The Virunga Park Rangers are heroes.

#VirungaNationalPark #MountainGorillas #HumanAnimalRelationshipAwarenessWeek

LCA has proudly supported Virunga National Park and its courageous rangers since 2016. Through our “Save the Mountain Gorillas” campaign, LCA has been the primary monthly supporter of the Park’s AirWing program, which provides critical aerial surveillance to protect wildlife and frontline rangers.

During Human-Animal Relationship Awareness Week, LCA wants to recognize and thank the Virunga National Park Rangers, who risk their lives every day on behalf of the animals, the Park and the local communities.

💔May this tragedy serve as a wake-up call to the cruelty and risk inherent in the animal testing industry and remind us that compassion and responsibility must guide how we treat all animals.

📷 Photo Credit: Scotty Ray Report

We’re calling on Tulane University, the National Institutes of Health, and all institutions involved in breeding, transporting, and using primates in research to commit to ending the exploitation of animals in laboratories and move toward modern, humane, human-relevant, non-animal research methods.

Treating them as disposable tools for experimentation is both cruel and outdated.

The reality is that being shot, after a few moments of freedom, is better than a lifetime of torture in a research facility.

As one of the species most closely related to humans, rhesus macaques share our capacity to suffer, to feel fear, and to form complex emotional bonds.

This false information sparked unnecessary fear, leading to the killing of animals who had already endured enough.

It’s devastating to realize that these monkeys’ only futures were either to be tortured inside a research facility or to be killed after escaping that life.

Reports indicate that local residents were told the escaped monkeys from Tulane University’s National Biomedical Research Center carried dangerous diseases, despite later confirmation from the university that the animals were not a public health threat.

These intelligent, social beings suffered needlessly, first as victims of the cruel research system and then again as victims of misguided fear and misinformation.

Lolita was part of a large capture in 1970 of whales in the Puget Sound area near Seattle, Washington. In 1980, at the Seaquarium, Lolita lost her mate Hugo, due to a brain aneurysm he suffered after repeatedly ramming his head into his tank.

Lolita, aka Tokitae, died at the Seaquarium on August 18, 2023, after over 50 years in captivity, She was one of the oldest orcas in captivity.

“Fighting Chance Friday" is here to provide you with regular updates on the latest animal-related news and, hopefully, to leave you feeling good going into the weekend. 🙂

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By reviving this legacy, LCA acknowledges the importance of past efforts while continuing our commitment to educate the public and fight animal abuse.

LCA continues to call on the Province of Ontario and the Canadian Government to finally come up with a plan for the whales that are suffering at Marineland, before it is too late.

We will keep you updated.