Author name: Alex Felsinger

is primarily concerned with animal welfare, wildlife conservation, and environmental justice. As a freelance writer in San Francisco, he leads a deliberately simplistic and thrifty lifestyle, yet still can’t help gawking at the newest green gadgets and zero-emission concept cars.

Could World of Warcraft be Used to Promote Conservation?

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With over 11 million players across the globe, a Stanford professor thinks World of Warcraft creators Blizzard Entertainment could harness the power for good by rewarding home energy and water conservation within the game. [social_buttons] Professor Byron Reeves had previously suggested that someone create a MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) that incorporates smart meter technology, […]

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Website to Track Wildlife Health, Warn of Emergency Situations

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Often animals will show signals of disaster long before the human population is affected, leading researchers to seek widespread information of wildlife fatalities for both the safety of people and other animals. [social_buttons] While data of wildlife fatalities or infection exists in different agencies across the US, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Groups Ask eBay to Ban Auctions of Guided Trophy Hunts

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The Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Big Wildlife, and the Alaska Wildlife Alliance have asked eBay to stop the sale of guided trophy hunts for top predators like bears, wolves, cougars, and wolverines. [social_buttons] While most guided hunts currently listed on eBay are for animals like deer, elk, and geese, some auctions for predators are available, including

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Greenpeace Coats 22-Story Hotel with 45 Acres of Green Tarps

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Sixty Greenpeace activists in Spain covered the controversial Hotel Algarrobico with 190,000 square-feet of green fabric in an attempt to “rub out” the partially-built structure. [social_buttons] Greenpeace has won multiple court victories against the developer of the hotel, leaving it unofficially condemned since 2006. It was originally targeted because of its protected location along the

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Frogger Made Real: Using Google Earth to Map Toad Crossings

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The common toad is becoming much less common in England due to a sharp increase in traffic- and road-related deaths, but with the help of Google Earth, some conservationists hope to reverse the trend. [social_buttons] Froglife, an amphibian conservation group, has mapped 700  crossings throughout the United Kingdom with a tweaked Google Earth application. The

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Killer Whale Population Never Recovered from Exxon Valdez Spill

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Biologists believe that the entire population of killer whales in the Prince WIlliam Sound will soon die off completely. [social_buttons] While salmon, otters, and other animals in the area have experienced partial or full recoveries, this group of whales has struggled ever since the 11-million-gallon oil spill in 1989. At that point, the whales numbered

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Thailand Labels Ginger, 12 Other Herbs as "Hazardous Plants"

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Ginger and chilli are among the plants deemed “hazardous” by Thailand’s Department of Agriculture in a recent announcement. [social_buttons] Instead of only regulating the toxic pesticides used by large-scale agriculture, Thailand’s new law mandates that the plants themselves should be treated as hazardous substances. Farmers take this to mean that even their small-scale organic farms

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5 Ways Activists Have Used BitTorrent to Promote Their Cause

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Activists have taken to Facebook and web 2.0, but relatively few have embraced the power of the torrent community. [social_buttons] While torrents are mostly known for spreading copyrighted content like movies, music, and software, many social and environmental activists have found the protocol to be a perfect match for their goal to spread information relating

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Australian Firefighter Gives Surviving Koala Water from a Bottle

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/do9AoKyjjQg&hl=en&fs=1] First-hand video shows an Australian firefighter finding a lone koala amid the charred remnants of a forest. He’s a lucky survivor of the brush fires that have swept the country for the past few days. “It was amazing, he turned around, sat on his bum and sort of looked at me with (a look)

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Grey vs. Red: Scotland to Kill One Squirrel Breed to Save the Other

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Conservationists are aghast at a plan to kill thousands of grey squirrels across Scotland in order to allow the red squirrel population room to grow. [social_buttons] “There are alternatives to a cull,” said Ross Minett of the UK’s Advocates for Animals. “There needs to be more research into immunocontraception for greys and there could be

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Florida Invasive Fish Problem "10 Times Worse Than the Python"

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Florida’s Everglade’s National Park has faced an invasion from giant pythons that prey on nearly any animal, big and small. But according to park biologist Dave Hallac, the problems caused by the spread of pythons pale in comparison to the proliferation of exotic fish species in the Everglades. [social_buttons] Walking catfish, African jewelfish, and around

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Step Inside the Cage of a Factory Farmed Egg-Laying Hen with AnimalVisuals.org

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Web developer Mark Middleton created AnimalVisuals.org to help expose the conditions animals face in factory farms through interactive, illustrated recreations from the animal’s perspective. [social_buttons] AnimalVisuals has only one “virtual environment” so far: the egg-laying hen’s battery cage. Complete with a sountrack recorded inside an actual factory farm, viewers are invited to read factual information

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Cheerleaders Protest Pet Store Puppy Abuse, Mall Cops Freak [video]

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Activists in Portland, Ore. really know how to make a scene in a shopping mall. [social_buttons] Four women dressed as cheerleaders chanted and danced in front of a pet store known to sell sick puppies from puppy mills yesterday before mall security decided they’d had enough. Instead of detaining the cheer leaders, they decided to

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Foundation Rescues Black Bears from Chinese Stomach Bile Farms

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Animals Asia Foundation rescued thirteen black bears from government-approved stomach bile farms in southwest China today. [social_buttons] The bears had holes punched in their stomachs to allow bile to drip out for traditional Chinense medicinal use. The bears were found in poor condition suffering with anything from blindness to cancers. Bear bile farms, however, are

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Russian Police Don't Like Greenpeace Man Dressed as Trash Can

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Happy trash can makes police angry. Police arrest happy trash can. Twice. [social_buttons] These photos are from a Greenpeace campaign against plans to build a waste incineration plant was held in Zelenograd, Russia. The campaign, in addition to costumed antics, has collected around 90,000 signatures in opposition to the plan. But the real story is

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The Saga Continues: Ashley Judd Responds to Sarah Palin on Larry King [Video]

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/_TB2nxydFLw&hl=en&fs=1] The debate over the aerial killing of wildlife in Alaska rages on with Ashley Judd and Defenders of Wildlife president Rodger Schlickeisen appearing on CNN’s Larry King Live last night. [social_buttons] Judd discusses why she so vehemently opposes aerial hunting (and later name-drops Van Jones and the Green Collar Economy) while Schlickeisen responds to

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Veterinarian Fired After Blowing Whistle on Animal Cruelty

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City officials in Houston, Texas have fired a veterinarian who has acted as a whistle-blower against botched and cruel operations on pets in the past. [social_buttons] But Kathy Barton, a health department spokesperson, said Gil Costas has been fired because he failed to file registration to handle controlled substances and drugs with the Department of

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Utah Legislature Votes to Limit Birth Control… for Animals

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If I didn’t know any better, I’d congratulate Utah republicans for at least being consistent in their ultra-conservative, anti-choice beliefs by spreading it to all species. But alas, that was not the intention of this new law. [social_buttons] They’ve preemptively passed a law to stop animal rights activists from distributing birth control to deer populations

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Canadian Conservationists Asked to Stop Their Loonie Campaign

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An environmental group had been distributing decals that fit perfectly onto Canada’s $1 loonie coin for the past week, but now the Royal Canadian Mint has ordered that they cease and desist. [social_buttons] The Dogwood Initiative began distributing the decals in order to call attention to the government’s support of a plan that would allow

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Wyoming Ranchers Contest Proposed Prairie Dog Protection

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While the federal government debates adding the black-tailed prairie dog to the endangered species list, ranchers in Wyoming are speaking out against the idea, claiming any protection for the animal would threaten their livelihood. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded that the prairie dog’s population is only 20 percent of its original size.

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Keep Up With Sarah Palin's War on Wildlife with EyeOnPalin.org

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The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund has launched a new website to track Sarah Palin and her seemingly unending tirade against wolves and other wildlife. The website, accompanied by a new advertisement starring Ashley Judd [below], will feature a tracker of headlines regarding Palin’s treatment of wildlife in Alaska. For instance, the discussion right now

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Groups Try to Stop Asbestos Ship of Death from Docking in UK

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Environmentalists are organizing a protest against the arrival of a ship in Hartlepool, England from France next week because the ship is loaded with 700 tons of toxic asbestos. [social_buttons] A Hartlepool company has been contracted to dismantle the ship, but environmental groups worry that they do not have the proper equipment or expertise to

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PETA Wants Ads on Indiana Garbage Trucks: "Meat Trashes the Planet"

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PETA, whose banned Super Bowl ad is still getting crazy press coverage, has offered to help with Indiana’s budget troubles by paying for ads on all their recycling trucks. The ads would read “Meat Trashes the Planet: Go Green, Go Vegetarian,” which PETA hopes will draw attention to the massive impact that the meat industry

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Whalers Fend Off Sea Shepherd with Hi-Tech Acoustic Weapons

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Sea Shepherd, the controversial direct-action anti-whaling group featured on Animal Planet’s Whale Wars, is currently facing retaliation from the Japanese whaling ships in the form of what Sea Shepherd calls a “military grade weapon system that sends out mid to high frequency sound waves designed to disorient and possibly incapacitate personnel.” [social_buttons] If their description

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Wal-Mart Pulls Plan to Build SuperCenter on Sensitive Land

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After years of protests and obstacles, Wal-Mart has given up on plans to build a giant SuperCenter store on the environmentally-sensitive White Slough in Vallejo, CA. [social_buttons] Environmental activists were joined by Vallejoans for Responsible Growth and California Healthy Communities Network in their opposition to the plans from the start. Due to their vocal opposition,

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Indigenous People Form Human Banners, Plea For Help Saving the Amazon

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Over 1,000 indigenous rights activists formed human banners across a stretch of deforested Amazon rain forest this week at the World Social Forum in Brazil. “We are the guardians of the forest,” said Marco Apurina, vice-coordinator of Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira. “This is a critical moment for indigenous peoples to unite with

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Spanish Judge Says Greenpeace Vandalism Was Legal

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In another court victory for Greenpeace, a judge in Almeria, Spain ruled that activists were merely expressing their opinion when, in 2006, they painted the words “Hotel Ilegal” and “Demolicion” in letters nearly twenty feet high on a hotel being built without permits on sensitive land. [social_buttons] “They only served to highlight Greenpeace’s disapproval of

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Iceland To Increase Illegal Killing of Endangered Fin Whales

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The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is calling for a complete economic boycott of Icelandic products after the country’s announcement extending their illegal commercial whaling campaign into the next five years. [social_buttons] Last year, Iceland killed nine endangered Fin whales. A few months back they began exporting the meat from the endangered whales to Japan, which

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Bob Barker Donates $1.5M to Move LA Elephant to Sanctuary

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The Los Angeles Zoo’s controversial $42-million Pachyderm Forest development, which would house their lone asian elephant named Billy, has attracted a number of celebrity endorsements, including Guns n’ Roses’ guitarist Slash. [social_buttons] But today we learned that the animal rights side of the table, which wants to send Billy to the Performing Animal Welfare Society

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