Animals
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Cow Skull

US: Texas drought will harm wildlife habitat for years

texas drought wildlife
© AP Photo/Tony GutierrezTurkey vultures drop in for a drink from one of the very few remaining watering sources on a private ranch that spans over 7,000 acres Saturday Aug. 6, 2011, near San Angelo, Texas. Randy Bolf, a fence contractor and rancher that leases the property for his cattle herd said that all of the rain and run-off watering tanks on the ranch that straddles Tom Green and Coke county have dried up and area wildlife and his cattle rely on the artificial watering sources he maintains on the property.
In a muddy pile of sand where a pond once flowed in the Texas Panhandle, dead fish, their flesh already decayed and feasted on by maggots, lie with their mouths open. Nearby, deer munch on the equivalent of vegetative junk food and wild turkeys nibble on red harvester ants - certainly not their first choice for lunch.

As the state struggles with the worst one-year drought in its history, entire ecosystems, from the smallest insects to the largest predators, are struggling for survival. The foundations of their habitats - rivers, springs, creeks, streams and lakes - have turned into dry sand, wet mud, trickling springs or, in the best case, large puddles.

"It has a compound effect on a multitude of species and organisms and habitat types because of the way that it's chained and linked together," said Jeff Bonner, a wildlife biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Since January, Texas has only gotten about 6 inches of rain, compared to a norm of about 13 inches, making it the most severe one-year drought on record. Last week, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center said the La Nina weather pattern blamed for the lack of rain might be back soon, and if that happens, the dry spell would almost certainly extend into 2012.

The extreme dry conditions, which have extended into parts of the Plains including Oklahoma and Kansas, have been made worse by week after week of triple-digit temperatures that have caused reservoirs to evaporate, crops to wither and animals and fish to die.

Igloo

Norway: Polar Bear That Killed Student Was Starving

norway polar bear killed
© AP Photo / Arild Lyssand / District governor of Spitsbergens office / via Scanpix) NORWAY OUT This image released by the District Governor of Spitsbergen's office shows the dead male polar bear which had attacked youths who were camping on a remote Arctic glacier as part of a high-end adventure holiday at Spitsbergen, Svalbard archipelago, in Norway, Friday, Aug. 5, 2011 . The polar bear was shot and killed by other members of the group. The attack took place on the Svalbard archipelago, which is home to about 2,400 people and 3,000 polar bears and one British youth was killed in the attack.
The polar bear that killed a British teenager and mauled four others was starving and significantly underweight, Norwegian officials said Sunday.

The results of the examination of the 550 pound adult male came as survivors of the attack were being airlifted back to Britain.

Scott Bennell-Smith, 17, from Cornwall, and Patrick Flinders, 16, from Jersey, were taken by air ambulance to hospitals in England. The team leaders, Michael "Spike" Reid, 29, and Andy Ruck, 27, who were both mauled as they tried to assist the boys, are due to be transferred Monday, The London Times reported.

All are said to be in a stable condition.

Reid was seriously injured around the face and neck, before he finally managed to fire the single shot that killed the animal.

His courage has been praised by other members of the 13-strong team, who had been camping out on the Von Postbreen glacier on the Norwegian island of Svalbard, when the polar bear attacked.

However, he could not save Horatio Chapple, 17, an Etonian from Salisbury, Wilsthire, who died at the scene. An autopsy will be carried out in Norway Monday.

Liv Asta Odegaard, spokeswoman for the governor of Svalbard, said that an examination of the bear's carcass showed it had not eaten for some time.

"It had a very thin fat layer and little content in its stomach," she told The Times.

Fish

Alabama, US: Sharks Wash Up on Montrose Beach

dead shark
© Fox 10
Salinity may be to blame

Montrose - It seems Shark Week has taken on a whole new meaning in south Alabama. More than 14 sharks washed ashore just a little more than a mile down Montrose Beach.

FOX10 showed video of the occurrence to several Marine and Fishery Biologists. They said they know it's a shark but are not sure what species.

"I can't tell what type of shark this is. The bodies are decomposed so bad I can't tell what species this is," said biologist Chris Denson.

Some suggested they could be small bull sharks. They said the sight is not uncommon along the Gulf Coast.

"First part of July we had a call from someone about sharks on shore," said Dr. Marcus Drymon, Fisheries Biologist with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. "Turns out they were eight to 10 bull sharks."

The exact cause of death remains a mystery, but researchers said salinity really affects these fish, and anything from a pulse of fresh water or extremely dry weather can change the amount of salt in the water.

Nuke

US: Radioactive Fish Sample Found in Vermont

Connecticut River
© Jason R. Henske/Associated Press/FileTwo youngsters went fishing in the Connecticut River across from the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.

Montpelier - Vermont health officials said yesterday that a radioactive substance had been found in a fish sample taken from the Connecticut River 9 miles upstream from the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.

The substance, strontium 90, is a byproduct of nuclear fission that has been linked to cancer and leukemia.

William Irwin, the state's chief radiological health officer, said that the sample was unusual in that the strontium 90 was found in the fleshy, edible portion of the smallmouth bass sample. Irwin said the substance more often turns up in fish bones. Nine of 13 bone, head, and scale samples checked also turned up strontium 90, he said.

"It is to be expected to find strontium 90 in the bone, head, etcetera, because strontium is in the same chemical group as calcium,'' Irwin said. "It is not as likely to be found in muscle tissue, yet the literature does describe results where they have found strontium 90 in the edible portion of fish. It's just not as likely.''

Irwin said the Health Department would do further investigation to see if more evidence could be gleaned tying the radioactivity to the Vermont Yankee plant. He said the finding could have been related to background levels in the environment resulting from above-ground atomic bomb testing in the 1960s and '70s or from the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

Question

Mysterious Death of 36 Wild Boars on France Coast

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© Agence France-Presse
A total of 36 wild boars have been found dead over the past month on France's northwestern coast in the Cotes d'Armor region of Brittany. The bodies were strewn along the beach surrounded by large quantities of rotten seaweed, thought to contain toxins that emit hydrogen sulfide gas. According to ecologists and news sources, the growth of seaweed and algae has increased due to an influx of nitrates pollution in rivers from toxic fertilizers used on farms, putting local wildlife in serious danger.

Locals have become increasingly worried about what they now refer to as "killer seaweed." According to the UK Telegraph, an anti-toxic seaweed plan was launched last year in response to the untimely death of a horse in 2009 on the beach in Saint-Michel-en-Grève, leaving the rider unconscious at the scene. Another incident occurred (which is still under investigation) in which a man suffered a heart attack after transporting rotting seaweed.

Black Cat

United States Border Fence Threatens Wildlife

Bobcat
© Steve Hillebrand / USFWSBobcats, like this one in the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, have had their habitats disrupted by construction of the barrier along the Mexico–United States border.
Barrier between the United States and Mexico divides habitats and puts species at risk.

The 1,000 kilometres of impenetrable barrier constructed along the Mexico - United States border, with the aim of stemming illegal human immigration, is also hampering the movements of animals, including several endangered species, a recent study finds.

The species most at risk are those with smaller populations and specialized habitats, says Jesse Lasky, a graduate student at the University of Texas, Austin, and an author on the study, published in Diversity and Distributions.1 Small range size is associated with a higher risk of extinction, and for some species, the barriers reduce range by as much as 75%. According to the study, species most at risk include four listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as endangered or threatened - the Arroyo toad (Anaxyrus californicus), the California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), the black-spotted newt (Notophthalmus meridionalis) and the Pacific pond turtle (Clemmys marmorata) - together with the jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi), which is endangered in the United States and threatened in Mexico.

The study also identified three border regions where wildlife is most at risk from the barrier: coastal California, coastal Texas and southeastern Arizona's Madrean Sky Island Archipelago.

Bizarro Earth

US: Dead Fish Mystery at Lea Lake


Roswell, New Mexico - Something mysterious is happening at Bottomless Lakes State Park. Lea Lake is closed to swimming after hundreds of dead fish started washing up on shore Friday.

An empty lake on a hot summer day is an unusual sight for Lea Lake, which is normally packed with swimmers this time of year.

"It is extremely weird to see it this empty," explained lifeguard Leonardo Granados. "Even on weekdays there's still quite a few people that come out. Weekends, that's the worst whenever there's the most people, probably about 200 people come out," Granados said, referring to how packed Lea Lake usually is.

Granados has been a lifeguard at Bottomless Lakes for three years. With the recent fish-kill, his duties have changed from making sure people in the lake are safe, to keeping an eye out for dead fish.

Sun

US: Higher Water Temperatures Killing Texas Fish

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© Dimas Ardian / Getty Images
Humans aren't the only ones languishing in the North Texas heat.

"Everything is suffering... anything that depends on water and unfortunately that includes every single, living thing," said Larry Hodge with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The hot North Texas weather is killing fish.

The 30+ days of extreme heat and drought conditions have led to higher water temperatures and lower lake levels. That combination depletes oxygen in the water, which the fish need to breath.

"It can get to the point where the fish actually do not have enough oxygen in the water and they will suffer," explained Hodge. "You'll first see them at the surface trying to gulp air and then eventually, if it becomes severe enough, they may die."

Farm ponds and other small bodies of water are especially vulnerable. According to Hodge, there have been some fish kills on Lake Ray Hubbard and on some North Texas ponds.

Stop

New York, US: Wild boars invade farms, attack pets

Image
© Reuters
Wild boars are invading the farms of central New York state, attacking livestock, killing family pets and chasing people, experts warned on Friday.

The feral swine are a non-native species suspected of escaping from game farms. As many as a couple of hundred are roaming the state, said Paul Curtis, a natural resources professor at Cornell University in Ithaca.

While an exact picture of the wild boar population in New York State is unclear, a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said the swine were successfully breeding in the three counties and producing litters averaging four to six piglets.

Fish

Australia: Thousands of dead fish have washed up along 8km of Lake Alexandrina's shore

dead fish
© The Advertiser One of the fish washed up dead on the shores of Lake Alexandrina. Picture: Michael Milnes.

With the health of the River Murray and Lower Lake system at its best in years, the mass "fish kill" is a mystery.

Point Sturt resident Dot Ratcliffe said she was alarmed to find the problem when she went kayaking on the lake yesterday morning. "I saw them (extending) about 400m out in to the lake," she said.

"It's terribly upsetting, very distressing. There are thousands of fish washed up, something you do not want to see. I have been living here for 10 years and never seen anything like this."