Chinese pandas leave for Japan

Female panda Xian Nu looks out of the cage at Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, east China, Feb. 21, 2011. A pair of giant pandas left their home in southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday for a 10-year stay in Japan, under a joint research agreement on the endangered species. Female panda Xian Nu and male Bi Li, accompanied by two keepers from the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong, stopped in Shanghai before heading to Tokyo's Narita International Airport. They are scheduled to arrive Ueno Zoo at around 9 p.m.. (Xinhua/Chen Fei)

CHENGDU/TOKYO, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- A pair of giant pandas left their home in southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday for a 10-year stay in Japan, under a joint research agreement on the endangered species.

Female panda Xian Nu and male Bi Li left Chengdu, Sichuan's capital, on board a Sichuan Airlines passenger flight at 7:50 a.m., said a spokesman with the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong.

The pandas, accompanied by two keepers from Wolong, stopped in Shanghai before heading to Tokyo's Narita International Airport. They are scheduled to arrive Ueno Zoo at around 9 p.m., the spokesman said.

Panda keepers prepared 80 kg of fresh bamboo and 8 kg of dim sum for the animals to eat on the 13-hour journey.

Xian Nu and Bi Li are both aged 5 years. Pandas born in captivity can live up to 25 years.

Tokyo is rolling out the red carpet for the pair's arrival.

The Ueno Zoo was closed Monday, but a giant panda poster at its entrance caught the attention of many locals.

Read more at:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-02/21/c_13741684.htm
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-02/21/c_13741684_3.htm
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-02/21/c_13741684_5.htm

Polar bears not endangered, US confirms (via Dawn Holloway)

Environmental campaigners in the US have lost a battle to have the polar bear listed as an "endangered" species.

The US department of the interior has upheld a decision to classify the bear as "threatened" - a status that gives them less protection under the law.

The government said it did not find that polar bears were on the brink of extinction, needed to qualify for the status of "endangered".

Environmental campaigners have said they will challenge the decision.

'Anti-science decision'
Under the Endangered Species Act, the status of "endangered" requires the government to assess the impact of greenhouse gases on the bears' Arctic homelands.

When the government is considering permits for oil development in northern Alaska, it must include greenhouse gas emissions in its decision.

When the polar bear was listed as "threatened" by the administration of former US President George W Bush, officials invoked a special rule saying the Endangered Species Act could not be used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

So an "endangered" listing is a more powerful tool for limiting industrial activity that causes greenhouse gases.

The Centre for Biological Diversity - one of the groups trying to get the polar bear listed as "endangered" - said the ruling showed that the administration of US President Barack Obama was continuing to defend Bush-era "anti-science decisions".

It says polar bears face an 80% chance of extinction within 40 years and it will continue to challenge the US government in court.


By Rajesh Mirchandani

BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12065257

Polar bears not endangered, US confirms (via Dawn Holloway)

Environmental campaigners in the US have lost a battle to have the polar bear listed as an "endangered" species.

The US department of the interior has upheld a decision to classify the bear as "threatened" - a status that gives them less protection under the law.

The government said it did not find that polar bears were on the brink of extinction, needed to qualify for the status of "endangered".

Environmental campaigners have said they will challenge the decision.

'Anti-science decision'
Under the Endangered Species Act, the status of "endangered" requires the government to assess the impact of greenhouse gases on the bears' Arctic homelands.

When the government is considering permits for oil development in northern Alaska, it must include greenhouse gas emissions in its decision.

When the polar bear was listed as "threatened" by the administration of former US President George W Bush, officials invoked a special rule saying the Endangered Species Act could not be used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

So an "endangered" listing is a more powerful tool for limiting industrial activity that causes greenhouse gases.

The Centre for Biological Diversity - one of the groups trying to get the polar bear listed as "endangered" - said the ruling showed that the administration of US President Barack Obama was continuing to defend Bush-era "anti-science decisions".

It says polar bears face an 80% chance of extinction within 40 years and it will continue to challenge the US government in court.


By Rajesh Mirchandani

BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12065257

Russia offers China Amur leopard cooperation

(Reuters) - Russia has offered to work with China to create a joint nature reserve to help prevent the extinction of the Amur leopard, a Russian official said on Saturday.


"We have sent our proposals to China," said Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, in charge of a state-sponsored program to save the Amur leopard.

Ivanov said the leopards' habitat had shrunk by half in the last 20 years with only 30-35 remaining in the Russian Far East and about 10 in neighboring China and North Korea.

"The Amur leopard is on the brink of extinction," Ivanov told the Russian Geographical Society, blaming poaching, logging and forest fires. "We need to take urgent measures to save the leopard."

Ivanov outlined some of the measures, including construction of a $100-million railroad tunnel under a hill where leopards live so that the wild cats can roam freely.

(Writing by Gleb Bryanski)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6BA1MX20101211

Russia offers China Amur leopard cooperation

(Reuters) - Russia has offered to work with China to create a joint nature reserve to help prevent the extinction of the Amur leopard, a Russian official said on Saturday.


"We have sent our proposals to China," said Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, in charge of a state-sponsored program to save the Amur leopard.

Ivanov said the leopards' habitat had shrunk by half in the last 20 years with only 30-35 remaining in the Russian Far East and about 10 in neighboring China and North Korea.

"The Amur leopard is on the brink of extinction," Ivanov told the Russian Geographical Society, blaming poaching, logging and forest fires. "We need to take urgent measures to save the leopard."

Ivanov outlined some of the measures, including construction of a $100-million railroad tunnel under a hill where leopards live so that the wild cats can roam freely.

(Writing by Gleb Bryanski)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6BA1MX20101211