Monarchs Soar Again

Mexico - Monarch butterflies made headlines last year when millions froze to death on their southern migration to Mexico. This year, the monarchs returned to Mexico in the hundreds of millions. Mexico, Canada and the US have signed an agreement to protect the monarch's 5,000-kilometer (3,000 mile) migratory path. But there is growing concern about declining supplies of the monarch's favorite food: milkweed. Ranchers in both the US and Canada are systematically eradicating milkweed, claiming that the plant poses a health hazard to cattle.

Things Not Always What They Sashimi

Japan - Researchers at Kamogawa Sea World, southeast of Tokyo, have placed a wireless transmitter and small generator on the back of Duke, a captive, 11 foot-long beluga whale. The experimental radio-tag is capable of sending data to communication satellites. Japan hopes to stick these devices on blue whales in the Atlantic Ocean to help bolster Japan's claim that it is conducting "sustainable" whaling. Once again, Japan's entertainment and whaling industries are working together to exploit marine mammals.

Grief for Geraniums

Spain - A voracious caterpillar spreading northward through North Africa and southern Europe has devastated geraniums in Spain. The caterpillar of the geranium bronze butterfly is less destructive in its native South Africa, where local parasites and predators keep it in check. But in Europe, where most Barcelona geraniums show signs of infestation, only extreme cold can stop the caterpillar's spread.

Crooked Circus Juggles Animals

Mozambique - Some of Africa's traveling circuses serve as fronts for trafficking in endangered animals. Last year, officials in Maputo discovered cages filled with dozens of starving, abandoned circus animals - including lions, tigers and an African python (all protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). The number of animals in the Akef Circus, owned by Egyptian businessman El Sayed Hussein Akef, mysteriously increased or declined during its travels. In 1993, the circus entered Uganda with two chimpanzees and attempted to leave with six. On another occasion, the circus entered Uganda with one parrot and left with nine. (British and South African conservation and animal welfare groups have found homes for the malnourished Maputo animals.)

Wild Ostriches in Decline

Tanzania - Safari operators and tour guides in Tanzania have been noticing fewer wild ostriches in their traditional ranges. The decline is partly attributed to the growing number of largely unregulated ostrich farms, which alledgedly poach young ostriches and eggs from the wild. African farmers anticipate a growing US and European demand for the meat, touted as a delicious, low-calorie alternative to beef.

Poppies Threaten National Park

Colombia - Anti-drug authorities estimate that, since 1991, heroin traffickers have deforested 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of the Sierra de Perija National Park to plant poppy fields. The flower invasion threatens the park's rare howler and capuchin monkeys, spectacled bears, wood storks and giant anteaters. The drug barons are enticed by the park's rich soil and its remote location - perched on a mountain ridge along the Colombia-Venezuela border.

Parrot Smuggler Caged

Miami - Adolph "Buzz" Pare, convicted of smuggling 4,000 African gray parrots from their wild habitat in Zaire, was sentenced in July to a year in prison and fined $300,000. Pare obtained the birds for around $85 each and sold them in the US to wholesalers for $600 to $1000 each. Wildlife experts say Pare's smuggling impaired the parrot's population.

Bile Farms Decrease

China - More than 7,500 Asiatic bears languish in small cages, implanted with gall bladder taps that drain their bile - a key ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. Since 1994, however, the number of bears on China's bile farms has dropped by 24 percent, due to campaigning by animal welfare groups and falling demand. The International Fund for Animal Welfare is issuing medical kits to safely remove the bile taps and is finding homes for freed bears.

Dissection Rebellion

US - California, Florida, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania now require schools to offer biology classes that do not involve dissection. The vivisection rebellion was sparked in 1987, when California highschool student Jennifer Graham sued her school for not offering an alternative to dissecting dead animals. About six million animals still are killed every year for academic inquiry. The Anti-Vivisection Society sponsors a toll-free number - (800) 922-3764 - for students facing academic troubles for their opposition to dissection.

Pachyderms vs Pineapples

Thailand - Sick and dying elephants are worrying officials in Kui Buri National Park, the country's largest park. Conservationists are unsure if local pineapple farmers are poisoning the elephants or if the animals are accidentally ingesting herbicides and pesticides used in the fields. Since the 1970s, 12,000 acres have been cleared illegally for pineapple plantations. Thai authorities are considering evicting villagers who are farming illegally. Meanwhile, in southern India, conservationists and farmers are confronting a similar problem in a more creative manner: They are collaborating to dig a 110-mile moat to keep elephants away from farmland.

Gripes about Pipes

Thailand - Controversy continues over the stalled construction of the Yahada oil pipeline (a project of US-based Unocal and France-based Total) running from Burma to Thailand. Spurred by the oil companies promise of $400 million in yearly revenues, the oppressive Burmese regime has driven ethnic communities from the path of the pipeline. Burma also stands accused of using forced labor to build the pipeline. Environmentalists argue that the pipeline will destroy large tracks of Thailand's protected western forest ecosystem, the only known home of the rare Kitti-hog-nosed bat - the world's smallest mammal. Under a contract signed with the Petroleum Authority of Thailand, Burma's military dictators will have to pay heavy fines to Thailand if the oil is not delivered by 1998.