Meanwhile in ... Greenland, dog sleds were used to rush ballots to remote polling areas

And in Freetown, Sierra Leone, they are seeing fewer abused chimps in need of help.

Sled dogs in Greenland.

Sverbor Kranjc/Reuters/FILE

May 31, 2018

Greenland, dog sleds were used to rush ballots to remote polling areas in the country’s May 15 elections. A lack of infrastructure makes it difficult to reach some cities on the Arctic island. So a local fisherman ferried ballots by dog sleds to Savissivik, one of the island’s most remote towns, reported Reuters. Although many of the country’s 56,000 Greenlanders are eager to move toward independence from Denmark, the island’s weak infrastructure, along with other social problems, remains a significant obstacle. 

Freetown, Sierra Leone, the good news at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary is that they are seeing fewer abused chimps in need of help. Sanctuary director Willie Tucker told Voice of America that while his group once took in at least five or six abused chimps each year, most years now there’s only one new arrival. Mr. Tucker says the trade in pet chimpanzees has declined considerably, perhaps because of education campaigns persuading people that chimps do not make good pets and that the animals are most often harmed by attempts to domesticate them. 

Curaçao, entrepreneurs are working to turn the invasive lionfish into a sustainable industry. Nonindigenous lionfish have caused significant ecological damage in Florida and the Caribbean. But the island country of Curaçao hopes to be working toward a solution, reported online diving site deeperblue.com. Chefs in Curaçao have developed recipes featuring the omega 3-rich lionfish, and one local business is using the fish to create artisanal jewelry. The aim is to reduce the lionfish population to the point at which it will no longer do damage to the island’s coral reef.