Kavaan Sentenced to Freedom

Update: Kavaan, the lonely elephant who has spent 35 years in captivity at an Islamabad zoo, was loaded into a Russian cargo jet today for a flight to his new life in a Cambodian elephant refuge where he will enjoy the company of other Asian elephants. Kavaan was slowly cajoled into entering his transportation crate backwards during the night. His jet is scheduled to leave on Monday for Cambodia. Kavaan was seriously overweight from a diet of 550 lbs of sugar cane. He was put on a diet and lost one thousand pounds over the past three months. The Asian elephant ladies awaiting his arrival should appreciate his new figure. His foot condition caused by confinement with chains will require more treatment in Cambodia.

Kavaan lost his mate, Saheli, in 2012. She developed a small food infection that went untreated ending in gangreen. Kavaan suffered from the lost, exhibiting stereotypical behaviors of boredom and misery. Celebrity Cher contributed to rescuing Kavaan through her non-profit Four Paws. A documentary is being made of Kavaan's journey to freedom.

Mara in the zoo

Further: Readers of the post below about the imprisoned Asian elephant Kavaan, are probably wondering how US Person expects a poor nation like Pakistan to move a full grown bull elephant to Cambodia, four thousand kilometers away during a pandemic? The answer is: very carefully by air. It is not an impossible task--case in point--the relocation of Mara, a fifty year old female Asian elephant from the Buenos Aires zoo to a sanctuary in Brazil. The border between Brazil and Argentina was closed in early May when Mara arrived by truck en route to the sanctuary 1700 miles from her prison in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

The zoo was the height of fashion in 1904 when an elephant enclosure was built to resemble a Hindu temple. [photo] Mara had been imprisoned in the small enclosure with two African elephants for two decades. Mara did not get along with a different a race, a problem that should be familiar to humans.  Keepers were forced to alternate exhibiting Mara outside; when the African elephants were outside, Mara was forced to stand for extended periods in a cage.   Before that she performed in a circus, where she killed one of her captors.  She was an unhappy elephant exhibiting stereotypical swaying of distress.

Mara's salvation began when the city took over running the zoo and began rethinking the concept of keeping exotic animals in captivity in response to citizens' protests. Twenty-five hundred animals were confined in just 42 acres in 2016. Planners decided to replace the zoo with an "ecopark" where residents could learn about conservation and interact with indigenous animals being rehabilitated for release to the wild. Just two years before, Argentina became one of the first nations to recognize the person-hood of a great ape, Sandra, who also lived at the zoo.  The massive logistic hurdles were eventually overcome, and by spring of this year 861 animals had been relocated to sanctuaries.

Understandably Mara's international movement to the Mato Grasso sanctuary required a mound of paperwork, including an investigation into Mara's previous life.  She had grown up in an Indian work camp and was purchased by the Tejidor family, circus owners, from a Hamburg zoo.  The unfortunate Mara had spent her entire life in captivity.  Despite great perseverance in coordinating her translocation to Brazil, her human guardians were thwarted by the pandemic.  Argentina imposed one of the strictest lockdowns on Earth.  Fortunately authorities were eager to make Mara's move possible.  The arduous journey 1700 journey exhausted Mara, but she survived the final forty miles of rough road to the trees, grass, and open space of the sanctuary.  She bonded quickly with another Asia elephant, Rana, after being starved of company during many years of isolation.  Freedom was a long time coming for Mara, but she is in a much better place now.  GREEN KUDOS to Buenos Aires!

{04.08.20} Prison reformers think that incarceration in a "supermax" prison where inmates  are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day, is like being buried alive. Prisoners are literally driven insane by the endless confinement. Imprisonment for elephants, a highly intelligent and social animal is has similar psychological effects which can be observed in their daily behaviors. There is fantastic news for one imprisoned male elephant whose only crime is being an elephant. Kaavan, Sri Lankan elephant given to the Islamabad Zoo thirty five years ago is to be set free from his sterile condition and sent to a Cambodian refuge where he can roam free with other rescued elephants. The Islamabad High Court ruled on May 22nd that Kaavan be relocated to Cambodia. Pakistan does not have such a facility, so the authorities chose the elephant sanctuary abroad. Kaavan was given to Pakistan by Sri Lanka as a gift to strengthen bilateral relations in 1985 without considering the effects of captivity or the elephant's right to live freely.

credit: D. Jayantha

Kavaan got a mate in 1990, but Saheli died in 2012. Since then Kavann has been alone in his cell. He began to exhibit symptoms of boredom, lethargy, stress, and later showing no respect for authority, aggression. This development caused his keepers to further restrict his movements by chaining him. Animal welfare experts have complained about treatment of captive elephants as they often experience mistreatment at the hands of their captors. Kavaan imprisonment captured worldwide attention. Animal rights activist, including the celebrity Cher, campaigned for his release beginning in 2016. A petition for his release gained 400,000 signatures. The court's decision delighted elephant advocates.

Transferring Kavaan to a foreign country will undoubtedly be very stressful for the thirty-five year old; his relocation must be handled with utmost care and respect.  But the benefits to Kavaan being able to move freely and socialize with others of his kind are immeasurable.  A Sri Lankan biologist who studies elephant social behavior says putting an elephant in captivity is like putting humans in solitary confinement indefinitely.  "Deprivation of social interactions is a form of trauma, or one might even say torture.”  Although bull elephants are more solitary than females, they still need relationships with other elephants.  Elephants have long played a central role in Sri Lakan culture, but despite their importance to humans, they are often trained with cruel beating and stabbing with sharp ankus, or bull hooks.  Sri Lanka holds the world's record for the highest number of annual Asian elephant deaths.  Recently an old, emaciated and sick elephant, Tikiri, was forced to parade in a religious pageant until she fell dead.  May Tikiri rest with her kin in peace.

'Toontime: Still Losing

credit: P. Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune; Wackydoodle sez: Aliens voted twice!

Trumpillini had to pay 3+ million for the Wisconsin recount in the vain hope he could collect more votes and perhaps flip the state. Of course that hope is delusional, but it won't stop the narcissist-in-chief from formenting a false narrative that the election was stolen by November Criminals. In fact, the Milwaukee recount ended with Biden collecting 132 more votes than the original canvass. At least Killer has told reporters that he would leave the White House if the College confirms the popular vote on January 6th (in his typical inflammatory fashion, he backtracked on that statement). Until then he will continue to rant on-line, to the media, and bring his anti-democratic attempt to disenfranchise millions of Americans all the way to a packed conservative Supreme Court. This propaganda campaign is a profound disservice to the nation's political integrity. The for-profit press bears some responsibilty by obsessively repeating his deranged propaganda.

US COVID DEATHS (est.): 281,000

Pebble Mine Denied Corps Permit

The Army Corp of Engineers denied a clean water permit for the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay Alaska. The denial was a reversal of a previous finding tha the proposed open pit copper and gold mine would not adversely affect the salmon fishing industry in the area. The decision is likely a lethal blow to the project which has survived two administrations and reversals of fortune. Owner Pebble Partnership said it would appeal the discharge permit denial. A salmon industry spokesman said, “Sometimes a project is so bad, so indefensible, that the politics fall to the wayside and we get the right decision. That is what happened today,” Environmental groups now want the Biden administration to impose permanent protection for the Bristol Bay watershed after its fate being legally whip-sawed for a decade. Joe Biden has said he opposses the project, since the sallmon runs that supply half of the world's sockeye salmon are incompatible with a mine discharging toxic wastes. Alaska's Repugnant congressional delegation largely applauded the decision. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said in a statement, it was “the wrong mine in the wrong place.” Her opposition became clear this summer after tapes were released in which the Pebble CEO can be heard bragging about his close relationship with government officials.

Creature Feature: This Squirrel is Having a Happy Thanksgiving!

Steady on! Ferrmenting pear gave this backyard denizen some holidaze cheer. Obviously enjoying his one-squirrel party, he was fine the next day, coming back for a hangover breakfast. Happy Thanksgiving!

Australia's most iconic animal after the kangaroo, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), [photo credit: Reuters] is losing its habitat at a threatening rate. The animal is one of five living monotremes--mammals which lay eggs--making it an archaic evolutionary form. It is one of the few mammals that is venomous. Males have a spur on their back legs that can deliver an excruciatingly painful wound to humans. Platypus habitat in Australia has shrunk by 22% says new research, causing scientists and Australian conservation organizations to call for listing as a threatened species under national laws. Research has found that since 1990 suitable habitat has declined by an area almost three times the size of Tasmania.

Platypus are crepuscular, elusive, and there has been no long term monitoring of their populations making quantification of their decline possible. New South Wales and Queensland apparently have the sharpest population declines. The animal is thought to be extinct in South Australia. Victoria's state scientific advisory board has recently recommended an official listing of vulnerable for the platypus. In some areas affected by bushfires, palypuses have never returned. Being aquatic, they are affected by degraded water quality and flow diminution caused by human development and drought.

Australia's current federal government is considering amending the nation's environmental laws to allow more state and territorial approval powers. Greens and Labour have called the proposed changes a "sham". A report on the failures of Australia's environmental laws by the Australian Conservation Foundation was given to the government last month, but the proposed legislation does nothing to address key failures of national environmental law according to the report's chair. Government records show the proposed devolution of power to states was decided before the conservation report was submitted. The Abbott government has a standing policy of "streamlining" regulation similar to the discredited, anti-science Trump regime in the US.

'Toontime: The Loser Will Return

credit KAL, Counterpoint.com

So, from now until January 20th when the US Marshalls and Secret Service escort him from the Room Without Corners, we all live in Trumplandia, a sickening carnival ride of mendacity, reality-TV, and authoritarian ineptitude* while a quarter million fellow citizens are laid to rest. Starring, who else, 'Killer Trumpillini' and his legion of pettifoggers headed by his favorite flying monkey, Rudy 'Gouly'--neither of whom has any shame, or respect for democratic process.   US Person feels for Joe, tasked with herding cats in an attempt to bring some unity and civility back to our beleaguered political process. The best thing we can do is help Joe by taking back control of the Senate, otherwise his administration will be a four year exercise in frustration. The other to-do item is prosecution of the Antichrist, otherwise he will be back in 2024, like another re-run of "I love Lucy". All caps for Killer: YOU LOST THE ELECTION!--time to get out of Dodge.

credit: J. Danzinger, Rutland Herald; Wackydoodle sez: It was a lot easier going down!

 

*The latest wing-nuttery to emerge from the fevered legal brains on the extreme right, is an  unsupported conspiracy allegation rivaling Hillary's "vast right-wing conspiracy" claim she made in defense of her husband. Roughly it argues the electronic voting machines made by Dominion Voting Systems were rigged using a secret algorithm controlled remotely by Democrats from Germany and Venezuela that caused votes to be switched. This incomprehensible story features leading roles by George Soros, Antifa, the media, and the dead Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez, and is especially favored by the current delusional White House occupant and Q ANON. US does not mean to be RUDE, but why not throw in Pope Francis and the Illuminati, Sydney, since you covered everybody else? Absurd--you bet! Election officials all over the country have publicly stated there is no evidence of electronic vote switching. The facts keep getting in the way of Killer's attempted coup. 

Has it happened before that a state legislature sends its own slate of electors to Congress for counting? Yes, 1876, when Republican Rutherford B. Hayes won a contested election in Congress over Democrat Tilden by one electoral vote.  It took a Congressional commission and a political deal to end Reconstruction to decide the election. All of this mess led to the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which provides that when a state certifies an alternative slate of electors, Congress decides which votes to count. As US Person recalls, Oregon was one of three states in which two slates of Electors were sent to Congress.  Under Section Two of the title governing failed elections, state legislators may choose a slate of Electors when the election "fails to make a choice.", originally meant to apply to a specific situation.  electors must win with a majority, not a mere plurality. However, It could be argued that massive vote fraud could be a  reason for invalidating an election outcome. But here Trump is out of luck; in the case of the 2020 election the results are unequivocal and fair by all rational accounts. Biden won swing states handily, and these states have previously decided by law to chose their Electors according to the state's popular vote. The close Florida vote in 2000, is simply a factually different case.

The last nail in this sorry saga many have been driven home when Michigan GOP legislators invited to the VWH on Friday, told the Antichrist that they had to follow the law, not his wishes. The best way to prevent this psycho-drama from happening repeatedly is to get rid of the anachronistic Electoral College. Full stop.
 

His loss is finally sinking in....

Florida's Reefs Are Dying

mostly dead elkhorn thicket, Looe Key, FL; credit:K, Nedimyer

A new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Maryland say that only 2% of Florida's reef system remains in tact. Analyzing data from 2012 to 2018, the report characterizes the outlook for living coral reef as "dire". The report concludes that climate change causing ocean warming and acidification is the major cause of coral die-offs. Coral reefs are widely considered to be the most diverse marine environment, responsible for supporting over 25% of marine life. Along the populated Florida coast pollution and over-development are additional stressors leading to unhealthy corals. What corals remain are types marine scientists refer to as "weedy" species that are resilient, but are not stony coral, the major reef builders important to bio- diversity. 

Last year NOAA announced a plan to revitalize seven reef sites arouind Floriad in a decades long effort to preserve some of what remains. The "Iconic Reefs" project calls for restoring nearly three million square feet of the Florida Reef Tract, about the size of 62 football fields. Growing corals in the laboratory and transplanting them in Nature has proved successful over the past fifteen years. The project will escalate these techniques to large-scale replanting. In the first phase, efforts will focus on transplanting elkhorn and staghorn corals that are fast growing, and remove invasive species like algae and snails while reintroducing sea urchins and crabs that help keep reefs cleand and healthy. The initial goal is to grow coral cover from 2% to 15% . The project's second phase will focus on slowing growing foundational species propagated from surviving or rescued colonies with the goal of establishing self-sustaining colonies that return coral cover to its historic 25% level.

Healthy coral reefs are not just visually stunning, but have economic value. Florida's reefs are estimated to be worth $8 million to the state's economy and are are responsible for 70,000 local jobs. Scientist have been studying ways to replant reefs that are damaged from ship strikes and storms. There is hope that the same techniques can be used to replace corals killed by climate change. Legislation was introduced into Congress last year, the Restoring Resilient Reefs Act, sponsored by legislators from Florida and Hawaii, to establish a national task force and set strategies for reef restoration. Experts do not think restoration of corals to pre-industrial levels is possbile, but do think restoration and management efforts can buy time for corals to adapt to new environmental conditions.