Wildlife activists protest bison Yellowstone experiences (Reuters)

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Wildlife advocates are to protest a Government plan to kill an undetermined number of the Yellowstone National Park Bison after scientists conduct to experiment with a birth control animal with a pesticide registered by the EPA.

Officials say the seven year study by a branch of the Ministry of Agriculture of the United States seeks to reduce the prevalence of brucellosis, a disease that can cause domestic cows to abandon in the last wild herd of the nation of pure race buffalo, or bison.

Brucellosis can be transmitted by bison female in the calving season when infectious bacteria fall with birth fluids.

Yellowstone last month granted the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) permits for pen 49 bison women young and four bulls for breeding in a centre for research outside the Park. Animals must be stock for an experiment involving over 100 bison in the herd at the head of 3 700.

Buffalo defenders say that it is appalling that government scientists will lead the potentially harmful experiments on the iconic animals that attract millions of visitors to Yellowstone each year.

They object to the concept of sterilization chemically a wild herd animals targeted by farmers introduced to North America centuries by European livestock illness. The bison of Yellowstone are allowed to breed freely.

"The buffalo removed to experience will never return to Yellowstone, and their treatment - being written and reared as cattle - is highly inappropriate, said Dan Brister, head of the Buffalo field campaign."

Spokesman USDA that Lyndsay Cole, said that the project aims to curb the spread of brucellosis in Yellowstone bison using a contraceptive, the Government has developed to control the reproduction of the white-tailed deer.

"This product presented signs to be an effective tool to prevent disease and it is a study that could have a positive impact on that for brucellosis and bison", she said.

The contraceptive, GonaCon, is registered as a pesticide by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Cole said bison positive contact with brucellosis test would be killed at the end of the research project, even though she said she could not yet provide a number. The plan should be open to comments from the public in the fall.

News of the research project was Yellowstone released the last of nearly 700 buffalo captured this winter to migrate out of the Park looking for food in nearby Montana. 53 Bison delivered for experimentation fired in this group.

The livestock industry of billions of dollars of Montana bristles to the roaming bison because of concerns about brucellosis.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Bohan)

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Greenpeace activists arrested on oil drilling in the Arctic: the police (AFP)

Copenhagen (AFP) - two Greenpeace activists who scaled a platform for oil drilling off the coast of Greenland weekend to protest oil exploration in the Arctic were arrested during the night, police and environmental group, said Thursday.

"Last night, the police decided the time was right, and we have arrested two activists," Deputy police Chief of Greenland Morten Nielsen told AFP.

"They are being transported Nuuk (capital of Greenland) and it will be determined if they they will go before a judge", he added.

Greenpeace also said that two activists of 25 years, Luke Jones of Britain and Hannah Mchardy to the United States, had been arrested after having suspended in a "survival pod" under the platform of "leiv eiriksson" 53, 00-tonne four days.

"Our climbers are now in jail, but that won't stop it we opposed to the folly of drilling for oil that we can to burn and a region where a spill would be nearly impossible to clean," international Greenpeace militant oil Ben Ayliffe said in a statement.

The two activists arrived by Zodiac rubber early Sunday to the platform of 53 000 tonnes, which should begin to drill for oil (110 km) at 180 kilometres off the West coast of Greenland, to society Scottish Cairn Energy.

Greenpeace said the position of the pod prevented the drilling rig, but Cairn told AFP that it was not as drilling was no plan to start.

Deputy Chief of police Nielsen, said that the operation was led by the local police of Greenland is a semiautonomous Danish territory, but that the Danish Navy had been seen where rescue efforts are necessary.

Shortly before midnight (0000 GMT Thursday) "a mounted team operating from the platform broke in the pod", Greenpeace said, adding "Danish marine inflatable boats have been positioned below climbers.".

Cairn meanwhile said that he sought a court injunction to Netherlands against Greenpeace and the owners of its ships the MS Esperanza and the MS Arctic Sunrise.

"Cairn is asking for an order of the court requiring Greenpeace and ship owners to refrain from future disruption of legitimate operations of the offshore Cairn, in Greenland," said the statement.

Ayliff of Greenpeace described the move of the company as "try to us a legal hammer close our campaign for the launch of the oil companies of the Arctic."

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18 Greenpeace activists climbed the Greenland oil rig (AP)

STOCKHOLM - Greenpeace said 18 of its members climbed 53,000 tons oil drilling platform in Arctic waters off the coast of Greenland to protest against a Scottish drilling in deep water by an oil company he.

Activists demand a plan for how to manage an oil spill potential Cairn Energy release.

The environmental group said activists approached Leiv Eiriksson platform by five inflatable stars and soared to rig early Saturday before making their way to the Office of the Manager of drilling. She said that an oil response plan has not been published.

Greenpeace calls for an oil spill in the region would be almost impossible to clean because of the remoteness and freezing.

Drilling began this week, and already, two Greenpeace activists were arrested for trying to prevent it.

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Greenpeace activists climbed the Greenland oil rig (AP)

STOCKHOLM - three activists of Greenpeace Sunday mounted a platform for oil drilling off the coast of Greenland to try to prevent a Scottish oil company to from drilling in deep water in Arctic waters, says environment group.

Greenpeace said activists scaled the platform of 53 000 tonne Leiv Eiriksson, led by Cairn Energy and are now suspended thereunder in a pod.

It is said that activists arrived at the rig in inflatable boats launched from the ship of Greenpeace Esperanza, which had avoided a Danish warship their observation of the day.

The Group has enough food and water to stay 10 days in the pod, clinging to a few metres of the forest which would serve as oil strike, said Greenpeace.

Cairn won this month permission to drill up to seven oil wells off the coast of the West coast of the island in the Arctic.

Greenpeace has criticized the Cairn, which is the only company from drilling in the region, not to take additional precautions to avoid accidents such as the Gulf of Mexico of 2010 oil spill.

Cairn confirmed activists tried to disrupt the rig to the offshore site exploration trip to Greenland.

The company says it "seeks to operate safe and prudent manner" and stressed that the authorities in Greenland have established stringent operating regulations similar to those applied in the Norwegian North Sea.

Greenpeace said it hopes that the action and dropping out of the plans of the Cairn to complete exploration before winter, forcing the company to abandon the search for oil for another year.

Cairn is currently the only company from drilling in the region, Greenpeace has warned that oil rush in the Arctic could trigger if the company strikes oil this summer.

"We are to prevent drilling because an oil spill here would be almost impossible to deal the freezing conditions and remote location," said Greenpeace activist Ben Ayliffe. "A blow off the coasts of Greenland BP-style render the Deepwater Horizon clean-up to look at simple."

Greenpeace activists climbed to rig Leiv Eiriksson edge when he left a port in Istanbul in April, but were forced to abandon the protest because of bad weather conditions.

Last year, militants also tried to stop drilling in the region to climb on the platform of Stena Don of the Cairn.

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Malin Rising can be reached at http://twitter.com/malinrising

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