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Show Wednesday. December 27. 1995 THE DAILY HERALD. ' ' h ;TBy DIANE JENNINGS Newspapers Knight-Ridd- er ::; BLANCO COUNTY. Texas David Bamberger earned a ! fortune with chicken. He made : his reputation as a conservationist with a far more exotic animal J. the scimitar-horne- d oryx. Texas is home to almost half the world's population of the ; ut ; known antelopes, for wickedly pointed horns. Only the Bamberger herd is . recognized by zoological experts .because of its carefully docu- mented gene pool. Bamberger, former chairman of Church's Fried Chicken, and his staff care for about 90 of the ; rare animals on his ranch, Selah, near Johnson City, Texas. The last sighting of a scimitar-'- . horned oryx in its home territory 2 years ; of North Africa occurred to the American ; ago, according Zoo and Aquarium Association. ; Several hundred oryx are scat-- ; tered among North American institutions. ; zoological Most are descended from the Bamberger herd, the largest ; known group. "He does a wonderful job." saber-shape- d " 1 .' said Dale Tuttle, species coordinator for the zoo association. "There's really not anything like this ... The guy puts his money where his mouth is. He's a man of action." Bamberger, 67. estimates that during the past 15 years he's spent $500,000 on the breeding project, including facilities and maintenance at the ranch and care for the herd, Although he'd never seen one of the impressive antelopes when he volunteered his rarich for the project, he hps become an unoffi" cial expert.' He has made several trips to Africa to investigate reintroduction sites, but he sometimes despairs of finding a place where the animal won't be a victim of overgrazing or hunted into oblivion. "There's nothing for them-teat," he said, referring to the countries he's visited. "And they would be eaten (by people).' in interest Bamberger's exotics began.the way most do. After compiling consid. Tex-an- s' erable wealth as a vacuum cleaner salesman turned fried chicken purveyor, the Massillon. Ohio . I i"' 'd native bought the typical Texas Later, he added several exotic organization assigned the rare a ranch. symbol of success species. But he questioned that ory x to his ranch. But unlike most gentleman decision when income from exot Although zoologists laud ranchers, he bought "the worst ic hunting was not as lucrative as Bamberger for his work, not ' piece of real estate in. Blanco Wie had hoped, and the native 1 'every one is a fan. ' failed so he could conduct a whitetail deer to thrive County" "Bamberger may do a wonderful job with the scimitar-horne- d oryx." said Richard Fari-nat, v -- "I'm the only rancher, period, probably in the state of Texas that favors reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act." David Bamberger, Texas rancher personal experiment in habitat restoration. "My card tells you what I think of my ownership here." he said, pulling out a business card with the title' "land steward' Bamberger named the 5.500-acr- e place "Selah", after the Hebrew exclamation indicating a pause. Then he set about bringing the worn-oland back to productivity by clearing brush and drilling for water. After 27 years of restoration, it is a beautiful place with lush grass and abundant springs. As the land recovered. Bamberger added cattle because "I saw so many Marlboro ads that I just figured cows and Texas go together." ut . ' o. director ' , because of competition from the imported animals. "I began to see I was at odds with myself." he said. So he tried to rid Selah of exotics through rigorous hunting, but he was unsuccessful. . Despite the use of high fences to confine game throughout the hill country, gaps caused by storms often allow animals to roam freely. In 1979 Bamberger heard a speaker challenge landowners to "be a saver of genes and species." Intrigued, he offered 640 acres of his ranch for the Species Survival Program with the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. The cf the captive wildlife protection program for the Humane Society of the United States. "But I think you have to look at the total picture." The "total picture" is clouded. Farinato said, because Bamberger permits hunting of some animals on Selah. The scimitar-horne- d oryx can not be hunted under Bamberger's agreement with the zoological association or sold for any purpose other than breeding to a nonhunting ranch. The Humane Society objects to hunting any species on the ranch. Bamberger defends hunting, primarily of whitetail. as one of the ranch's few sources of income. The $42,000 he earned last year from hunting helped defray the cost of the Species Survival Program. He occasionally sells a surplus oryx to a nonhunting ranch. An accredited zoo can obtain one of the animals for the cost of shipping if it meets certain criteria. If Bamberger fiad his way. he"d earn eveniore through hunting surplus oryx. "Millions could come to conservation if the AZA just changed one little piece of their philosothe hunting." he said, f phy "If they have a surplus oryx in the zoo. they give him the needle, euthanize him. They take the carcass arid scimitar-h- orned feed the lion. "That takes care of the lion for a whole week." If surplus oryx were sold as breed stock to a hunting ranch, and the offspring used for hunting, they could "feed the lions for a year." he said. stance Bamberger's is unpopular among some animal advocates, just as his environmental views have earned him the enmity of some fellow ranchers. well-regulat- pro-hunti- "I'm the only rancher, period, probably in the state of Texas that favors reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act." he said, recalling public hearings where he has been booed by low landowners. Boy shoots at truck for toys, wounds man :FORT Texas HANCOCK, A (AP) boy trying ur get toys for Christmas fired rifle shots at a truck on Interstate 10. critically wounding a motorist iri another vehicle, police said Tuesday. The boy, whose identity was withheld because of his age, was charged with juvenile deadly conduct, punishable by up to life in prison, police said. "He told one of his little brothers that he was going to try to' get a truck (filled) with so everybody would have some toys for Christmas," said Hudspeth County Sheriff Arcadio Nin-teiido- s, Ramirez. ; The boy Fired three shots from hr family's rifle at a tractor-trailrig eastbound on about 60 miles southeast of El Puv) near the border at about 5 p.m. Monday, officials .22-calib- er U.S.-Mexi- said. The youth apparently was tryshoot out the truck's tires, hoping it would overturn and spill a cargo of toys, officials ing to said. "I guess he thinks every truck toys," he said of the boy. I Ramirez said he didn't know wjvat the truck was hauling. The had driver apparently was unaware of the shots and kept going, investigators said. One of the shots struck Albert Tarango in the head. Ramirez said. Tarango, who had been driving just behind the big truck, was in critical condition Tuesday at El Paso's Thomason Hospital, the sheriff said. Tarango's wife! whose name was not immediately available, brought their pickup under control, Ramirez said. Border Patrol agents tracked footprints leading about three miles from the highway to a residential area just east of Fort Hancock and found the youth hiding in a car, police said. Officers from the Border Patrol and sheriff's office surrounded the car. The initially refused to surrender "but we persuaded him to get out." said Dan Hiebert, a Border Patrol supervisor in Fort Hancock. The boy finally gave up without a struggle. Deadly conduct, a felony, is punishable by five years to life in prison, Ramirez said. He said the boy hadn't had problems with the law before. TMk Afltl I ,.u Dying teen opens eomic book store .... '. By MARY PEMBERTON Associated Press Writer Comic book COLUMBIA. Md. er Joey Cramer just added another name to his list of super heroes: The lov :For the last couple of years. who is dying Jiiey. a from cystic fibrosis, has dreamed of owning his own comic bonk store. i Initially, he tried to satisfy the craving by setting up a mock shop in; his bedroom with wall shelv ing u display his wares. Then one day. Joey mentioned his dream to a health care worker at; Johns Hopkins Hospital. The worker answered first Joey's prayer by relaying the message to the foundation', which grants wishes: to about 1.000 terminally ill children a year. Steve Geppi. owner of Dia- mond Comics in Timonium just cled super hero figures frozen in action poses. The characters have become Joey's friends over the years. Superman is his favorite. "I've been collecting them for a long time," Joey said gazing at the covers. "I just like being around them. It's like the only thing I have to do. I can't play contact sports ... I don't get to go outside a lot." Brian Morrison, founder of The At the grand opening of Joey's outside Baltimore, donated the kiosk last Friday. Karen Cramer cQmic books. The Rouse Co. of cried. Columbia, a real estate develop"His eyes lit up ... you could a offered ment company, plum his eyes got so big." she said. see pot on the second level of the the business day only half With Columbia Mall, and a kiosk. The on over Friday. Joey had already cards Office Depot had business will made up. And other kiosk owners made $106. But customers if to want act have to they quickly steered customers Joey's way. his 10 This is the second weekend that all 4 feet, 3 inches and 61 Joyy has sat perched in a pounds of him d in front of his chair director's cart and a sign that reads "Comic Copia by Joey Cramer." .The cart is filled with about 1,0)0 comic books, their covers emblazoned with massively mus '. purple-canopie- 6 " . H ft 00 of Maryland, located in the Baltimore suburb of Arbutus, knew Joey was serious about his wish when he business submitted an eight-pag- e comic store. book the on proposal differbeen has always "Joey ent." said his mother. Karen Cramer. "He's had a fascination with them (comics) for a couple of years now. After that he began to ask for his own comic shop." It's simple! Sign up for new cellular sendee with AT&T Wireless Services. Select a. qualifying service plan, then every minute you use on top of your service plan is absolutely FREE for the first 30 days! So visit anv AT&T Wireless Services retailer or dealer, and start talking. ATST Wireless Services take advantage of percent discount for comic books ranging from $1 to $2.95; "Comic Copia" is closing after this weekend. Joey said he had a feeling from the beginning that his wish would be granted. "I knew they'd find a way," he said. AT&T 'Service plans begin al only $29 98 for 30 minutes. Muscular Dystrophy Association Page ' d p Proo. I tah and monthly service lee opply. Applies only to colls in your 'home coverage oreo." long distance, rooming chorges, octivotkin lee, only Vol;d on selected plans with 12 month service agreement. Oiler is valid lor new octivotions Subject to credit appioval and deposit moy be required. Must be 18 years ol oge or oVw ' Othw restrictions may apply. fel- -; : A9 |