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The National Park Service has announced its intentions to banish snowmobiles from Yellowstone  National Park  in
2002-2003 which will reduce air pollution and stress on wintering wildlife. It sounds impossible, but, according to Amicus Journal, it is estimated that snowmobiles cause as much pollution in Yellowstone in a single weekend as cars do all summer.  In addition to air pollution, fallout from their exhaust poisons earth along the trails and runs off into streams. Their trails in the snow change the behavior of wildlife, notably buffalo who follow them out of the park onto other public land where they are likely to be killed by the Montana Department of Livestock.   Jetskis have already been banned from National Parks and Monuments and there is growing sentiment to ban snowmobiles as well.  Be sure to write in support of such initiatives as opportunities arise.

Barry Kent MacKay debunks snow goose overpopulation claims.  In his column "Nature Trail, Toronto Star, March 12,  he writes that "information from both aboriginal Canadians and the historic record from 19th and early 20th century observers indicates there is probably nothing unprecedented about current snow goose numbers.  It is monumentally absurd to take as a given that North America is now more supportive of migrant and wintering snow geese than it was before the destruction of so much primal habitat before the industrial revolution."  Wildlife managers claim that grain left in the fields has fostered such abnormally large numbers of snow geese that they are trampling vegetation to death in their arctic nesting areas.  Hunters have been to encouraged to kill as many wintering snow geese as they can.

India and Kenya are preparing to challenge CITES' renewal of the ivory trade at its coming meeting in Nairobi, April 10-20.  In 1997, at the request of Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, CITES (Commission on International Trad in Endangered Species) approved limited resumption of the trade in  order to allow those countries to sell their stock piles of elephant tusks. As feared, renewing
legal  trade set off a new round of illegal poaching causing the deaths of elephants in other countries. Now, South Africa has joined the petition to continue the trade arguing that revenue from ivory will help support Kruger National Park..   Kenya wants elephants to be returned to full protection  status and faults CITES for not having a strong monitoring system in place when it allowed a limited resumption of ivory trading. Kenya considers tourism its best business and elephants its best drawing card. India reveres its elephants as at least semi-sacred and appreciates their help in attracting tourists as well.

Tom Happynook of the Nuu-chah-nulth tribe in British Columbia hopes to renew the tribe's whaling business.  This urge was abetted by the US government's sanctioning of the Makah's right to kill whales on the basis of an old treaty.  The Nuu-chah-nulth are only one of many aboriginal tribes threatening to kill whales after the US withdrew its support of the International Whaling Commission's total worldwide ban on whaling except for genuine nutritional need.  Happynook talks of selling whale flesh in British Columbia restaurants although most of the flesh would probably wind up in Japan.

Japanese people do not support whaling according to a joint poll by British pollster MORI and the Nippon Research Center in Japan. The poll was sponsored cooperatively by Greenpeace and the International Fund for Animal Welfare. (Too good to be true.  We deleted mid-section giving statistics after we learned these results were contradicted by several other polls that had found c. 65% of Japanese support whaling.)   
Japan will be pushing for a renewal of whaling at the CITES meeting in Nairobi April 10-20.  She will probably propose the slaughter of only the least endangered whales, minkes and grays, but  highly endangered whale flesh has been  found in Japanese restaurants when only fake "scientific" whaling  was being carried out.  With fewer restrictions in place, there is no reason to believe this won't continue to happen.

Seal killing is unprofitable for lack of a market according to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.  Even government subsidies did not make kill viable for Norwegian sealers who failed to kill their quota, killing only 316 of a 17,500 quota in one case.  In Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea hunt from helicopters was abandoned in 1998 because sealers lacked funds for fuel.  In 1999, the wrong type of fuel was delivered. This year Sea Shepherd expressed hope copters might be "too rusty to fly".  Canada is juggling funds, forgiving loans and amending terminology  to get around the exiration of subsidies that end this year.  One can only wonder how much longer this economically unviable and ecologically destructive, to say nothing of horribly cruel, industry will continue.   

Threats to Indonesia's orangutans only get worse.  Forest is being lost to illegal logging at a rate of one Central Park area every 20 minutes.  According to the world's foremost orangutan scientist, primatologist Birute Galdikas, the orang population has declined by 50% in the past 10 years.

Severe wildlife decimation for meat in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: highland gorillas, bush elephants, chimpanzees and gazelles.  Only 70 of 258 endangered lowland gorillas remain in the highlands of Kahuzi-Biega National Park.  Especially sad: The five gorilla families that were habituated to tourists have been completely wiped out. There is no trace of the 400 bush elephants that used to occupy the highlands.  Larger populations are said to remain in lowland areas of the park, however. Most, 95%,  of the park is inaccessible to park personnel because it is occupied by rebel Congolese militiamen and Hutu militiamen who took refuge there after their attempted genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda. People who can't even manage themselves are bad news for animals.   Both local residents and the militias kill for meat.  Residents are also cutting and burning forest trees. In short, conditions could hardly be worse. 

Two dolphins were removed from a hellish pool situation (with bungee jumpers yo-yoing over their pool )at the Paradise Hotel in Acupulco City, Mexico. In response to protests from individuals and organizations around the world., they have been taken to a "semi-captive" facility at Chancun. It didn't hurt that Keiko's guardians were preparing for another step toward freedom for him at this time.

Arizona must cope with "super majority" proposal.  Successful initiatives by Arizona citizens that have banned traps and poisons on public lands and made cockfighting illegal have resulted in a backlash bill that would require ballot initiatives dealing with wildlife to be approved by 2/3 of the voters instead of the normal simple majority for other initiatives. The bill that would put this proposal on the ballot in November is SCR1006.  Activists are petitioning legislators not to pass it.  Other states can look forward to similar pro-hunting legislation.  Measures like this are possible because of intensive single issue lobbying and contributions to political campaigns by the National Rifle Association and cohorts.

Finally some good news to lighten the gloom.

Mexico and Mitsubishi have called off plans for for a salt evaporation plant at San Ignacio Lagoon.

Alaska Governor Tony Knowles has expressed support for protecting what's left of the Toklat wolf pack in and around Denali National Park.

Thanks to the persistence of Japanese activists, four baby orangutans who had been smuggled into Japan from Indonesia were returned home in February.                  Previous issue 145                  Subsequent issue200