"If you really do understand science and persons - such as humans and orangutans, you must realize that that love is certainly not unscientific thing to give." -Leif Cocks

In December, I spent ten days in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Central Sumatra. I was there with Leif Cocks, the founder of The Orangutan Project and hundreds of orangutans.

We were deep in the rainforest, surrounded by all the sounds of the jungle, no phone, no wifi, no shower aside from a bucket. And even though I didn't see any tigers, they were there, as were monkeys, gibbons, elephants, spotted leopards, mouse deer and thousands of other species. And, I was with Leif, one of the world's most prominent orangutan experts. It was extraordinary.

But it was also devastating. Because on the very many hour drive from the airport in Jambi, a drive that not that many years ago would have been hours and hours through rain forest, all I saw were palm oil plantations.

There is very little of the rainforest left. Humans have destroyed 80 percent of it and the destruction is ongoing. And of course, millions of animals have died in the past couple of decades because of said destruction.

"We're fighting over scraps of the last remaining rainforest." - Leif Cocks

Leif has spent the past 35 years working with and for orangutans. He first met them when he was in his early 20s, working as a zookeeper at the Perth Zoo in Australia. He quickly realized two things, they are one of the most intelligent species on the planet and they don't belong in captivity (like all non-human animals) and that if we don't do something quickly, we are going to lose them.

So, in 1998, while still at the zoo, Leif founded the Orangutan Project and since then he has been a key player in developing conservation plans for orangutans and influencing positive change for their protection and survival.

It was a gift to be able to see Leif's work in person and to meet his many, many soulful and wise orange friends. He is fighting for them and for what's left of the rainforest in Sumatra and Borneo and he and the Orangutan Project need our help.

Links:

The Orangutan Project: https://www.theorangutanproject.org/

Donate to the Orangutan Project: https://www.theorangutanproject.org/donate/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theorangutanproject/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theorangutanproject

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OrangutanTOP

"These animals are being held captive in a laboratory. They have none of what they need for their own physical and mental well-being. And there is an enormous amount of research suggesting that the biology and the behavior of animals in laboratories is nothing like even those animals in the wild. I mean, right down to their heart rate and their core temperature and their microbiome. So basically, you can't trust data from a mouse in a laboratory to reflect on a mouse in a field. So it really has no chance of being related to us." - Dr. Katherine Roe

Dr. Roe is a neuroscientist and PETA's chief of science advancement and outreach. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University and had an impressive eight-year stint as a clinical neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health.

Today, she's working to end cruel animal experiments, including the recently exposed maternal-and sensory-deprivation experiments being conducted on infant monkeys at Harvard Medical School.

"You would expect Harvard University and, in this case, this is at Harvard Medical School to be conducting the most cutting edge, the most human relevant, the most ethical research on the planet. That is not the case with these experiments." – Dr. Katherine Roe

LINKS:

https://headlines.peta.org/research-modernization-new-deal/?utm_source=PETA::Vanity%20URL&utm_medium=Promo&utm_campaign=0720::viv::PETA::Vanity%20URL::PETAorg-RMD

https://headlines.peta.org/harvard-baby-monkeys/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monkey-study-harvard-reignites-debate-animal-testing/

"So then, you know, you have the Twisted Sister crew doing yoga and eating kale salad. it's so good. Like, now I'm literally known as the plant-based bassist." -Tanya O'Callaghan

Tanya O' Callaghan, aka, the Plant-based Bassist, has toured, recorded, written and worked with legends such as Maynard James Keenan (Tool/APC), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) Steven Adler (Guns N' Roses) Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), The Riverdance, The Voice, Orianthi, Michael Angelo Batio, Kevin Godley, Sharon Corr (The Corrs) and David Gray, to name a few…

She spent much of this year on tour with White Snake and is about to take off again, this time with Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden. During the break in between, she came to New York City. She and I dined on some of the city's best vegan dishes while attempting to solve many of the world's problems, especially those relating to our food system.

She is as passionate and outspoken about veganism and animal rights as anyone I've ever met, and the best part is that she has figured out a way to combine that message with the music.

Please listen and share.

ps. This is our last episode of Season 8. We will be back in early 2023 with Season 9.

Links

https://tanyaocallaghan.com/

https://www.instagram.com/tanyaocallaghan_official/

https://www.facebook.com/tanya.o.callaghan.3

http://www.highwaytohealthshow.com/

"I said, 'let's go on Zappos and look up Zappos and vegan.' And so I searched it… and I said, 'let's see what you get when you search that.' And they had gardening clogs, they had like a croc shoe. And I said, 'why don't you guys go look at how many people opt out after they see that and then you might buy my shoes.' That was a Friday and Monday they bought 18 styles." Rebecca Mink

Rebecca Mink is the founder of the very first vegan luxury shoe brand, Mink Shoes. Mink Shoes have been around since the year 2000, way before anybody was making anything luxury vegan. She started the brand because for the years leading up to it, she'd been a celebrity wardrobe stylist and there was nothing vegan out there to put on their feet.

"I was buying 25 or 30 thousand dollars of leather shoes a month for these clients, and I was sick over it. I was walking into the shoe department of Neiman Marcus and getting the best of this and that… shopping and buying things that I didn't believe in. I could do [vegan] everything except for the shoes, everything. I could even get away with certain belts, metal belts, different things. But I could not put someone on the red carpet in what we had at that time, which was Payless." – Rebecca Mink

Over the years, she has made custom shoes for celebs like Miley Cyrus, Natalie Portman, Madonna, Pamela Anderson, and Jennifer Lopez.

Rebecca's next big thing is the launch of Mink Vegan Leather, a bio-based leather made from upcycled plants, coming to the world in 2023.

LINKS:

https://minkshoes.com/

https://minkshoes.com/pages/vegan-leather

https://www.instagram.com/minkshoes/

"There are written documents that talk about how the same wolf follows a flock of sheep for 300 miles and they come back again with that flock of sheep. And those shepherds can identify those wolves. And within the group, they've even given the names to those wolves…

And they have this saying: Don't do something wrong, the Wolf God is watching you." - Prabhat Sinha

Prabhat Sinha grew up swimming after ducks and fish in a rural farming village in Mhaswad, India. At 13, he left for the US, learned English, became a competitive high school athlete and then went on to Georgetown University.

He became a sports agent for NBA players and Olympians and he was really good at it. But, he knew it wasn't enough. He knew that sports had given him the opportunities that changed his life and he wanted the same thing for other kids from rural India.

So, he made his way home and set up Mann Deshi Champions, a sports academy that has developed over 8000 athletes from rural India.

Since his return, he's noticed that many of the animals that he frequently saw in his youth are increasingly rare to spot. Animals like wolves, jackals and hyenas are disappearing from the landscape, and that disheartening observation has led to Prabhat's latest endeavor, a farmer led Wolf Sanctuary project. And, like everything else Prabhat does, it is astonishing.

Please listen and share.

LINKS:

https://manndeshichampions.org/

Reshma's video: Buffalo harder to a marathon runner: https://youtu.be/FLt81c7I3VM

Mann Deshi Youth Development Center: https://youtu.be/sBVD27bzep8

Plant a tree play sports program: https://youtu.be/4Eb6plDCzfQ

Reshma: https://youtu.be/apmfmWr1qJE

Travel Coach Program: https://youtu.be/GHjMFogkhI8

Paradhi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43r1tUB6jm0&t=4s

Mumtaj: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLPN3M1_1ag&t=1s

NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/12/31/949601710/why-a-field-hockey-champ-in-india-is-now-harvesting-onions-and-herding-goats

Mann Deshi Champions: https://www.delawarepublic.org/npr-headlines/2020-12-31/why-a-field-hockey-champ-in-india-is-now-harvesting-onions-and-herding-goats

Mann Deshi Champions BBC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIueiPWBufU

Amjad the Hanuman wire: https://thewire.in/communalism/go-amjad-hanuman-hindu-muslim-unity

Prabhat Sinha Apollo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFEXs-uSXS8

Prabhat Sinha TEDX 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoI-QxNHvNg

Prabhat Sinha TEDX 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0g48QBQwGU

"India has done more than any other country for recovering its tigers. Nobody can deny that. But still, we could do so much more than being satisfied with what we have done. There's so much complacency and crowing about these 3000 tigers we have, and I find it very sad." Ullas Karanth

Dr. K. Ullas Karanth is emeritus scientist at the Centre for Wildlife Studies in Bangalore. Previously he led one of the longest-running (1986–2017) tiger conservation programs in the world for the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Along the way has conducted cutting-edge research, which gained crucial new knowledge for bringing tigers back. He was the first wildlife biologist in India to catch and radio collar tigers and the first to use camera traps to identify individuals.

He has also engaged deeply with researchers, wildlife managers, social leaders, and local communities that live next to tigers. His efforts have effectively stopped poachers, mitigated human-tiger conflicts and helped forest families to happily resettle away from tiger habitats.

Dr. Karanth's latest book, Among Tigers: Fighting to Bring Back Asia's Big Cats was released on November 1st. It's the story of his 50-year journey to becoming one of the world's most important tiger biologists. His quest to save India's tigers was not an easy one and the book takes us through all of it: the adventures, the hardships, the politics and the successes. It's also an education in tiger biology. I read it in a day, because it is that good.

Please listen, share and then go read Among Tigers.

Links

Centre for Wildlife Studies

Among Tigers

"The resource allocation of global attention on China is not commiserate with the size and scale of the problem that China represents." Albert Tseng

Albert Tseng is co-founder of Dao Foods, an impact-oriented investment firm that invests in plant-based and alternative protein companies based in mainland China and focused on the Chinese market.

With rapidly rising incomes and increasing meat consumption in China, Dao Foods' aim is to introduce alternative products into the China market to reduce the consumer demand for animal products which has had growing negative climate, environmental, food safety and health impact.

"The average American eats about 120 kilograms of meat per year. Back in 1990, that number was about 20 kilograms per capita in China. In 2017 that has gone up to 60 kilograms. Still only half as much of an average North American. But you can see the trend that we went from 20 kilograms to 60 kilograms, and just that tracks to income growth. So, if we start to reach parity of animal protein consumption in China with a population of 1.4 billion people, then then we're going to have all sorts of acceleration of all the global problems that we have." - Albert Tseng

Links:

https://www.daofoods.com/

[email protected]

"One of the things that we've noticed is when these animals repeatedly show up, that's when people really get frustrated, up to a point where they may leave loose electrical wires in their field. And when the herd or the animal comes back the next day, they get electrocuted. So you want to keep people from flipping out and doing something crazy, right?" - Krithi Karanth

Dr. Krithi Karanth is Chief Conservation Scientist and Director at the Centre for Wildlife Studies, in Bangalore, India and is Adjunct Faculty at Duke University and National Centre for Biological Sciences.

She has spent the past 24 years doing research in India and Asia, much of which has focused on the many issues in the surrounding the human side of wildlife conservation.

Krithi has served as editor for Conservation Biology, Conservation Letters and currently Chief Editor for Frontiers in Ecology and Environment- Conservation Section. Her conservation and research work has been featured in 3 award-winning BBC Series - The Hunt, Big Cats and Dynasties, and documentaries by CBC and PBS. I have co-produced 4 documentaries Wild Seve, Humane Highways, Wild Shaale and Flying Elephants. In 2020 I co-starred in Save This Rhino: India by Disney Hotstar and National Geographic.

The work that Krithi and her colleagues at the Centre for Wildlife Studies are doing is changing everything for the animals and the humans with whom they share land throughout rural India. We in the US could (and should) learn a thing or two from their work, especially when it comes to building tolerance for wild animals like wolves and creating solutions for sharing the land.

Please listen and share.

Links:

https://cwsindia.org/

https://www.instagram.com/cwsindia/

https://www.facebook.com/cwsindia/

https://twitter.com/cwsindia

"We sat down and we ordered omakase, which is essentially the chef's specialties, and they just keep bringing food out until you say I'm done. So we ate and ate and ate everything you can imagine for the better part of 3 hours before we even dared to do order whale" – Heather Rally

Dr. Heather Rally spent the last decade at the PETA Foundation as a supervising veterinarian for captive animal law enforcement. What that means is she's led investigative and enforcement actions in cases of abuse of animals in roadside zoos, circuses and pretty much anywhere captive animal are on exhibit in the US. And, sadly, there are a lot of these places.

Heather's training is in marine mammals. For seven years, she worked with the Oceanic Preservation Society to document and expose environmental crimes and animal welfare violations across the world by doing undercover investigations for the documentary film, Racing Extinction.

In that time, she helped expose and put an end to the illegal sale of endangered species and brought global attention to the exponential rate of extinction that's happening all over the planet.

Heather truly is a superhero. Listen to her episode and I think you'll agree.

Links:

PETA Prime: https://prime.peta.org/news/dr-heather-rally-my-adventures-as-petas-chief-veterinarian/

Whale Sanctuary Project: https://whalesanctuaryproject.org/people/heather-rally/

Racing Extinction: https://www.opsociety.org/our-work/films/racing-extinction/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwkt6aBhDKARIsAAyeLJ3Q4AjM5RfUfeNdHMiYvKyiquwzOk-lW0LceMku-O5H6ChjT03tmjgaArrMEALw_wcB

"We talk very badly nowadays about fashion, right? Because of the environmental impact and so on. But at the same time, there is also value in fashion. If not, we wouldn't be so obsessed. It's inspirational, it makes you dream… Let's keep the good thing, the positive thing that gives you a good feeling and toss away and eliminate the bad things. It can be done." Claudia Pievani

Claudia Pievani is the founder of Miomojo, the cruelty-free and sustainable Italian fashion brand that is making some of the most beautiful bags I've ever seen. They are recycled and up-cycled and – use the entire range of incredibly innovative, next-generation materials – derived from plant-based resources, including apples, corn, cactus and pineapple.

"Over time, we have proved that a beautiful object doesn't have to come at the expenses of other living beings or our planet. With creativity and compassion, we have proved that it is possible to have fashion without fashion victims." – Claudia Pievani

https://www.miomojo.com/en/