DEAR READERS: The Endangered Species Act is now in its 50th year. While it has been assailed by those who see such federal protections as a barrier to their variously destructive interests, there is also widespread support and some good news.
For instance, the Endangered Species Coalition (endangered.org) has published a feature called "Ten Stories of Hope," in which each narrative captures the resilience and survival of different species protected under the Endangered Species Act. The species spotlighted are only a small fraction of the over 1,300 plants and animals that the act helps safeguard. To read the report, go to: endangered.org/assets/uploads/2023/12/2023-Top-10-low-res-final.pdf.
The ESC understands that conservation is a holistic enterprise -- that not only must specific species be saved, but also their habitats. “Securing an entire ecosystem also secures the interdependence of species within that ecosystem,” the group states.
Another piece of good news: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently announced it "will stop the use of M-44 devices -- also known as cyanide bombs -- on 245 million acres of BLM managed lands," per Project Coyote. These devices are used to kill coyotes, and also cause the death of many non-target species. For details, go to: projectcoyote.org/media-release-bureau-of-land-management-bans-use-of-cyanide-bombs.
WILD MONKEY POACHING FOR RESEARCH: MORE INHUMANITY
Per Nature.com: "Laboratory monkeys are being illegally poached from the wild, falsely labelled as captive-bred and sold as research animals -- a practice known as monkey laundering. Smugglers are being drawn by skyrocketing prices after the biggest supplier, China, halted exports to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Monkey laundering could invalidate study results because wild monkeys have been exposed to a cocktail of diseases, and forcing them into captivity is stressful for them."
All of this can invalidate research and testing of vaccines and drugs. For more details, see: doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03533-1.
Alternatives to using animals in biomedical and pharmaceutical research and development need to be implemented, as I documented in my book “Laboratory Animal Husbandry: Ethology, Welfare and Experimental Variables.”
CALL FOR BAN ON PET SPOT-ON INSECTICIDES IN THE U.K.
According to a November announcement in the British Veterinary Association’s journal, two dozen organizations -- including the Veterinary Poison Information Service, Greenpeace, Zoological Society of London, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and the Progressive Veterinary Association -- are calling on the government to ban five chemicals from use in veterinary medicine.
The chemicals in question are fipronil, imidacloprid, permethrin, dinotefuran and nitenpyram, all of which are already banned from use on agricultural crops in the U.K. amid concerns over negative environmental impact. They can harm pets, who in turn can contaminate their environments -- for example, when dogs go into a stream or lake, or when family members (especially children) pet them after application of these spot-on insecticides.
These chemicals also need to be banned in the U.S., where they are still widely used on companion animals. Such a ban is also called for without delay or prevarication.
FOOD WAS FINALLY PUT ON THE COP28 AGENDA
Per Nature.com: "After three decades of climate summits, 134 countries signed the first-ever declaration on reducing emissions from food production on Dec. 1 at the COP28 meeting. Food accounts for one-third of global greenhouse-gas emissions, so researchers welcome the move. If people switched to eating mostly plants, and less meat, it would cut one-quarter of food-related emissions. Halving food loss and waste would have a similar impact. Figuring out what is politically digestible is the next big hurdle."
This would also help feed the hungry world. International Rescue Committee President and CEO David Miliband noted that around the world, 300 million people are dependent on the humanitarian aid system to survive -- a number that has quadrupled over the last decade due to conflict and climate change.
MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL CAPACITIES OF LIVESTOCK
Scientists at the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology in Germany are exploring the mental and emotional capacities of livestock. They have found that pigs exhibit signs of empathy; goats have social intelligence on par with that of dogs, in some cases; and cows are self-aware. These and other findings may shed light on human cognition and emotion, and could change animal husbandry practices for the better -- long overdue.
For details, see David Grimm's excellent and moving review of this research: science.org/content/article/not-dumb-creatures-livestock-surprise-scientists-their-complex-emotional-minds.
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