AR-NEWS Digest 630

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) (TH) Elephant tramples on reporter 
     by Vadivu Govind 
  2) (US-MN) Gray wolf may be delisted; hunting, trapping proposed 
     by klaszlo@juno.com (Kathryn A Laszlo)
  3) (US-MN) Gray wolf numbers cause concern in north
     by klaszlo@juno.com (Kathryn A Laszlo)
  4) Fairfax Deer
     by leah wacksman 
  5) (US) Oklahoma Weekly Hunting News
     by JanaWilson 
  6) (US) Oklahoma Extended Deer Hunt Defeated
     by JanaWilson 
  7) Wisconsin activists go national - Beg for a national outcry on behalf of monkeys
     by LexAnima 
  8) Call to Action: US California
     by "Paul Wiener" 
  9) Britain to seek world battery eggs ban 
     by Vadivu Govind 
 10) (US) Circus chief quits after killing tiger
     by Vadivu Govind 
 11) Fw: LENGTHENED HUNTING SEASONS IN IOWA 
     by "Bina Robinson" 
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 14:23:46 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (TH) Elephant tramples on reporter 
Message-ID: <199801110623.OAA09928@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Bangkok Post
11 Jan 98

Elephant tramples  on reporter

              Journalist freezes as beast flees village
              pit

              Kanchanaburi

              Afemale reporter was attacked by a wild elephant after it was
              set free from a trap by rescue workers.

              Ms Kingkamol Kuisrikoon, 27, of Khao Sod newspaper was
              among a dozen reporters, conservationists and troopers
              observing the rescue operation on farmland in Tambon Huey
              Kayeng, in Thong Phapoom district on Friday.

              "I thought I was dead," said Kingkamol from her sickbed in
              Prommitr Hospital where she was taken for examination to see if
              she had sustained any internal injuries.

              The elephant had been trapped since Wednesday in a pit dug up
              by Huey Kayeng villagers to trap the animal as a retaliation
              against the destruction of their crops.

              Kingkamol said rescue workers poured soil into the pit so that
              the animal could climb out.

              She said she took a photo of the elephant as it was struggling out
              of the pit.

              "As I turned my back after snapping the shot, I saw a forestry
              official run away in front of me," she said, adding that
before she
              could escape the elephant's front legs and trunk were already on
              her body.

              The reporter recalled that she was so scared that she froze. 

              She said she only remembered that her body was rolled over
              three times before someone shouted loudly, causing the elephant
              to run away.

              Suraphol Duangkae of Wildlife Fund Thailand said it was not the
              first time an elephant had fallen into the pit. One fell into
the trap
              last month and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand paid
              compensation to the villagers for damaged crops.

              Mr Suraphol said the villagers had deliberately kept the elephant
              in the pit to show the public that the Yadana gas pipeline
              currently being paid for by the PTT forced elephant herds to
              change their foraging grounds.

              There are about 40 elephants in the Huey Kayeng forest reserve.

              Forest encroachment and deforestation by human beings has
              shrunken the elephants' habitat.

              He said the problem would not end as the elephants were bound
              to return to the farmland to look for food.

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


Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 11:23:20 EST
From: klaszlo@juno.com (Kathryn A Laszlo)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US-MN) Gray wolf may be delisted; hunting, trapping proposed 
Message-ID: <19980111.125157.4911.0.KLaszlo@juno.com>

After years of protection, the timber wolf, also known as the eastern
gray wolf (canis lupus) may be coming under the gun again. According to
the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the wolf population in
Minnesota has exceeded projected levels and needs to be controlled by
hunting and trapping. Delisting of the gray wolf from the Endangered
Species Act is being sought in Minnesota.

The DNR is holding a series of meetings throughout the state to get
public input on the fate of the wolves. At some meetings, arguments by
the public in favor of hunting and trapping wolves have included fear
over wolves killing children and pets. In North America there is no
documented case of a wolf ever killing a person.  Minnesota experienced
severe winters in 1995-96 and 1996-97 resulting in a decrease in deer
population. Complaints of depradation by wolves on domestic animals
(livestock and/or pets) increased by 19% in 1997, but final numbers are
not yet available. Depradation statistics for 1996 show that of
households with dogs in wolf range, approximately 0.00015% experienced
depradation (10 out of 68,000 households with dogs in wolf range). If at
all possible, please attend at least one of these meetings:

Duluth: Woodland Middle School Auditorium, 7-9 p.m., Jan. 13.
Little Falls: Little Falls Middle School Commons, 7-9 p.m., Jan. 14.
Twin Cities: Normandale Community College, Auditorium F, 9700 France Ave
S., Bloomington, 7-9 p.m., Jan. 15.
Montevideo: National Guard Armory TACC Building, 7-9 p.m., Jan. 20.
Rochester: Rochester Community Technical College Memorial Lecture Hall,
7-9 p.m., Jan. 21.
Northome: Northome School, 7-9 p.m., Jan. 22.

Please write opposing the delisting of the wolf as well as any hunting
and trapping:

    Jamie Clark, Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1849 C St. NW
Rm. 3256
Main Interior Building
Washington, D.C. 20240

   Bill Hartwig
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
    Bishop Henry Whipple Building
1 Federal Drive
Fort Snelling, MN 55111

Nancy Gibson
International Wolf Center
1396 Highway 169
Ely, MN 55731

When writing to the Wolf Center, it's important to note that the Wolf
Center has of yet taken no position on the proposed hunting and trapping
of wolves. 

For more information, contact:
The Animal Rights Coalition (ARC)
PO Box 8750
Minneapolis, MN 55420
612-822-6161 
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 11:23:20 EST
From: klaszlo@juno.com (Kathryn A Laszlo)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US-MN) Gray wolf numbers cause concern in north
Message-ID: <19980111.125158.4911.1.KLaszlo@juno.com>

Published Jan 11, 1998

Concern grows in north over increasing number of timber wolves

Larry Oakes and Dean Rebuffoni
Star Tribune
Minneapolis/St. Paul

INTERNATIONAL FALLS, MINN. -- Frank Bahr said timber wolves slipped into
his front yard and killed his dog.

Greg Nicholson said wolves killed 40 wild deer that he had fed in the
brutal winter of 1995-96, devouring only a chunk or two of meat from each
animal. 

Marvin Christensen said he saw more wolf tracks during the latest
deer-hunting season than deer tracks.

One by one, hundreds of people in International Falls and other northern
Minnesota cities stood at public meetings last week and warned that the
wolf is at their door. 

Minnesota's wolf population has rebounded dramatically in recent decades,
those people said, arguing that it's now time to remove the feared --
and, by others, revered -- animal from the protective federal endangered
species list and thin its numbers. 

Most of those who spoke said they want some kind of state program to
control the wolf, and some want to be allowed to shoot or trap the animal
themselves. They were clear in the message that they want the federal
government to butt out. 

Some, such as rancher Julian Brzoznowski, were strident: Unless the
population is reduced quickly, he warned, "it's going to be like the one
guy said: 'You shoot, you shovel and shut up.' " 

Others wanted a less confrontational approach. 

"As a person who likes to hunt and likes to be out in the woods, I would
like to have wolves around for the future generations to appreciate,"
Wendy Johnson said. "I think we all agree the wolves have recovered well.


"Now we should take a look at rational ways to control the population,
protect the interests of pet owners and livestock owners and sportsmen
and sportswomen alike. I'd like to see both sides . . . reach a rational
decision that will assure the continuation of the wolf population and the
continuation of the deer population.  . . . I think we can do that." 

Divided debate 

Interspersed with appeals from greatly outnumbered moderates who espoused
trusting in nature and who questioned whether an open season on wolves is
the answer, the wolf-killing rhetoric heated a dialogue that divides
Minnesotans along familiar lines: northern farmers, hunters and trappers
vs. environmentalists and animal-protectionists from the Twin Cities
area. 

"As we go south, we're going to see the mood change," said Bill Berg, a
wildlife biologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
(DNR), which is holding 12 meetings on the issue this month. "We're going
to see probably a total reversal in attitudes." 

Attitudes such as these, from Harriet Lykken, a longtime Sierra Club
activist from Minneapolis: 

"We oppose public hunting and trapping of wolves. Data indicates that
arbitrarily killing wolves for sport is not an effective or reasonable
method of controlling wolf depredation [of livestock], nor does it
encourage public respect for wolves.

"We favor a restricted program to control depredating wolves, subject to
regulations that favor the wolf, and occurring only after scientific
verification that the loss was caused by wolves," she said. "The target
of control should be the depredating wolf, not all wolves in the area or
wolves in general. [The] object of control is not to retaliate against
wolves, and it is not to eliminate many wolves just to impress farmers." 

Lykken plans to testify Thursday in Bloomington, at the only one of the
DNR meetings to be held in the metro area. 

The northern sessions, she said, have been "popularity contests,"
dominated by deer hunters who claim their sport is threatened by growing
wolf numbers. 

Those sessions also have been marked by horror stories that are more
hyperbolic than factual, Lykken said, noting that wolves are far more
elusive than aggressive: There is no verified record of a wolf ever
killing a human in North America. 

By contrast, Bambi is a greater threat. Deer are far more likely to
attack people than wolves, and an estimated 150 people will be killed in
the United States this year when their vehicles hit deer. 

Getting ready 

The meetings are part of the DNR's preparation of a state plan to
"manage" wolves after the anticipated "delisting" of the animal by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which could occur as early as 2000,
barring successful legal challenges or bureaucratic delays. 

Armed with public testimony from the meetings, the DNR this year will
hold a roundtable discussion at which government agencies, farm groups,
hunting organizations and wolf-protection advocates will try to agree on
a management plan with help from professional mediators. 

Mike DonCarlos, a DNR wildlife biologist, said formulating a plan that
regulates the wolf population at a certain level will be easy compared
with getting disparate groups of Minnesotans to agree on what that level
should be. 

"Everybody wants to talk about how many wolves we should kill," he said.
"But we really need to back up and talk about how many wolves are going
to be in Minnesota and where they should be. 

"Do we want to manage them differently in different areas? Resolving
these things is very complicated."

The wolf controversy could widen an already significant north-south rift,
still emanating aftershocks from the recent hot debate over federal motor
restrictions in Voyageurs National Park and the Boundary Waters Canoe
Area Wilderness, and the current protest against logging in northern
Minnesota by environmental activists organized by a Twin Cities-based
chapter of Earth First! 

"The people in St. Paul don't see what's really happening," Nicholson
said. "They don't know what's going on in the northern half of the state
. . . but there's more of them, so they're going to dictate what happens
up here?" 

However, DonCarlos said the southward expansion of the wolf's range in
Minnesota is on the verge of making the animal a back-yard issue for Twin
Citians as well. A radio-collared wolf spent two weeks just north of St.
Paul in 1995 before returning to wilder areas in Wisconsin, he said. 

"There are wolf packs in residence pretty close to the Twin Cities,"
DonCarlos said. "It forces people in the metropolitan area to pay
attention to wildlife management." 

Fear and distrust 

Meetings from Thief River Falls to Ely to Grand Rapids demonstrated that
many northern Minnesotans are having increasingly close encounters with
wolves. Some fear for their families, though attacks on humans are
extremely rare. 

Those critics scoff at the DNR's estimate that Minnesota now has about
2,200 wolves and contend that wolf sightings are up at least tenfold
since the 1970s, when the federal government placed the state wolf
population at closer to 1,000. A new population survey is due out this
spring. 

"I've been hearing that 2,000 figure for years -- that's crazy," hunter
Ed Hanson said. "There must be 5,000 between Baudette and International
Falls. I don't think we should annihilate the wolf. We need to have them.
We just need to cut them down." 

But some who attended the meetings defended the wolf and asked for
rational deliberation.

"Obviously, wolves do have to have some kind of control," Jennifer
Zahratka said. "But we have to find a middle ground.  . . . We don't want
to come off as too gung-ho so that we scare people.  . . . I think we
should be very proud to have the wolf in Minnesota. It says something
about the wildness of where we live."

Wolves aren't eating all the deer in northern Minnesota, as "a lot of
hunters" believe, Karlyn Atkinson Berg said. 

She stressed that DNR biologists have said that deer numbers are down in
northern Minnesota because of two very harsh, consecutive winters. This
winter's mild weather promises to help the deer population rebound. 

"Still, how can you deal with the fantasies that some people have about
deer?" Atkinson Berg said. "If the wolf is to be delisted, it should be
done on the basis of scientific fact, not emotion. But we haven't had a
scientific study of wolf populations across Minnesota, and the DNR's
current population estimates are not based on good science." 

Copyright 1998 Star Tribune | Minneapolis-St.Paul






Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 11:32:55 -0500
From: leah wacksman 
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" 
Subject: Fairfax Deer
Message-ID: <34B8F437.9B927C6B@galen.med.virginia.edu>
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Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Washington Post article          

Get Those Deer! Fairfax's Urge to Kill 

By Matthew Scully

January 11, 1998; Page C01 

The local deer have been running into trouble lately, and we are quickly
losing patience. Said to number around 25,000 in Fairfax County alone,
the deer stand accused of being a public menace. We don't mind a few
here and there, grazing gracefully off in the distance like deer are
supposed to. But, boy, are these deer pushing it. They dart out into
streets and highways. They have no respect for property. They always
seem to be impeding our new developments. They sometimes spread disease.
They are a threat to our finely landscaped yards. They nibble away
with            abandon at our bushes, our dogwoods and -- oh no! -- our
azaleas.

The deer are even, we are informed, a threat to themselves. It seems
there's a mysterious, unnatural imbalance in their population, a
shortage of adult male bucks and a surplus of does. "We do love the
deer," a Vienna hunter told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors,
"but it's gotten out of hand."

Following the example of Maryland's Howard County, the Fairfax board has
authorized a series of hunts in the Great Falls area this month and
again in February. Since "fences don't work" in controlling deer, there
is no avoiding this grim necessity. Roughly 150 hunters have been chosen
by lottery. Their quarry: about 320 does (a tenth of 1 percent of the
25,000.) At least 767 civic-minded sportsmen put in for the lottery,
which makes you wonder what's really driving events. People facing up to
grim necessities usually aren't quite so eager about it. But an even
better question is just how there came to be this overabundance of does.

The hunters are forever faulting others for sentimentality toward
animals, and there's some truth to the charge. They see themselves as
the true conservationists, the noble but unappreciated bearers of an
ancient tradition. But it is precisely their own peculiar brand of
sentimentality that brought on the imbalance. There are a
disproportionate number of does in our woods because a disproportionate
number of "trophy bucks" -- the Big Boys -- today reside on the walls of
lodges and living rooms across the region.

Like hunters themselves, about 6 percent of the U.S. population, the Big
Boys are scarcer these days. But they are also easier to kill than they
used to be. Thumb through the hunting magazines sometime and you can see
why. The modern deer hunter has at his or her disposal, among other
gadgets: ultra-sensitive listening devices, hand-held satellite
positioning systems to track deer, motion detectors, chemically heated
hunting clothes, telescopic sights with "stabilizers," aerial
maps(courtesy of the national field office) data from cameras recording
herd patterns, two-way radios, steel bows that look like they could
launch a Stinger missile and, of course, those indispensable doe scents
to entice the Big Boys.

Never mind the ethical questions here. The practical result is
ecological havoc. Any intrepid sportsman, if he reclines long enough in
his Tree Lounger, enshrouded in that ridiculous leafy camouflage, can
nail himself a buck. They all try -- gotta have that rack! That is why
your average buck dragged in from the Virginia woods is just a year and
a half old. And that is how the does now terrorizing us came to be "out
of control."

Then there are the developers. Most of them are not, as depicted by
environmentalists, some malevolent force lurking in the shadows. They're
the same folks who bought, brokered, rezoned and cleared the land once
inhabited by deer but now occupied by the house, apartment, shop or
office in which you and I are sitting this moment. It's easy to moralize
about the ravages of development -- after our own little patch of earth
has been cleared.

On the other hand, we're told Fairfax County has more deer than it did
50 years ago. This is cited as proof that matters are coming to a head
and we can't co-exist with the deer, though on second glance it would
seem to point up just the opposite: As a purely numerical point, somehow
deer increased their ranks right alongside ours. Sure, they've been
getting into trouble lately, but it's not nearly as bad as you'd think,
looking at that growth.

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries tells us that 37
percent of Fairfax is as yet undeveloped and suited to deer habitation.
It's a big county. There is still, remarkably enough, plenty of space
for human and deer alike. We are not caught up in some inexorable clash
of civilization versus nature. That is an excuse, allowing us to cast
our every whim as a force beyond control.

This is what grates a little about the developers -- their stingy
intolerance of any creature in their way. Every new project is vital,
crucial, absolutely essential to the county's economic future.

But why this constant push outward into deer territory? Population and
market forces alone do not explain it. One reason is that commercial and
residential tenants and buyers yearn to flee the developers' own garish
overbuilding elsewhere. The pressure on our remaining forests has less
to do with any shortage of space than with the excesses, caprice and
shortsightedness of developers and planners themselves.

We are offered a false choice. Economic growth does not require a
relentless cutting into fresh earth. There are plenty of fine spots
without deer (look around, for goodness sake) and many more sites ripe
for redevelopment. Arlington County is growing, too. By necessity,
almost all commercial building there is redevelopment. But the point is,
you don't have to use up all the natural lands before turning to
redevelopment. Fairfax
County can start right now.

Let the developers spare us, in any case, their whining about the
dangers posed by deer and the prohibitive cost of relocating. Whenever
the subject is raised, they brush aside the deer with a proprietary,
huffy, guiltless tone -- as if they were talking about so many vermin to
be run off, and good riddance. They seem to share the hunters' basic
view of nature as an infinite world of resources, commodities,
obstacles, inconveniences, pests, quarry, targets, trophies and road
kill. Never is a deer just a deer, a harmless creature in need of a
break. As for the "fences-don't-work" argument, which holds that our
area's bionic deer can scale every height, one thinks of those three
does who last April took a wrong turn in Rock Creek Park and found
themselves in rush-hour traffic caught between the White House and the
Treasury building. (The White House fence seemed to do the trick.)

Hunters are likewise dismissive of devices such as special wide-angle
road reflectors that tend to scare off the deer from highways, following
what seems to be the general rule that deer respond to high-tech
gadgetry only when they're being hunted. In fact, reflectors, also known
as Strieter-Lites, have resulted in reductions ranging from 60 percent
to 90 percent in animal-vehicle accidents, according to sample surveys
in
Wisconsin. In the suburban woodlands of Connecticut and New York,
meanwhile, they've installed feeding stations where insecticides are
administered to guard against the spread of Lyme disease. And then there
are the basic deterrents like speed limits and deer-crossing signs --
extremely effective when we take the trouble to heed them.

For another approach, we need look no further than Gaithersburg, where
the town council has just ruled out a hunt in favor of eight-foot fences
and road reflectors to steer the
deer to open space and out of an area slated for development.

Finally, are residents really that worked up about the deer? One reads
again and again about grouchy gardeners up in arms, demanding action
against the deer. It has a suspicious ring to it. Not counting voluble
"homeowners" who also happen to be hunters, how many of us, espying a
doe and her fawns enjoying an illicit back yard meal, would feel any
impulse to call the authorities and have them killed? How many would
feel safer if suddenly a sportsman materialized to level them right
before our eyes?

Not many, I'd guess, but let's put it to the test. Our local television
stations ought to film the Great Falls hunt and give us highlights on
the nightly news. The chase, the kill, the fawns left to fend for
themselves -- all of it. We're paying $40,000 for the
hunt. It's being done on our behalf and in our own neighborhood. Let's
all watch it too, and then ask ourselves if our prized gardens and
pristine yards were really worth it.

Matthew Scully, a speechwriter in the Bush administration and former
literary editor for the National Review, is a Herndon-based writer. 

© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company 

Letters must be addressed to Letters to the Editor, signed (if mailed)
and include address and phone.
http://www.washingtonpost.com (you can email from there) 
address:  The Washinton Post
          1150 15th St. NW
          Washington, D.C. 20071

Marty Wacksman
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 12:04:26 EST
From: JanaWilson 
To: Ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Weekly Hunting News
Message-ID: 
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
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A/w local Oklahoma City hunting news:

A free seminar on outdoor survival will be presented on Friday,
the 23rd of Jan., here in Oklahoma City at Rose State College.
It is under the sponsorship of the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept. and
the Oklahoma Environmental Training Center.
"Survival Truths" is the name of the seminar directed by Peter
Kummerfeidt, owner and chief instructor for the Survival 
Consultant Group, an organization that conducts wilderness
safety skills seminars and survival training thruout the US.
Kummerfeidt is renowed for his innovative programs and highly
developed skills in the area of wilderness safety training.
"Anyone who hunts, backpacks, camps or enjoys basic outdoor
excursions should know basic outdoor survival skills," said
Luann Waters, education specialist with the Oklahoma Wildlife
Dept.  "This seminar will cover many of the basic survival truths,
and I'd encourage anyone interested in the outdoors to make plans
to attend."  Additional info is available at (405) 521-4636.

The Oklahoma Wildlife Federation has made a change for the 
better(?) in its monthly publication "Outdoor News."  In addition
to adopting a brighter format, new editor Gary Lantz has increased
and improved the content for hunting and fishing enthusiasts, and cut
down on the extensive reporting of environmental news, which
often makes for "dull reading." (Huh?)  The federation,
a private conservation organization not to be confused with
the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept., has a new mailing address:
Box 60126, Oklahoma City, OK. 73146-0126.

                                                    For the Animals,
  
                                                    Jana, OKC
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 12:04:13 EST
From: JanaWilson 
To: Ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Extended Deer Hunt Defeated
Message-ID: <36ef1b33.34b8fb8e@aol.com>
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A/w Oklahoma City hunting news:

The Oklahoma Wildlife Commission junked the 16-day deer gun
season in a heated debate at last Monday's meeting.  This means
that the 1998 season will go back to the traditional nine-day hunt
in November.  It was the second time commisioners have approved
a longer gun season only to break ranks when opposition surfaced
after the fact.  The first time was back in 1993.
After public hearings indicated a majority of the public was in favor,
the Wildlife Dept's Game Division recommended extending the 1998
season for two main reasons -- to increase hunting opportunities
and to help control a deer herd that's breeding to the point of 
over-abundance. However, sound deer management apparently was
not a major concern as the commission reversed itself once again.
Landowner opposition was the most significant factor.
Game Division head Richard Hatcher said "They didn't question
our recommendations.  They just received so many calls after the
decision it became a social question rather than a biological question."
Hatcher also added every regulation appproved along with the 16-day
season, including an aggregate five-deer limit and an extended
archery season, is now dead.  Deer hunting regulations will be 
unchanged for next year.
The 16-day season was approved 4 to 3 in November and put out
of its misery 6 to 1 on Monday.
Four people, including representatives of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's
Association and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, spoke in opposition
to a longer season.  Nobody spoke in favor.  The two landowner
organizations advocate killing as many deer as possible in the
shortest possible time.
According to one Commissioner, "The nine-day season better
represents the landowners of Oklahoma and the deer hunters of
Oklahoma, and in my opinion that's the people the commission
represents, so I'd strongly urge that we revert back to the nine-day
season as it has been."
In overruling what the Game Division had recommended, the 
Commission encouraged efforts to better manage the deer herd
by other means, particularly by adopting more liberal doe-hunting
regulations.

                                                              For the Animals,

                                                              Jana, OKC
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 18:56:42 EST
From: LexAnima 
To: AR-News@envirolink.org
Subject: Wisconsin activists go national - Beg for a national outcry on behalf of monkeys
Message-ID: <250ffabd.34b95c3b@aol.com>
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~ Please DISTRIBUTE! ~ ACTION ALERT FOR PRIMATES SCHEDULED FOR
EXPERIMENTS!  ~
Act NOW!

After daily emergency meetings, the Alliance for Animals and the Wisconsin
monkey protection activists throw themselves and their campaign on the mercy
of the animal rights movement.  Although we are aware that each and every one
of you has too many projects that need your attention, we beg that you take a
moment out of your hectic day to place a call on behalf of the Madison
Monkeys.

University officials have attempted to dampen public outcry by announcing on a
Friday evening that the Madison monkeys are as good as gone.  In a small
university town it is easy for a monolithic organization like the University
of Wisconsin to manipuate the press.  The media coverage of the announcement
that the Madison Monkeys are scheduled of Dr. Gerone and Tulane's Delta
Primate Research Centre appeared to be taken directly from the Univeristy
public relations machine.  Local press, in a town like Madison, do not
question the University's decisions.

To date, the Alliance for Animals has held protest after protest at the zoo in
addition to their years and years of actions against the Primate Lab.  (Some
old-timers may remember that the Mobilization for Animals occurred in 1980 or
so against primate torturer Harry Harlowe's "wells of despair.")  The group
has also sent out a mailing to its membership to protest the animals being
transferred.  Additionally, Rick Bogle of the Ape Army held a vigil this fall
at the Wisconsin Regional Primate Centre.  (This writer alone has been
involved in over twelve actions involving the lab since 1989.)  

Activists involved in this controversy see this campaign as an advance for the
entire movement.  Never before has the local community felt responsibility for
animals used in labs.  Animals used is research are rarely on display as the
Vilas Park Zoo Monkeys have been. Thus, this may be a unique opportunity to
teach the public at large that "Our Madison Monkeys were not made to be used
in experiments."  The only analogy I can come up with is when dispassionate
dog owners have found out their personal companion animals were sent to
experimental labs.  Jane Q. Public doesn't know why animals shouldn't be used
in labs -- she just knows she doesn't want HER animals used in experiments.
We need to capitalize on this sentiment!  Now!

PLEASE CONTACT BILLIONAIRE POLITICIAN FOR HELP!

Please drop a line to Senator Herb Kohl, the billionaire senator in Wisconsin.
Last year, he found an extra $25 million in his checkbook and decided to build
a basketball coliseum.  (Senator Kohl is the former owner of the Milwaukee
Bucks professional basketball team.)  At $100,000 a year, the Madison Monkeys
are going cheap!  Ask him if he couldn't find some spare change for a lifetime
endowment for the Madison Monkeys.

senator_kohl@kohl.senate.gov

Please also call the Dane County Board of Supervisors at (608) 266-4121 and
beg the Board and County Executive Kathleen Falk (formerly the State's Public
Intervenor and the state's premier environmental protectionist) to move the
Thailand monkeys to the sanctuary in Thailand, the monkey's former home.  Also
ask her to find the money to keep the Indian monkeys safe and away from
experimentors at the Zoo.  Please send your letters immediately to 210 Martin
Luther King, Jr., Boulevard, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.  

If you're an animal person from Louisiana or if you're familiar with Tulane,
Dr. Gerone or the primate experiment center formerly known as Delta, please
call our County Executive and let her know your opinions on the controversial
nature of this facility.

The activists in Wisconsin appreciate your support and your efforts,

D'Arcy Kemnitz
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 98 19:26:02 -0800
From: "Paul Wiener" 
To: "AR-News (to post)" 
Subject: Call to Action: US California
Message-ID: <199801120326.UAA23310@smtp03.primenet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

California Senate Bill 621 (SB621) amends portions of the Lockyer-Polanco
Pet Warranty Act to provide wider protection to consumers and require some
accountability on the part of anyone who breeds a dog.

If you endorse this effort, please send a letter (see sample) to Chairman
John Burton (D) of the Senate Judiciary Committee and copies to each member
of the committee. The committee members are:

 Vice Chair:Tim Leslie (R)

Democrats:
     Charles Calderon
     Bill Lockyer
     Jack O'Connell
     Byron D. Sher

Republicans:
     Ray Haynes
     Cathie Wright

All members may be addressed:
     c/o State Capitol
     Sacramento CA  95814

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Chairman John Burton,

I am writing to voice my support for Senator Rosenthal's Breeding
Regulation Bill (SB621) which requires California breeders to acquire a
breeding permit and a reseller permit.

A statewide Breeding Regulation Law will make professional and backyard
breeders accountable for the lives they create. It will reduce
indiscriminate breeding which results in surplus animals that ultimately
die in our pounds and shelters.

The problem of animal overpopulation will not go away unless we control the
number of animals being born. I believe SB621 will encourage responsible
breeding! Please support this legislation.

Sincerely,



  cc:Tim Leslie
     Charles Calderon
     Bill Lockyer
     Jack O'Connell
     Byron D. Sher
     Ray Haynes
     Cathie Wright


___________
Paul Wiener

got_the_T-shirt@been-there.com
paulish@cyberjunkie.com
paulish@thepentagon.com
paulish@usa.net
tinea-pedis@bigfoot.com
KJ6AV@callsign.net
- --------------------------------------------------------
http://www.netforward.com/cyberjunkie/?paulish

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Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 12:22:32 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Britain to seek world battery eggs ban 
Message-ID: <199801120422.MAA00262@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit



>The Electronic Telegraph
12 Jan 98

Britain to seek world battery eggs ban
                  By David Brown, Agriculture Editor 

                  BRITAIN is to use its presidency of the EU to seek a
worldwide ban on  battery-produced eggs and tighter welfare safeguards for
all animals
slaughtered for food.

                  The move is effectively an admission that the Government
cannot fulfil its pre-election pledges to bring about radical reform within
the EU unless
other major food producing countries can be persuaded to come into line.

                  Elliot Morley, junior agriculture minister responsible for
animal welfare, said  the attempt to gain a worldwide ban was in line with
the "ethical" foreign policy promoted by Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary.
He criticised present World Trade Organisation negotiations aimed at
removing international food import barriers and export subsidies for
ignoring the wide disparity of animal welfare standards between different
countries. Britain has some of the highest standards. He said: "It is a glaring
omission that animal welfare does not get a mention."

                  The Government's new farm animal welfare crusade will be
outlined by Mr Morley at an all-party meeting of Euro-MPs in Strasbourg on
Thursday.
                  Last week Franz Fischler, EU farm commissioner, told
farming industry  leaders in Oxford that the Government's aim of abolishing
battery cages in  the EU was unlikely to succeed due to pressures of
international trade.

                  He pointed out that Jack Cunningham, the Minister of
Agriculture, who is keen to see the end of battery cages, would be unlikely
to gain support
from most other EU countries which fear that a ban would simply hit egg
sales and jobs in the European farming industry. They claim that food
manufacturers, in particular, would simply obtain cheaper supplies from
non-EU countries.

                  He said that under World Trading Organisation rules it was
unlikely that the  EU could ban imports of eggs and powdered egg produced
from hens
reared in conditions that did not meet EU standards.

                  He suggested that better labelling to allow consumers to
make their own  choice could be a better route to progress. But Mr Morley
said last night:
"Franz Fischler was right to point out the difficulties. We have always
accepted that phasing out battery cages is a long-term objective."

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. 

Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 12:22:37 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Circus chief quits after killing tiger
Message-ID: <199801120422.MAA17498@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit



>The Electronic Telegraph
12 Jan 98

Circus chief quits after killing tiger
By Daniel Waddell 


                        THE circus trainer, Graham Chipperfield, who shot
dead a tiger that mauled his brother last week, has decided to abandon training
and performing with animals.

                  The company which runs the circus, Ringling Bros and
Barnum & Bailey  Circus, said last night that the 28-year-old member of the
Chipperfield
dynasty made the decision to retire himself.

                  Mr Chipperfield could face police charges for shooting the
four-year-old  Bengal tiger, named Arnold, with a 12-bore shotgun after it
attacked his brother, Richard, during a publicity photo-shoot.
Richard remains "critical, but stable" in a Florida hospital following the
attack, which resulted in him losing part of his brain. Doctors have said he
will probably be paralysed down his right-hand side should he ever regain
consciousness.

                  The company's chairman, Kenneth Feld, said: "After
discussions with Graham and the Chipperfield family, we accept and fully
support Graham's
decision to retire from animal training and performing."

                  He said that the killing of the tiger "does not comply
with our guidelines",  but stressed that Graham Chipperfield, who like his
brother spent his life  training and raising animals, was not forced to leave.

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. 

Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 00:02:17 -0500
From: "Bina Robinson" 
To: 
Subject: Fw: LENGTHENED HUNTING SEASONS IN IOWA 
Message-ID: <199801120451.XAA27536@net3.netacc.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
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----------
> From: Bina Robinson 
> To: civitas@linkny.com
> Subject: Fw: LENGTHENED HUNTING SEASONS IN IOWA 
> Date: Sunday, January 11, 1998 11:57 PM
> 
> 
> 
> ----------
> > From: Bina Robinson 
> > To: arnews@envirolink.org
> > Subject: LENGTHENED HUNTING SEASONS IN IOWA 
> > Date: Sunday, January 11, 1998 11:36 PM
> > 
> > Petition from Herman Lenz of Sumner IA to the Administrative Rules
Review
> > Committee of the Iowa Legislature 
> > 
> > Wildlife belongs to ALL citizens, but is being exploited by a special
> > interest minority that is well-organized and well-funded.  They lobby
and
> > work for more and longer hunting and trapping seasons, and the people
in
> > top policy-making positions within our state wildlife departments cater
> to
> > their wishes.
> > 
> > Over the past years NEW hunting seasons have started up, and existing
> ones
> > lengthened by  adding on to the beginning or ending of the seasons by
> > taking advantage of the fact that days will move ahead on the calendar
> one
> > day each year or two days in the case of leap years.  Wildlife
officials
> > then use the excuse, "We want the season to start or stop on a Saturday
> or
> > Sunday or the first of the month or last of the month rather than a
> > Saturday or Sunday".  
> > 
> > There is always an excuse to go one way or the other to LENGTHEN
hunting
> > and trapping seasons. Following are some of the seasons that have been
> > gradually lengthened in Iowa since 1979: pheasant and quail, 13 more
> days;
> > fox, 34 more days; raccoon and opossum, 27 more days; squirrel 25 more
> > days; deer (shotgun) 3 more days; deer (bow), 28 more days; deer
(muzzle
> > loader), 16 more days; trapping season for furbearing animals, 27 more
> > days.
> > 
> > Also, new YOUTH HUNTING SEASONS  have been started on pheasant, duck,
and
> > deer. There is a NEW hand gun deer season and a NEW "Bonus late deer
> > season" consisting of eight additional days.
> > 
> > Deer populations have been cleverly increased by upsetting the natural
> sex
> > ratio of males and females and by killing off their natural predators. 
> > Other species have always had their ups and downs but even during "low
> > population" years, the seasons were not shortened.  There have been
years
> > when there were FEW pheasants because of heavy rains during the nesting
> > season, but the seasons were not shortened.
> > 
> > There is a  continuous open hunting and trapping season on coyotes
> because
> > this animal competes with sport hunters by catching the old, sick and
> unfit
> > of many species, but hunters hate coytes because they also catch
animals
> > and birds the hunters want for live targets.  The coyote also catches
> mice,
> > rats, and gophers, so the coyote is needed.
> > 
> > We, the undersigned, demand that you put a leash on the bureaucrats, 
> > wildlife managers or personnel who propose and set the hunting and
> trapping
> > seasons. Tell them NO DOVE SEASON.  Have enough backbone and gumption
to
> > tell them NO, and get those hunting and trapping season lengths back to
> > where they were in 1979 or earlier, and if you have it within your
> > authority, get some NEUTRAL people in top policy-making positions that
> > manage wildlife and set hunting and trapping seasons who are not now or
> > have never been sport hunters or trappers.  
> > 
> > (Relayed by Civitas: Coalition to Protecxt Animals in Parks & Refuges)



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