Saturday | May 12, 2007

All South African Super 14 final

The Sharks beat the Blues 34-18 in the first semi-final of the southern hemisphere inter-provincial Super 14 rugby competition in Durban on Saturday.

The half-time score was 14-6.

The Sharks will host the final against the BullS in Durban next Saturday.

The Bulls guaranteed it will be an all South African affair in the final of the Super 14 next weekend when they beat defending champions the Crusaders 27-12 in a tightly contested encounter played at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Bulls will travel to Durban to play the Sharks, who earned the right to host the final by virtue of being on top of the table at the end of the round robin stages.

This encounter lived up to its bill of being equated to a typical Test between the Springboks and All Blacks.
Posted by jannos001 at 23:13:42 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Friday | May 11, 2007

World Opposed to U.S. as Global Cop

The world public rejects the U.S. role as a world leader, but still wants the United States to do its share in multilateral efforts and does not support a U.S. withdrawal from international affairs, says a poll released Wednesday.
Posted by jannos001 at 22:04:06 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

NAIVASHA, Kenya (AP) - For the farmers of Kenya, life is a constant contest for grass and water between their herds and the wild animals that share the land.

Now they are waging a new struggle, this time against the international animal welfare lobby. Pleading poverty, the farmers want to open their land to wealthy fee-paying hunters. The advocacy groups are firmly opposed.

The standoff has made Kenya the latest and perhaps most dramatic arena for the international debate over hunting and its role in financing conservation.

A million tourists a year spend more than $580 million to see and photograph lions, elephants, gazelle and other wildlife on this East African country's savannas. But the revenue isn't enough to protect the animals.

Only 8 percent of land in Kenya, a country twice the size of Nevada, is set aside for wildlife. The rest is privately or communally owned and studies show that most of Kenya's wild animals live there.

By some estimates, wildlife numbers have dropped 60 percent since the mid-1970s and continue to plummet, because of human encroachment and illegal hunting for food.
Posted by jannos001 at 21:26:17 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

What is Biltong

Biltong is South African dried meat. The word comes from Dutch with ‘BIL’ meaning buttock and ‘TONG’ meaning strip. Biltong has been around for centuries; for instance, a more primitive form, the Dutch tassal, was also prepared in certain areas of France during the late Middle Ages. Tassal was also made in Batavia, and made its way to South Africa with the Dutch settlers where it was adapted to the less pungent biltong.

Biltong has been a favorite with South African’s and Zimbabwean’s for close on 400 years now. This mildly spiced and salted, air dried meat, has sustained these people since the early days of the Voortrekkers and has, in more recent years, lent it's name to both the complexion and diet of one of South Africa's most famous sons - the single-handed round the world sailor "Biltong" Bertie Reed.
No Rugby, Cricket, Tennis, Boxing or other sporting occasion in South Africa - whether it be watched live or on television - is quite complete without a few beers and a good supply of Biltong. It also makes a great traveling companion as it can last for long periods of time with very little attention, always providing sustenance in the absence of other foods or delicacies.
In the home it can be used in a multitude of ways to compliment other dishes: thinly sliced as a filling for omelets, sliced or shredded as a filling for pancakes, crepes and quiches, salads, and spreads. Of course, the South African farmer's favorite: plenty of shredded Biltong on a slice of freshly baked bread with plenty of butter.

There are typically two main types of biltong – Beef Biltong and Game Biltong. Both are good,
but some people prefer one above the other. Lamb, pork and poultry are not used for biltong, although ostrich meat makes good biltong and is popular in South Africa. Beef is probably the most popular and the easiest to obtain, from a perspective of making your own biltong.
In the past farmers used a whole beef carcass for Biltong, but today the beef buttock - consisting of the silverside (from which 'ronde' or 'predikantsbiltong' and 'regte' biltong are made), topside and thick flank is normally used. The finest biltong is the 'garingbiltong' made from the eye muscles running down both sides of the backbone and which are cut whole from a side of beef. The most tender is the 'binnebiltong' or 'ouma se biltong' (grandmother's biltong) which is made from the fillet.
Posted by jannos001 at 21:20:58 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

South China Tiger to South Africa


A four-year-old South China Tiger sits in a cage at Shanghai-Pudong International Airport April 23, 2007, where it will be transported to South Africa for release into the wild. The South China Tiger, which can be found only in China, is listed on the World Conversation Union's Red List of Threatened Species, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Posted by jannos001 at 21:19:28 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Animal Extinction - the greatest threat to mankind

An eminent Harvard biologist predicts that our present course will lead to the extinction of half of all plant and animal species by 2100 and many biologists believe that mass extinction poses a colossal threat to human existence, a more serious environmental problem than even its contributor, global warming.
Posted by jannos001 at 21:17:11 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

An Urgent Warning About Leopard Trophies From Namibia

If you have taken a leopard in Namibia and it has not been shipped yet, contact your safari operator immediately to halt the shipment. US Fish & Wildlife Services is confiscating leopard trophies from Namibia. The reason is that Namibia is using a detachable tag that does not meet the technical requirements for shipment of leopards. No one should allow his trophy to be shipped until this problem has been solved.

Leopards must be shipped with a non-detachable tag. Word we have is Namibia simply didn't have - or use - the right kind of tag. Any trophies shipped with detachable tags are subject to seizure. In the past, USF&WS has treated this kind of violation as grounds for permanent seizure of trophies. Their approach is what is called strict liability - this is the same approach TSA takes toward passengers who forget they have a gun and try to go through security - they are presumed guilty. There is no "innocent owner" of an improperly shipped leopard. The leopard is treated as contraband and is seized permanently.
Posted by jannos001 at 21:09:44 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |