International Fund For Animal Welfare's - "world Of Animals" - Issue 1

IFAW’s

World of Animals When disasters strike... As fires raged in Australia, IFAW rushed to save wildlife.

Sealing more victories...

IFAW’s fight to end commercial sealing has gained some astounding success! Issue no. 1 2009 A Publication of the International Fund for Animal Welfare

IFAW’s

World of Animals

When Disasters Strike...

Welcome to the first edition of IFAW’s World of Animals, designed to bring you the stories behind some of IFAW’s campaigns and successes. I hope you will find this newsletter engaging and informative, and that you will feel proud of the achievements you make possible.

Fred O’Regan, President and Chief Executive Officer

Contents

When Disasters Strike... IFAW’s supporters are there for the animals. page 3 – 5

Animal Matters IFAW news from around the world. page 6 – 8

Juliana Kickert’s Legacy of Kindness A dedicated supporter makes a generous lasting gift. page 9

Sealing Their Fate IFAW’s 40-year-campaign is winning victories! page 10 – 11

A Shy Celebrity Sam was the face of hope for bushfire survivors. page 12

mera Win this sonytaiCa for de ls See back page

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© IFAW

All Photographs © IFAW unless otherwise indicated Cover photograph from Istock Images

When Disasters Strike...

When the worst fires in Australia’s history turned the bush into a blackened wasteland, people mourned unimaginable loss. As dazed animals wandered from the forests, people felt a small glimmer of hope that some life survived. IFAW rushed to rescue burned animals emerging from the fire zone - koalas, possums, kangaroos, dogs, an orphaned baby deer, even horses and birds. In all, IFAW helped save 142 animals and provided them with veterinary care, food and water, medicine and bandages. As is often the case, care

International Fund for Animal Welfare

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When Disasters Strike...

When Disasters Strike... IFAW is a world leader in emergency response: • In the USA, IFAW helped federal and state agencies develop disaster-response guidelines and contributed to legislation requiring evacuation plans for animals during disasters. • After the devastating earthquake in China, IFAW was the only international animal welfare organization invited to help cats, dogs and farm animals in 18 villages.

continued long after the emergency faded from the headlines. IFAW kept working with valiant caregivers over weeks and months following the fires. As wounds healed and animals regained their strength, their release was met with tears of joy. Whenever horrible disasters like this strike, IFAW veterinarians and emergency responders rush to the scene ... rescuing defenseless creatures, large and small.

Animal Rescuers In times of disaster, everyone’s first concern is naturally for human safety. Humanitarian organizations rush to aid people, often confronting complete chaos, and can’t stop to look after pets. IFAW’s role is to get the animals out of harm’s way. IFAW rescuers scour flooded streets, charred forests and crumbling buildings looking for animal survivors. We provide veterinary care and shelter, and set up hotlines to reunite cats and dogs with loving owners. The grateful purr or playful bark of a companion comforts families who have lost everything, proving once again the miracle of the human-animal bond.

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• IFAW’s bear rescue center in Russia has pioneered hand-rearing of orphaned cubs for return to the wild.

in South Africa in 2000, we led a massive operation to clean, rehabilitate and release an entire population of African penguins ... saving 19,000 lives.

Sometimes it’s an individual animal that desperately needs our help. With our partner organization Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), IFAW is hand-raising a pair of orphaned clouded leopard cubs, found by villagers in northeast Assam. Our plan is to rehabilitate these very rare cubs and return them to the wild.

• In India, we provide veterinary care and round-the-clock bottle feeding to orphaned leopard cubs, baby elephants and baby rhinos ... some have lost their mothers in floods, some to poachers.

“This is the first time clouded leopards have been admitted to the IFAW rescue facilities in northeast India,” said WTI’s Bhaskar Choudhury. “It provides an important indicator of the presence of this species in the IndoBhutan region.”

IFAW is also the global leader in oil spill animal rescue.

IFAW responds whenever animals are in danger ... rescuing cats and dogs ...

We have responded to 25 oil spills in 15 countries. Following the Treasure oil spill When Italy experienced its worst earthquake in 30 years this past April, IFAW helped rescue hundreds of dogs and cats, and provided guidance for other rescue groups. Tiny, one of the first dogs rescued from the rubble after a devastating earthquake shook China’s Sichuan Province in 2008, was taken to an IFAW-supported shelter.

administering antibiotics to farm animals ... saving orphaned wildlife and returning them to their natural homes. To help support IFAW’s rescue efforts, visit www.ifaw.org/woa Tiger Day festivities Russia, IFAW posters, ng er d by inDa te un UnAtda

booklets and t-shirts promoted tiger protection. During the last five years, IFAW has responded to more than 17 natural disasters, including:

Hurricanes in the USA and tralia Cyclones in Burma and Aus

Floods in India, Mexico, Indonesia, Canada, South Africa and the USA Tsunamis in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia Ear thquakes in China , Indonesia and Italy

Volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, the Philippines and Chile  ildfires in Australia, Indonesia, W Greece and the USA

The clouded leopard is one of the rarest wild cats and a protected species. We plan to return this cub to its tropical forest home. IFAW cared for 7,000 animals in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We received a ‘Connections’ award from Louisiana State University for our enormous efforts.

IFAW’s expertise was a critical factor in the successful release of 372 stranded penguins in Brazil – the largest in South America’s history.

International Fund for Animal Welfare

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Animal matters

IFAW Honorary Board Member Amber Valletta makes a whale tail.

Brief news of IFAW’s recent activities and successes around the world Outfoxing Hunters

UK

Elephants on the move

Animals are

Elephant ad takes off!

Africa

Food for Pets

Whales Rule

page 6

USA

Six critically endangered gyrfalcons, packed tightly in a cardboard box, were confiscated by officials at the Chkalovskiy Military Airport near Moscow. They were handed over to IFAW for rehabilitation in a bid to save their lives. Dangerously underfed, they required immediate veterinary care and food. Three survived, and they were released back to the wild in Kamchatka in April.

IFAW worked with the United States government to pass an important right whale protection measure. The regulation calls for ships longer than 65 feet to reduce their speed to 10 knots within 20 nautical miles of key ports along the US East Coast when right whales are in the area. IFAW is delighted with the US government’s commitment to reducing the number of ships colliding with whales, specifically the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale, in this dense shipping area.

These magnificent birds face capture for an illegal and increasing international falconry trade – placing tremendous pressure on a dwindling population in Russia. Only an estimated 1,000 pairs remain.

To support our campaign, send a photo of your hands shaped in a whale tail to www.tailsforwhales.org.

Soaring to Freedom

IFAW funded a mobile van to transport food and veterinary supplies to 19 distribution points operated by Tiertafel across the country. Approximately 3,000 people depend on care and food from the van IFAW purchased. In Frankfurt alone, more than 600 people wait for supplies and medical help for their pets every week.

The ad was directed by Ismail Arca, animation & computer graphics supervisor at George Lucas’ company “Industrial Light and Magic.” He has received several academy nominations and won an academy award for “Pirates of the Caribbean.” When he heard about this project he instantly agreed to work for us free of charge. So did everybody else. German public television broadcast a segment on the ad and our campaign, and the ad plays regularly on five German TV stations. It received an audience award at Germany’s “Spotlight” festival and a bronze award at the Art Directors Club in New York. IFAW’s state-of-the-art research vessel Song of the Whale.

germany

With help from IFAW, poor, unemployed or homeless people in Germany receive care and food for their pets.

EUROPE

German ad agency Springer & Jacoby produced a clever animated ad for IFAW’s campaign to make consumers ‘think twice’ about buying animal souvenirs while travelling abroad.

IFAW is helping to relocate 83 elephants from certain death in Phirilongwe, Malawi, where they came into conflict with villagers as their habitat decreased, to the protected Majete Wildlife Reserve. Previously, all the animals at Majete had been poached to the brink of extinction. But now the park is secure – with park rangers on patrol and a fence – and ready to welcome these elephant families. After 15 years of campaigning by IFAW, the ban on the cruel sport of hunting wild animals with dogs was enacted on February 18, 2005. The law made it a criminal offence to use dogs to chase fox, deer, mink and hares. This year marks the 4th anniversary of the ban and IFAW continues to defend this important piece of legislation and is training police forces all over the country to ensure that the law is being properly enforced.

not souvenirs

RUSSIA

Listening to Whales

North Atlantic

The research team onboard IFAW’s Song of the Whale spent a long season from May to October 2008 sailing around the islands of the Azores, Canaries and Madeira. The purpose of the trip? Listening for the sounds of beaked whales to determine their presence in the area. The team was delighted to hear Cuvier’s and Blainville’s whales and made some interesting acoustic recordings. They also took photographs of these very elusive creatures. IFAW scientists hope to develop acoustic detection techniques for beaked whales in order to identify habitat ‘hotspots’ that would benefit from protection. Beaked whales are especially vulnerable to loud noise, particularly from military sonar.

International Fund for Animal Welfare

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Animal matters

In Memoriam

Planet Disney

USA

In celebration of Earth Day, April 22, Disney released a remarkable movie called “EARTH.” Narrated by James Earl Jones, “EARTH” follows the fascinating journeys of three different animal families across this planet we call home. These animals – whales, elephants and polar bears – are animals IFAW works tirelessly to protect.

No Sale on eBay

Worldwide

After IFAW shared its award-winning report Killing with Keystrokes: An Investigation of the Illegal Trade on the World Wide Web with eBay, the online auction site announced a ban on all sales of elephant ivory products.

The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund has supported many of IFAW’s emergency responses and other projects to protect animals all around the world. We are grateful to have them as a conservation partner. Watch this amazing movie, available on Disney Blu-ray and DVD September 1. Check out www.Disney.com/nature.

IFAW’s investigation tracked more than 7,000 wildlife product listings on 183 websites in 11 countries. eBay accounted for almost two-thirds of the online trade in wildlife products worldwide. More than 5,000 elephant ivory listings were uncovered during the investigation, with most of the sales taking place on eBay’s US site. IFAW applauds these bold steps taken by the online company to protect elephants and other endangered animals.

AWARD WINNER

The US -based National ental Association of Environm d cte sele has s nal sio Profes for a Killing with Keystrokes ental 2009 National Environm Excellence Award, in the al category of Environment ting tra Stewardship, for demons discover an innovative means to tional and act upon the interna e. dlif wil of de tra illegal

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Turtles March Ashore

UK

IFAW placed 200 life-size cardboard hawksbill turtles on the shore at Bournemouth beach to look as though they had just crawled out of the sea to lay their eggs. In the wild, this is when they are most vulnerable to hunters who slaughter them to turn their shells into tourist trinkets. Intrigued beachgoers were encouraged to pick up the IFAW turtles and turn them over to read about the use of turtle shells for souvenirs and how to avoid supporting the deadly trade in wildlife souvenirs.

In Memoriam: A Vision from the Heart

Juliana Kickert was an animal lover who shared her life with two horses, two cats and a dog. Her philosophy was simple: “People should open their hearts to helpless animals.” A generous longtime supporter of IFAW, Juliana has always trusted Fred to “know best where money is needed.” Juliana contributed to help build the new Song of the Whale, IFAW’s marine research vessel, and when she passed away, her extremely generous bequest made it possible for IFAW to move into an environmentally friendly international headquarters in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, without diverting donor funds from vital animal welfare work worldwide. The new building reduced costs by bringing employees together from three locations, and greatly enhanced logistics and campaigning resources to advance IFAW’s mission globally. “Throughout her life, Juliana Kickert showed unbelievable generosity and compassion for animals. I know it would make her happy to see how much her generosity has benefitted our mission and our effectiveness,” said

IFAW CEO Fred O’Regan. “In tribute to her generosity, we have dedicated the open habitat at the heart of our new headquarters as ‘Juliana’s Meadow.’”

Juliana and her horses at home in Colorado.

A Lasting Touch of Kindness Leaving a legacy to IFAW in your will is one of the most effective ways to protect animals long into the future. For 40 years, the generosity of individuals like Juliana has allowed IFAW to continue our important

work for animals. As more and more species become threatened around the globe, we depend on the legacies of caring supporters like you. If you would like to learn how you can help IFAW through your will, call toll free 1-888-251-0253 or visit www.ifaw.org/woa

International Fund for Animal Welfare

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Seals in Focus

The World is Watching … As IFAW Makes History!

Seals in Focus IFAW’s mission began when a group of caring individuals stepped out onto the Canadian ice in 1969. Since that time, IFAW’s campaign to end the Canadian commercial seal hunt has been marked by many successes and challenges. And this year stands to be remembered as a year of historic victories: • In March, IFAW’s 15-year campaign in Russia resulted in a ban on the slaughter of seal pups under 1 year old. The ban followed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s condemnation of the hunt as a “bloody business.” IFAW was the first organization to expose the cruelty within Russia and we have worked at the highest levels of government to end this hunt. • In May, the European Parliament voted to ban the trade of seal products within all 27 member states of the European Union as a direct result of IFAW’s campaigning. • For the first time in history, a brave Canadian Senator named Mac Harb has

sided with IFAW and introduced a bill to end Canada’s commercial seat hunt forever. The sealing industry is in economic turmoil as seal pelt prices are expected to drop yet again this year. In fact, the EU ban may mean the end of Canada’s commercial seal hunt. For 40 years, our supporters have helped us fight for, and win, solid advances against this hunt. We secured the US import ban of seal products in 1972. We won an EU ban on the trade in whitecoat baby seals in 1983. And now, the historic Harb seal bill could relegate this cruel and unsustainable hunt to history. “So many people have worked so hard on this for so long,” said IFAW CEO Fred O’Regan. “This could be the beginning of the end of a cruel, wasteful hunt that is really beneath the dignity of a great nation like Canada.” Help us win this fight See Mac Harb demonstration

d in Russ ia u nt Ban n e S eal Pup H ! EU e Ban n ed in S eal Trad

Mac Harb on ice with seal

The worldwide peace movement ... the Woodstock music festival … the first moon landing – 1969 was a year marked by events and ideas that changed our planet forever. So it should come as no surprise that the decade also marked the beginning of a new movement for animals.

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International Fund for Animal Welfare

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AP Images

International Fund for Animal Welfare

Sam: The World’s Most Famous Koala

Sam the koala came crawling out of a smoldering Australian forest and into the hearts of people around the world. She became a star when her picture was taken as she sipped from a firefighter’s water bottle. Within weeks, she had graced the pages of newspapers and websites across the globe. Sam was brought to an IFAW-funded clinic to receive emergency treatment for her burns. She is making a speedy recovery, and is even well enough to have a boyfriend named Bob, another koala bushfire victim.

International Headquarters 290 Summer Street Yarmouth Port, MA 02675 As one of the world’s leading animal welfare organizations, IFAW has representation in 16 countries and carries out its animal welfare work in more than 40. IFAW focuses its campaigns on improving the welfare of wild and domestic animals by reducing the commercial exploitation of animals, protecting wildlife habitats, and assisting animals in distress.

Eventually, the two will be released back into the wild, safely away from the paparazzi, and hopefully any future bushfires. IFAW continues to support the care for Sam and other burned animals. See full story on page 3.

Send Us Your Pet Pix

Look for IFAW on:

Does your pug have an adorable mug? Has your cat got the cream ... of an expression? Send IFAW your favorite pet photograph and enter our contest to win a brand new digital camera that will make your photos even better.

When it’s needed most!

Just snap a shot and email it to [email protected] or mail it to: Pet Pix Contest, IFAW, 290 Summer Street, Yarmouth Port, MA 02675. Your photo will be enjoyed by pet lovers everywhere. Please note that we cannot return the photos so send reprints only.

When disasters strike – when animals are hurt or in danger – you can make sure IFAW is there to save them.

era Win this sony Camwill win you d an t pix Send in the best pe camera.* All photos this fabulous Sony e r special committe will be judged by ou . ers lov al im an vvy of unbiased photo-sa w.ifaw.or g/woa. See full rules at ww

*Another model of equ

al or greater value may

be substituted.

You can give a helping hand...

US

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The stories of the animals IFAW has saved will warm your heart! From the earthquake in Italy: Lilly was trapped when her owner’s house collapsed, the debris crushing her paw. IFAWsupported vets tended to her paw and cared for her until her owners collected her. They were so happy she was safe.

When animals are in danger, they need our help.

From the Australia bushfires: One badly burnt female kangaroo brought back from the Endeavour Hills fires, now healed and out in the pen, has been ‘adopted’ by a male kangaroo. The big male opened the door of her pen and coaxed her outside. Now they are inseparable - he is totally besotted with her and spends the greater part of the day either lying next to her or grooming and clucking over her.

From a tea garden estate in Balipara, India: A baby elephant falls into a trench and struggles in vain to escape … a colony of thousands of penguins flap around helplessly after a massive oil spill turns the ocean into deadly, sticky mud … family pets hide in dark corners of abandoned homes as raging flood waters rumble past … We never know what form an emergency will take, but when animals are in danger we help wherever we can – often rushing experts to the scene within 48 hours. Whether one animal is crying out, or thousands need rescue, IFAW is there to help. You can be there too. Your donation provides animals in danger the critical help they need when disasters strike.

We can’t turn our back when animals are suffering. When an emergency strikes there’s not a moment to lose. IFAW rescuers rush to the scene, bringing supplies, medicine and years of experience and training. We never know when or where the next emergency will strike. But with your help, IFAW can react quickly to rescue the animal victims.

With your support, IFAW can be ready the next time an animal needs a helping hand.

Little Tikla was just 15 days old when he fell into a deep trench in a tea estate. He was dehydrated but hardly cried at all as we rushed him to our rehabilitation center. After a long drink, the calf slept in comfort by his keeper’s side. We hope to release him to the wild when he’s old enough.

From the bear hunt in Russia: Ostakh, a tiny bear cub prematurely delivered by his mother during a two-day chase by hunters, has grown from 360 grams to two kilos. He drinks 100 milliliters of milk every four hours and he’s gaining strength. Ostakh can now crawl freely and he’s learning to stand up.

Your support is vitally important. Please donate now Your donation is a vital contribution to our efforts to save the world’s animals and will be used where it’s most needed to help ease their suffering.

u o y k Than

Thank you for caring for the animals. The International Fund for Animal Welfare works to improve the welfare of animals throughout the world by reducing commercial exploitation, protecting wildlife habitats, and assisting animals in distress. IFAW works to prevent cruelty to animals and to promote animal welfare and conservation policies that advance the well being of both animals and people.