Top 10 Animal Stories of 2009

12/18/2009

Gray wolves went from endangered to hunted in 2009/Credit US Fish & Wildlife Service

In any given year, thousands of stories come and go, but these ten animal-related made waves in one way or another. I chose some of these because of their importance conservation-wise, such as the emerging disease known as white nose syndrome which has devastated bats. Others, like First Dog Bo Obama may not be critically important “news” but this Portuguese water dog received his share of public attention!

Most of these topics I have written about since I started the blog in April, but some of the events occurred before that. I’m sure most of these stories will find their way back into the public awareness in the future. Reviewing the list, I think perhaps the saddest part is that most of these are not 'good news' stories. Perhaps it's the nature of news that what gets the most attention is the most tragic. Stay tuned for next week, though, when I will list the Top 10 stories of the decade; there are sure to be some more positive stories.

Gray wolves go from endangered to hunted

To many, wolves are symbols of all that is wild. And yet the U.S. has its fair share of wolf-haters. When the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service officially de-listed the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List in May, the news received two quite opposite reactions. Some hunters rejoiced, while conservationists decried the delisting as premature and appealed the decision in court. The Judge in the case has already suggested the decision will likely be reversed. Nevertheless, Montana and Idaho opened their borders for the first gray wolf hunting season in decades. The entire Cottonwood wolf pack from Yellowstone National Park was killed within a week of opening wolf hunting, possibly lured across state lines from Wyoming – where they’re still protected – to Montana. The good news in this story is that these gorgeous animals have truly started recovering, and that is a wonderful thing.

Pet chimp brutally attacks owner

On February 17th, Travis the chimp shocked the world when this 200-pound pet viciously attacked a woman, tearing off half of her face and both her hands. Charla Nash is lucky to be alive. It all happened when the 15-year old chimp, a former television animal actor who the Herolds raised practically as their child, had escaped from the house. His owner, Sandra Herold, called Nash to come help her coax Travis back into the house. But when Nash got out of her car, the chimp attacked. No one knows what caused the chimp to freak out but Travis didn’t survive the incident; police shot him. Nash appeared on the Oprah show in November to show her face to the world and give hope to others with disfigurements and the Nash Trust has been established to help pay for her reconstructive surgery, since she had no health insurance.

Global warming makes oceans acidic

Global warming affects more than just polar ice and deserts. Warming also affects the ocean – which covers the majority of the planet. The marine ecosystem seems out of whack, from odd increases in number of squid off of San Diego to explosions in numbers of giant jellyfish in Japan. But the most frightening issue is that the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide has caused oceans to become more acidic. This leaves shellfish such as oysters, coral reefs, zooplankton – which form the base of the entire oceanic food chain –unable to build reefs, shells, or exoskeletons. In August, Oceana released a report, Acid Test: Can We Save our Oceans from CO2? and their Board member Sally-Christine Rodgers urged the world to do something about this underappreciated problem.

Michael Vick released from prison

The former star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, Michael Vick, was found guilty of financing an illegal dog fighting ring in 2007. He served 19 months in a federal penitentiary and was released this May. Before he went to prison, he paid $1 million to care for the dogs that had previously been used in dogfighting. Now that he’s served his sentence, he’s trying to improve his image and gives talks on preventing animal cruelty around the nation, an effort sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States. In one of these talks, Vick said, “I should have known better. (Animals) have pains, they have feelings and they have emotions." The NFL lifted his suspension, and he got a new contract with the Philadelphia Eagles this year.

Dolphin slaughter in Japan

Ever since the documentary The Cove was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the situation with the dolphin slaughter in Japan has been in the news. This story follows former Flipper trainer Ric O’Barry to Taiji, Japan where he goes undercover to film what happens every year in a private cove. When slaughter season rolled around in September, the world watched, and waited. At first, nothing happened. Then a small number of dolphins were captured but only for the aquarium trade. Laterin the season, dolphins were killed but the film was shown at the Tokyo Film Festival, and changes are afoot with the increased global awareness of this situation. Meanwhile the film resulted in another positive change – the Japanese removed dolphin meat removed from school lunch menu due to research that revealed the meat’s sky-high mercury levels.

Where does your meat come from?

Food animals have been all over the news this year. The story is how we, as a society, raise cows, chickens, and pigs – the big three meats we eat – not to mention eggs. Is it humane enough? Several prominent people consider the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer a “game changer” as it lyrically and humorously describes one individual’s relationship to food, and particularly meat animals. It included his personal investigation into the conditions behind meat production, and his deliberations over whether to feed meat to his new son. Foer decided his answer was no. To him, the conditions were too inhumane and unhealthy. Not to mention, meat production is one of the world’s greatest contributors to global warming.

Bad economy has affected pets too

The economy’s decline has affected our furry friends, and their shelters. Most shelters across the nation have reached - or are near - full capacity since some people have to give up their pets to put food on the table. Compassionate folks have done innovative things, like opening a pet soup kitchen in Atlanta, and having a animal shelter wedding that helped raise funds for the animals there. Animal murders were in the news quite a bit for a while, too. Is this related to the floundering economy? Perhaps a result of desperation?

White Nose Syndrome devastates bats

One of the most important news stories of the year – and also the decade - involved the emergence and continued spread of the devastating white nose syndrome in bats. In 2009, scientists pinpointed a Geomyces fungus as most likely responsible for the deaths of hibernating bats across the northeast. This winter, as bats begin their hibernation, they’re dying in droves. Where it will spread over the winter is anyone’s guess.

The First Dog, Bo Obama

It was a year in which many people fell in love with the Obama family’s new dog, Bo. A Portuguese water dog, Bo was adopted by the First Family in April, when he was six months old. Bo was a gift from the late Senator Ted Kennedy who owned several “porties.” The pup is named after the late singer Bo Diddley. Interest in Portuguese water dogs soared, even though the dogs are not necessarily the easiest to care for. Some animal activists weren’t too happy that the Obamas didn’t adopt a shelter dog.

Python hunt begins in the Everglades

Burmese pythons don’t belong in the Florida Everglades, but they’ve become a major nuisance there. Most likely, people who couldn’t handle their pet snakes let them go wild, and they started breeding. Florida started the innovative and successful amnesty program that allows pet owners to turn in illegal or exotic animal “no questions asked” a few years ago (and this year Connecticut started their own), and this year biologists trained a python posse to track down and kill the snakes. While some oppose the hunt, most understand its necessity. The non-native pythons grow to massive sizes, wreak havoc on the treasured swamp ecosystem and even endanger young children; an escaped pet python killed a two-year old child in July, leading Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) to introduce a bill banning their importation.

Circus elephants maltreated

After their elephant trainers were exposed by secretly recorded video that aired around the world, Ringling Bros-Barnum & Bailey may never be viewed the same way by animal lovers. A PETA worker went undercover and videorecorded trainers beating and poking elephant babies and adults alike with sharp objects and whips. Biologists who study elephants know these highly intelligent and social animals require conditions akin to what humans need - space, companionship, kindness. And the pachyderms’ treatment by the circus trainers seems to lack these basics.