Zoos & Aquariums

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

The proposed marine mammal

exhibit at Colorado’s Ocean Journey, a

theme park planned for Denver, took a blow

January 20 when Animal Rights Mobiliz-

ation revealed that two veterinarians

involved in the project have records of vio-

lating marine mammal care standards. Dr.

Gregory Bossart was the veterinarian of

record at Ocean World in Fort Lauderdale,

Florida, 1987-1991, when it was cited

repeatedly for dolphin care violations, while

Dr. Jay Sweeney was barred from practicing

in Florida for his part in the illegal capture

of two dolphins for the Baltimore Aquarium.

Marine Mammals

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

“EAT WHALES,” SAYS JAPAN

TOKYO, Japan –– The Japan Fisheries Agency and

25 Japanese fishing organizations on January 29 launched an

aggressive media campaign urging Japanese citizens to eat more

whale meat. The goal is to generate pressure on the International

Whaling Commission to rescind the six-year-old global ban on

whaling at its annual meeting in May, to be held in Kyoto.

The blitz includes radio and television spots touting

whale meat as a cure for asthma and acne, and distribution of

100,000 comic books depicting the history of the Japanese whal-

ing industry. The history is likely to be inaccurate: contrary to

the industry claim that whaling is part of Japanese cultural tradi-

tion, historian Fujiwara Eiji documented in 1989 that Japanese

commercial whaling actually began in 1909, when a man named

Oka Juro brought the concept and techniques from Norway. His

activity was so detested by traditional fishers that some of them

burned his facilities in 1911.

Zoos & Aquariums

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The American Association of

Zoological Parks and Aquariums

announced November 6 that it would rein-

state the accreditation of the Columbus Zoo

in Columbus, Ohio, effective January 1.

The zoo and former director Jack Hanna

were suspended in April for violating the

AAZPA code of ethics by importing two

pandas from China for an exhibit that closed

in September after attracting 925,000 of the

zoo’s 1.5 million visitors. AAZPA con-

tends––along with most other wildlife pro-

tection advocates––that China’s panda

rentals are not in the best interest of either

the species or the individual animals. A

week after the AAZPA announcement, the

Columbus Zoo executive committee named

Hanna “director emeritus” and replaced him

with longtime general manager Gerald

Borin.

Wildlife

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The World Wildlife Fund and

the National Wildlife Federation on

November 13 asked Interior Secretary

Manuel Lujan to impose trade sanctions on

China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Yemen

for permitting traffic in rhinocerous horns.

The wild black rhino population has plunged

from 65,000 to 2,000 since 1970.

The California condor who was

found dead October 8 suffered kidney fail-

ure from drinking antifreeze, the U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service has determined. The

condor was one of the first two to be

released into the wild after an intensive cap-

tive breeding program. Sixty-two California

condors remain in captivity, six of whom

are scheduled for release this month.

Throwing wolves and sharks to the tourists: ALASKA AND HAWAII PLAN PREDATOR MASSACRES

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

JUNEAU, ALASKA––Hoping

to hype tourism, the Alaska Board of

Game on November 17 announced plans

to kill up to 80% of the 700 wolves who

inhabit the 43,000-square-mile region

between Anchorage and Fairbanks. The

same day, for essentially the same rea-

son, the Hawaii Shark Task Force

nnounced it would begin killing tiger

sharks on sight.

The Alaskan massacre is to

commence as early as January, while

shark-killing off the coast of Hawaii may

already be underway. In each case, state

officials called the killing necessary to

boost the tourist industry, but in each

case and especially vis-a-vis Alaska, the

immediate result was a wildcat (sponta-

neous) boycott by potential visitors,

which within 10 days seemed likely to

become an international campaign by

animal protection and environmental

groups.

CHILDREN & ANIMALS

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Israel on September 10

banned six British women from giving

birth in the Red Sea at a dolphin sanctu-

ary, under supervision of obstetrician

Gowri Motha. Motha told reporters she

wanted to see whether the dolphins

could communicate with the fetuses

through ultrasonic waves. “We hope to

make these children more in tune with

nature,” she said. Israeli authorities

believed the experiment might jeopar-

dize the survival of the newborns.

Pressure from Shedd aquarium squelches expose

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

CHICAGO, Illinois––The sched-

uled October 10 debut of Modern Animal

News TV on WGBO-TV Channel 66 was

twice postponed and then cancelled by station

management under pressure from the Shedd

Aquarium. The program was to focus on the

capture of two beluga whales in northern

Manitoba, Canada, last August, and their

subsequent death at the Shedd on September

25, apparently from overdoses of worm med-

icine.

Hunting––

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

The Michigan Public Broadcast-

ing System on September 24 aired the final

episode of Michigan Outdoors, a weekly

hook-and-bullet show that had an audience

of 200,000. The show died after host Fred

Trost said in a product review that Buck Stop

Lure Co. used cow urine in a deer scent, lost

a $4 million defamation suit the firm filed

against him, and declared bankruptcy. Trost

was also forced to suspend a magazine he

published, Michigan Outdoor Digest, circu-

lation 40,000. The latter had also been in

trouble, having been sued for copyright

infringement at one point by the Michigan

United Conservation Clubs, whose in-house

magazine is called Michigan Out-of-Doors.

Buck Stop said Trost’s attack on its product

caused sales to drop 65%. Trost, mean-

while, pledged to regroup, find backers,

and get back on the air.

Zoos & Aquariums

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

Two of the four beluga whales caught in

August for the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago died

September 22, apparently as result of overdoses of

roundworm medication. The capture of the whales was

fought every step of the way by marine mammal protec-

tion groups, including Lifeforce and the International

Wildlife Coalition.

The National Zoo in Washington D.C. is test-

ing a deer contraceptive this fall on 30 does. “We’re try-

ing to develop a technology for the humane population

control of deer where hunting is not wise, legal, or

safe,” said Montana wildlife fertility researcher Jay

Kirkpatrick, who developed the contraceptive.

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