African animal notes

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1998:

Reported Reuters on February 28 from Dar Es
Salaam, Tanzania, “A dog, named Immigration by owner
John Kachela, was sentenced to hang by a judge in Rukwa
province last week because its name was deemed insulting.
The dog was spared the noose, but newspapers reported that
police shot the year-old mongrel after an appeal was rejected.
Prosecutors told the court in Sumbawanga, Tanzania, that
Kachela named the dog after a respected government department
and went there daily to boast about it. Kachela was
found guilty of scandalizing the department and given a suspended
six-month jail term.” Address the Embassy of the
United Republic of Tanzania, 2139 Kalorama Rd. NW,
Washington, DC 20008; fax 202-797-7408.

South African Air Force public relations officer
Captain Mariette Hopley on February 23 became the firstever
recipient of the Wouter van Hoven Trophy, honoring
outstanding service to environmental conservation. Van
Hoven directs the Centre for Wildlife Management at the
University of Pretoria. Hopley was honored for her management
of penguin rehabilitation after oil spills in 1994 and
1996. The latter job was especially difficult, as the South
African National Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal
Birds, normally the nation’s primary avian rehabilitation center,
was temporarily quarantined due to an outbreak of
Newcastle disease. Between the two rescues, Hopley and
team saved the lives of as many as 8,000 penguins.
Thirty-four animal and habitat protection
g r o u p s on February 26 announced formation of the A p e
A l l i a n c e, a joint effort to encourage African nations to
enforce existing laws on behalf of great apes. Ape Alliance
coordinator Ian Redmond and primatologist Jane Goodall
told media that meat hunters are killing as many as 600 lowland
gorillas per year, out of a total wild population of
115,000, and have killed 20,000 chimpanzees in G a b o n
alone, from a total wild population of 200,000.