Archive for March 10th, 2009
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Roxi, a giraffe weighing 50 kilos and standing 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) tall, was born at Costa Rica’s Africa Mia animal park, becoming the first of her kind to be born in Central America, the press reported on Monday.
“This is a great success for Africa Mia because it’s the first time that such a delicate exotic species is born in Central America. It’s great news because everything worked out well,” the park’s veterinarian, Tania Pivovarova, told reporters.
Roxi, who was born on Sunday and is doing well, is the daughter of Adriana.
Park officials said Roxi could soon have company since another female giraffe, Amapola, is pregnant.
Roxi, an articulated giraffe from the African savanna of Kenya and Ethiopia, was named for Roxi Blen, the mother of Africa Mia owner Mario Sotela.
Africa Mia, which opened in 2005, is located in Liberia, a city in the Pacific coast province of Guanacaste, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of San Jose.
The park exhibits African wildlife, including zebras, giraffes, antelope, ostriches and warthogs, as well as local species, such as deer and monkeys.
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Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Imaging Foundation continues its efforts to educate people around the world about the Shark Finning Problem. PRETOMA and The Shark Coalition continues to work toward the same goal.
(San Jose, Costa Rica - March 9, 2009) – Members of the Shark Coalition, represented by experts of the Humane Society International (HSI), participated in a meeting of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) last week (March 2-6) in Rome, Italy, where Costa Rica led the call for a global “fins-attached” shark conservation strategy. Joined by 10 other Latin American countries, Costa Rica formally requested a U.N. workshop to address the barbaric and wasteful practice of shark finning.
Each year, around the world, tens of millions of sharks are hauled up on deck, where their fins and tails are sliced off and the (often still-living) sharks are then thrown back overboard to die a lingering and painful death. The reason for this shameful waste is the demand for shark fin soup. The effect has been the devastation of shark populations worldwide. Some shark populations have declined by more than 90 percent in the past 20 years. Some may never recover. (more…)
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Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Costa Rica severs ties with Taiwan, but will Beijing get its money’s worth?
- Beijing inundates Latin America with its diplomatic presence.
- Talks in early phases over a bilateral free trade agreement between Costa Rica and China.
- China’s signing bonus results in the start of construction of Costa Rica’s new National Stadium.
Costa Rica and China may seem to be an unlikely pairing; however, both governments have moved to deepen their ties and cement regional integration based on the pursuit of a free trade agreement, which was brought a step closer by the completion of the first round of negotiations on January 19. Costa Rica, one of few nations lacking an army, is a unique example of a Central American country that over the years has displayed a respect for democracy and human rights amidst a region ridden with political turmoil and unremitting violence. It is known for its strong agricultural and technological sectors, and it has benefitted enormously from tourism, as well as from a vibrant industrial sector for which it receives a considerable amount of foreign investment due to a relatively stable political atmosphere.
China, on the other hand, has one of the world’s fastest growing armies. In recent years, Beijing successfully has sought the position of being a leading player in the global political economy by focusing its efforts on acquiring resources and pursuing commercial opportunities which has made it the envy of its neighbors. At the same time, Costa Rica has mastered the art of ‘soft corruption,’ capped by the bizarre phenomenon of witnessing one president after another publicly being investigated for exacting bribes from foreign corporations and businesses. In other words, aside from all of its attractive attributes, the country should also be known for its puffery, vanity, self-absorption, and flexible ethics. (more…)
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