Immunocontraception comes of age

January 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2003:

BILLINGS, RENO, WHITEHORSE–Immunocontraceptives for dogs,
cats, and deer are still not quite here yet, but widespread
applications and planned deployments involving bears, elephants,
wolves, and wild horses indicate that immunocontraception of
wildlife may at last be close to losing the qualifying adjective
“experimental”– at least in the species that are easiest to inject
and keep track of.
New Jersey Department of Environ-mental Protection
commissioner Bradley Campbell announced in November 2002 that his
agency hopes to test immunocontraceptives to control bears this
spring. The New Jersey bear population has increased from an
estimated 100 in 1970, when the state last opened a bear hunting
season, to as many as 2,500 according to much disputed official
figures. An attempt to resume bear hunting in 2000 was quashed by
adverse public opinion.

BOOKS: The Parrot’s Lament

November 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002:

The Parrot’s Lament
and Other True Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity
by Eugene Linden
Dutton (375 Hudson St., N.Y.,, NY 10014), 1999. 224 pages,
paperback; $12.95.

The Parrot’s Lament and Other True Tales of Animal Intrigue,
Intelligence, and Ingenuity may sound noncontroversial, but as
author Eugene Linden points out, the issue of animal consciousness
is “contentious,” meaning it cannot be argued without reference to
ideology.

BOOKS: Minding Animals

November 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002:

Minding Animals: Awareness,
Emotions, and Heart by Marc Bekoff
Oxford University Press (198 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016),
2002. 230 pages, hardcover. $27.50.

More than 30 years ago Marc Bekoff was the first researcher
to study coyotes in the wild for reasons other than to find more
efficient ways to kill them. His reports about coyote play were
instrumental in reversing the once wholly negative public image of
coyotes. Informed about the care that coyotes take to play fair with
each other, few people other than sheep ranchers could continue to
see them as mere killing machines.

BOOKS: The Octopus & the Orangutan

November 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002:

The Octopus and the Orangutan:
More True Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity
by Eugene Linden
Dutton (Dutton (375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014), NY 2002. 256
pages, hardcover. $23.95.

The Octopus and the Orangutan: More True Tales of Animal
Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity is, as the name implies, a
sequel to The Parrot’s Lament. The title also reflects Linden’s
continuum of animals demonstrating intelligence: from the lowly
octopus, a mollusk, to the animal Linden thinks is closest to
thinking like a human, the orangutan. Some stories from The
Parrot’s Lament are repeated, a few with additional details. Many
of the new stories seem more compelling and unique than those in the
first book. The next-to-last chapter makes the same points as the
final chapter of The Parrot’s Lament, with additional insights about
our typical focus on obtaining short-term benefits through the use of
our intelligence, and the resulting long-term repercussions for our
species’ continued existence.

Editorial: To save endangered species, don’t kill them

November 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002:

“About 19% of native animal species and 15% of native plant
species in the U.S. are ‘imperiled’ or ‘critically imperiled,’ and
another 1% of plants and 3% of animals may already be extinct–that
is, they have not been located despite intensive searches,”
declared the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the
Environment on September 24, in a purported landmark report formally
titled The State of the Nation’s Ecosystems.
“When ‘vulnerable’ species are counted, about one third of
plant and animal species are considered to be ‘at risk,'” the report
continued.
Most U.S. newspapers gave The State of the Nation’s
Ecosystems just one paragraph.

BOOKS: The Cosmic Serpent

October 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2002:

The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge by Jeremy Narby
Translated from the original French by the author, with assistance
from Jon Christensen
Tarcher/Putnam (c/o Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson St., New York,
NY 10014), 1998. 257 pages, hardcover. $22.95.

The Cosmic Serpent is not a quick, easy read. It is
thought-provoking, and bound to bring to light surprising facts for
readers, no matter what their area of expertise. That does not mean
that the facts will convince most readers to agree with all the
conclusions painstakingly drawn by anthropologist Jeremy Narby. Any
book which begins as this one does, with a description of the
author’s hallucinogenic trip under the guidance of a shaman, is
bound to stir some controversy.

Women’s Health Initiative warning on estrogen therapy may help horses

September 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

ATLANTA, WASHINGTON D.C., WINNIPEG–The beginning of the
end of keeping pregnant mares standing from October to March of each
year on urine production lines, and auctioning their foals to
slaughter, may have come with a July 9 scientific warning that, on
balance, estrogen supplements made from pregnant mare’s urine do
menopausal women more harm than good.
The Women’s Health Initiative, an unprecedentedly large
scientific investigation of the effects of taking hormonal
supplements, monitored the health of 16,000 women for nine years,
beginning in 1993.

Look at what sea otters & dogs eat

September 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

SAN FRANCISCO, LONDON– Cats were accused of spreading
toxoplasmosis to California sea otters and dogs were accused of
spreading campylobacter bacteria throughout Britain in new studies
released in early July 2002–but while the allegations were quickly
amplified by mainstream news media and picked up by anti-feral cat
and anti-street dog activists, the research behind each study
overlooked key dietary factors in the transmission of the diseases.
Marine biologist Melissa Miller and colleagues with the
Wildlife Health Center at the Davis campus of the University of
California claimed in the July edition of the International Journal
for Parasitology to have traced an ongoing seven-year decline in the
population of endangered California sea otters to the fecal parasite
Toxoplasma gondi. They found the microscopic parasite in 66 of the
107 sea otter carcasses they examined.

Veggies and soy cut breast cancer risk–new studies

September 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

LONDON, NEW YORK–Frequent consumption of soya milk and
tofu, the curded form of tofu favored in cooking, may reduce the
risk of breast cancer, the British charity Cancer Research U.K.
announced on July 6, 2002, citing findings from a study of 406
women living in Singapore.
Working in partnership with the U.S. National Cancer
Institute and the National University of Singapore, Cancer Research
U.K. scientists found that the women who ate the most tofu were 60%
less likely to develop the forms of high-density breast tissue most
associated with developing breast cancer. The findings were reported
the the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and
Prevention.
Often used in place of cow’s milk and meat products, soya
milk and tofu are staples of vegan and vegetarian diets in the U.S.
and Britain.
The study was the second in recent months to link
vegetarianism with reduced risk of breast cancer.
The International Journal of Cancer in May 2002 published a
study of 717 South Asian women who had emigrated to Britain, 240 of
whom subsequently developed breast cancer while 477 did not.
Isabel dos Santos Silva, M.D., and colleagues at the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that “lifelong
vegetarianism may be associated with a reduction in the risk of
breast cancer through its association with a higher intake of
vegetables and (legumes).”

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