THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — The idea was for the National Zoo to establish a captive colony of endangered Virginia big-eared bats, to shield them from a deadly epidemic and ensure that there would be survivors should the wild population be destroyed.

But five months after the project began, most of the bats in the colony are dead, and a consultant hired by the zoo says it mishandled the animals and disregarded advice she gave that might have saved them.

“Mishandling of the bats resulted in broken fingers, soiled fur, skin infections … bruised legs … anorexia, capture myopathy and death,” the consultant, Missy Singleton, wrote in a report last December. (more…)

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CANTON, Texas — A judge has granted custody of more than 60 starving longhorn cattle to the SPCA in McKinney.

An attorney for the owner of the cattle said Tuesday’s decision will be appealed.

Van Zandt County Justice of the Peace Ronnie Daniell says the animals were “unreasonably deprived of food.” (more…)

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston’s Municipal Beautification Commission says it won’t oppose a request from People for the Ethical Treatment Animals to display a statue of a shackled, weeping elephant in the city.

But there are conditions.

The animal rights group has put the 4 1/2-foot fiberglass statue in cities around the country to protest what it calls animal cruelty in circuses. (more…)

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SARASOTA, Fla. — Marine researchers untangled a young dolphin from a web of plastic, and now the animal is swimming freely in Sarasota Bay.

A team of scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory’s Dolphin Research Program captured the calf on Monday. The plastic was wound around the baby’s body between her blow hole and pectoral fin.

The entangled calf was found on Feb. 19 during the staff’s survey of the dolphin population. Scientists said they couldn’t capture the animal because she and her mother were in deep, rough waters. (more…)

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ORLANDO, Florida — Rocky, a 700-pound grizzly considered one of the most gentle animals of all Hollywood’s performing beasts, bites down on the neck of a veteran trainer. Illusionist Roy Horn is severely mauled by a show tiger during a Las Vegas performance. An elephant at an Indonesian tourist resort tramples its longtime handler to death.

And now the latest — a 40-year-old trainer at SeaWorld Orlando is drowned by a killer whale named Tilikum, an incident that raises anew the question of whether some beasts, especially the biggest ones, have any business being tamed to entertain.

Descriptions of Tilikum, the 22-foot orca which has now killed two trainers, inevitably come around to his intimidating size. (more…)

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FRANKFORT, Ky. — In Kentucky, sleek thoroughbreds are venerated as a state symbol, but existence can be grim for some horses lacking such stellar bloodlines.

A group of veterinarians urged lawmakers Wednesday to create a state board to help ensure the health and safety of Kentucky’s equine population — from racehorses to plodders.

The measure won easy approval from the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee. (more…)

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CARSON CITY, Nev. — The federal Bureau of Land Management says it plans to allow people to adopt wild horses at reduced fees at an event in Carson City.

The BLM says the adoption event will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Silver Saddle Ranch.

Officials say would-be adopters can be approved on site, and the BLM is offering free delivery within 400 miles.

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Sixteen snakes, 26 lizards, five turtles, 10 red-spotted toads and 69 hamsters seized from an exotic animal dealer in Texas in December have arrived in Colorado.

They were delivered to the Larimer Humane Society on Wednesday.

The creatures were among about 27,000 that animal services workers took during a raid of U.S. Global Exotics in Arlington, Texas, in December. The animals had been housed in a 5,000-square-foot building where city officials say hundreds of animals were found dead or dying. (more…)

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SEATTLE — At least five sea lions, including one listed as endangered, were shot to death near Seattle, authorities said Friday.

One was a Steller sea lion protected by the federal Endangered Species Act. The remainder were smaller, more common California sea lions listed under the Marine Mammals Protection Act.

National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman Brian Gorman said an investigation was under way because it’s illegal in most cases to shoot any kind of sea lion. (more…)

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LAS VEGAS — Federal land managers said Monday they’ll delay a roundup of most of the nearly 600 wild horses in a range in eastern Nevada, at least until after the herd’s spring foaling season.

Advocates fighting to stop mustang roundups in the West said they think their threat to file a lawsuit stopped the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from beginning a roundup next week of almost 500 wild horses in the Eagle Herd Management Area.

“We’re pleased that the BLM has postponed another ill-conceived, illegal and inhumane wild horse roundup,” said William Spriggs, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer for In Defense of Animals based in San Rafael, Calif. (more…)

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DETROIT — The Detroit Zoo is serving as a sanctuary to more than 1,000 mammals, reptiles and spiders seized from a Texas exotic animal dealer.

The Macomb Daily reports that the 1,100 animals now at the Detroit Zoo home were among nearly 27,000 animals seized Dec. 15 in the nation’s largest exotic animal rescue effort.

After a judge ruled the animals will not be returned to U.S. Global Exotics, Detroit Zoo employees spent seven weeks helping care for the animals at a temporary site in Dallas. (more…)

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RENO, Nev. — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment on the proposed roundup of about 1,800 wild horses from the range north of Reno.

Agency spokesman Jeff Fontana said the roundup in the 800,000-acre Twin Peaks Herd Management Area is tentatively set for August and September.

About half of the area is in Washoe County and half is in Lassen County, Calif. (more…)

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RENO, Nev. — Federal land managers have finished a major roundup of wild horses from the range north of Reno, and are gearing up to remove thousands of more mustangs across the West.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials on Friday said 1,922 horses were removed from the Calico Mountains Complex in the roundup that was opposed by activists.

Agency spokeswoman JoLynn Worley said an estimated 600 horses remain in the complex, which is within the management level of 600 to 900 set for the area. (more…)

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HOUSTON — A judge in Houston has ordered 18 months in state jail for a man convicted over the 2008 killing of a tame deer known as Mr. Buck.

Brandon Eugene Gregory in August pleaded guilty to taking a wildlife resource without landowner consent in an incident involving the friendly deer in a sanctuary.

The remains of Mr. Buck were located on Nov. 25, 2008, at Bear Creek Pioneers Park. (more…)

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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Brand inspector Mike Walck won’t soon forget one of the worst cases of animal cruelty he has seen. In mid-November, between Rulison and Parachute, someone shot a horse in the head, leaving the gray gelding in his late teens or early 20s for dead. But the horse didn’t die.

“I don’t know why they were trying to kill the horse, but they damn sure shot it in the head,” Walck said angrily. “It’s a tough deal.”

Walck said the horse has been nursed back to health and is recovering. No arrests have been made in the case. (more…)

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SEATTLE — Alone, in the middle of Sylvia Lake, swims a prince without his princess.

For 25 years, Prince, a mute swan, has called Sylvia Lake home, and up until December 2007 he shared his days and nights with Princess. The two did everything together in this Gig Harbor community, including entertaining the locals, scaring away obnoxious Canada geese and hobnobbing with their duck friends.

Gordon Golob, who lives on the lake, remembers how Princess used to knock on his back door every morning to let him know she was ready for breakfast, while Prince would hang back and wait for his share. (more…)

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RENO, Nev. — Two environmental groups are joining ranchers in an unusual coalition supporting the government’s contentious removal of about 2,500 wild horses from the range north of Reno.

The Sierra Club and Friends of Nevada Wilderness, which have been at odds with ranchers on past issues, agree with the need for the ongoing roundup of mustangs in the Calico Mountain Complex.

The organizations, in a joint news release with the sportsmen groups Safari Club International and Coalition for Nevada’s Wildlife, said an over-population of mustangs is harming native wildlife and the range itself. (more…)

SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON — A man in an astronaut suit stood outside the National Air and Space Museum.

Normal enough, given the contents of the building before him. But he was not promoting an exhibit Thursday, nor was he affiliated with the museum. He and other People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals activists were brandishing signs and distributing pamphlets protesting a NASA program.

NASA is planning to radiate squirrel monkeys. (more…)

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FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — Police in a small northern Arizona city are investigating the deaths of two giraffes from Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, and two others likely will have to find new homes.

Freddie and Tom Hancock of Page acquired the giraffes as part of a plan to build a wildlife preserve on city property they leased in 2008 that also would house exotic birds, reptiles and a camel. (more…)

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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nine sea turtles rescued from the cold along the Gulf of Mexico have died as dozens of others are cared for at the Texas State Aquarium and a rehab site.

Experts say blankets and warm-water baths are being used to nurse about 40 sea turtles back to health after last week’s cold snap. (more…)

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RENO, Nev. — Sheryl Crow has spoken out against the war in Iraq and in support of embryonic stem-cell research and efforts to combat global warming. Now, she’s trying to ride to the rescue of thousands of wild horses that roam the West.

After campaigning for President Barack Obama in 2008, the Grammy-winning singer has become a leading critic of his administration’s plans to remove as many as 25,000 mustangs from the range and ship them to pastures in the Midwest and East. (more…)