INDIA: Snakes Go On Rampage As Floodwaters Recede In Kerala. More Than 400 Killed By Floods

Flood victims returning home in the Indian state of Kerala have been warned to prepare for a new menace of Snakes.

Several snake catching teams have been deployed to affected areas, amid fears the reptiles could be hiding in cupboards, under carpets, or inside washing machines in previously submerged homes.

Hospitals in the worst-hit areas are readying supplies of anti-venom.

Devastating flooding has killed around 400 people in Kerala since June.

More than a million others were displaced, with many of them taking shelter in thousands of relief camps across the southern state.

As well as the glut of snakes, scorpions and other insects are reported to have moved into human homes.

On social media, footage emerged of a woman trying to stop a 10ft (3m)-long python from entering her garden by tapping a broomstick on the ground.

Several hospitals in northern and central Kerala, where flooding was especially acute, have reported a spike in patients with snake bites.

Local snake handler Vava Suresh said he had captured five cobras in Ernakulam district.

One was found inside the wardrobe on the second floor of a house while another one was inside a shelf in a house, he said.

Returning residents are being urged to sift through their belongings using a stick.

When rescuers in India's flood-ravaged southern state of Kerala reached a flooded hut in the city of Thrissur, the couple living there refused to leave without their 25 dogs.

The water was rising, and the dogs were huddled on a single bed. The rescue workers had arrived on boats, and Sunitha, who uses only one name, flatly told them she and her husband would not leave without their stray and abandoned pets.

Our neighbours had been moved to schools and camps nearby. Rescue workers said that we could not bring our dogs to the relief camp, she said.

So the workers went back and got in touch with an animal rescue group.

Sally Varma of Humane Society International said that their volunteers arrived soon, and arranged for the dogs to be taken to a special shelter for affected animals.

Ms Varma said she has started a fundraiser for the family and its pets so a kennel could be built at their home after the floods recede.

Nearly 400 people have died in the worst flooding Kerala has witnessed in a century. Thousands remain stranded.

More than one million people have been displaced, with many of them taking shelter in thousands of relief camps across the state.

But what is striking is how hundreds of animals are being rescued in the affected areas.

In what appears to be one of the biggest animal rescue operations during a natural calamity in India, hundreds of volunteers and animal rescue workers have travelled to flood-affected areas.

Social media is awash with dramatic rescue videos, a rescuer removing his life jacket and putting it on a Labrador to help it swim to higher ground,.

Drenched dogs being taken out of flooded homes and kennels; and country boats and inflatable rafts carrying dogs, goats and cats to safety.

Rescuers have waded through water, and travelled on boats and rafts to treat, feed and rescue hundreds of animals dogs, cats, goats, cows, cattle, ducks, and even snakes - as the waters have begun receding. Trucks with animal feed and medicines are reaching affected districts.

Some animals have been moved to shelter camps, and others to higher ground. A number of animal rescue help lines have been set up, and rescuers are using WhatsApp and social media to respond to calls.

We are getting more than 100 calls a day on our helpline. The number of animals that have been moved to higher ground and rescued must be in hundreds, Anand Shiva of Kerala Animal Rescue said.

When the flood waters rose, most people tethered their pets and animals and left or were rescued. When they reached the shelter, they broke down and told rescuers that they had left their pets behind.

That became a problem. So many tethered animals just drowned. These animals are natural swimmers, and it is better to keep them free so they can swim to higher ground, NG Jayasimha of Humane Society International, which has rescued more than 100 animals, said.

In Thrissur alone, rescue workers found 200 cattle tethered in small sheds in people's homes before they were untied and taken to higher ground.

Kerala, according to one estimate, has a million dogs and a third of them are free roaming strays.

More than 23,000 people were bitten by dogs in 2015, and nearly half of them contracted rabies.

Animal rights groups had then complained that cash-strapped municipalities and irate citizens were poisoning, clubbing, beating, shooting and electrocuting strays to control their population.

But there's a genuine love for dogs in the state, contrary to public perception. Otherwise we wouldn't have found so many dogs in people's homes, said Mr Jayasimha.

More than 8,000 cattle, calves and buffaloes, 3,297 goats and 47 dogs have died in the floods, according to the government.

Floods in the southern Indian state of Kerala have killed more than 350 people since June.

The devastating floods in Kerala peaked last week. The monsoon rains have since begun to ease and rescue teams have been deployed, but thousands of people remain marooned.

The state should have been prepared for this, just a month earlier, a government report had warned that Kerala was the worst performer among southern Indian states in the effective management of water resources.

With 42 points, it was ranked number 12. The top three states were Gujarat in the west, Madhya Pradesh in the centre and Andhra Pradesh in the south, with scores of 79, 69 and 68 respectively.

A month down the line, Kerala seems to have confirmed the report's finding.

Officials and experts have said the floods in Kerala which has 44 rivers flowing through it would not have been so severe if authorities had gradually released water from at least 30 dams.

This could have been avoided if the dam operators had started releasing water in advance rather than waiting for dams to be filled up, when they have no alternative but to release water, said Himanshu Thakkar, a water expert at the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People.

It was only when the floods peaked last week that water from more than 80 dams was released.

It is clear that major dams in the state like Idukki and Idamalayar only released water when Kerala was in the throes of heavy flooding, which actually proved to add further misery to the situation, Mr Thakkar said,

He added that dam operators had had sufficient time to release water when it was relatively dry, which could have helped prevent some of the damage.

An assessment by the federal government earlier this year found that Kerala was among the 10 states most vulnerable to flooding.

The state's administration is accused of not having taken the necessary steps to lower the flooding risk.

Experts say the federal government is also to blame because Kerala gets no early flood warning from the Central Water Commission (CWC), the only government agency authorised to do so.

The unprecedented floods and dam water releases also raise the questions about flood forecasting and advance action by the CWC, Mr Thakkar said.

We are shocked to find that the agency has absolutely no flood forecasting sites. It has only flood monitoring sites in Kerala, he added.

It's high time that the CWC includes some key dams like Idukki and Idamalayar and some key locations in its flood forecasting.

While the state has lagged behind on these preventive measures, the rainfall this monsoon season has been exceptionally high.

James Wilson, an adviser on water issues for the Kerala state government said it is a calamity that has happened after 100 years and no one had predicted this amount of rain. That's why there was no preparation for this level of disaster.

We have been managing floods every year, but this time it was extraordinarily extreme and that is why they were forced to release the waters of the dams.

Kerala recorded more than 37% excess rainfall in just two-and-a-half months, while in the past that has happened throughout the monsoon season which usually lasts about four months.

Such heavy rainfall in a short space of time also triggered landslides that killed many people. Environmentalists say deforestation is responsible for this.

Some parts of Kerala have been marooned because wetlands and lakes that acted as natural safeguards against floods have disappeared because of rampant urbanisation and construction of infrastructure.

Heavy rains in 2015 in the southern city of Chennai killed at least 70 people because of shoddy urban planning.

But experts say the havoc that floods have wreaked in Kerala this time has added another dimension to the disaster: danger from dams.

If they are not well managed and if rains continue to be erratic, as predicted by climate change scientists, a disaster of this scale is likely to occur more often than once in a century.


Tourism Observer

CHINA: 1,000 Dogs Meant For Slaughter, Rescued

Chinese animal rights activists have rescued more than 1,000 dogs destined for the controversial Yulin dog meat festival this week.

The rescue was carried out by Humane Society International (HSI) on Tuesday after they found the dogs packed into cages in a truck heading to a slaughterhouse.

HSI activists say the truck had been coming from the southern Gansu province, an area associated with dog theft, and was intercepted in Guangzhou after travelling 1,948km.

Dogs and cats were found to be starving and wailing in distress while at least 30 of them appeared to have died as a result of suffocation.

According to those at the scene, the lorry driver provided fake papers, which he claimed were legal, but a quick inspection of his cargo suggested otherwise.

Dogs and cats were found to be starving and wailing in distress

He was also not able to provide proof of purchase of the animals either, which are believed to have been captured off the street or even stolen.

The animal rights activists have since involved Chinese authorities who are now investigating the legality of the shipment, which includes inspecting the source of the animals as well as the conditions in which they were being transported.

Meanwhile, the animals have been freed from their cages and sent to rescue shelters across the province.

The Asia branch of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – known commonly as PETA – has also been reposting videos and requests for medical supplies by volunteers.

INDIA: Undercover Investigation Exposes Yulin-Like Horrific Dog Meat Trade In Nagaland

The controversial Lychee and Dog Meat Festival, also referred to as Yulin Meat Festival in China has always been in the news for the mass killing of dogs and animal cruelty.

The annual event has been condemned by animal rights activists, yet it continues year after year without hindrance. While majority of India doesn't consume dog meat, it is really popular in Nagaland where it is considered a delicacy.

One Kg of dog meat costs more than Rs 300 in the state. There are several hotels, especially in the state capital and commercial hub Dimapur, that serve dog meat.

Dogs are even imported from outside the state as dog meat is considered as having high medicinal value and nutrition.

Even though dogs being traded for meat in markets across Nagaland is nothing new, an investigation by Humane Society International (HSI), has exposed the sheer cruelty involved in the trade.

The animal rights group have released images and videos of dogs packed into sacks, blatantly in defiance of the law at local markets in Kohima and Dimapur.

Many of the dogs either had their mouths stitched closed or were muzzled with tight ropes. “During transport and display in the markets, they are denied movement, food or water, before finally being clubbed to death.”

HSI said the dogs are mass-slaughtered in “death pits” where they are beaten to death in front of other dogs, most of them beaten several times before dying.

Often, customers select the live dog they wish to purchase, which are then killed in the market. Before being butchered, the carcass is roasted over an open fire or thrown into scalding hot water to make it easier to remove their fur, the investigators claim.

The HSI has now launched an online petition seeking a ban on the dog meat trade in the state. It also comes days after the Nagaland government began a process of banning the use of dog meat as food in the state.

NOTE: Even though dog meat trade is illegal in India, it was not enforced in Nagaland because of Article 371 (A) bestows special status to Nagaland to protect the customary traditional practices of the people of the state from any Act of parliament.

THAILAND: Tiger Temple

Monk and tigers during walk in the quarry

Tiger Temple, or Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno is a Theravada Buddhist temple in western Thailand. It was founded in 1994 as a forest temple and sanctuary for wild animals, among them several tigers, the majority of which are Indochinese tigers. The temple has long been accused by animal rights activists of mistreating the tigers for commercial gain and even trafficking some of its animals.

Tiger Temple is in the Sai Yok District of Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province, not far from the border with Burma, some 38 km (24 mi) northwest of Kanchanaburi on Hwy 323. The Tiger Temple charges an admission fee.

The temple was cleared of allegations of animal mistreatment in a 2015 investigation conducted by wildlife officials and a raid by Thai soldiers. Charges were pressed for unlicensed possession of 38 protected birds found on the temple grounds.

In 1999 the temple received its first tiger cub, one that had been found by villagers. It died soon after. Later, several tiger cubs were given to the temple. As of January 2016, the number of tigers living at the temple exceeded 150.

The original eight tigers brought to the temple were rescues, and thus far DNA data is incomplete and therefore unavailable to the public, as the pedigree of the tigers is not entirely known. However, it is presumed that they are Indochinese tigers, except Mek, a Bengal tiger. It is possible that some may be the newly discovered Malayan tigers, as well as cross breeds or hybrids.

It is claimed that the Tiger Temple's philosophy for animal conservation is flawed, and an organization called Care for the Wild International claimed that based on information collected between 2005 and 2008, the Tiger Temple is involved in clandestine exchange of tigers with the owner of a tiger farm in Laos contravening the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and national laws of Thailand and Laos. It claimed it operates as a tiger breeding facility without having a license as required under the Thai Wild Animals Reservation and Protection Act of 1992.

Tourists can take a photo with a grown tiger or a small cub

According to Edwin Wiek, founder of Wildlife Friends of Thailand, the temple's operations violate CITES, an international treaty on wildlife to which Thailand is a signatory, which bans commercial breeding of protected wild animals such as tigers. All previous attempts by authorities to remove the tigers from Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno have failed, including one in May 2015. Wiek believes this is due to the influence wielded by the temple and its abbot, Phra Wisutthisarathen.

Based on the Care for the Wild International report, a coalition of 39 conservation groups, including the Humane Society International, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, World Animal Protection, and the World Wide Fund for Nature, sent a letter to the director general of National Parks of Thailand under the name "The International Tiger Coalition".

The letter urged the director general to take action against the Tiger Temple over its import and export of 12 tigers with Laos, its lack of connection with accredited conservation breeding programs, and to genetically test the tigers at the Tiger Temple to determine their pedigree and value to tiger conservation programs. It concludes that the temple does not have the facilities, the skills, the relationships with accredited zoos, or even the desire to manage its tigers in an appropriate fashion. Instead, it is motivated purely by profit.

In December 2006, ABC News spent three days at the temple and did not see any evidence of drugging or mistreating the animals. Both Thai and Western employees who were interviewed claimed that the animals were well-treated. The abbot of the monastery stated that the eventual goal was to breed tigers for release into the wild.

Monk walking tiger on a leash

In 2014, Care for the Wild International called for an end to "tiger selfies" in a global campaign coinciding with International Tiger Day. The charity's CEO, Philip Mansbridge, was quoted as saying: "I know people will immediately think we're overreacting or just out to spoil people's fun. But the reality is, one quick pic for you means a lifetime of suffering for that animal." The charity estimates that there are up to 60 incidents a year (of varying severity) of captive tigers mauling tourists or volunteers at places like Tiger Temple.

On 2 February 2015, an official investigation of the temple commenced by forest officials. After initially being sent away, they returned the following day with a warrant, policemen, and soldiers, seizing protected wild birds and impounding the tigers on the premises. The head of the Wildlife Crime Suspension office stated the park did not have the proper permits for raising the birds. The tigers were impounded pending further investigation into the tigers' documentation.

In January 2016 two reports were issued regarding the abuse and mistreatment of tigers at Tiger Temple.National Geographic alleged that the Buddhist monks there are operating a for-profit breeding, selling, and exploitation business with the enslaved tigers.