Blog Archives

Africa’s big mammal populations drop 59% in 40 years!

African elephants in Kruger National Park. Photo: Sally Kneidel Just saw a distressing news item.  In an interview published 1/27/11, scientist Ian Craigie says populations of big mammals in Africa have decreased 59% in 40 years. And those figures are

Posted in Africa, Animal welfare / animal rights, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Endangered species, Overconsumption, Primates, Resources, Wildlife, Wildlife habitat, Wildlife survival Tagged with: , , , , ,

Banding hurts penguins, says new study in journal Nature

Text and photo by Sally Kneidel, PhD Attaching bands to birds is a longstanding method of studying bird populations. The bands allow researchers to collect data on birds’ movements and longevity. But scientists have been debating for 30 years whether

Posted in Animal welfare / animal rights, Birds, South Africa, Wildlife Tagged with: , , , ,

Christmas trees: are fake or real more sustainable?

Readers, a woman who works for the Nature Conservancy asked me to post this article debating fake vs. real Christmas trees, by the Conservancy’s Frank Lowenstein. It’s also posted on the Nature Conservancy website. The debate is worth thinking about

Posted in Agriculture, Borneo, Climate change, Deforestation, Indonesia, Malaysia, Overconsumption, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Sustainable choices for your home, Sustainable Living, Tree plantations, Wildlife, Wildlife habitat Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Conflicting USDA advice : Yes or no to cheese?

Dairy cow. Photo: Sally Kneidel A couple of years ago, one of my co-workers brought a Pizza Hut pizza into our workplace for lunch. I remember it because I was surprised at how much cheese was on the pizza. Way

Posted in Dairy, Farming, Food, Food, Going Green (co-authored with Sadie Kneidel), Health, Livestock, Sustainable Living, Veggie Revolution (co-authored with Sadie Kneidel) Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Review of “The Cove,” an A+ documentary of Japan’s dolphin slaughter

Ric O’Barry, star of “The Cove” Crazy I heard Bruce Springsteen say once that the people we remember are the people who care enough to be crazy.  I thought about that when I saw the Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove.”  It’s

Posted in Animal welfare / animal rights, Cancer, Film review, Food, Going Green (co-authored with Sadie Kneidel), Going Green: A Wise Consumer's Guide to a Shrinking Planet, Health, Health effects of eating meat, Japan, Marine mammals, Southeast Asia, Wildlife, Wildlife survival Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

New studies: Cancer linked to milk consumption

My mom was a meat, eggs, and milk gal.  To her way of thinking, animal protein was the key to good health.  Breakfast was bacon, eggs, and milk, period.  If my brothers and I were running late for school with

Posted in Agriculture, Animal welfare / animal rights, Cancer, Climate change, Dairy, Deforestation, Environmental pollution, Food, Food, Health, Livestock, Sustainable choices for your home, Veggie Revolution (co-authored with Sadie Kneidel) Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Wildlife trade rivals drug trade in profits

Text and photos by Sally Kneidel, PhD This post is also published on the syndicated BasilandSpice I recently wrote a post about Indonesia’s illegal trade in wildlife, focusing on orangutans. As one of our closest relatives, orangutans look and act

Posted in Animal welfare / animal rights, Indonesia, Jakarta, Primates, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Wildlife, Wildlife survival Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Tiny new frog discovered on Borneo – can it survive deforestation and the illegal wildlife trade?

Photo by scientist Indraneil Das of newly-discovered frog species A new pea-sized frog species has been discovered on Borneo!  Scientists from the University of Malaysia Sarawak found the tiny frogs living in and around tubular carnivorous plants called pitcher plants.

Posted in Borneo, Frogs, Wildlife, Wildlife survival Tagged with: , , , ,

Laws flaunted: flourishing pet trade threatens orangutan survival

This post now on Google News and on the syndicated BasilandSpice.com Pet trade threatens orangutan survival “Having a pet orangutan is a status symbol,” I was told by my Indonesian friend Ria, who lives and works in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital.

Posted in Animal welfare / animal rights, Asia, Borneo, Deforestation, Eco-travel, Ecosystems, Endangered species, Human behavior, Overconsumption, Rain forest, Resources, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Sustainable Living, Wildlife, Wildlife habitat, Wildlife survival Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Searching for a wild orangutan…

This post on Google News and on the syndicated site BasilandSpice. On my Asian quest to see wild and semi-wild orangutans, I wasn’t sure I’d find a single one of the red apes roaming free in a forest. Orangutans used

Posted in Animal welfare / animal rights, Asia, Birds, Borneo, Deforestation, Eco-travel, Endangered species, Indonesia, Rain forest, Sumatra, Wildlife, Wildlife habitat, Wildlife survival Tagged with: , , , , ,

What’s this blog about?

These days, I blog mostly about nature and wildlife. Even the tiniest creatures make me happy! You'll also find here lots of posts about plant-based foods, health, and ecotourism. Ecotourism can support local people who make a living through sustainable use of wildlife, habitat, and natural resources.

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Link to our other blog, Veggie Revolution

Our other blog, Veggie Revolution, focuses more on food than this one does, especially the environmental, health and humane aspects of our food choices. That blog was started in 2005 and continues today, while the blog you're reading now began in 2009. Some of the newer posts are on both blogs, but Veggie Rev has at least 260 more posts than this blog, including Sadie's travels to Morocco. In the sidebar of Veggie Rev, you'll see links to each year that can take you back to all the posts for a particular year.

Veggie Revolution blog