Vegan News 3.25.13

World’s grooviest endangered frog bred in captivity for for first time. Endangered because of loss of habitat and a fungal disease. “It’s still up for scientific debate whether the lethal explosion of chytridiomycosis (a fungal disease) worldwide is a result of: African frogs being traded around the world for scientific research and pregnancy testing starting in the 20th century, climate change, or both.”

Backyard chickens: Cute, trendy spreaders of salmonella. “Backyard chickens have become a coveted suburban accessory, one that packages cuteness, convenience and local food production in one fluffy feathered package. But animal husbandry can be a nasty business, a fact that’s often glossed over by poultry partisans like Martha Stewart and New Yorker writer Susan Orlean. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report doesn’t do gloss. In its latest edition, this chronicle of all things contagious reports on a 2012 salmonella outbreak among 195 people in 27 states. Most had had contact with live chickens, and many had purchased the birds from an Ohio mail-order hatchery for backyard flocks.”

With demand rising, companies offer vegan vacations. “‘The idea struck me when I went on a holiday and got fed up trying to find my kind of food,’ says Nandini Gulati, health coach with The Sanctuary for Health and Reconnection to Animals and Nature (Sharan). This NGO, which works to promote an ecologically sustainable, compassionate lifestyle, recently launched vegan wellness weekends in association with Mystic Asia. The Indian Vegan Society also offers vegan vacations. ‘We have a vegan centre that acts as a home for tourists. We have a cottage that people can book for vacations,’ says Shankar Narayan, who founded the society in 2004 to bring together like-minded people. ‘It is situated in a three-acre hillside plot near Udupi.'”

Photo credit: Nick in exsilio via Flickr