[afro-nets] DDT stories 10.01.06 (6)

["Craig Audiss" <cybrcollectinc@yahoo.com>]

DDT stories 10.01.06 (6)
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Hello All,
   
Please find below a link to a story I found that should set the record straight about the myth of the Bald Eagle and DDT.  
   
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,202447,00.html

[BELOW AN EXTRACT OF THE STORY. BP, AFRO-NETS MODERATOR]

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Bald Eagle-DDT Myth Still Flying High 
Thursday, July 06, 2006

By Steven Milloy

Pennsylvania officials just announced success with their program to re-establish the state?s bald eagle population. But it?s a shame that such welcome news is being tainted by oft-repeated myths about the great bird?s near extinction.

In its July 4 article reporting that the number of bald eagle pairs in Pennsylvania had increased from 3 in 1983 to 100 for the first time in over a century, the Associated Press reached into its file of bald eagle folklore and reported, ?DDT poisoned the birds, killing some adults and making the eggs of those that survived thin. The thin eggs dramatically reduced the chances of eaglets surviving to adulthood. DDT was banned in 1972. The next year, the Endangered Species Act passed and the bald eagles began their dramatic recovery.?

While the AP acknowledged the fact that bald eagle populations ?were considered a nuisance and routinely shot by hunters, farmers and fishermen? ? spurring a 1940 federal law protecting bald eagles ? the AP underplayed the significance of hunting and human encroachment and erroneously blamed DDT for the eagles? near demise.

... SNIP ... SNIP ... (REST OF THE STORY, FOLLOW LINK ABOVE.

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I hope that we can move on now and solve the malaria problem in Africa.
   
Cheers,
   
Craig Audiss 
mailto:cybrcollectinc@yahoo.com