The title of this post published on 28 July 2020 was misleading and is hereby corrected. This disease was deliberately introduced into New Zealand, but cannot be transmitted to people. Veterinarians are warning rabbit owners about an emerging virus in the United States. The fatal virus causes an ebola-like disease called rabbit hemorrhagic disease has […]
Tag: rabbit
POLL: Should there be a worldwide ban on fur farming?
We don’t typically get to follow the lives of individual animals who are killed for their coats. Now, a short film is offering us a harrowing glimpse into the short and tragic lives of three fox siblings who were born, raised and killed on a fur farm. The film, Fur: A Lifetime, which was just […]
Why Is New Zealand Releasing a Rabbit-Killing Virus?
Wild rabbits are considered pests in New Zealand, and they reportedly cause substantial damage to pastoral land. The country has now decided to release a virus to cull rabbits, but environmentalists warn that this is a serious mistake. In late February, officials agreed to release the virus — known as rabbit hemorrhagic virus disease, or […]
POLL: Should the testing of cosmetics on animals be banned?
Lawmakers in Canada just took a major step toward ending the cruel and outdated practice of testing cosmetics on animals. The Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act (S-214), 2015 by Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen, will ban animal testing for cosmetics in Canada, in addition to the sale of products and ingredients that have been newly tested elsewhere. […]
POLL: Should there be a worldwide ban on fur farming?
When I campaigned for animal rights as a teenager in the 1980s, anti-fur campaigners produced an iconic poster. Alongside an image of a smartly dressed woman holding a bloody fur coat was a cracker of a slogan: “It takes up to 40 dumb animals to make a fur coat. But only one to wear it.” […]
Florida Bobcat: Lynx rufus
I did a post of Florida’s Bobcats (Lynx rufus) some time back, but it just disappeared from the blog. I am reposting these photos as I love watching these cats. We live in a large subdivision bordered by an even larger preserve, so these bobcats thrive on rabbits, squirrels, and, I suppose the occasional loose […]
Specieswatch: European eagle owl
The European eagle owl Bubo bubo is not a popular bird. It is very large and ferocious, and although it lives and successfully nests in Britain it is officially regarded as an alien and a danger to our own birds of prey because it does not like to share its hunting territory. Foxhunts have further […]
Finding mammals in Sydney (Urban mammals)
When most of us think about wildlife watching, cities are not the environments that usually come to mind. Typically urban development is associated with habitat destruction and local extinctions. However, not all wildlife species are equally affected by human activities and some have adapted and become quite successful in human-dominated landscapes. Sydney – Australia’s largest […]