Teachers and Other Stupids

So, just casually scrolling through my news feed one morning (well, afternoon...I slept in...) when I come across this picture. It's a pair of teachers from my international school, and on their shoulders is this poor gibbon in a t-shirt.

After scrolling through several silly comments about "monkeying around", I was terribly tempted to give these people a rude reminder that GIBBONS ARE APES. That's right. They're in the same family as we are. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Contrary to popular belief, we are actually in the same Family. Which means, lo and behold, we share genetics. Which, guess what? Means we have shared traits.

However, this doesn't mean we should put one in a sweatshirt and start feeding it burgers. This means that they too have feelings, and that they too should be respected. Seeing the dead look in that poor gibbon's eyes ate at my heart. You could clearly read "I give up" all over his features.

And I was disgusted with my teachers. Teachers are really touted as these almighty perfect creatures who we should emulate in our lives. But when I saw this, it kind of woke up a sense of reality in me. Don't get me wrong - these teachers are great people. It's just that same recurring problem - they come to Asia, and they don't know any better. If you're on holiday and someone's walking around with a gibbon and says, "Hey, wanna picture with this cute monkey?" inevitably, as the uneducated tourist, you're going to say yes. I admit, gibbons are terribly cute.

It's just, they're not meant to be kept as pets. Gibbons are the perfect archetype for tree-swinging and morning-singing, and to see them at their best, in the high canopy, free, is a beautiful sight.

So I suffice to say, even the educated are uneducated. If you think someone knows a lot, that doesn't mean they'll know a lot about wildlife, or more importantly, the illegal trade in wildlife, and will just end up supporting it unknowingly. Because I caught even an educator red (well, in this case, white) handed.

Shout Out to Korea

So...Korea! Good job on legalizing whaling!

No really, there's nothing like some honest corpse-inducing research to help preserve endangered species! Especially with those Japanese friends of yours.

You know, historically, you guys don't seem to get along so great. But pull out some anti-whaling activists and BOOM, Japan and S. Korea are best friends.

Now, not to be culturally insensitive, but. You see, you have this great guise you try to maintain that denotes that you're doing scientific research... by harpooning whales ...and keeping them alive for hours...and then dissecting them.... for lunch.

See, where I come from, that's called KILLING FOR CONSUMPTION. Last time I checked (after the 16th century), you didn't have to kill something to study it. Especially because we have great technology now like boats, underwater cameras, wet suits, all this amazing stuff that - guess what - lets you study a whale without killing it! Brilliant, isn't it?

See, my main problem with this is not the fact that you want to do research (it's still one of the issues...) but DUDE YOU'RE NOT DOING IT FOR RESEARCH. Come on, at least be honest. Take the blows like men! Don't hide your short little whale-eating selves behind some big loser government claiming that you have absolutely no commercial interests in the killing of whales whatsoever.

Like I said, I get it. Cultural thing. Like the yellow-finned tuna that you've more or less fished to extinction. Or the 73 million sharks your ever friendly trading neighbors China love to fin for nothing but fun. But I mean, honestly. They're whales. For every whale you kill, you crush the dreams of exactly 34,721 poor children who are raised on stories filled with whales - and who will, at this rate, never get to see one in real life unless they go to Sea World and watch Shamoo. Or they happen to get lucky and watch Animal Planet at a time when there are actually wild animal shows on. But I digress.

I don't know what you're thinking, S.K., but this isn't going to get you many friends. I don't know if you're just generally miserable potatoes over there because of your majorly screwed up education system that leaves your country with the most unhappy teenagers in the world and you just want to inflict the pain of your childhood on a poor unsuspecting whale or just plain off your rocker.

All I have to say is, good day to you, you miserable abusive whale-eating liars. Welcome to the Sea Shepherd Hates You club.

No Sharing!

Recently read a long and detailed article discussing the strife caused at the thought of relocating some of Gujarat's Asiatic lions.

Basically, what I gathered was this:

The entire Gujarati government was sick the day of kindergarten when the teacher talked about sharing. Also, rationality. Or maybe they just never went to kindergarten.

They simply refuse to legitimately consider the fact that there are too many lions for their reserve. In a rare success story, the lions have been taken off the "Critically Endangered" list after a resurge in the population from 30 individuals to now around 400. It's an amazing comeback. But now, they're running out of space. Humans are now coming into contact with them more frequently, and this is one time I can really sympathize with these people getting killed.

Because for once, they're not doing something terribly stupid. They're not super educated, and they don't really know how to handle facing one of these lions. And they're not lashing out against these lions, either - they respect and revere them. It's admirable, how the rural people of Gujarat have dealt with the issue of these lions.

However, the government's efforts to keep an iron grip on their lions is much less than admirable. It's a tourist draw, I get that. But it'll still be a tourist draw. It will be one of two places, rather than one of one. And chances are, people will return to the park that has a reputation versus the one that is only newly established i.e. they will come to Gujarat to see the lions. Calm down.

I think the most important thing to remember here is that they really shouldn't be some original attraction. Not at all. These are animals that supposedly once roamed across Europe and Asia. These are reputedly of the same lineage as lions who were used in Roman colosseums for sport. Why is it suddenly a great horror when  we want to save what's left of this great sub-species?

I can see why they're not rushing to hand the lions over to other states, that don't necessarily have the best track records. I wouldn't trust an infamous burglar with my most prized jewels. But that's an issue that needs to handled regardless of where the lions go - there should be proof that they will be safe, and that the people living around them won't go doing stupid things. But in the end, the fact of the matter is that if something like that Canine Something Nasty disease, or even something much less lethal, come wandering into the park, then you've got a 99% chance of losing all your lions.

And honestly, that would kind of suck.

Rhinos and Things

http://www.rhinoconservation.org/2012/05/04/almost-all-of-the-worlds-javan-rhinos-documented-in-one-video/

This page has a really beautiful video. Also, a very sad one.

Coincidentally, it's the same video.

So basically, someone's managed to compile footage of about 3/4 of the world'd Javan rhino population. Pretty cool, right?

Yes. And no.

Yes, because these are animals that are almost never seen - even park rangers are lucky if they lay their eyes upon one of these elusive creatures.

No, because the video only has 30 rhinos in it. There were more people than that in my school's last graduating class (our entire school has less than 500 people). If you do the math, that leaves only about 10-15 rhinos off the tape. Sad? Most definitely. And the truth is, that's probably how it's going to stay.

The rhino world has had a rather tumultuous year. While they've enjoyed the successful birth of Andantu, a Sumatran Rhino, they've also had to deal with some of the worst poaching rates in the last few decades.

Barely half way through the year, and the number of dead rhinos in South Africa alone was NINETEEN TIMES the number from 2007.

Slacking off? I think yes. If you can have one year where only 13 rhinos are killed, then isn't there pressure to keep the numbers down? I would think so.

To digress, Nepal has actually felt this pressure internationally. And it's done a wonderfully beautiful job. Even if they can't quite fix that Royal family of theirs, they can boast that not a single one of their rhinos was killed last year. How AMAZING is that? I applaud them, admire them. Finally, someone is doing something right. Perhaps South Africa can take a hint or two from them.

But, back on track. Javan rhinos.

We really need to keep up with 'em. We're like, this close (imagine me holding two fingers together) to losing them like we've already lost so many other species. In fact, we've already lost one of the subspecies. Brilliant, right? The Vietnamese subspecies of the Javan rhino (I've always wondered about the logistics of that, giving that I know my geography....) was officially declared extinct some time late last year. Scientists were even so fortunate as to find the remains of the poor dear, who'd, naturally, been killed for her horn.

Which brings me to the last of my rather disorganized and drifting points. Why is the demand increasing? We've got a bazillion different conservation agencies working around the clock to educate people, to patrol, to curb the trade. However, the statistics don't show it - not one bit. We've got all sorts of big numbers showing growing interest (and more murder), and they're only getting bigger.

And while some speculator might think this is absolutely brilliant for the stock market, I might have to disagree. Get your heads out of the dark recesses of the holes you've buried them into and smell the burning corpses/confiscated rhino horn. IT'S NOT RIGHT. It's not medicine; it's not gonna increase your libido and it certainly isn't going to cure cancer.

Go donate your money to a cancer research institute. Don't spend it killing those who can't save themselves.

Trees and Other Endangered Species

So, we’re completely destroying any and all trees within a 2000000 mile vicinity of humanity. And we think it’s just great.

We’ve already almost completely depleted our sources of teak, mahogany, and yellow balau. So we’re just finding new, more unreached places that haven’t been exploited yet, as soon as it becomes too rare and expensive anywhere. Good idea, right?

I don’t know. I think it’s a bit much when you get to the point of exploiting and driving TREES to extinction. How absolutely pathetic.

All you lovely loggers out there: Get off your butt, and go PLANT a tree. Then, sit, watch, and nurture said tree until it is at an age where you can kill it. Or even better, wait till it’s big enough for you to make a table out of just one horizontal slice. Record observations…like HOW FREAKING LONG IT TOOK. Like, oh, I don’t know, maybe a couple decades.

Now tell me that logging is sustainable.

Honestly, if you can find space that is not already being utilized (including by nature!) and find some magic way to fast grow these trees that you love so much for your furniture, toothpicks, and other decorations, then by all means, go right ahead. Plantation grow these trees (I already know it’s barely possible) and make your money that way. Don’t exploit nature’s creation and drive others out of their homes in the name of money!

Oh yeah…you’re humans. Just kidding, that’s not possible. That’s all that matters, after all. How much bloody green PAPER (made of trees, you guys…) you can make in your life time is not, a repeat not a measure of your value as a person.

Look, brah. If you really want all this furniture/toothpicks…

Yeah, I don’t know. Just go plant a bloody tree.

Laws Are For Enforcing

And High Court judges are for paying off, as is apparent in the most recent case of your-government-is-so-awesome-it-ignores-its-own-rules.


Guess what? Our favorite, most notorious wildlife trafficker in the world is on the loose again. Anson Wong, congratulations.  Have fun destroying the lives of a couple thousand more wild animals.


Thank you, ever honorable judge Low Hop Bing. 


So, y'all know that in 2010, our smartiepants trafficker decided it'd be great to shove 95 protected snakes in plastic bags in his luggage and take a holiday to Indonesia. And his bag fell open and there were snakes everywhere and no one noticed the snakes were there until this happened (good airport security, huh?). 


Anyways, he was caught and convicted, for a minimum of five years I believe. And on February 22, court of appeal judge Loh decided this trafficking thing was bogus and that he should serve 17.5 months for what he did.


Coincidentally, Wong had just reached the 17.5 month mark in his prison visit. 


Wonder what the judges reason was for lowering the sentence? "It also erroneously considered irrelevant factors like that the 95 snakes were kept in a small bag and were being tortured."


Irrelevant? Really? What kind of callous, hard-hearted imbecile does it take to believe that this was not cruelty? What exactly do you consider torture, then, Mr. Loh? Waterboarding? What do you consider it then? Some good ol' jolly fun for these snakes? Maybe you'd like me to shove you in a plastic bag in my luggage next time I fly. 


I'd rather enjoy it, since you wouldn't be able to say anything about it. It's not torture, mistreatment, cruelty, or any of that sort of irrelevant stuff. Nope. I won't even erroneously consider it. I might even take the time to make the plastic bag airtight. I'm sure you'd enjoy that, as you seem to think the snakes did (especially the ones that DIED#$@#$!![I have no idea what that spelt, but it looks mean and nasty so I'll roll with it. I'm not actually swearing, k?]).


(insert swear word of choice that's pretty offensive but not too offensive since I don't like those kinds of words all that much to conclude here)

India Rushes Into Action

See what I did there? I know, I know, good joke. India...taking action...quickly... hahahaha!

But seriously. Really guys, it'd be great if you didn't take your time EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. something happens.

On another note, I have to say I'm ashamed to be human half the time. This is one of those times.

So, picture a poor leopard, starving (since people are killing all his food sources...oh, you know, because SAMBAR are now a threatened species...), is wandering around hoping to find something to eat. Stumbles into a village, probably in his habitat, and finds some dudes. I assume they try to do something to him, since the dudes attack said leopard. He returns the favor, injures the dudes, and runs away, thinking that wasn't the best place to be.

So, said dudes run back to their village to whine about their boo-boos, and the entire village decides to hunt down the leopard. Mhm, you heard me right. Fourty villagers decide to hunt the leopard down, armed with a bunch of clubs, instead of calling someone who can tranquilize and relocate aforementioned poor starving leopard.

And they find him (of course they find him, the poor leopard can't travel that fast ya know) and what do they decide to do? No, not scare it off or something more humane. No, they decide to BEAT HIM TO DEATH.

WHAT THE??? I'm not one to swear (no really), but it seems rather apt in this situation. Who's the vicious animal this time? Not the poor starving leopard, I can assure you. It just makes me so mad. Why do this? I thought we disowned the practice of stoning several centuries ago? We live in the age of technology. That means, I don't know, there are better ways to take care of those darn pesky endangered species. Ya know, other than beating them to death. Ughh. People.

We speak of education being an issue. I guarantee that half that angry mob had handphones (they're part of the 4% that lives with handphones but without running water). The information is there, people just don't want to acknowledge it, to use it. It's not to their advantage, it gives them too much responsibility. Wisdom is a heavy burden I guess.

Maybe the best part of it all is the fact that Indian Wildlife Department is "running an investigation" on the whole thing. Leopards are a fully protected species by law, so shouldn't the forty people in the angry mob be convicted?

Oh sorry, laws are selective where they come from. We can choose when they're applied.

PS This is one situation of 356 reported leopard killings in India in the last year. Meaning about 1500 leopards actually died last year.

Asia is the Answer. Surprise.

"As Asia grows wealthier, so, too, the trade in wildlife."

Never have I heard truer words written in an article.

I don't know about you, but I find something very disturbing about the statistics that have just been released about this last year. All I hear on the TV is Asian growth this, Asian business model that, the success of Asian markets. All I see with my eyes? Wildlife, pushed to the brink. Wildlife, with nowhere to go. Wildlife, dying for no other reason but someone's entertainment, someone's placebo. Should their lives really be thrown away so carelessly?

According to the article, in 2001, only 6 rhinos lost their lives to poachers. In 2011, 400 were brutally murdered for their horns. The cartilage horns that happen to grow on their noses appear to be a death sentence. But you know what's worse? These are only official numbers. Think about how many rhinos that have been killed that we just don't know about.

I have to say, my soft spot for rhinos has grown. You look at them from far away and just think, wow. How impressive. How regal. But today I spent about half an hour with the sweetest rhinos in the world. And honestly, it just hurts to think that so many of them are dying. I can't imagine it. They aren't malicious; they're scared. I don't understand how a person so blatantly invade an animal's personal space, then turn around and blame the animal when something goes wrong.

Human lives matter, sure. But what about everyone elses' lives? I talked to someone about whether wildlife trafficking and the illegal wildlife trade bothers them... and all she could say was that she'd be more concerned if people were being hurt. BUT PEOPLE ARE THE ONES DOING THE DAMAGE!!

I dare her to go up to those rhinos I saw today, with the sweet eyes and the trusting attitudes, and tell them she was going to kill them. The rhinos that nuzzled my hand, and the ones that rolled over in the mud and looked just like any cat or dog that wanted a belly rub.

Tell them that their lives mean nothing. Tell them that you don't care. Don't tell me.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Screw giving people the benefit of the doubt. Nine out of ten times the person is guilty of what they are accused!

(Note: this is an observation, not a statistic. Also, in political circumstances it more like five to five because half the time they're just trying to get rid of the opposition.)

We were walking through Bangkok airport and at the baggage claim the tv has a slide with a slow loris saying 'Stop Wildlife Trafficking' or something along those lines. And it made me think. (No seriously, I do that.)

I mean, how often do you think someone who traffics wildlife actually gets caught? Looking around, even in the middle of the night, I could see several people who looked suspicious. Of course, you can't just go all Homeland Security on them without warrant in a foreign country. So that day, through that airport, I bet hundreds of animals were tortured in bags everywhere.

And I mean, they threaten you, they really do. 'You will be caught.' 'Fines of up to -insert number here-!' 'Jail time.' Yeah right. They made a big deal out of it when Wong served 6 months. That's it! Of course I wonder why after all these years and all this awareness, we still can't control the Illegal Wildlife Trade. But then I remember we can't even get our economies or governments in order because we're all so in love with buying cheap low quality goods of China and these ghostly investors who have priority over everyone else.

After that, I just think about how screwed all the normal people and animals are.

The Yellowstone River is...Black?

Ya know, lately I've been hearing a lot of complaining about negative people. So this morning I decided to try to make this next post positive.

'Try' being the key word. I didn't get that far. But then again, this blog wouldn't be what it is without my constant ragging cynicism.

So I picked up this story. I'm sure a lot of you have heard about that lovely ExxonMobil spill into the Yellowstone river in Montana.

Feels like a cheap attempt at replicating the BP spill into the gulf last summer. I mean, no one can deny the investment appeal of a giant corporation trying valiantly to cover their butts and pretend to care about the environment, meanwhile laundering money pointlessly and leaving it to independent organizations and charities to do all the work. Right?

Right. The quarterly and annual profits actually went up after the spill. We're so environmentally friendly, we give them more money after we realize just how wholly incompetent they are. And we don't even make them pay half of what they owe for their stupid, stupid stunt. Not even half. I assure you they have the kind of dough to pay it off easily. About a year after the oil spill, though, we hear nothing of what is still happening under the water at this very moment.

BP aside, Exxon is probably cashing in as we speak. Why, the governor of Montana even accused them of lying about statistics. All the better! Think of the kind of media exposure this gives them? For free?

What to me is the most amazing thing about this spill, however, it how Mr. Governor is handling it. Apparently, this guy actually studied soils and ag., so he knows what he's talking about. A first! And he's even going as far as to say that the data he receives and what he really sees don't match up. He's not trying to cover it up - he went on CNN and said plain enough that either they're really incompetent (unlikely for such an enormous corporation), or what they're telling us is straight up BS.

But who in the media doesn't enjoy some good ol' BS? That's what it's all about, after all.

The Imporant Things In Life

I was listening to an interview with this famous Thai philosopher, and he mentioned that people tend to overlook what they really need most in favor of material things that get them nowhere.  He said poor people can be happy if they choose to be happy with what little they have – he said most people that toil away in cities are never satisfied with what their lives come to.

This guy basically gave up everything to go live a life of nothingess in fields and on farms. And he said he was happier because he could really breathe. Away from material things he could be free, supporting himself like others by catching fish in the river and eating rice he grew himself. He asked people to think about all the people who lived like this who were displaced into urban areas to make way for dams and other good-for-growth type projects.

But I think the most interesting thing he said was that people have to not only learn to breathe and find inner peace and happiness (not Kung Fu Panda style, mind you), but learn when to say no. Sometimes it's good to say no to economic growth and stay where you are, in head of better things. There's more to life than fancy cars and big houses, and capitalism only wants you if you're planning to consume consumer consume. So why do that when you can be just as happy with what you already have?

I mean, think about what you really need. Food and water, you can go a week without. A home is superfluous. You need air! If we continue to pollute the world and run it into the ground, though we may have all the SUVs and crap in the world, will we be able to even live?

Hallways in the Rainforest

Panthera is crazy.


Tiger Corridors from Panthera Cats on Vimeo.

If they honestly believe that their dream of a 'tiger corridor' will ever be fully realized... they'll be dreaming for a loooong time. I believe that's what we call a coma?

That aside, I think it's great that they're trying to do this. It really does take some guts to go out lobbying for wildlife in countries ranging from India to Burma to Indonesia. These are countries so focused on following in the footsteps of great countries like Britain and the USA economically, and are really uninterested in anything that doesn't involve getting handphones and cable tv to their entire populations. Note that Britain ran out of its own forests in about the 1700's, if not before then. The need for resources is what triggered the whole 'colonialism' thing. So if we all follow the wonderful examples given to us by our European powers, what are the Asians going to colonize for their resources? Antarctica? Mars, perhaps? You tell me.

I mean, Panthera really is making progress. Just r e a a a a l l y....reaaallly....r e aaaaa l y s l o o o o o o o o o o o o o w w w l l y y y. Of all places, they managed to secure a whole valley in Burma! Again with these military regimes caring about the environment.

I don't get it.

In a way, though, I do. I had this conversation once with somebody, and they pointed out that in a place where the people are controlled so much, things like poaching and logging are much easier to monitor. I'm not saying we should all revert to communism, but it might help if we plan on doing anything about nature. Oh, that's right, I forgot. We don't have any plans of doing anything about conserving nature.

And lastly...how are the tigers going to know it's a corridor? I get the feeling a "tigers this way please" sign isn't going to work on them. I believe this is a concept that will be interesting to see play out. Between the tigers going the wrong way and the people throwing fits, I don't know which will prove worse to watch.

Naughty Barbie

Came across this and it made me lol. At least someone's ashamed of Barbie's bad habits....

Just, how many of donations do you think went to making this video?

Realizations of the Deep Jungle

I was watching Deep Jungle on tv the other day. And for once, a tv show actually made a point.

They were simply pointing out what caused the end to great empires and cities, like Angkor Wat. I mean back in the day, that place was booming. At 1000 square kilometers, you can imagine. That's bigger than NYC.  But what could cause the fall of such an empire?

Unsustainable expansion.

But development is inevitable, you shout. Wrong. We don't have to develop, aka continuing to destroy nature. It's just required to uphold the Ponsey(?) schemes we call economies. It eats growth - once there is no more capacity for growth, it collapses. Same exact concept here. They continued to cut down forest, farm and use the wood. They didn't know that there wasn't an endless supply of forest. They honestly didn't know any better when they decimated their landscape, and then Nature said 'You went too far' and the jungle reclaimed everything until about 400 years ago. I guess that's one point for the jungle.

See, my problem with this here is that in this 'information age' we know exactly what we are doing to the environment. We've known for years - it's not something new. We're not living thousands of years ago in the jungle without any thought of long-term consequences.

Yet we have the gall to call things like the manufacturing of endless cheapo goods in China, or the development of coastlines in south east asia 'progress'. But in our minds, we have not progressed from thousands of years ago. At least not all of us.

And in the end, this show points out, that us people...we think we're all just so different from the creatures that live around us. And we are, I guess. Just not in the way we thought. We're the only species on this earth with the capacity to save other species.

The question is, will we?

...by the looks of things, I think not. We're just heading toward being one big giant Angkor Wat. We're all gonna starve to death. :|

Asiatic Cheetahs

Asiatic cheetahs. They’re pretty different from their African cousins – for a start, they’re a heck of a lot furrier! They’ve got a sturdier build and much thicker neck, and strangely, a smaller head. Their coats, to me at least, seem darker and/or drabbier, but not in a bad way. In the blending-into-this-endless-sand kind of way.

Well isn't it cute? More pics at http://www.payvand.com/news/10/feb/1266.html

These are the animals that the Persian Empire and such used to train to hunt gazelles, back then aka dinner. These are animals that used to support entire empires, not 200 or 300 years ago. In all our gratitude, we have almost exterminated all of them, leaving a total population of about 60-100.

In Iran, no less. What makes this worth mention, though, is that President Ammacrazynutjob has actually taken action, and the country is currently running a decent breeding, studying and rehabilitation project, which has been doing well in its infancy (10 years old this year). I mean, the president didn’t have anything to do with it directly, but the fact that this project is allowed to operate and is well funded shows good for the guy. You know, even if he is the oppressive radical type that seems to abound in the region.

It's just that...if Iran can do it, anyone can. Seriously.

Check out the Iranian Cheetah Society's website. Seems pretty legit, no?

Highways, Highways, Highwaaaays!

World leaders may not agree on matters of diplomacy and fair governance, but they can agree on one thing. The world needs more highways! Whether it's Crazy Castro or Slippery Singh, they've all come to the same consensus. If you have nothing, this is aimed at you, for your benefit. We're gonna build highways through some of the world's most iconic places!

For what, you might ask? Money, of course. AKA development, for those of you still working out what the politically correct are really saying. 

You may not have plumbing, or a clean place to sleep. But rest assured, at this very moment your government is working on getting you your very own handphone. You might even get a car if you're lucky. 

A place to live is not included in this one-time only deal.

Sign up now! All that it will cost is just some old nature reserves that no one cares about anyways.

...Alright. Cheesy advertisement aside, I'm not kidding. We all know our governments are just the bee's knees, but really. 

Tanzania is currently in the process of trying to build a major highways through the Serengeti. Smart economic move, right? Wrong. About 30% of the Tanzanian economy is generated from tourism directly related to the Serengeti. Just to 'connect' the other side of the country, to which there is a road just a wee bit south of there. Go to http://www.savetheserengeti.org/ for more info. Note that I am encouraging you to do it outta good will, not because I'm just advertising and such. 

Next. Cuba. Not much to know about this one internet wise, because of the whole communist though-shalt-not-pass thing. So I mean there's very little to know. Just the usual, mining and oil-drilling companies are trying to sink their teeth into Cuban resources, conveniently placed right near one of the last strongholds for Cuban Crocodiles. And naturally, we need a four-lane highway to make that crap easier for them poor corporations. 

What might seem more relevant to this blog is the Indian catastrophe. Among other ludicrous plans for the country, they've decided that a 4-lane highway bordering one of the best know NP's was in order. They plan to change this muddy lane that is commonly accessed by some of the 30 tigers that are part of Corbett National Park into a lively industrial highway. Because their consumerism-based economy will start going back downhill if they don't keep the cash flowing. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=200250880021416&set=p.200250880021416&type=1&ref=nf As the caption finishes, "We need no external enemies. India has effective plans to destroy itself."

What Have Numbers Got To Do With It?

Just some numbers I've come across lately that are rather interesting.
We'll start with this. I was curious the other day, after some conversations with the parentals. And I found this.
http://www.earthsendangered.com/list_html.asp
When you eventually find your way to the bottom of this enormous list, you will find the total number of endangered animals. As of today, there are 10,801 endangered animals on the planet.
10,801!
Now while you think about that figure.
Think about the money spent on that so-called 'World Tiger Summit' last November. Basically, they spent around USD 1.4 million of taxpayers' money so that they can sit happily in an air-conditioned room in a fancy hotel in Russia and use flowery, useless language about all the wonderful things they're doing for conservation.
USD 1,400,000
Granted, I don't buy it. They were underestimating to make us feel better about it, surely.
And, surprise surprise, world tiger populations remain at an all time low of 3,200 at the highest estimation. Woohoo. That's one tiger for approximately every 2,117,261 people.
1 tiger: 2,117,261 people
Sorry, I'm enjoying pointing this out a little too much. But yeah, just some food for thought.
Maybe if we divide each tiger into 2,117,261 little bits all our problems would be solved. No more tigers to 'harass' everyone, and we all get to try our hand at this amazing chinese medicine stuff. All 0.000000000004 grams of it!

P.S. Note the sarcasm while reading that last little bit.

The Importance of Data

:D Need I say more?

Tigers vs. People

How is it that, no matter the circumstances, the animals are always the ones who are at fault? Humans are always the victims. When a tiger kills a human, much more effort is taken to catch that tiger and kill it, compared to the lame attempts to capture poachers and animal abusers, with even more lenient sentences. Tigers are not the only carnivores that suffer from this kind of treatment.

For every shark that kills a human, a human kills around 250,000 sharks. Fair, huh? Even the most common of sharks are at risk because their fins are ‘good to eat’. Just like tiger…er…parts…are good for libido. And bear bile cures heart disease. You can’t believe everything people believed hundreds of years ago, whether it’s to preserve culture or not. Some of it is just plain bogus! And I mean, who in their right minds wants to put that sort of stuff in their mouths anyway?

Still, I think people look past basic facts to make themselves feel better. Don’t get me wrong, I feel sorry for the villagers who’ve lost family members…oh wait, sorry, the people the tigers killed were illegal deforesters. It seems fair enough that the tigers want these people out, you would want someone out of your house if they just knocked down the door one day and started removing your couch and dresser and raided the kitchen. And kept doing it!

People are angry at starving tigers, who, without any other source of food, attack livestock and people. Well it’s not the tigers’ fault humans have not only destroyed their habitat, but depleted their food source. Have some sense, it’s a food chain, can’t be that hard to understand. Here, I’ll illustrate a really bare-as-bones version.

Alright, so what’s really happening is that the humans come, kill the plants, and then kill the quiet cute herbivores. What’s left for the tigers to eat?

That’s right kids. Nothing.

AND YOU WONDER WHY THEY’RE KILLING PEOPLE?

Under the Spotlight

Most people probably don’t know this, but Malaysia actually lies at the center of the wildlife trade. Between a corrupt, un-enforced law against wildlife trade and an abundance of untouched rainforest, Malaysia is seemingly the perfect place to set up shop.

            With quickly disappearing rainforests, devoted to palm plantations and development, no one will really notice that all the animals that are left in the forests are going. Dozens of animals are killed every night just from crossing highways that cut through sections of forests called ‘corridors’. These corridors connect fragments of forest together and keep the gene pool diverse. These highways have been established with ‘underpasses’ for the animals to use – I don’t understand how they came up with that. Because the tapir that’s wandering through the forest is going to be all: ‘Oh look! It’s an underpass! I should use it so I don’t have to cross the highway and get squished’. Not to question an animal’s intelligence, but that is just not how they were made.

            On top of this, the government has only just started to show it has any sign of a spine, however small it may be. They convicted Anson Wong and have sent him to jail, which is to be applauded even though it was only for six months, with a fine of RM190,000. The Malaysian government is known for it’s corruption and nepotism, and it is feared that these wildlife traders are paying off any law enforcement officers that get their hands on them; on top of this, these traders must have some inside deals going on! Somebody within the government is in on this, and is maintaining Malaysia’s position as an easy place to do dirty business.

            Just imagine how booming the economy would be if the wildlife trade counted as a legal form of business? The illegal wildlife trade is currently the third most lucrative business there is – with prices being higher than they have ever been. A single tiger skin can fetch up to US$20,000, a tooth US$700.

            China, I continue to show you my gratitude for maintaining demand for such wonderful things. Really, thank you so much. (NOT.)