Human Pollutants Are Leading to Endangered Frog Species

A study in a laboratory at Uppsala University in Sweden revealed the effects of estrogen on frogs and seems to explain why so many species of frog are facing possible extinction. Estrogen winds up in natural bodies of water after sewage is treated, but estrogen is not filtered out.

In the study, they discovered that male tadpoles were changed into females by exposing them to estrogen levels similar to what would be found in the environment.

This poses a threat to the frog population as more and more tadpoles are females and fewer tadpoles become males.

Woman Devotes Time Steralizing Wild Cats

Kiwi Angie Schlaepfer, wife of a diplomat, is devoted to improving the welfare of wild cats. She plans to sterilize as many cats as she can to save them and their kittens from a being hungry and ill or even suffering an early and grisly death.

She started her work on her own street when she and husband Peter Fa'Afiu paid for a cat to be sterilised after Ms Schlaepfer had watched the cat give birth to kittens that had all died. "One kitten's eyes turned to mush, the next one started having seizures." After the operation, the cat became healthy and the pair continued down their street, desexing 35 to 40 cats.

* The Jakarta Street Cat Foundation's aim is to sterilise as many cats as possible.
* Once sterilised, vaccinated, dewormed and defleaed, the cats are released back on to the streets.
* The work has spread by word of mouth and the foundation is now approached with projects.
* For more information, contact info@jakartastreetcat.com.

Indiana Residents Request Wildlife Crossing

Residents in Plymouth, Indiana are requesting that a wildlife crossing be included in a road extension project.

A plan to possibly reduce car-deer accidents on the new Pine Road extension project could add as much as $450,000 to the project already estimated at almost $4 million.

Plymouth resident Todd Thompson had asked the county in its early public discussions of the extension to consider including a means for deer and other wildlife in the area to be able to safely cross Pine Road.

Thompson suggested, based on plans for the new road to be between 3 feet to 5 feet above the existing road's grade, that the county "oversize" one of three planned culverts associated with the project, noting that deer tend to travel on low ground.

"This is white tail deer country," Thompson said. "Instead of fighting it, let's work with it."

Study Shows that Pesticide Damages Robins' Brains

It has been nearly 50 years since DDT was first dumped across acres of North American farmland and three decades after it was banned in the United States and Canada. Even though the the toxic pesticide was banned 30 years ago, it is still having damaging effects on local species, according to a new study.

Robins exposed to DDT before birth had damage to regions of the brain that enable them to sing and protect territory. Both functions are integral to mating and were more impaired in male robins, potentially leaving them unable to attract females.

"This is the first study that documented a neural effect from DDT in a natural population in any species," said Andrew Iwaniuk, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Alberta and an author of the study published in Behavioural Brain Research. The majority of previous research focused on acute, rather than chronic conditions and usually in controlled lab environments, he says.

The researchers think that as mother robins forage for earthworms, they pick up pesticides in the soil, some more than others.

Because eggs are rich in fat, they are perfect receptacles for fat-soluble DDT. So as the mother feeds, the DDT is deposited in her eggs. Brain tissue is also highly fatty, "so the DDT likes to hang out there," Iwaniuk said.

Iwaniuk estimates that at least 15 to 20 generations of robins have been affected since the pesticide was first applied. Because they live in orchards where soil is not regularly aerated, he sees little hope for change, at least in the near future.

As long as it remains there, DDT has the potential to impact a wide range of animals.

The researchers don't know how far up the food chain the toxin might travel, but hawks and weasels that eat robins could potentially be at risk as well. Iwaniuk says he is particularly concerned about aboriginal populations that live in the area and subsist on natural food sources.

Even for people who won't come in direct contact with DDT, Iwaniuk thinks there's a larger lesson here.

"Yes, it happened historically, but there are still problems with pesticides," he says. "They have an extremely long half-life and just because we use one today, that doesn't mean it will always be safe."

---

Note from Sherry: We have a robin that keeps flying into our back windows and pecking on the glass while standing on the deck. We have never had this happen and I wonder if it is related to the DDT poisoning.

U.S. Abandons Animals in Lebanon Chaos

Images of kittens sniffing amid rubble. Dogs seen running frantically down the streets. Distraught Americans told that they must leave their animal companions behind to starve and die in the destruction.

These scenes—reminiscent of cruel and illegal decisions made in the wake of Hurricane Katrina—are reality once more. While the French government has made provisions for animal evacuations, the U.S. is doing the opposite. U.S. officials evacuating citizens from Lebanon have failed to heed the lesson of the Gulf Coast and are refusing Americans' attempts to evacuate with their animal companions.

PETA Calls On U.S. Commander, South African Embassy Official to Facilitate Evacuation of Animals

PETA has sent an urgent letter to Brig. Gen. Carl Jensen—the military commander in charge of U.S. evacuation operations in Lebanon—begging him to instruct his officers to help evacuees take their animals with them to safety and bringing international attention to the government’s failure to serve all Americans trapped in Lebanon.

PETA also dashed off a letter to Siyabonga Ponco, chargé d’affaires of the South African Embassy in Cairo, urging him to permit South African nationals who are being evacuated to take their companion animals with them rather than forcing them to abandon their animals in the rubble to starve. The plea stemmed from an e-mail message that Ponco sent to PETA in which he suggested that evacuees with animals should “not demand more than they could be given”—implying that a request to help South African citizens take their beloved cats, dogs, and birds with them would be asking too much.

How You Can Help Today

Please immediately urge President George W. Bush not to break the law by encouraging abandonment of companion animals and to ensure the safety of all Americans in Lebanon by ordering that citizens be allowed to evacuate with their animal companions:

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
202-456-2461 (fax)
comments@whitehouse.gov

Rhode Island has become the first state to require that owners spay or neuter their cats

Rhode Island has become the first state in the nation to require cat owners to spay or neuter their pets.

Governor Carcieri signed the bill into law Friday.

It requires cat owners to spay or neuter pets older than six months unless they pay $100 for a breeder's license or permit for an intact animal.

Violators will be fined $75 per month.

Under the law, low-income pet owners would be able to receive subsidies for low-cost spay and neuter surgery.

Farmers are exempt.

Supporters of the law say it will save thousands of cats from being killed each year. The governor says it will also save money because it will cut down on housing and feeding costs at city animal shelters.

Ralph Lauren Goes Fur-Free!

Ralph Lauren, long recognized as a leader in fashion, is now also a leader in compassion after announcing a precedent-setting decision to no longer use fur in any of his apparel or home collections, based purely on ethical grounds.

The Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation had been considering eliminating fur from its lines for some time and finally issued a statement making its decision to go fur-free official after a series of meetings with PETA during which executives viewed grisly undercover video footage of fur farms in China, where more than half the finished fur garments imported for sale in the United States are sourced. Shortly after meetings with PETA in February and March 2006, the company committed to pulling all fur from its shelves. “Fur has never been an integral part of our design strategy …,” said a Polo Ralph Lauren spokesperson. “We are publicly announcing this decision because the use of fur has been under review internally and we feel that the time is right to take this action.”

On fur farms in China, animals are confined to tiny wire cages through all weather extremes. Before they are skinned, workers bludgeon them with metal rods and slam them against the ground, breaking their bones but not always killing them. Many animals are skinned while they are still alive.

The Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation sent PETA a signed statement of assurance acknowledging its intent to pull all advertising for fur, cancel all pending orders for fur products, and beginning with its holiday 2006 collections, no longer sell any fur products. Twelve hundred of its brand-new fall 2006 fur-trimmed coats will be donated to charities in developing nations.

Ralph Lauren’s compassionate, progressive decision sends a powerful message to the clothing industry that torturing and killing rabbits, raccoons, foxes, and other animals for fashion won’t be tolerated.

Supermarket Stops Selling Live Lobsters

Organic supermarket chain Whole Foods announced Friday it will stop selling live lobsters effectively immediately, citing the inhumane treatment of the animals, CNNMoney.com reports.
"We are not yet sufficiently satisfied that the process of selling live lobsters is in line with our commitment to humane treatment and quality of life for animals," Margaret Wittenberg, vice president of quality standards for Whole Foods Market, said in a prepared statement.

The company reached the decision to stop the sale of the crustacean after conducting a seven-month review into its lobster procurement process, learning that in many instances the animals were held in storage facilities for several months at a time.

More of the CNNMoney story:

Whole Foods also announced that it would also halt the sale of live soft-shelled crab.

The company, however, will continue to sell both raw and cooked frozen lobster products from companies that meet handling and processing standards developed by Whole Foods.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey said the company would consider resuming the sale of lobsters if improvements are made in the treatment of the animals.

US Government Bill Jeopardizes Artic Wildlife

Big Oil is raking in record profits, and a new bill on the Senate calendar will give them even more while also destroying the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

With awareness of global warming reaching new heights as polar bears drown and tropical diseases like malaria move further north, Big Oil should be last in line when it comes to government handouts. Yet, if the House's so-called "American-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act" passes in the Senate, we'll be helping ExxonMobil while leaving the Arctic Refuge in a pool of oil, and the rest of America in a cloud of exhaust.

Tell your Senator to oppose any attempt to drill in the Arctic Refuge, and to start supporting technologies that protect our air, water, and wildlife and decrease our reliance on oil:
Help stop this bill that will give Big Oil even more handouts.

When I think about a poor polar bear swimming out to sea and eventually drowning because the ice is no longer where it's supposed to be, I feel sick. I feel sicker still knowing that our elected officials could actually vote to make the problem worse by allowing Refuge drilling.

Pets May Soon Be Part Of Hurricane Evacuation Plans

(CBS) SOUTH ORANGE Shiloh, Jennifer, Mojo and Little Pup are four dogs who have one thing in common.

They were all abandoned by their owners during Hurricane Katrina because pets weren't included in evacuation plans.

“I saw dead dogs, dogs that had starved to death,” said Leah Jacobson, who helped rescue animals during Hurricane Katrina.

Sharon Wilkenson was also a rescue worker. She ended up adopting Little Pup, who was found with a gunshot wound to her head.

“She was brought into the triage area and I saw her and fell in love with her,” Wilkenson said.

Another dog named Wishbone was rescued from a house filled with water. Her new owner said she survived for a month without food.

We asked Maryann Kot, a Secaucus resident, if she would leave behind her dog.

“Definitely not, she would come with us. She's part of the family,” she said.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg said he's co-sponsoring a bill that would require local and state emergency officials to come up with pet evacuation plans in order to qualify for FEMA funding.

“We're not choosing between a human and an animal, the humans come first,” Lautenberg said.

Kim Saunders helped reunite 3,000 Katrina victims with their pets.

“It's really important for people to not have to make that choice to stay behind in a dangerous situation,” she said.

A dangerous choice she said made by 40 percent of the people who chose to stay behind during Katrina.

Vietnam detects illegal imports of 5.5 tons wild animals' horns

Vietnamese police have just discovered a container containing some 5.5 tons of wild animals' horns illegally imported into the country, the Vietnam News Agency reported Wednesday.

The horns, thought to be wild oxen horns, were detected on Tuesday. According to initial investigation, the 20-feet container originated from Nigeria and transported to Vietnam's northern Ha Phong port on May 19 has been ordered by a local handicraft company in Ho Chi Minh City.

The case is under investigation, said local police.

Source: Xinhua

Heather Mills Persuades Paris Hilton to Stop Wearing Fur

PARIS HILTON has abandoned her fur-wearing ways after SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY's estranged wife HEATHER MILLS made her watch horrific footage of animal cruelty. The hotel heiress was previously pelted with flour by members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) after sporting real fur at this year's (FEB06) London Fashion Week. But it was animal rights campaigner Mills who managed to persuade Hilton to turn her back on wearing animal skins for good. She says, "I am not going to be wearing fur anymore. "I met up with (Mills) and she showed me videos of how badly the animals are treated. It is just disgusting. I am an animal lover."

Monk Parakeets: Pets or Pests? Should they be allowed to live?

by Jayasudha Joseph, www.emagazine.com

Mostly green with yellow bellies and bright blue feathers in their wings and tail, these birds are believed to have first appeared in U.S. skies in the 1960s. Their native homeland ranged from central Bolivia to southern Brazil, Uruguay and southern and central Argentina. Today, these birds can be found in more than a dozen states, including Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Illinois, Oregon, California and much of the Northeast.

According to biologist Stephen Pruett-Jones of the University of Chicago, who has been studying monk parakeets at Illinois’ Hyde Park for more than a decade, there may be as many as 200,000 of these birds nationwide.

There are various explanations as to how the monk parakeets got here. Some believe people bought these birds as pets in the 1960s and later released them because they tired of their constant squawking, which can be ear splitting. Others believe that a crate carrying these exotic birds broke open at New York’s JFK airport, releasing pioneer individuals. In any case, a few states, including California, now have laws outlawing ownership of monk parakeets as pets.

As to how a tropical bird can survive and breed in the harsh climates of the Midwest and Northeast, ornithologists explain that even in its native habitats the animal often traditionally makes its home in mountainous regions. Another explanation is suggested in a 1995 Birder’s Digest article entitled “Monk Parakeets, Why Here?” The article points out that the intelligent birds weave dense, intricate nests from branches, which form chambers that give surprisingly good protection from blustery weather.

In much of their native range, monk parakeets are maligned by farmers, who claim they damage their crops. In Florida, longan tree growers complain that the recent arrivals threaten their orchards, which yield a profitable fruit related to the lychee and originally imported from Southeast Asia. However, parakeet supporters say there is little reliable evidence directly linking the birds with measurable crop damage.

Priscilla Feral, president of the Darien, Connecticut-based group Friends of Animals, adds, “As a solution, Florida longan growers can use nets to protect trees, or they can remove parakeet nests in late March, before eggs have been laid but after the cold of winter.”

In fact, it is actually the impressive communal nests of the bird (one in Connecticut was measured at five feet by nine feet) that have recently landed monk parakeets in the greatest danger. Utilities charge that the large nests damage power lines and transformers, interrupting service and causing fires. In several states, including Illinois and Florida, power companies have therefore justified removing nests and killing the birds.

In southern Connecticut, sparks flew between United Illuminating (UI) and local activists after the former launched a $125,000 effort to destroy monk parakeet nests it found on its lines. The company also began capturing the birds, which it turned over to the Department of Agriculture for asphyxiation with carbon dioxide.

“We are very concerned and respectful of everyone’s opinions and beliefs, but we also have to be concerned with public health and safety and UI’s ability to provide reliable electricity,” explained UI spokesperson Albert Carbone. A Florida utility reports that deterrence efforts, using repellents, noisemakers and other techniques, have proven ineffective at preventing monk parakeets from nesting in company equipment.

According to Feral of Friends of Animals, “This $125,000 killing project is senseless, immoral and unwarranted.” Feral adds, “The reputation of these parakeets has been over exaggerated: they do not have nests as huge as some claim they are, there have been no fires that have been definitively attributed to these birds, and their nests help support about 70 other bird species.” She says power companies in New York, reacting to public outcry, have had some success in deterring the birds from nesting in power lines by systematically trimming, and in some cases removing, nests.

Feral also adds that some Connecticut residents have begun providing alternative nesting platforms. Some hope the birds will eventually stop nesting in power lines. Further, responding to another common charge against monk parakeets, Feral says, “There is no evidence that someone has caught a disease transmitted by these birds.”

In December, United Illuminating agreed to temporarily cease killing monk parakeets, although the company said it would still remove nests from its lines. Activists in Connecticut and New Jersey are now lobbying to have the bird removed from their respective state invasive species lists, which would pave the way to greater protections and a ban on the killing.

Feral concludes, “The species that needs to change their attitude is Homo sapiens, who is always looking to blame someone or something else for any wrong. In this case, that means helpless, beautiful birds who have not done anything devastatingly wrong as compared to any other living species.”

Cheetah Cubs are New at Animal Ark

Becky Bosshart (Bonanza News Service)

RENO, NEVADA - New cheetah cubs Moyo and Jamar are penned up on the other side of their enclosure as a group of visiting school children climb over each other to get a closer look.

The two half-grown cubs were born in captivity at the De Wildt Cheetah Centre in South Africa. They were donated to the Animal Ark. In return, the sanctuary will assist in the organization's cheetah conservation fund, said Animal Ark co-owner Diane Hiibel. Cheetahs are threatened in the wild by ranchers when grazing animals encroach on hunting territory.

After about 40 hours of travel in crates, Moyo and Jamar arrived at the sanctuary on April 11.

Lotta Luv: New group helping pets find homes

LIMA, OHIO — Sandy McVeigh, with friends Debbie Helser and Pat Rumer, has started A Lotta Luv pet rescue, a group dedicated to caring for pets other organizations are unable to help.

"We try to help the ones that fall in the cracks. A lot of them are injured or ill. We get them to a vet, get them treated and, hopefully, find them a forever home," McVeigh said.

The three women decided to start the new group after leaving Angels for Animals over "political issues," McVeigh said. Now they have made themselves available day and night to pick up injured animals and get them to a vet. They also help pay to board sick or injured animals with local veterinarians.

"That’s why we have such a big vet bill," McVeigh said. "In middle of the night someone calls and says they have an injured dog, or the dog warden will call with a cat and they don’t do anything with cats."

In some cases the group will help out an owner who can’t afford to feed his cats. And they help volunteer Marie Daley with her Cat Haven, home to more than 150 cats.

Of the 15 dogs they currently care for, some have been placed in the prison training program at Oakwood Correctional Institution. The rest are kept in foster homes, families that keep and care for the dogs while the group works to find them a permanent home.

The group is trying to pay some of the bills with a May 20th fundraiser, The Canine Carnival and Dog Walk at Faurot Park. McVeigh said she hopes to raise enough money to pay for their nonprofit registration and help them continue the work they started.

"I know there’s a home out there for every animal somewhere. You just have to keep working and wait until you get that match."

New Species of Parrot and Mouse Discovered

From an article by Steve Connor, Science Editor of The Independent

A small island in the Philippines has been found to be inhabited by two new species of animal - a parrot and a mouse - that are found nowhere else on Earth.

The island of Camiguin is the smallest of the many thousands of Philippine islands and, despite being almost denuded of its natural tropical rainforest, it still harbours endemic animals that are new to science.

The bird is a hanging-parrot or Colasisi which has brilliant green body feathers, bright blue plumage on its thighs and throat and a scarlet-orange head and tail.

The new rodent is a Philippine forest mouse with large ears and eyes, a long tail and rusty-brown fur. It feeds on insects and seeds.

Local people say that, although they have known about the parrot because it has been captured in the past as a pet, they had not known about the mouse.

Both species were formally identified as a result of recent scientific expeditions on Camiguin combined with studies of museum exhibits that the fresh specimens could be compared against.

Lawrence Heaney, curator of mammals at The Field Museum in Chicago and a member of the research team, said that Camiguin was once covered in rainforest but, by 2001, just 18 per cent of the island was still forested.

"Knowing that at least 54 species of birds and at least 24 species of mammals live on Camiguin, and that some of these animals are found nowhere else on earth, makes us realise how important this island is in terms of conservation," Dr Heaney said.

"For these animals to survive, we've got to save the dwindling forests where they live," he said.

About 7,000 islands in the Philippines are known to be inhabited by species that are found nowhere else.

Poaching May Destroy Last Sumatran Rhinos

KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia (UPI) -- Poaching has greatly reduced Malaysia`s population of Sumatran rhinoceroses, but a small group of 13 are holding on, says the World Wildlife Fund.

'If this band of rhinos is to have a healthy future in Borneo the poaching must be stopped immediately -- their numbers are so small that losing one or two rhinos to a poacher could upset the remaining rhinos` chances of survival,' said Sybille Klenzendorf, lead biologist of WWF`s Species Conservation Program.

'Conservationists and Sabah government agencies are hopeful that there is a chance to save this group of rhinos and are diligently working to protect them.'

NWF Working with Carbonfund to Offset Pollution

The National Wildlife Foundation, via Carbonfund.org, is supporting wind and energy efficiency projects that subsidize the cost of clean, renewable energy that also helps develop the technology. The average American is directly responsible for about 10 tons of carbon dioxide annually through their home, car and air travel, and their average total annual impact rises to an average of 24 tons when factoring in the purchase of goods and services. Conferences, with the heavy reliance on air travel and other transportation, are an easy first step for any organization to offset. Because conferences also often bring decision makers together, for Carbonfund.org, it is an excellent opportunity to educate and demonstrate that being responsible is both simple and environmentally effective.

Carbonfund makes it easy and affordable for individuals and businesses to reduce their climate impact to zero. With its easy-to-use calculator, low offset cost per ton of CO2, and certified offset projects, Carbonfund is proving that anyone can reduce their impact on climate change quickly and efficiently. Carbonfund is a 501(c)(3) charitable, nonprofit organization.

Canada's Military Studying Effects of Noise on Wildlife

Source: Melissa Leong, National Post

The Canadian military will be deploying caribou collars and mock birds' eggs equipped with sophisticated monitors to make sure aircraft noise does not disturb the creatures.

The Goose Bay military base in Labrador is planning to broaden its training exercises to include jet fighters hurtling at supersonic speeds, exposing migrating caribou herds and other species for the first time to sonic booms.

To better study the effects of aircraft noise on animals, the Department of National Defence hired Idaho-based TenXsys Inc. to develop the new technology.

The caribou collars register noise and motion and transmit the data to researchers via satellite. The collars are equipped with GPS indicators and a remote-release mechanism.

"These collars measure the sound at the animal. With accelerometers, we detect when the animal becomes agitated and moves," said Frank Riskey, president of TenXsys.

The company has also developed plastic eggs in three different sizes to place in osprey, eagle and goose nests. The dummy eggs will measure sound and, most importantly, temperature.

"Do the birds leave the nests too long and the eggs cool?" producing a mortality as the result of the sound, Mr. Riskey asked.

"This is going to open up all kinds of environmental study possibilities. We've had contacts from all over the world, people asking things like, 'What's the effect of road noise on birds?' " Mr. Riskey said.

Warming of Bering Sea causing animals to migrate north

Bering Sea, which is home to a number of sea animals including whales, walruses, sea birds and fishes, is rapidly warming, threatening the ecosystem that thrives in its icy waters, a study, by University of Tennessee researchers, has said.

For a minimum of seven months a year, north Bering Sea, located between Siberia and Alaska, sees a solid ice cover. However, in the past decade, the temperatures on the floor of the sea have been showing rapid escalation, with the surface temperatures in 2004 hitting a high of 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Earlier, the temperature would hover around 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

According to Jacqueline Grebmeier, the lead author of the study, besides experiencing lesser ice, the region is also battling earlier annual melting of ice, with the melting in 1997 coming three weeks prior to its normal date.

This is posing problems for many animal species that source their food from bottom-feeders, like phytoplankton, which require extremely cold climates to survive. These bottom-feeders are slowly facing dwindling populations, causing animals from different parts to encroach upon other territories, leading to scarcity of food and subsequent loss of habitat.

While some like gray whales are coping by shifting base to the north in search of colder waters, others like bearded seals, walruses and Eider ducks are perishing, facing competition from fishes like pink salmons invading their territory to feed on pollock, a bottom-feeding species proliferating in northern Bering Sea due to increased temperatures.

“(Eider ducks') population is going down, and their food supply is going down. We're seeing that a change in the physical conditions is driving a change in the ecosystems. What we are seeing is a change in the boundary between the sub-Arctic and the Arctic ecosystem. The potential is real for an ecosystem shift that will be felt farther north,” Grebmeier said.

According to Lee Cooper, a co-author of the study, the massive disruptions in Bering Sea due to small climatic changes can be explained by the fact that the sea is a shallow one with a depth of less than 200 feet.

“(The study) demonstrates the biological effect in an area so shallow that it doesn't take much to fundamentally change the system. It's a little sobering,” Cooper said. The researchers say that the likelihood of these changes being irreversible are high, and reversal to cold temperatures might not undo them. Bering Sea, which spans an area of over 700,000 square miles, is separated from the North Pacific Ocean by the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands.

Expressing concerns at the findings, oceanography scientists stressed the importance of halting global warming in its tracks and warned about the consequences for ecology should such changes continue. They point to the complaints of subsistence hunting tribes, like Yupik of St Lawrence Islands, who have reported thinning of ice.

“In the southeast, fish population and bottom-dweller changes are happening in the context of a complete loss of sea ice. But in the northern Bering Sea, ecological changes are occurring in the context of shifts in the quality of the sea ice. The ice there is broken and thin compared with ice floes that were more the norm,” said James Overland of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography's John Hildebrand felt that immediate action was required to prevent such ecological changes that can have devastating repercussions for mankind somewhere down the line.

“We need to make every effort possible to give them a chance to survive. I can't predict at all how climate change would play into the lives of right whales. It definitely will play into their lives but how, we don't know,” he said. The findings of the study have been reported in he journal Science.

Written by : Archibald Freeman

Wildlife crime unit concerned about elephants killing in Indonesia

Bandar Lampung, (ANTARA News) - The Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) has expressed concern about the killing of elephants in Riau Province recently.

"It`s true that the killing happened in Riau, but we are worried that it might also occur in Lampung Province," Lampung WCU Coordinator Dwi Nugroho said.

Therefore, WCU kept on encouraging the improvement of national park and protected forest area management to protect the wildlife in Lampung forests, he said.

Conflicts between elephants and local residents were also reported in Lampung in the past few years.

Wild elephants reportedly came out from their habitats in several Lampung parks in the last few years. The big animals hurt local people and damaged plantation and human settlements located surrounding the forest areas.

"We very much hope that the killing of elephants in Riau, believed to be poisoned by poachers wanting to get the elephants` tusks, will never happen in Lampung," the WCU staff said.

Did You Know....Fish Feel Pain?

While it may seem obvious that fish are able to feel pain, like every other animal, some people still think of fish as swimming vegetables. In fact, regarding the ability to feel pain, fish are equal to dogs, cats, and all other animals. Dr. Donald Broom, scientific advisor to the British government, explains that “The scientific literature is quite clear. Anatomically, physiologically and biologically, the pain system in fish is virtually the same as in birds and animals.”

Indeed, neurobiologists have long recognized that fish have nervous systems that comprehend and respond to pain, and anyone who made it through Biology 101 knows that fish have nerves and brains that sense pain, just like all animals. Indeed, scientists tell us that fish brains and nervous systems closely resemble our own. For example, fish (like “higher vertebrates”) have neurotransmitters like endorphins that relieve suffering—of course, the only reason for their nervous systems to produce pain killers is to relieve pain. Claiming that fish do not suffer is as intellectually and scientifically sound as arguing that the Earth is flat.

Interestingly, scientists have created a detailed map of pain receptors in fish’s mouths and all over their bodies. A team of researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada recently surveyed the scientific literature on fish pain and intelligence. They concluded that fish feel pain and that “the welfare of fish requires consideration.” Dr. Lynne Sneddon, a scientist of fish biology in the United Kingdom, explains, “Really, it’s kind of a moral question. Is your angling more important than the pain to the fish?”

Scientists at Edinburgh University and the Roslin Institute in the United Kingdom report that in response to pain, fish also feel emotional stress and engage in “a ‘rocking’ motion strikingly similar to the kind of motion seen in stressed higher vertebrates like mammals.” The research team concluded that fish clearly experience pain in the same way as mammals, both physically and psychologically.

As you would expect from animals who we now know to be intelligent and interesting individuals with memories and the capacity to learn, fish can also suffer from fear and anticipation of physical pain. Researchers from universities across America have published research showing that some fish use sound to communicate distress when nets are dipped into their tanks or they are otherwise threatened. In a separate study, researcher William Tavolga found that fish grunted when they received an electric shock. In addition, the fish began to grunt as soon as they saw the electrode, clearly in anticipation of the torment that Tavolga was inflicting on them.
According to Dr. Michael Fox, D.V.M, Ph.D., “Even though fish don’t scream [audibly to humans] when they are in pain and anguish, their behavior should be evidence enough of their suffering when they are hooked or netted. They struggle, endeavoring to escape and, by so doing, demonstrate they have a will to survive.”

What happens to fish before they end up on your plate is nothing short of cruelty to animals—whether they’re farmed or pulled from the ocean, fish are treated in ways that would warrant felony charges if other animals were so horribly abused. Please click here to learn what you can do to help.

Please click here to learn what you can do to help.

Sir Paul McCartney Working to Block Animal Testing Lab in Arizona

Taking on the world's largest animal-testing company, top musical icon Sir Paul McCartney has fired off an appeal to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano asking that Covance, the company caught abusing monkeys during a PETA investigation, not be allowed to set up shop in Arizona.

"Arizona has a special place in my heart. It is where Linda loved to ride and it is where she lived her last days on our ranch. Linda was a champion for animals so it is for her and for all of us who want to protect animals from harm that I am writing to ask you not to let Covance, an animal testing laboratory, set up shop in Chandler."
—Sir Paul McCartney



What's Sir Paul's quarrel with Covance? It is the world's biggest breeder of dogs for use in experimentation and the largest importer of primates into the U.S. Damning video footage shot inside Covance's Vienna, Virginia, laboratory shows workers striking monkeys, throwing them against cage doors, shouting curses at the terrified animals, and psychologically tormenting them. Juvenile monkeys, desperate for physical contact, tugged at the gloves of PETA's investigator as—ironically—the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends" echoed out from the radio. Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" also reverberated through the desolate cinderblock-walled rooms in which the monkeys would live, suffer, and die as, crazed from their barren surroundings, they frantically rocked back and forth in their cages.


Covance Responsible for Ebola Outbreak
In 1989, when Covance was known as "Hazleton Research Products," the deadly Ebola virus was discovered in sick monkeys brought in by the company from the Philippines. A tactical medical military team outfitted in biohazard suits entered the lab, killed all the animals, and sealed the facility. After Hazleton vacated the premises, the facility, which had been built for $12 million, sat on the market for years; eventually, the building was demolished and the land was given away.

Even today, Covance continues to import primates—more than 12,000 in 2005, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—and continues to harbor sick monkeys. While breeding monkeys in the U.S. would reduce the public safety risk, importing monkeys from countries like China, the Philippines, and Vietnam saves Covance money—and at Covance, public safety and animal welfare take a back seat to profits.

Read Paul McCartney's letter to Governor Napolitano.

Find out how you can join Paul McCartney to spread the word about Covance.

PETA Protests KFC for Torturing Chickens

Winter weather got you down? While most people are huddled by the fire drinking hot cocoa during the winter chill, PETA’s dedicated volunteers are tying on their bikinis and snapping on their earmuffs to get the message out that for more than 850 million chickens each year, KFC means Kentucky Fried Cruelty.

PETA’s chilly campaign was kicked off by Lauren Anderson during a freezing lunch-time protest in Anchorage, Alaska, last October. Activists across North America soon followed: In Reno, Nevada, activist Michelle Cho braved a state-of-emergency snowstorm; Nicole Matthews took her message that “KFC Tortures Chicks” to KFCs throughout the Midwest and Southeast; and Ashley Fruno fearlessly fought below-freezing temperatures throughout Western Canada.

What’s got these gutsy gals in a flap over KFC? Chickens are excluded from the only federal law that protects farmed animals, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which means that KFC can torture the chickens who end up in its buckets in ways that would result in felony cruelty-to-animals charges if other animals were the victims. Among other horrific abuses, they are drugged and bred to grow so large that many become crippled from the weight of their massive upper bodies. Many have their throats slit while they are still conscious and are scalded to death in defeathering tanks. KFC ignored recommendations for animal welfare improvements made by members of its own advisory panel, including five who have since resigned after being ignored for years. Former KFC advisor Adele Douglass told the Chicago Tribune that KFC “never had any meetings. They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used.”

PETA’s campaign has enlisted the support of many celebrities, including Nobel Peace Prize winner His Holiness the Dalai Lama, rock icons Sir Paul McCartney and Chrissie Hynde, actors Pamela Anderson and Bea Arthur, civil rights leaders The Rev. Al Sharpton, Alice Walker, Kweisi Mfume, Dick Gregory, and Dr. Cornel West, and even former KFC spokesperson and Seinfeld star Jason Alexander.

You Can Help!
Don’t eat at KFC until it agrees to stop abusing animals.

U.K. BANS SOME WILDLIFE IN CIRCUS

Circuses are to be banned from using some wild animals - marking a victory for campaigners and the Daily Mirror.

Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw said travelling circuses were not meeting welfare needs.

The Mirror told this year how a lorry taking a rare white rhino and hippo from France to Ireland was rerouted, crashed, broke down and ran out of food.

Captive Animals Protection Society said: "It was crucial in the Government making this decision." Animal Defenders International said: "This is wonderful news."

After tigers, elephants are now endangered: Wildlife group

New Delhi - After the reduction in the number of tigers in Sariska, poachers are now targeting elephants in the Terai region, a group active in the wildlife protection claimed today.

After the formation of the State of Uttaranchal as per Forest Department's records, 90 elephants have been killed, Himalayan Chipko Foundation said.

"At this rate we won't have any elephants in Uttaranchal in the next 25 years," it said in a release.

The foundation said the foothills of the Himalayas and the Terai region still have dense forests which are ideal habitat for elephants.

However, poachers have steadily strengthened their operation in Uttaranchal and Terai region, it said.

The foundation claimed that in Jim Corbett National Park, more than seven bulls had been killed. "Their trunks were severed and tusks removed after brutally cutting the face," it claimed adding "unfortunately in the Forest Department's records the cause of death is not known in many cases."

Though ivory trade has been banned in many countries, it still has a "clandestine market" catering to the rich, it said adding "Pieces of art are also made of the bones of elephants".

Lucky Breakthrough in Dog Abuse Case

By Paul Huggins
DAILY Staff Writer
phuggins@decaturdaily.com

Decatur police will show evidence to a Morgan County grand jury next week that investigators believe will lead to the arrest of the person who abused Lucky.

Lt. Nadis Carlisle said tips from callers helped with the discovery of Lucky's owner and that the dog's original name was Rocky. He declined to give any details, such as whether the suspect had dog-fighting items, saying he didn't want to affect the grand jury proceedings.

He did say the department's findings bring closure to the two-week-old case. Presenting the case to the grand jury instead of arresting the suspect this week was the advice of the Morgan County district attorney's office, he added.

If convicted, the suspect could face one to 10 years in prison.

Lucky was found Feb. 22 in a trash bin near Wilson Morgan Park with a mangled leg and a duct-taped snout. Officials suspect he was used as bait for training pit bull fighters.

The dog continues to recover and could be ready for adoption in about three weeks.

Veterinarian Dr. Steve Osborne, who amputated Lucky's leg last week, immediately put up a $500 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of Lucky's abuser. Donations from around the country have increased the reward to more than $15,000.

Carlisle said he couldn't say at this time whether the reward was the key to finding the suspect.

"I can't say that it didn't," he said.

Sgt. Rick Archer, head of the homicide/robbery unit, said solving the case was merely a matter of sifting through the overwhelming number of tips reported by citizens.

"Every day, I would have two dozen calls," he said, noting that many were related to dog fighting and not specifically to Lucky.

Russell said the story of Lucky shows what the community can do when it works together, adding that he hopes the same spirit will continue as the city pursues more animal cruelty cases and improves the shelter.

In the past year, the shelter hired an animal control officer and is in the midst of training him to investigate animal cruelty cases. In addition, the city plans to begin a capital campaign this year to build a new shelter.

40% of Land Set Aside for Wildlife in Botswana

KASANE - Botswana is one of the few countries in the world that still have abundant and diverse wildlife and forest resources, says Chobes District Commissioner Gaewetse Koketso.

Koketso was officiating at a two-day workshop for stakeholders consultative eco-tourism in Kasane recently.

He said almost 40 per cent of the total land area has been set aside for conservation and sustainable utilisation of the resources in recognition of their importance.

He said before the establishment of forest reserves in the Chobe area, forest resource studies were conducted in 1934 and 1966 which resulted in discussions and recommendations regarding the best possible land use in the Chobe District.

He said during one of the discussions between the then forestry department and game department the forestry department wished to apply multiple land use (i.e. game and forestry) in the forest areas but this was rejected by the game department.

Koketso said there were also differences in policy concerning burning forests as a management tool.

He said the forestry department was in favour of early burning while the game department preferred late burning for different reasons.

The District Commissioner said this matter was eventually resolved by a decision to declare the bulk of the then Chobe Game Reserve as a national park that precluded exploitation, adding that it was followed by the declaration of Kasane Forest Reserve and later other forest reserves that allowed timber concessions.

Koketso said as a result forest reserves have come to be viewed as a source of nothing else but timber.

He said in 1991 and 1992 the Ministry of Agriculture conducted a comprehensive forest reserve inventory in all the gazetted forest areas.

He said the study evaluated different possibilities, including combining sustained forest production and environmental conservation with other forms of land use.

Koketso said the resultant management plans aimed at contributing to improve social economic conditions in the Chobe through multiple use and sustained yield management based in public participation.

He said tourism is an important employment generator that attracts revenue through the provision of diverse sources such as accommodation, transport, nature centred entertainment and financial services.

He added that Chobe District was a popular tourist destination and this was so because of the abundance of fauna and flora, which are not common in other countries.

The objectives of the workshop, among others, were to examine ways and means of enhancing participation of the local community, tour operators, and other stakeholders in promoting sustainability of forest practices in forest reserves.

The other aim was to promote collaboration between the government and stakeholders so as to ensure sound administration and development of eco-tourism in the forest reserve.

Help Stop Canada's Cruel Seal Hunt!

The largest commercial slaughter of marine mammals on the planet is set to begin again in Canada next month.




By the end of the hunt, more than 300,000 seals are expected to be clubbed or shot to death by fishermen who hunt seals off-season to pick up extra cash by selling their skins. Almost all of their victims will be babies -- some as young as 12 days old.

Polls consistently show that most Canadians oppose the hunt, but still the Canadian government and fishing industry refuse to end it. But there is new hope on the ice. Canada has a new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and a new party in power. With enough public support, they may consider ending this terrible hunt forever.

Sign this petition now and send it to anyone who cares about protecting the lives of Canada's seals

British Columbia Protects 5 Million Rainforest Acres

Earlier this month, the government of British Columbia committed to protect five million acres (This is equivalent to an area approximately the size of New Jersey) of rainforest from logging.

This incredible victory is the result of a decade-long campaign that was hard fought by activists around the world to help save the Great Bear.

Never before have logging companies, corporations, environmental groups, aboriginal groups, local communities and activists all come together to save a rainforest -- and now, we've proven that it's possible.

To find out more, visit www.forestethics.org.

Cancer, brain damage in marine animals due to pollutants

Parasites from cat faeces are causing deadly brain damage in sea otters and sea lions are suffering from cancer as a result of toxic chemicals - a result of the garbage humans dump into water.

These animals live near coastlines, spending a majority of their lives in the same waters people swim and surf in. Their daily cuisines consist of the same foods we serve up in fine seafood restaurants.

The difference is that the animals deal with the ocean conditions, good or bad, full time, while people can pick and choose when to go into the water and what to eat, says US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spokesperson Paul Sandifer.

Another marine animal, the manatee, is dying in large numbers in Florida due to toxic algae blooms or red tide algae, science portal LiveScience reported.

Marine animals, particularly mammals, play an important role as sentinel species. When one of these species gets sick or dies from something in the water, it is often a warning to humans of disease to come.

"Some of what we throw or flow into the water will return to bite us in the gluteus maximus (posterior). You can bet on it," said Sandifer at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

A deadly parasite, which reproduces in cats, is the third most common cause of death due to food-borne disease in the US. It is also killing California sea otters at a rapid rate.

Toxoplasma gondii, which causes the disease toxoplasmosis in humans, has been found in 52 percent of dead otters and 37 percent of the living.

In otters, the parasite causes tremors, in-coordination, and seizures. It is the primary cause of death in some coastal otter populations.

The major culprit is freshwater runoff, which washes faeces from backyards and streets into streams, rivers, and ultimately the ocean.

The red tide algae blooms that turn waters off Florida's coast rust-coloured are becoming more frequent. Karenia brevis algae, responsible for red tide, produce toxins called brevetoxins, which can kill fish, sea turtles, birds, and marine mammals such as manatees.

In 2005, 151 manatees died from exposure to brevetoxin. Post-mortem examinations revealed that the stuff was affecting their lungs.

For California sea lions, a combination of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and herpes virus similar to the one that infects humans has led to an increase in cancer.

Over the past 15 years, 17 percent of dead and stranded sea lions have been diagnosed with urogenital cancer, striking females in the cervix and males in the penis and prostate.

The cancer spreads to other organ systems in sea lions the same as in humans. Eventually it erodes the spinal cord, paralysing them and causing them to wash up on the shore or strand in the open water, said Frances Gulland of the Marine Mammal Center.

NWF Report Indicates that Global Warming Will Damage Arkansas Wildlife

FRED LOWE - fredlowe@baxterbulletin.com

The National Wildlife Federation recently sent out a report predicting the effects of global warming, and how the forecasted warmer temperatures are projected to alter Arkansas wildlife and its habitats.

Lisa Madry, a regional representative for the NWF, was particularly concerned by the potential decrease in the migration of waterfowl to the state.

The NWF report predicts extreme drought in the Prairie Porthole Region — an area where ducks breed in North and South Dakota and southern Canada. If that's the case, Madry said we "could see declines of as much as 70 percent of the duck population in the central and Mississippi flyways."

"So that's something that we are really interested in following — and are very concerned about how that would impact Arkansas," she said. "The models aren't clear if Arkansas would be a little more wet or dry, but in that (Porthole) region it's pretty clear there's going to be more drought, and that could have a huge impact on Arkansas."

Humans Need to Solve Feral Cat Issue

As a species, cats are a fiercely independent creature. Unlike dogs, most cats in the wild live most of their lives alone. Felis domesticus (domestic cats) are somewhat more social than many wild cats. People who own cats, however, know that the independent streak is still present in most of them.

Feral cats are well established in America. The term "feral" refers to a domesticated animal that has reverted to a "wild" state. Examples of some of the feral animals in the United States include dogs, cats, horses and pigs. These animals have relearned the skills necessary to survive in the wild. Like any wild animal, they must contend with disease, predators and the constant search for food. Feral cats are able to live in both urban and rural settings and because of their prolific nature, their population is quite numerous.

Part of the problem contributing to the feral cat population is irresponsible pet owners. I have been told many times by pet owners they want their pet to experience having a litter. People also tell me they want their children to share the experience. There is no valid reason for pet owners to allow nonpurebred cats to breed.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, 2.7 million dogs and cats were euthanized at animal shelters in 1997. Given these statistics, how can anyone justify allowing their pets to reproduce? More kittens inevitably lead to more feral cats and/or fewer adoptions of kittens from local animal shelters and rescue groups.
Many private organizations and government agencies are working to help control feral cat populations. Since many feral cats are not suitable as pets, most people advocate a catch and release strategy.

After being spayed or neutered, the feral cats are released back into the area where they were trapped. The released cats will naturally defend their territory from other cats that might move in and begin breeding. In this way, the feral cats themselves help control the population.

Humans domesticated cats and have continually allowed them to become feral. They are here because of us and therefore it is our responsibility to care for them and manage their population as best as we are able. Please help by having your feline pets spayed or neutered. If you have feral cats in your area, contact your local humane society, animal shelter or Fix Our Ferals (www.fixourferals.org) for information regarding spay and neuter programs.

---

Gary Richter is a doctor of veterinary medicine. To reach Richter at the Montclair Veterinary Clinic & Hospital, visit www.MontclairVetHospital.com

Chinese give cat food a whole new meaning

From Jane Macartney in Beijing, The Times Online

EVERY day thousands of cats are transported to Guangdong province in southern China. They are destined not to become the pampered pets of the country’s new rich, but to be served up at the dinner table.

The trade is one that merchants seem eager to keep out of the public eye in a country where pet shops have sprung up to meet a growing demand as incomes rise.

While no laws exist to regulate the business, at the Baishazhou market in Wuhan, central China, two cat traders were startled this week when a local reporter paused to take photographs.

They had collected about 1,000 cats, taken to the city by rural cat-catchers. The animals were crowded into large wire cages. All were alive, but most were silent, apparently too exhausted and traumatised to do more than mew faintly. The traders loaded about fifteen cages into a van for the cats’ final journey to Guangdong.

Chinese have for centuries eaten a startling range of animals. Southern Chinese particularly relish the taste of wild animals, believing them to be rich in nutrition.

Wild civet, banned since the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) scare, is believed to boost the immune system. Snakes are reputed to increase a man’s virility, and the smooth-skinned salamander is believed to clear acne.

The owner said: “The cats are domestic cats and are clean and cheap. In winter we have more customers than in summer. Only local people eat cat, not people from other provinces.”

The Guangzhou City Food and health quarantine office said that there were no regulations regarding cat meat.

Scotland's Minister Backs Dog Tail Docking Ban

Environment Minister Ross Finnie has defended plans to outlaw the docking of dogs tails in Scotland.

Mr Finnie was speaking as MSPs debated the general principles of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Bill.

At the same time countryside campaigners - accompanied by several working dogs - gathered outside Holyrood to protest against the total ban.

They argued that working dogs should be exempt - as ministers had originally planned - because they can injure their tails working in thick undergrowth.

And this, they say, causes more pain and suffering to the animals than docking.

But Mr Finnie explained: "The docking of dogs tails is a controversial practice, currently permissible in law when undertaken by a veterinary surgeon.

"We proposed initially to exempt working dogs from this ban. However, we have been persuaded by the evidence provided that this exemption is not necessary and I intend to prohibit the tail docking of all dogs."

And he told MSPs that the British Veterinary Association were wholeheartedly behind such a move.

Town in Norwich Fights to Save Wildlife Haven

LISA HORTON, Norwich Evening News, United Kingdom

Families living near an area thriving with wildlife and age-old trees today hoped city planners would make an 11th-hour decision to save the haven on their doorstep.

The area of wilderness is due to be levelled and landscaped as part of a property development.

But campaigners say the plans will destroy an area of natural beauty which is home to oak, ash, gorse and horse chestnut trees and wildlife including birds and foxes.

The half-acre of land in question is next to The Loke footpath between Dereham Road and Ranworth Road. While lumberjacks have already started chopping down trees, people living nearby are making a last-ditch attempt to save the land before it is lost forever. However, developers and the city council say the area will be vastly improved.

The site is set to be levelled and replanted with flowerbeds and new trees by developers Bovis Homes, but it is feared the land will lose its charm and character.

Volker Grube, 45, a builder who has lived in nearby Tolhouse Road for 10 years, said: “It has taken these trees about 35 years to reach the stage they are at now and it will take a long time to grow new trees. I think they are worried they will block the sunlight for the new homes. Once it is landscaped there will be no variety, no natural character.”

Developer Bovis was unavailable for comment today.

A spokeswoman for Norwich City Council said: “It was agreed as part of the planning permission that the area in question would be redeveloped as an informal public open space and to make this space accessible.

“The original area was overgrown, inaccessible and littered with rubbish.

“The developers have submitted proposals for improving this public open space and city council landscape architects and tree officers will be considering these details over the coming weeks.”

Are you battling to save a wildlife haven which is under threat? Telephone Evening News reporter Lisa Horton on (01603) 765704 or email lisa.horton@archant.co.uk

Alabama bill to prohibit hunting of caged animals

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The House gave final passage Tuesday to legislation that prohibits the hunting of animals who are caged or don't have a fair chance to avoid being killed.

"The animal has to have an opportunity to escape," said the House sponsor, Rep. Blaine Galliher, R-Gadsden. "You can't tie an animal up to a tree and shoot it."
Galliher said the bill would also prohibit someone from buying a lion from a circus and then hunting the lion. The bill allows people to continue to hunt birds, such as quail, that have been raised in pens.

The bill also allows people who raise wild game to import deer and other animals into Alabama as long as they are indigenous to the state. Galliher said he believes that provision could open up new opportunities for people who want to raise wild game.

The bill now goes to Gov. Bob Riley for his signature.

Nova Scotia will maintain protection for wildlife areas, game sanctuaries

Nova Scotia is going to maintain protection for 26 wildlife areas and game sanctuaries, and will set up nine protected coastal areas.

The provincial minister of natural resources released a review on the sanctuaries on Wednesday, saying the public is indicating it wants to keep development out of the areas.

Richard Hurlburt also says there is broad public support for the creation of nine new wildlife management areas, and regulations will be developed and approved to establish them.

Hurlburt says the province will also review "improved habitat protection for current sanctuaries."

However, the minister has stopped short of meeting environmentalists' requests that clear cutting be banned on the outskirts of the protected areas.

Environmentalists have also called for prohibitions on intensive logging and mining in the sanctuaries.

Activists protest legalization of dog meat

MANILA, Philippines (UPI) -- Animal rights activists are challenging a law that would legalize the consumption of dog meat among indigenous people in the northern Philippines.

The governor of Benguet province has received at least 75 protest letters from the United States, Canada, Germany, Austria and elsewhere, asking that he refrain from endorsing a resolution that would make dog meat legal, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.

A 10-member provincial board last November approved a resolution exempting the indigenous people of the Cordillera Mountains from national laws prohibiting the sale and consumption of dog meat.

The resolution allows 'the butchering of animals, dogs included, as part of their rituals and practices,' and states that commercialization is inevitable to protect this right.

The board objected to police raids of markets and restaurants run by indigenous people, citing their right to the 'ritual' use of dogs.

In a letter to the provincial governor, Anneleise Smillie, education director of Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation, wrote that citing tradition was 'an extremely poor argument for maintaining a merciless practice that should be relegated to the history books.'

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

Staying ‘True Blue' to the animals--Rescue organization inundated with requests to take in pets after TV publicity

By ARTHUR HAHN/Managing Editor, http://www.brenhambanner.com

An animal rescue organization that promises not to euthanize any animals it takes in received new stables and dog kennels, courtesy of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

But it also got something else - a flood of requests from people wanting it to accept their dogs, cats and even horses.

Melanie DeAeth, founder of True Blue Animal Rescue, and her family received a sparkling new home courtesy of the popular “Extreme Makeover” TV program.

In less than a week, a new stable and dog kennels were also built. The show, which aired Jan. 29, played up the DeAeths' efforts to help animals.

But now the cameras are gone, and True Blue volunteers are redoubling their efforts to find homes for dozens of animals.

Diana Bender, a volunteer who serves as True Blue's vice president for public relations, said all the hoopla has been “a blessing and a curse.”

“People think we have this whole big, elaborate facility,” Bender said. “We get calls from everywhere. We get calls and e-mails from Canada now, from all over the (United) States.

“They're telling us congratulations and ‘will you take my pet please.'

“And we get calls every single day from people who have found a momma dog and six to eight puppies.”

True Blue currently has about 40 dogs and 20 horses, including several pregnant mares.

“Our biggest problem now is trying to find homes for the animals,” said Bender. “When we committed to ‘no kill,' we knew we'd have this problem.”

True Blue has a Web site - t-bar.org - that has photos and descriptions of the animals under its care.

No dog or cat is adopted out unless it has been spayed or neutered; True Blue foots the bill for that and also for medical care for the animals.

For example, most of the dogs brought in have heartworms, which are expensive to treat, said Bender.

“Realistically, there are not enough homes for the animals, sad as it is,” she said. “We try to do what we can in Washington and surrounding counties.”

Some of the dogs at True Blue have been there months, awaiting adoption.

The organization prints flyers with pictures and descriptions of dogs.

Like Mary: “Found at Christmas time, Mary gets along with cats, dogs (even little ones), kids and people! A beautiful border collie-mix, she'd love to add some fun to your family!”

“What we need more than anything is to get these animals out before the public,” said Bender.

Protecting the polar bear

The need for a review of the Arctic animal's status is forcing the White House to examine the very climate change factors it has downplayed and even denied

National Geographic (Feb 18, 2006) The Bush administration has kicked off a process to determine whether polar bears should be added to the United States endangered species list because their habitat is melting.

The action is "a significant acknowledgement of what global warming is doing to the Arctic ice," said Kassie Siegel, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity in Joshua Tree, Calif.

In December the conservation group, along with Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defence Council, sued the U.S. government to protect the world's polar bears from extinction.

The conservationists say Earth's steadily rising temperature is causing the polar bear's habitat to melt. Many scientists say the warming is due, in part, to human activities such as driving cars and burning coal, which release heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.

If the bears are given federal protection, they would be the first U.S. mammals officially deemed to be in danger of extinction because of global warming, the conservation groups said.

Rosa Meehan, the chief of marine-mammal protection at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage, Alaska, said the conservation groups presented sufficient information to merit a close look at the status of polar bears.

"It doesn't mean that we are going to list them or that we're not," she said. "We know things are changing. We know a lot more about polar bears than we did a few years ago. We need to review their status."

The Fish and Wildlife Service will spend the next 12 months examining scientific evidence about the changing Arctic environment and how it is affecting polar bears.

Polar bears, which live only in the Arctic and can grow to about 2.5 metres (eight feet) tall, depend on sea ice for survival. They hunt their primary prey, the ringed seal, from the ice. They also travel, mate and sometimes give birth on the ice, but the ice is melting. Scientists with the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colo., reported that in September 2005 the sea ice had shrunk to its lowest level on record.

If the melting trend continues, the Arctic could see ice-free summers by 2040, according to a Canadian climate model. Other models suggest open Arctic waters by the end of the century. Bears in some areas spend the summer months on land. They fast until the ice forms in the fall, when they can use it as a vast platform for hunting.

Studies of polar bear populations around the western coast of Hudson Bay show that this wait, and the bears' period of fasting, has increased by three weeks since the 1970s. The population there is noticeably skinnier now, scientists say, and has declined by 15 per cent in the last decade.

In northern Alaska, the U.S. Minerals Management Service has concluded some polar bears are drowning as they try to swim increasingly long distances between the ice and land. The federal agency documented four drowned bears that had tried to swim a record 260-kilometre gap in September 2004. The worldwide polar bear population is estimated at 20,000 to 25,000. "We are not going to lose the polar bears," said Terry Root, an ecologist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. "We will always have individuals around in zoos and places like that, but we are going to lose the natural behaviour of polar bears.

"We are so strongly affecting their habitat, their way of life, that they are going to have to basically become very similar to raccoons (which rely heavily on humans for survival), in the sense they are not going to be able to feed the way they have fed before, on seals and off the ice."

Today encounters between humans and polar bears are increasing on land, because the bears are stranded by the retreating ice, explained Meehan, the Fish and Wildlife Service biologist.

To combat the problem, the Fish and Wildlife Service is working with oil and gas companies and villagers to develop "strategies for people to be safe in bear country," Meehan said.

Environmental groups often criticize the Bush administration for ignoring scientific evidence of global climate change.

Siegel, the Centre for Biological Diversity attorney, said the decision to conduct a status review of polar bears forces the Bush administration to examine the very science on climate change it has "questioned, denied, and downplayed."

If the polar bears are given protection, federal agencies will be required to consider how their decisions affect polar bears. For example, the listing of polar bears could affect a coal plant seeking federal permission to emit heat trapping gases or an automaker seeking to sell a gas-guzzling car.

Tigers and Leopards are Beautiful Animals - Will Tigers be Extinct Soon?

Statesman News Service, GUWAHATI, Feb. 17. —– The appeal made by some leading Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Wednesday calling on India, China and Nepal to gear up efforts to nab smuggling networks involved in the international illegal trade of tiger and leopard skins has raised hopes for conservation activists here.

Dr Bibhab Talukdar, secretary general of Aaranyak, a society for biodiversity conservation, working in North-east India to reduce wildlife trade in Eastern Himalaya and South and South-east Asia, hoped that the call given by the MEPs would help enhance protection for tigers in South Asia. He said that illegal killing of tiger was a smooth and silent process and in most cases nothing could be detected as in reality nothing remained to be discovered once a tiger was killed. From skins to bones of the animal, everything is sold in the international market. More stringent monitoring of tiger poaching in North East India is needed. The recent recovery of tiger skins and bones in Dhekiajuli and Dhemaji in northern Assam bordering Arunachal Pradesh was a reminder about thriving tiger poaching in the area.
In a written declaration, put down in the European Parliament, the MEPs expressed concern over the role of organised criminal networks engaged in trafficking tiger and leopard skins from India into China via Nepal, and have called on EU members to offer assistance to these countries to facilitate improved enforcement. The MEPs are of the opinion that the only way to stop criminal gangs killing tigers and leopards is by a joint, concerted government action by China, Nepal and India.

Investigators from the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) recently uncovered the huge market for skins in China and Tibet, an important reason for continued poaching. Costumes decorated with great swathes of tiger and leopard skin are worn at festivals across the Tibetan Plateau region. EIA and WPSI witnessed hundreds of people at these festivals wearing costumes decorated with Tiger skins. They also brought back startling images of tiger and leopard skins being openly sold in shops and markets in Tibet and surrounding Chinese Provinces.

Mrs Belinda Wright, WPSI Executive Director, stated: ‘We are delighted that this written declaration has been put forward in the European Parliament. It sends out a clear message to China, India and Nepal that the EU is concerned about the trade in tiger and leopard skins. Illegal trade is currently the biggest threat to the survival of India’s wild tigers and if no action is taken, it will mark the end of the species.”

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Comment from Sherry: How can the rest of us help to save the tigers? Has anyone seen products made from tiger and leopard skins being sold in the USA?

Humane Society dog a hero after saving near-frozen cat

By: Matt Goerzen, http://www.brandonsun.com

Not all heroic souls fight fires or arrest crooks. Some don’t even wear pants.

Cleo, the furry black and white canine who greets visitors at the Brandon Humane Society, is being hailed as a hero after finding a freezing cat that was dumped at the shelter’s doorstep.

One of the shelter’s new volunteers was out walking Cleo Wednesday afternoon when the dog started barking and ran up to a little lump curled up by a fence.

“She went right up to it,” said shelter manager Tracy Munn. There’s no way (the volunteer) would have seen the cat.”


When it was found, the black and brown tabby had a frozen back leg and parts of its ears were freezing off.

“You could see the blood at the edge of both of them, poor little thing. It wouldn’t have lasted out in the cold. It was already curling itself up.

“He was crying, so we wrapped him in a blanket and waited for animal control to come.”

The cat was rushed to the Brandon Veterinary Clinic, and will be staying there for the next few days for treatment.

Munn said a lot of people drop off animals at the shelter in the middle of the cold weather, expecting the shelter to take care of them.

Some of them simply dump the animals off in a box on the doorstep — something that makes Munn absolutely furious, especially when the weather is below zero.

“People are idiots,” Munn said. “It’s very common to see frostbitten animals. It bothered me horribly when I saw the cat.”

With 270 animals on a waiting list to get into the shelter, dropping animals off on the doorstep won’t help an animal jump the queue.

Luckily for the nearly frozen feline, the new volunteer, who was in tears after the incident, is interested in adopting the animal when it leaves the vet.

Cleo, who received a nice piece of salmon for her heroics, has become a permanent fixture of the shelter.

The Border Collie-Blue Healer cross has lived in the shelter for seven years, and Munn says Cleo considers it her job to protect all the animals in it — even the cats.

“This is her shelter. She knows we’re full. But she doesn’t care. She still wants to save another.

“I love that dog.”

Humans making wildlife sick

Whether it's monkeys and AIDS or mosquitoes and the West Nile Virus, we're used to thinking of wildlife as reservoirs for emerging infectious human diseases. But a Canadian mathematical biologist says that it's time that we turned the tables – as often as not, it's humans that are making the wildlife sick, often to our own detriment.

It's a 180-degree turn in perspective that Dr. Mark Lewis says is critical to our understanding of emerging infectious diseases of both wildlife and humans. And, he says, in the case of at least one ocean-based disease outbreak, biology and math are proving to be powerful allies in helping stem the growing tide of an ocean plague.

"With emerging infectious diseases of wildlife today there's almost always some human component," say Dr. Lewis, an NSERC-funded mathematical ecologist in the mathematics and statistics department at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Dr. Lewis' lab group has used mathematical mapping tools, often in collaboration with other research groups, to document the spread of pests from the West Nile Virus to the Mountain Pine Beetle in Pacific Northwest forests.

Last year, in a landmark paper, he helped document how commercial salmon farms off Canada's British Columbia coast are a breeding ground for sea lice, a parasite that then infects young wild Pacific salmon. The research was the first to document the parasitic impact of commercial salmon farms on wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest.

Dr. Lewis and University of Alberta doctoral student Marty Krkosek, who led the sea lice research, are co-presenting their latest sea lice and salmon findings as part of a symposium called The Rising Tide of Ocean Plagues, February 17 at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in St. Louis.

Dr. Lewis is a leader in applying mathematical tools to modelling environmental interactions, from carnivore territoriality to risk analysis related to biological invaders, such as the zebra mussel in the Great Lakes.

When it comes to emerging infectious diseases of wildlife, Dr. Lewis says that public perception and policy needs to move beyond seeing "special cases" to seeing the constant role that people play.

"The way that people often think about emerging infectious diseases is that there are just a lot of special cases. That this happened here and that happened there, without any commonalties," notes Dr. Lewis. "But there's a growing sense that emerging infectious diseases are really important as a group. So we need the quantitative tools and mathematical theory to be able to study them, including being predictive and diagnostic."

In the case of sea lice, Krkosek, Dr. Lewis and biologist Dr. John Volpe at the University of Victoria, Canada used an innovative live-sampling technique to document the transfer and spreading impact of parasite transmission from a fish farm to wild salmon. "There's a long and beautiful history of mathematical models for parasite transmission that goes back to the 1970s," Dr. Lewis says. "But the thing that was really unusual here was the spatial structure."

The researchers analyzed the sea lice infection rates of more than 12,000 juvenile wild chum and pink salmon as they headed out to sea from their natal rivers. The infection rates were measured in intervals before and for 60 kilometres after they passed a commercial salmon farm.
"Our research shows that the impact of a single salmon farm is far reaching," says Krkosek. "Sea lice production from the farm we studied was 30,000 times higher than natural. These lice then spread out around the farm. Infection of wild juvenile salmon was 73 times higher than ambient levels near the farm and exceeded ambient levels for 30 kilometres of the wild migration route."
The researchers are now extending their work to assess how this increased parasite load affects the health of the young fish. There's already initial evidence that this human-induced parasite boost kills many fish. Dr. Rick Routledge from Simon Fraser University and his collaborators recently showed that infection rates similar to those documented by Dr. Lewis will kill juvenile pink and chum salmon.

But, says Dr. Lewis, there's evidence that some British Columbian salmon farmers aren't waiting for the final wildlife forensics report to take action. They're taking the researchers' sea lice numbers to heart and moving their salmon farms. In an unprecedented agreement, Marine Harvest Canada, a major fish farming company, has agreed to move adult salmon from its farm at Glacier Bay in British Columbia's Broughton Archipelago to another site further away from a major migration route of emerging wild juvenile salmon.

Says Dr. Lewis: "Ours is basic research, but the mathematical biology clearly gives key results about the contentious issue of fish farm impact on sea lice and wild salmon."

Both Dr. Lewis' and Marty Krkosek's research is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Learn more about Dr. Lewis' research at http://www.math.ualberta.ca/~mlewis/index.htm

Deputies discover 63 pets in trailer

SHARPES, FLORIDA - An anonymous call led deputies and animal control officials to a trash-infested trailer, where they found 63 assorted animals, nine of them dead.

There were animal feces on the floor. Roaches were everywhere.

"We found dogs, cats, hamsters, turtles, ferrets, lizards and guinea pigs," Cpl. Gene Hope said. "If you could hold your breath, you could be inside there for 30 seconds."

The owner, Wade R. Fuller, 75, was admitted to Cape Canaveral Hospital last week, and no one had fed the animals since, law enforcement officials said.

"The animals had been dead for a while," said Bob Brown, outreach officer for Brevard County Animal Services and Enforcement. "The rest looked pretty dehydrated and malnourished." Charges are pending as the investigation continues.

Some of the rescued dogs -- a Rottweiler, a beagle and two Labrador mixes -- were transferred to the North Animal Care and Adoption Center in Titusville.

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Contact Basu at 360-1018 or kbasu@flatoday.net

Green cover disappearing in quake areas

By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: People in AJK are cutting down trees for wood to rebuild houses, Daily Times has learnt. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has warned that deforestation poses immediate and long-term threats to the environment.

In the immediate aftermath of the quake the IUCN had warned that if alternative energy sources and construction methods were not introduced, people would resort to cutting trees to rebuild houses and cook food.

“Timber stored in the affected areas is being transported at an alarming rate for sale in markets in the lowlands,” said a report recently issued by the IUCN.

The most dangerous landslides were reported in Allai Valley, Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Bagh, which also destroyed forest cover, the IUCN report said. Solid and liquid waste from the quake camps is also harmful to forests and wildlife, the report said.

Conservationists demanded that the government make plans to save the remaining forest cover and wildlife along with the reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes. The regulatory capacity of the AJK government’s Forest Department has been badly compromised due to loss of human resources, office buildings and vehicles. More than 75 percent of the department’s staff was affected by the quake.

PETA advises people not to make fashion statement at animals cost

Mumbai February 15, 2006

People for Ethical Treatment to Animals (PETA), an international voluntary organisation which advocates veganism, has urged buyers not to shop for clothes containing animal ingredients.

Highlighting some disturbing facts about the fashion industry here yesterday, Peta (India) chief functionary Anuradha Sawhney said, "Cows raised for leather suffer many forms of cruelty, lambs raised for their wool in Australia suffer through painful mutilations and 6,600 silkworms are boiled alive to make every kilo of silk." "Ask your loved ones not to exchange gifts that contain animal ingredients such as wool, leather or silk," she appealed.

Ms Sawhney said the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has termed leather a "co-product" of the meat industry and therefore, is valued more as an export.

A PETA investigator said, "At the municipal abattoirs in Bangalore and Kolkata, workers including small children, violently pushed and dragged the animals to the slaughter floor, where they were made to lie in pools of blood, and guts removed from their dead brethren." Many highly toxic chemicals are used on leather to stop its decomposition, which has a detrimental effect on the people's health working in or living near leather tanneries, exposing them to numerous diseases such as prolapse of the uterus, cancer, nervous disorders, asthma and premature death including stillbirth, he added.

Do your pets eat beaks? Feathers? Entrails? You Might Be Surprised.

BY CONNIE BLOOM
Knight Ridder Newspapers

We know you love your dogs and cats and chances are you're plunking down a pretty penny for popular brands of pet food. You'd probably never dream the bag may contain beaks, feathers, heads and entrails.

The mental images are terrible. At best, the majority of low-end and premium commercial pet foods are wanting in the basic nutrients to sustain health, say experts. At worst, they include garbage and are a source of death and disease.

Pet food quality has been in the news of late. The FDA is investigating the deaths of more than 100 dogs attributed to aflatoxin-tainted food manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods in its Gaston, S.C., facility. The substance causes lethal liver disease in animals and had exceeded the maximum allowable levels. The poisoning was accidental but speaks to the issue.

"Half of all dogs over 10 years old are expected to get some form of cancer," writes Tracie Hotcher, author of "The Dog Bible, Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know" (Gotham Books, $20). "My personal inclination is to think that the danger to our dogs resides inside the bags of dog food: They are full of mysterious and possibly dangerous ingredients, often the bottom of the barrel from processing the discards of a food industry that is filled with carcinogens and chemicals."

Take, for example, the common ingredients listed as byproducts. "Byproducts are anything under the sun - wood shavings.

"It's pretty gross and disgusting," said Lin Croskey, co-owner of In Good Health, a natural foods pet supply. "Byproducts can be beaks, feet and heads. ... Chemical preservatives have been proven to cause cancer in animals and people as well."

Ingredients in low-end and even premium pet food typically include meat and poultry byproducts, powdered cellulose, preservatives, fillers, crude protein, sweeteners, flavor enhancers and artificial color. These ingredients are regulated by the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which requires "that pet foods, like human foods, be pure and wholesome, safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled," according to the Food and Drug Administration at (www.fda.gov/cvm/petfoods.htm). The devil is in the details.

better way to go is to purchase all natural, human-grade food with no byproducts, no chemical preservatives and no fillers, the same things you should be eating, said Croskey. If you don't immediately recognize the ingredients on the label, bid it adieu.

"It's the same as the basic human principle, you are what you eat," said Rodger Robertson, a sales consultant for RJ Matthews, the parent company of PBS Animal Health in Massillon. "You can have the word `natural' in the name, but not have one natural product in there."

The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine "explains" the regulations behind pet food labels in six agonizing pages on the Internet at www.fda.gov/cvm/petlabel.htm. While the ingredients are listed on the bag or box in order of predominance by weight, a number of complex rules govern their descriptors. In something labeled "Beef Dinner for Dogs," for example, the beef should comprise an alarming 25 percent of the dry or canned product, not counting the water used in processing, but manufacturers use terms such as platter, entree, nuggets and formula to get around it.

"Chicken meal" is better than "poultry meal." "`Poultry' is anything with feathers," said Robertson.

The lights went on for Ann Burlson when she was reading a cat food label. Burlson, assistant store manager of PBS Animal Health, said, "I look at ingredients all the time on any of the products we sell. We are in constant training and pride ourselves on our knowledgeable staff. ... I went through the cereal boxes one day and here I'm feeding my kids junk. I'm concerned about pets and I found only five cereals that did not use BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) as a preservative. That was it."

Long-term use of BHA and BHT have been associated with cancer in humans. She tossed out the offenders.

People look for good deals in pet food, said Robertson, but should reconsider. "Byproducts are inclusive and may include entrails. Cheaper foods do not use locked-in formulas. They have a minimum and maximum to work with. The better dog foods are uniform, the formula the same from bag to bag. ... Protein sources described as `meat' or `bone meal' could be roadkill."

California has a law forbidding the use of dead, dying, diseased and disabled (sick) animals in feed, but no such laws govern other states, he said.

Veterinarian Nan Decker of Northfield, Ill., steers her clients away from mainstream fare. "I prefer more holistic diets than are found at supermarkets. ... If a label says "meat" or "chicken byproducts," that's usually not a good sign. You don't really know it's quality protein."

She also shuns corn, wheat and gluten-containing grain, dairy and soy - foods most likely to set off allergic reactions with continued use. Unusual combinations in dog food such as duck, trout, sweet potatoes and salmon are healthful alternatives designed to vary the diet and alleviate symptoms.

"If your pets are scratching, it could be something they're eating," said Burlson. "We don't get fresh veggies anymore - everything sits. It's the same with dog food. ... People are saying better food has made a difference in their animals. People think of their animals as their children. I have one cat (Lucky), and I feed him the best."

Consider: If you wouldn't put it on your plate, don't buy it - and take a second look at what you're eating. The shortest list of ingredients is the best list.

Here are some things to avoid from "The Dog Bible:"

• Meat or poultry byproducts - indicate lower food quality.


• Fats or proteins from unknown sources. "Animal fat" could mean old restaurant grease.


• Dedicated fiber sources - results of the food manufacturing process.


• Crude protein - beaks, hooves, tendons, etc., can't be processed by the body.


• Powdered cellulose - essentially sawdust.


• Artificial colors - chemicals with long-term health consequences.


• Sugar and sweeteners - aggravate health problems.


• Food fragments - what's left after the nutrition is removed.


• Flavor and texture enhancers - good food doesn't need them.