Puffling excites volunteers trying to save the last known regular nesting site on mainland of southern England
For years, volunteers have craned their necks and tested their patience to peer into the crevices of the cliffs hoping for a glimpse of fluffy joy.
Finally it all paid off as a puffling – baby puffin – poked its way into the sunshine, becoming the first to be spotted on the coast of Dorset in southern England for three decades.
Continue reading...Minister urges public to report cases of three or more sick or dead birds in a group after brown skua seabird tests positive for H5N1 on Wellington beach
The deadly H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed in New Zealand for the first time, sparking alarm that some of the country’s most beloved and vulnerable native birds could be wiped out if it spreads.
A single ocean-going seabird, a brown skua, returned a confirmed positive test on Wednesday, after it was found on Petone beach in Wellington on 10 July, said Andrew Hoggard, the biosecurity minister.
Continue reading...While new study challenges assumptions about how far they travel, witnessing them in action still takes your breath away, scientists say
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They may look like a fluffy flying carpet, but greater gliders are not as great at gliding as previously thought, Australian researchers have discovered.
The first study to measure the aerial ability of Australia’s largest gliding marsupial has found they soar across an average distance of 19 metres – far shorter than the 100 metres suggested in an 85-year-old study.
Continue reading...Carl McDaniel was ‘respectful distance’ from animal when it charged and has severe injuries, including broken bones
A tourist who was tossed 8ft in the air by a bison at Wyoming’s Yellowstone national park – an encounter viewed by more than a million social media users thanks to a viral video online – has been identified as a “community-minded” grandfather from Washington state.
Carl McDaniel had severe injuries including broken bones after Friday’s campsite encounter with the bison, which was posted to YouTube by the Wyoming news outlet Cowboy State Daily. A photographer named Mike MacLeod rushed to help the victim on the ground after making the recording.
Continue reading...Scientists worry that current eradication efforts won’t be able to contain parasitic infestation pushing into US
When conservationists set up cameras in remote regions of Central American forests, they wanted to monitor illegal cattle movement, which can lead to deforestation. But in recent months, they discovered another alarming development: wildlife rapidly infected with the new world screwworm.
It’s a warning sign of how the fly could spread in the US – and it signals new difficulties in pushing it back south, a process that will probably take years, experts say.
Continue reading...Increase in sightings may not reflect increase in sharks with little evidence that threat to swimmers has risen
Experts say that despite recent increased investment in drones to monitor for sharks in states like New York, the machines have limited usefulness as a public safety tool and there does not appear to be evidence that the threat to swimmers from sharks has increased.
There have, however, been more reports of sharks around local beaches.
Continue reading...Newly endangered animals include desert frogs and snails in extreme ocean depths, both threatened by mining
Life has colonised every corner of the planet by evolving ingenious survival strategies but these are increasingly being overwhelmed by destructive human activities, this year’s red list of endangered species has revealed.
Many snails, limpets and clams have adapted to life at crushing depths in the oceans on hydrothermal vents where water temperatures can reach 450C (842F). But an assessment for the red list found that two-thirds of the hundreds of mollusc species found only on deep sea vents were at risk of extinction because of deep-sea mining.
Continue reading...Ministers also considering licence requirement and regulator to try to cut bills and increase choice
UK vets may have to have a licence and cap prescriptions for pet medicine at £21 under plans being considered by the government.
Ministers are also considering establishing a regulator for the veterinary sector, including inspections, a mandatory licensing system and published compliance reports to improve accountability and choice. Every vet practice could need an official operating licence – similar to GP surgeries and care homes – under proposals in a white paper.
Continue reading...Researchers testing a cheap, homegrown oil in Uganda found what cats knew all along – it worked as well as the artificial chemical used globally
A homegrown catnip lotion has proven “just as effective as Deet” as a mosquito repellant in trials carried out in Uganda.
Catnip, or Nepeta cataria, is a common herb from the mint family. The chemical in the plant that causes feline euphoria – nepetalactone – also has insect-repelling properties but this has not previously been commercialised.
Continue reading...Arrival of endangered cats, including rare white cub, revitalises team straining under fuel and medicine shortages
For the Cuban zookeeper Ángel Cordero, the sight of four Bengal tiger cubs playing in a cage at the Cuban national zoo is a small miracle on an island stifled by shortages of fuel, medicine and days-long power outages.
The birth of these endangered big cats – including an exceedingly rare white tiger – has revitalised a team of zoo workers, he said.
Continue reading...Match at Burnopfield near Newcastle called off after 800kg young bull escaped from farm and stormed playing field
A cricket match had to be abandoned after a runaway bull stormed the playing field and charged at players.
The North East Premier League fixture at Burnopfield Cricket Club near Newcastle was called off on Saturday evening despite efforts to remove the animal from the ground.
Continue reading...Animal who went missing from private ranch for nearly two weeks had been falsely reported as found earlier in the week
The search for a giraffe who absconded from a private game ranch in rural Texas and effectively went missing for nearly two weeks was found safe on Friday just a few miles away from the homestead, according to authorities.
An aerial search ultimately pinpointed the whereabouts of Gracie “the w[a]ndering giraffe”, said Nathan Johnson, the Real county sheriff, in a Facebook post announcing the success of efforts to find the creature.
Continue reading...World’s sixth-most famous duck falls short of dream
Two-year-old must watch Czechia game from distance
Merlín the duck’s bid to see his beloved Mexico live has hit a snag after he was barred from El Tri’s match with Czechia on Wednesday.
Merlín has become a folk hero in Mexico after becoming a symbol of El Tri’s World Cup campaign on home soil. His fans had launched a campaign for Merlín to attend Wednesday’s match alongside his human family. But his journey was cut short by Fifa regulations.
Continue reading...Sheriff in rural Texas says ‘it’s still at large’ after claim Gracie had been located after wandering off private ranch
For almost two weeks, residents of a rural Texas county have been looking, mostly up, for a missing giraffe called Gracie that wandered off from a private game ranch.
On Wednesday, the mystery of the free-roaming mammal’s odyssey deepened further, when a local sheriff disputed an account that it was reportedly found safe a “little farther out than expected” from its hill country home, and said the search was most definitely still on.
Continue reading...Experts thought H5N1 bird flu would more likely reach Australia’s north. But an arrival from Antarctica had always been possible
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Brown skuas and giant petrels are a common sight offshore in southern Australian waters in the winter months, but they will rarely risk venturing on to land.
So when two of these birds were discovered sick – on beaches a few kilometres apart on Western Australia’s southern coastline – it was a sign something might be wrong.
Continue reading...Birds have been in the park since the Russian ambassador gave King Charles II two in 1664 – but none ever bred there
They arrived in the royal park shortly before the Great Fire of London, when the Russian ambassador presented a pair to King Charles II as a gift.
But although pelicans have been living in St James’s Park since 1664, none ever learned the art of courtship – until now, when for the first time in more than 360 years, chicks have been born.
Continue reading...Major operation launched after spate of pet thefts in Ho Chi Minh City, according to local media
Police in Vietnam have rescued more than 400 cats in a bust of a cat meat crime ring in Ho Chi Minh City, according to animal welfare groups and local media reports.
More than 40 cats were reunited with their owners after the multiday operation last week, but several dozen of those rescued have died due to the harsh conditions in which they were found, the groups said.
Continue reading...Homeowners association in Madison incites protests and calls for humane solutions after voting to kill geese
A homeowners association in Madison, Alabama, has incited protests and calls for humane wildlife management solutions after voting to kill off hundreds of local geese.
Dozens of people gathered in the city’s Edgewater neighborhood to protest against the non-unanimous plan by the homeowners association (HOA) there to euthanize the Canada geese at Lady Ann Lake by fatally gassing them in a chamber. They called for more humane alternatives such as using horns to scare off the geese or relocating the birds.
Continue reading...Four-ton Paige, brought in as surprise for attenders, made gushing debut after governor finished keynote speech
An African elephant weighing roughly 4 tons that was brought to the Texas Republican party’s annual convention to excite attenders ended up drawing widespread attention for the wrong reasons after she urinated on the convention floor and became the focus of animal welfare concerns.
Inside the George R Brown convention center in Houston on Friday, attenders had been told to prepare for a “larger-than-life surprise” after governor Greg Abbott finished his keynote speech. Organizers also displayed a message asking people to keep the aisles clear.
Continue reading...Appearance of a western reef heron in north Wales is unlikely to be the last, as heating temperatures mean species can survive Britain’s winter, say experts
It is a tropical bird typically encountered between west Africa and India, but last week a western reef heron arrived in north Wales in what is believed to be the first ever sighting in the UK.
The heron was first spotted in Foryd Bay at the weekend before flying to nearby Caernarfon harbour where it fed among the boats.
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