FurEauction Newsletter for December 2001

On Wednesday, the predecessor to all you're viewing now celebrated the 10th anniversary of its conception. Created by Dr Paul Kunz for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center's information database, it helped excite other scientists about the potential of the 'world wide web' and its uses as an academic tool.
The interface, though gross and plain by our standards, was a vast improvement to its predesessors, so much so that there's now an estimated 500 million people on the 'web' in 10 short years.

Over 250 elephants, tigers, rare bears, and leopards have been estimated to have been killed in Cambodia and it's provinces in the last 18 months. Estimates aren't available for 21 of the 24 provinces of this war torn country, but the rare animals being removed from populations currently estimated at 500 elephants, 200 tigers and even less leopards is astounding. Many of these illegal hunting operations involve the police and military. Outsiders fear these rare tigers and elephant sub species will become extinct in the near future.

Further Confusion has bad, good and even better news about our expected
visit from Kirshner this year. First the bad news; due to a scheduling
snafu that caused a double booking of our convention weekend, Kirshner
will not be able to attend with their cats.



Now the good news! We have contacted Ron Whitfield, of Marine World
Africa fame, and scheduled a visit from him and one of his gorgeous tigers
to replace the expected visit from Kirshner's tiger!

The Associated Press reports thar Seymour Reit, author, illustrator, and one of the creators of Casper the Friendly Ghost, died November 21. He was 83.

For many years Reit wrote for Archie comics and Mad magazine. In addition to several nonfiction books for adults, Reith wrote over 80 children's books, including one of the more famous books about Balto, the lead dog of a sled team that carried serum needed to end a diptheria epidemic to the town of Nome, Alaska in 1925.