Updates …

Animals, May, 1999

Senator Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has promised to reintroduce a bill in the U.S. Senate to help stem the poaching of both Asian and American bears. If passed, the Bear Protection Act would ban the sale of a bear's internal organs, such as the gall bladder, used in tradional Asian medicine....

New Zealand may become the first nation to grant apes basic legal rights if an amendment to that country's animal-welfare law passes. The measure, backed by the Great Ape Project-International, would establish the animals' right to life, including freedom from torture and being experimented on. New Zealand does not use primates in research; however, advocates believe the amendment would promote acceptance in other countries.... The Oregon Wildlife Commission has voted to prohibit "canned" hunts of' "exotic mammals or game mammals." The commissioners, however, are considering a grandfather clause for the one operation in the state where customers can shoot animals confined on a ranch.... Canadian sealers attacked two journalists and an International Fund for Animal Welfare observer. A newsman was hit in the face with the handle of a hakapik, a club with a pick on the end. The observer was punched in the face.