Wildlife
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:
The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill contin-
ues to kill Alaskan wildlife, researchers revealed
February 5 at a symposium hosted by the
University of Alaska and the American Fisheries
Society. Among the victims are 14 orcas, who dis-
appeared and are presumed dead; 300,000 murres,
a bird species that hasn’t nested successfully since
the spill; and sea otters and ducks, who are still
being poisoned by mussels who in turn have been
poisoned by oil.
Zimbabwe is trying to raise $2 million
to spend on culling 5,000 elephants from a nation-
al herd officially estimated at 80,000.
New federal rules to protect the
California spotted owl from old growth logging
take effect March 1. The California spotted owl,
of which about 2,000 remain, is officially consid-
ered a “sensitive” species, not yet either “threat-
ened” or “endangered,” and is a cousin of the
threatened northern spotted owl.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on
February 11 ordered a hearing before an adminis-
trative law judge to determine if former president
George Bush and staff violated the Administrative
Procedures Act in pressuring the Endangered
Species Committee to permit 13 timber sales dur-
ing May 1992 that might have jeopardized spotted
owl habitat.
Three hikers claim to have seen and
photographed a moa on January 24 in the
Craigieburn Range of New Zealand’s South
Island. The huge flightless birds are believed to
have been hunted to extinction by the Maoris
about 500 years ago.
An Australian amateur herpetologist
recently rediscovered the pygmy blue tongue
lizard, believed extinct since 1959. Graham
Armstrong found remains of one of the lizards in
the stomach of a roadkilled snake, searched the
area, and found a thriving colony nearby.
Defenders of Wildlife has filed 60-day
notice of intent to sue the U.S. Department of the
Interior for permitting the Bureau of Reclamation
and Army Corps of Engineers to help China build
one of the world’s largest dams on the Yangtse
River––threatening habitat for endangered river
dolphins, alligators, birds, and giant pandas.
The Florida Game and Fresh Water
Commission is planning to mate highly endan-
gered Florida panthers with closely related Texas
mountain lions to combat severe inbreeding.
