Walking to help animals

SCANABA - Saturday's Delta Area Animal Shelter (DAAS) Dog Walkathon was a tail-wagging good time, as dogs and their owners raised money through pledges in support of the local animal shelter. The event, according to Penny Rounce, DAAS, was a success.

"We had 36 dogs walking to raise funds for the shelter, and 29 dog walkers," said Rounce. "All together, we raised more than $3,000," she added.

The funds from the event will be used to help support such DAAS programs as the Cinderella Vet Fund, Dog Training Rebate Program, Senior Pet Program, Spay/Neuter Program, Joseph Heller Memorial Scholarship at Bay College (for students whose academic focus is on animal-related studies) and Kids' Day at the Animal Shelter (designed to educate children about the value and needs of shelter animals).

In addition to these programs, a portion of the funds will be applied to the Shelter Assistance Program, which provides for basic necessities at the shelter.

Top fund-raisers at the event were Ron Piippo in the adult category, and Brett Baumler in the 14-and-under children's category.

Participating in the walkathon were more than a few former shelter dogs, whose owners wanted to give back to the shelter that cared for their new "best friend" prior to adoption.

One such person was Linda Sovey, who adopted her dog, Shelby, from DAAS more than two years ago. It was Shelby's final day in the shelter, and she was scheduled to be euthenized that day. When she learned of the dog's fate, Sovey stepped in and adopted the dog, who had been at the shelter for so long that she had gone "cage crazy."

"She was beginning to snap, and she had bald spots where she had been biting her own hair out," recalled Sovey. "It took her a little while to get to this point," she said, petting the four-pawed pal who never leaves her side, "but she is happy now that she has a real home, and I just love her."

Sovey said she knew Shelby was special when DAAS Director Becky VanDamme called to check on her following the adoption.

Another participant in the event was Jackie Potter, who didn't walk her purebred miniature poodle, but instead supplied free face-painting services for youth and adults throughout the morning.

Potter's dog, Dixie Cup, was rescued from an area puppy mill 1 years ago, just prior to the forced closing of the place. Today, according to Potter, she and Dixie are inseparable.

"We even look alike," laughed Potter, matching her white hair up to Dixie's.

Lighthearted laughs were shared, many miles were walked and the money earned on behalf of the shelter is tremendously appreciated. Still, the shelter remains at capacity, housing both dogs and cats with hope that all will be adopted. Individuals interested in viewing the shelter's current residents may visit either the Web site, www.deltaanimal.org, or stop in at the shelter, 6685 N. 75 Drive, Wells (one block behind 41 Lumber) or call 789-0230.

Burmese Cat

The Burmese cat is a breed of domesticated cat that is an affectionate, intelligent companion with a soft meow. This cat stems from selective breeding from a cat named Wong Mau that was brought to the USA from Malaysia in 1930.

Anatomy: Burmese have short, shiny hair. The eyes are large and gold. The head and the chest are both rounded. Although the original Burmese had rich, chocolate-brown coats, four colors of Burmese are now recognized by breeders: sable, champagne, blue, and platinum.

Garland shelter illegally killed animals, records show

he Garland animal shelter has been gassing young, sick or elderly cats and dogs in violation of state law, probably causing them a slower, more stressful death, records obtained by The Dallas Morning News show.

The shelter also may have violated city rules on how long animals must be kept before being euthanized. According to the records, some animals were killed within minutes of arriving at the shelter.

Mayor Ronald Jones, who received details of the newspaper's findings on Thursday, said the city would investigate.

"I take this matter very seriously. I'm in the mix now," Jones said.

Garland is the largest city in Texas to use a carbon monoxide chamber to euthanize animals, making it a target of those who believe the practice is inhumane. Most shelters in Texas use lethal injection.

The American Veterinary Medical Association and the state do not oppose gassing, but have set limits on its use. For example, the Texas Administrative Code says carbon monoxide cannot be used on animals younger than 4 months, elderly or sick animals because the "time required to achieve death in these animals may be significantly increased."

Using carbon monoxide on such animals is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine for each charge.

"There are rules, and they completely ignore them even if the rules are shoved in their face," said a former Garland shelter worker, who asked not to be identified. "What we do in animal control is not easy. It's not simple. But the rules are there to protect the pets."

The newspaper provided details of shelter records from 2007 to Jason Chessher, deputy director of Garland's health department, and Diana Oats, animal services manager.

"If we thought an employee was intentionally violating state law," Chessher said in an e-mail Friday, "we'd turn it over to the proper authorities. Otherwise, it would be dealt with as an internal discipline matter."

The News has requested, under Texas public information law, copies of all shelter records from 2006 through September 2009.

A sampling of records from 2007 were provided to the newspaper by sources who requested anonymity.

Sick kittens

On June 1, 2007, five kittens were brought to Garland's Abe Tuggle Animal Shelter and Adoption Center at 9:31 p.m. Shelter records show they were gassed between 9:32 p.m. and 9:43 p.m.

Photos of the dead kittens, which also were provided to the newspaper, show them to be only a few inches long with partially opened eyes. Shelter records list the kittens' ages as "0.0" and indicate that they were "sick." No owner was named.

Chessher said lethal injection should be used on animals younger than 4 months "by policy." Sometimes animals are euthanized quickly after they're brought in, he added, if the veterinarian suspects they have a communicable disease.

But the state code prohibits gassing young or sick animals because the time it takes them to die "may be significantly increased."

"In animals with decreased respiratory function, carbon monoxide levels rise slowly, making it more likely that these animals will experience elevated levels of stress," the code also says.

In another case from the 2007 records, a 4-month-old Chow was gassed after his owner brought him to the shelter because he "bites."

Lynette Flint, a former Garland shelter worker, claimed in a whistle-blower lawsuit that Garland euthanized animals without holding them for the required amount of time. She settled her lawsuit against the city last year for an undisclosed amount.

"The shelter is off site and out of mind," said Flint's attorney, Donald Feare. "The management is at City Hall, not at the shelter. They could be slaughtering human beings, and they would never know it."

The shelter has disciplined employees "probably around a half dozen times" for incorrectly euthanizing animals in the past three years, Chessher said.

"Discipline may be in the form of education or a verbal warning," Chessher said, refusing to discuss personnel matters or say whether the employees still work at the shelter.

In fiscal 2007, the Garland shelter euthanized 6,334 animals out of a total population of 10,490, according to the city's Animal Services Division.

Greater efficiency

Debate over carbon monoxide euthanasia has grown in recent years, with at least 14 states outlawing the practice.

"As a profession, we have a moral obligation to take the best care of animals we can with the allocations we receive," said Jay Sabatucci, animal services director in Arlington. "If we don't take care of them, they suffer."

Garland shelter officials say that using carbon monoxide is easier on workers and more efficient because four animals can be gassed at one time. Chessher also said using gas costs about 4 cents less per animal than lethal injection.

"The primary reason is the human toll," council member Rick Williams said in a Sept. 12 open letter. "Even Garland's gas procedure is often rotated among staff which helps reduce stress."

Williams also said that the state inspects the facility annually and that in the last three inspections "not a single deficiency was noted."

Shelley Stonecipher, a veterinarian with the Texas Department of State Health Services, which oversees shelter inspections, said the state focuses on education rather than enforcement.

"We're not in there every day," she said. "If we got a report, we would follow up with the shelter and let them know what the law says."

About 40 people attended the Garland City Council meeting Tuesday night to urge that the shelter stop gassing animals. The council voted to add two members to its Animal Services Advisory Committee but did not change the city's euthanasia policy

Carcasses of dead walruses spotted on Alaska coast

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Up to 200 dead walruses have been spotted on the shore of Chukchi Sea on Alaska's northwest coast.

Federal wildlife researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey on their way to a walrus tagging project spotted 100 to 200 of the animals' carcasses near Icy Cape about 140 miles southwest of Barrow.

They report the dead walruses appeared to be mostly new calves or yearlings. However, neither the age of the dead animals nor the cause of death is known, said Bruce Woods, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"It's just too early to say until we can get someone on the ground," Woods said.

About 3,500 walruses were reported last week at the Icy Cape haulout site, where walruses rest from feeding forays.

Young animals can be crushed in stampedes when a herd is startled by a polar bear, human hunters or even a low-flying airplane.

This is the second time in three years that walruses have congregated in large numbers on the Alaska shore.

Walrus cannot swim indefinitely and historically have used sea ice as a platform for diving in the Bering and Chukchi seas for clams and other food on the ocean floor.

In recent years, however, sea ice has receded far beyond the outer continental shelf, forcing walruses to choose between riding the ice over waters too deep to reach clams or onto shore.

Environmental groups calling for measures to slow greenhouse gas emissions say walruses gathering in herds on shore are evidence that global warming is alerting the Arctic environment and forcing major changes in wildlife behavior.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado announced Thursday that Arctic sea ice for 2009 shrunk to its third lowest level since satellite measurements began in 1979. The record low was set in 2007 and ice last year melted to the second lowest level on record.

Walruses for years came ashore intermittently in Alaska during their fall southward migration but not so early and not in such numbers.

Herds were in the tens of thousands at some locations on the Russian side of the Chukchi Sea. Russian biologists in 2007 reported 3,000 to 4,000 walruses died out of a population of perhaps 200,000, mostly young animals crushed in stampedes.

Small crowd, big ideas for animal abuse task force

I attended the first public meeting of Baltimore's newly appointed Anti-Animal Abuse Task Force earlier tonight.

The crowd that settled into the auditorium at Polytechnic Institute wasn't massive -- about 75 people, many volunteers at or supporters of the city's animal shelters and rescue organizations.

After the task force members greeted the crowd -- the panel includes elected leaders and their staff and representatives from shelters, the police, animal control, churches and non-profit groups -- people had a chance to address them. Many offered suggestions, a few told sad stories.

The overriding theme of the evening was education -- person after person urged the panel to consider creative ways to get into the schools and churches to teach young people empathy for animals.

A number of speakers also urged tougher sentences for animal abusers. Others suggested the city adopt mandatory spay and neuter laws to cut down on the number of homeless animals roaming the streets and becoming targets for abuse in the first place.

The panel promised to incorporate what they heard into recommendations that they'll present to Mayor Sheila Dixon next July.

Others ideas floated included: Bringing "pets on wheels" programs to schools; recruiting local stars like Ravens players to become role models on how to treat animals and hiring a trained investigator for the police force that specializes in animal abuse cases.

The task force was formed this summer after a pit bull puppy was doused with gasoline and set on fire. The puppy, named Phoenix, was euthanized a few days later because of her injuries. Since then two cats died after being tortured and burned, another cat named Gabrielle was set on fire after kids through bricks at her and another kitten, Miracle, was swung by the tail into the ground and suffered a broken jaw.

Can Misty be the NZ Next Top Cat Model?

She can, if she receives enough votes between now and September 30th, the deadline for voting. The New Zealand Next Top Cat Model contest is the brainchild of Happy as Larry, and its purpose is to raise funds for the SPCA and Lonely Miaow, two charities that look after and re-home stray cats of NZ.

Misty has my vote, not only for her beauty but mostly because despite her own disabilities, Misty is a loving therapy cat to her "sister," Sophie Hicks, who lives with a condition called dysautonomia, which causes malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Sophie wrote:

Since I have been ill, Misty has been with me every step of the way. Her support has been phenomenal. When I faint she waits for me to wake up, when I have a migraine she sits beside my head and when I cry and purrs beside me to cheer me up. Misty also walks up and down stairs to my bedroom multiple times a night (despite her spinal arthritis) to make sure I'm okay.

You can see more of Misty's and Sophie's bond in their YouTube video. If you like what you see, you can vote for Misty on the same page. If you live in New Zealand, you could sweeten the pot by donating in her honor. The cat who raises the most donations gets 100 extra votes, which could make a big difference between Misty and Mr. Tinkles, who are presently neck-and-neck. If you are on Facebook, you can also become a fan of Misty. I did, and I'm happy to lend my support. Why? Because Sophie asked, and because I believe in the cause.

Marcus auctioned to pay for more farm animals

Marcus the lamb, who was hand-reared by children at a Kent primary school, is dead. The school's headteacher defied protests by a small number of parents, backed by animal rights groups and animal lovers, and yesterday stuck to a decision to have Marcus slaughtered. His carcass will be auctioned to pay for more farm animals.

Andrea Chapman, head of Lydd Primary School, Romney Marsh, appealed to the public yesterday to "move on" for the sake of the children's education.

"The decision to send the wether lamb for meat, which has the support of the school council and staff, the governing body and the majority of parents, has now been carried out," she said. Ms Chapman added that the children have had it explained to them ever since the school began rearing pets that animals such as Marcus are eaten as meat. "When we started the farm in spring 2009, the aim was to educate the children in all aspects of farming life and everything that implies," she said.

The school has been the centre of controversy since a small group of parents protested last week about the decision to kill the lamb. The television chat show host Paul O'Grady offered to buy Marcus, as did several animal sanctuaries.

Animal Planet

Animal planet in India covers various issues. They have shows ranging from wildlife series and extensive safari drives to features on the rare species and endangered species in India. Animal planet also had planned a tie-up with the "Bannerghatta National Park". Animal planet also has a series on eco reality. The series follows an international team of seven enthusiastic amateur environmentalists as they work in remote locations; saving endangered Leatherback turtles in Panama and helping orangutans fight for survival.

A number of documentary movies on animals are also shown on this channel. These first-rate, blue chip natural history films cover a wide range of themes from the world of wild animals - from threatened leopards of the Serengeti to the grizzlies of British Columbia`s rain coast. Award winning cinematographers take viewers to the very edges of the world`s wildest places to capture the lives of animals on film - the raw and cruel, the tender and the intimate.

In India Animal Planet has not exactly set the rating charts on fire but it has definitely built up its share of dedicated viewers. Most of the shows anchored by Sir David Attenborough are quite amazing." He is one of the many loyal viewers of this channel. His primary interest in wildlife commences with books and extends to the channels, including Discovery and National Geographic. Broadly, the genre of programming on these channels is similar, yet there is a distinct difference in programming that comes on National Geographic and Animal Planet, though many viewers would prefer Discovery for its broader range. But there is never a dull moment with Animal Planet. What makes the channel interesting is the fact that the programming is quite attention grabbing, yet informative and the background score makes it viewer-friendly.

Some of the most popular shows on the channel are Jeff Corwin Experience, Croc Files hosted by Steve Irwin, Mark O`Shea`s shows and the Planet`s Funniest Animals. Sir David Attenborough`s programmes have their own following because of the earlier series of his programmes on Doordarshan. Though Steve Irwin`s Australian accent makes it difficult for the viewer to follow what he says, the programme is quite gripping and the viewer is instantly hooked the minute Irwin appears on the screen. With pet adoption becoming increasingly popular in urban India, the popularity for Animal Planet`s pet shows is rising. Battersea Dogs` Home is about dog adoption, a concept that is a long-way off in catching on in a country like India where even adopting children is yet to pick up.

Some of the veterinary programmes including Animal Doctor and Animal Hospital are quite engaging. The programme Cats Gone Wild brings home the fact that tigers are vanishing from the wild and ending up in captivity. While viewers feel that they have been able to learn a great deal from channels like Animal Planet, wildlife enthusiasts are of the view that the channel has indeed helped create consciousness about wildlife and its significance in maintaining the world`s ecological balance.

On a Christian approach to animal suffering

Andrew Linzey considers whether any of the putative differences between humans and animals make animal suffering 'less deserving of moral solicitude'. Concluding that they don't, he goes on to present an argument, due to John Henry Newman, why the suffering of animals should be a matter, specifically, of Christian moral solicitude:

Preaching on the text from Isaiah 53, 7, which compares the Messiah to "a lamb that is led to the slaughter", Newman says that since scripture compares Christ to this "inoffensive and unprotected animal" so we may "without presumption or irreverence take that image as a means of conveying to our minds those feelings which our Lord's suffering should excite within us".

Narrating examples of suffering, Newman exclaims: "For what was this but the very cruelty inflicted on our Lord?" With that question he posits the moral equivalence between the suffering of animals and the suffering of Christ himself. He concludes: "Think, then, my brethren, of your feelings at cruelty practised on brute animals, and you will gain one feeling which the history of Christ's Cross and Passion ought to excite within you."

Although Newman elsewhere seems to endorse the usual Christian position of animals, his view here is unmistakable: the innocence of the suffering of animals is Christ-like.

Now, if one wants a 'christological basis for sensitivity to all innocent suffering' such as Linzey says Newman here provides, then appealing to the comparison in Isaiah 53, 7, seems fair enough to me. Some Christians may indeed want the christological basis, and I can see no reason why they shouldn't do.

At the same time, there's something about the way Linzey sets out Newman's lesson that prompts a further thought. I don't know Newman's text, and haven't been able to find it on the internet; but the order of Linzey's presentation suggests that before Newman treats the suffering of animals as like the suffering of Christ, he uses the suffering of lambs to invite our understanding of the kind of suffering Christ endured. In other words, he takes us from empathy with the suffering of innocent lambs to a feeling for the suffering of Christ, and only then - in Linzey's gloss - reverses direction so as to see the animal suffering as Christ-like. What that says to me, as a non-Christian atheist, is that an understanding of suffering, of suffering tout court - for don't we have a feeling for animal suffering because humans also suffer, as we know at first-hand? - is the fundamental moral datum here and it needs nothing else outside (or 'above') it as a basis of moral solicitude and further moral reasoning. This has a bearing on the claim one sometimes encounters that morality without religion is insufficiently anchored. As relayed by Andrew Linzey, Newman's argument suggests that, in the simple experience of suffering, morality has as good an anchoring as you'll be able to find.

Animal protection agencies facing suit

The surviving owner of the Leeward Coast animal shelter where more than 400 dogs, cats and birds were housed in a no-kill sanctuary has filed a lawsuit against several local and national animal welfare organizations, including the Hawaiian Humane Society.
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Norman Pang, whose wife operated a no-kill animal sanctuary on their Nanakuli property before she died in July, is suing for damages and to require the organizations to remove all photographs and video of the Animal Haven operation from the Web.

Pang's suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, claims that the organizations and their representatives have defamed him and that he has been deprived of his rights.

Photographs and video taken at the time the animals were removed from the home in July have shown up on the Web site of the Humane Society of the United States, describing the shelter as a "hoarding situation."

Still photographs from the Web site have since appeared on the Hawaiian Humane Society Web site along with negative characterizations of Animal Haven as a "hoarding/breeding operation."

Kawehi Yim, spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Humane Society, said yesterday that the lawsuit is "unfounded and diverts resources from our mission of helping animals. Keeping more animals than you can properly care for, resulting in suffering, neglect and abuse, is a crime that should be punished."

In July, animal welfare agencies took control of the animals at the shelter formerly run by Pang's wife, Bonnie. Norman Pang had signed a surrender statement giving the O'ahu Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ownership of the animals in the sanctuary. The O'ahu SPCA requested help from the Hawaiian Humane Society. It took five days for welfare agencies to orchestrate what's been described as the largest animal rescue operation in O'ahu's history.

Pang, who has not been cited, arrested or charged, faces possible prosecution for animal cruelty, even though some animal activists say that's not justified and that Pang cooperated with the rescue operation.

"They have fabricated a case to get footage," said Michael Ostendorp, Pang's attorney. "The haven was a hospice facility, not a kennel. The Pangs have always been critical of the Hawaiian Humane Society's euthanasia policy."

Ostendorp said the animal welfare groups conspired against Pang to get the photographic evidence they needed to "fabricate evidence of animal abuse," as the lawsuit states.

The Pangs have had a running dispute with the Hawaiian Humane Society over two decades. In 1995, the Humane Society took Bonnie Pang to court on charges of cruelty to animals, although a judge dismissed the case.

Both sides will meet in federal court. The animal welfare agencies have 20 days to respond to the lawsuit.

Animals perk up at zoos in fall

Who doesn't love a bouncing baby elephant, a freeze-frame meerkat or a roly-poly panda?

These are the sights that make zoos eternally popular with people of all ages.

This summer was no exception. Zoos have been awash in visitors.

Although final figures aren't in, attendance is reportedly up nationwide, said Steve Feldman, spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

New exhibits or high-profile births -- such as that of baby elephant Beco at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium -- boost crowds.

So does a sluggish economy.

"Zoos are affordable," Feldman said. "They're close to where people live."

Unfortunately, zoos are often seen as just warm-weather venues. Now that Labor Day has passed, crowds will thin. People start thinking about scouting colorful leaves or visiting favorite haunts.

But now is an excellent time to visit a zoo.

I realized that truth in mid-July, when I spent an afternoon baking at the National Zoo in Washington. The zoo, which admits visitors at no charge, was teeming with people.

It was a bright, humid day with temperatures in the high 80s, the kind of day that saps energy. Children -- and some adults -- moved in packs from one misting station to the next.

The zoo itself is wonderful, with a number of animals we don't have at our own fantastic zoo. But getting near the railing at some animal enclosures was almost impossible with the crowds.

And then all that heat. Temperatures in the high 80s are bad enough on the average tank-top-and-shorts-clad tourist. What about the poor animals wrapped in thick fur coats?

One of the big cats stalked down to its water-filled moat for a short swim.

But most of the animals that didn't originate in Africa were sacked out under trees or in cool dens, oblivious to all of the attention.

As the temperatures begin to drop, animals will become a little more frisky. Last year, the National Zoo began reporting in mid-September that its giant pandas were becoming more active.

Reports through winter describe them playing together, eating bamboo and simply going about life as pandas.

When I saw them, all three were sacked out on rocks. And the red panda, which had just given birth, was not on display at all.

Zoos, however, are far more than the outdoor exhibits. Most house a number of animals such as reptiles and birds undercover.

At the Columbus Zoo, for example, the 100,000-gallon Discovery Reef -- with its saltwater fishes, rays and small sharks -- is a great place to while away more than a few minutes. Our zoo has a number of other indoor exhibits as well: manatees, Asia Quest, gorillas, reptiles and more.

The National Zoo has a small mammal house with meerkats and other small creatures. Another fascinating indoor exhibit was the Bird House, with a variety of unusual birds, many tropical.

Just last month, the small burrowing owls hatched two chicks, the first hatching of that species in 30 years at the zoo.

The Bird House also has a flight room in which birds fly free among the lush plantings.

Virtually any zoo has similar indoor activities, perfect for inclement days.

So just because summer is winding down, don't rule out a visit to a zoo.

Cindy Decker is Dispatch travel editor. Reach her at 614-461-5027 or by e-mail.

cdecker@dispatch.com

Condor chick dies from ingested trash

I'll be honest: from my anthropomorphic point of view, California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) look a bit Freddie Krueger-esque. Bald head and neck, long, fuzzy chest feathers, and what a strange gaze. But being the wildlife lover that I am, I gotta admit that the condor’s survival story is hugely inspirational and exciting. There's much more conservation effort and funding directed to charismatic megafauna, regardless of ecological importance, and of course, I don’t think human biases against “ugly” looks should prevent us from taking a deeper look. The truth is condors play a critical role as scavengers – the largest such bird in the United States with a nine and a half foot wing span – and their success story shows how direct action can change the fate of a species for the better. Yet one pesky problem continues to plague the still endangered birds – trash. Biologists just found a dead condor chick in Big Sur on the central California coast last week, and it died from ingesting trash its mother fed it.

“The condor is one of the only species of animals that every individual of the population was brought into captivity and later re-released to the wild,” says Kelly Sorenson, Director of the Ventana Wildlife Society, which is involved in reintroduction efforts. “In 1987 there were only 27 birds alive in the world and they were all in captivity. Starting in 1992, offspring produced in zoos were released back into the wild.”

Condors once soared the skies throughout Western North America from Canada to Baja Mexico, but dramatically declined in the last century due to ingesting lead bullets, not to mention getting shot by people who didn't like their look. Due to reintroduction efforts, 180 condors now live, breed, feed and soar on thermals in the wild with around 50 in southern California and the rest in Arizona.

“Why are condor chicks ingesting trash? We really don’t know for sure,” says Sorenson, “but think it is connected to their need for calcium, and the parents confusing bone fragments for small pieces of trash. Somehow the parents know when the chicks need more bone fragments so their efforts increase at that critical time.”

I first heard of the trash pickup and the dead condor chick from a Facebook friend, Ali Barrett, who volunteered in the trash cleanup and posted an update and some photos of a soaring condor: “Highway 1 - litter clean up to stop baby condors from eating our crap and dying. Nice of the condors to show up to thank us personally.” Ventana Wildlife Society has stepped up trash cleanup efforts with two organized trash cleanup events last week. Ten chicks were born in the region, and all others have survived so far.

Go here to for some cool condor facts – for example, did you know condors don’t have talons like eagles and hawks but their nails are blunt like toenails? Or here for facts on specific condors in the wild such as Kingpin, Amigo and Tiny.

Good year for endangered Coho salmon

While on a recent trip to the Pacific Northwest coast – the lush, green part of the country that nurtured my love of nature as a child – I visited a couple of places where salmon spawn. After spending most of their lives in the ocean, they return to the same creeks and rivers where they were born to mate and lay eggs right around this time of year. Some, such as Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), die after spawning.

With a couple writer friends, I hiked through a part of the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness on Mount Hood in northern Oregon, a still pristine temperate rainforest where Native Americans once gathered huckleberries and fished for salmon. It’s part of the BLM’s Wildwood Recreation Site. The federally designated Wild and Scenic Salmon River, runs through this region, full of spawning Coho and Chinook salmon. It’s part of the Cascade Streamwatch program where school students collect data and learn about stream ecology. The Salmon River runs into the Sandy River a couple miles downstream of the hiking spot, which empties into the Columbia River then out into the ocean. Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) conducts salmon surveys along tributaries of the Columbia River as part of a long-term monitoring project, explains ODFW biologist Kara Anlauf. During my recent trip, I also visited Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast, another hotspot for salmon research.

Talking about salmon species is complicated by the fact that biologists divvy up each species into several “evolutionary significant units” or ESUs that functionally behave as separate species. Because salmon return to the drainages where they were born, there’s little chance for interbreeding between ESUs, and scientists must manage their conservation separately. Each ESU is treated as separate species under the Endangered Species Act. “They often have distinctive life history traits and are genetically distinct,” explains NOAA fisheries biologist Laurie Weitkamp.

Of seven Coho ESUs on the West coast, five are in trouble. Only one is faring well – the Olympic peninsula ESU in Washington and another in southwest Washington is data deficient. The Central California coast population is endangered and the Lower Columbia River, Oregon Coast, and southern Oregon/northern California ESUs are threatened under the Endangered Species Act, while the Puget Sound population in Washington is a "species of concern." But in Alaska, coho - also known there as silver salmon - are going gangbusters!

The West Coast salmon management saga is fitting of an old Western movie with all its twists and turns. Building hydroelectric dams has permanently altered the way salmon spawn in some rivers, and the idea of ripping out dams to allow salmon to return to old haunts has been hotly debated. In addition to stream alteration, habitat destruction, logging and climate change have led to the decline of most West Coast salmon. Lawsuits and flared tempers have resulted from many stakeholders– Native Americans, loggers, government agencies, scientists, and the like.

Some 23 million coho smolts get released into the Columbia River every year from hatchery production but the fish can’t sustain their own population without help at this point in time. “Roughly 70-90% of the salmon production in the Columbia River is hatchery fish. The remaining 10-30% is natural production,” explains Weitkamp. Despite overall species decline, loads of coho are spawning this year - largely due to Mother Nature rather than human assistance. “We had exceptionally good ocean conditions in 2008--cold water, lots to eat, few predators and competitors -- so we think the marine survival was exceptionally high,” Weitkamp says. “Good ocean conditions largely result from Mother Nature, although we certainly contribute to bad ocean conditions with climate change, overfishing, pollution, etc.”

The governors of Washington, Oregon, and California wrote a letter urging the Obama admin to do a full-on top-to-bottom review of salmon management in the Pacific Northwest.It will be interesting to watch this unfold under the new administration. U.S. Judge Redden had rejected Bush’s salmon management plan as “business as usual,” and gave the Obama administration until September 15th to review biological opinions on 13 runs of salmon and steelhead trout.

You can also write NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco about federal salmon policy through the National Wildlife Federation website.

How will the L.A. Wildfires affect the San Gabriel Mountain Wilderness?

As the massive wildfire blazes across the southern foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains that separate northern Los Angeles from the Mojave Desert, the animals living in those mountains must escape, burrow, or die. The U.S. Forest Service determined last week that someone set the fire intentionally, rendering the deaths of two firefighters battling the blaze homicides. But what becomes of the ecosystems burned in the fire’s wake, and the wildlife killed or displaced?

When wildfire blazed near Santa Barbara earlier this summer, I blogged about an adorable deer fawn and bobcat cub that became fast friends, and the wild animals and pets that local shelters take in. This time, I focus on the ecosystem damage that results, and potential for eventual regeneration. The “Station fire” near L.A. burned hot enough to melt automobiles, but the results may be ‘not-so-hot’ for the chaparral ecosystems left scorched in its wake.

“Despite being so close to LA, the San Gabriel mountains support some of the greatest biodiversity in the USA,” says Raphael Mazor, a biologist in Southern California currently studying fire impacts on water quality. Four wilderness areas exist in the region, with the San Gabriel Wilderness in the Angeles National Forest most directly affected by this blaze. “[There are] tons of micro-endemic plants up there. As for animals: California red-legged frog, Santa Ana sucker, arroyo chub, bighorn sheep, two-lined garter snake, San Gabriel Mountains slender salamander, and I'm sure several rodents and bat species.”

Mazor says intense, hot fires lead to more mudslides and sedimentation in streams, and are followed by aggressive invasions by invasive plants like mustard (Brassica). Burns can allow invasive plants to get further into wilderness areas as they tend to disperse along roads or open areas.

After the massive 1988 Yellowstone fires brought wildfire smack dab and center in the public's awareness, much media coverage since that time has focused on two things - the benefits of wildfire to fire-adapted ecosystems, and how after decades of fire suppression in some forests, the “fuel” of evergreen needles, dead trees and leaf litter has built up, making these wildfires burn hotter and more intensely. In the long run, though, burns reinvigorate fire-adapted ecosystems, regenerating growth of many tree and plant species, which in turn provides fresh young sprouts for deer and other wildlife. Unfortunately, we have so modified many landscapes, things don’t go the way they historically would have.

The L.A. area fires have burned mostly chaparral, a uniquely Californian semi-arid shrub-dominated ecosystem that covers foothills throughout much of the state. And the chaparral is a ‘whole different animal’ than a fire-suppressed forest. Chaparral does not need fire to exist or remain healthy, nor has excess litter built up due to fire suppression in this particular ecosystem. In fact, excessive fire is now a major threat to the health of the chaparral ecosystem, but nevertheless, the plants and animals there have evolutionary adaptations that help them persist in the long term. “The adaptations that the plants have are like insurance policies,” says Richard Halsey, Director of the California Chaparral Institute, “They don’t want to use the policy, but it is there in case a fire comes…which it will. Old-growth chaparral is one of the most beautiful ecosystems in the world. Unfortunately, so much of it has burned there isn’t much left.” In fact it's a common misconception that the frequent fires occurring in the region help clear out the brush. Even the Angeles National Forest forest supervisor Jody Noiron said on a Los Angeles NBC affiliate last Sunday that the chaparral needed to burn every 10 to 15 years, which is simply wrong. Intense fires like this would historically burn once every 50 to 100 years.

“Although these fires were of high intensity,” says USGS fire ecologist Jon Keeley, “they are not outside the normal range. Our studies show these ecosystems will recover fine.” Wildfires help nutrient cycling and decomposition in dry ecosystems like the San Gabriel Mountains and other California chaparral, including that near the Santa Barbara fires earlier this summer, but one immediate disadvantage is that fires release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming. How the fires will affect individual species that are already rare or endangered is a question only time, and further research, will answer.

Most people don’t realize that deforestation, including fire, is actually the largest overall contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, due to the subsequent loss of carbon storage in trees and shrubs that then gets released into the atmosphere– whereas transportation and industry contribute 14% each. As a caveat, that does not mean that lesser contributors to the problem are not equally responsible for helping to clean up the mess.

Bear proof canister? Not for Yellow-Yellow

Following the theme of animals outwitting people (including the freedom-loving feral pig), I share another fun story in the news. In the Adirondacks of New York, one bear has mastered the art and science of cracking open “bear proof canisters.” Built of tough polycarbonate plastic and designed with a bear-proof tabbed lid, the BearVault has passed bear-testing at California's Folsom City Zoo and kept grizzly bears weighing up to 1,000 pounds from camper’s food for years in Yellowstone National Park and elsewhere. But the bear who could outwit the BearVault has become an almost mythic figure.

Reports first surfaced of campers' BearVaults getting broken into not long after New York started requiring campers to use bear proof canisters in the Adirondack's eastern High Peaks five years ago. Since then, negative bear-human interactions declined from 374 in 2004 to 61 in 2008. But something else happened: BearVaults started getting broken into. After this happened a few times in the same general region, biologists had pinpointed an ursine culprit: Yellow-Yellow, a 125-pound female black bear named after two yellow ear tags used to identify her. This bear always happened to be in the area of the break-in, which the biologists tracked from her radio collar. Before long, hikers actually spotted the bear with two yellow ear tags breaking into canisters.

Jamie Hogan, owner of the company that makes BearVault, then designed a two-tabbed canister model and field tested it this year... but Yellow-Yellow broke into those too! Scientists think the bear depresses the tab with her teeth, turns the lid, and uses her teeth on the second tab too. That’s one crafty bear! What's more, another bear, Blue-Green (also named after its ear tags) has recently learned to break into the canisters as well. Hogan is working on a new design... stay tuned.

New York's Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife technician Ben Tabor says Yellow-Yellow probably isn't truly "smarter than your average bear," like Yogi, but just had a new technique to master. In nature, bears have to use quick wit and skill to find food to survive. This was just yet another new food-finding venture ince campers no longer string their food in the treetops from a suspended rope.

"Bears do learn very well," Tabor explains how the bears can learn to accomplish complex tasks like break into canister. "For example, if you first leave food out near a campsite, the bear eats it and returns to find it in a bag. It opens the bag and eats the food. Then you hang it in a tree 5 feet up. Bear climbs tree, gets bag, eats food. Then you put food ten, then 20 feet up, but through trial and error bear pulls rope and gets food. learns to pull down rope and food, break cables, break trees... You start slowly using bear canisters, but the lids are hard to get off for users, so they leave it half on. Bears get the lid off by pulling on the edge. You make a thicker lid. People still use it wrongly. Bears still get food. You make thickest lid yet with more buttons but now the bear is really well learned and very determined that it can break and get into that color, size and shape canister..."

The most important lesson from all this, says Tabor, is that he hopes Yellow-Yellow's fame can help remind people to leave no trace and to not feed bears. Remember, he says, a fed bear is a dead bear.

On the other hand, here's an interesting story just out: Biologists in Florida use doughnuts to attract bears which they then radio-collar so they can find out what habitat they're using and help preserve it, and protect the bears - and people. Given that a fed bear is a dead bear, is this a good idea to give wild bears human food, even for the sake of research?

Do you have any stories of inventive, crafty wild animals? Or bear encounters?

Tarantula

Tarantula spiders are among the most feared animals on the planet, and with good reason. Not only are they giants, as spiders go, but they are such stealthy and skilled hunters that no small animal that wanders within their grasp stands a chance at survival. The typical hunting modus operandi for tarantulas is to be patient. They lie in wait for a hapless passerby and then pounce without warning. Because of their size, they can reach 5 inches in length with a 12-inch leg span; tarantulas are able to quickly subdue their prey and crush them with their large fangs. Finally, they shower their victim's body with digestive juices and then lap up the resulting fluid. Delicious!