News

September, 2009

• 24 September

  No Ban on Cat and Dog Fur Imports

  

  An internal government memo suggests that the federal government has no plans to ban imports of cat and dog fur. The memo shows that some government officials pushed Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz not to ban the fur imports, fearing it could undermine support for the seal hunt.
• 24 September

  Romantic beachfront proposal leads to the death of 60 turtle hatchlings

  

  A romantic marriage proposal on a Hilton Head Island beach Tuesday night had an unintended consequence — the death of about 60 federally protected loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings. A man had placed about 150 luminarias — bags with a lit candle inside — in the shape of a heart on …
• 23 September

  Earth is reaching its breaking point

  

  More than two dozen leading scientists issued a warning Wednesday that human pressures on the planet are pushing its food, water and environmental systems to the breaking point. Their conclusions, published in an unusual paper in the scientific journal Nature, are the first attempt to define the physical and biological …
• 23 September

  Dead whale calf washed up, boat strike suspected

  

  The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service has asked all boat owners to take special care in the water during this whale season. NPWS spokesman Geoff Ross said the advice follows the sad discovery of a Southern Right Whale calf washed up on a remote South Coast beach recently. “We …
• 23 September

  Poachers hit bird sanctuaries

  

  Bird sanctuaries and stork gardens throughout the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta have lost thousands of birds each year to poachers due to lax regulations. The delta has dozens of sanctuaries scattered throughout Can Tho City, and the provinces of Dong Thap, Kien Giang, An Giang, Tra Vinh, Bac Lieu and …
• 23 September

  Mercury danger in dolphin meat

  

  The annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, as documented in the film “The Cove” has sparked an emotional international debate, with animal rights activists decrying the capture and slaughter as unnecessary and cruel, and those in Japan who defend the slaughter as both legally permissible under international treaties and …
• 23 September

  Blue whales forced to make more noise to compete with ships

  

  Man-made noise such as ships” engines has caused hearing loss in whales. It has also caused other behavioural changes, including forcing the creatures to strand on beaches because they are unable to navigate. The endangered blue whale uses sonar to navigate, locate prey, avoid predators and communicate. However in recent …
• 22 September

  EU fails to agree fishing ban to save imperilled bluefin tuna

  

  The European Commission (EC) had called on the 27 EU states to support a temporary global ban on commercial fishing of bluefin tuna to allow stocks to recover.  However, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Malta – which all have strong fishing lobbies – have united to block the ban. …
• 21 September

  Concern at shark net bycatch

  

  The Australian Marine Conservation Council – AMCS – has condemned Queensland and New South Wales” Shark Control Programs for their indiscriminate catch of marine wildlife, including rare and threatened species. Information obtained from Queensland”s Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries under Freedom of Information by Channel 7 reveals a staggering …
• 19 September

  Birth control could help combat climate change

  

  Giving contraceptives to people in developing countries could help fight climate change by slowing population growth, experts said Friday. More than 200 million women worldwide want contraceptives, but don”t have access to them, according to an editorial published in the British medical journal, Lancet. That results in 76 million unintended …
• 17 September

  Riddle of 200 dead walruses discovered on the Alaskan shore

  

  Piled in a macabre group, this is the chilling sight of up to 200 dead walruses spotted on the shore of the Chukchi Sea on Alaska”s north-west coast. Federal wildlife researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey on their way to a walrus tagging project spotted 100 to 200 of the …
• 17 September

  Climatic irony of an Arctic shipping lane

  

  The world media reported last week the successful sailing of two German cargo ships through the fabled “Northeast Passage” from South Korea along Russia”s Arctic coast to Siberia and reaching Rotterdam in the Netherlands. My first reaction to the news was: One of the last virgin oceans on Earth will …