Will Poachers Use Scientific Tagging To Hunt Endangered Animals

Canadian scientist Steven Cooke is concerned that people
will hack into scientific tracking devices on animals to
harm or kill the animals. 

It seems like every day, I find new ways in which bad people use good technology to do something horrible.

The other day I wrote about the possibility of people making fake news out of virtual people to blackmail, destroy reputations or worse.

Today, I came across another one:
Scientists and researchers often put electronic tags on wild and endangered animals so they can track their movements, behavior and habitat to learn how to keep them safe and prevent them from going extinct.

That, of course, is wonderful.

Now,  however, we learn that scientists are worried that poachers will gain access to this tracking data to learn where animals are in real time, so they can hunt them down.

Nothing like the corpse of an endangered wild animal to prove you're a real he-man. Especially when you cheat and use technology to illegally kill the animal

According to Phys.org,  Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) biology professor has found lots of ancedotal evidence that tools scientists use to study and protect animals are being hijacked to cause harm or exploit animals and fish.

Cooke is the lead author of a a paper on this subject that appeared in the journal Conservation Biology.

Complicating the issue is many scientists get government funding, and people who want to access the tracking devices say that since public funds are being used to conduct the studies, the public should have access to the data.

Plus, scientists are usually eager to share data with colleagues to advance knowledge about the subject at hand, which is usually a good thing.

However, even as scientists use and share the data to gain more understanding of the natural world, others get access so they can destroy that natural world for fun and profit.

For instance, Phys.org says, anglers in Minnesota petitioned for access to data on northern pike movements, arguing that the data was publicly funded. (The anglers wanted to use the data to find the pike and gain prize catches.)

In India, there were attempts to hack GPS data on endangered Bengal tigers to engage in what's being called "cyber poaching."

Cooke said ranchers were interfering with tracking data as wolves were being re-introduced in Yellowstone National Park and divers in the Bahamas were removing satellite tags from sharks.

Phys.org said Cooke got the idea to look into this issue when he took his family on a vacation to Banff National Park in Canada last summer.

There, park rangers banned VHF radio receivers after they learned photographers used telemetry to track tagged animals.

True, the photographers did not intend to harm the animals, but the park rangers worried that too much human interaction would make the animals spooked, stressed or habituated to people.

Once again, then, we have people using technology to be total creeps.

Cooke told the CBC the issue is a wake-up calland he hopes the scientific community can discuss strategies for working with animal tracking data that advances science, protects animals and preserves the interests of the public as well.

I'm Greatly Relieved That Raju The Elephant Won't Have To Go Back To The Awful Guy Who Tortured Her

Raju the rescued elephant recovering at a wildlife refuge this
summer. An Indian court ruled he won't have to go back
to his abusive former "owner."  

I've never met him, but I've been terribly worried about Raju over the past several months.

Raju is an elephant living in India who was treated with terrible cruelty by his "owner" over the course of nearly five decades.

Back in July, an animal protection group called Wildlife SOS rescued Raju from his owner.

He'd been captured as a baby and spent about five decades in spiked shackles, being forced to work as a begging elephant, says the Huffington Post.

I don't know how a human being could do this for so long to a beautiful and intelligent animal like Raju, but it happened.

When Wildlife SOS rescued him earlier this year, a video of the rescue went viral because Raju could be seen crying with relief as the rescuers brought him what was probably the first act of kindness she'd seen in his entire life.

"'The vet and our team came with fruits and just started speaking softly to him, and to reassure him that we were there to help, and it was at that time that tears flooed down his face,' Nikki Sharp, the executive director of Wildlife SOS-USA told The Huffington Post, adding, 'They've done a lot of elephant rescues and the fact the tears were just coming down...he was weeping. It was an emotional moment and everyone was more motivated to get him on the truck and to safety.'

 The reason why I was worried is because, according to the Huffington Post,  it looked as if Raju's rescue would be short-lived. Her former "owner" sued to get her back, so Raju would live out her days in those shackles, begging and making that creepy guy money.

The previous owner was only named as a "Mr. Shahid," and he said the elephant was his. But the group that rescued Raju says Shadid was unspeakably cruel to the elephant, and besides, he had no papers proving he is the rightful owner.

But last week, an Indian court ruled that Shadid has no right to the elephant, and is charged with illegally obtaining him, says the Telegraph UK. 

So Raju will stay at the refuge where Wildlife SOS brought him.

In August, Wildlife SOS reported that Raju has been doing wonderfully at the refuge. He loves to play in the water, he is spoiled with buckets of foods, and he has even made some female friends.

Below, is a video, partly filmed the night Raju was rescued.

My favorite part of the video is when the gentle but determined man cutting the rusty, sharp chains off of Raju tells him, with conviction, "You'll never have to wear these again."

I'm so glad that promise came true.

Watch:

Guy Turns Dead Cat Into Flying Drone (Yup!)

It's never a happy event when a pet dies. You want little Fluffy or Fido to live on forever, but Wham!  Tragedy strikes and they're gone.

One Dutch artist has allowed his cat to live on forever. He turned it into Orvillecopter! Half taxidermied cat corpse, half little flying drone or helicopter!.

Yep, poor little Orville got hit by a car and died. A taxidermist allowed Orville to look, well, sort of the same as when he was alive.  Cat owner Bart Jansen, a Dutch artist, converted the cat into a flying drone. Watch the video, with commentary (naturally!) after the video:



I dunno. This seems a little disrespectful to the cat. Look at the expression on the thing's face. Looks like shock and mortification to me.  Would you like to be turned into an unmanned drone, or at least a dead man drone, after you pass away?

According to The Guardian UK, Jansen says his cat would have liked to have been turned into a helicopter drone, as has happened. He loved birds, now he can fly with them, goes the logic.

On the other hand, President Obama has come into criticism for those unmanned drone strikes in Afghanistan. Those unmanned little planes drop bombs on suspected terrorists, but some possibly innocent people  might be getting killed, too.

Orvillecopter just might be the solution. One of those things buzzing around terrorists' heads is more than enough to scare them into being peaceful. We can try scarier animals, too.  How about a squadron of dead skunks dropping their smell onto a suspected terrorist holdout?  Giant drone chickens can drop eggs that are really hand grenades, to do away with the enemy. If we really want to bring out the big guns, we can attach powerful plane engines to dead bulls, and have them buzz the enemy.

I smell victory, people! Or is that just a decomposing animal carcass?

I think we should stick with the tried and true when our beloved animals pass. Bury the poor thing among the flowers in the back yard, make a nice little headstone out of a nice heavy rock you find in the field, and just remember the good times you had playing with the little rascal.