pstrongCheers /strongto Dutchess County, N.Y., residents who are working with a Rhinecliff-based attorney to push the state legislature to pass a bill that would place a moratorium on the Department of Environmental Conservationrsquo;s plan to eradicate mute swans./ppThe DEC claims the species is an invasive one and poses a potential threat to important ecosystems. In December, it announced a plan to eliminate free-ranging mute swans from the state by 2025./ppThe DEC says mute swans can exhibit aggressive behavior toward people, displace native wildlife species, degrade water quality, threaten aviation and destroy submerged aquatic vegetation./ppimg alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Mute_Swan_Osaka.jpg” style=”width: 350px; height: 234px; margin: 8px; float: right;” //ppBut the birds#39; supporters, like Friends of Animals, say the state is overestimating the dangers./ppThe flimsy attempt to blame 2,200 mute swans for causing significant environmental damage throughout all of New York State is laughable and lacks scientific evidence. On the contrary, human activity involved in contemporary agricultural methods is a much greater hazard to waterways.nbsp;/ppWhile the diet of mute swans consists of SAV, studies have shown that runoff from fertilizers, pesticides and animal waste contribute significantly to the loss of SAV in other areas, like the Chesapeake Bay. Since mute swans constitute only about one half of one percent of the approximately 400,000 waterfowl in New York nbsp;counted by the DEC, and the nearly half a million waterfowl also consume aquatic vegetation, killing a relatively small population of mute swans will not contribute significantly to SAV recovery./ppThe moratorium bill is working its way through both houses of the state legislature. The Rhinecliff attorney is hopeful it will come to a vote before the current legislative session ends in June./ppThe bill is sponsored in the Senate by Tony Avella, a Queens Democrat, and in the Assembly by Steven Cymbrowitz, a Brooklyn Democrat./ppimg alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/TakeActionLittle.jpg” style=”width: 192px; height: 49px;” //ppFoA is urging its NY members to a href=”http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/”contact their assembly members and senators/a and urge them to make bills strongS6589 /strongand strongA8790A /stronga priority for a floor vote in their conference sessions and for them to vote yes to pass it into law to protect NYrsquo;s mute swan./ppnbsp;/pdivnbsp;/divhr /pnbsp;/ppstrongJeers /strongto Animal Planetrsquo;s a href=”http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/monster-week”Monster Week/a episode called emMan Eating Super Wolves/em, which sensationalizes wolf attacks on humans, betrays these endangered animals and does nothing to educate the public on peacefully co-existing with wildlife or informingnbsp; people what to do if they do encounter a wild predator.img alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ap%20wolf.jpg” style=”width: 300px; height: 300px; margin: 8px; float: right;” //ppThe show included footage about the death of engineering student Kenton Carnegie, who was killed by a pack of wolves in northern Saskatchewan in Canada in 2005, the first ever documented case of a fatal wolf attack in the wild in North America. However it does not tell the whole storymdash;that witnesses told a jury at the coronerrsquo;s inquest that wild animals had been feeding at an unregulated garbage dump in the area and that concerns were expressed that wolves there had lost their natural fear of humans. The jury then made several recommendations to be passed on to the provincial government, including the need to establish safety standards at garbage dumps where predatory animals such as wolves and bears are found and to better educate workers and the public about wildlife./ppAnimal Planet should know better than to air such an irresponsible show especially since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service#39;s announced last June that its plans to strip away endangered species protection for gray wolves. Friends of Animals has been dealing with anti-wolf propaganda spouted by hunter lobbyist groups and other governmental agencies and its profoundly negative effect on the welfare and lives of these animals for years, but we expect more from Animal Planet./ppApparently, its viewers do too. We found this comment on social media, and we couldnrsquo;t agree more. emldquo;/ememWhat a shame. A channel that used to be about education and instilling a respect for nature has dropped to the lows of ridiculous hatred and fear mongering. Wolves, as with every other predator, are vital to an ecosystem and very rarely pose a threat to people. People should be more afraid of their neighbors than they should be of wolves, for people are far more needlessly violent. There is one thing I can thank Animal Planet for and that is giving me a reason to turn the TV off and find something else to do because this is pure crap.rdquo;/em/ppnbsp;/ppnbsp;/phr /pstrongCheers /strongto rock icon Debbie Harry, the singer-songwriter best known for being the leader of the punk rock band Blondie, for lending her voice to the campaign to ban horse-drawn carriages in New York City after a driver was charged for allegedly abusing a horse called Blondie.img alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/debbie%20harry.jpg” style=”width: 250px; height: 188px; margin: 8px; float: right;” //ppHarry has written a letter to 51 City Council members in the Big Apple to add her name to a growing list of notable figures demanding an end to the popular tourist attraction./ppIn her letter, she backs up her calls for a ban by highlighting the case of a carriage driver who was charged with animal cruelty last year for allegedly neglecting a horse with the same name as her iconic band./ppIn the note, obtained by New York Post gossip column a href=”http://pagesix.com/2014/05/20/debbie-harry-supports-horse-carriage-ban/”Page Six/a, she writes, A police officer noticed that Blondie was struggling to pull his carriage. When he questioned the driver, he learned that Blondie had been suffering from a serious leg injury for four days, but had been forced to work long shifts in hectic traffic./ppFriends of Animals has led the movement to ban the heartless carriage horse industrymdash;we made it an issue that demanded attention. Friends of Animals helped draft New York Senator Tony Avellarsquo;s ban legislation and we made sure that it included a crucial provision for each horse to be placed in a sanctuary once./ppNYC residents should contact their City Council members ASAP and tell them you support a ban on this cruel and outdated industry. You can find your a href=”http://council.nyc.gov/html/members/members.shtml”City Council member right here/a./phr /pnbsp;/ppDid you know that wildlife crime is the largest direct threat to the future of many of the worldrsquo;s most threatened species? It is second only to habitat destruction in overall threats against species survival.img alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/elephants.jpg” style=”width: 300px; height: 225px; margin: 8px; float: right;” //ppHaving said that, Friends of Animals has a strongcheers /strongto a small team of U.S. Marines who are the newest recruits in Chadrsquo;s efforts to stop a horrible string of poaching that has decimated the countryrsquo;s elephant population in recent years. A contingent of 15 troops from a special Marines task force will spend about a month in the central African nation, teaching approximately 100 of Chadrsquo;s park rangers military tactics that will help them combat heavily armed poachers in an effort to protect elephants. Chadrsquo;s elephant population dropped from more than 4,000 elephants in 2005 to just 450 in 2010 and, as a result, a href=”https://www.thedodo.com/chad-destroys-ivory-stockpile–438741778.html”the government has prioritized protection efforts./a/ppThis marks a first-time partnership conducted under Department of State foreign assistance authorities with the Chadian rangers, whose primary mission is anti-poaching. Those involved will also have collateral duties of border security and countering illicit trafficking within the sovereign territory of the Republic of Chad to help bring greater stability to the region./ppAccording to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, in 1979 there were an estimated 1.3 million African elephants. By 1989 only 600,000 remained. In 2010, the total had dropped to an estimated 470,000 according to IUCNrsquo;s African Elephant Specialist Group. Today, fewer than 400,000 remain; some authorities estimate the number to be considerably lower. The loss of nearly a million elephants in a decade was due primarily to illegal killing for ivory in the context of an international trade.nbsp;/ppAn estimate in 2009 derived from an analysis of ivory seizures put the number of elephants killed annually to supply the ivory trade at 38,000. If such a rate were to continue, elephants could be gone from most of their former range in a decade./ppIn addition to the ivory trade, another threat to elephants is the capture and sale of the animals for elephant-back safaris, zoos and circuses. South Africa, once the source of many wild-caught elephants (including the majority of the African elephants in U.S. and European zoos) has outlawed such capture. Yet other countries, including Burma, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania are still engaged in this practice.nbsp;/ppimg alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/billie.jpg” style=”width: 200px; height: 305px; margin: 8px; float: left;” //ppYou can help to put an end to the capture of wild elephants by not supporting circuses or zoos and instead supporting sanctuaries that provide homes for the animals once theyrsquo;ve been discarded, just as Primarily Primates, run by Friends of Animals, does for primates./ppThe Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., is the nation#39;s largest natural-habitat refuge developed specifically to meet the needs of endangered elephants. It is a non-profit organization, licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture designed specifically for old, sick or needy elephants who have been discarded by zoos and circuses. Utilizing more than 2,700 acres, it provides three separate and protected, natural-habitat environments for Asian and African elephants./ppIn an upcoming issue of Action Line we will have a book review of Carol Bradleyrsquo;s emLast Chain on Billie/em, which will be released in July. It tells the story of one of the elephants at Elephant Sanctuary and how she escaped a miserable life under the Big Top./pdivnbsp;/div