Conservation news snapshot July 2003

Alaska

On March 13'th, Friends of Animals, the Connecticut-based international animal
advocacy group, promised that it would organise an international tourism boycott if Governor Frank Murkowski goes ahead with plans to open fire on Alaska's wolves from helicopters and snowmobiles.

Hard line, extremist "hunters" have been pressing for permission to wage open-season war on wolves in three areas of Alaska; McGrath, the Nelchina Basin and the Cook Inlet. So far the trapper-dominated Board of Game has either overturned or found ways around, laws banning the unethical killing of wolves and is trying to re-legalise hunting from Snowmobiles and shooting from aircraft. Strangely though, no actual action seems to have been taken yet. In fact it is now highly conspicuous that despite a lot of vote-winning words, Governor Murkowski has done nothing to prevent all the new, anti-wildlife policies of his hand-picked Board of Game from floundering in red tape and bureaucracy.

According to the Anchorage Daily News: "Alaskan state biologists say they want to produce 50-75 more moose for Alaskan hunters by eliminating wolves and bears around McGrath. They also plan to shoot wolves for four more years who migrate into the area where wolves have been massacred. Relying on Gordon Haber, an Alaska wildlife scientist, FoA denounced the science behind the McGrath wolf-killing scheme as 'abominable'."

The figures "50-75" are probably a misprint. Again, according to Associated Press (March 15'th) "Board members and hunters have said repeatedly over the last week that moose populations have dropped to very low levels in many parts of the state. In unit 16B, for example, biologists estimate the moose population has dropped from about 7,400 in 1990 to about 3,800 in 2001. The goal is to have 6,500 to 7,000 moose in that area so people can harvest 310 to 600 animals."

All of the figures quoted by the Board are highly unreliable as little or no accurate and scientific census work has been done.

To give you an idea of the way Alaska's so called "hunters" think, this is what Duane Goodrich (Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee) has to say about shooting wolves from aircraft and snowmobiles: "I don't believe in fair chase for vermin. If you're trying to get rid of them, why worry about it?" (Associated Press 3/15/03)



Baghdad Zoo

Dr N V K Ashraf, National Programme Coordinator of the Wild Rescue Programme of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), is part of a team being put together by the US based International Fund for Animal Welfare to save the animals and rebuild the zoo.

The six-man team consists of experts from South Africa, England, China and the US and they hope to quickly restore the supply of food and water to the collection of animals left traumatised by widespread damage and destruction to the zoo and its surroundings.

So far the rescue effort at Baghdad Zoo has been almost entirely led by South Africans, said IFAW's Director of Emergency Relief, Sarah Scarth, who is based in Cape Town. The population of Baghdad Zoo includes 19 lions, tigers, brown bears, wolves, foxes, jackals, camels, ostrich, badgers and some primates. During the war, much of the zoo's equipment was stolen by looters and food and water supplies became almost impossible to provide. (In the light of recent news about the survival of many artefacts from the Iraq National Museum - presumed stolen but actually hidden for protection by staff - it is to be hoped that some of the zoo's equipment has similarly been hidden by keepers and will be returned.)

Dr Asraf, an Executive Committee member of the World Association of
Wildlife Veterinarians and a member of the Captive Breeding Specialist
Group of the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is an experienced wildlife rehabilitation manager and has set up has set up many successful projects in the past.

http://sify.com/news/othernews/fullstory.php?id=13167288



China

Largely unreported in the West, China has for decades, been suffering a relentless erosion of its wild environment. Over-grazing, over-hunting and the encroachment of cultivation into forest areas have all contributed to a loss of natural habitat and the decline of many species. In China, as in the West, the middle years of the twentieth century could best be described as "grey" years ruled over by "grey" men - interested only in politics and the cold war, falsely believing that they could mechanically force environment and public alike to do what they wanted. Like leaders the world over, they didn't worry about the environment for the simple reason that nobody had ever worried about it before.

In the last few years though ecological concerns have begun to enter the political arena and a number of correction programmes have been put in place. In March, the "China Daily" newspaper carried a story about the success of one of these projects in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Here, strict control on grazing and a ban on the use of guns have played their part in restoring a flourishing forest environment where only a decade ago, there was overgrazed wasteland.

Now the farmers in the region are having to contend with the inevitable result of restoring the natural balance to the forest - the return of the wolf. Livestock losses are beginning to mount and local officials agree that the wolf population certainly seems to have recovered to the extent that they can draw up a culling policy to manage it. At the moment though, they lack hard data on the exact population and distribution of the wolves. The local government in the region does have the power to authorise immediate action but forestry officials are urging restraint until all the facts are in.

The resurgence of wildlife has also caused some problems in other parts of China, notably, the burgeoning wild boar population in Central China's Hubei Province and the Beijing area.

http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2003-04-15/112006.html


Idaho

At it again. Despite the fact that wolves have been back in Idaho now for eight years (they were intentionally slaughtered to extinction there in the decades following the second world war), the Idaho anti-wolf coalition intends to have them all killed all over again.

The Central Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition ( a union of the greedy, the ignorant and the easily led), has decided that the Canadian wolves which were re-introduced by the government are not native and are intruders into the territory of the native Idaho wolf. (What Idaho wolf ?). They are preparing to sue the government to have them removed and claim that the original impact assessment failed to assess the economic impact of wolves on small businesses and local governments. They also claim that the government has not followed up on its commitment to review and reassess the wolf recovery program.

Three firms of shyster lawyers are apparently willing to assist in driving Idaho's wolves to extinction again but the Coalition has not yet decided which one to pay.

According to Times-News writer Chad Baldwin, Helen Franklin of "Law Finders" in North Bend, Oregon said "We're looking at one of the biggest class-action lawsuits in the Western states. This was an extreme move by the (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service -- introduction of a non-native species that threatens to rid an entire ecosystem of wildlife. Was this the intent of the Endangered Species Act?"

http://www.magicvalley.com/news/localstate/index.asp?StoryID=3672



New Mexico

In May, federal officials went ahead with threats to kill Mexican wolves. There are between 19 and 30 Mexican wolves left in the wild and they are among the most endangered animals on the planet.

Nevertheless, wolf "592", a female member of the Sycamore Pack that was released into the Gila National Forest on April 18 was shot on May 27'th and her male mate captured for relocation after complaints from a rancher that cattle had been attacked. The wolf is known to have developed a taste for beef after scavenging the carcasses of dead cows left lying around the land by the rancher. Ranchers in this area - and many others in the USA - do not routinely check for or remove fallen stock

Another pack of Mexican gray wolves is scheduled for release in the Gila Wilderness in late June, according to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. It will be the fourth pack in the state and consists of a mixture of captive bred animals and ones which have been recaptured after previous release programs.

http://eacourier.com/display/inn_news/news11.txt


Sweden

The Lapponia wolf reported to have crossed into norther Sweden from Finland around last Christmas has disappeared. Heavy efforts were made to protect him by the Swedish and Lapp authorities - involving the pre-payment of large sums of compensation to reindeer herders. But it is most likely that the herders have just pocketed the money killed it anyway.

http://www.lantbruk.com/pub/hpsart.hbs?avd=nyheter&artid=345451&FROM=dages

The Swedish government has a good track record on action for endangered species - including wolves and its ministers regularly resist calls from eco-illiterates for the lifting of protection from Sweden's predators. At present, in Sweden it is only legal to scare off a wolf which is threatening livestock - not kill it, unless it is known and can be proved to have attacked before.

http://www.itechnology.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1047659760720B235



Switzerland

On June 8'th the Swiss National Council rejected an anti-environment MP's motion to remove the wolf from the list of endangered species.

According to a press release from the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe, Theo Maissen's proposal, originally carried in the Swiss Council of States on December 13 2001, instructed the government not to implement the "Swiss Wolf Concept" (management plan) and to release the country from all international obligations that require it to protect the wolf.

Maissen's original excuse for his proposed wolf-extinction plan was that Switzerland was too heavily populated and too dependent upon tourism to permit wolves to exist. (Wolves eat tourists; right ? ) The National Council however seemed to have a better understanding of the words "endangered " and "species" then Herr Maissen and rejected the proposal.

Switzerland is, of course, a signatory to the Bern Convention on endangered Species.

http://www.large-carnivores-lcie.org/news96.htm

France

French Alpine Shepherds claim that the 50 or-so wolves now inhabiting the Alps have killed 1500 sheep in the last year. French environmentalists point out the obvious fact that the shepherds are exaggerating the numbers to extract more compensation money from the government.

Recently though, the French government - despite being a signatory to the Bern Convention - approved a motion which will give the shepherds the right to wipe out the Alpine wolves as soon as they want to. (Daily Telegraph 17'th May).

(Even assuming that 50 wolves had indeed murdered fifteen hundred sheep, Fifteen hundred is not a lot compared to the tens of thousands killed by dogs, cars, lightning strikes, floods and disease every year. As usual, whatever it is, it sounds worse when the word "wolf" is attached to it.)

Last year, there were unconfirmed reports that France had approved the killing of the Alpine wolves and was about to start the process but no more was ever heard of the plan.

We are in touch with the French Green party and looking into this story. We hope to bring you some more details in the next newsletter.


USA

Following the broad success of wolf reintroduction in the lower 48 states - there are now about 4000 wolves where there have been none since the mid nineteen hundreds - Secretary of State, Gayle Norton formally downgraded the status of the wolf in North America from "endangered" to "threatened" on May 18'th. At the same time she re-designated the areas and goals for wolf recovery and set alarm bells ringing from coast to coast.

Gayle Norton is a politician with an anti-environment track record. For us in Britain, this is an odd concept - many of our politicians pay no attention to the environment and most are probably quite ignorant about it; but few or none could be said to be "anti-" it. Gayle Norton on the other hand has fought tooth and nail against every piece of conservation legislation she could hold of and appears to loathe and despise everything to do with endangered species.

Quoting from the press release from Defenders of Wildlife:

"Today's FWS decision downlists the wolf from "endangered" to "threatened" throughout the Rockies and the Pacific Northwest, even though only three of nine states in the region with vast areas of suitable habitat have seen recovery efforts."

"The rule also downlists wolves to threatened throughout the Great Lakes and Northeast. The rule would sharply limit wolf recovery in the West to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, and preclude wolf recovery in northern California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, and the Northeastern United States."

"Defenders' Vice President for Species Conservation, Nina Fascione, noted that the FWS' moves to shift management of wolf populations to the states comes at a time when several state legislatures are considering - and adopting - increasingly vitriolic anti wolf bills. (In 2002, Idaho's legislature passed a resolution calling for the removal of wolves from the state 'by any means necessary,' while Montana and Wyoming are each considering legislation that would allow the killing of wolves "on sight)."

"The ultimate goal of the Endangered Species Act is to restore species and give management back to the states, but these legislatures are showing their true colors, and true intentions, for how they plan to 'manage' wolves once they are delisted."

"There's no doubt that wolf recovery will essentially cease, and probably reverse, if this moves forward," said Fascione. "Cutting short the return of the wolf is just another sad page in Secretary Gale Norton's worsening conservation record," said Schlickeisen."

"Less than a decade after the wolf was returned to Yellowstone and other parts of the northern Rockies, biologists are noting tremendous, positive ecosystem effects, including the return of a number of fast-disappearing habitats, such as aspen groves and beaver ponds, in restored wolf habitat."

"Scientists believe that the resurgence of diversity in these ecosystems may be attributable to the restoration of more natural movement patterns by elk herds in response to wolves, allowing native vegetation to regenerate. 'The dire predictions that foreshadowed the return of the wolf have proven to be unfounded,' Fascione added. 'Instead of less wildlife, we've got more, and a clear rebound of biological diversity.' "