Tiger-Human Violence Linked to Paper Company

Eyes on the Forest, a conservation coalition, has released a research report on the clash between commercial logging and Sumatran tigers living in forests clear cut by the paper industry.
Their analysis shows that most of the tiger - human violence occurring in Sumatra has taken place near areas being deforested by Asia Pulp and Paper. Over the last 12 years, 55 people and 15 critically endangered Sumatran tigers have lost their lives in the violence. Seventeen of the tigers have been captured alive.
Johny Mundung, of Walhi Riau, an EoF coalition member stated, “APP has recently made ridiculous public claims that it is leading tiger conservation in the area, when in fact it is jeopardizing the safety of local communities and pushing the tigers closer to local extinction. Global paper buyers should not be fooled: APP destroys forests and wildlife.”
Fewer than 400 Sumatran Tigers are left in the wild forests. The number of breeding pairs may be unknown. A serious infectious disease could wipe out the whole population. The large cats also need enough space to find food to maintain a healthy state in order to breed and bear healthy offspring. No one seems to know how many living wild tiger cubs there are left in Sumatra. Island relatives of the Sumatran tiger are all extinct: the Bali, Java, and Trinil. The last
Bali tiger was shot in the wild in 1937.
Eyes of the Forest states that Asia Pulp and Paper cleared 2.5 million acres of wild forests to make pulp for paper products since 1980.

http://ecoworldly.com/2009/03/28/tiger-human-violence-linked-to-paper-company/

Livestock contributes more to climate change than previous estimates.

SupremeMasterTV.com

EXOTIC ANIMAL TRADE

Laos Emerges as Key Source
In Asia's Illicit Wildlife Trade
Long an isolated land with abundant forests and biodiversity, Laos is rapidly developing as China and other Asian nations exploit its resources. One of the first casualties has been the wildlife, now being rapidly depleted by a thriving black-market trade.
by rhett butler

Deep in the rugged mountains of Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area on the Laos–Vietnam border, Laotian game wardens came upon the following scene: pieces of the pelt of a recently killed tiger, its bones removed, with rifle shells scattered in the trampled vegetation.

The wardens knew precisely what had happened. Poachers had trapped a tiger in a baited snare that had encircled one of its front feet with a cable and lifted the animal into the air. Coming upon the snarling tiger, the poachers had shot it, then proceeded to carve out its 22 to 26 pounds of bones, which — when ground up — would be sold to middlemen for the Chinese medicinal market. The poachers then cut off the tiger’s penis, which would eventually be soaked in wine and the wine drunk as an aphrodisiac.

Diet and Global Warming

To fight global warming, it is easy to insist the government implement new laws and policies. It is also relatively easy (albeit expensive) to change to a more fuel-efficient car. None of these affect one's personal life in any significant way, however.

If one takes the threat of global warming seriously, the most powerful personal step you can take may well be choosing a vegetarian diet. As pointed out in the Baltimore Sun (July 19, 2007; reproduced here):

We're getting "greener": Recycling, energy-saving light bulbs and fuel-efficient hybrid cars are now a part of our culture and economy. But most people are neglecting one of the most important steps toward stopping global warming: adopting a vegetarian diet.

It is not just animal advocates making the connection between what we choose to eat and the future of the Earth. In November of 2006, the United Nations issued a press release that stated:
Which causes more greenhouse gas emissions, rearing cattle or driving cars?

Surprise!