» Listings for July 2024

1. Free the Bears rescue more bear cubs and they need our support

   Posted on 10:00am Monday 29th Jul 2024

    

   I love the charity Free the Bears.  They are an Australian wildlife conservation and animal welfare organization and they work with local communities and governments in Asia to help sun bears, moon bears (Asiatic black bears) and sloth bears.  
   

   So they need protecting.

   As governments work to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, so Free the Bears has more to do, rescuing bears who have been held captive for bear bile farming, educating the public, looking after the bears they have rescued – so far 950 in all.  As more bear bile farms close and Free the Bears rescue those bears, so they need to build more enclosures.   These bears have been captive, in some cases for a very long time.  They cannot go into the wild upon release – they need gentle, loving and knowledgeable expert care, sometimes for ever.

   Free the Bears rescue bear cubs in Laos!

   Free the Bears' government partners in Vientiane in Laos had captured a major wildlife tracker.   And 17 orphaned endangered bear cubs were in his possession.  Tragically, one of them had already died.  Free the Bears went to the rescue
   
   

      

    

   These bears have bear necessities

   • They need a healthy diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, with dog biscuits for protein and also pulses and grains
   • They are clever so they need a variety of enrichment activities to stimulate their minds
   • They love to have their own space so they have climbing platforms and hammocks – most bears don’t see other bears in the forest;  they are very private
   • Many of the bears need veterinary care, some for a while.  Remember that many have been used for bear bile farming – a needle has been injected into their gallbladders to access their bile whilst the bears have been drugged
   • Their enclosures have an environment that’s as near as possible to the natural habitat the bears would normally enjoy – these enclosures need maintaining.

    Of course, this all costs. Donations help Free the Bears do these things:

   • Give immediate medical attention and care to the orphaned cubs
   • Procure essential supplies – food, medication, specialised equipment
   • Support on-going conservation efforts to protect both bears and their habitats in the years ahead.
     
     

   
   This bear cub was rescued in March 2023.
   
   

   Free the Bears need help! 

   There are a number of ways you can help care for the bears in the care of Free the Bears:  

   • Be a bear carer – there are different levels available from £5.00 a month. 
   • Sponsor a bear (£240 for a year)
   • Send a gift to the bears such as a jar of honey, a hammock, a climbing frame, a cub care kit donation, a bathing pool donation, a treat ball donation
   • Send a gift for a bear lover to your human!
   • Simply donate!
     
   • Take part in Night in a Cage on 13th April 2024 (or a night to suit you in April 2024) and raise funds for Free the Bears - or you could sponsor someone who is doing it.   
     
     

   It's time for A Night in a Cage!

   This is a great fundraiser - and a really important one - to help Free the Bears care for the bears they have rescued.  In the case of the 18 bear cubs just rescued, the estimated cost of caring for them over their life times is $50,000.  
   
   The CEO of Free the Bears, Matt Hunt, the charity's incredible founder, Mary Hutton OAM, and bear carers around the world will be spending the night in a cage to raise awareness of the plight of endangered sun bears and moon bears.  

   Now, if you've only just heard about A Night in a Cage and would love to do the challenge, you can do it any time in April - so you can choose a night in April that suits you.  

   Whatever you do, please do something to help.  Find out all about it here
   
   

   More about sun bears

   Sun bears are the smallest of all bears, but they have a tongue which is 30cm long (that’s a foot!), huge paws and a sun-shaped patch on their chest which gives them their name. 

   Sun bears are excellent climbers – they live in tropical forests in South East Asia.  There they spend more time than other bears in trees, and make nests there.  They are crucial for seed dispersal and  pest control. The problem sun bears have is that they have lost 60% of their land due to habitat destruction and over-exploitation.  Not only that, they are hunted for their paws and their gallbladders – these are sold on the black market. 
   
   

    

   
   Send rescued bears a pot of honey for £11.00
   Image ©Free the Bears
   
   

   The bears need us all to act.  They have been rescued and they need our help to ensure they get all the wonderful loving care and attention they need for the rest of their lives.

   Visit Free the Bears' website here.

    

2. It’s World Ranger Day on 31 July.

   Posted on 8:00am Sunday 28th Jul 2024

   World Ranger Day is on 31st July  Around the world there are many people who are willing to put their lives on the line in order to protect endangered animals and habitats. The International Ranger Foundation (IRF) is the official body representing rangers around the world.  It was established on 31st July 1992, after a year spent setting up and planning for the establishment and development of the organisation.  The aim now is to drive through this development so that there is a professional body of rangers around the world.  It's based in Australia.  International Ranger Foundation UK is here.    Mokala National Park observing World Ranger Day, South Africa This shows how dangerous the job of being a ranger can be and gives you an insight into the life of a ranger. THANK YOU to rangers, everywhere.   2023 was an important year because it was the first year of the newly set biodiversity framework, with lots of targets.  Target three is especialy important because it sets a target of 30% of the world having effectively managed areas by 2030.  To achieve this, it will be vital to have a professional body of rangers around the world and the numbers of rangers worldwide will need to increase from 286,000 today to 1.5 million.  There will be benefits for wildlife and biodiveristy of course, but also for people, who will benefit from the economic and social services outcomes which come about from such a development.   So the theme for World Ranger Day for 2024 is 30 x 30, reflecting target three. Take a look at the "I am a ranger" video on You Tube here from the IRF It introduces rangers from different parts of the world. Celebrating our rangers on World Ranger Day Tasmania Celebrating gorilla trackers and World Ranger Day, Rwanda & DRC Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund A salute to Hayley on World Ranger Day Australia Efforts intensify to protect rhinos There is a lot of information about rangers on their website, so please explore their website.   It works with The Thin Green Line to promote the initiative of World Ranger Day.  World Ranger Day is a chance for all of us to show our appreciation for the work that wildlife rangers and guardians do and offer our support in whatever way we can and to remember those who have died or been injured doing this vital work and to think of the families they leave behind.  The Thin Green Line says that often rangers' families are left behind without any support.  Donations and support give a gift of hope and an urgent lifeline to families left behind.   And it’s good to know that there is something you can do to help wildlife and locals in their communities at the same time, and we thought we’d do a roundup of charities and organisations working to help in this way.  Sometimes wildlife rangers are called wildlife guardians.  Celebrating our Rangers  Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association Please give rangers your support on World Ranger Day Above graphic ©International Ranger Foundation This graphic was for World Ranger Day 2022 but why not do them in 2024 as well? Let us thank the rangers everywhere who are protecting  wildlife and habitats, and let us thank their families too. Support World Ranger Day on social media with hashtags: #WorldRangerDay2024 #WorldRangerDay #WildlifeRangers #RangersDeserveMore #Istandwithrangers  The Thin Green Line Foundation The Foundation works with ranger groups, ranger associations and conservation partners in over 60 countries.  They say it’s estimated that over 1,000 park rangers have been killed in the line of duty over the past 10 years. They are dedicated to providing Rangers worldwide with the assistance they deserve and need.   Other organisations supporting wildlife rangers Ol Pejeta Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a 90,000 acre wildlife conservancy in Kenya.  They have 150 rangers who are dedicated to protecting the wildlife there and neighbouring communities.  They also have a K9 unit, whose dogs work hard also to protect wildlife.    Visit Ol Pejeta Conservancy here Project Ranger Project Ranger supports a range of patrols such as horse patrols, foot patrols, motorbike, aerial, truck and K9 patrols.  In doing so it protects a number of species in national parks, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, conserved land and wildnerness areas.  There are plenty of ways to support their work so visit their website to find out more! The World Land Trust The World Land Trust has a Keepers of the Wild initiative.  The rangers are working on the front line of conservation, safeguarding some of the world’s most threatened animals and the crucial habitats in which they live.  They protect reserves from poaching and logging, and importantly, link to local communities, building trust, helping to change attitudes and find practical solutions to problems.  You can support Keepers of the Wild by making a donation. David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation works to support rangers in both Asia and Africa. You can support wildlife rangers here and help them conserve nature.  Their work includes carrying out anti-poaching and anti-trafficking patrols across national parks, finding and removing wildlife snares and collecting essential data on endangered speices and their habitats.   They also work with communities to raise awareness and mitigate wildlife conflict.  The Global Conservation Force This organisation works to save wildlife from extinction through education, anti-poaching and conservation efforts.  It does this by using anti-poaching units, awareness and education and on the ground action, working on wildlife’s problems.  You can adopt a ranger (also there’s a K9 poacher tracking unit) – find out what the options are to adopt a ranger here. African Parks African Parks has an anti-poaching team of 1,000 rangers making up their law enforcement team.  Thei rangers are stabilising force both for parks and regions Virunga  Virunga National Park is located on the eastern edge of the Congo Basin in Africa, and it's home to over 1,000 species of mammal, bird, reptile, and amphibian and a third of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas. It has 750 male and female rangers, all working hard and putting their lives on the line to protect the park and local communities. There's a canine unit as well.  Find out more The Gorilla Organisation The Gorilla Organisation has a supporting rangers scheme in the Democratic Republic of Congo and they act as the eyes, ears and voice of the forest. They cut snaes, save injured gorillas, combat the militias running the blood minerals trade, monitor the gorillas’ health and collect vital conservation data every day.  Find out more here. Tigers4ever Tigers4ever have anti-poaching patrols in Bandharvagh, India, to protect tigers.  They equip forest patrols, provide anti-poaching patrols and provide permanent solutions to water scarcity for wildlife Help Tigers4Ever help tigers on their Global Giving pages Orangutan Foundation Become an Orangutan Guardian and help the Orangutan Foundation’s 60 Indonesian staff work on the frontline of conservation in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.  Their role is to guard and patrol the forests and rivers, to rescue and monitor the orangutans and to replant and nurture tree saplings.  And crucially, they need to gain the trust and support of local communities.  Become an Orangutan Guardian! Lewa Wildlife Conservancy The Lewa Security Team consists of field rangers, radio operators, gatekeepers, baby rhino keepers, anti-poaching rangers and the tracker dog unit.   The Anti-Poaching Rangers and Tracker Dog Unit work day and night to protect wildlife and keep them safe, especially rhinos and elephants.  The tracker dog unit has four dogs and their handlers, the dogs act as efficient trackers, as they can pursue suspects for lengthy distances. Save the Rhino Save the Rhino makes sure that ranger teams have the the equipment they need to do their job as safely as possible.  It has expanded canine units across the projects it funds, which in turn helps apprehend criminals.  Find out more from Save the Rhino Tusk The charity Tusk give a Wildlife Ranger Award every year to give international recognition to the men and women who face danger every day to protect the wildlife and its ecosystems in Africa.   There are also rangers in other countries such as Australia and America and the UK, working for organisations such as national parks and they are also essential to protecting the environment and keeping wildlife safe. And a very big thank you to each and every wildlife ranger working to care for and protect our wildlife and their habitats.  And thank you to their families too.   Please everyone show you support them too.