Hello again, everyone, and happy summer! I hope you’re as glad to see this post as I
am to be back doing it. The hiatus was good in lots of ways, but I prefer learning,
thinking and writing about animals to almost anything else.
And who wouldn’t be interested in the mix of animal
news out there since early June? To whet
your appetite: the raccoon who climbed a Minnesota skyscraper, the tusk-free female elephants in Africa, the bog
turtle becoming New Jersey’s state reptile . . . and more.
NJ’s state reptile
Let’s start with the bog turtle, a local species in need of all the help
it can get. Thanks to Princeton
school kids and others, people may now become more aware of bog turtles and in the
process, help them survive and maybe even thrive. When states make endangered or threatened
species their state animals, enhanced protection and preservation can follow.
It’s estimated that fewer than 2,000 of the tiny turtles
are left in NJ, with habitat changes and development, both caused by humans, as
the main reasons. Thanks, kids, for
caring and fighting the good (legislative) fight!
. . . and MIA
shelter bill
Maybe we should get those student movers and shakers involved
with making Senator Linda Greenstein’s animal shelter bill (S725) a
reality. Painfully slow in development
and drafting, it’s now languishing in the state legislature, while animals
suffer and die in horrible NJ facilities misnamed “shelters.” Bad enough that some provisions won’t take
effect till months or years after passage; worse that it currently looks like a
half-hearted effort, at best, to move it forward.
Skyscraping
raccoon
On to the wild raccoon who climbed a 25-story building
in St.Paul, Minn., while (it seemed) the world watched. With time out for a nap
near the top (where a trap awaited), the raccoon made it, using his “strong
limbs, five-toed paws with long claws and immense dexterity.”
Although raccoon specialists weren’t at all surprised
by this feat, those with acrophobia probably hoped only that the raccoon wouldn’t
look down. Not to worry. Once trapped at the top, he was fed soft cat
food (!) and transported to a wooded area for release.
Tusklessness can
pay
 |
| Tuskless female, Addo Finbarr O'Reilly/NYTimes |
In South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park, 90-95% of the female
elephants lack tusks -- in contrast to most African elephant populations, where
as few as 2% of females are tusk-free.
“Tusklessness” comes with a huge advantage: it protects these females
from poachers intent on slaughter for ivory. And the tusks of bull elephants at
Adoo tend to be smaller than elsewhere. Together with the “nearly impenetrable
landscape” of “valley thicket,” these factors all deter poachers.
But elephants everywhere are still in jeopardy, if not for their tusks,
then for their skin. The newest thing
is elephant leather accessories and traditional remedies made from their hides. According to Adoo
Park’s conservation manager, who extols elephants’ intelligence and parenting
skills, “I hate to say that they’re close to humans, because we’re the scourge
of this planet. They’re not.”
Meanwhile, back in
NJ
Two bills crucial for animals -- Nosey’s Law (S1093), named for a
long-suffering elephant now in sanctuary, would prohibit elephants and other
wild or exotic animals in traveling animal acts, and S1860 (about pets left in
hot vehicles and those who help them) -- are posted for full NJ senate votes on
Monday, June 25. Phone your state
senator to request support, then help get these two bills successfully through
the state assembly by Friday, June 29, before summer recess begins.
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