to my FB page on that day and join in the fun anyway! https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126402270756321&index=1

NOVEMBER 11, 2010

Don't Let Big Oil Destroy The Largest U.S. Wildlife Refuge

message online: greatergood.com/emails/2010/pet-111110-enviro-solo-w.html

Obama: Protect Arctic Wildlife & Habitat Before It's Too Late

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--the largest refuge in the U.S.--was established 50 years ago for the purpose of preserving unique animals, wilderness, and recreational space. Maintained by the Department of Fish & Wildlife, it consists of over 19 million acres of land and is home to a diverse number of animals, including 42 types of fish, more than 200 migratory and resident bird species, and our struggling polar bear population.
Regardless of this rich diversity, the refuge has been debated as a possible site for oil and gas exploration since the '70s. We can't let this pristine habitat be destroyed, putting at risk the lives of the millions of animals that call it home. Ask President Obama to grant permanent protection to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before it's too late.

Dear President Obama,

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most important onshore denning habitats for America's struggling polar bears — not to mention one of America's most spectacular landscapes.

But Big Oil wants to get its hands on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. If it does, disruptive exploration and drilling could drive polar bear mothers to abandon their cubs, leaving them to starve to death.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the wildlife refuge and we need to commemorate this historic occasion by giving permanent protection to the area and securing the safety of the wildlife — including polar bears, wolves, arctic foxes, and caribou — who call it home.

Please grant permanent protection to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge today.

Thank you for your time.

december 21, 2010

We wanted to take a few minutes this busy holiday season and thank you in person for all the support you've given us this year. In 2010, you and other supporters sent more than 1 million emails and letters and made phone calls to decision makers to protect endangered species and wildlands. That's almost 3,000 actions per day!You helped the Center for Biological Diversity win more than 120 million acres of critical habitat protection for the polar bear, shut down dangerous offshore oil drilling in Alaska, save sea turtles from being burned in the Gulf of Mexico and compel the Environmental Protection Agency to finally confront ocean acidification. Your support continues to make us the most efficient and most successful endangered species protection group in the country. Thank you.

We couldn't do this without you -- and the future of imperiled plants, animals and wildlands wouldn't be as bright without you speaking out for their survival. So thank you from all of us at the Center, as well as from all the species we protect -- like the gray wolf, wolverine, bald eagle, California red-legged frog, polar bear and Salt Creek tiger beetle. Please enjoy our video. Just click on it to watch.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/support/thanks/2010/supporters.html

January 6, 2011

caring Defenders like you put a polar bear in Times Square.






Your ad is running in Times Square right now!

With the help of dedicated Defenders supporters like you, we were able to run our polar bear ad in New York’s Times Square on the CBS Jumbotron. It ran during Christmas and New Year's and will be up until January 20th, continuing to raise awareness about the plight of America’s threatened polar bears.

But that’s not all you’ve done in the last few weeks....

We stopped a federal plan that would have allowed wolf sterilization and gassing of wolf pups. And when the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services – the government’s chief wolf-killing agency – recently announced its new plan to use aerial gunning to kill wolves in parts of Idaho's National Forests, you spoke out in force.

As of the Monday deadline for public comments, Defenders of Widlife delivered nearly 50,000 messages in opposition to the wolf-killing plan. And you sent tens of thousands of more messages to stop the latest anti-wolf attacks in Congress.

Finally, when we asked for your help to meet the challenges of the New Year, you answered the call. More than 4,600 wildlife supporters donated to help nearly meet our $211,000 end-of-year goal, including almost 1,700 who had never before donated to support our work.

Thank you for all of your energy, dedication and support! You really help us make a difference.

Aurélie, we’ll need you to help face the challenges we anticipate in 2011 – more attacks on life-saving wolf protections, more plans for destructive drilling in key polar bear habitat and more attempts to dismantle the laws that protect our wild animals and the wild places where they live.

We won’t stop fighting, and I hope you won’t either.

Happy New Year,
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife

P.S. Here are two very quick ways you can help today…
Stay Informed. If you don’t already do so, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and the Defenders blog for the very latest on our struggle to save the lives of imperiled wolves, polar bears and other wildlife.
Support our work. Confirm your commitment to safeguard the lives of wolves, polar bears and other wildlife and defend the wild places where they live in 2011.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiDTQ6fEJPs

july 26 2012

sing petition

Protest against the tragic death of bear forced to drink soda
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/tragic-death-of-bear-forced-to-drink-soda/
please sign and share the petition

protest against the tragic death of bear forced to drink soda
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signatures: 3,743
signature goal: 4,000
overview petition
Target: Arif Mammadov, Ambassador
Sponsored by: Lisbeth Amos, Alison Fox and Maren Dallmann
Protest against the tragic death of a caged mountain bear, forced to drink soda to amuse customers in an Azerbaijan cafe

The following footage shows a mountain bear kept in a small and filthy cage at a cafe in Gabala, Azerbaijan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwuzf1MN9tE&feature=related

Not only was the bear imprisoned in a horrific, dirty and small cage, thus being completely deprived of its natural habitat and food sources, it was also forced to drink soda out of a plastic bottle, obviously desperately trying to quench its thirst while having to endure daily abuse and taunts from visitors at the cafe who were clearly amused and entertained by the suffering of this poor creature. According to the newspaper articles, the bear died shortly after the footage was taken, no doubt owing to the fact that it had been ill-treated and abused in its foul cage. It transpires that the dead bear has now been replaced by another bear, who will presumably have to endure similar abuse and ill-treatment.

Clearly, these people have no respect for the life of other sentient creatures. The confinement of animals is ultimately cruel and goes against the instincts and nature of such creatures. When caged, these wild animals lack space, natural habitat and food sources. They are not cared for properly and their minds are not stimulated. The animal experiences high levels of stress from this unnatural environment. No animal deserves this kind of horrific treatment in a civilised society - especially not in the name of 'entertainment'.

According to official statements, this is "an isolated case", but how can they be certain? Isolated case or not, we would like to know what is being done about it?
Equally important, efforts need to be made urgently to prevent similar crimes taking place in the future.

Tell Arif Mammadov - Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe - that he must do whatever it is in his power to do to ensure that the unnecessary imprisonment and exploitation of animals in the Republic of Azerbaijan are put to an end immediately.

Thank you for your support!


Related newspaper articles:

Article in The Sun (also links to video footage of the bear)
Article in The Daily Mail less

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/tragic-death-of-bear-forced-to-drink-soda/