A Project of Animal People, Inc., 1992-2013
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
The Lost Whale: The True Story of an Orca Named Luna by Michael Parfit & Suzanne Chisholm St. Martin’s Press (c/o MacMillan, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010), 2013. 329 pages, hardcover. $25.99
The Lost Whale is a compelling story of a lost orca, or killer whale, who as an infant in 2001 somehow became separated from his pod, the family that he depended on for survival. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
WELLINGTON, New Zealand––Forty-eight percent of New Zealand households keep cats, the highest rate of cat-keeping in the world, according to the New Zealand Pet Food Manufacturers Association. But prominent New Zealand birders disagree over whether free-roaming pet cats and feral cats have much to do with losses of rare bird species. Economist Gareth Morgan argues that cats should be eradicated from New Zealand through universal sterilization and non-replacement. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
LINCOLN, Nebraska––Cliff swallows nesting under highway overpasses in southwestern Nebraska appear to have evolved shorter wings in only 30 years to help them avoid colliding with cars, ornithologists Charles R. Brown and Mary Bomberger Brown reported in the March 18, 2013 edition of Current Biology. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
PETALING JAYA, Malaysia––Malaysian natural resources and environment minister Douglas Uggah “has ordered an immediate investigation by a team from his ministry into the alleged inhumane massacre of wild monkeys by its contractors,” Michelle Chun of the Sun Daily reported on March 29, 2013. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:
WASHINGTON D.C.–– U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director
Dan Ashe on February 26, 2013 told media that the U.S. will endorse
proposals to restrict traffic in the fins of porbeagle, scalloped
hammerhead, great hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, and oceanic whitetip
sharks, and in the gill plates of manta rays.
If approved by the 16th triennial meeting of the 177-nation
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Bangkok in
March, the five shark species and manta rays will be uplisted to CITES
Appendix II status. The listing proposals must be approved by
two-thirds of the national delegations in attendance. Trade in Appendix
II species is permitted but regulated to ensure species survival. Trade
is prohibited for Appendix I species.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:
AGRA, India––“In an all night anti- poaching rescue operation based on intelligence provided by Wildlife SOS, four young male sloth bears were seized from poachers in the Sahibganj district of Jharkhand on the Indo-Nepal border,” Wildlife SOS cofounder Geeta Seshamani e-mailed to ANIMAL PEOPLE on February 19, 2013. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:
CHICAGO––Feral cat neuter/return advocates are apprehensive of an ongoing study of the ecological effects of feral cats, funded by the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, after foundation president and WGN radio hunting program host Charlie Potter blamed feral cats for a continent-wide decline of bobwhite quail. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:
WASHINGTON D.C.––Inflating the U.S. pet cat population by ten million, the outdoor pet cat population by closer to 50 million, and the best documented estimates of the feral cat population by up to 64 million, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute ornithologists Scott Loss and Peter Marra and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Tom Will on January 29, 2013 alleged in the journal Nature Communications that domestic cats in the U.S. kill up to 3.7 billion birds and as many as 20.7 billion mice, voles, and other small mammals. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:
RENO, Nevada––The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on February 1, 2013 issued new policy directives governing wild horse roundups.
“At all times, the care and treatment provided by the BLM and contractors will be characterized by compassion and concern for the animal’s well-being and welfare,” ordered BLM assistant director for renewable resources and planning Edwin Roberson. Read more