Living with ruthless Republicans have never been this dangerous before.

The Republican leadership (click here) struggled to maintain a unified stance against the nomination of Judge Garland, pictured above meeting with Senator Pat Leahy, the Vermont Democrat. But the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, enforced discipline, saying that the parties “simply disagree” and that “as a result, we logically act as a check and balance” on Mr. Obama.

The current Attorney General Merrick Garland has a chance to right the wrongs of deeply imbedded corruption. I believe that is what kept him from a Supreme Court seat. McConnell is highly corrupt in most of his dealings, including those with China and his spouse's family company and with Russian oligarchs welcomed with open arms into Kentucky.

I believe the corruption in Michigan is deeply embedded and while the new state legislature is a majority of Democrats, it is time to look at the entire picture of what occurred in Flint. 2010 was a cake walk for Republicans after the election of President Barak Obama, the first African-American President. The Democrats were able to pass reforms into the health care industry and it was a tipping point for Republicans. The Republican corruption ran strong in media, especially when realizing "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" is standing strong and helping millions of Americans.

The degree of which blatant corruption exists under the radar is vital to democracy. Corruption thrives in government environments that allow silence to win out over the truth. When Snyder entered office in 2011, the state legislature changed the "Emergency Manager" laws. The Governor was given unprecedented power to override any freely elected city government. There were many besides Flint and with that leverage Snyder threw open the flood gates of corruption to allow his friends to benefit from this power within Michigan. Flint received the worst of the Governor's wrath and people were poisoned with known filthy water in the Flint River.

The path that lead to poisoning resulting in deaths and maiming of children as well as miscarriages must be accepted in the official record of the truth. The entanglements of long standing corrupt government practices in the cover-up for over a year until it went public on the Rachel Maddow Show must be part of an official record. The further corruption that includes a one man grand jury in the aftermath of the poisoning must also be accepted as the truth and permanently recorded in an official record.

I believe Michigan is incapable of cleaning up the corruption and the Department of Justice must engage in a complete review of this tragedy. The Republican corruption of our democracy must stop and it must stop now.

December 9, 2022
By Ed White

Flint - A judge dismissed criminal charges (click here) against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in the Flint water crisis, months after the state Supreme Court said indictments returned by a one-person grand jury were invalid.

Snyder, a Republican who left office in 2019, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty. He was the first person in state history to be charged for alleged crimes related to service as governor.

Snyder also is the eighth person to have a Flint water case thrown out after the Supreme Court's unanimous June opinion.

Genesee County Judge F. Kay Behm signed the order Wednesday, a day after the U.S. Senate approved her nomination to become a federal judge in eastern Michigan.

“The charges against (Snyder) were not properly brought and must be dismissed at this time,” Behm wrote....

Habitat can be reclaimed and repopulated with viable populations in any area of the world.

Understanding the objections to habitat loss is more than hugging trees or embracing nature, it is about Earth, it's biosphere and its water to ensure a home for millennia to come. Earth needs to be valued for it's unique place in space that promotes life with water it's primary component.

The IPCC and global members have been steadfast in their dedication and their message that Earth is to be valued and not taken for granted. Governments around the world need to embrace policy that promotes nature as a priority.

Nothing and I mean nothing is lost when prioritizing habitat of both land and water is part of any growth solution.

December 7, 2022
By John Flesher

Detroit - In a bustling metro area of 4.3 million people, (click here) Yale University wildlife biologist Nyeema Harris ventures into isolated thickets to study Detroit’s most elusive residents — coyotes, foxes, raccoons and skunks among them.

Harris and colleagues have placed trail cameras in woodsy sections of 25 city parks for the past five years. They’ve recorded thousands of images of animals that emerge mostly at night to roam and forage, revealing a wild side many locals might not know exists.

“We’re getting more and more exposure to wildlife in urban environments,” Harris said recently while checking several of the devices fastened to trees with steel cables near the ground. “As we’re changing their habitats, as we’re expanding the footprint of urbanization, ... we’ll increasingly come in contact with them.”

Animal and plant species are dying off at an alarming rate, with up to 1 million threatened with extinction, according to a 2019 United Nations report. Their plight is stirring calls for “rewilding” places where they thrived until driven out by development, pollution and climate change....

...To Harris, the Yale biologist formerly with the University of Michigan, Detroit offers a unique backdrop for studying wildlife in urban settings.

Unlike most big cities, its human population is declining, even as its streets, buildings and other infrastructure remain largely intact. And there’s diverse habitat. It ranges from large lakes and rivers to neighborhoods — some occupied, others largely deserted — and parklands so quiet “you don’t even know you’re in the city,” Harris said while changing camera batteries and jotting notes in a woodsy section of O’Hair Park.

Her team’s photographic observations have yielded published studies on how mammals react to each other, and to people, in urban landscapes.

The project connects them with local residents, some intrigued by coyotes and raccoons in the neighborhood, others fearful of diseases or harm to pets.

It’s an educational opportunity, Harris said — about proper trash disposal, resisting the temptation to feed wild animals and the value of healthy, diverse ecosystems....

World Economic Forum

November 12, 2022
By Carly Nairn

An injured koala (click here) at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, Australia.

Climate change and global food demand (click here) could drive a startling loss of up to 23 percent of all natural habitat ranges in the next 80 years, according to new findings published in Nature Communications.

Habitat loss could accelerate to a level that brings about rapid extinctions of already vulnerable species. Shrinking ranges for mammals, amphibians and birds already account for an 18 percent loss of previous natural ranges, the study found, with a jump expected to reach 23 percent by this century's end.

Global food demand currently fuels agricultural sectors to increase land use, moving into habitats previously untouched. What results — deforestation — leaves more carbon dioxide in the air, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, the main driver of climate change. In the U.S. alone, agriculture-related emissions measure 11.6 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, which include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide....

The Young Australians did a great job in protecting their wildlife. The Koalas responded without fear to be housed in cars away from smoke and danger. Nothing short of amazing.

2020

As the Australian bushfires continue to burn (click here), a shocking piece of information appeared: since September, over 500 million animals have died because of the flames. Especially hard-hit was the koala population, with many of these animals dying in the calamity.

However, the situation in Australia showed us that people are willing to step up and be the everyday heroes that we need. 19-year-old Micah and 18-year-old Caleb are two such heroes and they’re being praised all over the net. These two cousins drove around Kangaroo Island, rescuing koalas and putting them in their car....

Nature Based Solutions could generate twenty million jobs while addressing major challenges such as climate change, disaster risk, and food and water insecurity.

Nature-Based Solutions (click here)

...Currently nearly 75 million people are already employed in NbS. (click here) The report finds that the vast majority (96 per cent) live in lower-middle income countries in Asia and the Pacific, although the majority of global NbS expenditure occurs in high income countries. Many of these jobs are part-time, and total employment is estimated to be around 14.5 million full time-equivalent (FTE) jobs. However, the report cautions that there are challenges in measuring NbS employment. Moreover, the figures do not capture the job losses and displacements that might occur as NbS are implemented....

December 9, 2022
By Patrick Whittle

Populations of a vulnerable species of marine mammal, (click here) numerous species of abalone and a type of Caribbean coral are now threatened with extinction, an international conservation organization said Friday.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced the update during the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, or COP15, conference in Montreal. The union’s hundreds of members include government agencies from around the world, and it’s one of the planet’s widest-reaching environmental networks....

The IUCN uses its Red List of Threatened Species to categorize animals approaching extinction. This year, the union is sounding the alarm about the dugong — a large and docile marine mammal that lives from the eastern coast of Africa to the western Pacific Ocean.

The dugong is vulnerable throughout its range, and now populations in East Africa have entered the red list as critically endangered, IUCN said in a statement. Populations in New Caledonia have entered the list as endangered, the group said....

...The IUCN Red List includes more than 150,000 species. The list sometimes overlaps with the species listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, such as in the case of the North Atlantic right whale. More than 42,000 of the species on the red list are threatened with extinction, IUCN says.

IUCN uses several categories to describe an animal’s status, ranging from “least concern” to “critically endangered.” IUCN typically updates the red list two or three times a year. This week’s update includes more than 3,000 additions to the red list. Of those, 700 are threatened with extinction....

What is the difference between a Dugong and Manatee? (click here)

Both manatees and dugongs, nicknamed "sea cows", are slow-moving herbivorous (mostly) marine mammals that belong to the Sirenian animal order. The first sailors were persuaded that these creatures were sirens (or mermaids), hence the name of the order.

There are five known species of Sirenia - the West Indian manatee, the Amazonian manatee, the West African manatee, the dugong, and the extinct Stellar’s sea cow (hunted to extinction in the 18th Century).

Although manatees and dugongs have a lot in common, they are oceans apart in terms of location, biology, and behavior....

79% of all cheetah populations contain 100 or fewer individual.

Cheetahs are expected to be moved from vulnerable (click here) to endangered.

December 6, 2022

Omaha - Four cheetah cubs (click here) were born at the Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park on Nov. 4, which is part of Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. The zoo said in a news release that cheetahs have historically been a difficult animal to breed, but since 2014 29 cubs have been born at the safari park....

...“These cubs are a great example of the collaboration benefits among zoos,” said Dr. Jason Herrick, Vice President of Conservation and Animal Health for Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. “Not long ago, cheetahs were considered one of the more difficult species to breed in zoos. Over the last couple of decades, the members of the National Cheetah Breeding Center Coalition, including our Wildlife Safari Park, have worked together to really figure out how to breed cheetahs.”...

As part of the annual "Festival of Lights" the Cincinnati Zoo goes greener.

December 6, 2022

Cincinnati - The Cincinnati Zoo (click here) has a new electric train chugging through the zoo this year.

The new train is powered by the solar panels that visitors park under when visiting the zoo. The train charges overnight and while loading and unloading.

The train will chug through an extra bright light tunnel that's part of the 40th annual PNC Festival of Lights.

The new train will save the zoo about $35,000 on fuel and maintenance costs annually and will get it closer to its goal of being net-zero by 2025....

...The new train is also more comfortable for visitors, giving more legroom and wider seats.

And to match the green initiative, the train itself has been painted green.

"As the Greenest Zoo in America, we thought it would be fitting to have a green train," Maynard said. "The change makes it more obvious that it's new and different and brings more attention to the Zoo's sustainability efforts."...

Panthera onca is endangered.

The largest cat (click here) in the Western Hemisphere, jaguars (Panthera onca) can be found from Mexico to Argentina. Despite this broad range, jaguars have been eradicated from nearly 50% of their historic range. Panthera co-created the bold Jaguar Corridor Initiative to connect core jaguar populations from Mexico to Argentina and we are leading or supporting efforts in almost a dozen jaguar range states.

December 6, 2022
By Christine Mattson

A pair of big cat siblings (click here) will be leaving the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, Pennsylvania, for a new home in the Midwest, the zoo announced Tuesday.

In the next couple of weeks, beloved cougar siblings Russet and Yukon will be moving into a large enclosure the Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri while major construction projects begin at the Elmwood Park Zoo.

The cougars' new home in Big Cat Country at the Saint Louis Zoo is another Association of Zoos & Aquariums-accredited facility that will “ensure that their comfort and well-being are maintained,” the zoo said in a statement.

“We don’t want these confident-yet-sensitive cats to regress into the timid animals we first met,” the zoo continued.

Russet and Yukon were rescued from the wild after being orphaned as cubs in Idaho. They spent their early years at the Elmwood Park Zoo mostly off-exhibit as they were “too skittish” to leave their indoor holding, according to EPZ....

The Black Jaguar is endangered in Central and South America.

December 6, 2022

The four-month-old cub, (click here) who's still waiting to be named, was initially raised by Mexico City's Chapultepec Zoo staff after the mother Africa, a three-year-old female, rejected it after birth.

Despite the adverse situation at its birth, the director of Conservation and Animal Welfare at the Department of Zoos and Wildlife Conservation of Mexico City, Rafael Tinajero, said the cub is quite healthy and eating properly:

"The black jaguar is also born in the wild but it is very important that they are part of conservation programs. Zoos are wildlife refuges, they are sanctuaries for endangered fauna and what they are looking for is the conservation of these species."

 

Critically endangered Sumatra tigers expected in Australia's Adelaide Zoo.

December 6, 2022
By Sarah Swain

Adelaide Zoo tiger Delilah is preparing to become a mum, a year after arriving at the wildlife park.

..."It was amazing (click here) they were such a good pair. Kembali is an amazing male tiger, very impressed, and the cubs are going to be stunning."

Fewer than 400 of the creatures remain in the wild due to poachers and loss of habitat due to palm oil plantations....

December 6, 2022
By Sarah Motter

Topeka - As the Topeka Zoo’s last breeding pair of Sumatran tigers (click here) prepares to travel to their new homes, the tiger habitat in the Capital City will be left bare, leaving room for a new breeding pair to make a home in 2023.

The Topeka Zoo says on Tuesday, Dec. 6, that it has reproduced the most critically endangered Sumatran tigers over the last decade and now is about to be tigerless. This week it said it will transfer its two remaining Sumatran Tiger residents to other zoos, which will leave the habitat empty. For a little while, at least.

As part of the Species Survival Plan breeding recommendation through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Topeka Zoo said it received recommendations to move all of its critically endangered tigers to other zoos as part of a larger effort.

According to the Zoo, a new pair of tigers will now join the zoo later in December in hopes to establish another successful breeding pair.