Keeping Informed for the Animals: New Book Club Series Can Help

April 11, 2016Posted inAll articles, Reviews, Tools for success

Help wildlife by saving their homes - EO Wilson Half-Earth book

By Paula Fitzsimmons

What are the biggest threats to the Grauer’s Gorilla? How about to the Monarch Butterfly or the Lemur Leaf Frog? Switching channels, do you know what political action committees do, and how they differ from nonprofits? Or which animals are protected under the Animal Welfare Act?

Why am I asking these assorted questions? Because understanding the issues impacting animals is essential to being a powerhouse advocate. It’s impossible to know everything about everything . . . admittedly, I didn’t know what the Lemur Leaf Frog looked like, or that it was even endangered, until I did a little research. But the more you do know, the more effective you can be.

Feel Powerless? There’s an Antidote for That

September 20, 2015Posted inAll articles, Inspiration & ideas

Flighted Blue BirdBy Paula Fitzsimmons

If your Facebook feed looks anything like mine, it’s a succession of posts bearing bad news for animals and the planet. Images of emaciated polar bears. News that we stand to lose elephants and other species in our lifetime. Systematic animal abuses. Rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed while protecting wildlife . . . and on and on and on.

Ditto for email alerts, Twitter feeds, radio and television – the bad news is everywhere. These stories – especially when served in such high volume – make me feel incredibly sad, angry . . . and powerless. And that’s a terrible place to get stuck at.

I could be wrong here, but I have a feeling you can relate.

What Cecil the Lion’s Tragic Death Can Teach Us About Passion – in Activism & Career

July 29, 2015Posted inAll articles, Inspiration & ideas

African Lion with quoteBy Paula Fitzsimmons

The tragic death of Cecil, the lion killed outside of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park has sparked outrage. And rightly so. Trophy hunting – the killing of an animal for the sake of “sport” – is despicable in its own right. What adds to this fury is that Cecil was apparently beloved, and according to National Geographic, one of the region’s best known and most studied lions. And with fewer than 21,000 lions remaining in Africa (according to African Wildlife Foundation) how can trophy hunting even be justified?