2008 Summer
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About the Cover Like a real life version of Disney’s Bambi and Thumper, this deer and rabbit pair was formed while the orphaned fawn—given the name Finchen—was being raised by his rescuers in a small town in Germany. The wild rabbit began grazing in the garden at the edge of the village where Finchen resided,... more...
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Trinkets over Tuskers At its recent meeting in Geneva, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) unfortunately voted to designate China as an ivory trading partner and gave final approval for the sale of nearly 240,000 pounds of ivory (obtained from an estimated... more...
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Table of Contents ANIMALS IN LABORATORIES 25 A Study of the Impact of Environmental Enrichment on Xenopus Laevis Oocytes By Jennifer Harr, BS; Leanne Coyne, PhD; Ash Chaudhry, MS; and Robert F. Halliwell, PhD. ANIMALS IN THE OCEANS 8 Caribbean Monk Seal Extinct due to Human Impacts 22... more...
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INTERSPECIES BONDING: Beyond the Food Web AS CHILDREN, we were taught about the concept of the food web, which provides a map of "who eats who" in the animal kingdom. And we were taught about symbiotic relationships between different species, in which one or both members of the pair benefit from the alliance. But increasingly, we are... more...
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Bittern Nests Show Promise A wading bird called the bittern has returned to the United Kingdom’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) nature reserve in Somerset after not being seen in the area for 40 years. Two nests have been found in this reed-bed site created especially for the bittern, making for... more...
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Another Yangtze Species Approaches Extinction In late 2006, China’s Yangtze River "Baiji" dolphin became the first cetacean to go extinct in our lifetime, due to an unfortunate influx of development related to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, as well as overfishing and the depletion of prey species, entanglement in fishing gear,... more...
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Caribbean Monk Seal Extinct due to Human Impacts The US government announced in June that, following a 5-year search to locate a Caribbean monk seal and over 50 years since its last confirmed sighting, the species has officially been deemed extinct. The first type of seal to disappear due to anthropogenic causes, the Caribbean monk seal had... more...
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Good and Bad News for Rhinos There are now more than 21,000 African rhinos—the highest number seen in decades—according to the latest report by the IUCN Species Survival Commission African Rhino Specialist Group. Of these animals, there are 17,480 white rhinos, listed as "Near Threatened," but up from a population of only... more...
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Australia’s Tasmanian Devil to be Listed as Endangered A strange type of contagious cancer has cut Australia’s Tasmanian devil population by as much as 60 percent, and the government decided in May to list the species as "Endangered" on the Endangered Species List. The animals are afflicted by a fast-growing, disfiguring head tumor that is spread by... more...
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Wild Parrot Trade Banned in Mexico In late April, the Mexican Senate voted unanimously into law a bill to ban the capture and export of Mexican wild parrots. Originally drafted and approved by the Deputy Chamber last year, the original bill was a response to a report by Defenders of Wildlife and A.C. Teyeliz, entitled "The... more...
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Wolves Under Assault In Alaska Classified as "big game" and "furbearers" in much of Alaska, wolves can be trapped, snared, and chased with snow machines and airplanes, then shot at point blank range. "Wolves are being killed in Alaska in greater numbers, over larger areas, with more deception and more direct involvement of... more...
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Christine Stevens Wildlife Award recipient: Camilla Fox In 2006, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) created the Christine Stevens Wildlife Award program. As a tribute to AWI’s late founder and long-time president, the program supports the development of non-lethal solutions to wildlife conflicts, as well the non-invasive study of species in their... more...
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Conquering Tragedy to Become Whole: PROSTHESES IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM rostheses have been used on humans with missing or impaired limbs since the earliest civilizations, and now humans are helping non-human animals use artificial aids to supplement their own impaired anatomies. With the advent of new types of prostheses and techniques to create and attach them,... more...
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Biofuels: Bad News for Animals by Nicolette Hahn Niman There’s been a lot of talk lately about using agricultural products and byproducts to generate energy—so-called "biofuels." They’re touted as environmentally beneficial and even patriotic. But recent studies have exposed major flaws in the environmental and energy... more...
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Of One Mind As the Yankton Sioux and their South Dakota neighbors oppose construction of a large-scale hog facility, they find a common voice. In their words, "Get the Oink out of here!" by Tracy Basile When Long View Farm came to South Dakota to begin construction of a large-scale hog facility in... more...
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Organic Dairy Breaks USDA Rules A supplier to Dean Foods Co., the nation’s largest dairy processor, has been accused of confining its cows on a feedlot instead of letting them roam on pasture—in defiance of federal rules on organic production. Cornucopia Institute asked the US Department of Agriculture to investigate the... more...
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E. coli Case Settled for $13.5 Million Eight years ago, 3-year-old Brianna Kriefall and 140 other people became ill after eating at a Sizzler in South Milwaukee. E. coli-contaminated meat that had come from Excel Corp., a subsidiary of Cargill, had been served at the restaurant. Though Brianna did not eat the meat, she did eat... more...
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Tyson Deceived the Public to Rake in the Profits Last year, Tyson Foods, Inc. began a media campaign using advertisements dishonestly claiming that its chickens are "raised without antibiotics." The multimillion dollar effort, which resulted in an additional 70 million pounds of chicken sold by the company last year, included posters and... more...
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THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION SELLS OUT TO WHALERS he annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Santiago, Chile concluded on June 27 with confusion and uncertainty over the future of the 60-year-old body and, more importantly, the fate of the world’s whales. Key to this uncertainly was the actions of the United States,... more...
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A Study of the Impact of Environmental Enrichment on Xenopus Laevis Oocytes By Jennifer Harr, BS; Leanne Coyne, PhD; Ash Chaudhry, MS; and Robert F. Halliwell, PhD. TJ Long School of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, University of the Pacific, Stockton, Calif. The African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis , is widely used in developmental biology, embryology, molecular... more...
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Why Dissection? Hart LA, Wood MW, Hart BL. 2008. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Pages: 240 All is not well in the state of US science education. Schools are oriented to improving student scores rather than students. There is a striking shortage of highly qualified male college applicants. Science... more...
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San Francisco—Still Wild at Heart www.stillwildatheart.com Runtime: 55 minutes San Francisco—Still Wild at Heart is a virtual case study of the coyote’s natural range expansion across the national landscape, from San Francisco to Chicago and New York City. Through interviews with coyote experts, ecologists and... more...
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RED: A Tragic Moral Tale www.magpictures.com Runtime: 98 minutes RED is a cautionary story about a man who seeks justice when his dog is killed by three teens. When the perpetrators lie, their parents wrongly protect them, and the man takes matters into his own hands—leading to tragic consequences.... more...
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Blinders www.blindersthemovie.com Runtime: 53 minutes A ride in a horse-drawn carriage is on the itineraries of many New York City tourists, but if documentary filmmaker Donald Moss’ film Blinders accomplishes his goal, many of them will soon think twice. In just the past two years, three fatal... more...
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USDA Inspectors Raid Walking Horse Show In early July, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) effectively shut down one of the largest walking horse shows in Kentucky. Escorted by state police, USDA inspectors arrived on the last two days of the 4-day show. About 500 horses were present, but once the USDA arrived, horses were loaded... more...
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Black Farmers Offer Homes for Horses in Need The Animal Welfare Institute joined with the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) this June to form a national partnership to help American horses in need by finding them homes on farms operated by NBFA members. "Project Wanted Horse" will ensure that horses rescued by equine protection... more...
