Anti Poaching CSI Kenya opens anti-poaching forensic laboratory From the BBC The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has opened a forensic laboratory to boost the fight against poaching. The information gathered should help in prosecuting suspected poachers as cases can collapse because of weak evidence. The laboratory will build … Continue reading
Russia: Ice crystals cause ‘triple sunrise’ over city By News from Elsewhere… …media reports from around the world, found by BBC Monitoring Residents in a Russian city have witnessed an optical illusion in the dawn sky, which created a triple sunrise. People in the western city of Chelyabinsk saw what … Continue reading
$7 million could save Madagascar’s lemurs Jeremy Hance mongabay.com Last year, scientists released an emergency three-year plan that they argued could, quite literally, save the world’s lemurs from mass extinction. Costing just $7.6 million, the plan focused on setting up better protections and conservation programs in 30 lemur hotspots. However, … Continue reading
By News from Elsewhere… …as found by BBC Monitoring Denmark: Scientists find new ‘pretty’ fungus species Hirticlavula elegans was found in the forests of northern Denmark, and at 1mm in height it’s quite tricky to spot without a magnifying glass, one researcher tells the Videnskab news website. “It is very, … Continue reading
From the BBC Obama push to expand Alaskan refuge US President Barack Obama is to propose setting aside the majority of Alaska’s national wildlife refuge as a wilderness area. This would halt the possibility of fossil fuel exploration in the refuge’s potentially oil-rich coastal plain. The proposal drew an angry … Continue reading
News from Elsewhere… … media reports from around the world, found by BBC Monitoring Japan: Feral cat adoption planned to save seabirds Cat lovers are being asked to help save seabirds in Japan by giving new homes to feral kittens, it’s reported. About 90% of the streaked shearwater seabird … Continue reading
Conservation concern for UK insects By Helen Briggs BBC Environment Correspondent More than 30 British insect species have been newly classified as in danger of extinction, due to pollution and habitat loss. Members of two groups of insects have been placed on the official “red list” of endangered … Continue reading
By Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent, San Jose Satellites track snail disease risk Scientists are tracking snails from space in a bid to combat the spread of parasitic disease in Africa. The satellite information is being used to predict where infections are likely to occur, enabling health agencies to better … Continue reading
A new type of refugee, wildlife refugees – 35,000 walrus – the largest ever recorded on land. Morgan Erickson-Davis, mongabay.com Additional material Mike Searle A mass of thousands of walruses were spotted hauled up on land in northwest Alaska during NOAA aerial surveys earlier this week. An estimated 35,000 walrus … Continue reading
The Arctic ice we all depend on is disappearing. Fast. In the last 30 years, we’ve lost as much as three-quarters of the floating sea ice cover at the top of the world. The volume of that sea ice measured by satellites in the summer, when it reaches its … Continue reading
