Tag: Animals

Tribes bury Southern California’s famed mountain lion, P-22

[ad_1]

LOS ANGELES — Tribal leaders, scientists and conservation advocates buried Southern California’s most famous mountain lion Saturday in the mountains where the big cat once roamed.

After making his home in the urban Griffith Park — home of the Hollywood Sign — for the past decade, P-22 became a symbol for California’s endangered mountain lions and their decreasing genetic diversity. The mountain lion’s name comes from being the 22nd puma in a National Park Service study.

The death of the couga r late last year set off a debate between the tribes in the Los Angeles area and wildlife officials over whether scientists could keep samples of the mountain lion’s remains for future testing and research.

Some representatives of the Chumash, Tataviam and Gabrielino (Tongva) peoples argued that samples taken during the necropsy should be buried with the rest of his body in the ancestral lands where he spent his life. Some tribal elders said keeping the specimens for scientific testing would be disrespectful to their traditions. Mountain lions are regarded as relatives and considered teachers in LA’s tribal communities.

Tribal representatives, wildlife officials and others discussed a potential compromise in recent weeks, but it was not immediately clear Monday what conclusion the group reached before P-22 was buried in an unspecified location in the Santa Monica Mountains on Saturday.

The traditional tribal burial included songs, prayers and sage smoke cleansings, according to Alan Salazar, a tribal member of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians and a descendent of the Chumash tribe.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where the cougar’s remains had been kept in a freezer before the burial, called the burial a “historically significant ceremony.”

“The death of P-22 has affected all of us and he will forever be a revered icon and ambassador for wildlife conservation,” the museum said in a statement Monday.

Salazar, who attended the ceremony, said he believes P-22’s legacy will help wildlife officials and scientists realize the importance of being respectful to animals going forward.

Beth Pratt, the California executive director for the National Wildlife Federation who also attended the ceremony, wrote on Facebook that the burial “ helped me achieve some measure of peace” as she grieves the animal’s death.

“I can also imagine P-22 at peace now, with such a powerful and caring send-off to the next place,” she wrote. “As we laid him to rest, a red-tailed hawk flew overhead and called loudly, perhaps there to help him on his journey.”

Los Angeles and Mumbai are the world’s only major cities where large cats have been a regular presence for years — mountain lions in one, leopards in the other — though pumas began roaming the streets of Santiago, Chile, during pandemic lockdowns.

Wildlife officials believe P-22 was born about 12 years ago in the western Santa Monica Mountains, but left because of his father’s aggression and his own struggle to find a mate amid a dwindling population. That drove the cougar to cross two heavily traveled freeways and migrate east to Griffith Park, where a wildlife biologist captured him on a trail camera in 2012.

His journey over the freeways inspired a wildlife crossing over a Los Angeles-area highway that will allow big cats and other animals safe passage between the mountains and wildlands to the north. The bridge broke ground in April.

P-22 was captured last December in a residential backyard following dog attacks. Examinations revealed a skull fracture — the result of being hit by a car — and chronic illnesses including a skin infection and diseases of the kidneys and liver. The city’s cherished big cat was euthanized five days later.

Los Angeles celebrated his life last month at the Greek Theater in Griffith Park in a star-studded memorial that featured musical performances, tribal blessings, speeches about the importance of P-22’s life and wildlife conservation, and a video message from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

To honor the place where the animal made his home among the city’s urban sprawl, a boulder from Griffith Park was brought to the gravesite in the Santa Monica Mountains and placed near P-22’s grave, Salazar said.

[ad_2]

Source link

March 6, 2023
Nations reach accord to protect marine life on high seas

[ad_1]

WASHINGTON — For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas – representing a turning point for vast stretches of the planet where conservation has previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws.

The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force in 1994, before marine biodiversity was a well-established concept. The treaty agreement concluded two weeks of talks in New York.

An updated framework to protect marine life in the regions outside national boundary waters, known as the high seas, had been in discussions for more than 20 years, but previous efforts to reach an agreement had repeatedly stalled. The unified agreement treaty, which applies to nearly half the planet’s surface, was reached late Saturday.

“We only really have two major global commons — the atmosphere and the oceans,” said Georgetown marine biologist Rebecca Helm. While the oceans may draw less attention, “protecting this half of earth’s surface is absolutely critical to the health of our planet.”

Nichola Clark, an oceans expert at the Pew Charitable Trusts who observed the talks in New York, called the long-awaited treaty text “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect the oceans — a major win for biodiversity.”

The treaty will create a new body to manage conservation of ocean life and establish marine protected areas in the high seas. And Clark said that’s critical to achieve the U.N. Biodiversity Conference’s recent pledge to protect 30% of the planet’s waters, as well as its land, for conservation.

Treaty negotiations initially were anticipated to conclude Friday, but stretched through the night and deep into Saturday. The crafting of the treaty, which at times looked in jeopardy, represents “a historic and overwhelming success for international marine protection,” said Steffi Lemke, Germany’s environment minister.

“For the first time, we are getting a binding agreement for the high seas, which until now have hardly been protected,” Lemke said. “Comprehensive protection of endangered species and habitats is now finally possible on more than 40% of the Earth’s surface.”

The treaty also establishes ground rules for conducting environmental impact assessments for commercial activities in the oceans.

“It means all activities planned for the high seas need to be looked at, though not all will go through a full assessment,” said Jessica Battle, an oceans governance expert at the Worldwide Fund for Nature.

Several marine species — including dolphins, whales, sea turtles and many fish — make long annual migrations, crossing national borders and the high seas. Efforts to protect them, along with human communities that rely on fishing or tourism related to marine life, have long proven difficult for international governing bodies.

“This treaty will help to knit together the different regional treaties to be able to address threats and concerns across species’ ranges,” Battle said.

That protection also helps coastal biodiversity and economies, said Gladys Martínez de Lemos, executive director of the nonprofit Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense focusing on environmental issues across Latin America.

“Governments have taken an important step that strengthens the legal protection of two-thirds of the ocean and with it marine biodiversity and the livelihoods of coastal communities,” she said.

The question now is how well the ambitious treaty will be implemented.

Formal adoption also remains outstanding, with numerous conservationists and environmental groups vowing to watch closely.

The high seas have long suffered exploitation due to commercial fishing and mining, as well as pollution from chemicals and plastics. The new agreement is about “acknowledging that the ocean is not a limitless resource, and it requires global cooperation to use the ocean sustainably,” Rutgers University biologist Malin Pinsky said.

___

Associated Press writer Frank Jordans contributed to this report from Berlin.

___

Follow Larson on Twitter at @larsonchristina and Whittle at @pxwhittle

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

[ad_2]

Source link

March 5, 2023
Nations reach accord to protect marine life on high seas

[ad_1]

WASHINGTON — For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas — nearly half the planet’s surface — concluding two weeks of talks in New York.

The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force in 1994, before marine biodiversity was a well-established concept.

An updated framework to protect marine life in the regions outside national boundary waters, known as the high seas, had been in discussions for more than 20 years, but previous efforts to reach an agreement had repeatedly stalled. The unified agreement treaty was reached late Saturday.

“We only really have two major global commons — the atmosphere and the oceans,” said Georgetown marine biologist Rebecca Helm. While the oceans may draw less attention, “protecting this half of earth’s surface is absolutely critical to the health of our planet.”

Now that long-awaited treaty text has been finalized, Nichola Clark, an oceans expert at the Pew Charitable Trusts who observed the talks in New York, said, “This is a once in a generation opportunity to protect the oceans — a major win for biodiversity.”

The treaty will create a new body to manage conservation of ocean life and establish marine protected areas in the high seas. And Clark said that’s critical to achieve the U.N. Biodiversity Conference’s recent pledge to protect 30% of the planet’s waters, as well as its land, for conservation.

The treaty also establishes ground rules for conducting environmental impact assessments for commercial activities in the oceans.

“It means all activities planned for the high seas need to be looked at, though not all will go through a full assessment,” said Jessica Battle, an oceans governance expert at the Worldwide Fund for Nature.

Many marine species — including dolphins, whales, sea turtles and many fish — make long annual migrations, crossing national borders and the high seas. Efforts to protect them — and human communities that rely on fishing or tourism related to marine life — have previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws.

“This treaty will help to knit together the different regional treaties to be able to address threats and concerns across species’ ranges,” said Battle.

That protection also helps coastal biodiversity and economies, said Gladys Martínez de Lemos, executive director of the nonprofit Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense focusing on environmental issues across Latin America.

“Governments have taken an important step that strengthens the legal protection of two-thirds of the ocean and with it marine biodiversity and the livelihoods of coastal communities,” she said.

The question now is how well the ambitious treaty will be implemented.

The high seas have long suffered exploitation due to commercial fishing and mining, as well as pollution from chemicals and plastics. The new agreement is about “acknowledging that the ocean is not a limitless resource, and it requires global cooperation to use the ocean sustainably,” said Malin Pinsky, a biologist at Rutgers University.

___

Follow Larson on Twitter at @larsonchristina and Whittle at @pxwhittle

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

[ad_2]

Source link

March 5, 2023
2 men hunted and killed a bald eagle in Nebraska, officials say | CNN

[ad_1]

CNN
—

Two men in Nebraska have been cited after hunting and killing a bald eagle, according to the Stanton County Sheriff’s Office.

The men, who are citizens of Honduras, have been charged with unlawful possession of a bald eagle, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. The men indicated they “planned on cooking and eating the bird,” according to the news release.

The bald eagle, chosen as a national emblem in 1782, is protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Enacted in 1940, the law forbids the “taking” of bald eagles – as well as their parts, eggs and nests – without a permit from the Department of the Interior.

Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger told CNN he received a phone call about a “suspicious vehicle” close to the Wood Duck Recreation Center on Tuesday afternoon. He sent several deputies to the site, where they encountered the two men.

The two men spoke only Spanish, according to Unger. Deputies used an interpreter app to communicate with them. Through the app, the men said they “shot a vulture.” When deputies asked to see the vulture, they “freely” opened the trunk of their car to reveal a dead North American bald eagle, according to Unger.

Unger said it was not clear if the men understood bald eagles are protected under federal law.

“Their actions would lead us to believe that they probably didn’t realize (the birds are protected) – at least not protected as much as it would be, as our national bird,” he said.

The men do not appear to have attorneys at this time, Unger said.

The Nebraska Game and Parks department took custody of the eagle and the high-powered air rifle used to kill it, according to Unger. Further charges against the two men are possible pending further investigation from federal authorities, he said.

Unger said in his 40 years of law enforcement experience, he had never dealt with the killing of a bald eagle in his county.

“Everybody around here obviously is very disappointed that this happened,” he said. “Some of the citizens are quite upset.”

The bald eagle population faced serious decline during the 20th century due to hunting, habitat loss and the effect of the powerful insecticide DDT. But thanks to conservation efforts, including the banning of DDT in 1972, the species has made a significant comeback and was removed from the Endangered Species Act in 2007.

[ad_2]

Source link

March 4, 2023
Elephants in US zoos? Without breeding, future is uncertain

[ad_1]

FRESNO, Calif. — Mabu saunters across a grassy field and raises his long, gray trunk to wrangle food from a hole carved inside a large boulder, captivating the attention of a girl propped up on her father’s shoulders.

At this zoo in a central California farming community, the 32-year-old African elephant is key not only to drawing visitors but also to ensuring there are elephants for zoogoers to see in the years to come — a future some animal lovers want to avoid.

Over the past year, the Fresno Chaffee Zoo has been pulled into a growing global debate over the future of elephants in zoos. In recent years, some zoos have phased out elephant exhibits due to the complexity of the animals and their needs. Still, others, like Fresno’s zoo, say they are committed to keeping elephants and are turning to breeding, arguing that a sustainable population of zoo elephants will help spur a commitment to wildlife conservation among future generations of visitors.

The zoo in Fresno, while beloved by local residents, has been targeted by animal activists in a report criticizing living conditions for the elephants and in legal actions trying to free them. Broadly, some elephant experts say urban zoos simply don’t have the space that African elephants, who roam extensive distances in the wild to forage for hundreds of pounds of vegetation each day, need for a normal life.

The zoo opened a revamped and expanded multi-species African Adventure exhibit in 2015 to better accommodate elephants, lions and gazelles by giving them more space to roam. It’s also been working with other zoos around the country on breeding more of the animals, which are endangered in the wild, in the United States.

Mabu came to the zoo from one in Arizona last year after Vus’Musi, another male elephant, showed little interest in breeding. Mabu has sired offspring at other zoos and there’s hope he can do so again to grow the Fresno zoo’s population.

“Lions, tigers and bears. People are coming to see charismatic megafauna — that’s the term we use,” said Jon Forrest Dohlin, chief executive officer of the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, comparing an elephant to a larger-than-life figure like pop star Justin Bieber. He said visitors who see animals in real life — instead of in a photo or on a screen — are more likely to support conservation efforts. “We’re telling large stories, so it is something that is important for conservation writ large,” he said.

In recent years, some larger zoos such as the Toronto Zoo and San Francisco Zoo have phased out their elephant programs, sending their aging animals to sanctuaries in the United States that have far more space. The Los Angeles Zoo is also discussing sending its Asian elephant, Billy, to a sanctuary.

In some cases, animal rights activists have started legal efforts aimed at removing elephants from zoos.

In New York, the Nonhuman Rights Project filed legal papers to try to free the Asian elephant Happy from the Bronx Zoo but lost in court. The group then filed similar papers to try to free Fresno’s three African elephants — a mother-daughter pair and Vus’Musi — but a judge ruled against the group.

This month, the group filed a case in an appeals court and swapped in Mabu. Jake Davis, an attorney for the Nonhuman Rights Project, said the case isn’t over — especially since the zoo sent Vus’Musi to a zoo in San Diego so it could bring in Mabu in a bid to boost breeding.

“He really is their golden ticket,” Davis said. “Hopefully we can get him out.”

Some elephant experts argue the more humans learn about elephants’ intelligence and social networks the more compelling the argument to release them — or at the very least to stop breeding them in zoos. They also note that poaching of elephants and habitat destruction in Africa continue despite conservation efforts by zoos and question the difference they’re making in hosting visitors who are largely seeking recreation.

“It’s wrong to be bringing more elephants into living 60 years, or whatever they live to, in a captive situation,” said Joyce Poole, co-founder of the advocacy group Elephant Voices, adding that in the wild elephants make decisions about where to find food and water and meet with relatives, something they simply can’t do in zoos. “It’s like seeing a person in prison.”

Elephants were brought to U.S. zoos for decades, but transfers of African elephants have become rare in recent years amid rising international concern over the numerous threats they face in the wild — which also prompted the International Union for Conservation of Nature to change the species from vulnerable to endangered in 2021. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is also drafting new rules for elephant imports aimed at protecting African elephants, which have dwindled from 26 million in the 18th century to 415,000.

At a meeting last year, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora put the trade of African elephants on hold to hash out conditions for transfers to take place.

As a result, the future of elephants — which have relatively few offspring and a 22-month gestation period — in zoos hinges largely on breeding. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which has a program aimed at sustaining the zoo population, said about 160 African elephants currently live in U.S. zoos.

Breeding plans are underway at various zoos through the association’s species survival plan to ensure elephants have a sustainable future, said David Hagan, the plan’s coordinator and chief zoological officer at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.

“From a population model standpoint, I think there is hope,” he said.

In Fresno, the 12,000-pound Mabu delights visitors as he pulls food from puzzle-like devices wedged inside the boulder to keep him intellectually stimulated. Joe Foster, a 42-year-old nurse, leans on the fence outside the exhibit, entranced by his movements, while on a date.

“My heart grew three sizes just sitting and watching him eat today,” he said.

Meanwhile, the zoo’s female elephants — Nolwazi, 28, and her daughter Amahle, 13 — greet each other by crossing trunks and tapping each other’s mouths before getting training and health checks inside a cavernous building. A zookeeper, standing behind a barrier, gives directions to Amahle, and she follows, turning to each side and allowing her ears and feet to be checked in exchange for chunks of apple and zucchini.

Some zoos have sent aging elephants to wildlife sanctuaries, including a sprawling habitat about 130 miles (209 kilometers) north of Fresno in San Andreas, California. Started by advocates disheartened by the treatment of elephants in the entertainment industry, the Performing Animal Welfare Society has 80 acres (32 hectares) of grassy hillsides where elephants can roam — more than 20 times the roaming space of the Fresno exhibit.

Ed Stewart, the society’s co-founder, relishes being able to provide elephants with more space than an urban zoo but said that it’s still not enough and ideally the sanctuary wouldn’t exist.

“At some point, we’re going to look back and think, we used to keep wild animals in cages — big cages, small cages, an enclosure, a habitat, whatever you want to call it,” he said. “I think for the public, a light bulb is going to go on and they’re going to say, ‘What in the world are we doing it for?’” __

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 28, 2023
New Mexico governor pans Forest Service amid wild cow fight

[ad_1]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico’s governor has stepped into the fight over how federal land managers are eradicating wild cows in the Gila Wilderness.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement Friday saying she was disappointed by what she described as the U.S. Forest Service’s lack of meaningful, long-term engagement with stakeholders on a controversial issue.

The Forest Service is currently conducting an aerial shooting operation to kill as many as 150 “unauthorized” cows in a vast area of steep rugged valleys and mountainsides blanketed with trees.

The operation has been the source of legal wrangling and protests by the agricultural community in southwestern New Mexico.

Federal officials and environmentalists contend the animals are trampling stream banks and damaging habitat for other species. Ranchers argue the operation amounts to animal cruelty and that the cows could have been rounded up and removed instead of letting their carcasses rot in the wilderness.

A federal judge cleared the way for the operation Wednesday when he denied a request by ranchers for a delay.

The governor said she has shared her concerns with federal officials and asked them to do better.

“Whether debating prescribed burns or wildlife management, it is imperative that New Mexicans who live and work in and near impacted areas are allowed the time to be meaningfully involved in these decisions,” Lujan Grisham said. “When that does not occur, it fosters a continued climate of distrust and hinders progress toward our shared goals of a healthy environment and a thriving rural economy.”

“As it stands, they are failing New Mexicans,” she said.

The Forest Service said Friday it shares the governor’s values when it comes to conservation and public engagement and will remain committed to transparency.

Agency spokesperson Ivan Diego Knudsen said there have been extensive discussions with stakeholders over the past several years and the agency has tried to address concerns. He said those discussions with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, the New Mexico Livestock Board and the ranching community will continue.

“Our hope is to work with cattle producers so that we can achieve more effective operations than have occurred in the past,” Knudsen said in a statement.

The agency said it supports “an integrated approach that may include both gathers and aerial removals to best meet our shared vision” for the wilderness area.

Ranchers in court documents had argued that the agency was skipping the steps of rounding up the cattle and impounding them, opting instead for the last resort of gunning them down. Their attorney said in court that the operation had the potential to result in an estimated 65 tons (59 metric tons) of dead animals being left in the wilderness for months until they decompose or are eaten by scavengers.

The Gila National Forest issued its final decision to gun down the wayward cattle last week amid pressure from environmental groups that have raised concerns about unchecked grazing in sensitive areas.

Todd Schulke, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, said his group believes the Forest Service has done its best to address the damage done by feral cattle in the least impactful way possible.

The cattle in question are the descendants of cows that legally grazed the area in the 1970s before the owner went out of business. Federal officials have made several attempts over the last couple of decades to remove the animals, including a similar shooting operation in 2022 that took out 65 cows in two days.

The Forest Service said it would release results early next week once the operation is concluded.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 24, 2023
New Mexico governor pans Forest Service amid wild cow fight

[ad_1]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico’s governor has stepped into the fight over how federal land managers are eradicating wild cows in the Gila Wilderness.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement Friday saying she was disappointed by what she described as the U.S. Forest Service’s lack of meaningful, long-term engagement with stakeholders on a controversial issue.

The Forest Service is currently conducting an aerial shooting operation to kill as many as 150 “unauthorized” cows in a vast area of steep rugged valleys and mountainsides blanketed with trees.

The operation has been the source of legal wrangling and protests by the agricultural community in southwestern New Mexico.

Federal officials and environmentalists contend the animals are trampling stream banks and damaging habitat for other species. Ranchers argue the operation amounts to animal cruelty and that the cows could have been rounded up and removed instead of letting their carcasses rot in the wilderness.

A federal judge cleared the way for the operation Wednesday when he denied a request by ranchers for a delay.

The governor said she has shared her concerns with federal officials and asked them to do better.

“Whether debating prescribed burns or wildlife management, it is imperative that New Mexicans who live and work in and near impacted areas are allowed the time to be meaningfully involved in these decisions,” Lujan Grisham said. “When that does not occur, it fosters a continued climate of distrust and hinders progress toward our shared goals of a healthy environment and a thriving rural economy.”

“As it stands, they are failing New Mexicans,” she said.

The Forest Service said Friday it shares the governor’s values when it comes to conservation and public engagement and will remain committed to transparency.

Agency spokesperson Ivan Diego Knudsen said there have been extensive discussions with stakeholders over the past several years and the agency has tried to address concerns. He said those discussions with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, the New Mexico Livestock Board and the ranching community will continue.

“Our hope is to work with cattle producers so that we can achieve more effective operations than have occurred in the past,” Knudsen said in a statement.

The agency said it supports “an integrated approach that may include both gathers and aerial removals to best meet our shared vision” for the wilderness area.

Ranchers in court documents had argued that the agency was skipping the steps of rounding up the cattle and impounding them, opting instead for the last resort of gunning them down. Their attorney said in court that the operation had the potential to result in an estimated 65 tons (59 metric tons) of dead animals being left in the wilderness for months until they decompose or are eaten by scavengers.

The Gila National Forest issued its final decision to gun down the wayward cattle last week amid pressure from environmental groups that have raised concerns about unchecked grazing in sensitive areas.

Todd Schulke, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, said his group believes the Forest Service has done its best to address the damage done by feral cattle in the least impactful way possible.

The cattle in question are the descendants of cows that legally grazed the area in the 1970s before the owner went out of business. Federal officials have made several attempts over the last couple of decades to remove the animals, including a similar shooting operation in 2022 that took out 65 cows in two days.

The Forest Service said it would release results early next week once the operation is concluded.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 24, 2023
New Mexico governor pans Forest Service amid wild cow fight

[ad_1]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico’s governor has stepped into the fight over how federal land managers are eradicating wild cows in the Gila Wilderness.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement Friday saying she was disappointed by what she described as the U.S. Forest Service’s lack of meaningful, long-term engagement with stakeholders on a controversial issue.

The Forest Service is currently conducting an aerial shooting operation to kill as many as 150 “unauthorized” cows in a vast area of steep rugged valleys and mountainsides blanketed with trees.

The operation has been the source of legal wrangling and protests by the agricultural community in southwestern New Mexico.

Federal officials and environmentalists contend the animals are trampling stream banks and damaging habitat for other species. Ranchers argue the operation amounts to animal cruelty and that the cows could have been rounded up and removed instead of letting their carcasses rot in the wilderness.

A federal judge cleared the way for the operation Wednesday when he denied a request by ranchers for a delay.

The governor said she has shared her concerns with federal officials and asked them to do better.

“Whether debating prescribed burns or wildlife management, it is imperative that New Mexicans who live and work in and near impacted areas are allowed the time to be meaningfully involved in these decisions,” Lujan Grisham said. “When that does not occur, it fosters a continued climate of distrust and hinders progress toward our shared goals of a healthy environment and a thriving rural economy.”

“As it stands, they are failing New Mexicans,” she said.

The Forest Service said Friday it shares the governor’s values when it comes to conservation and public engagement and will remain committed to transparency.

Agency spokesperson Ivan Diego Knudsen said there have been extensive discussions with stakeholders over the past several years and the agency has tried to address concerns. He said those discussions with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, the New Mexico Livestock Board and the ranching community will continue.

“Our hope is to work with cattle producers so that we can achieve more effective operations than have occurred in the past,” Knudsen said in a statement.

The agency said it supports “an integrated approach that may include both gathers and aerial removals to best meet our shared vision” for the wilderness area.

Ranchers in court documents had argued that the agency was skipping the steps of rounding up the cattle and impounding them, opting instead for the last resort of gunning them down. Their attorney said in court that the operation had the potential to result in an estimated 65 tons (59 metric tons) of dead animals being left in the wilderness for months until they decompose or are eaten by scavengers.

The Gila National Forest issued its final decision to gun down the wayward cattle last week amid pressure from environmental groups that have raised concerns about unchecked grazing in sensitive areas.

Todd Schulke, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, said his group believes the Forest Service has done its best to address the damage done by feral cattle in the least impactful way possible.

The cattle in question are the descendants of cows that legally grazed the area in the 1970s before the owner went out of business. Federal officials have made several attempts over the last couple of decades to remove the animals, including a similar shooting operation in 2022 that took out 65 cows in two days.

The Forest Service said it would release results early next week once the operation is concluded.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 24, 2023
The heavily armed DMZ separating North and South Korea has become a wildlife haven | CNN

[ad_1]

CNN
—

Between North and South Korea lies the demilitarized zone (DMZ), one of the world’s most heavily armed borders. The 160-mile stretch is barred with fences and landmines and is largely empty of human activity.

But that isolation has inadvertently turned the area into a haven for wildlife. Google released street view images of the DMZ for the first time this week, offering a rare glimpse into the flora and fauna that inhabit this no man’s land.

The images are part of a project done in collaboration with several Korean institutions to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, which brought hostilities to a halt in 1953 and mapped out the DMZ, though technically the war never ended as no peace treaty was ever signed.

The project allows viewers to take a “virtual tour” with Google’s street view function, highlighting cultural relics and heritage sites near the DMZ such as war-torn buildings and defense bunkers.

But the most surprising images are of the more than 6,100 species thriving in the DMZ, ranging from reptiles and birds to plants.

Of Korea’s 267 endangered species, 38% live in the DMZ, according to Google.

“After the Korean War, the DMZ had minimal human interference for over 70 years, and the damaged nature recovered on its own,” it said on its site. “As a result, it built up a new ecosystem not seen around the cities and has become a sanctuary for wildlife.”

The DMZ’s inhabitants include endangered mountain goats who live in the rocky mountains; musk deer with long fangs who live in old-growth forests; otters who swim along the river running through the two Koreas; and endangered golden eagles, who often spend their winters in civilian border areas where residents feed the hungry hunters.

Many of the images were captured by unmanned cameras installed by South Korea’s National Institute of Ecology. In 2019, these cameras photographed a young Asiatic black bear for the first time in 20 years – delighting researchers long concerned with the endangered population’s decline due to poaching and habitat destruction.

Seung-ho Lee, president of the DMZ Forum, a group that campaigns to protect the area’s ecological and cultural heritage, told CNN in 2019 that the DMZ had also become an oasis for migratory birds because of worsening conditions on either side of the border. Logging and flooding had damaged North Korean land, while urban development and pollution had fragmented habitats in South Korea, he said.

“We call the region an accidental paradise,” he said at the time.

The Google images also show pristine, biodiverse landscapes. Users can use street view to explore the Yongneup high moor, boasting wide grassy fields filled with wetland plants, or the Hantan River Gorge, with turquoise water snaking between high granite walls.

Many voices in both the Koreas and international environmental organizations have been calling for the conservation of the DMZ for decades. But the process isn’t easy, as it requires cooperation from both Seoul and Pyongyang.

There has been some progress in recent years, with former South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowing in 2018 to turn the DMZ into a “peace zone.” The following year, South Korea opened the first of three “peace trails” for a limited number of visitors along the DMZ, bringing hikers past observatories and barbed-wire fences.

However, relations have deteriorated since then, with tensions skyrocketing in 2022 as North Korea fired a record number of missiles, and as a new South Korean president took office.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 23, 2023
Alligator pulled from NYC lake had swallowed bathtub stopper

[ad_1]

Authorities say the alligator that was rescued from a chilly lake in New York City over the weekend had swallowed a bathtub stopper

ByKAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press

February 23, 2023, 2:56 PM

NEW YORK — The alligator that was rescued from a chilly lake in New York City over the weekend had swallowed a bathtub stopper, authorities said.

The nearly 5-foot-long (1.5-meter-long) female alligator was lethargic and suffering from exposure to the cold when it was found in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Lake on Sunday, according to a spokesperson for the Bronx Zoo, where the gator is recovering.

After being spotted by a park maintenance worker Sunday morning, the alligator was pulled from the lake and taken to Animal Care Centers of New York City before it was brought to the Bronx Zoo.

Zoo officials said in a news release that the rescued alligator is too weak to eat on its own and is being tube-fed. At 15 pounds (6.8 kilos), the alligator is extremely emaciated, as an alligator of its length should weigh 30 to 35 pounds (13.6 to 15.9 kilos), they said.

X-Rays show that the alligator, estimated to be 5 to 6 years old, had ingested a 4-inch (10-centimeter) bathtub stopper, zoo officials said, noting that the animal is too weak for veterinarians to try to remove it.

It is illegal to have an alligator in New York state, but it is not uncommon for people to buy young alligators and then abandon them. A baby alligator was found in a swimming pool in suburban Bayport in 2019.

Animal Care Centers spokesperson Katy Hansen said the organization has taken in six American alligators since 2018.

Bronx Zoo Director Jim Breheny called the alligator found Sunday a sad example of the exotic pet trade. “People need to think before they acquire exotic animals,” Breheny said. “Everyone needs to know and realize that wild animals don’t make good pets.”

Breheny said leaving the alligator in a lake in Brooklyn in the wintertime “was an irresponsible act and certainly not in the animal’s best interest.”

[ad_2]

Source link

February 23, 2023
Bird flu kills 11-year-old girl in Cambodia, officials say

[ad_1]

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia has died from bird flu in the country’s first known human H5N1 infection since 2014, health officials said.

Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, normally spreads in poultry and wasn’t deemed a threat to people until a 1997 outbreak among visitors to live poultry markets in Hong Kong. Most human cases worldwide have involved direct contact with infected poultry, but concerns have arisen recently about infections in a variety of mammals and the possibility the virus could evolve to spread more easily between people.

The girl from the rural southeastern province of Prey Veng became ill Feb. 16 and was sent to be treated at hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh. She was diagnosed Wednesday after suffering a fever up to 39 Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) with coughing and throat pain and died shortly afterward, the Health Ministry said in a statement Wednesday night.

Health officials have taken samples from a dead wild bird at a conservation area near the girl’s home, the ministry said in another statement Thursday. It said teams in the area would also warn residents about touching dead and sick birds.

Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng warned that bird flu poses an especially high risk to children who may be feeding or collecting eggs from domesticated poultry, playing with the birds or cleaning their cages.

Symptoms of H5N1 infection are similar to that of other flus, including cough, aches and fever, and in serious cases, patients can develop life-threatening pneumonia.

Cambodia had 56 human cases of H5N1 from 2003 through 2014 and 37 of them were fatal, according to the World Health Organization.

Globally, about 870 human infections and 457 deaths have been reported to the WHO in 21 countries. But the pace has slowed, and there have been about 170 infections and 50 deaths in the last seven years.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus earlier this month expressed concern about avian influenza infections in mammals including minks, otters, foxes and sea lions.

“H5N1 has spread widely in wild birds and poultry for 25 years, but the recent spillover to mammals needs to be monitored closely,” he warned.

In January, a 9-year-old girl in Ecuador became the first reported case of human infection in Latin America and the Caribbean. She was treated with antiviral medicine.

Tedros said earlier this month that the WHO still assesses the risk from bird flu to humans as low.

“But we cannot assume that will remain the case, and we must prepare for any change in the status quo,” he said. He advised for people not to touch dead or sick wild animals and for countries to strengthen their surveillance of settings where people and animals interact.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 23, 2023
Mexico’s ex-public security chief convicted in US drug case

[ad_1]

NEW YORK — A former Mexican presidential cabinet member was convicted in the U.S. on Tuesday of taking massive bribes to protect the violent drug cartels he was tasked with combating.

Under tight security, an anonymous New York federal court jury deliberated for three days before reaching a verdict in the drug trafficking case against ex-Public Security Secretary Genaro García Luna.

He is the highest-ranking current or former Mexican official ever to be tried in the United States.

“García Luna, who once stood at the pinnacle of law enforcement in Mexico, will now live the rest of his days having been revealed as a traitor to his country and to the honest members of law enforcement who risked their lives to dismantle drug cartels,” Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

García Luna, who denied the allegations, headed Mexico’s federal police and was later the country’s top public safety official from 2006 to 2012. His lawyers said the charges were based on lies from criminals who wanted to punish his drug-fighting efforts and to get sentencing breaks for themselves by helping prosecutors.

He showed no apparent reaction on hearing the verdict. His lawyer, César de Castro, said that the defense planned to appeal and that the case lacked “credible and reliable evidence.”

“The government was forced to settle for a case built on the backs of some of the most notorious and ruthless criminals to have testified in this courthouse,” de Castro said outside court.

García Luna, 54, was convicted on charges that include engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. He faces at least 20 years and as much as life in prison at his sentencing, set for June 27.

The case had political ramifications on both sides of the border.

Current Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has railed throughout the trial against ex-President Felipe Calderón’s administration for, at a minimum, putting García Luna in charge of Mexico’s security. López Obrador spokesperson Jesús Ramírez tweeted after the verdict that “justice has come” to a Calderón ally and that “the crimes committed against our people will never be forgotten.”

García Luna’s work also introduced him to high-level American politicians and other officials, who considered him a key cartel-fighting partner as Washington embarked on a $1.6 billion push to beef up Mexican law enforcement and stem the flow of drugs.

The Americans weren’t accused of wrongdoing, and although suspicions long swirled around García Luna, the trial didn’t delve into the extent of U.S. officials’ knowledge about them before his 2019 arrest. López Obrador has, however, pointedly suggested that Washington investigate its own law enforcement and intelligence officials who worked with García Luna during Calderón’s administration.

A roster of ex-smugglers and former Mexican officials testified that García Luna took millions of dollars in cartel cash, met with major traffickers in settings ranging from a country house to a car wash and kept law enforcement at bay.

He was “the best investment they had,” said Sergio “El Grande” Villarreal Barragan, a former federal police officer who worked for cartels on the side and later as his main job.

He and other witnesses said that on García Luna’s watch, police tipped off traffickers about upcoming raids, ensured that cocaine could pass freely through the country, colluded with cartels to raid rivals, and did other favors. One ex-smuggler said García Luna shared a document that reflected U.S. law enforcement’s information about a huge cocaine shipment that was seized in Mexico around 2007.

One ex-smuggler, Óscar “El Lobo” Nava Valencia, said he personally heard García Luna and a then-top police official say they would “stand with us” during a meeting with notorious Sinaloa cocaine cartel kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman’s associates amid a cartel civil war. That sit-down alone cost the drug gang $3 million, Nava Valencia said.

García Luna didn’t testify at the trial, although his wife took the stand in an apparent effort to portray their assets in Mexico as legitimately acquired and upper-middle-class, but not lavish. The couple moved to Miami in 2012, when the Mexican administration changed and he became a consultant on security issues.

The trial was peppered with glimpses of such narco-extravagances as a private zoo with a lion, a hippo, white tigers and more. Jurors heard about tons of cocaine moving through Latin America in shipping containers, go-fast boats, private jets, planes, trains and even submarines.

And there were horrific reminders of the extraordinary violence those drugs fueled.

Witnesses described cartel killings and kidnappings, allegedly including an abduction of García Luna himself. There was testimony about police officers being slaughtered and drug-world rivals being dismembered, skinned and dangled from bridges as cartel factions fought each other while buying police protection.

Testimony also aired a secondhand claim that Calderón, the former president, sought to shield Guzmán against a major rival; Calderón called the allegation “absurd” and “an absolute lie.”

García Luna was arrested after allegations of his alleged graft emerged at Guzman’s high-profile trial about four years ago in the same New York courthouse.

The former lawman also faces various Mexican arrest warrants and charges relating to government technology contracts, prison contracting and the bungled U.S. “Fast and Furious” investigation into suspicions that guns were illegally making their way from the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels. The Mexican government has also filed a civil suit against García Luna and his alleged associates and businesses in Florida, seeking to recover $700 million that Mexico claims he garnered through corruption.

Anticorruption activists gathered outside the courthouse to celebrate Tuesday’s verdict.

“My country is a grave. It’s now a cemetery … thanks to the corruption,” said Carmen Paes, who blamed drug lords in her native Mexico for the disappearance of a nephew decades ago.

___

Associated Press writer María Verza contributed from Mexico City.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 21, 2023
85-year-old woman killed after incident with alligator in St. Lucie, Florida | CNN

[ad_1]

CNN
—

An 85-year-old woman was killed Monday after an incident involving an alligator in southeast Florida, according to wildlife officials.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office responded Monday to a 911 call about an apparent alligator bite in St. Lucie, Florida, the FWC said.

FWC spokesperson Arielle Callender told CNN the woman was with her dog when the incident happened and the dog survived, although its condition was currently unknown.

CNN affiliate WPTV reported an alligator grabbed the woman’s dog, and when she tried to get the dog back, she somehow fell victim to the gator. St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara told WPTV he estimated the alligator to be close to 11-feet long.

The woman was recovered and the alligator involved in the incident was captured by a contracted nuisance alligator trapper, FWC said.

“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of the victim,” the FWC statement said.

According to the statement, serious injuries caused by alligators are rare in the state of Florida.

“The FWC places the highest priority on public safety and administers a Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) to address complaints concerning specific alligators believed to pose a threat to people, pets or property,” the statement said.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 20, 2023
Japanese bid farewell to beloved panda returning to China

[ad_1]

TOKYO — Thousands of Japanese fans, some wiping away tears, bid farewell to a beloved Japanese-born giant panda that made her final public appearance Sunday before flying to her home country, China.

The panda fans gathered at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo for one last look at Xiang Xiang, the park’s idol since her birth in June 2017.

Sunday’s viewing was limited to 2,600 lucky ones who won their tickets in an extremely competitive lottery. But many others who didn’t win came anyway to say their goodbyes from outside of the panda house.

“Xiang Xiang is not only cute but charming and funny. She’s so attractive that if you see her once, you want to see her more. I don’t think there is any panda like her in the universe,” said a visitor who only gave her first name, Yukie. “I’ve made friends here by sharing it, and that is also her attraction.”

Though she was born and grew up at the Tokyo zoo, Xiang Xiang, whose parents Ri Ri and Shin Shin are on loan from China, must return to that country.

China sends pandas abroad as a sign of goodwill but maintains ownership over the animals and any cubs they produce. The animals are native to southwestern China and are an unofficial national mascot.

Divided into groups of about 10, the visitors were given only a few minutes to quietly say goodbye to Xiang Xiang as she nonchalantly nibbled on bamboo sticks. Viewers held up their mobile phones and cameras to capture her every move.

“I wish Japanese-born pandas could stay in Japan,” said Takamichi Masui, an auto parts maker who traveled from Mie, in central Japan. “So many people who came today and fans are sad to see her go. When I saw (Xiang Xiang), I got teary. I wish Xiang Xiang could stay, though I understand it’s difficult.”

He said he worries if Xiang Xiang can smoothly adapt to her new life in China.

Natsuki Mizuguchi, a graphic designer, wore a parka, socks and shoes decorated with Xiang Xiang’s head photo that she had taken.

Mizuguchi said she first saw Xiang Xiang when she was recovering from health issues but has since gotten better. “I wanted to express my appreciation to Xiang Xiang,” Mizuguchi said. “I’m certain she will be an idol in China too and I hope she serves the friendship between our two countries.”

Her friend, Akane Hiramoto, a nurse, said she could not win a slot Sunday and her visit Saturday became her last.

“I would love to go see her in China,” Hiramoto said. “I hope Japan and China can deepen friendship through pandas like Xiang Xiang and also environmental issues, for instance.”

Despite strained political ties between Japan and China, pandas have connected people in both countries and contributed to the friendship, Japanese fans say.

Xiang Xiang, accompanied by two Ueno Zoo staff, will be flown to China on Tuesday. She’ll join other pandas at a facility in Sichuan province, close to the original panda habitat.

“I became emotional when I saw may people shedding tears saying goodbye to her,” said Ueno Zoo spokesperson Naoya Ohashi.

But there is one more day before her departure, and, “as zoo keepers, we will fulfill our responsibility and do utmost to safely send her to China,” he said.

“I hope she will get used to a new environment quickly, find a good partner and have children,” Ohashi said.

Three other pandas at another park, the Adventure World, in central Japan — elderly male Eimei, sent from China in 1994, and his Japanese-born twin daughters Ouhin and Touhin — will head to China on Wednesday mainly to find suitable partners for the reproductive-age twin pandas. Four female pandas will remain after the handover and the park is seeking a male panda to be sent from China.

Pandas, which reproduce rarely in the wild and rely on a diet of bamboo, remain among the world’s most threatened species. An estimated 1,800 pandas live in the wild, while another 500 are in zoos or reserves, mostly in Sichuan.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 19, 2023
Endangered African penguin chicks hatch at Arizona aquarium

[ad_1]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — An Arizona aquarium is celebrating the hatching of three endangered African penguin chicks, saying the tiny additions are genetically valuable as zoos and aquariums around the world work to ensure the species’ survival through breeding programs and conservation efforts.

Officials at OdySea Aquarium made the announcement Friday, posting video of the fuzzy birds on social media. They hatched a few weeks ago and will remain behind the scenes with their parents until they’re ready for a public appearance.

African penguins have suffered a massive population decline over the decades and are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

So any successful hatching is cause for celebration, said Jess Peranteau, director of animal care and education at the aquarium.

“As the population of the African penguin continues to rapidly decline — down 23% in the past two years alone — OdySea Aquarium remains committed to the survival of the species in partnership with other Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ accredited facilities,” Peranteau said in a statement.

The breeding program established by the association aims to build up a viable genetic pool for the species.

Officials say two of the three new chicks in Scottsdale are clutch-mates, born to parents Mojo and Lemieux — a power couple of sorts that was selected for pairing as part of the breeding program. The third chick was born to first-time parents Bubbles and Weasley.

Aquarium workers will regularly conduct “chick checks,” brief exams to monitor their growth and development and ensure they are hitting all necessary milestones.

The three chicks have yet to be named, and their sex has not yet been determined. For now they’re known by their numbers, 42, 43 and 44.

In all, OdySea Aquarium now has 40 African penguins and has recorded 13 successful hatchings.

The aquarium bills itself as the largest in the Southwest.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 19, 2023
King Charles turns to ‘Cats’ composer Andrew Lloyd Webber for flagship coronation music | CNN

[ad_1]

London
CNN
—

Britain’s King Charles III has enlisted the help of acclaimed British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to write the flagship anthem for his upcoming coronation.

Charles’s coronation will take place on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London, and will see Camilla, Queen Consort crowned alongside her husband.

The King has personally selected the musical program for the service, which will see “a range of musical styles and performers blend tradition, heritage and ceremony with new musical voices of today,” according to Buckingham Palace.

Twelve new pieces of music have been prepared for the occasion – including six orchestral works, five choral pieces and one organ commission – by several world-renowned composers whose styles include classical, sacred, film, television and musical theater.

Famed composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose hit musicals “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera” have been performed around the world, said he was “incredibly honoured” to be involved.

“My anthem includes words slightly adapted from Psalm 98. I have scored it for the Westminster Abbey choir and organ, the ceremonial brass and orchestra,” Lloyd Webber said. “I hope my anthem reflects this joyful occasion.”

A Coronation March has been written by Patrick Doyle, an award-winning Scottish composer best known for his work on films like “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Gosford Park” and “Carlito’s Way.”

One of the more sentimental inclusions from the King is his choice to have Greek Orthodox music played during the service, performed by the Byzantine Chant Ensemble, in tribute to his father, the late Prince Philip, who died two years ago.

Meanwhile, musical themes from countries across the Commonwealth will feature in Iain Farrington’s new solo organ commission. The other new works have been created by Sarah Class, Nigel Hess, Paul Mealor, Tarik O’Regan, Roxanna Panufnik, Shirley J. Thompson, Judith Weir, Roderick Williams, and Debbie Wiseman.

A handpicked gospel choir – The Ascension Choir – is also set to perform as part of the service, in addition to the Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace. They will be joined by girl choristers from the Chapel Choir of Methodist College, Belfast and from Truro Cathedral Choir. The traditional “Vivat” acclamations will be proclaimed by the King’s Scholars of Westminster School.

Andrew Nethsingha, organist and master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey, said all coronation services are a blend of “deeply-rooted tradition and contemporary innovation” and praised the new British monarch for “choosing fine musicians and accessible, communicative music for this great occasion.”

The ceremony will also include historic music featured in coronation services over the past four centuries by the likes of William Byrd, George Frideric Handel, Edward Elgar, Henry Walford Davies, William Walton, Hubert Parry and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Antonio Pappano, musical director of the Royal Opera House and conductor of the Coronation Orchestra, said: “His Majesty has chosen a most beautiful and varied programme that I believe will enhance the splendour of this very special celebration.”

Buckingham Palace previously revealed the coronation will be “a solemn religious service, as well as an occasion for celebration and pageantry,” conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

The three-day weekend at the beginning of May is set to include grand processions through central London, a star-studded concert at Windsor Castle in addition to celebrations across the country. Britons have been given an extra bank holiday and members of the public are being invited to join “The Big Help Out” by volunteering in their communities.

“Everyone is invited to join in, on any day,” Michelle Donelan, UK culture secretary, said in a statement. “Whether that is by hosting a special street party, watching the Coronation ceremony or spectacular concert on TV, or stepping forward during The Big Help Out to help causes that matter to them.”

[ad_2]

Source link

February 18, 2023
Why sick minks are reigniting worries about bird flu

[ad_1]

NEW YORK — A recent bird flu outbreak at a mink farm has reignited worries about the virus spreading more broadly to people.

Scientists have been keeping tabs on this bird flu virus since the 1950s, though it wasn’t deemed a threat to people until a 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong among visitors to live poultry markets.

As bird flu hits more and varied animals, like at the mink farm, the fear is that the virus could evolve to spread more easily between people, and potentially trigger a pandemic.

Scientist say another kind of bird flu was likely behind the devastating 1918-1919 flu pandemic, and avian viruses played roles in other flu pandemics in 1957, 1968, and 2009.

Still, the risk to the general public now is low, says Dr. Tim Uyeki of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A look at the bird flu virus and why it is getting renewed attention:

WHAT IS BIRD FLU?

Some flu viruses mainly affect people, but some others chiefly occur in animals. For example, there are flus that occur in dogs, plus pig — or swine — flu viruses. And then there are avian viruses that spread naturally in wild aquatic birds like ducks and geese, and then to chickens and other domesticated poultry.

The bird flu virus drawing attention today — Type A H5N1 — was first identified in 1959, by investigators looking into a flu outbreak in chickens in Scotland. Like other viruses, it has evolved over time, spawning newer versions of itself.

By 2007, the virus was found in more than 60 countries. In the U.S., it has recently been detected in wild birds in every state, as well as in commercial poultry operations or backyard flocks in 47 states. Since the beginning of last year, tens of millions of chickens have died of the virus or been killed to stop outbreaks from spreading, one of the reasons cited for soaring egg prices.

HOW OFTEN DO PEOPLE GET BIRD FLU?

The Hong Kong outbreak in 1997 was the first time this bird flu was blamed for severe human illness. Out of 18 people infected, six died. To contain the outbreak, the Hong Kong government closed live poultry markets, killed all the birds in the markets, and stopped bringing in chickens from southern China. It worked, for a while.

Symptoms are the similar to that of other flus, including cough, body aches and fever. Some people don’t have noticeable symptoms, but some develop severe. life-threatening pneumonia.

Globally, nearly 870 human infections and 457 deaths have been reported to the World Health Organization in 20 countries. But the pace has slowed and there have been about 170 infections and 50 deaths in the last seven years. In the vast majority of cases, the infected people got it directly from infected birds.

The first and only U.S. case occurred just last April. A prison inmate in a work program picked it up while killing infected birds at a poultry farm in Montrose County, Colorado, in the western part of the state. His only symptom was fatigue and he recovered.

CAN IT SPREAD BETWEEN PEOPLE?

In some instances, investigators concluded that the bird flu virus apparently did spread from one person to another. That happened in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, China and Pakistan, most recently in 2007.

In each cluster, it spread within families from a sick person in the home. Scientists do not believe it can spread easily through casual contact, as seasonal flu can. But viruses mutate and change. Scientists worry about the ever-increasing number of opportunities for bird flu to mix with other flu viruses in infected people or animals and mutate, making it easier to spread to people.

It wouldn’t take much for that to happen “and then we would be in a really tough situation,” said Dr. Luis Ostrosky, chief of infectious diseases and epidemiology at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The CDC’s Uyeki said the most worried he’s been about H5N1 was during the earlier clusters. That kind of human-to-human spread does not appear to be happening right now, he said.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE MINK FARM?

Recent concern among public health experts has been fueled, in part, by detection of infections in a variety of mammals. The growing list includes foxes, raccoons, skunks, bears and even marine mammals like seals and porpoises. Officials in Peru said three sea lions found dead in November tested positive for, and the recent deaths of hundreds of others may be due to bird flu.

Then last month, a European medical journal reported on a bird flu outbreak in October at a mink farm in Spain with nearly 52,000 animals, where the illness spread like wildfire.

The mink were fed poultry, and wild birds in the region had been found to have bird flu. But researchers said that however it started, they believe the virus then spread from mink to mink — a worrisome scenario. No workers were infected, though they wore masks as part of COVID-19 precautions.

Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School of Public Health, said the outbreak virus is being watched for mutations that could make it more easily transmitted to people, and potentially between people.

“That’s the real worry,” said Nuzzo.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 18, 2023
Judge denies Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s request to lift two-year Churchill Downs ban | CNN

[ad_1]

CNN
—

Hall of Fame horse trainer Bob Baffert will miss the Kentucky Derby for a second straight year after a federal judge denied his request to have a two-year ban by Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) overturned.

US District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled Friday that Baffert and his attorneys “failed to carry their burden to demonstrate that the Court should impose a preliminary injunction against CDI’s suspension.”

Baffert, 70, argued, among other things, that his suspension had a negative effect on his business and reputation. Baffert also argued that Churchill Downs would not be affected if he were allowed to compete at the Kentucky Derby in May.

Jennings noted his participation could impact the integrity of the race as he is the only trainer who has had horses test positive in consecutive marquee races on Churchill Downs Inc. tracks.

“Failing to punish trainers whose horses test positive in marquee races could harm CDI’s reputation and the integrity of their races,” Jennings wrote.

CNN has reached out to Baffert’s representation for comment. It is unclear if Baffert’s attorneys intend to appeal the federal judge’s decision.

“Churchill Downs is pleased that the Court denied Mr. Baffert’s demand for a preliminary injunction and granted our motion to dismiss on all but one claim, and on that claim, the Court held that Mr. Baffert did not establish a likelihood of success on the merits,” the company that runs the Louisville racetrack said Friday.

“Today’s opinion is a victory for the integrity of horseracing and we will continue to take action to protect the safety of our human and equine athletes.”

Baffert was banned from all three Triple Crown races last year after Medina Spirit’s victory at the 2021 Kentucky Derby was disqualified.

The Kentucky Derby winner, who died in December 2021, tested positive for betamethasone – an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid sometimes used to relieve joint pain – in a blood sample taken after crossing the finish line first. Kentucky horse racing rules don’t allow that and tell trainers to stop using the therapeutic 14 days before an event.

In February 2022, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission announced its decision to disqualify Medina Spirit and suspended Baffert for 90 days.

In total, Baffert received a two-year suspension from Churchill Downs, a one-year suspension from the New York Racing Association, and was suspended from the 147th running of the Preakness Stakes in Maryland.

A two-time winner of horse racing’s Triple Crown, Baffert is eligible to enter horses this year at the Preakness Stakes in May and at the Belmont Stakes in June. Baffert’s suspension from the Kentucky Derby expires after the 2023 race.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 18, 2023
‘Fire-breathing demon’ dog Ralphie returned to Niagara shelter | CNN

[ad_1]

CNN
—

Will a fourth adoption be the charm for this seemingly unadoptable pup?

Ralphie, a New York shelter’s adorable “jerk” dog, has been returned to the shelter again after his most recent (and unsuccessful) adoption.

“Ralphie proved to be more than she could handle,” the shelter explained in an update posted to Facebook on Tuesday after the woman who adopted the French bulldog brought him back.

News of the canine menace went viral in late January after the Niagara SPCA posted an eye-catching ad for potential adopters. Shelter employees described Ralphie as “a terror in a somewhat small package.”

“Everything belongs to him. If you dare test his ability to possess THE things, wrath will ensue,” they wrote at the time. “If you show a moment of weakness, prepare to be exploited.”

This is Ralphie’s third unsuccessful adoption, according to the shelter. The pup’s first family rehomed him after training was unsuccessful. His second family surrendered him to the shelter after he “annoyed” their older dog.

“What they actually meant was: Ralphie is a fire-breathing demon and will eat our dog, but hey, he’s only 26lbs,” reads a Facebook post from the Niagara SPCA.

The ornery pup is now enrolled in an intensive six-week boarding and training program that will start on February 20, according to the Tuesday Facebook post. The shelter said that they would start vetting prospective adopters immediately and that the ideal adopter would work with the trainer while Ralphie’s at the residential training program.

The shelter noted that those who believe “that all Ralphie needs is love” should not apply to adopt the fearsome pup. “He will totally exploit that,” they wrote.

Neither should families with children or other pets, as he has a history of biting.

Dog lovers who aren’t intimidated by Ralphie’s formidable reputation can apply to adopt him with a letter of interest and “dog experience ‘resume,’” according to the Facebook post.

The shelter is also raising money to cover the $6,000 tuition for the training program.

“No one likes that it didn’t work out for Ralphie, but he will receive the training he needs,” shelter employees added in the post.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 17, 2023
Must-watch videos of the week | CNN

[ad_1]

CNN
—

Popular Netflix star says he’s had enough of intimacy scenes, footage of this historic ship wreck released, a dog escaped and traveled more than 10 miles to a surprise destination. These are the must-see videos of the week.

Hear why Penn Badgley wants to stop doing sex scenes

The star of the hit Netflix series “You” told the hosts of “Podcrushed” that he’s had enough of intimacy scenes. And there’s a significant reason why.

Video: First footage of the Titanic wreck released

The ship sank in 1912, followed by a years-long search for the remnants. It wasn’t until 1986 that a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution captured the first video of the wreck.

Dog runs away, makes 10-mile journey to surprise destination

Newly adopted dog Bailey escaped while her new owner was trying a collar on her and was on the run for three days, traveling more than 10 miles to a surprise destination.

M&M’s Super Bowl ad put an end of the ‘spokescandies’ saga. Here’s why

01:40

– Source:
CNN Business

M&M’s Super Bowl commercials officially brought back the brand’s “spokescandies.” The saga began after a year of outrage from conservative pundits over tweaks to the iconic characters.

See puppy get lucky after leaping from a moving car

Watch a dog leap out of a car window onto a Los Angeles freeway. CNN’s Jeanne Moos reports on the miracle pup.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 17, 2023