Animals
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Rescue comes too late as Yangtze River dolphin declared extinct


The Scotsman
Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:36 UTC
A Freshwater dolphin species has been declared extinct after desperate efforts to rescue it came too late.

One British zoologist yesterday described the loss of the Yangtze River dolphin as a "shocking tragedy". It is the first extinction of a large vertebrate for more than 50 years.
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Bizarro Earth

Dramatic tree death increase in California since 1983 linked to warming

Jane Kay
SFGate.com
Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:26 UTC
Federal scientists have found that tree deaths in the Sierra Nevada increased over the past two decades, coinciding with rising temperatures and drought conditions.

If temperatures continue to rise, temperate forests that receive little rain and snowfall are poised for die-backs, according to findings released Monday by the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Ecological Research Center.
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Bizarro Earth

Fungus killing amphibians goes airborne

Emma Young
New Scientist
Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:40 UTC
A fungus that is devastating amphibian populations around the world is a relatively new disease that is spreading rapidly, rather than an old disease that has recently become more virulent, according to research on frogs in California's Sierra Nevada.

Worse, not only is the fungus being spread by infected water, it may also be transmitted in the form of spores carried on the wind or birds' feathers, for example, a genetic analysis of the Californian frogs suggests. This would help to explain outbreaks of the disease, called chytridiomycosis, in remote, inaccessible habitats like the Sierra Nevada lakes.
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Bizarro Earth

Vets set to put down seven-legged lamb in New Zealand


MSNBC
Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:04 UTC
A lamb with seven legs was born in New Zealand but so badly deformed that it was to be destroyed, a local newspaper reported.

The lamb was born with an extra set of front legs and three back legs, the Ashburton Guardian newspaper, at Ashburton on the South Island, reported.

©Susan Sandys/AP
The seven-legged lamb rests on its farm at Methven near Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand on Tuesday.
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Padlock

Not-So-Elementary Bee Mystery

Susan Milius
Science News
Sat, 28 Jul 2007 22:35 UTC
The disappearance of large numbers of U.S. honeybees is so odd that it's attracted Ian Lipkin. Since last fall, beekeepers in at least 35 states have reported colonies that shrank rapidly for no apparent reason. Adult bees just go missing, leaving behind young bees in need of tending. This colony-collapse disorder (CCD), as it's now called, has got bee researchers coast to coast stirred up and looking for causes and remedies.

©iStockphoto
Honeybees pollinating crops (here, canola) add an estimated 5 billion to U.S. agriculture by boosting yields and quality. Hence the concern when beekeepers in most states (inset) reported mysterious colony collapses.
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Cloud Lightning

3-day stretch of heat, humidity kills 1,200 cattle in South Dakota


AP
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:56 UTC
More than 1,200 cattle died during a three-day blast of heat and humidity in northeast South Dakota, ranchers, feedlot owners and authorities reported, though the weather was expected to ease Thursday.

The high Wednesday in Aberdeen was 96, at least the third straight day the city's temperature was in the 90s. The heat index, which is related to humidity, hit 109.
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Bizarro Earth

Cricket Invasion Hits Texas


KWTX.com
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:53 UTC
Many parts of Texas are under siege by crickets. They congregate on patios, slip into stairwells -- and, if they're crunched underfoot, they make the fanciest surroundings smell like a bait shop.

©KWTX.com
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Wolf

Falling Mice Population Concerns Experts

Susan Montoya Bryan
Associated Press
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 06:16 UTC
Some might think fewer rodents would be a good thing, but scientists are concerned about the dwindling populations of two small fury creatures on New Mexico's list of endangered mammals.

The state Department of Game and Fish says recent surveys show the number of New Mexican meadow jumping mice has dropped by at least two-thirds - and possibly as much as 90 percent - throughout the state. Surveys also show the Arizona montane vole is found only in a very small region of Catron County and in east-central Arizona.

"The thing in common between both is the loss of riparian habitat along streams and rivers in the Southwest," said Jim Stuart, a non-game endangered species mammalogist with the Game and Fish Department. "There's a combination of factors. Grazing is often jumped on as a reason, but there have also been climate factors involved like the dewatering of streams and rivers and the lowering of groundwater."
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Red Flag

Tropical bird from South or Central American found in Canada

Michel Comte
AFP
Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:14 UTC
An exhausted tropical bird that landed unexpectedly in eastern Canada recently has wildlife experts amazed and climatologists predicting more will show up in the north in the coming decades.

The red-billed tropicbird, or phaethon aethereus, was discovered in a driveway in Three Fathom Harbour in eastern Nova Scotia province last week, said Hope Swinimer, director of the Hope for Wildlife Society.

Comment: The original title of this story was 'Experts amazed as storms propel tropical birds to Canada'. This Hurricane season has been quiet in the Atlantic, so what drove this bird to Canada?

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Question

More dead birds discovered floating in Bahamian waters

SHEENA BUTLER
Freeport News
Mon, 02 Jul 2007 23:54 UTC
An alarming number of dead birds are being discovered floating along the shores of the northern Bahamas causing concern among some residents in the Grand Bahama community. A week after the first incident was reported, accounts of dead birds floating in Bahamian waters are still filing in.
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