Page 28 - AT

A28 SCIENCE
Wednesday 16 January 2019
APNewsBreak: Agency built pen for possible horse slaughter

By SCOTT SONNER block the sale of the hors-
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The U.S. es captured in the Modoc
Forest Service has built its National Forest in October
first corral for wild horses, and November for possible
which could allow it to by- slaughter. The new pen is in
pass federal restrictions the forest, about 170 miles
and sell the animals for (273 kilometers) northwest
slaughter. of Reno.
The agency acknowl- Forest Service Chief Vicki
edged in court filings in Christiansen announced
a potentially precedent- late last year she would
setting legal battle that it postpone any sales for
built the new pen in North- slaughter until at least Feb.
ern California for mustangs 18. The protection groups
gathered in the fall on na- say it would be the first time
tional forest land along the in nearly a half-century the
Nevada border because government has sold mus-
of restrictions on such sales tangs "without limitation," or
at other federal holding fa- for any purpose, including
cilities. slaughter.
The agency denies claims Horse slaughterhouses are
by horse advocates it has prohibited in the U.S. but le-
made up its mind to sell the gal in many other countries,
more than 250 horses for including Canada, Mexico
slaughter. But it also says it and parts of Europe where
may have no choice be- horse meat is considered a
cause of the high cost of In this June 5, 2013 photo, some of the hundreds of mustangs the U.S. Bureau of Land Manage- delicacy.
housing the animals and ment removed from federal rangeland peer at visitors at the BLM's Palomino Valley holding facility The Wild Free Roaming
continued ecological im- about 20 miles north of Reno in Palomino Valley, Nev. Horse and Burros Act that
pacts it claims overpopu- Associated Press President Nixon signed into
lated herds are having on law in 1971 prohibits the in-
federal rangeland. what is universally recog- cattle and sheep grazing mustangs are federally pro- humane destruction of wild
"While slaughtering wild nized as a natural catastro- across the U.S. West. The tected and that taxpayers horses. Congress approved
horses does not present a phe." region holds roughly 90,000 subsidize the livestock graz- an appropriations amend-
pleasant picture, the real- Horse advocates have wild horses. ing on U.S. land. ment in 2004 that allows
ity of this dire situation is been suing the government A sharp reduction in de- A hearing is scheduled the Forest Service, under its
not pleasant," Justice De- for two decades over mus- mand in recent years for Jan. 31 in federal court in parent Agriculture Depart-
partment lawyers repre- tang roundups that private a federal program that San Francisco on a motion ment, to sell horses without
senting the agency wrote ranchers say are neces- offers the horses for adop- filed by the Animal Legal limitations if they're over
in its most recent filing last sary to curb growing herds tion to the public has left Defense Fund and Ameri- age 10 and have been of-
month. "The Forest Service that reduce the forage on little room in existing corrals. can Wild Horse Campaign fered for adoption three
is taking a step to reduce federal lands they lease for Horse advocates argue the seeking an injunction to times unsuccessfully.q

Australian state to pump

oxygen into rivers as fish die

By ROD McGUIRK had been bought and were allowing irrigators to
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) would be placed in various take too much water from
— An Australian state drought-affected water- the Murray-Darling Basin,
government on Tuesday ways after they are deliv- Australia's main river sys-
announced plans to me- ered by Wednesday. tem, which winds across
chanically pump oxygen "They are a Band-Aid solu- four states and is where a
into lakes and rivers after tion; we admit that," Blair third of the nation's food is
This image made from a video taken on Jan. 7, 2019, shows hundreds of thousands of told reporters. produced.
dead fish along the Darling River bank in Menindee, New South
Wales, Australia. fish have died in heatwave "Nothing will stop this fish kill Water experts were meet-
Associated Press conditions. unless we get proper river ing in Canberra on Tuesday
Up to a million dead fish flows and water levels in to decide how the nation
were found floating last our dams back up to nor- should respond to the wa-
week in the Darling River in mal. We are doing every- ter quality crisis.
western New South Wales thing we can to try and lim- Australian National Univer-
state and the state gov- it the damage," he added. sity water expert Daniel
ernment announced that Experts blame heatwave Connell said many more
1,800 more rotting fish had conditions across much of fish would likely die with
since been found in Lake Australia, drought and al- heatwave conditions fore-
Hume in the state's south. gal blooms for starving wa- cast to continue until the
Minister for Regional Wa- terways of oxygen. weekend.
ter Niall Blair said 16 bat- Blair rejected some criti- "It's a very predictable cri-
tery-powered aerators cisms that governments sis," Connell said.q