Far from Fukushima, helpers find themselves near the eye of the storm

June 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:

TOKYO, ST. LOUIS–Six thousand miles
from the earthquake, tsunami, and triple
nuclear meltdown that hit northeastern Japan on
March 11, 2011, and six weeks after the crisis
began, Kinship Circle executive director Brenda
Shoss and Best Friends Animal Society community
relations specialist Troy Lea remained on
post-disaster overload in late May, even though
they never left their home offices near St.
Louis, Missouri.
Shoss, of University City, used Skype
telephone calls, Facebook, and e-mail to
coordinate animal rescue efforts involving 10
Kinship Circle volunteers and about 30 volunteers
from other organizations in the vicinity of the
stricken Fukushima nuclear reactor complex.

Japanese nuclear reactor failure imperils hooved animals even more than pets

May 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2011:
OSAKA–Difficult as was the plight of dogs and cats in the
no-go zone surrounding the Fukushima nuclear reactor complex, it was
worse for large animals, who are not easily moved, and in most
cases had nowhere to go.
“According to government figures about 3,400 cows, 31,000
pigs and 630,000 chickens were left in the zone, assumed to have died
by now,” reported Animal Refuge Kansai founder Elizabeth Oliver.
“There were around 370 horses in Minami Sohma,” Oliver continued,
“at least 100 of whom died in the disaster. Around 140 horses are
missing.”

Tsunami damage to Pacific atolls seen as harbinger of climate change

May 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2011:
AIR STATION BARBERS POINT, Hawaii –“This is a problem that
we expect to have again, not because we’re expecting another tsunami
but because of changing climate,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
biologist Elizabeth Flint told Audrey McAvoy of Associated Press.
The March 11, 2011 tsunami that devasted northeastern Japan
did relatively little damage to U.S. territory, but “offered a
preview of what could happen to low-lying atolls,” McAvoy explained,
“as global warming lifts sea levels and causes storms to develop more
frequently. Flint said she expects the high water events such as
these to eat away at seabird habitats.”
The 60-year-old albatross Wisdom survived and returned to her
nesting area on Midway Atoll, Hawaiian & Pacific Islands National
Wildlife Refuge Complex project leader Barry Stieglitz reported.

Evacuees risk radiation to save pets

May 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2011:
TOKYO-The Japanese government on April 21, 2011 introduced
penalties of up to 30 days in jail and fines of $1,000 for people
caught infiltrating the 20-kilometer “no-go” zone surrounding the
failing Fukushima nuclear reactors.
The penalties came into effect two weeks after the leading
Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported that “An increasing
number of people from the 20-kilometer evacuation zone are defying
authorities to return temporarily to take care of their pets,” four
weeks after a March 11 earthquake of record magnitude and ensuing
tsunami critically damaged the Fukushima nuclear complex.
“Volunteers from animal protection groups also have been entering the
evacuation zone at pet owners’ request for such purposes as feeding
the pets,” Yomiuri Shimbun added.

How Japanese zoos & aquariums fared

April 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2011:

TOKYO–Fourteen zoos and aquariums were hit by the Thoku Chih
earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster, Japan Association of
Zoos & Aquariums chair Shigeyuki Yamamoto confirmed on March 18,
2011, but for most the earthquake and tsunami were much less
problematic than trying to keep animals alive amid the shortages of
supplies, electricity, and transportation that followed.
“Due to the inability to distribute resources, including
feed, water, electricity, and other basic necessities,” Yamamoto
said, “zoos and aquariums have suffered greatly in their ability to
acquire the proper commodities for the animals. JAZA, in
cooperation with our member institutions, has already been
cooperating in supplying as many resources as possible to those
members affected.”

Animal rescuers respond to the crisis in Japan

April 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2011:

If animals ran for high ground or took cover just before the
Thoku Chih earthquake hit Japan at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011,
accounts of their behavior did not reach ANIMAL PEOPLE. The
catastrophe appears to have taken Japanese animals as much by
surprise as humans, more than 27,000 of whom were dead or missing.
Rating 9.0 on the Richter scale, with an epicenter 20 miles
below the sea off the northeast coast, the most powerful quake in
recorded Japanese history was followed by a tsunami whose 33-foot
wave hurled cars through third-floor windows. Already airborne,
several news agency helicopters videotaped destruction resembling the
rampages of the cinematic monster Godzilla.

Effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster on animals will be bad, but how b ad?

April 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2011:

FUKUSHIMA–Humans were evacuated from
within a 20-kilometre radius of the
earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor
complex soon after the overheated reactors and
spent fuel ponds began leaking radiation. Most
who left homes that escaped destruction from the
ensuing tsunami are believed to have taken their
pets–but wildlife, farm animals, and pets left
amid the rubble of shattered seaside communities
remained exposed.

Tsunami hit sea birds’ nests at Midway Atoll

April 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2011:

MIDWAY–The farthest reported animal impact of the March 11,
2011 Thoku Chih earthquake came at Midway Atoll, more than 2,000
nautical miles from the epicenter. More than three million sea birds
inhabit Midway Atoll, including about 2,220 Laysan albatross–two
thirds of the world population.
While the most devastating tsunami following the earthquake
surged west, hitting Japan, a tsunami racing eastward completely
submerged one of the smaller Midway islands, and covered 60% and
20%, respectively, of the two largest islands.

Earthquake, tsunami, nuclear disaster, & H5N1 avian flu, too

April 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2011:
CHIBA, Japan–Chiba prefecture Governor Kensaku Morita told a
March 13, 2011 press conference that the earthquake and
tsunami-ravaged region is also fighting an outbreak of H5N1 avian
flu–potentially lethal to humans.
Chiba, second among Japanese prefectures in egg production,
lies between Tokyo and the prefectures to the northeast that had the
most displaced people and animals. Living in severely crowded
conditions, with disrupted sanitation, inadequate food, and often
little protection from the elements, many victims–both human and
animal–were already in weakened health due to effects of the tsunami
and, in some cases, perhaps exposure to radiation from the
malfunctioning Fukushima nuclear complex.

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