Animals
S


Bizarro Earth

New Zealand - Mystery Illness Hits Oyster Stocks


ONE News
Fri, 03 Dec 2010 07:31 UTC
Sick Oysters
© ONE NewsJuvenile oysters or 'spat'.
Scientists are trying to determine the cause of a mystery illness hitting oyster stocks on North Island farms.

The disease, which kills juvenile oysters, or spat, has been found on farms in Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

A 20-strong MAF team is working around the clock, testing the DNA of dead spat for traces of lethal pathogens.

Over 500 tissue samples have been taken and MAF hopes to have an answer next week.

New Zealand exports millions of Pacific oysters to Asia and Australia, bringing in around $30 million each year.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Australia: Monster locust swarm from NSW heading for Victoria


The Age
Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:09 UTC
Image
Millions of locusts forming part of the biggest swarm to threaten Victoria in decades is about to enter the state, placing farmers and motorists at risk. The swarm, 25 kilometres wide and at least one kilometre deep, was in the Hay and Conargo region of New South Wales yesterday afternoon and travelling south-west. With Echuca and Swan Hill less than 200 kilometres away it was expected they would start arriving there overnight or this morning.

State Controller for Locusts Russell McMurray said vegetables and pasture were most at risk and urged farmers to consult agronomists to ensure the best treatment for their property. But he warned that no treatment offered 100 per cent protection. Up to 2000 locusts can be found in a square metre on the ground and up to 100 in the air, but Mr McMurray said density varied and he estimated this swarm contained ''millions and millions''.

Motorists in the areas have also been warned to add insect-cleaning agent to windscreen washer systems and to consider attaching an insect screen to the external radiator air-inlet.
Read More...
Attention

Five Rare Sumatran Elephants Found Dead in Indonesia


The Associated Press
Sun, 28 Nov 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse
Five endangered Sumatran elephants have been found dead in Indonesia, and conservationists said Sunday that they suspect farmers poisoned the animals to stop them from damaging crops.

The elephants - four females and one male all under the age of 5 - were found dead late Friday in Riau province on Sumatra island, said Edi Susanto, a government conservationist.

Susanto suspects that owners of nearby palm oil plantations used cyanide to poison the animals, which are known for damaging crops. He said an investigation is under way and samples from the dead elephants have been sent for analysis.

"We have told the district heads in Riau province to ban farmers from tending crops in the woods where the elephants search for food," Susanto said.

Only 3,000 Sumatran elephants are believed to remain in the wild, a number that dwindles each year with poaching and killing by farmers angry over crop losses.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US: 17 Rare Sea Turtles Rescued Off Cape Cod, Massachusetts


The Associated Press
Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:38 UTC
Green Sea Turtle,
© Don Lewis and Sue Wieber Nourse/AP PhotoGreen Sea Turtle
Quincy - Seventeen rare sea turtles suffering a variety of ailments are recovering at the New England Aquarium after being rescued over the past two days off of Cape Cod, Mass.

The turtles rescued by volunteers with the Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay are being cared for at the aquarium's new animal care center in Quincy. They eventually will be released back to the ocean.

Most of them are Kemp's ridley turtles and are suffering from hypothermia, dehydration and malnourishment. The turtles usually migrate to warmer waters in the winter, but aquarium officials say strong northwest winds Wednesday drove the turtles to shore.

Many had body temperatures in the 50s, when they should have been in the 70s.

An aquarium spokesman says it's unusual for the center to care for so many at one time.
Read More...
Fish

Eyeless Cave Fish Found in Indonesia


Straits Times
Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© Agence France-PresseThis picture of a newly discovered eyeless fish, the Cavernicole, was released by the Expedition of Lengguru-Kaimana 2010.
Eyeless cave fish and a frog that carries its offspring on its back are among the new species a team of scientists have discovered in Indonesia's eastern Papua region.

The researchers from the Institute of Research and Development (IRD) in Montpellier, southern France, studied caves, underground rivers and jungles in the remote Lengguru area of New Guinea island.

'In terms of discoveries almost everything remains to be done in this area, which is very difficult to access but which has exceptionally rich biodiversity,' IRD scientist Laurent Pouyaud told AFP.

For seven weeks, the team including biologists, paleontologists and archaeologists explored the vast limestone 'labyrinth' where species have evolved in isolation for millions of years.

In one previously undocumented cave they found a new species of fish which had developed without eyes or pigmentation.
Read More...
Info

Locust plague encroaches on Melbourne


Australian Associated Press
Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:08 UTC
Australia's worst locust plague in 70 years has marched into metropolitan Melbourne as federal and state authorities met to consider their plan of attack.

Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig today met with ministers and officials from NSW, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland to discuss the response to the swarms.

Senator Ludwig said the response so far had been "extremely efficient", but with the pests taking to the wing the time had come to discuss realistic approaches to controlling the swarms.

There had been an increase in reports of fledgling or young adult locusts, with swarms even spotted in Melbourne, he said.

"There has been a sudden influx of locusts into parts of the Melbourne metropolitan area," Senator Ludwig said in a statement.
Read More...
Question

African Pelicans migrate in wrong direction and end up in Siberia.

northsunm32
All Voices
Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:23 UTC
Lost Pelicans
© AllvoicesZoo officials holding pink pelicans at an aviary in Barnaul in the Altai region. The birds were migrating to Africa.

A small flock of African pink pelicans apparently bamboozled by the warm weather in Siberia flew north from Kazakhstan instead of south as any properly functioning pelican GPS system should have told them. Vladimir Pyagin from the village of Suslovo said:"I left home early in the morning and what a sight!" "When I got closer, I immediately realized they were pelicans. ... Everybody in the village started trying to catch them to save the exhausted birds from the dogs""

Residents captured four of the exotic pelicans. They were moved to a zoo in the regional capital Barnaul. The other three birds in the flock were able to fly off.

Members of the Bird Conservation Union said the pelicans were flying back to their native Africa from Kazakhstan but obviously lost their way. The head of the Union said: "This is a unique case. Some reports suggest pelicans last flew here over 100 years ago,"
Read More...
X

San Francisco, US: Thousands of dead jellyfish on Ocean Beach, but move along, nothing to see here or be alarmed about, folks

Carolyn Jones
San Francisco Chronicle
Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:19 UTC
Image
© Brant Ward / The ChronicleJellyfish that washed up on the south side of Ocean Beach on Friday dry up in the sun.
Ocean Beach shimmered more than usual this weekend.

Not from the natural beauty of sand, surf and sea, but from a great slick of dead jellyfish that mysteriously washed ashore near Pacheco Street.

More than 10,000 of the gooey invertebrates, each about the size of a dinner plate, drifted onto the beach Friday evening. By Sunday, they had attracted hordes of the curious, the repulsed and the fascinated.

Kids stomped them. Dogs rolled in them. Surfers tossed them at each other. Some people tiptoed fearfully around them, while others pressed in with cameras for close-ups.

"I first saw it and thought, am I hallucinating?" said Nan Madden of San Francisco as she walked her yellow Labrador through the slimy swath Sunday morning. "I've never seen anything like it. I sent pictures to my grandkids."
Read More...
Bad Guys

Kiwifruit Virus Could Affect 18 New Zealand Orchards


Bloomberg
Wed, 10 Nov 2010 04:00 UTC
Image
© unknown
A vine disease threatening New Zealand's NZ$1.4 billion ($1.1 billion) kiwifruit industry may have affected as many as 18 orchards, the government said, confirming that a second North Island orchard has the infection.

The government has placed entry restrictions on four orchards in the Bay of Plenty area, two of which have been infected with Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae, said Annie Wright, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in an interview. The region produces 77 percent of New Zealand's kiwifruit crop, according to Zespri Group Ltd., the world's largest marketer of the fruit.

The ministry is studying images from 18 New Zealand kiwifruit orchards suspected to be showing symptoms, Wright said. The ministry put a "restricted place notice" on another orchard today, placing precautions on entering and leaving the property, she said.

"We have four restricted places notices and two confirmed as having PSA," said Wright.
Read More...
Alarm Clock

Montana, US: Efforts Fail to Halt Pneumonia Outbreak in Bighorn Sheep


NECN
Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:08 UTC
Image
© Frantisek Staud
Helena - Wildlife officials will let a pneumonia outbreak run its course through a herd of bighorn sheep west of Anaconda after killing dozens of sick animals failed to keep the disease in check.

There are no known vaccines to prevent pneumonia in bighorn sheep, which is usually fatal for the animals, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials said Tuesday. Instead, wildlife officials kill sick sheep to prevent other animals from being exposed.

The agency has killed 44 bighorn sheep in the herd of about 300 animals west of Anaconda since confirming the pneumonia outbreak in August. But FWP officials say the outbreak has now spread beyond management control.

The whole population appears to be exposed and there is nothing to gain by killing more sheep, FWP Regional Wildlife Manager Mike Thompson said in a statement. Instead, the focus is now on trying to keep alive every animal that has a chance of surviving the outbreak.
Read More...