From: Seal Alert-SA
Date: January 9, 2007
Dear All Cape Fur Seal Supporters,
I trust that you
all had a terrific New Year,
got some rest and are fighting fit.
Just before Christmas the Namibian
published an article, that refutes the claims that the mass death
of seals is directly and solely related to collapsed fisheries, and
that it is the sealers that cause these seals to flee and then
starve slowly to death. http://allafrica.com/stories/200612220200.html.,
an annual event.
Its been a trying time at the new
centre. Lack of funding forced Seal Alert-SA to do things upside
down, building pools for the pups first before doing other
renovations. But, as things went, rust from the steel beams started
falling with each wind and large pieces of wall started crumbling,
but we battled through. I am been going flat out for the past 8
weeks solidly and I am exhausted.
I have lost track but about 65 weanlings
fleeing from Namibia were rescued, thousands more could not be
responded to and lost their lives. I have always prioritised my
work in a seal-a-day rescue, and would always respond immediately,
but for the first time I have to admit, many a seal could not be
responded to and helped - there were just too many dying. Towards
New Year, things just would not let up, besides the babies under
care, some weanlings in the new centre and the "vegetable-coma"
seal, I was left with about twenty weanlings being treated on my
rafts. It soon dawned on me, that as I was saving these seals, they
were not returning to the wild (therefore making space/funds
available for more rescues), instead they were staying. It appears,
as they have fled, they are now refugees and will need at least 12
months to establish new hunting grounds, which normally occurs
during their weaning period with mom. This makes things difficult,
as it increases my cost 4-fold and time.
Right now, after already losing 8 of the
11 babies, each one with such a will to keep living, dying long
slow deaths - that I am almost 100% convinced it is the bonding
(single surviving seal bonding issue). Half way through I thought
we had a breakthrough by adding B6 to their B1 diet, but just when
it looked promising, one died for no reason, except one could see
the non-bonding becoming a factor. If I can get the last three or
even two through, it will be a world first and worth all the
effort, but it is still early days. We reached April last year,
which is a long way away. The coma seal, after doing so well, as
well died peacefully.
I have seen so much seal death this past
few weeks that its disturbing, even the seabirds are dying like
flies, dropping dead all over the place. Seal Alert-SA has a
difficult position in trying to physically save an entire species,
over a million seals in two countries with almost zero funding. I
calculated in the very least (just on one seal-a-day rescues for
the year) Seal Alert-SA incurs costs of about R250 000 annually (At
R500 000 I would be 100% maximised). In 2006, including donations
for Seal Centre (which has cost just over R70 000, with still
another R50 000 to complete), I received just over R120 000 in
total. Adding this all up, Seal Alert-SA's costs were R320 000 for
2006, with an income of R120 000. Nelda and I had to fund the rest.
Clearly things have to change for I cannot possibly continue
funding and doing the majority in trying to rescue not just 1000
seals, but the species.
Via Paola in Italy of OIPA, and her
www.sealalertsa.net site, LA7 television in Italy has decided to do a
program on the Namibian Seal Cull and Animals Voice Magazine has
asked for an article. (see attached).
This year, if funding allows, I really
want to make a big push for returning seals to the islands. I have
great plans for the centre and believe that it is just what was
needed. A base to mount all their campaigns, funding, rescues and
responses from. Forgive me if I do not reply, although I read all
emails, as centre is still very dusty and there is no phone-line,
and as I leave home at 4-6am and return at 11-1am, the next few
weeks I will try and update you where possible.
Finally from my fishing industry friends,
I hear the government is slashing pelagic fish quotas by 20-40% and
that sectors of fishing are closing, with pelagic fish now being
caught in northern Africa (Morocco), cut and shipped to Taiwan,
before being imported back into SA cheaper.
We really need to get seals back to their
islands as nature intended. Rescue in Namibia is already not
possible with hundreds of thousands requiring to be rescued, and
even if you do save their lives initially, how do you rehab them to
self-survival. South African situation is quickly becoming as
severe. Empower me if possible, to undertake and do, what needs to
be done. I know the world is filled with animal problems, but how
many involves an entire species, involving hundreds of thousands
annually. A specie, found nowhere else on earth, evolved off this
coast 5 million years ago. If you can help, please do.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
BRAVO OIPA
From: "OIPA International
Campaigns Director"
Date: December 28, 2006 4:58:11 PM GMT+00:00
To: "SealAlert-SA"
Subject: italian television wants
filming you
Dear
Francois,
After a long campaign of
spread info I have important news for you... and the cape fur
seals.
I have received this
mail from Italian television LA7.
LA7 is very very
very important. they want interview you and filming, they want
promote your campaign:-)
Much Love,
Paola
----- Original
Message -----
From:
Richard
Paola
To:
international@oipa.org
Sent:
Thursday,
December 28, 2006 2:16 PM
Subject:
Italian TV
production on Namibia wildlife
Dear
Sir/Madame,
first of all I would
like to express my congratulations for your work for nature
conservation.
I’m writing to you from
the Italian television channel La7 (www.la7.it) to ask for your
collaboration.
We are preparing a special feature on Namibia for the
program
Missione natura.
The troupe will leave around the 15th of January 2007 for two weeks
and we are really interested in promoting your campaign aimed at
Cape fur seal conservation.
Would it be possible to contact you by phone to organize an onsite
interview and filming?
As you can see, unfortunately we are working on a very tight
schedule…
In attachment you may
find a technical description of our program and TV
station.
Thank you very much for
your precious cooperation, I’m looking forward to hearing from you
soon.
Kind
regards.
Paola
Richard
Missione
Natura - La7
Via
Angelo Emo 13/F
00136
Roma – Italia
mobile
+39 335 6583631
www.la7.it
MISSIONE
NATURA
Technical
Details
Title:
Missione Natura
Producer: LA 7 Televisioni
Length: 100 minutes
Genre: Nature documentary
Number of episodes: 10
Show Host: Vincenzo Venuto - ecologist
Troupe travelling: 9 composed of Director, producer, show host,
writer, 2 cameramen, sound engineer, assistant director and
contents supervisor
La7
is one of Italy’s main broadcast networks, it has two channels and
an audience share of between 10 and 13% of a 60 million audience.
Our sister channel is MTV.
La7 is reputed as the ‘intellectual’ and ‘modern’ Italian
television network, with the audience drawn mainly from upper to
middle income professionals and under 40’s.
Our television programme Missione Natura features stories on
individuals and the organisations they represent, who are actively
engaged in protecting endangered species or species at risk .
We describe the projects that we cover through ‘action’ footage
and informal interviews by Vincenzo Venuto our host and
ecologist with a principal spokesperson/researcher during the
filming of a ‘typical day’ in which all of the major aspects of the
project are documented.
The documentaries seek to inform by showing practical hands
on aspects of the job such as tracking, releasing,tagging,darting
or trapping for sample collection, mating,etc and describe the
problems and relate any successes.
What we propose to our viewing audience is to come with us and
follow our reseracher as he/she goes about their chosen activities
and in so doing provide an entertaining, visually stimulating but
essentially educative viewing.
Thus far the programme has travelled to Honduras where it reported
on a project to establish a marine park for the grey reef shark and
projects on preserving the endangered black iguana of Utila, the
whale shark, and rough toothed dolphins. In South Africa Missione
Natura covered the Green Hunt Elephant project, a clever way of
ensuring funding for radio collaring, tracking and monitoring
elephants in the Timbavati area that borders the Kruger National
Park by having ‘hunters’ pay to dart the elephants in the wild and
assist in the collaring operation, the white lion project that
plans to re-introduce captive bred white lions back into their only
natural habitat on the planet, we covered stories on canned lion
hunting and the business of poaching and on the conservation of the
Cheetah and African Wild dog.
We have found that our audience potential of over 6 million, holds
a high percentage of people who wish to actively support those
projects they most connect to, and has actually led to italian
viewers volunteering to join a project and assisting with it’s
funding.
Ultimately this is what we would like to achieve, making people
aware of the problems in nature conservation around the globe and
highlight those projects established to solve them, and provide
information through our programme to our viewers on the ways in
which they can contribute.