ANIMALNET JULY 11, 2000 -- III

Island survivors; on what once was a North American Galápagos
Letter to the editor; smart mice
Abolition of Mink hunts will hurt riverside
Police probe Cat killings in Hawthorne
Kids can¹t get all their calcium needs from veggies
Summary record of the 129th scan plenary meeting, (Brussels, 27-28, april
2000)
Marine mammals; file no. 373-1575
Marine mammals; permit nos. 914-1470-01 and 779-1339-02
Elk farming
Concern for shot Racehorses

AnimalNet is produced by researchers at the Agri-Food Risk Management and
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Canadian Animal Health Institute, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, Meat & Livestock
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Council, U.S. National Cattlemens Beef Association, the Rutgers Food Risk
Analysis Initiative, Ag-West Biotech, Land O' Lakes Feed, Capital Health,
Animal Industry Foundation, American Feed Industry Assn., the Ontario
Soybean Growers Marketing Board, Food Indsutry Environmental Network,
Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors, Chicken Farmers of Canada, MDS Nordion,
American Meat Institute, USDA Veterinary Services (Fort Collins) Alberta
Farm Animal Council, and the Agricultural Adaptation Council (CanAdapt
Program).

archived at:
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ISLAND SURVIVORS; ON WHAT ONCE WAS A NORTH AMERICAN GALÁPAGOS, RESEARCHERS
TRY TO SAVE DEVASTATED WILDLIFE
August 2000
Scientific American
Eric Niiler
http://www.sciam.com/2000/0800issue/0800scicit2.html
GUADALUPE ISLAND, MEXICO- Jon P. Rebman, was quoted as saying, ³Vermin. Rats
with horns. Evil,²  as he hiked across a rugged volcanic island about 150
miles west of Mexico¹s Baja California peninsula, adding, ³I could keep
going. They¹ve really eaten nearly everything.²
Rebman, curator of botany at the San Diego Natural History Museum, is, this
story explained, referring to the some 10,000 goats that have transformed
the lush forest of Guadalupe Island into a barren field since they were
introduced by
sailors some 150 years ago. Now he and his colleagues are, this story says,
searching for the few remaining endemic plants that may have escaped the
marauding herd.
This story explained that along with Thomas Oberbauer, a botanist from the
San Diego Planning Department, and José Delgadillo of Universidad Autónoma
de Baja California in Ensenada, Rebman digs plants out of crevasses and
scales cliffs to snip out-of-reach shrubs. They find, this story says, one
honeysuckle plant that may never have been seen before on the island, but
that¹s about it.
Guadalupe Island once was, according to this story, home to more unique
plants than any other island on North America¹s Pacific Coast: 34, a count
that rivaled the biological diversity of the Galápagos Islands. But since
the goats arrived, 26 of the island¹s 156 native plants have, this story
explained, gone extinct, including six found nowhere else in the world. Half
of the island¹s pine trees have, this story explained, disappeared since the
late 1960s, unable to reproduce because goats eat the seedlings.
This story continued to explain the devastation that has resulted from the
introduction of non-native species and some thoughts about how to salvage
what is left before it is too late.



LETTER TO THE EDITOR; SMART MICE
August 2000
Scientific American
Elliot Noma, Metuchen, N.J., wrote in this letter to the editor: In
³Building a Brainier Mouse,² Joe Z. Tsien notes that mouse intelligence is
limited by NMDA receptor properties but that these properties can be
modified to increase memory, apparently without undesirable side effects.
Although he was cited as explaining why the ability to memorize decreases
for older mice, Tsien does not address why natural selection has not further
increased the time that the receptor is open (thus enhancing memory
formation) for both juveniles and adults. Could, this letter asks, such an
enhancement lead to physiological side effects, or might the resulting
higher intelligence lead to nonadaptive behavioral strategies? Such
drawbacks would have, according to this letter, fascinating implications for
the development and administration of memory-boosting drugs.
Tsien replies:
Levels of learning and memory are, according to this reply, not solely
determined by the opening duration of the NMDA receptors. It is highly
likely that other molecules and different levels in complexity of neural
network and circuits in the brain play a significant role in determining
these mental capacities. The influx of calcium through the NMDA receptor is,
this story explained, critical, but too much of it may cause brain cells to
die. Evolution may, this story says, have already selected for the receptors
to stay open longer but only up to the point at which the organism becomes
sexually mature and reproduces.



ABOLITION OF MINK HUNTS WILL HURT RIVERSIDE
July 11, 2000
The Electronic Telegraph
Duke of Wellington, Stratfield Saye, Hants, wrote in this letter to the
editor:  Amid all the present hoo-ha about the proposed abolition of
foxhunting, I wonder whether such bodies as the RSPB and the National Trust
have given any
thought to the effect on riverside populations of wildlife should a
prohibition on ³hunting with dogs² also apply to mink hounds.
This letter explained that the mink, an introduced species, is an inveterate
and indiscriminate killer of all forms of fauna found near rivers. Water
voles, baby otters, waterfowl of all sorts, frogs, ground-nesting birds and
even fish all succumb to the voracious appetite of the mink. (The author
speaks from a considerable personal knowledge of controlling mink, going
back nearly 40 years.)
In the Sixties, a mink farm near a river the author knows well in Scotland
closed down and some animals escaped or were released into the wild. Within
a year or two there was, according to this letter, a large feral population
on the river and, within a very short time, the otter population disappeared
and there was a noticeable decrease in ducks, waterails, oystercatchers and
other riverside birds.
A concentrated campaign of trapping and shooting dealt with the problem and
now we see otters again and the bird population has, according to this
letter, recovered.
However, this letter explained, in much of England, especially the southern
counties, such measures are not effective because withy and reed beds and
side streams disperse the water over a much larger area, and trapping and
shooting are ineffective.
A few years ago, the author saw a mink here on the Loddon. The author had no
idea we had any, but it accounted for the fact that our water vole
population, once abundant, is virtually non-existent now. The author
immediately contacted the mink hounds and they got two mink. Since then,
they have visited us at least once a year and always kill one or two.
The author is convinced that the abolition of mink-hunting packs of hounds
would lead to widespread depredation of ground-nesting birds and fauna in
southern English rivers. Otters are, according to this letter, making a
comeback in many areas but mink could be a serious deterrent to successful
re-establishment, as mink kill young otters.



POLICE PROBE CAT KILLINGS IN HAWTHORNE
July 11, 2000
The Los Angeles Times
Jessica Garrison
http://www.latimes.com/print/metro/20000711/t000065070.html
This story explained that when her granddaughter¹s cat Oreo turned up dead
in her neighbor¹s Hawthorne frontyard, Patricia Cheatham assumed it had
fallen victim to the dreaded neighborhood pit bull.
Rick Villafana thought his mother¹s cat, Pretty Boy, missing for two weeks,
had, this story says, found better digs.
Roger Martinez was cited as figuring the dead cat on his lawn had been hit
by a car.
But a grimmer picture has, according to this story, emerged in their quiet
neighborhood of neat lawns and well-tended flowers. Police were cited as
reporting that at least three and perhaps as many as 25 intentionally
killed‹and sometimes dismembered and decapitated‹cats have been left on
lawns in the last few weeks, most within a half-mile-square area between
130th and 135th streets around Hawthorne Boulevard.
Police were cited as deducing that the cats were being killed elsewhere with
a sharp implement, either a surgical tool or a knife, and placed in the
yards in the early morning.
As news of the killings spread through the neighborhood, the Police
Department was flooded with calls from more than 20 people who were cited as
saying that they, too, had found dead and, in most cases, dismembered cats
on their front lawns but had discarded them without reporting them to
police.
Police are, according to this story, following up on several tips received
over the last week.
Many neighbors, meanwhile, have been cited as saying that they are keeping
their cats indoors.



KIDS CAN¹T GET ALL THEIR CALCIUM NEEDS FROM VEGGIES
July 11, 2000
The Toronto Star
Zannat Reza, MHSc, RD, Registered Dietitian and Nutrition Educator,
Dairy Farmers of Ontario, Mississauga, wrote in this letter to the editor
re: The Natural Path column (June 30) about children not needing to drink
milk.
As a registered dietitian, it concerns Reza when nutrition advice not based
on scientific evidence is given to members of the public. Reza would like to
address some incorrect statements about milk that were featured in that
column.  The coulmn was cited as claiming that 70 per cent of the world¹s
population doesn¹t drink milk.
However, it fails, according to this letter, to mention that many cultures
drink the milk of other animals including camels, goats, buffaloes and yaks.
Also, milk is, this letter explained, used to prepare various foods such as
kefir (Balkans), kheer (India), laban (Middle East) and cheeses in numerous
countries.
Contrary to what the column was cited as saying, milk is not the leading
cause of ear infections or allergies.  Infants are, according to this
letter, just as likely to be allergic to soy, peanuts and eggs.
This letter further explained that milk allergies affect only 2 to 3 per
cent of infants, 80 per cent of whom outgrow the allergy by the time they
are 3 years old.
The column also was cited as refering to the Nurses Health Study conducted
by researchers at Harvard stating that there was no benefit to drinking milk
for osteoporosis and that drinking milk increased hip fractures.  It is,
this letter explained, important to note that the Nurses Health Study is
observational in nature and does not establish cause and effect.
Also, the researchers themselves were cited as stating that, ³We have no
reason to believe that dairy calcium itself was responsible for the observed
increase in risk of hip fracture; rather, some other characteristic of women
who consume dairy foods or some other nutrients or non-nutrient compound of
dairy foods might have contributed to the elevated risk.²  In a follow-up
article the researchers were cited as focusing on the vitamin D gene, thus
suggesting a different factor in the relationship.
As for children getting their calcium from vegetables, this is, according to
this letter, simply not practical.  While green leafy vegetables are
nutritious foods they are, this letter notes, not the best source of
calcium.  For example, a child would have to eat four cups of broccoli to
get the same amount of calcium in one cup of milk.  Milk also has, according
to this letter, other bone-building nutrients such as vitamin D, protein,
magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin A that work with calcium to build bones.



SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 129TH SCAN PLENARY MEETING,
(BRUSSELS, 27-28, APRIL 2000)
July 10, 2000
The European Commission
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scan/out50_en.pdf
Scientific Committe of Animal Nutrition plenary meeting minutes are
available from the European Commission at the above address.



MARINE MAMMALS; FILE NO. 373-1575
July 11, 2000
Federal Register: (Volume 65, Number 133)
[Notices]
[Page 42676]
 [DOCID:fr11jy00-29]
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&doci
d=00-17510-filed
 [I.D. 063000A]
 AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Receipt of application.
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Point Reyes Bird Observatory (Dr.
Sarah Allen, Principal Investigator), 4990 Shoreline Highway, Stinson
Beach, CA 94970, applied in due form for a permit to take harbor seals
(Phoca vitulina richardsi), northern elephant seals (Mirounga
angustirostris), California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), and
Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) for purposes of scientific
research.
DATES: Written or telefaxed comments must be received on or before
August 10, 2000.
ADDRESSES: The application and related documents are available for
review upon written request or by appointment in the following
office(s):
Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected Resources,
NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/
713-2289);
Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean
Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802 (562/980-4001);and
Regional Administrator, Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way
NE, BIN C15700, Bldg. 1, Seattle, WA 98115 (206/526-6150).



MARINE MAMMALS; PERMIT NOS. 914-1470-01 AND 779-1339-02
July 11, 2000
Federal Register (Volume 65, Number 133)
[Notices]
[Page 42676-42677]
 [DOCID:fr11jy00-30]
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&doci
d=00-17511-filed
 [I.D.062900D]
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Receipt of applications for amendment.
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that University of Southern
Mississippi, Box 5018, Hattiesburg, MS 39401, and National Marine
Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 75 Virginia Beach
Drive, Miami, FL 33149, have requested an amendment to scientific
research Permit No. 914-1470 and 779-1339, respectively.
DATES: Written or telefaxed comments must be received on or before
August 10, 2000.
ADDRESSES: The amendment request and related documents are available
for review upon written request or by appointment in the following
office(s):
Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected Resources,
NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/
713-2289);
Southeast Region, NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive North, St.
Petersburg, FL 33702-2432 (813/570-5312); and
Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930,
(978/281-9250).
Written comments or requests for a public hearing on this request
should be submitted to the Chief, Permits and Documentation Division,
F/PR1, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway,
Room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Those individuals requesting a
hearing should set forth the specific reasons why a hearing on this
particular amendment request would be appropriate.
[[Page 42677]]
Comments may also be submitted by facsimile at (301) 713-0376,
provided the facsimile is confirmed by hard copy submitted by mail and
postmarked no later than the closing date of the comment period. Please
note that comments will not be accepted by e-mail or other electronic
media.



ELK FARMING
July 10, 2000
Kitchener-Waterloo Record
Jim Romahn
This story explained that they look so graceful, deer raising their sleek
necks, pointing their regal noses and pricking their curious ears.
It¹s no wonder, according to this story, that Dr. John Pollard and his wife,
Dr. Marie-Claire Plante, love working with elk and red deer at their
100-acre farm near Ponsonby, which is between Guelph, Elora and Fergus.
The elk in this field are, this story explained, unusual. They are, this
story says, the first in the world to be born as the result of in vitro
fertilization and frozen embryos.
It¹s a technological triumph for Pollard and Plante and it is also a
practical advance because it means purebred elk breeders can raise several
fawns per mature female instead of the normal one per year.
Pollard was cited as explaining that elk present one egg per year and they
do that in the fall giving them only one chance to mate with a bull. The
conception rate is, this story says, 98 to 99 per cent, which is phenomenal.
Dairy farmers would, this story explained, be delighted to achieve 80 per
cent conception rates on the first try.
What Pollard and Plante have done in the private laboratory they have built
on their farm is, this story explained, find a way to gather unfertilized
eggs from mature elk females and then they add semen that has been gathered
from a bull.
At the one-week stage, the embryos are hardy enough to withstand freezing
and can be saved until precisely the right time to put them into the womb of
another animal‹in this case into lower-priced red deer, which are close
relatives of elk.
Elk breeders have been cited as showing keen interest in this research
because a purebred female sells for $6,000 to $10,000 whereas red deer can
be had for $1,000. There¹s a good profit to be made in using $1,000 mothers
to raise $6,000 fawns.



CONCERN FOR SHOT RACEHORSES
July 10, 2000
BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_819000/819015.stm
The humane slaughter of animals is, according to this story, a difficult
field. Researchers were cited as saying that the UK¹s racing authorities
need to review the methods used to put injured racehorses to sleep.
At the moment, it is, this story says, mandatory for a silencer to be
attached to any gun used to euthanase the animals, preventing racegoers from
hearing a distressing bang.
But a study completed at De Montfort University, Lincoln, was cited as
suggesting the use of such an attachment may make it more difficult for the
bullet to damage the part of the brain that will result in the most
effective kill possible.
The scientists were cited as saying that there is a theoretical risk that
some of the horses shot using a silencer could recover a degree of
consciousness - although they concede this is highly unlikely.
Nevertheless, Daniel Mills, a senior lecturer in animal welfare, was cited
as saying that the Jockey Club, racing¹s governing body, should investigate
the design of a new, purpose-built weapon that will ensure the animals are
destroyed in a way that leaves no room for doubt.
Daniel Mills was quoted as telling BBC News Online, ³Some of the weapons
used on racecourses are adapted from revolvers where the gases escape from
the back of the gun and the silencer makes no difference to the sound
whatsoever. It just makes the instrument much more difficult to handle and
harder to effect a
satisfactory kill. We are not saying hundreds of horses are suffering, we
are just saying this is an issue of concern that requires further
investigation.²
The immediate purpose of shooting a horse is, this story explained, to
render the animal unconscious. If the job is done properly, the bullet from
the gun will, this story says, damage the brainstem, interfering with the
horse¹s respiratory and heart functions and preventing the animal from
waking up again.
Haemorrhaging in the brain and a build-up of pressure may, this story notes,
also have the same, desired outcome.
But the positioning of the gun just above the eyes and the angle at which it
is
held are crucial and if the barrel deviates from the ideal line, the bullet
may miss its brainstem target.
Daniel Mills, and his colleague Gary Millar, have been cited as conducting
research which suggests this happens quite often. In 15 horses killed by an
expert
knackerman, they were cited as finding that only five of the animals to have
suffered clear and extensive brainstem damage. Daniel Mills one of the
researchers were cited as saying that the silencers used on racecourses can
only make the task of hitting the brainstem more difficult, adding, ³The
silencers lengthen the barrel, increase the weight and affect the balance of
the weapon.² They was quoted as writing in the Veterinary Record, ³Rather
than using adapted weapons, they should manufacture a weapon specifically
for the job.²
ŒServiceable and effective¹
Dr Peter Webbon, the Jockey Club¹s Chief Veterinary Adviser, was cited as
saying that the Lincoln study was an ³excellent piece of research² that had
produced a number of surprises from which all veterinarians could learn. But
he was further cited as saying that in his view, the use of a silencer could
actually improve the accuracy of the shot, adding, ³If you have a silencer
fitted to the gun then any hand movement is clearly going to influence the
trajectory of the bullet. That¹s basic geometry. But if you are trying to
aim in a particular direction, it is actually easier to do it with a
slightly longer barrel. It is easier to work the line.²
Dr Webbon was cited as saying that a bigger market for humane killers would
almost certainly result in a better weapon than the ones currently in use,
adding, ³If one accepts that there is a place for the gun in euthanasing
horses, then I think the sound-moderated weapon which is generally in use on
racecourses today is a very serviceable and effective weapon.²
Many veterinarians were cited as thinking that shooting is the most
effective way of putting a big animal like a horse to sleep.
This story explained that lethal injection is possible but large volumes of
chemicals are required to complete the task and administering these to a
frightened and excited animal that is also in pain can be extremely
difficult.
The gun can, this story explained, also be the only means of euthanasia open
to hunt kennelmen or knackermen who cannot legally use intravenous
techniques and for whom a poisoned carcass has no value. Daniel Mills was
quoted as saying, ³The humane slaughter of animals is an extremely difficult
field which a lot of people want to deny exists but it is also an area where
there is enormous potential to make a difference.²

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