ANIMALS AWARENESS

ANIMALS SAVER 

A little piece of plastic is all it takes to destroy an animal’s life.

A dead harp seal pup was found on the island of Skye and brought to the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, a government-funded organization that investigates mortality in marine mammals. There, veterinary pathologist Andrew Brownlow necropsied the corpse and pulled a small, crucially placed square of plastic out of its stomach. He posted about the case on the SMASS Facebook page on Wednesday.

The animal was likely eight months to a year old. Brownlow says it’s unusual to find plastic debris inside a seal stomach—seals more often become entangled by fishing nets, lines, and lures and die that way, rather than being killed by small floating plastic debris.

As the brutal killing of a pregnant wild elephant in Kerala led to widespread condemnation, a similar incident has came to light in Kollam district, where a young female elephant died of injuries in her mouth, a month ago.

The pregnant wild elephant in Silent Valley Forest had fallen victim to an act of human cruelty on May 27 after a pineapple filled with powerful crackers offered by a man exploded in her mouth when she chomped on it.

A top forest officer told PTI that another female elephant had met with similar fate in April in  Pathanapuram  forest range area under Punalur division in Kollam district.

The officer said the elephant was found in a serious condition from the fringe areas of the forests in Pathanapuram by forest officials in the month of April.

"The pachyderm was found alienated from the herd of elephants. Its jaw was broken and it was unable to eat," the senior officer told PTI ."It was very weak. When the forest officials approached, the elephant ran into the forest and joined the herd of elephants waiting there. But the next day, the elephant was again found alienated from its herd .Proper treatment was given but unfortunately it succumbed to its wounds,".

In rural parts of India, cows roam the streets looking for food. The country’s waste management system is extremely lacking, which means many streets and alleys are littered with garbage.

Farmers can’t afford to feed their cows so they’re often let loose to find the nutrients they need on the streets. As cows pick through piles of garbage, hunting for leftovers, they also consume plastic. Unsurprisingly, the biggest plastic pollutant digested by cows is plastic bags.

The bits of plastic consumed build up in their internal organs, which make it difficult for cows to eat. As a result, milk production drops as does milk quality. Over time, the plastic consumption “sentences cattle to a slow and cruel death,” according to animal activists.

There are treatments to prevent death, but once milk production drops, farmers usually abandon cows rather than spend money on treatment.

LIONS EXIST IN 28 AFRICAN COUNTRIES

AND ONE ASIAN COUNTRY, BUT ONLY

6 COUNTRIES ARE KNOWN TO EACHCONTAIN MORE THAN 1,000 LIONS

 LIONS ARE EXTINCT IN 26  AFRICAN COUNTRIES                                                                                  

  POPULATION            

Over a century ago there were more than 200,000 wild lions living in Africa. Recent

surveys estimate that in the last two decades, lion numbers have declined from

approximately 30,000 to about 20,000                                                        

 SAVING THE LION

Through Project Leonardo, Panthera aims to bring lion populations back to a

minimum of 30,000 lions. This goal necessitates protecting and connecting core

lion populations across Africa.                                                                                                               .