A new relationship with animals, nature and each other.

Posts by Michael Mountain

  • Introducing the Whale Sanctuary Project

    This blog is taking a break for the next few months so that I can devote my energies to the Whale Sanctuary Project. Here's why.

  • Is the Sloth Sanctuary a Zoo?

    The Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica was the first of its kind for these wonderfully engaging animals, and it was a model for others that followed. But questions have arisen. And…

  • Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary

    Tafi Atome looks like a typical forest in Ghana. The monkeys have been revered in this village for two centuries. But being “sacred” is no guarantee of survival.

  • The Great Irony of Animal “Rights”

    The great irony of the animal rights movement is there is still only one species that has any rights at all: humans. But the Nonhuman Rights Project is setting out to change that.

  • Why Mass Extinction Is Part of Human Nature

    Why would a supposedly “intelligent” species behave in a way that’s bringing about a mass extinction – one that will likely take us down along with so many other animals?

    Is the Stock Market a Global Ponzi Scheme?
    Sacred Activism in the Service of Animals
    Of Humans and Persons

    The Great Mink Escape

    Yesterday evening, animal protection volunteers in Denmark cut holes in the fencing around a factory fur farm, opened the cages, and released about 3,000 minks – almost half of all the animals there.

    Where the Eyes Don’t Have It

    “A blind cat is just a cat,” says Alana Miller of the Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary. “He has no clue he’s blind. He knows he’s a cat.” The rescue takes other special-needs cats.

    Animals at the Zoo in Tripoli

    In the sweltering heat of Libya, and with the staff having abandoned the Tripoli Zoo, the animals there are simply more “collateral damage” – and the most helpless of all since they have no way to fend for themselves.

    Bears in the Kitchen

    Brandon Smith, a 21-year-old biology student, came downstairs for breakfast at his home in southern Colorado last week to find a black bear by the refrigerator.

    You’d Feel Chirpy, Too!

    Birds’ smoothing each other’s plumage was mostly thought to be simply part of their bathing routine. But we’ve now learned that, like other animals, they do it to relax – just like a massage, and often after a busy bout of foraging for food.

    When Kangaroos Attack

    Why would a kangaroo come bounding into someone’s backyard and attack? Unless provoked, wild animals have no reason to harm humans.

    A Virtual Whale Song Concert

    Inspired by reading a study about the evolution of whale song, a musician has created a computerized concert of intelligent surround-sound “virtual” whales, who perform live with a saxophonist.

    ‘I Am Not an Animal!’

    While it doesn’t bother ethics experts much when genes are mixed from two non-human animals, it’s much more alarming when they create human-other chimeras.

    Cats Up the Wazoo

    She’s the ultimate cat lady. And Lynea Lattanzio does it in style at her 12-acre California sanctuary, Cat House on the Kings. It’s all no-kill, and it includes a clinic, low-cost spay/neuter, an adoption center, and a home-style environment for all the kitties

    Life Without Big Animals

    What happens when we shoot the wolves, hunt down the elephants, harpoon the whales, fish out the salmon? The answer is: it’s really bad for us, not just for those animals. And if we needed proof, we now have it.

    Too Hot? Get Used to It!

    Too hot? Too cold? Get used to it: this is what climate change is all about. The facts are now indisputable: The Earth is warming up, and we are largely responsible.