AGRICULTURE

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

World meat production is up from
177.2 million tons in 1990 to 184.2 tons in
1993, says the Intergovernmental Group on
Meat, an industry task force. Cattle produc-
tion slid from 54.3 million tons to 52.8, but
pork is up from 69.7 million tons to 73.8, and
poultry is up from 39.9 million tons to 44.2.
Total production in developed nations fell
from 104.2 million tons to 100.6, due mostly
to declines in the former USSR, but produc-
tion in developing nations jumped from 73
million tons to 83.6 million––an expenditure
of soil and water resources many of them can-
not afford to make.

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Marine mammals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

U.S. president Bill Clinton told
Congress on October 4 that while the
Norwegian resumption of commercial whaling
in defiance of the International Whaling
Commission warrants trade sanctions, he
believes they should not be imposed “until we
have exhausted all good faith efforts to per-
suade Norway to follow agreed conservation
measures.” Clinton did, however, direct his
staff to inventory products imported from
Norway that might be placed under embargo.
Pending federal action, the Animal Welfare
Institute on September 28 called a boycott of
Norwegian fish, cheese, clothing, and sonar
equipment. Alaska governor Walter Hickel
meanwhile announced that he’s reached a deal
with Norway: Alaska won’t criticize
Norwegian whaling if Norway won’t join an
international tourist boycott called to protest
the impending Alaskan wolf massacre (see
“Wildlife,” page 12). Iceland confirmed
October 15 that it also intends to resume com-
mercial whaling soon, likewise defying possi-
ble sanctions.

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Birds

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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Wildlife: wolves and elephants and turtles and bison and bats and bears––oh my!

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

The North American Free Trade
Agreement could harm endangered species
and wildlife sanctuaries along the
U.S./Mexican border, a U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service impact analysis says. “There
are serious habitat problems and endangered
species problems on the border now, and we
expect that NAFTA may in fact exacerbate
some of them,” USFWS international affairs
specialist Doug Ryan told the Los Angeles
Times on September 27. The USFWS report
confirms the view of the majority of national
animal and habitat protection groups; see
“Animal and habitat protection groups split”
on page 6 of the October issue of ANIMAL
PEOPLE.

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Marine mammals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

The Dolphin Alliance, of
Melbourne Beach, Florida, announced
September 22 that Bogie and Bacall, the
Ocean Reef Club dolphins, will be going
home to the Indian River Lagoon as soon
as they complete rehabilitation with former
“Flipper” trainer Ric O’Barry, who heads
the closely allied Dolphin Project.
Publicity surrounding the 1988 capture of
Bogie and Bacall influenced the National
Marine Fisheries Service to ban further dol-
phin captures for the benefit of facilities
not open to the public. When the Ocean
Reef Club was sold recently, it lost the
grandfather clause enabling it to keep
Bogie and Bacall.

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ANIMAL HEALTH

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

IN THE VETERINARY CLINIC
Despite concerns about bites and animal-transmitted
disease, veterinary staff are as often hurt on the job by ordi-
nary slips, trips, falls, and lifting injuries, according to sta-
tistics supplied to ANIMAL PEOPLE by the American
Veterinary Medical Association Professional Liability Insurance
Trust. From 1988 through 1992, dog bites accounted for 16.3%
of claims, cat bites for 13.8%, kicks by horses and cattle for
5.2%, and all other injuries done by animals combined amounted
to just 4.1%––but slips, trips, and falls came to 17.2%, while
lifting totaled 16.2%. Three-fourths of the lifting injuries
involved lifting “small” animals, whose weight and ability to
struggle were probably underestimated by the injured. Average
costs per claim were $2,808 for animal-related lifting injuries;
$6,253 for other lifting injuries; $6,212 for slips, trips, and falls;
$4,174 for horse and cow-kicks; $1,527 for dog bites; and $678
for cat bites. Job safety statistics have apparently never been
compiled for animal control officers and shelter workers, but
similar ratios may apply.

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Animal and habitat protection groups split on North American Free Trade Agreement

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

NO IMPACT STATEMENT REQUIRED
WASHINGTON D.C.––The U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled September 24
that the Clinton administration doesn’t have to produce an
environmental impact statement on the North American
Free Trade Agreement before it takes effect. The ruling
reversed a lower court ruling that would have required sev-
eral years of study before the pact could be submitted to
Congress for ratification.
Public Citizen, one of three plaintiffs in the bid to
delay or stop NAFTA, pledged to appeal to the Supreme
Court within a matter of weeks.
“This decision has cheated the American public
out of the right to know,” said Friends of the Earth director
Jane Perkins.

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Marine Mammals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

The hit film Free Willy gave new
impetus to the ongoing campaign to persuade
Sea World in San Diego to return an orca named
Corky to her native habitat off British Columbia.
Her mother and several siblings remain with the
pod from which she was captured 24 years ago.
Sea World contends Corky could no longer sur-
vive in the wild. Free Willy has also started a
campaign on behalf of Keiko, the star of the
film, who resides at the El Nuevo Reino
Aventura amusement park in Mexico City. Free
Willy producers Lauren Shuler-Donner and
Richard Donner are reportedly ready to buy
Keiko and move him to a better facility, perhaps
even a fenced inlet off Cape Cod, using
$200,000 contributed by Warner Brothers, the
film’s distributor. Captured off Iceland in 1982,
and kept at Marineland in Niagara Falls before
being sold to his present keepers, Keiko hasn’t
drawn interest from major aquariums because of
a purportedly debilitating skin condition.

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Agriculture

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on August 9
announced plans to hike grazing fees on 280 million acres
of public lands, from the present $1.86 per animal unit per
day to $4.28––still below market value, and half the $8.70
fee the House passed in July 1991, later killed by the
Senate. An earlier attempt by Babbitt to up grazing fees
was delayed by President Clinton until his budget cleared
Congress.
The European Commission on July 13 proposed
that horses in transport should be watered and fed every six
hours; calves under four weeks old, every eight hours; and
adult cattle every 16 hours. Horses and pigs would get 10
hours of rest after traveling 12 hours. If adopted, the new
rules will protect all animals traveling between member
nations.

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