Endangered species hit hard by historic Arizona fire – ‘The forest will be very changed, very, very different’

By BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press 24 June 2011 PHOENIX – The largest wildfire in Arizona history left a charred landscape of blackened forest, burned-out vehicle hulks and charred fireplaces as it destroyed more than 30 homes. It also inflicted a serious toll on an ecosystem that’s home to numerous endangered species. The flames spared three […]

Environmentalists, tuna poachers battle at sea

By Don Melvin11 June 2011 Tuna fishermen confronted environmentalists on the Mediterranean on Saturday, as activists attempted to disrupt illegal tuna fishing under the no-fly zone north of Libya. The fishermen attacked the Steve Irwin, owned by the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, by hurling heavy metal chain links aboard. They also attempted to lay […]

Frog faces last stand in Panama against killer fungus – ‘Modern equivalent of extinct dinosaurs’

By Sean Mattson10 June 2011 CERRO SAPO, Panama (Reuters) – The harlequin frog that hops and swims the rocky streams of a damp niche of Toad Mountain in eastern Panama’s dense tropical jungle has probably been on Earth for around 3 million years. Within a few more years, the black-spotted orange-and-white amphibian with dazzling green-tinged […]

California pumps kill 6 million Sacramento splittail, 50,000 imperiled salmon

Contact: Jeff Miller, (415) 669-7357      June 8, 2011 SAN FRANCISCO— In one of the largest fish kills in California history, new federal data show, the Central Valley Project and State Water Project pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have killed more than 6 million Sacramento splittail in the past six weeks and more than 51,000 […]

Algae neurotoxin found in endangered Hawaiian monk seals

HONOLULU, Hawaii, June 7, 2011 (ENS) – A potent toxic chemical that affects the nervous system has been identified in the bodies of Critically Endangered Hawaiian monk seals. Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, have found that Hawaiian monk seals are exposed to ciguatoxin, a toxin produced by marine algae common on […]

U.K. drought ‘may hit at-risk wildlife’

By Emily Beament, PA5 June 2011 Threatened wildlife such as water voles could be hit by the continuing dry weather across parts of the country, the Wildlife Trusts warned today. This year has seen an unusually dry spring, and despite some recent rainfall the dry weather is set to continue across much of the country […]

Wildlife populations ‘crash’ in the Mara region of Kenya, Africa

By Matt Walker Editor, BBC Nature 31 May 2011 Populations of wildlife species in the world-renowned Masai Mara reserve in Kenya have crashed in the past three decades, according to research published in the Journal of Zoology. Numbers of impala, warthog, giraffe, topi, and Coke’s hartebeest have declined by over 70%, say scientists. Even fewer […]

Endangered northern abalone could be doomed by increasing ocean acidity

Increasing levels of ocean acidity could spell doom for British Columbia’s already beleaguered northern abalone, according to the first study to provide direct experimental evidence that changing sea water chemistry is negatively affecting an endangered species. The northern abalone–prized as a gourmet delicacy–has a range that extents along the North American west coast from Baja […]

Pollution and overfishing spell trouble for dolphins worldwide

By Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss27 May 2011 Dear EarthTalk: How are wild dolphins faring on the high seas? Recent reports of dolphin deaths in the Gulf of Mexico may well be due to last year’s BP oil spill, but I imagine there are many threats to dolphins from pollution, human overfishing and other causes. […]

New study provides global analysis of seagrass extinction risk

ScienceDaily (May 25, 2011) — A team of 21 researchers from 11 nations, including professor Robert “JJ” Orth of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, has completed the first-ever study of the risk of extinction for individual seagrass species around the world. The 4-year study, requested by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial