Through Our Eyes

Each year we all have the opportunity to participate in a global exercise that saves money, power, and most of all, our planet. An event that started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, with 2.2 million Sydneysiders, and 2100 businesses participating, has grown by leaps and bounds and by 2012, 6950 cities and 152 countries participated in a simple exercise to save our planet.

By shutting off all electricity for just one hour, you too can be part of a far-reaching event that is sure to make a long-lasting impact. Read about this amazing event at www.earthhour.org to find out more ways you can continue to help our planet and all of the life on it. It is incredible what this one small event has accomplished in a mere seven years!!! Be part of the solution!!!

Eye Help Animals is Saving Wildlife Together with their special edition Mug

This holiday season, give the gifts of wildlife, saving them that is. With each gift you purchase from Eye Help Animals, a donation of 25% from profits will be given to an organization that is dedicated to saving wildlife. Check out our gift shop – I’m sure we have something for everyone on your list! (Gifts include Wildlife Eye Collectible pins – collect all 32 of them, canvas bags, t-shirts, baseball caps with Tiger eye, Tiger prints, and our exclusive, one-of-a-kind, hand-painted wildlife earrings – in large and small sizes!)

Now is the time to take action to save wolves! Go to the following link and voice your opinion!

http://www.defenders.org/national-wolf-emergency/lower-48-wolf-delisting-comments

Your vote can make a difference!

 25% of our profits go to protecting and supporting wildlife around the world

National Wildlife Federation is inviting everyone to learn how to create their own wildlife sanctuary by attracting wildlife into their yards. To find out how and register your backyard with NWF, go to the link below:

http://www.nwf.org/certifiedwildlifehabitat/UserAccount/SignIn?certificationtypeid=949a1d23-cb71-42d1-81fe-9d2c00f940d1&campaignid=WH14M2ASEAA&s_email_id=20131012_MEM_BGV_CWH_5_Things_Basic|MTMemAct

Again, National Geographic magazine came to my aid when looking for a blog to post. The latest issue, October 2013, is their 125^th Anniversary Collector’s Edition and it is called “The Photo Issue”.

The magazine, a keeper, is filled with amazing photos, which is something that NatGeo has been famous for over the many years that it has been in publication.

Of course, there was an article with photos of animals.  The word ‘Protect’ was prominently displayed throughout and the quote from one of the authors that may become a prediction of the future fate of wildlife “Zoos are the last refuge against a rising tide of extinction.”

In the past we’ve had EHA supporters comment about our collaboration with Zoo Atlanta and the fact that we were looking to develop similar partnerships. They saw it as a negative collaboration and thought we should not align ourselves with establishments that put animals behind bars. What I have found through my education during the years since we founded Eye Help Animals is the truth in what the above quote is saying. There are species of animals that are so close to becoming endangered that zoos may be their protector, their last hope against extinction and the only place that many species of animals will be found.

Eye Help Animals Tiger Eye Collectible Pin

With fewer than approximately 2000 tigers left worldwide and 60% of them in India, it isn’t easy finding good news about the future of tigers. But in a survey that was conducted across a 600-mile stretch of land in Nepal and throughout India, it was found that the wild tiger population was up to 198 since 2009, a 63% increase.

Although the South Asian governments have committed to doubling the tiger population by 2022, the animals still continue to decline in numbers from poaching and habitat loss.

The largest population increase was found in the south-western Bardia national park where the tiger population rose from 18 in 2009 to 50 in 2013.

Congratulations to India on their goal of increasing the tiger population and on seeing a significant increase over the four years!

Eye Help Animals is committed to saving wildlife around the world. Let’s continue to witness increases in wildlife populations for many of the endangered animals and join us in “Saving Wildlife Together”.

Eye Help Animals Tiger Eye Collectible Pin – $4.95. We donate 25% of our profits to wildlife conservation and habitat preservation organizations worldwide.

According to “Positive News” out of the UK, five types of shark species will be given extra protection from over-fishing. This decision was made when 178 nations at the world’s largest wildlife convention, CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna), pledged to enforce laws in the finning trade.

In the past the largest opposition has come from Japan and China, where the Asian shark fin soup is a popular item. Each year 100 million sharks are killed, causing their numbers to plummet.

One major role of the shark is in sustaining the health of the oceans by preying on the sick and the weak. By preying on the weak they prevent the spread of disease that could be devastating to the health of our oceans. Saving the shark from an endangered listing is in the best interest of every human being on the planet. So next time you are in an Asian restaurant, forego the shark fin soup for something more sustainable.

Painting by DJ Geribo

I just watched, for the second time, the documentary film “I Am” by film director Tom Shadyac. Tom is the director of such hits as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective”, “The Nutty Professor”, and “Bruce Almighty”. “I Am” is a wonderful documentary where Tom realized, after buying 3 mansions with over 17,000 square feet, that he wasn’t any happier, especially when he saw so many homeless living off the streets just blocks away from his mansion. And then when an accident left him in a lot of pain, he went in search of answers to the questions “What’s Wrong with the World?” and “What Can We Do to Fix it?” by talking to philosophers and spiritualists around the world.  What he found was a lot that was right with the world especially in the form of compassion for others that we all share.

One interview I found especially interesting was with Thom Hartmann, author of “The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight”. Thom talked about a study where a group of deer was observed to see which was the alpha deer and how they would display that position in the group. What the observers found was quite surprising. When some of the group wanted to get water, they would start by looking in the direction of one of the known waterholes. Soon, others were pointing in that direction. When more than half of the group pointed in the direction of the waterhole, the group started migrating towards the waterhole. There was no one alpha directing the group to go at a certain time or to a particular waterhole.  It was through cooperation and the group making a democratic decision that they all started to move toward the waterhole.

As always, we can learn a lot from the wildlife on our planet, who know how to live in this world without any input from humans.

While visiting Tanzania on an African tour, Obama took action against wildlife trafficking that is threatening the survival of elephants and rhinoceroses. A task force will be set up to crack down on criminal gangs involved in trafficking and also put an end to demand for elephant ivory, rhino tusks, and other animal parts.

Eye Help Animals is helping to save wildlife around the world, like the African Elephant and the Black Rhino (see 3rd Wildlife Eye collection coming soon).

  Eye Help Animals African Elephant Wildlife Eye Collectible Pin  $4.95

Eye Help Animals is helping to save wildlife around the world by donating 25% of its profits to wildlife conservation and habitat preservation organizations.

Has anyone noticed that we have fewer bees around these days? Well, apparently we do and finally something is being done about it.  It seems the most obvious cause to check is what WE are doing to disrupt the natural flow of the planet. There is usually a new insecticide out there that hasn’t been fully tested before joining the others on the shelves in our stores.

As it turns out, there is one, a neonicotinoid pesticide, that has been linked to a decline in the populations of bees and other pollinators.

In April of this year, the European commission proposed restriction in the use of neonicotinoid pesticides for two years.

Like everything these days, social media is critical in this kind of campaign with millions of voters signing online petitions. By the time the first meeting to discuss the ban had taken place, over two and a half million people had voted online to ban the pesticide.