Where Are They Now? Updates On 9 International Wildlife Conservation Posts
From the proposed bill to protect the North American black bear to the resurgence of elephant poaching in Kenya - and the skinning of a tiger inside an Indonesian zoo - the issues are not over yet.
Lions and tigers and bears … and elephants, whales, and rhino: Here are a few updates - as of today - on nine of my wildlife conservation posts. Four zoo posts are included, as zoos are (ideally) intended to be facilities for protecting precious wildlife.
- » See also: On the Brink of Extinction: Call to Close Cruel and Inhumane Tiger Farms
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1. Proposed Bill Hopes to Protect North American Black Bears from Poaching for Asian Markets - Before It’s Too Late
Summary:
Now that commercial trade is prohibited for Asian bears, poachers are turning to the North American black bear for the harvesting of their gallbladders. This legislation is meant to counteract the inconsistent laws that currently make illegal trade in bear parts relatively easy by creating loopholes for would-be entrepreneurs hoping to cash in on the lucrative Chinese market for bear gallbladders and other parts.
Approval - and enforcement - of this bill would prevent a dramatic decline in black bear populations by banning any import, export, or interstate commerce in U.S. bear organs and fluids.
Update:
Take action to protect the North American black bear by getting the word out about the Bear Protection Act of 2009 H.R. 3480
To conserve global bear populations by prohibiting the importation, exportation, and interstate trade of bear viscera and items, products, or substances containing, or labeled or advertised as containing, bear viscera, and for other purposes.
You can write to your representatives and monitor the progress of Bear Protection Act of 2009 H.R.3480 on OpenCongress.org and GovTrack.us
Thank you to commenter Susanne Coyle for providing this valuable information
2. Will the Port of Anchorage Expansion Harm Beluga Whales?
Summary:
A Port of Anchorage construction project will be using underwater pile drivers and chipping hammers in waters frequented by the critically endangered Cook Inlet Beluga Whales. The National Marine Fisheries Service has determined that the whales would not experience long-term adverse affects form the noise generated by underwater activity.
According to Marine Issues Field Director for the HSUS, Sharon Young, the NMFS has underestimated the “impact of chronic noise on marine mammals over time.”
Update:
Despite the 50 percent decline in Cook Inlet beluga whale population over the last ten years, this project marches on.
In a recent Courthouse News Service release, Executive Director of Cook Inletkeeper Bob Shavelson is suspicious.
I’ve never seen a project that size that went through with so little scrutiny. It didn’t even get an Environmental Impact Statement.
Adding to the intrigue is that the port’s director - and former governor - William Sheffield has reportedly been “deeply involved” with Republican fundraising. Also mentioned as a cohort was Dennis Nottingham - the port expansion’s primary contractor.
The port project has also been given a helping hand by a series of federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation’s Marine Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Defense Department
Duly noted …
3. Zimbabwe’s Rhino Poaching Crisis Compounded by Lack of law Enforcement
Summary:
Zimbabwe is currently home to the world’s fourth largest population of critically endangered Black Rhino. Although rhino killings in Zimbabwe have more than doubled in the past year, poachers continue to walk away without punishment for their crimes.
Update:
Thanks to coverage by international media, public support, and international pressure from CITES, the International Rhino Foundation’s (IRF) Crisis Zimbabwe awareness campaign has reportedly raised more than $120,000 in emergency funds to rescue 46 black rhino from vulnerable areas in Zimbabwe. And since May, eight poachers have been killed during armed confrontations with police, compared to seven known rhino poaching losses in the Lowveld.
