January/February 2002
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WHAT DID THE CHIMP When the dogs are away, RETIREMENT ACT DO the monkeys will play FOR CHIMPS? (PAGE 16) HONG KONG, BANGKOK, Francisco animal control contract from 1895 able animals, and doing the humane law management that they no longer want to kill KUALA LUMPUR, BUCHAREST, NEW until 1984, when it began a five-year phase- enforcement and public education that were healthy animals,” reported Ella Lee of the DELHI–– Celebrating 99 years as the first and out while the S.F. Department of Animal Care the original focus of the organization. South China Morning Post. biggest humane society west of San Francisco and Control geared up to take over. As in San Francisco, the transition But that perspective is what and east of Mumbai, the Hong Kong SPCA Following the San Francisco model, to no-kill has been long in planning. Hanselman wanted when he hired them, will go no-kill in June 2002, executive direc- the Hong Kong SPCA will cede all animal Hanselman told ANIMAL PEOPLE he was emphasizing expansion of pet sterilization tor Chris Hanselman announced on January 1. control responsibility to the Hong Kong working toward it at the 1999 International capacity and recruiting vets with the promise The Hong Kong SPCA has handled Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Companion Animal Welfare Conference in that population control killing would be phased dog and cat sheltering and population control Department. After June 2002, Hanselman Sofia, Bulgaria. He later visited the San out as rapidly as practicable. killing for much of the city since 1921––like said, the Hong Kong SPCA will concentrate Francisco SPCA and hosted a return visit from The AFCD pound and the Hong the San Francisco SPCA, which held the San on sterilizing dogs and cats, rehoming adopt- SF/SPCA president Ed Sayres to help visualize Kong SPCA combined to kill 23,000 dogs and the necessary changes in the Hong Kong cats in 2001––about half the volume of New SPCA modus operandi. York City, in a metropolis of closely compa- The transition, though still under rable human population and density. wraps, was the chief topic of discussion when However, the rate of petkeeping in ANIMAL PEOPLE visited the Hong Kong Hong Kong is believed to be far lower than in SPCA and the future site of the Agriculture, New York City, where the rate of petkeeping Fisheries, and Conservation Department is about half the U.S. norm. New York City pound in November 2000. sells about 140,000 dog licenses per year; Hanselman explained then that the Hong Kong sells 94,000, and almost certainly Hong Kong SPCA would only go no-kill when has a higher rate of licensing compliance. he was satisfied that the pound had adequate Conversely, the Hong Kong feral facilities, budget, personnel, and training to cat population is larger. Heavy traffic, fre- properly handle the workload. quent garbage collection, and buried sewers On January 1, however, Hanselman have combined to almost eliminate street dogs let others take the credit. from the busy parts of Hong Kong during the “The society’s 15 vets have told past 20 years, but cats took quick advantage of Hanuman languors on patrol in Agra, India. (Kim Bartlett) (continued on page 6) ANIMAL PEOPLE News For People Who Care About Animals January/February 2002 Volume XI, #1 Japanese mobilize to save whales their government wants to kill T O K Y O ––Thousands of Japanese miles southwest of Tokyo, by pushing them volunteers worked around the clock from the back into open water. Forty-four whales who morning of January 22 into mid-day on January died were ceremonially buried. 24 in a futile effort to save 14 whales who ran Both the Ouracho and the Tanega- aground near the town of Ouracho on the south- shima Island whale-saving efforts were heavily ern island of Kyushu. Thirteen whales suffo- covered by Japanese news media. cated before they could be towed back to sea, The Japanese government has report- but the newspaper Yomiuri Shumbun r e p o r t e d edly gambled $323 million that the IWC mora- that one whale survived. torium on commercial whaling will be breached Yomiuri Shumbun identified the vic- at the May 2002 IWC annual meeting, to be tims as Bryde’s whales, but BBC News report- held in Shimonoseki, Japan. ed that they were sperm whales. Either way, Yet Japanese public opinion about they were among the species that the Japanese the wisdom and morality of breaching the “research” whaling fleet killed during 2001 in moratorium appears deeply divided, even as the north Pacific. the long sought government goal seems to be Kagoshima University biologist almost within reach. “Endangered Prayer,” grizzly bear portrait by Richard Piliero. Akihiko Shinomiya told the BBC that the dead “If governments do not act immedi- whales would not be eaten. Whale meat con- ately to stop vote-buying in the IWC, Japan is B.C. grizzly hunt is “difficult to defend,” sumption is reportedly down 30% in Japan dur- only three or four votes away from modifying ing the past year, despite a mad cow disease the moratorium,” reported Selma Milovanovic scare that caused beef consumption to crash. of the Melbourne Age on January 17. warns biologist hired by the Safari Club Legalizing a practice long common Lifting the moratorium would VANCOUVER, B.C. – – A n i m a l Safari Club International hired Nunavut polar but officially forbidden since Japan belatedly presently require winning a 75% majority. Of rights groups, a European Union scientific bear biologist Mitchell Taylor to review the ratified the International Whaling Commission the 43 IWC nations, 21 are considered firmly panel, and a top bear biologist hired by Safari available data. moratorium on commercial whaling in 1988, against commercial whaling, with 18 nations Club International are agreed: British Safari Club International, based in the Japanese ministry of fisheries in June 2001 either aligned with Japan or unpredictable––but Columbia grizzly bears could disappear if Tucson, claims to represent 45 million authorized fishers to butcher any whales found with a simple majority, the rules for lifting the hunters keep killing them at the current rate. hunters worldwide. Nunavut is a Native dead in fixed-site fishnets. The remains of 52 moratorium could be amended to remove the But, aligned with the hunting and American-controlled Canadian territory minke whales were scavenged and sold by the requirement of a 75% majority, according to guiding industry, the governments of Canada whose economy is heavily geared to sport end of the year. Australian IWC observers. and British Columbia are still determined to hunting. Taylor is himself a “bigtime” hunter, But the whale-saving effort at Milovanovic based her report on keep grizzly bear hunting open. he told Nicholas Read of the Vancouver Sun. Ouracho was presaged in March 2001 when information received from Greenpeace expedi- The European Union suspended But Taylor concluded that B.C. local residents and beach-going tourists teamed tion leader Kieran Mulvaney and the crew of issuing import permits for B.C. grizzly bear grizzly bears are indeed in big trouble. B.C. up to save the lives of 127 small whales who the Greenpeace ship MV Arctic Sunrise, which trophies in November 2001. Ministry of Water, Land, and Air Protection became stranded at Tanegashima Island, 610 (continued on page 17) Responded Environment Canada large carnivore expert Matt Austin estimates wildlife traffic expert Bertrand von Arx, to that B.C. has 14,000 to 19,000 grizzly bears, Kate Jaimet of the Ottawa Citizen, “I’m while other investigators believe the popula- going to send a reply to explain the situation tion is down to 4,000 or fewer. and provide all the scientific information. In the early 1990s, trophy hunters Then hopefully the scientific authorities in the killed 400 to 500 B.C. grizzlies per year, but E.U. will change their opinion. If they don’t, the toll since 1996 has reportedly falled to an we’re not talking about science any more; average of 95 grizzlies killed per year by for- we’re talking about politics.” eigners and 135 killed by Canadians. The European Union scientific The B.C. government does not panel concluded last year that, “The hunt “have the financial resources to set aside areas does not appear to be based on sound biologi- for conservation, or even to conduct the cal data, and it is not clearly demonstrated research required to manage the ongoing that the harvest level is sustainable.” activities,” Taylor explained to Read. “So Preparing to help defend the hunt, (continued on page 19) 2 - ANIMAL PEOP LE, January/February 2002 Knowing Heart as I do now, he probably lured the coyotes away from Soul so she could hide. He’s such a good father. When they This is circled him and cut off his escape . he fought hard. And he fought so hard, he injured the poor coyotes too. And when the coyote family ran off to nurse their wounds, Heart collapsed in “Heart,” a ditch behind some brush. Water seeped into the ditch from a nearby drain, and he was cov- three ered in mud. Soul came over and lay down next to him. I know Heart expected to die there, with his daughter by his side. But thanks to people like you, who support this mission, w e years after were there for Heart & Soul in their most needy hour. As the anesthesia took effect and he relaxed into a sound sleep, his emer- we could all see what a battle he waged.