The first time I saw wild bears in America was on foot, 15 years ago in Yellowstone National Park. Oblivious to our presence, a family of them played in the snow as they traversed a slope a couple of hundred metres away. The cubs tumbled and slid like excited children in a park. Having grown up in gritty east London, this was a profound and mesmerising sight, and one I’ll never forget. Just the memory of the flurry of photos I took bring the moment right back.
Since then I’ve seen bears – mostly brown bears but sometimes grizzlies – in northern Montana, crossing the road in front of me in Big Bend National Park in Texas and in the woods in New Mexico. This summer, I also saw them in Glacier Bay and Denali National Parks in Alaska, and I never fail to be awed by a country where such wild creatures can still thrive.
I’ve also not seen them, and seen them dead. In the exceptionally beautiful coastal Tongass National Forest, where hunting is, to my mind unforgivably, allowed, I was on a small ship cruise at the end of May and our guides expressed their frustration at the eerily quiet shores. In one fjord, we found a headless carcass – a sure sign of a trophy hunter. Its paws had also been removed and its rotting body looked like it should have been marked up as the scene of a crime.
I’m aware of the arguments in favour of hunting – economic, social; and of the way Americans see the land and all that it contains as a resource to be exploited and “managed”. Clearly, one of the main reasons so much of the country’s wilderness has been protected is that there is so much of it. Yet the threat of the lifting of even the most sacred of protections, such as the Donald Trump administration’s plan to allow grizzly bear hunting in and around Yellowstone National Park, thankfully overturned this week by a district judge, should make everyone uneasy. Not because bears are cute and cuddly or better than people, but because they are still rare compared to their historic numbers and a powerful symbol of wilderness, an increasingly sought-after commodity which must be valued appropriately.
In Yellowstone, grizzly bears were first classified as a threatened species in the 1970s, when shooting, trapping and poisoning cut their numbers to 136. Now that there are about 700 of them, farmers, hunters and the National Rifle Association have argued against them being relisted as an endangered species, while native American tribes and environmental groups have done the opposite.
This week, Dana Christensen, the district judge, said the case was “not about the ethics of hunting” but whether federal officials had adequately considered threats to the long-term recovery of the animals and noted that tens of thousands of bears once roamed the United States. In his 47-page ruling, Christiansen said the Fish and Wildlife Service’s reasoning in lifting protections were “illogical” and cited two studies quoted by the agency that contradicted its own conclusions.
Across the US, liberals contend that such repeated nonsensical moves by the Trump administration are headline-grabbing attempts to distract people from even more sinister moves. Decades of progress on myriad matters is seemingly upended, triggering heated debate and costly and time consuming legal battles.
Yet one other thing is clear. Such disruptive and top-down moves are actually unsustainable and, in their own way, spell extinction for those who support them.
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Read more:
Centenary of wonders: Yellowstone National Park
On the move: Passage to Alaska
On the move: don't lose your bearings on a hike
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Company%20Profile
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The specs: McLaren 600LT
Price, base: Dh914,000
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
UAE central contracts
Full time contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Usman, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid
Part time contracts
Aryan Lakra, Ansh Tandon, Karthik Meiyappan, Rahul Bhatia, Alishan Sharafu, CP Rizwaan, Basil Hameed, Matiullah, Fahad Nawaz, Sanchit Sharma
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Meydan race card
6pm Dubai Trophy – Conditions(TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m
6.35Dubai Trophy – Conditions(TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m
1,800m
7.10pm Jumeirah Derby Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (T)
1,800m ,400m
7.45pm Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
8.20pm Al Fahidi Fort – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,400m
8.55pm Dubawi Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,200m
9.30pm Aliyah – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 2,000m
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Fighting with My Family
Director: Stephen Merchant
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Florence Pugh, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Jack Lowden, Olivia Bernstone, Elroy Powell
Four stars
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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