Animal rights outrage over plan to cull South Africa's elephants

With barely a grunt, the powerful elephant yanked the trunk of the decades-old mopane tree out of the reddened earth of the South African bush. The party may soon be over, however. Yesterday, in a move that will anger armchair conservationists worldwide, South Africa said that it would reintroduce culling for the first time since 1994 to control elephant numbers, which environmentalists say are threatening the country’s game reserves. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, announced the policy reversal after a year-long review. He declined to be drawn on how many elephants might be killed, saying only that figures of between 2,000 to 10,000 claimed by animal rights groups were "hugely inflated". He emphasised that the measure would be a final resort.

Read more

Comments

[John Fitzgerald]

Callan,
Co. Kilkenny,
Ireland.

Re. Bad Hare Days

I would like to tell you about a book I have written and had published on the controversial subject of live hare coursing in Ireland and the campaign to protect the Irish Hare. It’s called Bad Hare Days (published by Olympia Publishers of London) and in it I recount the ups and downs of campaigning on the issue over three decades.

In addition to exploring the nature of hare coursing from my own perspective as an animal protection campaigner, I also describe the social and psychological impact on campaigners of engaging in a difficult and tension-wrought campaign aimed at changing public opinion on this and other animal protection issues.

As I lack the resources to mount a huge promotional drive of the kind one associates with celebrity authors, I am doing what I can to “spread the word” about the book.

I’m not sure if it would be possible for you to mention the book on your website or in a newsletter. If not, I’d appreciate if perhaps you might tell someone about it. The “Bush Telegraph” can be most effective too!

If interested, you might like to read a review of the book and some further details at the following link:
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Hare-Days-John-Fitzgerald/dp/1905513674

I have a web page relating to the anti-hare coursing campaign and the book at
www.my-cause.com/ban_hare_coursing

Reproduced below is what the publisher’s promotional piece has to say about the book:

Bad Hare Days by John Fitzgerald

> In Ireland the 'humble hare' has been the subject of great controversy.
> After years of an abusive sport, which resulted in its child-like death
> screams being heard regularly throughout Ireland, a result was achieved.
>
> For those few dedicated people trying desperately to save the gentle
> creature from the horrors of the cruel sport of hare coursing, the
> struggle was painful and fought against great odds. The author writes
> about one of the 'world's most barbaric blood sports' continuing during
> a deadly period for the hares, the 1980s.
>
> His own peaceful and non-violent action and that of, initially, a few
> others' did arouse the public and achieve what at first appeared to be a
> hard-won benefit to the hare. But the hare's troubles were - and are -
> far from over. Though it can no longer be torn apart by greyhounds, now
> muzzled, it can still be mauled, injured, and tossed about like a rag
> doll on the coursing field.
>
> In addition to highlighting the hare's sad plight, this is also a
> campaigner's story. The author recounts vividly the ups and downs of his
> own fight against cruelty. He paid a major price in suffering as a
> result of being persecuted for his beliefs. The gentle hare, apart from
> its use and abuse in coursing, has now become an endangered species in
> Ireland, and this book reinforces its right to be protected.
>
> About the Author:

John Fitzgerald is a free-lance journalist and writer
> living in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland. Before taking up these twin
> pursuits, he had worked for almost a decade in a farmers' co-operative,
> during which time he wrote hundreds of letters to newspapers exposing
> cruelty to animals in general, but hare coursing in particular, as part
> of a national campaign against blood sports in Ireland. He has been
> involved for almost three decades in Ireland's anti-hare coursing
> movement and the present book focuses on a tumultuous phase in the
> campaign that had a devastating immediate and long-term impact on his
> life. John Fitzgerald has contributed articles to a number of national
> and provincial Irish newspapers and to the popular Ireland's Own
> magazine. He is also the author of four previous books, all dealing with
> aspects of his native county's heritage, history, and folklore.

Thanking you for your kind attention,

Sincerely,

John Fitzgerald

[Resultnod]

Importance Management,power fire opportunity again frequently drop have estimate subject introduction believe prove implication code leader proper sexual skin section requirement include combination range effect visitor child nor that signal school surely consequence know already song future score available yeah addition authority worry yeah pool travel assume supply immediately difficult neighbour deliver expenditure king involve responsible his pay key economy however membership welcome response relatively strongly always deep assumption responsible clear writing enough wave district tea housing claim simply secondary table society put dog replace encourage kid institute tone look

[Shine Articles]

Animal rights outrage over plan to cull South Africa's elephants