Vegan News 5.31.13

Feral cats pose dilemma for feline advocates, wildlife conservationists. “Skulking around the edges of parking lots and trash bins or lingering behind restaurants, feral cats seem to be everywhere, with estimates on their numbers ranging into the tens of millions nationally. And no one is quite sure how to get rid of them. In the Bay Area, some government agencies have started working with animal rescue groups using a decades-old method of population control and say they are making headway. Others insist the approach is doing as much harm as good.”

Boulder mountain lion mugs for remote wildlife camera on Mount Sanitas. “A young mountain lion made an evening appearance on one of Boulder’s remote wildlife cameras on Mount Sanitas earlier this week. City officials posted the photo — which was taken at 7:33 p.m. Monday — on Boulder’s Facebook page, and the photo already has received more than 200 likes and 200 shares. Boulder officials said the remote cameras are designed to help wildlife rangers see what types of animals are in a given area and their numbers. A similar camera in April captured the first image of a North American river otter in Boulder in about 100 years.”

U.S. sued over policy on killing endangered wildlife. “Environmental groups are taking the Justice Department to court over a policy that prohibits prosecuting individuals who kill endangered wildlife unless it can be proved that they knew they were targeting a protected animal. Critics charge that the 15-year-old McKittrick policy provides a loophole that has prevented criminal prosecution of dozens of individuals who killed grizzly bears, highly endangered California condors and whooping cranes as well as 48 federally protected Mexican wolves.”

Kenya: Wildlife Fund Welcomes Amendment of Law. “The World Wide Fund for Nature is happy with Parliament’s move to amend the Wildlife Act . The organisation said poaching has become a menace and the number of elephants in the country had dropped from 160,000 in the 60’s to the current figures of 38,500. The amendment of the act will raise penalties for killing wildlife especially elephants and rhinos to up to 15 years in jail and/or a fine of up to Sh10m. This increase of 2,500 per cent on current fines means that wildlife crimes now have the same status and punishments as the Economic Crimes’ Act, the Organized Crime Act and the Anti-Terrorism Crime Act.”

Feds Must Analyze Oil Spill Dispersant Effects on Wildlife. “Three conservation groups sued the federal government to force determination of the dispersants’ safety for endangered species before the chemicals are used to break down spilled oil, not afterwards, as occurred during 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. ‘We shouldn’t add insult to injury after an oil spill by using dispersants that put wildlife and people at risk,’ said Deirdre McDonnell of the Center for Biological Diversity, which brought suit with Surfrider Foundation and Pacific Environment.”

Photo credit: estevenson via Flickr