European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 14, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Bald eagles soar Back by Maura Dolan los Angeles times the american Bald Eagle whose population plummeted two decades ago has made such a dramatic recovery that Federal officials May soon declare it is no longer an endangered species in All or most of the United states. The downgrading in status from an Quot endangered Quot to a Quot threatened Quot species would mean that the nation s Symbol was no longer in immediate danger of extinction and protective actions could be relaxed. Millions of dollars have been spent to save the Eagle but experts credit an estimated sixfold increase in the Bird s population since the Early 1960s primarily to the 1972 Banning of Dot. The pesticide which continues to be used outside the United states causes Birds to Lay eggs with shells Are so thin that they break before hatching. The eagles reclassification to threatened which must be reviewed in Public hearings before a final decision is made would represent a stunning Victory in the costly and mostly losing Battle waged by government and conservationists to save vanishing species. So far fewer than 20 species have been reclassified As threatened from endangered and Only a handful of the More than 500 imperilled species in United states have been declared out of danger. A the most important lesson in this is that the Road to extinction can be reversed Quot said Michael bean chairman of the wildlife program at the environmental defense fund a Washington based environmental group. Quot the More sobering lesson is that while it is within our Power to do for other species what we have done for the Eagle we simply Lack the  indeed the Eagle has commanded a Large share of America s financial commitment to saving dying species. There Are no figures on How much various government agencies and private groups have spent but one conservationist who specializes in eagles said the amount was at least $10 million. Quot there probably has been As much or More Money spent on the Bald Eagle recovery than for any other single species Quot said Daniel James an endangered species biologist for the . Fish and wildlife service. Quot that a because its the National Symbol a flagship species for the endangered species program a Large impressive Bird that commands a great Deal of Awe and respect and Public attention and  the Bald Eagle was first listed As an endangered species in parts of the country in 1967. Hundreds of eagles were later hatched in Captivity Young Birds were transported to parts of the country where they had disappeared and research was undertaken to determine More thoroughly the eagles Range eating habits and other behaviour. It was not until about 1977 that the Bird s population began growing the first year after the Dot ban when eagles hatched. Although state and Federal goals for recovering the species have been met in four of the nation s five regions the Eagle s population still remains a fraction of what it May once have been. Federal officials say there Are now 2,588 Breeding pairs in the contiguous United states compared with an estimated High of 50,000 when europeans first settled the continent. James and other . Fish and wildlife service officials said the Agency will publish a Quot notice of i a % a a More than 20 years after it was declared an endangered species and after millions of f a p a a conservation dollars spent to save it the american Bald Eagle May soon be declared merely �?othreatened7 intent Quot to review a reclassification. Public hearings would then be held and a proposal May be made this month. A final decision would be reached Only after the 1990 Eagle Breeding season. The Bald Eagle already is considered a threatened not endangered species in Washington Oregon Minnesota Wisconsin and Michigan and it never has been listed As endangered in Alaska where there Are 8,000 to 12,000 Breeding pairs. Maurice Lefranc director of the Institute for wildlife research for the National wildlife federation said he would support reclassification for most of the Eagle s Range but probably would object to it in the Southeastern United states where the Eagle has not yet met recovery goals. The official timetable for Eagle recovery requires that nine of 12 states in the Southeast achieve certain goals Over three years. So far Florida Louisiana and South Carolina have met or exceeded their targets but six other states need improvement with some lacking Only a handful of nesting pairs said James. Federal officials have not yet determined the number of eagles lost in South Carolina when Hurricane Hugo hit. If  s status is reclassified to threatened penalties for killing the Bird would be reduced and Federal wildlife officials would have More flexibility in allowing Federal development projects near Eagle habitat. But conservationists say the Eagle would still receive adequate Protection As a threatened species under the endangered species Law and additional safeguarding under the Eagle Protection act of 1940 and the migratory Bird treaty act of 1913. Asked whether Federal funding for Eagle Protection would drop James said Quot hopefully  As of dec. 6, there were 427 endangered and 135 threatened species in the United states and another 3,000 awaiting listing. Species that have either been taken off the list or reclassified downward include the american Alligator the Snail Darter and in parts of the country the Brown Pelican. Many species on the endangered list continue to decline in number and some have been taken off because they became extinct. A a Hashiem Brugt by Jane new York a visitors a Pride of the part kingdom number of elephants example allowed in Many i sweeping unt Ramme Disneyland its Well or Speed limit perimeter a comm installation but lot at Kruger scientists to some the prese the Conti of the future unlike depressed More than receipts Sharp anti wide diver Many a human wildlife a justify Givi Money los visited by Parks Are i the Way of Quot the be excellent Parks in e particularly around the director of wildlife f others hyper to kenyan conserva new York kruger1 the third i selous inf Masai u straddles an artifice Western prevent i foot and livestock in 197& Page 14 Kruger National Park As windows and sunroofs at Fly managed animal has a predetermined species a 7,000 it 1,500 Lions for fixed number of visitors Gate. Africa seeking wilderness an think Kruger a of a National Park with is and 30-mile-an-hour plete fencing at the Otel like Replete with a banking rental. Uth african researchers test concentration of wildlife Park in Africa and zionists concerned with f wildlife on the rest of or represents the wave res in economically Haran countries Kruger itself through Gate ight visitors. It boasts a g Force and maintains a a and Fauna entries with growing that compete with re finding it difficult to swaths of land to Nal Parks that Are mostly o foreigners. If these a will they have to go nag ement in Kruger is Are doing now what the a will have to do s with High populations s John Hanks the Ca program for the world nature. O enthusiastic. Quot it is says David Western a Dor of wildlife National a division of the Al society. V size of Israel and re in Africa after the and the combined 9di ecosystem that and Tanzania. It became n 1959. At that time the Park was fenced to of wild animals with ease into Domestic be to curb poaching the two lionesses lounge in the Sun in South africans Kruger National Park an area roughly the size of Israel where wildlife population Levels and everything else on the once untrammelled land a Are carefully managed by Park administrators. Now York times a kudu an african Antelope crosses one of Kruger National Parks Many roads. 200-mile Eastern Border with Mozambique was fenced with elephant proof 7-foot-High heavy gauge Cable some of it electrified to Shock a Frisky elephant but not kill it. The fencing Cut off the traditional Winter migration paths. Thus the elephants could no longer wander off when their population Levels became too dense and they began to destroy the Woodland habitat with their voracious appetites. With More elephants in the Park than it was thought the habitat could support a an elephant population can grow 4.5 to 5 percent a year a a policy of Quot culling Quot was introduced in the 1960s As a Way of limiting the number of elephants to 7,000. A you can ask 10 different scientists and get 10 different answers on what the Correct number of elephants is for Kruger Quot said or. Anthony Hall Martin the chief research officer of the National Parks in South Africa. He is based at the Headquarters of Kruger at Skuk Uza at the Southern end of the Park. The 7,000 figure was derived he said from studies of the elephants Impact on the vegetation of the Park and studies of Competition for food and water Between elephants and other rare or endangered species like the Roan Antelope and Rhinoceros. Quot we done to want vegetation degradation and deprivation to the other animal habitat Quot from too Many elephants Hall Martin said. Kruger Quot culls Quot 300 to 800 elephants a year and Sells the Ivory meat skin for leather products one meal trophies and even hair with the Revenue going Back into the Park. South Africa along with its Black Southern african neighbors including Zimbabwe has announced that it would ignore the ban on International Ivory sales agreed upon last october by member countries of the convention on International Trade in endangered species. Unlike Eastern and Central Africa where poachers have run amok the elephant is not an endangered species in Southern Africa Hall Martin said. Kruger s relative safety from poaching has allowed the reintroduction of animals that had been wiped out by excessive Hunting. The Black Rhinoceros last seen in the Eastern Transvaal in the 1930s, was brought Back in 1971. Now there Are More than 100. The reintroduction of the White Rhinoceros has been so successful that the Park is moving White rhinos to other Parks in South Africa and Selling them at auction to private ranchers. Hall Martin and his colleague the Park Warden and senior administrator Salomon Joubert Pride themselves on the diversity of wildlife a elephants and rhinoceroses in one Park with wildebeest and Lichtenstein a hartebeest a As Well As the diversity of habitat. The Masai Mara Serengeti is famed for its 1.5 million wildebeest Kruger has Only 14,000. But the South africans note the big kenyan tanzanian ecosystem does not have the wide mix of different beasts. And while it has a spectacular Savanna landscape that Hall Martin acknowledges Kruger can t compete with Kruger is composed of three convergent weather zones a dry arid zone from Angola a tropical zone that extends from Zimbabwe and Mozambique and a subtropical zone from the Southwest. These produce a variety of vegetation ranging from tall stands of Opane Trees to thorny thickets. Within the two million hectares the Park is divided into Quot High management Quot areas with paved roads and accommodations in fixed structures and a wilderness area. The latter takes up one third of the Park but can Only be traversed on four designated hiking trails. About two thirds of Kruger s annual budget of nearly $20 million three times that for All of Kenya s 16 Parks is spent on tourism services construction and administration the rest goes to research and wildlife management. As with the National Parks in the United states the vast majority of visitors Are Domestic tourists. More than 625,000 people drove through Kruger in 1988, 100,000 More than the year before and the same number of people who visited All of Kenya from overseas in the same year. Since 1981, the Park has been open to South african Blacks and people of mixed race but Hall Martin acknowledges that the number of Black visitors is still Low. Despite the High numbers of visitors Park authorities say there is room for More. 4,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15