ANIMAL DEFENDERS

An older, stray kitty sounds the alarm about a trapped kitten in this video published by the Kritter Club, an animal defence group in Korea. The people promptly mobilize.

We spotted this inspiring news a few days back and wanted to celebrate it. Imagine what humanity could achieve if it wasnt consantly distracted by artificial cultural divisions, wars, and economic insecurity—all such ills emanating from a global system of entrenched exploitation and inequality.

David Doel and David Pakman file reports on the latest successful prank by a/r activists against big Factory Farming.

The No. 1 stressor on honeybee colonies is varroa mites. Largely found in Florida, these mites feed off of adult honeybees and those unhatched or maturing (called brood). The mites actually develop on the honeybee brood, allowing them to overtake adult bees as they grow, and move from colony to colony by attaching themselves to agricultural workers and drones.

Other pests and parasites like tracheal mites, small hive beetles, and wax moths, as well as the disease nosema, are also having a negative impact on the health of the honeybee population. Hive beetles are native to the sub-Saharan areas of Africa but have been found outside of the region around nests of the honeybee.

Pesticides, weather, and diseases have also had significant adverse impacts on the honeybee population in the U.S., together accounting for over 20 percent of colonies lost in 2015 and 2016.  

“Climate change is the ultimate cause, even if the proximate cause is something different,” claims McCann. “These type of things are only going to become more common, more frequent and the issue of warming waterholes is going to become worse and worse in time.” Because of climate change, Southern Africa’s temperatures are rising at twice the global average, according to CSAG, one of the leading climate research groups in Africa.