Tag: direct killing

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Endangered Hawaiian monk seal given stronger protection under new Hawaii law

Press Watch, Hawai’i Magazine.com, 9 June 2010

A bill seeking tougher penalties for anyone caught intentionally harming the Hawaiian monk seal, or other endangered Hawaii species, became state law this week.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona signed Senate Bill 2441 into law, making the intentional harassing, harming or killing of a monk seal—or any endangered or threatened Hawaii species—a class C felony. The new Hawaii law extends punishment already imposed by violations of the federal Endangered Species Act, to include a fine of up to $50,000 and five years in prison. […]

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Just published: Monachus Guardian June 2010

Just published: the June 2010 issue of The Monachus Guardian, the biannual journal focusing on the Mediterranean, Hawaiian and Caribbean monk seals.

This issue of The Monachus Guardian brings a special focus to the Mediterranean monk seals shot and dynamited in the Eastern Mediterranean since January. What is actually being done to eliminate the single most serious mortality threat confronting the species?

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CURRENT ISSUE:

Editorial: An epidemic of killings.

Hawaiian News: Seal numbers continue to dive…

Mediterranean News: Greece: Alarming numbers of dead seals… Mauritania: Record births at Cabo Blanco… Turkey: Monk seal deaths in the Turkish Aegean… New population size assessment study in the NE Mediterranean…

Cover Story: Markos’ Case: Trauma, treatment, and reflections, by Emily Joseph.

In Focus I: Monk seal killed by dynamite blast in the Aegean, by Anastasia Miliou.

In Focus II: Nefeli’s rehabilitation: methods, results, and challenges, by Emily Joseph.

Perspectives: The world’s two remaining monk seal species: how many different ways are there of being Critically Endangered? by Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara.

Research: Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus, re-sighted along the Israeli coastline after more than half a century, by Aviad Scheinin, Oz Goffman, Mia Elasar and Dani Kerem…

Recent Publications.

The current and back issues of The Monachus Guardian are also available from the Monk Seal Library <http://www.monachus-guardian.org/library.htm>.

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Young seal shot in Greece

Killings reaching ‘epidemic proportions’

A young Mediterranean monk seal remains in critical condition after being shot on the Aegean island of Evia, Greece.

The incident follows a spate of reported monk seal killings in Greece.

Greek monk seal protection NGO MOm dispatched a rescue team to the site after receiving an alert from the Port Police Authority on 27 April.

Estimated at 4 months of age, the male weaned pup was found stranded on the secluded beach of Madoudi in northern Evia. Initial examination on site revealed that it had suffered severe trauma, the bullet entering one side of the head and cutting through the animal’s nasal cavity, before exiting on the other.

Following emergency first aid, the pup was transferred to the Veterinary School of the University of Thessalonica, for further examination and treatment by Professor Natassa Komninou and MOm personnel.

X-rays confirmed that ‘Markos’ — as the pup was subsequently named by MOm — suffered a bullet wound to the head, resulting in the loss of his right eye and a serious fracture to his upper jaw.

Continue reading “Young seal shot in Greece”

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Monk seal’s death on Molokai investigated as deliberate killing

Press Watch, Honolulu Advertiser, December 17, 2009

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service’s Office of Law Enforcement is investigating the recent death of an endangered Hawaiian monk seal on Molokai as a deliberate killing.

An adult male monk seal was discovered dead on Monday, southeast of Kaunakakai, said David Schofield, with NOAA’s Pacific Island Regional Office’s marine mammal response program.

A necropsy of the seal on Tuesday determined that it had been killed intentionally, Schofield said. […]

Anyone with information about the seal’s death is encouraged to call NOAA’s 24-hour enforcement hot line at 800-853-1964. […]

This year on Kauai, two Hawaiian monk seals have been deliberately killed, alarming conservationists who are working hard to preserve the rare seals, which are found only in Hawaii. The wild population of the seals is 1,200 or less and dropping 4 percent a year. […]

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Reward offered for info on slaying of monk seal

Press Watch, Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 9, 2009
A sleeping RK19
A sleeping RK19

Federal officials are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer of an endangered Hawaiian monk seal on Kauai in April.

The 5-year-old male seal [RK19] was found dead from foul play on a remote beach near Kaumakani, on the west side of the island, on April 19, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement.

“The killing of this endangered Hawaiian monk seal is not only a violation of federal law, but a crime against all the people who call Hawaii their home,” said Special Agent in Charge William Pickering, of NOAA OLE’s Pacific Islands Division. “It is our hope that this reward will bring someone forward that can supply us with the information needed to arrest and convict those who would commit such a heinous act.” […]

It is illegal to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect any endangered species, according to NOAA. Violations can result in criminal and civil penalties of not more than $50,000, a term of imprisonment of one year or both.

Anyone with information about the case can contact the NOAA enforcement hot line at (800) 853-1964.

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