Mexico Shuts Criticized Park After Dolphin Death
Date: 27-Aug-03
Country: MEXICO
The environmental protection agency Profepa said in a statement the Parque Nizuc marine park had been shut down after the death of a dolphin at the weekend.
Environmentalists had criticized the park for importing 28 wild bottlenose dolphins from the Solomon Islands in July. Activists had said the wild mammals could infect local dolphins and other wildlife off the Yucatan peninsula with diseases.
The agency said in a statement that the closure was "partial and temporary" and could be lifted if the park kept the Solomon Islands dolphins confined and carried out a series of medical tests on all the animals there.
The dolphin that died had been at the park for five years and may have suffered from stress, the agency said. Officials at the park were not available for comment.
U.S. Expands Long-Term Land and Water Reserve
Mon August 25, 2003 11:34 AM ET
WASHINGTON - The government will accept 2 million acres into the Conservation Reserve, which pays farmers to idle fragile land to prevent erosion, protect water purity and improve wildlife habitat, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said this week.
The land was selected from offers submitted by farmers during a sign-up period that ended in mid-June and will expand the size of the reserve. Contracts on 1.59 million acres expire this fall.
Another sign-up will be offered in early 2004, Veneman said during a telephone news conference.
Nearly 34 million acres on roughly 364,000 farms were part of the reserve, the largest U.S. land-idling program.
