Alaska revives plan to strafe wolves

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

JUNEAU, Alaska––Just six months after an

international tourism boycott forced the Alaska Board of

Game to rescind a plan to strafe radio-collared wolves,

the board is ready to ratify essentially the same

plan––unless it ratifies one even deadlier.

On the agenda for the June 26 meeting of the

Board of Game are 92 separate wolf management pro-

posals, including two from the state Department of Fish

and Game that differ from last winter’s proposal mainly

in that they would encourage killing as many wolves as

possible from the ground before the air strikes begin.

Hunters and trappers would be given the radio collar

frequencies, so that they could trace each wolf pack in

the Delta and Fortymile areas, south of Fairbanks, right

to their dens. The killing could start as early as July 1.

Birds

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

Trying to find out why a pair of peregrine falcons have been

unable to produce eggs in five years of nesting atop Terminal Tower in

downtown Cleveland, raptor expert Harvey Webster of the Cleveland

Museum of Natural History captured the female on April 30––and learned

she was a sterile hybrid of a peregrine and a prairie falcon, illegally bred

by a falconer whose leather tethers remained on her legs. The falcon was

sent to the University of Minnesota aviary for live study. Her mate, who

in 1988 was the first captive-bred peregrine released in Ohio, is expected

to find another female soon, as several others have recently been seen in

the area.

Jaws

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

The National Marine Fisheries Service on

April 29 issued fishing quotas on 39 shark species

native along the U.S. coast from Maine to Texas, and

banned catching sharks just to cut off their fins, which

command high prices in China, Japan and Southeast

Asia. The action is intended to prevent the slow-breed –

ing and heavily hunted sharks from becoming endan –

gered. A total ban on commercial pursuit of the great

white shark, tiger shark, and black tip shark is under

consideration. West coast sharks were not protected

because, NMFS spokespersons said, they are already

covered by various state laws.

Zoos & Aquariums

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

The Zoological Society of London on April 13

rejected plans by entrepreneur David Laing and New Zoo

Developments Ltd. to build a $55 million walk-through

aquarium and wildlife film theatre on the 36-acre site. The

166-year-old London Zoo, the world’s oldest, has raised

$3.8 million independently, toward the cost of $32.5 mil-

lion worth of renovations it needs to become a captive

breeding facility. Laing said he would try to situate the pro-

posed aquarium and theatre elsewhere in London.

The Pittsburgh Zoo opened an insect gallery on

April 24, featuring a $24,000 video camera that allows visi-

tors to zoom in on particular insects, magnify their view,

and follow them around a terrarium. Nineteen insect species

are featured in the gallery, and are rotated in the magnifica-

tion area.

Whaling ban holds

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

TOKYO, Japan––The 47th annual meeting of

the International Whaling Commission concluded May 14

with the 1986 ban on commercial whaling still

intact––and Japan and Norway still threatening to follow

Iceland in quitting the treaty that holds the IWC together.

Norway has already announced that it will

resume commercial whaling this summer, risking trade

sanctions from the United States. Meanwhile, Norway

and Japan are already harpooning 100 and 300 minke

whales apiece per year for “research.” The rudimentary

research ends in each nation with the whale meat on

restaurant tables. Claiming that the Southern Hemisphere

minke whale population is up to 760,000 and out of dan-

ger, Japan wants to kill 2,000 a year. The Japanese gov-

ernment is also desperately worried that the IWC will

extend its authority from minkes, the smallest of the great

whales, to smaller cetaceans such as dolphins and porpois-

es. As with the great whales, some species of dolphins

and porpoises have been driven close to extinction by

aggressive huntiing, and public opinion in most of the

developed nations favors protecting them.

AAZPA ADOPTS GIANT PANDA CONSERVATION ACTION PLAN

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

Stung by criticism of panda rental deals, which have enabled some U.S. zoos to rake in millions of dollars by

spending several hundred thousand dollars to borrow a giant panda from China, the American Association of Zoological

Parks and Aquariums adopted a comprehensive giant panda conservation action plan on April 23. Under the plan,

AAZPA will for the first time station a species survival coordinator in China, at cost of $100,000 a year, to make sure

money paid by U.S. zoos for panda and panda habitat protection is actually spent for the stated purpose. China is presently

receiving more than $1 million a year from AAZPA members in connection with panda rentals, but indications are that

much of the money is diverted, as was a considerable portion of the $2.5 million the World Wildlife Fund sent to China

for panda protection between 1961 and 1986. The budget for a WWF-funded panda breeding facility included building a

town-sized hydroelectric plant––and the breeding facility, for all the spending, had produced only one stillborn panda cub

as of 1990. Wildlife Conservation Society science director George Schaller, author of The Last Panda, praised the

AAZPA action as a step in the right direction. Meanwhile, concerned that money for pandas might stop coming if the last

thousand left in the wild and last 100 in captivity die without reproducing, China has over the past year announced the cre-

ation or expansion of 14 panda reserves, and the birth of 13 pandas in captivity, of whom 11 are still alive. Panda loans

continue: the San Diego Zoo has just agreed to pay China $1 million a year for each of the next three years to borrow a

breeding pair, and may renew the deal for up to 10 years.

Greyhound racers, cultists on the run in Brazil

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

SÅO PAULO, Brazil––As of January, the Brazilian

humane group Uniao em defesa das baleias/Uniao em defsa da

natureza had no files on greyhound racing. Then, president Ana

Maria Pinheiro told ANIMAL PEOPLE, “Dino Miraglia imported

30 greyhounds from New England.”

Quick to investigate, Pineiro obtained thick dossiers on

greyhound racing and training as practiced in the U.S. from the

World Society for the Protection of Animals, translated the materi-

als into Portugese, “invited the press, and had a meeting with the

attorney general,” who is empowered to enforce the Brazilian

humane laws.

Tough sledding

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

The United Coalition of

Iditarod Animal Rights Volunteers is

asking that letters be sent to sponsors of

the 1,100-mile Anchorage-to-Nome dog

sled race, asking them to either withdraw

or back rules that would require teams to

be rested at all checkpoints; disqualify

mushers who have a dog die during the

race; bar competitors from holding orga-

nizing or officiating posts; and require

independent drug testing of dogs. The

major sponsors include Chrysler Corp.,

12000 Chrysler Drive, Highland Park, MI

48288-0857; IAMS, 7250 Poe Ave.,

Dayton, OH 45414-5801; Timberland,

P.O. Box 5050, Hampton, NH 03842-

5050; and ABC Wide World of Sports,

47 West 66th St., New York, NY 10023.

POUND SEIZURE FIGHT RESUMES

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

The term “pound seizure” may be

unfamiliar to animal protection people who

have been involved for less than a decade,

but the battle over it is heating up––again.

The most bitterly fought issue in

humane work for decades, “pound seizure”

is the practice of laboratories requisitioning

dogs and cats from shelters for research use,

which is known to discourage many people

from surrendering animals to shelters. After

the National Society for Medical Research

formed in 1945 to promote pound seizure, it

became mandatory in Minnesota (1948),

Wisconsin (1949), and New York (1952).

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