Today is my birthday.

Lord, thank you for giving me the compassion that motivates me to want to make a difference every day, for those that cannot speak for, or defend, themselves.

Thank you for giving me the strength to keep moving forward in my animal advocacy goals, no matter what the roadblocks.

Thank you for a healthy body and mind, that I can keep fighting the good fight, no matter what comes my way.

Thank you for opening my eyes and giving me life’s ups and downs, so I can see what truly matters in life.

Thank you for my personality – I am that larger than life, louder than everyone in the room, outspoken, take charge, fearless, thick-skinned, just jump in, JUST DO SOMETHING person when needed.

Thank you for the loving support and encouragement of my wonderful family, friends, and fellow advocates.

Thank you for blessing me with a very understanding husband.

Thank you for another beginning of a year where I promise to continue to make a difference.

Happy Birthday to me.

Killing Montana’s Wolves – No Science Required

In Montana, a centuries-old tragedy has unfolded since 2009, based on bigotry and hatred toward wolves. It is fueled by spurious statistics tailored to provide a rational for why these sentient beings should die. In this case, by public wolf hunts. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP), the agency responsible for wolf management, has stated from the beginning that wolf hunts are based on science. However, in 2011, I published a scientific paper that reviewed the wolf population data collected annually by MFWP. I found that the use of science was absent even when they had gathered their original data. This was confirmed when I contacted the biologist who oversaw the data collection, and asked him if any protocols were used to obtain their wolf counts on which management policies are based. He wrote back:

“Jay there are no protocols. No protocol would be necessary or even help really.”

Even in high school biology, students are taught that scientific protocol is mandatory when obtaining meaningful information. In fact, much of the wolf population “data” has been anecdotal information provided by the public, especially hunters, as to how many wolves they think they saw. The paper also debunked MFWP’s justifications for killing wolves in the first place: increasing levels of wolf-livestock conflicts and potential negative effects on prey population levels. Nevertheless, MFWP insists to this day that science is always used in their management process and when making policy decisions. Let’s see if that’s true.

Money Is The Higher Priority

By killing wolves via public hunts and agency control actions, MFWP ignores the available science that demonstrates how predators promote healthy ecosystems. From atop all food chains, predators produce far-reaching effects that ripple downward throughout ecosystems and influence what diseases will be expressed, what grass species will grow, and the quality of both fresh and salt water. Regardless, wolves are harvested by MFWP for money and convenience, like corn. Why? The most obvious answer is because “they can.” Although most of the wolves live in national forests which the public owns, society as a whole has not yet chosen to protect “their wolves.” So wolf managers do whatever suits them.

For example, MFWP is currently strapped for money and must continually look for additional sources of revenue. Profits from hunting wolves and other wildlife contribute, and they are making plans to sell conservations stamps to help fund wolf management. However, there is another problem. Over the past several years it has become more difficult for only five MFWP biologists to count, or even sample accurately, the entire wolf population in Montana. Therefore, MFWP has no idea how many wolves total live in the state. Nevertheless, they are required by the federal government to maintain a minimum population of 100 wolves that includes 10 breeding pairs. The remainder can be killed. But how many? Who’s counting?

Currently, MFWP uses “ . . . hunter observations as a cost effective means of gathering biological data to estimate the area occupied by wolves in Montana . . . ” as described in their 2013 annual report. In August 2012, MFWP conducted a survey of public attitudes towards wolves. In general, they found that Montanans were intolerant of wolves and dissatisfied with MFWP for not doing enough to kill them, and allowing the public to do so. Hunting quotas have increased ever since, along with more relaxed hunting regulations. Now, as a basis for management policy, MFWP obtains “objective data” from the people who paid for the opportunity to kill wolves.

Bad Science Or No Science?

Data are the infrastructure of any scientific investigation and should be collected using a scientific protocol that controls for and eliminates as much bias as possible. Impressions about wolf abundance from hunters is not science, because MFWP has not controlled for bias during data collection. For example:

• The hunters’ expertise of identifying wolves from coyotes under field conditions, especially at a distance, has never been evaluated.
• Hunters are not necessarily trained to collect data scientifically, i.e., always measure print size and is it a front or back paw? Is it a partial print? What device was used to measure the prints: a ruler or their finger?
• If scat is found, what is the diameter? The size of scats overlaps among wolves and coyotes. Do hunters know the difference?

No such qualifying questions or observations are made in the online observation form that hunters and others fill-out. Because they know bias is possible, MFWP claims they have a modeling system that will correct for it. But this is after the data has been collected. Models are used by scientists to help interpret raw data but remain simplified reflections of reality, often devoid of the actual complexities involved. Therefore, good data collection methods are paramount, because conclusions based on modeling are only as good as the quality of data being used. In other words, correct for bias during data collection rather than afterwards.

So, has MFWP learned how to apply their knowledge of science over the past several years? Let’s just say that ultimately, if you want to know what is happening with wolf management, follow the money, or lack of it. Money first, science . . . well, last anyway – or not at all.

What Can You Do?

Most of the wolves that are killed by the states, including Montana, live in national forests. Who owns national forests and everything in it? You do, assuming you pay your taxes. Therefore, tax money pays agencies to manage your property for you. You do the same if you pay rent. If the house you’re living in is crumbling around you, and if the manager or owner is not fixing the issues, would you remain silent? Of course not. You also live in another home called the ecosystem. It is crumbling around everyone, mostly from bad management.

After decades of trying, no one scientist or organization has been able to significantly reduce or end this kind of destruction. Why? Because the solution will come from the pubic when numerous people speak up simultaneously and say, “Stop!” Until that occurs, the needless deaths of wolves and other wildlife will continue indefinitely. They’re your wolves. Just Do something! A good start would be to contact those involved in creating the policies that kill wolves. Please speak up for these animals and other wildlife. Here are a few suggestions:

Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana, governor@mt.gov

Jeff Hagener, MFWP Director, jhagener@mt.gov

Mike Volesky, MFWP Deputy Director, MVolesky@mt.gov

Jim Williams, MFWP Wildlife Program Manager, jiwilliams@mt.gov

Related Animal Petition: CLICK HERE.

– Jay Mallonee 

From PTSD in a captive wolf to breaching whales in the Bering Sea, Jay Mallonee has studied the behavior of numerous animals.
Through his business of Wolf & Wildlife Studies, he researched the Fishtrap pack in northwest Montana for ten years and has written several scientific publications. Jay also wrote Timber – A Perfect Life, an account of his sixteen year relationship with a profound canine companion.

Happy, wonderful New Year!

People have such good intentions this time of year when it comes to making those New Year’s resolutions.

“I will go to the gym every day and lose that weight.”

“I will donate 15% of my salary to a charity.”

“I will have less clutter at home.”

But often, the grander promises get pushed back, and before you know it, another whole year has passed and you find yourself making those same resolutions again.

This year, why not try something on a smaller scale, but possibly way more impacting – why not try “a little more”.

This New Year, I will try:

“to be A Little More kinder.”

“to be A Little More compassionate.”

“to be A Little More grateful.”

“to be A Little More freer with my time.”

“to be A Little More giving of myself.”

“to be A Little More tolerant.”

“to be A Little More patient.”

“to be A Little More empathetic.”

“to be A Little More generous.”

“to be A Little More helpful.”

This New Year, I will try:

“to be A Little More LESS selfish.”

“to be A Little More LESS caring.”

“to be A Little More LESS excuse-making.”

“to be A Little More LESS involved.”

“to be A Little More LESS self-absorbed.”

“to be A Little More LESS fearful.”

“to be A Little More LESS of a procrastinator.”

…“to be A Little More.”

You just never know who YOU are making a difference for, when you just try a little more.

Just Do Something…a little more.

YOUR ‘Little More is up to you. But YOU can do it. We ALL can.

It’s YOUR New Year. How will YOU be making it count for an animal in need this year?
Think it, then do it – every day. It matters.

Happy New Year!

There are do-gooders, and then, there are do-gooders. Whether you are the former, or the latter, the majority of people feel that if they do just one charitable thing during the Holiday season that maybe they normally don’t do at any other time of year, that their obligation is done for the year, until next year.

How sad for them. How sad for those living lives of misery the other 364 days a year.

Being kind, compassionate, giving, aware, responsible and conscientious, is a way of life.  Doing the right thing, EVERY time, is a choice. A conscious decision made with someone else’s very best interest at heart. And it doesn’t matter if that someone else is a four-legged, or two-legged, living being.

What matters is that, if the ONLY thing that motivates you to be charitable is the Holiday season,
then you should live as if every day is the Holiday season.

Giving of yourself, extending yourself is a gift; it’s a blessing – it’s a privilege. If you are able-bodied, you can give of yourself. And with that, the possibilities are endless. Endless.

If you think you are too tired, too busy, too broke, too depressed, too lazy – welcome to the world of being alive. We all feel “too something” at one time or another.  If you’re up to your eyeballs in “too something” be thankful that you are. It means you’re living. It means you have choices you can make. It means you can do something to change your part of the world. It means that you can do something to change the world for someone else.

So many animals have so little freedom. Their lives aren’t their own. Their choices, lives and destinies are decided for them, based on who owns them, who captures them, who abuses them, and who neglects them.

The Holiday season is no different for these animals, than any other miserable day.  And for many animals, the Holiday season is tragically even worse.

It’s a poor excuse for someone to think that the only time of year that they need help make a difference is during the Holiday season. There is something wrong with society if the push to increase charitable acts only comes at Christmas time and at the end of year.

We can ALL make a difference EVERY DAY, in some way.  And, we should. We are ALL obligated to make the world a better place for ALL living beings.

Does everyone feel and think this way? Nope. Should we? Yep.

Be a 365 do-gooder, and encourage others to do the same.

And if you cannot bring yourself to be 365, then start NOW, planning for the next Holiday season. Because Christmas is coming, again.

Happy Holidays,

TAKING STEPS IN OTTER CONSERVATION IN AFRICA

IUCN recently updated their Red List for otters and the shocking news is that out of the 13 species of otter worldwide, 12 are declining in number. In fact the only species which is classified as “Stable” is the North American river otter.

Very little work has been done on otters in Africa as the focus is always on high profile species such as elephant and lion. Of course we all want to conserve these important animals, but otters are simply overlooked and even some biologists in Tanzania have confessed that they didn’t even know they existed in Africa.

Back in 1998, the IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group recognised that otters in Africa should be a priority and in 2004, they emphasised that there was a great need to establish a network of people working on the species. However, until now nothing had been done. The International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF) therefore decided we should hold a training workshop, as we have done in Asia before, where there is a similar lack of otter workers. This workshop was the first Pan-African event of this kind.

On July 20th – 25th 2015, 30 people from 10 sub-Saharan African countries met in Tanzania. They came from Benin, The Gambia, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania and had various backgrounds – people already working with otters through research or community work, park rangers, ecologists and those working in associated fields, such as wetland protection. The workshop was held at the College of Wildlife Management, Mweka, which is responsible for training most African park rangers and we hope they will now include otters in their curriculum to expand awareness.

There are three otter species in sub-Saharan Africa:

The spotted-necked otter is fairly widely distributed in sub-Saharan countries, from Senegal to Ethiopia and down to South Africa, but their detailed distribution is not fully understood:

The African clawless otter has the widest distribution of all the African otters although it is mostly absent in the Congo basin:

The Congo clawless otter has a very patchy distribution in the Congo Basin and little is known about its ecology and biology.  Most of what we do know about their behaviour has been learnt through the care and rearing of orphaned cubs in DRC:

All three species are listed in the IUCN Red List and in 2015 they were upgraded to “Near Threatened” from “Least Concern”.  However, this still creates a false impression that populations have recovered while there are strong reasons to suspect numbers continue to decline, largely due to increasing human population.  In fact the actual reassessment process highlighted the lack of modern information and that a lot of the data is over 25 years old.  Just think how things have changed in our world since then.  So the aim of the workshop was to train more people in field techniques, public awareness programmes, law enforcement and general conservation issues.

There are many global issues affecting our wildlife today – habitat loss, pollution, climate change and all the problems associated with poverty.  In addition, otters also face conflict with fishermen who see them as a problem because they take fish and damage nets – these are expensive losses to a poor family reliant on fishing as a livelihood.  

In some areas otters are hunted for fur and traditional medicines.  Some of these beliefs are a part of ancient tribal culture so it is difficult to change attitudes, but by working within the community it is possible to show that such practices are no longer acceptable.

However, the main problem is lack of awareness which leads to a lack of available funding for research, education and conservation.  Some work has started in Ethiopia, Benin and Malawi and the African Otter Outreach Project is working on Rubundo Island National Park in Tanzania.  A Facebook page has now been set up for people to post photographs of otters and their signs, linked to a confidential form for more detailed location information.  

And new data is already being received.  In 2005, possible spotted-necked otter spraint (droppings) was found at Lake Manyara, Tanzania, but their existence has now been confirmed by a sighting.  They have also been seen at Lake Kivu in Rwanda, and otter signs have been found at Liparamba Game Reserve, Tanzania.

In the long term we need to collaborate with others working in areas such as wetlands to develop more awareness programmes using the best communication methods, such as posters, TV or radio, meetings, etc.  We need to work with the community to identify alternative livelihoods to encourage people not to kill otters.  In The Gambia fishermen have been encouraged to turn to oyster culture which does not bring them into competition with otters.  But a real problem area will be the traditional use of otters and working with community leaders will be key to this.

But the highlight of the workshop had to be meeting Rita Chapman, Delphin, and Sico from DRC.  Back in 2010 IOSF received an email about a one-week old Congo clawless cub which had been found after its mother was killed by a hunter.  The cub was taken to Rita, a missionary, as she was known to care for various wild orphans – some of you will already have seen her photo in a previous Guest Blog.  To be honest, when she arrived no-one expected this tiny animal to survive but Mazu (Swahili for “noisy”) grew into a strong healthy adult and returned to the wild.  Throughout Mazu’s care, Rita was assisted by two local Congolese men, Delphin and Sico, and in fact they were sole carers in her last months before she returned to the wild, as Rita and her husband, Glen, were in USA for a sabbatical year.

In 2012, another cub, Kamiya, arrived and the Kikongo Otter Sanctuary was formed.  Rita and Glen were still away so Delphin and Sico took in this new otter and began the process of rearing her ready for release – she too returned to the wild.

There was so much interest in these animals from the local people that they rapidly became “celebrities” and indeed ambassadors for all otters.  Even government ministers visited!

Since then, the Kikongo Otter Sanctuary has continued working with the community and Delphin told us how he had been a hunter from the age of about 17 but following his experience with the otters he no longer hunts.  When asked by his friends why he told them “I am seeing that our animals are starting to disappear and you should also stop killing animals because in a few years we will have nothing left.”  He is now beginning to see a change in his friends too.  Sico used to be a fisherman and has found an otter caught in a fish trap.  Now he has fish ponds and plants fruit trees.  These two men are not scientists but they are totally devoted to conservation not just of otters but all wildlife.  They are a true inspiration in the way they work with their own community to help them to understand the impact they are having on their own area and its wildlife.

And just two short weeks after their return to Kikongo another cub arrived.  Delphin and Sico decided to name the new cub “Mweka”, after the college, as they felt that they had learned so much at the workshop – isn’t that wonderful.

The experience of these two local men really inspired everyone at the workshop.  Neither of them are trained scientists or conservationists but through caring for these individual animals they have had a profound effect on their local community and throughout DRC.  They helped people to realise that all you need to achieve something is to care – and to act.  And this is what this Guest Blog site is about.  It is about people who care to JUST DO SOMETHING.

Thanks to all the attendees:  

The workshop was funded by: Anderson-Rogers Foundation, Animal Defence Trust, Columbus Zoo, The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation, Sacramento Zoo, and private donors.

For more information on International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF), please go to www.otter.org or contact me at Grace@otter.org.

Find IOSF on Facebook!  Find IOSF on Twitter!

– Grace Yoxon

PHOTOS
All copyright IOSF

If you advocate for animals, chances are your e-mail and regular mail boxes are full of requests to “save a life” by donating money.

Like everything else, requests to donate money ebb and flow depending on what’s trending, the time of year and what is needed.

Money IS a very necessary means to an end when it comes to funding for animal based support systems.

But (BUT), money isn’t everything.

To donate literally means to give.

Think about that.

It doesn’t matter that your checkbook balance will not allow you to send money on behalf of an animal in need.   It’s a shame that so many feel that the only way they are TRULY making a difference is to send money, because they are closing the door on other opportunities to help and support.

Here’s a simple and surefire way to donate:  You can give of yourself.
Every person has something of themselves that they can give to make a difference in the life of an animal in need.

Of course, excuses are easy to come by if you don’t want to donate, period. So whether or not you have the money to write that check then becomes moot.  But, oh, how wonderful if you WANT to donate but you just can’t financially. Because that opens up so many other imaginative and creative ways to give of yourself instead.

If you’re reading this Blog, chances are you are familiar with our website and all the ways we encourage people to save or better the life of an animal in need.  Poke around our site, and you’ll come across some good ideas to be a great supporter of animals, no matter what your resources are.

It doesn’t take any science at all to dream up ways you can donate yourself to help out and support. All it takes is a willing YOU.

What are you doing this holiday season, and every day, to save or better a life? Do it, talk about it, lead by example, and encourage others to JUST DO SOMETHING.

Tell us about it, and we’ll share it.

Every effort, every giving of yourself, helps to make a difference in the lives of an animal in need; and they NEED all the help they can get.

Be a champion for those that can’t speak for, or defend themselves…donate yourself – today.

It’s sometimes easy to get into a rut. A rut where everything can feel the same, to the point where it’s easier to do nothing than to get up and get motivated to find something to do.

• I’m bored
• I’m too tired
• It’s too late
• It’s too early
• I have no-one to do anything with
• I’ll start tomorrow
• I can’t think of anything to do
• I don’t have the money
• I don’t have the time

It’s unfortunate that so many people actually live their daily lives by the philosophy that they’re in a rut – but it’s not impossible to get out of one.

One of the best ways to de-rut?

• Think about YOUR blessings
• Be thankful for every one of them
• Promise not to take advantage of them
• Use your blessings to make a difference

What does that mean?

Okay, so you’re bored. But (BUT), you have the luxury of being able to get up, get out, get a drink or grab a bite to eat. If you’re cold, you can go in. If you’re hot, you can open a window. If you’re hurt, you can go to a doctor. If you’re tired, you can rest in comfort and in safety. If you’re anxious, you can go for a walk. If you’re itchy, you can use a back-scratcher.

You get where I’m going with this, right?

• Most animals in need do not have even the most simple luxuries you might take for granted.

The point?

No matter what YOUR rut, YOU can do something to change it. It might not be the change you desire on every level, but you CAN do something to change it.

• You can be thankful for what you have right now, and use those blessings to make a difference.

YOU are blessed. No matter what your situation is today, right now, you have the option to turn it around. And that’s a lot.

That’s more than most animals in need have, or hope to have.

If you can change the world for YOU, you can go one step farther, and change the world for an animal in need.

Today, and every day, take a moment to count YOUR blessings, and then use your blessings to make a difference for an animal in need who needs YOU to be their blessing.

Be thankful, be grateful, be appreciative, and live. And then take THAT and make it MORE for an animal in need.  It matters.

Happy Thanksgiving.

It’s a fact of life. Every living being dies. And whether they are two-legged or four, passings are deeply felt and loss greatly impacts.

Is one loss more important than another? No. Although, in the Animal Advocacy world, some losses can be more impacting.

This past week, Ambassador Amy Deosaran passed away. Even in Animal Welfare circles, her passions may not have been familiar to everyone.

But that’s okay. It doesn’t matter.

What matters is that this was an individual completely devoted to saving and bettering the lives of animals. She was making a difference.

Every day hundreds of thousands of individuals champion in some form or another to save and better the lives of animals.

The world is a big one, and it would be wonderful to have Animal Advocates in every tiny, quiet corner of the world where silently, daily, animals are suffering at the hands of other humans. Sadly, so sadly, we don’t have that – yet.

But what we do have, in every country, are people just like Amy, just like me, just like YOU, championing for animals every opportunity we get.

And that’s the point: EVERY OPPORTUNITY WE GET.

How many opportunities DO we get to save or better a life, before our own number of opportunities expire?

No-one knows.

But here’s what we DO know:

• Everyone has opportunities.
• Everyone has the option on how to use those opportunities.
• Everyone can JUST DO SOMETHING.

There is so much abuse and neglect. So much. So when we lose a true champion for the animals, not only does that impact the Animal Advocacy community, it impacts the animals that were being championed for.

It takes time to fill in that loss with other Animal Advocates. And time isn’t always on the side of those animals waiting for relief, for hope…for us.

So, how many opportunities DO we get to save or better a life, before our own number of opportunities expire?

No-one knows.

Which makes it even more important to not waste the opportunities YOU have, every day, to save or better the lives of animals in need.

• Be a champion
• How you act on YOUR opportunities matter
• Where there may be no opportunity, CREATE one.
• Make an impact, and when the day comes when you can no longer champion, make your loss worth it.
• Be remembered for something absolutely amazing.

JUST DO SOMETHING. Every day.

There are hundreds of us out there.  Champions for animals in need from all walks of life, living life on different levels, in different time zones, of different nationalities.

Animals don’t care what color you are, or what kind of money you make, or even if you have money. So many of their lives are impacted by the addition, or deletion, of care and kindness from human beings.  Kindness: Such a simple thing. Such a powerful thing. So easy to give, and easier for some to take away.

For those that give – we do it in so many ways. Big or small, no effort is ever wasted when it comes to saving or bettering a life.

For many of us, it isn’t any effort at all to jump on the computer and, in between all the other things we do, take time to share and network for animals in need.  So many animals pass by our emails and various other social media accounts – the numbers of animals in need are staggering and sometimes it feels like shoveling shit against the tide. There aren’t enough hours in the day to help every animal who needs it. But there ARE enough hours in the day to help make a difference – and so we do.

Sometimes we don’t always know who gets saved versus who does not. So, when we do have that golden opportunity to actually be a part of a journey from beginning to end, it’s quite a magical feeling.

Do you remember Eloise?  Many people do, because of that one small Facebook post that came our way, and stuck with us.   Because we tirelessly, relentlessly networked for her from morning until night, every day – every day.  Too big of an effort for some – really. What does it take to hit the Share or Retweet button?

Sharing saves lives. Eloise is proof positive of that.

It has been wonderful watching Eloise go from shelter, to rescue, to her forever home.  The start of her journey was a difficult one – so many are. But Eloise, now lovingly renamed Sophie, has a home. She has security. She has safety. She has love. She has a family. No dog could ask for more. No dog should need to.

We may not talk about Eloise too much on social media any more. It’s not because I don’t think of her – because I do. It’s not because I don’t hear about her anymore – because I do. It’s not because I don’t love her – because I do.

It’s because Eloise is safe, and healthy, and happy. She no longer needs someone to make an effort for her life.

Eloise is living her life.

I recently received some more pictures of this happy, content and loved little lady. I think it’s important to show what sharing, tweeting, networking, calling and well, making an effort can actually do.  All efforts matter.  I am sure Eloise would agree.

JUST DO SOMETHING – it counted for Eloise, and it counts for all the other Eloises still waiting.

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