The winds of war. (Animals Talk).(effect of war on wildlife)

War, as the saying goes, is not good for children and other living things. When it comes to wildlife, Wendy Williams's "Out on Maneuvers" (page 16) demonstrates that without special care, even training for war has serious negative impacts. With tensions building, the United States may well be at war with Iraq by the time this magazine reaches readers. Besides the servicemen and -women and the innocent civilians in harm's way are the often forgotten victims of war--animals.

Snow leopards prowled the Afghan mountains long before Osama bin Laden built his network of caves there. Only 3,500 of these highly endangered cats are left in the world, and no one knows for sure how many in Afghanistan survived more than two decades of bombing. The experts estimate less than 100. For thousands of migrating birds that depend on rest and feeding areas in Afghanistan, the timing of the heaviest American bombing in fall 2001 could not have been worse. The effects of drought and environmental devastation will challenge the country for years to come.

In Africa's Virunga Mountains, 15 mountain gorillas died in the past several years as a direct result of the fighting between warring factions. Despite these losses, this closely monitored population has increased its numbers since 1989. But their lowland cousins in the Democratic Repubic of Congo are taking heavy losses along with other endangered species, as soldiers hunt them for bushmeat to eat and to sell. Thousands of elephants have ...