 Ambitious English squirrel used Kia as stash. Killer, buying the grizzly attack myth, tried to commit suicide by bear by ODing in Yellowstone. Yellowstone bison saved by public. More animal news Keep reading Squirrel stalls car with 6 lbs of peanuts; Why not to try “suicide by bear”  ,The Australian Government collects photos for a potential court case. When the Japanese whaling ship Shonan Maru 2 mowed down Sea Shepherd’s Ady Gil they ticked off an already anti-whaling Australia. The incident seems to have pushed Australia to threaten Japan with legal action this week, but Australia has been grinding its teeth and preparing for battle for years after watching Japan flout international whaling rules off its shores. The outcome will turn on Australia’s claim over its nearby waters and which international body has jurisdiction. This week prime minister Kevin Rudd gave Japan a November deadline to cut its whaling quota to nothing. New Zealand may join the fight, too, it announced Feb. 22. Australia is holding some undoubtedly awkward talks with Japanese diplomats this weekend. Some Australians fear a court case could solidify a lack of Australian control over nearby waters. Australians says they can head to the International Court of Justice at The Hague or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Germany to get an injunction against whaling. Japan, meanwhile, plays down the fight as “unfortunate” and threatens to appeal to the International Commission on Whaling. They banned whaling in 1986 but let Japan continue under the fig leaf of “research,” even in an area Australia considers a whale sanctuary. The first signs Australia had reached its limit were just after the Sea Shepherd’s skirmishes when Bob Brown, head of the Green Party, started pushing for international court action. He called Rudd’s Keep reading Australians Geared Up For Years to Fight Japanese Whaling; Sunken Vessel Just Ticked Them Off to Do It 
A big difference in the two leading plans for 33,000 wild horses now held by the federal government is whether mares and geldings may mix. The issue may come down to undescended horse testicles. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s plan wouldn’t let geldings mix with mares, who would also be on birth control. Madeleine Pickens’ plan would let the geldings run free and form normal social groups. There are plenty of other things that divide the plans–location, price, management–but whether the wild horses get to live in their natural herds is a big sticking point for horse advocates. Suzanne Roy, program director for In Defense of Animals, calls it the “the Sala-Zoo plan.” “Most people can drive half an hour or 10 minutes to see horses,” she says. “These horses are wild in name only.” What makes these horses special is the wild, natural lives they lead, she says. I asked Madeleine Pickens whether geldings at her proposed Mustang Monument would be able to mix. “They’d be able to roam freely and form bachelor bands,” she said. BLM spokesman Tom Gorey told me this week that they would have to keep the sexes segregated because you “can’t take a chance that the gelding might not have worked. There is always a possibility.” Say what? I was always amazed when dog people would ask if my obviously neutered male dog Jolly was neutered. The testicles are either intact or removed. Either way, it’s highly visible. But Gorey referred me to Keep reading Are Undescended Horse Testicles Getting in the Way of a Sanctuary? 
You’ve got one day to swoop in and buy lunch with a celebrity, or at least Dennis Kucinich, to support cows, pigs, chickens and other farm animals. his time it’s at and for Farm Sanctuary, which fights for animals stuck in agribusiness. Right now you can get a Kim Bassinger-signed shirt for $125 and there are still some good deals for the chance to meet Joan Jett or the B-52s before a concert. Animal lovers have already bid up the price on a prop crest from the Twilight series to $3,250. Lunch or dinner with vegan Congressman Dennis Kucinich is already getting pricey at $750. That’s the same current price as a tour of Ed Begley’s famous eco house–including lunch. Ellen Degeneres is running the auction with her wife Porti de Rossi. T Earlier this year she cleared out her closet and sold her personal junk on eBay, which earned $70,000 for the Humane Society of the United States, according to auction company Kompolt. Ellen isn’t selling her personal stuff–just two VIP tickets to Ellen. But it is a personal cause. Ellen is vegan and explains on her website why: “I personally chose to go vegan because I educated myself on factory farming and cruelty to animals, and I suddenly realized that what was on my plate were living things, with feelings. And I just couldn’t disconnect myself from it any longer.” If you can’t afford the glamorous items, check out Farm Sanctuary’s store Visit the Keep reading One Day Left to Get Celebrity Goods and Experiences for Farm Sanctuary  About two years ago some local Florida manatee lovers took some disturbing video of tourists and tour guides pestering manatees. Tracy Colson and Steve Kingry posted shots on YouTube of tour guides holding manatees so that tourists could touch them. Some tourists also kicked them and tried to sit on the sea cows. Finally, about two years later, something might actually be done to protect this endangered species whose population has dwindled to about 3,000 from Florida hooligans. Spurred on by the videos, this summer the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) officially asked the Fish and Wildlife Service to ban “Swim with Manatee” programs. Tourists aren’t supposed to get within 50 yards of dolphins or 100 yards of whales in NOAA’s (voluntary) guidelines for those tour operators. But at least there is some enforcement for whale boats. NOAA also won’t let tour operators show ads that have people interacting with, chasing, petting or riding whale or dolphins in the Dolphin Sense and Whale Smart programs. So how can tours advertise swimming with the far more endangered manatee? Before I had heard about any of this going on in Florida, I saw ads online for sleazy outfits around Cancun that advertised Swim With Manatees programs. Yuck, I thought. Don’t people know that manatees (or any animals) don’t want to be forced to swim with them. But I had no idea there were plenty of places in Florida getting away with it, too. Then I read an incredible story travel Keep reading PEER to Sue for More Manatee Sanctuaries after Disturbing Videos of Manatee Harassment |
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