Birds

October 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1994:

A study of more than 1,200

cormorant regurgitations conducted

by the National Biological Survey and

the New York Department of

Environmental Conservation has con-

cluded that lake trout and salmon make

up only 0.5% of the birds’ diet.

Further, cormorants eat only 5% of the

volume of smaller fish that the trout

and salmon eat. Thus the estimated

12,000 cormorants now living along

the eastern shore of Lake Ontario are

no threat to the sport fishing industry,

contrary to the claims of hunting and

fishing groups, which have been call-

ing for cormorant control––often in the

form of an open season on cormorants,

generally considered inedible.

ANIMAL HEALTH

October 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1994:

The European Union has granted Zimbabwe $3.4 million to fight hoof-and-

mouth disease––on condition that farmers be charged for veterinary care now given free.

Anthrax, the worst drought on record, and bovine tuberculosis transmitted by

dairy cattle have together cut the Cape Buffalo population of Kruger National Park in South

Africa from 30,000 to 14,000 in just two years.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is probing a cluster of genetic defects in rap-

tors, blackbirds, and robins from the Rogue Valley region of Oregon, reported by Dave

Siddon of the Wildlife Images rehabilitation center. Similar defects found in birds around the

Great Lakes have been traced to organochlorines, a chemical family which includes dioxin,

PCBs, and the pesticide DDT, which devastated raptors until a U.S. ban took effect in 1973.

Wildlife research

October 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1994:

A 10-year study by Beijing

University researcher Pan Wenski has dis-

covered that giant pandas in the wild are not

the solitary foragers they have long been

believed to be, but rather form social com-

munities of up to 28 animals. Both males

and females tend to have multiple sexual

liaisons, Pan Wenski reported, adding that

the wild panda population is slowly increas-

ing now after decades of decline.

Genetic research by University

of California at Davis biologist Phillip

Morin suggests that one western African

chimpanzee subspecies––the only tool-using

chimp in the wild––appears to have been

genetically isolated for 1.5 million years,

and therefore might qualify as an altogether

different but related species. Captive

chimps from this group have readily

hybridized with others.

Gorillas are still in the mist

October 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1994:

KARISTOKE, Rwanda– – Only

two of the 60 gorillas who had been kept

under daily observation at the Karistoke

research center in Rwanda were unaccounted

for, anthropologist Dieter Steklis and team

found upon returning to the site made famous

by the late Dian Fossey in late August––after a

false start on August 25 when about 50 Hutus

attacked the first group of trackers to return,

also Hutus, and chased them back to Zaire.

Of the missing gorillas, a six-year-

old male was presumed dead; an adult female

apparently joined another group, also of about

60, in a nearby area. Steklis said that group

hadn’t yet been couunted, but seemed to be

well. The two gorilla bands account for about

20% of all the mountain gorillas left in the

wild. The Karistoke research staff fled the

Rwandan fighting in April, the anti-poaching

staff left in June, and about 30 Tourism and

National Parks wardens followed in early July.

MARINE LIFE

October 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1994:

Earth Island Institute and

Public Citizen on September 14 sued

the Commerce Department, alleging

non-enforcement of the requirement

that Gulf of Mexico shrimpers use tur-

tle excluders to keep endangered sea

turtles from getting caught in their

nets. The Commerce Dept. says the

excluders cut shrimp catches by 5%;

the Texas Shrimp Association says it’s

more like 20%. Irate shrimpers are

blamed for killing more than 270 tur-

tles whose mutilated remains have

been found since March. The National

Marine Fisheries Service has posted a

$10,000 reward for information bring-

ing the arrest of the culprits.

Animals in laboratories

September 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1994:

The American Medical Association has honored Louisiana State

University researchers Michael Carey and Betty Jean Oseid (his wife) for their

“defiant and unflinching stand against animal rights extremists.” Carey spent $2.1

million shooting more than 700 cats in the head until a General Accounting Office

probe found the work dubious, influencing the U.S. Army to halt funding in

1989. A stint as a combat surgeon in the Persian Gulf War revamped his image,

Mike Wallace of CBS 60 Minutes whitewashed the cat-shooting, blaming animal

rights activists rather than the GAO for

the Army decision, and Carey has

been on the stump seeking renewed

funding ever since.

ANIMAL HEALTH

September 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1994:

No face-branding halt yet despite what mass media reported

July 7 media reports that the USDA would no longer require face-branding of steers import-

ed from Mexico were incorrect. Such an announcement was expected, but was apparently delayed by

the White House to get input on the rules change from the National Cattlemen’s Association. The

USDA did amend the import rules for Mexican heifers, who now must be given a local anesthetic

prior to spaying, and are rump-branded. The steers are branded to help inspectors backtrack cattle car-

rying bovine tuberculosis; the heifers are spayed to prevent the transmission of brucellosis.

Cold winter holds down roadkills: Peaks coincide with moon phases

September 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1994:

DERRY, New Hampshire––The good

news is that roadkills will apparently claim 23%

fewer animal lives in 1994 than 1993. The bad news

is that the reason is probably not safer driving, but

rather the harsh winter of 1993-1994, which thinned

the numbers of many of the most vulnerable species.

Refinements of the survey method may

also account for some of the drop, from an estimated

total of 187 million animals killed in 1993 to just 137

million this year. The 1993 statistics were derived

exclusively from Dr. Splatt’s Roadkill Project, a

learning exercise then including students at 31 New

England middle schools, coordinated by Dr.

Brewster Bartlett of Pinkerton Academy, in Derry,

New Hampshire.

MARINE LIFE

September 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1994:

Canada is secretly among the

nations trying to overturn the U.S. ban on

imports of tuna netted “on dolphin” as a

violation of the General Agreement on Trade

and Tariffs, according to a Canadian govern-

ment document disclosed by Michael

O’Sullivan of the Humane Society of Canada.

Canada has only a small tuna fleet, but seeks a

precedent toward overturning the pending

European Community ban on imports of fur

caught with leghold traps. Intended to take

effect in January, that ban has reportedly been

put off for another year, and is already subject

of a protest to the GATT tribunal by the U.S.-

based National Trappers Association.

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