Canadians may kill most seals since 1951

June 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2002:

OTTAWA–Admitting that Atlantic Canadian sealers had already
killed 295,000 harp seals this spring when the original 2002 quota
was 275,000 and the “total allowable catch” was only 257,000, the
Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans on May 2 raised the quota
to 320,000 and extended the sealing season to May 15.
Then on May 15 the DFO further extended the season, to the end of May.
The “total allowable catch” is the number of seals who can be
killed without causing a population decline. It is likely that the
Atlantic Canada seal population will now crash, as ice failed to
form or melted early in much of the Gulf of St. Lawrence this year,
almost wiping out the whelping season west of Newfoundland.

Dalai Lama hits sport hunting

May 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2002:

DHARAMSALA, India–Making perhaps his strongest statement
yet on behalf of animals, the Dalai Lama on March 29 reminded
Buddhists that sport hunting is contrary to the teachings of the
Buddhist religion.
The Dalai Lama had been asked to address the growth of trophy
hunting in Mongolia by Fund for Animals spiritual outreach director
Norm Phelps, who practices Tibetan Buddhism. Phelps outlined the
recent heavy investment of trophy hunting outfitters in promoting
safaris to kill argali sheep, snow leopards, Bactrian camels and
other species, many of which may not be legally hunted anywhere else.

Bad spring for seals

May 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2002:

ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland–Northeastern Newfoundland sealers
in mid-April 2002 reported their most profitable seal hunt in
decades, while sealers from the west of Newfoundland, the Magdalen
Islands, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Labrador were
all but excluded from the killing.
Ice failed to form over much of the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
and melted early where it did form, drowning thousands of newborn
harp seals whose remains washed ashore in western Newfoundland.

Wildlife Federation holds huge killing contest

April 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2002:

SASKATOON, WASHINGTON D.C.–From April 1, when fools
reputedly follow groundhogs out of winter hiding, until June 23,
the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation is sponsoring reputedly the biggest
wildlife killing contest in Canadian history.
More animals are expected to be massacred in the Ken Turcot
Memorial Gopher Derby than in the Atlantic Canada offshore seal
hunt–which has a quota this year of 275,000 harp seals and 10,000
hooded seals.

The Pope is asked to help save sea turtles

April 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2002:

LOS ANGELES, HONG KONG –The Sea Turtle Conservation Network
of the Californias on March 13, 2002 appealed to Pope John Paul II
to clarify to Roman Catholics that sea turtles are not “fish,” and
should not be poached and eaten at Lent.
Mexican poachers alone kill as many as 5,000 endangered sea
turtles a year during Lent, Wildcoast founder Serge Dedina said at a
Los Angeles press conference, out of an estimated annual toll of
35,000 turtles poached. Seconding Dedina was Homero Aridjis,
founder of the Mexican environmental protection organization Grupo de
100.

African wildlife seeks new ways of survival

April 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2002:

HARARE, KAMPALA, CAPE TOWN, NAIROBI–Competing for prey
and dens with larger and stronger African lions and hyenas, stealthy
leopards, speedy cheetahs, and faster-breeding jackals. African
wild dogs may never have been very numerous.
Now they are critically endangered over much of their range,
and their range is shrinking, between human development and natural
disasters like the January 17, 2002 eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in
the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Japan, Norway defy IWC whaling moratorium

April 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2002:

TOKYO–With just a month left before the International
Whaling Commission is to meet in the Japanese whaling village of
Shimonoseki to decide whether to continue the 1986 global moratorium
on commercial whaling, Norway and Japan are racheting up the
pressure to end it through a series of gestures of defiance.
Many moratorium defenders fear that if Japan and Norway
decide to completely ignore it, the regulatory authority of the IWC
will collapse.

Scots ban hunting with dogs

March 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2002:

EDINBURGH, Scotland–After six-and-a-half hours of debate,
including votes on 107 proposed amendments, the Scottish Parliament
on February 13 gave final approval to the Protection of Wild Mammals
Act, which seeks to ban hunting with dogs, 83-36 with five
abstentions.
“There will not be another [pack] hunting season in
Scotland,” exulted Tricia Marwick, a co-sponsor of the Act. “This
is a momentous day for the Parliament.”
Agreed Les Ward, chair of the Scottish Campaign Against
Hunting With Dogs, “It is a historic day. Scotland has led the way.
It will send a signal to the world that Scotland is a civilised and
modern country.”

Supreme Court of Canada rules for seals

March 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2002:

OTTAWA–The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 9-0 on February 22
that the authority of the federal government “to preserve the
economic viability of not only the seal fishery, but the Canadian
fisheries in general” gives Ottawa the constitutional right to ban
the sale of whitecoated harp seal and bluebacked hooded seal pup
pelts–as has been done since the 1995 resumption of offshore
commercial sealing, to protect the public image of the hunt. The
verdict allows Ottawa to resume prosecuting 101 sealers for allegedly
killing seal pups in 1996. About 25,000 pelts were seized from them.
Funded by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers’ Union, sealer Ford
Ward, of La Scie, Newfoundland, challenged the federal right to
pursue the case.
The current sealing quotas are 275,000 for adult harp seals
and 10,000 for adult hooded seals–but only 91,000 seals were killed
in 2001, as pelt prices collapsed years ago and Viagra cut into
Asian demand for seal penises.

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