Freedom at last for Ivan the gorilla?

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

TACOMA, Washington––Bankruptcy judge Philip Brandt ruled October 26 in

favor of a Chapter 11 reorganization plan presented by B&I Shopping Center minority owner

Mary Ann Borgert that includes selling the property and moving Ivan, a lowland gorilla who

has spent 29 years there in solitary confinement, to an appropriate zoo. The Columbus Zoo,

in Ohio, appears to be the most likely destination, having 18 gorillas already, including

potential mates for Ivan, but the National Zoo in Washington D.C., the Woodland Park Zoo

in Seattle, and the Atlanta Zoo, which rehabilitated a gorilla kept in solitary confinement

almost as long, are also possibilities. The Dallas Zoo, which reportedly tried to buy Ivan at

one point, no longer has a place for him. B&I principal owner Ron Irwin had always refused

cash offers because, he said, Ivan was “like family.” Ivan was imported nearly a decade

before the passage of the Endangered Species Act cut off private gorilla acquisiitons. The

Progressive Animal Welfare Society and the American Society of Zoological Parks and

Aquariums met October 23 to review contingency plans for Ivan’s hoped-for imminent

move––but Borgert said she wouldn’t make a relocation decision quickly.

COURT CALENDAR

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Humane Enforcement

Concluding a three-year probe

begun in September 1990, the USDA in

October charged American Airlines w i t h

multiple violations of the Animal Welfare

Act. Seventy-one animals died aboard U.S.

domestic flights in 1990, the worst toll since

the USDA began monitoring air transport of

pets in 1976. Numerous airlines were

charged. 1992, however, was worse yet, as

50 puppies died aboard a single TWA flight

from Missouri to St. Louis. The puppies

were en route from breeders to pet shops.

Horses

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Days End Farm Horse Rescue is

offering a cash reward for “any information

leading to the arrest and conviction of the

person responsible for the recent assault and

mutilation of horses in Maryland.” The

reward fund is named for Star, a mare who

was sexually assaulted and subjected to muti-

lation resembling an internal episiotomy in

Urbana on October 5. Similar attacks

occurred in the area on August 26 and

September 4; in Great Falls, Virginia, last

year; and have been baffling police in

England for a decade. The attacks may be

linked, as they seem to be done by someone

skilled at horse-handling, and there is con-

siderable traffic between the horse communi-

ties of England and the greater Washington

D.C. area. Days End Farm Horse Rescue

also seeks information about similar attacks

anywhere, at any time, by anyone, in an

effort to build a psychological profile of the

perpetrator. Send material to P.O. Box 157,

West Friendship, MD 21794.

Zoos

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Trying to share World Series pub-

licity, the Philadelphia Zoo wagered the loan of

two white lion cubs against the loan of two

Tasmanian Devils from the Toronto Zoo on

October 17––and incensed some Philadelphians

who thought the deal showed a casual attitude

toward the fate of the animals. Both zoos are

well-reputed, and the animals were apparently

scheduled to be moved elsewhere anyway.

The San Diego Zoo, barred from

renting two giant pandas from China at $1

million a year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, is trying to decide what to do with a

new million-dollar panda cage and an extensive

stock of panda souvenirs. Interior Secretary

Bruce Babbitt ruled that the deal might con-

tribute to “irresistible pressure for the capture

and export of pandas,” contrary to the best

interest of the highly endangered species, even

though it was billed as a breeding loan and

China was supposed to spend the revenue on

panda conservation projects––which have

included such only vaguely related activities as

building hotels and hydroelectric dams in the

recent past. The deal also contradicted policy

of the American Society of Zoological Parks

and Aquariums.

How much of pet overpopulation do euthanasia statistics measure?

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Somehow in the deadline rush we mislaid a

letter we’d intended to publish from Cam

Martinez of San Diego, California, who

asserted that all the published shelter

euthanasia statistics are far low in providing

an index of pet overpopulation because they

don’t include the animals euthanized by vet-

erinarians, or killed by pet owners using var-

ious do-it-yourself methods.

Martinez claimed we should take

the highest available number and multiply it

at least by 10 to get an accurate count of the

surplus puppies and kittens born each year.

In fact there have been several seri-

ious attempts to estimate total pet births and

mortality, but none have yielded figures on

that order:

Get thee to a shelter, Bill!

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

BALTIMORE, Maryland– –

More than 600 participants in the American

Humane Association annual conference told

President Bill Clinton on October 13 to get

the golden retriever he covets from a shelter

rather a breeder. Syndicated columnist Mike

Capuzzo told the group that in May, Clinton

unsuccessfully bid $3,500 for a golden

retriever at an auction held at the Sidwell

Friends School, which his daughter Chelsea

attends. Later he bid unsuccessfully on a

golden retriever puppy owned by Robert

Wood Johnson IV, great-grandson of the

founder of Johnson & Johnson Inc. Capuzzo

urged Clinton to emulate the late Lyndon

Johnson, whose favorite dog was a mongrel

stray his daughter Lucy found at a Texas gas

station.

Animal Control & Rescue

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

The Connecticut Humane Society,

long under fire from local no-kill groups for a

“high” euthanasia rate that is in fact better than

average for big shelters, has ceased accepting

animals from other shelters for euthanasia, and

is accepting animals for euthanasia from res-

cuers only by special arrangement. “I don’t

want to be in the business of euthanasia,” pres-

ident Richard Johnson told ANIMAL PEO-

PLE. “I want to do saving and adoption.”

CHS will now pay for neutering any animal

adopted by anyone from any municipal shelter

in Connecticut, Johnson said.

HUNTING

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Despite the scarcity of ducks,

Ohio taxpayers are shelling out $40,000

to elevate Clark Road in Franklin

Township so that wildlife officials can

open dams on nearby Killbuck Creek

without flooding it, which in turn will

bring ducks closer to the road for the

convenience of hunters.

John Paul Self, 18, of

Grovetown, Georgia, was in critical

condition October 19 after Johnnie L.

Sinns, 18, shot him in the back of the

head as both allegedly tried to poach the

same deer from beside their pickup

truck. Sinns and a third alleged poacher,

Paul Albert Johnson, 17, were charged

with six misdemeanors including hunt-

ing under the influence of marijuana.

Johnson was also charged with posses-

sion of marijuana, while Sinns was

charged with felony misuse of a firearm.

Birds

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Cowbirds, native to the

midwest, invaded California 10 to 15

years ago and are now blamed for extir-

pating at least four threatened or endan-

gered songbirds from key parts of their

range. Female cowbirds indirectly kill

as many as 48 young songbirds apiece

per nesting season by laying their eggs

in songbirds’ nests. The songbird par-

ents then raise the fast-hatching cowbird

offspring ––who push the songbirds’

own eggs out before they hatch.

Songbird species such as the Bell’s

vireo, willow flycatcher, yellow-breast-

ed chat, and white crown sparrow are

believed capable of withstanding losses

of 10% of their eggs, but decline quick-

ly when the losses exceed 20%. Studies

of white crown sparrow nests in San

Francisco’s Golden Gate Park indicate

losses to cowbirds may exceed 50%.

Hopes for the eventual recovery of the

highly endangered Bell’s vireo were

raised this year when one or two pairs

reportedly nested along the Ventura

River, near Santa Barbara, for the first

time since 1908––but a lone Bell’s vireo

seen in Monterey County, a former

stronghold of the species, failed to find

a mate. Bell’s vireos apparently haven’t

nested successfully there since the cow-

birds arrived, circa 1983.

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