1st chimp at Tacugama kills man, leads escape

May 1, 2006 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2006:

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone– Bruno, 20, the orphaned
chimpanzee for whom Bala Amarasekaran founded the Tacugama Chimpanzee
Sanctuary in 1995, led 31 other chimps in an April 23 mass breakout,
killing tourist driver Issa Kanu.
The three American passengers, in Sierra Leone to help build
a new U.S. embassy about two miles from Tacugama, were reportedly
flown to Atlanta for treatment of undisclosed injuries.
Reuters identified them as Gary Morris, Paul Gregory, and
Donald Ford. Agence France-Press said they were Alan Robertson,
Gary Brown, and Richie Goodie.
“The men are recovering gradually from shock and their wounds
are no longer life-threatening,” a nurse told AFP.

Odds are risky for whales at IWC

May 1, 2006 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2006:

ST. KITTS–The outcome of the 58th annual meeting of the
International Whaling Commission, upcoming at the St. Kitts & Nevis
Marriot Resort and Royal Beach Casino, looks like an even bet.
“This year the pro-whaling nations look likely to achieve
their first majority,” assess environment correspondents David
McNeill and Michael McCarthy of The Independent–but that was just
before Israel joined the IWC, possibly tipping the balance against
whaling
“Over the past six years, at least 14 nations have been
recruited to the IWC as Japan’s supporters,” McNeill and McCarthy
note. “Most of them have no whaling tradition. Some, such as
Mongolia and Mali, do not even have a coastline.

17-year-old’s death changes lawmakers’ view of exotic cats in private hands

May 1, 2006 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2006:

TOPEKA–Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius on April 17 signed
into law a bill requiring Kansans who keep big cats, bears, and
non-native venomous snakes to hold a U.S. Department of Agriculture
exhibitors’ license plus $250,000 worth of liability insurance.
To take effect on October 1, 2006, the bill sailed through
the Kansas senate unanimously, and cleared the state house 101-24.
Just eight months earlier the new Kansas law might never have
escaped a legislative subcommittee. Press coverage of a much weaker
regulatory effort was not sympathetic.
“Exotic cats keep Kansas couple purring, but regulations
could take pets away,” headlined the Kansas City Star on August 6,
2005, above a feature by Leann Sulzen of Associated Press about hog
farmers Rod and Rita Rose, of Salina, Kansas.

BOOKS: National Geographic Complete Birds of North America

April 2, 2006 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

National Geographic Complete Birds of North America
Companion to the Natl. Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America
664 pages, hardcover, illustrated. $35.00.

National Geographic Field Guide to Birds –Washington & Oregon
271 pages, paperback, illustrated. $14.95.

Both edited by Jonathan Alderfer
National Geographic Society * 1145 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036

National Geographic Complete Birds of North America “is too
large to be a field guide,” opens editor Jonathan Alderfer, “so
what is it? We envision it residing on bookshelves and car seats,
ready to be consulted when a field guide doesn’t provide enough
information.”
As if to ensure that Complete Birds will be used, Alderfer
also edits regional field guides, exemplified by the National
Geographic Field Guide to Birds, Washington & Oregon edition, which
sure enough probably do not contain enough information to satisfy
most serious observers.

United Nations Environment Program warns about ecological consequences of H5N1

April 2, 2006 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

GENEVA–The United Nations Environment Program warned on
March 22, 2006 that, “Culling poultry [to control avian flu H5N1],
especially in developing nations where chicken is a key source of
protein, may put new and unacceptable pressure on a wide range of
creatures,” who may be hunted as alternate protein, “from wild pigs
to endangered great apes.”
UNEP also warned against culling wild birds and draining
wetlands to discourage congregations of waterfowl, who appear to be
victims of H5N1 more than carriers.
Now afflicting 45 nations, H5N1 has been found in 87 bird
species, including many of the most common and broadly ranging–and
carrion-eaters such as kites, crows, and buzzards, known to have
strong resistance to most pathogens.

Tasmanians bedevil muttonbirds

April 2, 2006 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

The Atlantic Canada seal hunt started on the same day in 2006
as the annual muttonbird hunt in Tasmania, a similar event, with a
2006 quota of 300,000, not counting the toll taken by indigenous
Tasmanians.
“It’s horrific,” Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania
spokesperson Suzanne Cass told Tim Jeanes of the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation. “The chick is hauled out of the burrow
either by hand or with a sharp hook. The bird’s neck is broken. It
could take any length of time, with people swinging them around
their heads and throwing them. These birds travel 30,000 kilometres
round-trip each year, and there are 209 breeding colonies around
Tasmania and the islands,” Cass added. “Often they’re not killed
for eating–just recreation.”
Responded Tasmanian West Coast Mayor Darryl Gerrity, “We
don’t have a lot of things to do on the west coast, so we look
forward to the muttonbirds season.”

CVS drops glue traps

April 2, 2006 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

WOONSOCKET, R.I.–The 5,400-store CVS drug chain on March 1
ceased stocking glue traps for small rodents, spokesperson Mike
DeAngelis confirmed to Providence Journal staff writer Paul Grimaldi.
PETA spokesperson Stephanie Boyles told Grimaldi that PETA
first asked CVS to stop selling glue traps in August 2005. The
Humane Society of the U.S. asked chain stores to stop selling glue
traps in 1985-1990, but whether any complied is unclear.
“We are currently trying to persuade E-Bay to stop selling
glue traps and leghold traps. Perhaps this latest major development
will encourage them to do the right thing,” said Philip Kiernan of
Irish Council Against Blood Sports.”

A planned chimpanzee rescue is thwarted in Lebanon

April 2, 2006 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

While trying to expose the clandestine chimpanzee traffic to
Cairo, Jason Mier told ANIMAL PEOPLE on February 17, 2006, “I have
[also] been working in Lebanon to get some chimps confiscated. I
knew of two when I went there in January,” he said. “Since then one
more has been found.”
Having arranged–Mier thought–for the chimps to be seized by
the Lebanese authorities and flown “to a sanctuary in South Africa,”
he praised “the complete difference between Lebanon and Egypt.
Lebanon is not a member of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species,” Mier noted. “They have no animal welfare laws
or regulations for keeping animals, but animals need to be declared
upon entry with the proper customs duty paid. As this did not
happen, the government will confiscate. This has been the most
positive experience possible,” Mier enthused.

How many times must the ape traffic be exposed, before it is forever banned?

April 2, 2006 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

CAIRO, KANO, NAIROBI–Ten years after the World Society for
the Protection of Animals exposed the Cairo connection in the
international live great ape traffic, five years after Egyptian
customs officials refocused attention on the traffic by drowning a
four-month-old gorilla and a baby chimpanzee in a vat of chemicals at
the Cairo airport after seizing the apes from smugglers, the alleged
perpetrators are still in business, charge independent investigator
Jason Mier and wildlife photographer Karl Amman.
Worse, Mier and Amman say, the alleged perpetrators still
appear to be protected by the apparent collusion, corruption,
indifference, and inefficiency of public officials and airline
personnel in Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and Cameroon.
Some of the same people and ports of entry are apparently
involved in clandestine ivory trafficking exposed by Esmond Martin
and Daniel Stiles in four reports published since 2000.
Mier and Amman recently completed a year-long investigation
of a “group of smugglers I am convinced is the largest operating in
Africa,” Mier told ANIMAL PEOPLE. A zoologist by training, Mier has
worked in Africa since 2000. Amman has investigated African wildlife
trafficking since 1990.

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