10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2024

It has all Big Five animals and a whole lot of other grumpy mammals. Before leaving the safety of the car I heeded the park’s advice and checked for animal tracks belonging to any biting, gnawing, mauling, trampling, stabbing or disembowelling species. Looking left I saw a big, male buffalo behind the bush.

Mozambique 208

Mozambique Birds Ghana Namibia 208

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2015

Although lip service was paid to the fact that lions are endangered and a lion was poached, the language of anger was the language of animals rights. The killing of Cecil was equated with murder, a moral crime rather than a symptom of a ecological problem. This is of course an anathema for many in the animal rights camp.

Lions 200

Lions Hunting Sierra Leone Buffalo 200

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2013

What better testament to Carl Akeley, the taxidermist who mounted that elephant and to whom the Hall of African Mammals is dedicated, than to say that he turned a vast, throbbing, stampeding, living animal into an edifice with a feeling so much like permanence that a pigeon could go to sleep there? Of course it’s not permanent.

Elephants 156

Elephants Mammals Buffalo Gorillas 156

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2013

When I was a preschooler, I wasn’t allowed to watch much television, but I did get a double-dose of public programming — the PBS station out of Buffalo and the CBC beaming across the border from Ontario both showed a lot of material that met with my mother’s approval and my own.

Woodchucks 167

Woodchucks Buffalo Massachusetts Fox 167

4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 17, 2011

Grief, friendship, gratitude, wonder, and other things we animals experience. Scientific research shows that many animals are very intelligent and have sensory and motor abilities that dwarf ours. In many ways, human emotions are the gifts of our animal ancestors. Waterfall Dances: Do animals have spiritual experiences?

Emotional 100

Emotional Animal Whales Whaling 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2013

I will address two of them in the new year, namely, “Is hunting moral at all?” In the past I have attributed some of this conflict to differences between the conservation mindset and that of animal rights/animal welfare. It may not be the preferred solution for many, but it works.

Tigers 169

Tigers Hunting Game Protection 169