Happy Animal News
What do you do if a bunch of penguins start mysteriously showing up in your tropical city? Well, if you're Brazil, you put them on a C-130 transport plane and
take them back to the Antarctic...or at least close enough to float there.
It's understandable why the penguins might want to show up in Rio...but good for Brazil to save them.
Penguins: good.
Penguins in Rio: While
not without a certain charm,
on the whole, not so good.
Meanwhile, NBA basketball star
Yao Min, who is Chinese, has publicly renounced shark fin soup, which is, in fact, quite a big deal.
Shark fin soup is hugely popular in China; it's considered a delicacy. Problem is, there are more Chinese than there are sharks, and the ratio is getting more and more pronounced; scientists estimate that in recent decades some shark populations have declined in number by as much as 99%. Moreover, shark fin soup is barbaric. Chinese fishermen bring the sharks on board, quickly slice off their fins, and dump the animals back in the water to die. It's a hideous practice.
As Yao said, "Endangered species are our friends." He's making commercials to that effect to air in China. Good for him.
Meanwhile, we Americans—who are not without our own environmental sins—can do our part
by not ordering mako or any other shark when it's on a restaurant menu, and expressing our displeasure over its presence there to the chef......
Killing sharks for their fins:
Really, really bad.
