Animals
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Alarm Clock

France: Baby Oysters Hit By Mysterious Plague


The Daily Green
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:47 UTC
Baby Oysters In France Are Dying Off By the Millions. Why?

The Independent reports that millions of baby oysters along the French coast from Normandy to the Mediterranean are dying, causing a major crisis for France's shellfish industry.
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Gear

Horse deaths natural: Critic denounces study methods

Keith Rogers
Review Journal
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:31 UTC
Nitrate poisoning that killed 71 wild horses last year on the Tonopah Test Range probably came from natural sources and not de-icing fluids used at a military airfield, concluded a controversial study released Monday by the Bureau of Land Management.

BLM officials cited findings from a long-awaited study by the Desert Research Institute that one former airfield worker described as a "farce" and a "waste of time."
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Frog

Cancer forces Tasmanian devils to breed earlier

Randolph E. Schmid
Associated Press
Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:37 UTC
The little devils just can't wait. Faced with an epidemic of cancer that cuts their lives short, Tasmanian devils have begun breeding at younger ages, according to researchers at the University of Tasmania in Australia.

"We could be seeing evolution occurring before our eyes. Watch this space!" says zoologist Menna Jones of the university.

Tasmanian devils live on the island of Tasmania, south of Australia. They weigh 20 to 30 pounds and were named devils by early European settlers because the furry black marsupials produce a fierce screech and can be bad-tempered.

Since 1996 a contagious form of cancer called devil facial tumor disease has been infecting these animals and is invariably fatal, causing death between the ages of 2 and 3.

In the past devils would live five to six years, breeding at ages two, three and four, but with the new disease, even females who breed at two may not live long enough to rear their first litter.
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Question

Bones of mysterious sea creature wash ashore

Bea Karnes
NBC
Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:42 UTC
A mysterious skeleton found washed up on a Florida beach has scientists scratching their heads.

Eleven-year-old Rylee Robinson of McKinney, Texas found the bones on the shore of Longboat Key earlier this week while on vacation. Rylee told News First, "The skull was kind of scary, with humongous eye sockets, and spikes on its back." She said the skull still had flesh on it, and cartilage connecting the backbone to the skull.

bones
©Unknown
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Stop

Some 1,600 pigs culled in south Russia swine fever outbreak


RIA Novosti
Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:18 UTC
Almost 1,600 pigs have been culled in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of North Ossetia, following an outbreak of the African swine fever virus (ASFV), the emergencies ministry said on Monday.

A total of 369 pigs have died from the virus so far in the province, including four on Sunday.

"Settlements where the disease has been registered... have a total of 9,000 pigs, all of which will have to be culled," the spokesman said.
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Question

The mystery of Rio: Why have more than 400 dead penguins been washed up on Brazilian city's beaches?

Michael Astor
Indepenent.co.uk
Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:44 UTC
Hundreds of baby penguins swept from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia are washing up dead on Rio de Janeiro's tropical beaches. More than 400 of the birds have been found dead on the area's beaches in the past two months, and more are being found in a distressed or sickly condition.
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Info

US: Conjoined barn swallows cause stir

Jon Gambrell
Associated Press
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:07 UTC
Little Rock, AR - It's an Arkansas bird story that at first might be hard to swallow. A pair of conjoined barn swallows, attached at the hip by skin and possibly muscle tissue, will be sent to the Smithsonian Institution for study and examination, Arkansas wildlife officials said Friday. If confirmed, officials say it could prove to be an incredibly rare find - a set of conjoined twins among birds.

conjoined barn swallows
©AP Photo/Daily Citizen, Samuel Peebles
Two baby conjoined barn swallows rest after a fall from their nest Thursday morning, July 17, 2008 in Searcy, Arkansas.

"I can't even say it's one in a million - it's probably more than that," said Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. "There's just very little to no records of such a thing."
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Life Preserver

Australia: Pet dog saves old woman from rogue kangaroo


The Telegraph
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:25 UTC
A family pet saved an elderly Australian woman from a rogue kangaroo that attacked her on a farm in New South Wales.

Rosemary Neal, 65, was walking through a mob of kangaroos to look after some horses in a paddock at the farm near Mudgee, 160 miles northwest of Sydney.

Her son Darren said the area was overrun with the large marsupials, which rarely attack people, and she had felt entirely safe in their company.

But then, a large male kangaroo inches taller than the 5'6 foot Mrs Neal, suddenly lunged at her.

"The kangaroo has just jumped up and launched straight at her," he told local newspapers. "He hit her once and she just dropped and rolled. My dog heard her screaming and bolted down and chased him off.

kangaroo
©Unknown
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Stop

Hundreds of baby penguins found dead in Brazil

Michael Astor
Associated Press
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:10 UTC
Hundreds of baby penguins swept from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia are washing up dead on Rio de Janeiro's tropical beaches, rescuers and penguin experts said Friday.

More than 400 penguins, most of them young, have been found dead on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro state over the past two months, according to Eduardo Pimenta, superintendent for the state coastal protection and environment agency in the resort city of Cabo Frio.

While it is common here to find some penguins - both dead and alive - swept by strong ocean currents from the Strait of Magellan, Pimenta said there have been more this year than at any time in recent memory.

Image
©AP Photo/Ricardo Moraes
Penguins rescued off the coast of Rio de Janeiro by the Brazilian Coast Guard are seen at the Niteroi Zoo in Rio de Janeiro, Friday, July 18, 2008. According to officials, over 400 baby penguins have been found dead on the state's shores over the past two months. While large numbers of penguins arrive on Rio de Janeiro's beaches every year, swept to sea by strong ocean currents from the Strait of Magellan, this year is seeing higher numbers and more dead penguins than usual.
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X

Bear fatally mauls two geologists in Russia's Far East


RIA Novosti
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:35 UTC
A brown bear killed two geologists in the northeast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in Russia's Far East, a local emergencies spokesman said on Friday.

The incident occurred in the Olyutor Range, in Kamchatka's Koryak Autonomous Area.

"According to preliminary information, both victims were specialists based with a geological field party working for [local mining company] KoryakGeolDobycha," the spokesman said
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