Vegan News 6.20.13

Gloomy Portraits of Zoo Animals Living In their Manmade Worlds. “When people take pictures of captive animals in zoos, oftentimes their goal is to shoot the images in a way that makes the animals appear to be in the wild. Photographer Daniel Zakharov does no such thing. Rather than make the glass, bars, and concrete disappear off to the sides of the frame, Zakharov intentionally captures the fact that the animals are found in unnatural environments.

Birds ‘show value of conservation investments.’ “The plights of the world’s threatened birds show the value of investing in conservation, according to campaigners. One in eight of the world’s birds is currently considered threatened. A report by the Birdlife Partnership links continuing declines to deteriorating biodiversity, but it also highlights successfully protected species and habitats. Conservationists suggest this shows how the estimated $80bn (£50bn) price tag of conserving nature is worthwhile. Last year, scientists suggested it would cost about $5bn to reduce the extinction threat for all threatened wildlife, and up to $76bn to maintain a global network of protected areas. ‘The total sums may sound large, but they are small in terms of government budgets, and they should be seen as investments, not bills,’ said Dr Stuart Butchart, Birdlife’s head of science.

Group Petitions Gary Mayor To Close Down Animal Shelter. “Charlene Swift of the Indiana Save a Dog Rescue started a petition on Change.org because she thinks the Gary animal control unit has had problems for months. ‘The ACO officers show no transparency, we find out after the fact that dogs were euthanized,’ she says. ‘We’d go show up