MUMBAI: After learning from her friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India that the upcoming motion picture ‘Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara’ is set to include a scene showing the running of the bulls, a much-criticised Spanish ritual, Spanish-American singer and actor Charo fired off a letter to the film’s director Zoya Akhtar.   The letter urges Akhtar to open her heart and cut out any scenes glorifying the running of the bulls.   PETA India’s chief functionary Poorva Joshipura said, “The film world is considered glamorous but there’s nothing glamorous about terrifying animals into a frenzy so that they stampede to their deaths in the bullring as part of a blood sport that is fast dying out in Spain.”

Assam has a new breed of invaders from Bangladesh to deal with.   Decades after grappling with a sea of illegal migrants from Bangladesh, New Delhi undertook an expensive project to fence the 4,095 km border with the neighbouring country.   The barbed-wire fence, though not foolproof, has checked the influx of humans to some extent. But it has not been able to stand the jumbo test, more so in southern Assam.   Herds of Bangladeshi elephants have nonchalantly been sneaking into southern Assams Karimganj district over the past few days. Other than raiding paddy fields, these elephants have been causing havoc in a 35 sq km area that has a couple of tea estates.   A herd of seven elephants crossed the border three weeks ago, said Y. Suryanarayan, southern Assams conservator of forests. We are trying to apply a technique used in Malaysia and Thailand to drive the elephants back.   The technique entails equipping villagers with bamboo torches.

PUNE: City-based animal welfare organisations --Noah’s Ark, Adopt a Kitty, ResQ and People for Animals will be felicitated for their contributions in their field at a special function, organised by Business Development Bureau (BDB) Foundation on August 7.   Titled ‘Be My Friend’, the event will be conducted at Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Auditorium near Bund Garden.   A recognised charitable trust, the BDB Foundation has been working towards promoting love for animals by creating awareness.   On this occasion, the foundation will   felicitate individuals, who have taken it upon themselves to make a difference in the lives of many homeless animals, informed R V Krishnan, the founder of BDB Foundation.

We humans may not understand their alarm calls, but the meerkats do, when fellow meerkats warn each other of an imminent danger. Researchers from Switzerland and South Africa say, the animals usually make ‘linear’ sounds. But about 20 per cent of their calls become complex to make the vocal sound ‘non-linear’. These ‘non-linear’ sounds are the alarm calls that Simon Townsend from the University of Zurich and others studied.   All we can say, if you ever chance upon the meerkats, make sure you listen carefully. They may just be alarming others about you!   A tiny stout monkey We don’t have any idea what the monkey was doing at the underwater cave. In any case, the scientists have retrieved the fossil of a tiny monkey from the cave in the Dominican Republic. The experts think the monkey was around about 3000 years ago that’s nothing compared to the age of the other extinct animals that roamed on this planet. However, the monkey species itself could be very ancient.

MUMBAI: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has written to the makers of upcoming Bollywood film “Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara” objecting to a bull fight scene which is to be shot in Spain.   “We have sent an urgent email to Mumbai-based film studio Excel Entertainment urging the producers of the film not to include a bullfighting scene that is scheduled to be shot in Pamplona, Spain,” PETA India’s chief functionary Poorva Joshipura said.   In the email, PETA pointed out that the “barbaric sport” of bullfighting should never be promoted and that such a scene is bound to enrage animal-friendly movie-goers. “In Spain, the popularity of bull fights is dying out as young people and tourists alike show their revulsion to watching animals being tormented and butchered for entertainment,” said Joshipura.   “Indians need to show our culture of compassion and support modern Spaniards’ efforts to ban bull fights, not glorify them,” she added.