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Defenders News Briefs: Summer 2007
Fight Continues For Alaska’s Wolves
Alaska’s wolf predator-control season closed April 30 with 97 gray wolves killed from the air. An additional 78 were killed by ground-based hunting and trapping. This is far fewer than the 664 wolves the Alaska Department of Fish and Game had hoped to kill this year. Most likely this is because the agency overestimated the original wolf population, says Tom Banks, Defenders’ Alaska representative. In spring, Defenders successfully challenged a wolf bounty program initiated by Gov. Sarah Palin, which encouraged aerial gunners to kill more wolves by paying them $150 for each one they killed. The program was struck down by a state Superior Court judge after only a few days.
Mexico Champions Shark Protection
Good news for sharks south of the border: Mexico joined the growing ranks of countries that have banned shark “finning” in their waters. The desire for shark fin soup in Asia makes shark fins a lucrative business for some commercial fisheries. But this delicacy has a dark side: Each year tens of thousands of mutilated sharks are thrown back into the water to die after their fins are cut off. The finning ban, brought about in part thanks to action from Defenders’ Mexico office, marks the first time that Mexico has regulated shark fishing.
Defenders Pushes to Protect Pygmy Owl—Again
Although some imperiled creatures have recovered and no longer need the protection of the Endangered Species Act, the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl has not, according to a petition to protect the owl filed by Defenders and other conservation groups in March. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed protections for the owls in 2006—even though the declining Arizona population is the last of the subspecies in the United States, with fewer than 30 individuals.
Mexico Takes Steps to Ban Parrot Trade
In a major step forward for parrot conservation, Mexico’s Deputy Chamber passed a bill in April banning the capture and trade of native Mexican parrots. The move was spurred by Defenders’ report on the illegal parrot trade in Mexico, released in February, which showed that Mexican parrot trappers illegally capture at least 65,000 parrots a year. About 75 percent of the birds die from stress and other problems related to handling and transport. The bill moves to the Mexican Senate in September. To read the report or find out more about the wildlife trade, please visit www.defenders.org/mexicanparrot.
