Tiger meat, bear paws openly available in Laos: NGO
BANGKOK: A resort complex in northwest Laos targeting Chinese visitors has become a “lawless playground” for the trade in illegal wildlife ranging from tiger meat to bear paws, an advocacy group said on Thursday.Customers “can openly buy endangered species products” in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone on the border between Laos, Myanmar and Thailand in Laos’ Bokeo province, according to a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
The London-based group, together with the non-governmental group Education for Nature Vietnam, also documented restaurants offering “saute tiger meat”, bear paws and pangolins on their menus.
Laos is becoming a growing hub for the trade in endangered species with foreign tourists, particularly from neighbouring China, driving the demand for illegal products, according to environmental groups.
Many Chinese people believe rare animal meats and body parts contain aphrodisiac or medicinal qualities.
The EIA report called on Laos to immediately set up a task force to tackle the trade and seize all illegal products in the Special Economic Zone.
“China also needs to understand and accept that its legal domestic trade in the skins of captive-bred tigers is doing nothing but driving consumer demand,” said Debbie Banks of the EIA in a statement.
According to the report the Laos zone “appears more like an extension of China” – running on Beijing time, employing mostly Chinese workers and displaying signs in Chinese characters. Similar temples of excess have sprung up in Myanmar where some border towns, often outside of central government control, have become open markets renowned for selling rare animals, sex and gambling trips to Chinese visitors. China’s seemingly insatiable appetite for rare animal meat and parts has also led to a thriving smuggling scene across much of Southeast Asia.
Authorities in Vietnam and Thailand routinely uncover large hauls of endangered animals heading north in what conservationists say is likely just a fraction of the species smuggled into China. (AFP)
US working on projects to empower women in India
Washington: The US is working on a number of projects, including basic education, in India to empower women, a senior Obama administration official has said. “We have a number of programs aimed at empowering women starting with basic education, creating an environment where women have the opportunity,” Alfonso E Lenhardt, Acting Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, said during a Congressional hearing yesterday. “Girls have the opportunity to learn, to grow, and eventually make a major contribution to their country and their families as many other things,” he said in response to a question from Congressman Dr Ami Bera. He said the programmes are aimed at securing women, girls as much as possible, keeping them protected from gender-based violence, as well as thinking about girls who are being forced into early marriage. “All of these efforts are aimed at empowering women, keeping them safe, you saw some of that when you’re on the ground. And so, we feel confident that this is working for us but more work has to be done. And so, it is a constant routine for us to reach out to empower girls,” Lenhardt said. On support to India, he said: “If I can just take it from the top at the macro level, the strategic partnership is very important to us, and as we think about our shift to Asia and the support there, (India) is a very important partner.” (PTI)
Britain to create world’s biggest protected marine reserve
London: Britain on Thursday said it intended to create what will be the world’s biggest fully-protected marine reserve, covering an area nearly the size of France and Germany put together in the Pacific Ocean.
The reserve will be based around the remote Pitcairn Islands archipelago, a British overseas territory that is inhabited by descendants of the sailors who staged a famous mutiny on the Bounty ship in 1789. “The government intends to proceed with designation of a MPA (Marine Protected Area) around Pitcairn,” read the budget unveiled by finance minister George Osborne in parliament. But the government said a final deal would depend on agreements for satellite monitoring of the vast area, preventing ports from landing illegal fish catches and naval patrols. The Pew Charitable Trusts, the US charity that has led the campaign for the reserve, said the area would cover 834,334 square kilometres (322,138 square miles). It is home to at least 1,249 species of marine mammals, seabirds and fish and includes the world’s deepest known living plant — a species of encrusting coralline algae found at a depth of 382 metres. “The new reserve protects some of the most near-pristine ocean habitat on Earth,” Pew said in a statement. In 2013, Pew, National Geographic and the local elected body on the remote archipelago, the Pitcairn Island Council, submitted a proposal for the creation of the reserve. “The Pitcairn Islands Marine Reserve will build a refuge of untouched ocean to protect and conserve a wealth of marine life,” said Matt Rand, director of Pew’s Global Ocean Legacy project. Pitcairn was settled in 1789 by mutineers from the British naval ship the Bounty, who famously set their captain William Bligh adrift in the South Pacific. Many of the families of the mutineers moved from Pitcairn, a five-square-kilometre island midway between New Zealand and Chile, to the larger Norfolk Island in 1856. Enric Sala, National Geographic’s explorer-in-residence, a member of a scientific expedition that visited the islands, said the move “will protect the true bounty of the Pitcairn Islands — the array of unique marine life in the surrounding pristine seas.” (AFP)
Reward offered for arrest of cruel dog owner
Washington: Two men in a pickup truck abandoned a dog at a Louisiana gas station and drove off, prompting an animal advocacy group to offer a reward of USD 250 for information leading to the arrest of the dog’s owner. “The first man told the dog to: ‘Go! Go over there!’ The man in the back of the pick-up proceeded to pull up the tail- gate of the truck,” Lorie Hollis, a witness, said in a statement on Monday from the Humane Society of Louisiana. “Appearing confused, the dog jumped up and put his paws on top of the tail-gate. The truck sped away, leaving the dog behind,” she said. Hollis said she got in her car and went after the truck and the dog, described as a black German Shepherd-Lab mix. “The truck crossed over two lanes of traffic, and still the dog followed,” she said. Eventually she lost track of the vehicle and its canine pursuer. She said the two men in it were African-American, one of them elderly. “My heart is broken, and I am in shock that someone would treat a dog like this,” she told the Humane Society. But she managed to draw more attention to the case by posting on Facebook a cellphone photo she took of the dog running after the truck. The post was rapidly shared hundreds of times. Now, the Humane Society is offering a reward of USD 250 for information leading to the arrest of the owner and the safe return of the dog, CNN reported. “If people feel they can no longer care for a pet, all they have to do is surrender him or her to a nearby rescue group or shelter, rather than abandon the poor animal at some random location, where their chances of survival are almost zero,” said Jeff Dorson, the director of the society. “This is truly a cowardly act and a punishable offense,” Dorson said. (PTI)
Schoolboy wins competition to design new 1 pound coin
London: A 15-year-old boy in the UK has won a competition to design the tails side of the new 1 pound coin, the Royal Mint announced today. David Pearce’s entry was selected from over 6,000 entries, including adults, to design the face of the coin, which is being introduced because the current 1 pound has become vulnerable to counterfeiters. The new design of the reverse side of the coin features four emblems which represent each of the nations of the United Kingdom the English rose, the leek for Wales, the Scottish thistle, and the shamrock for Northern Ireland emerging from a Royal Coronet, Telegraph reported. The shape of the new coin which will be introduced in 2017, will no longer be round, but 12-sided. “I spent a lot of time researching what coin designs looked like and what sort of designs would represent all parts of the UK before submitting my idea,” said David. “Designing the new 1 pound coin was a brilliant opportunity to leave a lasting legacy on what will be the most secure coin in circulation anywhere. The competition captured the imagination of thousands of people,” said George Osborne a British Conservative Party politician. (PTI)