Hyderabad: At least 14 peacocks have reportedly died and several others have fallen ill in various villages in Thar over the last four days, setting off alarm bells about the resurgence of a fatal virus.

Reports about the death of peacocks have emerged in Mithi, Diplo and Nagarparkar tehsils. Though Thar's villagers may harbour concerns about the emergence of the Newcastle Disease Virus - or Ranikhet, the wildlife department has yet to verify the deaths and maintains that the birds may have died of other causes.

The illness, along with a severe deficiency of vitamins and minerals, affects birds' nervous systems. An acute shortage of water, sweltering heat and a very low yields of millet, maize and other plants which the peacocks feed on, results in the deficiency.

When infected, the peacocks start to feel dizzy and whirl to their deaths. According to unconfirmed reports, more than 300 died last year in the same season. Heman Das, a resident of Sajai village in Diplo, said, "They spin round and round for two to three minutes and then after a brief rest, continue the behaviour again relentlessly."

British Beekeepers Association attributes worst losses since survey began to washout summer leading to long winter, exacerbated by late spring

More than a third of all honeybee colonies in England died over the winter, according to figures from the British Beekeepers Association, the worst losses since its winter survival survey began.

On average, 33.8 colonies in every 100 perished over the long winter of 2012-13 compared with 16.2% the previous winter. In the south-west of England, more than half of all colonies were wiped out and in the northern part of the country 46.4% didn't survive.

In Scotland and Wales, honeybees fared no better. The Scottish beekeepers association, which has yet to complete its annual survey, predicts losses of up to 50%. And bee farmers in Wales have reported 38% losses.

The BBKA attributed the alarming high bee mortality to the poor weather during 2012 continuing into 2013 and exacerbated by the late arrival of spring.

"The wet summer prevented honey bees from foraging for food, resulting in poorly developed colonies going into winter. When they could get out there was a scarcity of pollen and nectar. Honeybee colonies which are in a poor nutritional state become more vulnerable to disease and other stress factors," said a BBKA spokeswoman.

Many beekeepers also reported incidence of "isolation starvation", when the cluster of bees in the hive becomes too cold to move close enough to eat their food stores in another part of the hive, and so starve.

More pest species are becoming resistant to the most popular type of genetically-modified, insect-repellent crops, but not in areas where farmers follow expert advice, a study said on Monday.

The paper delves into a key aspect of so-called Bt corn and cotton -- plants that carry a gene to make them exude a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis, which is toxic to insects.

Publishing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, US and French researchers analysed the findings of 77 studies from eight countries on five continents that reported on data from field monitors.

Of 13 major pest species examined, five were resistant by 2011, compared with only one in 2005, they found. The benchmark was resistance among more than 50 percent of insects in a location.

Of the five species, three were cotton pests and two were corn pests.

Three of the five cases of resistance were in the United States, which accounts for roughly half of Bt crop plantings, while the others were in South Africa and India.

Boulder City, Nevada - Authorities are warning people to avoid a section of Lake Mead after park officials found dead carp and a mysterious foam there.

Park spokeswoman Christie Vanover says the mysterious fish deaths and foam were found in the Overton Arm, where the lake extends north. She says the foam appeared to be coming from the mouth of the Virgin River and stretched about eight miles down to Echo Bay.

Officials said over the weekend that the Southern Nevada Water Authority is working with the National Park Service to collect water samples.

The authority is also keeping track of water at its two water treatment facilities to ensure the quality meets the federal standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Otters show disease could be in our rivers

For the first time scientists have shown that the disease Toxoplasmosis is widespread in animals found in the UK's water systems. If the disease is common in our rivers it could mean that humans are at a high risk of infection.

The researchers conducted post mortems on dead otters - mostly road-kills - found around England and Wales to assess whether any of the animals contained antibodies for the disease, which is caused by the parasite Toxoplasmosis Gondii. The scientists were surprised to find almost half of the otters examined had been exposed to the disease - a high rate of prevalence considering otters eat fish, which don't carry the parasite.

'40 per cent were carrying antibodies for the disease, although Toxoplasmosis was never shown to be the cause of death. This is higher than we might have expected given their mainly fish diet,' says Dr Elizabeth Chadwick of Cardiff University, lead author on the study.

'On the other hand it may be that otters are being infected by cysts in the water containing a reproductive form of the parasite - the oocysts. If otters are picking it up directly from water it suggests there is an environmental risk to humans, as current screening and water treatments don't get rid of oocysts.'

The parasite can only complete its life cycle and produce oocysts when it is hosted by a cat. The oocysts can enter the cat's faeces and eventually, either from people flushing cat litter down their toilets, or from the faecal matter draining off of gardens and streets, get into our waterways.

Oviedo - As predicted, mega mosquitoes, known as gallinippers, have arrived in Central Florida.

Gallinippers, which are 20 times the size of a typical mosquito and pack a painful bite, have been spotted in Seminole County, according to officials.

Entomologists at the University of Florida predicted earlier this year that the mega mosquitoes, about the size of a quarter, would invade the Sunshine State in 2013, a year after being spotted in Florida following drenching rains from Tropical Storm Debbie.

Smarter than average bear opens vehicle doors and gets inside


A Maple Ridge, B.C., resident caught an unusual sight on video this week - a bear standing on its hind legs breaking into a pickup truck.

Rebecca Moore, who took the video and posted it to YouTube on Tuesday, says she and her husband were awakened by a noise outside at about 5:30 a.m.

"By the time we got out of bed, [the bear] was actually inside one of our cars. We saw the car door open and it was just coming out one of our cars," she said.

"We saw him just open the door of the truck, just easy as anything.... He was obviously used to accessing vehicles."

Anglers and those who live along the Jamestown Reservoir are seriously concerned by what they are seeing wash up along the shore.

Hundreds of dead carp are appearing, and North Dakota Game and Fish biologists are stumped as to why.

Living on the east side of the reservoir, Jim Schmitt has seen his fair share of fish, but what he sees now is strange to him. "The darndest thing. They were so high on the water, and it looked like they were gasping for air," says Schmitt.

He has also been seeing dead ones floating near shore.

His concerns are the concerns of many who have been vocal to the Game and Fish Department. Fisheries Biologist BJ Kratz says he first started noticing signs of the fish kill as the ice came off, but then he started getting reports that the carp seemed sluggish.

"It's not typical for carp because carp are usually pretty active this time of year and are also easy to spook and reactive when people approach them," says Kratz.

The carcasses also continue to pile up.

For years, people have known about the amount of human-generated trash that ends up in the ocean, but a new study in the journal Deep-Sea Research I: Oceanographic Research Papers showed just how deep our detritus sinks, particularly in the waters around Monterey, California.

"We were inspired by a fisheries study off Southern California that looked at seafloor trash down to 365 meters," said lead author Kyra Schlining, a senior research technician at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).

Scientists from the MBARI examined 18,000 hours of underwater video collected by cameras on the institute's remotely operated underwater vehicles in search of man-made debris along the ocean floor.

"We were able to continue this search in deeper water - down to 4,000 meters," Schlining said. "Our study also covered a longer time period, and included more in situ observations of deep-sea debris than any previous study I'm aware of."

The videos had been used to identify objects and animals that appeared in these videos and record them in the MBARI's Video Annotation and Reference System (VARS). In the latest study, Schlining and her colleagues combed through the database to locate video clips of rubbish on the seafloor. They were able to identify over 1,500 observations of deep-sea debris, from sites near Vancouver Island to the Gulf of California to the Hawaiian Islands.

Wildlife rehabilitation centers have rescued more than 1,550 sea lion pups along Calfornia's coast during this record year of strandings, but the number of new cases seems to be tapering off.

SeaWorld, a prime intake facility for these pups, has between 70 and 80 sea lions in its care these days. That's down from nearly 200 at the height of the crisis in March, spokesman Dave Koontz said. The marine-themed park's rehabilitation center is taking in about three to five pups per week, he said, down from more than 10 per day at the peak.

Since January, SeaWorld has rescued about 340 stranded pups, Koontz said. Most of these emaciated and dehydrated animals are found right at the coast, but a few have reached places such as a hotel, a resident's garage and the middle of a busy road.

In March, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared a "marine mammal unusual mortality event" for California, in response to stranding rates that were nearly three times higher than the historical average.

"The number of admits to rehab in recent weeks has definitely been much less than it was at the height of the event in March," said Sarah Wilken, marine mammal stranding coordinator for the agency. "But there are still a lot of animals in the centers that are in need of care."

At SeaWorld, stranded sea lions receive hydration and nutritional treatment, along with medical care, before being released back to the wild after a few weeks or months. About 10 percent to 15 percent of the pups treated at the park's rehab center this year have become stranded again and required a second rescue, Koontz said.

"Some of them just need a little bit more help," he said.

Scientists believe that population changes among squid and small fish - primary sources of food for sea lions - may have triggered the strandings as newly weaned pups struggled to find scarce prey. They're analyzing data about food supplies and certain diseases in their quest to pinpoint the leading cause of this year's unusual toll.

"There are some early indications, but the answers are going to be better in July, after this year's pups are born," Wilken said. "For the moment, everyone's grateful for the breather. But we're not yet saying that it's over."