Australia wants its cats dead. But not because it's a nation of fanatical dog people — rather, the country's enormous feral cat population now constitutes a major threat to its biodiversity. To save the country's native wildlife, the cats need to go.
Due to hotter days, longer dry periods, and increasingly intense bush fires caused by climate change, Australia's biodiversity is diminishing. Despite being one of the world's 17 "megadiverse" countries, Australia has not done a bang-up job of protecting its wildlife. As mammalian extinction rates go, Australia's is pretty dang high: Twenty-one percent of Australian native land mammals are threatened.
Comment: Brush fires leave threatened species more exposed to feral cats.
But, shockingly, climate change is actually not the No. 1 enemy of koalas and kangaroos: Feral cats are the "single biggest threat" to protecting Australia's wildlife, according to a new piece from VICE News. There are about 20 million of these little cutthroat barbarians pawing, nuzzling, and murdering (in equal measure) their way across the continent, eating three to 20 animals each day — which adds up to a loss of 80 million native animals per week.
Comment: While the feral cat crisis is a CATaclysmic scenario for Aussie wildlife running out of control, this article doesn't mention the public health consequences of feral cat colonies, whose populations are rapidly increasing. Rabies, toxoplasmosis, cat scratch fever and other potentially serious infectious diseases can affect humans and other wildlife. Another solution is TNR (trap, neuter and release) however, this method is less reliable and discouraged by health and wildlife organizations.
The $2M pledged to slow biodiversity loss is not allocated to killing feral cats, per se, but to boost the recovery of threatened species in Australia's national parks via 10 projects targeting key species' habitats and threats, both flora and fauna. Specifically they will benefit Norfolk Island green parrot, Cocos buff-banded rail, long-nosed potoroo, southern brown bandicoot, northern quoll, partridge pigeon, brush-tailed rabit-rat, the plants of the Arnhem Plateau and the Kakadu Threatened Species Strategy. The feral cat massacre is the idea of Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt. According to the mammal action plan assessments, it will take decades. They are now working on an engineered virus. (Oh! Oh!... call David Lynch!!!)
The massive fires that swept through nearly 60 villages and towns in the Siberian republic of Khakassia have left 23 people dead, and more than 900 injured, according to an official committee investigating the tragedy.
"Currently the committee can confirm 23 deaths," head of the investigative committee Vladimir Markin was quoted as saying by TASS.
More than 1,400 homes were destroyed in the fire, leaving some 6,000 people homeless, according to regional governor Viktor Zimin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had personally coordinated emergency services operations in Khakassia, according to his spokesperson.
Some 5,000 firefighters as well as thousands of volunteers worked to contain the blazes through the night, extinguishing the fires by Monday morning. Temporary camps have been set up in the Beisky and Shirinksy districts nearby for those displaced by the fire.
The fires started after mass grass burning by residents in the region. Grass burning is a springtime tradition among farmers in some parts of Russia, meant to clear the fields of dry grass and prepare them for planting. Officials blamed the extreme severity of this year's fire on "uncontrolled burning, dry weather and uncharacteristically strong and rough winds."
Floods in Karaganda Oblast continue to wreak havoc as Kazakh authorities are forced to evacuate dozens of settlements, Tengrinews reports citing the Oblast's Department of Emergency Situations. 1,760 houses have been flooded in 35 villages. 340 livestock have drowned.
A sharp rise in temperature to 20 degrees Centigrade between March 23 to 29 intensified the melting of snow and caused flooding of villages in Semey and Ayagoz districts in East Kazakhstan Oblast and of four districts in Karaganda Oblast.
The second wave of floods began on April 6 as a result of another sharp rise in temperatures, again to 20 degrees Centigrade, creating a threat of flooding of settlements in Karaganda and Akmola Oblasts in central Kazakhstan. Moreover, the threat now extends to Astana suburbs located near the riverbed of Nura.
A villager was trampled to death by an elephant in Bankura district when he was returning home after attending 'Gajan' festivities last night.
50-year-old Swapan Bauri was cycling back home in Baguli village after attending 'Gajan' or 'Charak Puja' festivities in Kandashole village when he was chased by two male elephants.
One of the pachyderms lifted him by his trunk and then trampled him to death at Kadashole, Borjora Forest Ranger, Mohan Chandra Shit said today.
The villagers sat on a protest today demanding adequate compensation to the victim's family following which the Forest Ranger was asked to be present at a meeting between the residents and the police at the local police station, he said.
The Ranger said as per official norms, Rs 1.25 lakh was paid as compensation to Bauri's family and another Rs 1.25 lakh would be paid to them after his postmortem.
Man-elephant conflict is a problem in Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapur districts of the state as elephant herds from Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary of neighbouring Jharkhand migrate to the areas resulting in degradation of crops and property as well as injury and loss of human lives.
Deidre Mussen stuff.co.nz Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:46 UTC
The Chateau Tongariro Hotel at Mt Ruapehu looks spectacular on Tuesday morning after the first snow dump of the season.
An unseasonably early dump of snow on the North Island's ski fields has excited skiers and snowboarders, prompting a few to hit the slopes for some pre-winter fun.
A brutal southerly blast straight from Antarctica swept New Zealand on Monday and blanketed the country's ski fields in snow.
North Island's four fields - Whakapapa, Turoa and Tukino on Mt Ruapehu, plus Manganui on Mt Taranaki - were all celebrating the snowfall. "Everyone is excited about it," New Plymouth snowboarder Craig Balks said.
The 27-year-old spent Tuesday morning on Mt Taranaki with girlfriend Aleisha Tippett after the lure of early snow proved irresistible, despite his taking a day off work because of a nasty cold.
About 6cm of snow covered Manganui Ski Area's top car park by early Tuesday morning, he said. "I definitely think this is the earliest snow for ages."
While it was unlikely the snow would last till the end of the week, and was too little to snowboard on, he hoped it boded well for a "nice cold winter".
Stratford Mountain Club spokesman Rob Needs said it was the most significant snow to fall at such low levels and so early in the winter season for several decades.
Playa Brava in Iquique has now turned red... Prawn red! A sign of the next big one?
Scientists are baffled by this apocalyptic mass die-off and will conduct various tests - water and shellfish - to determine the cause of this kill!
Yesterday morning the entire coast of Playa Brava in Iquique was blanketed by millions of dead or dying prawns.
The reason for this mass die-off is still unknown.
The apocalyptic event started at around 07:00. Rescue was launched directly after. But rough sea hampered the work of the rescuers, whose efforts were unsuccessful.
The victim Marco Antonio Sanchez, was allegedly intoxicated when he entered the water.
A 31-year old tourist, native of the state of Tlaxcala in central Mexico, died last Saturday drowned after being dragged by a 7 feet long crocodile in the Bojorquez Lagoon near Cancun hotel zone.
Eyewitnesses declared that the now deceased Marco Antonio Sánchez Fernández went swimming after heavily drinking. A few meters away from the sidewalk that is relatively close to the shore, bathers spotted a crocodile measuring over two meters (7 feet).
After the animal perceived movement, it entered the water. Realizing this, many people who were at the scene and police elements patrolling the area, warned the unnoticed swimmers to come out, but only one of them listened and when the other tried to react, the crocodile pulled him to deeper waters.
A Flash Flood Warning has expired for Collin County and parts of Denton and Grayson Counties after one to two inches of rain fell over Tarrant and Denton Counties earlier Monday.
Meteorologists expected scattered showers and thunderstorms to hit North Texas overnight. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for counties in the southern portion of the WFAA viewing area through 11 p.m. Monday, but it was later canceled.
For Celia de la Cruz, these April showers are bringing massive headaches.
"It just comes this way and heads that way; it's just horrible," she said.
De la Cruz was talking about the gushing, rushing water that turned her quiet Fort Worth street into raging rapids on Monday. Her neighbor shot incredible video of the water rushing through backyards and funneling onto Carleton Avenue near Interstate 30 and Hulen Street.
Comment: While the feral cat crisis is a CATaclysmic scenario for Aussie wildlife running out of control, this article doesn't mention the public health consequences of feral cat colonies, whose populations are rapidly increasing. Rabies, toxoplasmosis, cat scratch fever and other potentially serious infectious diseases can affect humans and other wildlife. Another solution is TNR (trap, neuter and release) however, this method is less reliable and discouraged by health and wildlife organizations.
The $2M pledged to slow biodiversity loss is not allocated to killing feral cats, per se, but to boost the recovery of threatened species in Australia's national parks via 10 projects targeting key species' habitats and threats, both flora and fauna. Specifically they will benefit Norfolk Island green parrot, Cocos buff-banded rail, long-nosed potoroo, southern brown bandicoot, northern quoll, partridge pigeon, brush-tailed rabit-rat, the plants of the Arnhem Plateau and the Kakadu Threatened Species Strategy. The feral cat massacre is the idea of Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt. According to the mammal action plan assessments, it will take decades. They are now working on an engineered virus. (Oh! Oh!... call David Lynch!!!)