Tag: direct killing

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Pup shot dead on Evia, Greece

A young female monk seal has been shot and killed on the Aegean island of Evia, reports Greek NGO MOm. An onsite necropsy by the organisation’s rescue team indicated that the still nursing pup had been in good nutritional health before being shot in the head with a hunting rifle by “person or persons unknown” on 16 February.

The killing comes 10 months after the shooting of a male pup in the same area. “Markos“, who suffered horrific head wounds as a result of the attack on 27 April 2010, quickly succumbed to its injuries despite intensive care at MOm’s seal rescue unit on Alonnisos.

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Facing the Monachus Conspiracy

Media Watch, Thomas Schultze-Westrum, EcoCommunications, August 1, 2010

Seals and coastal fishermen face identical threats, more than just the rapid depletion of fish resources by exploitive trawlers…

“Indiscriminate seal killers” …  With this unjust accusation against the coastal fishermen – our allies from the beginning – the Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal (MOm) and their associates have demonstrated clearly their incompetence and regardless diffamation [sic], actually the total failure of their strategy. Because, at the time when MOm was founded, already there existed a full collaboration between the cooperative of the fishermen of Alonnisos and the conservation movement on behalf of the seals – see the “Declaration by the Fishermen of Alonnisos” of 1982 below. By this consensus the seals had become valued allies of the fishermen, in their function as guarantors of exclusive fishing rights in the coastal waters of the archipelago.

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Οι φώκες δεν είναι δέντρα…

Press Watch, TO BHMA Online (ΝΙΚΟΣ ΧΑΣΑΠΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ), July 25, 2010

Η παρ΄ ολίγον ενδοκυβερνητική «κρίση» όταν η κυρία Τίνα Μπιρμπίλη ζήτησε από την κυρία Κατερίνα Μπατζελή να απαγορευθεί η αλιεία στις περιοχές όπου υπάρχουν φώκες

Η μεσογειακή φώκια, το συμπαθές αυτό προστατευόμενο θαλάσσιο θηλαστικό, ήλθε ξαφνικά μεσούντος του θέρους να ταράξει τα ήδη ταραγμένα νερά στις ενδοκυβερνητικές διαμάχες. Δύο ωραίες κυρίες του Υπουργικού Συμβουλίου, στην προσπάθειά τους να κατοχυρώσουν τις όποιες αρμοδιότητες κι αν έχουν στο θαλάσσιο περιβάλλον, έπεσαν πάνω στη φώκια και έφθασαν μάλιστα στο σημείο να τη χαρακτηρίσουν ακόμη και… δέντρο. Η υπουργός Περιβάλλοντος, Ενέργειας και Κλιματικής Αλλαγής κυρία Τίνα Μπιρμπίλη και η υπουργός Αγροτικής Ανάπτυξης και Τροφίμων κυρία Κατερίνα Μπατζελή άρχισαν αιφνιδίως να αλληλογραφούν τι θα γίνει με τις φώκες και πώς αυτές θα περισωθούν. Ωσάν να έμειναν και πολλές στη Μεσόγειο. Ούτε καν 450, από τις οποίες οι 250 ζουν στα νερά της Ελλάδας και της Τουρκίας. […]

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An epidemic of killings

Editorial, The Monachus Guardian, June 2010

It is hard to imagine anyone not being moved by the tragic tale of ‘Markos’ – the young Mediterranean monk seal who was brought into intensive care, struggling for life, but horribly mutilated by the bullet that shattered his jaw and nasal cavity.

Possibly it was a blessing in disguise that, despite the valiant attempts to save him, he ultimately succumbed to his injuries, for it seemed doubtful that he would ever swim, dive, or grace the Aegean again.

The killing of monk seals in Greece, according to national NGO MOm, is reaching “epidemic proportions”.

The organisation has recorded 15 deaths since January, 5 of which yielded conclusive evidence of deliberate killing. Another killing by gunfire was reported in Turkey on the Bodrum peninsula on 21 April. With other killings just as likely to go undetected along remote coastlines, the final death toll is anybody’s guess.

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Harming monk seals now a felony under Hawaii law

Media Watch, Hawaii News Now, 10 June 2010
Lt. Governor James "Duke" Aiona

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii has toughened penalties against people who harm endangered species, in particular against those who would harm the critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal. Lt. Governor James “Duke” Aiona signed Senate Bill 2441 into law Tuesday morning at the State Capitol. The law takes effect immediately.

“It was a community effort […] many, many other people stepped forward and said enough is enough. We need to make this a real crime. Hopefully other people will think twice about hurting and harming monk seals,” state Senator Gary Hooser said.

The new law adds additional punishment beyond the federal Endangered Species Act, imposing a fine of up to $50,000 and five years in prison on anyone who harms a monk seal. It also makes it a felony under Hawaii law to harass, harm or kill any endangered or threatened species. […]

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Endangered Hawaiian monk seal given stronger protection under new Hawaii law

Media Watch, Derek Paiva, Hawaii Magazine, 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.[…]

Though the new law covers all Hawaii animals protected by the Endangered Species Act, stronger protection of the endemic Hawaiian monk seal was the primary goal of lawmakers who drafted the bill.

Last year, a Kauai resident intentionally shot and killed a pregnant monk seal that was sunning on a beach where he wanted to go fishing. Though the maximum penalty under the Federal Endangered Species Act law specifies fines of up to $50,000 and a year in prison, the man—who pled guilty—was sentenced to 90 days in federal lock-up and a $25 fine.

An autopsy of an adult monk seal found dead in the offshore waters of Molokai by a fisherman last December also determined that the animal had been intentionally killed. The death is still under investigation. […]

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