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.
One of two stranded whales dies. Staff cannot get the whale back out to sea but are trying to keep it alive.
A female whale stranded off the Lincolnshire coast has died. Rescue teams heading for the area said they would use floating pontoons to try to re-float her surviving male partner on a late high tide. The exact location of the incident is being kept secret as crowds may hamper the rescue. The whales are 18ft (5.5m) long northern bottlenose whales, the same species as became trapped in the Thames earlier this year.
Bob Archell, from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, said: "It is always a race against time when this sort of thing happens. "Whales are not designed to be on dry land so it is often touch and go as to whether they can be saved but rest assured we will do everything we can." Duncan Yeadon from Natureland Seal Sanctuary, which was first on the scene, said: "We are more used to dealing with seals and porpoises.
"All we can do is keep the whale upright and wet but there is no way we can manhandle it back into the sea, so we feel a little helpless."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Shark-finning measures 'too weak'
By Elli Leadbeater.
At issue is the mechanism for checking catches are legitimate. A report soon to be voted on by the European Parliament poses a significant new threat to vulnerable shark species, a coalition of green groups claims. It fears changes will be made to EU legislation that aims to prevent the illegal practice of "finning". This involves chopping off the valuable fins of sharks and then dumping their carcasses overboard.
The coalition says proposals to alter the way catches are monitored will be open to abuse. It believes already weak legislation will be weakened even further, resulting in many more sharks being killed by European fishermen to supply the Chinese market with the primary ingredient for shark fin soup. The soup is a delicacy which restaurants can sell for up to $100 a bowl.
"Finning is a major factor in the unsustainable mortality of shark populations," says the Shark Alliance, a union of environment groups who aim to promote science-based conservation of sharks. At issue is the mechanism used by the authorities to determine whether vessel masters have landed a legal catch. Fishermen are permitted to remove fins before returning to harbour to allow freezing of carcasses. The difficulty then arises of determining whether the weight of the fins landed corresponds to the weight of the carcasses landed.
The current regulations demand that the weight of fins as a proportion of the total catch does not exceed 5%. But Spanish MEPS have argued that this figure should be raised to 6.5% because the species of shark most often caught in European waters - the blue shark (Prionace glauca) - has relatively large fins.
They argue this means fishermen have to discard a portion of the fin to meet their legal requirements.
The conservationists, on the other hand, are concerned that new amendments would merely increase the potential for finning to go unpunished. The Shark Alliance says the current 5% value, which is more lenient than that set by all other major shark-fishing countries, is already too high. "If this recommendation was to be adopted by the Commission, it would allow for the finning of more than two out of every three sharks that are caught," says Sonja Fordham, the alliance's policy director. "Sharks are in dire need of responsible management. The finning ratio clearly needs to be lowered and not raised."
Many shark species found in European waters have been classified as endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN-World Conservation Union. Sharks are particularly vulnerable because their population growth is very slow, with some species not giving birth until the age of 20 or above.
Fisherman are permitted to remove fins at sea, but not to dump bodies.One-third of all declared shark-fin imports to the Hong Kong market now originate from Europe, with Spanish fleets supplying more fins than any other EU country. Portugal, the UK and France have also made significant contributions to the trade. The Shark Alliance also recommends that fishermen be forced to land fins and the carcasses from which they are claimed to have come in the same port.
"The EU is really having a wide-ranging negative effect on sharks around the world," says Fordham.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Iraq marshes' recovery 'in doubt' .
The long-term recovery of the Iraq marshlands is in doubt because of uncertainties over water supplies to the wetlands, research suggests. The first study to look at the marshes' recovery warned that increased water demand from farmers and cities could lead to only a portion being restored. Large areas were drained in the 1990s to punish the Marsh Arabs for rebelling against former leader Saddam Hussein. The findings will be presented next week to the British Ecological Society.
Curtis Richardson, from Duke University, North Carolina, US, who led the research, warned that the recent faster-than-expected pace of recovery was unlikely to continue in the long term. "Our recent field studies have found a remarkable rate of native species re-establishment - of macroinvertebrates, macrophytes, fish and birds in re-flooded marshes. "But the future availability of water for restoration is in question because of increasing urban and agricultural demands for water in Iraq, as well as in Turkey, Syria and Iran, suggesting only a portion of the former marshes can be restored, " Professor Richardson observed.
The Iraq marshes, sometimes identified as the site of the Garden of Eden, once covered an area twice the size of the Florida Everglades and were famous for their biodiversity and cultural heritage. Saddam's dams diverted waters away from the marshes.A study in the 1970s said the marshlands were home to more than 80 species of birds, including about 90% of the world's population of the Basra reed warbler (Acrocephalus griseldis).
The wetlands also served as important fish spawning and nursery grounds, as well as acting as a natural filter for waste and other pollutants. Tens of thousands of Marsh Arabs who lived in the area depended on the habitat for fishing and as grazing sites for their buffalo herds. The marshes were devastated in the 1990s after Saddam Hussein's regime diverted water away from the region. This reduced the marshlands, the Middle East's largest wetlands, to just 7% of their original size of 15,000 sq km.
Following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, locals broke down the dams and dykes, re-flooding nearly 20% of the marshes. Recent conditions also helped in the restoration of the region, said United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) senior environment expert, Hassan Partow.
Iraq's marshlands are the biggest wetlands in the Middle East.
"The past several years have been a good time for the marshes because there has been good rainfall and snowfall in the upper catchment areas of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers." He added that the current unrest in Iraq also meant that little water was being abstracted for agricultural use, allowing about 40% of the marshlands to re-flood. "But it could be envisaged that in the coming years, when the situation has stabilised, there will be more water taken for other uses, such as agriculture and hydroelectricity," Mr Partow observed.
Professor Richardson said there was a direct link between the volume of water reaching the wetlands and its recovery. "Scientists are very nervous about setting a target, but the amount of restoration is directly proportional to the amount of water available," he said. "An estimate made by Iraqis suggests that to restore the marshes could take half of the nation's total water supply. That will be very difficult; human needs have always come first." Mr Partow said targets could help in the long-term management of the wetlands: "There is a need to define a target for restoration, whether is it 50%, 60%, etc. "This will make it easier to decide how to allocate the water resources available for the marshlands."
Professor Richardson said he was hopeful about the area's future, despite the challenges ahead. "I am optimistic that a significant proportion can be maintained, especially now we have removed the 'environmental genocide' that destroyed them in the first place. "We will put them on life-support for a period of time, and some areas will really recover provided there is a sustained water supply," he added.
"But there will have to be a minimum water allocation, otherwise when push comes to shove, nature will lose."
Professor Richardson will outline his findings next week when he addresses the annual meeting of the British Ecological Society.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Galapagos 'face species threat'
By Simon Watts - BBC News.
Galapagos species inspired Darwin's theory of evolution. Officials in Ecuador say they are worried about the discovery of foreign species on the Galapagos Islands. Despite inspections of incoming ships and planes, local people recently found an iguana and a turtle which probably came from mainland South America.
Invasive foreign species are one of the main threats to the islands' wildlife. This includes giant tortoises, marine iguanas and finches which enchanted naturalist Charles Darwin and helped him develop his theory of evolution. It is the isolation of the Galapagos Islands which makes their ecology unique.Stranded 1,000km (620 miles) off the Ecuadorean coast, animals adapted to the conditions in their particular part of the archipelago without external influences.
Now, though, the isolation of the Galapagos is threatened by foreign species. The archipelago is home to fishermen, a booming tourist industry and a growing number of migrants from the mainland. Development has gone hand-in-hand with the arrival of foreign tortoises, turtles and even a monkey. Officials are particularly worried about the newly discovered iguana which is probably a type which breeds rapidly and could compete with the indigenous varieties. It almost certainly arrived in cargo and was missed by inspectors.
Other foreign animals in the Galapagos were introduced deliberately, only for their disastrous impact to be appreciated too late. Naturalists are working to eradicate thousands of feral goats which are a direct threat to the habitat of the Galapagos' giant tortoises.
BBC NEWS REPORT
Snake on a train in Swiss alert.
A Swiss train has been taken out of service after a pet snake escaped from its owner and hid in a carriage, a local train company has said. Experts have so far failed to catch the reptile, which vanished on Saturday, said Eric Luthy, a spokesman for the Neuchatel Regional Transport company. Mr Luthy said the snake had crawled into the inner roof of a carriage. He said the snake was not poisonous but could easily scare passengers if the train was put back into service.
A team of reptile experts has been trying to lure the snake - believed to be about one metre long (3ft) - out of its hiding place by using rats and mice as a bait - but so far all the attempts failed. "We're looking into various detection methods, like scanners, given that infra-red devices won't work as the snake is a cold-blooded animal," Mr Luthy told Bloomberg news agency. The train company operates in western Switzerland.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Reward to catch eagle poisoners.
RSPB Scotland said it was determined to catch the culprits.
The poisoning of two golden eagles has seen RSPB Scotland offer a reward for the first time in its history to help catch the culprits.
The deaths in the Glenfeshie Estate in the Cairngorms and Dinnet and Kinnord Estate near Ballater, in Aberdeenshire, are being investigated.
RSPB Scotland is now offering £1,000 for information on each death which leads to arrest and conviction.
It said the deaths, which took place in May and June, were "dreadful crimes".
The Ballater death being probed by Grampian Police happened on 13 May, and Northern Constabulary is investigating a similar incident in the Cairngorms from 10 June.
It is the first time RSPB Scotland has offered a financial reward for information in relation to the death of a bird.
Hopefully the reward will stimulate the public to come forward with information and we can trace those responsible - Grampian Police.
It hopes the move will highlight the serious nature of this type of crime, as well as underlining the RSPB Scotland and police determination to detect those responsible and bring them to justice.
It is understood that both birds were poisoned using illegal carbofuran poison. Possession of this substance is in itself a crime.
Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland, said: "Golden eagles are magnificent icons of the Scottish uplands.
"We should be proud that Scotland supports some 442 pairs of these awe inspiring birds that attract tourists from all over the world.
"Yet some in our country selfishly persecute these birds, through the use of poisoned baits or other means. In space of just three months, two dead eagles have been found - killed illegally."
Police hope the RSPB Scotland reward will help the appeal.
Grampian Police wildlife officer Dave MacKinnon: "We look forward to developing our partnership with the RSPB Scotland in relation to what is a very serious offence.
"Hopefully the reward will stimulate the public to come forward with information and we can trace those responsible."
And Northern Constabulary wildlife crime co-ordinator John Bryden said: "The force takes any type of crime against wildlife very seriously and we are continuing our inquiries into this incident.
"Obviously we are delighted that the RSPB Scotland has opted to put up a reward in relation to this crime and we hope that someone with information will come forward."
Anyone with information can contact either Northern or Grampian, or Crimestoppers, or the Campaign Against Illegal Poisoning of Wildlife on 0800 321 600.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Ferocious ants bite like a bullet
By Elli Leadbeater
Trap-jaw ants bite with a force of over 300 times their own bodyweight, new high-speed digital images have shown. Their jaws spring shut at more than 100 km/h (66mph)- the fastest recorded speed at which an animal can move its body parts. The pictures also reveal these tiny creatures, native to Central and South America, do more with their vicious jaws than simply giving a nasty nip. By biting the ground, the ants hurl themselves upwards when danger looms.
Uninvited visitors to a nest of trap-jaw ants can expect a vicious response. The ants are named after their characteristically long jaws, which they use to hurl unfamiliar neighbours from their nests, cripple prey, or deliver a brutal bite to anything they consider a threat. Employing the same high-speed imaging methods as those used to film flying bullets, an American research team now show that the jaws can move at exceptional speeds.
"This is really by far and away the fastest recorded animal limb movement" said lead researcher Sheila Patek, of the University of California, Berkeley, who worked with ants from Costa Rica. "The ants' jaws are relatively short, but they deliver such a powerful bite because they can accelerate so quickly. It's simple physics."
The new findings, reported this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also explain why the ants sometimes bounce into the air when they bite. "If they bite something which is too hard to be crushed or thrown back by their jaws, the impact tosses them upwards" said Dr Andy Suarez of the University of Illinois, a co-author in the study. This recoil effect propels the biter onto a brief, haphazard flight which ends in a crash landing several centimetres away.
Such a chaotic journey might seem uncomfortable, but the ants are simply too light to be injured by their misadventures. In fact, Dr Patek and her team have now shown that the ants sometimes perform the flights voluntarily.
By biting the hard ground, rather than another animal, the ants can propel themselves skyward whenever the need arises. The impact throws their tiny bodies upwards. In effect, the ants are using their enormous bite force as a means to suddenly take off. This novel way to move may help them to escape predators such as lizards, which attack very quickly and would not be discouraged by a simple bite.
The popcorn-effect of many ants jumping at once might also serve to confuse attackers. "The results show us the surprising and interesting ways in which a single mechanical system can be co-opted for such different behaviors," says Dr Patek.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Dutch plan orangutan web dating.
A zoo in the Netherlands plans to set up a webcam to help its orangutans form long-distance relationships with potential mates in Indonesia. The Indonesian orangutans are kept in small cages at a centre in Borneo, protected from loggers and palm oil firms operating in their habitat. Anouk Ballot, spokeswoman for the Dutch ape park in Apenheul, said the Borneo apes had been short of entertainment. She hopes the apes will now "meet and interact with each other".
The rescue centre in Borneo receives 30 new admissions a day. A keeper attached mirrors to the many small cages, allowing the apes to communicate with each other. Small gestures and facial expressions indicated to the keepers that the system was working. Ropes were then attached to baskets and the traumatised apes could give each other food.
Ms Ballot, based in the Dutch city of Apeldoorn, says they are now hoping to replace the ropes with picture icons and the mirrors with a computer screen. Although the logistics could prove difficult, she insists there is still potential for a first online date to turn serious. "If they particularly like each other, I am sure they will also point that out to their keepers," she says. She said the webcam films would also provide a record of the animals' behaviour for future generations.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
10 THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW THIS TIME LAST WEEK !
Snippets harvested from the week's news, chopped, sliced and diced for your weekend convenience.
1. Only children are the least likely to be able to make other people laugh, say psychologists. Only 11% of children without siblings have this talent.
2. Newspapers in the UK have given away 54 million DVDs this year, about the same number as have been sold by retailers.
3. The original film footage of the first Apollo XI moon landing has been lost.
4. There are 32,000 workers living on-site at the production centre in China where iPods are manufactured.
5. Televisions with plasma screens can consume four times as much electricity as cathode ray tube televisions.
6. Involuntary bad language, a symptom affecting about one in 10 people with Tourette's syndrome, is called "coprolalia".
7. There's an A-level in critical thinking - Theo Walcott's girlfriend, Melanie Slade, passed it.
8. The town of Barga in Tuscany claims to be "the most Scottish in Italy" - and this week held its annual Scottish festival.
9. There are two million cars and trucks in Brazil which run on alcohol.
10. Watching television can act as a natural painkiller for children, say researchers from the University of Siena.
BBC MAGAZINE.
Alarm sounded for farmland birds.
Skylarks continue to decline in number. The latest health check on UK bird numbers paints an alarming picture of decline in several threatened species. Of 26 bird species targeted for special conservation efforts in 1995, nine - including the song thrush - are bouncing back. But the rest - including the skylark and turtle dove - are either still in decline or have only stable numbers. The State of the UK's Birds report was published by three conservation groups and four government agencies.
The report suggests that most of the rare species have increased, while the more widespread species have generally continued to decline.
"There is good news and bad news.
'WIDESPREAD' SPECIES
Song thrush: Increasing
Tree sparrow: Early stage of increase
Skylark, grey partridge, turtle dove and bullfinch: Declining
"The good news tends to be with those rare, localised species where an organisation like the RSPB or others fix it, because it's a local job," said Martin Avery, conservation director at the RSPB, one of the organisations behind the report.
"But the birds we're still really worried about are farmland birds that should be common everywhere, not just on nature reserves. "These birds include the skylark, the tree sparrow, the corn bunting and the yellowhammer."
In 1995, birds whose UK populations had halved in number over 25 years, or those birds under threat of global extinction, were treated as the highest conservation priorities by the government, which agreed targets for arresting wildlife decline by 2010. Each of 26 species received a dedicated "biodiversity action plan" (BAP).
SCARCE SPECIES
Bittern, woodlark, nightjar: Increasing
Cirl bunting, corncrake and stone-curlew: increasing but have not recolonised former ranges
Ten of the 26 species are considered widespread as they occur across many parts of the UK.
The song thrush is a clear winner among the widespread birds, and has increased by 18% in the last 11 years. But it still has a long way to go to recover to former levels. The tree sparrow also appears to be in the very early stages of recovery, following a massive decline. But seven of the 10 widespread species, including the skylark, grey partridge, turtle dove and bullfinch, continue to decline. The turtle dove has almost halved in number since the creation of the BAP.
Scarcer birds such as the bittern, woodlark, and the nightjar have all increased. Formerly much more widespread across the UK, the populations of some rare species, such as the cirl bunting, corncrake and stone-curlew, have also increased. Corncrakes have benefited from targeted conservation efforts But they still have not managed to recolonise most of their former range, largely remaining at higher density in core hotspots.
Dr Phil Grice, of English Nature, commented: "Tackling the declines in widespread bird species will require sympathetic land management right across the countryside and not just on nature reserves. "The UK's various agri-environment schemes... now include measures targeted on declining farmland birds, such as the skylark and grey partridge. "If enough farmers take part in these schemes, there is every chance that we will see a turnaround in the fortunes of the declining species over the coming decade."
The report was compiled by the RSPB, the British Trust for Ornithology, the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust, The Countryside Council for Wales, English Nature, Environment and Heritage Service (Northern Ireland), Scottish Natural Heritage and Birdwatch.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Road builders get butterfly guide.
The marsh fritillary butterfly is one species to benefit from the scheme. A guide to help road builders protect the habitat of the UK's dwindling population of butterflies has been published. The Butterfly Handbook encourages engineers to include features and plants that will encourage wildlife.
Conservationists hope better designed roads will provide breeding sites for the creatures, as well as acting as links between suitable habitat. The handbook has been co-published by English Nature and the Highways Agency. English Nature's chief scientist Dr Keith Duff said the guide showed that new roads were not necessarily bad news for local wildlife. "It actually depends where you put them, and how you design and build them," he said. "We all know that roads often destroy habitat, break it up into bits and cause pollution, but if designed properly you can create habitat corridors that are really good for wildlife."
The publication offers guidance on habitat sizes, species' locations, breeding areas and colonisation patterns. Conservationists say butterflies have probably never been as endangered as they are today following decades of loss of key habitats. Of the 56 species of butterflies found in the UK, 26 are recognised as species that need their habitat protected in order to ensure their long term survival.
In the handbook's foreword, Dr Martin Warren, chief executive of Butterfly Conservation charity, said: "This report is extremely valuable and timely as it concerns an increasingly important habitat for butterflies and other insects. "Road verges can help conserve butterflies and other wildlife as they are an opportunity to provide suitable breeding habitats for many species, and provide crucial links between the patches of habitat that remain," Dr Warren added. In the past, wildlife campaigners and construction firms have been involved in lengthy battles about the building of new roads. One of the most famous clashes was back in 1996, over the proposed 30-mile (48km) route for the Newbury bypass.
The handbook lists a number of recent projects that included butterfly-friendly measures, including an extension of the M40 in Oxfordshire that was rerouted to protect the local habitat of black hairstreak butterflies. English Nature's Dr Duff hopes the guide will help engineers and environmentalists form a closer working relationship. "These days, conservationists seek to engage with road builders at the start in order to build an understanding," he said. "You can then make sure that things are designed to work for people and work for wildlife."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
EU warns Poland over environment.
Poland is home to many rare species including bears. Poland could face legal action and EU penalties for failing to "adequately protect" its natural habitats, a European Commission official has said. EC biodiversity expert Agata Zdanowicz said Poland had so far failed to comply with the EU's Natura 2000 programme, describing the situation as "serious".
The Commission started an "infringement procedure" against Poland in April. This could lead to a court case and the blocking of EU funds for projects in Poland's environmentally fragile areas. Natura 2000 is an EU-wide programme to safeguard the 25-nation bloc's most important wildlife areas and species.
Half of Europe's mammal species, one-third of reptile, amphibian and fish species, as well as one-third of plant species are threatened with extinction, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Poland is home to rare species such as bison, wolves, bears and eagles living in river valleys, wetlands and forests. The Commission rejected Poland's proposals on Natura 2000 earlier this year, describing them as "significantly insufficient".
The proposals did not comply with the EU's Birds and Habitats directives, Ms Zdanowicz, policy officer at the EC's nature and biodiversity unit, told the BBC News website. Poland designated 72 sites as special protection areas under the Birds directive, but Ms Zdanowicz said the Commission was pushing for 140 such sites. She said the situation was particularly "serious" with the implementation of the Habitats directive, which protects plant and animal species other than birds. She said Warsaw had so far failed to "adequately protect" some 85% of such sites.
In April, the Commission launched the infringement procedure against Poland by sending it a written warning. Poland formally responded in July, and Ms Zdanowicz said EC experts were currently analysing the amended proposals. Both the EC and Polish officials are refusing to elaborate on the content of the new proposals, but Ms Zdanowicz said the EC could take the case to court if it deemed the plan to be inadequate.
Polish Environment Ministry spokesman Slawomir Mazurek told the BBC News website that "some mistakes" had been made during the development of Natura 2000 for Poland. "Some areas have been appointed without a detailed knowledge of what is in them. Local governments do not agree on many of those areas," Mr Mazurek said. He added that the ministry submitted to the EC what he described as "a repair programme".
Last week, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski reignited the row by hinting at a possible downsizing of the programme. "Natura 2000 has expanded so much that it is practically impossible to build anything," he said. His statement drew criticism from environmentalists, who said Poland needed to take urgent steps to protect its environment. Natura 2000 protects 18% of land in the 15 countries that formed the EU before the expansion in 2004. The size and number of protected sites is currently being negotiated for each of the 10 new member states.
The Commission has already warned 13 EU states over non-compliance with the bloc's environmental directives.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Lobster's snappy return of wallet..A Plymouth man is celebrating the snappy return of his wallet after it was found being clutched by a lobster. The wallet was lost when Paul Westlake, 30, took a swim in Plymouth Sound with his brother after drinking in a pub. It was handed in a few days later to Mr Westlake's hairdresser by a diver who had caught the lobster and found the creature firmly grasping it. But he will be unable to thank the lobster who hung on to his wallet as it has now been eaten.
The wallet vanished when Mr Westlake was swimming with his 31-year-old brother, Paul Westlake. It came to light again when the diver got in touch with the Associates hairdressing salon in Plymouth, which Mr Westlake uses. The diver, whose identity so far remains a mystery, handed the wallet in to the salon after finding a salon business card among the contents. Mr Westlake collected it and found that the bank cards in it still worked despite immersion in sea water and the crush the lobster had on it.
He said he had never eaten a lobster and now never would, and that he intended to keep the wallet because its return was a good luck omen. After being reunited with the wallet via the salon, Mr Westlake, from Milehouse, also said he wanted to meet and thank the diver.
Amy Harvey, who has worked at Associates for two years, said it had been the talk of the shop, and that they were as keen as Mr Westlake to find out who the mystery diver was. She said: "We were contacted by a diver who said that he had found a wallet with our details inside. "We actually thought it was a joke when he rang. He said it was found in the claw of a lobster." Paul Westlake's mother, Elizabeth Westlake, said the family was very surprised after the wallet was recovered. She said: "I didn't believe it in the first place." She added of her sons' late-night swim: "That was typical of them. They are nuts, they take after their mother!"
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Penguins in Texas highway crash. Three of the penguins that died were gentoo. Texas highway patrol officers carried out one of their strangest rescues after a truck carrying 25 penguins, an octopus and exotic fish overturned. The unusual load was being transported from Indianapolis Zoo to the Texas tourist attraction Moody Gardens in Galveston when the accident happened.
Four of the penguins and some of the tropical fish died, while the driver and passenger sustained minor injuries. The survivors were later taken on to Galveston and said to be doing well. Trooper Richard Buchanan, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the penguins were thrown out of the truck after it overturned in the east of the state.
One rockhopper penguin died in the crash and a further three gentoo penguins were killed by oncoming traffic. "The rest of the penguins kind of stayed together in a ditch," he said. The octopus - who, like the fish, was being transported in a plastic bag - appeared unharmed, officials said. A few of the fish died after their bags burst.
The wildlife was being transported to Moody Gardens while work on a new exhibit at the Indianapolis Zoo was being finished. After the accident, the survivors were taken to nearby Caldwell Zoo in Tyler to be examined before being moved on to Moody Gardens.
The zoo's Hayes Caldwell said many of the penguins had cuts and bruises, but added: "They're doing remarkably well for what they had been through." Trooper Richard Buchanan said it was the first traffic accident he had ever handled involving penguins, and added that things could have been worse. "There was another truck full of snakes and alligators that was an hour ahead of them," he said. "So luckily we didn't have to deal with the alligators."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Leo the snow leopard is US-bound.
The leopard grew too big for his rescuers to handle. The US State Department has announced the impending arrival of an unusual guest from Pakistan - an orphaned snow leopard cub. Thirteen-month-old Leo is due in New York on Wednesday after surviving both the loss of his parents and the Pakistani earthquake. He was found in the snow-hit north of the country last year by a shepherd who hand-fed him to keep him alive. The snow leopard is one of the world's most endangered big cat species.
Leo - one of only a few thousand snow leopards left in the wild - was found by the shepherd in the mountains of north Pakistan in July 2005. The shepherd's family cared for the animal for several months, but he grew too big, and was handed over to the authorities. He now weighs 28 kilos (60 pounds). "I would also like to commend the shepherd who found the orphaned cub and saved his life by taking him in and giving him shelter," said the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Ryan Crocker. "It is because of that shepherd's compassion and foresight that we are here today," Mr Crocker said in a speech prior to the cub's departure from Islamabad to New York. "The snow leopard gets to go on an expenses-paid journey to the United States, where his only responsibilities will be eating, growing and breeding."
Officials say that under the terms of the agreement, Pakistan will receive help from the US to develop a snow leopard conservation centre. The US embassy heard of the animal's plight after October's earthquake in Pakistan which killed more than 70,000 people. Arrangements were made with the help of Pakistani conservation experts for the cub to be transferred to New York's Bronx Zoo. The US has praised Pakistan for arranging the transfer, describing it as a symbol of Islamabad's "commitment to conservation".
Snow leopards are hunted for their fur, and it is estimated that there are only between 3,500 to 7,000 left in their natural habitat across the mountains of south and central Asia. Cubs usually remain with their mothers until they are between 18 to 22 months old. Leo was discovered alone in the snow. "The nice thing about the cat coming to the Bronx Zoo is that we have two females of the about the same age that would be potential mates," Jim Breheny, the zoo's director, told Reuters on the telephone.
The zoo began exhibiting leopards in 1903 and bred its first snow leopard in 1966. It is one of the few centres in the world participating in the World Conservation Union's Species Survival Plan for snow leopards. Officials at the zoo say that only in "extraordinary circumstances" are snow leopards taken in from the wild, and that the hope is that the cat will be used for breeding purposes when he is around three years old. But before Leo meets his new friends at the zoo - four male snow leopards and three females - he must spend about 30 days in quarantine.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Tags record epic bird migration.
The annual 40,000-mile trip by a species of sea bird around the Pacific Ocean is the longest migration recorded by electronic tracking, scientists say. The sooty shearwaters' journey took them from breeding colonies in New Zealand to winter feeding sites in Japan, Alaska or California. Their migration path covered the whole of the Pacific region, taking about 200 days to complete, researchers found. The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Between January and March 2005, 33 birds at two breeding colonies in New Zealand were fitted with tags weighing 6g, allowing researchers to track their journey.
SOOTY SHEARWATER
Species name: Puffinus griseus
Length: 40-51 cm
Wingspan: 94-109 cm
Weight: 400-800 g
Diet: fish, squid, krill
Global population: 20 million
Red list status: Near Threatened
(Sources: UCSC, RSPB, IUCN)
In the autumn of that year, 20 of the tags were recovered when the birds returned to their burrows at the breeding grounds; 19 of the devices had successfully recorded the bird's movements. Data showed that some birds travelled up to 910km (565 miles) in a day, and dived to depths of 68m in their search for food.
Scott Shaffer, a research biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), and the paper's lead authors, said the data presented some surprising findings. "The fact that the birds went to specific places in the northern Pacific and stayed there for the remainder of the migration, and then came back to New Zealand did surprise us. "Previous hypotheses had suggested the birds did a sweep of the North Pacific before heading back south," Dr Shaffer told BBC News.
The team found that the birds made a prolonged stopover at just one location in either Japan, Alaska or California. The data also confirmed the birds' migration path covered the whole of the Pacific region in a massive figure-of-eight pattern. The researchers said this was likely to be a result of the birds using the global wind system and being influenced by the Coriolis Effect.
Although the sooty shearwater global population is an estimated 20 million, Dr Shaffer says any marked decline in their number could prove to be a useful indicator of impacts of climate change or overfishing. The tags have given a new insight to the birds' migration pattern "If you are travelling all that way, and if you get there and there is no food it is going to be very tough to recover and get back."
Previous studies had shown that the population of sooty shearwaters off the coast of California had declined dramatically. This was attributed to warming oceans which in turn had led to a fall in the amount of food for the birds. These declines were also seen at the breeding colonies, Dr Shaffer added. "A bird that travels all that way is doing so with the idea that it knows that when it gets to those sites in the north there is going to be food. "If the climate is changing and food resources are falling, we could see the birds changing locations or see fewer and fewer birds returning because of the changing oceanic conditions," he suggested.
Future studies will hope to build up a better picture of the sea birds' migratory path, including whether individual birds are returning to the same winter location or choose a different site every year. The research is part of a project called Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP) that is applying tags to 23 species of top predators in the Northern Pacific Ocean.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NY tiger owner's case thrown out.
A New Yorker who was mauled by his pet tiger has failed in his bid to sue after police searched his flat without a warrant. The judge said Antoine Yates had been audacious to claim his rights had been violated in the October 2003 search - which also uncovered an alligator. He said police had acted "reasonably" in removing the 450lb (204kg) tiger from Yates's fifth-floor flat.
Yates was sentenced to five months in jail in 2004 for reckless endangerment. The tiger, named Ming, and the six-foot-long (1.8m) caiman alligator, called Al, were taken to an animal refuge in Ohio. In his lawsuit against the city, filed the same year he was jailed, Yates said police had violated his constitutional rights by entering his flat without a warrant. He also claimed that $7,000 in cash, $30,000 in jewellery and a brown pet rabbit were missing when he returned home.
Police were alerted to the presence of the 10-foot-long (3m) tiger after Yates sought hospital treatment for deep bites. Although he claimed they had been inflicted by a pit bull dog, neighbours told police about the big cat roaming his apartment, in breach of city regulations. A police marksman then abseiled down the outside of the block to shoot the tiger - raised by Yates from a cub - with a tranquiliser dart.
Giving his ruling, District Judge Sidney Stein said the police had acted "cautiously and reasonably" in the interests of public safety. He described Yates' action in bringing the lawsuit as "chutzpah" - a Yiddish term for unbelievable gall or audacity. Judge Stein added: "The whereabouts of the rabbit has not been ascertained, but there is no indication that Al the alligator was questioned in that regard. "The court suggests he may be more knowledgeable on this issue than he disgorged to date."
No comment has yet been given by lawyers acting for Yates.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Rare blue butterfly returns home.
The Adonis Blue is mostly found in southern England. One of Britain's rarest butterflies has returned to a spot where it has not been seen for more than 40 years. The Adonis Blue, classified as a priority species, is usually only found at a few places in southern England. But it has returned in numbers to a former site in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, after a National Trust campaign to restore its habitat.
The insect's numbers were decimated 50 years ago when a lot of its natural habitat, chalk grassland, was lost. The Adonis Blue likes to live in habitats with short grass, and it is unusual for the butterflies to fly far from their home base. It is one of our loveliest butterflies and we are delighted to have it back in the Cotswolds - Matthew Oakes, National Trust.
When the rabbit-killing disease Myxomatosis broke out in the 1950s, the lack of rabbits meant grass grew too long and the Adonis Blue's former habitats became unsuitable. But now large numbers of the species have moved back to its former home around Rodborough and Minchinhampton Common, as trust officers have brought in cattle to keep the grass down.
Matthew Oakes, butterfly expert and adviser for the National Trust said: "Never underestimate a butterfly. "We think that the Adonis Blue may be benefiting from milder winters and hotter summers and that it should produce a bumper brood this August and September. "It is one of our loveliest butterflies and we are delighted to have it back in the Cotswolds."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Rare turtle to get satellite tag.
The turtle only comes ashore to lay its eggs. The migration of a rare turtle across the Indian Ocean is to be monitored by satellite tagging. The hawksbill turtle has suffered from poaching, fishing and loss of habitat, and is now critically endangered.
Research has revealed that females return to the same beach to lay eggs up to eight times in one season. Scientists at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are hoping to find out where the turtles go the rest of the year to aid conservation efforts. Visitors to ZSL's website will be able to monitor the progress of several turtles on their long journeys across the Indian Ocean.
The society's marine turtle project was set up three years ago to protect nests in remote areas of northern Mozambique. Nests are often raided for eggs, which are considered a delicacy by some, and the turtle is also hunted for its prized shiny shell.
Hawksbills are listed by the IUCN as a critically endangered species.
Little is known about the migration patterns of this rare species
Like most turtles, fishing, loss of habitat and disease are also major problems
A local team working for ZSL has already recorded and protected more than 300 nests of hawksbill and green turtles. The project's next step is to fit state-of-the-art satellite tags to the shells of a small number of female hawksbills - two or three initially - to see where they go when they leave the beaches. "They are a critically endangered species - there is only a small population left - so it is imperative to try and protect the nesting areas as best as possible," ZSL's aquatic conservation manager Alison Shaw told BBC News.
A team in Mozambique has helped eradicate poaching. "By understanding the population dynamics, we will be able to work with partners to develop regional strategies to protect them." In a separate research effort, scientists are to take small samples of skin from the forelimbs of turtles for genetic analysis. They hope to build up a better understanding of the relationship between different turtle populations and migratory routes.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Second Chinese dog cull planned
Animal rights groups say culls do not solve the problem
A second Chinese local government has launched a controversial mass cull of dogs in a bid to tackle rabies.
Officials in Jining, in eastern Shandong province, said 16 people had died of the disease this year.
They said they would kill all dogs within five km of 16 villages where rabies had been found, suggesting 500,000 dogs were under threat.
The move comes days after 50,000 dogs were killed in south-western China in response to a rabies outbreak.
'Cold-blooded' culls
The culls have sparked outrage from animal rights groups.
One group, People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), called for a boycott of Chinese products.
Correspondents say China has a poor record of animal protection and there are no laws to prevent cruelty to pets.
The previous cull, in Mouding county in Yunnan, was prompted by the deaths of three people from rabies, including a four-year-old girl.
In a five-day cull, dogs were clubbed to death in the street as their owners watched. Other dog owners took matters into their own hands, poisoning or electrocuting their pets.
Rabies is an encephalitis brain disease caused by rabies virus. It is a fatal condition but it is preventable by vaccination.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
'Save money, not red squirrels'
Red squirrels are in decline on the UK mainland, but not on islands. Attempts to save the red squirrel on the UK mainland are a waste of money, a scientist has said. Funding should focus on protecting populations found on islands such as the Isle of Wight, said Stephen Harris from the University of Bristol. He said past experience showed efforts to eradicate grey squirrels, which compete with the reds for food and habitat, had little impact.
Professor Harris made his comments in an article for BBC Wildlife magazine. "Conserving rare or vulnerable species on islands is not a new concept," the founder of the Mammal Research Unit wrote. "[The UK] is not short of large, accessible islands where it would be simpler and cheaper to conserve red squirrels. It would be more effective in the long term to establish these as red squirrel reserves."
Grey squirrels, introduced to the UK at the turn of the 20th Century, were originally thought to be more aggressive and drove the reds from suitable habitat. However, more recent research revealed that greys were better at digesting acorns, but ate hazelnuts before moving on to acorns, thus depriving red squirrels of their preferred food.
While their decline on mainland Britain has been very sad, as a global conservation issue it hardly registers - Professor Stephen Harris.
The biggest problem now is a virus that is spread by grey squirrels but kills red ones, accelerating the native species decline. In April, the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the Northumberland Wildlife Trust £600,000 to set up nature reserves to protect dwindling numbers in Cumbria, the Yorkshire Dales and Merseyside.
A Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament has also suggested that bounties should be paid for the shooting or trapping of grey squirrels. MSP Murdo Fraser said such measures would help preserve the numbers of the indigenous animal. Although the animals were under threat from their larger grey cousin in the UK, Professor Harris said red squirrels were very common in other parts of the world.
Sophie Stafford, editor of BBC Wildlife magazine, hoped Professor Harris' comments would help focus minds on conservation efforts. She said: "[His] arguments will undoubtedly encourage heated debate, but it is through this kind of innovative thinking that we can find solutions to some of Britain's most challenging conservation issues."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Brazil to take penguins back home.
There are fears that global warming is affecting penguin habitats. Penguins stranded on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro will hitch a ride back home to Antarctica with Brazil's air force and navy, Reuters news agency reports.
It says more than 100 penguins will make the special trip later this month. They will be flown to Brazil's southernmost region and then taken by ship to their Antarctic habitat, a military spokesman told the agency.
The penguins wash up on Brazilian beaches each winter after floating on Antarctic ice floes which melt. Many of the birds, which are flightless, are usually taken to local zoos, Reuters says.
The penguins will initially be transported on a plane carrying equipment for an Antarctic naval base, before continuing their journey on a naval ship.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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