Animals
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Alarm Clock

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


NECN
Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:08 UTC
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© 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.
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Bizarro Earth

Birds with Deformed Beaks Appearing in Alaska, Northwest, and Canada at Record-Breaking Rate

Robert Weller
DScriber
Mon, 08 Nov 2010 01:00 UTC
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© U.S. Geological Survey and British Columbia Health MinistryU.S. officials believe an increasing number birds, including the ones in these photos are deformed, but don't know what's causing the problem
With the federal government about to make a decision on whether to permit oil drilling in the fragile Beaufort Sea, it seems a good time to ask if Alaska can take any more. Since the 1890s, the vast hinterland has been a haven for gold rushers, fishermen, whalers, and oil and natural gas barons.

As for the birds, they were observers in the background. Now they may be paying a price for all that human activity in Alaska and along the Pacific Northwest.

A study released by the U.S. Geological Survey on Monday documents that scientists have discovered an unusually high rate of bird beak abnormalities. Actually, the highest rate ever. And while researchers have no idea why, some are already pointing the finger at the activities of mankind.

"The prevalence of these strange deformities is more than ten times what is normally expected in a wild bird population," said Colleen Handel of the USGS in an article published in The Auk, a quarterly journal of ornithology.
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Binoculars

Pink River Dolphins At Risk from Drought

Richard Gray
The Telegraph, UK
Sun, 07 Nov 2010 03:30 UTC
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© Kevin Schafer/Barcroft USA
An endangered species of pink dolphin has suffered devastating declines in its population due to a drought in the Amazon.

Numbers of the rare pink river dolphin, or Bufeo as it is known to indigenous people, have almost halved over the past year, according to a survey by conservation experts.

They say severe drought that has been moving down the Amazon basin from the upper reaches of the river in Peru have caused fish populations to plummet.

This has left the Amazon river dolphins, which can grow to more than 9 feet in length, struggling to find enough food. Surveys conducted in the Peruvian Amazon have revealed a 47 per cent drop in numbers.

Dr Richard Bodmer, an ecologist from the University of Kent and the Wildlife Conservation Society who has been working with environmental charity Earthwatch to monitor changes in the area, said extremely low water levels in tributaries to the Amazon River had dramatically impacted on dolphin numbers.
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Binoculars

UK: Churches Suffering from Bats

Jonathan Wynne-Jones
The Telegraph, UK
Sun, 07 Nov 2010 04:00 UTC
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© CorbisThe number of bats roosting in churches has grown as woodland has been destroyed and it has become increasingly popular to convert barns into homes
Bats in the belfry are an age-old phenomenon - but they are increasingly moving into the aisles and naves, presenting a growing threat to thousands of churches.

Now, the Church of England is to hold its first summit to examine how to save its buildings from bats, which are estimated to nest in more than a third of all parish churches.

Experts will meet next week at Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to develop a national strategy to tackle a problem costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The number of bats roosting in churches has grown as woodland has been destroyed and it has become increasingly popular to convert barns into homes.

Some rural churches are struggling to stay open as the problem is particularly acute in the countryside, where the congregations tend to be much smaller.
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Bizarro Earth

Whales found dead on Donegal beach


RTE News
Sun, 07 Nov 2010 00:42 UTC
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© RTE
Thirty-five whales have beached and died on an island off Burtonport in Co Donegal. The whales were discovered this afternoon on a beach on Rutland Island and are understood to be pilot whales, mostly mothers and calves.

The whales had been seen feeding in the area around Aranmore Island since Tuesday. Pilot whales have a tendency to beach themselves in large numbers and a similar incident occurred in Co Mayo some years ago.
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Hourglass

French may bid adieu to oysters

Dany Mitzman
DW-World
Sun, 31 Oct 2010 20:35 UTC
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The herpes virus is devastating oyster populations

French oyster farmers are sounding the alarm that their business is on the verge of collapse. The much-loved mollusc is at risk of disappearing from plates due to a virus that is wiping out populations.

Over the past three years, the "huitres creuses" or cupped oysters Laurence Maheo produces have been struck by the herpes virus, which has been killing vast numbers of baby oysters throughout France and the rest of Europe.

"It's very possible that in three or four years there won't be anymore oyster farmers in France," she said last week at the Salone del Gusto, a five-day event organized by Slow Food, an international movement for the protection of biodiversity and traditional food production.
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Binoculars

Starving Bears Resort to Digging Up Coffins and Eating Human Bodies in Russia


The Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:15 UTC
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© AP PhotoScavengers: Desperate brown bears in Russia have resorted to digging up human bodies in cemeteries and eating them
Starving bears in northern Russia have resorted to digging up graves in cemeteries and eating bodies.

A scorching summer has destroyed the bears' natural food sources of forest berries and mushrooms, forcing them to look elsewhere.

Russian officials in the republic of Komi, which straddles the Arctic Circle, said that brown bears on several occasions had dug up coffins in rural cemeteries in a desperate search for food.

Two women in Vezhnya Tchova reported spotting the a figure they thought was wearing a fur coat leaning over a grave.

But when they approached, they realized it was a bear eating a human body and discovered the victims' clothes thrown across other graves.
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Question

Mystery injury on seals caused by boats not sharks

Louise Gray
Telegraph
Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:44 UTC
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© UnknownSeals were found washed up with the horrific lacerations around the UK coast.
Seals washed up on the coast of Britain with mysterious 'corkscrew' injuries were not attacked by sharks, whales or fishermen, they were caught up in boats, according to scientists.

The bodies of seals have been washing up around the coast of Britain throughout the summer looking as if they have "been through a giant pencil sharpener".

The horrific injuries were such a concern that the police, scientists, the RSPCA and National Trust launched an investigation to find the culprit.
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Question

Mystery Surrounds Black Bear Tracks, Scratches

Chris Potter
GateHouse News Service
Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:29 UTC
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© UnknownA pine tree suffering from extensive damage from bear bites. Bear bites have been found to coincide with the appearance of trails of carefully retread bear tracks.
Citizens asked to help find, report retread black bear tracks

Hornell, New York - There are still many mysteries about black bears, contends Professor John VanNiel and his Black Bear Management I class at Finger Lakes Community College.

VanNiel and his students are currently investigating a mysterious aspect of bruin behavior - bears that appear to deliberately retread their tracks along a predetermined trail, leaving deep impressions in the earth. A high density of scratched and bitten trees often accompanies these routes.

The phenomenon has been documented in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire. VanNiel and company are asking the general public for help finding similar occurrences in New York state.

"I think some people are reluctant to ask the public (for help) because there's always the chance for misidentification or who knows what, but I have confidence in people," VanNiel said. "I've met enough savvy outdoorsmen that maybe don't have the college degree but still have a lot of woodcraft knowledge and could really be a lot of help in this."

The project was born in July, when VanNiel and conservation technician Sasha MacKenzie journeyed to central Massachusetts to assist researchers at the Walnut Hill Tracking and Nature Center. It was there that they witnessed the phenomenon first hand.
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Question

US: Mountain goat kills man in Olympic National Park

Nicole Tsong
The Seattle Times
Mon, 18 Oct 2010 02:14 UTC
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Robert H. Boardman was with wife and a friend
Robert H. Boardman set out on a hike Saturday with his wife and a friend on an Olympic National Park trail popular because it is short, beautiful and close to town.

The Port Angeles man never completed it.

Boardman, 63, died after trying to shoo away a mountain goat at the top of Klahhane Ridge, about four miles north of the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, National Park Service officials said Sunday.

He is believed to be the first person to have died in an incident involving an animal in the park, spokeswoman Barb Maynes said. Rangers found and killed the animal, which was to be taken to Monroe for a necropsy, she said.

Accounts of the incident are murky.
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