Humane societies played hooky SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Canada––From the perspective of 1,500 miles and more than two weeks away, the most remarkable aspect of the recent 5th International One Health Congress in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was that even though hundreds of people participated, many of those who should have been there were not. No one attended […]
Cryptozoologist & taxonomist Colin Groves, “The Ultimate Classifier,” 75
Member of International Primate Protection League advisory board since 1975 CANBERRA, Australia––Colin Groves, 75, called “The Ultimate Classifier” by the Society of Conservation Biology, a member of the International Primate Protection League advisory board since 1975, and a cofounder of the anti-pseudoscience organization Canberra Skeptics, died in Canberra, Australia, on November 30, 2017. Born in […]
Naming Nature: The clash between instinct & science
by Carol Kaesuk Yoon W.W. Norton & Co. (500 5th Ave., New York, NY 10110), 2009. 344 pages, hardcover. $27.95. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Though you may never have heard of either “taxonomy” or “cladistics,” the two central concepts in Carol Kaesuk Yoon’s 2009 opus Naming Nature, it remains a fascinating read for […]
The animal issue that made Donald Trump a presidential candidate
Or, what is bio-xenophobia? (Part I of a four-part series. See also How an ant doctor came to be driving public policy; How the Twin Towers fell on animals too; and Questioning the claims of “crisis.”) With just six weeks left of the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign season, xenophobia, the fear of foreigners, has thus far […]
Are drugs based on pregnant mare’s urine making a comeback?
Pfizer Canada increases piss purchases BRANDON, Manitoba; MONTREAL, Quebec––Pfizer Canada is believed to have contracted with horse farmers for the first increase in pregnant mare’s urine (PMU) purchases since Pfizer took over the Premarin industry by purchasing the previous maker, Wyeth Inc., in 2009. Premarin sales had been in decline since the publication of […]
Wildlife contraceptive researcher Jay Kirkpatrick, 75
Developed PZP for use in 85 species Jay Kirkpatrick, 75, for more than 40 years a leading developer of contraceptive vaccines for wild horses, deer, elk, and other wildlife, died on December 16, 2015 in Billings, Montana “from a brief but serious illness,” family and friends said. Kirkpatrick, originally from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, spent […]
Japanese whalers fined $1 million for contempt of court
Were ordered to stop by Australian court in 2008, & by International Court of Justice in 2014 Sydney, Australia––Sydney Federal Court Justice Margaret Jagot on November 18, 2015 fined the Japanese whaling firm Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha $1 million Australian for killing whales in Australian waters, within the Southern Ocean sanctuary recognized by the International Whaling […]
Going bananas may save bats from killer fungus
HANNIBAL, Missouri––Going bananas may save North American bats from white nose syndrome, a fungal disease known to have killed 5.7 million bats since arriving from Europe circa 2006. More precisely, researchers studying a common bacterium that delays the ripening of bananas have discovered that it also kills fungi common to bananas and the white nose […]
Theo Colborn, 87, identified chemical effects on animal & human health
by Elizabeth Grossman Theo Colborn, 87, died on December 14, 2014. Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Theodora Emily Decker Colborn was a life-long bird-watcher who began her fascination with the natural world early. I spent several days interviewing her in December 2013 at her home in Paonia, Colorado. As we talked on a sub-zero morning, with huge […]
Field Mortalities in Wildlife Research: It’s Time for a Conversation
Preface by Merritt Clifton Jon Geller, DVM, whose guest column “Field Mortalities in Wildlife Research: It’s Time for a Conversation” appears below, is scarcely the first to call into question the ethics of wildlife captures for research purposes. While Geller’s critique focuses on capture techniques, why animals are captured and what happens to them afterward […]