MADNESS OF TORY GOVERNMENT - BADGER CULL COSTS £7,560 EACH - Updated 22 Feb., 2018

Update 22 Feb., 2018 -- PM May signed a new extension of Badger cull to spread it even further.  

Update 9 April, 2017
The Government now extend the cull of Badgers to Wales and other England counties.
There  must be more in that Method of Madness of the Government? Most probably money for their pockets. 

Update 20 Dec.,2016 --
A new report revealed that 10,000 badgers had been killed this year. Guess the cost.

Money is always available for what the Tory Government wants to do but not for the poor and disabled.

Update: 11 Aug., 2016 --
The cull has now been extended to Gloucestershire

A report in the Daily Mirror revealed the real cost of the badger cull last year. It was twice as much as the Government makes us believe, as always.  The original estimated cost of £3,350 was actual £7,560.

Altogether there were 588 badgers shot dead and it cost the taxpayers £4.49million.

So far the Tories calmly spent £16.7million and killed 2,449 since 2013 since badger cull was started again.  This boils down to £6,850 each animal. The figure includes £2.5million for the delay in 2012 which is even more baffling that a delay would cost £2.5million. How do you make that out?

Referring back to the Tories’ austerity introduced at the same time and yet they are happily spending £16,7million on a badger cull of which people objected from a star

 They also want to bring back fox hunting but with the win of Jeremy Corbyn as a strong Labour Leader it is doubtful now. It was Labour to ban fox hunting.

The Elite and Tories had always loved hunting sports throughout the centuries. 

However, they surely must realize that times and people outlook have changed.

The cull, so far, was only allowed in Somerset and Gloucestershire which makes you wonder what the cost will be if it is expanding across England. Already there are plans to include Dorset to kill 2,038 badgers this year.  It will then escalate to £12million.

Badger Trust chief Dominic Dyer said: “Based on costs of badger culling to date, the Government could spend a further £12milliom. Not only is the badger culling a disastrous failure on scientific and animal welfare grounds, but it’s also a huge burden on the taxpayers.”

In Wales they are running a vaccination program which costs only £660 per badger. Compare this with 2,036 badger killed costing £16,7million and to vaccinate 25,000 badgers would cost £16,7million.

Do PM David Cameron and his elite ever compare costs or do they just wilfully go ahead because it is not their money. It looks that way and it is nothing but irresponsibility and not doing their job they should be doing.

There is also a claim that many young badgers were made orphans.

Another accusation came up for the Government ignoring scientific evidence of which many scientists dispute that badgers are passing on TB to such an extent that a cull is necessary. 

However, the Government seems to agree with the powerful farmers’ lobby. They bound to be big landowners and therefore they are Tories and some are also donors Cameron would not like to cross swords with them and lose their support..

Another alternative would be to vaccinate the cattle which would be far cheaper and less time consuming. It had been suggested many a times before.

ELEPHANTS IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION-- Updated 22 May, 2017

Update 22 May, 2017 --
Poachers have new tactic which is, unfortunately, more effective as well as more safe to be caught.

They poison the waterholes!

At the moment there are more elephants killed than born.

UPDATED: 10 June, 2015 -- Police caught two shipments totalling seven tonnes Ivory. They arrested three suspected top men of an suspected Ivory smuggling ring. It is also thought they finance terrorists.

Tycoon Abdurahman Mohammed Sheikh was arrested with his two sons at his mansions 

3.7 tonnes from Singapore was worth £40million and it was the second largest from Kenya since 2002. The other shipment was intercepted from Thailand which had 511 raw task and hidden in containers of tea. Both were destined for the Far East. Police Officer will investigate further and find more suspects. Daily Mirror revealed last year cartels are linked to  British terrorist Samantha Lewthwaite to finance attacks. The illegal Ivory trade is worth £4.5billion.

The ivory trade has raised its ugly head an again and the illegal killing increased last year – 2012.

In 1989 Kenya’s President Daniel Arap Moi set fired to 1`2 tonnes of confiscated elephant task, the value was hundreds of thousands of pounds at that time. Soon after CITES the Convention on International trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora made it law to ban trade in ivory. After this the demand went down drastically. It was hoped than the elephant population would increase.

For unknown reason the trade in ivory increased again a decade ago. Last year was the highest number, so far, of elephant being killed and their task removed. The biggest seizure so far was in Malaysia last month. They discovered 24 tonnes which are 1,500 tonnes, worth £12.4million and death of 750 elephants.

Between January and March in 2012 an incredible 50 per cent of elephant in Cameroon’s Bouba Ndjida National Park were slaughter by bandits.

March 22, 2012  -- 22 elephant corpses were found in Garamba National Park. They way they were positioned it was thought they grouped together to protect their young. All been shot from above and it looked that a helicopter was used.

October 2012 in Hong Kong a record of 3.81 tonnes of ivory was seized. It was the biggest haul in China. The 1,209 tusk and ivory pieces were on board of a ship coming from Tanzania.

October  31, 2012 in Tanzania was 200 tusks were discovered.

The conservationist Jan Goodall suggest that the demand in the last decade had rising because of a number of people getting very rich especially in China.  Tom Milliken director of TRAFFIC which is the wildlife trade monitoring network explains ivory has raised substantial in price over the last decade. In China it is even a status symbol to use chopstick mad from ivory. By now it is the sterling silver of the Far East.  He explains further that China still has that status obsession which is a link to the imperial past.

The other markets are the tourist markets in Thailand which are full of trinket and ornamental carving made from ivory. People still buying it and even the young ones. They know it is ivory but will they know it is from poaching elephants?

Also the West has its impacting demand.  Since travelling is so available the Western tourists are buying these goods and bringing them back as gift and souvenirs. There are enough bangles, beads and brooches to make you look beautiful it does not have to ivory.

Apparently the Chinese government became very alert to illegal ivory trade and made two ivory seizures a day scanning ship containers. Also the luggage and bags are being searched which are brought back by Chinese nationals.

All these successes don’t seem to deter the poachers and trade. Mr Milliken points out that it is the country which don’t report a seizure are heavily involved in the illegal trade such as Thailand, Nigeria and Cameroon.

Ms Goodall thinks that education could have a great impact and she explains that some people who bring ivory over the border don’t even know that it is illegal. Therefore, a good campaign would make an impact.

Chinese basketball star Yao Ming who is the equivalent of David Beckham had joint the fight. It will influence the illegal trade greatly. He made a film standing next to dead rhinos and elephants to show the people what happens in other country. It will be a powerful message being such a well know star. Also Jackie Chan is getting involved and tried to send out a powerful message.

Mr Milliken stated further that in the eighties Japan had half of the illegal trade and today it is only one per cent. This proves that a powerful campaign can turn things around.

Ms Goodall also contacted David Attenborough to ADD his name and influence to the campaign. She said that it not only the animals get killed, it is also Park Rangers.  In the Tsavo National Park in Kenya there were 12 park Rangers killed and 60 poachers over six year. Yet, they still do it. 

The problem is that when a Park Ranger is killed the family automatically loses their homes and the children can’t go to school any more which is totally unfair because the Park Ranger gave his life. She also campaigns for more contribution to pay the Park Rangers and their families especially when the ranger is killed.

ELEPHANTS BEMOAN THEIR DEAD. MOTHER HAD BEEN KILLED AND THE VERY YOUNG BABY TOUCHING HER HOPING SHE WILL WAKE UP AGAIN.  IS IT NOT A VERY SAD PICTURE?  IT SHOULD PUT THE HUMANS TO SHAME  --  BUT WILL IT?

HARP SEAL -- Updated 27 March, 2015

UPDATE:  A news report stated that around halve a million seals will be slaughter and not only for their fur but their bladder and various parts for the medical Asian \market.  Half a million must have an awful impact on the seal population.  The demand will stop when their is not more seals. Human beings will not come to their senses before then.

HARP SEAL PUP

The big brown eyes and the creamy coat makes the harp seal pup so adorable. This also played part with the public putting pressure on to changed the law for the killing of pups.

How can any one kill such a beautiful, adorable pup?

HARP SEAL ADULT

The evolution of millions of years changed the harp seal from a land animal into what it is today. It is thought in those days it could have been related to Bears. When they adopted their new habitat their limbs have become fins.

Seals bodies, for protection from the icy cold water, are covered with blubber. It is a fatty tissue and makes the body stream line. The seal is able to swim at a high speed.

Harp seals cover a great distance and swim between the Arctic which is their summer feeding ground. From there they migrate to North Atlantic for their winter and breeding grounds. They often leap out of the water like dolphins.

All seals are known for great divers. They hyperventilate which if filling their blood and tissue with dissolved oxygen before they dive. After that they breathe out to lessen buoyancy which leaves only little air in their lungs.

Most seals have only a five minutes dive but it has been known that harp seals can dive up to 15 minutes.

COATS AND COLOURS

The colours of their coats can vary. It also changes when the seals get older. The adult seal has a light silvery grey but its face is black. He also has a horseshoe shaped black band which runs along the flanks and across the back. Females coats are paler and may also be spotted.

HABITAT AND DIET

Most of the time the harp seal is swimming in the open seas between the Arctic and Atlantic. It also had been spotted off costs of Europe and Asia from Severnaya Cemlya and Cape Chelyuskin to the North of Norway, including the Kara Swa, Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, White Seas, Spitzbergen (Svalhard) and Jan Mayen island. Another place is east and west Greenland, Baffin Island, Southampton Island, Labrador, the east coast of Newfoundland and the Gulf of St Lawrence.  Stragglers are sometimes in Hudson Bay and off the north cost of Iceland.

Adult harp seals hunt in groups. They diet is fish like capelin, herring, redfish and arctic cod. Young harp seals hunt alone for crustaceans and small fish.

Fisherman complain about the amount of fish they eat but research shows that the harp seal eats on average only Can $ 15 worth of fish a year.

FAMILY LIFE

The harp seal breed on the Arctic icefields. They chose an area which has hammock-like ice which gives some protection to the pups. Their most favoured breeding grounds are the White Sea, the Greenland Sea north of Jan Mayen island and the Newfoundland area.

The females don’t come out of the water till the pup is to be born. When they come on land they create big communal nursery. They make a hole in the ice to have an access to the sea below. At two weeks after the birth the female comes into oestrus.  There then leave the icefield and joins the noisy males. The males were gathering near the breeding ground. They were hoping to attract a female when their birth is over.  A male harp seal mates only with one female.

When the new pup is born it is 90cm long and weighs 6-10kg. Its coat at birth is of long, white- silky fur.  This beautiful coat costs many their live.  Because after a week it moults then when they four weeks old their coat is so different with its spotted, black or dark grey colour.

The baby suckles for about 10 to 12 days growing thick blubber. It sustains them till it learns how to hunt themselves.

After the breeding season is over they go back into the ocean to feed. It had been noticed they don’t cross
the Atlantic.  Seals from White Sea are not found in the northwest of the Atlantic. Seals from Newfoundland hardly venture further than the south of Greenland.

SEAL HUNTERS AND CONSERVATION

Seal hunters killing each year pups aged between two and ten days. It is that snowy white coats which is so in demand and sold to the fur trade.  Animals' lovers have been fighting this cruel killing for decade.  It still goes on both side of the North Atlantic.

Unfortunately, for the seal hunters and the fisherman it is a great harvest. They have the opinion as long 250,000 pups are born a cull of 90,000 is justifiable. The arithmetic is made in the east of the Atlantic. None of them will listen and stop. The only way to stop it if the demand for that beautiful seal coat drops.

In spite of all that killing which is disgusting and goes without saying. Only one thing the species is not threatened form extinction. At least at the moment. Even the seal hunters only kill a quota to make sure the species will not decline in number. Norway, Canada and Greenland agreed to a quota.

Apparently the real threat comes from increasing number of fisher boats.  The capelin is the most important fish for the harp seal but they are being fished in increasing tonnage by man.