12 April 2011
A rare species of fish has been moved to higher ground to try to protect it from rising water temperatures.
Llamas were used to transport the endangered vendace 500m up mountain paths to a tarn in the Lake District.
Vendace, the UK's rarest freshwater fish, normally live in a lake environment.
But the Environment Agency said the species needed to be protected from the warming effects of climate change and its impact on rivers and lakes.
This project aims to establish a vendace "refuge".
Derwentwater, Cumbria, is now thought to be the only site in England and Wales where the fish exist.
The Environment Agency said the 25,000 fish were transported by llamas because the mountain paths were inaccessible by car, and it helped reduce the carbon footprint.
The llamas, from local charity Llama Karma Kafe, transported the newly hatched fish to Sprinkling Tarn, near Seathwaite Fell.
Fisheries officers on foot then helped transfer the fish to the cool waters of the tarn.
Andy Gowans, Fisheries Technical Specialist for the Environment Agency, said: "By introducing these vendace into Sprinkling Tarn, where water temperatures will be lower, it will provide an additional element of safeguarding for this endangered species.
"The fish will be closely monitored, in the hope that a self-sustaining population will be established."
Environment Agency Chairman, Lord Chris Smith, said: "Climate change is the biggest environmental challenge facing the world today.
"In addition to the anticipated warming of lakes and rivers, we may also see an increase in the occurrence of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves.
"All of these could have an impact on much of the native wildlife in England, especially aquatic species such as the rare and specialised vendace, so we are taking action now to conserve the existing populations."
The Environment Agency said it was also keeping a close eye on species such as salmon and trout, which were particularly vulnerable to increasing temperatures.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-13042511
(Via Dawn Holloway)
Showing posts with label llama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label llama. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Construction crews unearth fossil 'treasure trove'
A Riverside County site yields camels, llamas, horses and saber-toothed cats, some well over 1 million years old.
By Thomas H. Maugh II and Amina Khan Los Angeles Times
September 21, 2010
It happened more than a million years ago, but the fossilized evidence preserved the scene. A horse not much different from modern horses was enjoying a cool drink at a watering hole in what is now San Timoteo Canyon when a saber-toothed cat sneaked up and grabbed it by the haunch.
After finishing its meal, the cat left the skeleton to be buried in mud from flash floods. That cat, or one very like it, eventually also ended up dead and its skeleton joined the horse's in the accumulating sediment.
And then, 1.4 million years later, Southern California Edison crews constructing a new substation for the growing population of Riverside County unearthed the horse — tooth marks still distinct on its leg — the cat and a "treasure trove" of fossils.
Get important science news and discoveries delivered to your inbox with our Science & Environment newsletter. Sign up »
Excavation at the site has so far revealed what may be California's oldest example of the saber-toothed cat Smilodon gracilis, a specimen more than a million years older than the Smilodon fatalis from the La Brea tar pits, which carry an array of fossils dating to as recently as 9,000 years ago.
Scientists so far have identified more than 1,450 specimens, including about 250 large vertebrate fossils and more than 1,220 fossils that are rabbit-size or smaller.
"And we're still counting," said paleontologist Robert Reynolds of LSA Associates of Riverside, the consulting paleontologists who are handling the dig for Southern California Edison.
Other specimens include llamas, horses and deer and more saber-toothed cats, some rare and others previously unknown. There is one of the earliest examples of a giant ground sloth and many of the fossils are in a remarkably well-preserved state, Reynolds said.
Smaller animals include meadow mice, gophers and kangaroo rats. Some of the remains are found in fossilized excreta, indicating that owls or hawks were hunting in nearby areas, then flying in and depositing the remains of their dinner on the site.
Researchers have also found remains of birch, pine, sycamore, oak, willows and cottonwoods, as well as cattails and horsetails.
"I've been working in this area for more than 40 years and have never seen concentrations of fossils like this," Reynolds said. So far, he said, the team has found more than 30 different species.
The fossils sharply increase the number of specimens available from what is known as the Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal Age, which stretches from about 1.9 million years ago to 250,000 years ago.
The find is also of great interest to geologists who have been attempting to deduce the history of the San Jacinto fault, a major fault that parallels the better-known San Andreas. Because the fossils were located in once-flat land that has been formed into a hill by a succession of earthquakes along the San Jacinto fault, the age of the fossils found there provides a measure of when activity on that fault began, said geologist Jonathan C. Matti of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Comparison of the fossils with those from other sites revealed their age. That allowed scientists to deduce that the earthquakes caused by the San Jacinto fault that raised the land into hills had to be more recent than 1.4 million years ago.
"Anytime you get indicators … of how old rocks are, a geologist is filled with joy," Matti said. The new find suggests that the average slip rate along the fault is substantially greater than geologists had previously believed. That, in turn, suggests a potential for larger earthquakes linked to it.
"I'm really glad" that state law requires companies to perform such studies at construction sites, Matti added.
Southern California Edison has a team of 70 biologists, paleontologists and other scientists who monitor construction sites specifically for artifacts. The team suspected that fossils might be present because paleontologist L. Barry Albright III, formerly a graduate student at UC Riverside and now on the faculty of the University of North Florida, had discovered fossils of the same age in similar rock formation elsewhere in the San Timoteo badlands. He found only a few species, however.
Doug Morton, a UC Riverside geologist who has mapped the area, said the find surprised him. "If somebody had asked me ahead of time what they would encounter, I would have said 'damn little,' " he said.
Reynolds said few people know about the find and the team will probably not begin publishing its results until next April.
"This sounds like a very nice, diverse assemblage that has the potential to provide some very interesting information," said Dr. John Harris, chief curator of the Page Museum at the La Brea tar pits, who has not seen the fossils. "They will be an important addition" to existing collections, he added.
On Monday afternoon, researchers at LSA were gathered around a long table cleaning up some of the finds. Paleontologist Carl Bennett, a tattooed, mustachioed paleontologist, was hunched over a sloth skull as long as his forearm, using a whining needle-like tool to clear away a layer of dirt. The skull is "the best ground sloth west of Texas of this age," Reynolds said.
Nearby, Reynolds was washing down sandstone particles removed from larger bones to look for smaller rodents' teeth, insects and other tiny artifacts that can provide valuable insight into climate at the site. He pointed to pinkish, fingertip-size fossils of sloth skin armor among the detritus.
Michael Stokes, a preparator, gestured at the stone-encased remains of a horse that he said "looked like somebody had walked right through it." Many people believe skeletons like those of dinosaurs are laid out the way they died, he said, "but that's not the way we find them in real life."
Once the scientists have finished with them, the fossils will be transferred to the Western Science Center in Hemet for public display. That will probably happen late next year.
Excavation is complete at the site and the substation will open by the middle of next year. Paleontologists suspect there may be more fossils in undisturbed areas adjacent to the site, but so far, no one is looking.
thomas.maugh@latimes.com
amina.khan@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-fossils-20100921,0,3128425.story
(Submitted by Leslie Jones)
By Thomas H. Maugh II and Amina Khan Los Angeles Times
September 21, 2010
It happened more than a million years ago, but the fossilized evidence preserved the scene. A horse not much different from modern horses was enjoying a cool drink at a watering hole in what is now San Timoteo Canyon when a saber-toothed cat sneaked up and grabbed it by the haunch.
After finishing its meal, the cat left the skeleton to be buried in mud from flash floods. That cat, or one very like it, eventually also ended up dead and its skeleton joined the horse's in the accumulating sediment.
And then, 1.4 million years later, Southern California Edison crews constructing a new substation for the growing population of Riverside County unearthed the horse — tooth marks still distinct on its leg — the cat and a "treasure trove" of fossils.
Get important science news and discoveries delivered to your inbox with our Science & Environment newsletter. Sign up »
Excavation at the site has so far revealed what may be California's oldest example of the saber-toothed cat Smilodon gracilis, a specimen more than a million years older than the Smilodon fatalis from the La Brea tar pits, which carry an array of fossils dating to as recently as 9,000 years ago.
Scientists so far have identified more than 1,450 specimens, including about 250 large vertebrate fossils and more than 1,220 fossils that are rabbit-size or smaller.
"And we're still counting," said paleontologist Robert Reynolds of LSA Associates of Riverside, the consulting paleontologists who are handling the dig for Southern California Edison.
Other specimens include llamas, horses and deer and more saber-toothed cats, some rare and others previously unknown. There is one of the earliest examples of a giant ground sloth and many of the fossils are in a remarkably well-preserved state, Reynolds said.
Smaller animals include meadow mice, gophers and kangaroo rats. Some of the remains are found in fossilized excreta, indicating that owls or hawks were hunting in nearby areas, then flying in and depositing the remains of their dinner on the site.
Researchers have also found remains of birch, pine, sycamore, oak, willows and cottonwoods, as well as cattails and horsetails.
"I've been working in this area for more than 40 years and have never seen concentrations of fossils like this," Reynolds said. So far, he said, the team has found more than 30 different species.
The fossils sharply increase the number of specimens available from what is known as the Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal Age, which stretches from about 1.9 million years ago to 250,000 years ago.
The find is also of great interest to geologists who have been attempting to deduce the history of the San Jacinto fault, a major fault that parallels the better-known San Andreas. Because the fossils were located in once-flat land that has been formed into a hill by a succession of earthquakes along the San Jacinto fault, the age of the fossils found there provides a measure of when activity on that fault began, said geologist Jonathan C. Matti of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Comparison of the fossils with those from other sites revealed their age. That allowed scientists to deduce that the earthquakes caused by the San Jacinto fault that raised the land into hills had to be more recent than 1.4 million years ago.
"Anytime you get indicators … of how old rocks are, a geologist is filled with joy," Matti said. The new find suggests that the average slip rate along the fault is substantially greater than geologists had previously believed. That, in turn, suggests a potential for larger earthquakes linked to it.
"I'm really glad" that state law requires companies to perform such studies at construction sites, Matti added.
Southern California Edison has a team of 70 biologists, paleontologists and other scientists who monitor construction sites specifically for artifacts. The team suspected that fossils might be present because paleontologist L. Barry Albright III, formerly a graduate student at UC Riverside and now on the faculty of the University of North Florida, had discovered fossils of the same age in similar rock formation elsewhere in the San Timoteo badlands. He found only a few species, however.
Doug Morton, a UC Riverside geologist who has mapped the area, said the find surprised him. "If somebody had asked me ahead of time what they would encounter, I would have said 'damn little,' " he said.
Reynolds said few people know about the find and the team will probably not begin publishing its results until next April.
"This sounds like a very nice, diverse assemblage that has the potential to provide some very interesting information," said Dr. John Harris, chief curator of the Page Museum at the La Brea tar pits, who has not seen the fossils. "They will be an important addition" to existing collections, he added.
On Monday afternoon, researchers at LSA were gathered around a long table cleaning up some of the finds. Paleontologist Carl Bennett, a tattooed, mustachioed paleontologist, was hunched over a sloth skull as long as his forearm, using a whining needle-like tool to clear away a layer of dirt. The skull is "the best ground sloth west of Texas of this age," Reynolds said.
Nearby, Reynolds was washing down sandstone particles removed from larger bones to look for smaller rodents' teeth, insects and other tiny artifacts that can provide valuable insight into climate at the site. He pointed to pinkish, fingertip-size fossils of sloth skin armor among the detritus.
Michael Stokes, a preparator, gestured at the stone-encased remains of a horse that he said "looked like somebody had walked right through it." Many people believe skeletons like those of dinosaurs are laid out the way they died, he said, "but that's not the way we find them in real life."
Once the scientists have finished with them, the fossils will be transferred to the Western Science Center in Hemet for public display. That will probably happen late next year.
Excavation is complete at the site and the substation will open by the middle of next year. Paleontologists suspect there may be more fossils in undisturbed areas adjacent to the site, but so far, no one is looking.
thomas.maugh@latimes.com
amina.khan@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-fossils-20100921,0,3128425.story
(Submitted by Leslie Jones)
Construction crews unearth fossil 'treasure trove'
A Riverside County site yields camels, llamas, horses and saber-toothed cats, some well over 1 million years old.
By Thomas H. Maugh II and Amina Khan Los Angeles Times
September 21, 2010
It happened more than a million years ago, but the fossilized evidence preserved the scene. A horse not much different from modern horses was enjoying a cool drink at a watering hole in what is now San Timoteo Canyon when a saber-toothed cat sneaked up and grabbed it by the haunch.
After finishing its meal, the cat left the skeleton to be buried in mud from flash floods. That cat, or one very like it, eventually also ended up dead and its skeleton joined the horse's in the accumulating sediment.
And then, 1.4 million years later, Southern California Edison crews constructing a new substation for the growing population of Riverside County unearthed the horse — tooth marks still distinct on its leg — the cat and a "treasure trove" of fossils.
Get important science news and discoveries delivered to your inbox with our Science & Environment newsletter. Sign up »
Excavation at the site has so far revealed what may be California's oldest example of the saber-toothed cat Smilodon gracilis, a specimen more than a million years older than the Smilodon fatalis from the La Brea tar pits, which carry an array of fossils dating to as recently as 9,000 years ago.
Scientists so far have identified more than 1,450 specimens, including about 250 large vertebrate fossils and more than 1,220 fossils that are rabbit-size or smaller.
"And we're still counting," said paleontologist Robert Reynolds of LSA Associates of Riverside, the consulting paleontologists who are handling the dig for Southern California Edison.
Other specimens include llamas, horses and deer and more saber-toothed cats, some rare and others previously unknown. There is one of the earliest examples of a giant ground sloth and many of the fossils are in a remarkably well-preserved state, Reynolds said.
Smaller animals include meadow mice, gophers and kangaroo rats. Some of the remains are found in fossilized excreta, indicating that owls or hawks were hunting in nearby areas, then flying in and depositing the remains of their dinner on the site.
Researchers have also found remains of birch, pine, sycamore, oak, willows and cottonwoods, as well as cattails and horsetails.
"I've been working in this area for more than 40 years and have never seen concentrations of fossils like this," Reynolds said. So far, he said, the team has found more than 30 different species.
The fossils sharply increase the number of specimens available from what is known as the Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal Age, which stretches from about 1.9 million years ago to 250,000 years ago.
The find is also of great interest to geologists who have been attempting to deduce the history of the San Jacinto fault, a major fault that parallels the better-known San Andreas. Because the fossils were located in once-flat land that has been formed into a hill by a succession of earthquakes along the San Jacinto fault, the age of the fossils found there provides a measure of when activity on that fault began, said geologist Jonathan C. Matti of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Comparison of the fossils with those from other sites revealed their age. That allowed scientists to deduce that the earthquakes caused by the San Jacinto fault that raised the land into hills had to be more recent than 1.4 million years ago.
"Anytime you get indicators … of how old rocks are, a geologist is filled with joy," Matti said. The new find suggests that the average slip rate along the fault is substantially greater than geologists had previously believed. That, in turn, suggests a potential for larger earthquakes linked to it.
"I'm really glad" that state law requires companies to perform such studies at construction sites, Matti added.
Southern California Edison has a team of 70 biologists, paleontologists and other scientists who monitor construction sites specifically for artifacts. The team suspected that fossils might be present because paleontologist L. Barry Albright III, formerly a graduate student at UC Riverside and now on the faculty of the University of North Florida, had discovered fossils of the same age in similar rock formation elsewhere in the San Timoteo badlands. He found only a few species, however.
Doug Morton, a UC Riverside geologist who has mapped the area, said the find surprised him. "If somebody had asked me ahead of time what they would encounter, I would have said 'damn little,' " he said.
Reynolds said few people know about the find and the team will probably not begin publishing its results until next April.
"This sounds like a very nice, diverse assemblage that has the potential to provide some very interesting information," said Dr. John Harris, chief curator of the Page Museum at the La Brea tar pits, who has not seen the fossils. "They will be an important addition" to existing collections, he added.
On Monday afternoon, researchers at LSA were gathered around a long table cleaning up some of the finds. Paleontologist Carl Bennett, a tattooed, mustachioed paleontologist, was hunched over a sloth skull as long as his forearm, using a whining needle-like tool to clear away a layer of dirt. The skull is "the best ground sloth west of Texas of this age," Reynolds said.
Nearby, Reynolds was washing down sandstone particles removed from larger bones to look for smaller rodents' teeth, insects and other tiny artifacts that can provide valuable insight into climate at the site. He pointed to pinkish, fingertip-size fossils of sloth skin armor among the detritus.
Michael Stokes, a preparator, gestured at the stone-encased remains of a horse that he said "looked like somebody had walked right through it." Many people believe skeletons like those of dinosaurs are laid out the way they died, he said, "but that's not the way we find them in real life."
Once the scientists have finished with them, the fossils will be transferred to the Western Science Center in Hemet for public display. That will probably happen late next year.
Excavation is complete at the site and the substation will open by the middle of next year. Paleontologists suspect there may be more fossils in undisturbed areas adjacent to the site, but so far, no one is looking.
thomas.maugh@latimes.com
amina.khan@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-fossils-20100921,0,3128425.story
(Submitted by Leslie Jones)
By Thomas H. Maugh II and Amina Khan Los Angeles Times
September 21, 2010
It happened more than a million years ago, but the fossilized evidence preserved the scene. A horse not much different from modern horses was enjoying a cool drink at a watering hole in what is now San Timoteo Canyon when a saber-toothed cat sneaked up and grabbed it by the haunch.
After finishing its meal, the cat left the skeleton to be buried in mud from flash floods. That cat, or one very like it, eventually also ended up dead and its skeleton joined the horse's in the accumulating sediment.
And then, 1.4 million years later, Southern California Edison crews constructing a new substation for the growing population of Riverside County unearthed the horse — tooth marks still distinct on its leg — the cat and a "treasure trove" of fossils.
Get important science news and discoveries delivered to your inbox with our Science & Environment newsletter. Sign up »
Excavation at the site has so far revealed what may be California's oldest example of the saber-toothed cat Smilodon gracilis, a specimen more than a million years older than the Smilodon fatalis from the La Brea tar pits, which carry an array of fossils dating to as recently as 9,000 years ago.
Scientists so far have identified more than 1,450 specimens, including about 250 large vertebrate fossils and more than 1,220 fossils that are rabbit-size or smaller.
"And we're still counting," said paleontologist Robert Reynolds of LSA Associates of Riverside, the consulting paleontologists who are handling the dig for Southern California Edison.
Other specimens include llamas, horses and deer and more saber-toothed cats, some rare and others previously unknown. There is one of the earliest examples of a giant ground sloth and many of the fossils are in a remarkably well-preserved state, Reynolds said.
Smaller animals include meadow mice, gophers and kangaroo rats. Some of the remains are found in fossilized excreta, indicating that owls or hawks were hunting in nearby areas, then flying in and depositing the remains of their dinner on the site.
Researchers have also found remains of birch, pine, sycamore, oak, willows and cottonwoods, as well as cattails and horsetails.
"I've been working in this area for more than 40 years and have never seen concentrations of fossils like this," Reynolds said. So far, he said, the team has found more than 30 different species.
The fossils sharply increase the number of specimens available from what is known as the Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal Age, which stretches from about 1.9 million years ago to 250,000 years ago.
The find is also of great interest to geologists who have been attempting to deduce the history of the San Jacinto fault, a major fault that parallels the better-known San Andreas. Because the fossils were located in once-flat land that has been formed into a hill by a succession of earthquakes along the San Jacinto fault, the age of the fossils found there provides a measure of when activity on that fault began, said geologist Jonathan C. Matti of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Comparison of the fossils with those from other sites revealed their age. That allowed scientists to deduce that the earthquakes caused by the San Jacinto fault that raised the land into hills had to be more recent than 1.4 million years ago.
"Anytime you get indicators … of how old rocks are, a geologist is filled with joy," Matti said. The new find suggests that the average slip rate along the fault is substantially greater than geologists had previously believed. That, in turn, suggests a potential for larger earthquakes linked to it.
"I'm really glad" that state law requires companies to perform such studies at construction sites, Matti added.
Southern California Edison has a team of 70 biologists, paleontologists and other scientists who monitor construction sites specifically for artifacts. The team suspected that fossils might be present because paleontologist L. Barry Albright III, formerly a graduate student at UC Riverside and now on the faculty of the University of North Florida, had discovered fossils of the same age in similar rock formation elsewhere in the San Timoteo badlands. He found only a few species, however.
Doug Morton, a UC Riverside geologist who has mapped the area, said the find surprised him. "If somebody had asked me ahead of time what they would encounter, I would have said 'damn little,' " he said.
Reynolds said few people know about the find and the team will probably not begin publishing its results until next April.
"This sounds like a very nice, diverse assemblage that has the potential to provide some very interesting information," said Dr. John Harris, chief curator of the Page Museum at the La Brea tar pits, who has not seen the fossils. "They will be an important addition" to existing collections, he added.
On Monday afternoon, researchers at LSA were gathered around a long table cleaning up some of the finds. Paleontologist Carl Bennett, a tattooed, mustachioed paleontologist, was hunched over a sloth skull as long as his forearm, using a whining needle-like tool to clear away a layer of dirt. The skull is "the best ground sloth west of Texas of this age," Reynolds said.
Nearby, Reynolds was washing down sandstone particles removed from larger bones to look for smaller rodents' teeth, insects and other tiny artifacts that can provide valuable insight into climate at the site. He pointed to pinkish, fingertip-size fossils of sloth skin armor among the detritus.
Michael Stokes, a preparator, gestured at the stone-encased remains of a horse that he said "looked like somebody had walked right through it." Many people believe skeletons like those of dinosaurs are laid out the way they died, he said, "but that's not the way we find them in real life."
Once the scientists have finished with them, the fossils will be transferred to the Western Science Center in Hemet for public display. That will probably happen late next year.
Excavation is complete at the site and the substation will open by the middle of next year. Paleontologists suspect there may be more fossils in undisturbed areas adjacent to the site, but so far, no one is looking.
thomas.maugh@latimes.com
amina.khan@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-fossils-20100921,0,3128425.story
(Submitted by Leslie Jones)
Friday, July 16, 2010
Eager male llama chases female onto highway
BERLIN | Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:51pm IST
BERLIN (Reuters) - A male llama chased his prospective mate onto a busy German motorway forcing police to rescue her, authorities said Wednesday.
Thomas Reuter, spokesman for police in the town of Gifhorn, said the male llama had caused the female, called Luisa, to panic and flee their pasture by jumping over a fence onto the highway.
"She was trying to save her skin from the lovesick male llama," Reuter said. "She was in a state of panic."
Three police squad cars responded to calls for help from startled motorists. Officers were able to coax Luisa into a nearby forest, where they caught her with a lasso.
(Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Matthew Jones)
http://in.reuters.com/article/idINTRE66E4HN20100715
BERLIN (Reuters) - A male llama chased his prospective mate onto a busy German motorway forcing police to rescue her, authorities said Wednesday.
Thomas Reuter, spokesman for police in the town of Gifhorn, said the male llama had caused the female, called Luisa, to panic and flee their pasture by jumping over a fence onto the highway.
"She was trying to save her skin from the lovesick male llama," Reuter said. "She was in a state of panic."
Three police squad cars responded to calls for help from startled motorists. Officers were able to coax Luisa into a nearby forest, where they caught her with a lasso.
(Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Matthew Jones)
http://in.reuters.com/article/idINTRE66E4HN20100715
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Llama drama on German motorway
14 July 2010
A love-shy llama called Luisa sparked chaos as she leapt over a fence onto a motorway in Germany to escape the amorous advances of a male llama, forcing police to close the road, authorities said Wednesday.
Police in Gifhorn, around 250 kilometres west of Berlin, received several calls from stunned motorists as Luisa bolted down the B4 motorway in the direction of the nearby city of Braunschweig.
"We sent three police cars with six officers," police spokesman Thomas Reuter said.
After closing the road, police managed to corner Luisa and move her to safety in a nearby wood.
Her 45-year-old owner had meanwhile heard about the drama on the radio and rushed to the area.
Between them, they managed to lasso Luisa and take her into police custody.
"She was not aggressive, just shy and a bit scared," Mr Reuter said.
She returned to her paddock after her exciting excursion and she was "greeted with joy by her five llama colleagues and several donkeys," police said.
Luisa's bid for freedom was the latest in a slew of animal escape attempts that have hit the news in Germany.
In the last fortnight, police have been called to two separate incidents involving runaway crocodiles.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/14/2953864.htm
A love-shy llama called Luisa sparked chaos as she leapt over a fence onto a motorway in Germany to escape the amorous advances of a male llama, forcing police to close the road, authorities said Wednesday.
Police in Gifhorn, around 250 kilometres west of Berlin, received several calls from stunned motorists as Luisa bolted down the B4 motorway in the direction of the nearby city of Braunschweig.
"We sent three police cars with six officers," police spokesman Thomas Reuter said.
After closing the road, police managed to corner Luisa and move her to safety in a nearby wood.
Her 45-year-old owner had meanwhile heard about the drama on the radio and rushed to the area.
Between them, they managed to lasso Luisa and take her into police custody.
"She was not aggressive, just shy and a bit scared," Mr Reuter said.
She returned to her paddock after her exciting excursion and she was "greeted with joy by her five llama colleagues and several donkeys," police said.
Luisa's bid for freedom was the latest in a slew of animal escape attempts that have hit the news in Germany.
In the last fortnight, police have been called to two separate incidents involving runaway crocodiles.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/14/2953864.htm
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Llamas act as bouncers for chicks at Merseyside reserve
Tuesday, 27 April 2010 07:42 UKLlamas have been drafted in to protect eggs and chicks of wading birds at a Merseyside nature park.
The two highly territorial camelids, called Willy and Jack, are being used to scare off predators at the Marshside reserve in Southport.
Recruited by the RSPB, the South American creatures are known for their aggressive behaviour when threatened.
Graham Clarkson, RSPB Marshside warden, hopes the llamas will keep animals such as foxes at bay.
He said: "Llamas are territorial and should chase away animals like foxes that can eat lapwing and redshank eggs and chicks.
"We hope it will make a difference to how successful the birds are this year.
"It is particularly important that they do well as the populations of these breeding birds are threatened in the UK, so we will be monitoring the outcome of this experiment carefully."
It is hoped their slightly erratic behaviour, along with the groaning noises and the sound they make when afraid or angry, will be a deterrent. They are also known to spit at and attack each other when provoked, but are gentle creatures when calm.
Lapwing and redshank birds, which nest at Marshside, are among those under threat in the UK.
The llama and its relative the alpaca are already used as livestock guards to protect lambs and sheep from predators.
The Prince of Wales uses alpacas to protect his lambs from foxes during lambing season at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire estate.
Local grazier Gill Baker, who provides the cattle to graze the marsh, said: "The 'boys' are a great hit with locals and visitors to the reserve.
"They will hopefully do a great job looking after the birds and can live quite harmoniously with the cows there."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8645757.stm
(Sumitted by Liz R)
Monday, January 4, 2010
Frito the llama escapes getting munched, back at home in Wyo. after 2nd llama killed by cougar
Associated Press
Last update: December 31, 2009 - 1:50 PM
ALTA, Wyo. - Frito the llama defied his name and didn't get eaten.
Lou Centrella seemed sure that was Frito's fate after a mountain lion killed another of his llamas on Sunday. Frito was nowhere to be found after the attack on the other llama, named Grayson.
On Monday, the cougar returned to the Centrellas' yard in western Wyoming to feed on the llama it had killed. Concerned the big cat may have acquired a taste for llama, Centrella shot it.
Wildlife officials say he was within his rights, but Centrella says he felt bad about killing the mountain lion.
Centrella and his daughters Lane and Mila went looking for Frito on Wednesday. They found him four miles away, across the state line in Driggs, Idaho.
They put a rope on the errant llama and led him home through the snow.
___
Information from: Jackson Hole News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/
http://www.startribune.com/nation/80430382.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiacyKU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUX
(Submitted by D.R. Shoop)
Last update: December 31, 2009 - 1:50 PM
ALTA, Wyo. - Frito the llama defied his name and didn't get eaten.
Lou Centrella seemed sure that was Frito's fate after a mountain lion killed another of his llamas on Sunday. Frito was nowhere to be found after the attack on the other llama, named Grayson.
On Monday, the cougar returned to the Centrellas' yard in western Wyoming to feed on the llama it had killed. Concerned the big cat may have acquired a taste for llama, Centrella shot it.
Wildlife officials say he was within his rights, but Centrella says he felt bad about killing the mountain lion.
Centrella and his daughters Lane and Mila went looking for Frito on Wednesday. They found him four miles away, across the state line in Driggs, Idaho.
They put a rope on the errant llama and led him home through the snow.
___
Information from: Jackson Hole News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/
http://www.startribune.com/nation/80430382.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiacyKU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUX
(Submitted by D.R. Shoop)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Llamas cleared from Dublin M-way
Thursday, 1 October 2009A herd of llamas has been cleared from the M50 motorway in Dublin.
Six of the animals got onto the carriageway close to the Red Cow roundabout, reputed to be the busiest junction in Ireland.
The northbound off-ramp at the junction was closed for a time as police officers rounded-up the animals and got them onto trucks.
It is thought the llamas may have come from a circus.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8285157.stm
Llamas cleared from Dublin M-way
Thursday, 1 October 2009A herd of llamas has been cleared from the M50 motorway in Dublin.
Six of the animals got onto the carriageway close to the Red Cow roundabout, reputed to be the busiest junction in Ireland.
The northbound off-ramp at the junction was closed for a time as police officers rounded-up the animals and got them onto trucks.
It is thought the llamas may have come from a circus.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8285157.stm
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