U.S. Dolphin Safe label law may be weakened

To implement a World Trade Organization ruling, U.S. lawmakers potentially could repeal or weaken the U.S. Dolphin Safe label – a prospect drawing protest from leading animal rescue groups. The WTO ruling found that the U.S. Dolphin Safe label for tuna sold in the United States does not comply with certain WTO rules.

“The WTO ruling ignores extensive scientific evidence of the harm caused by targeting dolphins as a means to catch tuna, and overreaches as a matter of law,” said Kitty Block, vice president of Humane Society International. “It leaves the door open for Congress to repeal or weaken the label, marking this decision a huge loss for dolphins, and undermining the legitimacy of a label millions of consumers have grown to trust.”

Prior to enactment of the U.S. Dolphin Safe label in 1991, millions of dolphins were killed as a result of a fishing method that intentionally targets and deploys nets on dolphins to capture the tuna swimming beneath them. The label gave consumers the choice to purchase tuna products that are truly "dolphin safe."

While the U.S. label does not prohibit trade in tuna products, and other countries have the option of using it, some have argued that it forms a trade barrier. Mexico continually has refused to push for change in fishing practices, and instead sought to weaken the criteria for "dolphin-safe" tuna, hoping to successfully market tuna caught with methods that target and kill dolphins to U.S. consumers.

"This ruling is a troubling precedent that will give pause to global leaders as they consider whether even voluntary environmental or animal welfare standards might be deemed trade barriers," wrote Beth Allgood, Campaigns Manager in the Washington DC office of International Fund for Animal Welfare.

According to the U.S. government statistics cited by Allgood, the number of dolphins killed in Pacific Ocean fishery west of Mexico is as high as 1,000 drowned dolphins a year.


The Animal Rescue Site

Stop the Bird-Slaughter Bill

Your help is needed to defeat a bill that flies in the face of true conservation: "The Cormorant Management and Natural Resources Act" (H.R. 3074)

Introduced by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the bill would amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to allow states to kill large populations of double-crested cormorants (DCCOs) mainly because of the misguided belief that they are "eating all the fish."

There is ample research that shows DCCOs rarely have much effect on any fish stocks at all. In fact, DCCOs actually benefit fish stocks, weeding out the unfit, and preying on predators or alien species such as the round goby. DCCOs also often are instrumental in helping to make soil suitable for vegetation.

The double-crested cormorant is a highly migratory species, is the responsibility of several countries, and has been proven to be very vulnerable to persecution.

On March 29, Born Free USA attended the Congressional House Subcommittee hearing on this bill. H.R. 3074 is opposed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials, conservationists and some state wildlife departments. In the name of compassionate and scientifically valid conservation, we oppose it, too!

Please ask your Congressional representative to oppose "The Cormorant Management and Natural Resources Act" (H.R. 3074) today.

Indian Supreme Court rejects cheetah reintroduction plan

The Indian Supreme Court has halted the planned reintroduction of cheetahs into India. The court rejected the plan after the state of GujaraT objected to the plan, Project Cheetah.

In 2009, the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) was invited to participate in a programme by the Indian government to reintroduce cheetahs to that country after nearly 60 years of extinction. The plan, headed by Dr. M.K. Ranjitsinh, who served as India's first Director of Wildlife Preservation and is now Chairman of the Wild Trust of India (WTI), aimed to reintroduce cheetahs in stages over the next decade.

In an advisory capacity, CCF had conducted field inspections in order to determine the most viable release areas. The Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, a 344,686 square kilometre (133,084 square mile) reserve in central India, had been chosen for the first reintroduction. The sanctuary is home to many species, including wolves, leopards and nilgai --Asia's largest antelope. 

However many people has questioned the reintroduction, and the cost, as India is struggling to protect its population of other iconic big cats, tigers and lions.

Dr. Laurie Marker, Founder and Executive Director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, issued the following statement regarding the Indian Supreme Court’s staying the cheetah re-introduction project in India: “CCF is not a part of any of the negotiations or decisions being made on the Indian side and therefore we can only continue to provide advice and support, as we have thus far.”

The plan by the Indian government, and headed by Dr. M.K. Ranjitsinh, who served as Indian Government’s first Director of Wildlife and is now Chairman of the Wild Trust of India (WTI), would reintroduce cheetahs in stages over the next decade. To this effect, a team of experts including representatives from the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), Cheetah OutReach, the IUCN’s Cat Specialist Group, Re-introduction Specialist Group and Veterinary Specialist Group, and Oxford University’s WILDCRU, met in 2009 with Indian authorities and forestry directors from various regions.

A report of these meetings concluded that “With the establishment of a network of protected areas, implementation of effective wildlife legislation and a dramatic change in the conservation ethos and awareness in the country inter alia, the original cause for the extinction of the cheetah in India has been adequately addressed.”

Careful consideration of the genetics of the Asiatic cheetah and its only remaining population found in Iran (less that 100) led to the conclusion that the cheetahs participating in this project should be imported from southern Africa, where the largest populations of wild cheetah still exist. Furthermore, the fact that the Asiatic and African cheetahs are genetically so similar, according to cat specialists including world renowned geneticist Dr. Stephen O’Brien, and that there are no living Indian cheetahs, there is no concern about mixing populations. (Read about Cheetah conservation in Iran).

Field inspections by the Indian research team determined that the most viable release area for the first re-introduction is the Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, a 6,800 square kilometre (2,625 square mile) reserve in central India. The sanctuary was chosen as it is home to many species, including a variety of antelope, deer, wolves, and leopards. The absence of lions, the cheetah’s non-agressive nature, and work already done with the communities were also decisive factors. By returning cheetahs to a grasslands ecosystem where they used to thrive, the historic evolutionary balance would be restored and locally over-abundant prey species would be regulated; therefore a top-down effect of a large predator would enhance and maintain the diversity in lower trophic levels of the ecosystem, as explained in the group’s report.

In an advisory capacity, and in consultation with the re-introduction team, CCF has been working with the WTI and India’s authorities to discuss the best strategies for this re-introduction and providing its expertise based on proven successful programmes implemented in Namibia and other areas of Africa.

CCF believes that the project is sustainable to the extent that all recommendations made by the international consultants and Indian research teams are followed, and these include necessary infrastructure changes as well as community involvement and education. CCF advises that local communities be counselled in living harmoniously with wildlife, particularly predators, through training and communications programmes. To this effect, CCF emphasised the success of the conservancies in Namibia –which have become a model in conservation management where collaborative partnerships of neighbouring communities work together to develop and implement sustainable livestock and wildlife management systems. Namibian community conservation programmes have contributed enormously to integrated conservation programmes that provide benefits back to the communities involved as conservation partners, in particular, through the development of different techniques for livestock farming in a predator-friendly (non-lethal) way, and where integrated systems encourage good livestock and wildlife management. In addition, sustainable tourism has been encouraged so that jobs and business opportunities for the local people has been created.

Conservation biologists from India have attended several of CCF’s international courses in Cheetah Conservation Biology, and in Integrated Livestock, Wildlife, and Predator Management. These courses focus on capacity building and mitigating conflict between people and wildlife, with a special emphasis on the cheetah. Dr. M.K. Ranjitsinh and colleagues have visited CCF in Namibia.

With regards to the cheetahs that may be slated for re-introduction, CCF will provide its expertise with their selection as it has developed a proven protocol for re-introducing wild-caught cheetahs that allows the success of such a proposed re-introduction programme. To date, CCF has successfully re-wilded cheetah in two regions in Namibia, and has re-stocked cheetah populations in the Umfolozi National Park and Phinda, both in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Lessons learned from these successes will assist local Indian NGOs with the re-introduction. In addition, CCF has been asked to provide experienced staff to train local rangers and WTI researchers in cheetah monitoring and behaviour.

Any cheetahs selected for the project will require permits from both the importing and exporting governments, as well as from Convention of International Trade for Endangered Species (CITES).


Wildlife Extra

Who Gets the Dog When Couples Split?

Pet-custody issues figure into divorce more often now than even one generation ago. In a 2006 survey of the 1,600-member American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, nearly 25 percent of them reported noticing an increase in cases involving pets.

It's a natural outgrowth of how societal attitudes toward animal companions have evolved: Our dogs and cats have moved from being considered extensions of the family to being part of the inner circle.

"Forty years ago, people were attached to their pets, but they weren't considered members of the family in the way they are now," said Chris Johnson, a family-law attorney with the Minneapolis firm Best & Flanagan.

Yet in the eyes of the law, your little Precious Paws is no different than that flatscreen - he's a piece of property that will be awarded to one side or the other, unless a shared-custody arrangement is made.

"The law sees them as chattel, a piece of household goods, but people care so much about their pets that they're often willing to pay a huge amount to get them," said attorney Cathy  Gorlin, also of Best & Flanagan. "People will cede $20,000 to a spouse, plus attorney fees, for a pet that could have been replaced for $500."

But monetary value of a beloved animal is rarely the issue. Gorlin recalls a couple of cases that illustrate the wide variety of paths pet custody cases can take.

In one, all the other separation of property was simple, but who got the Yorkie was a giant T-bone of contention. "There were issues about whether the dog was purchased by one party before or after the marriage, and whether it was a gift, because if a gift is given after marriage, it's marital property. Mom ended up paying Dad $15,000 to keep the dog, and it wasn't a young dog."

People involved in a breakup can also use pets as tools of revenge.

"In one case where the dog was used for breeding, Mom was so mad at Dad that while the dog was staying with her, she had it spayed," Gorlin said.

Sometimes, breakups can actually benefit pets. Take Jake the Jack Russell terrier, who divides his time between Michael Abata of Minneapolis, who does consumer research for Target, and his ex, John Peterson, an engineer. The two got Jake from a rescue organization in 2006, then decided to go their separate ways a year later. Jake has been shuttling between the two for the past four years, according to the schedule on his very own Google calendar.

"Jack Russells really need a lot of stimulation, so it keeps things more interesting for him," said Abata. "Plus it's good for us, because we can travel and go out more when the other one has him. Some people are actually jealous of it."

Of course, that kind of arrangement depends on amicability between exes, which is not always possible.

Marshall Tanick, Gorlin's husband, is a Minneapolis attorney who specializes in animal law. He has written about pet custody for dog magazines.

"About 40 percent of households have pets, and 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, so it's fair to say that pet custody is potentially an issue in about 20 percent of households," he said. Ninety percent of cases involve dogs, 5 percent cats and 5 percent "other" - a category that can get bizarre, such as a couple who had 30 ornate birds.

"We had to divide them in half, by bird type, to make sure everything was equal," Tanick said.

Arbitration
Pet custody cases can also be about a tug of heartstrings on one side and purse-strings on the other.

"If one spouse knows the other really wants the dog ... the dog gets used as a bargaining chip," he said.

If a case does go to arbitration, it is decided much the same ways as child custody cases are, mediator Kent Peterson said, based on who cared for the pets on a day-to-day basis, who paid for their care and feeding, who took care of their medical appointments, who exercised them most often.

There are a few signs out there that our furry friends are inching their way toward being seen as more than possessions. Pets are now included in government-produced disaster and evacuation plans, and more law schools are teaching courses in animal law that include pets' rights.

Just four states - Maine, New York, California and Illinois - sometimes legally view pets as more than property, but only in cases involving domestic abuse. By Kristin Tillotson (McClatchy-Tribune News Service)

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Tarantula Silk Could Shoot From Spider's Feet Scientists Say

Tarantulas, like all spiders, extrude silk fromso-called spinnerets on their abdomens, and scientists recently found evidence suggesting the arachnids also shoot silk from their feet, Spider-Man style. But these powers were fleeting, it seems, with new research showing tarantulas are not so like the famed superhero, after all.

The tips of their eight legs don't shoot out Spidey silk.

"The history of science has plenty of examples which teach us that our present truths are provisional," Fernando Pérez-Miles, an entomologist at the University of the Republic in Uruguay, told LiveScience in an email. "But in my opinion the present evidence shows that tarantulas do not produce silk by their feet."

To hold on to vertical surfaces, spiders rely on molecular forces generated by thousands of microscopic hairs on their feet. Additionally, tiny foot claws allow themto cling to rough surfaces.In 2006, a study led by biologist Stanislav Gorb suggested that the zebra tarantula uses silk fibers — presumably produced by the nozzlelike spigots on their feet — to help them climb up a vertical glass wall.

"I have been studying tarantulas for more than 30 years and I have never seen any signal of silk production by tarantula feet," Pérez-Miles said.

Spindly ribbed structures found on the feet of tarantulas (called foot spigots) looked nothing like the spigots that shoot out spider silk, scientists have found. That suggests the foot spigots are used as some sort of sensory hairs.

Pérez-Miles and his colleagues repeated Gorb's experiment in 2009, with one small alteration: They sealed the tarantula's silk-spinning abdominal organs (the spinnerets)with paraffin. They didn't see any silk residues left on the glass. Though, they did find that tarantulas normally brush their hind legs against unsealed spinnerets as they climb, suggesting that the silk Gorb found was produced by the arachnids' spinnerets, not their feet. [See Photos of Tarantula Experiments]

But that wasn't the end of the story. Last year, biologist Claire Rind and her students at the University of Newcastle in the U.K. placed various tarantulas on horizontal glass slides, which they then raised to a vertical position and gently shook. The spiders' legs slipped slightly, but they regained their footing quickly, each time leaving behind microscopic silk threads — the team believes the arachnids only secrete silk from their feet as a lifeline to save themselves from falling, explaining why Pérez-Miles didn't see any silk in his experiments.

Next, to find the source of the foot silk, the researchers used an electron microscope to look at the feet of a dead tarantula. They found silk threads attached to ribbed, tapered structures that stuck out farther than the tiny foot hairs.

"But the microscopy was pretty poor," said arachnid specialist Rainer Foelix, author of "Biology of Spiders" (Oxford University Press, 2011). "There was such a low magnification of the silk threads that you couldn't tell them from a hole in the ground."

When researchers sealed the tarantula's silk-spinning abdominal organs (the spinnerets) with paraffin, they didn't see any silk residues left on the glass where the spiders were placed.

In a study published in April, Foelix and his colleagues compared the proposed foot spigots with spinneret spigots. They didn't look anything alike, but the foot structures strongly resembled the sensory hairs involved in taste and touch found elsewhere on the spiders. "Morphologically, it is very clear [the hairs] are sensory in nature," he said.

And in a study published in the May 15 issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology, Pérez-Miles repeated Rind's experiment, but again sealed the spider's spinnerets — he didn't find any silk thread on the glass.

The two studies contradict Rind's, but she still stands behind the findings and the tarantulas' Spider-Man-like ability. "So far no conclusive evidence has been given that the structures on the feet I described do not secrete silk, they just don't look like usual spigots," Rind told LiveScience in an email.

For Pérez-Miles the work isn't over: Though he and his team didn't see silk secretions, they did find some kind of residue on the glass. "The fluid footprints we found could be a secretion of chemoreceptors, but up to now we don't know the nature of this fluid," he said. He hopes to soon study the odd, spindly structures on the tarantulas' feet in more detail to fully unravel the mystery. By: Joseph Castro, LiveScience Contributor

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Escapee Penguin Found in Tokyo Bay After Two Months

Penguin lost, penguin found!

Two months ago, a one-year-old Humboldt penguin scaled a 13-foot rock wall, squeezed through barbed wire and literally flew the coop from its harborside aquarium in the Tokyo Sea Life Park. Due to its youthful age, the penguin’s gender had not yet been determined and keepers have been referring to him or her as “Penguin 337.”

The Guardian reports that video footage has shown the penguin “frolicking,” and apparently in good health, in a different part of Tokyo Bay:

“You can see it’s got the same ring around its flipper and identical facial patterns,” said Kazuhiro Sakamoto, deputy director of the Tokyo Sea Life Park, when shown footage of the escapee taken by Japan‘s coastguard.

“It didn’t look like it had got thinner over the past two months, or been without food. It didn’t seem to be any weaker. So it looks as if it has been living quite happily in the middle of Tokyo Bay.”

After discovering back in March that Penguin 337 had gone missing from its enclosure with some 135 other penguins, the aquarium sent keepers out daily to hunt for the escapee; they also sent out an appeal to Tokyo residents. Hundreds of people reported sightings but Sakamoto said that most of them were probably of cormorants.

Tokyo aquarium staff say that the penguin has most likely been “gorging on small fish in the bay during daylight hours and returning to the shore at night to rest.”

Tokyo Bay is not the most pleasant place to spend one’s days. Tokyo itself is crowded and densely populated and some have expressed worries about how dirty the bay’s water is, and of the possibility of radiation.

With all the hazards of survival in an urban setting, Penguin 337 seems to be finding life beyond the aquarium and the barbed wire to be all right. Sakamoto attributed his or her flight to a “sense of adventure” — Penguin 337 is surely getting a full taste of life on the run and back in the wild (if you can call Tokyo’s urban environs such). by Kristina Chew 

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Do You Want to Know What Your Dog’s Really Thinking?

If you’re a dog parent, you may spend a lot of time wondering what you’re dog is actually thinking about …or you already have some good theories about what goes on in your canine companions mind and can easily recognize their different expressions and behaviors and attribute thoughts to them. Researchers at Emory University decided to explore the this issue by capturing images of what’s really happening in those adorable little heads and recently published the results in the The Public Library of Science (PLoS ONE).

Gregory Berns, lead researcher and director of the Emory University Center for Neuropolicy, was inspired after learning about the dog involved in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden and theorized that if a dog could be trained to jump out of a helicopter, that it would be possible to teach one to sit still in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner and he was right.

“It was amazing to see the first brain images of a fully awake, unrestrained dog,” said Berns “As far as we know, no one has been able to do this previously. We hope this opens up a whole new door for understanding canine cognition and inter-species communication. We want to understand the dog-human relationship, from the dog’s perspective.”

The research team included Andrew Brooks, a graduate student, and Mark Spivak, a professional dog trainer and owner of Comprehensive Pet Therapy in Atlanta. The two dogs involved were Callie, Berns’ two-year-old rescued Feist and McKenzie, a three-year-old Border Collie who was trained in agility and owned by Melissa Cate. Over a period of two months, both were taught to crawl into the fMRI scanner and sit completely still with their heads on a chin rest, while wearing ear muffs to protect them from the loud noises of the machine.

“In the experiment, the dogs were trained to respond to hand signals, with the left hand pointing down signaling the dog would receive a hot-dog treat and the other gesture (both hands pointing toward each other horizontally) meaning “no treat.” When the dogs saw the treat signal, the caudate region of the brain showed activity, a region associated with rewards in humans. That same area didn’t rev up when dogs saw the no-treat signal,” according to Scientific American.

“These results indicate that dogs pay very close attention to human signals,” said Berns. “And these signals may have a direct line to the dog’s reward system.”

So far, the experiment showed that what they were attempting can be done and has opened the door to further studies to answer a myriad of questions that the researchers were left with, such as how do dogs distinguish humans, and is it by vision or smell? Is human language processed as arbitrary sounds, or do dogs have neural structures that respond in a deeper manner to language? Do they have empathy? What is the difference between how dogs represent humans and other dogs or animals?

“Ultimately our goal is to understand the human/dog relationship from the human perspective,” said Berns.  “People believe their dog understands and loves them, and we want to know what the dog is thinking and processing. The simplest question we can answer soon is whether it is all an act — whether they act all cute and stuff to get food, or is there something more than that.” by Alicia Graef

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