Animals
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Attention

7 dead dolphins wash up on the shores of Spain

Isha Sesay
EuroWeeklyNews
Fri, 24 Jan 2020 19:54 UTC
One of the dolphins found washed up in Spain.
© Oceanogràfic Valencia.One of the dolphins found washed up in Spain.
A total of seven dolphins have washed up on the coasts of Spain, indicating the sheer devastation caused by Storm Gloria - the worst storm that the country has faced this century.

According to the Oceanogràfic Foundation who work in collaboration with the University of Valencia and the Department of Agriculture, five of the aquatic mammals were found on beaches in Dénia, two in Valencia, one in the Saler and another in Malvarrosa.

On January 20, a calf and adult dolphin washed up in Les Marines de Dénia and the next day two dolphins were found on the same beach. On the 22nd three dolphins were found in Malvarros, Dénia and El Sales, one of which was a bottlenose species.
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Tornado1

"It's like a bat tornado": Australian town suffers as 'biblical plague' of bats terrifies locals

Elias Marat
The Mind Unleashed
Thu, 06 Feb 2020 14:31 UTC
thousands of bats
Surreal footage from the city shows a black veil of bats swooping down through the sky.

Residents in one Australian town are dealing with the fright of their lives after thousands of bats descended on them in an incident that is being compared to a "biblical plague."

A veritable "bat tornado" has enveloped Ingham, North Queensland, over the past several weeks as upwards of 300,000 of the winged creatures have settled on the town.

Surreal footage from the city shows a black veil of bats swooping down through the sky.


Comment: Batnado.

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Attention

Three Gray's beaked whales die after becoming beached on Great Barrier Island, New Zealand

Melanie Earley
Stuff
Fri, 07 Feb 2020 13:00 UTC
Three Gray's beaked whales beached and died on Great Barrier Island despite rescue efforts.
© Sarah DwyerThree Gray's beaked whales beached and died on Great Barrier Island despite rescue efforts.
Three Gray's beaked whales have died despite the Department of Conservation's (DOC's), efforts to save them.

One adult whale and two juveniles were found cast at Whangaparapara on Great Barrier Island on Monday evening, DOC confirmed.

Unfortunately, one of the whales was already dead but DOC managed to successfully refloat the other two.

Over the next two days the other two whales were found dead onshore, DOC operations manager George Taylor said.
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Butterfly

Netherlands' animal populations have halved since 1990 - Nitrogen the main culprit

Janene Pieters
Netherlands Times
Thu, 06 Feb 2020 11:52 UTC
Northern wheatear
© imagebrokermicrostock/DepositPhotosNorthern wheatear
Wild animal populations in both the Netherlands' open natural areas and in the agricultural landscaped halved since 1990, according to the Living Planet Report Netherlands published by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on Thursday. According to the report, the high nitrogen precipitation - largely caused by livestock farming - is the main culprit behind the decline, NU.nl reports.

Due to too high nitrogen precipitation, special plant species that are important for butterflies and insects are overgrown by fast-growing grasses that like nitrogen. The insects that live off these plants disappear, which in turn has a negative influence on insect-eating animals, like birds and reptiles. The black grouse, northern wheatear and tree lark are among the bird species currently threatened in the Netherlands. The tawny pipit has completely disappeared.

The animal populations in the heathland saw the biggest decline over the past three decades. In certain heath areas, the size of the animal populations decreased by 70 percent. Animals in the agricultural areas halved due to intensive agriculture, desiccation, and the use of pesticides.
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Butterfly

The vanishing of natural wilderness sounds

Seth Adams
HIgh Country News
Thu, 06 Feb 2020 18:06 UTC
Arrigetch Peaks, Alaska
© Floris Van BreugelArrigetch Peaks, Alaska
A photographer and audio researchers document the soundscapes of remote national parks in Alaska.

We often see images depicting wilderness landscapes, but what do those places sound like? Among the hours and days of remote sound recordings they've collected in Alaska's Arrigetch Basin, researchers Davyd Betchkal and Dan Walsh with the National Park Service have uncovered gems like this duet between a golden-crowned sparrow and an American robin.
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Doberman

76-year-old man who used wheelchair killed by pack of dogs in Attala County, Mississippi


wlox.com
Wed, 05 Feb 2020 11:40 UTC
dog attack

An Attala County community shocked tonight after a 76-year-old disabled man is mauled to death by four dogs. It happened Thursday on Highway 14 West at a home in the Palestine community.

Sheriff Tim Nail identifies the victim as Harvey Harmon, Jr.

"It hard to imagine you live for 76 years and in an instance like that you die from a dog attack that. I am sure was very horrifying," said Sheriff Tim Nail.

According to the sheriff, two pit bulls and two mixed breed strays mauled Harvey Harmon, Jr. January 30th on Highway 14 in his front yard. When deputies arrived, the wheelchair bound man found on the ground, dead. The motive for the killing is still a mystery.
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Info

Ice Age Farmer Report: Plagues of locusts, pestilence, and famine: 2020


Ice Age Farmer
Thu, 06 Feb 2020 11:01 UTC
locusts
© EPAMen run through a swarm of desert locusts to chase them away in the bush near Enziu, Kitui County, some 200km east of the capital Nairobi, Kenya.
The worst plague of locusts in a century threatens food security of hundreds of millions of people. They have destroyed 40-50% of Pakistan's crops, prompting a National Emergency declaration.

The media is both promoting AND debunking the "Grand Solar Minimum," sowing confusion.

China's Coronavirus quarantine is eviscerating their agriculture.


Sources
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Ladybug

Fireflies are facing extinction due to habitat loss, pesticides and artificial light

Katie Hunt
CNN
Mon, 03 Feb 2020 19:00 UTC
A female glow-worm, from the same family as fireflies, will shine for hours to attract her mate but artificial light can disrupt the process.
A female glow-worm, from the same family as fireflies, will shine for hours to attract her mate but artificial light can disrupt the process.
Around the world, fireflies light up the night with their shimmering bodies. But scientists say this magical display is under threat -- with the loss of their natural habitats, pesticide use and artificial light putting some of the 2,000 or so species at risk of extinction.

Habitat loss is leading to the decline of many wildlife species, with some fireflies suffering because they need certain environmental conditions to complete their life cycle, said Sara Lewis, a professor of biology at Tufts University, who led the research published Monday in the journal Bioscience.

For example, she said, one Malaysian firefly (Pteroptyx tener), famous for its synchronized flashing displays, needs mangroves and the plants they contain to breed but across Malaysia mangrove swamps have been converted into palm oil plantations and aquaculture farms.

More surprisingly, the researchers found that the use of artificial light at night, something that has grown exponentially over the past century, was the second most serious threat to the creatures.

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Biohazard

New outbreaks of bird flu reported in Saudi Arabia and Vietnam


Arab News
Tue, 04 Feb 2020 16:10 UTC
bird flu
© SPASaudi Arabia’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture revealed that a case of highly pathogenic bird flu (H5N8) was recorded at a poultry farm in Riyadh.
Saudi agriculture officials handling a reported case of bird flu at a farm in Riyadh have assured the public that it presents no risk to human health.

The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture revealed that a case of highly pathogenic bird flu (H5N8) had been recorded at a poultry farm in the capital and authorities had taken necessary measures on site to prevent any spread of the virus.

Ministry spokesman, Dr. Abdullah Aba Al-Khail, said that according to the World Health Organization, H5N8 was a strain that only affected birds and could not be transmitted to humans.

He pointed out that it was first registered in the Kingdom at the end of 2017 but was controlled and did not pose a threat to public health.
Aba Al-Khail added that field emergency teams attended the farm immediately after receiving notification of the case and implemented procedures for dealing with the virus.

Comment: Sputnik reports on the outbreak in Vietnam:
In Vietnam, the outbreak of avian influenza's subtype of H5N6 started on 18 January and infected and killed more than 2,000 birds in the country's north. Additionally, 300 birds were killed and disposed of, the OIE said, citing Dr. Dong Pham Van, the head of the Agriculture Ministry's department of animal health.
And just 4 days ago China culled thousands of chickens following a new outbreak.

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Info

3800-year-old spoons made from bones found in Mongolia


AKI Press
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 20:16 UTC
Bone Spoon
© AKI Press
Spoons found in Mongolia are said to have been used during the time of ancient Egypt, and the Shang dynasty as early as 4,000 years ago, Montsame reported.

In correlation with the matter, it has been found that ancient Mongolians used to make spoons out of bones, which traces back at least 3,800 years ago, from the findings discovered by a research team of the Archeology Department of Ulaanbaatar State University.

As a result of their excavation done between 2002 and 2011, the research team had found a 7,500-year-old bone knife from the basin of Eg river in Khutag-Undur soum, Bulgan aimag, a 4,500-year-old vase pot from the basin of Bulgan river in Bulgan soum, Khovd aimag, a 3,800-year-old bone spoon from the basins of Bulgan and Eg rivers as well as others.
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