|
(Continued from page 33)
• ___
Unabated, illegal trafficking risks survival of chimpanzees, orangutans, other apes, UN says
• BANGKOK (AP) -- The multibillion-dollar trade in illegal wildlife -- clandestine trafficking that has driven iconic creatures like the tiger to near-extinction -- is also threatening the survival of great apes, a new U.N. report says.
• Endangered chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos are disappearing from the wild in frightening numbers, as private owners pay top dollar for exotic pets, while disreputable zoos, amusement parks and traveling circuses clamor for smuggled primates to entertain audiences.
• More than 22,000 great apes are estimated to have been traded illegally over a seven-year period ending in 2011. That's about 3,000 a year; more than half are chimpanzees, the U.N. report said.
• "These great apes make up an important part of our natural heritage. But as with all things of value, great apes are used by man for commercial profit and the illegal trafficking of the species constitutes a serious threat to their existence," Henri Djombo, a government minister from the Republic of Congo, was quoted as saying.
• The U.N. report paints a dire picture of the fight to protect vulnerable and dwindling flora and fauna from organized criminal networks that often have the upper hand.
• ___
Tiger Woods, on familiar ground, moves back into familiar territory in golf
• ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Tiger Woods never questioned his ability, only his health.
• Woods returned to No. 1 in the world by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, not surprising except if you consider where he was a little more than a year ago. He had not won a PGA Tour in some 2½ years. He missed most of the summer and two majors in 2011 because of injuries to his left leg and Achilles tendon. He walked off the course at Doral a year ago because of tightness in the same tendon. It wasn't until June that he felt good enough to hit balls on the range after a round.
• Instead of a limp, he now has a swagger.
• After making three straight bogeys to end his second round at Bay Hill, he stayed on the range for close to an hour. When someone noticed his caddie walking away, Joe LaCava replied, "Going to get another bucket."
(Continued on page 35)
|
|
