Adopt An Animal

Everbody is doing it!

Celebrities are adopting....

...and now you can too! But why adopt a child when you can adopt an animal...

Click here to listen to Paul Clark from Zoos Victoria discuss the advantages of adopting an animal from Melbourne Zoo.

For more information, please visit http://www.zoo.org.au/

What's So Bad About GM Foods?

Who benefits from GM Foods? It seems only large, genetic engineering companies. Canadian Farmer Ross Murray grew GM canola for four years. He found that it did not live up to industry promises - it cost more to grow and yielded less than conventional canola. The guaranteed weed control worked in the beginning, but later the GM canola became a weed itself, and managing it increased costs and chemical usage.

NSW and Victoria are now growing GE canola for the second year running, and GE canola may be on supermarket shelves this year in the form of canola oil. The big issue for Greenpeace right now is the labelling of GE foods in Australia, and the contamination of GE crops into non-GE crops during harvest. Current food labelling laws do not require oils, highly processed foods and products derived from livestock fed GE feed to be labelled.

Greenpeace is joined by a growing chorus of opponents to GE foods including consumer, health and environment groups, over 170 leading Australian chefs, nutritionists, experts, and over 22,000 Australians who are asking for the labelling of all food containing GE ingredients, and for the proper safety testing of GE food.

What can you do?

1. Sign the current petition calling for adequate labelling of GE foods: www.truefood.org.au/OurRightToKnow

2. Write to their state and federal health minister requesting the government keep its promises and protect public health and consumer choice by introducing, and strictly enforcing, legislation to ensure that:
GM crops are only approved if they are proven to be safe 'beyond reasonable doubt' using evidence from independent, long-term, published studies - measuring indicators relevant to human health.
All GM foods are clearly labelled, including highly processed products such as oils, starches and sugars from GM crops; and meat, milk, cheese and eggs from animals fed GM feed.

3. Shop with the Greenpeace True Food Guide, a guide to shopping GE-free (get a free copy by phoning Greenpeace on 1800 815 151 or download from http://www.truefood.org.au/)Lousie Sales of Greenpeace Australia talks about what's wrong with Genetic Modified Food and why we need to push for improved labelling in Australia.

4. Enjoy this video from the Greenpeace International Website:


Click here to listen to the interview with Louise Sales of Greenpeace, Australia.

You can also find further information at the website www.greenpeace.org/australia/issues/GE and Greenpeace's consumer-focused website for the True Food Network: http://www.truefood.org.au/.

Playing with Bongos - The Bongo Antelope

The Bongo Antelope is a large colorful antelope with large ears, bright chestnut to dark brown with vivid white-yellow markings and stripes and spiral-horns.

Some fast facts on Bongos are:

1. Bongos are the largest forest antelope.

2. Native people believe if they eat or touch bongo they will have spasms similar to epileptic seizures. Because of this superstition, bongos have been relatively unharmed in their native ranges.

3. Population counts are sketchy as these are very secretive animals. Even researchers who study these antelope often do not see them. Much of what is known about them comes from captive animals and studies at salt licks on the edge of forests.

4. They have been known to eat burned wood after lightning storms. This behavior is believed to be a means of getting salt or minerals.

5. Bongos are great high jumpers but prefer to go under or around obstacles.

6. Bongos use their prehensile tongue to grasp the vegetation they feed on.

7. In order to swiftly maneuver through the dense forest vegetation, bongos tilt their chin up, causing their horns to lie flat against their back. They take this position so frequently older bongos often have bald spots on their back from the tips of their horns rubbing away the fur.

Click here to listen to Jason Barry discuss Bongos.

For further information on the Melbourne Zoo, please visit http://www.zoo.org.au/

The Wilderness Society Update - 25th and 28th May, 2009

The Wilderness Society is a community-based environmental protection organisation. They work to safeguard our sources of clean water and air, to tackle devastating climate change, to create a safe future for life on Earth, and to give a better world to our children. The majority of our work is in Australia, with a strong focus on natural environments and the role they play in keeping our world safe.

They were born in 1976, and our first major victory was Australia's most famous environmental campaign - saving the Franklin River. Since then, with the support of thousands of concerned people across the country, we've worked to protect millions of hectares of our greatest wild places.

Click here to listen to Adam Barralet hosting Heating Up and talking with Scott Alderson
Click here to listen to the final show of All Natural with Adam Barralet talking with with Amelia Young.

For more information on The Wilderness Society, please visit http://www.wilderness.org.au/

Zoos Victoria work around the World.

Zoos Victoria works in partnership with many animal conservation programs around the world. Chris Banks- Zoos Victoria's Conservation Partnerships Coordinator discusses two such partnerships.

Two such partnerships are:

Sumatran Conservation Program
Zoos Victoria is working closely with Fauna & Flora International to protect a major part of the Gunung Leuser National Park in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. This is a critically important region where Sumatran Orang-utans, Sumatran Tigers and Sumatran Elephants all still survive.

Tenkile Conservation Program
Expanding human populations in the forests of Papua New Guinea have led to dramatic increases in the demand for native wildlife for food. In the Torricelli Mountain Ranges, in the country’s far north-west, where hunting wildlife is the main protein source, this has led to the decline in wildlife in the area. Our partner, the Tenkile Conservation Alliance, is using the Tenkile or Scott's Tree Kangaroo, and Weimang or Golden-mantled Tree Kangaroo, as flagships to achieve and evaluate conservation outcomes in the Torricelli Mountains. Importantly, this links biodiversity conservation goals with the development of sustainable resource alternatives for local communities.

Click here to listen to the Zoos Victoria Conservation Partnerships Coordinator Chris Banks discuss the two partnerships.

For all the great work done by Zoos Victoria, please visit http://www.zoo.org.au/

Can you ride a Rhino?

Whether or not you can ride a rhino, I am not certain but I do know the following about the White Rhino:

1. There are two sub-species of White Rhinoceros in Africa:
Southern White Rhinoceros (C. s. simum) Near threatened.
Northern White Rhinoceros (C. s. cottoni) Critically endangered.

2. Just 300 years ago Southern White Rhinoceros occurred across large areas of Southern Africa. They are now restricted to just eight countries: Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

3. The Southern White Rhinoceros was thought to have become extinct in the late 19th century due to intense hunting, until a small herd was found in South Africa in 1897.

4. A survey conducted by the IUCN in 2004 found there are approximately 11000 to 12000 Southern White Rhinoceros and their populations are steadily increasing.

5. The white rhino takes its name from its "wide" muzzle (weit in Afrikaans).

6. Colouration of white rhinoceros and the black rhinoceros does not actually vary much.

7. The white rhino is exclusively a herbivore and grazes on mostly the short grasses of the savannah.

8. White Rhinoceros charge at speeds of up to 45 km/h, but can only maintain this speed for a short distance.

9. Rhinoceros are very short sighted but compensating for this lack of sight, the rhino has keen hearing and one of nature's strongest senses of smell. A rhino’s olfactory passages are larger than its brain. They can detect scent more than several kilometres away, an ability superior to bloodhounds.

10. They are particularly alert on windy days perhaps because they are not sure exactly where the sounds and smells are coming from.

But can you ride a rhino? Click here to find out from the interview with Brooke Squires.

For more information about the rhinos at Zoos Victoria, please visit http://www.zoo.org.au/

The Wilderness Society Update

The Wilderness Society is a community-based environmental protection organisation. They work to safeguard our sources of clean water and air, to tackle devastating climate change, to create a safe future for life on Earth, and to give a better world to our children. The majority of our work is in Australia, with a strong focus on natural environments and the role they play in keeping our world safe.

They were born in 1976, and our first major victory was Australia's most famous environmental campaign - saving the Franklin River. Since then, with the support of thousands of concerned people across the country, we've worked to protect millions of hectares of our greatest wild places.

Click here to listen to the latest from The Wilderness Society with Amelia Young.

For more information on The Wilderness Society, please visit http://www.wilderness.org.au/

Autumn - The Time To Let Go

Autumn is a time for letting go of unnecessary things from our life, just as the trees around us are letting go of their unneeded leaves and animals start to store what they need for the cold winter ahead.

Click here to listen to Lady Tamara von Forslun discuss the relevance of Autumn.

An Update on Whaling from Greenpeace

Japan and it's Whaling Efforts seems to have dropped from the media's attention recently but there is still a lot happening.

Click here to listen to the latest from Greenpeace Whaling and Forests Campaigner Reece Turner.

Find out more about Greenpeace at http://www.greenpeace.org.au/

Growling Grass Frog

The Growling Grass Frog is a highly endangered Australian Frog. There is hardly any left in the wild and Werribee Zoo is breeding them in the hope of returning them to the wild.

Click here to listen to Werribee Zoo Keeper Kwai Chang-Kum discuss the Growling Grass Frog.

For more information about the zoos of Melbourne, please visit http://www.zoo.org.au/

Capuchin Monkeys

Capuchin Monkeys are from Central America living together in groups of 10 to 35 members. They are undemanding regarding their habitat and can thus be found in many differing areas. Potential predators include jaguars, cougars, coyotes, snakes and crocodiles, although there has only been one published observation of a predator taking a capuchin in the wild. The main predator of the Tufted Capuchin is the Harpy Eagle, which has been seen bringing several capuchins back to its nest.

Their is a new group of Capuchins at the Melbourne Zoo. The females came from one Zoo in NZ and the males came from another New Zealand Zoo. They were introduced to each other with a very successful outcome. They now have two babies in the group, and all animals have settled in extremely well.

Capuchins are an endangered species.

Click here to listen to the interview with Melbourne Zoo's Senior Curator, Dan Maloney.

For information on Melbourne's Zoos, please visit http://www.zoo.org.au/

Good Fish Friday - Buying Seafood this Easter (or any time)? Make it Sustainable

This Easter the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) is calling on the public to make a good choice on Good Friday and avoid overfished seafood species.

With Australians' love affair with seafood, some of our most popular fish species are being pushed to the edge of extinction by increasing consumer demand and destructive fishing methods. Species such as orange roughy, broadbill swordfish and southern bluefin tuna are on the overfished list and need a break if they are to recover from being loved to death.
In the 1990s seafood consumption in Australia increased by 13 per cent and this trend has continued into the 2000s, with Australians now eating an average of 21kg of seafood per person each year. '

"Not surprisingly, this has increased pressure on fish stocks dramatically and the number of fish species classified as 'overfished' has quadrupled since the 1990s," said National Marketing Manager, Ingrid Neilson.

"Australia's Sustainable Seafood Guide was created in response to a demand from the Australian public who loved eating seafood, but also loved our oceans," Neilson said.

"If you love our oceans, you can make a responsible choice this Easter. Choose whiting instead of deep sea dory, bream instead of shark and calamari instead of unsustainable commercial scallops," Neilson said. "Australia's Sustainable Seafood Guide can lead you to better seafood choices this Easter and help protect our fish stocks at the same time," Neilson concluded.

AMCS is an independent, national not-for-profit charity that has been operating for over 40 years. Their conservation work is funded through the generous support of Australians who want to give something back.

Additional information
1. The Australian Marine Conservation Society is a national charity dedicated to protecting our ocean wildlife. We work to create marine national parks, save our endangered ocean wildlife and make our fisheries sustainable.

2. The proceeds from sales of the Guide go directly back into the campaign to help reduce overfishing and provide the public with sustainable seafood choices.

3. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has reported that over 75% of the world's fish stocks are fully exploited or over-exploited.

4. Scientists report that over 90 per cent of sharks and other big fish species have been removed from the world's oceans.

5. Australian overfished species that should be avoided include orange roughy, shark (flake), oreo dories and southern bluefin tuna.
- If you are eating seafood, you can make a 'better choice' by opting for:
- Whiting over oreos (dory, deep sea dory)
- Bream over 'shark' (flake, boneless fillet)
- Flathead over redfish (Nannygai)
- Calamari over scallops
- Tropical Trevally over tuna and swordfish

6. Unsustainable seacage aquaculture species should also be avoided. Seacage aquaculture adds pressure to our wild fisheries, uses fish meal made from wild fish and pollutes our waterways.

7. Some restaurants and seafood retailers no longer sell overfished species and environmental accreditation for commercial fishing operations is inspiring some fisheries to improve their environmental performance.

8. Ask your fish merchant the following questions. If they answer 'Yes' then say 'No Thanks' to purchasing that species.
- Is the species long-lived (>20yrs) or slow growing?
- Is it a deep sea species?
- Is it a shark or ray?

Click here to listen to the interview with Ingrid Neilson

Seafood Guides can be ordered online at http://www.marineconservation.org.au/ or by calling 1800 066 299.

Who was St Valentine?

Each Feburary the 14thl overs, or want to be lovers woo and gift the objects of thir desire in the name of Saint Valentine.

But who was Saint Valentine?

Click here to listen to the interview on St Valentine with Lady Tamara von Forslun.

Colleen Hartland MLC discusses her 10c Drink Container Deposit Scheme for Victoria

Greens MLC Colleen Hartland plans on introducing legislation that will allow Victorians to return used drink containers a receive a 10c refund. The scheme will cover glass and plastic bottles, aluminium cans as well as drink cartons. Currently in Victoria local councils and their rate payers currently foot the bill for rubbish and litter. A 10c deposit system would save councils $15.2 million, by shifting the cost away from councils towards those who create the litter. In fact Ms Hartland proposes that the scheme would be self funding from a $63.5 million unredeemed deposit fund.

The concept is not entirely a new one. Our neighbouring Adelaide has been running a recycling scheme for decades. Various schemes around the world include:

• In California, where the scheme not only funds itself, but pays for education programs about recycling.
• New York’s Returnable Container Act, better known as the “Bottle Bill” requires a 5-cent refundable deposit on beer and soda containers sold in New York. The bottle bill has been New York's most successful recycling and litter prevention program. Since the law was enacted in 1982, more than 90 billion bottles and cans have been returned and recycled through the bottle bill.
• In Norway, where there are 9,000 depots, including thousands of Reverse Vending Machines.

Click here to listen to Colleen discuss her proposed scheme.

For more information contact:
Liz Ingham
Office of Colleen Hartland MLC
Western Metropolitan Region
A: 75 Victoria Street, Seddon 3011
P: 9689 6373
M: 0409 333 595
F: 9689 6227
E: elizabeth.ingham@parliament.vic.gov.au
W: http://mps.vic.greens.org.au/
http://mps.vic.greens.org.au/taxonomy/term/74

Colleen is also running a series of public meetings in her electorate of Western Metropolitan Region in April and May

Wednesday 22 April - Sunshine - 7.30pm Sunsine Masonic Lodge, 93 Hampshire Road, Sunshine
Monday 27 April - Inner West - 7.30pm - West Footscray Primary School - Argyle Street West Footscray - Off Barkley Street
Monday 4 May - Moonee Valley - 7.30pm Ascot Vale Uniting Church, 60-64 Maribyrnong Rd, Moonee Ponds.
Monday 11 May - Williamstown / Newport area - 7.30pm - Newport Community Hall, 13-15 Mason St, Newport.
Wednesday 13 May - Caroline Springs - 7.30pm - Caroline Springs Library & Civic Centre, 193-201 Caroline Springs Blvd. corner of Lake St, Caroline Springs.
Also: Public Rally - Sunday 17 May - Parliament House, 2pm.

Dr John Demartini balances your perspective

Dr John Demartini over came an adverse youth to become one of the world's most influential specialists in human behaviour. For nearly 4 decades he has studied 276 disciplines and commits himself 365 days a year to helping individuals reach their greatest potential.

I became familiar with his flagship teachings called the Breakthrough Experience many years ago and took the time to chat to him about how this fits in with life today for each of us and in tackling the Global Financial Crisis.

Click here to listen to the interview.

Dr John Demartini will be in Australia with his seminar 'How To Have One Hell Of A Recession And Still Make A Profit’playing on the title of his bestselling book ‘How to Make One Hell of a Profit and Still Get to Heaven’.

He is appearing in Melbourne:
Tuesday 28 April
7.00pm – 9.30pm
Sofitel on Collins

For tickets and all other information, please visit http://www.drdemartini.com/

Tune into All Natural on JOY 94.9 or http://www.joy.org.au/ between 9am and 12 noon AEST for your chance to win a Double Pass to the seminar.

The Teachings of Abraham

Does the Supernatural Exist? Can people chanel other beings? Whether or not you believe in life and existance beyond what we observe I believe this clip is a worthwhile view for the GLBTI Community.



For more information, please visit www.abraham-hicks.com

The Tuatara

Conservation staff at Wellington’s world-first conservation attraction ZEALANDIA, which is managed by the groundbreaking Karori Sanctuary Trust, have found what is almost certainly the first confirmed baby tuatara to have hatched in the wild on mainland New Zealand in over 200 years.

The discovery came during routine maintenance work, when conservation officer Bernard Smith found the 8cm-long hatchling in an area where nests had been discovered. The animal is thought to be around one month old and is likely to have hatched from eggs laid around 16 months ago.

"This is an extremely significant discovery" said conservation manager Raewyn Empson.

"We knew our tuatara were laying eggs, but we didn't dare hope to find any young. Monitoring the nests 24/7 just wasn't practical. We certainly didn't expect to see them so soon and perhaps not until they were adults. We are all absolutely thrilled with this discovery. It means we have successfully re-established a breeding population back on the mainland, which is a massive breakthrough for New Zealand conservation. He is unlikely to be the only baby to have hatched this season, but seeing him was an incredible fluke".

The youngster was caught briefly for a photoshoot and then released back in the spot he was found. He faces a tough journey to adulthood. Not only will he have to run the gauntlet of cannibalistic adult tuatara, he would also make a tasty snack for species like morepork (native owl); kingfisher and weka (New Zealand's endemic flightless rail).

"Like all the wildlife living here, he'll just have to take his chances" said Ms Empson

"However, hatching within the safety of of mammal-proof fence has already given him a far better chance of survival than he would get outside our mammal-proof fence. Out there, the survival rate would be almost zero".

Tuatara are the only extant members of the Order Sphenodontia and endemic to New Zealand. Every other species in this Order became extinct about 60 million years ago, leading scientists to refer to tuatara as ‘living fossils’.

Tuatara are thought to have been extinct as a breeding population on the three main islands of New Zealand for around 200 years. They were wiped out, primarily, by the kiore (Pacific rat) which arrived with the first Polynesian settlers around 700 years ago.

In 2005, 70 animals were translocated to the Karori sanctuary, New Zealand's first fenced mainland conservation project from one of their last offshore island refuges - Takapourewa/Stephens Island in Cook Strait, with the blessing of the animals' Maori kaitiaki (guardians) Ngati Koata. A further 130 animals were traslocated two years later. These two transfers marked a major breakthrough in re-establishing this species in the wild on mainland New Zealand. It has also made the species a lot more visible to the public.

In late 2008, staff identified a number of nest sites. At least two contained clutches of leathery, ping-pong ball-sized eggs. The eggs were immediately covered up again to avoid disturbing their incubation. Although only four eggs were unearthed, it is likely that there are more in the nest – an average clutch contains around ten.

Other than guarding the nest for a few days after laying to prevent other females digging the nest up, that is the end of maternal responsibility. All being well, the tuatara could hatch any time between now and March. The hatchlings will break out of the eggs using a special egg-tooth that will fall off after about two weeks. For the first six months or so the legendary ‘third eye’ for which the tuatara is most famous will be visible as a white patch on the forehead. This too will disappear as the tuatara grows.

As with some other reptiles, soil temperature will determine the animals’ gender. Warm soil (over 21 degrees) results in males, and cool soil (under 21 degrees) females.

ZEALANDIA: The Karori Sanctuary Experience was recently acknowledged as one of Australasia’s top 25 ecological restoration projects by the Australia-based EMR Journal.

Additional information on tuatara breeding behaviour

o Tuatara breed only every two to four years.
o Unlike lizards, the male tuatara does not have a pe_nis. He mounts the female and passes sperm straight from his cloaca to hers (the cloaca is a small opening that serves the intestinal, urinary and genital tracts of certain reptiles and birds).
o Female tuatara become fertile at about 13 years age.
o She will carry up to 12 eggs for nine months.
o The leathery eggs will be laid between October and December; buried and abandoned.
o After about 12-15 months the eggs hatch, the young using an egg tooth to break out of their shells. From day one, tuatara take care of themselves.
o Like alligators, crocodiles and turtles, a tuatara’s gender is determined by the temperature at which it was incubated in the egg. Eggs laid in warm soil hatch into males, those in cool soil hatch into females, and those in moderate or oscillating temperatures into a mix of both.
o Tuatara are born with a legendary ‘third eye’ (actually a light-sensitive pineal gland) on the top of their skulls. This slowly closes over as they mature.

Click here to listen to the interview with Alan Dicks, the Marketing Director of Zealandia

The Oryx

Oryx is one of three or four large anteloper species of the genus Oryx, typically having long straight almost upright or swept back horns. Two or three of the species are native to Africa, with a fourth native to the Arabian Perninsula . Small populations of several oryx species, such as the "Scimitar Oryx", also exist in Texas and New Mexico, USA as captive populations on wild game ranches.

The Hebrew word re' em may refer to the Arabian Oryx, although this word could also refer to the extinct Aurochs, or some other type of horned mammal. In the King James version of the Bible the word “re’em” is translated as “unicorn", and the legend of the Unicorn may have originated in part from the Arabian Oryx, which when seen in profile frequently appears to have only a single horn.

Click here to find out more about the Oryx.

The Helmeted Honey Eater

The Helmeted Honeyeater is endemic to Victoria, and is also the only bird species to be endemic to the state. For this reason, the Helmeted Honeyeater became Victoria's bird emblem in 1971.
The Helmeted Honeyeater is approximately 20 cms in length (tail to tip). They range in colour from black to olive-brown to yellow. They have a yellow crest which sets them apart from other honeyeaters.
Currently (2006) the Helmeted Honeyeater is listed as critically endangered. There were only 50 of this species left in 1990. The numbers are steadily increasing, but the species is still critically endangered.
The honeyeater is currently found in a captive release colony in the Bunyip State Park Reintroduction Site. They also inhabit a very small range between Ferntree Gully and Yellingbo in the wild.
The diet of the Helmeted Honeyeater consists of mainly manna. Manna is a sap-like substance produced by trees through the bark and at points of injury. They also feed on nectar from eucalypt flowers, berries from the prickly currant bush, insects, spiders and lerps.
Breeding occurs from August to February. The gestation period is two weeks where 2 to 3 young are born.

Breeding and moult were sequential unimodal annual events, whose timing was highly consistent between years. However, overlap of breeding and moult was frequent, and some individuals even commenced primary moult before laying their final clutch. The timing of the post-juvenile moult was coincident with that of adults. Early-hatched young moulted within a few months of hatching, but late-hatched young deferred moult for a year. Helmeted Honeyeaters were heaviest in autumn and early winter, and lightest in spring and early summer, a cycle most consistent with the redirection of all available resources to reproduction. The long breeding season (seven-and-a-half months) of the Helmeted Honeyeater, extensive overlap of breeding and moult, and other life-history attributes including small clutch size, are more consistent with the described bio-rhythmic patterns for birds in the humid tropics than the temperate zone. However, the Helmeted Honeyeater has a fairly rapid primary moult rate, unusual amongst species that overlap moult and breeding. This combination of attributes reflects the stable, somewhat seasonal environment occupied and the resource monopoly established by this tightly territorial subspecies. We speculate that extension of the breeding season, by overlapping breeding and moult, is one of the few options available to vary life-history strategies amongst 'old-endemic' Australian birds of the temperate zone.

Click here to find out more about Victoria's Bird Emblem.

The Red Panda

The Red Panda, also called the Firefox or Lesser Panda (Latin name: Ailurus fulgens, "shining cat"), is a mostly herbivorous mammal, specialized as a bamboo feeder. It is slightly larger than a domestic cat (40 - 60 cm long, 3 - 6 kg weight). The Red Panda is endemic to the Himalayas in Bhutan, southern China, Pakistan, India, Laos, Nepal, and Burma. There is an estimated population of fewer than 2,500 mature individuals. Their population continues to decline due to habitat fragmentation.

Check out the below video of a Red Panda:



Click here to listen to the interview with Molly Flora of Melbourne Zoo.

For more information on the great work Melbourne Zoo does, please visit www.zoo.org.au