Fluffy Friday #14

Or should it be Feathery Friday...  I wasn't sure what to treat you with this Friday but on my way to work this morning I spotted a beautiful Chaffinch and thought what a lovely star of Fluffy (Feathery) Friday s/he would be!

More about the Chaffinch

Image source.

Ever heard of the Pot Plant Owl?

From Care2.

The Pot Plant Owl is just that, a wild Spotted Eagle Owl that nests in a potted plant on the balcony of a house in Johannesburg, South Africa. For the third year she is currently raising her chicks there.

Close by is a 30 hectare greenbelt with a protected wetland running through it where Pot Plant Owl and her mate hunt for food (such as insects, rodents and small birds). The wetland is also been home to an endangered species - the African Giant Bull Frog amongst other things.

In January this year, a developer brought began clearing the trees with a bulldozer and is now requesting permission to build houses on this protected wetland. In South Africa, developers have a habit of winning. 

According to South African law, wetlands are supposed to be protected, but the Goverment department in charge of enforcing this law appears to be in favour of the development.

If the development does go ahead, the wetland will be destroyed, along with all the inhabitants of the wetland which includes the family of owls who find their food in this area.

Please spare a moment to sign this petition voicing your support to save the wetland.

What happened in Russia?

 Source.

After my numerous posts on the first Tiger Summit (International Tiger Conservation Forum) in St. Petersburg it's about time we had an update as to what was achieved from this important meeting.  I am pleased to report that World Leaders have backed a Global Tiger Recovery Programme in the hope of doubling tiger numbers by 2022 (which just happens to be the next Year of the Tiger) and agreed to provide funding to achieve this goal.  

Governments have promised around 127 million dollars and the World Bank has offered a loan package worth $100 million to Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal to help support tiger conservation work.  Also the Global Environment Facility has pledged $12 million to regional tiger projects.  As well as this, actor Leonardo Dicaprio has offered a personal donation of $1 million to the WWF supporting their work with the tigers!  

Overall WWF has committed $50 million over five years on tiger conservation and they hope to increase this to $85 million.  Despite this excellent start to funding which will help get action underway more funding is still needed from the international community in the coming months.

During the next six months the 13 countries will meet again in the hope of securing more money and the long term financing of the plan will be finalised in July 2011.  The countries will again reconvene in December 2011 to monitor how well the plan is working.

WWF's petition is still open for signatures just to keep this issue in the forefront.

Sable Island Seals

 

 Source.

A proposal prepared for the Government of Canada has recently been brought to light, the proposal being 220,000 grey seals killed and incinerated in their protected Sable Island nursery.  If this were to go ahead it would run at birthing time each year for about five years.  At the moment this is just a proposal so please sign this petition to urge the Canadian government to reject this and spare the Sable Island's grey seal population from slaughter ensuring that their island remains a protected habitat for seals.

Suki's Serene Sunday #3

Snow descended on us this week and Suki loved it!

Fluffy Friday #13

 Source

I was planning on a snow-related Fluffy Friday this week since I love to celebrate all things snowy but then I came across these little fellows and I just couldn't resist!  They are called Tarsiers but remind me and awful lot of the adorable Slow Loris.

Happy Friday!

Help the Australian Government with a big decision

A while back I posted about the Australian government being on the verge of a big decision regarding the creation of the largest network of marine protected areas in the world.  If you have not yet taken action on this please click here to be taken to a readily prepared e-mail to The Hon. Tony Burke, Minister For Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population And Communities.  It will take less than two minutes for you to fill in a few details and hit send, this action could help save the lives of whales, dolphins and other marine life.  The WDCS is reporting that over 5,000 supporters have protested already but the more the merrier!

Lunchtime Links

Happy December!

As it has been a snowy few days I have been staying indoors surfing the net and I've come across some interesting links I think worth sharing with you. 

Have a Compassionate Christmas with Animal Aid

RSPCA still need people to participate in their Great Big Rabbit Survey

Help IFAW out with their survey

And finally some things to make you feel warm and fuzzy...

Cats who LIKE water!(Well, it does have something to do with food...)

Ever heard of an agoraphobic hare?

Newborn baby Cheetah, awwww.