More than one out of every three freshwater fish species in European waters is on the brink of extinction, conservationists announced today.
After seven years of research, scientists with the World Conservation Union (IUCN), based in Switzerland, found that 200 of the 522 (38 percent) species of European freshwater fish are threatened with extinction due to rapid development in Europe over the last 100 years. Twelve species are already extinct.
The survey, detailed in a book, Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes, also found 47 new fish species, but this biodiversity is threatened in many of Europe's lakes and rivers.
"This new study shows that we are far from achieving European governments' targets to halt biodiversity loss by 2010," said Jean-Christophe Vie of the IUCN's Species Program. "The status of fish populations reflects the condition of European lakes and rivers."
Animals
Unexplained honeybee deaths have recently started showing up in Florida, the same state where the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder was first discovered a year ago, the Agriculture Department's top bee scientist said Thursday.
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| ©Anna_Greece foto |
| Everyone has a theory why the honeybees started dying off. Try malnutrition. |
Hundreds of thousands of earthworms appeared in a Taiwan vineyard, prompting the owner to consult an expert out of fear that a strong earthquake might be coming soon, a newspaper said on Monday.
According to the China Times, the worms crawled out of the earth and covered the surface of Wu Ching-chuan's vineyard in Changhwa County, west Taiwan, Sunday morning.
Wu, who bought the vineyard 40 years ago, said he has never seen so many earthworms in his vineyard before and estimated there were 200 to 300 kilograms of them.
According to the China Times, the worms crawled out of the earth and covered the surface of Wu Ching-chuan's vineyard in Changhwa County, west Taiwan, Sunday morning.
Wu, who bought the vineyard 40 years ago, said he has never seen so many earthworms in his vineyard before and estimated there were 200 to 300 kilograms of them.
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| Wild elephants play in the Deeparbil wetland, a wildlife sanctuary, in Deeparbil, India. |
GAUHATI, India - About 100 wild elephants have converged on a river island in northeast India, demolishing homes, feasting on sugarcane and panicking residents, officials said Saturday.
BEIJING - A type of tiger thought to be extinct in the wild for more than two decades has been photographed in a mountainous area in northwest China, state media reported Saturday.
The endangered subspecies known as the South China tiger was spotted by a farmer on Oct. 3, the China Daily said.
Experts confirmed that it was a young wild South China tiger, the newspaper quoted Shaanxi Forestry Administration Bureau Deputy Director Zhu Julong as saying.
The endangered subspecies known as the South China tiger was spotted by a farmer on Oct. 3, the China Daily said.
Experts confirmed that it was a young wild South China tiger, the newspaper quoted Shaanxi Forestry Administration Bureau Deputy Director Zhu Julong as saying.
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| ©REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/Files |
| Fishmongers drag frozen giant tuna in the early morning at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo in this April 25, 2002, file photo. |
A nasty algae that can suffocate habitat and food sources for fish has been found in a creek in one of Wyoming's premier watersheds, according to a river group.
Didymo, an algae commonly called "rock snot," was found in Lake Creek, a tributary of the Snake River, by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Snake River Fund reported Friday.
Didymo, an algae commonly called "rock snot," was found in Lake Creek, a tributary of the Snake River, by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Snake River Fund reported Friday.
Stable flies are the latest suspect that may be involved in the West Nile virus deaths of hundreds of pelican chicks at the Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Montana. West Nile virus killed 800 to 1,000 pelican chicks in 2003, averaged 400 in each of the next three summers and more than 600 this year.
Veterinary entomologist Greg Johnson of Montana State University said earlier this year that he considered the possibility that lice were transmitting West Nile virus to pelicans. He became suspicious after collecting very few mosquitoes in 2006, but seeing pelicans continue to die at a high rate. Johnson discovered previously that the Culex tarsalis mosquito is the primary carrier of West Nile virus in Montana and that the Medicine Lake refuge was one of the hot spots for the virus.
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| ©Greg Johnson |
| The Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge contains the fifth largest colony of American white pelicans in North America. |
Veterinary entomologist Greg Johnson of Montana State University said earlier this year that he considered the possibility that lice were transmitting West Nile virus to pelicans. He became suspicious after collecting very few mosquitoes in 2006, but seeing pelicans continue to die at a high rate. Johnson discovered previously that the Culex tarsalis mosquito is the primary carrier of West Nile virus in Montana and that the Medicine Lake refuge was one of the hot spots for the virus.
A gluttonous American pseudo-jellyfish, giant Japanese oysters, and an unidentified virus killing seals: strange intrusions are threatening Sweden's seas and fishermen are concerned.
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| ©AFP |
| Twenty-seven dead seals found on the beach in Kattegat. |
Comment: Something is certainly up with our helpful insect friends. We have discussed this topic here at SOTT several times and recommend you read To Bee or not to Be for plenty of explosive material to ponder on.
Here's a short excerpt: