News
The number of news found: 19.
06/30/2014 800+ SPECIES ADDED TO IUCN THREATENED LIST
Experts have added 817 species to the threatened categories of the IUCN Red List in the latest update. Those added include 51 mammals—mostly lemurs—and over 400 plants. The new update finds that over 90 percent of lemurs and 79 percent of temperate slipper orchids are threatened with extinction.
06/24/2014 OBAMA PROPOSES VAST EXPANSION OF PACIFIC OCEAN SANCTUARIES FOR MARINE LIFE
President Obama announced his intent to make a broad swath of the central Pacific Ocean off-limits to fishing, energy exploration and other activities. The proposal, slated to go into effect later this year after a comment period, could create the world's largest marine sanctuary and double the area of ocean globally that is fully protected. "I'm going to use my authority to protect some of our nation's most precious marine landscapes," Obama said in a video to participants at a State Department conference, adding that while the ocean is being degraded, "We cannot afford to let that happen. That's why the United States is leading the fight to protect our oceans." The announcement is part of a broader push on maritime issues by an administration that has generally favored other environmental priorities.
06/23/2014 NEW SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS STADIUM SET TO BE MOST VEGAN-FRIENDLY STADIUM IN THE COUNTRY
Centerplate, the food service provider of Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, just announced plans to offer vegan options at every single concession stand in the stadium! The items that will appear on the menu were created all in-house by Centerplate chefs. Some of the menu favorites include navy bean curry, Portobello boa bun, and BBQ Jackfruit sandwich. The CEO of Centerplate released a statement explaining why they have chosen to add these new items to the Levi's Stadium menu, "[the aim was to] design a hospitality program to usher in a new era of fan experience, and to match the Bay Area's diverse culture." Every game day, the stadium concession stands will be stocked with 14 vegan options and 26 vegetarian menu items.
06/20/2014 JAPAN KILLS 30 WHALES IN 1ST HUNT SINCE INTERNATIONAL COURT RULING
Japan has caught 30 whales off its northern coast in its first hunt since an international court ordered the halt of its annual expedition in the Antarctic. The Fisheries Agency said a coastal whaling fleet killed 30 minke whales during the April-June season as part of Japan's northwestern Pacific research hunt. Another group of whalers is still at work in a more distant area of the Pacific. The northwestern Pacific hunt is one of two research whaling programs that Japan has conducted since a 1986 international ban on commercial whaling.
06/18/2014 VEGAN FOOD TO GET ITS OWN U.S. SUPERMARKET
A vegan supermarket is coming to the U.S. But not until 2016. Called "Veganz," the German-based market opened in 2011 and is already expanding across Europe. Started by Jan Bredack, who adopted a vegan lifestyle in 2009, Veganz was born out of Bredack's desire to share his own transformation with others. Bredack's first plans for the U.S. start in 2016 in Portland, Ore.—a town known for its vegan food and culture. But Bredack will soon find that there are many towns ripe for vegan-dedicated supermarkets. Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago—all have strong vegan cultures. Even parts of Texas (besides Austin) have booming vegan communities.
06/17/2014 PETER DINKLAGE FIGHTS TO END IVORY TRADE
Emmy Award-winning "Game of Thrones" actor Peter Dinklage has teamed up with the Humane Society of the United States to help put an end to the ivory trade in the U.S. Dinklage is urging New York residents to enforce a statewide ban on illegally imported ivory products, which are typically made from the tusks of critically endangered elephants and rhinos. New York City is one of the main commerce channels for illegally imported ivory products, so ivory traders and wildlife poachers would suffer a major financial blow if this legislation passes on June 19. Prohibiting the import and trade of ivory throughout New York state would be a huge step toward finally ending the ivory trade worldwide.
06/16/2014 ALASKA SCHOOL GETS $127K PENALTY FOR ANIMAL DEATHS
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has been penalized $127,100 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after 12 musk oxen died from malnutrition at the school's large animal research station earlier this decade. An administrative law judge for the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the civil penalty Thursday for violating of the Animal Welfare Act. An animal rights group that initially filed a complaint over the deaths in 2011, prompting a USDA investigation, announced the penalty Tuesday. The size of the penalty "tells me the USDA is sending a message to these facilities that they are no longer going to stand for these criminals that break the law, and we're very happy to see this," said Michael Budkie, executive director of the group Stop Animal Exploitation Now.
06/14/2014 NEW CALLS FOR CARRIAGE HORSE BAN AFTER HORSE RUNS LOOSE IN CENTRAL PARK
Animal rights groups have stepped up their calls to ban carriage horses in NYC following an incident in Central Park. Around 5:45 P.M. Monday, a 7-year-old carriage horse named Pumpkin became detached from its bridle and bolted into Central Park, trotting its usual route. The horse exited at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street near the Plaza Hotel, where a group of carriage drivers was waiting to corral it. A bystander jumped on the carriage trying to help, but Pumpkin was startled and collided with the back door of a taxi. The bystander did not want to go on camera, but told Smith his sole intention was to keep the horse from hurting anyone else. New York Mets Outfielder Matt den Dekker witnessed the incident and tweeted "Almost got ran over by a horse carriage running wild through the city."
06/13/2014 SUZY AMIS CAMERON TO CREATE FIRST PLANT-BASED SCHOOL IN THE U.S.
Suzy Amis Cameron has announced that the MUSE School she co-founded with her sister back in 2006 will soon become the first in the nation to offer only vegan food. "We are gradually moving toward a plant-based menu because we do call ourselves an environmental school," Amis Cameron told NPR's The Salt. "Within the next year and a half, we will be plant-based." Amis Cameron, wife of director James Cameron, was inspired to start MUSE after discovering the so-called "environmental" schools she was sending her children to really did not meet her expectations on either curriculum or sustainability. Not only is MUSE zero-waste, but it also features extensive composting facilities, recycled building materials and power from renewable energy.
06/12/2014 MEXICO CITY JOINS IN BANNING ANIMALS IN CIRCUSES
Mexico City became the latest place in Mexico to ban the use of animals in circuses Monday as the city council voted overwhelmingly for the prohibition, with fines of $45,000 to $60,000. The law does not apply to water shows with dolphins or bull fighting nor does it prohibit the use of animals in Mexico's traditional rodeos, known as "charreadas." Circuses will be given one year to change their acts. Several states and cities in Mexico had previously approved such bans, which allow acrobats, clowns and other circus acts to continue.
06/11/2014 ICONIC BAND BOSTON IS TEAMING UP WITH SEA SHEPHERD
Following the release of their sixth album, Life, Love & Hope, BOSTON is kicking off their highly anticipated summer North American, "Heaven on Earth," tour, and has teamed up with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to benefit the organization's vital conservation work in defense of ocean wildlife. BOSTON, the iconic band who to date has sold more than 31 million albums in the US, has invited Sea Shepherd Onshore Volunteers to staff outreach tables at selected shows on the tour, which just launched on June 5th in Hollywood, FL, in order to garner support and educate fans about the imperiled state of our oceans. The band will also feature Sea Shepherd video footage during each show to spread awareness about the urgent need for direct action ocean conservation to thousands of their fans.
06/10/2014 THE GODFATHER OF ICE CREAM IS GOING DAIRY FREE
"I'm a dairy guy," said Malcolm Stogo, known by those in the business as 'The Godfather of Ice Cream.' "When someone first asked me to make a dairy-free ice cream, I laughed in their face." The challenge enticed him. He set about finding a recipe that would be dairy-free, but have no icky aftertaste most associated with vegan-friendy foods. After some years of trial and error, Mr. Stogo introduced DF Mavens - a new line of dairy-free ice cream with 20 distinct flavors. Some are soy-based, some use coconut milk and others use almond milk base. All of them are delicious, and surprisingly creamy. DF Mavens sells tremendously well at its various retail outlets. Mr. Stogo wants to take DF Mavens mainstream, where it can be enjoyed by people of all diets and lifestyles. His next goal is dairy-free baked goods. "I'm 72 years old. At this point, my goal is helping people," he said. "I want to make their lives better."
06/09/2014 FOOTBALLER AT VEGAN FESTIVAL
The self-proclaimed "very first known vegan professional footballer anywhere in the world" was in Lancashire to promote the health benefits of not eating meat. Ex-Everton footballer Neil Robinson visited Lancashire for the North West Vegan Festival on Saturday in the latest leg of his UK tour, sharing his insights on fitness and health on a plant-based diet. Robinson says "a 100% plant-based diet is actually beneficial to his longevity and well-being without undermining his fitness and performances." He retired from football in 1990 and was a veggie/vegan throughout his entire career. Robinson, who refused to wear leather boots, claims he "was always one of the fittest at all his clubs." He also does live demonstrations of his favourite smoothies.
06/07/2014 HOLLYWOOD KIDS TAKE TWO WEEK VEGAN PLEDGE
Celebrities taking vegan pledges has become a part of Hollywood culture, and now tinseltown's tiny ones are next in line to take on veganism. Author and yogi-to-the-stars Rainbeau Mars started the two week kiddie challenge, which began on Monday and already has 300 ready and willing tiny participants. The idea to turn the trendy vegan challenge into something children could participate in began when Mars noticed that many of the children at her daughter's school did not know how to help in the kitchen, a major component of establishing life-long healthy eating patterns. And now celebrity kiddos are joining the two week plant-based pledge. It's wonderful to see the connection being made by children that what we ingest has an effect on our health. Let's hope they are also accepting what they are taught about the positive effects a vegan lifestyle can have on the animals and the planet.
06/06/2014 BRAZIL BANS CATCHING CATFISH TO SAVE PINK RIVER DOLPHINS
Brazil is in the process of temporarily banning the catch of catfish, in order to save the Pink River dolphins. According to the Fishing and Aquaculture Ministry, the flesh of the dolphins are used for bait to catch the catfish. The Pink River dolphins, also known as the Amazon River dolphins, are some of the most intelligent, and beautiful dolphins in the world. Similar to other dolphins they are typically friendly, and have a brain capacity that is forty percent larger than that of humans. These dolphins swim in the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers in South America, and are the largest river dolphin species in the world. The Pink River dolphins are used for their skin, which is hooked on fishing gear to catch piracatingas, otherwise known as "water vultures," which are a carnivorous catfish that are attracted to dead animal carcasses at the bottom of the river.
06/05/2014 DOWNTOWN ABBEY STAR LAUNCHES STINGING ATTACK ON PRINCESS ANNE AT ANTI-BADGER CULL PROTEST
Downton Abbey star Peter Egan has launched a stinging attack on Princess Anne's controversial suggestion people should eat horse meat to improve standards of animal welfare. The Princess Royal sparked controversy last year when she claimed owners would take better care of their animals if they thought they could be sold for meat. But speaking at a badger cull protest rally outside the Houses of Parliament, Egan branded the royal's comments "shocking." The actor, a keen animal rights campaigner, said: "I found it really shocking, if you think that the royal family, one of its members was very committed to animals and loves horses. But when there was a problem with horses her suggestion is that we should be eating them. I found that quite shocking. Princess Anne was just an example of people who think they care but don't necessarily care. If you can go from having an association with horses all of your life, there can be a different solution to eating them."
06/04/2014 ACTIVISTS SAY "NO" TO AMAZON FOIE GRAS SALES
Over 20 demonstrators with the Mercy for Animals (MFA) organization demonstrated against Amazon's sale and distribution of foie gras in front of the Seattle Repertory Theatre where Amazon's annual Meeting of the Shareholders was being held. They were there to greet the shareholders before the meeting wielding posters depicting Jeff Bezos' mug along side a gruesome scene of a duck being force-fed at a foie gras farm. The group demanded that Amazon recognize the force-feeding of geese and ducks to produce foie gras is animal abuse and that Amazon should follow the lead of companies like Costco, Target, Whole Foods and Wolfgang Puck and stop the sale and distribution of the product.
06/03/2014 SPECIES DISAPPEARING FAR FASTER THAN BEFORE
Species of plants and animals are becoming extinct at least 1,000 times faster than they did before humans arrived on the scene, and the world is on the brink of a sixth great extinction, a new study says. The study looks at past and present rates of extinction and finds a lower rate in the past than scientists had thought. Species are now disappearing from Earth about 10 times faster than biologists had believed, said study lead author noted biologist Stuart Pimm of Duke University. "We are on the verge of the sixth extinction," Pimm said from research at the Dry Tortugas. "Whether we avoid it or not will depend on our actions." The work, published Thursday by the journal Science, was hailed as a landmark study by outside experts.
06/02/2014 MORE THAN 1,600 KANGAROOS DUE TO BE SHOT IN AUSTRALIA FOR EATING TOO MUCH GRASS
More than 1,600 kangaroos are due to be killed in Australia because they eat too much grass. The annual cull in the capital, Canberra, has been delayed amid continued protests by animal charities but is still expected to go ahead. Adult kangaroos are shot by marksmen but baby joeys still in the pouch are often killed by a blow to the head. Conditions in the Australian Capital Territory have been perfect for the marsupials this year and parts of the region now have the highest density of kangaroos in Australia - over 500 per square kilometre in some places. They are regularly seen hopping around parks and reserves and the lush grass of golf courses, as well as the manicured lawns of Government House, are a favourite spot for grazing.
The number of news found: 19.
