Two cool things I read in today's newspaper

The monkey's at Copenhagen's zoo have been fed a mixture of ecological and normal/non-ecological bananas for a while now. However, the monkeys peel the normal bananas but eat the ecological with the skin and everything! Doesn't that just say it all?!

A Chinese fisherman caught an endangered fish in the Yangtzeriver. When he realized what sort of fish it was he promptly brought it to the vet to take care of it's injuries and then realized it into the wild. The man was given an environmental award. I will try to search around on the net to see if I can find more info about this and what sort of award he got!

There IS hope for we primates after all! :) Except I could not stomach eating a banana skin, ecologically sound or not. Bleah! The monkeys can have all of mine!

From the People's Daily Online:


Fisherman in west China rewarded for rare fish find

A fisherman who found and protected a rare Chinese paddlefish, has earned a reward of 2,000 yuan (241 US dollars) and praise from the government in Nanxi County in west China's Sichuan Province.

Fisherman Liu Yunhua caught the paddlefish by chance in the Yangtze River a week before the Chinese Lunar New Year. He immediately reported his catch to local fishery authorities and took care of the injured fish until fishery experts arrived.

Under local government decrees, a fisherman who reports the accidental capture of a rare fish to the authorities will be rewarded while those who illegally catch and sell fish under state protection will incur severe penalties.

The endangered paddlefish, listed as being under top national wildlife protection, has been dubbed "the giant panda of the rivers" as it too lives only in China.

The last two reported paddlefish catches in Nanxi County were in 1984 and 1992. Since then, however, the existence of the fish in the wild has remained a mystery until this latest find.

A scientific research team organized by the Chinese government in 2002 searched for traces of the paddlefish along the Yangtze River but found no evidence of its existence in the wild.

To date, scientists still do not know how many of the species survive in their major habitat - the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River in eastern China.

After the recent discovery of the paddlefish, Nanxi County put a ban on fishing in the county's waterways.

The paddlefish has been returned to the Yangtze River after being nursed back to health by fishery scientists.

   Last month another paddlefish died.

      Paul

Thanks for that extra info Paul!

What great stories!! I really like the one about the fisherman--there are some great people out there who really care about other living beings, whether they be human or not!! Good for him!!!!