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Pangolins are unique mammals that have an extremely important ecological role. Just one of these scale-covered anteaters consumes up to 70 million insects per year, providing millions of dollars of free pest control. Pangolins also improve soil quality as a result of their burrowing behavior. Tragically, these incredible animals are being driven to extinction by the illegal wildlife trade. \\r\\n\\r\\nPlease sign and share this petition urging the governments of China, Vietnam, and Indonesia to develop comprehensive and effective strategies to end the illegal trafficking of pangolins within their borders. International efforts to save the pangolin from extinction are having limited effectiveness - full participation of these governments is essential to protecting this amazing animal. Please demand that they take action before it is too late!

Food? There’s already been a lot of concern over whether people will be able to feed themselves as the population continues to rise. Forget the human population increasing, though – it’s the decrease in some other species that might really cause a food shortage even more quickly~pollinators. Altogether, the scientific community credits 200,000 different species with transporting pollen and helping crops to grow. Unfortunately, new research finds that 40 percent of the world’s insect pollinator species are in danger of going extinct in the upcoming decades. Bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, ants and beetles all play a role in the critical pollination process, and their numbers are dwindling. While pollinators with vertebrae – like birds and bats – may not be struggling quite as much as the bugs, 16 percent of vertebrate pollinators are considered at risk for extinction as well. These figures come from research by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, a group with ties to the United Nations. The organization’s report collected data from roughly 3,000 pre-existing studies on pollinator populations that were conducted throughout the world. In fairness, the majority of the research on this subject has focused on species in Europe and North America. Though the existing research in other parts of the world isn’t promising either, it’s a subject that will need to be explored more before declaring that the whole world is imminently doomed. Sadly, ending the pollinator decline isn’t as easy as fixing one thing. Pollinators face a number of threats including:Climate change,Disease,Pesticides,Invasive species,Unsustainable farming practices,Human construction destroying natural habitat. Losing pollinators to these factors has been devastating. Presently, pollinators play a role in growing as much as $577 billion worth of food. 75 percent of all crops are grown with the help of pollinators. From an economical standpoint, this pollinator decline should be a major concern for big agriculture. When it comes to growing crops, birds and insects essentially act as free labor, an invaluable asset that we humans don’t always factor into future costs. When we humans use harmful pesticides and engage in irresponsible farming practices that are correlated to pollinator declines, we aren’t doing ourselves any favors.

The University of Washington,continues to perform sickening experiments on monkeys. Employees at the school perform grisly vivisections -- experiments on live animals -- drilling holes into the skulls of monkeys, implanting coils on their eyes, and tearing infant monkeys away from their mothers to intentionally cause psychological trauma. Please sign this petition to demand that the National Institute of Health stop sending taxpayer dollars to the University of Washington to fund these cruel and unnecessary experiments. The primate research taking place at U of Washington is scientifically meaningless. Experiments on baby monkeys are fraudulent and cannot be extrapolated to humans, but U of Washington vivisectors routinely perpetrate barbaric experiments on baby monkeys such as inducing convulsions, disfiguring eyes, suffocating them, torturing babies while still in their mothers wombs, causing deformities and more. If the babies don't die on their own, they are killed at one year of age and thrown away. For this the vivisectors received over $18 million of our tax dollars between 2010-2011 alone and another $12 million to breed baby monkeys for other laboratories to torture. Other schools, including Harvard University, have been forced to shut down their live animal experiments -- if enough of us speak up, we can get the U of Washington to do the same. Doing inhumane tests on animals is one small step away from using humans!

At least eight Yellowstone National Park wolves have been shot and killed along the park boundary since hunting season began. Five of these animals were wearing radio collars and were the subjects of intensive conservation research study. Wolves roam widely in search of food or mates. It's natural for them to occasionally wander briefly outside the park's invisible borders, but that shouldn't make them fair game for hunters. The killing of Yellowstone wolves is unconscionable. Tell the governors of the surrounding states to shut down the wolf hunt immediately in lands adjacent to the park.

Approximately 100 million pigs are raised and slaughtered in the U.S. every year. The type of housing system used throughout the U.S. to encourage this continuous grueling cycle of breeding sows is gestation crate to farrowing crate to gestation crate. It was developed to allow for economically efficient pork production, requiring less labor and feed than other housing arrangements. Scientific evidence suggests that intensive confinement causes physical disorders in sows. Unnatural flooring and lack of exercise leads to obesity and crippling leg disorders. Further, the air in pig factories is laden with dust, dander, and noxious gases, which are produced as the pigs urine and feces builds up inside the warehouses, causing respiratory difficulties and the spreading of infectious diseases amongst the pigs.Scientific evidence also suggests that intensive confinement causes psychological disorders in sows. The lack of environmental stimulation in the stall environment and the sows' inability to perform normal behaviors including rooting, foraging, nest-building, grazing, wallowing, or practicing social behaviors, leads to psychological disorders including chronic stress, depression, aggression, and abnormal and neurotic coping behaviors, such as bar biting and sham chewing (chewing nothing). Please sign this petition to help raise awareness that our housing system ideals need to be changed and there are other options available. Help make a difference.

Virtually all chickens raised for their flesh (or “broiler chickens” as they are referred to by the meat industry), spend their lives crammed into massive, windowless sheds that typically hold as many as 40,000 birds each. The intense confinement and extreme crowding on factory farms also results in unimaginable filth and disease. Please sign this petition to increase awareness about these deplorable conditions we force these animals to endure.