Populations of wild birds in the UK are falling dramatically with even slight recent recoveries apparently stalled, government figures show. Only seabird populations remain comfortably above 1970 levels, while farmland bird numbers continue to plunge from a brief mid-1970s peak to half those of 40 years ago. Habitat changes responsible for fewer nesting sites and […]
By ELISABETH ROSENTHALJanuary 21, 2011 KINANGOP, Kenya — Simon Joakim Kiiru remembers a time not long ago when familiar birdsongs filled the air here and life was correlated with bird sightings. His lush, well-tended homestead is in the highlands next to the Aberdare National Park, one of the premier birding destinations in the world. When […]
By James Meikle, www.guardian.co.uk Thursday 20 January 2011 14.15 GMT Populations of wild birds in the UK are falling dramatically with even slight recent recoveries apparently stalled, government figures showed today. Only seabird populations remain comfortably above 1970 levels, while farmland bird numbers continue to plunge from a brief mid-1970s peak to half those of […]
By Morgan Erickson-Davis, www.mongabay.comJanuary 07, 2011 The sudden en-masse deaths of thousands of birds in the Southern U.S. on the night of New Year’s Eve have created a frenzy of media attention, but in reality hardly compare to the massive number that die each year because of human activity. Shortly after midnight on January 1st, […]
The blogosphere has noticed a seemingly large increase in the number of mass animal deaths globally, and Desdemona would be remiss not to comment. As a general rule, Des doesn’t post about big animal kills, unless they’re very large scale and unusual, e.g., Cold empties Bolivian rivers of fish — ‘There’s just a huge number […]
By David DeFranza, Washington, DCon January 6, 2011 Between 2005 and 2006, author Fen Montaigne traveled to Antarctica with Fraser to observe the life cycle of the penguins. “This colony was once much larger,” Montaigne says, “but in recent years all the Adélie colonies in the northwestern Antarctic Peninsula have been in steep decline as […]
By John Platt Jan 6, 2011 11:20 AM Six Australian birds that have not been seen in decades have been declared extinct by a team of scientists assessing the health of the country’s bird species. In most cases they could have been saved, says team leader Stephen Garnett, professor of tropical knowledge at Charles Darwin […]
By Sajjad Tarakzai (AFP)31 December 2010 KUND, Pakistan — Disaster struck out of nowhere. The flash floods were so sudden that wardens at one of Pakistan’s most famed parks could do nothing to save their animals. Leopards, deer and bears all drowned as the murky waters quickly engulfed them. Kund park, a tourist spot located […]
By Jennifer Hattam 19 December 2010 Istanbul, Turkey — About 100 years ago, my grandfather emigrated to the United States from a village near Lake Urmia, in what is now northwestern Iran. He died long before I was born, leaving me with little connection to my ancestors in the region, but a strong desire to […]
By Victoria Gill, Science and nature reporter, BBC News 17 December 2010 Vulture populations in one of Africa’s most important wildlife reserves have declined by 60%, say scientists. The researchers suggest that the decline of vultures in Kenya’s Masai Mara is being driven by poisoning. The US-based Peregrine Fund says farmers occasionally lace the bodies […]
