2010
News - Help put an end to wild animals performing in circuses in England. Last year thousands took action and wrote to their MPs. The good news is that the government is now asking for YOUR views on the use of wild animals in circuses in England, including whether they should be banned – so we still need your help! All you need to do is complete the online questionnaire on the defra website – but please act now, we only have until 15 March 2010.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=E3r7hM6ILmQPuq6ZvblaEmzux7Mrk8Yk2PWm1yiljMw%3d&

News - Sad news from Cameroon: most of the 300 African Grey parrots seized last week did not make it. Only about 30 survived and were brought to the Limbe Wildlife Centre. The good news is that the traders are in jail. If you would like to contribute to the ongoing efforts against the illegal trade of Grey parrots and for their rehabilitation and release, please donate to the Save the Greys Fund http://bit.ly/9Cg7QD

News - February 23rd
Please sign this. Elephants are being killed in their thousands for Bloody Ivory. It is all illegal ivory being smuggled out of Africa. Two countries are fuelling the crisis if their proposals to sell 110 tonnes of ivory are approved by the 175 countries of CITES this March.
www.bloodyivory.org/petition

News - February 22nd
'Dying for a Biscuit' - 22nd February BBC One. A programme about how we all need to do something now - before we all contribute to the destruction of our remaining rainforests in our desire for Palm Oil.

News February 19th
Great news!!!! The Indian Government has banned Genetically Engineered eggplant, after the ex-Director of Monsanto India admitted the corporation provided 'fake scientific data' to regulators.

News - January 20th
BBC News - Wildlife photographer stripped of award
Accused of being a fraud, Jose Luis Rodriguez took an image in captivity and reported it to be wild. He denies the accusation. :-( It is sad that this has happened.

2009
News - November 7th
Book launch and Open Day at the UK Wolf Conservation Trust.

News - October 2009
The wolf book I have been involved with and produced the drawings for, is now available for pre-order from Amazon. Publication - October 2009.

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A New Era for Wolves and People
Wolf Recovery, Human Attitudes, and Policy
by Marco Musiani, Luigi Boitani, and Paul Paquet

News - October 2009 -The biggest woodfair in the south is coming to Dorset and Wiltshire and will involve all the woodfolk from Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire.The Cranborne Chase Woodfair, run by the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB, aims to attract more than 6,000 people to the event. Larmer Tree, Tollard Royal - 10th & 11th October 2009. The Woodfair is open each day from 10 am until 5 pm.

News - September 6th - 'Last Chance to See' by the late Douglas Adams (author of Hitchhikers Guide).... This Sunday, September 6th at 8:00 p.m, BBC2.....Stephen Fry follows in Douglas Adams' footsteps and joins Mark Carwardine in search of endangered animals.

News - September 11th - 13th - The End of the Road Festival @ Larmer Tree Gardens.

News - 21st to 23rd August 2009 - Rutland R.S.P.B. Bird Fair. The Orangutan Foundation will make there annual trip to the British Birdwatching Fair and will be one of hundreds of stalls selling a range of merchandise.

News - July 26th - Wimborne Art Society Exhibition and Wildlife Art Competition. Wimborne Minster Hall, Dorset.

News - 23rd - 25th July 9.15a.m - 5.00 p.m daily - SAA at the Business Design Centre Islington - Free Art Workshops & Demonstrations – Learn with top professional artists. SAA Artist of the Year 2009 – This year's awards ceremony.

Ne ws - July 4th - Join thousands of people and form a human band around Kingsnorth power station in Kent to show your opposition to dirty new coal. The event is being organised by Oxfam and includes a diverse range of communities and organisations such as Christian Aid, People and Planet, the Women's Institute, the World Development Movement, National Union of Students, Woodcraft Folk, RSPB and Greenpeace.

Greenpeace and fellow organisations are not asking anyone to do anything illegal, just to show your opposition to dirty coal. Please take a stand with thousands of like-minded people on the greatest issue of our time. Attached is a copy of the letter sent to Gordon Brown regarding coal-fired power plants, from leading climate scientist and director of Nasa's Goddard Institute James Hansen. Courtesy of Greenpeace

News - June 8th - Celebrate World Oceans Day - On June 8th the film 'The End of the Line', the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of over-fishing on our oceans, is being screened in cinemas around the U.K. Sign up and claim your bit of the ocean here..... 'The End of the Line'.

On 5 December 2008, the United Nations resolved that from 2009, June 8th, would be designated as World Oceans Day. The Ocean Project, working in partnership with the World Ocean Network, is working to build greater awareness of the crucial role of the ocean in our lives and the important ways people can help.

World Ocean Day provides an opportunity to get directly involved in protecting our future through, beach cleanups, educational programs, art contests, film festivals, sustainable seafood events, and other planned activities helping to raise consciousness of how our lives depend on the ocean.

News - June 2nd - Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) agrees piglets feel pain when their teeth are clipped without anaesthetic. The ASA was asked to investigate the Compassion in World Farming recent advertisement which appeared in the national press earlier this year and is currently running in this month's edition of Jamie Oliver's magazine. The reader was asked: “What noise does a piglet make when its teeth are cut off with pliers – without anaesthetic? Same as you.”

A farmer complained. The ASA looked at the scientific evidence and concluded that Compassion in World Farming was truthful in stating that piglets squeal in pain when they have their teeth clipped without anaesthetic. This is because piglets' teeth contain nerves and they feel pain as a result of tissue damage just like humans would. Routine clipping of the teeth of young pigs is banned under EU legislation. Despite the ban, the British Pig Executive (BPEX) reported last year that 57% of pig farmers in the UK clip the teeth of all of their pigs. Tooth clipping is painful. It is banned in leading pig producing countries such as Denmark and Germany. The ASA has recognised the reality of modern intensive pig farming. Our legislators need to do the same and act now to end such cruel and unnecessary mutilations.” Courtesy CIWF News update.

News - May 10th - The UKWCT Seminar - 10 a.m - 5.30 p.m. Open morning at the UKWCT to view wolves, take photo's and have lunch. Caterers will be on site or bring a picnic.
11.00 a.m Auction of wolf and animal items.
1.30 p.m Seminar Wolves vs Humans - Speakers Marco Musiani, Alistair J. Bath Ph. D and Dr. Claudio Sillero-Zubiri.

News - April 22nd - This Earth Day, become a Climate Activist!!!! Join GREENPEACE - Click on the Greenpeace link and watch the video. "The optimism of the action is better than the the pessimism of the thought." Quote from Greenpeace.

'Earth Day? Every day from now to December is Earth Day. When the UN Climate summit convenes in Copenhagen this December, delegates there will be deciding the fate of the Earth.  It's looking more and more likely they will bring us a lot of hot air, not a cooler planet. It is imperative that we get the message out that we want our leaders to take personal responsibility for stopping climate change'.

News - 6th / 7th June 2009 - Bristol Festival of Nature. This is an imaginative weekend of films, animal encounters, exhibitions, walks, talks, workshops and competitions for all ages and interests. It is the UK's biggest celebration of the natural world. The Orangutan Foundation will be one of the many Wildlife Conservation groups at this action-packed event.

2008

News - Monday 29th December - My Birthday!!!!! The Black Sheep - "Cask Conditioned Celtic Rock" - Square & Compass - Worth Matravers 01929 439229 - 8.30pm - Free - http://www.blacksheepband.co.uk/

News - November 30th - 10:00 - 4:00 - The Moors Valley Country Fair, Dorset. Artists taking part include: me, Wildlife Artist and Natural History Illustrator Susan Shimeld, Wildlife Painter Roy Aplin, and the Contemporary Artist Michael Kowalewski. Also taking part: Mary Buck, Potter Jonathan Garratt, Woodturner Mike Hollamby plus Quackers about Jewellery, New Forest Cider and a Taste of Dorset - to name but a few.

News - November 30th - 10:00 - 4:00 - Andrew Watts - Natural History Photographer at the Christmas Craft Fair, Southampton University. Many stalls including Andrew Watts, with his collection of Wildlife Greetings Cards and superb display of mounted Wildlife Photographs.

News - October 26th - Quiz night at the Hambro Arms, Milton Abbey, Dorset. Starts at 7.45pm. All proceeds from the Quiz & Raffle go to the Dorset Bat Group.

News - Oct. 5th - World Animal Week + World Animal Day at the U.K. Wolf Conservation Trust, Butlers Farm, Beenham, Nr. Reading. 2 - 6 p.m. Wolves, artists, photographers, animals, displays, stalls, walks, talks, face painting and refreshments.

News - September 22nd - Larmer Tree Gardens are open until October 31st.

News - September 12th/14th - The End of the Road Festival - Larmer Tree Gardens, Tollard Royal.

News - September 6th - Larmer Tree Gardens are closed for the End of the Road festival preparations.

News - 17th/18th & 19th August - The British Birdwatching Fair. Venue: Egleton Nature Reserve, Rutland

News - July 2nd - Larmer Tree Studio - Have been in touch with Animals Asia Foundation regarding selling their merchandise at Larmer Tree Studio. All items sold will support Animals Asia projects whilst also helping to spread the word on behalf of the Moon Bears and the other animals they are working to help in Asia.

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Bossham, who was among the 28 moon bears rescued on 31 March, has died. This brings to 13 the total number of bears from that group that have succumbed to ailments caused by their appalling treatment on the farms. He was a large, beautiful, gentle-mannered bear, suffering quietly in a cage into which he had been crammed like clothes into a suitcase.

All the bears are kept in impossibly small cages. Some are blind, some have shattered teeth and grotesquely ulcerated gums, some have shocking necrotic wounds their flesh literally rotting down to the bone. Most arrive with open wounds in their abdomens from the free-drip method of bile extraction, with some leaking bile, blood and pus.

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Please help the Moon Bears by supporting the Animals Asia Foundation.
Above information and images courtesy of Animals Asia Foundation

News - June 30th Sadly the attempts to sway Tesco shareholders re: the welfare of their factory farmed chickens failed. As Compassion in World Farming said - We lost the vote but we won't lose the fight!

News - 28th June - Tools For Self Reliance Open Day at Netley Marsh. There will be live music, activities for all the family, craft stalls, country craft displays, workshop tours, tea, coffee and cakes, fair trade stall and ice creams. The fun gets underway at 11 a.m and continues until 4p.m. For more details contact Jon on jon@tfsr.org.

News - Tesco Annual General Meeting 2008 on Friday 27 June. The resolution calls on Tesco to adopt RSPCA Freedom Food standards or equivalent as the  minimum for their standard chickens. This would include lower stocking densities and more environmental stimuli for the birds. Taken from a statement by Compassion in World Farming, "After several obstacles, the resolution will be heard, thanks to the support of thousands of people who helped raise the £86,888 needed to bring Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's resolution to the AGM".

News - June 23 - The start of the 60th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Santiago, Chile. Delegates from approximately 80 nations and several dozens NGOs gather to participate in deliberations crucial to the survival of the world's whale species.

News - May 22nd - The Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) has welcomed news that from today, bats will be used by the Government to measure how UK wildlife is faring. Joan Ruddock, Minister for Biodiversity said: "Bats are integral to the environment and are a good indicator of the wildlife we often don't see - such as the insects they feed on".

Bats occupy a wide range of habitats, such as wetlands, woodlands, farmland, as well as urban areas. Our 17 species of bats are all under threat from a loss of habitat and fewer insects to feed on, and have suffered severe declines during the past century. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) today announced that bats have been added to its set of ‘indicator species,' which help measure progress towards the Government's target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010. Other indicator species are birds and butterflies.

News - May - June - Dorset Art Weeks

News - March 31st - Animals Asia Foundation - quotes from Jill Robinson MB, Founder & CEO, Animals Asia Foundation, Hong Kong.

"Madam Xiong of the Sichuan Forestry Department has kept her promise of closing a bear farm before the end of March. Three trucks carrying 28 terrified, emaciated, but soon-to-be-free Moon Bears drove through the gates of our sanctuary in Chengdu, bringing our new family members “home”.

The anguish and despair on the faces of these poor souls will haunt me forever. The terror, the agony in the harrowing looks that greeted us as the team gently lifted their cages from the backs of the trucks. These majestic animals had been drained of all hope, their lives lived in the absence of all decency. The stench coming from the cages gave us some warning of what lay ahead. One poor bear was dead on arrival, his rake-thin body, still warm, grotesquely disfigured by smouldering wounds that had rotted down to the bone. We named him “Peace” and instinctively reached to hold his skeletal paw".

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"Our first priority has been to ensure the safety of our staff by securing the rusty, dilapidated cages of these tortured, understandably aggressive bears, before offering them simple pleasures which they have never experienced on the farms. Free access to clean water for the first time in their lives, fruit piled high and tasty medicated shakes which will start them on the healing process – preparing for emergency health checks and major surgeries so necessary to get them through. Even straw placed on the roof of their cruel crush cages will see them quickly pulling it through, making nests on unrelenting bars which have hurt and scarred their bone-thin bodies for years".

Across China, Asiatic black bears are imprisoned for up to 25 years in tiny metal cages no bigger than their own bodies. Known as Moon Bears because of the beautiful golden crescents on their chests, these bears are milked daily for their bile through rusting metal catheters implanted deep into their gall bladders, or via permanently open infected holes in their abdomens through which bile weeps. The bears live a life of torture before dying agonisingly slowly as a result of chronic infection. Below are photos from previous rescues by Animals Asia Foundation. Working with the government and the local community 500 farmed bears have been rescued. There are 7,000-plus farmed bears still being farmed for their bile.

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News - Easter - Please sign this petition @ http://www.bhwt.org.uk/petition/index.php to request Cadbury Schweppes introduce a free range creme egg. Every single crème egg laid contains egg from a battery hen. We'd like Cadbury to concentrate on setting the hen free.


News - March 8th - 15,000 women marched through New York City in 1908 demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. The first International Women's Day was launched on 8 March 1911 in Copenhagen by Clara Zetkin, Leader of the'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany. This followed many years of women's campaigning dating back to British MP, John Stuart Mill, the first person in Parliament calling for women's right to vote.

On 19 September 1893 New Zealand became the first self-governing nation in the world to give women the right to vote.







News - Animals Asia Foundation - need mittens for rescued Moon Bears. If you enjoy knitting, please contact www.animalsasia.com for details.

There are aprox. 7,000-plus farmed bears in Asia. Row after row of tiny wire cages hold living, breathing bears as prisoners. Resembling victims of medieval torture, these pitiful animals have infected, gaping wounds in their stomachs, from which protrude rusting, metal catheters. The bears are farmed for their bile and can spend up to 20 years confined in a cage the size of a coffin. The rescue of 500 farmed bears in China is building a momentum to end bear farming forever by working with the government and the local community. Please help support Animals Asia Foundation put an end to this barbaric and cruel industry. For more information please visit www.animalsasia.com

News - Andrew Watts - Natural History Photographer
Talks/Slide Shows to photographic clubs, W.I. meetings, wildlife groups and other societies. To view a sample of Andrew's photographic work please click here. For further information contact Andrew Tel: 023 92268853.

News - January 16th - Dian Fossey's birthday. Dian would have been 76 years old today. Dian was an incredible woman who ultimately, gave her life whilst working to protect our precious Mountain Gorillas.  Without her dedication and determination, I truly believe these magnificent animals would not be with us today.  She worked hard: often under the most difficult of conditions, in order to protect the Mountain Gorillas of the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda and Zaire. To date there are aprox. 380 Mountaing Gorillas in the Virungas and 320 Mountain Gorillas in the Bwindi area.

News - January - Greenpeace is in the news...... A Japanese whaling ship has been filmed hauling a mother whale and her baby onto a processing ship. Join the Great Whale Trail Expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.



The Great Whale Trail is a collaboration between Greenpeace and scientists working on humpback whales in the South Pacific. With financial support from Greenpeace, humpback whales have been tagged by the Cook Islands Whale Research and Opération Cétacés (New Caledonia). 

The whales are now being tracked via satellite as they migrate from breeding and calving areas in the tropical South Pacific to the feeding grounds of the Southern Ocean.

This project will produce important information on the movements and migratory destinations of humpback whales from small, unrecovered populations off Rarotonga (Cook Islands) and New Caledonia.

Greenpeace is communicating this critical non-lethal scientific research to the wider public as part of their campaign against Japan's unnecessary lethal "research" in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.



Snippets of previous News below - Still relevant!!!

2007

Is this the fate of Yellowstone's Wolves?

Gray wolves were once eradicated from Yellowstone National Park. Twelve years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced 66 wolves into the wildlands of central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. More than a thousand wolves now live in the wild, playing an important role in area ecosystems and local economies. But now this success story is at risk of becoming a horror story. Wolf-opponents in the Bush/Cheney Administration, Idaho and Wyoming are teaming up to kill the vast majority of these wolves. The Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition has begun a new petition drive to eliminate all wolves from Idaho. Even the wolves of Yellowstone Park could be shot on sight if they leave the safety of the park.
If you would like to help protect the wolves, please contact the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

News - July - 4 mountain gorillas killed. The gorillas included the leader of the group, a silverback male, and three females.  It is not known who did this or why.  A female and an infant from this group are still missing. 

Aproximately 700 Mountain Gorillas remain in the wild. Mountain gorillas live in central Africa in the Democratic Republic of Congo,  Uganda and Rwanda.  Earlier this year three other mountain gorillas were killed - bringing the total number of mountain gorillas killed this year to seven.  

Mountain gorillas are critically endangered and the needless death of seven individuals in seven months, is an indescribable tragedy. Please help gorillas by supporting Gorilla Conservation. http://www.gorillas.org or www.bornfree.org.uk

News - February 14th



Please send an email to President Bush - it is easy - just click on the above Whale - Love Poster, before May 2007

News - January - Intensive farming to blame for virulent virus.
Millions of turkeys, chickens and ducks spend their shortened lives crowded into dark, cramped sheds. They often suffer from crippling lameness, ulcerated feet and burns caused by the ammonia in their own excretions. Recent events in Suffolk, U.K have given many of us a rarely-seen glimpse inside the modern world of the factory farm.

This is the reality for millions of animals kept in intensive farming systems throughout the UK and the rest of the world in order to produce ever cheaper meat. It doesn't need to be this way. If you agree, please support the work of Compassion in World Farming.

2006

News - 2nd- 8th October - World Orphan Week (WOW)


News -
Old and used postage stamps are donated to help fund a global campaign to save the albatross from indiscriminate longline fishing. Please see the Save the Albatross Appeal page.

Most albatrosses and several other seabird species are heading for extinction. Please help by visiting the Save the Albatross website @ www.savethealbatross.net

News - The EU's caged hens need your help – NOW!

In 1999, CIWF (Compassion in World Farming) helped achieved momentous legislation in the EU's Laying Hens Directive: a ban on conventional battery cages for egg-laying hens in the EU from 2012. This ban is now under threat ........

Forward the link below, and not only will you be raising public awareness of the plight of Europe's broilers and egg laying hens; you will also be providing the opportunity for thousands of people to sign our petition, which will go to the EU Agriculture Council.
www.keeptheban.com

2005



Tools are desperately need in Africa by people who are too poor to buy them. Renovated tools and sewing equipment can give young men, women and their families a chance to build a life for themselves. For more information please see the Tools for Self Reliance

2004


Archbishop Desmond Tutu - if you wish to read Archbishop Desmond Tutu's radio broadcast- please click here BBC Radio Appeal
"Africans believe in something that is difficult to render in English. We call it ubuntu or botho . It means the essence of being human. You know when it is there and when it is absent. It speaks about humanness, gentleness, hospitality, putting yourself out on behalf of others, being vulnerable. It embraces compassion and roughness. It recognises that my humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together." - Desmond Tutu


2005/2006/2007 For previous events pages and information

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