European seal pelt import ban will hit fur trade already in decline

May 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
STRASBOURG–The European Parliament is likely to approve a
ban on the import of seal pelts at a May 5, 2009 plenary session,
but is expected to allow Canada and Norway to continue exporting seal
pelts through the European Union member nations to reach markets in
China and Russia.
The ban will also exempt seal products made “for cultural,
educational or ceremonial purposes” by the Inuit people of northern
Canada.
Information leaked to ANIMAL PEOPLE at deadline indicates
that the draft ban approved on March 2, 2009 by the European
Parliament’s internal market and consumer protection committee was
amended before presentation to the plenary session to mitigate
concerns that Canada and Norway will appeal the legislation to the
World Trade Organization.

Hunted turtles need more than a shell

May 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
LITTLE ROCK, TALLAHASSEE–The Florida Fish & Wildlife
Conserv-ation Commission on April 15, 2009 unanimously voted to ban
capturing or killing freshwater turtles. The proposal–if ratified
in June 2009–would bring into effect the strongest restriction on
turtle hunting in the U.S.
But the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission on March 29, 2009
rejected a proposal to stop “commercial harvest, sales and export”
of turtles.
Commission director Scott Hender-son acknowledged that, “We
have seen a lot of pressure on turtles in the last three years.”
The most recent available data indicates that Arkansas turtle
hunters are exporting about 200,000 turtles per year. However,
Henderson told the Conway Log Cabin Democrat, “Our staff
recommendation is that it is not an emergency and should be included
in our regular fishing regulations process.”

Uncertain times for hunter/conservationists

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
Commerce Department inspector general Todd Zinser in early
March 2009 sent an administrative subpoena to the National Wildlife
Federation, demanding documents that would identify whoever leaked
information to the NWF about the plans of the George W. Bush
administration to weaken the Endangered Species Act with
administrative rules changes introduced just before leaving office.
The leak helped the NWF and other Endangered Species Act defenders to
ensure that reversing the rules changes is a high priority for the
Barack Obama administration. Zinser, appointed by Bush in November
2007, issued the unusual subpoena at request of Senator James Inhofe
of Oklahoma, the senior Republican on the U.S. Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works. The leaked documents “were not marked
sensitive, secret or otherwise confidential or classified,”
reported Associated Press writer Pete Yost.

Alaska suspends shooting wolves from the air

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
FAIRBANKS– The Alaska Department of Fish
& Game on March 19, 2009 suspended shooting
wolves from a helicopter, after killing 84
wolves in five days to try to increase the
numbers of caribou and moose accessible to human
hunters in the Fortymile region.
Currently numbering about 40,000, the
Fortymile caribou herd reputedly stretched from
Fairbanks to White-horse, and included about
568,000 caribou in 1920, when first surveyed.
Subsequent counts have never found more then
46,000, and the 1975 count fell below 4,000,
but the Department of Fish & Game continues to
try to increase the herd to 60,000.

Teaching young people to kill

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
BISMARCK–The North Dakota Senate on March 19, 2008 voted
47-0 for a bill to allow “apprentice hunters” aged at least 16 to
hunt without taking a safety course first, if accompanied by a
hunter at least 18 years old who has taken the state safety course.
The move to ease the rules for youth hunters followed a
national legislative trend promoted by wildlife agencies and the gun
lobby, in hopes of rekindling youth interest in hunting. Hunting
license sales have fallen steadily throughout the U.S. for nearly 30
years, with the steepest decline among teens.

Is diplomacy making gains against Japanese whaling?

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
ROME–Some International Whaling Commission insiders believe
the IWC is close to brokering a deal that would allow the Japanese
government to end so-called “research whaling” without losing
political credibility.
Others believe Japanese actions against whaling opponents
show that the Japanese government believes it has the upper hand and
can force the IWC to reopen commercial whaling, after a 23-year
suspension.
After initially refusing to honor the 1986 commercial whaling
moratorium, Japan in 1988 accepted the moratorium but began killing
whales in the name of “scientific research,” continuing to sell
whale meat. The 2009 self-allocated Japanese “research” quota
includes 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales.

Pilot charged with killing hunt follower

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
COVENTRY–Heating technician, hunting opponent, and
gyrocopter pilot Bryan Griffiths, 54, of Bedworth, Warwickshire,
has been held by police since March 9, 2009 on a charge of murdering
hunt follower Trevor Morse, 48, of Alderminster, Warwickshire.
“Morse died of head injuries after he was struck by the
gyrocopter’s propeller at Long Marston airfield, near
Stratford-upon-Avon,” reported the London Times. “Magistrates in
Nuneaton, Warwickshire, were told that a witness videotaped the
incident, and the moments before it. The court was told that
Griffiths was a member of an anti-hunt animal rights campaign and
worked as a volunteer hunt monitor, liaising closely with police.
Warwickshire Police said that a second man arrested on suspicion of
murder was released on police bail pending further inquiries.”
“A gyrocopter had been following us for a couple of weeks and
we had made a formal complaint to the Civil Aviation Authority 10
days ago,” Warwickshire Hunt joint master Sam Butler told BBC News.
Summarized Lucy Bannerman and Valerie Elliott of the London
Times, “It is believed that Morse went with a friend to the airfield
to try to discover who piloted the gyrocopter. He and a woman were
believed to have approached the aircraft as it was refuelling.”

Russia halts seal hunt

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
MOSCOW, OTTAWA–Russian minister of natural resources Yury
Trutnyev on March 11, 2009 told the world that Russia has halted
hunting seals under one year old on the frozen White Sea.
“This bloody hunting is from now on banned in our country,
as in most developed countries,” Trutnyev told media.
Trutnyev described the ban as “an important measure to
preserve Russian biodiversity.” The recent White Sea quota of about
35,000 seals per year was about a tenth the size of recent Atlantic
Canadian sealing quotas, but amounted to a third of the White Sea
seal population. The White Sea seal herd has reportedly declined by
95% since it was first surveyed in 1928. However, the first herd
estimate, produced in the early years of the Communist era to assess
the potential for economic expolitation, may have been grossly
exaggerated.

Wolves will be hunted

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
WASHINGTON, D.C.–Gray wolves may soon be legally hunted in
several of the Lower 48 states of the U.S., for the first time in
more than 80 years–but whether that means more wolves will be killed
than the 300-plus dispatched by USDA Wildlife Services in 2008 for
menacing livestock is anyone’s guess.
Among the restored populations of Idaho, Montana, and
Wyoming, together including about 1,650 wolves, Wildlife Services
in 2008 killed 264 wolves, more than one wolf in six, exterminating
21 entire packs as well as alleged rogue individuals.
Wildlife Services, other agencies, and farmers protecting
livestock also killed 45 wolves in Wisconsin, plus some in Michigan
and Minnesota.
Ranchers, blaming wolves for the confirmed loss of 601
cattle, sheep, llamas, and guard dogs in 2008, and sport hunters
who allege that wolves have reduced the numbers of elk and deer,
would like to kill even more wolves. Some elected officials in the
northern Rockies would openly prefer to hunt wolves back to regional
extirpation.

« 1 … 10 11 12 13 14 … 75 »