Today's Spotlight is on or rather his request for help in bringing this information to a greater audience. As my own preference is for wildlife and animal photography I thought I would do what I could to help in this endeavor. I have also created a stamp for those of you that would like to post them on your journals.

"Santago Rare Leopard Project - Threat of closure"

The Santago project, in the UK, is under imminent threat of closure unless money can be raised to fund a dramatic increase in the cost of public liability insurance required to keep the project running. The aim of the project is to breed the most endangered types of leopard, particularly the clouded and snow, to be released back into the wild in an attempt to avoid their extinction.

An unexpected hike in insurance, along with critical illness of owner Peter James, puts the popular Rare Cat Project, Santago, under threat of closure unless money is raised for his partner Jackie to continue.

A popular attraction with many photographers and the destination of many photography workshops, Santago was started in 1989 by Peter James and is now home to a variety of Clouded, Snow, African and Black Leopards as well as Puma; totalling 14 big cats.

Photographers who hold photography workshops at Santago, or have done in the past, include Keith Hughes, Chris Weston, Andy Rouse, David Hemmings, Brian Hall of EOS Experience and John Wright of Photographers on Safari.

Unfortunately, Santago have recently experienced problems with troublesome neighbours and to make matters worse Peter was diagnosed with a terminal illness just a year ago and is now in a critical state. To keep the project alive Peter's wife, Jackie, will take over the business, but she has to acquire a dangerous animal licence to allow Santago to continue. This licence requires public liability insurance, now only provided by specialist insurance companies, and initial estimates suggest this will cost over £7,000, an unexpected and dramatic increase from the previous £180 cost.

While providing 24 hour care for her husband, Jackie now has the added pressure of raising the insurance money by 31st December. If the sum is not raised, Santago is in danger of being closed down.

ePHOTOzine has stepped in to help raise awareness and prevent the project from closing. We are appealing for donations to fund the cause and help Jackie and Peter keep the rare cats.

If you can help in anyway to promote and support this valued Wildlife Project by donations or journal features I would be extremely grateful.

`lns

The theme today? The Santago Project and snow leopards.

What animal would best suit your personality?

A HERMIT CRAB

You’re a relatively carefree person who likes spending time alone more often than with company. The home and social life aren’t such an important factor to you as maintaining your independence away from the rabble of modern society. You are a hermit! I found this answer oddly funny considering my star sign in Cancer, and appropriate.

"The Animal Personality Test"

[link]

The Nexus

5 Comments

Mood: Anger
Listening to: Bohren and der Club of Gore - Nightwolf
Reading: Glen Duncan - I, Lucifer
Watching: Monk
Playing: Oblivion!
Eating: Pasta
Drinking: Diet Coke with Lime

Wolves, Predator or Prey?

Journal Entry: Fri Feb 9, 2007, 3:56 PM

Today's Spotlight is on or at least the journal. My friend Sun-Seeker asked me if I was aware of this, and I was not at the time. Though I have expected it ever since I read the change of status in the Grey Wolf's endangered species title. Please, go read the journal, and read the following rant as well further down on my page. It's not my words, just a reposting of a newspaper article. Those that know me, know where I stand on this issue. I also want to encourage you to get involved, this is your country, your earth, and your world. Ohh and please, add the stamp to your journal, spread the word.

"Wolf vs. rancher: new chapter in Old West dilemma"

Resurgence of the predator imperils livestock, giving teeth to an old debate.
By Todd Wilkinson | Special to The Christian Science Monitor
BOZEMAN, MONT. – More than half a decade after Canadian wolves were reintroduced into the American Wild West, their nightly howls still spook ranchers, fearing for their livestock.
Despite killing at least 40 farm animals in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming over the past year, these predators of fairytale legend have been protected from the farmer's rifle by the federal Endangered Species Act.

Now, however, there is a growing backlash against those restrictions in some corners of the rural West. Politicians and farmers have successfully pressured the US Fish and Wildlife Service to hunt down several packs of wolves in recent weeks.
But for conservationists – who view the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone Park and central Idaho as a major victory in the campaign to restore wild ecosystems – there's concern that they are witnessing a resurrection of a cultural enmity that doomed lobos to annihilation in the region half a century ago. They're worried that a handful of states are pushing hard to have the West's population of 550 wolves removed from protected status. Already, in Boise, Idaho, the state legislature has passed a controversial law that gives ranchers the right to shoot any wolf the moment it sets foot on private property – regardless of whether it actually menaces livestock.
More immediately, environmentalists are vexed by a recent spate of government-sponsored wolf killings.
• Earlier this month, federal wildlife sharpshooters destroyed an entire wolf pack in Idaho – condemned for preying on four farm animals, including a sheep that had been a young girl's 4-H project.
• In southern Montana near Yellowstone National Park last week, four members of the Sheep Mountain pack were put down by biologists after wolves ran through a horse pasture and were suspected of eating a cow.
• In the northwest corner of the state, members of the Ninemile pack were destroyed after llamas were killed.
Yet by far the biggest debate erupted two weekends ago, when all 10 wolves from the Whitehawk pack, which inhabited forests along the East Fork of the Salmon River near Stanley, were destroyed.
Killing wolves that develop a taste for livestock is part of an agreement the federal government struck with agrarians when wolves were reintroduced from Canada in the mid 1990s, says Ed Bangs, who oversees wolf management in the West for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"I find it remarkable that given how many wolves and cattle and sheep we have out that there isn't more predation," Mr. Bangs says. "Wolves are not decimating the livestock industry nor are they driving any ranchers out of business."
Although the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife has paid out more than $200,000 compensating ranchers for losses, cattlemen say they don't raise livestock to be eaten by wolves. And Steve Pilcher, executive director of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, said many ranchers still resent the government reintroducing wolves at all.
Mr. Bangs, one of the federal managers who ordered the killing of the Whitehawk pack, says he knew the complete elimination of the pack would cause an outcry, but not one that would result in hundreds of e-mails from angry environmentalists from as far away as Europe. However, he justifies his actions on the rationale that they prevented wolves from inflicting serious economic harm on ranchers – and before the predators could teach the behavior to other pack members. He predicts that as many as 50 wolves could be killed this year to prevent problems.
"I don't like to see dead wolves, but another way to look at this is that our ability to have some flexibility in killing wolves isn't an example of failure," he says. "Rather, I view it as evidence that wolf recovery has been a success."
But Ralph Maughan, a political scientist based in Pocatello, Idaho, who is vice president of the Wolf Recovery Foundation, says wolves are being overcontrolled.
"Idaho is a classic example," he says. "Even though the number of [predations] on livestock and pets has actually gone down for the last three years, wolves have been killed needlessly in the last few weeks and I wonder where this trend is leading us."
Federal agencies spent nearly $15,000 hunting down and destroying the radio-collared Whitehawk wolves, though the livestock the wolves killed were worth only hundreds of dollars and ranchers are compensated for the losses.
In recent years, the Wolf Recovery Foundation, has donated several wolf collars, equipped with radio transceivers to help government biologists track wolves. But, in protest of the recent Whitehawk killings, the group says it will no longer donate collars for wolves outside Yellowstone. "We gave those collars with the understanding they would be used to promote conservation," Maughan says. "Those collars were used as tools for eradication."

`lns

The theme today? Wolves and wolf awareness.

King of the Jungle

You scored higher than 99% on Intelligence

You also scored 58% survival probabillity You did it, you have surpassed all expectations for society and evolved beyond dregs of society we call people. In a world run by idiots and incompetent morons, you have made something of yourself. You have learned how to survive. You must learn to control the others weaker than you, so that you may better your species. Save us from the doom of devolving into slack jawed yolkals!!!

"The Darwin Test"

[link]

The Nexus

12 Comments

Mood: Anger
Listening to: Three Days Grace - The Animal I have Become
Reading: Laurell Hamilton - Strange Candy
Watching: Law and Order - CI
Playing: .....I refuse to answer this.
Eating: OUTBACK!
Drinking: Diet Coke with Lime

10:00 a.m. I'm back!!!! Muah! Muah! Muah!

Journal Entry: Thu Feb 1, 2007, 8:03 AM

I offered a prize recently for a contest created by two of my favorite stock artists, Gracie and Fantasy Stock called "Heartache & Romance" The contest is closed now, and the winners have been decided. I will feature that winner below, but I wanted to take the time to show my appreciation for both stock accounts for the generous gift of their art, time and dedication. Please, go visit them and check out some of DA's best stock.

"Distant"

I am constantly amazed at the way people resonate here. How you can feel the emotion in their endeavors. While I'd never run across this account before in my habitual browsing I'm glad to say I've found it now. bitchinblack created a wonderful entry for the contest, one that stirred my mind and emotions today. But that is not all, for I couldn't just write her feature here without seeing the rest of her art. I was blown away by the intricate manipulations, the metal work and her whole demeanor if you can call it that. The feel of her page I suppose. It struck a chord. So, I couldn' t pass up sharing some of my favorite pieces with you.

`lns

The theme today? Well of course, enjoy!

King of the Jungle

You scored higher than 99% on Intelligence

"The Darwin Test"

[link]