Children ‘more likely to confide in pets than siblings’ From the BBC By Sean Coughlan Education correspondent Children who are facing adversity, such as illness or parents splitting up, are more likely to confide in their pet than brothers or sisters, according to research. Matt Cassels at Cambridge University says far … Continue reading
The hitchhiking snakes of the Caribbean BBC By Rob Crossan Aruba For a long time no-one could understand how Aruba’s boa constrictors spread across the island so quickly. Then they realised – the snakes could easily travel miles by hiding under car bonnets and hitching a lift. This might be the … Continue reading
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
$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
Revolutionary Australian beehive invention. Jeremy Story Carter ABC Australia Stuart Anderson and his son Cedar’s method of collecting honey does not disturb the hive, but allows the honey to flow out through a channel system straight out of a tap, changing the way honey has been collected for millennia, forever. … 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
Plan Bee: New measures to protect pollinators By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News The British government has made an agreement with landowners including Network Rail and the Highways Agency to restore bee-friendly habitat throughout England. It is part of a 10-year National Pollinator Strategy. But some conservation groups say … Continue reading
