Chaos after dogs and huntsmen stray onto busy dual carriageway

Harry Readhead for Metro.co.uk

Friday 9 Jan 2015 5:24 pm

(Picture: NTI)

Motorists in Shrewsbury were treated to an unusual sight when a large number of hunting dogs strayed onto a busy dual carriageway, causing chaos for drivers.

The dogs accidentally ran onto the A5 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, on Wednesday afternoon, prompting huntsmen on horseback to chase after them and forcing cars to brake suddenly.

And West Mercia Police said ‘massive traffic problems’ were caused by the incident, with at least one car believed to have suffered ‘extensive’ damage to the front and side, though it is not known how.

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Canadian Polar Bear Hunt Continues, Despite Extinction Threat (Op-Ed)

Zak Smith, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) | May 14, 2014 01:28am ET

Zak Smith is an attorney for the Marine Mammal Protection Project at NRDC. This Op-Ed is adapted from one that first appeared on the NRDC blogSwitchboard. Smith contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Most people don't know that Canada is the only country where polar bears are still hunted and killed to supply the world trade in polar bear skins and other parts (teeth, claws, skulls, etc.). But Canada's practice of allowing polar bears to be killed for profit when their very existence is threatened by climate change is now going to be scrutinized by the international community, which is expressing concern that such trade is not sustainable.

This critical issue came into focus at a meeting I recently attended in Veracruz, Mexico, of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) — the international organization tasked with managing trade in endangered species.

read on

Black rhino hunt permit auctioned in US

A permit to hunt and kill an endangered Black Rhino in Namibia has been sold at a US auction for $350,000 (£212,000).

The Dallas Safari Club in Texas says the hunt will help protect the species by removing an old aggressive rhino, and funding future conservation.

However, the auction has been fiercely criticised by conservationists, and has even drawn death threats.

Namibia is home to about a third of the world's 5,000 black rhinos, and issues just three hunting permits a year.

It is the first time a permit has been auctioned outside the southern African nation.

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Florida hunt for 'top predator' pythons

A python hunt in the Florida everglades starts today. Hundreds of people are going to go on the prowl for Burmese pythons which have multiplied in recent years and become predators who are disturbing the ecosystem of the area.

Professor Frank Mazzottiwho researches wildlife ecology at the University Florida and is part of the team behind the hunt told the Today programme's James Naughtie: "The largest python caught was 17 feet and weighed over 150 pounds. But most pythons captured are in the 6 to 9 feet range."

He added: "They are a top predator and because they are so efficient in an ecosystem that is not prepared to receive them, they have potential to have a devastating impact."

audio: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9784000/9784518.stm