Beijing bans selling songbirds

January 1, 2008 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2008:

BEIJING–Trafficking in song thrushes and
six other bird species often kept as caged pets
is now banned throughout China, effective since
January 1, 2008.
Birds already in private possession may
remain with those who have them, but may not be
sold or traded.
The seven prohibited bird species, also
including parakeets, larks, and mynahs, were
reportedly the first additions since 1989 to the
Chinese list of protected wildlife.

Concern spreads about U.S. Navy sonar harm to dolphins

November 1, 2007 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
SAN FRANCISCO, TEHRAN–Ruling on behalf of the Natural
Resources Defense Council, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals on November 13, 2007 allowed the U.S. Navy to
finish a training exercise off the coast of California that was
already underway and was to conclude on November 22, but ordered the
Navy to reduce the harm done to whales by sonar anti-submarine
detection equipment before beginning a new exercise near the Channel
Islands in January 2008.
Eight other planned Navy exercises may also be delayed by the
ruling, reported Bob Egelko of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Three
anti-submarine exercises had already been held,” Egelko wrote,
“when U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered a halt on
August 7, saying the Navy’s protective measures were ‘woefully
ineffectual and inadequate.’ She said the underwater sound waves
would harm nearly 30 species of marine mammals, including five
species of whales. Overruling Cooper on August 31, an appeals court
panel said she had failed to consider the need for military
preparedness.” But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel reversed
the earlier panel.

Queensland is air-gunning 10,000 brumbies

November 1, 2007 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
BRISBANE–The government of Queensland, Australia is already
well advanced in a scheme to massacre wild horses on an unprecedented
scale.
“More than 10,000 brumbies will be slaughtered in Queensland
in a massive cull the State Government has tried to hide,” revealed
Brisbane Courier-Mail reporter Des Houghton on November 9, 2007.
“Documents obtained by the Courier-Mail show fears of a
public outcry led to high-level talks on how to conceal one of
world’s largest animal culls,” wrote Houghton. “Earlier this year,
then-environment minister Lindy Nelson-Carr told former premier Peter
Beattie that the killing ‘has the potential to precipitate vocal
opposition from small special-interest groups with strong inflexible
views.’

BOOKS: Wolves & The Last Wild Wolves

November 1, 2007 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:

The Last Wild Wolves: Ghosts of the Rain Forest by Ian McAllister
University of California Press (2120 Berkeley
Way, Berkeley, CA 94704), 2007. 192 pages,
hardcover. Illustrated, with DVD. $39.95.

Wolves: Behavior, Ecology & Conservation
Edited by L. David Mech & Luigi Boitani
University of Chicago Press (1427 E. 60th St.,
Chicago, IL 60637), 2007. 472 pages,
paperback. Illustrated, with DVD. $30.00.

Appearing about six months after Wolves:
Behavior, Ecology, and Conserv-ation, The
Last Wild Wolves: Ghosts of the Rain Forest
variously supports, reverently cites, and
indirectly disputes key arguments put forward by
the authors of the former. Author Ian McAllister
passionately believes, as a scientist, that the
British Columbia coastal habitat of the two wolf
subspecies he studies should not be logged
because the wolves might not survive the
transformation of their territory.
McAllister is infuriated by the attitudes
of humans who hunt and trap wolves, especially
trophy hunters and those who blame wolves for
depleting “game” after disrupting the habitat for
economic exploitation.

Birds migrating over the Mediterranean face fire from all directions

November 1, 2007 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
ATHENS–Moving to protect migratory birds
from some of the most prolifigate hunters in
Europe, the highest Greek administrative court
on November 9, 2007 banned hunting until
November 21 in several of the regions where
wildlife habitat was most severely damaged by
August 2007 wildfires.
The Council of State, as the court is
called, was expected to rule by November 21 on
whether the hunting ban should remain in place
longer. The Greek hunting season normally runs
from August through February, but even if the
ban is not extended, it was widely acclaimed for
supposedly protecting many of the most fragile
European migratory birds during the peak weeks of
their passage over the Mediterranean, Adriatic,
and Agean seas.
Aliki Panagopoulou, projects coordinator
for ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society
of Greece, was skeptical.

Killing predators barely noticed in U.S

November 1, 2007 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
LOS ANGELES–Killing protected predators makes headlines in
much of the world, but in the U.S. often barely rates a published
mention, perhaps because the offense is frequent and not all that
different from the routine practices of many public agencies.
USDA Wildlife Services, the Alaska Department of Fish &
Game, and many other state wildlife departments routinely target
predators including coyotes, wolves, bears, feral cats, and
cormorants. Some of these species are protected in some habitats but
not others.
Private citizens accused of killing predators, usually as a crime of
opportunity while hunting other species, often win lenient
sentencing by pleading confusion–such as mistaking a wolf for a
coyote, or a grizzly bear for a black bear.

Proposed “norms and standards” for elephant captivity outrage South African activists

November 1, 2007 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:

PRETORIA–Efforts by South African minister for environmental
affairs and tourism Martinus Van Schalkwyk to produce “norms and
standards” governing the capture and use of elephants appear to have
infuriated both animal advocates and the captive elephant industry.
Almost a year into the consultation process, Van Schalkwyk
apparently pleased no one with draft “Norms and Standards” presented
on November 12.
The first conflict was over allowing elephant captures.
“The decision by the department to allow the capture of
elephants from wild herds on private and communal land for training
and use in the safari industry, including elephant- back safaris,
is inexplicable and inexcusable,” alleged Jason Bell-Leask of the
International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Reintroducing red kites despite hunter opposition

November 1, 2007 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
DUBLIN, ULSTER– The Golden Eagle Trust, Welsh Kite Trust,
and Irish National Parks & Wildlife Service in July 2007 released 15
pairs of red kites in the Wicklow mountains, in an attempt to
rebuild the long extinct native kite population–but someone shot one
of the kites just six weeks later, during National Heritage Week.
The shooting followed a series of killings of birds of prey
in County Down, Northern Ireland, including a peregrine falcon who
was hatched in County Antrim in early 2006 and found dead near
Sprucefield in October, and a buzzard who was found poisoned in the
Drumbanagher area, near Newry.
“There was a case of alleged persecution of peregrines in the
Mourne Mountains earlier,” recalled Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds conservation officer Claire Ferry.

Death of largest gopher tortoise ever found draws notice to Florida live burial policy

October 2, 2007 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2007

FORT MYERS, Fla.– Phoenix, the largest gopher tortoise
ever measured, at least 60 years old according to Gopher Tortoise
Conservation Initiative coordinator Sarah Shannon, died on April 28,
2007 in care of Amanda Ebenhack of South Florida Reptile Rescue.
Hit by a backhoe on a Fort Myers construction site, Phoenix
was left for dead and buried circa February 28. “Two weeks later,
he emerged and scared the crap out of all of them,” Ebenhack told
Kevin Lollar of the Fort Myers News-Press. “He was taken to another
rescue center, then to me. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I could
barely lift him. Nobody believed he was a gopher tortoise.”
Noted Craig Pittman of the St. Petersburg Times, “For 16
years, Florida officials have let developers bury tortoises alive
and pave their burrows, in exchange for money to buy land for
tortoises elsewhere. Because of their low metabolic rate, tortoises
can take months to suffocate,” Pittman noted. “By this year, the
pay-to-pave program had issued permits to bury more than 94,000
tortoises. Now the species is in sharp decline. Tortoise experts
blame the permitting program. State wildlife officials have decided
to end the program by July 31, prompting a rush by developers to
beat the deadline,” Pittman added. “The permits have no expiration
date, so developers can use them at any time in the future. ”

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