Monthly Archives: January 2014

Navarre The Wolf, Shot, Paralyzed, Rescued From Freezing Waters

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Nabeki's avatarHowling For Justice

January 8, 2014

Revisiting Navarre’s story is a renewal of faith.  There are good people in this world who care deeply for animals like this sweet, little wolf. I hope you find comfort in this, even though it wasn’t a happy ending.

We love you Navarre!!

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Kindness and love in action, saving a wolf from certain death. This beautiful video is narrated in Italian but really needs no translation. It’s heartfelt, moving and incredibly uplifting to watch  wonderful people working so hard to save a wolf’s life. To them I say:

“May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you every step along the way. May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that’s always blue. And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.”…..Irish Blessing

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Saving Navarre: The Dramatic Rescue of a Paralyzed Shot Wolf

Good news:…

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Conservationists Ask Court to Halt Wolf Extermination in One of Nation’s Premiere Wilderness Areas

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http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2014/01/07/conservationists-ask-court-to-halt-wolf-extermination-in-one-of-nations-premiere-wilderness-areas/

POCATELLO, Idaho – A coalition of conservationists, represented by the non-profit environmental law firm Earthjustice, today asked a federal judge in Idaho to halt an unprecedented program by the U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) to exterminate two wolf packs deep within the largest forested wilderness area in the lower-48 states.

In mid-December 2013, IDFG hired a hunter-trapper to pack into central Idaho’s 2.4-million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness to eradicate two wolf packs, the Golden and Monumental packs, in the interest of inflating elk populations for outfitters and recreational hunters. The U.S. Forest Service, which administers the wilderness, approved the extermination program by authorizing use of a Forest Service cabin and airstrip to support wolf extermination activities.

“A wilderness is supposed to be a wild place governed by natural conditions, not an elk farm,” said Earthjustice attorney Timothy Preso. “Wolves are a key part of that wild nature and we are asking a judge to protect the wilderness by stopping the extermination of two wolf packs.”

Earthjustice is representing long-time Idaho conservationist and wilderness advocate Ralph Maughan along with three conservation groups—Defenders of Wildlife, Western Watersheds Project, and Wilderness Watch—in a lawsuit challenging the wolf extermination program. The conservationists argue that the U.S. Forest Service’s approval and facilitation of the program violated the agency’s duty to protect the wilderness character of the Frank Church Wilderness. They have requested a court injunction to prohibit further implementation of the wolf extermination program until their case can be resolved.

Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness ©Ken Cole

Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness ©Ken Cole

“Idaho’s program to eliminate two wolf packs from the Frank Church Wilderness Area for perceived benefits to elk hunting is just the most recent example of the state bending over backwards to accommodate the wishes of people who hate wolves,” said Jonathan Proctor of Defenders of Wildlife. “Wilderness areas are places for wildlife to remain as wild as is possible in today’s modern world. If Idaho’s wildlife officials won’t let wolves and elk interact naturally in the Frank Church Wilderness, then clearly they will allow it nowhere. The U.S. Forest Service must immediately prohibit the use of national forest wilderness areas for this hostile and shortsighted wolf eradication program.”

The region of the Frank Church Wilderness where IDFG’s hunter-trapper is killing wolves is a remote area around Big Creek and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Even though this region hosts one of the lightest densities of hunters in the state, IDFG prioritized elk production over protection of the area’s wilderness character. The Forest Service failed to object to IDFG’s plans and instead actively assisted them.

“As someone who has enjoyed watching members of the Golden Pack and spent time in the area where these wolves live, I am startled that IDFG thinks it is acceptable to kill them off. If wolves can’t live inside one of America’s biggest wilderness areas without a government extermination program then where can they live?” asked Ken Cole of Western Watersheds Project. “The value of wilderness is not solely to provide outfitters elk to shoot,” Cole added.

acrobat pdfRead the Complaint acrobat pdfRead the Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) acrobat pdfRead the Memo in Support of TRO and Preliminary Injunction

2 duck hunters killed after boat capsized in MA harbor

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Third hunter is expected to survive
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WESTPORT, Mass. (AP) –

Authorities have identified two duck hunters who died and a third who was hospitalized after they fell into the frigid waters of the Westport River when their boat capsized.

The office of Bristol District Attorney Sam Sutter said 53-year-old Steven James of Marshfield and 55-year-old Robert Becher of Cromwell, Conn., died Tuesday.

The surviving hunter was identified as 51-year-old Gregg Angell of Westport. He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, R.I., and is expected to survive.

Westport Harbormaster Richard Earle said the hunters’ skiff was found overturned at about 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Simpson said the water temperature was about 35 degrees and the air temperature was about 8 degrees at the time.

The district attorney’s spokesman said the deaths are not considered suspicious.

The deaths remain under investigation.

http://www.wwlp.com/news/massachusetts/3-hunters-found-after-boat-capsized-conditions-unknown

National Park Service Starts Mass Slaughter of Deer in Rock Creek Park

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Washington, D.C. (January 8, 2014) – As Christmas trees and charming illuminated

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

deer decorations sparkled on lawns in the nation’s capital last night the real deer who live in Washington, DC, were being gunned down by the National Park Service in the bitter cold. Last night’s begin of the mass killing of deer was the first of several unannounced deer kills that the NPS plans to conduct in Rock Creek National Park through March 31.

In record-breaking bitter cold temperatures that reached into the single digits with 40 mph wind gusts the National Park Service, in a sneaky attack, last night set up unannounced road blocks around Rock Creek Park and turned its guns on some of the 300 deer who live there.

Although gunshots could not be heard, Park Police acknowledged to passers-by that the killing was taking place. The NPS has announced in the past that silencers would be used by USDA Wildlife Service’s agents on guns so that residents who live near the Park would not be disturbed. It is also possible that archery was used, an unusually cruel method of killing animals.

Unlike last year’s killing, in which the NPS announced in advance on what days the killing would occur, the NPS has now changed tactics. In an attempt to outwit deer supporters, the NPS has announced that it will conduct surprise kills on unannounced nights through March 31.

Last night’s killing was exceptionally unconscionable because it took place during a record-breaking cold spell during which wild animals need to preserve their heat and energy by hunkering down. Hunting the deer during such extreme weather stressed not only the deer but all the other animals who live in the Park.

“The National Park Service’s decision to enter in an endless cycle of killing deer is appalling in terms of its brutality, and it goes against the public’s will, common sense, compassion and science,” says Anja Heister, In Defense of Animals’ Director for the Wild and Free-Habitats Campaign. “The agency kills deer despite its failure to provide proof that it is actually the park’s deer and not exotic plants that interfere with forest regeneration.”

“Urban deer are here to stay, and we need to take responsibility in treating them humanely” adds Heister. “Instead of being so incredibly backward, the NPS should enter the 21st century and use existing nonlethal methods, including fertility control.”

Legal action by a coalition of local Washington D.C. residents and In Defense of Animals against the NPS killing continues, as will negative publicity and protests by local residents for as long as it takes to put a halt to this senseless killing, and for the agency to realize that it had better start to listen to the public, who strongly opposes the killing of deer in our nation’s capital as unacceptable.

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Contact: Anja Heister, anja@idausa.org, 406-544-5727

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization located in San Rafael, Calif. dedicated to protecting animals’ rights, welfare, and habitat through education, outreach, and our hands-on rescue facilities in India, Africa, and rural Mississippi.

IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS – 3010 KERNER BLVD. – SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901 – 415-448-0048

“Wish Someone Dead Foundation” Grants Child’s Homicidal Request

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The Wish Someone Dead Foundation, a new nonprofit organization dedicated to countering the animal-unfriendly efforts of the group, Hunt of a Lifetime (which was founded in 1998, after the Make a Wish Foundation ceased granting wishes involving the use of firearms or other weapons designed to cause injury), has awarded 7 year old leukemia victim, Gerald Watkins, a chance to fulfill his lifelong dream of offing a trophy hunting scumbag. The charitable group plans to fly the boy to Zimbabwe, outfit him with a sniper rifle and plenty of ammunition and line him up with a professional assassin who will instruct him in the fine art of dispatching a camo-clad nimrod with one clean shot.

Although society generally frowns on children (outside the military) being trained to kill other people, the raw deal this young terminal patient has been dealt in life seems to justify an exception to the rule. And besides, the target Gerald has chosen to eliminate—Philippe de Sade—couldn’t be more deserving. In one African safari, De Sade shot and killed species including elephants, hippos, buffaloes, lions, cheetahs, leopards, giraffes, zebras, hartebeest, impalas, pigs, the not-so-formidable 30-pound steenbok and even a mother ostrich on her nest. No wait, that was Teddy Roosevelt, musing in his autobiographical, African Game Trails. But this De Sade guy is a pretty murderous a-hole too…
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(This has been another installment in EtBG’s “Headlines We’d Like to See.”)

HuntingTrophiesJamieKripke600

Wildlife Services: Leaked Audit Shows Fiscal Confusion

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http://www.endangered.org/wildlife-services-leaked-audit-shows-fiscal-confusion/

by Mitch Merry

howlers

Via NRDC’s Melissa Waage:

An unreleased, internal audit at USDA’s secretive Wildlife Services division uncovered big accounting problems, including $12 million missing from its coffers, the LA Times revealed yesterday. This new information comes as USDA’s Inspector General prepares to conduct a congressionally-requested audit of the agency’s practices.

The Times reports that

The [internal Wildlife Services] audit found the agency’s accounting practices were “unreconcilable,” lacked transparency and violated state and federal laws. Further, the audit revealed that $12 million in a special account could not be found.*

On the one hand, this internal review is a responsible first step. For years, non-profit watchdogs and members of Congress have been trying to untangle Wildlife Services’ opaque funding stream. We know that a combination of federal tax dollars and payments directly from special interests like Big Agriculture enables USDA’s Wildlife Services division to kill hundreds of thousands of wild animals each year. But the agency has consistently resisted explaining how, exactly, it spends its budget, and who actually benefits from expensive tactics like shooting wolves from helicopters.

But on the other hand–why the continued secrecy? Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, a long-time critic of Wildlife Services, has repeatedly been in contact with the agency about funding details. Yet he had to hear about the internal audit from the LA Times.

“The last time I tried to get more specific financial information, they just blew me off and said they couldn’t provide that,” DeFazio said in an interview. “Yet, at the same time, they were undertaking this audit. So, the managers were, at best, disingenuous, and at worst, undertaking a coverup.”

Wildlife Services told the Times that “the agency [has] already begun to carry out changes recommended in the audit.” Of course, Wildlife Services has released neither the audit results, nor a plan to remedy any failures identified. The public release of this information would be a laudable step towards improving the agency’s fiscal transparency.

Sacramento Bee reporter and Wildlife Services watchdog Tom Knudson has posted a leaked copy of the audit here. We’ll be taking a closer look at what it reveals about government wildlife killing in future posts.

*The leaked audit’s conclusions about Wildlife Services’ cost-benefit analysis problems echo those of an NRDC-commissioned report released in 2012. Our report found that “most economic analyses of predator control done by Wildlife Services …are inconsistent with economic analysis guidelines used by most federal agencies,” and often contain fundamental accounting errors.

Upon its release in 2012, NRDC shared this report with the director of USDA-Wildlife Services and expressed our interest in discussing the results and recommendations with agency staff. Wildlife Services hasn’t yet taken us up on this offer, but it still stands.

This post originally appeared on NRDC’s Switchboard blog: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/mwaage/wildlife_services_leaked_audit.html

 

Repeal hunting season

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http://journalstar.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letter-repeal-hunting-season/article_dd8c92cc-71e8-5539-b564-200adf5ce5dd.html

Letter, 1/7: Repeal hunting season

I was saddened and sickened to read the article “Two mountain lions killed, ending first season” (Jan. 4) concerning the murder of two mountain lions in Nebraska by individuals selected by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission through a lottery and auction.

All Nebraska citizens who honor life and appreciate the beauty and majesty of nature that includes the animals that share our environment must join Sen. Chambers in his bid to repeal the ability of Game and Parks to set hunting seasons on cougars. I urge people to contact their senator and urge them to support Sen. Chambers’ effort and do everything possible to hinder the Game and Parks Commission until this is repealed.

Game and Parks officials stated their objective for allowing cougar hunting in the Pine Ridge is to provide hunters with opportunities while allowing a slight to moderate reduction in the mountain lion population. Guess what? It’s also legal for the unlimited murdering of cougars roaming through the Prairie Unit, which covers about 85 percent of Nebraska.

After reading how the first two animals were murdered, I shudder at what other “opportunities’” Game and Parks will come up with: the use of high explosives, automated weapons, stealth drones, mortars and the assistance of the NSA to target and murder these beautiful animals?

There is no place in our modern society for such barbaric and inhumane treatment of such beautiful animals. The magnificence of such animals is better visualized with a live animal rather than a rug on someone’s floor.

I beg people to support the repeal of this horrific activity. This is not hunting; there is no “sport” involved but the extermination of one of God’s most beautiful creatures.

Robert D. Randall, Lincoln

Hunting by any other name is still hunting

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Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/column/guest/gordon-douglas-hunting-by-any-other-name-is-still-hunting/article_e1a4bc49-0854-5519-b67d-9cfb26fa6d47.html

By Gordon Douglas Special to the Arizona Daily Star

It’s hard not to chuckle at how hard some people have to work to not say something. A great example is Gerry Perry’s Dec. 23 guest opinion, “Hunting benefits Arizona.”

He extols the virtues of “harvesting nature’s surplus” and “reconnecting with nature’s ecosystems in a meaningful way.” You’d almost think he was talking about catching apples falling from a tree or hiking a wilderness. What he’s desperately avoiding are the words shooting, killing, wounding or suffering. That “meaningful connection” he’s talking about is going into an ecosystem, finding an animal and killing it.

Even the use of the word hunting is basically a way to avoid describing the actual intent of the activity. Photographers, naturalists and those who enjoy observing wildlife all “hunt” for wild animals. What sets “hunters” apart is killing the animals once they find them.

He notes game may be killed for food, but does not acknowledge that many animals are not eaten but are killed for trophies, so the hunter can brag “I killed that,” or are just killed for the fun of it. Those of us who eat meat recognize it is necessary to kill animals for that purpose, but we call the place for that a slaughterhouse, not a chicken collection center or cattle aggregation area.

[Ok, here the article’s author lacks insight into his own complicity in killing farmed animals–he doesn’t have to eat meat. But read on; he makes some great points in the next few paragraphs…]

He correctly points out how hunters provide funding for wildlife management. What he doesn’t say is that through this funding mechanism hunters essentially control how wildlife is managed.

Public lands and their wildlife are operated as a shooting preserve for hunters. Rather than a responsibility of all Arizonans, game animals are looked at as the private property of hunters to be exploited to the maximum extent possible. Natural predators are usually reduced or eliminated, since the value of animals is measured in the number of targets and carcasses for hunters.

He lauds hunting as making it possible to bring back many species from near extinction, which is a mind-boggling reversal of reality. The species were nearly made extinct by hunting. Species are not saved by killing; they are saved by not killing. Animals can be saved for their intrinsic value, instead of bred to be slaughtered for pleasure. The endangered species act was not passed so we could shoot pandas.

A few other items carefully avoided in the piece are the number of people accidentally killed or wounded in hunting accidents, the number of children killed or wounded in accidents from hunting weapons carelessly left in homes, and the general gun carnage in our nation fueled in part by the fanatical resistance of many hunters to any sort of reasonable restrictions on guns of any type.

Hunting involves the use of lethal weapons, and that always carries a tragic price.

Much money is indeed spent on hunting, but this money would be spent in other ways if not for hunting. These other ways could well provide even more significant benefits to our state.

America has a centuries-old hunting tradition. In all likelihood that tradition will continue into the foreseeable future. But in the mean time, let’s stop playing word games, honestly face what we are doing, and recognize the costs as well as benefits.