THREE STORIES FROM THE NEWS

By Debbie Bulloch




With the crunch of the holidays now safely behind, including my child’s return to college after a wonderful three-week visit, I can return to one of the things that I love he most – writing for this blog. For today’s edition, I will review three stories from the past two weeks.

ELEPHANT vs. TOURIST

First, there is the story of the mother and her young daughter who were killed by a wild elephant in Kenya. On Monday, January 4, a small group of tourists, and their unarmed African guide, was walking on the trails just outside Mount Kenya National Park. While rounding a turn, the group unexpectedly came up a wild elephant.
The elephant, a female who was apparently attempting to protect her calf, charged at the tourists. The victim, 39-year-old Sharon Brown, and her 1-year-old daughter Margaux were unable to evade the charging elephant. Ms. Brown and Margaux were gored and then trampled by the elephant.

Walking tours of Kenya's many national parks are common. Hikers, however, are advised to have an armed guard with them if the park is known to have elephants. Deaths by charging elephants are rare in Kenya, though they happen about once a year.

This tragic incident could have been avoided. Many businesses in Africa (and in other “wild” locations throughout the world) are only too happy to lure tourists with the promise of a “first hand” look at wildlife. With increase tourist traffic, however, comes the risk of accidents, including death. In the majority of humans vs. wildlife encounters, wildlife usually ends up on the wrong end of a gun. This inevitably results in the death of a rare or endangered species – and for what? For a tourist to get a little bit closer to wildlife? For a tour operator to make a few extra dollars? For a hotel-resort to lure in more high-paying customers?

In my opinion, tourists have no business going into known wild life habitats. Wild animals face ever-greater threats due to ever-growing encroachment by humans. In many parts of California (where I live), there are almost weekly stories of black bears, coyotes and mountain lions being killed by game wardens. These animals are killed when they wander into housing tracts that were once part of their habitat. It is bad enough that animals end up dead when they lose their habitats to human development – they should not also have to suffer when tourists go trampling in the little land that remains for their use.

I am deeply saddened by the death of Ms. Brown and her daughter Margaux. Ms. Brown died doing exactly what the mother elephant was doing – protecting her offspring. Nevertheless, the elephant is not responsible for the death of Ms. and her daughter. The tourist resorts, the tour guides and the national governments are to be blamed for these needless deaths. They should have done a better job of protecting Ms. Brown and Margaux by protecting wild animals from human encroachment.

JAPANESE WHALERS vs. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

In the most violent clash, yet between the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd and Japanese whalers, a whaling ship deliberately rammed a Sea Shepherd’s boat and tore its bow off.

Sea Shepherd leader, Captain Paul Watson (a Canuck – GO CANADA!) said that the anti-whaling boat, the Ady Gil, has been left stricken in the Antarctic.

No one was hurt in the incident. Another anti-whaling ship, the Bob Barker, which had joined in the anti-whaling operation, rescued five of the six crew.

According to Captain Watson, "There is no question the Japanese deliberately rammed the Ady Gil to destroy it.” Captain Watson also stated that, "They've (the Japanese) certainly escalated their aggression and hostility this year."

Capt Watson claimed the Ady Gil and the Bob Barker had stopped in waters near Commonwealth Bay when the Shonan Maru, a vessel providing security to the Japanese fleet, suddenly rammed it.

Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research has released a statement saying that the Ady Gil attacked the Japanese vessel.

Australian Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has called on both sides to exercise restraint.

“Safety at sea is an absolute priority in this dangerous and inhospitable ocean area and it’s the safety of all concerned that is the utmost priority,” he said.

I have previously reported on the cruel practice, by Japanese fishermen, of luring dolphins into a small cove and then clubbing them to death. While the Japanese certainly do not have a monopoly on the field of animal cruelty (just look at what we Americans did to the buffalo and to the wolves), their government appears to be engaged on a deliberate campaign of ignoring international law when it comes to hunting down cetaceans.

Cetaceans, whales and dolphins in particular, are magnificent, intelligent animals. They have repeatedly demonstrated an uncanny ability to engage in complex behaviour. We cannot stand idly by as their numbers continue to be decimated by unscrupulous whalers and fishermen.

I strongly urge all of you to go and visit the Sea Shepherd’s website and learn about all the ways that you can help them in their efforts to save the whales.

Click here to visit their website: SEA SHEPHERD


AUTOMOBILE DRIVER vs. BIKE RIDERS

A doctor recently convicted of assaulting two bicyclists by slamming on his car brakes after a confrontation on a narrow Brentwood (Beverly Hills, California) road was recently sentenced to serve five years in prison.

Christopher Thompson, wearing dark blue jail scrubs, wept as he apologized to the injured cyclists shortly before he was sentenced.

"I would like to apologize deeply, profoundly from the bottom of my heart," he told them, his right hand cuffed to a court chair.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Scott T. Millington called the case a "wake-up call" to motorists and cyclists and urged local government to provide riders with more bike lanes. He said he believed that Thompson had shown a lack of remorse during the case and that the victims were particularly vulnerable while riding their bicycles.

The case against Thompson, 60, has drawn close scrutiny from bicycle riders around the country, many of whom viewed the outcome as a test of the justice system's commitment to protecting cyclists.

The July 4, 2008, crash also highlighted simmering tensions between cyclists and residents along Mandeville Canyon Road, the winding five-mile residential street where the crash took place.

One cyclist was flung face-first into the rear window of Thompson's red Infiniti, breaking his front teeth and nose and cutting his face. The other cyclist slammed into the sidewalk and suffered a separated shoulder.

At his sentencing hearing at the county's airport branch court, Thompson cited the Bible in urging cyclists and residents of Mandeville Canyon to try to resolve their differences peacefully.

"If my incident shows anything it's that confrontation leads to an escalation of hostilities," Thompson said.

Thompson, a former emergency room physician who described the crash as a terrible accident, testified during his trial last year that he and other Mandeville Canyon residents were upset that some cyclists rode dangerously and acted disrespectfully toward residents and motorists along the street, a popular route for bike riders.
The cyclists testified that the doctor was acting aggressively from the start. They said he honked loudly from behind them and passed by dangerously close as they moved to ride single file before he pulled in front and braked hard.

A police officer told jurors that shortly after the crash that Thompson said he slammed on his brakes in front of the riders to "teach them a lesson."

Prosecutors said Thompson had a history of run-ins with bike riders, including a similar episode four months before the crash when two cyclists told police that the doctor tried to run them off the road and braked suddenly in front of them. Neither of the riders was injured.

The verdict, and sentencing in the case of Dr. Thompson, marks a welcome turn around on the attitudes of law enforcement and the legal system. In the past, cyclists were viewed more as a nuisance – a bunch of hippies, or weekend-warriors, clogging the streets of cities. Now, however, the case of Dr. Thompson sends out a clear message that drivers cannot longer act with impunity when it comes to bike riders.

The United States, unlike many European countries, does not have a long tradition of riders using their bikes to commute or run errands. In spite of the fact that the greatest bike rider in recent history, Lance Armstrong, is an American, bike riding in the USA remains somewhat of a novelty.

That is changing, however. A new generation of Americans is discovering the benefits of bike riding, not just as a sport, but also as a way of life. Asides from the obvious health benefits of regularly riding a bike, there are other benefits as well including a reduced carbon footprint and more money in one’s pocket resulting from saving money on petrol, car payments and car insurance.

In more cities across the USA, bike riders are beginning to take to the road and make a real impact on the transportation scene. We still have a long way to go, however. As you all know, I ride a bike on a regular basis. On almost every ride, I come across rude, inconsiderate, aggressive drivers who think that only they have the right to use the roads. It is our job as cyclists to educate them.

Perhaps the fate of Doctor Thompson will send a message to all drivers and teach them that we must all learn to share the road or face the consequences.