I love to travel, mainly to Africa where I was born, I enjoy reading and playing bridge. I go for rambles in the countryside. I collect stamps and go to T'ai Chi classes. I love my two cats and my garden birds. I adore the African wildlife and try to help Conservation groups.
'Arrested' donkey in cruelty row.
By LR Jagadheesan - BBC News, Madras.
The donkey spent the night in police custody. Campaigners in India's Tamil Nadu state say the law is literally an ass after a judge ordered the arrest of a donkey. The animal was kept overnight in a police station after being seized at a rally in which it was used to highlight alleged failings of local officials. Police said the donkey was evidence from the "scene of a crime". They have been accused of animal cruelty. The donkey's owners, meanwhile, say they are grateful to get it back after its period of incarceration. They say that while it is good to have it home again, it is even more stubborn and bad-tempered than normal.
The story began when two groups working in the district of Kancheepuram asked the animal's owners if they could borrow it as part of their campaign to promote land rights for Irula tribes people. The Kancheepuram District People's Forum and the Sons of the Soil groups rented the donkey for use in a demonstration against what they say is the lethargy of the authorities in dealing with the issue.
The donkey is glad to be back at home after the trauma of its arrest.
A poster was hung from the donkey's neck during the protest earlier this week in which the district administration was caricatured as "slow to act, unmotivated and mulish". This gesture angered members of the administration, who filed a complaint with police against the two groups. They complained that they had been "derided" in the demonstration. Police then arrested the demonstrators and materials used by them including a tent, a loudspeaker and an amplifier, as well as the donkey.
By the time they took the case before Magistrate IG Uthamaraj, it was late in the day. So he remanded the detainees - and the donkey - overnight in custody.
"If the law supposes that... The law is an ass - an idiot - Mr Bumble in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist.
Bewildered police say they did not expect this development, because the usual practice is for animals at crime scenes to be returned to their owners. But because the animal's owners could not be traced, the magistrate said he had not option but to order its detention. Officers were heard to complain that their four-legged prisoner was not the easiest of detainees, and was upset about everything from food and drink to the standard of accommodation.
Fortunately for police, the donkey's owners were traced the next day. They said that they were unaware that the animal had been used for a demonstration when they agreed to hire it out. Now police have filed a case against the two campaigning groups for animal cruelty. They in turn have accused the police of cruelty. Owners of the donkey, meanwhile, joke that it is now consulting its lawyers with a view to suing both parties.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Frasier's dog Eddie dies aged 16.
Moose played Frasier Crane's father's dog for 10 years. Moose the dog, better known as Eddie in US sitcom Frasier, has died aged 16 in Los Angeles, his trainer has said. The Jack Russell terrier passed away of old age last week at trainer Mathilde Halberg's home, she told People magazine and the Access Hollywood show.
"He just had an incredible charisma and was a such a free spirit," Ms Halberg said of Moose, who appeared in 192 Frasier episodes from 1993. Moose shared the part of Eddie with his son, Enzo.
He made his first appearance on the long-running Cheers spin-off in the first episode on 16 September 1993, retiring 10 years later in 2003. The show finished in 2004.
His fictional owner, retired policeman Marty Crane (John Mahoney), announced the dog's full name was Eddie Spaghetti: "Because he has worms." Moose's ability to stare at lead actor Kelsey Grammer for extended periods became a running joke on the programme. Moose was renowned for being able to stare at Kelsey Grammer. When he had to lick his co-stars, however, liver pate was dabbed behind their ears to achieve the required response, Mahoney once revealed.
During the height of Frasier's popularity, Moose received more fan mail than any of his human counterparts.
"He's like a robot," Mahoney told Animal Press magazine in 1994. "A consummate professional who works hard learning his tricks." Moose also played the title role in 2000 film My Dog Skip.
According to Ms Halberg, Moose was 16-and-a-half when he died on Thursday. Other sources, however, quote his birthdate as 24 December 1990, which would make him 15 at the time of his demise.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Last chance for China's dolphin
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
The baiji is thought to be the world's most endangered mammal .Zoologists have developed a plan to save the Yangtze River dolphin, probably the world's most endangered mammal, from extinction. They hope to take some dolphins from the Yangtze and rear them in a nearby lake, protected from fishermen.
The species is threatened by overfishing which removes its food, industrialisation, boat collisions, and through being caught in fishing nets. The most recent surveys found only 17 living individuals. Also known as the baiji and Chinese lake dolphin, Lipotes vexillifer is listed as Critically Endangered on the internationally recognised Red List of Threatened Species, which describes it as "probably the most endangered cetacean in the world".
Late last year an international group of conservation zoologists held a workshop in San Diego aiming to develop a coherent rescue plan. That plan has now been published by a group led by Samuel Turvey from the Institute of Zoology, part of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). "It's been suggested for a long time that the only way to save them from dying out is to set up a closely monitored breeding population under semi-natural breeding conditions," he told the BBC News website.
"The plan is to set up a reserve in an oxbow lake 21km long which was part of the Yangtze until the 1970s." There is massive human population pressure, industralisation, overfishing, boat collisions, bycatch, and various dams - Samuel Turvey.
Tian-e-Zhou lake already houses another freshwater cetacean, the Yangtze finless porpoise, so conditions are likely to suit the baiji. There are fish in the lake to provide food for the dolphins; and although there may be some human fishing, it is likely to be on a much smaller scale than in the Yangtze itself. There, the pressure of China's burgeoning population have brought stocks of some of the baiji's prey species to one thousandth of their pre-industrial levels, Dr Turvey said.
"There is massive human population pressure, industralisation, overfishing. Boat collisions have had a huge impact, then there's bycatch, and various dams of which the Three Gorges is just the best known. "That was another nail in the coffin, but the species has been declining for decades; during the Great Leap Forward there was even a factory established to make bags out of dolphin skin."
ZSL and its collaborating organisations anticipate the endorsement of their plan, and are starting to look for funds. Costs could amount to between £200,000 and £300,000 ($365,000 and $545,000) for the first year's operations. Boats are needed to catch the dolphins, helicopters to transfer them to Tian-e-Zhou. Holding pens need to be constructed, veterinary staff provided, and an inventory made of fish stocks.
The rescue plan speaks of conducting five dolphin capture operations in the Yangtze within the next three years "...in order to establish a viable ex-situ breeding population of baiji at Tian-e-Zhou before the Yangtze population undergoes a further decline or becomes extinct". The long-term plan would be to re-introduce them to the Yangtze, but only when the prospects of them thriving there have risen.
Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Harriet the Tortoise dies at 175
Harriet the tortoise, one of the world's oldest known living creatures, has died in Australia aged about 175.
Senior vet Dr John Hangar told Australia's ABC that Harriet, a Giant Galapagos tortoise, had died of heart failure after a short illness. "She had a very fairly acute heart attack and thankfully passed away quietly overnight," Dr Hangar said.
Last year staff at Australia Zoo, where Harriet had lived for 17 years, held a party to celebrate her 175th birthday. Some people believe that Harriet was studied by British naturalist Charles Darwin.
Darwin took several young Giant Galapagos tortoises back to London after his epic voyage on board HMS Beagle. DNA testing has suggested the giant creature was born around 1830, a few years before Darwin visited the Galapagos archipelago in 1835. However, Harriet belonged to a sub-species of tortoise only found on an island that Darwin never visited.
At the time of her 175th birthday party, Harriet weighed 150kg (23 stone) and was roughly the size of a dinner table. She was the star attraction at the Australia Zoo on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Her keepers put her longevity down to a stress-free life.
BBC NEWS REPORT
Bear visit mirrors nursery tale.
Intrusions are common as bears come out of hibernation. Life mirrored art - or at least a nursery tale - when a West Vancouver woman came home to find a bear munching oatmeal in her kitchen. The bear was said to have entered the house through an open sliding door, the Vancouver Province newspaper reported.
"It sounds like a nursery rhyme," Sgt Paul Skelton told the paper. But unlike Goldilocks - caught stealing food in the Three Bears' house in the popular children's story - this bear did not flee when found. "It appeared to be a one to two-year-old bear - a juvenile - within the kitchen enjoying some oatmeal it had obtained by breaking a ceramic food container," Sgt Skelton said. "When she saw it, she did the right thing. She vacated the area and called us."
But the bear paid scant attention as police arrived on the scene, and continued tucking in with little sign of fear or remorse. "The bear didn't appear to be aggressive and wasn't destroying the house, so they just let it do what it was doing. "Eventually the bear decided to make its way out of the residence and down toward a forested gully," Sgt Skelton said.
Intrusions are common in the area as bears come out of hibernation, the paper reported, and are happening later than usual this year because of heavy winter snows, according to police.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Dog praised for life-saving call.
Dogs such as beagles can be trained to perform complex tasks.A US dog has won an award for saving her owner's life by dialling a phone number that alerted emergency services to her owner's diabetic seizure.
Belle the beagle triggered a call to an ambulance crew by biting on her owner, Kevin Weaver's, mobile phone.
The dog was trained to detect potential diabetic attacks by licking and sniffing Mr Weaver's nose to check his blood sugar levels and pawing him. Belle resorted to dialling for help when Mr Weaver fell unconscious.
The dog used her teeth to press the number nine key, which the phone was programmed to interpret as a "911" call to emergency services. Ambulance workers answered the phone and, hearing nothing but barking at the end of the line, rushed to the caller's house in the city of Ocoee in Florida state.
The dog is the first animal to receive the Vita Wireless Samaritan Award. "I am convinced that if Belle wasn't with me that morning, I wouldn't be alive today," Mr Weaver said. "Belle is more than just a life-saver. She's my best friend."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Hope for future of giant panda.
By Helen Briggs - BBC News science reporter.
Past estimates of numbers in the wild have been put at about 1,000.Fears that the giant panda is on the brink of extinction may be unjustified, research suggests.
Scientists believe populations have been underestimated in past surveys and there may be as many as 3,000 pandas left in the wild. Numbers in reserves could be restored if conservation efforts continue, they write in Current Biology. The panda once inhabited much of China but is now found only in the forested mountain areas of the country. Its survival has become a cause celebre of the conservation movement, attracting worldwide attention.
The giant panda has long suffered at the hands of poachers and loggers, and was hit by the large-scale die-off of bamboo in the 1980s. Numbers in the wild have been put at about 1,000 but the animal's elusive and wary nature has made it difficult to conduct accurate censuses. Previous surveys have used conventional techniques, but researchers in China and the UK tried out a new hi-tech method based on analysing DNA recovered from panda droppings.
GIANT PANDA
Half of the panda's mountainous bamboo habitat was lost between 1974 and 1988
Agriculture, logging and China's huge population rise have all played a role in the panda's downfall
There are now 40 panda reserves in China compared to 13 two decades ago
The results suggest that about 66 pandas live in the Wanglang Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province, more than twice as many as were estimated in a survey conducted in 1998. The study also provides evidence that pandas in the most important habitat of its kind have not suffered genetically over this period - there is no evidence of the sort of inbreeding or low genetic diversity that might threaten the species' long-term survival.
"It seems, therefore, that the giant panda population in Wanglang has the potential to be restored if habitat protection, local socio-economic measures and population monitoring issues are resolved," the researchers say in Current Biology. On the basis of the Wanglang findings, they estimate that there may be as many as 2,500 to 3,000 giant pandas left in the wild in the whole of China.
It is good news for the future, they add, as long as the Chinese government continues with bans on poaching and deforestation in giant panda areas.
Japan faces whale 'cruelty' claim
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, St Kitts.
Harpooned whales often take a long time to die, activists say. .Australia is to present what it says is proof that Japan's scientific whaling programme is cruel, at the meeting of the International Whaling Commission. Environmentalists who filmed Japanese boats whaling in the Antarctic say that some animals took 30 minutes to die.
Japan says these cases are exceptions, and may try to censure Greenpeace for interfering with what it says is scientific research. On Saturday, Japan lost a third key vote at the meeting in St Kitts. But the margin of just one vote was narrower than on the first day, a factor explained by the late arrival of some African nations which usually side with Japan. The temperature of the meeting rose a notch, with heated exchanges between Australian and Japanese delegates.
During the last Antarctic whaling season - which saw a doubling of Japan's annual "scientific" catch to just over 1,000 - Greenpeace filmed a number of kills at close range. The footage has now been analysed by scientists working with another conservation group, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw). "We found that for one whale the time to death was over half an hour, we found that the average time to death was 10 minutes," said Ifaw's Vassili Papastavrou, "and in two out of the 16 occasions, asphyxiation was the likely form of death." The whales were asphyxiated, he said, because harpoons entered their bodies near the tail and the animals were held upside down in the water.
"Back in the 1950s it was recognised that whaling was inhumane, and really nothing very much has changed since then," Mr Papastavrou told BBC News. "It's simply impossible for the harpooner to hit the whale close enough to the brain to ensure a reliable clean kill in all cases."
Japan maintains these examples are the exception rather than the rule. "The time to death for the majority of whales is less than 30 seconds," said Glenn Inwood, a spokesman for the Japanese delegation. "Japan takes the issue of time to death very seriously, and is working together with Norway to improve the humane side of whaling." Australia's Environment Minister Ian Campbell described the footage as "absolutely inhumane and quite disgusting". He told reporters: "It is a horrendous thing... it is absolutely abysmal, it is wrong and it has to stop."
Japan is considering taking its own path on whaling.Japan's deputy whaling commissioner Joji Morishita countered by pinpointing Australia's annual cull of millions of kangaroos. "I just wonder if the minister knows how long it takes for kangaroos to die in his country?" he said. Mr Campbell is due to present the Ifaw analysis during discussions on whale killing methods on Sunday.
On Saturday, Japan suffered its third defeat of the meeting, this time on a motion which would have permitted some of its coastal communities to hunt 150 minke whales each year for local consumption. Katsutoshi Mihara, chairman of the town council in Taiji, one of the communities involved, told the BBC that his region had a long tradition of whaling, and food from the sea was vital as the region lacked farming land. He condemned conservation groups and anti-whaling countries which want to prevent the minke hunt, and which put pressure on Japan to stop catching dolphins in Taiji.
Earlier in the day, Japan tabled a document calling for "normalisation" of the IWC, by which it means setting the organisation on a path towards a resumption of commercial whaling. Japan has invited nations which share its long-term goal to a separate meeting later this week. The "normalisation" proposal did not go to a vote, and neither did another proposal from the Netherlands and New Zealand delegations which would see a high-level meeting of the world's environment ministers convened to reform the IWC. "It's working very badly, it's very bad governance," said Dutch whaling commissioner Giuseppe Raaphorst."
"Normally with governments you take decisions and move forwards; we're not moving forwards, we're going backwards," he told BBC News, "and the only thing you can do is get the ministers together to solve it."
The Netherlands hopes to convene such a summit before next year's IWC meeting.
Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Army plea as toxic toads march on
By Phil Mercer - BBC News, Darwin.
The toxic toads have wrought havoc on indigenous animals. Officials in Western Australia have called for the army to be deployed to stop an invasion of cane toads. The toxic amphibians have spread in plague-like numbers across tropical Australia since being introduced to the country in the 1930s.
They were first brought to Australia from Hawaii to eradicate cane beetles, but they have had a devastating impact on native wildlife. There could be as many as 100 million cane toads in tropical Australia. The toads have reached the outskirts of Darwin in the Northern Territory.
Over the border, officials in Western Australia are watching very nervously. They want the army to intercept these poisonous pests as their advance continues. The state government has written to its federal counterpart in Canberra, asking for permission to use troops as a first line of defence.
Much of Western Australia's interior is inhospitable and inaccessible. In such a remote area, the resources of the military could be invaluable. Cane toads are big, warty creatures and have had a devastating effect on Australian wildlife. They carry a venom so powerful it can kill crocodiles, snakes and other predators in minutes. All attempts to fight the spread of the cane toad have so far failed. No-one is quite sure of the most effective way to stop them.
One member of Australia's federal parliament has previously suggested that people should beat them with a golf club or a cricket bat. Animal welfare groups have said that the humane way to get rid of these invaders is to put into a freezer until they die.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Daddy of animal kingdom revealed.
Geoffroy marmosets are under threat.
It was tough competition but the male marmoset has been named top of the "pops" in a Father's Day survey.
The tiny South American monkeys usually father twins or triplets and spend hours cleaning their babies and carrying them on their backs.
They are only returned to their mother for nursing and once they can eat solids, the father feeds them instead.
The poll among staff and volunteers at London Zoo and Whipsnade Park ranked marmosets ahead of seahorses and rheas.
The Zoological Society of London's curator of mammals, Malcolm Fitzpatrick, said: "Marmosets are amazing animals that tend to live in family groups.
"The males are heavily involved in the rearing of infants which makes them a worthy winner."
FATHER FIGURES
Marmoset
Seahorse
Rhea
Oriental short-clawed otter
Praying mantis
Von der Decken's Hornbill
Bangaii cardinal fish
He said the Geoffroy marmoset was threatened in the wild from habitat destruction, and London Zoo was aiming to conserve them.
Named second in the poll were male seahorses which become pregnant when a female deposits her eggs into his pouch.
In third were rheas, large ostrich-like birds from South America which take sole care of their young from eggs to chicks.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
10 THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW THIS TIME LAST WEEK .
10 THINGS
Snippets harvested from the week's news, chopped, sliced and diced for your weekend convenience.
1. Dogs with harelips can end up with two noses.
2. Gabardine is a rival to modern, synthetic mountaineering clothes - being lighter, hardwearing and water-resistant.
3. Nearly five times as many people commit suicide in Japan as die in traffic accidents. In the UK, adult deaths by suicide outstrip all road traffic deaths by about 60%.
4. Children inherit a taste for meat and fish but acquire a liking, or loathing, for vegetables.
5. Private individuals can buy up parts of the Moon thanks to a loophole in the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty that simply forbade any government from claiming a celestial resource such as the Moon.
6. Parents of toddlers spend an average of £406 a year on their child's clothing.
7. John Cleese flies from his home in Los Angeles to London to visit his dentist.
8. Clitoris derives its name from the ancient Greek word kleitoris, meaning "little hill".
9. A domestic cat can frighten a black bear to climb a tree.
10. Wrinkles can determine whether a smoker is more likely to develop lung disease - those with wrinkles have a five times higher risk of disease than those with smooth skin.
BBC MAGAZINE!
Anti-fur activists target Knowles.
Beyonce Knowles has her own fashion label, House of Dereon. Two animal rights campaigners have been ejected from a restaurant in New York after confronting singer Beyonce Knowles about her love of fur coats. The members of People for the Ethical Treatment Animals secretly won an eBay auction offering dinner with the star.
They spent several minutes asking a stunned Knowles why she wore fur and why it was used by her fashion label. Knowles remained silent as her mother and sister defended her, before the activists were asked to leave.
A video of the meeting at the upmarket Nobu restaurant was made by the campaigners and obtained by the American website TMZ.com. During the meal, they also tried to use a portable DVD player to show Knowles footage of animals being killed for their fur. The opportunity to eat with the singer was offered by the VH1 music channel, as part of an auction which would benefit its Save the Music Foundation.
A spokesman for Knowles said the 24-year-old had no comment to make about the meeting.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
New mountain species discovered.
The Christii fly was discovered living in the bark of a tree .A new species of insect has been discovered among more than 1,000 rare creatures catalogued for a survey of the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland.
The results of the study are included in a book launched by Scottish Natural Heritage on Monday. The tiny black Christii fly measures just 2mm long and lives under the bark of dead aspen trees. Another 20 plants, invertebrates and fungi species found were also new to Britain and some were new to science.
The book, The Nature of the Cairngorms, also includes 223 species mainly found in the area and some 1,150 species for which the mountains are nationally important.
Professor Des Thompson, SNH uplands adviser and a contributor to the book, said: "Nowhere else in Britain, and some would argue in Europe, will you find so much diversity of wildlife in such a confined area. "The book highlights the particular importance of the Cairngorms' woodland habitats, and the area's less well-known species, such as its insects, fungi and lichens." The book, being launched in the Cairngorms National Park, contains research carried out over the past 20 years and has contributions from 35 authors.
The survey covers everything from slow worms to dragonfly. The mountains' more iconic species include the capercaillie, ptarmigan, freshwater pearl mussel, pine marten and red squirrel. SNH said the incredible diversity was partly a result of the ancient Caledonian forest, which provides a refuge for many species not found elsewhere. The richest concentrations were in the woodland areas, particularly the Strathspey forests of Abernethy, Rothiemurchus and Craigellachie to Coylumbridge, as well as parts of Deeside. It is hoped the book will encourage more research in other important wildlife areas in Europe.
The Christii fly (Ectaetia christii) was discovered under the bark of a fallen aspen tree near Grantown in 1997 by Graham Rotheray of the National Museum of Scotland and Dave Horsfield of SNH. Mr Rotheray said: "This is a superb example of a boreal species which has laid undiscovered in Scotland for thousands of years.
"We have since found it again two or three times in the Cairngorms and it has recently been discovered in Norway.
"It is a specialist species which adapted and probably came north with the retreat of the ice." SNH said conserving and enhancing the national park's biodiversity and landscapes was a key priority in developing the National Park Plan for the Cairngorms, which is out for consultation at the moment.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Tabby cat terror for black bear.
Jack the cat is possessive about his territory, his owners say. A black bear got more than it bargained for after straying into a family garden in the US state of New Jersey. The unwelcome intruder was forced up a tree - twice - by the family pet, a tabby cat called Jack. The terrified bear was only able to make its escape when owner Donna Dickey called the hissing cat into the house.
Ms Dickey said Jack liked to keep a close watch on his territory and often chased away small animals, but one of this size was a first. "We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty', never knowing he'd go after a bear," Donna Dickey told local newspaper The Star-Ledger. "He doesn't want anybody in his yard," she added.
The bear was first spotted in the tree by neighbours who thought the 15lb (7kg) cat was just looking up at it. They then realised the bear was afraid of the cat. After some 15 minutes, the bear descended, but was chased up another tree, before finally making its escape when Jack was called indoors.
Bear sightings are not unusual in the area of West Milford in New Jersey, which experts say is one of the state's most bear-populated areas.
BBC NEWS REPORT
New shark discovered in US waters
The shark prefers to breed in South Carolina waters. A new type of hammerhead shark has been discovered in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, marine scientists say. The shark resembles a common species called the scalloped hammerhead but has not yet been classified or named. US researchers say the animal appears to be rare, breeding only in waters off the South Carolina coast.
They believe the shark is at risk of extinction and conservation efforts are needed to protect females when they are raising their pups. The shark was discovered by a biology professor at the University of South Carolina. Dr Joe Quattro became curious about a common coastal shark called the scalloped hammerhead shark while studying coastal fish. Genetic studies revealed that there was a second "cryptic" species - that is, "genetically distinct" from the scalloped hammerhead.
The shark appears to breed only in waters off South Carolina, although adults swim into waters off Florida and North Carolina. Small areas of coastline are significant to certain species and it is so important to consider shark conservation on an area by area basis . "If South Carolina's waters are the primary nursery grounds for the cryptic species and females gather here to reproduce, these areas should be conservation priorities," said Dr Quattro.
"Management plans are needed to ensure that these sharks are not adversely impacted so that we can learn more." Scientists plan to tag the shark so they can understand more about its range. Ali Hood, director of conservation at the Shark Trust in the UK, said with only 454 recorded species of shark in the wild, it was exciting to discover another one.
"It shows how small areas of coastline are significant to certain species and it is so important to consider shark conservation on an area by area basis," she said.
BBC NEW REPORT.
Airport halts live animals flight
by Maurice Blisson - BBC News, Leeds.
Animal welfare groups are monitoring the movements. The first flight of live animals out of the UK for food export in 10 years has been banned after activists protested. The flight, from Doncaster-Sheffield Airport, was due to leave Robin Hood Airport on Monday, 19 June.
Managing Director David Ryall said: "The airport has declined the opportunity to export livestock from its freight base." Kent International Airport bosses have also banned live animal flights because of "safety fears". The animal welfare pressure group Compassion in World Farming had pledged to stage demonstrations at Robin Hood airport if the flight had gone ahead. It would have been the first from the UK since the 10-year ban on exports - following the BSE outbreak - was recently lifted by the government.
The campaign group Kent Against Live Exports (Kale), which successfully prevented the flights from the Kent airport at Manston, said the Robin Hood decision followed similar "democratic and peaceful action" at Doncaster-Sheffield. Kale spokesman Mark Johnson said: "This news is fantastic for everyone who has made the effort to contact Robin Hood Airport and voice their concerns about live calves being flown to intensive systems in Europe.
"Animals have no voice and so it is up to some of us to try and be their voice. "This is a trade that the majority of the public doesn't want. "This is now two out of two - and we will continue our fight by peaceful means."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
10 THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW THIS TIME LAST WEEK
Snippets harvested from the week's news, chopped, sliced and diced for your weekend convenience.
1. Thirty-four percent of the UK have a surname that is ranked as "posher" than the Royal Family's given name, Windsor.
2. Until a few years ago religious and gospel music had largely been untapped. Now it makes up 7% of all CD sales in the US.
3. About 95% of the annual British crop of blackcurrants is bought by GlaxoSmithKline for Ribena.
4. The Downing St garden is actually a Royal Park.
5. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobiacs is the term for people who fear the number 666.
6. Thanatology is the study of death - a fact highlighted by last weekend's International Federation of Thanatologists Associations.
7. A nut can sit in the lung for 18 months without doing any harm - although it might get mistaken for cancer. The fate befell two men this week - Derek Kirchen (cashew nut) and Louis McDonald (peanut).
8. The more panels a football has - and therefore the more seams - the easier it is to control in the air.
9. The leggiest millipede ever is thought to have just 750 legs - somewhat less than the 1,000 than its name would suggest.
10. More than 17 billion plastic bags are handed out at supermarkets and shops every year.
BBC MAGAZINE.
(Sources, where no links are included: 3 - Daily Telegraph 6 June; 6 - the Guardian, 3 June; 10 - Metro, 5 June)
Rare giraffe-like animal spotted.
Some okapis are kept in captivity.Conservationists say they have found conclusive proof of the existence of a rare giraffe-like creature in the wild in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Experts from the conservation group WWF say they came across 17 okapi tracks in the Virunga National Park. Despite its zebra-like markings, the okapi is related to the giraffe.
The region in the eastern DRC has been battered by years of conflict. The last time the shy forest-dwelling creature was spotted in the park was in 1959. "We rely completely on tracks, on footprints, on dung, on signs of browsing to identify where the animals have been," WWF's Peter Stephenson said. "But we did find 17 different tracks of Okapi which suggest there are a few animals there - we can't put precise numbers on it. But for us, the exciting thing is that they're there at all," Mr Stephenson said.
This discovery has prompted much excitement, says the BBC's east Africa correspondent Karen Allen. Congolese conservationists have been working hard to try preserve the dense forests which are the okapis' home, but a bloody civil war has made this hard. Many wildlife species have seen a dramatic fall in numbers as a result of poaching.
The rediscovery of the Okapi ahead of elections in DRC next month signals fresh hope that - against the odds - sustainable development to preserve forests and local communities is paying off, says our correspondent.
The okapi usually grows to about 2.5m (8 ft 2 in) long and is about 2m (6ft 6in) high at the shoulder. The animal's last redoubt until now was thought to be in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the eastern DR Congo. A few okapis are kept at zoos around the world.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
lsland basks in shark sightings.
Basking sharks can weigh up to seven tonnes. Large numbers of the world's second largest fish have been spotted swimming in the sea off the Hebrides. Up to 60 basking sharks have been sighted by birdwatchers visiting an RSPB reserve on the Isle of Coll. The sharks feed on plankton, tiny marine life, and can grow to 12m. Whale sharks are the world's biggest fish at 13.5m long.
A number of basking sharks have been seen with young calves passing the coast of Coll. Sightings have been made by visitors on RSPB organised holidays on the island. They have also seen minke whale. RSPB Coll Warden Simon Wellock has been amazed by the recent movements of basking sharks, which are normally seen in July and August.
Mr Wellock said: "It has been a quite remarkable few days on Coll with 37 basking sharks seen from the RSPB nature reserve alone and at least 20 others around the island. The whale shark is the world's largest fish."We would expect to encounter these kinds of numbers much later in the season and our recent visitors on the Hebridean Wildlife Experience have gone home with some unforgettable memories of some stunning wildlife."
Scotland's west coast is one of the best places to see basking sharks and whales in the UK, with Mull and the smaller islands of Coll and Tiree all offering good opportunities to see them. Cally Fleming, from the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust based in Tobermory, said the large numbers of sharks was good news. She said: "The high number of sightings of basking sharks would indicate strong healthy plankton blooms.
"Our first basking shark sighting was reported to us on 21 April in the waters around north Coll, which is earlier than usual. "Fin whales also feed on plankton and this may be a reason why they were seen in this area recently."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Thai protests stop elephant move.
The elephants were forced to remain in cages during protests. Protesters have frustrated an attempt to transport eight elephants from Thailand to Australian zoos. Activists staged a blockade for almost 24 hours at a quarantine centre in Kanchanaburi in western Thailand, where the animals are being kept.
The protesters say the Asian elephants, which are an endangered species, will suffer if kept in captivity. But an Australian zoo official said the transfer was part of a joint deal with Thailand to help conserve wildlife.
"I am perplexed and surprised that this would happen, given that we had complete agreement between our governments and have been so fully committed to our long-term relationship to contribute to vital wildlife conservation projects in Thailand," said Guy Cooper, head of the Consortium of Australasian Zoos. I haven't slept a wink, but I'm not giving up - Soraida Salwala, activist.
But activists in both countries say the elephants will suffer and should not be moved. "Keeping elephants in zoos is simply cruel," said Hugh Wirth, president of Australia's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Soraida Salwala, founder of the Thai group Friends of the Asian Elephant, said the animals would suffer in the confines of the zoos and that the programme would not help to conserve the species.
There have been protests in both Thailand and Australia The transfer had already been held up for more than a year as animal rights groups fought against the move. However, an Australian tribunal approved the transfer in February as long as certain conditions were met, such as appropriate flooring. Mr Cooper said the zoos in Sydney and Melbourne had been renovated accordingly.
Taronga Zoo in Sydney had spent A$40m ($30m) on a new enclosure with hot and cold bathing areas, an elephant exercise area, waterfalls and ponds and specially designed "sleeping mounds". Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell has said the breeding program would help to ensure the survival of the species.
Mr Campbell said that with fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants remaining in the wild, "every attempt must be made to ensure the survival of the species, including through captive breeding programs," AP news agency reported.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Namibia flies animals to Nigeria
By Frauke Jensen - BBC News, Windhoek.
Younger animals were taken so they could adapt to a new climate. Wild animals from Namibia have been transported to Nigeria for a zoo to boost its tourist industry. The 250 animals - including deer, giraffes and zebra - are a present to Nigeria from Namibia, from the time of ex-President Sam Nujoma. Worth some $295,000, they left Namibia on a special charter cargo plane.
After arriving in Kano, in northern Nigeria, the animals will immediately be moved to the Sumu Wildlife Park in Bauchi state. "Most of the animals are younger animals to allow for proper adaptation to the Nigerian climate and vegetation," Neels de Jong, who organised the capture of the animals, told the BBC.
It took six hours to load the animals on to the aircraft. The impala, springbok, oryx, kudu, blue wildebeest, eland, zebra and giraffe were taken to Windhoek International Airport, where it took six hours to load them onto wooden crates. Each crate held three to six animals and were properly weighed before being taken on board the Boeing 747.
Mr de Jong and veterinarian Dr Hans Otto Reuter flew out with the animals late on Monday night. They will stay with the animals for a week until they have settled in and acclimatised. "The animals are a gift from the Namibian government, and are intended to support Nigeria's efforts in building their tourist industry," Mr de Jong said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Britain's 'vole patrol' launched
The water vole has disappeared from some of its habitats.Nature lovers are being called upon to monitor the population of Britain's most endangered mammal, the water vole. British Waterways, responsible for the UK's canals and rivers, is launching a survey of water voles and other wildlife on its property.
The animal, portrayed as Ratty in the Wind in the Willows stories, has seen its habitats disappear and has become prey for the non-native American mink. The organisation says knowing where voles live is key to their survival. The body's National Waterway Wildlife Survey aims to halt the further decline of the water vole by identifying the areas where they live and the places that should be protected.
Mark Robinson, ecologist for British Waterways, said he had a "good idea where some water voles are".
"But the millions of people who visit our waterways can help us to identify their precise locations. "If we don't know where populations of water voles or other birds and animals live, we can't help protect them."
The organisation will add information and sightings to its species database, which documents biodiversity on inland waterways. But experts warn that "vole-watchers" should be careful not to mistake the animals for brown rats.
They say the vole has small hidden ears, silky brown fur, a blunt nose and a short furry tail, whereas the brown rat has big ears, grey-brown fur, a pointed nose and a long, pink, hairless tail. Water voles also feed on vegetation whereas rats are opportunistic feeders and will eat a variety of foods.
Mr Robinson also urged nature watchers to collect information on other species on the waterways, including kingfishers, swans, mallards, frogs and dragonflies.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Orangutan 'rescued' in Phnom Penh.
Some 700 orangutans are smuggled every year in south-east Asia. Wildlife activists in Phnom Penh have rescued an ailing orangutan from a government official who was taking it across the Cambodian capital in a taxi. Conservationists backed by Cambodian military police stopped the car after being tipped off it contained an ape. But the official insisted the animal was a gift which he intended to keep in his private zoo.
Orangutan smuggling is widespread in Asia where people keep them as pets or used them for entertainment in zoos. The great ape was taken into custody by the US conservation group WildAid until officials can determine his ownership.
Endangered species. WildAid activist Nick Marx confirmed the ape was "extremely sick" and said the group conducted the raid because orangutans are an endangered species. But Nhim Vanda, alleged owner of the ape and director of Cambodia's National Disaster Committee, threatened to file a complaint against the group if his pet was not returned. "They arrested my orangutan. If they don't give the animal back to me at my request, I will strongly attack the group," he told AFP news agency.
Orangutan are a highly endangered species found only in the jungles of Indonesia and parts of Malaysia. According to The World Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation, published by the UN's environment and biodiversity agencies, they number just 50,000.
Deforestation has had a huge impact on orangutan numbers. The species has declined dramatically in the last 200 years as a result of deforestation and trafficking. Officials believe up to 700 orangutans are smuggled annually in south-east Asia, AFP reported.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
India's 'old-age home' for lions
By Asit Jolly BBC News, Chandigarh.
The crossbred lions are prone to disease. Zookeepers in India have set up the country's first "care home" for ageing and infirm lions. The $45,000 facility at Chhatbir Zoo in Punjab state provides more space for geriatric big cats - and sanctuary from attack from younger lions. A diet of minced meat and vitamins also helps compensate for worn-out teeth. Chhatbir was at the forefront of a failed cross-breeding programme which has weakened the blood pool of India's lions and left many hybrid cats sick.
Zoos and safari parks across India have faced a hard time in dealing with some 300 hybrid cats - crosses between Asiatic and African lions - which are highly prone to disease. What we hope to do here is to give these proud animals the life of dignity and comfort in their final years - Chhatbir Zoo director Kuldip Kumar.
Chhatbir Zoo, near Chandigarh, produced nearly 100 hybrid cats and, left with just 23 ageing lions, the zookeepers recently decided to make life more comfortable for the animals. Up until now, the zoo's "retired" lions had been condemned to spend all their time cooped up inside small, dark and dingy enclosures normally employed as feeding pens.
"It was becoming very complicated to manage these animals within such small confined spaces and in many cases they became more sick. And we could not let them out in the safari area since the younger lions would attack and injure them," Chhatbir Zoo director Kuldip Kumar said.
Located in the zoo's densely-forested safari area, the new "old-age home" has larger night shelters, spacious and open-to-the-sky enclosures and a discreetly fenced yard. The yard, which would normally serve as the display area, offers Chhatbir's elderly lions the never-before opportunity to laze in the cool shade of a hot summer afternoon or bask in the winter sun. The old lions will have space to relax in the open.Six of the zoo's oldest lions have already been moved to the new facility and are being cared for like elders.
"These animals have almost completely worn-out canines and cannot feed on the usual diet of buffalo meat chunks so they are given specially-procured minced meat mixed with a variety of diet supplements and vitamins," Mr Kumar said. The zoo's vet, who gives the animals regular medical check-ups, is now exploring the possibility of conducting eye surgery on some of the lions blinded by cataracts. "What we hope to do here is to give these proud animals a life of dignity and comfort in their final years," Mr Kumar says. The "home" does seem to be helping the old and sick lions.
Tucked away in the foliage a little way off the visitors' path at Chhatbir, the "home" intermittently resounds with the fearsome roar of these former kings of the jungle - a far cry from recent days when they lay wailing in dark, dingy cells. India's Central Zoo Authority (CZA) helped fund the shelter. It called an end to the failed breeding programme - which started in the late 1970s - just over a year ago. Experts say cross-breeding began when captive Asiatic lions in India's zoos were cross-bred with African lions travelling in circuses.
In the early days, zookeepers were not made aware of the importance of conserving pure genetic stock, and resorted to prolific breeding so that more animals could be used for exhibition purposes. Indian laws and tradition forbid the killing of animals, so the unhealthy lions will be allowed to die out rather than be destroyed.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Albatross numbers take steep dive.
Albatrosses on islands in the South Atlantic are being pushed to the brink of extinction, according to research.
Populations of three species breeding on South Georgia and outlying islands have declined by about a third in the past 30 years.
Conservation groups say the major threat to the birds' future is deep-sea fishing using a line with a number of baited hooks attached to it.
Up to 100,000 albatrosses a year drown on longline fishing hooks, they add.
Three species of albatross breed in and around South Georgia - the wandering, or great albatross; the black-browed albatross and the grey-headed albatross.
Numbers of the wandering albatross are down by nearly a third since 1984, with similar losses for the other two species, according to research by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and BirdLife International.
"The albatross declines in South Georgia are the most drastic declines of albatross populations in the world," said Dr Ben Sullivan of the RSPB.
"The islands are critically important - for the wandering albatross, it's one of the world's largest populations."
Dr Sullivan said the main cause of mortality was longline fishing on waters off South Africa and South America where the birds travel to feed.
"The birds are getting caught on the baited hooks of longlines and being pulled down and drowned," he said.
As part of the Save the Albatross campaign, the RSPB and BirdLife International are sending a taskforce to South Africa and South America to work with local fishermen.
Dr Sullivan said simple measures such as flying streamers behind the fishing boat or adding weights to the line so they sink more quickly would help to stop albatrosses being killed.
BBC NEWS REPORT
10 THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW THIS TIME LAST WEEK
Snippets harvested from the week's news, chopped, sliced and diced for your weekend convenience.
1. One in four smokers use roll-ups.
2. About 7% of England's land - equivalent to 1.6 million football pitches - is open for the public.
3. Files on nuclear waste from the recently-closed Windscale reactor at Sellafield are kept on acid-free paper, stored in copper bags, with no plastic binders or staples to contaminate the pages.
4. Professional football referees can run 13km in a match.
5. The croquet set John Prescott so memorably used at Dorneywood was presented to the grace-and-favour house by previous resident Kenneth Clarke.
6. There are about two million cohabiting couples in the UK .
7. The writer/director of Withnail and I had his £70,000 pay packet cut to £40,000 to pay for the elaborate scene in which Withnail and his mate drove back to London and were stopped by coppers for drink driving.
8. It takes 354,000 scrap tyres to make a mile of re-cycled rubber road.
9. Music can help reduce chronic pain by more than 20% and can alleviate depression by up to 25%.
10. The vaults beneath the Bank of England, which include three disused wells, have more floorspace than the City of London's tallest building, Tower 42 (formerly the NatWest Tower).
BBC NEWS MAGAZINE.
Testing on apes 'might be needed'
The government currently does not allow testing on orang-utans
The government should not rule out the possibility of allowing apes to be used in animal experiments, the head of the Medical Research Council has said.
In 1997, the government said it would never approve ape research because they were too similar to humans, but there is no law prohibiting the practice.
Professor Colin Blakemore said such research might be needed if it was the only way to cure a particular disease.
Animal welfare groups want a ban on all primate testing in Britain.
Currently 2,800 primates are used in medical research, but the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences are assessing whether genetically modified rats and mice could be used instead.
In reality, most people do not know - and do not want to know - the grim reality of what happens to non-human primates in laboratories
Jane Goodall animal researcher
A group of leading scientists have defended the use of primates in a booklet - Primates in Medical Research - which was published jointly by the MRC and the Wellcome Trust.
Prof Blakemore said: "They (primates) are the only appropriate model for research into such conditions as cognition, but these very characteristics make them appear most similar to people."
Final test
He said the final test for any drug or treatment had to be on humans, but added that 60% of potential drugs were rejected at the animal testing stage.
These experiments are investigating diseases and conditions such as Parkinson's, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, HIV and strokes.
However, the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) is publishing a report, due out on Monday, which calls for a ban on testing on any primates.
The publication has been backed by animal researcher Jane Goodall, who described the testing as "unethical".
They (primates) are the only appropriate model for research into such conditions as cognition
Professor Colin Blakemore
Blakemore interview
She said: "In reality, most people do not know - and do not want to know - the grim reality of what happens to non-human primates in laboratories.
"Not only are many experiments on them unethical, many are unnecessary, and their results may be misleading because they were developed at a time when scientists knew little about the effect of stress on the immune system."
Professor Sandy Thomas, director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics said: "It is important to be aware that research involving the great apes, such as gorillas, chimpanzees and orang-utans, is not prohibited directly by law.
"However, licenses for this type of research are not granted as a matter of current Home Office policy.
"The emergence of new diseases may mean that a reassessment of this policy is required in the future. On the other hand, the continued development of non-animal methods for research may mean that alternatives could be available," said Prof Thomas.
"It is important that the necessity, usefulness and relevance of specific types of animal research are ascertained in each individual case."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Hamster survives giant shredder .
Mike the hamster with new owner Liam Bull.
A hamster has survived almost unscathed after spending several minutes passing through an industrial shredder. The rodent is thought to have got into a skip of rubbish that was taken to Recyclo recycling plant in Flintshire.
It survived a giant shredder used to destroy waste such as washing machines and was found in a sorting area with no injuries other than a sore foot.
The hamster, named Mike, has been adopted by Liam Bull, 10, whose father Craig works at Recyclo. Liam said: "I can't believe he's still alive after what happened, but he's doing fine now."
The hamster's ordeal, which lasted around four minutes, began when it arrived at the plant in Sandycroft, probably aboard one of the many skips of waste which arrive there daily. As well as surviving the giant shredder, Mike passed through a rotating drum and vibrating grids before he was discovered by staff.
The plant's general manager, Tony Williams, said: "We deal with 300 to 400 tonnes of dry waste a day from all over Cheshire, Flintshire and Wrexham.
"Some of the material is shredded and then goes through a series of conveyor belts and grids that enable smaller pieces of waste to fall through. "It seems that the hamster was small enough to pass through the blades of the shredder, but big enough to pass along the trammel without falling through an aperture.
"We don't get very much animal activity here, but we're delighted Mike survived and is now being cared for."
BBC NEWS REPORT
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