Archive for January 24th, 2011

Buying Palm Oil products hurts Tigers

24/01/2011

TIGER-friendly labels on products which use palm oil grown without destroying Asian jungles could help save the endangered big cats, according to Australia’s major zoos.

Palm Oil Products: Not good for tigers

I was at Sydney’s Taranga Zoo a few weeks ago, getting quite an education. Not only was I learning about Australia’s amazing wildlife, but also, about how the harvesting of palm oil is adversely affecting tigers and other animals in Asia. Below is an article from Australia’s Daily Telegraph. I shot the image of the tiger through a good-sized plate of glass.

By Malcolm Holland, Environment Reporter: Daily Telegraph
World demand, and prices, for palm oil has skyrocketed, sparking land clearing in the jungle homes of tigers in Indonesia and Malaysia. Land clearing was so widespread it had put Sumatran tigers “on the next step to extinction”, Taronga’s CEO Cameron Kerr said yesterday.

World demand, and prices, for palm oil has skyrocketed, sparking land clearing in the jungle homes of tigers in Indonesia and Malaysia.Land clearing was so widespread it had put Sumatran tigers “on the next step to extinction”, Taronga’s CEO Cameron Kerr said yesterday. Read more of this story
Learn more about the Don’t Palm Us Off” campaign
Which has three main focuses:

Labelling legislation – The Truth in Labelling Bill has been reintroduced to government for consideration and you can help get it accross the line. Scroll to to top of this page to find out more.

130,000 petition signatures collected – This enormous public response will now be used as a catalyst to demonstrate the community’s desire to change food labelling laws in an attempt to weaken our region’s link to the palm oil crisis.

Truth in Labelling Website Live – Nick Xenophon’s Truth in Labelling website is now up and running. It contains information on the palm oil bill and ways you can express your voice on fair labelling issues. Visit: http://www.truthinlabelling.com.au/

Intelligent Design?

24/01/2011

Gold coloured ants?

How can you make this stuff up? There must be intelligent design involved with this little creature.  Ants that look spray-painted gold can’t be real, but they are. I shot this one on a porch  railing at a Eungai Creek home, about an hour south of Coff’s Harbour in New South Wales, Australia’s east coast. The ant, shining in the sun, looked like it just came out of a bodyshop with a fresh coat of high-gloss gold enamel.  A quick Google search didn’t answer any questions as to how the gold colour helps this ant. Nor did I find anything on the ant. If you have any answers, leave a comment!