February 14, 2015

This Big Cat Sighting Was Rare, Even for Seasoned Environmentalists!

http://blog.therainforestsite.com/black-jaguar-sighting/

After an enormous rainstorm, President and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund of the United States Carter Roberts was traveling the Tapajós River at the edge of the Southern Amazon Mosaic with a group of fellow conservationists when someone spotted something swimming in the water.

After a brief “it’s a bird, it’s a plane” situation, the crew’s guide, Bret Whitney, finally identified the creature as a rare melanistic jaguar. With only about 600 individual black jaguars that exist in the wild, this floating feline was certainly an unusual sight.

Thankfully, someone was able to film the black big cat in all of its water-logged glory.

PROTECT SKY ISLAND JAGUARS: https://therainforestsite.greatergood.com/store/trs/item/53699/?origin=CONTENT_TRS_SKYISLAND_GTGM_I-53699&utm_source=content&utm_medium=trs-blog&utm_content=article-button




Published on Jan 27, 2015
Jaguars are strong swimmers and climbers and require large areas of tropical rain forest and stretches of riverbank to survive. A model for conservation, the Amazon Region Protected Areas ensures 150 million acres—three times the size of all US parks combined—of the Amazon are protected in perpetuity.

Learn more about WWF’s work to protect the Amazon: http://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/...

Credits:
Video - Bret Whitney
Photo - © David Lawson / WWF-UK
Music - "Solitary-"Lacy & Gledden/AudioNetwork

February 9, 2015

Bear sent to sanctuary after years as ice cream shop draw

Source: AP

HALLAM, Pa. (AP) — A female bear is on the way to a Colorado wildlife sanctuary after nearly two decades as a caged attraction at a Pennsylvania ice cream shop.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund announced Little Ricki's release Monday, ending a legal and animal rights battle that drew worldwide attention.

The organization and four residents sued for the bear's release in December.

They argued Ricki's concrete enclosure at Jim Mack's Ice Cream shop near York was inadequate, causing a decline in her mental and physical health.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/bb8674131f0e47eeaf076b51cd783642/bear-sent-sanctuary-after-years-ice-cream-shop-draw

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Thank you to ALL that signed the E petition last month: Free Bear Caged at Ice Cream Parlor in York, PA for 18 Years E action! (link fixed!): http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026041606



http://www.thepetitionsite.com/285/609/007/free-bear-caged-at-ice-cream-parlor-for-18-years/





Ricky, an 18-year-old black bear, has spent her entire life caged in a concrete enclosure outside Jim Mack's Ice Cream parlor in York, Pa. The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) observed and took footage of Ricky with matted hair, eating dog food with only green-looking water available.

The bear lives alone on hard concrete 100% of the time, and is forced to endure cold Pennsylvania winters. She eats an unnatural, boring diet of dog food and corn.

Pennsylvania state regulations require wild animals to receive humane care and treatment, which Ricky does not. Please sign the petition to urge the York County Common Pleas Court to free Ricky so she can live the rest of her life on a sanctuary with other bears and space to roam free.

Petition: overview

Ricky, an 18-year-old black bear, has spent her entire life caged in a concrete enclosure outside Jim Mack's Ice Cream parlor in York, Pa. The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) observed and took footage of Ricky with matted hair, eating dog food with only green-looking water available.

The bear lives alone on hard concrete 100% of the time, and is forced to endure cold Pennsylvania winters. She eats an unnatural, boring diet of dog food and corn.

Pennsylvania state regulations require wild animals to receive humane care and treatment, which Ricky does not. Please sign the petition to urge the York County Common Pleas Court to free Ricky so she can live the rest of her life on a sanctuary with other bears and space to roam free.

February 3, 2015

S&P paying $1.38B to settle charges over crisis-era ratings

Source: AP-Excite

By MARCY GORDON and ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Standard & Poor's is paying about $1.38 billion to settle government allegations that it knowingly inflated its ratings of risky mortgage investments that helped trigger the financial crisis, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The settlement with the U.S. government, 19 states and the District of Columbia covers ratings issued from 2004 through 2007 by the McGraw-Hill subsidiary. It resolves a court fight that began with a government lawsuit two years ago and involved dozens of depositions and hundreds of millions of documents.

Under the agreement, S&P admitted that it issued and confirmed positive ratings despite knowing that those assessments were unjustified and in many cases based on packages of mortgages that it knew were likely to default.

"On more than one occasion, the company's leadership ignored senior analysts who warned that the company had given top ratings to financial products that were failing to perform as advertised," Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference Tuesday.

FULL story at link.


FILE - This Oct. 9, 2011, file photo shows 55 Water Street, home of Standard & Poor's, in New York. S&P is paying approximately $1.38 billion to settle government allegations that it knowingly inflated its ratings of risky mortgage investments which helped trigger the financial crisis. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams, File)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150203/us-standard--poors-settlement-9cb61c22ff.html