Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Ten-track record samples recordings of endangered, vulnerable or near threatened birds by artists from same country
The song of the black catbird – with its flute-like chirps and screeching single-note squalls – was once heard across Guatemala, Belize and southern Mexico until large-scale farms began to destroy its habitat.
Now, thanks to a collective of musicians, producers and DJs, the tiny bird’s song – and that of nine other endangered species from the region – could be heard on dancefloors around the world, with proceeds going to conserving the endangered birds.
There was a spike in the theft of sheep during the lockdown as gangs took advantage of deserted communities, empty roads and concerns about food shortages during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Club des Internationaux Français pulls its 2,000 birds from event citing safety fears
The Tour de France of international pigeon racing has been rocked by scandal and acrimony after 11 French birds were found dead on the eve of the competition in a suspected poisoning.
A further seven French pigeons are said to be seriously unwell prompting the Club des Internationaux Français (CIF) to urgently withdraw its 2,000 birds from the blue ribbon event citing concerns about safety and “fairness in this competition for all”.
Six-year sentence following death of one of country’s best-known silverback mountain gorillas is first of its kind
In the first conviction of its kind, a court in Uganda has jailed a poacher for six years after he admitted killing one of the country’s best-known silverback mountain gorillas in a national park.
Felix Byamukama, from Murole in the south-west district of Kisoro, pleaded guilty to illegal entry into a protected area and killing the gorilla named Rakifi and a duiker antelope. Byamukama had said earlier that he killed the animal in self-defence after he was attacked. It is the first time Uganda, home to 50% of the world’s mountain gorillas, has jailed someone for such an offence and the sentence has been widely welcomed by wildlife groups.
Kevin and Carol, friendly emus who wander the town of Yaraka in Queensland, have been barred from the only pub after leaving droppings on the floor and stealing toast
It can’t be easy being an emu in outback Australia at the best of times what with the heat and the perennial droughts.
But to be banned from your local pub for bad behaviour must now be added to the list of grievances inflicted upon the big birds.
Pet owners should not be alarmed by the news that a cat has tested positive for coronavirus, the government says. This is from Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England:
This is the first case of a domestic cat testing positive for Covid-19 in the UK but should not be a cause for alarm.
Tests conducted by the Animal and Plant Health Agency have confirmed that the virus responsible for Covid-19 has been detected in a pet cat in England.
This is a very rare event with infected animals detected to date only showing mild clinical signs and recovering within in a few days.
Here is more from the Defra news release about the pet cat testing positive for coronavirus.
The pet cat was initially diagnosed by a private vet with feline herpes virus, a common cat respiratory infection, but the sample was also tested for SARS-CoV-2 as part of a research programme. Follow-up samples tested at the APHA laboratory in Weybridge confirmed the cat was also co-infected with SARS-CoV2 which is the virus known to cause Covid-19 in humans.
Pet owners can access the latest government guidance on how to continue to care for their animals during the coronavirus pandemic.
Team of 16 volunteers carried Daisy off Scafell Pike on a stretcher during five-hour operation
A mountain rescue team has said its members “didn’t need to think twice” when they were called to help a 121lb (55kg) St Bernard dog that had collapsed while descending England’s highest peak.
Sixteen volunteers from Wasdale mountain rescue team spent nearly five hours rescuing Daisy from Scafell Pike after receiving a call from Cumbria police.
Divers and biologists trying to free whale caught in illegal netting near island of Salina
The Italian coastguard is struggling to free a sperm whale caught up in illegal fishing netting off the coast of one of Sicily’s Aeolian islands.
A team of divers and biologists have been working for more than 48 hours to help the whale close to the island of Salina. The whale’s huge size and agitated state has made the operation more challenging.
Near-4cm-long nematode roundworm is thought to have come from raw fish
An unpleasant sensation at the back of the throat can be a sign that a cold is on the way. But for one Tokyo woman, the cause of the pain was not a sniffle but a live worm that had lodged itself inside one of her tonsils.
Doctors at St Luke’s International hospital in the Japanese capital removed the long black worm with tweezers after the patient had complained of throat pain and irritation, according to a case study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought Spanish bullfighting, long reviled by animal rights campaigners, to a standstill. Dozens of events, including Pamplona’s running of the bulls, have been cancelled. Photographer Jon Nazca explores the evocative locale of the San Fermín festival
Conservationists hope first known camera-trap images of species are sign of resurgence
Rare images of a group belonging to one of the most endangered gorilla subspecies in the world suggest their numbers could be recovering after decades of persecution, conservationists in Nigeria have said.
Seven Cross River gorillas including infants of varying ages can be seen in the first known camera-trap images of the species, taken in the Mbe mountains in south-east Nigeria by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Single classification system could end centuries of disagreement and improve global efforts to tackle biodiversity loss
A plan to create the first universally recognised list of species on Earth has prompted hopes of an end to centuries of disagreement and confusion over how to classify the world’s library of life.
The 10-point plan aims to finally bring order with an authoritative list of the world’s species and a governance mechanism responsible for its quality. Researchers hope a single recognised list would improve global efforts to tackle biodiversity loss, the trade in endangered wildlife, biosecurity and conservation.
Each day, as the sun sets over the coral-fringed Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia, an underwater predator stirs. As predators go, it’s not especially big or ferocious – an arm’s length from head to tail, with a snuffling, moustachioed snout.
What’s unique is that it doesn’t so much swim along the seabed as walk. Using its four fins as legs, and twisting its spine like a lizard, it can emerge from the water and hold its breath for an hour, strutting across the exposed reef and clambering between tide pools to find prey.
Theo and Gloria Ferguson have created a garden specially designed to attract hummingbirds – and hundreds visit daily
At the foot of Theo and Gloria Ferguson’s property stands a giant silk cotton tree. Reminiscent of those enchanted species in children’s fables, this ancient sentinel’s huge varicose limbs yawn upwards and outwards, towards a canopy of leaves that scratch the sky. Eight adults linking arms would struggle to encircle its vast girth, proof of the aeons it has stood guarding the edge of Trinidad’s Maracas valley.
A family were fishing on a lake in Wisconsin when they spotted a bear with a plastic jar stuck on its head. After several attempts at moving their boat next to the bear and removing the jar, they were finally able to free the animal. 'Never dreamt we would ever do this in our life time,' Tricia Hurt wrote on Facebook. 'Out on Marshmiller Lake yesterday with Brian Hurt and Brady Hurt when we spotted this poor bear. He made it to shore after all that'
Sharks found in nearly every part of the cape, and are gathering there in summer in increasing numbers
Cape Cod’s beaches and towns may be quieter because of the coronavirus pandemic, but officials are reminding visitors ahead of the 4 July holiday that the famous Massachusetts destination remains a popular getaway for other summertime travellers: great white sharks.
Great whites have been coming to the Cape in greater numbers each summer to prey on the region’s large seal colonies. Most tend to favour the Atlantic ocean-facing beaches where seals tend to congregate, but researchers have found them off nearly every part of the Cape.