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Standards to dolphin safe tuna labels restored. In response to a lawsuit by a group of animal and environmental organizations, US district court judge Thelton E Henderson ruled on August 8, that the original standards for the dolphin safe tuna labels be restored. In his decision he accused the Bush administration of playing politics instead of recognizing science.

GE soybeans threatening indigenous tribes and wildlife in Argentina. Argentinian forests are being bulldozed and burned to make room for fields of genetically engineered soybeans to feed cows, pigs and chickens for human consumption. Indigenous tribes are being displaced, and their livelihood destroyed. Also adversely affected are numerous wildlife species, notably jaguars. Greenpeace Argentina has been immobilizing the bulldozers with chains.

"The poor manatees are getting a raw deal here in Florida. The boaters are also the voters, 1 out of every 11 people in Florida owns a boat, so you know what that means. I doubt that we will have the clout to change the law, but it is worth the try." Email from Mike Klein

Poached ivory smuggled into USA. US law allows the importation of certified "antique" ivory from elephants killed before 1989 ban on ivory trade. TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network of World Wildlife Fund and World Conservation Union, reports that Americans are buying illegal ivory being sold over the internet. US Customs Service has the highest rate of ivory seizures in the world, much of it carried by individual tourists. Over 8,000 items were seized in shipments from 80 countries according to TRAFFIC. People who order ivory stimulate poaching.

New Jersey bear hunt challenged. New Jersey Environmental Commissioner Bradley Campbell made himself the target of hunters' wrath, first by refusing to issue bear hunting permits and then, by closing all state lands to bear hunting. As the result of a legal challenge by Safari Club International and a state coalition of hunting organizations, he lost his first attempt to overrule the state's Fish & Game Council's decision to hold another bear hunt in December when the Appellate Division of the Superior Court ruled that he did not have the authority to refuse to issue hunting licenses, but he won the second when the court upheld his authority to "manage state lands in the public interest". His opponents were quick to point out that deer hunting was allowed there, but this observation could backfire in the future if the state continues to respond to the wishes of its citizens and game management to increase the population of hunted species were to abandoned.

Reacting to surveys that found New Jersey citizens overwhelmingly opposed to the bear hunt scheduled to begin December 6, state assemblymen Reed Gusciora and Michael Palmer called upon Acting Governor Richard Codey to ban this year's bear hunt entirely in favor of "further study and alternative population control methods" if and when needed. An

on-line petition against the bear hunt had collected over 3,300 signatures less than 72 hours after it was posted.

Maryland bear hunt challenged by Fund for Animals, HSUS, and three individuals suing to stop hunt, the first in 50 years. Their suit is being challenged by the US Sportsmen's Alliance Legal Defense Fund and the Maryland Sportsmen's Association. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources claims a hunt is needed to control a "skyrocketing" bear population that has increased 127% in the past decade. It is scheduled for October 25-30 and December 6-11.

Maryland bear hunters kill 20 on first day. Originally scheduled to last six days, the first hunt in 51 years was cancelled for fear the quota of 30 bears would be exceeded. The hunt did nothing to solve the problem of "problem" bears as any bear, however innocent of annoying humans, could be killed. The first bear killed was a 9-month-old cub. The MD Department of Natural Resources refused an offer of $75,000 from the Fund for Animals and HSUS to compensate farmers for bear damage and educating the public on how to avoid bear conflicts.

Five endangered Florida panthers have died from feline leukemia, probably transmitted from domestic cats. The estimated 80 to 100 surviving panthers are being monitored and vaccinated against the disease although there is evidence that some have survived infection on the strength of their natural immune systems.

Whales and dolphins are dying from increased ocean noise levels that interfere with their communication and ability to locate food, The UK's Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society is calling for plans to reduce ocean noise caused by oil drilling and prospecting, low frequency naval sonar tests and motors of the increasing number of ships. The WDCS is launching a campaign for an international treaty to reduce current noise levels.

Over 1/3 of our 5,732 identified amphibian species are either threatened or on the verge of extinction. Since 1980, 122 species have disappeared. Part of this is due to the fungus chytridiomycosis, but the general consensus blames global warming. Here at the Civitas Sanctuary, there used to be so many (hundreds, may thousands) little- fingernail-sized baby toads dispersing from the pond that we had to collect them in a bucket on the path to the vegetable garden in order to avoid stepping on them. Now it is rare and a special joy to see a toad at any time. The symphony of spring peepers and other frog voices has dwindled to as few as three voices. No chemicals have ever been used on the land. Whatever is doing it must be coming via air or rainfall.

A federal court has upheld a proposition banning on the use of traps and poisons approved by California voters in 1998. The ban's legality has been under assault from the National Trappers Association. The court ruled NTA's arguments "wholly lacking in merit" and representing "unsubstantiated opinion".

At least 83 tigers at Thailand's Sri Racha Tiger Zoo have either died or been culled after becoming infected with the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus. The 60 remaining tigers are being treated against the virus, but will be culled unless the disease can be eliminated. (October 28)

Last native female bear shot in French Pyrenees. President Chirac and Environment Minister Lepeltier publicly deplored the loss. Prefect (department governor) Gregoire closed the area to hunters and dog walkers in order to aid the survival of a 10-month old cub of unknown sex. In any case, cub is thought to have been sired by a non-native imported bear. The female was shot when she charged a group of boar hunters and their dogs who, since they had been warned that she was in the area, should not have been hunting there. About 15 other bears are thought to remain in French Pyrenees, but only two of them, both males, are thought to be native. The rest are descendents of bears from Slovenia and Croatia, imported to bolster remnant native population..

Utah canyons under assault from Bush Administration. Using positive terminology and a bit of sleight of hand to disguise what was actually taking place, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton moved to protect Utah rivers from mining operations just a few days after additional mining rights had already been granted to business interests. To make matters worse, the "protection" did not apply to oil and gas drilling which are more environmentally destructive than extracting mineral ores

Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October for her work as founder of the Green Belt Movement to hold back Africa's advancing desertification. Kenya's unchecked population growth has caused accelerated tree-cutting for firewood resulting in more land degenerating into desert and contributing to more hunger and poverty. Greenbelt furnished farmers with native tree seedlings and paid them two cents

for each seedling they grew. By 1987, Maathai had recruited 50,000 women who planted 10 million trees to hold soil in place. This was apparently done in opposition to the wishes of then President Daniel arap Moi, especially after she managed to defeat his intention to use foreign aid money to build a 60-story office building flanked by a statue of himself in a Nairobi city park.

After being awarded her Nobel Prize, Maathai held a press conference from her bed in a Nairobi hospital. According to Jon Bowerman of National Geographic News, October 19, she wore a lump the size of a baseball on her forehead and hobbled on badly beaten legs to the bathroom where she vomited blood. Her crime? She had shown up at a rally of mothers of political prisoners calling for their sons to be released. The prisoners'crime? Advocating democracy in an autocratic country.

This and earlier beatings appear to be designed to persuade Maathai to cease activities not sanctioned by the government Moi is no longer in office, but his influence remains. Maathai refuses to back down, however. "I know I am in danger, and I know the government has tried to push me aside," she said, "I will not just go away, which is what they would like. Because this is where I am needed most."

Maathai was the first Kenyan woman to earn a PhD degree (in anatomy) and the first to become a professor at the University of Nairobi, a real trailblazer in many ways. previous issue