Interspecies: Artists Collaborating With Animals

If there was ever an event after my own heart, it’s one that marries concern for animals with creativity:

“Interspecies asks: Can artists work with animals as equals? If not, what is the current state of the human-animal relationship? It has recently been shown that humans are closer to the higher primates than previously thought, with chimpanzee and gorilla behaviour reflecting politics, deception and even possibly creativity. What does this mean to the way we see ourselves as one species inhabiting a planet in crisis? Interspecies uses artistic and participatory strategies to stimulate dialogue and debate, showing artists in contact with real animals and negotiating a new power relationship, questioning the way we view our interactions with animals during Darwin’s anniversary year.”

Interspecies has a whole shebang of London-based events planned for early October including: exhibitions, symposia, workshops and outings. Artists include: Nicolas Primat, Antony Hall, Kira O’Reilly, Ruth Maclennan, Beatriz da Costa, Rachel Mayeri + Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson.

Museum of Animal Perspectives

“The Museum of Animal Perspectives sticks cameras on the heads of animals and uploads the resulting videos to Flickr. Wolfcam. Cowcam. Pigcam (hamcam). Goatcam. One wishes for catcam.”

The Vertical Garden @ The Athenaeum

As a rule, the human race aint so spiffy at greening up surfaces of vertical buildings. Green bits + looming walls just don’t seem that ecologically compatible. One green-thumber who is a mind numbing expert at this very “art” is Patrick Blanc, who is:

“…on a mission to transform concrete walls into beautiful havens of biodiversity. His famous Vertical Gardens hang all over the world, from Bangkok to Paris, New York to Tokyo… and now London.”

One lovely example of his handiwork can be found at The Athenaeum in London [see the above link]. More examples can be ferreted out of his Flash site here.

Bee Genome Linked To Colony Collapse Disorder

Colony Collapse Disorder is a devastating disease that’s been wiping out bees colonies all over the world. As yet there is no clear-cut scientific explanation as to the cause of this disorder. However, good news may be on the scientific-horizon:

“Now insights from the honeybee genome could overthrow guesswork in the effort to diagnose the cause of the die-offs.May Berenbaum at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and her colleagues looked for genetic differences between bees from US colonies that have suffered CCD and bees that were sampled before colony collapses shot up in 2006. CCD killed off about a third of US honeybees in 2007 and 2008. The team found 65 genes that were distinctly different in CCD bees. They also discovered unusual snippets of genetic material that are typical of infection with the RNA viruses known as picorna-like viruses. They found no evidence to suggest that pesticides or bacterial infection are the primary cause of CCD. Berenbaum thinks picorna-like viruses may be the root cause, making the bees highly vulnerable to other viruses, pesticides and bacteria.”

Read more about this research: http://u.nu/9iu33

World Bank breaks rules in lending to palm oil companies

Campaign groups call for a suspension on lending to palm oil plantation developers after critical internal audit. The World Bank has admitted errors in its procedures for lending money and safeguarding against social and environmental abuses.

An internal audit found the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) had mis-categorised loans to the Wilmar Group, one of the world’s largest producers of palm oil and based in Indonesia.

Loans that should have been classified as higher risk were listed as ‘low-risk’ thereby avoiding more comprehensive social and environmental checks.

The Palm Oil industry has been linked to the large-scale destruction of forests in Indonesia – endangering wildlife and increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

More from The Ecologist

Food drops for Victorian wildlife

Guidelines and how you can access food to help bushfire affected wildlife has been prepared by Wildlife Victoria.

Many of Victoria’s native wildlife have managed to survive the recent devastating bushfires, but their food source is no longer available. Many are now facing starvation.

With the tireless work of many volunteers conducting food drops in fire affected areas, many lives have been saved; however, there are still large numbers of wildlife which have not been reached and they need our help!!

Wildlife Victoria has been providing the appropriate food free of charge to all wildlife carers, community groups and members of the public interested in doing food drops.

General information about how to evaluate and assess the food drop process has also been developed to help make the decisions accordingly.

To access this information, please click here.

If you would like to help with food drops in your area, please contact

Adriana Simmonds
Food Drop Coordinator
Wildlife Victoria
E: Adriana@wildlifevictoria.org.au

Saving Gorillas with your old mobile phone

Gorillas and mobile phones are not often associated with each other but unbeknownst to many people the humble mobile phone is having a dramatic impact on the survival of Gorillas and many other primates in West Africa.

It’s what inside the mobile phone that’s the problem: coltan. Coltan is a metallic ore and its illegal mining in West Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is leading to an alarming decrease in Gorilla and other primate habitat.

As the land is cleared for mining of coltan, roads are paved which expose the once protected Gorilla populations to poaching, and many fall victim to the bush meat trade.

While this is a serious environmental issue, it is also one that most people can do something about. It only requires a small action; recycling your old or unwanted mobile phones. This will help lessen the demand for coltan and, if enough people recycle their phones, can help ease the pressure on Gorillas and other primates in West Africa.

Melbourne Zoo has partnered with Aussie Recycling to create the mobile phone recycling campaign.

They’re Calling On You! You can download a postage paid label from the website www.zoo.org.au/ or drop off your phone to Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary or Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Source URL: http://www.zoo.org.au/Calling_on_You

Article cited at Pure Green website

Animal Remembrance Day – Sunday April 26th.

Remembering the animals lost in the recent devastating Victorian bushfires.

RSPCA, in conjunction with Rochford Winery are holding an Animal Remembrance Day – Sunday 26 April 2009.

The Black Saturday bush fires devastated many areas of Victoria and many animals including pets and native wild life lost their homes, habitats and their lives.

The Animal Remembrance Day is an opportunity for the community to come together to remember the beloved pets that were lost or injured in the fires. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the devastating and unprecedented loss of over 1 million animals and native wildlife on Black Saturday.

Organised by the RSPCA, the Animal Remembrance Day will be held at Rochford Winery on the outskirts of the Yarra Valley. This free outdoor event will bring together Victoria’s fire affected communities, emergency services, animal aid organisations and the general public for a morning of reflection and contemplation.

Through music, readings and visual presentations, the Animal Remembrance Day will be an opportunity for the community to acknowledge the animals affected by the bush fires. This event will acknowledge the emergency services, animal aid organisations, volunteers and the public who rescued and cared for countless animals affected by the fires.

When: Sunday April 26, 2009
Where: Rochford Winery
Cnr Maroondah Hwy & Hill Road, Coldstream, Victoria, Australia

Click here to secure your FREE tickets to this special event

If you are from bushfire affected regions please call 03 9224 2222 to secure your FREE ticket and to arrange transport if needed.

Pets are welcome!
Dogs on leads and other animals in pet carriers please.

Important information regarding food drops for wildlife in Victoria

Some animals have survived the recent devastating bush fires but their food source is no longer there. We can help those animals to stay alive and healthy under very specific guidelines.
 
Wildlife Victoria is supporting carers by providing food and advice.  
 
…If we really care about our wildlife, we need to care just as much about the environment that supports it…
 
-         Only feed on private land with the land owner’s consent. Leaving food for wildlife in public land is prohibited by DSE due to the environmental and health risks involved.
-         Using food with seeds and grains in it could spread environmental weeds into the forest, unbalancing the fragile ecosystem and therefore, affecting wildlife in the long term.
-         We recommend kangaroo and wallaby pellets in combination with pasture replacement pellets, since processed food does not pose a risk of weeds spreading.
-         Some animals will take a while to recognise this type of food, but eventually they will start eating it.
-         For birds, use small seeds such as cockatiel mixed with fresh green and/or orange vegetables. Do not use sunflower seeds.
-         Clean up feeding stations regularly to avoid health hazards.
-         Feed away from roads and dangerous places for the wildlife.
-         When natural food is available, start reducing supplementary food to avoid dependency.
-         When using hay, be aware that Meadow and grass hay have seeds in them. Lucerne hay does not have seeds, but it may predispose macropods to lumpy jaw.
 
For further information please contact Adriana Simmonds. mb: 0423242037

Email:adriana@wildlifevictoria.org.au
Website: http://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au

Making a Difference – The Chillout Festival

Get Ready for Disco Stampede!

This year’s Chill Out rounds up everything shiny, stretchy, clingy, glittery, daggy and fun to grab you by the glitterballs and drag you back to a time when John Travolta was slim and cool (okay, he’s still pretty cool)  and Mamma Mia was number one in the charts.

This is no city disco – it’s a Disco Stampede! Blending the best of city and bush – our 12th annual festival in Daylesford (Victoria) and surrounding towns set for 6 – 9 March, 2009 - will mix country and disco like no one has done since Dolly Parton first thrust her way into the spotlight.

Looks very cool – Leo Sayer and the Topp twins performing; and this year ChillOut has committed to raising awareness and funds for an important community cause in Hepburn Shire. Supporting Buddies for Wildlife in 2009  – a project of Wildlife Victoria and The Alannah and Madeline Foundation .

Chillout Festival website: http://chilloutfestival.com.au/