1999-01-28

The Gazette

University of Western Ontario

by Ciara Rickard

[Stealing Beauty]

     Though its necessity has long since waned in most areas of the Western world, hunting has remained a favoured sport practiced by many in modern society.  While there are laws monitoring this activity, there is still a great deal of illegal hunting which goes on in Canada and around the world in order to feed a market which craves various animal parts.

     Some statistics show poaching has had a devastating impact on animal populations.  While some uses of it are medicinal, some are served as delicacies and some of the uses are seen as entirely frivolous.

     “Any poaching is not legitimate,” says Anthony Marr, biodiversity campaign director for the Western Canada Wilderness Committee.  “It's big business, just second to the drug trade and often connected to the same people.  Wherever there is a demand, there will be a supply.”

     Marr has spent a great deal of time and effort trying to educate people and the government about the ill consequences of poaching and the importance of maintaining animal populations. At greatest risk in Canada, he says, are the black and grizzly bears, which are hunted primarily for their gall bladders and their paws.

     “We estimate that about 22,000 to 29,000 black bears are killed per year," Marr says.  “That's out of a population of about 400,000, so that's about 12 per cent.  That is not sustainable.  They can't reproduce quickly enough to maintain the population.”…

     “The paws are a delicacy in Asian cultures,” Marr says.  The gall bladders, also for the Asian market, contain cholic acid derivatives, which are considered very valuable and effective medicine by Asians.  Though there is a synthetic process to create the same chemicals, most Asians will still opt for the medicine from the bear.

     “Tradition has a powerful sway over people's actions,” Marr says. “Traditional medicine has a mixture of medicine and mystique.”

     The market for most animal parts is centered in Asia where tradition dictates what is the best cure for a variety of ailments.  The reason there is so much poaching in Canada is because Asian bear populations have already been depleted from hunting, so they've had to go elsewhere, Marr says.  He is also quick to point out that not all Asians use medicine or food containing bear parts.

     It has been widely publicized that elephants, rhinoceroses, gorillas, deer and musk deer are just a few examples of animals who have been and are still being illegally hunted for various reasons.  Rhino horns are used to carve daggers in Yemen and are also used in East Asian medicines.  Elephants are still being poached for their ivory tusks, used in jewelry and other decorative pieces.

     “Sometimes it's for something really asinine, like gorilla paws for ashtrays," Marr says.

     Such novelty items, as well as gorilla heads, were sold to tourists in great quantities during the 1970s and helped deplete the mountain gorilla population, says Jennifer Toth, executive assistant at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

     “It was really bad back then because people were killing them left, right and centre,” she says.

     The mountain gorilla population now sits at 650, though most of the poaching has ceased as a result of the establishment of stricter laws, in which primatologist Fossey played a key role.  Fossey's murder at the hands of poachers is testimony to the seriousness of the issue…

 

1999-02-12-5                 The Hindu, national, India

[Need to protect tigers stressed]

     “The Canadian conservationist, Mr. Anthony Marr, believes that India is the Tiger Country and the last domain of tigers in the world. Tiger is the symbol of India and it is for Indians to protect this animal, which is on the verge of extinction with only 4500 or so in all five species in the wild at present.  Mr. Marr, who is of Chinese extraction, is apologetic about the role of his country of origin in making the tiger a haunted animal… The Chinese make medicines out of tiger parts and, in the process, import as many as 300 dead tigers from India and Russia a year…

     Owning up to his birth country is the penitent Mr. Marr when he says that he is paying the penalty for his countrymen by campaigning (against the Chinese tradition)…

     … In the Pink City (Jaipur), Mr. Marr lectured to 2500 school children in three schools. In Delhi, he had a captive audience of children in 10 schools.  He is convinced that children are India’s hope for its national animals the tiger…"

 

1999-02-14-7                     The Asian Age, India

[Tiger walk today to save wild cats]

     … According to official estimates… tiger numbers have dwindled from 3,750 in 1993 to 3,000 in 1997.  After the initial success of Project Tiger, the 90s have seen a drastic fall in tiger numbers.  The tiger population in reserves around the country stands at 1,333 in 1995…

 

1999-02-14                         TigerLink, India, global

[Love the Tiger Walk, Delhi]

     …on St. Valentine’s Dat… The participants chanted slogans and sang a tiger conservation song lead by Mr. Anthony Marr, Tiger Campaign Director, WCWC…

     At Bikaner House the gathering was addressed by Mr. P.K. Sen, Director of Project Tiger, Mr. S.C. Sharma, Addl.  Inspector General Forests (Wildlife), Angarika Guha, Class III student from Sri Ram Public School, Mr. Anthony Marr and Mr. Pradeep Sankhala, Chairman of Tiger Trust…

 

1999-02-15-1                         The Statesman, India

[A valentine for the big cat]

     An unusual “Valentine Day” message was displayed by tiger enthusiasts in the Capital who went on a brisk march from Delhi Zoo to the head quarters of Project Tiger at Bikaner House, to spread the message of conservation.

     Children and adults held up banners for the “Love Tiger Walk”… (Organizers) pointed out that the largest cat n the world today has a mortality rate of two per day in the world and one per day in India alone.

     “Especially as a tigress does not have another litter till her young can support themselves, it is so much necessary to support the ones which are alive, as they do not breed rapidly like other species,” said a child who participated in the march.

     A video show, an inflatable tiger blimp and presentations by eminent conservationists were some of the features of the march, which was supported (in part) by the WCWC.

 

1999-02-15-1                     The Indian Express, India

[Tiger, tiger burning bright]

     A tiger balloon at the Love the Tiger Walk at the Delhi Zoo on Sunday…

 

1999-02-15-1                     The Hindu, national, India

[Valentines tiger lovers]

     … A team comprising Mr. Anthony Marr, campaign director of WCWC… has been making slide presentations, holding video shows and having interactions inside a 50-feet inflatable tiger balloon…

     They have been received with great enthusiasm by more than 5,000 students of various age groups.  Painting competitions and slogan contests have also been organized as part of the campaign…

 

1999-02-15-1                 The Pioneer, national, India

[‘Save Tiger’ walk]

     Wildlife lovers walked through the busy streets of the national Capital on Valentine’s Day on Sunday to show their love for the tiger, which faces the threat of extinction…

 

1999-02-15-1         The Hindustan Times, national, India

[Save the tiger]

     A 50-foor balloon tiger at the National Zoological Park to generate awareness among the masses for the conservation of the tiger…

 

1999-02-16-2         Delhi Times, The Times of India, national

[He is no ordinary tiger]

     They sit inside it and discuss its decimation from the face of the planet.  It’s 50-foot long and 12-foot high and is made of parachute material that can inflate.  Striped bright yellow and black, this tiger was (brought to India) by WCWC for a Save-the-Tiger campaign to generate awareness on tiger conservation amongst school children…

 

1999-02                     Travel Talk magazine, India                     TT Bureau

[Save the Tiger campaign]

     … “A conscious effort has to be made to make the villagers aware of the hazards of deforestation, overgrazing and poaching, and their consequences on the whole ecological balance,” said Marr.

     His Save-the-Tiger campaign has introduced new eco-friendly techniques for resource conservation, like solar cooking devices and biogas to wean the villagers from their dependence on wood-fuel…

     Marr also feels that the entry fee to the Indian wildlife sanctuaries should be raised manifold to benefit the locals of the area and also to maintain the reserves…

 

1999-03-18-4         The Hitavada ("The oldest and largest circulated English daily in Central India") 

[Save tigers from extinction: Marr - Great mission

Anthony Marr educating children about protecting the majestic and beautiful tiger]

     … Mr. Marr who is tirelessly working in India… said that the tiger is the greatest national treasure of India, but even more so, it is a global treasure that is revered the world over.  “Though it belongs to no individual, its loss would impoverish us all.”…

     … Mr. Marr said that the Royal Bengal tiger might look the most secure of all remain subspecies, but in truth, it is no more secure that the last carriage of a crashing train…

     Currently, Mr. Marr, along with (Canadian volunteer Anne Wittman) and… (Indian conservationist) Faiyaz Khudsar are battling to educate the people living around the Kanha (Tiger Reserve)…

 

1999-05-10-1                     The Vancouver Sun                     by Alex Strachan

[Rupert’s Land, Discovery shows win early Leos]

     … In television awards, Andrew Gardner won best writing in an informational series for a segment of Champions of the Wild featuring conservationist Anthony Marr and his efforts to draw attention to the plight of India’s Bengal tiger. Champion’s cinematographer Rudolf Kovanic was also cited for a segment about elephants…

 

1999-05-16-7         The Province, Vancouver         by Jason Proctor

[Whale escapes after shrugging off harpoon]

     Makah whalers in Washington’s Neah Bay struck their prey yesterday, but the whale escaped, (hurt, but alive).

     “The Makah harpooner threw the harpoon at the whale from about 10 feet away,” said Anthony Marr… who was watching from about 600 meters.  “The harpoon entered the left flank of the whale, who did a nose dive, carrying the harpoon and the attached float with it. But the harpoon (soon got detached and the whale disappeared).”

     Activists opposed to the hunt earlier scared away several whales. Some protesters were arrested and the rest were prevented by authorities from nearing the whales (on grounds of harassing them)…

     “The whale is a warrior, just like our Makah men are warriors,” said Joddie Johnson, a member of the Makah band.  “He wants to die in honour.”

 

1999-05-18-2                The Vancouver Sun              by Craig McInnes

[Native leaders condemn Clark for ‘colonial’ position]

     … Anthony Marr… said that the anti-whaling campaign is not aimed at aboriginal rights.

     “We’re not pointing fingers at the native people. We are just against whaling.”

     Marr said it was “ludicrous” to describe Monday’s whale killing as a revival of tradition.

     “First they towed their ceremonial canoe out to the whale with a power boat.  Then they detached the canoe to harpoon the whale.  Then they used a .50 calibre gun to finish it off.”

     Marr said the Makah’s whale hunt has little to do with the band’s food needs.  “It’s something they’ve chosen as a vehicle to assert themselves as a self-determined people.  If they want to stand up and be counted, fine, but not on the back a whale that they kill.”…

 

1999-05-20-4                     The Vancouver Sun                     by Anthony Marr

 [A Passionate Journey to Save the Endangered Bengal Tiger]

(Published in the Insight section of the Vancouver Sun in May 1999.)

     The tigress was sleeping on her side in the undergrowth, visible only as patches of brown and white camouflaged with shadowy black stripes amidst the dense foliage.  Behind her, within tail-flicking distance, was the half-eaten carcass of a wild boar.  She was not going anywhere, short of angrily bolting in fear of being stepped on by our elephant which was, in my opinion, getting a little too close.  When the elephant snapped a branch off the tree shading the tigress, she finally had enough, rolled onto all fours, glared up at me and emitted a spine-tingling road.  I snapped the last of a string of photos and instructed the mahout to beat a prudent retreat.

     It was near the end of January, during the second of ten weeks in my third tiger conservation expedition to India's Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves as WCWC's tiger campaign, under funding by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

     The tiger is one of the most beautiful animals ever evolved on Earth and, yet, its extinction is not only probable, but a tragic reality unfolding before our eyes.  Of the original 150,000 tigers worldwide, only 4,000 to 5,000 still roam the wild. Of an original 8 sub-species of tigers, only 5 sub-species remain.  Wild tiger populations are decreasing by about 2 tigers per day.  At this rate, our planet will be devoid of wild tigers within a decade, along with most of their natural forest habitat and the hundreds of thousands of species that currently co-exist within the tiger's ecosystem.

     The aim of our Tigers-Forever program is to ensure the survival of the Indian tiger in its natural habitat.  But, at a death rate of 300 to 400 tigers a year, the Indian tiger is no more secure than the last carriage of a crashing train.

     As with most endangered and threatened species, India's tigers face the dual threat of direct killing and habitat loss.  Direct killing includes poisoning by local people angered by their loss of cattle as tiger prey, and commercial poaching of tigers to supply tiger bone and parts to the Chinese, Japanese and Korean traditional medicine markets.  WCWC has a three-year-long campaign, which has helped clean up the shelves of Chinatown stores, to convince Canadians not to consume illegally imported tiger medicines.

     Tiger habitat in India is rare and vulnerable.  Even the protected Tiger Reserves are being deforested by mining, logging and by local villagers in desperate search of fuelwood.  In addition, cattle and goats (India has over 300 million free-ranging cattle) cause incredible damage by over-grazing the tiger's forests.

     For each of these problems there are long and short term solutions.  The lasting long-term solution is to re-kindle national pride in the tiger as a symbol of India and motivate the villagers who live around Tiger Reserves to become tiger conservationists. Shorter-term solutions include introducing alternatives, like solar cookers, to reduce dependence on fuelwood, tightening regulations on poaching, and finding ways for local villagers to tangibly benefit from the tiger's protection.

     It's impossible to make headway on any of these solutions without the experience and leadership of local Indian people.  During my latest six-week trip, accompanied by several enthusiastic but sensitive Canadian volunteers, I worked closely with staff at Tiger Trust India and embarked on conservation work that seemed a far cry from the usual Canadian environmental campaign.

     To combat the dependence on fuelwood, we introduced villagers to several models of solar cookers, designed in Canada but adapted so they could be constructed out of locally available materials.  We never ceased to be heart-warmed by the local peoples' beaming amazement when we opened the solar oven to reveal the fluffy sun-cooked rice, which we would then happily share.  To combat the cattle overpopulation and overgrazing problem, we bought a special Haryanna bull that local people had been hankering for - one whose offspring are high-yield milk producers.  The villagers plan to pen-feed their higher quality cows, and collect the cattle dung for biogas (methane) generation - another avenue to reduce fuelwood consumption.

     We also spent a lot of time talking with people, including 120 out of a total of 178 village leaders in the “buffer zone” region surrounding Kanha National Park and Tiger Reserve.  We discovered that the general sentiment of the villagers is that the tiger reserves are little more than rich peoples' playgrounds which generate no financial benefit for them.

     Currently, India's Tiger Reserves charge tourists only $2.50 US per day for a park visit.  In contrast, Kruger National Park in South Africa, world-renown for its wildlife, charges $25.00 US per visit and Uganda charges $180.00 US for one hour of Mountain Gorilla viewing.  Neighbouring Nepal's Chitwan National Park grosses $800,000 US per year in fees, half of which go to the park to combat wildlife poaching and improve services, and half to the local villagers who then help protect the park because it provides them with revenues.  The village officials and villagers we met with in the Kanha area wholeheartedly embraced the idea of reforming park fees.  We are convinced that eco-tourists from places like Canada would happily pay a little higher Tiger Reserve gate fee to help ensure that India's tigers survive in the wild.

     This trip to India opened my eyes to the need to find conservation solutions that not just work for local people, but have local people at the helm. Our Indian colleagues, our multinational (Canadian, American, British) volunteers and I worked hard (although trekking to an isolated Indian village and watching the rice cook in a solar oven is a lot of fun).  We also, thankfully, saw a lot of tigers, and hope to for years to come.

     [Note: The Bali tiger (extinct as of the 1940s), the Caspian tiger (extinct in the 1970s) and the Javan tiger (extinct in the 1980s). The other sub-species, in descending order of population are: the Indian Royal Bengal tiger (about 2,500 left in the wild), the Indo-Chinese tiger (1,000 left), the Siberian tiger (300 left), the Sumatran tiger (300 left and the south China tiger (20 left).]

 

1999-05-22-6              Times Colonist, Victoria, BC              by Anthony Marr

[Tradition should end like slavery]

     … On May 17, the day the whale died - sacrificed in a vain and vainglorious attempt to revive an obsolete tradition…  To many in the environmental movement, it is a day that will go down in infamy…

     Should native cultures with whaling traditions have special rights to whale? In my opinion, no, just as I say no to the Chinese culture having special rights to use bear gall bladders, tiger bone and rhino horn in traditional medicine, nor European cultures having special rights to practice their bloody trophy hunting tradition.  To integrate myself into the Canadian society during the last three decade since I became a Canadian, I had to retrain myself many times in just about everything in life; I can’t see why ex-whalers can’t do the same…

1999-06-02-3             The Daily New, Nanaimo, BC            by Valerie Wilson

[Students learn plight of the tiger]

     … Anthony Marr… warns tigers are disappearing at al alarming rate.  He is in Nanaimo this week to ask area school children to save the tiger from extinction.  “Your voice is important and you must speak out,” Marr told students of Uplands Park Elementary Tuesday.  “You are very powerful if you want to make some changes in the world.”

     “Marr has been back in BC for about a month, after a 10 week working stint at tiger reserves in India.  He brought home with him a breath-taking slideshow of the country’s landscape, tree and plant life, birds and animal life, and of course, photographs of the tiger he viewed at India’s Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Ranthambhore tiger reserves.

     “A question I am asked often by adults is there are no tigers in Canada, so why should we be bothered.,” Marr told student.

     “Very simply, the tiger is one of most beautiful animals in the world. If it becomes extinct, our world would be much less beautiful place. We all lose.”…

 

1999-06-07-1                 Nanaimo News Bulletin                     by Erin Fletcher

[A tale of 4,000 tigers]

     Children hold the key to the survival of the endangered tiger, says tiger conservationist Anthony Marr…

     To spread the word about the plight of tigers, Marr was visiting Nanaimo schools last week with a slideshow presentation, video, and a discussion in the hopes to stimulate an interest in tiger preservation among local youth.

     Marr has been involved with tiger conservation since 1994.  His passion takes him into the depths of India where he works to educate and promote the preservation of tigers…

 

1999-06-10-4                     Nanaimo News Bulletin                by John Kimatas

[Chamber picks city’s top citizens]

     … Having won a scholarship this year, (Madeline) Hargrave says she’ll probably study at Malaspina University-College for a year. But after hearing Anthony Marr speak at a Global Watch function about the plight of tigers in India, she’s considering traveling to India to help him save the tiger.

     Otherwise, she is unencumbered by limitations.  “I want to do everything,” she says.

1999-07-29 - Media Release - for immediate release
[Chinatown Tiger Parts Market: Sting Operation, Press Conference

Purchase of illegal tiger-bone/rhino-horn medicines to be demonstrated in NYC' Chinatown August 2, Monday]

     “At today's rate of poaching to supply the traditional Chinese medicinal market with body-parts of tiger, rhino and bear, among others, the tiger will be extinct within a decade, and the rhino and bear species soon thereafter,” says Anthony Marr, Biodiversity Campaign Director of the 28,000-members-strong Western Canada Wilderness Committee.

     The June 1999 issue of TIGERLINK reported: [Tiger products still available in U.S.A.]  In a survey conducted April 1999... investigators found that in a random 47 Chinese pharmacies in New York's Chinatown District, 63% (30 shops) still offer tiger parts or products containing, or claiming to contain, tiger parts.

     In response to this, Marr, who is of Chinese lineage himself, will first conduct a reconnaissance of Chinatown on July 31st, Saturday and August 1st, Sunday.  On August 2nd, Monday, 9:30 a.m., he will hold a media conference at the Wetlands Preserve Environmental and Social Justice Activism Center on 161 Hudson Street to report on his findings.  If indeed the problem is found to still persist, purchased items will be on display at the conference, immediately after which Marr will lead media to a targeted store to perform a demo-purchase for more dramatic first-hand street-level coverage.  In 1996/97, Marr did exactly this in the Chinatowns of Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa, which made national news resulting in quick government response and a near-total elimination of these medicines from Chinatowns country-wide.

     Anthony Marr will also be the guest speaker of Wetlands at the Wetlands Eco-Saloon on 161 Hudson Street at 7:00 p.m., August 3rd, Tuesday, where he will present a slideshow comprising numerous original images from his latest 10-week expedition to India in spring this year, plus the tiger episode of the Champions of the Wild TV-documentary series shown on Discovery Channel in many languages worldwide.  Journalists interested in profiling the tiger and WCWC's tiger campaign are urged to attend this presentation.

     For further information, please contact Adam Weissman at 212-966-4831, Wetlands Preserve.

 

1999-08-02-1         Associated Press, New York City         by Katherine Roth

[Despite tougher laws, tiger bone still widely available in Chinatown]

     … As of Monday, the products were still prominently displayed on the shelves of some pharmacies and grocery stores (in New York City's Chinatown)…

     “It’s very popular and is good for people with bad backs,” a smiling clerk at Kam Man Food Products on Canal Street told shoppers on Monday.  “I don’t take it, because I don’t have a bad back, but a lot of people do,” said the man, who declined to give his name or comment further…

     Anthony Marr… said that of the 37 traditional Chinese pharmacies visited in Chinatown recently, nine were openly selling products listing tiger bone as an ingredient.  He is calling for stiffer penalties for sellers and importers who break the law…

     But the US Fish and Wildlife Service… says it doesn’t have enough resources to stop the brisk trade…

     “We have 93 inspectors and 230 special agents for the entire country.  They’re stretched pretty thin,” said Patricia Fischer, a spokeswoman for the agency.  “The sheer volume of wildlife products coming into this country present a monumental task…”

     More than 50,000 over-the-counter tradition Chinese medicines containing, or purporting to contain, tiger bone and parts from other critically endangered species are sold in the United States each year to people of all ages and ethnic groups…

 

1999-08-03-2                 Daily News, New York City             by Laura Seigel

[Tiger bone Rx selling in the city despite ban]

     At a cramped grocery in Chinatown yesterday, a casually dressed man plunked down $3.95 and was handed an alleged arthritis cure - tiger bone bills.

     Anthony Marr, the Chinese-Canadian tiger campaign director of WCWC in Vancouver, said the purchase proved a grim fact that he had traveled to New York to demonstrate:

     The law against selling medicine made from the bones of tigers, an endangered species, is not being enforced.

     “I’m here in New York to persuade the government to enforce the law,” said Marr.  “Tigers will be extinct within 10 years unless things change.”

     A spokeswoman for the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for monitoring the sale of tiger bone medicine, conceded the agency could do a better job.  “But we don’t have the staff,” Patricia Fisher said.  “We only have 230 special agents for the entire country.”

     She said the agency has tried to control the sale of tiger bone by teaching Asian communities about endangered species, rather than by enforcing the law without explaining it.  “This is a tradition in Oriental medicine that goes back centuries,” Fisher said…

 

1999-08-03-2             World Journal (Chinese), global

[The ‘Long March’ of a Chinese-Canadian conservationist]

     … Marr arrived in New York City last Friday.  On Saturday, he conducted a reconnaissance of Manhattan’s Chinatown district with some local help.  In one sizzling afternoon he investigated 37 medicinal stores, and found at least nine that still openly displayed tiger bone medicines for sale…

     Yesterday, after a brief media conference in which Marr gave a slideshow on tiger conservation, he led the media present to three of the nine stores to perform demonstration live-purchases…

     Shop keepers interviewed seemed aware of the illicit nature of the product, but said since most tigers in China have been killed off, the tiger bone medicines they sell probably contain no real tiger ingredient…

     The new Rhino and Tiger Product Labeling Act of 1998, however, ban any product claiming to contain tiger or rhino parts, whether or not they actually do…

 

1998-08-12-4             Reuters News Agency             by Manuela Badawy

[Import of tiger bones a problem in U.S.]

     …”At today’s rate of poaching tigers will be extinct in a decade.  Tigers don’t have the time to wait for the Chinese community to change its habit,” said Marr, who is of Chinese descent and has taken heat from other Asian for his campaign.

     On a recent day, he led journalists to New York’s Chinatown, which has one of the largest concentrations of people with Chinese background in the United State, to buy supposedly banned tiger elixirs.

     At the Golden Spring pharmacy on the Bowery in Lower Manhattan, Marr walked right in and bought a vial of Tiem Ma tiger bone pills for $3.95.  Tiem Ma pills, made by Guiyang Chinese medicine factory in China, listed 6.8 percent ground tiger bone as one of its ingredients and claimed to treat rheumatic neuralgia, lassitude of tendon and back pain.

     When journalists and photographers went into the store after Marr purchased the pills, clerks became visibly anxious, removing the pills from the counter and shoved them into a box.  They refused to answer journalists’ questions…

 

1999-08-21-6             The Toronto Star             by Manuela Badawy, Reuters

[A helluva town for tigers]

     … Under the 1998 Rhino and Tiger Products Labeling Act …people caught with these products face a fine of $5,000. Business owners pay $10,000 and/or get six months in jail.  In comparison, fines for seal penises are $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 and/or one year in jail for business owners.

     Marr says the fines for tiger violations should at least equal that for seal violations, if only because the tiger is critically endangered…

 

1999-09-10

From: Wetlands Preserve

Wetlands  Sept 1999 Mailing

[Wetlands and Western Canada Wilderness Committee Expose Illegal Chinatown Trade in Tiger, Jaguar, Seal,  Endangered Species Parts]

     “At today's rate of poaching to supply the traditional Chinese medicinal market with body-parts of tiger, rhino and bear, among others, the tiger will be extinct within a decade, and the rhino and bear species thereafter.” - Anthony Marr

     In response to a report in the tiger conservation publication TIGERLINK that a survey of 47 Chinese pharmacies in New York's Chinatown, 63% (30 shops) still offer tiger parts or products containing, or claiming to contain, tiger parts, Anthony Marr, Biodiversity Campaign Director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC), conducted a reconnaissance of Chinatown in conjunction with Wetlands and Animal Defense League activists during the first weekend in August.

     What they found shocked them.  Not only were pills claiming to be ground tiger bones openly on display, but leopard bone, seal penis, and pangolin (an African endangered animal species), were also available!  Upon making these discoveries Wetlands issued a press release announcing a press conference to be held the following Monday morning to present the findings.

     After the media conference, which was held in Wetlands downstairs lounge, Marr led journalists into Chinatown for a sting operation.  While photographers and videographers positioned themselves out of sight, Marr went to purchase endangered species products.  However, as he was about to make the purchase, the store clerk saw the journalists and began clearing all endangered species parts from the shelves.  But it was too late: the journalists had the proof they needed. 

     What resulted was huge media splash, as the first wave of journalists, including the Associated Press, Daily News, Reuters, World Journal (the New York area's largest Chinese-language paper), ran their stories, resulting in a second wave of courage from journalists who saw the initial coverage, including a French-based world news agency, Fox News Channel, Radio Free Asia,  and others.

     In 1996/97, Marr conducted a similar investigation into  the Chinatowns of Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa, which made national news resulting in quick government response and a near-total elimination of these medicines from Chinatowns country-wide.  As a person of Chinese descent, Anthony is able to investigate the sale of endangered species parts in Chinese herb shops and traditional pharmacies without raising suspicion.  In traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed that consuming the parts of an animal responsible for its strengths will pass that strength on to the consumer.

     Wetlands and WCWC are currently pursuing this campaign to the next stage, working with the NY State Division of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Division to prosecute business selling endangered species parts.

 

1999-09-10-5                 The Voice, Whistler, BC                 by Sylvia Dolson

[Bear with us]

     … Hunting is a topic that is always controversial…

     In BC, a hunter need only be 10 years old… However, individuals under 19 must be supervised while hunting…

     I asked Marr whether he thought the black bear population could withstand the current level of legal hunting.

     “The black bear, especially the grizzly bear certainly cannot withstand the combined onslaught of legal hunting, poaching and habitat loss.  Poaching?  The main deciding factors are total population and poaching figures, neither of which is firmly known.  So how can we set a sound quota for legal hunting?” Marr said.

     “Besides, all ecological and conservation arguments aside, killing an animal for entertainment, especially teaching a child to do the same, is despicable and morally bankrupt,’ said Marr…

 

1999-10

Open letter to the President of the United States of America
Dear President of the United States of America:

     On February 11, 1997, you wrote a letter to the U.S. Congress citing Canada as having “conducted whaling activities that diminish the effectiveness of a conservation program of the International Whaling Commission”, regarding the granting of whaling licences to the Canadian Inuits without IWC approval. We as Canadians take your point well, and pledge to pursue the matter with our government. This letter, however, concerns the killing of a Grey whale by your own Makah tribe.

     In the same letter to Congress, you also wrote: "I understand the importance of maintaining traditional native cultures, and I support aboriginal whaling that is managed through the IWC." On this, we beg to differ, and hope that you will reevaluate the basic philosophy behind this statement.

     First, we question the word “traditional”. Obviously this is a key word distinguishing aboriginal whaling from non-aboriginal whaling, and must itself therefore be clearly defined. In particular, should traditional whaling employ definitely non-traditional equipment such as motorized watercraft and armour piercing firearms? We believe that the vast majority of Americans and Canadians would say a resounding “NO!”

     More basically, and especially applicable to the Makah, is the question of traditional need, namely food, clothing and fuel. The Makah have done without whale-derived food, clothing and fuel for over seven decades. High on their list of reasons is to use the killing of whales to solve their people's alcohol and drug abuse problems. Kindly show us the traditionality of this reason.

     Even more basic than this is whether all elements of traditional aboriginal culture are to be held sacrosanct. If so, then even slavery should be revived. If not, then why should killing whales be so unquestionably honoured?

     Ultimately, we believe that as civilization advances on to a new millennium, killing sentient, intelligent, peaceful and trusting creatures like whales and dolphins can no longer be justified, for any reason, by anyone, be they Japanese, Norwegian, Russian, American (Makah), or, yes, Canadian (Inuit). This means that within or beyond IWC parameters, whaling must end.

     We ask you to please re-examine the basis of your thinking, which the vast majority of your citizens, judging by their overwhelming opposition to the hunt, obviously have done.

     Yours sincerely,
Anthony Marr
Founder, HOPE-GEO

 

1999-11-18      Hornby-Denman Island Grapevine         by Fireweed

[Marr to Speak on OMNI-SCIENCE]

     Vancouver-based conservationist Anthony Marr will be making an intriguing new presentation in Courtenay and on Denman Mon., Nov. 22^nd & Tues. the 23^rd respectively.

     Many islanders will remember the engaging speaker as the driving force behind Western Canada Wilderness Committee’s highly profiled Bear referendum Campaign a number of years ago.  Others will recall his fabulous slideshow presentation here in ’97 on the plight of the world’s dwindling tiger population.  Millions of Discovery Channel, PBS and the Knowledge Network viewers have since applauded his efforts as celebrated in the award winning television documentary series Champions of the Wild.

     Marr is currently on a cross-country tour under the banner of HOPE (Heal Our Planet Earth) with a thought provoking talk titled [Earth’s Shining Destiny].  This original millennium vision, based upon Marr’s own “Omniscientific Cosmology”, has won the accolades from professors in a diverse range of scientific disciplines.

     “Omni-Science,” explains Marr, “is a new model of the Universe built not on the physical sciences alones, but the life and social sciences as well.  It is a cosmology that can answer the great philosophical questions such as the purpose of humanity, the meaning of life, the destiny of Earth, the Way of the Cosmos, the Masterplan of the Universe, even the nature of ‘God’.”

     Dissuading quick dismissal of such a grandiose claim, Marr’s impressive list of supporters (including dozens of distinguished academics), encourages thoughtful attention to the writer’s concepts.  For example, Stanford University Professor of Geology W.R. Evitt’s comments read, “sincerity, imagination, intellectualism, scholarship… meticulously thought out… majestic in scope but intrinsically simply, satisfying and optimistic… broad appeal… important ideas with great potential for lessening the conflicts in a troubled world.”  Adds Dr. William Kimbel, President, Institute of Human Origins, Berkeley, “… no amateur populariser… a dedicated scholar whose theory makes a profound contribution to the fundamental definition of humankind in relation to the broader universe… too important to be ignored.”

     While no stranger to controversy as an activist, the praxis of Marr’s ideology is bound to enjoy broad appeal.  His current HOPE initiative is primarily concerned with collecting signatures on a bold worldwide petition destined for the United Nations.  It requests the redirection of ten percent of international military expenditures into a UN administered global ecology/environmental fund.

     Courtesy of Denman’s Community School, the captivating Marr will be speaking Tuesday evening at 7 pm in the School library. 

 

1999-12-23      Special to The Capitol Times, U.S.A.

Earth's shining destiny: A new millennium vision
by Anthony Marr
     If you have been observing the planet Earth from the moon for a million years compressed into a single day, you'd find yourself suddenly sitting bolt upright and taking alarmed notice, because all six critical symptoms have suddenly, simultaneously arisen:

     1. Earth's night side has always been pitch black, but suddenly there is light - neon light.

     2. Your spectroscope is suddenly peaking with an unprecedented array of pollutants.

     3. You cannot help but notice the sudden and widespread deforestation and desertification.

     4. Your long-range Geiger counter is suddenly clicking off scale.

     5. Your radio telescope is suddenly being bombarded with e-m radiation.

     6. Suddenly, human footprints appear on the moon.

These are the signs of an imminent global event to come, something so monumental that its dark alternative is Armageddon.

     A celestial birth.

     The planet Earth is a cosmic egg, literally, that came into being 4.6 billion years ago. Its geo-embryo is its ever-evolving biosphere, which does require solar energy to incubate. It's gestation period is 4.6 billion years.

     3.5 billion years ago, Earth's primordial molecules formed "molecular societies", which became the first unicellular organisms (cells).  600 million years ago, the cells formed cellular societies, which became the first multicellular organisms (metabions).  100 million years ago, the metabions formed animal societies, which became the first "tribal-organisms" (of social insects, and much later, of humans).  10,000 years ago, the human-based tribal organism gave rise to the first multi-tribal civilization, which eventually formed the "national-organisms".  This quantum-leaping of life from level to level is called Integrative Transcendence (IT).

     On all levels exist nonsocial and social units - nonsocial molecules (e.g. CaCO3 in a rock) and social molecules (e.g. proteins), nonsocial cells (e.g. amoebae) and social cells (e.g. body cells of dragonfly or human), nonsocial metabions (dragonflies) and social metabions (bees, humans), nonsocial "cities" (e.g. termite "mounds") and social cities (e.g. your city), nonsocial nations (e.g. WW2 Germany and today's Iraq, more or less) and social nations (more or less, e.g. your country, since it is on the World Wide Web!)

     The Integrative Transcendence Spiral repeats itself from level to level in four quadrants.

     1. Organismization - where, by differentiation and cooperation amongst social organisms on one level, their society integrates itself and transcends into being an organism of the level above.

     2. Speciation - where the original species of organisms on any level evolves into an array of descendent species.

     3. Ecosystemization - where the various descendent species form ecosystems among themselves, and

     4. Socialization - where certain species become social, and form societies of their own.

     Thus, the OSES Cycle of the IT Spiral.

     Currently, our nations have progressed past the Ecosystemization quadrant of the 6th OSES Cycle, but not yet completed the Socialization quadrant.  The current annual $1.6 trillion global military expenditure is proof to this.  If and when the international society (UN?) integratively transcend into the planetary organism Earth, there would be no international weaponry, just as there is no enmity but pure harmony amongst the organs of the same body.

     Given a thousand planets with life and civilization, a certain proportion would probably not survive this crucial juncture at which the Earth now finds itself.  It is a cosmic final exam where the destructive destroy themselves.  It is survival of the wise.

If Homo Sapiens lives up to its self-given name, the infant planetary organism Earth will mature, then reproduce, giving rise to offspring planetary organisms throughout the Solar System.  The OSES Cycle will unfold yet again, this time on the interplanetary level, in the ever-ascending Spiral of Integrative Transcendence.

     Where does it end?  Seven levels above the planetary organism will be the Universal Organism. This dozen-leveled, integratively transcended universal being will be everywhere within itself, embrace all the knowledge in all libraries of all planets, and be an unimaginable powerful.  In other words, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.  And in other words, this Universal Organism would be indistinguishable from God. 

     What would theology have to say about this new revelation?  Being an active ingredient in this divine self-creation process of Integrative Transcendence, what does this tell us about ourselves?