Calling herself "the accidental conservationist," (Faye) Cuevas can pinpoint the moment she realized that she wanted to fight poaching.
"The first time that I saw an elephant in the wild was in Amboseli National Park here in Kenya two years ago," she said in Feb. 2016. "It was life-changing."
"At the current rate of elephant decline, my 6-year-old daughter won't have an opportunity to see an elephant in the wild before she's old enough to vote," she said. "Which just is unacceptable to me, because if that is the case then we have nothing to blame that on but human apathy and greed."
"The Kenya Wildlife Service and other many conservation groups are doing fantastic conservation work," Cuevas said. "However, the reality is that there are other challenges — from a cyber perspective, from a global criminal network perspective — that really necessitate security approaches integrated into conservation strategies."
Enter tenBoma -- or '10 homesteads' -- which uses technology to pull together diverse sources of information, from rangers to conservation groups. She analyzes the data to "create value in information in ways that it rises to the level of intelligence."
Super talent and model Cara Delevingne poses naked in a new animal rights campaign 'I'm Not a Trophy', dedicated to raising awareness that the Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years. Founded by artist and photographer Arno Elias -- a talent who has had significant impact on my life, moods and creative personality through his Buddha Bar recordings -- 'I'm Not a Trophy is focused not only on species decline and poaching but also on trophy hunting.
Delevingne is committed to saving all our endangered species, but lions are very close to Dara's heart. After Cecil the Lion was murdered last year by trophy hunger Walter Palmer, Cara auctioned off her watch to raise money for wildcru.org, Britain's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit.
Kim Basinger Fronts 'Strong Suit' Lensed By David Bellemere For The Edit MagazineAOC Fashion & Style
Actor and activist Kim Basinger reflects with The Edit on her 2002 public, very nasty divorce from Alex Baldwin, her daughter Ireland, and her role as Christian Grey's former lover in 'Fifty Shades Darker. '
In AOC Women's News, Basinger does an in-depth on her strong role as a dominatrix in the sequel to 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and we share one of the sexiest scenes in movie history -- the food scene from Basinger and Mickey Rourke's "Nine and A Half Weeks'.
Kim Basinger's Victories For Whales
Basinger has a long history of fighting for whales, joining the long list of activists and celebrities demanding that SeaWorld phase out its program of captive orcas for public display. SeaWorld announced last month that it's ending its program and will not breed any further orca whales.
PETA demanded this week that the remaining orcas be moved to sea sanctuaries, similar to the one used to reintroduce Keiko, the orca made famous in 'Free Willy', from captivity to ocean waters. The LA Times reports:
But SeaWorld officials said in a statement that the discussion is a non-starter. Given the ages of the animals, the length of time they've spent with humans and the relationships they've formed with other whales, SeaWorld said transporting the orcas to sea pens would do more harm than good.
In August 2015 PETA issued a graphic report on Argentina-based, wool-supplier farm Ovis 21. The farm was a major supplier to Patagonia and also Stella McCartney, who dropped them immediately. The title of the report: 'Lambs Skinned Alive, Throats Slit, Tails Cut Off' was confirmed by Patagonia's subsequent, at once investigation, and the company also cut its ties to Ovis 21.
PETA issued a disturbing look into Chinese angora-wool farms, undermining a worldwide view that the rabbit-based product was obtained without farming the animals. As a result dozens of retailers including H&M, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, QVC and more stopped using angora wool. Anthropologie, too, stopped using angora wool as a result of the PETA report, but sister company Free People didn't get the message
Today, PETA announced a campaign against Free People, sold at its parent company's stores Urban Outfitters. The New York Post reports that last week all 'angora' products were removed from the company's online website.
The stake that animal rights group PETA has bought in French luxury brand Hermès is one single share costing $360. In buying the share, however small an investment, PETA will now have access to shareholder meetings and a range of new pressure tactics on Hermès management.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has launched a new awareness campaign to stop Hermès from using crocodiles and alligators in its iconic products, including its Birkin bags.
“PETA will be campaigning outside the company, and, as a shareholder, also working from the inside to demand a ban on exotic animal–skin accessories, including crocodile-skin bags and alligator-skin watchbands,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement on Thursday. Hermès has not yet responded.
It’s easy to dismiss PETA’s strategy as ‘fringe’ but the group’s end of 2014 report documenting alleged inhumane and ‘cruel’ treatment of both crocodiles and alligators at Hermes suppliers, prompted Jane Birkin, namesake of the company’s coveted Birkin handbag, to request the removal of her name from the ‘Birkin Croco’ until Hermès employs “better practices in line with international norms.”
The company responded to Birkin’s request, saying that they will investigate practices at the Texas farm Padenga Holdings, a public company, supplying their skins via Kariba, Zimbabwe.
In the company’s vision statement, it makes no mention of animals or the conditions in which they live or die, before becoming a handbag. Bloomberg reports that Padenga harvested 40,000 crocodiles last year.
Birkin bags are notably hard to come by, Style.com reported last fall that the Himalayan crocodile Birkin bag is believed to be the most expensive one ever sold, priced at $432,000.
The 30-centimeter diamond Himalayan Birkin is possibly the rarest and most desirable handbag in the world. This bag is made of Nilo crocodile, rendered in a subtle coloration that is meant to evoke images of the majestic Himalayan mountains. This dyeing process is painstaking and takes many hours to complete—the lighter the hue, the more difficult the process. The color pairs perfectly with 18-karat white gold hardware, which is itself studded with white diamonds. The cadena lock alone is comprised of 68.4 grams of 18-karat white gold and encrusted with 40 white round brilliant diamonds, totaling 1.64 carats. On the bag, three different structural elements of the Birkin—the Touret, the Pontets, and the Plaques de Sanglons—feature more than 200 diamonds for a total of 8.2 carats. This is arguably the rarest, most spectacular, and most jaw-dropping Birkin to ever be made.
Joaquin Phoenix Discusses Treatment of Reptiles in Fashion Industry
Marisa Miller is adding her name to the list of celebrities and well-known voices boycotting SeaWorld. The 36-year-old model, who is pregnant with her second child, posed discreetly naked and motherly in a small bathtub with a message reading: ‘SeaWorld: Separating Babies and Mothers Since 1970.
“… Orcas at SeaWorld spend their lives in tiny concrete tanks that, to them, are the size of a bathtub,” Miller detailed, referencing her ad campaign. “Because of their confinement, they can only float listlessly, swim in circles and attack one another until they die — usually far short of their natural life expectancy — from injuries, pneumonia or other captivity-related causes. At least 36 orcas have died at SeaWorld — and not one of them from old age.”
SeaWorld’s stock price has lost its luster, although Goldman has issued a buy signal. In the year ended Dec. 31, 2013, sales rose an anemic 2.6% and per-share earnings fell by 33.7%. In 2014, its sales fell by 5.6%, and per-share earnings slid 3.4% to $0.57 per share as fewer people frequented its parks, writes TIME. Last quarter, revenue fell 2.7%.
SeaWorld shares are down 32% in the last 12 months, prompting SeaWorld to launch a national $10 million ad campaign that includes TV, print and digital messaging.
Most recently, Jane Goodall, the respected scientist who has devoted her life to working with primates, told The Huffington post that SeaWorld ‘should be closed down.’
These childhood images of Tippi Degré, born in 1990 the newly-independent Namibia to French parents, documentary film makers and wildlife photographers Alain Degré and Sylvie Robert, are extraordinary in their intimacy. Named after Tippi Hedren, the young girl Tippi Benjamine Okanti Degré grew up in the company of an elephant named Abu and a dizzying array of big cats, snakes, a baby zebra, an ostrich, giant bullfrogs and countless other members of her animal menagerie. It’s said that Tippi persuaded giraffes to come down to her level.
Deviant Artist eggdoodler carves incredible sculptures out of delicate egg shells. In this series entitled ‘Africa’, eggdoodler uses large ostrich eggs to sculpt an elephant, a giraffe and a rhinoceros. To achieve this incredible detail and removal of so much shell, the artist used a NSK Presto hand piece with diamond and carbide bits. About 1,000 hours of labor is required to sculpt these magnificent eggs.
