Wilderness.com

Scientists closer to finding origins of life

2009-05-18T21:28:00.004+12:00

Scientists closer to finding origins of life

By Steve Connor

Popular theories on the origins of life have focused on the ancient ocean environment.

Scientists have developed an experiment which demonstrates how the very first life may have formed about four billion years ago.

John Sutherland and colleagues at Manchester University have broken new ground by being able to synthesise almost from scratch two of the four building blocks of RNA, the self-replicating molecule that many scientists believe to be the most likely contender for the original molecule of life.

Dr Sutherland believes that he has shown how it was possible to make all the building blocks of RNA from the simple chemicals that would have existed on Earth four billion years ago.

"We've made the building blocks of RNA from what was around on the early Earth and is still around in interstellar space and in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan," Dr Sutherland said. "We haven't yet made the RNA molecule itself but we've made two of the four sub-units or building blocks. It suggests that making the molecule is possible," he said.

RNA is the less familiar cousin of DNA, the genetic blueprint of life. Like DNA, the RNA molecule can carry and transmit information from one generation to the next. But unlike DNA, RNA is a relatively simple molecule that many scientists believed could have been quite easy to synthesise in the harsh environment of the early Earth.

The trouble with this idea - which is more than 40 years old - is that no one has been able to join up the three components, the sugars, bases and phosphates that make up the four building blocks of RNA, under the sort of conditions that existed four billion years ago. Dr Sutherland, however, has shown in a study in the journal Nature that this is indeed possible.

"The trouble is, the human eye sees the three components of RNA and so the human brain assumes that to make the molecule you should combine those three components. People have found that they can make the sugars and the bases but the key thing they can't do is to join them together," Dr Sutherland said.

"We've just changed the order of assembly of the pieces, but it's overcome the dogma that it cannot be done."

In trying to explain how life began on Earth, scientists have attempted to formulate theories to account for how the first self-replicating molecule came into existence. One of the earliest theories was the "primordial soup", where simple molecules mixed together in a broth that was regularly energised by ultraviolet light and electric storms.

Over time, these molecules would have combined to form more complex substances containing the all-important ingredients of life - oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen. Although scientists were able to make the building blocks of proteins in this way, they failed to do the same with DNA or RNA.

Thomas Cech at the University of Colorado and Sidney Altman at Yale found that RNA could act as a catalyst by speeding up a chemical reaction and yet being unchanged in the process.

This was the first hard evidence that RNA, a molecule that can replicate and store genetic information, could also have triggered the first synthesis of life's proteins.

- INDEPENDENT

Pen Hadow climate change trek finds thin ice

2009-05-18T07:34:00.002+12:00

Arctic explorer Pen Hadow has warned that the polar ice cap he has been examining to gauge the extent of climate change appears far thinner than expected after trekking more than 250 miles to the North Pole.

British explorer Pen Hadow drills to measure ice thickness in the North Pole Photo: GETTY

The veteran explorer and his team trekked more than 269 miles for 73 days but were unable to make it to the North Pole because of extreme weather, with temperatures dropping below minus 40 degrees F/C.

The Catlin Arctic Survey, the first Polar expedition to monitor the affects of climate change on sea ice, was also unable to measure the ice using state-of-the art equipment because of the freezing conditions.

However more than 16,000 observations were taken of the state of the ice, including 1,500 readings of the depth of the ice taken from a manual drill.

The average measurement was 1.77m, which is thinner than expected and suggests most of the ice formed in the last year rather than over a longer period of time.

Speaking by satellite phone before being picked up by plane, Mr Hadow said he "hardly ever" came across layers of ice more than a year old despite scientists expecting multi-year ice of 3m or more.

"Our science advisers had told us to expect thicker, older ice on at least part of the route, so it is something of a mystery where that older ice has gone," he said.

"It'll be interesting to see what scientists think about this," he said as he prepared to be flown off the Arctic Ocean ice.

But the first man to trek solo to the North Pole six years ago stressed that he was drawing no conclusion from the initial findings, saying he and his two colleagues were simply there to observe and measure.

“We have succeeded in doing our core programme of scientific work through observation and drilling,” he added.

The expedition, which is backed by the Prince of Wales, will now pass on the raw data to scientific organisations to analyse including Nasa, the University of Cambridge and the US Navy.

Mr Hadow said he was surprised to find the average ice is thinner, suggesting the ice cover will be even further reduced this summer.

The findings come as Nasa warned that sea ice cover over the Arctic reached its lowest volume since records began this year.

“The average measurement of 1.77m raises far more questions than it answers,” he said.

Mr Hadow, polar explorer Ann Daniels and photographer Martin Hartley survived in temperatures as low as minus 40F/C, but where the wind chill made it minus 94F (-70C). As well as making distance, it was necessary to spend up to four hours a day taking measurements with the manual drill in often challenging conditions.

The team was expecting to swim up to two hours a day through freezing water in full immersion suits but in fact only had to swim across open water once.

"It was too much on some occasions but we persevered," Mr Hadow said. "Those were the dark points."

Sourced Daily Telegraph

French Pyrenees: bad news bears

2009-05-18T07:18:00.002+12:00

Popular with conservationists, Parisians and France's first lady, brown bears have been reintroduced to the Pyrenees and infuriated sheep farmers - and their claws are out.

By Malcolm Smith

200-300 sheep are killed by bears and the farmers are compensated Photo: Getty Images

Softly spoken and charming, François Arcangeli is an unlikely recipient of death threats. Nor does Arbas – the tranquil and somewhat forlorn village tucked away in the foothills of the French Pyrenees 50 miles east of Lourdes where Arcangeli has been the mayor for 13 years – seem a likely location for violent demonstrations.

The cause of this unrest are brown bears.

In Western Europe they are now confined to a few scattered, remnant populations. About 20 bears survive in the Pyrenees, but these will die out unless they are better protected and bolstered by bears introduced from Eastern Europe. The current population, spread over a vast land area, is too small to be self-sustaining.

"In spring 2006 the French government arranged for three bears from Slovenia to be released into the forests near Arbas," Arcangeli tells me. "Two others were released near other villages. Gendarmerie intelligence warned us that there might be a few protesters, mostly farmers worried about their sheep being attacked. But 250 turned up, smashing anything they could find outside the town hall, trying to break in, spraying paint and throwing bottles of blood. Eighty gendarmes tried to keep order."

The plan, agreed between Spain, France and Andorra, had been to introduce 15 bears over three years but since the Arbas riots no more have been released.

Of the five introduced in 2006, one gave birth to two cubs. But two others, both females, died. One fell from a cliff in a freak accident. The other was killed by a car on a road outside Lourdes, much to the delight of many local farmers and the sorrow of conservationists.

"We are immensely satisfied that this bear was killed. This is a great relief for farmers," Marie-Lise Broueilh, the president of the Association Interprofessionnelle du Mouton Barèges Gavarnie, an organisation promoting mountain sheep meat, commented at the time.

Bears are shy creatures, easily frightened by people. And while claims of aggressive bears are often promoted by anti-bear interests, there are virtually no records of anyone being attacked anywhere in Western Europe. So forest walking in bear country is perfectly safe. And there is little conflict with tourist developments such as ski centres because the bears hibernate in winter. And skiing takes place on higher mountain slopes above the forests and pasturelands where bears live.

More importantly, brown bears are largely vegetarian. In spring they feed on flowering plants and grasses, adding in fruits and berries during summer. In autumn, preparing for hibernation, they need to eat fat-rich foods, so acorns, beechnuts and hazelnuts figure highly. And bears really do love honey, hence their liking for wild bee nests and beehives. Honey-making is an artisan industry in the Pyrenees. But beehives are easy to protect with electric fences or by elevating hives on tripods.

Brown bears will kill other mammals for food. Powerfully built, with males weighing up to 700lb and females 440lb, and a body length of up to 8ft, they are quite capable of killing large deer. Sheep, though, are easier prey. Therein lies the source of most of the conflict.

"Of the half million sheep in the French Pyrenees, about 15,000 die naturally each year because of disease, bad weather and falls," Frédéric Decaluwe of the Office of Hunting and Wildlife, a government agency, says. "Two hundred to 300 a year are killed by bears, and the farmers are compensated."

And that compensation seems pretty generous. For a sheep worth between €20 and €100 at market, depending on its age and quality, a farmer gets €140 for each one killed by a bear plus another €140 'disturbance premium' per incident. Similar compensation schemes operate on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees.

"We usually get the compensation to the farmer within three weeks," Decaluwe says. "If there's doubt about what killed the sheep [wolves, stray dogs and even the farmers' own dogs] a commission on which farmers are represented meets at the end of each season to assess the evidence. If there is still any doubt, the compensation is paid."

Arcangeli, who is also the president of Pays de l'Ours-ADET, an organisation promoting bear conservation, thinks the farmers do well from the system.

"Before the compensation for bear kills, farmers used to complain that stray dogs killed their sheep. But they never claim that now, only bears. It's always bears," he says, laughing.

Brown bears are still reasonably common across North America, Russia and northern and central Asia. Their range once covered the whole of Europe, too. But that was before forest clearance steadily reduced their habitat. By the Middle Ages, Europe's brown bears were confined to the less accessible mountain areas. Hunting finished most of them off and they were extinct in Britain before the Norman conquest.

Today, their European stronghold is in western Russia and northern Scandinavia, where thousands still live. They fare reasonably well in some Eastern European countries such as Romania, Slovenia and Croatia.

In Western Europe, where they are strictly protected, their populations are fragmented, very small and vulnerable to extinction. Most are confined to inaccessible forested mountain ranges. In the 1930s there were perhaps 200 bears in the Pyrenees. By the mid-1990s as few as six remained, even though hunting had been banned in Spain and France. Three bears from Slovenia were introduced in 1996.

One of the few remaining native Pyrenean bears, a female, was shot trying to defend its cubs against a hunter's dog in 2004, an incident that the then French president, Jacques Chirac, called "a great loss for France and Europe" and that galvanised public opinion in favour of better protection.

In August last year Carla Bruni-Sarkozy joined the debate by writing to several environment groups, supporting the reintroduction of brown bears to the Pyrenees. "There should be no question, in our country, of choosing between bear and man," she said. 'We must find a balanced means of coexistence. On the one hand, the presence of bears in the Pyrenees reflects a willingness to protect biodiversity; on the other, the support of the local population is essential."

Pyrenean farmers will have to change the way they farm if they are to coexist with bears, and payments are available to encourage them to adapt. Most of it is channelled through local voluntary organisations and comes from the Spanish and French governments and through an EU project run by the World Wildlife Fund set up to promote the conservation of large carnivores across five European countries.

I meet Catherine Lacroix, a farmer in the tiny village of Barjac, 10 miles east of Arbas, and a founder member of the Association pour la Cohabitation Pastorale (ACP), the Association for Pastoral Cohabitation. Walking with her on her farm's lush fields framed by beech woods on the hill slopes around, it is not easy to spot the white Pyrenean mountain dog – known here as a patou – among the sheep flock.

"The patou lives out with the sheep whatever the weather, day and night," Lacroix says. 'It's here to protect the flock and if the flock is in danger, from a bear perhaps or wolves or a feral dog, the patou will become aggressive, barking loudly. They have to be brought up with the sheep as puppies and they are never treated like pets. Otherwise they couldn't do their job."

Using government grants paid by the ACP as enticement, about 200 farmers now use a patou. They receive a one-off payment of €700 once the dog has been trained to the correct standard (to offset its purchase cost plus the time to train it) and a further €250 annually.

A survey by the ACP of 37 farmers using these dogs found a reduction in the number of killed sheep by bears of more than 90 per cent. But many farmers, Lacroix acknowledges, are unwilling to accept the extra work required to train and keep a patou and are resentful that they have to change the way they manage their sheep.

Money from the EU project is also available to employ shepherds and to accommodate them in mountain huts when sheep flocks are taken up to the high summer pastures. Watching over their charges by day, with or without a patou, shepherds then round up the flock at night using a collie, often bringing them within a temporary enclosure protected by an electric fence.

Robert Wojciechowski runs a small company designing electric fences and other bear deterrents including lights, pyrotechnics and harmless lasers that can be triggered if a bear approaches. In the mountains they can be run using solar panels. Farmers buying such devices receive government grants to defray their cost.

"There are about 200 farmers in the three valleys I work in," Wojciechowski says. "Forty have bought my fences but even they are not happy knowing that they have to protect their sheep against bears. Not that it's always bears – feral dogs are just as much of a problem.

"Paris imposes bears in the Pyrenees," he continues. "They don't ask the farmers; they have no understanding of the issue from the point of view of the farmers. It's a war between farmers and bears; city people who like to think there are bears here and country people who don't want them."

Olivier Maurin, who farms 200 sheep to produce cheese at Agnos about 12 miles south-west of Pau, is typical of many. "I love bears but I don't want to have to live with them. For us farmers it's not about compensation, it's changing our way of life, our way of farming. I know we get EU subsidies to farm but we would have to get much more money before we accept bears here."

Slovenia, whose extensive forests have supplied the bears introduced to the Pyrenees, has one of the larger, more stable bear populations in Western Europe – at least a few hundred.

"People are used to living alongside bears in Slovenia," says Aleksandra Majic Skrbinšek at the University of Ljubljana, who is studying public attitudes to large carnivores (bears, lynx and wolves) in several European countries.

"Each year our government licenses a number of bears to be hunted. Most of the hunting is done by local people and they take a responsible attitude. Bears are shot for trophies and the meat is sold, so the local economy benefits. Although some people believe there should be no bear hunting, it means that country people value their bears and have a personal investment in maintaining the population.

"There is much less conflict here with farmers than in the Pyrenees. In Slovenia, sheep have always been gathered into enclosures at night to protect them. In other places where bears have been introduced, in Trentino in Italy for instance,
the state authorities talk directly to the local people about the options. In France they just talk to the local politicians and other representatives. So local people, the farmers, feel that things are imposed on them."

It isn't an argument that Frédéric Decaluwe accepts. "We try hard to talk to farmers," he says. "Every summer we have nine people outdoors doing just that. The main problem is that farmers don't want to talk about bears because they don't want bears. They say they want bears removed, not more brought here."

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the state secretary for ecology in the Sarkozy government, has made clear her determination 'to restore the population of bears in the Pyrenees in accordance with France's international obligations for biodiversity'.

"The French government has all the facts,"' Decaluwe says. "We have perhaps 20 bears in the Pyrenees.It's not a sustainable population. Our farmers are compensated well for any problems and they get EU subsidies to farm. We have a detailed action plan that includes introducing more bears. But it's all so slow. It's local politics."

Sourced The Daily Telegraph

Gorillas are no dummies, Zoo Study Shows

2009-05-16T10:12:00.003+12:00

Because gorillas (above, a young gorilla in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) rarely use tools, scientists had believed the great apes were less intelligent than their chimpanzee cousins.

But zoo gorillas demonstrate an aptitude for learning number sequences, suggesting the apes are sharper than previously thought, scientists said in May 2009s.

Gorillas Are No Dummies, Zoo Study Shows

Matt Kaplan
for National Geographic News

May 12, 2009

While researchers have rigorously tested chimpanzee intelligence for years, they have paid far less attention to gorillas.

That's because gorillas rarely use tools, and scientists had assumed the great apes are not as mentally astute.

But ongoing research at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago suggests otherwise.

Four years ago, scientists there attached a touch-screen computer terminal to the side of the enclosure of a female gorilla named Rollie.

As the gorilla approached, it saw the numeral one displayed on the screen. When Rollie touched the symbol, a chime sounded and the machine dispensed a frozen blueberry.

It did not take long for the gorilla to work out that pressing the number had benefits.

After a while, the computer screen presented Rollie with two symbols, the numerals one and two. Through trial and error, Rollie learned to press them in the right order to receive a blueberry.

Chimps Lagged

Last year zoo primatologist Steve Ross reported that Rollie could sequence up to seven numbers at a time, and that chimpanzees at the facility were taking twice as long to learn the sequence.

"Gorillas rarely use tools and have rarely been cognitively studied as a result. So we did not expect them to perform very well at this," Ross said.

Despite Rollie's success, Ross and his colleagues wondered whether the gorilla was just one very sharp ape, or if such intellect could be found in other gorillas.

The scientists started testing other gorillas at their facility. The youngest of the group, a five-year-old named Azizi, is also proving to be a quick study. So far the male gorilla has only learned to sequence five numbers at a time, but has progressed as rapidly as Rollie.

In Japan similar studies are being conducted with chimpanzees, mandrills, and gibbons. None have made it past the number five.

"This is the first study demonstrating gorilla intelligence like this," said Tetsuro Matsuzawa, director of the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University.

"I am eager to see how further research with these gorillas progresses."

Social Intolerance

The discovery raises questions about why gorillas do not use tools more often.

"We are starting to think that gorilla social intolerance blocks innovative behaviors like tool use from spreading widely through a group," said primatologist Elizabeth Lonsdorf, also at Lincoln Park Zoo.

If gorillas gathered together and studied one another—as chimpanzees do—tool use might be a lot more common, Lonsdorf noted.

(Read about chimps that hunt mammals with "spears.")

Another factor could be feeding behavior. Gorillas depend heavily on easily obtained grass and herbs that require no tools for collection, while chimpanzees commonly feed on fruits and nuts which are often hard to access without tools.

"The challenge of obtaining food may be a second reason why chimpanzees invent tools and gorillas do not," Kyoto University's Matsuzawa said.

Rare birds given own beach to ensure survival

2009-05-16T09:54:00.002+12:00

A rare species of bird able to fly immediately after hatching has been given its own private beach in eastern Indonesia to help guarantee its survival.

Maleo, that can only be found on Sulawesi island in eastern Indonesia Photo: AP

There are fewer than 10,000 maleos, chicken-sized birds with black helmet-like foreheads, in the wild and they can only be found on Sulawesi island. They rely on sun-baked sands or volcanically heated soil to incubate their eggs.

The US-based Wildlife Conservation Society has teamed up with a local environmental group to buy a 36 acre stretch of beach in northern Sulawesi that contains about 40 nests.

The environmental groups paid £11,000 for the property on remote Sulawesi, one of Indonesia's 17,000 islands, to help preserve the threatened species.

John Tasirin, WCS program coordinator on the island, said it would prevent villagers digging up the eggs for food.

The maleo, which has a blackish back, a pink stomach, yellow facial skin, a red-orange beak, lays gigantic eggs that are then buried in the sand or soil.

The chicks hatch and climb from the ground able to fly and fend for themselves.

Bird species on extinction 'red list' increases to almost 200

2009-05-16T09:25:00.002+12:00

The number of bird species around the world threatened with extinction has risen this year to almost 200 species despite conservation efforts, according to the latest international report.

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent

The International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species found more than 10 per cent of all bird species - a total of 1,227 - are in danger of being wiped out including birds in Britain like the red kite and curlew.

Of this, 192 bird species are listed as "critically endangered", which means they face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

The number of birds in the "critically endangered" category increased by nine this year while the number downgraded to just "endangered" was seven meaning there are two more species in the more serious category.

Among those added to the list is a colourful species of hummingbird only recently discovered in Colombia, the gorgeted puffleg. Its tiny fragment of habitat, just 1,200 hectares in the cloud forests of the Pinche mountain range, is being destroyed for coca farming.

The Sidamo lark of Ethiopia has been moved from endangered up to critically endangered, as it faces the danger of becoming mainland Africa's first bird extinction due to changes in land use.

And on the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species, which drew on evidence collected on the Galapagos, one of the islands' bird species, the medium tree-finch, has been listed as critically endangered for the first time.

The species is threatened by an introduced parasitic fly and because it has such a small, restricted range, any threat makes the bird very vulnerable, according to BirdLife International.

Simon Stuart, chairman of the IUCN's species survival commission, was disappointed more birds are "critically endangered" despite efforts around the world to protect bird habitats.

"It is extremely worrying that the number of critically endangered birds on the IUCN Red List continues to increase despite successful conservation initiatives around the world," he said.

Sourced Daily Telegraph

New species of sting ray discovered

2009-05-16T09:15:00.001+12:00

Scientists have discovered a new species of sting ray, prompting concern the endangered creatures are at risk from extinction

By Cheryl-Samantha Owen

The spotted eagle ray is named after the numerous white ringed spots on its body and a distinctive head that resembles a bill Photo: GETTY

The spotted eagle ray was thought to be one species of fish found all over the world in tropical shallow waters including the Indian Ocean, the Pacific west coast and Gulf of Mexico.

The ray has a venomous tail but is not aggressive and feeds on molluscs. It is named after the numerous white ringed spots on its body and a distinctive head that resembles a bill. It can weigh up to 500 pounds and measure 10ft across the wingspan.

However using new DNA techniques scientists have discovered that in fact the sting ray is made up of a number of at least two and possibly more species and sub species. This means the ray is under more threat from over fishing as each newly discovered species or subspecies has a smaller distribution and population size compared to a single, globally distributed species, making them more vulnerable to pressures from fisheries. Ultimately fishing out one small population could mean the extinction of that species.

This discovery was made by a team of marine scientists from the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Center and National Coral Reef Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Florida, USA. In the past the spotted eagle ray was categorised on its physical appearance. But using new DNA techniques, it was found the ray is actually made up of at least two and possibly more subspecies. The different species look similar but have a different genetic make up which has evolved as the ray spread to different parts of the world.

Work will now begin to officially identify and name the new species.

The findings published in the Journal of Heredity has significant conservation implications for the survival of all the new species.

At the moment the spotted eagle ray is already listed as a vulnerable and near threatened species because of its low reproductive rates.

However Mahmood Shivji from the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Center said the different species will be even more vulnerable.

He said: "These listings are based on the designation of the ray as a single global species; in light of what we have discovered each of the more regionally distributed species may be far more threatened than previously thought. Clarifying uncertainties surrounding the number of species, and their exact distributions and population size is imperative for guiding conservation and management efforts.

For more information on the marine environment and new species' discoveries please visit www.saveourseas.com

Surgeons operate on prickly leatherjacket triggerfish

2009-05-16T08:54:00.002+12:00

A prickly leatherjacket triggerfish has undergone an operation to have a growth removed from her tail at ZSL London Zoo.

The Prickly Leatherjacket Triggerfish during the operation

Prudence, from the Zoo's Aquarium, was given general anesthetic and kept constantly wet during the hour-long procedure after which laboratory tests revealed she had a benign tumour.

After the surgery Prudence was returned to the Aquarium where visitors can see her making a full recovery.

Prickly leatherjacket triggerfish are filefish which originate from the Indo-west pacific; they can grow up to 31cm in length.

The fish gets its name from its elongated dorsal fin which has a shape similar to a gun's trigger and the rough textured skin.

Common triggerfish include Queen, Black Durgon, Ocean, Triton, Clown and Picasso triggerfish.

A few of triggerfish species can be aggressive during reproduction season.

In particular Picasso triggerfish and titan triggerfish viciously defend their circular nests against any intruders, including scuba divers and snorkelers.

Some species of triggerfish are known to make a sound akin to a grunt or snarl when taken out of the water and can bite humans.

Elephants in zoos at risk of abnormal behaviour because of small groups

2009-02-25T16:20:00.002+13:00

Elephants in zoos are at risk of depression, according to a new study that found captive animals are unhappy kept alone or in small groups.

By Louise Gray

Elephants in zoos are at risk of depression, according to a new study that found captive animals are unhappy kept alone or in small groups.

The research found that most elephants in zoos are kept in groups of four or smaller.

Scientists say this is unnatural for the herd animals. It not only means young elephants cannot learn important socials skills but many begin showing "abnormal behaviour" that suggests depression such as swaying on the spot or pacing in circles.

Animal welfare specialist Dr Paul Rees of Salford University looked at the records of 200 zoos worldwide. In 2006, 69 per cent of Asian elephants and 80 per cent of African elephants in the world's zoos were still being kept in groups of four or fewer.

Both British and American animal welfare groups recommend elephants are kept in larger groups of seven or more that better reflects the natural habitat in the wild.

Dr Rees, who has spent years decoding the complex social structure of elephants, said elephants kept in small groups cannot learn important social skills such as finding a mate or greeting rituals.

"In the wild, elephant social structure is complex and, although the average group size is around 12, they can also live in even larger extended family units. Contact with members of their own species is crucial for the animals to develop normal behaviour patterns and friendships," he said.

"Small group sizes in zoos may prevent this from happening. There is no good reason for a zoo to keep just one elephant."

Dr Rees said elephants kept in small groups can display "abnormal behaviour" such as swaying on the spot or pacing in circles that suggests the animals are unhappy.

"In an awful lot of zoos around the world elephants are unable to comply with recommendations that elephants are kept in larger groups. I am absolutely convinced this is not a good thing," he added.

In a 2005 survey of 78 zoos accredited by the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums, 40 said they planned to expand or build new elephant exhibits.

But Dr Rees said it would be difficult for the majority of zoos to keep larger herds.

"This transition would be difficult as it would take a lot of time and money, and the zoos would need to find the right combinations of elephants. Many animals are often incompatible due to a history of inadequate care in circuses or substandard zoos where many of them originate," he said.

Weighing up to six tonnes, elephants are the largest land mammals. They are highly intelligent and can live up to 70 years, although their numbers are dropping due to poaching and the destruction of their habitat.

Rare cheetah caught on camera trap in Sahara

2009-02-25T16:09:00.002+13:00

An "incredibly rare and elusive" cheetah has been photographed using camera traps in the Algerian Sahara by scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

An "incredibly rare and elusive" cheetah has been photographed using camera traps in the Algerian Sahara by scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Photo: PA

There are thought to be less than 250 adult Northwest African or Saharan cheetahs, making the subspecies critically endangered, but very little is known about the cat.

The first camera-trap photographs of the cheetah, taken as part of a systematic survey of 1,750 square miles of the central Sahara, are providing scientists with information on population numbers, movement and how it interacts with its environment.

The cheetah is found across the Sahara desert and savannah of north and west Africa in small, fragmented populations, the biggest of which is thought to be in Algeria.

The survey identified four different Saharan cheetahs by examining the pattern of their spots, which are unique to each individual animal.

The research also provided photographic confirmation of the presence of sand cats in the region and, through the collection of a horn, confirmation that the scimitar-horned oryx - now extinct in the wild - had once lived in the area.

Dr Sarah Durant, senior research fellow with ZSL, said: "The Saharan cheetah is critically endangered, yet virtually nothing is known about the population, so this new evidence, and the ongoing research work, is hugely significant."

Farid Belbachir, research student at ZSL and research fellow at the Universite de Bejaia in Algeria who is implementing the survey said: "This is an incredibly rare and elusive subspecies of cheetah and current population estimates, which stand at less than 250 mature individuals, are based on guesswork.

"This study is helping us to turn a corner in our understanding, providing us with information about population numbers, movement and ecology."

The research was undertaken by ZSL, Office du Parc National de l'Ahaggar and the Universite de Bejaia, with support from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Panthera, an organisation dedicated to conserving the world's 36 species of wild cat.

AAAS: Tropical forests are drying out because of global warming

2009-02-21T20:36:00.000+13:00

Tropical forests could dry out and become prone to wildfires which could devastate large areas as global warming worsens, scientists have warned.

By Matthew Moore

Tropical forest: Rainforests currently play a critical role in regulating climate by absorbing carbon dioxide Photo: AFP

Damp regions that had previously been considered immune to the type of blazes that blighted Australia this month could turn to tinderboxes as temperatures rise, it is claimed.

Rainforests currently play a critical role in regulating climate by absorbing carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. But if they were to catch alight they would become carbon producers, accelerating climate change.

Dr Chris Field, co-chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) made the bleak warning as he told the American Association for the Advancement of Science that global temperature rises "will be beyond anything" previously predicted.

"Tropical forests are essentially inflammable. You couldn't get a fire to burn their if you tried. But if they dry out a little the result can be very large and destructive wildfires," he said.

"It is increasingly clear that as you produce a warmer world, lots of forest areas that had been acting a carbon sinks could be converted to carbon sources."

Prof Field said his 2007 report, which predicted temperature rises between 1.98F (1.1C) and 11.52F (6.4C) over the next century, seriously underestimated the scale of the problem. Greenhouse gases increased far more rapidly than expected between 2000 and 2007, he said.

And the director of the Carnegie Institute's Department of Global Ecology blamed the unexpected increases on the burgeoning economies of India and China which are burning massive amounts of coal for electric power.

As well as causing wildfires, rising temperatures could also speed up the melting of the permafrost, vastly increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, he warned.

"Without effective action, climate change is going to be larger and more difficult to deal with than we thought," he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/4637319/AAAS-Tropical-forests-are-drying-out-because-of-global-warming.html

White alligator is one of rarest in world

2009-02-21T17:23:00.002+13:00

A white alligator, one of only 12 of its kind anywhere in the world, has been brought in from the swamps of Louisiana.

White alligator: Out of the 5 million american alligator population there are thought to be only 12 leucistic gators Photo: BARCROFT

With its piercing blue eyes and pale skin this rare Alligator stands out like a sore thumb.

Weighing over 500 pounds, 22 year old male Bouya Blan is one of only 12 white alligators in the world.

The 500lb, 22-year-old male alligator, Bouya Blan, whose name means white fog, is kept at the Gatorland theme park in Florida.

He is one of four giant leucistic alligators kept at the park.

"People are awestruck when they see them, and just one look into those icy, blue eyes will give you chills," says Mark McHugh, President & CEO of Gatorland.

"We're excited to bring these thrilling animals to Florida."

Collected from deep in a Louisiana swamp, the ivory reptiles were part of a clutch of seventeen infants recovered by workers from the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company while surveying the area in 1986.

The group later brought the hatchlings to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans where only a few of the rare reptiles survived, before they were brought to Gatorland last year.

"This is the largest group of giant white gators in the world," says Tim Williams of Gatorland.

"These are not albino animals, they are what we call leucistic, which means they have a little bit of pigmentation around the mouth and a little touch on the tail and they have piercing blue eyes."

Leucistic animals have rare genetic condition that reduces the colour pigmentation in their skin.

Out of the 5 million american alligator population there are thought to be only 12 leucistic gators.

"They are just like alligators and they eat the same food," explains Mr Williams.

"The biggest concern is that they never would have survived in the wild. They are like little beacons out shining "come eat me".

"They are each ten to eleven plus feet in length and vulnerable to many predators because their lack of skin pigmentation deprives them of natural camouflage."

Due to their condition, the alligators are housed in special enclosures to protect them from sunlight - and the unwanted attention of other males.

"We have four white alligators here at Gatorland and because they are all males they cannot be in the same enclosure as they are all very big and they would all fight with each other," says Mr Williams.

"They are also very sensitive to direct sunlight, so we have to keep them in an environment where they get a tiny bit of sunlight during the day.

"They need to have a bit of Vitamin D but that is supplemented in their diet where we feed them chicken, fish, red meat and vitamin supplements.

"They each have their own pool and a haul out area and wooden decking they crawl out and bask in the heat."

Tim and his team are now hoping to breed white alligators with two female American gators who carry the leucistic gene.

"We also have two normal females who carry the gene for the leusitic offspring," says Mr Williams.

"Our hope is that with some candle light, soft music and maybe a little wine we are hoping to breed some leusitic gators in the near future," says Mr Williams.

Warmer weather leading to major redistribution of species' habitats

2009-02-21T16:36:00.002+13:00

Fish stocks are moving closer to the poles, and many Northern Hemisphere bird species are spending their winters further north than normal, as global warming puts the squeeze on wildlife habitats.

A study of more than 1000 marine species predicts rising temperatures will force fish more than 200km towards the poles by mid-century, dislocating ocean life and hitting tropical nations hard.

"We'll see a major redistribution of many species because of climate change," said report lead author William Cheung of the University of British Columbia in Canada and the University of East Anglia in England.

"On average, fish will change their distribution by more than 40km per decade in the next 50 years."

The report - released last week - is the first to model climate impacts for species such as herring, tuna, sharks or prawns.

Stocks of many species are already under pressure from over-fishing or pollution.

The study made computer models for the movements of 1066 species: 836 types of fish and 230 invertebrates, such as crabs and lobsters.

Some species could die off, such as fish that thrive in cold waters and would have nowhere to go if the oceans warmed.

Warming temperatures are also beginning to have an effect on Northern Hemisphere bird populations.

As the temperature across the United States has risen, the purple finch has been spending its winters more than 640km further north than it used to.

And it is not alone.

An Audubon Society study released last week has found more than half of 305 bird species in North America are spending the winter about 56km further north than they did 40 years ago.

Over the 40 years covered by the study, the average January temperature in the United States climbed by nearly 3C.

That warming was most pronounced in northern states, which have already recorded an influx of more southern species and could see some northern species retreat into Canada as ranges shift.

The study provides compelling evidence that in the Northern Hemisphere many birds are responding to climate change by shifting further north.

The study of migration habits from 1966 through to 2005 found about a quarter of the species have moved further south. But the number moving northward, 177 species, is twice that.

The study "shows a very, very large fraction of the wintering birds are shifting" northward, said Terry Root, a biologist at Stanford University.

"We don't know for a fact that it is warming. But when one keeps finding the same thing over and over ... we know it is not just a figment of our imagination."

General biology aside, the research can't explain why particular species are moving.

That is because changes in temperature affect different birds in different ways.

Other species, such as the purple finch and boreal chickadee, spend their summers in the forests of Canada and fly south into the US for the winter.

Climate change could be playing a role in why they are not flying as far south as they used to, and are no longer as common as they were in northern states like Maine, Vermont and Wisconsin.

- AP

Sourced New Zealand Herald

Sea eagle spotted in England for first time in 200 years

2009-02-13T10:08:00.001+13:00

A sea eagle has been spotted in the wild in England for the first time in 200 years.

By Louise Gray

The giant white-tailed sea eagle which has a 10ft wing span and was spotted on the coast at Bowness-on-Solway, in Cumbria, for the first time in 200 years Photo: NORTH NEWS & PICTURES

The female bird is one of 15 birds released in Fife, Scotland last year as part of a major reintroduction programme.

The nine-month-old bird was spotted over the Solway coast near Carlisle, Cumbria.

The last breeding pair of sea eagles to be found in England were recorded in the Lake District in 1794.

Conservationists welcomed the return of the birds, which can have a wing span of up to eight feet, to England.

The RSPB has tracked the young bird using a satellite tag and a spokesman said she will have flown the hundreds of miles from Scotland to a new hunting ground to look for food because of the cold winter.

The spokesman said: "This is great news. It is the first time the bird has been spotted in Cumbria for 200 years and shows the bird returning to the last area where the birds bred in England."

However the juvenile bird is unlikely to settle in England.

The raptors feed on other birds and carrion and have been blamed for taking lambs in Scotland but the RSPB said one bird was unlikely to upset farmers.

The Sea Eagle, also known as the white-tailed eagle, is the largest of the European eagles.

The birds were first reintroduced to the west coast of Scotland in the 1970s and more recently to the east coast.

Natural England and the RSPB are also hoping to reintroduce the bird to Norfolk but face local opposition.

Global Warming changing US Bird Migration

2009-02-11T13:23:00.002+13:00

Finches lead feathered exodus northward

4:00AM Wednesday Feb 11, 2009

Scientists say global warming is the reason why purple finches and other birds are spending winters farther north. Photo / AP

WASHINGTON - As the temperature across the United States has become warmer, the purple finch has been spending its winters more than 640km farther north than it used to. And it is not alone.

An Audubon Society study found that more than half of 305 bird species in North America are spending the winter about 55km farther north than they did 40 years ago. The purple finch, however, was the biggest northward mover.

Bird ranges can expand and shift for many reasons, among them urban sprawl, deforestation and the supplemental diet provided by backyard feeders. But researchers say the only explanation for why so many birds are wintering in more northern locales is global warming.

Over the 40 years covered by the study, the average January temperature in the US climbed by nearly 3C. That warming was most pronounced in northern states, which have already recorded an influx of more southern species and could see some northern species retreat into Canada.

"This is as close as science at this scale gets to proof," said Greg Butcher, the lead scientist on the study and the director of bird conservation at the Audubon Society. "It is not what each of these individual birds did. It is the wide diversity of birds that suggests it has something to do with temperature, rather than ecology."

Previous studies of breeding birds in Britain and the eastern US have detected similar trends. But the Audubon study covers a broader area and includes many more species.

The study of migration habits from 1966 to 2005 found about one in four species have moved farther south. But the number moving northward - 177 species - is twice that.

The study "shows a very, very large fraction of the wintering birds are shifting" northward, said Terry Root, a biologist at Stanford University. "We don't know for a fact that it is warming. But when one keeps finding the same thing over and over ... we know it is not just a figment of our imagination."

- AP

Wade Doak: Islands of Survival hold key to saving seas

2009-02-11T12:51:00.004+13:00

Wade Doak: Islands of Survival hold key to saving seas

Wade Doak

During voyages in the Pacific with Dr Walter Starck on his undersea research ship El Torito we studied traditional fishing techniques wherever still evident. We were surprised to find a group of atoll-dwellers who live as much in balance with their environment as did the Aborigines, Eskimos and other stone age societies.

This is not because they are smarter than us, but because of the dictates of a harsh world: selection has favoured those who get it right ecologically.

In such situations, we have found man has an ecological niche and can survive without injuring his environment. Those who got it wrong were eliminated.

From the fishing methods and living patterns of the Luaniuans (who have survived on an atoll for 800 years with their fish community largely intact), I believe we can learn a great deal which can help our techno-society achieve the same ideal. Atoll-dwelling Polynesians offer us the key to inhabiting Earth island.

These days around most Pacific Islands fishing stocks have been seriously depleted. Wherever there is commercial fishing exploitation of wild stocks beyond local needs, demand soon exceeds supply.

We are all too familiar with the result. Today few people earn a living from fishing the stretch of Northland coast where I live, because there's just not sufficient fish any more. On most Pacific Islands these days the staple diet is canned fish, canned meat and imported white rice, with severe health effects.

So I am offering from our study of the islanders' survival systems, the basis for a new approach to coastal management.

It has already been suggested that we zone our coastline just as we zoned our cities and countryside. In Queensland the Government has created fisheries habitat reserves. These conservation areas are intended to offset the debt owed to the sea for the loss of so much strategic coastline to industrial development.

In Europe such areas are called marine natural parks.

In my scenario for coastal management my working title has been Islands of Survival, although they may well be termed "Marine National Parks" - areas of high recreational value, usually rocky, highly indented coastline like the Tutukaka Coast out to the Poor Knights Islands [virtually Whangarei to Bay of Islands], or protected harbours such as the Hokianga, which are often of low value for commercial operations.

Within such areas up to 12 nautical miles offshore, I suggest a special type of fishing licence be established which would enable local fish populations to maintain healthy levels. This would be part of a national drive to support more people in rural areas.

It would be essential that biologists be consulted to limit the number of special fishing licences, giving priority to applications from existing local licences and charter-boat skippers.

Park fishermen would have rights to controlled, sustainable fishing in the area (perhaps twin hook hand-lining and such like but no set nets or seines!) and would make the decision themselves to restrict fishing in critical areas of the park to rehabilitate fish stocks.

The skills of the fishermen, their knowledge and expertise, would be integrated within the park. They should also be permitted to have their boats surveyed for charter work. Tourists would pay to catch their fish for them and then eat it at a local restaurant.

In catering for the tourist traffic the fisherman and his family would be able to balance their impact on the fish population by spreading their economic demands seasonally.

We have learned the hard way that exploitation of wild populations cannot be sustained as high-level export earners. In marine natural parks fishermen's co-operatives would market fish only within the park locality. This would be conditional on holding such a licence.

In this way seafood restaurants at tourist resorts could offer New Zealanders on holiday a wide range of fresh seafood delicacies at reasonable prices. In maintaining their livelihood, park fishermen would have a stake in protecting natural resources which equal the public interest.

To further enhance tourism and advance education, selected areas within these fisheries habitat reserves would be set aside as total no-take areas, as with our present marine reserves, which were originally designed and legislated for scientists.

These new recreational marine reserves would be cloned off the immense success of the Leigh Marine Reserve, which now attracts excessive crowds because of its uniqueness; and which offers the public glass-bottom boat tours, superb snorkelling and scuba diving amidst dense reef fish populations, and to fishermen, both recreational and commercial, a fish recruitment zone which spills over into adjacent areas, enhancing both sporting and economic values in the area.

An over-fished stretch of coast is like an overstocked paddock - with the existing situation nobody gets any benefit from our empty seas. If I extrapolate the changes I have seen in 50 years of diving, I can only say that our seas are dying.

The stories of older fishermen will bear me out - marine communities are in decline and drastic measures are needed. The creation of Islands of Survival or marine parks along the New Zealand coastline would be to everyone's benefit.

How long will it be before we quit our ungoverned rape of the sea and start to husband its resources wisely?

Fish have values in many ways. A fish in the wild could be regarded as having multiple values.

Alive, in a viable marine community it has a value to glass-bottom boat viewers, snorkellers and scuba divers. Educationally, students of all ages need to experience a thriving reef scene: I call it a wet library, an essential amenity for any school.

Ecologically, as part of an ecosystem, a fish influences other life forms and communities, such as large snapper controlling urchin barrens or leatherjackets acting as bottom disturbers and diversifiers.

These omnivorous fish have a major influence in promoting the mosaic of encrusting life on the rock face because they create new spaces for settlement as they browse indiscriminately - much as the wood pigeon spreads the seeds of forest trees.

Genetically a fish has value to its gene pool. Large fish, as survivors, show selective value and should be spared for breeding and with females, for large volume egg production.

As a catch, against the market in Tokyo, a fish caught in a marine park such as I propose and marketed locally, would have value to the local community: as food and as a major health source.

If caught by proxy from a licensed charter boat such a fish has value as a tourist attraction.

Then, downstream, attracting marine-oriented tourists, this fish has value to the local accommodation, restaurant, travel trades and to the home-based artefact culture.

For iwi, on special social occasions, community consumption of fresh kaimoana has very important cultural values in which many pakeha have shared.

Once a reputation for high-quality seafoods was spread internationally the benefits could be considerable to all of New Zealand. With its clean, green image, New Zealand already has a propensity for such a reputation, if we set out to earn it.

I note that tarakihi currently on sale to the New Zealand public is exported to China for processing and re-imported. It is not good quality: it is pallid and smells fishy.

With seafood, freshness is of the essence. It should be caught locally and consumed locally and its conservation should be monitored locally. As it has a visual value while alive this has to be balanced by the community with its food value. With climate change, food miles are another important consideration.

* Wade Doak has been diving for over 50 years and is the author of 18 books about the sea.

Sourced - NZ Herald

Snow Leopards under serious threat

2009-02-10T13:12:00.004+13:00

Photo credit: Photo by Milan Trykar. Courtesy of Snow Leopard Trust.
Photo location: Woodland Park Zoo; Seattle, WA USA

Snow Leopards all across their home territories are becoming increasingly under threat from poachers and military conflict. During my research for stories on this incredible large cat I came across several that were most disturbing.

The first comes from Afghanistan.

A very recent report from Reuters has shown that Snow Leopards in the region are now under increasing threat from Foreigners who have been engaged to help rebuild this shattered war torn country. The Snow Leopard population the report states has barely survived thirty years of constant warfare and is now being threatened by foreign visitors buying illegal pelts from the impoverished Afghani people who are prepared to poach the remaining animals in exchange for badly needed cash. Read more on this here
Snow Leopards are listed on the CITES Endangered Species List. The CITES link is above under the Wildlife & Conservation links section of this blog

The second comes from Mongolia:

The Snow Leopard Trust has reported the shooting of the Snow Leopard known as "Long Tail"
Long Tail was part of the Trust's long term study of snow leopards. They report that Long Tail was shot by a Mongolian herder. Read more about Long Tail here

This last story comes from Kashmir:

Villagers in Kashmir have killed a snow leopard after the animal had entered their village.
Read more here on the Snow Leopard Network News

Kaka Survival hopes boosted by chick's arrival

2009-02-10T06:51:00.002+13:00

North Island Kaka
Image - Matt Binns

Kaka chicks' arrival boosts hope for survival of species

By Eloise Gibson

The endangered kaka are breeding again on Maungatautari. Photo / Phil Brown

They may have faces only a mother could love but four wrinkly, knobbly babies have conservationists at Maungatautari, near Cambridge, almost tearful with joy.

Ecologist Chris Smuts-Kennedy said there was absolute euphoria when four kaka chicks were found in a breeding enclosure on the mountain, the first babies of their kind in the Waikato for at least 50 years.

Now members of the Maungatautari Trust say they may be on track to help rescue the cheeky birds from their long decline.

Mr Smuts-Kennedy said only a few thousand North Island kaka were left. Outside sanctuaries such as Maungatautari, numbers were falling as stoats continued to eat nesting female kaka.

He said that eventually, kaka would breed only inside protected areas. Conservationists hope creating fenced, predator-proof zones will give kaka enough safe breeding space to keep them roaming the country.

The friendly forest birds travel long distances looking for food, so they need more breeding space than some sanctuaries can provide.

At 3400ha, the forest on Maungatautari mountain is big enough for the adventurous birds, as is Great Barrier Island.

But until now, kaka borrowed from Auckland Zoo to breed at Maungatautari have not co-operated.

Mr Smuts-Kennedy said noisy, squawking kaka were so visible people often thought there were plenty left. But the birds people saw were almost always males, making long winter journeys to search for food.

He admitted the new babies were not beautiful but he said it was "one of those caterpillar-to-butterfly situations". The grown birds would be glossy and charming.

Parents Wildone and Mia will keep an eye on their chicks for six months, after which it is hoped the youngsters will settle on the mountain.

Ten adult kaka have been released on Maungatautari, each spending time in an aviary while becoming accustomed to the new home.

Takahe, kiwi and kokopu have also been released inside Maungatautari's 47km predator-proof fence.

Kokako, tuatara, stitchbird (hihi) saddleback, robins, rifleman, kakariki and whiteheads are also on the list to be introduced.

Sourced - NZ Herald

Darwin's Galapagos species under threat

2009-02-10T05:58:00.004+13:00

When Charles Darwin set foot on the Galapagos Islands, he was so astonished by the unique diversity of plants and animals there that his visit led to him developing one of the most influential scientific theories of all time.

By Richard Gray

Flightless Cormorant, Punta Espinosa, Fernandina Island, Galapagos Photo: GETTY

But as scientists around the world prepare to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the great biologist's birth, the rich ecosystems he found 174 years ago on these islands off the coast of South America are now under threat of collapsing.

Conservation groups warn that invasive animals and insects introduced by visitors along with the rising number of tourists and permanent human inhabitants on the islands are destroying the rare endemic species that are found no where else in the world.

There are 106 species on the islands and in the surrounding waters, out of around 450, that are now considered endangered or critically endangered, while another 90 have been officially declared as vulnerable.

Of the 168 unique plants found no where else in the world, 60 per cent are close to extinction and in the past 10 years alone, at least three species, including a mouse that bore Darwin's name, have died out.

Scientists and conservation charities now fear that unless more is done to preserve the unique animals and plants that inhabit the islands, more species will be consigned to the history books.

Authorities on the islands are now drawing up strict new rules to restrict tourism and development on the islands.

"When Darwin visited the Galapagos, the number of animals would have been far greater," said Jonathan Rush, information manager at the Galapagos Conservation Trust. "The introduction of invasive species, tourism, fishing, development and pollution are the principal threats.

"The growing number of visitors has had an adverse impact and could destroy the islands if allowed to increase in an uncontrolled way."

Many of the iconic species that Darwin described during his visit to the Galapagos on HMS Beagle in 1835 are bearing the brunt of the losses.

Since his time there, three species of giant tortoise, among the most famous of the natural inhabitants, have disappeared.

Weighing up to 250kg and living for more than 100 years, there were 14 different species of giant tortoise on the Galapagos Islands, but settlers and passing sailors who captured the tortoises for food caused their numbers to dwindle from more than 100,000 to less than 15,000.

The most famous remaining giant tortoise is Lonesome George, the last surviving Pinta Island giant tortoise. When he dies a fifth species of giant tortoise will have become extinct.

David Robinson, a senior lecturer in life sciences at the Open University and academic adviser for the BBC who has visited the islands on many occasions, said: "When Darwin arrived on the islands he commented on how he was unable to find anywhere to pitch his tent due to the number of burrows made by the land iguanas that lived there. When I was there you could barely find any."

The famous finches on the Galapagos Islands, nicknamed Darwin's finches after he used their varying beak size on different islands as an example of his theory of natural selection, are also suffering.

Since 1991 tourist numbers have soared from 41,000 to more than 160,000 annually, while the local population has grown by four per cent every year to reach more than 40,000.

Recent research has revealed that this growing human presence is causing the evolution of some of the species to go into reverse. They found variation in beak size was decreasing in the medium ground finch when living near to humans.

Insects and animals introduced to the islands by humans are also destroying the diversity. There are now 748 introduced species of plants compared with 500 native plant species.

At least 490 species of insect and 53 other invertebrates have been introduced to the Galapagos, 55 of which are known to be severely impacting the native species. A parasitic fly Philornis downsi is one example that is attacking Darwin's finches.

Black rats, that arrived on the islands as stowaways on ships, have been responsible for eating bird eggs, destroying nests and competing with native rodents such as Darwin's Galapagos mouse, declared extinct in 1996, and the Indefatigable Galapagos mouse, found to be extinct in 2000.

Four species of bird, including the Mangrove finch, Galapagos petrel and the Galapagos albatross, are now critically endangered. There are between 18 and 30 Floreana mockingbirds, which particularly caught Darwin's eye, left, making them one of the rarest birds in the world.

There are also just 1,538 Galapagos penguins, the only species of penguin found north of the Equator. A form of avian malaria is ravaging the birds while changes in climate and predation from cats has reduced their population further.

Feral goats and pigs that were introduced to the islands by whalers have caused extensive damage to the delicate ecosystems. Conservation groups have now managed to eradicate goats from seven of the nine main islands.

Visitors to uninhabited islands must all now be accompanied by park rangers, are banned from carrying food and must completely change their clothing to avoid carrying seeds ashore.

Professor Steve Jones, an evolutionary geneticist at University College London, said: "On the Galapagos, goats and cats are a plague, pigeons have pushed out their feathered relatives and alien wasps have done terrible damage to the insects. The islands face an era in which specialists, evolved to fit their own small place in nature, have fallen to loutish strangers able to cope more or less anywhere."

Plight of polar bears captured in arctic images

2009-02-09T22:55:00.001+13:00

Endangered polar bears, struggling to survive in the shrinking Arctic landscape, have been documented in a series of stunning pictures spanning 16 years.

By Sarah Knapton

A polar bear plays on the tundra near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada Photo: AP

In his new book The Last Polar Bear wildlife photographer Steven John Kazlowski captures the growing plight of the creatures in their natural habitat.

Kazlowski is currently touring the United States with the images to raise awareness of the threat of global warming to polar bears.

"My hopes are that people will understand that there is an environment as amazing as the one great buffalo herds once roamed across and that it's changing extremely rapidly because of the way we have chosen to live as a society, and that we are all connected," said the photographer,

"Its plight is a wake-up call: we must act now to stem the tide of climate change while there is still time and space for hope."

Global warming is weakening the edge ice in the Arctic and shortening the season during which it is close enough to shore for polar bears to move easily between floes.

Many bears find themselves stranded either on land, where adequate prey is difficult to find, or on ice miles out at sea.

Biologists and climatologists believe the polar bear will be the first to disappear altogether from its Arctic ecosystem if rapid changes are not made to reverse climate change.

Five New Pygmy Seahorse Species Found

2009-02-09T21:51:00.004+13:00

Five New Pygmy Seahorse Species Found



	Pontoh's pygmy seahorse, named after Indonesian dive guide Hence Pontoh, is one of many tiny specimens described in a December 2008 study. Pygmy seahorses are high on the "wish lists" of many divers, who want to spot one for themselves, co-author Lourie remarked by email. "There is a lot of local pride surrounding these and other pygmy seahorses in Indonesia, where they were discovered," Lourie said. Their presence creates strong incentives to conserve the threatened coral reefs on which seahorses depend, she added. --Helen Scales More photos on National Geographic

Sea die-out blamed on volcanoes

2009-02-09T21:33:00.002+13:00

Different colour sediments represent oxygenated versus anoxic conditions

Undersea volcanic activity has been blamed for a mass extinction in the seas 93 million years ago.

In the so-called "anoxic event" of the late Cretaceous Period, the ocean depths became starved of oxygen, wiping out swathes of marine organisms.

Researchers from the University of Alberta, Canada, found a tell-tale signature of underwater volcanism in rocks dating to the period.

Their findings have been published in the journal Nature.

At the time of the anoxic event, the average temperatures were higher than those of today, researchers say.

Palm trees grew in what would later become Alaska and large reptiles roamed northern Canada. The Arctic Ocean was ice-free and scientists think it would have had a temperature we might describe today as lukewarm.

However, the oceans were also hit by a mass extinction which wiped out a type of large clam common at the time as well as tiny ocean creatures known as foraminifera, which live on the sea floor.

Ocean chemistry

Helped by a sudden sluggish shift in ocean circulation, the remains of these minuscule organisms littered the sea bed in thick layers, and over geological time became transformed into oil.

After the extinction, levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere dropped and Earth lurched into a sudden, but short-lived, period of cooling.

Geologists have pondered for years as to the cause of this extraordinary event.

Giant clams were among the organisms killed off

According to Steve Turgeon and Robert Creaser from Alberta's department of Earth and atmospheric sciences, the answer to the cataclysm lies in volcanic eruptions which took place on the ocean floor.

These appear to have altered the chemistry of the sea and possibly of the atmosphere also.

The clue can be found in levels of two forms, or isotopes, of osmium found in black shale rocks.

The sedimentary rocks they analysed came from cores drilled from the sea bed off the coast of South America, and from mountains in Italy.

Future warming

The bed of the present-day Caribbean was formed by the huge lava flows thought to have been involved. However, the researchers say the flows would have preceded the extinction by up to 23,000 years.

Two theories, which are not mutually exclusive, have emerged to explain the chemistry of what happened next, says Tim Bralower, a geologist at Pennsylvania State University, US, who reviewed the paper.

One possibility is that the volcanoes spewed out metal-rich fluids that seeded the upper level of the ocean with micronutrients, he says.

Tiny life forms on the sea surface, called phytoplankton, gorged on the food, and storing up carbon as they grew. They then sank to the sea floor and decayed, stripping the ocean of oxygen.

The other is that the volcanoes disgorged clouds of CO2 to the atmosphere, warming the climate to the extent that Earth's ocean circulation system ground to a near-halt.

Beyond the surface layers, water was no longer turned over and anoxia (lack of oxygen) was the result.

Dr Bralower says that figuring out the post-volcanism scenario could help scientists wrestling with some of the unknowns of climate change today.

These include the impact of higher temperatures on marine circulation and whether controversial schemes to sow the ocean with iron filings, to spur phytoplankton growth and thus soak up CO2 from the atmosphere, would ease warming or cause oxygen starvation in the ocean depths.

Sourced BBC NEWS

Japanese Whalers, Activists Clash at Sea - AFP

2009-02-08T22:42:00.004+13:00

Antarctic Rendezvous | Discovery News Video

Feb. 2, 2009 -- Japanese whalers and environmentalists clashed on the high seas Monday, with the activists accusing the hunters of injuring two of them and of deploying a new "military grade" acoustic weapon.

Authorities in Tokyo said the whaling fleet was trying to ward off the activists who hurled bottles of either paint or rotten butter to disrupt the operations.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said one of its activists was cut and bruised after being knocked over by a high pressure blast of water and the other was hit in the face by a metal ball thrown by the whalers.

Both men had been on small inflatable boats launched from the groups' flagship the "Steve Irwin" to "harass the (Japanese whaling) fleet and to hurry them along", Sea Shepherd said in a statement.

The militant environmental group, which has been accused by Japan of "eco-terrorism" for its attempts to disrupt the annual whale hunt, said the whalers had used a new "acoustic weapon" against protesters.

"The factory ship the Nisshin Maru and the two harpoon vessels in the fleet are equipped with long range acoustical devices," the statement said.

"This is a military grade weapon system that sends out mid to high frequency sound waves designed to disorient and possibly incapacitate personnel. It is basically an anti-personnel weapons system."

The "Steve Irwin" retreated when within range of the acoustic weapon but generally had "a very successful day", said captain Paul Watson.

"All we need to do is to keep them running and to keep them from whaling and that is exactly what we are doing," he said.

In Tokyo, the Fisheries Agency said the activists had hurled projectiles and tried to attach themselves with a rope to one of the vessels. It said the whalers responded with water sprays and "beeping warning tones."

Japan has asked the embassies in Australia and New Zealand as well as the Netherlands -- the nationality of the group's ship -- to prevent a similar incident, said Fisheries Agency official Shigeki Takaya.

"Their ship is still following the whaling fleet," Takaya said.

Glenn Inwood, a local spokesman for Japan's government-backed Institute of Cetacean Research, said the whalers would not reveal their tactics "to protect themselves from the criminal actions committed by the Dutch vessel."

"We can say, however, that all legal means available will be used to ensure these pirates do not board Japanese ships or threaten the lives of the crews or the safety of the vessels," Inwood told Australia's national AAP news agency.

An international moratorium on commercial whaling was imposed in 1986 but Japan kills hundreds each year using a loophole that allows "lethal research" on the ocean giants.

Japan makes no secret of the fact that the meat ends up on dinner tables and accuses Western nations of not respecting its culture.

Sourced - Discovery News

Turtle fossil shows how 'super-greenhouse effect' created tropical Arctic

2009-02-08T21:23:00.003+13:00

The discovery of a fossilised ancient turtle reveals the North Pole was once "extremely" warm and tropical, scientists said.

The North Pole: "extremely" warm and tropical millions of years ago Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Animals migrated from Asia to North America directly across the formerly frost-free Arctic Ocean, new evidence shows.

Geologists made the breakthrough after discovering the fossil of a freshwater Asian turtle - dating back millions of years - in Canada.

John Tarduno, a US-based professor of geophysics at the University of Rochester, said: "We've known there's been an interchange of animals between Asia and North America in the late cretaceous period, but this is the first example we have of a fossil in the High Arctic region showing how this migration may have taken place.

"We're talking about extremely warm, ice-free conditions in the Arctic region, allowing migrations across the pole."

Numerous rivers from the adjacent continents would have poured fresh water into the ancient Arctic sea, he said.

Fresh water, which is lighter than marine water, may have rested on top of the salty ocean water allowing animals such as the turtle to migrate with relative ease.

The professor, who published his findings in the journal Geology, added: "We found this turtle right on top of the last flood basalts - a large stretch of lava from a series of giant volcanic eruptions.

"That leads us to believe that the warming may have been caused by volcanoes pumping tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide into the Earth's atmosphere.

"There is evidence that this volcanic activity happened all around the planet - not just the Arctic.

"If it all happened on a short-enough timescale, it could cause a super-greenhouse effect."

The research team plans to return to the Arctic to look for more fossils.

Narwhals filmed for first time on migration

2009-02-08T21:02:00.004+13:00

Narwhals filmed for first time on migration

Narwhals, known as ice unicorns for their long tusks, have been filmed for the first time as they make their treacherous migration along the cracks in the Arctic sea ice.

By Richard Gray

The treacherous journeys made by narwhals have been witnessed for the first time Photo: PAUL NICKLEN/BBC

These unusual whales are rarely glimpsed in the fleeting moments they break through the ice that covers their underwater world.

But spectacular aerial footage captured by the BBC shows how the gruops of narwhal, with tusks up to eight feet long, crowd their way through narrow gaps between the ice sheets as they attempt a dangerous spring migration in the search for food.

It comes as new research is also revealing how these rare and strange-looking mammals are under threat from changing conditions in the Arctic.

Scientists studying the impact of climate change on the Arctic have concluded that narwhals are even more vulnerable than polar bears, which rely upon the ice to hunt. They claim that without the ice to shelter them, narwhals will become more vulnerable to predators and competition from other whales.

"Narwhal need predictable conditions so they can time their migration right and get to their food sources at the right time," added Dr Kristen Laidre, a polar biologist who is carrying out the research on narwhal at University of Washington. "They are really very specialised animals that have adapted to live amid the ice, so if the ecology of the Arctic changes then it can impact on the whole food chain.

"The areas they are found are extremely remote, so they are difficult to study. We still don't know how they manage to find open water within the ice. Each year the ice breaks up in different ways, but they time their migration at the right moment."

The narwhals, which feature in the first programme of the BBC's latest natural history series Nature's Great Events, were filmed during their annual migration north from the west coast of Greenland to their summer feeding grounds in the fjords and bays beyond Lancaster Sound.

They form the vanguard of animals to migrate north as rising spring temperatures and winds start to break up the vast stretches of sea ice that form in the Arctic Circle during the freezing winter months.

The film captures the thousands of narwhals as they make the annual trip along thin channels in the ice in the ice in groups of 20 or 30, all swimming in perfect unison as they surface for air.

Occasionally channels close up and the narwhals have to swim to find openings in the ice further along their route or they will drown. The animals can also become trapped if the ice sheets close up above them and the narwhals have to break through thin sections of the ice in order to breathe.

To get the footage film crews had to travel 30 miles out on the sea ice while it was starting to break up.

Justin Anderson, producer of the programme that follows the springtime melting of the Arctic ice sheets, said it took three weeks before they found the elusive whales.

He said: "The location is very remote and the ice was breaking up all the time around the film crew.

"When you see them, it is hard to believe they are real – they seem almost mystical as if they have come straight from some kind of fantasy world."

Narwhal tusks are thought to be the inspiration for the legend of unicorns and they can fetch thousands of pounds. Queen Elizabeth I is said to have paid a fortune for a narwhal tusk which she used as a sceptre.

Only male narwhals have tusks and they were originally thought to be used in "fencing" as males competed for mates. Recent research, however, has suggested the tusks could also act as some sort of super-sensory organ that allows them to detect changes in water temperature and salinity.

Nature's Great Events follows six periods of dramatic seasonal change in different parts of the world, including the salmon run in north America, flooding on the Kalahari and shoals of sardines up to 15 miles long migrating off the coast of South Africa.

Narwhal Facts

Weight: up to 3,500lbs

Length: up to 15.5 feet

Ivory tusk: Actually a left front tooth that grows to 8ft

Population: up to 80,000

Dive more than 3,000 feet

Feed on arctic cod and squid

Related to other toothed whales such as orca and sperm whales

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/4547325/Narwhals-filmed-for-first-time-on-migration.html