It's been 16 months since Dave Hackenberg of Dade City became the first beekeeper in the country to say publicly that something was terribly wrong with his insects.
In the intervening time following the identification of the malady now known as Colony Collapse Disorder, things haven't gotten any better for the nation's bees, which pollinate about one-third of U.S. crops - some $15 billion worth.
Animals
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| ©Michael Durham/Getty Images |
| THREAT Healthy bats, like the one above, hibernate in winter. |
Al Hicks was standing outside an old mine in the Adirondacks, the largest bat hibernaculum, or winter resting place, in New York State.
But bats dying from a mystery illness have been found in the snow in daylight hours.
It was broad daylight in the middle of winter, and bats flew out of the mine about one a minute. Some had fallen to the ground where they flailed around on the snow like tiny wind-broken umbrellas, using the thumbs at the top joint of their wings to gain their balance.
'Commercial beehives pollinate over a third of [North}America's crops and that web of nourishment encompasses everything from fruits like peaches, apples, cherries, strawberries and more, to nuts like California almonds, 90 percent of which are helped along by the honeybees. Without this pollination, you could kiss those crops goodbye, to say nothing of the honey bees produce or the flowers they also fertilize'.1
The findings of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) in relation to the "mysterious" death of around 100 "gharials", a member of the crocodile family, from November 2007 to February 2008 in the National Chambal Sanctuary in Etawah district has added another twist in the tale.
In its report submitted to the State Forest and Wildlife Department, dated March 19, 2008, the agency has concluded that lead and cadmium were not found in the waters of the river Yamuna. The sanctuary is situated at the confluence of the Yamuna and the river Chambal, which flows from the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, in Etawah district. The Pollution Control Board findings indicate that the death of the gharials could not have been due to toxicity.
In its report submitted to the State Forest and Wildlife Department, dated March 19, 2008, the agency has concluded that lead and cadmium were not found in the waters of the river Yamuna. The sanctuary is situated at the confluence of the Yamuna and the river Chambal, which flows from the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, in Etawah district. The Pollution Control Board findings indicate that the death of the gharials could not have been due to toxicity.
An ailment that has stumped scientists and has killed thousands of bats in New York and Vermont is now afflicting bats in Berkshire County and other parts of Massachusetts.
The mysterious sickness has been dubbed "white-nose syndrome" due to one of the symptoms that can be spotted with the eye - white, powdery fungus coating a bat's nose.
The mysterious sickness has been dubbed "white-nose syndrome" due to one of the symptoms that can be spotted with the eye - white, powdery fungus coating a bat's nose.
Mirrored glass could be behind the deaths of some 50 migrant birds reported in Moscow within a week, Moscow's environmental department said on Friday.
A total of 46 dead waxwings were found dead on 15-18 March, with head injuries, broken bones, ruptured internal organs and crushed chests in southeast and northwest Moscow.
A total of 46 dead waxwings were found dead on 15-18 March, with head injuries, broken bones, ruptured internal organs and crushed chests in southeast and northwest Moscow.
For those studying the colony collapse dilemma that continues to affect bee populations around the country, it seems, at least for now, "enigma" remains the buzz-word.
Researchers in the Colony Collapse Disorder field have indicated that various factors - including foreign pathogens, genetics, stress levels, nutrition and pesticides - could be to blame for the problem. But there's still no smoking gun to explain what's become an ongoing scientific mystery.
Researchers in the Colony Collapse Disorder field have indicated that various factors - including foreign pathogens, genetics, stress levels, nutrition and pesticides - could be to blame for the problem. But there's still no smoking gun to explain what's become an ongoing scientific mystery.
A University of Leicester ecologist is setting out to discover why flamingos are so in the pink of health - in the poo!
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| ©University of Leicester |
| A University of Leicester ecologist is setting out to discover why flamingos are so in the pink of health - in the poo! |
After 14 years without having been seen, several young scientists supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP), have rediscovered the Carrikeri Harlequin Frog (Atelopus carrikeri) in a remote mountainous region in Colombia.
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| ©Conservation Leadership Programme |
| Carrikeri harlequin frog. |
The announcement of the discovery of a new bird comes with a twist: It's a white-eye, but its eye isn't white. Still, what this new bird lacks in literal qualities it makes up for as one of the surprises that nature still has tucked away in little-explored corners of the world.
Ornithologists, including one from Michigan State University, describe for science a new species of bird from the Togian Islands of Indonesia - Zosterops somadikartai, or Togian white-eye, in the March edition of The Wilson Journal of Ornithology.
Ornithologists, including one from Michigan State University, describe for science a new species of bird from the Togian Islands of Indonesia - Zosterops somadikartai, or Togian white-eye, in the March edition of The Wilson Journal of Ornithology.
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| ©Agus Prijono |
| An artist's rendering of Zosterops somadikartai, or Togian white-eye |
