Officials have tried poison, gassing and euthanasia to control a breeding frenzy among squirrels in a city park. Now, they plan to give birth control a shot.
A new program that would start this summer calls for squirrels in Palisades Park to be injected with an immuno-contraceptive vaccine to stunt sexual development.
Santa Monica would be only the second city in California, besides Berkeley, to try the immunization program.
PHOTO: AFP
"We don't want to kill them if we don't have to," said Joe McGrath, the city's parks chief. "I personally like squirrels, but we also have to be receptive to the county's concerns. When you are dealing with mammals, people get upset."
Health officials say the squirrels, which number an estimated 1,000 in the park, pose a public health risk, the Los Angeles Times reported. They warn the rodents are aggressive and may carry rabies or host fleas that can spread disease, such as bubonic plague.
Since 1998, Santa Monica has been cited five times by Los Angeles County for squirrel overpopulation. But suppression methods used, including euthanasia, have angered animal-loving activists.
City officials say the infertility shots offer a diplomatic solution that should please all sides in the debate.
The vaccine, developed by the US Department of Agriculture, stops ovulation and lactation in female squirrels, while halting testicular development in males.
Animal activist Catherine Rich said she supports the vaccine program, but said any health risk posed by the squirrels is overblown.
"There is not a pressing threat of squirrels attacking people," Rich said, "so I don't know why the county is getting their panties in a bunch." (AP)
政府官員試過了囚禁、毒氣攻擊與安樂死來控制一處市立公園內大肆繁殖的松鼠。現在,他們打算試試節育的方法。
今夏即將展開的新計畫將讓帕利沙迪思公園的松鼠施打免疫避孕疫苗,杜絕懷孕機會。
聖塔莫尼卡將成為加州繼柏克萊之後,第二個嘗試松鼠免疫避孕計畫的城市。
「若非必要,我們不想殺害松鼠,」聖塔莫尼卡公園管理處處長喬伊.麥葛拉斯說︰「我個人很喜歡松鼠,但我們也要接受本郡的關切。當你對付哺乳類動物時,人們就會難過。」
《洛杉磯時報》報導,健康官員說這處公園估計有一千隻松鼠,威脅到大眾健康。官員警告這種齧齒目動物具侵略性,可能帶有狂犬病或可散播淋巴腺鼠疫等疾病的跳蚤。
自一九九八年起,洛杉磯郡已五度指出聖塔莫尼卡的松鼠過度繁殖。不過,採用了安樂死等抑制方法,已觸怒了保育動物人士。
聖塔莫尼卡官員指出,避孕疫苗提供了一個圓融的解決之道,應該可以讓爭論的各方皆大歡喜。
美國農業部研發的這種疫苗可以阻止母松鼠排卵與分泌乳汁,也會讓公松鼠的睪丸停止發展。
動物保育提倡者凱薩琳.瑞琪表示,她支持這項疫苗計畫,但松鼠造成人類健康危機的說法言過其實。
「目前尚未有松鼠攻擊人類的迫切威脅,」瑞琪說︰「所以我不明白洛杉磯郡為何要小題大做。」 (美聯社╱翻譯︰賴美君)
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
Drive-through (or drive-thru) restaurants provide people with the immense convenience of being able to purchase and pick up meals without needing to leave their vehicles. These restaurants have been around for decades, and their success has spawned a number of equally handy services. The drive-through concept originated with the drive-in restaurant, the first of which was established in the US in 1921. Patrons would order and eat the food that was delivered to their cars by workers called “carhops.” Ten years later, a drive-through service was introduced, but it was not until 1947 that the first exclusively drive-through restaurant opened its
On Tuesday last week, the flame for this summer’s Paris Olympics was lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games in southern Greece in a meticulously choreographed ceremony. It will then be carried through Greece for more than 5,000km before being handed over to French organizers at the Athens venue used for the first modern Olympics in 1896. The pageantry at Olympia has been an essential part of every Olympics for nearly 90 years since the Games in Berlin. It’s meant to provide an ineluctable link between the modern event and the ancient Greek original on which it was initially modelled. Once
A: “Forbes” magazine just revealed Hollywood’s top 10 highest-paid stars of 2023. B: How much did those superstars make last year? A: Denzel Washington was at No. 10, having made US$24 million, which is about NT$771 million. B: That’s an astronomical figure to me. A: No. 9 to No. 6 were: Ben Affleck with US$38 million, Jason Statham with US$41 million, Leonardo DiCaprio with US$41 million, and Jennifer Aniston with US$42 million. A: 《富比世》最近公布了好萊塢去年的片酬排行榜。 B: 大明星的片酬到底有多高? A: 第10名是丹佐華盛頓、片酬2400萬美元,大約7.7億台幣。 B: 天啊這根本是天文數字! A: 第9到6名是︰班艾佛列克、3800萬美元,傑森史塔森、4100萬美元,李奧納多狄卡皮歐、4100萬美元,珍妮佛安妮斯頓、4200萬美元。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)