Though GreenPacks may not have gotten everything right with the Faroe Whale Cull tradition, it’s not a stretch to say that the Japanese are headed out on their annual slaughter of whales. This morning, a Japanese whaling ship left for the Antarctic Ocean to do its ‘research.’

The vessel, Nissin Maru, sailed under the protection of the Japanese Coast Guard … protected from the environmental group Greenpeace. Japan is permitted to catch 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales.

Different than usual, this year there was not a departure ceremony. Japan kills about 1,200 whales annually under a scientific program that studies the feeding habits and distribution of mammals in the seas of Antarctica.

Greenpeace’s Sea Shepherd says it plans to follow up on its attack of a Japanese ship last year when it dumped a foul-smelling acid on the whaling boat and collided twice with another boat.

That’ll show them, Greenpeace. The more obnoxious you can be the more headway you will make…NOT!

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What happens when a species is categorized under “least concern”, meaning there is no threat of being threatened? The answer is simple and you’ll likely get the idea by the time you finish reading.

The Faeroes are a group of islands in Northern Europe, between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, an autonomous province of Denmark since 1948. Every year, young boys trying to prove themselves as adults gather on the beaches for the Annual Dolphin Massacre. Apparently, the only way to let the world know about their “hairy chests” is by turning into merciless killers, luring the Risso’s Dolphin to the shores and …. you can see what happens.

A playful animal that only feels curiosity towards human kind, the Risso’s Dolphin is the slaughtered victim from a bad movie that is being played each year in the Faeroes Islands. Why would you kill an animal that wants to play? Why? Can they sleep after seeing the sea of blood and so many slaughtered souls? Do they build up statistics and ranks to see who’s the best killer? Do they race for the first position? Are parents happy with their “kids”?

Who’s to blame? I know that GreenPacks readers are smart and they can come up with their own answers. For me, it’s pretty obvious that the human kind is not as advanced as many think, if these kind of actions happen these days.

Denmark! Shame on you! Faeroes! Shame on you!

Though I’m not a fan of petitions, here’s one that I’m supporting.

If you think you can take it (be warned - high cruelty), there’s an image gallery after the break. (more…)

It is not very often that we are really bothered about the sexual adventures of others, let alone other creatures beyond us. But all fun aside, human activity has driven many species on the planet to the verge of extinction and Lonesome George is one of those who has found himself on that precarious edge. A Pinta Island tortoise, George is the last of his kind and one could say that the survival of his species rests on his hard shell!

Now at the age of 90, the conservation male turtle is at its sexual peak (at 90, I wish we could say that) and still seems hesitant to mate with females of other sub-species. George’s tendency has earned him his tag of Lonesome George while others have speculated that he could be gay.

Even though recently George (finally) managed to mate with two females, that has resulted in almost negative results. Eighty percent of the eggs laid by the females after mating have been found to be infertile and there is no guarantee that any of them will actually produce an off-spring. However, they are still placed in the incubator and scientists are hoping for a miracle.

Look, guys, ease off of George’s back! I can really relate to his problem. It is tough enough when you need to maintain a standard under no pressure in the sack. This guy has the pressure of sustaining his species as he does his thing under the shell. All that pressure and attention can put off even the best.

Let’s hope George rises to the occasion!

Source: Reuters

My wife and I have a new baby at home. Mia. She will be 10 months old in a week or so. She is pleasant and smiles delightfully every morning as if she is so happy to be alive. What a joy to see her each day. In a word, she reminds me there is hope for the world. Of course, there is.

Two more new little fellows made their first appearance at Adventure World, an amusement park in Wakayama, Japan. The twin panda cubs were born to giant panda Rauhin. The female (left) was named Meihin, and the male (right) was named Eihin. They were born in September. Most of all, they help remind us there is always hope for the planet.

The French have discovered there is something else besides new species of cheese to be discovered. Some scientists have hatched a new gecko species - Lepidodactylus buleli, from an egg taken from its nest in a South Pacific island, then transported 12,000 miles to Paris in a Kleenex box.

What is remarkable is not just that there is a new species but that the French scientists didn’t kill the thing.

France’s National Museum of Natural History is saying it’s the first time a new lizard species has been cataloged from an individual raised from an egg out of a Kleenex box, to boot. It’s even more remarkable given how the little fellow was found in the first place. There was an expedition in 2006 to Espiritu Santo to study the ecosystems of the forest canopy.

Ivan Ineich, a reptile specialist at the Paris museum, first noticed this little fella when seeing a bloody carcass accidentally hacked in half by a climber: “I said to myself ‘this guy looks bizarre,’ but I couldn’t tell right away it was a new species because it had been so massacred.”

Climbers harvested a plant where female geckos had hidden nine minuscule eggs, they were wrapped in wet Kleenex, packed into a pillbox and carried home to the French capital. There, the eggs were given to a friend who raised lizards as a hobby. Eight of the baby geckos died after temperatures in the terrarium plummeted during a power outage, but the ninth lived.

And, we wonder why some species go extinct.

Source: Sina

GP gets mad at what happens to our biggest land friend, the elephant. We certainly don’t like seeing the giants exploited on eBay. Back in July, China got the okay to import ivory of endangered elephants, but sure enough, products and sculptures made of smuggled ivory have found their way into China.

On Nov. 5, 2008 smuggled ivory sculptures were seized by the customs of Hangzhou, the capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province. Some 306 pieces of smuggled articles were seized by Hangzhou customs, then transferred to Zhejiang Museum of Natural History on Wednesday.

Just so smugglers will know their actions will not be tolerated, the precious articles will be shown to the public in the museum! They will be treated before shown, but, what in the world? They will be shown because of why? I am sure the display will discourage smugglers from doing any such future activities … NOT!

Good grief. Can someone tell me what China has on their mind by displaying these items? Maybe, just maybe, somebody smuggled these things in under a tunnel dug into the Great Wall of China.

I might have heard of a jeanist. But it’s definitely my first time to hear of a leathernist. Apparently, in Japan, they pick the female and male stars/models who are the most unfriendly to our leathered friends. Not only that, they award them with trophies to say thank you for the cows and horses that sacrificed their lives so they could make a fashion statement.

Actor Shosuke Tanihara, 36, and actress-model Karina, 24

Where’s those PETA girls who take their clothes off at times like this?

And where are all those movie stars who walk around all cool in their faux-leather outfits, wanting to look like they killed an animal but not really having killed the animal?

What do you think of awards like this? - via JapanToday

Mexico City’s water monster, an Axoloti salamander (Ambystoma mexicanum), is about one foot long (30cm).

According to scientists at the Chapultepec Zoo, the monster is about to go extinct because its lake habitat is draining, the water quality is deteriorating and non-native fish species started eating its eggs and larva, and competing for its food.

The Muppet-looking critter is also known as the “Mexican walking fish” and holds a key part in Aztec legend and diet.

“If the axolotl disappears, it would not only be a great loss to biodiversity but to Mexican culture, and would reflect the degeneration of a once-great lake system,” says a biologist at the Autonomous University of Mexico, or UNAM.

The monster appears in American legend as well - Ogden Nash writes, “I’ve never met an axolotl, But Harvard has one in a bottle.” Pretty soon, the only ones we’ll see will be those in a bottle.

There is one lesson in history that really man should look closely at and that is the story of the dinosaurs and their extinction. The fact that we as a race are as dominant today as the mighty creatures were once on the planet and they were indeed wiped out in a flash is something to keep in mind. The mighty Jurassic era might be gone, but there are a few left overs that still roam this planet. Don’t get too excited though as we are only talking about the Tuatara.

The Tuatara is a 32-inch long reptile that resembles a mini-dinosaur and apparently is the last living relative of the once dominant creatures. Its breeding ground was recently stumbled upon by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital Wellington.

While species are spread over few parts of New Zealand they were almost extinct at a point in 1700s as they were hunted down by species that were not native to the islands and introduced by settlers. A population of 70 Tuataras was established at the Karori Sanctuary in 2005 and another 130 were established in 2007.

The eggs that this little creature lays (Up to 10) are the size of a ping-pong ball, and were found and covered up with vegetation to enable incubation. The little reptiles which were once on the blink of extinction seem to have made a good comeback, with all the new nests signifying that breeding continues.

Source: the Independent

I know, Our Father Who art in Heaven is the start of the model prayer in the Holy Book, but Our Goat!? Yeah, we love animals here are Greenpacks. But a goat? The most beautiful goat? Come on! I know when a guy IS a goat, but do people really stand around, cast ballots, do their darnedest to raise goats in hopes of garnering the “Most Beautiful Goat” in the world title?

Answer: they do.

There was a competition in Riyadh called the Mazayen al-Maaz for the most beautiful goat. And, indeed, there was a winner. I wonder if these folks couldn’t spend their gobs of money in a better way, considering all the animals in the world that are suffering at the hands of mankind.

Got to admit, however, the fellow is a handsome dude, no?

Source: XinhuaNet/Reuters Photo