Sarah Palin under intense fire from animal rights groups

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has never hidden the fact that she's a proud hunter from her home state of Alaska, first with a famous photo (below) through which many Americans initially came to know of her with a caribou she shot, to Wednesday's photo (above) of the governor carrying a tote bag with the slogan "Real Women Hunt Moose."

But some animal rights advocates and activists have taken issue not only with her hunting practices, but more so her administration's stances on issues in Alaska regarding animal welfare.

Michael Markarian, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, slammed the VP nominee in a blog post, saying Republican presidential candidate John McCain's choice "cemented" his organization's decision to endorse the Democratic ticket of Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden instead.

Markarian's stinging criticism of Palin:

Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R-Alaska) retrograde policies on animal welfare and conservation have led to an all-out war on Alaska’s wolves and other creatures. Her record is so extreme that she has perhaps done more harm to animals than any other current governor in the United States.

Palin engineered a campaign of shooting predators from airplanes and helicopters, in order to artificially boost the populations of moose and caribou for trophy hunters. She offered a $150 bounty for the left foreleg of each dead wolf as an economic incentive for pilots and aerial gunners to kill more of the animals, even though Alaska voters had twice approved a ban on the practice. This year, the issue was up again for a vote of the people, and Palin led the fight against it — in fact, she helped to spend $400,000 of public funds to defeat the initiative.

What’s more, when the Bush administration announced its decision to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, Palin filed a lawsuit to reverse that decision. She said it’s the "wrong move" to protect polar bears, even though their habitat is shrinking and ice floes are vanishing due to global warming.  (Note: It's not the first time L.A. Unleashed told you about Palin's polar bear controversy.)

The choice for animals is especially clear now that Palin is in the mix. If Palin is put in a position to succeed McCain, it could mean rolling back decades of progress on animal issues.

French film icon and well-known animal enthusiast Brigitte Bardot also has been harsh about criticizing Palin, referring to the governor's joke about the difference between her and a pitbull having to do with lipstick, our Dish Rag reports from Britain's Telegraph:

Referring to Palin's pitbull-with-lipstick crack, Bardot adds: "I know dogs well, and I can assure you that no pitbull, no dog, nor any other animal is as dangerous as you are. By denying the responsibility of man in global warming, by advocating gun rights and making statements that are disconcertingly stupid, you are a disgrace to women and you alone represent a terrible threat, a true environmental catastrophe."

Bardot lashed out at Palin for supporting Arctic oil exploration that could threaten ecosystems and for dismissing measures to protect polar bears.

"This shows your total lack of responsibility, your inability to protect or simply respect animal life," she wrote.

The 74-year-old former film star is notorious in France for her outspoken views on immigration, the environment and animal rights. She has been convicted and fined four times in Paris for anti-gay and racist remarks.

But all the criticism may have little to do with how pet owners view her ticket, as McCain had their votes over Obama earlier this summer. However, we must note, that survey was taken before Palin was unleashed into the political campaign.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo credits: Top: Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images; Below: Associated Press

Supreme Court hears case about Navy sonar and whales

The Supreme Court appeared split Wednesday on whether environmental laws can be used to stop the use of sonar off the coast of Southern California, which environmentalists say is adversely impacting marine mammals' quality of life, even to the point of death.

The Times' David Savage reports:

The case has turned into a dispute over whether judges, acting on a suit brought by environmentalists, have the power to halt a government project because of its failure to carry out an environmental impact statement in advance.

U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper cited this failure by the Navy when she issued her order.

On Wednesday, she came under criticism from several justices.

"Is Judge Cooper an expert on antisubmarine warfare?" asked Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. "Isn't there something incredibly odd about a single district judge making a determination on that defense question ... contrary to the determination the Navy has made."

Justice Antonin Scalia said the law requiring environmental impact statements was "procedural" only. It did not give judges the power to stop government projects, he suggested. And Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said that in balancing the interests, the judge did not give enough weight to the Navy's concern. He described it as the "potential that a North Korean diesel electric submarine will get within range of Pearl Harbor undetected."

On the other side, Justices John Paul Stevens and David H. Souter wondered how the Navy could know its sonar would not harm the whales until it had studied the matter. "The whole theory of the environmental impact statement is we don't really know what the harm will be," Stevens said.

The Navy said it is working on an environmental impact statement on its training exercises, but it will not be complete until February, when the exercises are scheduled to end.

Savage reports that the sonar emits a powerful sound wave in the water -- as "if we had a jet engine in this courtroom and you multiplied that noise by 2,000 times," said Los Angeles lawyer Richard B. Kendall, who represented the environmentalists.

Kendall said beaked whales, in panic, dive deeply to escape the sound, and they sometimes suffer bleeding and even death when they try to resurface. He also cited the Navy's own estimate that 170,000 dolphins and other marine mammals would flee the sonar.

The whale pictured here in 2002 offers a similar argument, when a beaked whale washed ashore in the Canary Islands after a military exercise involving sonar. Scientific tests pointed to undersea noise from naval maneuvers by Spain and other NATO countries as the likely cause of the mass stranding, the Associated Press reported.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Juan Medina / Associated Press

Galapagos expels citizens as a flood of tourists threatens islands

There's controversy on the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador. Times Staff Writer Chris Kraul reports:

A few weeks ago, 19 Ecuadorean citizens detained on these world-renowned islands were marched onto a plane and sent back to the continent under armed guard. Their crime? Illegal migration.

So far this year, the government has expelled 1,000 of its citizens from the Galapagos -- a living laboratory of unique animal and plant species -- who were there without residency and work permits. It has also "normalized" 2,000 others, in effect giving most of them a year to leave.

The migrants are attracted not by the tortoises or blue-footed boobies but by the islands' booming economy, which offers plentiful jobs and good pay. Typical wages run 70% higher than on Ecuador's mainland, the public schools are good, and violent crime is nonexistent.

Last year, Ecuador was stung by a United Nations warning that the islands, whose human population has doubled in 10 years to about 30,000, are at risk from overcrowding and mismanaged tourism.

Priming the economy is the apparently insatiable demand by foreign tourists for a close-up look at giant tortoises, elephant seals, flamingos, marine iguanas and other species in their native habitat. As a result, scientists warn, that habitat is becoming increasingly less pristine.

Endangered turtles return to Monterey Bay

From the Associated Press:

MOSS LANDING, Calif.—Scientists say endangered leatherback turtles have returned to Monterey Bay to feast on jellyfish after nearly disappearing from the area in recent years.

Moss Landing Marine Laboratories researcher Scott Benson says marine biologists counted more than 300 of the giant endangered turtles in the bay this year.

Benson said a strong upwelling of nutrient-rich cold water this year brought greater stocks of jellyfish, which attracted the turtles.

Poor upwellings in previous years have sent the turtles elsewhere to find food.

The 70-million-year-old leatherback species is the largest of all sea turtles. Benson says the Pacific's leatherback population has declined by 90 to 95 percent in the last 25 years because of egg poaching and turtles getting caught in fishing gear.

Photo: Scott A. Eckert/Widecast

U.S. to designate 'critical habitat' for polar bears

From the Associated Press:

ANCHORAGE -- The federal government will designate "critical habitat" for polar bears off Alaska's coast, a decision that could add restrictions to future offshore petroleum exploration or drilling.

Federal law prohibits agencies from taking actions that may adversely modify critical habitat and interfere with polar bear recovery. That probably will affect oil and gas activity, said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of three groups that sued to get a critical habitat designation.

"Other than global warming, the worst thing that's going on in polar bear habitat right now is oil development and the potential for oil spills," Siegel said.

Bruce Woods, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage, said it's not known what area in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska might be designated for polar bears, especially given that sea ice conditions are changing and areas now covered by ice might in the future be open water.

The agreement to designate critical habitat was filed Monday in Oakland as a partial settlement of a lawsuit brought by Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Siegel's group.

They sued in March after Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne missed a January deadline for declaring polar bears threatened or endangered.

Kempthorne on May 14 declared polar bears "threatened," or likely to become endangered, citing their need for sea ice, the dramatic loss of sea ice in recent decades and computer models that suggest sea ice is likely to further recede.

The settlement sets a deadline of June 30, 2010, for a final rule designating critical habitat for the polar bear.

Photo: Subhankar Banerjee / Associated Press

One-fourth of wild mammal species may face extinction

At least 25% of the world's mammal species in the wild are threatened with extinction. This news comes from an international survey released Monday that blames the loss of wildlife habitat as well as hunting and poaching for the steep declines. Times staff writer Ken Weiss reports:

The baiji, or Chinese river dolphin, is teetering on the edge of extinction and may have already joined the list of species that have vanished from Earth. Others are not far behind, such as the vaquita, a small porpoise that has been drowning in fishing nets in the northern part of the Gulf of California; the North Atlantic right whale; and various monkeys and other primates hunted by poachers in Africa.

Scientists have determined that about 25% of the world's 5,487 species of mammals face extinction. The proportion of marine mammals in trouble appears to be higher, with an estimated one-third under serious threat of being wiped out. Many are killed when they are struck by ships or become entangled in fishing gear and drown.

About half the world's remaining species of apes, monkeys and other primates face threats from hunting or deforestation to make way for farming, said Russell A. Mittermeier, president of Conservation International.

For a photo gallery of endangered animals, including the black-footed ferret, above, click here.

Photo: Greg Wood / AFP/Getty Images

Off California's coast, where there's jellyfish, there's leatherback turtles

Endangered leatherback sea turtles have been spotted again off the Central California coast after a two-year hiatus, drawn by jellyfish swarming the area, the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

The leatherbacks were spotted during a monthlong survey cruise aboard a government research vessel and repeated aircraft observations. Researchers said they were seen diving for meals close to shore and snacking now and then in deeper waters much farther out.

"We're getting a better understanding of the leatherbacks and their coastal habitat here after several years when the population was much lower than usual — and after we observed none at all in 2006," said Scott Benson, chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's leatherback survey mission based in Monterey County at Moss Landing.

Spotters aboard the NOAA Twin Otter aircraft found six leatherbacks "surrounded by miles of jellyfish" — along with humpback whales and large ocean sunfish — off the San Mateo County coast and in the midst of regular cargo shipping lanes leading to and from the Golden Gate.

In one case, a leatherback was observed swimming among the jellyfish only 5 miles west of Benson's home in Moss Landing, he said. Another leatherback that was equipped with a more permanent satellite tag a year ago had returned to the same area this year, apparently after spending the winter a few hundred miles south of Hawaii along what Benson called "Jelly Lane."

Leatherbacks don't eat the jellyfish's transparent globular bells — it's the viciously stinging tentacles they love, and Benson and his colleagues found themselves "covered with stinging jellyfish slime" whenever they hauled any of the turtles aboard, Benson said.

In the last 25 years, more than 90% of the leatherback population has vanished.

According to Michael Milne of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, an environmental group based in Marin County, the abrupt decrease stems from a variety of reasons: egg-hunters raiding their nests, commercial long-line fisheries whose hooks can ensnare the turtles as "bycatch," and, most recently, the erosion of many nesting beaches because of small rises in the sea level caused by global warming.

The Moss Landing sightings aren't the only ones we've reported off the California coast: Last month, more jellyfish also meant more leatherbacks in Morro Bay. And even Texas has seen an uptick in rare leatherback sea turtle sightings.

— Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo credit: Scott A. Eckert / Widecast

Palin's policies favor development over environment

U.S. Geological Survey biologists believe that, if current climate-change trends continue, every polar bear in Alaska could be gone by 2050, but The Times' Kim Murphy reports that may not be a major concern to Republican vice presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin:

Palin's administration has fought federal protections announced in May for polar bears, going to court to assert that the projections for a dramatic shrinking of the bears' icy habitat are unreliable and that polar bears are already protected enough.

Since becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee this month, Palin has championed a balance between energy exploration and environmental regulation. A review of her record as governor shows that, most often, she has tilted that balance in favor of oil and gas development, mining and hunting -- the economic backbones of a state that many residents consider both a scenic treasure and an exploitable resource.

"From further oil and gas development to fishing, mining, timber and tourism -- these developments remain the core of our state," Palin told state legislators last year.

"We here in Alaska share concerns about wildlife, of course -- every Alaskan has concerns about wildlife," she later said. "We're going to continue to . . . make sure that polar bears survive, and thrive, for decades to come."

Since Palin became governor in 2006, the state has sought to ramp up a program that encourages the shooting of wolves from aircraft in areas where they compete with human hunters for moose, caribou and deer.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photos: Polar bear, California Museum of Science & Industry; Sarah Palin with caribou she shot, Associated Press

U.S. keeps gray wolf on endangered list for now

From the Associated Press:

The government won't immediately try to take gray wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list, a federal wildlife official said Tuesday.

Ed Bangs, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service coordinator, said the government in the next week expects to withdraw a rule that declared wolves fully recovered. That rule, issued in March, would have allowed public hunting for the region's approximately 1,500 wolves.

Wildlife agencies in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming have already started preparations for such hunts. But they had been in doubt since July, when U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy blocked the states from going forward pending resolution of a lawsuit by environmentalists.

"Hopefully, they'll go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan that better protects wolves," said Earthjustice attorney Doug Honnold, who had sued on behalf of a dozen environmental groups that argue wolves in the region remain imperiled.

The decision to withdraw the recovery rule is subject to final approval by the Department of Justice. Molloy also would have to sign off before it could take effect.

In his July injunction against the planned hunts, Molloy raised concerns about whether wolves would have enough genetic diversity, through breeding, to sustain their population.

Molloy also questioned Wyoming's lack of regulations on the killing of wolves. Outside Yellowstone National Park and adjacent areas, wolves are classified as predators, allowing them to be shot on sight.

Photo: Associated Press

Room to stretch a frog's red legs

California's red-legged frog may be getting some of its land back.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed on Tuesday to more than triple the habitat set aside for the threatened frog, citing scientific miscalculations and political manipulation by former Interior Department official Julie MacDonald that had greatly reduced the protected acreage.

MacDonald resigned in May 2007 after an internal investigation showed she had altered scientific conclusions to reduce protections for endangered species and had provided internal documents to lobbyists. Since then, the department has been reconsidering eight decisions made while MacDonald oversaw the endangered species program for the Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the Interior Department.

Tuesday's decision, a result of that review, would create a 1.8-million-acre habitat in 28 Central and Northern California counties. Development and destruction of wetlands have eliminated the frogs from more than 70% of their historic range. MacDonald would have reduced what was left of the frog's range by 82%.

An Interior Department investigation found that MacDonald pressured staff to count three sub-species of the California tiger salamander as one, which undermined the case for protection. A federal judge overturned that decision in 2005, saying it was made "without even a semblance of agency reasoning."

The investigation determined that MacDonald improperly provided department information to lobbyists and private-sector interests, such as the California Farm Bureau and the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California.

"MacDonald appears to have a close personal and business relationship with a Farm Bureau lobbyist," the report said.

The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed habitat. The agency will undertake an economic analysis to determine if the financial burden on property owners from habitat protections is outweighed by any benefit to species.

The Fish and Wildlife Service previously released a study that showed nearly $500 million in costs to home builders for protecting the frog's habitat.

--Julie Cart

Photo: Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times

Grizzlies thriving in Montana, study says

From the Associated Press:

Federal scientists have documented the largest population of grizzly bears in Montana, a sign that the threatened species could be at long last on the rebound.

Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey announced Tuesday that there are approximately 765 bears in northwestern Montana. Earlier estimates said there were at least 250-350 bears. The results stemmed from a $4.8-million, five-year study of the grizzly bears' DNA that has been criticized by Republican presidential candidate John McCain on the campaign trail as an example of pork barrel spending.

The study was backed by Montana ranchers, farmers and Republican leaders as a step toward easing restrictions in place since 1975 on oil and gas drilling, logging and other development.

Photo: Associated Press

Greenpeace says Nobu, De Niro serve endangered fish

Greenpeace is calling out celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa and actor Robert De Niro, alleging that DNA tests show their Japanese fusion chain Nobu is serving critically endangered bluefin tuna at its London eateries.

Undercover investigators for the environmental group ordered cuts of tuna from three Nobu locations in London and put them through DNA tests that determined several were Atlantic bluefin. The species is listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species for overfishing.

The Telegraph reports:

Nobu does not specify on its menus which species of tuna it serves. Requests for the information by campaigners have been met for several years with a terse "no comment".

Although it is not illegal to serve Atlantic bluefin, also known as northern bluefin, many chefs, including Gordon Ramsay, have dropped it because of concern that fishing is at higher levels than stocks can withstand. At Nobu Berkeley St, which has one Michelin star, investigators asked for Atlantic bluefin (hon maguro in Japanese) but staff told them the restaurant did not stock it.

However, DNA tests proved that the fish they were given was indeed Atlantic bluefin. At Ubon, Canary Wharf, also owned by Nobu, investigators ordered Atlantic bluefin and were served a dish that did not test conclusively either way.

Greenpeace writes on its blog that co-owner Robert De Niro "seems to be angling for the title of ‘Godfather of ocean destruction’" and compares offering bluefin tuna to "serving up rhino burgers or tiger chops."

-- Tony Barboza

Photos: Top, Nobu Matsuhisa. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times; bottom, Robert De Niro. Credit: Charles Rex Arbogast / Associated Press

Condor ill with lead poisoning dies at L.A. Zoo as fight to protect species spreads to Argentina

A 4-year-old female condor captured Friday in Big Sur and rushed to the Los Angeles Zoo for treatment of lead poisoning has died, according to the Monterey County Herald:

The bird, identified as Condor No. 336, was shaking and weak when found by Ventana Wildlife biologist Sayre Flannagan, who caught it in a net on the ground in Big Sur.

Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the Ventana Wildlife Society, the only nonprofit group in California that breeds condors for introduction to the wild, said the condor was released three years ago at Pinnacles National Monument and was living and scavenging in Big Sur.

It was initially taken to the Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic in Monterey, given a blood test that showed "really high, life-threatening levels" of lead, and given emergency treatment, according to Ventana Society senior wildlife biologist Joe Burnett. The bird was then taken to the Los Angeles Zoo for more comprehensive veterinary treatment. (L.A.'s zoo has a condor habitat.)

The bird appeared to rally at first, he said, but weakened and succumbed Sunday.

A normal adult condor weighs 18 to 25 pounds, said Burnett. Condor No. 336 was down to 10.9 pounds when captured.

"It's hard to bounce back from a weight loss like that," Burnett said.

National Park Service superintendent Eric Brunneman at the Pinnacles told the County Herald that Condor No. 336 was "perhaps our most well-known condor," because the bird had been featured in a video on YouTube eating a deer heart:

Condor No. 336's death comes on the heels of a contentious battle over lead ammunition and the implementation on July 1 of a bill banning the use of lead ammunition in hunting.

California's condors are a fiercely guarded endangered species that has recently faced wildfire threats from Big Sur to L.A. and a West Coast-based struggle to procreate.

In the latest development in protection efforts, officials at the Pinnacles National Monument also announced today that a team of U.S. and Argentine scientists are joining forces in a five-year project to boost the condor population soaring above California and the Andes.

The Associated Press' Debora Rey reports:

Scientists from Pinnacles National Monument in central California visited Argentina this week to improve tracking and studying techniques of the birds, whose 9-foot wingspan has inspired reverence among indigenous people of the Americas for centuries.

The number of California condors is estimated at around 300 — half of which are in captivity — and they are still in danger of extinction. The Andean condor, a different species, has fared better: There are between 2,000 and 3,000 of the birds gliding over Argentina's snowy crags.

Argentine and U.S. scientists have been working together since the early 1980s, when the California condor was on the brink of extinction. U.S. scientists applied successful efforts in Argentina to breed condors in captivity and then release them to salvage a waning California population.

“The situation of the condors in both countries is grave,” said Pinnacles biologist Denise Louie.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Panda cub is reunited with mother at Zoo Atlanta

Officials at Zoo Atlanta  said today that the male giant panda born this weekend is in “guarded” condition. It was placed in an incubator for a time because its mother, Lun Lun, had put it down twice and the cub had lost body heat. Then it was returned to its mother this afternoon. (The video displayed to the right on L.A. Unleashed is of a mother and child reunion.) The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports:

Less than a day after being separated from his mother because of a health scare, Zoo Atlanta's newest panda is back with his mom, Lun Lun.

Officials reintroduced the pair Tuesday afternoon after the male cub spent much of the previous 19 hours in an incubator. The zoo was trying to get the newborn’s body temperature up and provide some much needed nourishment.

“Lun Lun showed immediate interest in the cub when it was presented just outside the den, and was very focused on the cub as it vocalized,” the zoo said. “Based on these positive signs, the cub was placed in the den and Lun Lun picked it up and cradled it.”

The cub was removed from Lun Lun’s care late Monday after the zoo’s favorite mom twice put down her small offspring....

Panda cubs can lose body heat rapidly, a serious threat to their health during their early days.

Zoo officials think part of the problem is that Lun Lun may not have been creating enough mother’s milk. The milk provides antibodies to fight off infections during the cub’s first few days.

Since being reintroduced, the cub has periodically vocalized strongly, a positive sign, the zoo said. When caretakers examined him at 4:30 p.m., the infant, which is about the size of a cellphone, had gained a little weight. They also noted that there were no signs of abnormalities or bacteria in the cub because of the hand-rearing process.

Photo: Zoo Atlanta

Federal plan would cut habitat for endangered bighorn sheep

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working on the final details of a map that would cut by nearly half the habitat the agency had previously considered to be critical to the survival of the peninsula bighorn sheep. The plan could be approved by the end of September. Leslie Carlson reports:

Scientists and environmental advocates say the trimmed habitat could deal a permanent setback to a species that has shown signs of recovering after 10 years of federal protection. They accuse the Department of the Interior, which governs the Fish and Wildlife Service, of mixing politics with science and caving to mining and tribal interests in the desert. One mining operation in Imperial County already has applied to expand its operation into land once listed as critical to the sheep's recovery, documents show.

The recovery plan . . . has been working," said Mark Jorgensen, supervisor of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, who has worked with peninsular bighorn sheep for 40 years. "Why take out 500,000 acres of it and say that it's not a big deal? And that it's based on science? Why not come out and say that it's just politics?"

Jane Hedron, a spokeswoman for the wildlife service, defended the new boundaries as sufficient to help the species recover.

"Critical habitat is habitat considered essential for the recovery of the endangered species," she said. "It is not intended to include the entire range of a species."

Photo: Leslie Carlson / Los Angeles Times

Polar bear sightings stir climate debate

Federal wildlife monitors spotted nine polar bears in one day swimming in the open ocean off Alaska's northwest coast -- prompting environmental groups to say the sightings are a strong signal that diminished sea ice brought on by global warming has put U.S. bears at risk of drowning or dying from fatigue.

The Associated Press reports:

Summer sea ice last year shrunk to a record low, about 1.65 million square miles in September, nearly 40% less than the long-term average between 1979 and 2000 and most climate modelers predict a continued downward spiral, possibly with an Arctic Ocean that's ice free during summer months by 2030 or sooner.

Conservation groups fear that one consequence of less ice will be more energy-sapping, long-distance swims by polar bears trying to reach feeding, mating or denning areas.

The nine bears were spotted on a flight by a marine contractor, Science Applications International Corp., hired for the Minerals Management Service in advance of future offshore oil development.

The MMS in February leased 2.76 million acres within an offshore area slightly smaller than Pennsylvania.

To catch up on polar bear news around the world and their role in the ongoing controversy over the Endangered Species Act, check out L.A. Unleashed's archives.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo on top; bottom: World Wildlife Fund;Jonathan Hayward/Associated Press

Mexico to spend millions to save porpoises

Mexico plans to invest $16 million to save the highly endangered Gulf of California harbor porpoise in the upper part of the gulf, asking reluctant fishermen to adopt safer methods or give up their trade entirely, the Associated Press reports.

Scientists say the population of the porpoise known as the vaquita marina -- Spanish for "little sea cow" -- has dwindled to 150 or fewer. In the undated photo above released by Proyecto Vaquita, a porpoise lies dead on a beach along the Gulf of California.

Plans include paying fishermen to avoid the porpoise's habitat, give up drag nets that drown dozens of the animals each year or give up fishing, Environment Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira said in Ensenada.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: EFE/Associated Press

Earthjustice sues to list California pika as endangered species

From the Associated Press:

SAN FRANCISCO -- An environmental group sued federal and state agencies Tuesday in their continuing battle to list the mountain-dwelling American pika, or rock-rabbit, as a threatened or endangered species troubled by climate change.

The California Fish and Game Commission voted 4 to 0 in April to deny the petition.

Commissioners agreed the pika's environment of colder elevations in mountain ranges across the West is threatened by rising temperatures, but said they are working on a broader approach to protect all wildlife that could be affected.

The lawsuit seeks a court order designating the pika as endangered or threatened.

"The California Fish and Game Commission's attempt to bury its head in the sand rather than deal with the impact of global warming on wildlife is an embarrassment to our state," said Greg Loarie, an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice, which filed the lawsuit.

Earthjustice also filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday in a bid to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to act on a similar petition.

Photo: J. MacKenzie / Pikaworks

Endangered tortoise found burned to death

An endangered tortoise has been found burned to death in a fire grate at Black Rock campground in the Yucca Valley area.

Joe Zarki, information officer for Joshua Tree National Park, says rangers are seeking information from anyone who knows anything related to the dead desert tortoise found Aug. 4. He estimates the tortoise was 45 years old.

Desert tortoises are a threatened species, protected by the federal Endangered Species Act as well as state wildlife laws. The desert tortoise also is California’s official state reptile.

--Associated Press

Pesticides are killing West Coast salmon

Three common pesticides are helping push the Pacific Coast's prized but imperiled salmon closer to extinction according to a new federal report, Times staff writer Eric Bailey writes.

Bailey, who has followed the West Coast salmon industry's crisis this year, reports:

The National Marine Fisheries report says the pesticides interfere with basic functions of the fish: their ability to find food, reproduce, even to swim. The three pesticides -- malathion, diazinon and chloripyrifos -- have been used for decades by farmers and home gardeners.

Joshua Osborne-Klein, an attorney with the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice, said the report pointed to a need to find alternatives to the chemicals.

The fisheries service is expected in coming months to make recommendations on potential remedies to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which governs pesticide use. Agency officials could order restrictions or prohibit use of the pesticides.

The sudden collapse of the chinook salmon run in California's Sacramento River, where the salmon return to spawn, has led to various government moves such as the federal government declaring the West Coast ocean salmon fishery "a failure," and the inking of a 10-year agreement between the United States and Canada aimed at preventing overfishing of salmon off the western coast of Canada and southeast Alaska.

That's not even mentioning another West Coast fish-related drama with the delta smelt.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Kimberly White / Bloomberg News

Times editorial blasts Bush administration on Endangered Species Act

Earlier this week, L.A. Unleashed posted that the Bush administration had proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act that would allow federal agencies to decide on their own if their projects would affect animals protected by the act.

A Times editorial published today weighs in on the matter, criticizing the move on a variety of levels from the possibility of corruption to the timing of the proposal:

Because of a 30-day public comment period, instead of the usual 60 or 90 days, the rule could be adopted and in place before the presidential election. Though it might well be overturned by Congress, the courts or perhaps a new administration, the process would take months, giving federal agencies the chance to push through their projects.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images

Scientific review may now be endangered

The Bush administration Monday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act that would allow federal agencies to decide on their own if their projects would affect animals protected by the act (such as the bald eagle, pictured above), the Washington Post reports.

The proposal's move to eliminate the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades has prompted sharp criticism from animal activists, scientists and politicans who have said the Bush administration and Republican establishment have wanted to go soft on the law.

The Post's Juliet Eilperin reports on the see-saw of reaction:

In a telephone call with reporters, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne described the rules as a "narrow regulatory change" that "will provide clarity and certainty to the consultation process under the Endangered Species Act."

But environmentalists and congressional Democrats blasted the proposal as a last-minute attempt by the administration to bring about dramatic changes in the law. For more than a decade, congressional Republicans have been trying unsuccessfully to rewrite the act, which property owners and developers say imposes unreasonable economic costs.

Bob Irvin, senior vice president of conservation programs at the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife, questioned how some federal agencies could make the assessments, when most do not have wildlife biologists on staff.

"Clearly, that's a case of asking the fox to guard the chicken coop," Irvin said, adding that the original law created "a giant caution light that made federal agencies stop and think about the impacts of their actions. What the Bush administration is telling those agencies is they don't have to think about those impacts anymore."

But Dale Hall, who directs the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the move would not apply to major federal projects and would give his agency more time to focus on the most critically endangered species, rather than conducting reviews of projects that pose little threat.

"We have to have the ability to put our efforts where they're needed," Hall said, adding that individual agencies will have to take responsibility if their projects do harm a protected species. "This really says to the agencies, 'This law belongs to all of us. You're responsible to defend it.' "

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Andrew Vaughan / Associated Press

Condors in danger, animal researchers resilient despite bombings, find a dog park, and celebrities and their pets -- The Times' weekend animal coverage

This weekend in The Times, animal news abounds:

Margot Roosevelt reports: The California condor, a beloved but beleaguered bird, will be unable to survive on its own without a ban on lead ammunition across its vast western habitat, a scientific study has concluded.

Richard C. Paddock reports: Two firebomb attacks last week on UC Santa Cruz scientists who conduct animal research have angered and worried academics throughout the UC system, but the scientists say they will not be intimidated.

*Associated Press reports: Police don't apologize for shooting the two dogs of the mayor of Berwyn Heights in Maryland, described as an innocent victim in a marijuana smuggling scheme.*

On The Times' Outposts blog, Pete Thomas tells the fascinating tale of a woman who was attacked by a grizzly as she jogged on a trail Friday evening in Far North Bicentennial Park in Anchorage, Alaska.

Washington Post reports: Whole Foods Market has pulled fresh ground beef from all of its stores in the second E. coli outbreak linked to Nebraska Beef in as many months.

Home decor retailers face legal risks with animal artifacts such as feathers and bones from endangered species. Jeff Spurrier offers some tips on avoiding legal woes, including keeping proper documentation and being careful about online purchases.

In the Guide, Elina Shatkin compiles a list of off-leash dog parks in such places as the San Fernando Valley, Orange County, Palm Springs and Santa Monica (with a handy-dandy map to boot).

Want an encounter with a leopard shark? In Sunday's Travel section, Christopher J. Bahnsen advises you to head down the 405 Freeway to La Jolla.

And finally, The Times' Dish Rag maven Elizabeth Snead tries to answer a very important question: "Do Hollywood stars look cuter with puppies?" Judge for yourself after viewing Snead's photo gallery packed with more than 35 celebrities.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Chad Olson / Associated Press

*the first version of this post omitted the word "don't"

Catching up with the 'Montauk Monster'

Perhaps you've heard reports on the "Montauk Monster"? Seen the photos of a dead creature that resembles a fighting dog/raccoon/turtle/raptor? It all started last month when someone took a photo of "something" that had washed onshore in Long island’s East Hamptons. Gawker.com posted the image and the Internet went nuts. Experts were called in to comment. Was it a real creature? A hoax? Newsday updates the situation:

Fifty years from now, when the history of Montauk is recalled -- maybe over drinks at a pub -- the summer of 2008 will belong to the Montauk Monster. (Here's a link to a video.)

And while said Monster -- part pig, turtle, possum, dog, you name it and have at it -- could not be located yesterday, rest assured, the search continues for this Ditch Plains beast that can now be added to the pantheon of the mythical.

And residents are proud of it.

Many locals think it was all very "Montauk" and just another weird thing to add to the lore of what weather and ships and storms and boats can bring to shore....

It was THE story at the surf shops and at Colleoden Hotel, said Trish O'Gara. "It's pretty cool and everybody is talking about it," she said. "Every year it's something. Last year it was the weird clouds that were forming and this year they have the monster."

Despite the local pride, there still was much debate over just what the monster was.

Was the Montauk Monster a hoax along the lines of the short-lived legend of the sea serpent living in a local Montauk pond circa 2003?

Or a real, dead thingamabob?...

A local who wanted to remain anonymous (we are dealing with monsters here) and who was seen in the vicinity of Mr. John's Pancake House said she has seen the monster on people's phones. And she knows people who saw it on Ditch Plains [Beach] and other people who saw it at the person's house that they took it to.

"It's only about the size of a cat," she said, taking the monster right out of this Montauk mystery.

Can you take us to it so we can gaze upon its beaked visage, no matter that it is a stinking corpse? Maybe take a few DNA tests?

"Now it's decomposed and it's just skull and bones.

"Hopefully we don't find another one," she said.

New population of western lowland gorillas discovered

There's good news and bad news on the primate front, as reported today by Greenwire:

A survey of vast tracts of forest and swamp wilderness in Congo has revealed a population of more than 125,000 western lowland gorillas, an encouraging sign for the subspecies, which was listed as critically endangered earlier this year after its population was ravaged by hunting and outbreaks of the Ebola virus.

The Wildlife Conservation Society's survey findings were to be presented today at a meeting of the International Primatological Society in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The government of Congo Republic has designated one of the studied regions as a national park, but conservation groups warn the government has insufficient funds for protecting the park, especially as the threat of illegal logging looms as demand for tropical hardwood grows....

"Separately, a report released today finds that 48 percent of the world's primates -- a group of humankind's closest relatives that includes chimpanzees, orangutans, gibbons and lemurs -- face extinction.

Photo credit: Associated Press / Thomas Breuer / Wildlife Conservation Society

Three new Malayan tigers at San Diego Zoo

Three 3-month-old Malayan tiger cubs are now greeting the public at the Tiger River exhibit at the San Diego Zoo.

Jin (whose name means spirit in Malay), Seri (bright) and Menderu (roar) have taken their place along with mother Mek. Each tiger has its own distinctive pattern of stripes, which makes tigers in the wild a hot item on the black market.

The Malayans, along with the other five species of tigers, are endangered. The zoo has an active breeding program for Malayans and Sumatrans.

-- Tony Perry

Photo: Malayan tiger cubs with their mother. Credit: San Diego Zoological Society

Inside today's Times: the Humane Society, salmon, wolves and animal rights

In today's L.A. Times:

Carla Hall profiles Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States:

In the four years since the 42-year-old vegan -- he neither eats nor wears animal products -- ascended to the top spot at the Humane Society, Pacelle has retooled a venerable organization seen as a mild-mannered protector of dogs and cats into an aggressive interest group flexing muscle in state legislatures and courtrooms.

Eric Bailey reports on vindication but no relief for imperiled steelhead salmon, steelhead:

A federal judge struck a largely symbolic blow for imperiled salmon and steelhead Friday, declaring that the state's vast water-export system is putting the fish at risk but rejecting environmentalists' key demands for change.

Tami Abdollah reports that protections for wolves have been reinstated:

Gray wolves in the northern Rockies regained endangered-species protections Friday when a federal judge in Montana granted a preliminary injunction to environmentalists, who had challenged the wolves' delisting.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials announced in February that gray wolves would be removed from the endangered species list after what they termed a successful 20-year effort to reestablish the wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Environmentalists sued.

The judge's ruling nullifies plans by Montana, Wyoming and Idaho to hold wolf hunts this fall.

And finally, David Savage reports on a setback for the animal rights movement.

Endangered species get new aid

California's Supreme Court gave new protection to the state's endangered species Thursday, ruling unanimously that developers, loggers and other commercial interests may be required to compensate for unforeseen wildlife losses. Times staff writer Maura Dolan reports:

The ruling, which affects both public works and private development, threw out a long-term logging plan approved by the state for 200,000 acres in Humboldt County, a plan that lower courts put on hold several years ago.

The state high court said the Department of Forestry had approved an "unidentifiable" plan that was still a work in progress and then delegated its completion to the logging company. Justice Carlos R. Moreno, writing for the court, called the Forestry Department's action illegal and an abrogation of its duties. The California Department of Forestry "failed to proceed according to law," Moreno wrote.

The decision grew out of lawsuits that followed the historic Headwaters Agreement, a 1996 pact between Pacific Lumber Co. and the state and federal governments. It was designed to resolve litigation and disputes over the logging of old-growth forests.

What happens when the circus comes to town

L.A. Now blogger Veronique de Turenne reminds us that the circus has come to town (at Staples), complete with acts, animals and controvery. PETA and other animal rights organizations would like all of us to boycott the circus, which has a few problems of its own.

This fall, Ringling Brothers is supposed to go to court for a trial over charges that it abuses its Asian elephants in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. Ringling Brothers denies the allegations, as reported in the L.A. Weekly's article on a most unusual protest against the circus.

Photo: Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times

Plague threatens black-footed ferrets

The New York Times reports that the plague may be threatening the few remaining black-footed ferrets in the country.

A [South Dakota] colony that contains nearly half of the black-footed ferrets in the country and which biologists say is critical to the long-term health of the species has been struck by plague, which may have killed a third of the 300 animals.

A much-publicized endangered species in the 1970s that had dwindled to 18 animals, the black-footed ferret had struggled to make a comeback and had been doing relatively well for decades. But plague, always a threat to the ferrets and their main prey, prairie dogs, has struck with a vengeance this year, partly because of the wet spring.

The ferrets are an easy target for the bacteria. “They are exquisitely sensitive to the plague,” said Travis Livieri, a wildlife biologist here who is trying to save the colony. “They don’t just get sick, they die. No ifs, ands or buts.” Humans can catch plague, but it is easily treated with antibiotics.

Mr. Livieri is working with the federal Fish and Wildlife Service’s black-footed ferret recovery team, the Forest Service and some volunteers to try to save the colony at Conata Basin by dusting prairie dog burrows with flea powder that kills the plague-carrying insects. Mr. Livieri is also working on a vaccination program, prowling the prairie all night to capture ferrets for injections.

Photo: Associated Press

Mouse jumps off the threatened list, except in Colorado

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday that it will remove the Preble's meadow jumping mouse from the threatened species list in Wyoming, but keep the mouse on the list in Colorado, the Associated Press reports:

The government said the mouse can be delisted in Wyoming because new populations have been confirmed in habitat not at risk for development. But in Colorado, home construction and other types of development continue to threaten Preble's mouse habitat, Fish and Wildlife officials said.

“Much of Preble's riparian habitat in Colorado has been severely altered or destroyed by human activities,” said Steve Guertin, director of Fish and Wildlife's Mountain-Prairie Region. “Continued rapid development is expected along Colorado's Front Range as the population continues to grow. Without the protection of the federal Endangered Species Act, much of Preble's habitat would be lost.”

The Preble's mouse, which has a tail twice the length of its 3-inch body, lives in streamside habitats and the adjacent foothills of southeastern Wyoming and along part of Colorado's Front Range, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. It can jump as far as three feet to escape predators.

Environmentalists including the Center for Native Ecosystems reacted to the announcement by saying they're preparing to file suit to restore the mouse's threatened status in Wyoming.

Delta smelt could join endangered list, state officials say

The delta smelt could soon join the endangered species list, an u