In Bangladesh, Around 1 Million Unwanted Births Per Year

Posted on June 7, 2016 by GarryRogers

Joe Bish, Population Media Center: The following article was published in the Daily Star newspaper of Bangladesh, and reports out on a new analysis of the 2014 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) for that country. The analysis was performed by the Bangladesh Health Ministry. If you would like to directly access the 2014 DHS, simply click here (PDF).

The headline is that the Ministry has calculated nearly 1 million of the roughly 3 million births that take place every year in Bangladesh can be accurately described as unwanted. “Here unwanted birth means either the parents didn’t want the child in that time or never,” said Karar Zunaid Ahsan, senior monitoring and evaluation adviser at the Ministry.

This troubling statistic is followed by several more: the country’s fertility decline has been stalled since 2011 at 2.3; the countrywide unwanted fertility rate is 0.7 children per woman, with regional variations; and, only 25% of Bangladesh’s public facilities purportedly offering family planning services are ready to actually provide them. It is worth noting that the fertility rate of 2.3 coincides with the U.N.’s high variant population projection for the country. That would mean, if these trends continue, that Bangladesh will cross the 200 million population mark by 2033 — not in 2050, as indicated in the article. Setting aside for a moment social and economic ramifications, what will happen to the remaining 100 Sundarbans’ forest tigers in this human population growth scenario? Country sees 10 lakh unwanted births a year.

Source: In Bangladesh, Around 1 Million Unwanted Births Per Year

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Rescued whale sharks released back into the ocean – in pictures | Environment | The Guardian

Posted on June 6, 2016 by GarryRogers

Two whale sharks destined for an ocean theme park in China were rescued after an 18-month investigation by Wildlife Conservation Society, covered by investigative photojournalist Paul Hilton. The operation, supported by Indonesia’s marine police, revealed where the protected species were being illegally caught and kept in sea pens by a major supplier of large marine megafauna to the international wildlife tradePaul HiltonMonday 6 June 2016 06.29 EDT. More: Rescued whale sharks released back into the ocean – in pictures | Environment | The Guardian

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Experts Prepare to Welcome Black-footed Ferrets Back to Wyoming

Posted on June 6, 2016 by GarryRogers

Not terribly long ago, the black-footed ferret vanished from the wild. Today, experts are making plans to return this endangered species to the same site where humans once thought we had seen the very last of this iconic prairie creature.

On the early morning of November 2, 1985 I watched a pickup truck crest the ridge of a dusty Wyoming two-track ranch road and disappear over the horizon. Inside it was what I thought at the time might be the last black-footed ferret ever to live in the wild. I was dead tired, having been up for the past week trying to catch that ferret, spending nights of driving laps around prairie dog colonies – the habitat and food source of black-footed ferrets – peering out to the end of the beam of a strong spotlight to find her. It was the end of a tumultuous fall, one that had been filled with bitter accusations and petty politics, and I was really too worn down to be much more than philosophical about her departure. There was no fanfare, no media presence—nothing that would have marked the day as remarkable. Even though it might have been the day that a species went extinct in the wild. More: Experts Prepare to Welcome Black-footed Ferrets Back to Wyoming

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Help Stop the Wildlife-Killer Bill in Congress 060616 – Defenders of Wildlife

Posted on June 6, 2016 by GarryRogers

It’s supposedly an energy bill, but the “North American Energy Infrastructure Act of 2016” contains a lethal dose of anti-wildlife amendments that will lead to dead wolves, dead bears and the destruction of many important wildlife protections.

And while pro-oil, pro-coal, climate change denying provisions are despicable, the anti-wildlife measures are equally catastrophic.

Tell your senators to protect wildlife and oppose this deadly bill!

More: Help Stop the Wildlife-Killer Bill in Congress 060616 – Defenders of Wildlife

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AZGFD.gov Game and Fish officers euthanize bear that clawed camper

Posted on June 3, 2016 by GarryRogers

GR: As the human population grows and expands, encounters with wildlife increase. We kill any animals that injure a human–usually no questions asked. We also kill wildlife as we build homes and roads and destroy necessary wildlife habitat. Research indicates that already half of all animals are gone. Eventually, there will only be humans, their domestic animals, and a small number of other species.

Do we care enough about other creatures to protect their habitat and reduce our population? None of the zoning regulations I’ve seen preserve habitat just because wild animals need it. Certainly there is no effective effort to control our population. So, is it truly inevitable that humans doom most wild animals to extinction?

PHOENIX — “Arizona Game and Fish Department officers last night trapped and euthanized a black bear that had scratched and injured a camper earlier in the day in a dispersed camping area (not a developed campground) near Cherry Creek in Young, Ariz.

“The subadult (1-1/2 to 2-1/2 year-old) [young] male bear was caught in a culvert trap set by a highly trained team of wildlife officers. They confirmed this was the bear involved in the incident based on descriptions from other campers and because it had a unique hind paw pad that matched tracks found at the scene. The bear was euthanized [killed] per department policy because it attacked a human and was deemed a threat to public safety.

“Officers noted there were unsecured food sources and garbage in the area, and a field necropsy revealed garbage in the bear’s stomach contents. Arizona Game and Fish reminds everyone that leaving food and trash around may be luring an animal to its death.” Read more: AZGFD.gov Game and Fish officers euthanize bear that clawed camper.

The photo is a Pixabay Free Illustration.

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Is the lion the new rhino?

Posted on May 26, 2016 by GarryRogers

Is poaching coming to the domain of the lion? This is the third of these brutal incidents in less than a week.

Source: Is the lion the new rhino?

Meet Chloe | Fight for Rhinos

Posted on May 25, 2016 by GarryRogers

The Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre is a South African wildlife sanctuary devoted to rehabilitating endangered and vulnerable animals, most notably the cheetah and rhino. In recent weeks, they…