skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Animal Rights Groups Oppose Importing 18 African Elephants to U.S.

play audio
Play

Monday, January 25, 2016   

DALLAS - A coalition of animal rights advocates is protesting a federal permit that allows the Dallas Zoo and two others in the U.S. to accept African elephants. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week approved a permit for the zoos to import 18 elephants from a government park in Swaziland, in part to make room for endangered rhinos at the park.

Carney-Anne Nasser, senior counsel for wildlife and regulatory affairs for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, says the permit violates international agreements.

"The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species prohibits the issuance of permits for use of animals such as African elephants for primarily commercial purposes," says Nasser. "And 'commercial purposes' are defined to include captive breeding programs."

The zoos in Omaha, Nebraska, and Wichita, Kansas, as well as Dallas would each get six of the elephants. African officials claim they are rescuing the animals from certain death because they cannot be sustained in their current environment, where there has been a severe drought.

However, Nasser says the elephants could be relocated to other wild preserves in Africa. She adds zoos have stated in the past they hope baby elephants produced under a planned breeding program will boost ticket sales.

"Pulling them out of their natural habitat and forcing them to live in tiny enclosures that bear no resemblance to the lives they would lead in the wild suggests unnecessary suffering that has no legitimate link to conservation."

The Animal Legal Defense Fund estimates if the 18 elephants are imported to the U.S., there will be fewer than 25 left in Swaziland. Nasser says her organization, along with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Performing Animal Welfare Society and others, are considering legal action to block the permits.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021