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India: Tripura zoo on alert after death of birds, animals


Indo Asian News Service
Sat, 12 Mar 2011 06:58 UTC
Close on the heels of the detection of bird flu at two government-run farms in western Tripura, mysterious deaths of some animals and birds at the Sepahijala Zoo has put the authorities on alert.

'Since last week three leopards, one wild cat and 13 birds, including some extremely endangered species, have been found dead at the zoo enclosures. We have sent samples to state and national level laboratories,' director of Sepahijala Zoo and head of the wildlife sanctuary Ajit Bhowmik told IANS Saturday.

He said: 'The samples have been tested by the Eastern Region Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ERDDL) in Kolkata and the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal. No indication of avian influenza or swine influenza has been found.'
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Bizarro Earth

Incredible Swarms of Fish Form off Coast of Acapulco: But Was Surge Caused by Tsunami Thousands of Miles Away?


The Daily Mail, UK
Sun, 13 Mar 2011 16:59 UTC
The shores of Acapulco's beaches were this weekend teeming with masses of fish packed so tightly they looked like an oil slick from above.

Thousands of sardines, anchovies, stripped bass and mackerel surged along the coast of the Mexican resort in an event believed to be linked to the devastating Japanese tsunami.

Delighted fishermen rushed out in wooden motor boats, abandoning their rods and nets and simply scooping the fish up with buckets.

Acapulco Fish Swarm_1
© AFP / Getty ImagesA man photographs a shoal of sardines off the shore of Acapulco
Acapulco Fish Swarm_2
© ReutersFishermen flocked to the water to take advantage of the surge
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Stop

UK: Young sperm whale washed up on Kent coast had 'starved to death'


The Daily Mail
Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:22 UTC
A whale found dead off the south coast starved to death, initial findings have revealed.

The 45ft long sperm whale was found stranded on a beach in Pegwell Bay, off the Kent coast, yesterday.

The juvenile male had not eaten for some time and had become dehydrated, a preliminary post-mortem examination found.

Image
© Philip ToscanoTragic: A Kent Coastguard and a police officer next to the dead body of a sperm whale, showing the scale of the 45ft-long mammal at Pegwell Bay in Kent
Scientists from the Zoological Society of London carried out the investigation as part of the Defra funded collaborative UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP).

Rob Deaville, project manager of the CSIP, said: 'Preliminary results from the post-mortem examination indicate that the whale had not fed for a long time, suggesting it had become dehydrated, which most likely played a role in its live stranding.

'Further tests will now be carried out to determine the full picture'.

The mammal was spotted at yesterday morning and although rescuers were called it later died.

Whale beachings are rarely explained. Scientists attribute them to natural and environmental factors such as rough weather, weakness due to old age, hunting too close to shore and navigation errors.
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Fish

Something fishy in Acapulco.


Associated Press
Sat, 12 Mar 2011 11:08 UTC
Image
© Associated Press/Bernandino HernandezA fisherman uses a plastic bag to catch fish as a large school of fish swims near the coast of Acapulco, Mexico, Friday, March 11, 2011. According to local fishermen, they had never seen such large schools of fish swim so close to the coast.
Masses of sardines, anchovies, stripped bass and mackerel surged close to shore Friday on one beach in the Mexican resort city, packed so tightly near the surface they looked like an oil slick from above.

Delighted fishermen rushed out in wooden motor boats, abandoning their rods and nets and simply scooping the fish up with buckets.

"It was so much fun. There were about 20 or 30 fishermen and there were people who came with their kids to take advantage of it," fisherman Carlos Morales said.

The fishermen attributed the strange phenomenon to the unusual currents unleashed by tsunami that followed the earthquake in Japan.
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Ladybug

The End of Honey-Bees?

Andy Soos
Environmental News Network
Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:36 UTC
bee
© n/a
The mysterious collapse of honey-bee colonies is becoming a global phenomenon. Declines in managed bee colonies, seen increasingly in Europe and the US in the past decade, are also now being observed in China and Japan and there are the first signs of African collapses from Egypt, according to the report from the United Nations.

Beekeepers in Western countries have been reporting slow declines of stocks for many years, apparently due to impaired protein production, changes in agricultural practice, or unpredictable weather. In early 2007, abnormally high die-offs (30-70% of hives) of European honey bee colonies occurred in the U.S. and Québec; such a decline seems unprecedented in recent history. This has been dubbed Colony collapse disorder (CCD); it is unclear whether this is simply an accelerated phase of the general decline due to more adverse conditions in 2006, or a novel phenomenon. More than a dozen factors, ranging from declines in flowering plants and the use of memory-damaging insecticides to the world-wide spread of pests and air pollution, may be behind the emerging decline of bee colonies across many parts of the globe.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Mold Mystery Surrounds San Francisco Bird Deaths

John Upton
The Bay Citizen
Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:56 UTC
Dead Sea Gulls
© Richard DrechslerDead sea gulls collected over 2 weeks at Pier 94.

Western gulls have been dying at an alarming rate over the past decade at San Francisco's industrial Pier 94, and preliminary results of a state investigation that found deadly mold inside the bird's lungs are only deepening the mystery surrounding the carnage.

Bird rescuers who recover sick and dying gulls every other day or so from a small industrial patch of waterfront land have long blamed a Darling International-run rendering operation for the deaths.

But, in new findings that are disputed by the bird rescuers, a preliminary California Department of Fish and Game investigation cleared the facility of responsibility for most of the deaths.

The department found 15 to 20 dead or dying gulls monthly, according to California Fish and Game Warden William O'Brien. It performed autopsies on a number of dead gulls and found that growing inside their lungs was a mold called aspergillus, which suffocated the birds.
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X

Australia: Mystery horse disease in Victoria


ABC
Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:55 UTC
Image
© Jennifer Ingall
The Victorian Department of Primary Industries wants local vets to help identify a mystery horse disease.

Horses living along the Murray River and near Ballarat have become sick with a virus believed to be spread by mosquitoes.

Acting chief veterinary officer Andrew Cameron says he wants local vets to send samples from any sick horses to the DPI.

"I believe the most common symptom is sort of ataxia or wobbliness, more or less drunken horse like staggering about," he said.
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Cow Skull

50 swans killed by mystery virus in Cork, Ireland


Irish Independent
Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:45 UTC
Image
© Unknown
A mystery virus has killed around 50 swans in The Lough area of Cork City over the past few days.

Cork City Council has yet to say how long it has been aware of the problem, but it has been removing the dead swans for the past few days.

The virus is understood to have been introduced by migratory ducks that have settled in the area.

Officials say the illness only affects fowl species and poses no threat to humans.
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X

Dublin, Ireland: Swans stricken with mystery illness

Olivia Kelly
Irish Times
Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:26 UTC
swans
© Unknown
Sixteen swans have died in the last 10 days and up to 10 more are seriously ill after they contracted a mysterious infection on the Grand Canal in Dublin.

Tests are being carried out on the corpses of the birds by the Department of Agriculture at the State laboratory.

As of yesterday avian flu had been ruled out, but the cause of the bird deaths remained unknown last night.

A spokeswoman for the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is caring for the sick swans, said they appeared to have contracted a bacterial infection which was possibly botulism.
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Heart

60-Year-Old Albatross 'Wisdom' Raising Chick


Red Orbit
Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:17 UTC
Image
© John Klavitter, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service A Laysan albatross named Wisdom, is at least 60 years old and was spotted in February 2011 raising a chick at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Islands. The bird has sported and worn out 5 bird bands since she was first banded by U.S. Geological Survey scientist Chandler Robbins in 1956 as she incubated an egg. Robbins estimated Wisdom to be at least 5 years old then since this is the earliest age at which these birds breed, though they more typically breed at 8 or 9 after an involved courtship lasting several years. This means, of course, that Wisdom is more likely to be in her early sixties.
A Laysan albatross at least six decades into her life has stumped federal biologists by raising another chick.

U.S. Geological Survey and Fish and Wildlife Service scientists said the chick turned up in a February survey at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Islands.

The bird, also known as Wisdom, "has sported and worn out 5 bird bands since she was first banded by USGS scientist Chandler Robbins in 1956 as she incubated an egg," says a statement.

"Just the idea of a bird 60 years old or more still bearing young is amazing," Bruce Peterjohn of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., told USA Today.

Only one other wild bird is known to have lived to 61. Peterjohn said that Wisdom will tie that bird's record if she lives another year.

"Most Laysan albatrosses live to 30 or 40, just to make it to 60 is pretty incredible."

U.S. and Canadian scientists have banded about 64.5 million birds since 1920 and recovered bands from about 4.5 million of them.
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