SPRING 2019 / VOLUME 68 / NUMBER 1 Animal Welfare Institute Jill Carey, CPA, Treasurer Jill Carey, CPA John W. Boyd, Jr. scientifically indefensible inthe21 Commercial whalingiseconomically, politically, legally, and its territorial waters andEEZisagrave disappointment. whaling (apparently ofminke, Bryde’s, andsei whales) in environment. Japan’s decision to pursuecommercial governance ofanincreasingly imperiled marine AWI isdeeply criticalofJapan’s rejection ofinternational Japan’s IWC withdrawal willtake effect on June30, 2019. its territorial waters andexclusive economic zone (EEZ). that thenationplansto conduct commercial whalingwithin announcement, ChiefCabinetSecretary Yoshihide Suga stated year membership intheorganization. Inanassociated International WhalingCommission(IWC), endingits65- On December 26, Japan announced thatit will leave the Japan Set to Leave IWC SPOTLIGHT Agnes Van Volkenburgh, DVM, Poland Angela King, United Kingdom Ambassador Tabarak Husain, Aline S. deAluja,DVM, Mexico Bangladesh Mary Lee Jensvold,Mary PhD Christine Stevens Caroline A.Griffin,Esq., Secretary Cynthia Wilson, Vice President Cathy Liss, President Chris Miller, DVM Cathy Liss Caroline A.Griffin,Esq. Cynthia Wilson, Chair OFFICERS INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE DIRECTORS FOUNDER John Walsh, MD Senior Policy Advisor Specialist Senior Graphic Designer Alexandra Alberg International Wildlife Program Director, Government Affairs Executive Director/General Counsel Marine AnimalConsultant Manager Samuel Peacock, MD Sue Fisher Website andCommunications Viktor Reinhardt, DVM, PhD Roger Payne, PhD Roger Fouts, PhD Bill Clark, PhD Bill Clark, Nancy Blaney Kate Dylewsky Brittany Bailey Nadia Adawi, Esq. Robert Schmidt,PhD Gerard Bertrand, PhD SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE STAFF AND CONSULTANTS st century. These hunts Joanna Makowska, PhD Johanna Hamburger, Esq. Joanna Grossman, PhD allies have blocked for decades. conservation and welfare agenda—efforts thatJapan andits departure willalso allow theIWC to advance itsimportant outcomes thatAWI hasworked toward for decades. Japan’s 2018) andthishunt,therefore, willalso end.These are Species ofWild Fauna andFlora (see AWI Quarterly, winter Convention ontheInternational Trade inEndangered taken Pacific onthehighseas oftheNorth violates the Japan also appears to accept thatitslandingofsei whales exploitation. AlthoughSuga didnotstate thisexplicitly, more thanacentury ofalmost nonstop commercial the charade ofresearch. Whales inthisregion have endured program—an industrial-scale operation conducted under On apositive note, Japan willenditsAntarctic whaling IWC butwhichmaydecide to follow thesamecourse. dozens ofotherallies ofJapan thatremain membersofthe commercial andIceland) whalingnations(Norway and resignation sets adangerous precedent for thetwo other includingpollutionandbycatch.survival, Japan’s IWC of commercial whalingandnow face otherthreats to their imperil populationsthathave notrecovered from centuries will beinhumaneandimpossible to regulate. They mayalso Senior Advisor, AnimalCrueltyProgram Communications Coordinator Alicia Prygoski Public Relations Manager Farm AnimalPolicy Associate Policy Advisor Director, MarineAnimalProgram Laboratory AnimalAdvisor Researcher Director, Farm AnimalProgram Equine Program Manager Membership Coordinator Marine AnimalConsultant Marine MammalScientist Sydney Hearst Susan Millward Wildlife Attorney Haley Frevert Ryan Ososki Kate O’Connell Eric Kleiman Dena Jones Naomi Rose, PhD Marjorie Fishman Mary Lou Randour,Mary PhD CFC# 10474 Tax ID#13-5655952 ISSN 1930-5109 (online) ISSN 1071-1384 (print) www.awionline.org [email protected] (202) 337-2332 Washington, DC20003 900 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE Animal Welfare Institute information, contact: For subscription inquiries orother Staff Attorney, Farm AnimalProgram Executive Assistant Writer/Editor Wildlife Biologist Dave Tilford Erin Thompson, Esq. Regina Terlau-Benford D.J. Schubert 7 VIRGIL OCAMPO VIRGIL

AWI QUARTERLY SPRING 2019

ANIMALS IN LABORATORIES 22 A Compelling Case Against Captivity of 24 Rabbit Enrichment Items: Marine Mammals Getting Bang for the Buck (and Doe) WILDLIFE COMPANION ANIMALS 10 Forest Service Seeks to Sell Off 7 John Thompson: The Game Changer Wild Horses 11 Apply Now for AWI Research Grants to Support Humane Wildlife Management FARM ANIMALS 11 Wolves’ ESA Protection in Peril 4 No Cramped Crates in Golden State 11 Taped Turtles Turn Up at Manila Airport 4 Another Bad Year for Barn Fires 12 CITES Parties Meet in Sri Lanka to 4 Good Food Purchasing Program Comes Address Trade in Wildlife to DC Public Schools 5 California Foie Gras Ban Survives ABOUT THE COVER GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS Final Challenge A mother northern giraff e grooms her 8 Animal-Friendly Farm Bill Survives 5 Supreme Court Shuns calf in Namibia. Giraff e populations Confi nement Cases Border Wars in Africa are in decline—threatened 5 Yet Another Ag-Gag Law Found 8 Key Welfare Bills in Congress by habitat loss, civil unrest, and Unconstitutional 9 Hawaii Gives Heave Ho to Circus hunting for meat and trophies. At the 6 Lawsuit Targets USDA’s Failure to Animal Shows Address Food Label Deception 9 Puppy-Mill-Placating Measure 18th meeting of the Conference of the Nixed in Michigan Parties (CoP18) to the Convention on HUMANE EDUCATION 9 State Legislatures Weigh Animal International Trade in Endangered Welfare Measures 28 A Voice for Animals Contest Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 23 Administration Continues Its Attack (CITES), held in Sri Lanka, the parties on Animal Welfare Act will consider a proposal to list giraff es MARINE LIFE on CITES Appendix II to control trade 2 Japan Set to Leave IWC IN REMEMBRANCE in the animals and their parts. AWI will 20 Rising Temperatures Cause Twofold 19 Hardy Jones Trouble for Green Sea Turtles be at CoP18 to advocate for giraff es and 20 Desert Dolphinarium Shuttered for Now other animals. Turn to page 12 for our REVIEWS overview of what’s at stake. Photograph 20 Entanglement Is Grim New Norm for Whales 26 Vaquita by Philippe Moes/Minden Pictures. 21 New Field Test Could Help Foil 26 Intolerable Cruelty Shark Smugglers 27 Poached 21 Oil and Gas Exploration Wrong Move for Right Whales www.facebook.com/animalwelfareinstitute

@AWIonline @AWIonline farm animals LEAH KELLEY farm animals, yet nofederal laws or fires killhundreds ofthousands year intheUnitedEvery States, barn confinement of farm animals. states restrict oroutrightban extreme California citizens. Currently, 10other ofmoresupport than7.5 million 63 percent ofthevote, gaining the laws. Itpassed withanoverwhelming preexisting California anti-confinement around. Theinitiative strengthens freely, extend theirlimbs, andturn environments where they canmove will come from animalsraised in pork produced andsold inCalifornia ensures that,by 2022,eggs, veal, and animal welfare to date, Proposition 12 the most far-reaching laws for farm farm animalsinthestate. Asoneof end theextreme confinement of passed Proposition 12,whichwill Last November, California voters BARN FIRES ANOTHER BAD YEAR FOR GOLDEN STATE NO CRAMPED CRATES IN occur most often intheUpperMidwest annual basis. AWI hasfound thatfires tracks reported barn fires, by state, onan 2013, broken down by species. Theother were reported killed inbarn fires since the total number offarm animalsthat on ourwebsite inJanuary. Onetallies AWI released two barn fire trackers To furtherincrease barn fire awareness, protect farm animalsandfarm workers. and safety measures thatwould better recommendations for fire prevention barn fires from 2013 through 2017, offers farm animalswhodiedin326separate attention to themore than2.7 million Animals. Thereport, whichcalls Barn Fires: ADeadly Threat to Farm an AWI report released inOctober: (18). This2018 barn fire tally follows followed by Ohio(18), andNew York Wisconsin reported themost (19), of theprevious year. Ofthese fires, latter number nearly double that 148 documented USbarn fires—the 150,000 farm animalsperishedin data, found thatin2018 more than compiles andanalyzes barn fire these tragic incidents. AWI, which regulations are inplace to prevent AWI QUARTERLY FARM ANIMALS 4 SPRING 2019 the most common culprits. improperly placed heating devices are in winter months. Malfunctioning or andareand Northeast, more common with thecouncil to get thebillpassed. national organizations thatworked ofabroadis part coalition oflocal and of theGFPPandHSAA,AWI before theDCCityCouncil insupport protein. AWI staff members testified products withequivalent plant-based replace some percentage ofanimal third-party certified and/or (2) to whose higher-welfare practices are obtain animalproducts from suppliers participating publicinstitutions(1)to standards for theGFPP, whichcallfor AWI helpeddraft theanimalwelfare conditions for farm animals. promoting higher-welfare living meals to thousandsofstudentswhile Washington, itwillprovide healthier school districtsacross thenation. In been adopted by several cities and Angeles in2012, theGFPP hassince animal welfare. After kickingoffin Los local economies, nutrition,and The program prioritizes sustainability, the Center for GoodFood Purchasing. Los Angeles Food Policy Council and GFPP was originally created by the country to adopt theprogram. The the DCschool system thefifthin into law inWashington, DC,making Purchasing Program (GFPP), passed incorporated theGoodFood Amendment Act (HSAA), which In January, theHealthy Students subject to extreme confinement. hens, andpigs willno longer be means thatveal calves, egg-laying California voters inNovember A ballot measure approved by PUBLIC SCHOOLS PROGRAM COMES TO DC GOOD FOOD PURCHASING FARM ANIMALS

A foie gras operation in Quebec. After a lengthy back-and-forth battle in court, foie gras is now banned in California.

CALIFORNIA FOIE GRAS BAN SURVIVES FINAL CHALLENGE California’s foie gras ban is now in effect for the foreseeable future—a win for ducks, geese, and animal welfare advocates. In an anticlimactic conclusion to years of contentious LIBERATION BC LIBERATION litigation and debate, the US Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge by foie gras producers and restaurateurs challenge, this time with respect to they remain in place, at least until the to the ban. The law, enacted in 2004, state laws regarding confinement. states and their agricultural producers went into effect in 2012. A district The two cases—filed by a combined find another way to sue. court overturned the ban in 2015, but total of 15 state attorneys general on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals behalf of their respective agriculture unanimously reversed in 2017. The industries—challenged California Supreme Court’s refusal to take up the and Massachusetts laws prohibiting YET ANOTHER AG-GAG case means the Ninth Circuit’s decision the sale of eggs, pork, and veal from LAW FOUND upholding the ban is the final word. animals raised in extreme confinement. UNCONSTITUTIONAL The California law provides specific Foie gras, the fatty liver of ducks or A federal court has struck down Iowa’s space requirements for these animals, geese, is produced using a procedure “ag-gag” law. In 2012, the state created while the Massachusetts law prohibits called gavage, in which producers the crime of “agricultural production them from being confined in a manner insert a tube down the animal’s throat facility fraud” after several undercover that “prevents the animal from lying to forcefully overfeed the animal. Fowl investigations revealed worker cruelty down, standing up, fully extending its raised for foie gras live short, painful, to animals. The incidents included farm limbs, or turning around freely.” and sick lives before slaughter. workers hurling small piglets onto a concrete floor, beating pigs with metal The 15 states had asked the Supreme Even Amazon was ensnared in the rods, and abusing hens and chicks. Instead Court to hear the case directly (rather debate when California prosecutors of addressing the conduct of workers who than as an appeal from a lower court) alleged that it sold the product during inflicted needless suffering on animals, the in an exercise of the Supreme Court’s the state ban. The online retailer Iowa legislature acted to criminalize the “original jurisdiction” over disputes recently settled this case by agreeing conduct of undercover investigators. between state governments. In to stop sales for at least the next five response to a request by the court, years and pay a $100,000 fine. Judge James Gritzner of the US District however, US Solicitor General Noel Court for the Southern District of Iowa, J. Francisco submitted an amicus however, found that the law infringed brief that contradicted the plaintiff on protected speech and that the law’s states’ position. He argued that purpose—to protect Iowa’s agricultural SUPREME COURT SHUNS original jurisdiction was not merited industry from “harm” stemming from CONFINEMENT CASES and that the matter could be properly undercover investigations—was In addition to declining to hear the addressed initially at the district insufficient to justify curtailing such First foie gras challenge, the Supreme Court court level. While the decision has no Amendment rights. Similar laws have been passed on the opportunity to weigh bearing on the constitutionality of the struck down in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. in on another farm animal welfare California and Massachusetts laws,

AWI QUARTERLY 5 SPRING 2019 NATISSIMA Lawsuit Targets USDA’s Failure to Address Food Label Deception

sued the US Department of Agriculture in those who submitted feedback during the comment period AWI November for failing to respond to a four- opposed it. Through additional research, AWI has found and-a-half-year-old rulemaking petition. The petition calls that the USDA’s label-approval process continues to allow for regulations under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and producers to use misleading or meaningless claims. Poultry Products Inspection Act to improve transparency and consistency on consumer food labels. The USDA’s existing Consumers are victimized by such false advertising and policy on approving label claims allows a producer free rein to overwhelmingly oppose the USDA’s practice of allowing choose whatever claims it feels are most suited to market its producers to create their own defi nitions for certain claims. product—nearly irrespective of what level of animal care the According to an AWI-commissioned survey conducted by producer actually provides. The result is that many products The Harris Poll in September 2018, 81 percent of frequent bearing lofty claims such as “humanely raised” come from purchasers (4+ times per month) of animal products said that animals subject to living conditions that are no better than producers should not be allowed to set their own defi nitions abysmal industry standards. for claims about how farm animals are raised. In a separate survey conducted on AWI’s behalf, The Harris Poll found that Prior to fi ling its petition, AWI thoroughly researched the 83 percent of consumers agree that it is important to verify via USDA’s label-approval process and determined that labels independent inspection the claims on food packaging about were routinely approved with little or no documentation from how farm animals are raised. AWI’s petition addresses these the producer to justify the use of an animal-raising claim. We consumer concerns. published our fi ndings in the report Label Confusion: How “Humane” and “Sustainable” Claims on Meat Packages Deceive The lawsuit, fi led on behalf of AWI by the Duke Consumers. To promote transparency and consistency, our Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, asserts that the USDA petition asked the USDA to promulgate regulations to require failed to respond to our petition in a timely manner, as third-party certifi cation of animal welfare and environmental the department is required to do under the Administrative sustainability label claims. Third-party certifi cation would Procedure Act. If the USDA were to fi nally implement ensure that producers who make these claims exceed industry rules, as requested in the petition, consumers could more standards in a consistent and meaningful way. confi dently use their purchasing power to support farms that truly do provide their animals with a better living The USDA attempted to resolve problems with its label- environment, resulting in a more level playing fi eld for such approval process in 2016 by issuing a guidance document for farms and, ultimately, a shift in the market toward better producers using animal-raising claims. However, the guidance treatment of farm animals. AWI will continue to update our document was so inadequate that more than 99 percent of members about the progress of this case.

AWI QUARTERLY 6 SPRING 2019 THE SCHWEITZER MEDAL

AWI board member Caroline Griff in presents John Thompson with the Schweitzer Medal.

John Thompson: The Game Changer

n March 7, AWI presented the Schweitzer Medal to Enforcement Center on Animal Abuse, which aims not only to O John Thompson in recognition of his extraordinary educate off icers but also to encourage them to enforce animal eff orts to improve law enforcement’s recognition of animal cruelty laws. Thompson then helped convince the Federal cruelty as a crime of violence and its response to those crimes. Bureau of Investigation, as of January 2016, to add animal cruelty crimes to its national crime report—something AWI In truth, Thompson was a late bloomer when it comes to had long lobbied for. Thompson, an insider who served on the animals. He never even had a dog until he brought one FBI’s Advisory Policy Board, was the tipping point. home as a gift to his wife. Despite spending 30 years in law enforcement and rising to become the deputy executive Not one to rest on his laurels, Thompson also undertook to director of the National Sheriff s’ Association (NSA), reduce the number of off icer-involved dog shootings. Working Thompson never gave much thought to animal cruelty. He with the Off ice of Community Oriented Policing Services started his career as a military police canine handler; yet, like (COPS) at the Department of Justice, he has helped procure so many cops, he considered animal cruelty a problem for funding to train off icers at police academies. Now, in his animal control. An epiphany changed all that. latest challenge, Thompson has assumed directorship of the National Animal Care and Control Association, which seeks Thompson’s world transformed when his daughter gave him to strengthen the animal care and control profession through an article she had written on the link between animal abuse training, networking, and advocacy. and other violent behavior. Thompson’s immediate reaction was “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He found himself staying For all he has done for animals, AWI is pleased to present up at night reading article after article, wondering, “How did John Thompson with the Schweitzer Medal. I not know this?” At the same time, his “wife’s dog,” Mr. Po, was quickly becoming “his dog,” snuggling his way into John’s heart. (Mr. Po, who passed away in October, is pictured with Thompson on page 3 of this issue.)

Shortly after his epiphany, Thompson attended a listening session on animal cruelty at the US Department of Justice. Surrounded by national animal welfare organization representatives, Thompson was struck by the lack of law enforcement off icials at the table and the lack of coordination among the national groups. Thompson used his clout at the NSA to help create the National Coalition on Violence Against Animals, a multidisciplinary coalition of local, state, and national organizations that seeks to reduce violence against animals and raise awareness of its link to human violence. Thompson sought as well to provide a resource especially ALBERG/AWI ALEXANDRA BY PHOTOS for law enforcement off icials. He created the National Law John Thompson with AWI’s Nancy Blaney and Mary Lou Randour.

AWI QUARTERLY 7 SPRING 2019 GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

ANIMAL-FRIENDLY forced them to allow sales of animals produce an exaggerated high-stepping FARM BILL SURVIVES and animal products from states where gait, remains a rampant practice in BORDER WARS standards are much lower. Also dropped Tennessee Walking Horse competitions. from the bill were provisions that greatly To end this abuse, Reps. Kurt Schrader The 115th Congress ended in chaos weakened the Endangered Species Act, (D-OR), Ted Yoho (R-FL), Steve and rancor, with a large portion of including one that would have reduced Cohen (D-TN), Ron Estes (R-KS), Jan the government shut down amidst a oversight for pesticide registration—a Schakowsky (D-IL), and Chris Collins continuing battle over the border wall. particular danger to pollinators. (R-NY) reintroduced the PAST Act, now Congress did manage to complete renamed in honor of the late Maryland work on the 2018 farm bill, however, senator who spearheaded the passage and the president signed it into law on of the Horse Protection Act of 1970. December 20. This rarest of species—a bipartisan piece of legislation— KEY WELFARE BILLS IN The Preventing Animal Cruelty and included several provisions that benefit CONGRESS Torture (PACT) Act (HR 724) — In “crush animals and left out proposed language As the 116th Congress gets underway, a videos,” depraved individuals torture that would have harmed them. number of bipartisan bills that benefit and kill small animals to satisfy viewer animals have already been introduced fetishes. Reps. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and The new law incorporates the Pet and in the House of Representatives: Vern Buchanan (R-FL) introduced HR Women Safety Act, which will provide 724 to close a loophole in current law, more resources for assisting domestic The Pet Safety and Protection Act which makes it a federal crime to create violence survivors and their companion (HR 689) — Introduced by Reps. Mike and distribute such videos, but does animals in seeking shelter. It prohibits Doyle (D-PA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), not cover the underlying acts. the slaughter of dogs and cats for this bill would protect beloved family human consumption in this country, pets and strays from being sold for use The Shark Fin Sales Elimination and extends federal animal fighting in experimentation by unscrupulous federal legislation Act (HR 737) — Fins from up to 73 prohibitions to US territories. Class B (random source) dealers. million sharks enter the global market annually. Although shark finning An infamous amendment sponsored The U.S. Senator Joseph D. Tydings in US waters is illegal, the United by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) was dropped. Memorial PAST (Prevent All Soring States plays a significant role in This provision would have denied states Tactics) Act (HR 693) — Soring, the perpetuating this barbaric practice by the authority to set animal welfare act of intentionally inflicting pain on providing a market for shark fins. HR standards within their own borders and a horse’s hooves and front limbs to 737, introduced by Reps. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-MP) and Michael McCaul (R-TX), would prohibit the sale, purchase, and possession of shark fins in the United States.

What You Can Do

Visit AWI’s Compassion Index at www.awionline.org/ action-ealerts to contact your representative and urge support for these important bills. Letters sent via postal mail can be addressed to The Honorable [full name] US House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 SAM ROACH SAM

AWI QUARTERLY 8 SPRING 2019 GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

AWI president Cathy Liss was honored to join the 100th birthday celebration for grassroots activist Holly Reynolds of Baton Rouge, LA. During the party, Cathy presented Holly with an award in recognition of her boundless compassion, tireless advocacy, and incalculable achievements for animals. BOBBY MAYO BOBBY

HAWAII GIVES HEAVE HO PUPPY-MILL-PLACATING of them—including the Michigan circus TO CIRCUS ANIMAL MEASURE NIXED IN animal bill mentioned at left. SHOWS MICHIGAN Legislation has been introduced in At the end of 2018, Hawaii became Before leaving office, former governor Florida (HB 99) and Connecticut (HB just the second state (after New Rick Snyder vetoed a pair of bills that 5251) to prohibit the sale, purchase, and Jersey) to prohibit the use of were pitched as efforts to strengthen possession of shark fins. In the absence exotic animals in traveling shows. oversight of pet stores but which in fact of a national ban prohibiting the trade On December 21, Governor David would have allowed the continued sale in shark fins, states have stepped up: Ige signed a new rule, which was of animals from cruel and unscrupulous Currently, 15 states and territories ban previously approved by the Hawaii puppy and kitten mills and would have the sale of shark fin products. Board of Agriculture, citing concerns further prohibited local governments about public safety and health. from passing stronger measures to rein Kentucky is one of only five states (the in such sales. AWI submitted testimony others being Hawaii, New Mexico, Exotic animals exploited by circuses are against the legislation and noted that West Virginia, and Wyoming, as well subjected to nonstop travel in cramped these bills would have reversed the as the District of Columbia) where crates, forced to perform unnatural progress the state made in 2015 when a animal sexual assault is still legal. (In tricks in front of noisy crowds, and law was passed to tighten regulations some cases, bestiality was covered trained using abusive methods. A on large-scale breeders. Thanks to under other sexual practices laws growing list of jurisdictions have taken all those who voiced their opposition that have since been repealed.) To steps to end this abuse. Bullhooks to these bills by contacting their correct this in Kentucky, SB 67 has have been banned in California and legislators and the governor. been introduced to establish the crime Rhode Island, Illinois and New York of sexual abuse of an animal. Animal have banned the use of elephants in sexual assault is a violent crime, often traveling shows, and nearly 150 local resulting in the animal’s serious injury ordinances have enacted some version STATE LEGISLATURES or death. Moreover, it is also a red flag of these prohibitions. In Michigan, WEIGH ANIMAL WELFARE for potential violence against other Senator Bruce Tarr (R-1st Essex and MEASURES humans. Committing animal sexual

Middlesex) and Representative state legislation As in Washington, DC, the new year abuse is, in fact, the strongest statistical Lori Ehrlich (D-8th Essex) recently ushered in new sessions in state indicator that the perpetrator will also reintroduced a bill to prohibit the use of legislatures, and bills to improve animal commit child sexual abuse. elephants, big cats, primates, and bears welfare have been introduced in several in traveling shows in that state.

AWI QUARTERLY 9 SPRING 2019 FATCAMERA Forest Service Seeks to Sell Off Wild Horses

Last October, the US Forest Service (USFS)—which managed wild horses for commercial purposes. Historically, manages approximately 8,000 wild horses and burros in the USFS has abided by such provisions as well. Under the the United States—made a shocking announcement: The Trump administration, however, the USFS has chosen for the agency would soon begin rounding up and selling horses fi rst time to fl out Congress’s clear intent by arguing that it is from California’s largest herd without any prohibitions on not bound by these provisions. slaughter. Moreover, some of the horses could be sold for as little as $1 apiece and purchasers could acquire up to 36 at At the urging of animal protection groups, the California a time. By early November, the USFS had fi nished rounding attorney general notifi ed USFS off icials that the state fully up close to 1,000 wild horses from the 300,000-acre Devil’s intends to enforce existing California law, which makes the Garden Wild Horse Territory in Modoc National Forest. sale of horses for slaughter a felony that carries a prison sentence of up to three years. Assemblymember Todd Gloria Public outrage was immediate, given that the plan appears (D-San Diego) has introduced a bill (AB 128) in the California tailor made for sale to kill-buyers—who transport American legislature to bolster protections for equines in the state, and horses (typically under deplorable conditions that involve AWI is working to ensure that the provisions are as strong as little or no rest, water, or food) to slaughterhouses in possible. Similarly, AWI is working with federal lawmakers Canada or Mexico. AWI and other animal welfare groups to ensure that the USFS can no longer exploit any perceived immediately urged the California attorney general to enforce loophole in the policies that Congress sets forth regarding the state’s existing law prohibiting horse slaughter. wild horses through the appropriations process.

Twenty-three members of the California state legislature To date, the USFS’s response to the public outcry and wrote to the USFS demanding that the federal government warnings from elected off icials has been to dig in its heels refrain from moving forward with this reckless plan. Sens. while attempting to defl ect scrutiny and criticism through Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) also voiced halfhearted “concessions.” Rather than back away from the concerns with the USFS’s decision to proceed with sales plan altogether, the agency merely pushed the time back “without limitation” on slaughter. when sales without limitations on slaughter would begin, from fall to spring of next year. And the agency is sticking with The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages the vast its intention to start selling some of the horses it has rounded majority of America’s wild horses and burros, and there are up for $1 each. This is a clear indication that the agency— restrictions on the BLM’s sale of such horses. Every year, AWI despite its mandate to protect wild horses and manage them works with federal lawmakers to ensure that annual spending humanely on the range—just wants to permanently rid itself bills contain provisions preventing the destruction of BLM- (and the range) of these horses as quickly as possible.

AWI QUARTERLY 10 SPRING 2019 GRAY WOLVES, LEFION www.awionline.org/csaward. by July. Details onhow to apply are at and grant recipients willbenotified deadline for applications isMay6, 2019, America are encouraged to apply. The Wildlife researchers across North president for more than50years. the organization’s late founder and began in2006, isnamedinhonorof animals. Thegrant program, which that works for bothhumansand humane, nonlethal wildlife management that helpspurinnovative strategies for of upto $15,000 toward research studies Through thisprogram, AWI offers grants Christine Stevens Wildlife Awards. To address thisissue, AWI created the eliminating thewildlife. however, thestrategies involve simply alleviate suchconflicts. Too often, wildlife management strategies to and property managers employ various more widespread. Government officials between humansandwildlife become wildlife habitat shrinks, conflicts As humansettlements grow and WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT TO SUPPORT HUMANE RESEARCH GRANTS APPLY NOW FOR AWI Wolves notcurrently protected by the wolves viashockingly cruelmethods. seasons andattempt to eradicate all too willingto institute wolf hunting several ofwhichhave shown themselves management ofthespecies to states, This proposed rule would cede delisted by court order in2017. restored butwere in2014, again were delisted in2012, hadprotections budget bill.TheWyoming wolves delisted in2011 viaariderto afederal except for those inWyoming, were segment). Thispopulationofwolves, Rocky Mountain distinctpopulation Utah (comprising theNorthern eastern Oregon, andnorthcentral Idaho, Wyoming, eastern Washington, except for those livinginMontana, under theESAinthese 48 states Currently, gray wolves are protected across thecontiguous United States. Act (ESA)protections for gray wolves plans to eliminate Endangered Species that theUSFishandWildlife Service Resources Conference inDenver, stated AmericanWildlifeNorth and Natural Bernhardt, inaMarch 6speechatthe Acting interior Secretary David PROTECTION IN PERIL WOLVES’ ESA AWI QUARTERLY WILDLIFE 11 SPRING 2019 the mid-20 remove conservation mandates now. By It is, ofcourse, dangerously premature to gunned down by aircraft. their denswithgas ordynamite, and steel-jaw leghold traps, incinerated in poisoned, snared, caughtinbarbaric run over by snowmobiles andATVs, federal government have legally been nonnative habitat. turtles originally acquired aspets into areas where people have released extremely problematic invasive in vulnerable; rather, ithasbecome an species,pet turtle isnotconsidered slider, amongtheworld’s most popular ofNature.Conservation Thered-eared by the International Unionfor the latter three classifiedasvulnerable tortoise, andAfricanspurred tortoise— turtle, Indianstar tortoise, red-footed red-earedabandoned luggage: slider Four species were found inthe on theblackmarket. animals were aboutUS$87,000 worth before security checks. Officials saythe from HongKong butwere discarded The suitcases had arrived onaflight Ninoy Aquino International Airport. stuffed inside four suitcases inManila’s were found wrapped inducttape and Philippines seized 1,529 live turtlesthat On March 3, customs officials inthe attempt to delistgray wolves. to theUSFWSopposing thisreckless wolves Please visitwww.awionline.org/gray- hundreds ofthousandsonce roamed. the contiguous United States where estimated 5,000 gray wolves exist in protections, are stillperilously low—an growth since theadoptionofESA States. Theirnumbers, despite gradual been extirpated from thewestern United AT MANILA AIRPORT TAPED TURTLES TURN UP today to submitcomments th century, gray wolves had

wildlife CITES PARTIES MEET IN SRI LANKA TO ADDRESS TRADE IN WILDLIFE late May, thousands of government delegates, diff erent levels of protection. Those deemed most in danger of IN conservationists, scientists, industry lobbyists, and extinction are listed on Appendix I; international commercial others will gather in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for the 18th meeting trade in these animals is, for the most part, prohibited. of the Conference of the Parties (CoP18) to the Convention on Appendix II lists species that are not currently threatened International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and by extinction but may become so unless trade is closely Flora (CITES). Three representatives from AWI—D.J. Schubert, controlled. (Appendix II also includes “look-alike species” Sue Fisher, and Johanna Hamburger—will participate in the whose specimens in trade look like those of species listed for meeting, which will feature extensive deliberations over the conservation reasons.) Appendix III lists species protected in at course of two weeks on 56 proposals covering over 200 species least one country that has asked other parties to the treaty for and subspecies. Nearly 100 working documents pertaining assistance in controlling the trade. to the implementation and interpretation of the treaty will also be discussed. The outcome will help determine species Various proposals to be discussed at CoP18 seek to add or survival and ensure that CITES is equipped to address future remove species from these appendices or move species from wildlife conservation and international trade challenges. one appendix to another. Tarantulas, guitarfi sh, saiga antelopes, giraff es, mako sharks, rhinoceroses, elephants, and a number of CITES was created in 1973 to address the unregulated reptiles and amphibians are among the animals under discussion international trade in wildlife and wildlife products. Species at CoP18. A sampling of the species proposals and working may be listed on one of three CITES appendices, designating documents to be deliberated at CoP18 is provided below.

AWI QUARTERLY 12 SPRING 2019 ÓG SEÁNÍN FROG, GLASS Tajikistan proposes to downlist the Heptner’s markhor, a saiga meat, horns, and horn products, which some believe wild goat species targeted by trophy hunters, from Appendix have medicinal value. Since only male saiga have horns, the I to II. While Heptner’s markhor numbers have increased poaching of males significantly skews the population’s sex since the late 1990s, the species continues to be threatened ratio, contributing to population declines and the complete by poaching, disease, and overutilization of its habitat by collapse of some populations. livestock. This proposal is unnecessary, as noncommercial trade in hunting trophies is permitted even for Appendix I Zambia proposes to transfer its African elephant species. It also could complicate law enforcement efforts, population from Appendix I to II with an annotation to since Heptner’s markhor horns can be difficult to distinguish permit commercial trade in hides, leather products, and raw from horns of Appendix I markhor subspecies. ivory with CITES-approved trading partners and to permit noncommercial trade in hunting trophies. In 2015, Zambia had approximately 27,000 elephants—a mere fraction of the 250,000 elephants in that country in the 1960s. Zambia downplays or ignores evidence that warrants retaining its MAMMALS elephant population on Appendix I, including conflicting 2015 population estimates, population declines between 2008 and 2015, the near-extirpation of some populations, ongoing habitat loss, and increased poaching. There is also a complete lack of evidence that downlistings or sales of stockpiled ivory reduce elephant poaching.

Burkina Faso and 10 other African countries seek to uplist elephant populations in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe from Appendix II to I. Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, on the other hand, propose to amend the annotation to the Appendix II listing of elephants in those countries to permit, without restriction, SOUTHERN WHITE RHINO, KANDUKURU NAGARJUN KANDUKURU RHINO, WHITE SOUTHERN sales of stockpiled ivory. If the latter proposal were to be approved, it would reestablish a commercial trade in ivory, Namibia proposes to downlist its southern white rhino further decimating elephant populations by facilitating the population from Appendix I to II for the purpose of permitting laundering of illegal ivory. trade in live rhinos and hunting trophies. This proposal— like Tajikistan’s markhor proposal—is unnecessary, since In evaluating the relative merits of these two competing live rhinos and rhino hunting trophies can be traded proposals, the following facts are pertinent: In 1800, there internationally for noncommercial purposes under the current were an estimated 26 million elephants in Africa. Only Appendix I designation. There are just over 1,000 white rhinos 415,000 remain, with poachers killing 20,000 animals each in Namibia living in 70 subpopulations that remain susceptible year to satisfy the global demand for ivory. Between 2006 to poaching and illegal trade. Since 2010, more than 130 rhinos and 2015 alone, a reported 111,000 elephants were killed have been poached in Namibia, with poaching rates spiking in by poachers, but the actual number is likely much higher. 2015 and 2016. When poachers are arrested, they rarely suffer Meanwhile, the range of the African elephant (Loxodonta any consequences; from 2016 through 2018 there was only one africana) contracted by 36 percent between 2002 and 2011. successful prosecution out of 85 cases. Forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) lost 30 percent of their range (and their numbers dropped 62 percent) over Mongolia and the United States propose to uplist the saiga the same time period. In 1989, when all elephants in Africa antelope from Appendix II to I. Saiga populations declined were on Appendix I (lumped together at that time as a single from 1.25 million in the 1970s to just over 152,000 today. Saiga species), the global ivory market collapsed and elephant are highly susceptible to disease and changing environmental populations began to recover. A decade later, when elephant conditions, with multiple die-offs reported in the past several populations in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and PROPOSALS SPECIES CITES years, including the loss of 211,000 in Mongolia in 2015. Zimbabwe were downlisted to Appendix II, poaching rates While saiga habitat has been lost and degraded, largely increased, particularly after a legal sale of stockpiled ivory due to livestock grazing, the primary threat to the species in 2008. Recently, poaching rates have again increased in is illegal hunting for national and international trade in these southern African countries, causing a drop in elephant

AWI QUARTERLY 13 SPRING 2019 numbers in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Clearly, an uplisting is warranted. Another sale of stockpiled ivory is not.

Israel and Kenya propose listing the wooly mammoth on Appendix II under the look-alike provision, given the similarities between mammoth and elephant ivory. Although the last remnant woolly mammoth populations died out around 3,700 years ago, regulation of the burgeoning trade in mammoth ivory is needed to prevent the illegal laundering or mislabeling of elephant ivory products as mammoth ivory, as has been documented in China and the United States. As permafrost has thawed due to climate change, mammoth ivory has become increasingly available—particularly in Russia, ANTHONY CRANNEY OTTER, COATED SMOOTH

CITES SPECIES PROPOSALS SPECIES CITES which annually exports tons of mammoth ivory to China.

India, Nepal, and Bangladesh propose the transfer of the Chad, Senegal, Mali, Niger, the Central African Republic, and smooth-coated otter from Appendix II to I, while India, Kenya propose to list the giraff e on Appendix II. Since the Nepal, and the Philippines seek to list the Asian small-clawed 1980s, giraff e numbers have declined by at least 36 percent, otter on Appendix II. The population of these two otters from an already diminished 163,000 to 97,500 today. Giraff es has declined by 30 percent over the past three decades due populations are also threatened by habitat loss, legal and to massive habitat loss and intense poaching to supply the illegal killing via strangling snares (including for bushmeat), international trade in pelts and live animals as pets. Both civil unrest, and international trade in hunting trophies, bone species are found in a limited number of areas and, with few carvings, and other products. From 2006 to 2015, over 39,500 exceptions, their populations are small and declining. While giraff e specimens were imported into the United States, some legal commercial trade is reported, the illegal trade is including nearly 3,800 hunting trophies. a signifi cant and increasing threat to the species. Globally, from 1980 to 2018 there were over 250 otter seizures involving over 6,000 specimens (mostly pelts) from both species. More recently, advertisements for pet otters have increased, as have seizures of live otters that were destined for the pet trade.

AWI QUARTERLY 14 SPRING 2019 HILLIARD JOHN GIRAFFE, AMPHIBIANS + REPTILES

Sri Lanka proposes to list its endemic hump snout The European Union, India, the United States, and the lizard on Appendix I. This lizard is in high demand in the Philippines propose to list the Tokay gecko on Appendix II. international pet trade due to its spectacular coloration, The species is primarily threatened by international trade resulting in a decline in population. Since 2011, signifi cant for traditional medicine and, to a lesser degree, as pets. numbers of illegally collected hump snout lizards have been Taiwan imported approximately 15 million Tokay geckos documented in trade in Europe, Asia, and the United States. from 2003 to 2014. During 2017–2018, Thailand exported While some specimens are identifi ed as captive bred, the 1.45 million live and dried specimens. Population declines majority are wild caught. (It is common for traff ickers to have been reported in several range states, including a 50 claim wild-caught animals are captive bred in order to percent decline in Bangladesh. launder them into legal trade channels.) This species is also threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation and other China, the European Union, and Vietnam propose an anthropogenic impacts. Appendix II listing for 13 warty newt species endemic to China and Vietnam. Many of the species are collected for India, Bangladesh, Senegal, and Sri Lanka propose to food and traditional medicine (mostly in national trade), uplist the Indian star tortoise from Appendix II to I due to and the pet trade (national and international), with declining numbers and overcollection for the international overexploitation considered a threat for several species. Their pet trade. Its ease of capture and low reproduction forest and grassland habitat is also under threat, with a 30 rates make this species particularly susceptible to percent decline in forest habitat in China over the past 50 overexploitation—it is, in fact, the tortoise species most years and an 80 percent decline in Vietnam over the past 20 often seized from smugglers. One study found that at a years. Between 2000 and 2016, the United States imported single location, 55,000 Indian star tortoises were illegally over 38,000 warty newts. Half of them are reportedly from removed from the wild in one year—three to six times more the wild, although this is considered an underestimate. animals than previously reported as collected throughout the star tortoise’s entire range. Habitat is also being lost or fragmented at a rapid pace, resulting in local extirpations. CITES SPECIES PROPOSALS SPECIES CITES HUMP SNOUT LIZARD, JULIEN GLOUTON JULIEN LIZARD, SNOUT HUMP PANCAKE TORTOISE, JOSH MORE JOSH TORTOISE, PANCAKE

Kenya and the United States propose to transfer the pancake China, the European Union, and Vietnam propose to list all from Appendix II to I. Commercial trade is the major species of on Appendix II. These species CITES SPECIES PROPOSALS SPECIES CITES tortoise crocodile newts threat to this animal, followed by habitat loss. The species generally occupy restricted ranges in highly fragmented and is vulnerable to extinction due to its restrictive habitat shrinking habitats. Population numbers are small, generally requirements, low densities, fragmented populations, low ranging from a few animals to a few hundred. Crocodile reproductive potential, high mortality rate of eggs and newts are collected for food, traditional medicine, and hatchlings, and overexploitation for the international pet the international pet trade, with exports primarily to the trade. The population has declined by 80 percent in the past European Union, Japan, and the United States. Records show 30 years. Since 1975, over 47,000 animals (more than 25,000 that between 1999 and 2017, the United States imported over of whom were labeled as captive bred) have been exported, 35,200 crocodile newts, mostly removed from the wild. primarily to Japan, the United States, and the European Union. Trade has increased over the past 20 years, with a number of states that are not range states reporting exports.

China, the European Union, and Vietnam propose an Appendix II listing for 13 endemic species of cave, tiger, and leopard geckos from China and Vietnam that are losing habitat and under increased pressure from the international pet trade. These species are habitat specialists that live in low densities within restricted ranges, with many found only in a single locality. They have been popular in international trade since the 1990s, with most removed from the wild for export to the European Union and the United States. CROCODILE NEWT, JOHN P. CLARE P. JOHN NEWT, CROCODILE

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Peru propose to list 17 species of glass frogs on Appendix I and another 87 on Appendix II. The species are popular as pets due in part to their transparent abdominal skin. The 17 species proposed for Appendix I listing have restricted areas of distribution, and their population numbers are declining due to extreme habitat loss and collection for the international pet trade. The remaining 87 Appendix II–proposed species are regularly traded, exist in threatened habitat, and/or need to be listed for look-alike reasons to facilitate enforcement efforts. Between 2004 and 2016, the United States imported over 2,100 glass frogs from seven of the species proposed for listing; the European Union is also involved in the trade. LEOPARD GECKO, RENEE GRAYSON RENEE GECKO, LEOPARD

AWI QUARTERLY 16 SPRING 2019 Sri Lanka and the United States are proposing to include 15 tarantula species on Appendix II to protect eight of those species whose populations are declining. The other seven species are being proposed due to look-alike concerns. Collection for the international pet trade is a signifi cant threat for several of the species. The United States imported nearly 23,000 live tarantulas between 2006 and 2017, with the majority coming from European countries. Most are wild caught and passed off as bred in captivity. As tarantulas are arboreal spiders, deforestation destroys their habitat. Their low reproduction and high juvenile mortality rates make them highly susceptible to overexploitation. ARACHNIDS INDIAN ORNAMENTAL TARANTULA, SAI ADIKARLA SAI TARANTULA, ORNAMENTAL INDIAN

FISH

Over two dozen countries, led by Senegal, propose to list Benin, the European Union, and 20 other countries propose the blackchin and sharpnose guitarfi sh and four other an Appendix II listing of shortfi n and longfi n mako sharks. species of guitarfi sh on Appendix II. (Guitarfi sh are a family For the shortfi n mako, trade in its valuable meat and fi ns of rays.) The high value of fi ns in international trade has led needs to be regulated to avoid further population declines to massive killing of blackchins and sharpnoses, resulting in and ensure the species’ survival. Listing of the longfi n mako signifi cant population declines. They have been extirpated is needed since the detached fi ns of the two species are from the northern Mediterranean Sea, and population nearly indistinguishable from each other in trade. Mako declines of at least 80 percent have been documented in the sharks are highly susceptible to capture in unregulated eastern Atlantic and Indian oceans. In 2014, an estimated and largely unmanaged fi sheries. As unsustainable (and 5,000 tons of guitarfi sh were landed, although this is likely underreported) capture rates have increased, mako considered an underestimate. The other four guitarfi sh populations have declined by 60 to 96 percent throughout species are proposed for an Appendix II listing under the most of their range. Approximately 1 million mako shark fi ns look-alike provision due to the diff iculty in distinguishing are traded each year. fi ns from diff erent guitarfi sh species. CITES SPECIES PROPOSALS SPECIES CITES

MAKO SHARK, HOWARD CHEN HOWARD SHARK, MAKO AWI QUARTERLY 17 SPRING 2019 WORKING DOCUMENTS

Many of the working documents contain draft resolutions great apes, ornamental fi sh, dolphins, birds, ungulates, and and decisions. Resolutions, if approved, will establish new, the totoaba—an Appendix I–listed fi sh whose illegal take long-term direction for the CITES secretariat, its three and trade is contributing to the extinction of the vaquita committees (Animals, Plants, and Standing), parties to porpoise (another Appendix I species that is down to 22 or the treaty, and nongovernmental organizations. Decisions fewer individuals). For many species, these deliberations provide short-term instructions to resolve issues of concern. will determine how to improve trade regulation, identify and Other documents are intended to stimulate discussion on combat illegal trade, and improve understanding of trade wildlife trade issues that warrant further consideration. characteristics and impacts to the species. For the vaquita, the decision will help determine whether this, the world’s The subject matter of the working documents are as varied as smallest cetacean, goes extinct in the very near future. the species proposals, ranging from budgeting and strategic planning to food security, national laws implementing CITES, CoP18, like past meetings, will be a test for all participants and how CITES regulates trade in specimens from synthetic or to determine if decisions will be based on sound science or if cultured DNA. greed and profi t will prevail. AWI’s team will work alongside colleagues from around the world, including government In addition to those matters, AWI is interested in the delegates and members of the Species Survival Network, following issues that are addressed in other working to achieve pro-conservation victories and ensure that the documents: the treaty’s eff ect on livelihoods, rural community treaty itself is strengthened. AWI will also honor a number of participation, wildlife demand reduction strategies, wildlife conservation heroes with the Clark R. Bavin Wildlife combatting wildlife cybercrime, disposition of confi scated Law Enforcement Award. This award is given to those who specimens, illegal trade reports, working conditions for have excelled in enforcing wildlife protection laws, including wildlife rangers, international trade in live African elephants, some who sacrifi ced their lives in the fi ght against wildlife trophy hunting quotas, management of stocks and stockpiles, crime and will be recognized posthumously. trade in specimens collected prior to an Appendix I listing, and management of captive-bred and ranched specimens. Over the past 46 years, CITES has struggled to keep pace The outcome of these discussions will defi ne the role of CITES with an exponential increase in demand for wildlife and

CITES SPECIES PROPOSALS SPECIES CITES in regulating trade in both live and dead wildlife, animals wildlife products and a massive escalation in the illegal taken from the wild, captive-bred animals, and animals sold wildlife trade. A recent analysis published in Science found online. It will have implications for animal welfare and the that nearly 30 percent of the species that the International rangers who risk their lives to protect the world’s biodiversity. Union for Conservation of Nature identifi es as threatened by international trade were not listed on either Appendix I or Participants will make important decisions on species- II, and that it takes over a decade for species so identifi ed to specifi c working documents on cheetahs, elephants, rhinos, come under CITES protection. While CITES is presently the eels, corals, seahorses, sharks/rays, pangolins, big cats, best international instrument to regulate wildlife trade, some, including AWI, question whether its implementation by 183 CITES member governments has matched the treaty’s intent and whether fundamental changes to it may be required to address modern wildlife trade challenges.

AWI QUARTERLY 18 SPRING 2019 WILSON BETH IN REMEMBRANCE DEBORAH CUTTING DEBORAH

Hardy Jones

ardy Jones, who died in December, was a videographer challenging, but Hardy’s work there laid the groundwork for H who used his skills behind the camera, along with his campaigns that continue to this day. warm and kind personality, to expose the world to the beauty of dolphins and their ocean habitats—as well as to expose Together with actor and ocean campaigner Ted Danson, those who hurt and exploit them. Hardy founded BlueVoice in 2000 with the aim of using film to expose threats to dolphins and the oceans and to Hardy produced over 75 films for PBS, National Geographic, urge action. Through BlueVoice, Hardy continued his work the Discovery Channel, and Turner Broadcasting System. against the dolphin hunts in Japan, as well as in Peru, and His love of dolphins began in the 1970s when he filmed raised awareness concerning contaminants in the oceans. He spotted dolphins off The Bahamas and got to know them on studied the impacts of red tide and associated cetacean die- an individual basis. In 2011, he wrote a book about his work offs, the intentional killing of dolphins in Peru for use as shark entitled The Voice of the Dolphins, which describes his more bait, and mercury levels in humans eating cetacean meat and than 30 years studying and filming wild dolphins, as well as blubber, including Faroe Islanders. his advocacy efforts on their behalf. Hardy regularly attended the meetings of the International Hardy’s passion for defending dolphins ultimately brought Whaling Commission, and in his quiet yet forceful way, made him to Japan, where several communities were deliberately clear his views against commercial whaling. He could always killing them for meat. In 1999 he was the first person to bring be relied on to join group efforts against commercial whaling international attention to the dolphin hunts in Taiji and Futo, and was an active member of WhalesNeedUS, a coalition by covertly filming the massacres, often at great personal peril. of US nongovernmental organizations (including AWI) that works to protect whales. This work caught the attention of AWI’s founder, Christine Stevens, who agreed to support Hardy’s Japanese projects. His nephew, Johnny Zwick, also a documentary filmmaker, With the help of local wildlife conservation organizations in continues to defend whales and the oceans, including with Futo, Hardy ultimately convinced the lead dolphin hunter AWI in Iceland. Hardy Jones will be missed by the animal that dolphins were worth far more alive than dead. The result protection community, including his many friends at AWI. We was an ecotourism project that ended the Futo dolphin are proud of our association with him and will continue his hunts in 2002. Changing attitudes in Taiji has proved far more efforts and further his legacy.

AWI QUARTERLY 19 SPRING 2019 MARINE LIFE

Whether a green sea turtle hatches as male or female is determined partly by temperature. A new study warns that climate change could harm the species by skewing the sex ratio.

RISING TEMPERATURES CAUSE TWOFOLD TROUBLE FOR GREEN SEA TURTLES Amazingly, the ambient temperature around a buried green sea turtle egg influences the turtle’s gender. The warmer it gets, the more likely BERNARD SPRAGG BERNARD the baby will be female. Research conducted by the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) on eggs in Guinea- to be concerned: Bodie, a 7-year-old Entangled cetaceans can suffer life- Bissau, West Africa, suggest rising male, died before the facility’s first threatening injuries, including skin global temperatures will change the anniversary. Alia (10) died 8 months abrasions, broken bones, punctured or sex ratio in favor of more females, later. Khloe (11) died in December. collapsed lungs, and even tail or flipper from the current 52 percent female One month later, Kai’nalu, a 22-year- amputations. An entangled whale can to between 76 and 93 percent female old male, was euthanized. In late trail fishing gear for weeks or even by the end of 2100. Initially, the February, the four remaining dolphins months, leading to a slow and agonizing researchers say, this will lead to more at Dolphinaris were moved to a sea death by starvation or predation. sea turtles being born, as there will pen (in a polluted bay) at Coral World be more females laying eggs. But over Ocean Park in the US Virgin Islands. The International Whaling Commission time, a scarcity of males will take its AWI has called for an independent estimates that, globally, some 800 toll. It is also predicted that rising sea investigation, but in the meantime whales, dolphins, and porpoises are levels will submerge 33 to 43 percent Dolphinaris has closed temporarily to trapped in fishing gear each day. of the nesting areas currently used by conduct its own investigation. AWI will Among the most frequently entangled the Guinea-Bissau turtles. If this is work to make sure no more dolphins large whale species are the humpback replicated for other sea turtle nesting end up at the facility. whale, gray whale, minke whale, blue sites, their future looks very uncertain. whale, and North Atlantic right whale (the latter two endangered). Fifty- two percent of humpback whales in ENTANGLEMENT IS GRIM southeast Alaska have been entangled DESERT DOLPHINARIUM NEW NORM FOR WHALES at least once. Eighty-three percent of North Atlantic right whales bear SHUTTERED FOR NOW The National Oceanic and Atmospheric scars or carry ropes indicative of Dolphinaris, a swim-with facility in Administration reports 76 confirmed entanglements. There has been a spike the Arizona desert near Scottsdale, cases of large whale entanglements in in whale entanglements along the US opened with eight dolphins in October US waters in 2017. Given the fact that West Coast, from an estimated 31 in 2016. AWI and other groups alerted whales can become entangled in areas 2017 to 45 in 2018, highlighting the marine life the proprietors and the public that far from shore, the actual entanglement urgent need for improved fisheries housing dolphins in the desert was a number is likely far higher. In an management to mitigate this growing bad idea—aside from the relentless interview with the Monterey Herald, threat to cetaceans. sun, desert air is very different to ocean NOAA’s Justin Greenman called the or coastal air and carries pathogens increase in whale entanglements “the unfamiliar to dolphins. We were right new normal.”

AWI QUARTERLY 20 SPRING 2019 MARINE LIFE

NEW FIELD TEST COULD sample merits more rigorous forensic by President Obama, but the current HELP FOIL SHARK analysis. The detection protocol has administration is eager to drill. In SMUGGLERS been successfully applied in practice in November it issued permits for surveys Hong Kong, one of the world’s busiest to five energy companies. Researchers from Stony Brook ports and a hotbed for the shark trade. University, Florida International Lead researcher Diego Cardeñosa has Before there is drilling there is seismic University, and BLOOM Association in informed AWI that a similar protocol he exploration; explosive blasts of noise Hong Kong have developed what they helped develop can be used to identify are aimed at the ocean floor to gauge call a “reliable, field-based, fast … and highly processed shark products such the reverberations, which indicate cost effective” protocol for detecting, as those in shark fin soup. This protocol the potential for oil and gas deposits. in a single reaction, nine of the 12 uses a mini-barcode DNA analysis he Blasts are repeated over and over, for commonly traded shark species listed claims is straightforward and reliable, hours at a time, day and night, for for protection under the Convention making it a useful method for data weeks or even months. Research shows on International Trade in Endangered collection and enforcement. that the impacts from these blasts Species of Wild Fauna and Flora have devastating effects on marine (CITES). The protocol is relatively cheap life, ranging from damage to hearing, (less than $1 per sample) and quick (less masking of essential communications, than four hours) and is capable of being OIL AND GAS reduction of fish populations, and performed on site, including at ports. EXPLORATION WRONG disturbance of feeding, migration, MOVE FOR RIGHT WHALES and breeding behaviors. In Israel, AWI was actively involved in the efforts dozens of sea turtles recently washed to list the 12 shark species under CITES The Trump administration’s plans to ashore after seismic explorations (20 to regulate the growing international expand offshore oil and gas exploration explosions every nine seconds over a trade in their fins, meat, and other along the Eastern Seaboard spells 24-hour period). products (See AWI Quarterly, spring trouble for the highly endangered 2013 and fall 2016). Unfortunately for North Atlantic right whale, of which A legal challenge to the plan has been customs officials, readily identifying only 450 or so remain. Right whales filed by environmental groups and the illicit products has been difficult traverse these waters, from birthing nine states: Maine, Massachusetts, and costly. The researchers say that, areas along southern states to feeding Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, while their test does not identify grounds off New England and Canada. Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and specific species, it does provide enough Past efforts to open the East Coast to North Carolina. Bills designed to limit information to signal whether a oil exploration were ultimately vetoed offshore oil and gas exploration have also been introduced in Congress. For North Atlantic right whales, seismic exploration will likely spell disaster and undo the work done by a wide range of stakeholders, including the shipping and fishing industries, to help save these magnificent creatures from extinction.

Trade in the fins of the oceanic whitetip shark (pictured here with a pilot fish escort) is controlled under CITES. A new field test could help prevent smuggling of

BERNDNEESER protected shark species’ fins.

AWI QUARTERLY 21 SPRING 2019 A Compelling Case Against Captivity of Marine Mammals

In 1995, the US Marine Mammal mammal debate was thrust into the radio and satellite tags, GPS, GoPro Commission (MMC) invited AWI’s spotlight when Tilikum, an orca at cameras, drones, and other technology, Dr. Naomi Rose (then with another SeaWorld Florida, killed his trainer, we have entered the realms of the organization) to co-author a chapter Dawn Brancheau. Blackfi sh, a 2013 deep—sometimes directly on the on captive marine mammals for a book documentary about this incident, helped backs of the animals—as never before. it was publishing on marine mammal change the way the public viewed orcas, Virtually everything we have learned policy. Naomi and her colleagues would and indeed all cetaceans, in captivity. underscores how unsuited these off er arguments against confi ning Given this, an update to The Case species are to confi nement. this diverse group of species within Against Marine Mammals in Captivity zoos, aquariums, and marine theme was clearly in order. But such a revision In 1995, the report had 56 endnotes; the parks. The MMC asked SeaWorld had to take a back seat to other priorities 4th edition had 341. The latest edition representatives to present the within a newly galvanized campaign. has more than 600. The authors have arguments for such display. added new chapters (including on “The Fast forward to 2019: A 5th edition, Blackfi sh Eff ect”—a series of societal, By the time Naomi and her colleagues updated by Naomi and Dr. Chris policy, and business developments had fi nished their draft, however, Parsons, has now been published by resulting from the fi lm’s enormous SeaWorld had withdrawn from the AWI and World Animal Protection. In reach) and new subsections. The main project. Upon SeaWorld’s withdrawal, the decade that has passed since the text off ers logical, common-sense the MMC elected to have a third party 4th edition, the paradigm has shifted arguments accessible to the general write the entire chapter, presenting on the display of cetaceans—and public, while the endnotes are a both sides of the debate. The “anti-cap” perhaps all marine mammals. Through deep dive—for students, journalists, authors, not wishing their eff ort to be Blackfi sh, more people are aware policymakers, and activists—into the wasted, subsequently transformed their of the controversy. There is more facts, science, evidence, and examples manuscript into an advocacy white information from behind the scenes supporting these arguments. The 5th paper entitled The Case Against Marine at zoos, aquariums, and theme parks edition of The Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity. This report that display these animals, as well as Mammals in Captivity is meant as a outlined what were, at the time, the a great deal more fi eld data on these one-stop-shop for those who wish to best science-based arguments against hard-to-study mammals. We have learn why marine mammals do not the practice of holding these wide- learned much we did not know about belong in captivity. ranging species in small tanks and pens. whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea lions, fur seals, seals, walruses, polar bears, Over the years, Naomi and others manatees, dugongs, and sea otters—all The orca Lolita’s tank at the Miami Seaquarium may be the smallest for this updated and expanded the report species ecologically tied to an ocean species in the world—she is longer than half three times—in 1999, 2006, and 2009. environment—in their natural habitat. the width of the main tank, and cannot enter the area to the right of the central platform In 2010, however, the captive marine With the invention of ever-better unless gates at either end of it are open.

AWI QUARTERLY 22 SPRING 2019 VISSER INGRID 2,000

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This chart, created by AWI based 0 on our research and published in the Washington Post, shows RESEARCH BREEDERS EXHIBITORS DEALERS how USDA citations of entities regulated under the Animal 2016 2017 2018 Welfare Act have plummeted.

Administration Continues Its Attack on Animal Welfare Act

ero. That’s how much money was in the proposed budget uncorrected noncompliances could result in the USDA taking Z for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) under legal action—but such actions have also plummeted. the Reagan administration. This attempt to gut funding made clear that administration’s total lack of interest in the federal Brulliard reported on the precipitous drop in the USDA’s mandate to protect animals at breeders, dealers, exhibitors, AWA enforcement last October in the Post, noting that the and laboratories. The openness of that antagonism toward department issued 192 written warnings in fi scal year (FY) enforcement actually made it easier to fi ght to secure the funds 2016 and only 39 two years later. Administrative complaints necessary for the US Department of Agriculture to do its job. fell from 23 in FY 2016 to just one in the fi rst three quarters of FY 2018. AWI provided background information for and was The current situation is very diff erent. Enforcement of the quoted in that article as well. AWA is being scuttled by the Trump administration in a far more underhanded way. In an attempt to protect industries, More details about the tragic state of the USDA’s Animal Care not animals (see AWI Quarterly, fall 2018), the USDA has been program continue to be revealed. Inspectors are reportedly systematically weakening AWA oversight and enforcement. being ordered to keep noncompliances off inspection reports. Rather than cut off funding, this administration is seeking to Some of the noncompliances are simply ignored while others excise the law itself. are cited (under the misnomer “teachable moments”) in a diff erent document that is not posted publicly. Deference In February, AWI’s Eric Kleiman and Sydney Hearst is often given to licensees and registrants who challenge conducted a detailed analysis of USDA citations on citations; indeed, an appeal to USDA management may inspection reports from 2016 through 2018. This analysis result in citations getting erased altogether from inspection revealed drastically fewer citations. As shown in the chart reports. Many dedicated inspectors have found the situation above, citations fell off in 2017 then plunged dramatically untenable. Over 40 employees have left—from resignations, in 2018—dropping by 60 percent. The Washington Post’s retirements, transfers, or fi rings—since January 2017. Karin Brulliard reported our fi ndings on February 26, drawing much-needed attention to the issue. One abhorrent policy change perhaps exemplifi es the true danger the animals face: Eff ective May 2018, the newly The USDA’s documentation of noncompliance on inspections eviscerated Animal Welfare Inspection Guide states that is the fi rst line of defense for animals under the AWA. Often the USDA no longer requires that animals be euthanized in the past, licensees and registrants have corrected the according to the American Veterinary Medical Association defi ciencies without the USDA having to take further action, guidelines on euthanasia. Does this administration care that other than to follow up on citations and continue their the animals may now be facing a return to being killed by routine, unannounced inspections. More serious, repeat, or blunt force trauma and gunshot? Apparently not.

AWI QUARTERLY 23 SPRING 2019 Rabbit Enrichment Items: GETTING BANG FOR THE BUCK (AND DOE)

A recent discussion Brianna: We currently use fruit A major factor in enrichment is novelty; on the Laboratory Animal Refinement inside toys, Icees, and a fruit/veggie rabbits get bored so easily, so make and Enrichment Forum (LAREF) mix for rabbits. I have thought about sure you are varying your enrichment focused on new enrichment ideas trying paper bags with treats inside, categories. Try to vary between high- for rabbits. Brianna Parkinson but any other ideas would be greatly value and low-value items to keep initiated the conversation to share her appreciated! things stimulating. Low-value items experience and to ask what others have would be any of the manipulanda like tried. Sarah Thurston, Steven Ortiz, Sarah: Paper bags are great. They toys, cardboard, chew sticks, wood Jacqueline Schwartz, Leslie Jenkins, are probably our rabbits’ favorite blocks, etc. that are fun but only for a Michele Cunneen, and Lorraine Bell all enrichment items (other than food short while. Cardboard is one of our chimed in on which toys and treats get treats!). We stuff the bags with hay, favorites because you can roll it up rave reviews from rabbits. shredded paper, treats, toys, etc. and stick it in the cage door (if you have cage housing). The rabbits have to work to get the cardboard into the cage; then they will work to shred it and turn it into digging substrate as well. Cardboard is cheap and can be quickly managed by the staff, but the rabbits really enjoy it and it takes them quite a while to destroy it. We recycle cardboard boxes from within the facility and autoclave all cardboard items prior to giving them to the animals.

AWI QUARTERLY 24 SPRING 2019 PHILLIPS MICHAEL High value items are, of course, food treats. It sounds like you are doing a great mix of fresh, frozen, and dried! Other high value items are destructible materials such as the paper bags or cardboard boxes filled with something good inside that the rabbits can tear into or cardboard tubs filled with hay or crinkled paper, with items scattered throughout to satisfy the animals’ natural foraging drive. We also utilize supplemental enrichment such as low-volume instrumental music and gentle handling/grooming PACHOLO LIBARNES, MCGILL UNIVERSITY, COMPARATIVE MEDICINE MEDICINE COMPARATIVE UNIVERSITY, MCGILL LIBARNES, PACHOLO CENTRE RESOURCES ANIMAL for those rabbits who enjoy it. As always, social housing is the very best enrichment for rabbits. it around as a plaything. I also used 12–14 inches long are great. I get them small stainless bells or Mason jar lid off my dad’s property where they had Steven: Rabbits love cut pineapples rings and hung them on the inside of an orchard years ago. I cut the twigs and pineapple juice. First, I would take their cage. They seemed to really enjoy and put them in the autoclave for two a clean container (like the shipping playing with them. minutes on 180–212°F to kill any bugs. containers that the mice come in, The rabbits will strip the bark off and cleaned in cage wash) and fill the entire Leslie: As mentioned previously, then chew the wood. bottom with wood blocks. I would soak small boxes work really well. We save the blocks for a few hours in pineapple empty glove boxes and stuff them with Lorraine: I can confirm that the juice and then give them to the rabbits. shredded paper, timothy hay cubes, rabbits will indeed learn to recognize Spraying toys with pineapple juice also and other food items. The rabbits will the potential for a papaya tablet. I works. Don’t be afraid to use a blender spend quite some time digging through recently was providing a tour into our and blend some fruits like pears into everything and shredding the box. I rabbit rooms and lifted up the papaya a mush and use a paint brush to cover find these enrichment boxes especially tablet container. Every rabbit was any toy item. The rabbits love this. I helpful for post-operative animals who instantly at the front of their cages, even like to use blenders and come up with need to focus on something other than those who had been semi-dozing! all kinds of variations. I’ve also noticed their incisions. that rabbits like to shred, so giving them items they can tear is great. Michele: I like to encourage LAREF facilitates the sharing of Sometimes it may be a bit much for papaya tablets because they prevent experiences about ways to refine the husbandry staff to clean, but the fur balls and the rabbits love them. the conditions under which animals rabbits’ enrichment is so important Once they know what’s coming, are housed and handled in research that it warrants a little extra work time. the rabbits will approach to get institutions. It is open to animal I think the paper bags with the treats one. Offering the tablets also helps care personnel, animal technicians, inside will be a big hit. facilitate health checks because as you students, attending veterinarians, and enter they all come up to the front of researchers with firsthand experience Jacqueline: Small cardboard the cage waiting for one. You can get in the care of animals in research boxes with hay or treats work well; dried papaya from certified sources like and education facilities. LAREF is rabbits love to destroy stuff and chew Bioserv or chewable tablets from GNC, moderated by Viktor Reinhardt. If you up cardboard. How are your rabbits or dried papaya at health food and want to join LAREF, please send a housed? It is very odd but I have found pet stores, depending on your level of message to [email protected] indicating that rabbits love noise if it is their idea bio-security. briefly your practical experience with and they are making it. When we had animals kept in research laboratories, to house rabbits alone in rabbit banks I Also, if you know anyone with apple your current professional affiliation, would give them a small stainless steel trees that are not sprayed, then thin and your interests as they pertain to bowl. They would pick it up and throw apple twigs of pencil thickness and the discussion group.

AWI QUARTERLY 25 SPRING 2019 REVIEWS

VAQUITA Brooke Bessesen / Island Press / 320 pages Mexican governments to the porpoise’s plight, especially the In March, scientists announced that no more than 22 vaquita failure to completely and eff ectively ban gillnet fi shing gear. porpoises likely remain in the world. Vaquita are being rapidly driven to extinction—entangled and drowned by gillnets Vaquita is fast-paced, at times reading like a crime thriller— illegally set in Mexico’s Gulf of California (also known as the complete with villainous drug cartels, wildlife traff ickers, and Sea of Cortez). Without an end to gillnet fi shing, the vaquita government corruption. The book is an important cautionary could soon be extinct. tale. As Bessesen notes, we need to learn from the vaquita before yet another marine mammal species faces the same fate. In Vaquita: Science, Politics and Crime in the Sea of Cortez, author Brooke Bessesen elucidates the complex story of the vaquita. With more than 30 years’ experience in animal rescue and marine fi eldwork, Bessesen writes with both authority INTOLERABLE CRUELTY and heart, bringing the reader into the center of the storm Gilbert Proulx / Alpha Wildlife Publications / 96 pages that has been the decades-long eff ort to save the vaquita. She thoroughly researched her subject, even embedding Of the various methods of population control infl icted on herself for weeks on end in the Gulf’s local communities. wildlife by animal damage control agents, wildlife managers, and trappers, strangling neck snares are among the most The book gives voice to the fi shers, scientists, and horrifi c tools in the toolbox. The primer Intolerable Cruelty: conservationists who have been grappling with the The truth behind killing neck snares and strychnine is a challenges associated with protecting the vaquita. Bessesen reminder—if one is needed—of how wretchedly inhumane describes the frustrating, ineff ective reactions of successive these techniques can be.

AWI QUARTERLY 26 SPRING 2019 REVIEWS

Death does not come easy. When a canid is snared, the thick traveled while researching this book. Some roads, such as the musculature around the animal’s neck allows the carotid artery one to Zakouma National Park in southeast Chad, were not to continue to supply blood to the brain, but the jugular vein is without personal risk. constricted, cutting off blood back down to the heart. A telltale sign is the grotesquely swollen heads of the snare’s victims. Wildlife law enforcement professionals might have Canids caught in neck snares will take hours, if not days, to die. a few misgivings over the book’s heavy reliance on nongovernmental organizations for information, analysis, Despite its dangers, strychnine is still used on pocket gophers and opinions. These groups do have legitimate functions, and in more than half of the 50 states. (In Canada it is used on many contribute usefully to the suppression of wildlife crime. rodents—a use currently under scrutiny. It is also used on But sometimes the media coverage reporting a particular large predators in Alberta.) This neurotoxin is ingested by arrest or seizure can lead to the impression that the NGOs are target and nontarget animal alike, and secondary poisoning fighting off the poachers and dealers single-handedly. (Much is common. It causes agonizing muscular seizures until the of this, of course, is the fault of the wildlife enforcement conscious animal suffocates. Depending on the exposure, agencies themselves. Most forbid their rangers and officers death by strychnine may also take hours or days. from speaking to journalists, instructing that all media inquiries be redirected to the agency’s media relations office.) The author, Dr. Gilbert Proulx, a wildlife biologist in Canada for more than 40 years, has firsthand experience; he has used Nuwer rightly reports that there are serious problems with strychnine and a range of traps. What makes him different many wildlife law enforcement agencies—which tend to be from others doing research and managing furbearers in this understaffed, underfunded, and inadequately trained and way is that his experiences and raw observations led him to equipped. There are sometimes problems with corruption, conclude that neck snares and strychnine were inhumane and ineptitude, nepotism, and irresponsibility. Numerous indiscriminate, and therefore unacceptable. He wants them examples of these problems can be found in Nuwer’s book. banned. Meanwhile, others in the field continue defending and employing both. That said, there is need to re-emphasize that the heaviest burden of wildlife law enforcement today continues to lie on the shoulders of the government enforcement agency’s rangers and officers. These are the people who are patrolling the parks POACHED and reserves, who are infiltrating the trafficking gangs, who Rachel Love Nuwer / Da Capo Press / 374 pages are carefully assembling evidence that will hold up in court. These are the rank-and-file individuals who suffer malaria, In Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking, drownings, and gunshots, and who arrest the poachers and Rachel Love Nuwer crafts an important update to an old traffickers. They need greater support in these endeavors. story of wildlife exploitation. The book is written in a flowing journalistic style, with each chapter a free-standing essay Poached offers a very good global overview of wildlife about a particular aspect of wildlife trafficking. One chapter poaching and trafficking today. It states the problems with reports on a sleazy restaurant offering an utterly distasteful undeniable clarity and exposes traffickers for what they are: menu. Another chapter explores tiger breeding farms in Laos. bad people who hurt animals, jeopardize biodiversity, and Another examines the consequences of incinerating more rake in enormous profits from their crimes. than 100 tons of confiscated elephant ivory in Nairobi. In each, Nuwer leads the reader down the daunting roads she

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A VOICE FOR ANIMALS photo essays, or videos that explore acceptance and adoption of India’s CONTEST strategies to mitigate animal suff ering “pariah” dogs, an essay on the myriad and protect species. Entries—which human-caused threats to whale sharks, Students, the 29th annual A Voice in the past have discussed issues and a video about the challenges for Animals Contest is underway! relating to the lives of companion overcome in rescuing and fostering cats The contest provides you with an animals, farm animals, endangered in the United States. opportunity to raise awareness about species, captive marine mammals, and an animal welfare issue you care deeply more—are judged on presentation, So what animal welfare issue do you about and to off er solutions—maybe originality, and eff ectiveness of really want to tell the world about? even showcase what you are doing now solutions to serious problems. Now’s your chance! Submit your essay, to help make animal lives better. photo essay, or video by April 30, 2019. Among last year’s winners: an essay on Winners will be announced on June 22. The contest—sponsored by AWI and providing tender care for rhino calves Please visit www.hennet.org for details the Humane Education Network, orphaned by poaching in South Africa, on the contest and instructions on how with additional support from the a photo essay that promotes greater to enter. Good luck! Palo Alto Humane Society, is for young people between the ages of 14 and 18. Multiple cash prizes are awarded for essays, ERIC KILBY ERIC