AR-NEWS Digest 641

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) (China/HK)CIGUATERA FISH POISONING, HUMAN
     by bunny 
  2) Dutch farms killing pigs to curb swine fever  
     by Vadivu Govind 
  3) (TH) Fake animal parts and the wildlife trade
     by Vadivu Govind 
  4) Ice cream - US and Asian consumption
     by Vadivu Govind 
  5) (HK) Democrats study slaughterhouses 
     by Vadivu Govind 
  6) (HK) Fake reefs fool fish into favouring local waters 
     by Vadivu Govind 
  7) Seven Sane Scientists
     by Andrew Gach 
  8) Kidney transplants from cadavers are successful
     by Liz Grayson 
  9) [TH] Protesters deny orang-utan a second mate
     by David J Knowles 
 10) [CA] Farmers enduring ice storm `torture chamber'
     by David J Knowles 
 11) (US) Guidelines On Animal Transplants Urged
     by allen schubert 
 12) Verdict on Abuse of Ensign Nobility, "Chance," Winning Racehorse
     by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
 13) Oklahoma University Takes Sutton Research Center Under Its Wing
     by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
 14) Number of dead and oiled birds rising
     by Andrew Gach 
 15) Condemnations and congratulations
     by Andrew Gach 
 16) Re: (US) Yellowstone bison solutions offered
     by buffalo folks 
 17) Excerpts from ALFSG, London
     by "Bina Robinson" 
 18) amendment to ALFSG Newsletter
     by "Jamie, John Sherry" 
 19) NJARA PR: Second NJ Coyote Hunt Spurs Unprecedented Non-Violent Action
     by veganman@idt.net (Stuart Chaifetz)
 20) Boston Globe: Caution urged on animal-to-human transplants 
     by Lawrence Carter-Long 
 21) Leading NY Furrier Arrested
     by MINKLIB 
 22) [US] "Group Raises Money To Save Tigers"
     by Steve Barney 
 23) [US] `Free Willy' Could Go Back to Sea
     by Steve Barney 
 24) (US) 100 given `mad cow'-infected fluid
     by allen schubert 
 25) Exotic Cat Ban (NY)
     by DobieBoy2 
 26) FURRIER ARRESTED FOR MAKING DEATH THREATS (US)
     by civillib@cwnet.com
 27) Unicorn Foundation
     by Ilene Rachford 
 28) Big Break proposed for fur dealers - letters needed
     by Shirley McGreal 
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 13:33:18 +0800
From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (China/HK)CIGUATERA FISH POISONING, HUMAN
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980122132559.2adf3a36@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

CIGUATERA FISH POISONING, HUMAN - CHINA (HONG KONG)
***************************************************
Source: From the South China Morning Post


Fishermen yesterday said the authorities had acted irresponsibly when they
told people to refrain from eating large coral reef fish. Instead, the
Government should have traced the origin of the contaminated fish, which
have poisoned scores of people in the past few weeks. The fishermen said
they feared becoming victims following the chicken hawkers and farmers.  

The Joint Committee of Hong Kong Fishermen's Organisations, which
represents 44 groups, will today demand clarification from the Government.
Some fishermen complained of a drop of business immediately following the
Government's revelation on Saturday of 50 suspected ciguatera-poisoning
cases. Twenty-one more patients were admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital on
Sunday after eating tiger garoupa at a dai pai dong restaurant. One of the
patients was the son of the restaurant owner. "We didn't know the fish was
contaminated. Even my son ate the fish and felt ill. He was admitted to
hospital, too," said the restaurant owner.  

Last night, two men and two women, aged 42 to 52, remained in hospital.
Their condition was stable. The Health Department has warned people to
avoid coral reef fish weighing more than three catties [1 catty = 500 g].
But Fishermen's Association chairman Lai Kwok-kui claimed the advice was
stupid. "Shall we dump all the big fish following the mass slaughter of
chickens? The officials should trace the source of the fish and find out
why they are contaminated instead of asking people not to eat big fish," he
said. An Agriculture and Fisheries Department spokesman said its officials
had met Health Department colleagues to get more information about the
toxic fish. The Democratic Party backed the call for the source of the
poisoned fish to be traced.  

CDPC Note: This syndrome is caused by the presence in the fish of toxins
elaborated by the dinoflagellate _Gambierdiscus toxicus_ and certain other
algae that grow in coral reefs. Fish eating the algae become toxic, and the
effect is magnified up the food chain so that predatory fish become the
most toxic.  

Ciguatera poisoning is a significant cause of disease in areas where
consumption of reef fish is common (the Caribbean, southern Florida,
Hawaii, the South Pacific, and Australia). The consumption of large
predatory fish should be avoided, especially in the reef area. In areas
where assays for toxic fish are available, such as Hawaii, the risk of
toxicity can be reduced by screening all large "high-risk" fish. The
occurrence of toxic fish is sporadic and not all fish of a given species or
from a given area will be toxic. Reef fish eaters beware!  

--
========================================================
Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

email>  rabbit@wantree.com.au

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
    (/\ \-/ /\)
       )6 6(
     >{= Y =}<
      /'-^-'\
     (_)   (_)
      |  .  |
      |     |}
 jgs  \_/^\_/

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
 - Voltaire

Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment.
  -PETA          














Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 13:42:08 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Dutch farms killing pigs to curb swine fever  
Message-ID: <199801220542.NAA07360@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>The Straits Times
22 Jan 98

Dutch farms killing pigs to curb swine fever 

     AMSTERDAM -- The Dutch authorities have imposed new curbs on some pig
farms     in the wake of fresh outbreaks of swine fever in the south of the
country and in     neighbouring Germany. 

     One new case of swine fever was found in Ravenstein last week and fresh
transport     bans were imposed, said the Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday. 

     An epidemic last year led to the slaughter of nearly 10 million of the
14 million pigs in     the Netherlands. 

"When we discovered Ravenstein, we said we have to prevent getting a new
     epidemic," said a ministry spokesman. 

     Only three cases of swine fever have been found this year compared to
more than 400     last year. 

     A pig-breeding ban was lifted late last year and transport restrictions
have been eased.     -- Reuters. 

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 13:41:58 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (TH) Fake animal parts and the wildlife trade
Message-ID: <199801220541.NAA07803@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Bangkok Post
22 Jan 98

A sad imitation

              WILDLIFE: A proliferation of fake
              animal parts on the market makes the
              job of eradicating the illegal trade
              much more difficult 

              ATIYA ACHAKULWISUT

              The coiling, yellowish, dry spike was sold as a tiger's penis. It
              looks like a long, thin tube with rows of cuticle-like scales
at the
              tip. The appearance matches the description of the male tiger's
              sexual organ in books.

              But wait a minute. A closer look reveals something unusual. This
              tiger must have suffered a badly done circumcision to get a penis
              like this. Under a magnifying glass, traces of incisions from a
              carving knife are evident along the thorny tip.

              Since the idea of a tiger being circumcised in some remote forest
              clinic is way too far-fetched, a more plausible answer is that the
              tiger's penis is a fake.

              "Many people, including staff at non-governmental organisations
              and members of the media, slam the trade in wildlife and their
              body parts, which seems to continue in Thailand. What they don't
              realise is that most of the merchandise is fake," said Dr Schwann
              Tunhikorn, head of the wildlife research division at the Royal
              Forestry Department.

              Tigers' penises are one of the most frequently counterfeited items
              on the wildlife market. According to Dr Schwann, there are very
              few authentic wildlife organs for sale, even though the phoney
              ones fetch good prices.

              "I have never seen a real tiger's sexual organ in the market. I am
              not saying that every wildlife-related item is fake. Certain
things,
              like skins or meat, can't be artificially reproduced. And sadly,
              they are still for sale in some places.

              "I just want to clarify that sometimes officials can't do anything
              because traders use other materials to pass as wildlife organs. By
              doing so, they do not break wildlife protection laws," explained
              Dr Schwann, who also heads the Convention on International
              Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) office
              in Thailand.

              Visitors to such border towns as Tha Khi Lek in the North,
              Arunyaprathes in the Northeast, or Mae Sod in the west are
              familiar with many little shops of horror - small booths in which
              carcasses and organs of almost any kind of dead animals are
              displayed for sale.

              Leopard skins, with the owner's heads still attached as a
              certificate of authenticity, are must-have show pieces in these
              shops. Tigers' sexual organs, numerous kinds of antlers, fangs,
              dry gall bladders from bears, decorative products and charms
              made from ivory are almost always available.

              Some shops also carry goral oil - believed to relieve muscle pain
              and weakness. For that extra touch of realism, a goral's head is
              usually immersed in it or displayed alongside.

              Experts estimate that cashing in on wildlife and their body
parts is
              the second most profitable activity, after drug dealing. For
              traders, the only valuable tiger is a dead one. Dr Schwann said
              that a tiger's carcass can fetch a total of over 200,000 baht from
              its fur, fangs, nails and sexual organs right down to its bones
              which are ground to make Chinese medicine.

              The perception that Thailand was a centre for illegal wildlife
              trading brought international punishment once. In 1991, CITES
              imposed sanctions on Thailand on the grounds that we failed to
              abide by the convention's commitment to curb wildlife-related
              trade.

              However, Dr Schwann criticised the sanctions as unfair because,
              at that time, Thailand was the only member of CITES in the
              region.

              "We have a border thousands of kilometres long which we could
              not effectively patrol. Wildlife poachers and traders can
basically
              smuggle their goods in and out of the country at will. With our
              meagre budget and staff, we were incapable of tracking down
              these illegal activities," Dr Schwann complained.

              The sanctions meant Thailand could not export such goods as
              decorative fish or orchids. It resulted in a loss of several
billion
              baht in revenue. Luckily, the ban was lifted in 1992 after the
              passage of new, tougher wildlife protection laws.

              The fact that a high percentage of wildlife-related goods
available
              on the market are not real adds to the difficulty of
eradicating the
              practice. Legally, the burden of proof falls on the officials
making
              the arrest. At present, a lab test to determine the
authenticity of
              wildlife parts takes a lot of time and money - both of which the
              officials cannot afford.

              "I can't give an exact estimate across the board. From my
              observations, however, 90 to 99 percent of ivory products sold
              in the border town of Tha Khi Lek are fake. So are antlers,
              horns, tigers' nails or bones," said Dr Schwann.

              He further explained that the fake tigers' penises are usually
made
              of cattle tendons. The thorny tips are carved with a knife. They
              sell easily because most people don't know what bona fide tiger
              genitals are supposed to look like.

              Tusks and ivory are harder to reproduce. Plastic was used in the
              past but it was not very successful. Buyers could easily detect
              fake ivory by burning a part of it. Unlike real ivory, plastic
ivory
              melts in the heat.

              These days, counterfeiters make artificial ivory out of ground
              bones mixed with resin. It doesn't melt when burned so it's very
              difficult to tell the difference between this and the real
thing. Only
              people who are familiar with the ingrained patterns and lines of
              natural ivory can distinguish between them.

              Dr Schwann added that what are sold as bears' gall bladders
              mostly come from pigs. Almost all of what is claimed to be
              elephant leather is, in fact, cattle hide imprinted with
convincing
              wrinkles and colours.

              Jarujin Nabhitaphat, a well-known wildlife researcher noted that
              he is aware of a proliferation of fake wildlife-related
merchandise
              as well.

              "I sometimes saw piles of tigers' sexual organs on sale in Mae
              Sai, Chiang Rai. Rationally speaking, they can't be real.
There are
              not that many tigers around any more. And these things are sold
              for only 4 to 500 baht a piece. It is not worth the trouble of
              finding a tiger in the first place," Jarujin said.

              He added that the situation concerning wildlife trade in general
              has shown some improvement because newer generations of
              people do not subscribe to the aphrodisiac myth. The problem
              persists among older generations in rural provinces.

              Younger people, however, are coming up with some bizarre new
              myths of their own. Jarujin cited as an example a recent trend in
              Isan of eating queen termites in order to "get high". As a result,
              many termite mounds have been dug up and destroyed.

              People of all ages seem to be susceptible to other myths of
              improved health gained from eating certain animal parts.

              "I don't see how these things can benefit the human body. Those
              who spend tens of thousands of baht for a rhino horn might as
              well eat their own toe nails. They will receive exactly the same
              substance, that is, keratin."

              The health risks can actually be increased if the substance is
fake
              because consumers have no idea what they are eating, drinking or
              applying to their skin.

              "In a raid to an illegal plant, we found a lot of glue made from
              animal hides. The stuff is mixed with some kind of dust, supposed
              to be ground tiger bones, and made into pain-relieving medicine.
              It is diluted in alcohol and used as a drink. It can be highly
toxic,"
              Dr Schwann warned.

              Pisit Na Pattalung, Secretary General of Wildlife Fund Thailand
              (WFT), sees things a bit differently. Certain wildlife-related
goods
              may be fake, he said, but that is not an excuse for not trying to
              eradicate this kind of trade.

              "Some of the stuff may be artificial but there are real things
too.
              Furs can't be reproduced. I have seen real paws and skulls for
              sale. There is no doubt that we are still losing our precious
wildlife
              to this illegal activity," he said.

              The WFT recently conducted an informal survey among 12
              Chinese medicine shops in Bangkok's Chinatown, asking if they
              carry ground tiger bones. Eleven of the 12 answered yes: real
              bones from real tigers.

              Pisit admitted that the situation has improved over the years. But
              it is not yet time to sit back and relax.

              "Our wildlife population has declined so sharply. We cannot
              afford to lose any more."


Article copyright Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd 1997
Reprinted for non-commercial use only.
Website: http://www.bangkokpost.net

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 13:42:15 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Ice cream - US and Asian consumption
Message-ID: <199801220542.NAA07674@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>The Straits Times
22 Jan 98

DESSERT FANS: Americans are the world's greatest consumers of ice-cream,
     eating an average of 20 litres each per year, but the greatest growth
market for
     ice-cream is Asia. 

     Market-research group Euromonitor on Tuesday said global consumption of
ice-cream     rose 17 per cent from 1993 to last year. -- Reuters. 

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 13:42:20 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Democrats study slaughterhouses 
Message-ID: <199801220542.NAA07358@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
22 Jan 98

Democrats study slaughterhouses
By Sanna So and Ceri Williams 

A CENTRAL slaughterhouse could be suitable for Hong Kong as a hygienic way
of killing chickens, a five-man Democratic Party delegation visiting Taipei
said on Wednesday. 

But if introduced, it should be run by private companies, they said. 

``There are central chicken slaughterhouses run by the private sector in
Taiwan that are quite successful,'' Provisional Regional Councillor Wong
Shing-chi said. 

He said machine-slaughtered chickens were fresh frozen before being
transported to retailers. 

``Hong Kong (authorities) may learn from (the Taiwan) operation and see if
we can set up a similar slaughterhouse here,'' Mr Wong said. 

The group left for Taiwan on Wednesday on a three-day trip to study the
poultry industry. 

The group also included Provisional Regional Councillor Josephine Chan
Shu-ying and Provisional Urban Councillors Stanley Ng Wing-fai and Lee
Kwok-keung. 

They will meet officials of the Taiwan's Council of Agriculture on Thursday.
They also will visit wholesale markets, poultry vendors and chicken farmers. 
Meanwhile, Japan plans to set up a ``virus bank''. The facility will help
Japan prepare for any new types of flu outbreaks and help researchers
develop vaccines faster, a Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare official
said. 

In Hong Kong, the Department of Health said no new cases of influenza A
(H5N1) had been reported. 

It also said the only remaining case, involving a three-year-old girl who
recovered, had been deleted from the suspected list. 

This takes the total number of confirmed cases down to 18. 

But a spokesman said the department was waiting for the test results of
three children taken to Queen Mary Hospital with influenza A. 
She noted that all of the other 20 cases of people with influenza A last
week tested negative for the virus. 

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 13:42:25 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Fake reefs fool fish into favouring local waters 
Message-ID: <199801220542.NAA07354@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
22 Jan 98

Fake reefs fool fish into favouring local waters

By Valerie Bolcina 
FISHERMEN will be able to supply the local market with large coral fish,
without having to visit waters where ciguatoxic fish breed, once fish
colonise on artificial reefs put in place on Wednesday. 

The first of 10 derelict vessels was sunk at Hoi Ha Wan in the first phase
of the $100 million project to boost local marine life. 

The 10 barges and boats, confiscated by the police after being involved in
smuggling operations, cost $400,000. Once settled on the seabed they will
act as a habitat for coral fish. 

Agriculture and Fisheries Department project leader Keith Wilson said he had
seen evidence that such reefs could carry 50 tonnes of fish. 

Local fishermen last week agreed not to fish the area for at least one year
in order to allow fish to colonise the reefs. 
Those caught breaking the agreement could have their permits revoked. 

Chinese authorities have promised to educate mainland fishermen to refrain
from fishing in these areas. The artificial reefs also will prevent trawling
in the marine parks. 

A total of 20 vessels will be sunk in marine parks at Hoi Ha Wan and Yan
Chau Tong by July. 

Artificial reefs made of tyres and concrete will also be placed in these
areas. But boats are cheaper than concrete and provide ideal shelter for fish. 

They are positioned 200 metres apart, and each reef influences an area of
sea 100 metres in diameter. The expected life-span of the vessel-reefs is 20
years. A pilot scheme carried out in Hoi Ha Wan in 1993 proved successful in
attracting fish. 

Years of dredging, dumping and reclamation in Hong Kong waters have depleted
fish stock. 

A study is being carried out to determine the possibility of introducing
similar projects to areas including the Ninepin Group, Sokos, the Po Toi
islands group and Mirs Bay. 

Meanwhile five more people were on Wednesday discovered to have been
poisoned due to ciguatoxic fish, bringing the number of cases investigated
by the Department of Health to 20. 

Altogether 113 people have become ill in 20 cases over the last three weeks. 

A man was treated and discharged from hospital for ciguatoxic poisoning
after eating moray eel in a Sai Kung restaurant on 16 January. Four more
people were also discovered to have suffered fish poisoning at a Tuen Mun
restaurant. 


Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 22:23:13 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Seven Sane Scientists
Message-ID: <34C6E5D1.3FDC@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Scientists urge government to ban transplants of animal organs into
people

The Associated Press 
BETHESDA, MD, January 21, 1998

Concerned that transplanting animal organs into people might cause new
epidemics, a group of prominent scientists urged the government
Wednesday to ban the experiments until the risks are better explored.

Doctors hope that animal transplants one day could save thousands of
lives by easing a huge worldwide shortage in donated organs. So the call
for a moratorium, published Wednesday in the medical journal Nature
Medicine, is highly controversial.

"This is a very unusual situation," said Harvard University
xenotransplantation researcher Dr. Fritz Bach, who joined six other
public health experts and bioethicists in urging a moratorium. "It is a
situation where what we the medical establishment ... want to do puts
the public at risk" of new diseases possibly as bad as AIDS.

The call came as the Food and Drug Administration began a two-day
meeting to propose tightening control over animal transplants and
explore just how big a risk it is.

New concern arose last fall when scientists discovered the genes of pigs
harbor previously unknown viruses that can infect human cells in
test-tube experiments.

Nobody knows if people could catch or be sickened by the viruses, but
the FDA temporarily stopped pig studies pending virus testing and
scientists are tracking recipients of the first porcine transplants
worldwide.

Xenotransplantation "is still highly experimental," warned Dr. Phil
Noguchi, FDA's chief of cellular and gene therapies. "While the promise
is there, ... it must be proven to be safe and effective."

Support for the ban was not universal, however.

"Keep the benefits in mind," urged Dr. Suzanne Ildstad of Allegheny
University, who performed a controversial baboon bone marrow transplant
on an AIDS patient last year. "We should proceed
cautiously ... but we should proceed."

In addition, Dr. Alan Hull of the National Kidney Foundation said that
while spreading disease from animals to humans "should be a concern," if
a moratorium is imposed, "you'll probably never
find out the answers."

Frustrated by years of failed attempts to get pig or ape hearts, kidneys
and livers to work inside people, scientists are reporting new progress
in overcoming immune system rejection of these
organs. Biotech companies have poured more than $100 million into
research and hope to launch a new round of experimental organ
transplants within a few years. Doctors already are trying
smaller-scale transplants of live animal cells, such as fetal pig cells
in the brains of Parkinson's sufferers.

The need is stark: 53,000 Americans are awaiting an organ transplant,
but 10 of them die every day because there aren't enough donors. For
diseases like Parkinson's, traditional cures have failed.

Animals can spread deadly diseases. For example, monkeys carry the Ebola
virus and are blamed for starting AIDS, and pigs breed flu. Scientists
hoped to avoid such problems by breeding sterile herds. Then came the
pig virus discovery and new threats like "mad cow disease."

Britain last year banned xenotransplants until scientists better
understand the risks.

That's what Harvard's Bach wants here until a national advisory
committee can consult the public about whether society accepts the
potential risks. Dying patients want to try xenotransplants, but
"have they got the right, the moral right, to put the public at risk?"
he asked.

The FDA, which already must approve any xenotransplant experiments,
already is preparing tighter regulations, including a national registry
to track every American given an animal transplant
to enable government to track down those exposed and those who received
transplants from the same herd if a new disease appears.

The FDA plans to treat xenotransplants as strictly as gene therapy, with
a national advisory board to discuss the risks of studies publicly
instead of the secrecy that cloaks drug development.

Early patient testing shows the risk so far appears hypothetical, said
Corinne Savill of Imutran, a British company genetically engineering pig
hearts to evade the human immune system.

"Retroviruses are carried by all mammals and usually are benign," said
Savill, whose parent company, Swiss giant Novartis, is spending $25
million a year studying xenotransplantation.

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

===========================================================

What a great line: ...if a moratorium is imposed, "you'll probably never
find out the answers."

That's like saying that if you don't jump off the top of the Empire
State Building you'll never know on whom you might land.

Dr. Hull deserves a speial medal from the American Association for the
Advancement of Science for coming up with that one.

Andy
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 22:08:58 -0500
From: Liz Grayson 
To: ar-news 
Subject: Kidney transplants from cadavers are successful
Message-ID: <34C6F2AD.5A61@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Study: Kidney transplants from cadavers are
                successful
 
  January 21, 1998                     
           Web posted at: 7:38 p.m. EST (0038
          GMT)
 
  BOSTON (AP) -- Doctors may be able to greatly increase 
the supply of kidneys for transplants by using organs from dead people
whose hearts have stopped beating, rather than relying solely on
brain-dead donors with beating hearts.
      
    Because of a shortage of organs consider suitable for transplants,
many victims of kidney failure never get the transplants they need.
     
   In the United States, transplant surgeons have
  relied on organs taken from people who are brain
  dead but whose hearts are still beating. These
  organs were thought to offer the best chance of
   success.

    However, in Europe and Japan, doctors have started
using kidneys from newly dead people whose hearts have stopped beating.
Several small reviews in the United States have also suggested these
might work well.


                     And doctors from the University of California at
                     Los Angeles have published the results of a large
           study suggesting that kidneys taken from donors
                     whose hearts have stopped beating are an
                     acceptable alternative.

                     In a report in Thursday's issue of the New England
                     Journal of Medicine, they compared the outcome of
                     229 of these transplants with 8,718 that used
                     kidneys from people with beating hearts.

                     After one year, they found that 83 percent of
                     those who got kidneys from people whose hearts had
                     stopped beating were still alive, compared with 89
                     percent of those who got kidneys from people with
                     beating hearts.

                     At the end of 1996, more than 34,000 Americans
                     were awaiting kidney transplants. Only about 8,600
                     kidneys were transplanted from dead donors that
                     year.

                     The researchers said using kidneys from donors
                     whose hearts have stopped beating could mean a
                     two- to five-fold increase in the supply of
                     kidneys for transplants.
                   
  
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 23:19:23
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [TH] Protesters deny orang-utan a second mate
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980121231923.3d5f5a24@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

>From The Electronic Telegraph - Thursday, January 22nd, 1998

Protesters deny orang-utan a second mate
By Alex Spillius in Bangkok 

AN orang-utan whose advances were spurned by the mother of his first-born
child has been denied the chance to mate with a second female after
complaints from animal lovers.

Sa Kaew Zoo in Bangkok was inundated with protests, mainly from women, that
the mother's feelings should not be callously disregarded, and has shelved
plans to send for a second mate.The frustrated 154lb male, called Mike, has
failed to arouse his mate, Zuzu, since their baby Joi was born a year ago,
a lack of interest normal by female orang-utan standards. Zoo staff decided
to separate the two adults for fear that Joi would be injured if Mike's
efforts became over-exuberant.

Although the couple are allowed to meet out of their cages for brief
periods during the day, carefully supervised by wardens, they will be
unable to share a £25,000 bridal reserve, complete with trees, caves and a
waterfall, which is to be unveiled on Valentine's Day, the Bangkok Post
reported. To placate his surliness and to exploit his fertile track record -
orang-utans are a highly endangered species - the zoo's director, Wirat
Poopiangjai, asked a wildlife protection centre in Taiwan for another mate.

But once news of the approach leaked, the zoo discovered that modern Thai
women's objections to the tradition of keeping concubines, or "minor
wives", now stretch to the animal world. Ron Lilley, a conservation officer
with the Worldwide Fund for Nature in Indonesia, home to the Asian
orang-utan, suggested that the application of human values to the animal
was a botanical error.

"The female will carry the baby for seven to eight years, and you may see
another youngster emerge after five or six years but not before," he said.
"There is some pair bonding but males generally appear to service several
females. The female, however, tends to show far more loyalty and is highly
solitary."

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 00:17:25
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] Farmers enduring ice storm `torture chamber'
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980122001725.3d5f438c@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

>From The Vancouver Sun website- Thursday, January 22nd, 1998

Farmers enduring ice storm `torture chamber'

HOLLIE SHAW 


TORONTO (CP) – Their farms are ravaged, their animals are sick and dying
and their morale is crushed. 

But as thousands of Ontario and Quebec farmers begin a third week without
electricity, there may be some relief in sight after the misery caused by
the ice storm. Federal Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief announced
Wednesday that Ottawa would help pay for storm damages suffered by Ontario
and Quebec dairy farmers. 

"We are ready and willing to cover costs for affected farms after a formal
request is made from the province in question and if no private insurance
is available," Vanclief told the Dairy Farmers of Canada annual convention
in  Vancouver. 

He said the federal and provincial governments should be able to help cover
most of the damage costs, but not all. 

"Loss of income, loss of opportunity and inconvenience on the other hand
are not covered," he added. 

The announcement likely represents cold comfort for many farmers struggling
to get through each day without power. 

Farmers are enduring extraordinary hardships and are "on the edge," said
Marian Smith, spokeswoman for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. 

"It's like a torture chamber out there. Farmers are fending for themselves
and they can't see an end to it. It's far from over." 

Power is trickling back into households in Ontario and Quebec, but the
biggest losers are rural customers, especially farmers. It could be another
two weeks before power is restored to some areas. 

"Not that it was easy for the city people, but farmers don't have the
luxury of getting warm at a shelter because they have to stay and take care
of their animals," Smith said. 

Farmers face myriad losses: their income has stopped coming in and their
costs have multiplied. 

Entire herds of cattle have been wiped out and many farmers owe colossal
veterinary bills. Maple farmers have seen their trees decimated. Dairy
farmers have been unable to keep up with manual milking demands, causing
many cows to become ill with mastitis. 

It's also expensive to run a generator nonstop, and because many generators
are overworked, they break down and need to be fixed. Other farms weathered
major structural damage such as barns collapsing under the weight of the ice. 

"Entire farms are out of sync and many won't be back on track until next
summer. The costs will be astronomical," said Hugh Maynard, spokesman for
the Quebec Farmer's Association. 

Two Ontario farmers have committed suicide and there are rumors about
others, Smith said. 

"But we're trying to downplay that – it seems as though once you hear of a
couple doing it, others follow." 

Dairy farmer Rejean Pommainville, who lives in Russell County southeast of
Ottawa, had 18 people sleeping on his floor at the blackout's pinnacle. 

"Three families were sharing one generator. Then my generator blew up after
four days." 

But Pommainville, who got his power back after 14 icy days, said he's one
of the lucky ones. 

"Only one of my cows got pneumonia. I'm grateful." 

Smith said concerned citizens can help Ontario farmers by being aware of
the difficulties they're facing, and making a donation to the Ontario Rural
Relief Fund. 

"It's the long-term effects that worry me. The financial aspect is going to
be a big problem." 

Copyright: The Vancouver Sun / Southam News 1998

[I am awaiting contact details from Quebec about this situation and also
that regarding companion animals and wildlife. I will post ASAP. Initially,
I have heard that many people refused to leave their homes despite being
without power or heat because they did not wish to abandon their animals. I
also heard there was only a very limited number of shelters that allowed
humans to bring their animals with them or shelters for animals. David]

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 07:27:25 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Guidelines On Animal Transplants Urged
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980122072722.00af32b4@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Yahoo news http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday January 21 6:08 PM EST

Guidelines On Animal Transplants Urged

BETHESDA (Reuters) -- Scientists involved in the field of
xenotransplantation -- the transplant of animal organs into humans -- must
"learn from the past and avoid the excesses of overregulation, while
working prudently to develop guidelines for the field," said Dr. Keith
Reemtsma of Columbia University, at the Developing US Public Health Service
Policy in Xenotransplantation meeting.

The two-day National Institutes of Health conference brought together
xenotransplantation experts to discuss guidelines for public policy and
ethical issues surrounding xenotransplantation.

In a panel discussion, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Dr. Philip
Noguchi stressed that although the FDA's role is to ensure safe and
effective products reach the market, the agency does not set the standards
for xenotransplantation.

Public opinion toward xenotransplantation and work done by scientists will
help push the field forward, he added.

Xenotransplantation has created a number of concerns. Perhaps foremost is
the infectious disease risk that xenotransplantation places not only on
patients, but also on healthcare workers and the public. Some experts are
concerned that transplanting animal organs into humans will set the stage
for animal viruses to mutate into forms that can infect humans.

Rejection due to immunologic responses is another key problem with
xenografts, said Dr. David H. Sachs of Massachusetts General Hospital in
Boston. The immunologic reaction to xenografts involves both humoral
(involving antibodies) and cellular responses, and both appear to be as
strong as or stronger than responses to allografts (transplants of organs
where donor and recipient are the same species), he noted. "Clearly, both
will have to be overcome if xenotransplantation is to become a reality,"
Sachs said.

While there are numerous different xenotransplantation studies with
specific expectations for each, no one set of criteria will emerge, said
Dr. Dan Salomon of the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California.
First, scientists must develop adequate expertise in xenotransplantation.
Next, "we must accept a series of planned, limited, and monitored studies,
and then evaluate the criteria for the next stage. That iterative process
will be extremely important" as the xenotransplantation field evolves,
Salomon said.

The FDA halted all trials on pig xenotransplantation in October 1997 due to
concern over pig retroviruses, but recently lifted it on an ad hoc basis.
Diacrin, Inc., based in Charlestown, Massachusetts, is involved with using
porcine neuronal cells for treating degenerative neurological disease such
as Parkinson's.

Dr. John S. Logan of Nextran, Inc., told conferees that the advantages to
using pigs include the availability, since some 120 million pigs are used
as food supplies annually in the US. In addition, the pig's large size is
appropriate; the pig heart could support the circulation of the human; and
the pig kidney could support an adult's renal function, Logan pointed out.

Also, there's an ability to genetically modify the pig. "Our hypothesis (at
Nextran) is to genetically modify and change the donor organ to ameliorate
the immune response and focus our attentions on modification of the donor,"
Logan said.

But scientists must not forget that "we have patients who are dying and who
are willing to take the risk" of some type of xenotransplant, said Dr.
Suzanne T. Ildstad of Allegheny University of the Health Sciences in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is at that point that scientists must decide
if the risks outweigh the benefits, and then proceed with good judgment,
she said.

"The desperation and need for additional organs has fueled the interest of
many of us in xenotransplantation," Ildstad said. An illustration of this
need: in 1996, 3,653 liver transplants were performed in the US, an
additional 4,059 candidates were on a waiting list for a liver, and 646
patients died while waiting.

Overall, in the drive to find more organs to transplant, scientists and
policy makers must be careful not to develop a special aura around the
practice, said Reemtsma. "But the fact that it begins with an 'X' doesn't
help," he added.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the National Kidney Foundation of 1,200
randomly selected individuals shows that 94% of Americans are aware of the
need for donor organs, 62% support the concept of xenotransplantation, and
75% would consider a xenograft for a loved one if needed and no other organ
were available.

Official guidelines on xenotransplants are expected to be issued soon after
the two-day meeting ends Thursday.

"US pre-eminence in medical research means that the guidelines will
inevitably influence the development of xenotransplantation
internationally," according to a report this week in the journal Nature.
"Moreover, as infectious diseases do not respect national borders, US
actions may have consequences for the rest of the world."

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 98 07:17:22 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Verdict on Abuse of Ensign Nobility, "Chance," Winning Racehorse
Message-ID: <199801221319.IAA27953@envirolink.org>

Wagoner, OK USA: Facing a miffed judge, a tardy defendant in an animal
cruelty case opted to pay restitution to an equine rescue group rather
than go to jail.

Howard Luther Clark, charged with starving the one-time winning race horse
Ensign Nobility, was to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday for a
restitution hearing and to enter a no contest plea.

Clark, however, showed up about 4:30p.m. to face a disgruntled Judge
Darrell Shepherd, who an hour earlier, dismissed witnesses and issued a
bench warrant for Clark's arrest.

Clark, employed as a painter, told Shepherd he was in Oklahoma City
trying to finish a job. He said he thought he could finish by 9 a.m. but
didn't complete the job until 1 p.m.

Clark sidestepped jail and a $5,000 bail when he reluctantly  accepted the
prosecution's offer to withdraw the arrest warrant if he paid the Second
Chance Equine Rescue Foundation the $1,071 it incurred in veterinarian
and feed bills while trying to save the horse.

The foundation, which nicknamed the horse Chance, evolved out of its
futile efforts to save the malnourished steed. Chance  was euthanized
Sept. 21, 1996, after it became apparent he couldn't overcome the
advanced starvation and infection.

Meanwhile, Shepherd accepted Clark's no contest plea and offered him to
serve three years of supervised probation until Clark pays the $1,071
in full.

Initially, the plea agreement called for Clark to serve one year on
supervised probation.

______________________________________________________________________
(And - thanks so much to those of you who wrote to the judge on this
case!)  - Sherrill
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 98 07:51:55 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Oklahoma University Takes Sutton Research Center Under Its Wing
Message-ID: <199801221356.IAA02829@envirolink.org>

Tulsa World, OK, USA: Oklahoma scientists and academics put out a message
Wednesday that they think will get the attention of some of the world's
best research scientists and brightest students who want to study birds.

The Sutton Avian Research Center near Bartlesville, the University of
Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma Biological Survey have joined forces.

"If anyone is interested in studying birds, this is now one of the best
places to do that," said Paul Bell, the dean of the OU College of Arts
and Sciences. "We're going to attract some very bright students to do
work here."

The alliance was more than two years in the making and required the
approval of the OU Board of Regents. But the result includes a
$300,000 annual commitment from OU that essentially puts some of the
Sutton Center's research scientists on the university's faculty, Bell
said.

The Sutton Center, a not-for-profit research facility, still will
have to raise money to support its projects and maintain the center,
which is located in hills along the Osage-Washington county line.

The center, which is best known for its efforts in reintroducing
bald eagles in southeastern states and for its ongoing study of the
decline of prairie songbirds, will become a sort of field office for
OU students, Bell said.

In return, the center will be able to boost its studies and embark on
new programs with the aid of more scientists and research students,
Sutton Center Director Steve Sherrod said.

The joint venture not only will allow college students better opportunities
to study birds, but it also will help OU expand its outreach  programs
for younger students in high schools, middle schools, and elementary
schools, he said.

The center and OU will be linked electronically to help with classroom
instruction. The Sutton Center also will join forces with the Oklahoma
Biological Survey at OU.

The Sutton Center and OU have worked together on research projects for
years, Sherrod said. At present, they are collaborating on producing a
breeding bird atlas - a  reference manual that would help scientists
study trends in the status of Oklahoma birds.

-- Sherrill
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 08:38:57 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Number of dead and oiled birds rising
Message-ID: <34C77621.39F7@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Number of dead and oiled birds rising in second mysterious oil spill

The Associated Press 
POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE, CA,  January 21, 1998 

The second mysterious oil spill in two months along a stretch of
Northern California coast has killed as many as 204 birds, wildlife
experts said Wednesday.

Another 85 birds were being treated at rehabilitation centers.

Dan Howard of the Gulf of Farallons National Marine Sanctuary said more
dead birds are likely to wash ashore in the next few days.

Biologists and volunteers scoured beaches for damaged birds Wednesday,
the fifth day of the latest spill.

In addition, samples of the quarter-sized tar balls were sent to a
laboratory for testing to help determine the source of the black, gooey
oil. Results were not expected for several days.

Investigators remained uncertain whether the spill was linked to another
mysterious spill in November when tar patties began covering Point Reyes
beaches. Roughly 360 birds died in that spill.

Point Reyes is about 30 miles north of San Francisco.
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 08:42:42 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Condemnations and congratulations
Message-ID: <34C77702.68D1@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Condemnations, congratulations roll in for cow-cloning scientists

The Associated Press 
BOSTON, January 21, 1998 

When two American scientists announced that they had developed a
technique for cloning genetically customized calves able to produce
medicines for humans in their milk, reactions ran the gamut. 

Drs. Steven Stice and James Robl presented their research on the second
day of an International Embryo Transfer Society conference. Other
researchers said the calves mark the most viable step so far toward
"pharming," the development of pharmaceuticals using farm animals.

"We're working in the same area toward the same goal," said Dr. Will
Eyestone, with PPL Therapeutics in Blacksburg, Va.

Animal rights activists were troubled by that goal, however.

"We condemn all who engage in cloning or genetic engineering both human
and animal cells for the alleged purpose of furthering pure science,"
the Massachusetts chapter of Earth First! said in a statement. "The
cloning of living cells steps beyond the field of science and into the
realm of creation."

Hundreds of miles away, 13 pregnant cows are waiting to give birth to
cloned calves at a ranch near College Station, Texas. Six will be
identical to George and Charlie, the cloned calves born last week. The
rest are females, which is where the real payoff will come.

Stice and Robl said they will try to use their technique to have cows
make human serum albumin.

Albumin, a blood protein that regulates the transfer of fluids in the
body, is critical to people suffering from liver disease,
malnourishment, extreme burns and other conditions.

Cows that can produce human serum albumin would be a huge boon to
hospitals, which are forced to rely on donated blood for the 480 tons of
albumin needed every year in the United States. It is estimated that a
single cow could produce up to 176 pounds of albumin annually.

Advanced Cell Technology, which was founded by Stice and Robl, already
has a deal with Genzyme Transgenics Corp. of Framingham to produce
albumin.

Stice said marketing such products is still years away because the
process must be perfected and approved by the Food and Drug
Administration.

George and Charlie aren't the first animal clones with altered genes.
Cloned lambs Molly and Polly in Scotland have a human gene expected to
make them produce a protein, Factor IX, helpful in blood clotting.

But Dr. Ian Wilmut, the Scottish researcher who genetically engineered
Molly, Polly and Dolly, acknowledged that drug-making cows could be more
valuable because they produce much more milk than sheep.

By ALISON FITZGERALD, Associated Press Writer

===============================================

The "condemnations" and "congratulations" promised in the headline are
not very well balanced in this article!  It reminds me of the fruit
salad said to contain cherries and melons in equal quantities since
there is a cherry for each melon.

Andy
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 10:59:23 -0700
From: buffalo folks 
To: Mesia Quartano 
Cc: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: (US) Yellowstone bison solutions offered
Message-ID: 
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>
>The story can be read here:
>http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/012098/bison.shtm

The story here does not even consider the spiritual or ecological impacts
of these animals that are our national heritsge & the "scientific" evidence
is weaker than...???? (I'm at a loss for words)

Further news along this vein......last night on our local western montana
news stations the stockgrowers had a glossy story suggesting and i quote
"the Yellowstone herds (buffalo & elk) should be eliminated and started over"

I'm suggesting the dark age...yes...but reality!

It was one of my good friends who pulled over her car only to look down and
see all ten lugnuts missing on the rear wheels.  All because she cares for
the buffalo.

there is a response section after this article!

The DOL are in West Yellowstone as we speak hoping to capture or kill some
of these magestic creatures!


su


**********************************************************
For more information about the plight of the Yellowstone Bison
check out this web site
http://www.wildrockies.org/bison


Mitakuye Oyasin (All My Relations)
**********************************************************


Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 15:03:08 -0500
From: "Bina Robinson" 
To: 
Subject: Excerpts from ALFSG, London
Message-ID: <199801221953.OAA18662@net3.netacc.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

The following items have been condensed from the January 1998 newsletter of
the ALF Supporters Group, London, UK.  Posted January 22, 1998

Barry Horne, 45, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for arson attacks
on the Isle of Wight for which he denies any responsibility; arsons in
Bristol for which he pleaded guilty; and "possession of items with intent".
 He is appealing the Isle of Wight conviction and the length of the
sentence, which is longer than sentences imposed for some murders and
rapes.  Barry engaged in two hunger strikes of five and six weeks.  The
judge branded him an "urban terrorist" but acknoowledged that he meant to
hurt no one.

The trial of 3 activists who stole cats from the Hillgrove Farm, where cats
are bred for research labs, has been scheduled for March 9.  The cost to
the government of policing demonstrations at this farm has been 200,000
pounds--possibly more than the value of the farm.

Eleven activists were sentenced to 3 to 6 months in prison on a minor
public order charge for their participation in a demonstration at the
premises of an animal exporter.  Because the normal sentence for this tpe
of offense is a fine, none were prepared to go to prison, some even having
brought animals to the trial.

Activists removed 19 beagles from Park Farm, which breeds beagles for
Oxford University, but all but two were recaptured following a high speed
chase.  One person, presumably the driver of the van,  was arrested.

Four bombs exploded on November 25 at BioChem Pharma, Inc owned by Glaxo
Wellcome, at Laval, just north of Montreal, Quebec following a telephone
warning.

A second Norwegian whaling boat was sunk on November 11 in retaliation for
Norway's continuing defiance of the International Whaling Commission's
moratorium on commercial whaling, according to Captain Paul Watson of the
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Five Norwegian activists are facing charges of arson at a slaughterhouse in
July.

A fur farm in Kolm, Sweden appears to be selling out after 8 animals were
released and breeding records destroyed in May.

Austrian police are cracking down on animal activisim, searching private
homes and offices.  Damage to fur shops amounting 3.25 million pounds means
that anyone convicted will receive a prison sentence of at least 6 months
and as long as 3 years.

Duncans Coach Company will no longer transport staff to the Huntingdon
Research Center in Cambridgeshire because of picketing and damage caused to
coaches (buses) when a double decker rammed other coaches at their depot.

Four Finnish activists were shot by a farmer outside his fur farm in
Orimilata on December 6.  One was hit more than 9 times.  As the fur farmer
was drunk, he will be charged with aggravated assault rather than attempted
murder.  The activists, on the other hand, were held by the police for
several days.  One, Elina Salonen has been remanded in custody until the
next court hearing.  She has announced a hunger strike demanding her
release.
                                                      -30-

   
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 20:16:05 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Jamie, John Sherry" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: amendment to ALFSG Newsletter
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

The cost of policing Farmer Brown's Hillgrove Farm cat breeders is now 
in excess of £400,000.  This stat comes from a programme called 'The 
Force' aired yesterday on BBC2 concerning the Thames Valley police 
force who operate in the Whitney, Oxford area.
The BBC film crew were documenting the police as opposed to the 
protestors and to that end the figure of £400,000 is entirely 
reliable(from the horses mouth so to speak).
cheers 

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 17:22:29 -0500 (EST)
From: veganman@idt.net (Stuart Chaifetz)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: NJARA PR: Second NJ Coyote Hunt Spurs Unprecedented Non-Violent Action
Message-ID: 
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Press Release

January 22, 1998

Contact: Stuart Chaifetz (732) 899-4202

Second Coyote Hunt Spurs Unprecedented Non-Violent Action

Activists all over NJ fast 5 to 22 days in protest of coyote killing

During the coyote hunt, more than a dozen members of New Jersey Animal
Rights Alliance will be fasting for periods ranging from 5 to 22 days in
protest of the coyote hunt. At least one person will be fasting the entire
17 days, plus an additional 5 days, one for each coyote killed last year.
These individuals will consume only water. The fast begins on January 26,
five days before the killing begins.

Starting on January 31, and continuing for 17 days, the NJ Division of
Fish, Game and Wildlife sanctions another state-wide coyote hunt, granting
heavily armed hunters permission to stalk and kill coyotes. Since coyotes
are not commonly seen, hunters must rely on using devices to attract them.
One such device, a "predator call," imitates the sound of a wounded puppy.
Preying upon the strong family bonds of a coyote pack, the sound lures
nearby adults to their deaths.

Despite massive opposition, the New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and
Wildlife held its first coyote hunt last year. This private hunting club,
masquerading as a state agency, sanctions the killing of more than
1,000,000 animals in New Jersey each year.

Capturing the power of non-violence

"Fish and Game's decision for another coyote hunt further exposes their
arrogance," asserts Brick resident, Stuart Chaifetz, NJARA's hunting
expert,  who will start a 22-day fast on January 26. "The violence of
hunting must be fought with greater acts of non-violence. That is why we
are fasting in solidarity against this hunt. We are willing to make this
sacrifice to one day stop the violence against animals."

Coyotes...

Coyotes are remarkably interesting. They are pack animals who mate for life
and only if they outlive their mate, do they seek another. During the
mating season, the dens are dug by the parents and they both feed the young
after weaning. They run about 43 mph and can weigh anywhere from 15 - 45
pounds.

Anyone interested in helping the cause to save the coyotes is invited to
contact NJARA at (732) 446-6808.







Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 15:54:35 -0800
From: Lawrence Carter-Long 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Boston Globe: Caution urged on animal-to-human transplants 
Message-ID: <34C7DC38.47CEA1D1@gvn.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

                    Caution urged on animal-to-human transplants

                    By Richard A. Knox, Globe Staff, 01/22/98

                    BETHESDA, Md. - A group of leading Boston
scientists, public health experts, and ethicists
                    called yesterday for a moratorium on the use of pig
cells and organs to treat people with a
                    variety of diseases until a public commission can
assess the danger of creating novel human
                    epidemics.

                    ``The public needs to be not only educated but must
participate in this decision,'' Dr. Fritz Bach
                    of Harvard Medical School said yesterday at a
meeting on the issue called by the US Public
                    Health Service. ``I don't think we scientists have
the right to make this decision for the public.''

                    Bach, a leader in the field of cross-species
transplants, and Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg, Harvard
                    University's provost and former public health dean,
led a nine-member group that is calling for a
                    temporary halt to animal-to-human transplants before
the pressures to do such experiments
                    becomes ``well-nigh irresistible.''

                    The urgency for a national review, they said, stems
from the potential benefit for the 50,000
                    Americans now on organ transplant waiting lists, the
pressures from ``already-arrayed
                    commercial interests,'' and human experiments, both
current and planned, ``that could cause
                    spread of disease.''

                    The Boston group's plea will be published next month
in the British journal Nature Medicine, but
                    it was released yesterday with a letter by Bach and
Fineberg in the sister publication Nature.

                    The idea of a moratorium was not welcomed by
researchers in the fast-growing new field of
                    xenotransplantation, or grafting tissue from one
species to another to treat disease.

                    ``At some point there has to be a leap of faith,''
said Dr. Robert Michler, a heart surgeon at Ohio
                    State University who stressed that nearly a third of
the patients on cardiac transplant waiting
                    lists die for lack of enough human donor organs.
Researchers hope that animal organs, most
                    likely from pigs, will provide an inexhaustible new
source of organs for transplant, although it
                    will be years before obstacles to transplants of
solid organs can be overcome.

                    However, a number of human experiments are underway
or imminent in the use of pig and
                    cow cells to treat neurological diseases, diabetes,
intractable pain, and liver failure.

                    Federal regulators seem disinclined to declare a
moratorium on human xenotransplants. Just
                    before Christmas, the US Food and Drug
Administration lifted a ``hold'' on such experiments for
                    one company, Massachusetts-based Diacrin Inc., so it
could begin a trial involving transplants
                    of fetal pig cells into the brains of patients with
severe epilepsy. The first such case was
                    announced by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on
Tuesday.

                    ``I don't think the FDA has accepted the point of
view that there should be a blanket stop on all
                    xenotransplants,'' said Dr. Hugh Auchincloss of
Massachusetts General Hospital, who chairs
                    an FDA advisory committee on the issue. ``But I
don't think they've prejudged the issue at all.''

                    Despite strong differences of opinion about a
moratorium on human xenotransplants, the vast
                    majority of those attending the Bethesda meeting
agreed that the risk of creating an infectious
                    new human disease, however unlikely it may be,
``does not go to zero,'' as Tom Folks of the
                    US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put
it.

                    ``We must expect the unexpected,'' said David E.
Onions of the University of Glasgow, one of
                    the scientists who reported last year that latent
viruses found in all pigs can infect human cells
                    in the test tube. ``Let's proceed, but let's proceed
with caution.''

                    There is also broad agreement that animal-to-human
transplants raise issues that scientists,
                    doctors, and government regulators have never
encountered.

                    For example, how should researchers screen for
latent viruses, in both donor animals and
                    human transplant recipients, when no one is quite
sure what to look for? What are the chances
                    that a pig-human hybrid virus might result when
viruses from both species are put in close
                    contact, especially when the human recipients are
taking immune-suppressing drugs to prevent
                    rejection of the animal tissue?

                    The cost of monitoring for infection hazards is
another issue. Currently it costs from $25,000 to
                    $100,000 to test just one pig for the presence of
known bacteria and viruses, according to
                    researchers.

                    Another set of issues involves new ethical balances
that must be struck between benefits and
                    risks, not only to patients themselves but to their
spouses and close contacts, who might be
                    infected by a new microbe, and to the public at
large. Unlike other human experiments,
                    recipients of animal tissue transplants and their
contacts might have to be monitored for life.

                    The situation, and the call for a moratorium to
assess unknown risks, reminded many
                    researchers of alarms raised 24 years ago about
genetic engineering. Fierce debate led to
                    new government mechanisms to oversee gene-splicing
experiments.

                    ``The fact that worst-case scenarios that underlay
that caution did not materialize is no reason
                    to suspend caution in this case,'' the Boston panel
said in its statement.

                    This story ran on page A16 of the Boston Globe on
01/22/98.
                    © Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.
--

Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/

"There's so much comedy on television. Does that cause
comedy in the streets?" - Dick Cavett

-----Long, but Important Warning Notice -----

My email address is: LCartLng@gvn.net

LEGAL NOTICE: Anyone sending unsolicited commercial
email to this address will be charged a $500 proofreading
fee. This is an official notification; failure to abide by this
will result in  legal action, as per the following:

By U.S. Code Title 47, Sec.227(a)(2)(B), a computer/modem/printer
 meets the definition of a telephone fax machine.
By Sec.227(b)(1)(C), it is unlawful to send any unsolicited
 advertisement to such equipment.
By Sec.227(b)(3)(C), a violation of the aforementioned Section
 is punishable by action to recover actual monetary loss, or
 $500, whichever is greater, by each violation.


Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 19:13:04 EST
From: MINKLIB 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Leading NY Furrier Arrested
Message-ID: <7d095484.34c7e09e@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Steve Cowit, treasurer of the trade organization Fur New York and a well known
fur manufacturer, was arrested Thursday morning for Aggravated Harrassment.

This charge stemmed from a series of threatening phone calls Cowit made to
CAFT representative Mike Nicosia.

Nicosia said that he felt that "this shows we are being effective.  They
wouldn't respond this way if we weren't."  Nicosia was adament in pointing out
that no amount of harrassment would stop anti fur activism.

Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade
PO Box 822411
Dallas, TX 75382
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 19:49:54 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News 
Subject: [US] "Group Raises Money To Save Tigers"
Message-ID: <34C7F742.358A6F14@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------8A8A2B44E447F8AA7B388EFE"

        [banner]
        [toolbar]
        [Make Us Your HomePage]

          January 22, 1998

          Group Raises Money To Save Tigers

          -------------------------------------------------------
          A.P. INDEXES: TOP STORIES | NEWS | SPORTS | BUSINESS | TECHNOLOGY |
ENTERTAINMENT
          -------------------------------------------------------

          Filed at 12:48 p.m. EST

          By The Associated Press

          GLAND, Switzerland (AP) -- With the Chinese Year of the
          Tiger beginning this month, the World Wide Fund for
          Nature launched a $1 million appeal Thursday to help
          save the big cat from extinction.

          ``The situation for tigers is becoming increasingly
          precarious,'' spokesman Jean-Pierre d'Huart said.

          The number of tigers in the world has declined by 95
          percent during the last 100 years, the group said in a
          report. The main threats to tigers are habitat
          destruction, poaching and the illegal trade in tiger
          parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

          Three species of tigers, the Bali, Caspian and Javan,
          are already extinct and the South China species risks
          the same fate with only 20 or 30 left in the wild, it
          said.

          Overall, there are between 5,000 and 7,000 tigers left
          in the wild, mainly in national parks and protected
          areas. About half the world's tigers live in India.

        [Make Us Your HomePage]

            Home | Sections | Contents | Search | Forums | Help

                 Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company

          The information contained in this AP Online news report
                  may not be republished or redistributed
       without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

         ----------------------------------------------------------

Attachment Converted: "C:\EUDORA2\Attach\vcard2.vcf"
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 19:48:54 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News 
Subject: [US] `Free Willy' Could Go Back to Sea
Message-ID: <34C7F706.21815326@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------B6358A14278B60F83E786F2E"

        [banner]
        [toolbar]
        [Facts Become Fantasy: The Making of 'Ragtime']

          January 22, 1998

          `Free Willy' Could Go Back to Sea

          -------------------------------------------------------
          A.P. INDEXES: TOP STORIES | NEWS | SPORTS | BUSINESS | TECHNOLOGY |
ENTERTAINMENT
          -------------------------------------------------------

          Filed at 5:44 p.m. EST

          By The Associated Press

          NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) -- The stage is being set for Keiko,
          the whale movie star of ``Free Willy,'' to be released
          to the open sea.

          That romantic notion -- born of the big screen -- was
          the intent all along when schoolchildren helped raise
          money to move the ailing killer whale from a cramped
          Mexico City aquarium to a spacious pool here.

          Unlike the youngsters in the movie, however, the
          children of this coastal resort town don't want to see
          him go.

          ``He won't be able to survive out there,'' 10-year-old
          Ian Hoffman said Thursday as Keiko swam gracefully past
          the underwater viewing window at the Oregon Coast
          Aquarium. ``This is where he should stay.''

          Two years ago, children and parents lined the streets
          from the airport to the aquarium in the rain to give a
          joyous welcome to Keiko. Since then, attendance at the
          aquarium has skyrocketed and children here have come to
          think of Keiko as one of their own rather than just a
          temporary neighbor.

          The Free Willy Keiko Foundation, the group that owns
          the whale and raised $7 million to have him moved, has
          been locked in a battle with the aquarium over whether
          Keiko is healthy enough to be released.

          Sources following Keiko's fate expect a panel of
          veterinarians appointed by the U.S. Department of
          Agriculture to issue a favorable report on the whale's
          health, clearing the way for him to move into a ocean
          pen in the North Atlantic within a year. The next step
          would be his release in the same area near Iceland
          where he was captured.

          ``He's healthy enough where we could put him in a bay
          pen today,'' said Dr. Lanny Cornell, a San Diego
          veterinarian representing the Free Willy Keiko
          Foundation. ``I don't think there's going to be
          something in the USDA report we haven't seen.''

          ``Keiko would be ecstatic to be placed back in the
          ocean where he came from.''

          Keiko, a 19-year-old whale who came to the aquarium
          underweight, with a skin disease, respiratory problems
          and parasites, appeared healthy Thursday, frolicking in
          his 2-million-gallon tank to the delight of a group of
          touring fifth-graders.

          ``I don't want him to go,'' said 10-year-old Rachel
          Downing. ``He doesn't know how to feed himself. They
          just throw him food.''

          Aquarium handlers have been tossing him frozen fish and
          later this month plan to begin testing his ability to
          catch live fish in his tank.

          Veterinarians are split over whether Keiko, despite the
          Hollywood imagery, can survive in the wild after
          spending nearly all of his life in captivity. It would
          be the first time that such a release of a killer whale
          has been attempted.

          Dr. Gregory Bossart, a University of Miami veterinarian
          who has studied Keiko, shudders at the thought of the
          famous whale washing up dead on a beach shortly after
          he's been set free.

          ``We are experimenting with his life,'' Bossart said.
          ``Often times, because of Hollywood, we tend to forget
          the cruelty of nature. It's very competitive, and only
          the strong survive.''

          Cornell has said he thought the Oregon Coast Aquarium
          was dragging its feet at the prospect of releasing
          Keiko because he's been a ``cash cow,'' generating an
          estimated $75 million for the local economy since his
          arrival.

          Phyllis Bell, president of the aquarium, denied that's
          the case, saying that attendance for those coming to
          see Keiko has leveled off as people have gotten used to
          having a movie-star whale in their midst.

          ``If releasing Keiko is what's best for him, I'm all
          for it,'' Bell said.

          Still, the fifth-graders who craned their necks to get
          a good look at the graceful black and white creature
          had doubts about the wisdom of putting him back into
          sea.

          ``He could die in the ocean,'' said 10-year-old
          Courtney Richardson. ``I don't think he will survive in
          the wild.''

        [Facts Become Fantasy: The Making of 'Ragtime']

            Home | Sections | Contents | Search | Forums | Help

                 Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company

          The information contained in this AP Online news report
                  may not be republished or redistributed
       without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

         ----------------------------------------------------------

Attachment Converted: "C:\EUDORA2\Attach\vcard3.vcf"
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 21:04:56 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) 100 given `mad cow'-infected fluid
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980122210453.00b04a50@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Mercury News Center http://spyglass1.sjmercury.com/breaking/
----------------------------------
Posted at 10:57 a.m. PST Thursday, January 22, 1998

100 given `mad cow'-infected fluid

   HONG KONG (AP) -- More than 100 patients in Hong Kong were given a fluid
suspected to have been contaminated with a human variant of ``mad cow
disease,'' hospital authorities said today.

   The suspected contamination came to light after a Briton who donated
blood used to make the fluid died of the brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob
Disease, Hong Kong radio reported.

   Ko Wing-man, deputy director of the Hospital Authority, said 111
patients in six Hong Kong hospitals were injected with the fluid between
July and December, the radio said.

   The chance that the patients would develop the disease were ``extremely
remote,'' Ko said.

   The fluid was given to patients before lung and stomach scans, the radio
reported. Authorities did not immediately say what the fluid was or exactly
what its purpose was.

   About one-third of the patients who received the injections have been
recalled for tests and counseling, Ko said. He said they were advised not
to donate blood or organs.

   CJD is the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which
afflicts cattle and is known as mad cow disease. CJD has killed at least 20
people in Britain since fears over mad cow disease arose in March 1996.

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 20:56:28 EST
From: DobieBoy2 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Exotic Cat Ban (NY)
Message-ID: <4ec62897.34c7f8ce@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

This was posted on a list of exotic cat breeders. Since they are responding,
activists in NY should act and let the rest of us know how we can support
efforts to ban keeping and breeding of wild cats by these abusers.

-------begin post-----------
I just received a phone call from a friend in NY that told me about this news.

They are trying to BAN all wild animals in Woodstock, Ill., in the city
limits.  On Feb., 17, there will be a City Council meeting about an ordiance
pertaining to this.  This has been tabled 3 times in the past, but now because
of the tiger attack with the circus in Florida it has been brought up again.
Dr Steve Gross, a vet, that is the head of PETA is trying to push this as law.

I have a phone number that you may call to find out more about this matter.
First is 815-333-4301,  Fax is 815-334-0459 and 815-334-2269.

There are 2 very large breeders in this area one being Cunino from the
Hawthrone circus with all of the white tigers and Lee & Steve Watson with 15
tigers.  I was told that neither one of these persons has as yet made any
comments.

I hope that someone from this area will do some research on this matter and
let me and the list know more about it.

Jan
Exotic Animals
World Wildlife Preservation Society
Cheetahtu Productions
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 18:21:40 -0800 (PST)
From: civillib@cwnet.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: FURRIER ARRESTED FOR MAKING DEATH THREATS (US)
Message-ID: <199801230221.SAA03730@smtp.cwnet.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 1998

Contact: JP Goodwin/CAFT National  (214) 503-1419





PROMINENT NYC FURRIER JAILED
AFTER MAKING DEATH THREATS
AGAINST DALLAS FUR GROUP

     NEW YORK – A New York City furrier and board member of a prominent fur
trade organization was arrested Thursday for making death threats against a
representative of a Dallas-based anti-fur group.

     This latest arrest is part of a wave of threats and physical attacks
against anti-fur activists nationwide.

     J.P. Goodwin, director of CAFT, said his office has been vandalized twice
in the past 2 years, and he and another Dallas activist sued Neiman Marcus
after the store's security attacked them – sending the other activist to the
hospital with a concussion – last October.

     Goodwin said he was not surprised to hear about the threats, noting that
"an industry that gasses, electrocutes and breaks the necks of animals
certainly wouldn't have qualms about making death threats."

     Police nabbed Fur New York treasurer Steve Cowit after an undercover
operation found Cowit was making threatening phone calls to Mike Nicosia, a
Long Island representative of the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade, based
in Dallas.

     Cowit, who was arrested on Aggravated Harassment charges, also works for
Henry Cowit Furs, a major NYC fur manufacturer, whose retail division,
Madison Avenue Furs, has annual sales estimated at about $2.5 million.

     Nicosia said he alerted police after he began receiving death threats
months ago. Cowit apparently was making the calls from a pay phone, and was
arrested Thursday morning when police caught him making one of the calls to
Nicosia.

     "This type of criminal behavior by the fur industry indicates the anti-fur
movement is having success. If we were not having an impact then Cowit would
not have reacted this way," said Nicosia, who praised detectives for their
diligence in making the arrest.

-30-


Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 22:33:40 -0800
From: Ilene Rachford 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Unicorn Foundation
Message-ID: <34C839C4.2889@erinet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Does anyone have a current address for the Unicorn Foundation? They do
AR related performances. Last I heard they were out of San Diego, but
might possibly have moved to Chicago.

Thanks much, 
Ilene


Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 22:52:47 -0500
From: Shirley McGreal 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Big Break proposed for fur dealers - letters needed
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19980123035247.006fd474@awod.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

It is important to write letters about this "break" for dealers in small
numbers of furs. User fees help fund the entire wildlife inspection program.
Less revenue = less inspectors = less inspections. Can someone post the
entire proposed rule? 

January 22, 1998                    Patricia Fisher  202-208-5634
                                       Sandra Cleva  703-358-1949

            IMPORT/EXPORT USER FEE EXEMPTION PROPOSED
                    FOR SOME SMALL BUSINESSES

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to exempt certain
wildlife shipments containing furs, hides, and skins from user
fees charged under its wildlife import/export regulations.  "Our
goal in the proposed rule is to provide economic relief to small
businesses and individuals while maintaining an efficient
inspection program for wildlife trade," said Kevin Adams, chief
of the Service's Division of Law Enforcement.

The Service published a proposed rule in the January 22, 1998,
Federal Register and invites public comment on the suggested fee
exemption.

Commercial importers and exporters of wildlife and wildlife
products now pay user fees for each shipment they bring into or
out of the United States.  These fees include a $55 inspection
fee at the Nation's 13 designated ports and higher administrative
fees if goods are shipped through other approved locations.  The
current fee system, established in 1996, allows the Service to
recoup more of the costs of the wildlife inspection program from
the companies that use it.

The proposed rule would waive these basic inspection and
administrative fees for certain shipments.  The fee exemption
would apply only to shipments containing 100 or fewer raw furs;
raw, salted, or crusted hides or skins; or separate parts of
furs, hides, and skins from animals legally taken from the wild
in the United States, Canada, or Mexico, that are imported or
exported between the United States and Canada or Mexico.

The exemption would not cover shipments that require permits
because they contain injurious wildlife, endangered and
threatened species, protected marine mammals, migratory birds, or
animals and plants subject to trade controls under the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora.  Nor would it apply to manufactured products or live
animals of any kind.

To qualify for the proposed fee exemption, the wildlife shipment
must be imported or exported by the person who took the animal
from the wild or by a member of that person's immediate family: 
spouse, parent, sibling, or child.  The contents of the shipment
cannot have been previously sold, and the importer or exporter
must hold a valid wildlife import/export license.

These criteria are intended to limit the fee exemption to small,
low-volume businesses that trade furs, skins, or hides on a small
scale, or to individuals who hunt or trap as a hobby or to
supplement their income.  "We've carefully tried to focus on
small shippers who are disproportionately affected by user fees,"
Adams explained.

Importers and exporters covered by the exemption will still have
to obtain an import/export license from the Service at an annual
cost of $50, pay any overtime fees or other charges associated
with inspection and clearance of the shipment, and complete and
file the declaration form required for wildlife imports and
exports.  They will also be required to sign a statement
certifying that they or a family member took the animals from the
wild.

The Service's wildlife inspection program helps the Nation
control the importation and exportation of wildlife and wildlife
products.  Its staff of trained inspectors stationed at U.S.
ports of entry and border crossings provides a frontline defense
against illegal wildlife trafficking--a threat to animal species
worldwide.

Comments on the proposed user fee exemption should be submitted
to the Service by March 23, 1998.  Comments may be sent to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Law Enforcement,
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 500, Arlington, VA 22203-3247. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal
agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish
and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the
American people.  The Service manages 511 national wildlife
refuges covering 92 million acres, as well as 67 national fish
hatcheries.

The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, manages migratory bird
populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves
and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, administers the
Endangered Species Act, and helps foreign governments with their
conservation efforts.  It also oversees the Federal Aid program
that distributes Federal excise taxes on fishing and hunting
equipment to state wildlife agencies.  This program is a
cornerstone of the Nation's wildlife management efforts, funding
fish and wildlife restoration, boating access, hunter education,
shooting ranges, and related projects across America.

                              -FWS-



============================================================ 
News releases are also available on the World Wide Web at 
http://www.fws.gov/~r9extaff/pubaff.html  They can be reviewed in
chronological order or searched by keyword.

Questions concerning a particular news release or item of 
information should be directed to the person listed as the 
contact. General comments or observations concerning the 
content of the information should be directed to Craig 
Rieben (craig_rieben@mail.fws.gov) in the Office of Public 
Affairs.

|---------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| Dr. Shirley McGreal             |   PHONE: 803-871-2280                  | 
| Int. Primate Protection League  |   FAX: 803-871-7988                    |
| POB 766                         |   E-MAIL: ippl@awod.com                |
| Summerville SC 29484            |   Web: http://www.ippl.org             | 
|---------------------------------|----------------------------------------|




ARRS Tools  |  News  |  Orgs  |  Search  |  Support  |  About the ARRS  |  Contact ARRS

THIS SITE UNDERWRITTEN IN PART BY:
Gorilla Foundation

The views and opinions expressed within this page are not necessarily those of the
EnviroLink Network nor the Underwriters. The views are those of the authors of the work.