Critter News

DECEMBER 21, 2011

But I'm not exactly sure why RUSSIA would ban them. Apparently, some claim about 90 percent of Canadian sales are to Russia. Russia does have its own seal hunt, but apparently they banned killings of animals under one year old. Russia and two of its neighbours have informed the World Trade Organization that they are banning the import and export of harp seal pelts – a move that animal-rights activists are celebrating as the death knell of Canada’s commercial seal industry.

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Russia Seals 2011 Fur Industry 116

Critter News

NOVEMBER 28, 2010

From TRAFFIC, Customs officers from Russia and China met last week to strengthen international co-operation in tackling cross-border smuggling of Tigers and other wildlife products. Tags: wildlife smuggling wildlife trafficking tigers china russia

Russia 109

Russia 2010 China Trafficking 109

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2013

Petersburg, Russia. Trips Europe Russia Joseph Chiera is a Masters student in Animal Behavior and Conservation at Hunter College in NYC and a “somewhat newbie” to birding. After taking an ornithology course last year, he was hooked and spends most of his free time birding or reading birding blogs. Between finishing one graduate program and beginning another, he embarked on a whirlwind tour of Europe. Of course, birding was on the itinerary! First was an awesome stay in Iceland.

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Russia 2013 Iceland Squirrels 53

Critter News

DECEMBER 17, 2009

This is something I've never heard of. From BiteBack : "December 5, in Izhevsk two locks on the entrances of the fur shop were filled with glue with the help of syringe, and the key holes were plastered over with the cold welding. Two big billboards were slashed, walls and sign - pelted with paint bombs. November 27, in Sochi at the billboard of the fur shop 'The furs of Scandinavia' a slogan 'Fur = murder!' was painted. The same inscriptions appeares near the fur shops in the centre of the city.

Russia 100

Russia Fur 2009 Tagged 100

Critter News

MARCH 22, 2009

The ministry said: “This is a serious step forward to protect Russia’s biological diversity. Kudos for Russian leader Vladimir Putin for stopping the slaughter of seals. Maybe Canada can learn something from the former KGB agent and avid hunter about compassion. This decision was made largely thanks to public environmental organisations which took an active position on this issue.” Conservation groups have staged protests in 20 Russian cities this week, demanding an end to the slaughter.

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Russia Slaughter Slaughtered Canada 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2012

Bizarre. And also, I imagine, fun. Asides

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Russia 2012 41

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Today’s post includes two such stories, brought all the way to you from Russia. In the hardcore “news” department, scientists from the United States and Russia have managed a successful study of the foraging and nesting habits of Blakiston’s Fish Owl , the largest owl on the planet and one of the rarest. On the other side of Russia, in Moscow to be specific, other birds seem to be in danger, but for an entirely different reason.

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Russia 2013 Fish Owls 78

Critter News

OCTOBER 1, 2008

Greenpeace has absolutely no voice in Russia,” said Natalia Paslavskaya, director of 2nd Fur Salon, one of the most exclusive fur boutiques in Russia that caters to the most sophisticated clientele, usually able to afford paying $250,000 for a signature fur coat and ordering a new one every year. “I’ve Tags: fur animal rights russia Apparently, it is so deeply embedded in Russian culture that everyone wants it.

Fur 100

Fur 2008 Vegan Russia 100

Critter News

SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

Russia won the right to host 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and major construction works are about to begin. Tags: leopard russia Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was on hand when two leopards were released into the Caucasus. While I think the gesture is nice, it appears to be more of a publicity stunt to head off environmental criticism of the 2014 Olympic Games construction. "We We are standing here and admiring your animals.

Leopards 109

Leopards 2009 2014 Game 109

Critter News

JANUARY 9, 2009

Canada, Russia, the US, Denmark [via Greenland] and Norway want a piece of it. Tags: canada norway national security us russia arctic WONK ALERT! The Arctic, and foreign claims to it, are discussed in this dense piece by globalsecurity.org. It will probably make your head spin. Suffice to say that untapped oil reserves are at stake. AND the Arctic is getting even more accessible due to global warming (knew it would be good for something!)

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2009 Denmark Norway Russia 100

Critter News

OCTOBER 10, 2008

Vladimir Putin, former President and current Prime Minister of Russia, just got a tiger cub for his birthday. He was visiting a wildlife preserve in Russia's Far East and shot the 5-year-old tiger as part of a program to track the rare cats, also known as the Siberian, Amur or Manchurian tiger. Tags: tigers russia He'll be donating it to a zoo or a wildlife preserve. No word on who gave it to him and I can't imagine where it came from (torn from its mother?),

2008 100

2008 Animal Zoos Russia 100

Critter News

APRIL 20, 2012

Apparently it isn't the first time the King has been shooting big game in Africa, or elsewhere (Apparently he killed a bear in Russia a few years ago too). From the Wildlife Extra News. April 2012. King Juan Carlos of Spain, Honorary President of WWF Spain, is recovering in hospital after breaking his hip in Botswana where he was on an elephant hunt.

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Spain Hunting Elephants 2012 135

Critter News

FEBRUARY 17, 2009

I came across this story about it in Russia Today, an English language Russian newsite. By the way, here's a petition to have him tried as an adult. It claims that his brother was in on the abuse as well.maybe he was the camera guy? Lovely kids.

2009 100

2009 Russia Tagged Animal Tagged 100

Critter News

OCTOBER 9, 2010

The two-month operation involved national enforcement agencies in six tiger-range countries (China, India, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam) and was coordinated by INTERPOL's Environmental Crime Program at its headquarters in Lyon, France. From the PR Newswire. A coordinated international law enforcement operation has led to the arrest of 25 individuals suspected of taking part in the illicit trade of tigers, one of the world's most endangered species.

Tigers 116

Tigers 2010 Nepal International Fund For Animal Welfare 116

Critter News

MARCH 6, 2009

I thought he would be too busy writing best selling novels, composing award winning operas or ruling Russia to enter his dogs in contests and stuff. Two of President Dmitry Medvedev's dogs won top prizes in the Eurasia 2009 dog show! Hooray! His third dog only got 2nd place, and will probably be assisting border guards near the Republic of Georgia or some other exciting place.

2009 100

2009 Russia Georgia Dogs 100

Critter News

DECEMBER 13, 2009

The Calgary Zoo is under scrutiny for yet another animal death; Convicted dog fighter Michael Vick is welcomed back to Atlanta; New Zealand is being bombarded with international protests for what many consider to be a transition to “factory farming” in Mackenzie Country; Russia bemoans that fact that it hasn't matched the US in transforming sea lions into military weapons; and a German tourist is caught smuggling 44 lizards out of New Zealand in his underwear.

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Michael Vick 2009 Atlanta Factory Farm 100

Critter News

MARCH 16, 2009

Although few people outside the Arctic realise it, there is still a major legal hunt for the animals in four out of the five states that host the bears: Canada, Greenland, Alaska in the US, and Russia. Native and sport polar bear hunters may be facing more restrictions due to increasing threats to bear populations.

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Polar Bears Bears Hunters Norway 100

Critter News

MARCH 7, 2012

The rumor mill has it that Bouvry wants to reopen the plant to service more inexpensively developing markets for its product in Russia, China and other Asian nations. Stanwood is right near where we live in Seattle and, sadly, home to Pigs Peace Animal Sanctuary which rescues all kinds of animals. I can only imagine how they feel. From the Sky Valley Chronicle. A new report in the Staug News of St.

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Horse Slaughter Washington Horses Slaughter 116

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, took time out from persecuting Pussy Riot and otherwise being a strongman, to pilot an ultralight aircraft leading a flock of cranes on their migration. Categorize that headline as one I never expected to write. Of course, he compared the cranes left behind to his political opponents , calling them “weak.” ” Asides

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Russia 2012 55

Animal Person

NOVEMBER 14, 2009

I am a vegan who has adopted a diabetic greyhound who eats vegan food ( Natural Balance ), and who is adopting a boy from Russia. China has more girls available and Russia has more boys. My better half and I both have to go to Russia 2-3 times for short trips (3-7 days). My inbox this month has informed me that November is Vegan Awareness Month! And Diabetes Awareness Month. And Adoption Awareness Month. Who knew November was such a potentially-informative month?

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2009 Adoptable Vegan Russia 100

Critter News

AUGUST 22, 2010

Spoon-billed Sandpipers nest only in the far north-east of Russia. Really sad. The Spoon-billed Sandpiper, one of the world's most threatened birds, is rapidly heading towards extinction because young birds are being targeted for human consumption. In 2000, around 1,000 breeding pairs were known, but by 2009, the number had plummeted to just 120-220 pairs, a decline of 88%.

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Species 2010 Myanmar Russia 109

4 The Love Of Animals

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

Found in the frozen forests near Russia’s border with Korea, the cats are feared to have just 30 members left in the wild. A wonderful new series on Nat Geo WILD this Tuesday, September 13th and Wednesday, September 14. Nat Geo WILD takes viewers around the world to follow dedicated people working to save Nature’s Miracle Babies – often the last hope for critically vulnerable species.

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Pandas Leopards 2011 Gorillas 146

4 The Love Of Animals

APRIL 20, 2012

The most spectacular case was in Krasnoyarsk Zoo (Russia), where people could watch the life of very interesting and strange family, consisting of four puma cubs, stray dog Mary and baby-badger. It turns out that people are not the only ones, who can adopt children – animals are good at this as well. Especially it is associated with dogs, which may raise kids of other species and even of scary and dangerous representatives of wildlife!

2012 122

2012 Tigers Badgers Porcupines 122

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2016

The deal failed due to Russia voting against it, citing uncertainty about whether the commission had the authority to establish a marine protected area. In October 2014, during a meeting in Hobart, Australia, the protection of this important region was once again blocked by China and Russia. “Below the 40th latitude there is no law; below the 50th no god; below the 60th no common sense and below the 70th no intelligence whatsoever.” (“Antarctica” by Kim Stanley Robinson, 1998).

2016 63

2016 Russia Whales Whaling 63

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2017

In some cases the males strayed from their Alaska home base for a bit of far-flung sex tourism in Canada and Russia.). ”Well, I’m the type of guy who will never settle down. Where pretty girls are, well you know that I’m around”. Dion, “The Wanderer” When it comes to being a Romeo on the run, few birds can match the Pectoral Sandpiper. Like the ladies’ man above which Corey photographed a few years ago at Jamaica Bay in NYC.).

2017 42

2017 Russia Stray Alaska 42

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

The project recruited schoolkids from eight Asian nations, from Russia down to Thailand, to help color in frames of an animation that depicts the lonely and perilous migration of a Spoon-billed Sandpiper as it faces threats from habitat loss and hunting. Photo by JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons. Children are cute. So are Spoon-billed Sandpipers.

2013 61

2013 Asia Thailand Russia 61

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2020

The Ural Owl inhabits old and undisturbed boreal forests, in an unbroken belt from Sweden and Finland across Russia to Japan, and is rarely seen to the south, only here and there, in the Carpathians (Slovakia/Ukraine/Romania/eastern Serbia) and Dinaric Alps (Croatia/Bosnia/western Serbia).

Serbia 64

Serbia 2020 Owls Slovakia 64

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2018

601-800 sp: Canada, Costa Rica, Panama; Russia; Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo (Brazzaville), Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa; Laos, New Guinea (PNG); Australia. Summer is normally the vacation season, for ordinary tourists at least. Birders follow different patterns of bird migration and their local activities and travel accordingly. But – where?

2018 77

2018 Guyana Equatorial Guinea Suriname 77

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2016

The Willow Ptarmigan, which is the most numerous, can also be found in Russia, Finland, Scandinavia, and Canada. Though many people joke that the mosquito is the Alaskan state bird, in fact it is the much more pleasant Willow Ptarmigan. In 1955 – before Alaska was a state – the Territory’s leaders in charge of drafting a constitution allowed schoolchildren to choose what would eventually become the state bird.

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Alaska 2016 Finland Indiana 44

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2012

Its range on that continent extends as far east as the Iberian Peninsula, west to Russia, and north to Scandinavian points above the Arctic Circle. In my first trip to the West Indies , I learned that the Bahamas boast an impressive array of wild native doves including the Caribbean Dove and White-crowned Pigeon. The various islands also support more adaptable civilized species like Mourning Dove , Common Ground-Dove , and Rock Pigeon.

2012 73

2012 Russia 2006 Turtles 73

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2013

It breeds in a broad and not quite coherent band from Iceland in the west through central Europe and southern Scandinavia all the way to eastern Russia, wintering in Africa, parts of India, and Southeast Asia to Australia. I fully realize that my last post was not a bird post in the strictest sense. As a matter of fact, one might surmise that I have merely instrumantalized a few images of a wet magpie to let loose a relentless rant about our weather.

2013 70

2013 Russia Iceland India 70

Animal Ethics

JANUARY 9, 2008

Though hunting still plays a role and led to a bilateral treaty with Russia, ratified last September, climate change is the major threat to polar bears today. To the Editor: Re “ Bearing Up ” (Op-Ed, Jan. 5): In contrast to the arguments made by Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, the scientific literature is very clear that polar bear survival is highly threatened in the wild.

New York Times 40

New York Times Polar Bears New York 2008 40

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2017

Starting in the mid-1990s, there was a “where to watch birds in…” series of five site guides written by Nigel Wheatley and covering South America (1994), Africa (1995), Asia (1996), Europe & Russia (2000) and Central America & the Caribbean (2001).

2017 72

2017 Africa Botswana Nigeria 72

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2012

While this merganser does maintain a strong presence in China throughout the year, it may breed as far north as Russia and winter as far south as Thailand. One of the sweetest subsections of the duck family has to be the sawbills, formally known as mergansers. Mergansers are a family of diving waterfowl in Merginae , the seaduck subfamily of Anatidae. Ironically, only one of these seaducks is truly a seafarer, the others favoring rivers and lakes.

2012 79

2012 Thailand Russia North America 79

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2014

Reasons for their decline include steppes being turned into arable fields – the reason they disappeared from Ukraine and European Russia, on migration they are hunted with guns and falcons, and on their wintering grounds natural habitat is dwindling in the absence of once large herds of wild ungulates (one should try to see these animals as gardeners of a well-kept landscape). Gujarat, December 2010. Target for today: critically endangered Sociable Lapwing ( Vanellus gregarius ).

2014 80

2014 Ukraine Sudan Camels 80

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2011

The Black Stork ( Ciconia nigra ) has a very wide distribution in the Old World, ranging from Spain (an isolated population) and northern France through central and eastern Europe all across northern and central Asia to the Pacific coast of Russia and China. This is a short account of what happened one fine Monday around noon, March 21st of 2011, while I was at work. It won’t need many accompanying words, so I won’t deliver many.

2011 55

2011 Russia China France 55

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2015

Quarter of a century ago, these birds were believed to breed only in the north of Europe, in Fennoscandia and Russia, and just migrate through these areas. Early morning finds me driving southeast through spruce forests, mountain meadows, pastures and an occasional potato field, across Mt. Zlatar in western Serbia, heading towards the town of Sjenica and, behind it, the bridge on the River Vapa. As we go lower, from glorious sunshine, we enter the morning fog.

2015 80

2015 Russia ALA Breeders 80

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2011

High pressure over mainland Europe sweeping them across from Russia before strong southerly/southeasterley winds nudging them north and east over the North Sea and into Britain; this Autumn/Winter may turn out to be one of the best in recent memory for European White-fronted Geese numbers in Britain. Anyone thinking that it’s time to slow down needs to think again.

Geese 67

Geese 2011 Russia Europe 67

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

With populations plunging dramatically over the last decade, researchers from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Birds Russia, and a number of other conservation organizations made the always-controversial call to pluck eggs from the imperiled wild population and establish a captive breeding program as a final hedge against extinction.

2012 58

2012 Russia Eggs Research 58

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

In June of 2013 he embarked on a whirlwind tour of Europe, spotting birds in Iceland , Russia , Finland , and, as you’re about to find out, Sweden: We took a quick flight from Helsinki and arrived in Stockholm, Sweden, arriving at our fourth country on this trip. Joseph Chiera is a Masters student in Animal Behavior and Conservation at Hunter College in NYC and a “somewhat newbie” to birding.

Sweden 66

Sweden 2014 Denmark Finland 66

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2017

Since all birds are brighter on the other side of the fence, the Azure Tit became something of a mythical creature, its plumage mirroring the image of Russia as a wintery place where Azure T**s would swirl around Father Frost like snowflakes in a storm. My transition from being a kid interested in all kinds of animals to being a full-on birder happened when I was around 11 years old, in the early 1980s (oh dear!).

2017 40

2017 Kazakhstan Russia Germany 40

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2014

The other sub-species, Calidris canutus roselaari , migrates along the Pacific Coast and breeds in Alaska and the Wrangel Island in Russia. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed the “Rufa” population of Red Knot ( Calidris canutus rufa ) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Endangered Species 56

Endangered Species 2014 Delaware Argentina 56

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2016

Although some sub-populations have shown recent increases (including in Greece, Montenegro, Albania, Bulgaria, Russia and Turkey), this species’s population is suspected to have decreased rapidly over the last three generations… “Former declines were primarily caused by wetland drainage, shooting and persecution by fishers. Out of just under 200 bird species I observed this year in SE Europe, there are 6 threatened species.

2016 67

2016 Montenegro Bulgaria Greece 67