Animals

Britain "Facing Tarantula Invasion," RSPCA Warns

Andrew Hough
The Telegraph
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:00 UTC

Britain could be facing a tarantula invasion after a number of the spiders were discovered in gardens in some parts of the country, wildlife experts have warned.

The RSPCA has issued an alert urging people to be on their guard amid fears a large batch of the spider has escaped in the north of the country.

The alert came after two separate incidents involving 10cm-wide Chilean Rose tarantulas in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

The rare arachnids, capable of blinding people by spitting hairs in their eyes, were both found in back gardens within two miles of each other.

Both spiders are the same age, breed and gender.

New Zealand: Snapper Wash Up in Mystery Incident

Gill Alcock
Waiheke Marketplace
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:48 UTC

The Ministry of Fisheries is asking for help from Waiheke residents after hundreds of fish were washed up on one of the island's beaches.

Walkers on Oneroa Beach last Thursday were stunned to discover dead snapper "every couple of steps".

While seagulls enjoyed a five-star feast, an honorary fisheries officer visited the beach to count and check the size of the specimens.

Ministry field operations manager Greg Keys says the incident is under investigation but there are many possible causes.

To rule out one possibility - whether the fish had been poisoned by algae - some of them will be tested for poison.

But Mr Keys says the fish could have escaped from a split net from a commercial fishing boat. Mr Keys says he has heard reports of similar occurrences on the Coromandel.

"It can happen accidentally from split nets or when there are too many fish and they spill over the side of the net, or the fishing boat might dump them."

Meanwhile, Department of Conservation marine ranger Guy Toogood says he understands the fish were too small to have come from a commercial take.

How Monarchs Fly Away Home

Terra Daily / SPX
Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:23 UTC

© Unknown
Biologists had suspected that monarchs fly back from Mexico west-to-east over the Appalachians but no evidence existed to support the theory.

Monarch butterflies - renowned for their lengthy annual migration to and from Mexico - complete an even more spectacular journey home than previously thought.

New research from the University of Guelph reveals that some North American monarchs born in the Midwest and Great Lakes fly directly east over the Appalachians and settle along the eastern seaboard. Previously, scientists believed that the majority of monarchs migrated north directly from the Gulf coast.

The study appears in the recent issue of the scientific journal Biology Letters.

"It's a groundbreaking finding," said Ryan Norris, a Guelph professor in the Department of Integrative Biology who worked on the study with his graduate student Nathan Miller and two researchers from Environment Canada.

Baboons Learn to Listen for Cars Central Locking Tweet Before Breaking In

Aislinn Laing
The Telegraph
Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:57 UTC

© Getty Images
If the Baboons haven't heard the telltale 'tweet' of the locking system, they sneak over and open the car door to plunder its contents

Baboons in Cape Town have learned to listen out for the tweet of a car's remote central locking before deciding whether to break in to search for food, according to the local authorities.

The highly intelligent animals lie in wait as tourists get out of their car to gaze at the view from Cape Peninsula - the thin finger of land in the south westernmost corner of South Africa that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Then, if they haven't heard the telltale "tweet" of the locking system, they sneak over and open the car door to plunder its contents.

So many picnics have now been lost to the simian raiders that the local authorities are pushing the government to commission an official baboon warning road sign as they have done for hippos, elephants, warthogs and kudus.

Theuns Vivian, Cape Town's Destination Development Manager, said humans and baboons would get along fine provided they were equally aware of each other.

Amazon River Dolphins Threatened with Extinction

Harriet Alexander and Rebecca Lefort
The Telegraph
Sat, 24 Jul 2010 11:07 UTC

The pink dolphins of the Amazon are being threatened with extinction as fishermen kill them to use their flesh as bait.

Scientists believe that 1,500 dolphins are being killed annually in the western Amazon to fuel a lucrative trade in catfish, which feeds on dead animals.

"The population of the river dolphins will collapse if these fishermen are not stopped from killing them," said Vera da Silva, the top aquatic mammals expert at the government's Institute of Amazonian Research.

"We've been studying an area of 27,000 acres for 17 years, and of late the population is dropping seven per cent each year."

The dolphins, which can be eight feet long and weigh the same amount as an adult man, are the largest of four species known to exist in South America and Asia. The cause of their pinkish hue is debated, with some scientists saying it is due to blood vessels being close to the skin and others citing scarring as the reason for their coloring.

Forty-Ton Whale Lands on Yacht During Cape Town Sailing Trip

The Telegraph
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:58 UTC

A couple who took a yacht for a quiet sailing trip were stunned when a 40-ton whale crash-landed on their boat off Cape Town.

The pair were enjoying calm seas off the South African coast when the animal flipped into the air and smashed into their mast.

Ralph Mothes, 59, and Paloma Werner, 50, were helpless as the beast thrashed around on their 33ft vessel before slipping back into the water.

Miss Werner said: "It really was quite incredible but very scary. The whale was about the same size as the boat.

"We'd spotted it about 100 metres away and thought that was the end of it. Then suddenly it was right up beside us.

"I assumed it would go underneath the boat but instead it sprang out of the sea. We were very lucky to get through it, as the sheer weight of the thing was huge.

Mysterious Plague Killing Off Bats, Bugs Get Free Rein

John Wetenhall
ABC News
Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:00 UTC

© Marvin Moriarty/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This little brown bat is seen hibernating in Greeley Mine, Vermont with the white fungus visible on its muzzle, wings, and ears.

Experts Don't Know How To Stop Spread of Deadly Fungus

A spreading plague has killed more than a million bats across the eastern U.S., and wildlife experts have no clue how to stop it.

As it rolls across the country and into Canada, the mysterious fungus threatens to disrupt the ecological balance, which could result in the spread of bugs that destroy crops and force swatting barbequers to flee indoors.

Called White-Nose Syndrome because of the white substance found on the noses of bats, it causes bats to move around and burn calories during the winter months when they should be hibernating and reserving energy. Scientists are not exactly sure why the fungus affects bats, where it came from originally, or how to stop its spread. One thing is for sure -- bat populations are being decimated by the fungus. Among some bat species, the mortality rate is 99 percent.

"There might be regional extinctions of particular bat species," said Noelle Rayman, assistant national White-Nose Syndrome coordinator at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told ABCNews.com.

In the Past 11 Days, 556 Dead Baby Penguins, Sea Birds, Dolphins and Giant Sea Turtles Have Washed Up on the Beaches of Brazil -Video

Mariano Castillo
CNN
Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:03 UTC

Biologists suspect that unusually cold waters off the coast of Brazil were responsible for the deaths of more than 550 penguins that washed up on shore in the past 10 days.

Since July 11, about 556 dead penguins have appeared on beaches, Thiago do Nascimento, a biologist at the Peruibe Aquarium, told CNN.

At the beach of Praia Grande alone, on the Sao Paulo coast, more than 170 penguins have washed up on shore since Friday, according to the local government.

Heatwave fuels massive algae bloom in Baltic Sea

The Local
Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:50 UTC

A blue-green algae bloom the size of Germany has formed in the Baltic Sea, threatening marine life and even posing a danger to humans, authorities warned this week.

The prolonged heat and lack of wind or storms has given the cyanobacteria the chance to form the largest carpet since 2005, covering about 377,000 square kilometres of the sea's surface - roughly Germany's entire land area.

The Office for Environment, Nature and Geology in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania dispatched an observation ship on Thursday to take water measurements. The results were expected to be released Friday.

But early indications were that the algae consisted of the types Anabaena and Nodularia.

"The types are potentially toxic and can cause skin inflammtion," said Karin Stein, head of the environmental analysis departments.

Poachers Kill Last Female Rhino in South African Park for Prized Horn

Alex Duval Smith
The Observer
Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:00 UTC

© Reuters
The last rhinoceros cow in Krugersdorp park, South Africa, bled to death on Wednesday after poachers hacked off her horn.

Record levels of poaching are endangering survival of rhinoceros in South Africa

South African wildlife experts are calling for urgent action against poachers after the last female rhinoceros in a popular game reserve near Johannesburg bled to death after having its horn hacked off.

Wildlife officials say poaching for the prized horns has now reached an all-time high. "Last year, 129 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa. This year, we have already had 136 deaths," said Japie Mostert, chief game ranger at the 1,500-hectare Krugersdorp game reserve.

The gang used tranquilliser guns and a helicopter to bring down the nine-year-old rhino cow. Her distraught calf was moved to a nearby estate where it was introduced to two other orphaned white rhinos.

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ReRan

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Baybars

The Biden Admin seems to be going out of their way to antagonize the military and something bout that don’t add up…

Buffalo_Ken

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ROEL

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ROEL

Animals

Britain "Facing Tarantula Invasion," RSPCA Warns

New Zealand: Snapper Wash Up in Mystery Incident

How Monarchs Fly Away Home

Baboons Learn to Listen for Cars Central Locking Tweet Before Breaking In

Amazon River Dolphins Threatened with Extinction

Forty-Ton Whale Lands on Yacht During Cape Town Sailing Trip

Mysterious Plague Killing Off Bats, Bugs Get Free Rein

In the Past 11 Days, 556 Dead Baby Penguins, Sea Birds, Dolphins and Giant Sea Turtles Have Washed Up on the Beaches of Brazil -Video

Heatwave fuels massive algae bloom in Baltic Sea

Poachers Kill Last Female Rhino in South African Park for Prized Horn

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