Animal Rights Activits Rescue Mink From Farm
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, and I don't plan to.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The movie "Finding Nemo" put Nemo and his species, anemone fishes, or what's more commonly called clownfish, in the public eye. Turns out these fish are quite the social climbers, according to a study released in the journal "Nature." Clown fish will do just about anything to get ahead, even change their sex. According to University of California researcher Peter Busten (ph), clownfish live in groups. The larger the fish, the higher their social ranking. Only two in the group mate and reproduce. The breeding female is the largest and number one in the hierarchy. The breeding male is number two in size and ranking. When the breeding female dies, the breeding male gets larger, changes its sex, moves up the social ladder, and becomes the breeding female. And number three in line, and the third largest in the group, grows and becomes number two, the breeding male. According to the research, a clownfish that attempts to grow larger than its position allows is often seen as a threat and is likely killed. Apparently these fish don't clown around when it comes to social status.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, by the way, "Finding Nemo," the movie, is the top money-maker at the box office this summer. It's brought in $330 million, and that's not counting the run on clownfish at the local pet stores. Well, animal rights activists say they bombed a biotech company in California last week because the company does business with another company that uses animals in drug testing. It's been an unusually busy month for the more extreme end of the animal rights spectrum. Here to give us background now, Brian Denson, a reporter at "The Oregonian" in Portland, Oregon. Good to see you, Brian.</s>BRIAN DENSON, "THE OREGONIAN": Hi, Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk specifically about this California case. Is this kind of evidence now that the animal rights activism is really being stepped up a notch, perhaps getting too close to extremism?</s>DENSON: Absolutely. It's beyond extremism. This is one of the very few bombings attributed to these folks in the last 20 years. In fact, there have only been about five or six attributed to either animal rights or environmental extremists in the United States since '93.</s>WHITFIELD: And the tactics are changing, not just targeting businesses such as that one in California, but individuals, specifically.</s>DENSON: That's right. And that's a followup to what's been going on in the U.K. For years, they've been just a little bit ahead of us in the ramping up and the violence from some of these very, very militant people, particularly the Animal Liberation Front, which formed there in 1976. So -- and the rhetoric there has been bad. In fact, they've actually been involved in some beatings of individuals involved with that very company you were talking about.</s>WHITFIELD: So Animal Liberation Front has been around quite awhile. But are you seeing that their tactics have changed most recently?</s>DENSON: Well, I mean, they're responsible for a great deal of arsons, like I said before, dozens and dozens of them over the last 20 years, and more and more of them, particularly in the year 2000 and right up until about mid-2001, it was really, really amazing. But this August has really been a pretty amazing period for both the Animal Liberation Front and its cousin, the Earth Liberation Front.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, most recently, the Animal Liberation Front even claimed responsibility for the releasing of the 10,000 -- some 10,000 mink animals moving up north from California up in Washington state. Is it being alleged that they did a little bit more harm than good, since many of the mink were killed, many of them were not able to really fend for themselves, survive on their own, once they're released from the farms?</s>DENSON: Well, some of the most militant animal rights activists say that at least they're giving these animals a fighting chance at life. But what we see is that they're -- well, they're very vicious animals. They fight as soon as they get out of these pens. They get run over on the roadways. It's -- you know, it's kind of a mess. And, you know, and they don't get water and food, typically. Although the animal rights militants say that there have been opportunities for them to at least get out, have a fighting chance at life, and there's been a study that they did that they said actually proves that they can live out there.</s>WHITFIELD: So the Animal Liberation Front says it's all about the animals, but the FBI is saying that really, this is about domestic terrorism.</s>DENSON: Well, that's right. They've listed the Animal Liberation Front, the Earth Liberation Front as their actually leading and most prolific domestic terrorist groups in the United States, despite the fact that neither of these groups has ever claimed responsibility for killing anyone.</s>WHITFIELD: Ecoterrorism is kind of taking on a new identity, isn't it?</s>DENSON: Well, in some regards, yes. I mean, you know, after 9/11, there was -- and just before 9/11, and then certainly right after, there were very few of these events, and now it's ramping back up. The animal rights community and the -- you know, the sort of -- the so-called tree huggers and the bunny huggers are really in the same camp and have been for quite a number of years. The ideologies are very much the same. In fact, you find some of the environmental activists, the extreme folks -- and again, these are the most extreme of the extreme. They are very much -- you know, they're all vegans and look out for each other.</s>WHITFIELD: So we're mentioning a lot about the Animal Liberation Front. But there are other animal rights groups that, perhaps, may be getting a bad name as a result of some of the actions being taken by some of these more extreme groups, if you want to call it that, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA, or the Humane Society. What are these groups doing, perhaps, to try to</s>DENSON: Well, PETA isn't really doing anything up front to distance itself. In fact, PETA actually financed the legal fees of several convicted Animal Liberation Front saboteurs. But, you know, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has long done, you know, very fancy campaigns, they're a terrific public relations agency. And they do a lot of above-ground direct action type of tactics.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Brian Denson of "The Oregonian" in Portland, Oregon, thanks very much.</s>DENSON: Thank you.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, the environment tops our NEXT news headlines today. A major</s>SOHAS UNI HADAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): ...ancient pastime crowd the stores in pursuit of the biggest and most colorful kites. Kite-flying's a sport that can get quite competitive, and many enthusiasts are out on their roofs to join in kite contests. The aim is to cut the string of other's kites. A lot of preparation goes into making the toughest string called "manja," that includes a coating of powdered glass which helps cut your opponent's kite. But, the sport sometimes has unintended victims. This is the emergency ward at Delhi's only bird hospital. Doctors here say they get 25 to 30 kite victims every day during the flying season. The Dr. Viji Cumar (PH) says you can tell that a bird's been hurt by a kite string if it has a long cut along its</s>DR.  VIJI CUMAR (through translator): This will heal in a week or ten days, but sometimes we have to amputate their wings, and they can never fly again. Some even die.</s>HADAR: Business executive Anil Barthwal flies kites everyday at this time of year. "I've heard about birds getting hurt," he says. "I just wish there were more bird hospitals we could take them to." It's certainly crowded at the bird hospital's recovery room. So, as soon as their winged inmates can fly, the hospital sets them free. But, they often come back. "Maybe they want to thank us," says the hospital's manager, "or maybe they just feel safe here," he says. "While kites flutter in the breeze above the city." Sohas Uni Hadar, (PH) CNN, New Delhi.</s>WHITFIELD: We have an update now, on a story we brought you last week. The dramatic three-week long chase in the Southern Atlantic Ocean has landed a boatload of suspected poachers. Authorities say the crew had poached more than 85 tons of a rare fish known as a delicacy in the United States. Cindy Strand has more.</s>CINDY STRAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): High drama on icy arctic seas. An Australian fishery's vessel chases a ship for 21 days around icebergs, through 10-meter waves in pursuit of alleged poachers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, this is the southern supporter. You have refused to comply with the lawful instruction issued by Australian fisheries off...</s>STRAND: The Uruguay ship, Viarsa One, was spotted in a remote Australian fishing zone and suspected of poaching rare Patagonian Toothfish. With the help of the South African tug, the John Ross, and the icebreaker SA Agollis, the longest high-sea chase on record ended as armed crewmen boarded the Voarsa One and arrested the captain and crew. The arrest was hailed as a courageous international operation against poaching.</s>WILLIAM EICHBAUM, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND: Seeing this kind of cooperation is critical if we're to protect the rapidly disappearing marine resources of the high seas.</s>STRAND: On Friday, the Viarsa One anchored off the coast of Capetown to be re-supplied. The ship will be escorted back to Australia where the case will be tried. More than 85 tons of the highly prized Patagonian Toothfish, also known as Chilean Sea Bass, was found on board. Called "white gold," a shipload of the seven-foot long fish can be worth more than $3 million.</s>EICHBAUM: These fish take a very long time, because of the cold water and the depths that they live at, to reach maturity, and they've been under extreme pressure. It's a fish that really almost should not be fished at, at all.</s>STRAND: Poachers beware, the Australian high commissioners of South Africa warned, you can run, but you can't hide, even among icebergs. Cindy Strand, CNN, Johannesburg.</s>WHITFIELD: When we come back, forget videotapes, even DVDs are becoming so yesterday. We'll talk with an expert about how we'll be getting our home video entertainment in the future. Also ahead, the RIAA says it wants to give illegal music downloaders a break. We'll have details straight ahead.