Success! Bear Sanctuary Saved

• by Care2 Causes Editors
• January 24, 2013
• 11:30 am

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Great news, Care2 members – thanks to your unflagging support and the hard work of Animals Asia, moon bears at the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre no longer risk losing their permanent home.
An eviction date loomed over the sanctuary back in October, 2012, but now the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre has gotten a reprieve. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recently announced that the current sanctuary in Vietnam will remain open, serving 104 bears formerly saved from the illegal bear bile industry.
Additionally, the second stage of the Centre’s construction now has the go ahead to begin. The Centre, which Animals Asia has invested more than $2 million to complete, will give the sanctuary a better opportunity to rehabilitate bears and gather evidence of the damage caused by bile extraction. The reprieve also means that 77 Vietnamese staff members will keep their jobs at the sanctuary.
The continued operation of the rescue center is an essential part of a larger goal set by Animals Asia to increase public awareness about the bear bile industry and ultimately eliminate bear bile farming altogether. The industry currently uses more than 2,400 moon bears, sun bears and brown bears in Vietnam, while an additional 10,000 live on similar farms in China.
Founder and CEO of Animals Asia Jill Robinson MBE explained that outside activism has played a significant role in Animals Asia’s mission to get these bears to safety: “Our priority has been to rehabilitate these bears after their years of trauma from being locked up in small cages and milked for their bile. If we had been forced to relocate it would have had a terrible impact on their wellbeing. We want to sincerely thank the tens of thousands of supporter from around the world who wrote letters, sent e-mails and signed petitions calling for the eviction to be stopped.”
Vietnam Animals Asia Director Tuan Bendixsen also gave his thanks: “We are very grateful to the Prime Minister for his commitment to the bear rescue centre. We look forward to working with the government to end bear bile farming and help conserve bear species.”
Animals Asia promises to continue their efforts to shut down bear bile farming in Vietnam and China while funding and running sanctuaries. Thank you to everyone who helped make this achievement possible!

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/success-bear-sanctuary-saved.html#ixzz2RhmNd13f

The Secret Lives of Penguins

• by s.e. smith
• January 24, 2013
• 5:30 pm

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Most of the time, when you hear about a penguincam, it’s for our pleasure; conservation parks, zoos and aquatic facilities across the world kindly put their penguins on livestream for the viewing delight of visitors from around the world who just can’t get enough of these adorable birds. But one set of Japanese researchers decided to turn penguins from the subjects to the filmmakers, mounting cameras on the heads of penguins to see what life was like from their point of view. What they found was pretty amazing, and yes, of course they released some footage! (Be aware, penguins aren’t the steadiest of camerabirds.)
First, the specifics: the super-light — only one ounce (33 grams) — cameras had depth gauges and accelerometers to allow the research team to determine where the penguins were and measure their rate of movement. The cameras helped them identify what Adelie penguins eat, and, notably, they showed researchers that the penguins actually switch up their hunting style depending on their prey, which illustrates that they distinguish between different types of prey species and have specific hunting strategies.
They can snap up two krill in less than a second, which is pretty amazing, but this isn’t the only find from the footage, which also helped researchers understand how much the penguins need to eat to stay healthy, and where they do the majority of their hunting. Continuous headcam footage provided insight into how the birds live their daily lives, and the wealth of data will be valuable for understanding Adelie populations, contextualizing information from prior studies, and developing effective conservation programs focused on the birds.
The video also shows that the feisty birds are specifically adapted to hunt the animals that live just under sea ice, highlighting the importance of their habitat. They can’t survive just anywhere, and are in fact part of a delicate ecosystem that relies on sea ice for survival. While they’re fast, sleek, and amazing to watch underwater now, as pack ice starts to melt, their numbers could dwindle. That would be bad news for the birds, who need large numbers to stay sufficiently genetically diverse.
But enough talking. You want to see penguins already, right?

I think we can agree that seeing Adelie penguins rocking out in the wild is way better than watching them in a zoo on a livestream, so let’s make sure they always have a place to call home!

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/the-secret-lives-of-penguins.html#ixzz2Rhm0aA95