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| Vultures face extinction as gamblers seek visions of the future Inhaling smoked vulture's brain confers gift of premonition, according to vendors of traditional medicine in parts of AfricaIt's a tiny organ that, the superstition goes, holds the secrets of the future. When smoked and inhaled, the brain of a vulture is said to confer the gift of premonition. To put it bluntly, most users hope to sneak a look at next week's national lottery numbers.Such is the demand for vulture brains to use in muti – traditional medicine – that wildlife experts fear the birds could be driven to extinction within two or three decades. They also warn that hunting could intensify as gamblers seek an advantage when betting on the football World Cup in South Africa.Vultures' acute vision, and ability to find prey, has kindled a belief that they possess clairvoyant powers. Their brains are dried and rolled into a cigarette or inhaled as vapours in the hope they will bring a vision of the future - including lottery numbers and sports results.Andre Botha, manager of the birds of prey working group at the Endangered Wildlife Trust in South Africa, said: "People believe it's foresight and this finds fertile ground in people's imagination. If it worked for the lottery, everyone would use it and we'd have a lot of millionaires walking around today."There is a lot of betting in South Africa. So we may see an increase connected to gambling around the 2010 World Cup."A 2007 study found that 160 vultures are sold a year for muti in eastern South Africa, with the total across the region thought to be much higher. About 1,000 are killed every year in Tanzania alone.The birds are shot, trapped or poisoned by hunters. One tactic is to poison an animal so the vultures that feed on the carcass themselves fall victim. "You can have 300 or 400 converge on a poisoned carcass and all be wiped out," Botha added. Brains and other body parts are then sold at street markets or shops in Johannesburg and other cities.Steve McKean, a researcher at the conservation body Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, was quoted by South Africa's Star newspaper: "Traditional use as it is currently happening is likely to render vultures extinct in southern Africa on its own within 20 to 30 years."Seven of the nine species of vulture are rated endangered. Botha said there was demand for the bearded vulture in Eastern Cape province. Traditional healers prefer that the bird be captured alive as the head needs to be removed while it is still living so that "the brain does not flow down into the spinal cord" and the muti loses its potency.Endangered speciesSouth AfricaTanzaniaAnimal welfareAnimalsWildlifeDavid Smithguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Mariah gets carried away at Palm Springs gala PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) -- Mariah Carey lived up to her sometimes loopy reputation at the Palm Springs International Film Festival awards as she gave a long, rambling acceptance speech after being named Breakthrough Actress for her performance in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."... hosted.ap.org |
LG/SPRINT VEGAS LAUNCH PARTY - Video Hosted by Brooke Shields, the star studded event brought out who's who in the entertainment and style world to celebrate new messaging handsets feedproxy.google.com |
Venezuela Nationalizes French Chain President Hugo Chavez ordered the seizure of a French-owned retail chain on accusations that it raised prices after Venezuela devalued the currency by half. online.wsj.com |
China denies cyber attacks on Google Beijing defends right to punish those who challenge party rule online following Google's decision to stop censoring in ChinaBeijing has denied involvement in cyber attacks and defended its right to punish people who challenge party rule online as it continues a fight-back against criticism of its internet policies."Any accusation that the Chinese government participated in cyber attacks, either in an explicit or indirect way, is groundless and aims to denigrate China. We are firmly opposed to that," an unidentified spokesman from the ministry of industry and information technology told the state news agency, Xinhua.The spokesman did not refer directly to Google's announcement, in which the firm said it was no longer willing to censor its Chinese service. Google had cited an intrusion targeting human rights activists' email accounts and tougher online censorship as reasons behind its decision.The remarks are the most direct official response on the issue, although the government has previously said that it "resolutely opposes" hacking and criticised "baseless" claims. The spokesman added that China was the biggest victim of such attacks, with hackers targeting more than 42,000 websites last year. Using figures from the Internet Society of China, he said cyber attacks from overseas increased 148% from 2007 to 2008, affecting "sectors of finance, transportation and energy, which posed severe harm to economic development and people's lives".Separately, a Chinese internet security official told Xinhua that Google had yet to report its complaints to them."We have been hoping that Google will contact us so that we could have details on this issue and provide them help if necessary," said Zhou Yonglin, deputy chief of operations at the China national computer network emergency response technical team.Google reported a massive and sophisticated attack which originated in China, but has chosen not to say "one way or the other" whether it believes hackers were sponsored or approved by Beijing.Zhou also said most hacking of Chinese computers originated from the US.The Chinese government has toughened its stance since Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, challenged it on the issue last week. She criticised internet censorship, named China as one of several countries where there had been "a spike in threats to the free flow of information" recently, and urged Beijing to investigate the Google attacks fully and openly.The foreign ministry warned that bilateral relations were being harmed and state media have run several articles attacking US internet policy. Yesterday a commentary in the People's Daily, the Communist party newspaper, accused the US of using social media, such as Twitter and YouTube, to stir up unrest in Iran.In separate comments, carried on a government website today, a spokesperson for the state council information office said China "bans using the internet to subvert state power and wreck national unity, to incite ethnic hatred and division, to promote cults and to distribute content that is pornographic, salacious, violent or terrorist".The spokesperson added: "China has an ample legal basis for punishing such harmful content, and there is no room for doubting this. This is completely different from so-called restriction of internet freedom."The state council information office is the cabinet arm of China's propaganda apparatus and one of several agencies that control the internet.China has prosecuted dissidents and advocates of self-rule in Tibet who have challenged Communist party policies online.GoogleChinaCensorshipInternetHackingTania Braniganguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |