Through Our Eyes

Help Save Endangered Elephants

We all seem to take time when we have a complaint to make to a company about a product, etc. But it is a good idea to also take a few minutes to thank a company when they step up and do the right thing. And one of those companies is Emirates Airline, who, effective immediately, banned the transport of any hunting trophies on flight, which includes animals that ‘aren’t currently threatened with extinction.’

It further said, “This decision is to support international governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, that are managing wildlife population towards sustaining the task to eliminate illegal trade and transportation of hunting trophies worldwide and saving wildlife heritage.”

‘This announcement comes just weeks after South American Airlines (SAA) announced it would no longer transport trophies from rhinos, elephants, lions, and tigers in an effort to protect wildlife being targeted by sport hunters and the illegal wildlife trade.’  (SAA is another airline who definitely deserves to be thanked for taking the lead in this major decision.)

Of all the airlines in the US, Delta is the only one that has direct flights to South Africa, where many trophy hunters head for illegal killing of endangered animals such as the rhino, elephants, lions, and tigers. Show your support to the airlines that want to protect the endangered animals. And now write those letters of complaint to Delta to get them to make the change, too.

Camouflaged Kitty

I have friends who have cats; some are outdoor cats, some are always indoors. The truth is, cats are predators and love to hunt. So when you let your cat out of the house, it will hunt small birds. In North America alone, the number of birds lost to cats is 500 million a year!

Some people put bells on their cats thinking that will help protect the birds from the predator, your pet cat. But by the time the bird hears the bell, it is too late; the cat is close enough to grab the bird.

As for the cat, it is also in danger of being attacked by larger wildlife such as the raccoon, the weasel, and the fisher, to name a few. There are also any number of diseases that your cat can pick up and injuries from fighting with wildlife that has much longer claws to defend themselves. And then of course, there is the car that cats are often hit by when they run out in the street. A lot of dangers for a little house cat.

If you have a cat, for its safety and the safety of all the native birds in your area, keep it indoors. Give it lots of, and a variety of, toys and it will be entertained for years to come.

“Camouflaged Kitty” painting by DJ Geribo