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Morning Star, grizzly bear
brandy_cubs Animals are often subjected to humanity’s ambivalence. Grizzly bears are one stellar example. In some areas, grizzlies are listed as threatened or endangered. Elsewhere, the same species is hunted. The tragedy of Morning Star (also known as the “Old Man Lake” grizzly, both from Blackfoot Indian place names) embodies human contradictions in yet another way. Read more.

New York Centre Avenue School Celebrates Birds
In celebration of National Bird Day on January 5, 2010, along with their reading teacher Ms. Donlon, 3rd grade students at Centre Avenue School in East Rockaway, New York, developed a project sponsored by the Kerulos Center. Through science readings and activities, the students learned about our avian kin and the plight of wild birds captured from their flocks and held in captivity. Read more.

Pip and Pino, the Australian grey kangaroos
pino_portrait Pip, Pino, Susie and Mark Rowe and Brett Clifton are people and kangaroos who together form part of a long legacy of “quilt making”, the process of stitching back together the pieces of wildlife communities left from the effect of human violence. The Rowes, Brett Clifton, and many others tend to the minds and hearts as well as bodies of injured wildlife. These individuals and others involved in organizations like the Australian Society for Kangaroos illustrate trans-species community in service and action. The stories of Pip and Pino exemplify the struggle and stress that kangaroos, and the people who are working hard to save them, face every day. By stepping in to save and nurse injured or orphaned kangaroos from trauma to recovery and in so doing help kangaroos in their struggle to survive not only as individuals and as a species, but as vibrant and dynamic cultures. Read about Pip and Pino.

Q, the Baby Beluga Whale

Less than two years old, Q has set up residence in Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy where he was first sighted on 22 June, 2008 by a lobster fisherman. He belongs to a class of dolphin and toothed whales called "solitaries", individuals who rarely join the company of their conspecifics. Q is one of a growing number of lost or geographically-isolated belugas found in busy harbors and beach sides, hundreds of kilometers from their endangered families. Q is an orphan, something that arises when mother and family are killed or separated as a result of hunting, destruction of beluga habitat, injuries or death from boat propellers, and accidental or intentional harm from people. Read about Q and solitary socials here.

Girija Prasad, Asian Elephant

Girija, also known as Manikantan, is a twenty year old Asian elephant who worked for many years as a temple elephant in Banglaore, India. All elephants in captivity in India undergo a traumatic and cruel process of "breaking". Over the years, he was routinely beaten and tortured to achieve compliance and to discourage any escape attempts. As part of "training", he was kept without shelter in the tropical sun and chained just out of reach of water. At other times, he was hit with a pointed metal rod and pierced around his face, genitals, and mouth. For 22 hours a day, he wore tight chains around his ankles so that he could not move and kept in isolation. Read Girija's story here.

Tipper, the African Gray Parrot
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n contrast to his wild-caught compatriots, Tipper was born in captivity in 1998, and eight years later relinquished to the Utah Critter Sanctuary & Ferret & Parrot Rescue Shelter. Destined for the pet trade, Tipper was raised at the nadir of a booming market for hand-fed Grey babies. What happened between his hatching and his surrender to sanctuary is anybody's guess. Only Tipper knows for sure. He was probably less than 3 months old when he was sold to humans who bought him, a cage, a toy, bowls and food. Less than 10 years later, Tipper has been rejected and passed from owner to owner until he finally became homeless. Read Tipper's story here.

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