AR-News: SOLOMON ISLAND DOLPHIN UPDATE

Tue Jul 29 22:46:36 EDT 2003

From: animal-lib-nsw at yahoogroups.com

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SOLOMON ISLAND DOLPHIN UPDATE

>From Captive Animals' Protection Society (CAPS)
http://www.captiveanimals.org/

Despite worldwide condemnation of the capture of up to 200 
dolphins from the wild off the Solomon Islands (in the Pacific 
Ocean near Australia), some of the dolphins have already been 
transported to dolphinariums in Mexico. The capture is the 
largest ever and increases by one-fifth the number of dolphins in 
captivity worldwide. 

A business consortium, taking advantage of the political turmoil 
in the country, has offered local fisherman £160 (AU$390) for 
each dolphin they catch. Each is worth up to £100,000 
(AU$245,000) when sold to dolphinariums. 

Foreign governments, including Australia who has sent troops to 
the islands to try and restore law and order, have tried to stop the 
export but the Mexican government refused to block the import. 
Journalists and film crews have been threatened and attacked 
by gangs when trying to film the dolphins in the temporary pens 
and the British High Commissioner was also chased away. 33 
dolphins have been flown to Mexico and potenti! al buyers from 
Taiwan and Thailand have also inspected the dolphins. 

Mexico is a signatory to CITES (international wildlife law), under 
which the bottlenose dolphin is fully protected, and Mexican laws 
prohibit the capture of marine mammals in Mexican waters. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO 

Please email the following, asking them to intervene to prevent 
the capture and movement of any more dolphins. Marine experts 
such as WSPA should be allowed to help release all the 
captured dolphins back into the wild. 

CITES Secretariat, Switzerland
email: cites at unep.ch 

Jorge Soceron Mainero,
CITES Scientific Authority, Mexico
email: jsoberon at xolo.conabio.gob.mx 

President Vicenta Fox, Mexico
email: Elizondo at presidencia.gob.mx 

Victor Lichtinger
Secretary of the Environment, Mexico
email: vlichtinger at semarnat.gob.mx 

Her Excellency Senora Alma Rosa Moreno-Razo
Mexican Embassy, London
email: mexuk at easynet.co.uk 

British High Commissioner in the Solomon Islands
email: bhc at solomon.com.sb 

If you require postal addresses or phone/fax numbers for the any 
of the above please contact the CAPS Campaigns Office; 
info at captiveanimals.org. 

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FISHERMEN KILLING GREAT WHITES
By Catherine Hockley in Adelaide

SURGING from the choppy, grey waters off Port Lincoln on South 
Australia's Eyre Peninsula, this toothy giant is dubbed UFO.

Christened by shark researchers, the 4.2m great white appears 
a frightening predator searching for food in waters at Dangerous 
Reef, east of Port Lincoln. But its dorsal fin reveals a vulnerability 
that could ultimately lead to its death.

Attached to the fin is a fishing line which trails behind covered in 
seaweed. This line, which cannot be removed without risk to the 
researchers, is likely to lead to the loss of UFO's dorsal fin, or 
even death.

Researcher Andrew Fox, son of famed shark expert Rodney, 
says great white sharks, listed as a vulnerable species and 
protected under Australian law, are under siege.

"Over the past 10 years we've seen a lot of sharks which have 
fishing line damage," he said.

Great whites remain somewhat of a mystery and there is little 
data on population but they are in decline.

Mr Fox says that data has shown as many as 200 great whites 
are inadvertently killed every year by commercial fisherman in 
Australian waters. 

The Foxes are developing a photographic catalogue of great 
whites in the region and are launching a satellite tagging 
program to gain an idea of their travelling patterns.

For more information log on to http://www.sharkfoundation.com

http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5
936,6822395%255E21302,00.html

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PROTEST TO STOP KANGAROO CULL 

ANIMAL activists today demonstrated at the Puckapunyal army 
base north of Melbourne over the culling of thousands of 
kangaroos which authorities say face mass starvation. 

Animal Active spokeswoman Rheya Linden said about 50 
members staged a protest at the base this morning in a bid to 
stop the cull.

The cull, which began on July 14, would kill 6,500 kangaroos at 
the base by the end of August, Ms Linden said.

"We have seen the shooters come in and out of the army base 
but we do not know how many roos have been killed so far," she 
said.

"Kangaroos are our wildlife, our heritage and a cull should be 
the very last option."

The slaughter was sanctioned by the Victorian government when 
it was decided the 36,000 kangaroos trapped inside the 
42,000-hectare area by a 1.8 metre fence were over-breeding 
and faced mass starvation.

But Ms Linden said she believed the government had not 
adequately researched the possibility of a non-lethal option.

As a result, the group last week lodged an application to seek 
documents from the Department of Sustainability and 
Environment under Freedom of Information (FoI).

The FoI had been lodged at the Victorian Civil and Administrative 
Tribunal (VCAT).

The group also hoped to lodge an application for an injunction in 
the Victorian Supreme Court to stop the cull.

"We have a legal team who are looking into this and we will 
hopefully lodge the application by the end of this week," Ms 
Linden said.

"We realise this process might take some time, and that it might 
not stop the cull before all the roos are dead, but we will not stop 
fighting.

"We will continue to protest at the army base and in nearby 
Seymour because people need to be made aware that our 
wildlife is being killed."

More than 20,000 eastern grey kangaroos have been killed at 
Puckapunyal since May last year.

A count by Melbourne University in April found the base still had 
an unsustainable population of 36,000 kangaroos.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6813815%
255E1702,00.html

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CAVEAT EMPTOR

Some Trade Names for Domestic Dog and Cat Fur on the World 
Market

Buyers Beware! It may be hard to tell if that coat, jacket, or 
accessory was made from the fur of someone's former pet. The 
following terms are used by the industry to sell the fur of 
domestic dogs and cats to unsuspecting buyers.

      DOG FUR
      Gae-wolf
      Asian wolf
      Asiatic raccoon
      China wolf
      Corsac fox
      Goupee
      Gubi
      Pommern wolf
      Loup d'Asie
      Asian jackal
      Dogue de Chine
      Sobaki

      DOG LEATHER
      Mountain Goat skin
      Sakon Makhon lamb
      Kou pi
      Dog skin plasters (sold in Chinatowns as a cure for 
rheumatism)

      CAT FUR
      Housecat
      Wild cat
      Katzenfelle
      Goyangi
      Mountain cat
      Maopi
      Moupi
      Maopee

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