Annual Report 2003.pdf - International Fund for Animal Welfare

IFAW 2003: Making a Difference... with Hands-on Rescue
ANIMALS IN DANGER
This year the world’s biggest marine
mammal hunt grew even larger. Despite
national and international opposition,
the Canadian government raised the
quota for the slaughter to 975,000 seals
over a three-year period.
Authorities persist in their campaign
to make seals the scapegoats for waste
and mismanagement in the fishing
industry, and some politicians on the
West Coast are demanding a commercial
seal hunt there as well.
In response, ifaw is sounding a
global alarm about Canada’s plans to
cull the seal herd, and working with
6
Seal cubs facing hunters’ clubs. Animals
su∑ering in captivity. Oiled birds clinging to life.
oil spill, spain
ifaw’s er team helped
clean and care for
more than a thousand
birds following the
Prestige spill. ifaw is
working to improve contingency
plans and
strengthen legislation to
prevent these disasters.
© ifaw/j.wright
IFAW rushes in.
governments worldwide to exert pressure
on Canada to stop the unsustainable
slaughter. Through scientific research,
political lobbying, and public education,
we will continue to fight for an end to all
commercial sealing in Canada.
SEABIRDS SAVED FROM GIANT
OIL SPILL
When the tanker Prestige sank o∑ the
northwest coast of Spain in November
2002, ifaw’s er team—made up of vets
and wildlife rehabilitation experts from
eight countries—was called in to help
with the disaster. Working side-by-side
with the Xunta, Spain’s regional wildlife
authority, the team cleaned hundreds
of oiled birds, including rare and
endangered species. ifaw established
and outfitted a temporary rehabilitation
center in Pontevedra where specialists
and volunteers worked through Christmas
and the New Year to clean the birds
of the heavy fuel oil and help them
regain their strength prior to release
back into the wild.
As the oil spread to France’s shores,
e∑orts to rehabilitate birds continued.
ifaw was called in by the French Union
for Rehabilitation Centers for Saving
Wildlife to provide technical assistance
and oversee the rescue operation when
oil-stricken birds started washing up
there. The rehabilitation center in
Mont de Marsan in southwest France
handled about 350 oiled seabirds,
including guillemots, gannets, pu≈ns,
and razorbills.
The Prestige spill, even larger than
the Exxon Valdez spill, compelled the