Category Archives: Animals

Animals, Leadership

Blue Feet and Coming Together?

Booty Birds

As many of you know, we live in interesting times.  In the United States, and in Europe, there are deep divisions in society and people are either strongly against or strongly for certain politicians.  Nationalism, anger, fear, and distrust are evident and so is great despair.  Yet there is also courage being shown by numerous women and men, and a sense of faith that we can heal the rifts which divide us.

Let us come together.  Let us not be torn apart by hated.  We need to protect and harbor one another.  We also need to protect our air, our land, our water and our wildlife.  Let us not be distracted by illusion and destruction.  Let us hold steadfast in this critical time.  Let us stand up for justice and peace.  Let us protect this beautiful Earth and all of its inhabitants.

May you be reminded of each person’s and each animal’s uniqueness as you look at the photo of these two booty birds with their blue feet.  Let your voice be heard today.  There is courage and consequence even in the smallest positive action.  I believe in a livable future for our children and the animals of this world.  I believe in positive change.  And I believe in you.

Animals, Forests, Orangutans

I Bet You Did Not Know You Can Help Save This

Please watch this video and see what you can save.  Simply by looking at a product label and choosing not to buy snack foods (cookies, chips, peanut butter, etc.) or beauty products made with palm oil, you can help save orangutans and many other precious forest creatures.  Thank you!

Animals, Children, Life, Nature

This New Year

As we enter this new year may we enter it with grace and courage.  And may we enter it in good health and with hearts full of compassion.  So much has changed and happened in these last months and years.  I see it in myself, I see it in others, I see it in the world, and I see it in nature.  This much is obvious, change spares no one or no thing.

My vision is that we come together to mend our differences and see things through another person’s eyes.  My vision is that we treat each other with kindness and without cruelty.  My vision is that we all live in peace and without violence.  Greater it is to uplift one another rather than tear one another apart.  Climate change and the destruction of nature and its precious habitat is one of our supreme challenges.  We can mitigate climate change, preserve nature and protect the amazing animal kingdom.  Yet we must come to terms with our own selfishness and greed.

Let us be better than we were.  Let us be lights for all of the children and animals of the world.  Let us go forth together, and in goodness.

Animals, Nature

Go See this New Film

SEASONS

After traveling the world alongside migrating birds (Winged Migration) and diving the oceans with whales and manta rays (Oceans), Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud return to more familiar ground: the lush green forests and megafauna that emerged across Europe following the last Ice Age.

Winter had gone on for 80,000 years when—in a relatively short period of time—the ice retreated, the landscape metamorphosed, the cycle of seasons was established, and the beasts occupied their new kingdom. It was only later that man arrived to share this habitat, first tentatively as migratory hunter/gatherers, then making inroads in the forest as settled agriculturalists, and later more dramatically via industry and warfare.

With its exceptional footage of animals in the wild, Seasons is the awe-inspiring and thought-provoking tale of the long and tumultuous shared history that inextricably binds humankind with the natural world.

Director: Jacques Perrin & Jacques Cluzaud

Animals, Children, Climate Change

To Vote or Not to Vote on Election Day

VoteElection day in the United States will soon be here, in fact it is on Tuesday.  As I have said so many times before, your actions and your voice matter.  You have a choice to cast your ballot or not.  If you say it does not matter, think of your children, nieces or nephews, or the animal kingdom.  Imagine what they would say to you 10 years down the line if the wrong presidential candidate goes into office.  What if they say you did not care to think about their future?

We have the opportunity to choose between two very different people.  One (Donald Trump) does not believe in climate change and the other (Hillary Clinton) does.  One incites violence and hatred, and the other speaks of bringing people together.

A Trump world is one where immigrants are unwelcome.  A Trump world is one where women are mere objects and are “nasty”.  A Trump world is one where climate change catastrophes worsen, where the middle class continues to shrink, and where nature and its animals are abused and unprotected.  Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, understands the urgency in reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change.  She believes in equal pay among the sexes.  She understands we cannot build walls between our neighbors or sow enmity.

There is no doubt, this election will change the course of history.

I urge you to vote for Hillary Clinton.  I urge you stand up for what is right.  I urge you to join me and make a positive difference.  Thank you.

Animals, Children, Leadership

Disappearing Words and Worlds

Snow Leopard
Snow Leopard

Thomas Friedman, a famous author, wrote an editorial a few weeks ago and made me aware of some disappearing names.  What do I mean by “disappearing names”?  The Oxford Junior Dictionary, which focuses on seven- year-old children, is excluding words which the editors feel are no longer necessary.  The words include otter, dandelion, nectar, chestnut, and cauliflower.  They are being replaced by words such as voice-mail, blog, broadband, and cut and paste.

At the same time as the Oxford Junior Dictionary is cutting words out of the dictionary we are losing species at an alarming rate.  In fact, the rate is about 1,000 times faster than if humans were not around.  I just read that African elephant numbers went down by 30% from 2007 to 2014.  I also know we are losing beautiful ocean coral and animals such as snow leopards, tigers, and the Vaquita porpoise.

When we lose animals, forests and our natural world, we lose a part of ourselves.  We need nature in all of its forms in order to survive. Cures to many illnesses are found in the amphibian class.  Oceans provide us with oxygen and a place to cool off and swim.  Plus, they shelter precious dolphins and seals.

We burn forests to plant palm trees for palm oil.  By doing so, we are rendering orangutans extinct and polluting our air.

A grandmother I know told me she has cried because she is afraid her grandchildren will never see and touch wild frogs.  It is time to cry.  I don’t want zoos to be the only place where we can see animals.  Losing wild animals is like losing words.  They signal the loss of our own species and diversity.

I don’t like words disappearing from the dictionary and I certainly don’t like seeing animals become extinct.  What can you do besides write to the dictionary editors?  You can make sure your children learn to appreciate our wild animals.  And you can make sure to protect both, before it is too late.

Animals, Children, Nature

A Child’s Delight

Children with a PuppyThis past week I had the honor to be the object of a child’s wonder and delight.  I remember, I was sitting outside having lunch with a colleague.  It was a beautiful, sunny day with a clear blue sky and the temperature was about 75 degrees.  A group of four to five-year old children had just gone swimming and they passed our table.  I saw them and asked, “how was your swim?”.  A little Asian girl with big brown eyes looked straight at me and said, “Great!”.  She then blurted, “Wow, you work there!”.  I was not quite sure how she had figured out where I was working but I was not surprised.

Children have an innate knowledge and trust their feelings.  They also have an amazing ability to touch us and keep us on track.  They remind us to be present and mindful.  And children inspire us to take good care of one another and the natural world.  We live in incredible times.  Let us protect our children, and the planet, and treat them well.

Animals, Tigers

Sweet Story and Blog Update

In-Sync Exotics
In-Sync Exotics

To My Loyal Readers,

Thank you for reading my weekly blogs and for sharing your stories with me.  I am honored.  Going forward, this blog will appear on the first Thursday of each month, instead of weekly.   That said, urgent news will be posted on an as needed basis.

As you spend your vacation days at the beach please click on the link below and read a heartwarming rescue story about Aasha, the beautiful Bengal tiger pictured above.

https://www.thedodo.com/tiger-cub-aasha-transformation-1954642521.html

Animals, Forests, Kindness, Leadership

Orangutans – Shocking!

Photograph by Mattias Klum, National Geographic Creative
Photograph by Mattias Klum, National Geographic Creative

I just read something I did not wish to see.  “The Guardian” headline said Bornean orangutans are now critically endangered because of shrinking forests.  Trust me, as an animal lover and environmentalist, I did not want to see that headline.  I would have preferred to read something like forests are growing and orangutan populations are increasing.

Because of habitat loss, illegal hunting and forest degradation we are going to see an 86% decline in the orangutan population between 1973 and 2025.  You are all intelligent readers, but let me put it starkly, that means if you have 100 orangutans only 14 would be left!  The other reality worth noting is that orangutans only reproduce every six to eight years.  So that means it is inherently much harder for orangutan populations to rebound.

So what can I say to make any of this sound more uplifting and less depressing?  Point one, Bornean orangutans are very adaptable and can survive in a degraded forest.  Point two, we can take actions to ensure that the current number of Bornean orangutans, which stands at 41,000, increases.  Please check the label and read ingredients for the foods you eat.  If palm oil is listed Don’t Buy It.  I repeat, don’t buy it.  Palm oil is one of the top reasons forests are being destroyed and depleted.  Point three, your actions make a difference.  Thank you.