I love to travel, mainly to Africa where I was born, I enjoy reading and playing bridge. I go for rambles in the countryside. I collect stamps and go to T'ai Chi classes. I love my two cats and my garden birds. I adore the African wildlife and try to help Conservation groups.
Tackling smelly sea lion problem. By Georgina Kenyon
The iconic islands of the Galapagos are world famous for their flora and fauna. But just don't expect the locals to wax lyrical about the sea lions if you are ever fortunate to visit. "Sea lions are cute but they are also very smelly," said Roslyn Cameron, Development Manager, Department of Institutional Development, Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) based on Santa Cruz island, Galapagos Islands.
The residents were so fed up with the smelly faeces and urine of the sea lions in the plaza areas and along "Sailor Beach" on San Cristobal Island, that they formed a special sea lion task force to deal with the problem. It was one sea lion colony that has been the main focus of this initiative-the Sailors Beach crowd; the sea lions also congregated in the plaza, to rest and sun bake, and so defecated there as well. The result of these years of frustration has been the development of sea lion "pooper scooper"; a stainless steel water pump that sluices away the excrement after 0800 every day once the sea lions have headed to the ocean to feed or have moved down to the sand areas of Sailor Beach (so named because of its close proximity to the local navy base). Residents and local business owners who reside and work in the main street of Puerto Baquerizo Morenoa, San Cristobal Island organised themselves into a small group and applied to a small grants fund that encourages locally-initiated conservation projects, the Funds for Local Conservation Action program, to clean up the beaches. The programme is now managed by the Charles Darwin Foundation (the funding arm of the CDRS).
According to Cameron: "The beach zone and rest area clean up and maintenance was deemed a priority due to the degradation of the facilities and the inability for visitors and residents to enjoy the area. "The most important factor was the stench of the feces and urine excreted in the plaza area. People were beginning to chase the animals away or to avoid this section of town to the detriment of the businesses there." The plaza has a tile pavement which impeded the filtration of the urea and fecal liquids creating strong odors especially during warmer weather. On the beach itself the liquids could drain away so it was not such a problem. The group decided that the best answer was to pressure-clean the plaza area daily, eliminating the sea lion excrement and its smell.
BBC NEW REPORT
Native ladybirds 'under threat'.
The harlequin can be red and black or orange and black. A foreign species of ladybird is threatening to drive three native British varieties to extinction, conservationists say. The harlequin species, which arrived two years ago from continental Europe, is larger than British varieties and threatens them by taking their food. The seven spot and the two spot, which until recently were common, are under threat along with the rarer five spot. Charity Buglife wants the government to do more to protect these UK varieties.
Buglife The Peterborough-based charity, also known as the Invertebrate Conservation Trust, says the harlequin also damages crops by eating fruit. A survey was launched at the National History Museum back in March to track the spread of the voracious predator known to easily out-compete home bugs for food. Wildlife enthusiasts were asked to monitor their gardens for the harlequin which is black and red or orange and black.
HOW TO SPOT A HARLEQUIN
Tends to be rounder in shape than most UK native species
About 5-8mm in size - similar to the common seven spot
It has a white plate with a big black M-shaped marking on it, just behind the head
Sighted bugs can be orange with between 15 and 20 spots
Others may be black with two orange or red spots
Some also seen to be black with four orange or red spots
Buglife director Matt Shardlow said at the time: "The harlequin may sound like a bit of a jester but there is nothing funny about it at all.
"There're a whole lot of problems it will bring with it. It out-competes native species and eats them. "Everyone should be vigilant for the species and record where it is." The insect - originally from south-east Asia - has a huge appetite for greenfly, leaving little for native ladybirds who then starve. Worse still, organisers of the survey said, the harlequin would turn on other ladybirds if food resources diminished for the whole population. The invader will also prey on other types of insects, eating butterfly eggs, caterpillars and lacewing larvae.
BBC NEWS REPORT
Rwanda honours gorilla campaigner.
Dian Fossey inspired the film Gorillas in the Mist.
Rwandans have been commemorating the 20th anniversary of the murder of gorilla conservationist Dian Fossey. The US researcher spent two decades working among Rwanda's rare mountain gorillas and was the subject of the Hollywood film Gorillas in the Mist. Local people held traditional dances while government officials made speeches and laid wreaths where Ms Fossey was buried. It has never been established who killed her in her jungle cabin in 1985. Rwanda's Parks and Tourism director general
The ceremonies were held in the Volcanoes National Park, where she had had her research base. Rosette Rugumba, the director-general of Rwanda's Parks and Tourism Board, praised Ms Fossey's work. "Fossey brought the plight of mountain gorillas to the attention of the world," she told Reuters news agency. "She was dedicated to the conservation of gorillas and their habitats in Rwanda and Africa at large through anti-poaching, regular monitoring, research and education."
During a decade of conflict in the region, gorillas have become easy prey for armed poachers. Only about 700 gorillas survive in the remote range of volcanoes spanning the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ms Rugumba said many thousands of tourists come to Rwanda each year to see the gorillas, where about a third of them live. Ms Fossey's life inspired the 1988 film Gorillas in the Mist, starring actress Sigourney Weaver.
BBC NEWS REPORT
Zimbabwe crisis hits game parks
Richard Hamilton - BBC News.
A drought and the continued economic crisis in Zimbabwe are starting to hit the country's largest game reserve. The management of Hwange National Park say most of its watering holes have now dried up and grazing has become scarce. They say 40 three elephants have died, 53 buffaloes and a number of zebras, giraffe and antelope. There have also been reports of an outbreak of a disease known as blackleg which experts say often occurs when there is a shortage of drinking water. As if that wasn't bad enough, in recent years the illegal poaching of elephants has been on the increase. The elephant population of the park has reached bursting point - it has a capacity for 14,000 elephants but currently has at least 27,000, and official government statistics put the population even higher.
The authorities say the country's fuel shortages are affecting the way they run the park - for example they are struggling to deliver spare parts for the water pumps. A spokesman for the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, a non-governmental organisation, said he believed the Zimbabwe government was hoping the elephants would starve to death, thus providing a way of culling them. Zimbabwe's safari and wildlife industry used to be one of the most successful sectors of the country's economy, employing tens of thousands of people and providing a huge source of revenue for the game parks, but recently it has suffered a staggering decline - a victim, it seems, of Zimbabwe's general malaise and misfortunes.
Severe food shortages together with a deepening economic crisis have left millions of Zimbabweans in a desperate situation - now it seems their plight is being shared by the animal population too.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Kangaroos 'scared by own noise'
By Phil Mercer - BBC News, Sydney.
Kangaroos own alert systems could be used against them. Australian farmers could be about to get an unusual new weapon to protect their crops from rampaging kangaroos. Researchers in Melbourne have found that these voracious marsupials can be scared off by the thumping sound of their own large feet on the ground.
There could be as many as 60m kangaroos in Australia, and they often compete with livestock for food and water. Keeping these fleet-footed marsupials away from their crops and water supplies has become a constant battle. A traditional deterrent has been a series of high pitched squeals emitted from loudspeakers. Researchers have found that kangaroos often become accustomed to these artificial sounds and take little notice of them.
However, a recording of a 'roo thumping its foot appears to have been quite a breakthrough. This is the noise these macropods make when they sense danger before taking flight. Using the animal's own alarm system could be what irate farmers have been looking for. They often complain that kangaroo numbers have reached plague-like proportions. Several million are shot dead every year as part of an official cull.
Animal rights campaigners have insisted that many of these pouched mammals die a painful death at the hands of unlicensed or inexperienced marksmen. A large number of marsupials are also killed or injured on Australian roads by cars and trucks. Researchers, who are hoping to develop their foot thumping technology, believe it could also be used to guide kangaroos away from busy highways.
Scientists find 'mass dodo grave'.
Scientists have had to partially guess what the dodo looked like.
Scientists have discovered the "beautifully preserved" bones of about 20 dodos at a dig site in Mauritius.
Little is known about the dodo, a famous flightless bird thought to have become extinct in the 17th century.
No complete skeleton has ever been found in Mauritius, and the last full set of bones was destroyed in a fire at a museum in Oxford, England, in 1755.
Researchers believe the bones are at least 2,000-years-old, and hope to learn more about how dodos lived.
A team of Dutch and Mauritian scientists discovered the bones in a swampy area near a sugar plantation on the south-east of the island. The bones were said to have been recovered from a single layer of earth, with the prospect of further excavations to come. Sections of beaks and the remains of dodo chicks were thought to be among the find.
The discovery was hailed as a breakthrough in the Netherlands.
RAPHUS CUCULLATUS
Forest-dwelling and flightless
Waded in ponds to catch fish
Killed by sailors for extra food
Ship animals stole its eggs
"This new find will allow for the first scientific research into and reconstruction of the world in which the dodo lived, before western man landed on Mauritius and wiped out the species," the country's Natural History Museum announced in a statement. Dutch geologist Kenneth Rijsdijk, who led the dig, said DNA samples from the dodo bones could revolutionise understanding of how the birds lived. The dodo was mocked by Portuguese and Dutch colonialists for its size and apparent lack of fear of armed, hungry hunters. It took its name from the Portuguese word for "fool", and was hunted to extinction within 200 years of Europeans landing on Mauritius.
BBC NEWS REPORT
Zoo tiger kills SA crime suspect.
The tigers had been fed so did not eat the man. A criminal suspect on the run ended up being mauled to death by a caged tiger, South African police say. The man took refuge in the Bengal tiger's cage at the Bloemfontein Zoo. A visitor to the zoo on Sunday noticed a body covered in bite marks in the cage
"The man was involved in a robbery and was chased by security guards," police spokeswoman Elsa Gerber told the South African Broadcasting Corporation. "He had nowhere else to go, so he jumped over the zoo fence," she added. The police said that the man had tried to escape after he had robbed a couple with a knife.
The tiger had apparently not tried to eat the body. Nature conservation officials quoted by SABC said the tigers had been fed on Saturday afternoon and were therefore not hungry. A gorilla known as Max became a national hero in 1997, when he confronted a thief who jumped into his enclosure while being pursued by police. Max, who died in his sleep last year, bit the hapless intruder on the buttocks and kept him pinned to a wall, despite being hit by two bullets.
Environmental prize for UN chief
UN chief Kofi Annan: "Deservedly the global winner"
UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has been given one of the most prestigious environmental awards, the Zayed Prize.
The citation noted his "personal leadership" on sustainable development.
The 1,360 scientists whose research contributed to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment were also honoured, as were activists from Trinidad and Indonesia.
The winners of the prize, which honours former UAE President Sheikh Zayed, share $1m (£564,000); previous awards have gone to Jimmy Carter and the BBC. Mr Annan's prize, for Global Leadership on the Environment, nets him $500,000.
"One person has done more than most to catalyse political and public opinion to an understanding that the environment is a fundamental pillar of sustainable development," said the jury in its citation.
"That person is Mr Kofi Annan."
BBC NEWS REPORT,
Big birthday for venerable panda.
Basi was given a special party at Panda World, Fuzhou.
A Chinese panda has celebrated reaching 25 years in age - the equivalent of 100-years-old for a human.
Basi was given flowers, fruit and a huge cake at a park in eastern China's Fujian province.
Among her hundreds of visitors was Li Xingyu, who saved Basi from drowning 21 years ago when she lived in the wild.
Basi was played a song specially written for the occasion but later retreated into her cave to eat cake, the China Daily reported.
A special website, stamps, postcards and calendars were also published in Basi's honour.
The panda is something of a celebrity in China, regularly appearing on Chinese television. In 1990 she served as the mascot for the Asian Games.
But she has suffered health problems, including a cataract and high blood pressure, according to Xinhua news agency.
Basi's age is something to be celebrated because the average life expectancy of a panda is 12 years, and there are only an estimated 1,600 wild pandas left in China's central forests, and some 160 in captivity. Pandas rarely breed in captivity, and have been shown sex education videos to encourage them to do so.
BBC NEWS REPORT
Mugabe's man claims top reserve for 'hunting'
By Gustav Thiel
Amid weekend reports that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is building a R60-million retirement mansion, it has emerged that one of his closest allies has claimed the world-renowned Hwange Wildlife Estate to be used for hunting purposes. The estate is home to the "presidential herd" of about 500 elephants, which were given special presidential protection in a decree issued by Mugabe in 1991. Johnny Rodrigues, chairperson of the Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force, said on Sunday that the governor of Matabeleland, Obert Mpofu, "has just simply taken the Hwange estate". "The land will now be a free-for-all for poachers and for him (Mpofu) to allow hunters to kill the animals," he said. The Hwange Wildlife Estate is state-owned and comprises 14 000ha of prime land. Rodrigues said he "would not be surprised if he (Mpofu) next moves to claim land in the Hwange National Park for his own purposes" because there were no fences separating the estate from the park. Hwange National Park is Zimbabwe's biggest game reserve at 14 650km2. Rodrigues added that people like Mpofu "are putting a death sentence on the future heritage of the country and the benefits that wildlife conservation would have had for the people of the country".
It has been estimated that more than $400-million (about R2,9-billion) has been lost in Zimbabwe's southern region because of rampant poaching. Bambo Kadzombe, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Wildlife Advisory Council, said: "Three thousand animals have been poached so far on commercial game farms and Zimbabwe's conservancies, mainly at Save Valley, Mahenye, Bubiyana conservancy, Bubye Valley and Chiredzi River conservancy." In 2002, more than 100 poachers had been arrested and Kadzombe said that if the poaching continued species could become extinct. Rodrigues said it was with that in mind that Mpofu should understand the "folly of allowing hunting at Hwange". He said over the past five years more than 300 of the remaining black rhino in Zimbabwe had been killed. A wildlife researcher based in Zimbabwe said the taking of the land by Mpofu could jeopardise the inclusion of Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou Park in the Limpopo Transfrontier Park, combining three national parks in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.
Drive to save Scotland's oysters.
Oyster sales peak at three times of the year.
A new campaign to save Scotland's threatened native oysters has been launched by Scottish Natural Heritage.
People in the west of Scotland have been urged to look out for poachers in the run-up to the festive period, a peak season for oyster consumption.
The native oyster once supported a prolific fishery in several parts of Scotland, but there are now only a few isolated populations on the west coast.
Their biggest threat is said to be unlawful harvesting from sea lochs.
Mona Lisa 'happy', computer finds .
The Mona Lisa became world famous after it was stolen in 1911.
A computer has been used to decipher the enigmatic smile of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, concluding that she was mainly happy. The painting was analysed by a University of Amsterdam computer using "emotion recognition" software. It concluded that the subject was 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful and 2% angry, journal New Scientist was told. The computer rated features such as the curvature of the lips and crinkles around the eyes.
The program, developed with researchers at the University of Illinois, draws on a database of young female faces to derive an average "neutral" expression. The software uses this average expression as the standard for comparisons. The New Scientist says that software capable of recognising emotions just by looking at photographs could lead to PCs that adjust their response depending on the user's mood.
Possibly the most famous portrait of all time, Mona Lisa's cryptic expression has intrigued art lovers for five centuries. In 2003, a scientist from Harvard University said the way the human eye processes visual information meant the smile was only apparent when the viewer looked at other parts of the painting. The painting, which is on public display in the Louvre in Paris, was painted between 1503-1506. It was thought to be named after the sitter, most likely the Florentine wife of Francesco del Giocondo.
The Mona Lisa features in the opening of Dan Brown's hit novel The da Vinci Code when a Louvre curator is found dead near the painting.
Deer shot in A9 road safety cull !!!!
The long-term solution is said to be the erection of fences.
SO WHY DONT THEY ERECT FENCES THEN ? MAYBE THE BOYS DONT WANT US TO SPOIL THEIR FUN OF SHOOTING!
Five deer were shot dead in the first part of a cull aimed at preventing serious road accidents on the A9 near Dunkeld in Perthshire.
Tayside Police and the Deer Commission decided to shoot the animals after increasing numbers were found dead after being hit by vehicles.
A two-mile stretch of road was closed for a short time overnight while the deer were shot by stalkers.
The exercise will be repeated several more times.
A spokeswoman for Tayside Police said they had been made aware of a number of accidents involving deer over the past four weeks.
"Deer on the A9 represent a clear threat to public safety," she said.
"Steps must be taken to avoid deer potentially causing serious road accidents, either by colliding with cars or by forcing drivers to take sudden evasive action.
"Culling is the only obvious solution to the problem."
The Deer Commission for Scotland said the long-term solution would be to put up deer fences along the road.
Spokesman Erlend Barclay said deer may have become displaced from their normal habitat following floods in the area.
He said: "The police recently reported 12 deer carcasses on the roadside over a period of 10 days and it was thought this was linked to road collisions. "We are concerned that this could lead to a serious road accident."
WHY DO HUMANS ALWAYS THINK THAT KILLING IS THE ONLY ANSWER TO ALL PROBLEMS???????............................
Arctic orcas highly contaminated.
By Paddy Clark - BBC News.
Killer whales suffer because they are at the top of the food chain.
Killer whales have become the most contaminated mammals in the Arctic, new research indicates.
Norwegian scientists have found that killer whales - or orcas, as they are sometimes known - have overtaken polar bears at the head of the toxic table.
No other arctic mammals have ingested such a high concentration of hazardous man-made chemicals.
The Norwegian Polar Institute tested blubber samples taken from creatures in Tysfjord in the Norwegian Arctic.
The chemicals they found included pesticides, flame retardants and PCBs - which used to be used in many industrial processes.
Animals at the top of the food chain are particularly affected, and whales - like polar bears - can reflect the health of the marine environment.
The researchers are particularly worried about the flame retardants, because unlike many other harmful chemicals, some are still legal.
The international environmental group, WWF, says the Arctic has become a chemical sink.
It says the findings dramatically underline the need for European Union ministers to decide on strong legislation when they meet this week.
However, WWF says it fears pressure from the chemicals industry could lead to any new laws being so watered down that they will protect neither the environment nor human health.
Killed sparrow to go on display !
By Geraldine Coughlan - BBC News, The Hague.
The museum is planning an exhibition on sparrows.
A sparrow which was shot dead for knocking over 23,000 dominoes in the Netherlands is to go on display at Rotterdam's Natural History Museum.
The bird almost spoiled a televised world record attempt before it was killed with an air rifle. The shooting caused a public outcry. Animal rights groups condemned the bird's killing last month and a website was erected in its honour. On Friday, the bird's killer was fined for shooting a protected species.
Prosecutors said the exterminator who killed it should have known better and fined him 170 euros (£114; $200).
The organisers argued the killing was justified, as more than 100 people had worked for a month setting up the dominoes, but they held a TV memorial for the bird. They went on to topple about four million dominoes, claiming a new record - which still has to be verified by Guinness World Records. The bird was kept in a government freezer after its killing became a criminal matter. It will be placed on top of a box of dominoes in an exhibition on sparrows next year.
Nuclear industry recruiting dogs.
Top-level security dogs are being put through their paces in an effort to become a part of the nuclear industry.The Civil Nuclear Police use dogs at many of its sites, but the training facility at Sellafield needs more dogs to join up. These could be pets that have outgrown the family home or become too much to handle, particularly Alsatians, Collies Labradors and Spaniels. Those successful in training become police sniffer and operational canines.
One reason for the shortage is that many of the dogs put forward do not meet the standard required. Insp Jim Weeden from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary said: "They have got a vitally important role - obviously security and policing of the sites is one of our primary roles. "Because of the nature of the sites, the dogs do play an essential role in security."
Elephant prompts embassy warning.
Mutware's keeper attributes the elephant's temper to loneliness. Mutware, a Rwandan elephant, maintains a fearsome reputation that has been further fuelled by a United States government security warning. The elephant has destroyed at least three vehicles in recent months, terrifying visitors, AFP reports. Mutware can normally be found wallowing in Lake Ihema in Akagera National Park. Earlier this year, the US embassy in Kigali issued a formal warning about Mutware, after diplomats complained to the Rwandan government. "Recently, this elephant has displayed more aggressive behaviour towards visitors to the point that actual charging and physical contact with vehicles has occurred," the US State Department warned. "The embassy has notified the Rwandan Office of Tourism and National Parks and expressed our concerns about these incidents," it said, advising US citizens "to exercise extra caution" in Akagera. But park rangers say the violent incidents happen only when foolhardy visitors venture into the park without guides. They also say Mutware's bad tempers are the result of loneliness. "It's only in the mating season that he gets aggressive and that's because he's solitary and has no female," ranger James Muhizi told AFP. "The first sign he's feeling aggressive is that he flaps his ears - the second is that he sends clouds of dust up into the air and the third sign is when he stamps his foot on the ground. "When that happens you'd better get out of the area," Mr Muhizi concluded.
A Cats Prayer.
Lead me down all the right paths Keep me from fleas, Bees and baths. Let me in should it storm, Keep me safe fed and warm. Let the sun shine where I lay, Keep me young so I may play. And most of all....... Bless the people I adore, And guard me from the dog next door. Lisa Malone....American Poet
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