First conference on marine protected areas

The first conference on marine protected areas,is now on at Geelong, a Southern Australian city. Autralia established the world heritage listed, Great Barrier Marine Park, in 1975 over an area of 35 million hectares. 700 scientists from 70 countries are attending this trailblazing conference. The scientists are drawing up a plan for a network of marine parks to save the world's ocean from fish stock depletion and pollution. Half of the world's coral reefs might be lost in the next 40 years unless urgent measures are taken to protect them against climate change and other threats. A conservation plan for the unregulated high seas would be produced by 2008 for adoption by world Governments by 2012. This move is spearheaded by IUCN the World Conservation Union.

Otters set to return to Thames- Spin off from Olympics

The Otters are set to return to Thames in London. The massive clean up of Thames planned in conjunction with olympics is bringing cheer to conservationists. London Development Agency(LDA) and London Wildlife Trust(LWT) in association with Olympic authorities, sees return of Otters to Thames as a symbolic gesture.Otters were brought to near extinction in the years immediately following 2nd world war due to widespread use of Organo-Chlorine pesticides which contaminated the fish they eat. After the massive clean up of Thames wildlife authorities hope that the otters would return to Stratford,East London first, and gradually spread their range.

Biodiversity, Eco-tourism and Shrinking Wetlands - SSARC experts meet in Sunderbans

Thirtfive wildlife and environmental experts from seven SSARC countries and US, are meeting at a four day international workshop at the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve starting today. The experts would discuss problems and issues relating to the growing threats to the country's wetlands and their extremly fragile ecosystem and how to support a diverse variety of flora and fauna. The experts would also exchange views on all the 19 Ramsar sites in India. Detailed interactive sessions with the local people of Sunderbans delta will be held to know their problems and try to solve it. The workshop entitled "Ecotourism and Biodiversity: Shrinking wetlands"is organised by United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) in association with Department of Forests, Government of West Bengal.

Molten lava flowing through Galapagos National Park

Galapagos islands are famous for its giant tortoises. These giant tortoises helped inspire what became the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin. A volacanic eruption on the Galapagos islands is sending hot molten lava through Galapagos National Park. A press note issued by Park authorities says the giant tortoises are safe. Slow moving lava is edging down the mountain side and could reach the sea in a week's time.

Now Protein Music

Mary Anne Clark, a biologist at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth has come up with an ingenious way of looking at building blocks of life. All living things are made up of proteins. Each protein is a string of amino acids. There are 20 different amino acids, and each protein has thousands of them. Mary Anne Clark first wrote down these amino acid sequences as series of text letters. Clark and her colleagues then assigned musical notes to the different values of the amino acids in each sequence, and presto you have music in the form of "protein songs."

Gangetic Dolphin facing threat

The Gangetic Dolphin (Platanista Gangetica) is found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra river system in seven states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, MP, Rajasthan, UP and West Bengal in India. Unbridled commercial fishing Habitat degradation, and sand mining are threatening the very existence of the species. Large number of barrages in the upper stretches of Ganges has isolated the river dolphin population leading to inbreeding. Latest surveys show the population, which swam freely in India's sprawling Ganga and Brahmaputra river systems, had fallen to just 1500 from the already moderate 5000 from the 1980s.The situation is very grave in UP. UP have around 687 dolphins in Ganga, Ghagra and Chambal rivers. The Uttar Pradesh government is seeking urgent help of the Central Government in an effort to reverse these dangerous portents for the endangered species.

Panama declares Sanctuary for Migrating Shorebirds

Panama became the first country in Central America, to create a wildlife reserve that will provide a crucial resting-place for migrating shorebirds. The Upper Bay area was declared a Sanctuary. The Upper Bay of Panama provides a rare feeding and resting ground for 2 million shorebirds that travel annually from North America through the Isthmus of Panama to South America, and back again. The site is used by more than 30 percent of the world's female population of western sandpipers, and is important for at least six other species of shorebirds globally.

Przewalski's horse – Good tidings from Mangolia

In the 1960's, hunting and habitat destruction drove Przewalski's horse (Equus verus przewalskii) to the brink of extinction. The horse disappeared from its natural range throughout Mongolia and Central Asia and survived only in captivity mainly in Europe. Wildlife biologists led by a Dutch preservation group organised a breeding program and, in 1992, started reintroducing Przewalski'sHorse in Mongolia. Now after years of careful management at least 300 of the horses roam the mountainous terrain. About 170 live in Hustai National Park. The rest are in two remote parks in the western Gobi.
Now, after reintroduction of Przewalski's horse to its former habitat and years of careful management, the growing numbers of Przewalski’s horses that now roam the mountainous terrains of their ancestors encourages conservationists.

Boost for Black Rhino Conservation

21 endangered Black Rhinos (Dicers bicornis) were recently released in Soth Africa’s Zululand Rhino Reserve as part of the WWF Ezemvelo Rhino Range Expansion Project. The reserve is made up of 20 neighboring properties whose owners have removed their internal boundaries to make one compact block of 24000 Ha for the endangered animal. This is the second Rhino initiative. The first population released last year in Munyawana Game Reserve has settled well. The Black Rhino was once the most prolific of the Rhinos. But poaching drove them to the verge of extinction.Authorities in South Africa views Range Expansion programme as the bulwark against the extinction.

Parrot succumbs to Avian Flu In UK

A parrot imported from South America, which was in quarantine in UK, has died of Avian Flu.UK’s chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds said: "The confirmed case does not affect the UK's official disease free status because the disease has been identified in imported birds during quarantine”. All the birds in the quarantine unit are now being culled. It was not immediately known whether the pathogenic strain is H5N1 variant which killed 60 people in Asia.

Flaws in Florida Panther research

Scientists have identified serious flaws in the research done on Florida Panthers (Puma concolor coryi) in the US. The flaws have adversely affected the conservation of these endangered animals. Fewer than 100 Florida panthers roam the National and State Parks and adjoining lands. A prominent researcher had taken in to account only the daytime activity and failed to take in to account the nocturnal nature of the animal. This led to serious miscalculation of the range activity of the animal. Land use patterns were based on this research which was taken as gospel. The implications of the flaws are discussed in a paper slated to appear in the Journal of Wildlife Management in January 2006.

Brazil's Amazon forest shrinking fast

Latest satellite images reveal that Amazon forest is disappearing twice as fast as scientists previously estimated. Ecologist Gregory Asner and his colleagues arrived at this conclusion after developing a new way to analyse satellite images to track logging there. Additional loss is due to illegal selective logging, which removes trees piecemeal. Asner plans to use the technique developed by him to look at other tropical rainforests such as those in Peru and Bolivia.

Anti-freeze from Snowfleas

Researchers from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario have discovered that the bodies of the six-legged snow fleas also known as springtails, contain proteins that limit the growth of ice by lowering the freezing point of fluids by 6 degrees Celsius (11 degrees Fahrenheit). The findings could help protect plants or animals from frost, or allow donated transplant organs to be stored and transported at lower temperatures. The report is published in the latest edition of Science

Chimp Talk

Primate experts at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland say they have the first evidence that chimpanzees speak to each other. According to them the chimps utter high-pitched noises or low-pitched grunts to tell each other about objects in their environment. The findings have been published in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology.

Avian Flu - Threat to Rare Birds

Avian Flu carrying deadly H5N1 virus is threatening to push some of the world's rarest birds towards extinction. Birds such as the aquatic warbler, the Dalmatian pelican, the marbled teal, the slender-billed curlew and the spoon-billed sandpiper are particularly susceptible. 10 percent of the world’s population of wild bar-headed goose died in a recent bird flu outbreak in China.

Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) warned that any attempts to cull wildfowl suspected of carrying the disease could simply scatter the virus more widely by driving flocks away from their normal routes, doing more harm than good.

Pere David's deer – A reintroduction success story from China

Pere David's deer was reintroduced in China 20 years back. They have established well in Central Yangtze region. A recent count put the number at 2,500 individuals at the three national nature reserves. The Pere David's deer was once found only in China along the central and lower Yangtze River basin. Hunting and habitat depredation led to the extinction of the species in the wild in the early 20th century. 39 animals from the Woburn Abbey Wildlife Park outside of London were re-introduced to the Central Yangtze in 1985 and 86. To mark the 20th anniversary of the species re-introduction, a celebration was held on Wednesday at Yangtze Tian’ezhou Oxbow Wetland Reserve, home to the species' largest population (600 deer).

Italian amateur photographer wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year award

Manuel Presti, an Italian amateur photographer has won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award with a black and white image of a flock of birds trying to flee from a falcon.
The annual competition, staged jointly by Britain's Natural History Museum and the British Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the most prestigious wildlife photography awards in the world. The winning pictures and many others go on show at London's Natural History Museum from Saturday until April next year

Congo goes for private conservationists to save endangered northern white rhinos

Government of Democratic Republic of Congo has sought the help of the African Parks Foundation (APF), set up by South African conservationists and a Dutch businessman, to manage Garamba National Park in an effort to preserve the rare White rhino. Poachers, including Sudanese gunmen on horseback pose serious threat to the endangered animal believed to be the most endangered large mammal on earth. Garamba is a United Nations World Heritage Site. APF would spend roughly 1 million euros ($1.2 million) a year reorganising and equipping anti-poaching teams.

Canada's Cruel and Senseless Seal Hunt enrages conservationists

Conservationists are aghast at what is happening to baby seals across the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada. Over the next 3 years nearly million baby seals will be clubbed or shot to death in Canada. Every winter, Northwest Atlantic harp seals migrate to Eastern Canada to give birth and mate. The pups remain helpless and vulnerable on the ice until they can swim and catch their own food. It is at this time that baby seals will be clubbed or shot to death. About 96% of the seals killed will be less than three months old. The operation benefits a small minority of boat captains armed with big ships and snowmobiles. Killing for profit.

African Quiver Tree threatened by Climate Change.

The African quiver tree (Aloe pilanssi) is facing threat. The famed desert tree has an iconic status. The tree has been used by generations of African Bushmen to fashion quivers for their arrows. Wendy Foden, a researcher at the South African National Biodiversity Institute said observations at over 50 sites throughout the trees' range in Namibia and South Africa highlighted two disturbing trends, which could clearly be linked to climate change.
1) For populations found on slopes, mortality was much higher at lower elevations than at higher ones -- that is, where it would be warmer on a slope.
2) Higher mortality rates in the north of its range, towards the equator, than those found in the south.
The models worked out by the researcher forecast a 76 percent reduction in its population over the next 100 years,