Tag Archives: world-wildlife

Ian Somerhalder Urges Congress to Fund Wildlife Conservation

Ian Somerhalder is so much more than a pretty face. While the actor is accustomed to making female viewers scream on The Vampire Diaries , he went to D.C. this week with the goal of making Congress listen. The founder of The IS Foundation – which aims to “positively impact the planet and its creatures” – Somerhalder testified before lawmakers on behalf of the Multinational Species Coalition. Ian Somerhalder Speaks to Congress “Wildlife and environmental conservation has always been not just a passion, but a priority of mine,” he said, hoping to raise funds for organizations that include the World Wildlife Fund, the Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society. A native of Louisiana, Somerhalder has worked tirelessly to clean up disasters in that area such as the April 2010 BP oil spill. But he cast an even wider net in this appearance, referencing African elephants, marine turtles, tigers, gorillas and chimpanzees and saying: “Due to instability or indifference in the areas that many of these species call home, for most of them we are the first, last, and only hope for survival. As the ones with the power to make a difference, the responsibility rests with us. It is imperative that we live up to it. “On behalf of the Ian Somerhalder Foundation and the Alliance for Global Conservation, I urge the Subcommittee to mark-up H.R. 50 and move to reauthorize this important piece of legislation.”

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Ian Somerhalder Urges Congress to Fund Wildlife Conservation

Elephants on drunken rampage kill three people

Binge-drinking elephants, drunk on local hooch, have killed three people and destroyed 60 homes in a four-day rampage in east India. Yesterday they were reported by local officials to be sleeping off hangovers as shocked communities tried to clear the wreckage left by the 70-strong herd in remote villages on the borders of the states of Orissa and West Bengal. With a local festival approaching, villagers had stockpiled the fermented-rice based drink which is stored in earthenware vessels and, according to Bijay Kumar Panda, a local administrator, the elephants found and drank it. They then staggered through the surrounding area and began “to fall asleep hither and thither, throwing life completely haywire”. According to the Pioneer newspaper, the “jumbos” are known “for their love of local country-made brews” which they “gulp down and make merry at the expense of the villagers”. Elephant experts say such incidents are becoming more common. With pristine forest increasingly rare, especially in the area where this latest incident occurred, Indian elephants no longer avoid contact with humans, said Dr Amirtharaj Williams, Asian rhino and elephant programme co-ordinator for the World Wildlife Fund. “These herds are effectively semi-urbanised. There are elephants who are getting a taste for food that humans prepare because it is tastier, stronger-smelling and often more nutritious and that includes rice- or molasses-based drinks. Some go looking for it.” Around 400 people are killed each year by elephants in India and nearly a million hectares of farmland damaged. Around 100 elephants are killed by villagers each year. India's booming population and economic growth have placed the historic grazing lands of elephants under enormous pressure. To avoid exhausting fodder in one area, the herds migrate. Attempts to create safe corridors for the animals' travel have foundered on bureaucratic sloth and lack of enforcement. In September seven elephants were killed by a speeding goods train. Latest estimates put India's elephant population at around 21,000 – the largest in Asia. About half of these are found in north-eastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. added by: device80

A Picture is Worth…South African Campaign For Sustainable Fisheries

Terrific ad campaign by the World Wildlife Fund in South Africa and SASSI , the South African Sustainable Seafood Foundation to encourage people to eat fish caught in an environmentally friendly manner that avoids bycatch. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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A Picture is Worth…South African Campaign For Sustainable Fisheries

Leo on the Prowl to Save Tigers

Leave it to a guy named Leo to save the tigers. Leonardo DiCaprio is doing his part to restore the good name (and population) of tigers, teaming up with the World Wildlife Fund to kick…

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Leo on the Prowl to Save Tigers

Mathematicians Solve 140-Year-Old Boltzmann Equation

Two University of Pennsylvania mathematicians have found solutions to a 140-year-old, 7-dimensional equation that were not known to exist for more than a century despite its widespread use in modeling the behavior of gases. added by: danteglam