On November 12, 2014, Oliver, an Asian Brown Bear, died in the Animals Asia bear rescue center in Chengdu, China. Animals Asia, who rescued Oliver from a desperate situation in a bear bile “farm” in Shandong, China in 2010, was around 37 years old when...
The stars of the new Netflix documentary, My Octopus Teacher, are Craig Foster, a film maker, and a small boneless creature, Octopus vulgaris or the Common Octopus. For most humans, the only view of an octopus will be in an aquarium. However, Craig Foster visited...
Pets provide constant companionship, emotional support and security for individuals who are homeless. It is estimated that approximately 10% of the homeless have one or more pets. Thirty or more years ago, it was commonly argued by animal advocates that, if a person cannot take...
Mostly, the news featuring orangutans is very depressing. In just sixteen years (1999-2015), wild Bornean orangutan populations have declined by over 100,000 according to a recent estimate. CITES reports that the Bornean orangutan population (changed to “critically endangered” in 2016) has declined by 86% since...
In this, the first and only modern full-length biography of Henry Bergh, founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, historian Ernest Freeberg offers a thorough, balanced, and human portrait of his subject. Freeberg’s lively treatment puts Bergh’s courage, resilience and...
When Hurricane Katrina devastated the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of citizens from New Orleans and other coastal communities, many people with pets chose to stay behind because they could not find anywhere that would allow them to...
Following the recommendations of our esteemed colleague, Dr. Alan Kazdin, who has written in a previous WellBeing newsletter about the importance of being in natural settings for human mental and physical health, we bring you a tale about a relationship that has developed between one...
Sea turtles have been shown to have the remarkable ability to find their way across thousands of kilometers of open ocean back to a specific beach where they lay their eggs or to a specific feeding ground. Early in this century, the American scientists Kenneth...
With the onset and effort to control the coronavirus, many of us are confined to our homes and isolated from our extended family and social and work contacts that are so central to our lives. For those who have access to the internet and social...
On March 24, the Indian government ordered a national 21-day lockdown as part of its response to the global Covid-19 pandemic. The lockdown has been extended several times and is now projected to last until June 30. This precaution has resulted in significant hardship for...
