The wonder of bird songs

I have always been fascinated by bird songs. During my hikes in the wilderness of Western Ghats, melodious calls like the ones produced by Malabar whistling thrush, has enthralled me and at the same time I have wondered about the meaning of all that calls. I always had this feeling that there is obviously more than that meets the eye.

The latest issue of journal Proceedings of the Royal Society has some interesting facts about song birds which could be true for other birds also. A new study reveals that young song birds make their choices of building nests after eavesdropping on the songs of their elders. Matthew Betts, a landscape ecologist at Oregon State University, Corvallis led the study on black-throated blue warblers (Dendroica caerulescens), who arrive in the United States from Jamaica. Betts and his colleagues recorded male birds’ songs at nests with fledglings in a good 90-year-old forest in New Hampshire's White Mountains. They then played the recordings at 18 other sites. Young male warblers flying nearby heard the calls and apparently memorized the exact locations. They chose these sites for building nests next spring, after migrating to the Caribbean for the winter. This is the first experimental study to show that the information can override what a bird sees.

I will be away from my desk

Hi guys,
Till June 19th I am out in the wilderness with no access to internet. There won't be any updates during this period. The New York times science headlines and animal of the day will get updated automatically.

Shocking news about Tigers

EIA (Environmental Investigation Agency) has come out with some shocking news about tigers in China. I nearly puked when I heard about it.EIA investigators were offered tiger bone wine in two Chinese Tiger farms. Chinese farms are believed to house about 5,000 captive tigers. The wine was made from carcasses soaked in rice wine. The wine advertised as a sure fire treatment for arthritis and rheumatism was being openly sold in the farms. The staff claimed that wine was made from tigers that had died after fighting with other big cats at the farms. Debbie Banks, head of the EIA's tiger campaign has made a fervent plea to Chinese authorities to stop this barbaric practice. With just 2,500 breeding adults left in the wild things are not rosy for this wonderful animal. Chinese have all along campaigned for farming of tigers saying it would satisfy the demand from traditional medicine practitioners without threatening the wild tiger population. But according to EIA It would be far too easy to launder poached skins, bones and parts among those from legalized tiger farms. This would open the flood gates of poaching.

Courtship and mating sequence of Giant Panda filmed in the wild

I have always been fascinated by Giant Pandas. An adorable animal, that strikes a chord in your heart. They seem such gentle creatures. I was surprised to hear that their love life is full of loud throaty calls and aggression.

A BBC Natural History team has recorded in the wild, the courtship and mating sequences of giant panda. The recording was done in the bamboo forests of Qinling Mountains in China. Even though mating of pandas has been filmed earlier this is the most complete courtship sequences ever caught on camera. The mating is preceded by loud calls and fending off of other males. Pandas which are solitary animals come together during mating season. Months of research and careful location reconnaissance was needed to film these exclusive shots. The film Land of the Panda is broadcast by BBC on Sunday 8 June at 2100 BST. It is a co-production with Chinese state television.

Emergency aid for Pandas

Wolong Nature Reserve in China which harbours Pandas was devastated in the recent earthquake. Five staff at the reserve were killed and several pandas have been reported missing Conservationists the world over are a worried lot. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which owns Edinburgh Zoo, is sending emergency aid to help Chinese authorities. The society is sending money and satellite communications equipment. Edinburgh Zoo is slated to get breeding-aged Pandas from Wolong Nature Reserve and has a special interest in its welfare. Offers of help are coming from other sources also.

Indian Forest Rights Act – An interesting observation

The recently passed Indian forest rights act is mired in controversy with protagonists of wildlife and tribals taking diametrically opposite stands in their respective fields. This benefits neither the wildlife nor the tribals. What is needed is pragmatism. I found the following piece from Mr P.N Unnikrishnan very interesting. Browse through this piece. It is food for thought

The Forest Rights Act is often misinterpreted as an Act for the tribals to counter the over emphasis on wildlife. This is an illusion. The Act must be understood as a document emphasizing the point that the forest belongs to primarily the wildlife and then to the tribal. It is an Act to refute the interests of the mainstream society on forestland.

The Act says that the right holders have the fundamental duty and authority to protect and conserve the forest and its biodiversity. The right of people over forests can be withdrawn if it is irrefutably (scientifically) proved that an area is critical to the existence of wildlife and cohabitation is positively harmful to wildlife interests. The Act does not speak of sacrificing wildlife interests to favour tribal interests. It is but against forceful relocation (eviction) without necessary compensation and that too before verifying whether an area is critical for wildlife

Many a P A has been declared, not based on the criticality of that area for wildlife. There have been other considerations such as that of catchment area of dams, for instance. The Act says that the primary lookout in this regard must be the significance of the area for survival of wildlife.

The Act does not say that all important wildlife areas have been covered by PAs. More PAs can be constituted, provided they are critically important for wildlife, but relocation from there needs to be actively pursued only if cohabitation is found to be positively harmful to wildlife.

The Act is a statement expressing solidarity of tribal and wildlife interests and stiffly opposes the intrusion of mainstream people on forestland. See it in the right spirit and the confusion will disappear.

Dogs help in conserving endangered animals

Dogs have always been man’s best friends from time immemorial. They have been used in hunting. But now they are chipping in with help in wildlife conservation

Dogs trained to detect animal faeces by scent are helping researchers monitor rare and threatened wildlife in and around Emas National Park, in Brazil. When the dogs find the faeces, the accompanying researcher marks the location with a GPS and collects the samples. With the aid of satellite images, the sample data are correlated to the local environments where the samples were found. This helps the researchers to identify numbers, range, diet, hormonal stress, parasites and genetic identity without resorting to any sophisticated equipments. Identifying and establishing key areas for corridors has been made easier. The levels of stress hormones in the animals' faeces are important indicators in the evaluation of their capacity to reproduce in a given environment. Carly Vynne of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington leads the project.

The world’s oldest recorded tree - Interesting press release from Umeå University

Here is an interesting press release that I came across while surfing.

Umeå University
Press Release

The world’s oldest recorded tree is a 9,550-year-old spruce in the Dalarna province of Sweden. The spruce tree has shown to be a tenacious survivor that has endured by growing between erect trees and smaller bushes in pace with the dramatic climate changes over time.

For many years the spruce tree has been regarded as a relative newcomer in the Swedish mountain region. ”Our results have shown the complete opposite, that the spruce is one of the oldest known trees in the mountain range,” says Leif Kullman, Professor of Physical Geography at Umeå University.
A fascinating discovery was made under the crown of a spruce in Fulu Mountain in Dalarna. Scientists found four “generations” of spruce remains in the form of cones and wood produced from the highest grounds. The discovery showed trees of 375, 5,660, 9,000 and 9,550 years old and everything displayed clear signs that they have the same genetic makeup as the trees above them. Since spruce trees can multiply with root penetrating braches, they can produce exact copies, or clones. The tree now growing above the finding place and the wood pieces dating 9,550 years have the same genetic material. The actual has been tested by carbon-14 dating at a laboratory in Miami, Florida, USA. Previously, pine trees in North America have been cited as the oldest at 4,000 to 5,000 years old.

In the Swedish mountains, from Lapland in the North to Dalarna in the South, scientists have found a cluster of around 20 spruces that are over 8,000 years old. Although summers have been colder over the past 10,000 years, these trees have survived harsh weather conditions due to their ability to push out another trunk as the other one died. ”The average increase in temperature during the summers over the past hundred years has risen one degree in the mountain areas,” explains Leif Kullman. Therefore, we can now see that these spruces have begun to straighten themselves out. There is also evidence that spruces are the species that can best give us insight about climate change.

The ability of spruces to survive harsh conditions also presents other questions for researchers. Have the spruces actually migrated here during the Ice Age as seeds from the east 1,000 kilometres over the inland ice that that then covered Scandinavia? Do they really originate from the east, as taught in schools? “My research indicates that spruces have spent winters in places west or southwest of Norway where the climate was not as harsh in order to later quickly spread northerly along the ice-free coastal strip,” says Leif Kullman. “In some way they have also successfully found their way to the Swedish mountains.”

The study has been carried out in cooperation with the County Administrative Boards in Jämtland and Dalarna.

For more information contact:
Leif Kullman, Professor of Physical Geography at Umeå University
Phone: +46 90-786 68 93, 070-5641848
E-mail: leif.kullman@emg.umu.se

Microbes capable of sophisticated reasoning?

It is a known fact that microbes can come up with simple responses to changes in their environment, such as acidity fluctuations, by altering their internal workings. But sophisticated reasoning? Systems biologist Saeed Tavazoie of Princeton University wanted to know if microbes were capable of more sophisticated reasoning. He along with his colleagues created an environment inhabited by evolving virtual bugs. The organisms "learnd" that certain signals preceded the arrival of food and came up with pre-emptive metabolic responses. Even when the signal combinations grew more complex, the population was able to evolve the correct responses. Extensive work was done on bacterium Escherichia coli. When the researchers turned up the heat in a dish of E. coli, the bugs narrowed down activity in genes that normally operate in high-oxygen conditions. The true test came when the team reversed the normal association, growing the bacteria in conditions in which high oxygen levels followed temperature increases. Less than 100 generations later, the bacteria stopped turning on their low-oxygen response after exposure to high temperatures, giving a clue that they had evolved to break the association. The work opens up exciting possibilities to explain puzzling behaviour of microbial pathogens, which could be using predictive signals to change their cell surfaces and avoid a host's impending immune attack.

More details can be had from the latest issue of Science magazine

Predictive Behavior Within Microbial Genetic Networks

Ilias Tagkopoulos ¹, Yir-Chung Liu ², Saeed Tavazoie ^2*

¹ Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.; Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
² Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.; Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.

Good news about the Amur Leopard

There is good news about Amur Leopard. 8 photos taken in Kedrovaya Pad reserve in the Primorisky Region of Russia by a camera trap during a census operation has brought cheer to the conservationists. Amur leopards, considered critically endangered by the IUCN, have been brought to the brink by habitat loss and poaching. An estimated twenty-five to forty Amur leopards survive in the wild in the northern forests, the taiga, of Russia. Only six have been identified as females. Hunters shot dead a female in April 2007. Curbing habitat loss, forest fires and poaching is of paramount importance in the conservation plans of this critically endangered animal.

Here is reason to save ponds

Professor John Downing, the lake scientist from US has come up with interesting facts about lakes. His research has established that ponds around the globe could absorb as much carbon as the world's oceans. Professor Downing found that constructed ponds and lakes on farmland in the United States bury carbon at 20-50 times the rate at which trees trap carbon. Ponds also take up carbon at a higher rate than larger lakes. In US 90 percent of these water bodies are one hectare or less in area.

Ponds are fast disappearing in many parts if the world as development advances. This new research gives a clear-cut reason for conserving ponds. With deleterious effects of global warming at our doorsteps here is a definite reason to conserve ponds. So go ahead spread the news around. Full details appear in Feb. 15 issue of the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles in a paper titled, "Sediment organic carbon burial in agriculturally eutrophic impoundments over the last century.”

Spider sex using ultraviolet B (UVB) rays

Professor Daiqin Li, from the National University of Singapore and his team have discovered that male jumping spiders (Phintella vittata) are using ultraviolet B (UVB) rays to communicate with females. The researchers found that females were more likely to mate with males that could "talk" to them with UVB compared with spiders sitting in chambers. The full details appear in Current science
Li, J., Z. Zhang, F. Liu, Q. Liu, W. Gan, J. Chen, Matthew L.M. Lim, Daiqin Li, 2008. UVB-Based Mate-Choice Cues Used by Females of the Jumping Spider Phintella vittata. Current Biology, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.04.020

Biodiversity loss and its implications

The Earth's biodiversity is disappearing at an alarming rate. For people concerned about biodiversity here is something that is going to interest you. The new book, ‘Sustaining Life” is a great eye opener. It deals with biodiversity and fills a major gap in the arguments made to conserve nature. Sustaining Life is the first book to examine the full range of potential threats that diminishing biodiversity poses to human health. At the heart of the book is a chapter dedicated to exploring seven threatened groups of organisms valuable to medicine, including amphibians, bears, cone snails, sharks, nonhuman primates, gymnosperms, and horseshoe crabs that underscore what may be lost to human health when species go extinct.

The story of southern gastric brooding frog (Rheobatrachus), which was discovered in undisturbed rainforests of Australia in the 1980, makes interesting reading. The frogs raise their young in the female’s stomach where they would, in other animals, be digested by enzymes and acid. The baby frogs produced a substance, or perhaps a variety of substances, that inhibited acid and enzyme secretions and prevented the mother from emptying her stomach into her intestines while the young were developing. The authors point out that the research on gastric brooding frogs could have led to new insights into preventing and treating human peptic ulcers which affect some 25 million people in the United States alone. The bad news is that the frogs have become extinct

Other interesting stories include.

Pumiliotoxins, like those made by the Panamanian Poison Frog that may lead to medicines that strengthen the contractions of the heart and thus prove useful in treating heart disease.

Alkaloids made by species like the Ecuadorian Poison Frog, which could be the source of a new and novel generation of painkillers.

Bradykinins and maximakinins, made in the skin glands of species like the Chinese Large-Webbed Bell Toad; Mexican Leaf Frog, and North American Pickerel Frog that dilate the smooth muscle of blood vessels in mammals and therefore offer promising avenues for treating high blood pressure.

Several medical benefits have already arisen from the study of bears, including the development of rsodeoxycholic acid, found in the gall bladders of some bear species such as polar and black bears, into a medicine.

Some bear species, known as “denning” bears because they enter into a largely dormant state when food is scarce, are of tremendous value to medicine as they are able to recycle a wide variety of their body’s substances.

Bears appear to produce a substance that inhibits cells that break down bone and promote substances that encourage bone and cartilage-making cells. Currently, 740,000 deaths a year are the result of hip fractures worldwide, a large number of which are caused by osteoporosis. By 2050 there will be an estimated six million osteoporosis-linked hip fractures globally.

Several pharmaceuticals, including decongestants and the anti-cancer drug taxol, have already been isolated from gymnosperms. The researchers believe many more are yet to be discovered and may be lost if species of Gymnosperms become extinct.

Substances from one Gymnosperm, the Ginkgo tree may reduce the production of receptors in the human nervous system linked with memory loss. Thus they may play a role in countering Alzheimer’s disease. They may also help in the treatment of epilepsy and depression.

One compound, known as ziconotide extracted from snails is thought to be 1000 times more potent than morphine and has been shown in clinical trials to provide significant pain relief for advanced cancer and AIDS patients. Another cone snail compound has been shown in animal models to protect brain cells from death during times of inadequate blood flow.

‘Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity’ is published by Oxford University Press priced $34.95

ISBN13: 9780195175097ISBN10: 0195175093 hardback, 568 pages

About the Author(s)

Eric Chivian , M.D., is the Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School. He shared the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. He is the lead editor and author of Last Aid: The Medical Dimensions of Nuclear War and Critical Condition: Human Health and the Environment .
Aaron Bernstein , M.D., is a Research Associate at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, and Resident, Boston Combined Residency in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School/Boston University School of Medicine.

Posted with inputs from IUCN

Caged Tigers are not mongrels

Caged tigers are often associated with dubious ancestry. They are treated like mongrels. But the latest analysis has come out with the fact that a significant number of them bear the genetic imprint of a single subspecies. It was Stephen O'Brien, a geneticist at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Frederick, Maryland and colleagues who analysed 20 years' collection of DNA samples from 105 captive tigers around the world. Almost half the tigers could be assigned to one subspecies, whereas the rest were of mixed lineage. The team also found new mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite features not yet recorded in wild tigers. This points to the fact the captive population harbours genetic diversity that may have been lost in the wild.

With an estimated 3000 tigers left in the wild this finding has great portent for conservation. The tigers in captivity have continued to multiply, numbering 15,000 to 20,000 at last count.

Now a botanical art gallery

The world's first art gallery dedicated to botanical art works will be opened in London’s Kew Gardens today. Collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and from collector Dr Shirley Sherwood will be on exhibit. Dr Shirley Sherwood, after whom the gallery has been named, has been collecting contemporary botanical art since 1990. Her collection includes work by more than 200 artists living in 30 different countries. Till now only experts and researchers were permitted to access the collection. Now Kew’s collections are more accessible and are expected to give conservation a big boost. Some of the depictions have never been seen by the public before and are thought to be the only surviving record of some extinct species.

The mystery of the Borneo pygmy elephants solved

The origins of the pygmy elephants of Borneo, found in a range extending from the northeast of the island into the Heart of Borneo, have been a mystery. A new paper published in peer reviewed Sarawak Museum Journal has added a new twist to the whole story. I found this paper very interesting. According to the authors the population could be the last survivors of the Javan elephant race, accidentally saved from extinction by the Sultan of Sulu centuries ago. The looks and behaviour of Borneo elephants differ from other Asian elephants. The authors propound the theory that the elephants were brought to Borneo centuries ago by the Sultan of Sulu, and later abandoned in the jungle. It now transpires that this translocation in history that has survived to modern times could provide scientists with critical data from a centuries-long experiment. The detailed study is bound to throw up lot of possibilities for future conservation initiatives.

ORIGIN OF THE ELEPHANTS ELEPHAS MAXIMUS L. OF BORNEO
Earl of Cranbrook1, J. Payne2 and Charles M.U. Leh3

If you are keen to read the entire paper click here

Wild Talk - Exciting new monthly podcast from IUCN and WWF

IUCN and WWF have launched an exciting new monthly podcast called Wild Talk. This will usher in the latest news and features from the world of conservation.

In the first episode in the series IUCN marine expert Imène Meliane gave a graphic view of how invasive species catch a free ride across the world’s oceans on ships and the problems they cause by doing so.

The other highlights were

On climate change – how indigenous people are affected and the solutions they already have to cope with it by interviewing IUCN’s Gonzalo Oviedo.

Marc Languy, head of mountain gorillas programme pf WWF in the Great Lakes region of Africa talked about the human qualities of the gorillas and what we can do to save their remaining population which stands at just 720.

In the final interview, Hubert von Goisem explains to WWF why he took to a barge to bring his music and environmental message to the people who live along the Danube.

The next edition we will have news from the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn and other exciting fare.

Interesting facts about ancestor of Elephants unearthed

Analysis of chemical signatures preserved in fossil teeth of ancient ancestor of the elephants, which lived 37 million years ago, has come up with interesting findings. These ancestors lived in water and had a lifestyle similar to a hippo but had the appearance of a Tapir. The animals were related to seagoing manatees and dugongs. Study of fossil teeth has indicated that the animal grazed on plants in rivers and swamps.

Experts from Oxford University and Stony Brook University, New York did the analysis. The scientists were investigating the lifestyle of the two early elephants called proboscideans – Moeritherium and Barytherium, which looked like a slender version of today's Asian elephant, when they came up with new findings. These animals lived over 37 million years ago in Egypt's Fayum Desert. At the time sub-tropical rainforest and swamps covered the deserts of northern Egypt.

Full report is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Systems that save biodiversity

A new EU-funded research project GEM-CON-BIO (Governance and Ecosystems Management for the Conservation of Biodiversity) shows how governance patterns impact biodiversity. The study comes out with the finding that most successful governance patterns for biodiversity conservation are a mix of financial incentives, regulations and voluntary engagement. Thirty case studies were analysed in the project.

GEM-CON-BIO compared governance structures of the following areas

Europe (such as in Biosphere reserves in Germany and in the Danube Delta, public and private forests and wetlands across Europe, the North Sea Fisheries, etc.);

USA (such as the Habitat Programme of Maine where towns have to develop credible habitat management plans before they receive public funds for other needs); and

Other parts of the world (such as Mongolia or Ethiopia where traditional institutions and community management seem to regain credibility as effective biodiversity management and conservation practices).

GEM-CON-BIO is funded through the EU’s sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. The project falls under Priority 7 - Citizens and Governance in a knowledge-based society. It runs until the end of April 2008, and brings together 9 partners from 7 European countries, plus partners from Iran, Indonesia, and Bolivia. The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece leads the project. IUCN is a full partner in the project, and is coordinating the organization of the policy conference.

Posted with inputs from IUCN

New technique to pinpoint key biodiversity hotspots

Scientists have developed a new technique that pinpoints key biodiversity hotspots. The methodology identifies exact areas that support a wide variety of organisms. Scientists tested the new system to identify vital habitats in Madagascar. Claire Kremen, a conservation biologist from the University of California, Berkeley, US headed the project. Scientists gathered existing data from Madagascan scientists on more than 2,300 species. Once they gathered the data they put it through an optimisation analysis. Data was added on habitat suitability from remote sensing images from satellites, and several layers of climatic information including average monthly temperature and rainfall. What they were looking for was 10% of the country that could include all of those species. A computer programme was developed which allows scientists to find a solution that not only includes all the species, but also includes as much as possible of the habitats that they need. The program was also able to pinpoint what species were at a greater risk of extinction. Even though the programme was developed for Madagascar it could be put to use in other areas also. This is expected to give a new impetus to conservation especially in rain forest areas rich in biodiversity. Details appear in Science magazine.

Competition – Wildlife poet of the year

If you have a way with words and love nature here is an announcement from BBC you should read. Go through it and enter the competition

Does the natural world inspire you to write poetry? If so, enter our competition and you could win a fabulous wild week on the Isle of Skye, plus your poem will be published in BBC Wildlife and broadcast on Radio 4's Poetry Please.

Do you have a way with words? If so, why not share your thoughts and feelings about wildlife and nature (no domestic plants or animals please) through verse? This is an intense and intimate writing style, and so the best poetry starts with your own lived experiences. Call upon your senses to create fresh images (avoid clichés), and don't feel you have to write about significant issues.

You can choose any form of poetry that suits you – from free verse to formal rhyme – just keep it to fewer than 50 lines. The poems are judged anonymously; so don't put your name on your entry. Simply fill out the entry form that can be found in the April issue of BBC Wildlife and tape it to the back of your entry.

The Prizes – Adults
The winning poem will be published in the October issue of BBC Wildlife (on sale 25 September) and broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please in October.

The winner will also be awarded a wonderful week-long wildlife break on the lovely Isle of Skye and neighbouring Lochalsh, courtesy of Skye and Lochalsh Marketing Ltd. To see the full list of excursions available as part of the 1st prize, please visit www.skye.co.uk/promotions.php?promo=49

Three runners-up, and the poet whose verse most amuses the judges, will each receive a copy of Nature's Top 40: Britain's best wildlife – the country's finest nature spots as voted for by viewers of BBC 2 – and Collins British Wildlife, the definitive photographic guide to Britain's plants and animals, both courtesy of Collins.

The Prizes – Young Poets
There is a prize for the best poem in each of the following age categories:
a) 7 and under
b) 8 to 11
c) 12 to 14
d) 15 to 17

Each young winner will receive a copy of Nature's Top 40 and Collins British Wildlife. Their poems will be published in the October issue of BBC Wildlife and may also be selected for broadcast on Poetry Please.

How to Enter
Your entry must arrive by 23 May 2008. Send it to: BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year 2008, 14th Floor, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN. Young poets please remember to write your category letter on the outside of the envelope. Fax (for overseas entries only): 0044 117 933 8032.

13 Winners will be notified by 12 Sept 2008. The results will be published in the October issue of BBC Wildlife (on sale 25 Sept 08) and the winning poems may be published on Skye & Lochalsh Marketing Ltd’s website, www.skye.co.uk.

Lynx making a comeback in Italian Alps

After a gap of nearly 100 years a Lynx (Lynx lynx) has appeared in Italian Alps. According to Italian authorities the Lynx has crossed over from Switzerland. Lynx were reintroduced in Switzerland in the 1970s after being wiped out in the early 20th Century. There are about 100 lynx in Switzerland, in two main areas, the north-western Alps, which includes Interlaken, and the Jura Mountains near Lake Geneva. There are an estimated 8,000 lynx throughout Europe. It is the third largest predator in Europe after the brown bear and the wolf. There are three other species of lynx. The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), is close to extinction with only 100 left in the wild. The other two species are the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and the bobcat (Lynx rufus), which is native to North America.

Amazing compass sense of Moths

Migrating moths have always puzzled scientists. They had no clue about how the moths avoid being blown away from their seasonal breeding grounds by gusty winds. Recently an international team led by entomologist Jason Chapman of Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, U.K., tracked swarms of silver Y moths (Autographa gamma) leaving the United Kingdom for their winter breeding site in the Mediterranean. The insects have a penchant for cruising on faster, high-altitude air currents that mainly occur at night. The scientists found that during most of the mass migrations, a significant proportion of the moths pointed their bodies in the same direction. When the wind direction was off by more than 20 degrees, the moths changed their flight angle to stay on course. This clearly demonstrates a compass sense in the nocturnal migrating insects. Dragonflies and butterflies were already known to change their flight paths to compensate for wind drift. Full report appears in the latest issue of Current Biology. Amazing facts. The findings have unexpected spin-offs. The scientists say understanding the moths’ sense of direction could help in predicting future insect migrations, which are likely to increase as global warming makes northern countries more hospitable to pests.

New facts about Bats

New facts about bats are coming to light. A study by Margareta B Kalka, Adam R. Smit and Elisabeth K. V. Kalko has come up with the finding that bats have dramatic ecological effects that were previously overlooked. The experiment was done in a lowland tropical forest in Panama and concluded that bats eat as many insects at night as birds do during the day and disappearance of insect-eating bats in agricultural landscapes could have negative effects on crop cultivation. Kalka recommends “bats should be included in future conservation plans aimed at preserving the integrity of tropical forests and also considered in agricultural management strategies based on natural pest control". Margareta B. Kalka and Adam R. Smith are from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama. Elisabeth K. V. Kalko is from Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Germany.

Details of the work appear in the journal Science.

M.B. Kalka et al (2008). "Bats Limit Arthropods and Herbivory in a Tropical Forest" and K. Williams-Guillen et al (2008) "Bats Limit Insects in a Neotropical Agroforestry System." Science 4 April 2008.

Saving the Snow Leopard

Representatives from 12 Asian nations, China, Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, met in Beijing from March 9 – 11 to frame a multinational conservation plan to save the highly endangered snow leopard. The conference was hosted by the Chinese Institute of Zoology in partnership with Panthera Foundation, and co-sponsored by the Snow Leopard Trust and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). It has been described as a watershed event in the effort to save snow leopards. Several work sessions that sought specific results, which would be immediately applicable to preserving snow leopards across their central Asian range were organised. An estimated 3,500 to 7,000 snow leopards live in the rugged mountaintops of central Asia. Dr George Schaller who did seminal studies on snow leopard made a fervent plea for their conservation. The conference drafted a vision statement for the next century.

The conference vision for Snow Leopards over the next century:
A world where snow leopards and their wild prey thrive in healthy mountain ecosystems across all major ecological settings of their entire range, and where snow leopards are revered as unique ecological, economic, and spiritual assets.

Love rites of Amazon River Dolphin

Now this is awesome. Just when we thought we knew everything out come surprises. A group of British and Brazilian researchers have found out that South American river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) uses branches, weeds and lumps of clay to woo the opposite sex and frighten off rivals. They would slowly come up above the surface of water in a vertical posture holding this stuff in their mouths. Details appear in the journal Biology Letters.

The Amazon River dolphin can be found in the Amazon River system as well as the Orinoco River system flowing throughout South America, mainly in the countries of Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana and Peru. Adults grow to 2.5 metres and weigh 150 kilos. The dolphin eats crabs, shrimps, and sometimes even turtles and catfish.

Amazing Elephant Facts on BBC

Did you know that elephants could store water for an emergency? For me it was new info. Amazing. Now read on.

A BBC team has filmed elephants spraying themselves with water that they had stored in a reservoir in their throats several hours earlier, to escape extreme heat. The reservoir is the pharyngeal pouch just behind the tongue. They sprayed it on to the outside of the ear that was facing the wind to cool down. The footage was recorded in Namibia. Martyn Colbeck is the cameraman. The desert elephant has adapted to go up to five days without drinking.

Trigger for bird songs discovered

Scientists from the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh and Nagoya University in Japan have identified the trigger for bird songs prior to mating. They have unravelled how part of a bird's brain is affected by seasons. They have discovered that genes in cells on the surface of the brain were switched on when the birds received more light. Pituitary gland releases a hormone in the spring in readiness for mating. This is fantastic research output unthinkable till a few years back. Researchers used a genome chip, known as a microarray, to scan 28,000 genes from the Japanese quail to arrive at the fascinating findings. As science advances, the peek in to the mysteries of nature is becoming increasingly easier.

Tunisia - Scimitar Horned Oryx to be reintroduced

Scimitar Horned Oryx (Oryx dammah) have been extinct in Tunisia since the late 1970s. Efforts are on to release Oryx from American and European zoos back to the wild in Tunisia. The Oryx are currently being held in a 20,000-acre fenced area in Dghoumes National Park. Once a sustainable population has been established, possibly ten years from now they will be released in to the wild. The efforts were initiated at the request of Tunisia to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the Secretariat for the Convention on Migratory Species. For more information about this animal click here

Encyclopedia of Life.

The path-breaking project “Encyclopedia of Life” has just added the first 30,000 species pages (1/60th of the total recorded species), including 25 pages that are examples of what the site will include in the future. The project aims at gathering accurate and detailed information on the earth's known 1.8 million species and each will have its own web page. Macarthur Foundation provided the grant to start the project and the site was initially launched in May 2007. Experts in the field will evaluate all the information before publication. This will be a comprehensive database. Jim Edwards is the Executive Director of Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) the most ambitious project ever undertaken.

Dolphins and Whales 3D

The secret world of bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, and 10 other cetacean species have been graphically described in the new IMAX film “Dolphins and Whales 3D”. Produced by François Mantello. The film has some stunning underwater footage. Narrator Daryl Hannah does a terrific job. All the sequences were shot under water. None of the animals shown in the film were trained or captive. The wonderful film inspires people to take action to conserve the ocean.

Jack rabbits living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem disappear

A new study by Wildlife Conservation Society has found that jack rabbits living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem have disappeared. According to the study's lead author, Dr. Joel Berger, a Wildlife Conservation Society conservationist, and professor at the University of Montana, no one knows what caused the rabbits to disappear. Dr. Berger believes that the absence of jack rabbits may be causing elevated predation by coyotes on juvenile elk, pronghorn and other ungulates. Dr Berger recommends reintroduction and believes reintroduction may result in the establishment of dynamic ecological processes that were intact before rabbits vanished from the ecosystem. The details of the study appears in the journal Oryx

Aerospace engineers look at birds, bats and insects for improved military aircrafts

University of Michigan engineers are studying birds, bats and insects as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with small wingspans. Scientists say a Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75. The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second. While military aircraft can withstand gravitational forces of 8-10 G, birds routinely experience positive G-forces up to 14 G. The birds also have outstanding capabilities to remain airborne through wind gusts, rain, and snow. Exciting prospects are in store for the future of military aviation.

DNA barcoding developed for plants

Scientists have developed a barcode that can distinguish majority of the plant species. A small gene, gene matK located in the chloroplast of the plant, is the key to the bardode. DNA barcoding is already a well-established technique in animals. This may not work properly in hybrids as hybrids have their genome rearranged, which may confuse the information provided by matK. In future as sequencing technology gets faster and cheaper, hand held devices at ports and airports could check if illegal species are being transported. Currently, there are only a few experts that could accurately identity the plant composition of biodiversity hotspots in the world. This certainly would come as a big boost for conservation. This path breaking work is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal

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Salmon Facts

An upcoming issue of Geophysical Research Letters has very interesting observations about Salmon. Led by geomorphologist Marwan Hassan of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver,Canada, the research opens up new info about various facets of Salmon migration unknown to us till now. The researchers found that the salmon account for up to 50% of the annual amount of sediment migration in a given stream. People have known for a long time that salmon dig up the stream bottoms. But it is the first time that details about how they do it are coming out. Sediment traps were used to track the movement of preplaced magnetized particles to study the effect of salmon digging up in four mountain streams in British Columbia. Oxygenation of the river is improved by this activity of Salmon. Multiplied by millions of salmon, and repeated year after year the shape of streambeds and the health of stream ecosystems are directly affected. The researchers feel that the fish could be shaping larger-scale valley features and even influencing landscape evolution.

The inputs for this post have come from ScienceNOW Daily News.

World's second largest wetlands reserve formed in Congo

World’s second largest wetlands reserve has been declared in Congo. This declaration is in tune with Ramsar convention. Named Grand Affluents wetland reserve, it comprises an area of 6 million hectares. This will help secure water and livelihoods for millions of people. Wild animals like elephants, hippopotamuses buffalos and many species of migratory bird stands benefited by this. Convention on Wetlands was first signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea on 2 February 1971.

Elusive Arctic wolves Caught In Camera

The BBC natural history team following Artic wolves (Canis lupus arctos) has hit pay dirt after months of arduous work. The team has managed to film the Artic wolves taking to the water to hunt waterfowl, a behaviour that has never been reported before. Even observing the animal is difficult in the extreme conditions of Canadian Arctic and northern parts of Greenland. Wolves usually eat large hoofed animals like Caribou and musk oxen. Hats off to the intrepid BBC team for this magnificent achievement.

Poor prospects for Captive-bred carnivores released in the wild

A study on reintroduction of captive-bred carnivores, which reviewed 45 cases involving 17 carnivore species, has come up with the finding that only 30 percent of captive animals released survived. The main drawback stems from the fact that reintroduced animals’ lacks the natural behaviour prowess needed for survival. The results of the study have important implications for conservation programs involving reintroduction. The advice is thorough study if conditions before attempting reintroductions. The research also emphasized the need for long-term monitoring of released animals. In spite of these adverse findings the researchers believe that reintroduction projects are vital to conservation efforts. The findings appear in the latest issue of journal Biological Conservation. Kristen Jule from University of Exeter of the lead author.

New Gigantic Palm Tree Discovered in Madagascar

A new genus of gigantic palm tree has been discovered in the Analalava district of Madagacar. The trunk of the tree towers over 18m high. The leaves are 5m in diameter. The palm is so massive that it can even be seen in Google Earth. The palm grows to big size and bursts into branches of hundreds of tiny flowers. This terminal flowering exhausts the tree completely and it soon dies. Swarming insects and birds surrounds the flowers. Each flower is capable of developing in to a seed. The confirmation that this is a new genus came from the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. There are only three other known genera in this tribe, scattered across Arabia, Thailand and China. Madagascar is home to more than 10,000 plant species and 90% of Madagascar's plants occur nowhere else in the world. Full details of the discovery appear in the latest issue of Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.

New Hope For Northern Bald Ibises

Northern Bald Ibis is considered to be Middle East’s rarest bird. The bird was thought to be extinct in the Middle East in the 1990s. Fortunately in 2002 a colony of six birds was discovered in Palmyra, Syria. RSPB and BirdLife Middle East swung in to action immediately. Adult and young birds were fitted with satellite tags to try to discover and protect their migration routes and wintering sites. Conservationists were delighted to hear the news that Northern bald ibises were seen last month in the Jordan Valley for the first time in 13 years, and in Djibouti, east Africa, for the first time ever. These two sightings of the species 1,500 miles apart have given a boost to the conservation efforts. Scientists now think that that the number of birds could be more than estimated. It also deepens the mystery of where the birds go on migration. Tracking adult birds was successful in 2006. Three birds flew a total of 3,700 miles to the Ethiopian highlands and back last spring. Scientists hope to tag more young birds in Syria this summer. Conservationists fear lots of birds are being shot down on migration. Tracking the birds will help protect them throughout their range.

Trees That Hire Bodyguards

The latest issue of journal Science has fascinating facts about intricate web of life in Africa. Scientists report how elephants, giraffes and other large herbivorous spur Acacias to “hire” and support ants as bodyguards. The whistling thorn tree (Acacia drepanolobium) and the biting ant (Crematogaster) that lives on it form a relationship, evolved over many millennia, in which both species co-operate and in turn benefit from each other. Acacia trees provide ants with swollen thorns, which serve as nesting sites, and nectar, which the ants collect from the bases of Acacia leaves. In return for this investment, ants protect the tree from browsing mammals by aggressively swarming against anything that disturbs the tree. Healthy trees have hundreds of the thorns, often containing more than 100,000 ants per tree. When the threat from these mammals stops or decreases, the trees slash their investment in ants, opening both to other attackers. Fewer colonies of weakened ants become less able to defend their territory from another species of ant that moves in which does not have a mutually beneficial relationship with Acacias. This new ant species feeds away from the tree and does not protect it from attackers. It actually encourages a destructive, wood-boring beetle whose cavities then serve as this ant’s home. The trees untouched by browsing mammals are infested with more of the beetles gradually weakening the trees. The trees wind up actually needing the mammals. Getting rid of the mammals causes individual trees to grow more slowly and die younger. The research has important implications for conservation. The cautionary note is that because many of the mammals are threatened, human activities like population growth, habitat fragmentation, over-hunting, can influence the ecosystem with unexpected consequences.

Chimps’ Ways Of Warding Off Malaria

The journal Naturwissenschaften has come out with some amazing facts about behaviour of chimps. The researchers at Kibale National Park in Uganda have discovered that geophagy(Soil ingestion) is helping chimps to ward off malaria by bestowing ingested plants with anti-malarial properties. Digested leaves of Trichilia rubescens showed no significant anti-malarial activity when eaten alone. When the leaves and soil were digested together, the combination acquired anti-malarial properties.

Full details can be accessed at

Krief S, Klein N & Fröhlich F (2008). Geophagy: soil consumption enhances the bioactivities of plants eaten by chimpanzees. Naturwissenschaften (DOI 10.1007/s00114-007-0333-0)

New Hope For Biofuels

A team of US researchers has discovered that ethanol derived from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum ) delivers vast savings of carbon dioxide emissions compared with petrol. Production and consumption of switchgrass-derived ethanol cut CO2 emissions by about 94% when compared with an equivalent volume of petrol. GHG emissions were 88% less. The researchers also found that switchgrass-derived ethanol produced 540% more energy than was required to manufacture the fuel. Switchgrass Produces an average of 320 barrels of bioethanol per hectare. Although the process to produce ethanol from switchgrass was more complex than using food crops such as wheat or corn, biofuel from switchgrass could produce much higher energy yields per tonne because it utilised the whole plant rather than just the seeds. As switchgrass can be grown on marginal cropland it would not be in competition with food crops. The research paper appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Sumatra - Highways Threatening Tribes and Wildlife

Construction of a highway in Bukit Tigapuluh forest landscape, for logging trucks servicing one of the world’s largest paper companies (Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is threatening two tribes of indigenous people and endangered species like elephants, tigers and orangutans. The forest is one of the prime forests in Sumatra, with amazing biodiversity. It is also the location of a successful conservation project to reintroduce orangutans. After careful studies 90 Sumatran orangutans were recently introduced into the area for the first time in more than 150 years. One of the tribes threatened by APP-linked activities is wholly dependent on the Bukit Tigapuluh forests for survival. APP partners have already cleared an estimated 20,000 hectares of natural forest.

Conservationists the world over are appalled by this desecration of nature.

For more information contact

Desmarita Murni, WWF-Indonesia: +62 811793458) dmurni@wwf.or.id

IUCN launches initiatives for sustainable water use in Asia Pacific

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in association with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched initiatives to achieve more sustainable management of precious water resources in the Asia Pacific region. The initiatives were launched at the Asia Pacific Water Summit, held in Beppu, Japan. The fact that water is to be managed in a way that provides both environmental and development was stressed.IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefèvre said that in order to realise environmental flows there needs to be more integrated thinking to recognise the environment as a stakeholder in water-related decisions. Environmental flows refer to water within a river, wetland or coastal zone which maintain ecosystems and their benefits where there are competing users. The conference also highlighted the need to invest in ecosystems as development infrastructure which must be maintained, restored, monitored and managed.

For more information contact

IUCN: Kate Lazarus, kate@iucnlao.org, +66 81 371 3062, www.iucn.org

The Ants and The Butterflies – Fascinating Facts

The latest issue of science has some interesting facts about relationship between butterflies and ants in Denmark. In parts of Denmark, the Alcon blue butterfly caterpillars feed within ant colonies. The caterpillar, which later develops into a large blue butterfly, mimics the surface hydrocarbons, the surface chemicals that the ants have on their own brood. The caterpillars first start developing on a food plant, but after they reach a certain stage they leave the food plant and wait on the ground to be discovered by these ants. Adult ants think the caterpillar is one of their young. The authors believe that the butterfly and ants are engaged in a kind of coevolutionary arms race. This parasitism by caterpillars sometimes wipes out entire ant colony. But other times, ants are able to recognize the caterpillars as invaders and kill them. If you are keen about details look it up in Science

A Mosaic of Chemical Coevolution in a Large Blue Butterfly

David R. Nash,^1* Thomas D. Als,² Roland Maile,³ Graeme R. Jones,³ Jacobus J. Boomsma¹

¹ Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
² Department of Genetics and Ecology, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Århus C, Denmark.
³ School of Chemistry, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK.

Science 4 January 2008:
Vol. 319. no. 5859, pp. 88 - 90
DOI: 10.1126/science.1149180

Happy New Year

New Frontiers For Tigers In Thailand

Thailand right now has a population of 720 tigers. Wildlife experts say this could go up to 2000 with sagacious planning. The basis for this enthusiastic forecast is based on a study by Thailand's Department of National Park, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation and the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society. The authors of the study conducted intensive surveys of tigers in Huai Kha Khaeng reserve, using camera traps. According to the scientists the primary thrust should be curtailing of habitat loss and strict enforcement of antipoaching activities. Thailand has some of the most notorious poachers in South East Asia. Another stumbling bock was the fact that until now the courts have refused to jail tiger traffickers, choosing instead to hand down small fines. December issue of the journal Oryx has all the details of this fascinating study which opens the door of hope for the Tiger enthusiasists against a global decline in population. The global estmate right now is around 500 tigers.

Driving Out Large Mammals – The Human Angle

The fact that human beings, in their inexorable desire for development, drive out large mammals from their habitat is an accepted fact. Now scientist have come out with facts and figures. The research was carried out by a team of scientists from Princeton University and WWF-US. Researchers found that at least 35% of mammals over 20kg had seen their range cut by more than half. The researchers compared the current ranges of the world's largest 263 land mammals with their distribution 500 years ago. Tigers, leopards, lions, American bison, elk and wolves have suffered the most. The details appear in the Journal of Mammalogy.

The Return of the Beaver

Returning of locally extinct wildlife back to original habitat is music to the ears of conservationists. Here is some music from Scotland. Beavers were hunted to extinction in Scotland in the 16th Century. Now the the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland are planning to release beavers into the Scottish wild for the first time in 500 years. The first beavers could be reintroduced to Mid-Argyll in Scotland in spring 2009. Beavers play an important role in aquatic and wetland eco-systems. In Scotland it is expected to give a boost to tourism also.

Merry Christmas

Wish You A Merry Christmas

New National Park for Russian Tigers

Here is some happy news from Russia. The Russian Government is constitituting a new national park for the endangered Amur Tigers. Christened Anyuiskii national park this is in Khabarovsk province, located in the Russian Far East. The formal declaration came on December 15. Anyuiskii Park serves as an ecological corridor in the region and will become a link in the chain of ‘the tiger econet’, a network of protected areas, which is now being created. Tiger enthusiasists all over the world are elated at this initiative by Russian Government. Hats off to the conservationists who have worked hard to bring this dream to fruition.

Apes and Facial Mimicry

Another ability once thought to be exclusively human,mimicking expressions of others, has been breached. Research by behavioural scientist Marina Davila Ross and colleagues from University of veterinary medicine, Hanover,Germany has proved that Apes share this ability with us. In Apes mimicry was more prevalent in juveniles and adolescents. The findings suggests that this ability precedes the origin of our species. Full details appear in the latest issue of Biology letters.

Kicking the CO2 Habit

The United Nations is chipping in with its mite for worldwide effort to become climate neutral. Members of the UN attending the crucial climate convention meeting in Bali announced that they are offsetting their greenhouse gas emissions linked with travel to and from the event. The move also includes the Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, and his team. This is around 3,370 tonnes of carbon dioxide worth approximately $100,000 at current carbon prices. UN bodies have jointly agreed to invest in credits accumulating in the adaptation fund of the Kyoto Protocol. Norway, one of four countries that have pledged to go climate neutral nationally, reconfirmed that it is backing the UN system-wide work towards climate neutrality with an initial investment of $820,000 for the UNEP-hosted Environmental Management Group.

Long-Eared Jerboa caught on Film

The mysterious long-eared jerboa (Euchoreutes naso ) which hops like a kangaroo,has been caught on camera for the first time.The animal was flmed in the Gobi desert during an expedition led by Dr Jonathan Baillie of Zoological Society of London (ZSL). The distribution of this rare animal is restricted to deserts of China (Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang) and South of Mangolia(Trans-Altai Gobi). The species is classified as endangered on the IUCN Red list

Building of Mental Maps by Elephants

Royal Society journal, Biology Letters has some interesting facts about elephants in the latest issue. Accounts of how Elephants build mental map of absent relatives by sniffing out their scent are fascinating. Elephants keep track on up to 30 absent relatives. The research was undertaken by the University of St Andrews. They studied 36 family groups of elephants living in Amboseli National Park. One of the ploys used was to collect samples of female elephant urine from the ground and present it to relatives to trick them into believing that the elephant had recently passed by. Elephants showed surprise when they encountered the scent. This and a host of other details will keep you riveted to the pages.

Photographic Memory of Chimps

Researchers of Kyoto University have come up with some amazing facts. In memory tests devised by Japanese scientists, young chimps outperformed university students. Dr Matsuzawa the lead scientist and colleagues tested three pairs of mother and baby chimpanzees against university students in a memory task involving numbers. Each subject was presented with various numerals from one to nine on a touch screen monitor. The numbers were then replaced with blank squares and the subjects had to remember which number appeared in which location, then touch the appropriate square. Young chimps outsmarted University students. The research is published in Current Biology.

Aggressive Sexual Pursuit of Males by Female Topi Antelope in Kenya.

Sexual attitude of Topi Antelope( Damaliscus lunatus jimela) in Kenya is a reversal from our usual idea about sexuality. Here aggressive females pursue the males. Lead scientist Dr Jakob Bro-Jorgensen who did the research says “some pushy females were so aggressive in their pursuit of the male that he actually had to physically to attack them to rebuff their advances." Most males refuse the advances of previous partners. This increases the chances of fatherhood with the widest possible number of partners. Each female would mate, on average, with four males, while some reached 12 different partners. These findings are contrary to conventional sexual selection theory. The research was undertaken in the Masai Mara area of Kenya. Full details appear in the journal Current Biology.

You Can Cut Down Your CO2 Emission by up to 80%

A study by Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute has indicated that carbon emissions from UK homes could be reduced by up to 80% by 2050. Financial incentives for home owners and tighter energy efficiency standards were among the study's recommendations. Cavity wall insulation, double glazing,more efficient boilers and lighting, solar panels and ground source heat pumps are in the scheme of things. One technology that could deliver sizeable saving is micro combined heat and power (CHP). Micro CHP systems generate both heat and electricity locally, and reduce costs and emissions A new legislation that will be tabled shortly will require CO2 to be cut by 60% from 1990 levels by 2050.

Fake Snakes to Scare Australian Birds

Plastic snakes are being deployed in an effort to scare away tens of thousands of starlings that have descended on Tamworth in Australia. Pungent droppings of birds have created lot of problems for the authoritities. Pink, orange, green and black plastic snakes, will be tied to branches of trees. This is a desperate attempt by the Tamworth council even though there is no firm scientific basis for the operation.