Source:  Sospecies.org

Despite conservation efforts, numbers of Vaquita, a small porpoise found only in Mexico, have continued to decline, from around 600‐800 animals in the early 1990s to about 100 animals today, according to the latest report of the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA).

The IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Cetacean Specialist Group (CSG) has submitted an official statement to the 65th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), drawing attention to the risk of the Vaquita’s imminent extinction.

Following the extinction of the Baiji in the early 2000s, the world is now facing the loss of a second cetacean species, the Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), which is restricted to the northern Gulf of California, Mexico. Vaquitas are dying due to accidental entanglement in gillnets used to capture Totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), a large fish, whose bladder is a highly prized commodity on the Chinese market. Both the Vaquita and the Totoaba are classified as Critically Endangered on The IUCN Red List.

“Extinction will occur within the next few years unless gillnet fishing is completely suspended in the Exclusion Zone recommended by CIRVA without delay,” says Justin Cooke, CSG member and Official IUCN Observer to the IWC, “Because of the high‐value illegal international trade in Totoaba, the main target of part of the gillnet fishery, strict enforcement is required.”

The establishment last year of the Advisory Commission to the Presidency of Mexico for Recovery of the Vaquita reflects the serious concern at high levels, but unfortunately the conservation measures taken to date by Mexican authorities and other stakeholders have not been sufficient to halt the decline in Vaquita numbers.

IUCN is therefore urging the responsible authorities to implement the latest CIRVA recommendations without delay, and is calling upon IWC members to provide Mexico with whatever assistance is needed.

It is particularly crucial for the governments of the USA and China to increase efforts to prevent the illegal Totoaba trade into or through their territory, noting that the species is listed on CITES Appendix I (which prohibits international trade for commercial purposes), and that the nets used to capture this large fish are known to be deadly for Vaquitas as bycatch.

While the longer‐term solution will likely involve the scaling up of Vaquita‐safe fishing technologies, it is essential that gillnet fishing within the proposed Exclusion Zone be ended now in order to avert the extinction of the species.

The 65th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) is being held in Portorož, Slovenia, from 15 to 18 September 2014.

Source:  Mbl.is

The EU, its 28 Mem­ber States and the gov­ern­ments of the United States, Aus­tralia, Brazil, Is­rael, Mex­ico, Monaco and New-Zealand, de­clare their op­po­si­tion to the fact that the Ice­landic gov­ern­ment still per­mits com­mer­cial whal­ing, in par­tic­u­lar the hunt­ing of fin whales and the sub­se­quent trad­ing of fin whale prod­ucts.

The EU's Am­bas­sador to Ice­land, Matthias Brinkmann, along with the diplo­matic rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the United States, France, Ger­many and the UK de­liv­ered a de­marche to this ef­fect to the Ice­landic gov­ern­ment this morn­ing.

The Am­bas­sador also pointed out that pub­lic opin­ion in the coun­tries that are Ice­land's main trad­ing part­ners is very much against the prac­tise of whal­ing.

This is ev­i­denced by the pub­lic pres­sure put on com­pa­nies around the world to boy­cott Ice­landic goods, not to men­tion the pres­sure that vot­ers and var­i­ous or­gan­i­sa­tions put on their politi­cians, en­cour­ag­ing them to send Ice­land an in­creas­ingly stronger mes­sage.

JOINT DE­MARCHE BY THE EU­RO­PEAN UNION, ITS MEM­BER STATES AND THE GOV­ERN­MENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMER­ICA, AUS­TRALIA, BRAZIL, IS­RAEL, MEX­ICO AND NEW ZEALAND

"We, the Eu­ro­pean Union and its Mem­ber States and the Gov­ern­ment of the United States of Amer­ica, Aus­tralia, Brazil, Is­rael, Mex­ico and New Zealand, wish to ex­press our strong op­po­si­tion to Ice­land's con­tin­u­ing and in­creased com­mer­cial har­vest of whales, par­tic­u­larly fin whales, and to its on­go­ing in­ter­na­tional trade in whale prod­ucts.

Ice­land is well known for its re­spon­si­ble ma­rine re­source man­age­ment prac­tices; how­ever, we are deeply dis­ap­pointed with the Ice­landic Gov­ern­men­t’s con­tin­ued au­tho­riza­tion of the hunt­ing of fin and minke whales.

The au­tho­riza­tions have been put in place with­out pre­sen­ta­tion to the In­ter­na­tional Whal­ing Com­mis­sion (IWC) and with­out re­gard for the long term in­ter­ests of cetacean con­ser­va­tion. We are es­pe­cially trou­bled by Ice­land's har­vest of 125 fin whales in 2009, 148 fin whales in 2010, and 134 fin whales in 2013, all of which are a sig­nif­i­cant in­crease from the seven fin whales har­vested over the 20 years prior to 2009.

The cur­rent 5 year quota of 770 fin whales is con­sid­ered un­sus­tain­able un­der IWC stock as­sess­ment meth­ods.

We en­cour­age the Gov­ern­ment of Ice­land to ad­here to the in­ter­na­tion­ally agreed mora­to­rium on com­mer­cial whal­ing and to re-ex­am­ine the de­ci­sion to con­tinue to is­sue fin and minke whale quo­tas.

We also ob­ject to Ice­land's in­ter­na­tional trade in whale prod­ucts. Fin whales and minke whales are listed un­der the Con­ven­tion on In­ter­na­tional Trade in En­dan­gered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and we re­main ex­tremely con­cerned with Ice­land’s reser­va­tion, en­tered in 2000, for these and other cetacean species.

We urge Ice­land to with­draw this reser­va­tion and safe­guard these species from in­ter­na­tional com­mer­cial trade. We are not con­vinced that Ice­land's har­vest and sub­se­quent trade of fin whales meets any do­mes­tic mar­ket de­mand or need; it also un­der­mines ef­fec­tive in­ter­na­tional cetacean con­ser­va­tion ef­forts

We rec­og­nize the con­ser­va­tion ef­forts made by Ice­land un­der other in­ter­na­tional agree­ments and hope the Ice­landic Gov­ern­ment will be able to ex­tend this stance to fully sup­port global ef­forts for cetacean con­ser­va­tion. Fur­ther­more, we would like to draw at­ten­tion to the con­sid­er­able eco­nomic, so­cial and ed­u­ca­tional ben­e­fits of Ice­land’s grow­ing whale watch­ing in­dus­try as a pos­si­ble al­ter­na­tive to com­mer­cial whal­ing.

We hope the Ice­landic Gov­ern­ment will se­ri­ously con­sider the ben­e­fits of elim­i­nat­ing com­mer­cial whal­ing and re­turn to its pre­vi­ous po­si­tion of ac­cep­tance of the mora­to­rium on com­mer­cial whal­ing that was put in place by the In­ter­na­tional Whal­ing Com­mis­sion in 1986.

In sum­mary, we once again call upon Ice­land to re­spect the IW­C’s global mora­to­rium and end its com­mer­cial whal­ing and in­ter­na­tional trade in whale prod­ucts."

Source:  Advocacy.britannica.com

By Earthjustice

A coalition of conservation groups has placed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) on notice that they intend to bring a lawsuit to hold the agency accountable for failing to produce and implement a valid recovery plan for the imperiled Mexican gray wolf. With only 83 individuals and five breeding pairs in the wild, Mexican gray wolves remain at serious risk of extinction. Recovery planning and implementation, legally required under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), are necessary to ensure the lobos’ survival.

Earthjustice is representing Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, retired Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator David R. Parsons, the Endangered Wolf Center and the Wolf Conservation Center. The Service developed a document it labeled a “Recovery Plan” in 1982—but the Service itself admits that this document was incomplete, intended for only short-term application, and “did not contain objective and measurable recovery criteria for delisting as required by [the Endangered Species Act].” Most importantly, the 32-year-old document did not provide the necessary science-based roadmap to move the Mexican gray wolf toward recovery.

A plan which included genetic analysis and called for three interconnected populations totaling at least 750 animals as criteria for delisting was finally drafted by a Service-appointed recovery team in 2011, but has never been finalized.

Extensive scientific evidence, including research and analysis conducted by the Service’s own recovery team, is available to guide successful recovery planning.

Background The Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)—the “lobo” of Southwestern lore—is the most genetically distinct lineage of wolves in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the most endangered mammals in North America. By 1980, hunting and trapping caused the extinction of lobos in the wild, with only a handful remaining in captivity. In 1998 the wolves were reintroduced into the wild as part of a federal reintroduction program under the Endangered Species Act. Today in the U.S., there is a single wild population comprising only 83 individuals, all descendants of just seven wild founders of a captive breeding program. These wolves are threatened by illegal killings, legal removals due to conflicts with livestock, and a lack of genetic diversity.

The Service has never written or implemented a legally sufficient Mexican gray wolf recovery plan. The Service’s most recent recovery team has done extensive, rigorous work to determine what needs to be done to save the Mexican gray wolf. Recovery team scientists, agree that in order to survive, lobos require the establishment of at least three linked populations. The habitats capable of supporting the two additional populations are in the Grand Canyon ecoregion and in northern New Mexico/southern Colorado.

In July 2014, the Fish and Wildlife Service published a proposed revision of the rules governing management of Mexican gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal includes provisions that would allow for increased take—or killing—of the critically endangered animals, and proposes to pick up wolves dispersing north of Interstate 40, which would prohibit the establishment of additional populations called for by recovery planners. The proposal is not based on a legitimate recovery plan.

Case Updates

• September 10, 2014: Legal Document
  Mexican Gray Wolf: 60-day Notice of Intent
• September 10, 2014: Press Release Coalition to Sue Fish and Wildlife Service for Failure to Produce Mandatory Recovery Plan for Endangered Mexican Gray Wolf
  Federal agency still reliant on incomplete, deficient 1982 plan for the rare wolves
  

Source:  Theanimalspost.com

Pet dog Max was found with both eyes gouged out last month in Yucatan, Mexico.

The family said the six-month-old had gone missing the day before they found him near a wasteland behind a school in Tizimin, yelping.

After an emergency examination, vets said the cocker-dachshund mix had also suffered sexual abuse.

Max had to be put to sleep right away to prevent further suffering.

Max’s family, together with activist Doris Canul Chan, reported the incident to the police the next day.

Authorities are still trying to locate the aggressors. Video.