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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday July 20, 2016
Animal activist urges passing of Wildlife Bill --after rescuing sloth from being sold
By Shauna Jemmott
ANIMAL activist Syeada Manbodh is calling on government to pass the Wildlife Bill and enforce laws governing the protection and management of Guyana’s creatures in the wild. Manbodh made the calls following a rescue mission which saw a sloth being rescued from a vendor at Mon Repos Market, East Coast Demerara and released into its natural habitat. She was speaking to the Guyana Chronicle at the Guyana Zoological Park Monday, where she and a team of concerned activists and other citizens were in the process of releasing the sloth, which they rescued on Saturday at the Mon Repos Market. It was taken to David Fernandes’ flower farm aback Bounty Farm on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway and released in some 70 acres of land in a natural environment. “It’s a two-toed sloth; it eats fruit, nuts and leaves. They have particular type of leaves they eat. So it will have all the trees and whatever to find and eat,” Manbodh noted. This newspaper understands that the animal
The sloth being transported out of the zoo yesterday (photo saved as in graphics, July 20 as ‘sloth2’)
Freedom! The rescued animal climbing a tree immediately after its release Monday (Photos compliments of Syeada Manbodh) seemed excited to be released back into the wild as it climbed quickly into the nearest tree soon after orientation. The animal activist related that around 10:00 hours
Saturday a friend and fellow activist whose name was given as Shirlene was passing by the market when she saw the animal suffering in the sun. It was locked in a small cage.
The woman contacted her and along with a few others, she travelled to the area to execute the rescue. “It was in a very tiny cat trap. We explained to them (the vendors)that this is wrong what they’re doing, because of the conditions they have it under. “We told the man he has to hand it over, which he did. At first he wanted money, but we told him ‘No, you cannot, because you should not be selling these things on the road in this condition,’ and so he handed it back to us.” The animal was housed at the zoo for two days. Manbodh said it seemed stressed from the moment she first saw it, until the time before its release on Monday afternoon.
It’s official!
Republican party nominates Donald Trump for president DONALD Trump supporters celebrated their once unthinkable capture of the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday night as state delegates took turns to count up the votes from his remarkable sweep of the party’s 2016 primary election. Crossing the threshold of 1,237 votes, Trump officially became the Republican party’s nominee for president, as the stage in Cleveland was illuminated with a message proclaiming: “Over the Top”. Later, a giant image of of the nominee was beamed into the arena, live via satellite link from Trump Tower
in New York City. “I am so proud to be your nominee for president of the United States,” Trump said. “With your vote today, this stage of the presidential process has come to a close. “Together we have received historic results, with the largest vote total in the history of the Republican party. This is a movement and we have to go all the way.” In the three-minute address, Trump anticipated his big convention speech, rattling through a list of policies, such as strengthening the border, “getting rid” of ISIS, and “restoring law and order”. “I’ll be discussing all
that on Thursday night,” he said. “But together, most importantly, we’re going to make America great again.” The official confirmation of the 2016 nominee was in little doubt after a last-minute procedural rebellion was quickly killed off on Monday, but the ceremonial “call of the roll of states” served as a powerful reminder of the scale of his victory over 16 competing candidates with the largest ever vote haul in a Republican primary. “It is my honour to throw Donald Trump over the top with 89 delegates,” said his son, Donald Trump Jr, as he announced the results from his home state
of New York. “Congratulations dad, we love you.” “Today has been one special day, watching my children put me over the top earlier,” his father told the hall later. “I’ll never forget it; it’s something I will never forget.” Each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and far-flung Pacific territories, took turns to read out their delegate split, inducing huge cheers and the occasional jeers when the turn came to the handful of contests won by rivals Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and John Kasich. “To paraphrase Buffalo Springfield, there is something happening
“ Yo u c a n s e e i t w a s stressed; and it was very aggressive, and hissing and trying to swipe you… He hardly ate anything.” She pointed out that many coastlanders exercise inhumane treatment towards wild animals and is calling for government’s urgent intervention. “I’m begging government to enforce laws, especially with the iguana trade. You pass from the airport and you see all these iguanas tied up and it’s so sad. It’s a really terrible situation… when you walk around the streets and you see parrots being sold, macaws being sold, sloths, monkeys… and this is wrong. It shouldn’t happen. They should have respect for them and keep them in a big cage
if they have to but I don’t believe in the wildlife trade.” “…the Wildlife Bill is before parliament and hopefully it passes and they’re able to do more for the country’s wildlife.” Manbodh thanked the Animal Husbandry Supervisor at the Zoological Park, Prince Dryden for his support in housing the animal at such short notice. She said animals of the wild should be left to live in the wild and protected. “Wildlife should be left in the wild and I think the zoo. The zoo is there for us until we have a place to release them,” she told the Guyana Chronicle. The Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill was tabled in Parliament in May, earlier this year.
here, and what it is is exactly clear,” said the South Carolina lieutenant governor, Henry McMaster, as he seconded the proposed nomination of Trump. “This is not a dream; this is the real thing. This is deadly serious,” added McMaster, who was the first elected official in the country to endorse Trump in January. Those closest to the campaign greeted Trump’s vindication by pointing out just how few politicians, pundits and journalists ever thought his national victory -- secured in a total of 38 states -- was possible. E a r l i e r i n t h e d a y, campaign chairman Paul Manafort said the nomination was the “culmination of a one-year campaign by Mr Trump, a campaign that defied expectations of pundits and the political class.” “He is excited that his quest will finally come to
an end and all of you who doubted him will no longer be able to say ‘yes, but it may never happen’,” he told reporters. “So we are excited about that.” The few figures of the party establishment who have travelled to Cleveland were also paraded on stage on Tuesday to give their blessing to the Trump coronation. House speaker Paul Ryan, a longtime critic of Trump’s divisive rhetoric on race and immigration, was required to oversee the proceedings in his capacity as convention chair. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who was also slow the endorse the nominee at first, was due to lead a group of 10 freshmen senators on stage to pay their respects. Later, Ryan, the most senior Republican in Congress, addressed the hall, but his speech offered no