Wildlife News Take the Earth Day 2008 Backyard Wildlife Challenge April 22, 2008 The HSUS Planting a meadow will welcome wild creatures to your yard. In honor of Earth Day 2008, The HSUS is kicking off a backyard wildlife awareness campaign to encourage people to make a few simple commitments for Earth's wildlife. "We launched our wildlife challenge last year a... full article New South African Elephant Regulations Overshadowed by Possibility of a Cull March 17, 2008 By Natalie Ragan Alain Pons/PhotoAlto Culling is not the solution. South African Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, announced on February 28 that the country’s new elephant management regulations will ban the capture of elephants for commercial exhibition f... full article HSI Visits NYC and San Francisco to Tell Truth About Shark Fin Soup March 12, 2008 HSI Patrick speaks with interested passers-by.At Chinese restaurants and formal banquets, pricey shark fin soup is considered a status symbol for special occasions. But most people don’t realize that each bowl comes at devastating ecological cost. Fishermen cut the fins from thousands of sh... full article Gorillas in Peril December 7, 2007 iStock/Christine Eichin A silverback gorilla browsing through leaves.In late July, the world was shocked by the execution-style murders of four rare mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Responding to the sound of gunshots, park rangers used machete... full article September: Bat Time of Year September 5, 2007 Bats and humans sometimes come into conflict at the end of summer. While bats are now widely recognized for the positive environmental benefits they provide with their insatiable appetite for insects, they still can cause fear in people, especially when they make their way into your home. No on... full article Ringling Brothers Will Stand Trial for Elephant Abuse August 23, 2007 Warren Garst In the wild, Asian elephants travel many miles a day. Today, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the federal district court in Washington D.C. issued a major ruling rejecting the last-ditch attempt of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to avoid trial over charges that the circus abuses its... full article Sympathy for Sharks Swells at the Star Island Shark Tournament June 30, 2007 The HSUS Shark hunts are one of the manythreats to thresher sharks. By Andrea Cimino Called the "crown jewel" of U.S. shark hunting tournaments because of the prizes awarded, the Star Island Shark Tournament attracted a reported 250 participating boats, more than 2,000 ... full article Humane Wildlife Services to Help People with Wildlife Conflicts June 26, 2007 The HSUS has a new innovative program, Wild Neighbors®: Humane Wildlife Services™, launching in Washington, D.C. on June 26, which will provide humane wildlife eviction and removal services for homeowners, accompanied by guaranteed re-entry prevention and customer education often not offered by other wildl... full article Saving Florida's Gopher Tortoises June 14, 2007 By Jennifer Hobgood The gopher tortoise is a burrowing turtle found only in the southeastern United States. Encountering the half-moon-shaped, sandy opening of a gopher tortoise burrow in the wild may inspire images of hobbits and gnomes—but the reality these gentle creatures have faced in recent years ... full article As Went Ralph: A Second Whale Shark Dies at the Georgia Aquarium June 13, 2007 Captivity tends to be fatal for whale sharks. By Naomi A. Rose Today a whale shark at the Georgia Aquarium died—the second in five months. As went Ralph, so went Norton. Now both of the original whale sharks at that facility are dead. The Humane Society of the United States does not have a c... full article Cousteau: It's a Shark's LIfe June 11, 2007 ©Tom Ordway/Ocean Futures Society Jean-Michel Cousteau in his ocean habitat. By John Balzar With his head of shimmering silver hair and his sleek blue dive suit, he looks every bit the WaterMan. In fact, he is. By lineage and by inclination, wet or dry, Jean-Michel Cousteau has become more cl... full article Summer Time Is Dangerous for North American Sharks June 4, 2007 The HSUS Shark hunts target imperiled shark species such as the blue. It happens every year: The weather warms and people flock to beaches, entering the waters that are home that renowned predator, the shark. And when sharks and humans interact, the encounters often turn deadly—for the sharks, ... full article Eight Shots, Three Hours, One Death: The Story of a Canned Hunt June 1, 2007 ©iStockphoto Fred looked like this feral pig, but he was trusting and friendly. He suffered a three-hour death at a canned hunt. Fred was raised as a family pet. He grew up in the Alabama hill country on the farm of Phil and Rhonda Blissitt. Phil had given Fred to his wife for a Christmas p... full article Ocean City Shark Tournament Fosters Cruelty to Sharks May 30, 2007 The HSUS The 2006 Ocean City Shark Tournament. Ocean City, Md. prides itself on being "East Coast's Finest Family Resort." But every summer, it hosts an event that undermines that wholesome image: the Ocean City Shark Tournament. The 27th annual tournament will be held June 14-16. A number of... full article "Crown Jewel" of Shark Tournaments Faces Local, HSUS Opposition May 30, 2007 The HSUS Shark hunts target imperiled shark species such as the blue.On June 15-16, the Long Island village of Montauk will host the 21st Star Island Annual Shark Tournament, sponsored by the Star Island Yacht Club and Marina (which also sponsors the annual Star Island Mako/Thresher Mania tournament).... full article Celebrate World Turtle Day 2007 by Helping Turtles May 22, 2007 May is an active time for turtles or tortoises. They've emerged from winter dormancy and set off to find mates and safe, comfortable nesting places. Seven years ago, these annual behaviors inspired the establishment of May 23 as World Turtle Day by American Tortoise Rescue. In honor of World Turtle Day 2007,&... full article Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring" and the Protection of Wildlife May 18, 2007 Carson found that indiscriminate pesticide use took a high toll on birds and other wildlife. By Bernard Unti Wild animals, birds and marine life were the great passions of Rachel Carson's life, from her childhood years in western Pennsylvania to her professional career as a biologist for the U.S. F... full article Martha's Vineyard Is No Place for a Monster Shark Fishing Tournament April 25, 2007 Martha’s Vineyard is the quintessential New England vacation destination, complete with quaint villages, charming harbors, and gorgeous beaches. People seeking respite have flocked to the island for generations to be greeted by friendly Vineyarders, whose economy depends on the seasonal influx of tourists. Bu... full article Take the Earth Day 2007 Backyard Wildlife Challenge April 19, 2007 John White Resist the urge to make pets of your wild neighbors. The Humane Society of the United States wants Earth Day 2007 (April 22) to kick off a backyard wildlife awareness campaign that will encourage people to make a few simple commitments for earth's wildlife. "People can take som... full article Alaska Revives Bounty on Wolves March 23, 2007 As interest in the aerial shooting of wolves wanes in Alaska, the Board of Game has revived a long abandoned bounty program to increase the incentive to kill the animals. In a statement on March 21, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game offered nearly 200 pilots and their gunners $150 for turning in the legs of f... full article Florida Community Scraps Cruel Shark Tournament March 16, 2007 Overbee Charlee Overbee protests the shark tournament. By Andrea Cimino On March 13, 2007, The Destin History and Fishing Museum unanimously voted to end its sponsorship of the Destin Deep Water Shark Tournament, marking the end to a six-month long campaign by the Humane Society of the Un... full article Pigeons: An Interview with Andrew Blechman February 1, 2007 How did one of humanity's most helpful and steadfast animal companions become unjustly reviled today as "rats of the sky"? Award-winning journalist Andrew Blechman traveled across America and Europe to chronicle the pigeon's transformation from beloved friend to feathered outlaw. His book "Pigeons" tells the re... full article Animals without Borders January 31, 2007 By Theresa Gonzalez When Heather Ogston and her family moved to their new home in Roseville, California, they did something fairly unconventional. "We decided to get rid of all our grass," says Ogston, "and create a wild garden around our house." Six years later, something they never expected has occurred: The vege... full article Cayman Sea Turtles Score a Success September 28, 2006 By Katherine Groff After receiving more than 1,000 letters from sea turtle advocates in recent months, the United Kingdom informed the The HSUS that the Cayman Islands and UK Governments do not intend to attempt to re-open international trade in endangered sea turtles at the CITES meeting in 2007. ... full article Wisconsin Gray Wolves Protected Again August 11, 2006 Fewer than 3,700 gray wolves are thought to remain in the contiguous United States, and Wisconsin was on the verge of killing as many as 43 of them. But a federal judge halted the killing of the endangered species Aug. 9 following a request from The Humane Society of the United States and other animal pro... full article