eco-warriors

Check out this book trailer for The Next Eco-Warriors. The book shares the stories of eco-activists who are fighting to save the earth, the ocean, and the animals.

Emily Hunter, who edited the book, was asked what inspired her to write the The Next Eco-warriors. She had this to say: 

Young people. In my own travels, I’ve meet so many inspiring young people over the years doing extraordinary acts of change. Their incredible stories fueled me in my own sense of activism and purpose. But later I came to decide that these stories needed to be shared with a greater audience, because I feel they will ignite others as they have ignited me.

When youth learn about issues affecting animals and the environment, it's always good to share ideas about ways that they can make a difference. They can become eco-warriors too!

You can learn more about the book at: http://www.nextecowarriors.com/

Corky in Captivity

Corky is a female orca who has lived in captivity longer than any other orca. She was captured at the age of four from the Pacific Ocean near Vancouver Island. Corky has spent more than 40 years in captivity. During that time she has given birth seven times, but all of her calves died. In captivity, Corky doesn't have the freedom to hunt or to swim in the ocean.

If Corky had been allowed to live a normal life, she would have stayed with her family, hunted cooperatively, and travelled up to 100 kms a day in the open ocean. Imagine what it would be like if Corky could be returned to her wild home, back to the ocean with her family.

Thanks to students at Downtown Alternative School in Toronto for encouraging Sea World to consider a more natural habitat for Corky.

Great Apes in Danger

Bushmeat is meat derived from wildlife in Africa, including animals like elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, and others. Often illegal methods of hunting, like wire snares, are used, and the animals being hunted might be endangered, threatened, or protected. Bushmeat has become a crisis because it is rapidly expanding, largely due to an increase in commercial logging in forested areas. The logging creates a system of roads and trucks that connects the forests and hunters to the cities and consumers.

If you live in Toronto and want to learn more about the bushmeat trade and what you can do to help, check out the photography exhibit at The Gladstone Gallery located at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, Toronto, between September 22 and Sept 28.  The exhibit is presented by the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada and We Animals, featuring photographs by Jo-Anne McArthur.   The photos document a snare-removal project in the Uganda forest, as well as primates rescued from the bushmeat trade as well as from the entertainment and research industries.  

En Français

Palmerston's Grade 2 French Immersion class did a great job writing letters to the Morelia Zoo on behalf of Yupi. Here are some of their thoughts:

"Je pense que Yupi doit avoir de la neige, de l'eau froid avec de la glace et les phoques pour manger. Peut-etre pour un jouet tu peux donner Yupi des jouets de chien. Pour que ce soit froid, tu peux mettre de la climatisation dans sa cage."

"Je pense que ton zoo n'est pas une bonne place pour un ours polaire. C'est chaud en Mexique, et un ours polaire a besoin le froid. Mettez de la climatisation dans sa chambre pour se froidir. Yupi beson le l'eau salée pour nager."

"Je pense que Yupi n'est pas content avec son environment. Je pense qu'elle doit avoic une plus grande cage.Aussi, sa cage doit être plus froide. Elle devrait avoir de la vraie neige. Son eau devrait être froide aussi. Je pense qu'elle doit vivre avec les autres ours en Ontario."

"Je pense que ton zoo n'est pas une bonne place pour un ours polaire. C'est trop chaud."

Thanks for your great work helping wild animals in captivity! Hopefully the Mexican Zoo listens, and starts to improve the conditions of Yupi's captivity, or considers moving her to a more appropriate place.

Learn more about Wild Elephants

The Elephant Scientist by  Caitlin O'Connell and Donna Jackson, photography by Caitlin O’Connell & Tim Rodwell

If you are interested in learning more about elephants in the wild, check out this new book co-authored by Caitlin O'Connell. The book is intended for readers aged 9-12, and is filled with lots of information and photos. Students won't just learn about elephants, they'll also learn what it's like to study them in the wild. It's always great to see new books about animals in their natural habitats, and to learn about the amazing things they do in the wild. Did you know elephants "listen" with their limbs?

Check out this picture, which is based on a diagram from the book. Can you figure out what it is, and why someone who studies elephants in the wild would need it?

Find the book at your public library to learn more. Happy Reading!

Our Closest Living Relative

We share some amazing similarities with chimpanzees, who are our closest living relative. Chimps and humans can both walk bipedally, solve problems and use tools, show emotions, laugh, cry, use mirrors, sleep in beds, use opposable thumbs, and more. A great way to learn more about the human body is by studying the similarities and differences between chimpanzees and humans.

Check out newest Keep It Wild! workshop, Me & The Chimpanzee Students will have an opportunity to compare the skeletal hand of a human to a chimp's, discover what life would be like without an opposable thumb, measure heart rate, lung capactiy and arm strength, identify and compare digestive systems, and more. You can learn more about the workshop at our education website. Students will also get a chance to learn more about chimps in captivity, and about chimpanzee sanctuaries, like the Fauna Foundation.

You can check out our links on this page to learn more about the Fauna Foundation.For adults interested in  learning more about the Fauna Foundation there is also a recent book entitled "The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary" by Andrew Westoll.

Inspiration

It can be hard work trying to help wild animals that are in need. The work can be sad, frustrating, and sometimes, it can even seem futile. Everyone needs to be reminded of the stories that have a happy ending! Check out this amazing video of a humpback whale that's trapped in a fishing net. The situation seems hopeless, and the video is riveting. The ending is the inspiration we all need to keep trying, even when things seem insurmountable!

All sorts of marine animals, like whales and dolphins, seabirds, seals, and sea turtles are at risk of entanglement because of the debris that litters our oceans. You may not be able to help untangle a humpback whale, but you can do your part to help wildlife by participating in the Great Canadian ShoreLine CleanUp this September. Picking up plastic bags, bottle caps, balloons, and other garbage from Toronto's shoreline will prevent these things from entering the waterways, and harming wild animals. Check it out at: http://shorelinecleanup.ca/