Bush lets off man who indirectly poisoned birds
Associated Press Dec 1, 08 11:02 AM CST
(AP)
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Twelve years after pleading guilty to federal charges in the deaths of three bald eagles, Leslie Owen Collier learned last week that his name was cleared: He was pardoned by President Bush. "I guess I was humbled is the best way to say it—I never thought it would happen," Collier, 50, said. "It was emotional. I almost came to tears, really."
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Effort to chart all undersea life by 2010 finds 5K new species
USA Today Nov 10, 08 10:32 AM CST
(Newser)
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Somewhere under the Antarctic Ocean, brittle starfish completely cover a submerged mountain. In the Pacific, sharks congregate in a region with few food sources but plenty of opportunity for romance. Those facts, along with an accounting of more than 5,000 newly discovered species, are part of the results of the global effort to create a Census of Marine Life, USA Today reports.
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Just-discovered Phobaeticus chani roams the Borneo jungle, looking twiggy
Independent (UK) Oct 17, 08 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A stick insect called Phobaeticus chani has claimed the distinction of world's longest insect, beating out its nearest competitor by an inch, the Independent reports. Named after the amateur naturalist who brought it to scientists' attention, the bug measures 22.3 inches with its legs outstretched. A treetop rainforest dweller, its tiny winged eggs glide from branch to branch.
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Biological control takes a food-chain approach to invasive plants
Chicago Tribune Jul 2, 08 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Officials in the Midwest are returning to a tried-and-true technique to fight invasive plants, the Chicago Tribune reports. Biological control uses natural enemies to rein in pests, and importing a tiny brown beetle in the 1990s brought under control a fast-spreading European weed, known as loosestrife, that was terrorizing agriculture. There are other enemies now—but scientists worry the approach could create other problems.
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Encyclopedia of Life will eventually describe all 1.8M species on Earth
Associated Press Feb 27, 08 3:15 PM CST
(Newser)
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A much-anticipated web encyclopedia of all Earth’s life forms crashed hours after its launch yesterday, inundated by traffic. The Encyclopedia of Life had 11.5 million hits in its first 5½ hours—including 2 hours down—leading the site’s founders to ask their opposites at Wikipedia for bandwidth tips. EOL plans to have a page for each of the 1.8 million species, the AP reports.
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Asia's sun bear now the fifth of eight bear species endangered worldwide
Daily Telegraph (UK) Nov 12, 07 7:15 PM CST
(Newser)
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Southeast Asia's sun bear is now the sixth of eight bear species facing extinction worldwide, the Telegraph reports. Experts admit they know little about the bear, but blame deforestation, hunting, and fearful villagers for menacing the species. "We estimate that sun bears have declined by at least 30 per cent over the past 30 years (three bear generations)," said one specialist.
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American scientists won't be allowed into Iran to help endangered Asiatic species
Der Spiegel Nov 1, 07 8:29 PM CDT
(Newser)
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In an unlikely collaboration, the US and Iran will undertake efforts this month to save the endangered Asiatic cheetah, whose numbers could be as low as 60, Der Spiegel reports. The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society will send a team to the Kavir Desert in central Iran for a cheetah-tracking project—but none of the WCS scientists can be Americans.
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Humans will survive climate change, many other species won't: study
Guardian (UK) Oct 24, 07 4:15 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Global warming could trigger the extinction of half the world's plant and animal species—although humans will probably survive, according to a new British study of the likely effects of climate change. Researchers studied links between mass extinctions and climate changes over 520 million years. In one event, 95% of animal and plant species were eliminated, reports the Guardian .
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Reuters Oct 15, 07 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The recently discovered fossil of a giant dinosaur that roamed South America 80 million years ago is not only remarkably complete but also represents a new species, Brazilian and Argentine paleontologists announced today. Futalognkosaurus dukei, a four-legged, long-necked herbivore, measured about 110 feet from head to tail and was four stories tall at the shoulder.
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Discovery of new salamanders’ ‘vigor’
is a scientific first
Science Sep 18, 07 3:04 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The offspring of California tiger salamanders and barred tiger salamanders are living proof that not all hybrids are mule-style genetic dead ends: They’re breeding their parents out of house and home. In a watershed instance of "hybrid vigor" among animals, Science reports, the progeny of two species for the first time have a higher survival rate than their ancestors.
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Hunters look to thin once-endangered population
Reuters Sep 15, 07 4:20 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Hunters take aim at a symbol of the American West today, as Wyoming’s National Elk Refuge opens the first buffalo season in almost a decade. Officials say they need to lower the population from 1,200 to 500 because of overgrazing and disease. But killing the once-endangered species has animal groups and locals up in arms, Reuters reports.
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Watchdog group sees serious danger to one
in four mammals
Guardian (UK) Sep 12, 07 1:46 PM CDT
(Newser)
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More than 16,000 species are in serious danger of extinction, including one in four mammals and one in three amphibians being monitored by a global conservation group. With 40% of 40,000 surveyed species facing the highest levels of threat, “We’re at code red,” a top conservationist says of the World Conservation Union's annual list, the Guardian reports.
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As ice caps melt, trophy hunters take aim, polar bears belong on endangered list
Independent (UK) Sep 9, 07 3:09 PM CDT
(Newser)
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It's bad enough when 40% of your habitat will disappear by mid-century, but add trophy hunters taking advantage of a loophole in US law, and it's not a good time to be a polar bear, the Independent on Sunday reports. The bears are not listed as endangered so 950 pelts have been imported from Canada since 1994.
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Endangered Species Act hurts animals, industry
Economist Sep 9, 07 5:16 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Endangered Species Act , enacted in 1973 to protect the likes of the bald eagle and the California grizzly, is in desperate need of overhaul, the Economist argues. The act’s latest ravagement is the protection of the delta smelt, a three-inch fish a judge deemed important enough late last month to warrant shutting down giant pumps that supply two-thirds of California's water supply.
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