In pictures: the seahorse fry found in English waters

Thought to be about eight weeks old
September 2011: These charming images were captured by a quick-thinking fisherman who found a baby spiny seahorse - fry - off the coast of West Sussex. It is only the second time seahorse fry have been found in England.

Fisherman Graham Andrews was four miles out to sea found the tiny creature while trying to clear his line. He had reeled in his line to clear snagged thong weed, but found the spiny seahorse curled up tightly on the weight at the end. Graham took a few pictures of the tiny creature before putting it back into the water, where it would have drifted back down to the depths to hide amongst the weed again, hoping not to be found.

Graham contacted The Seahorse Trust who run the British Seahorse Survey and reported his find so it could be added to the organisation's National Seahorse Database. Experts at the Seahorse trust think the creature was female, and about eight weeks old.

Without fishermen, divers and others submitting sightings to the database the trust would not be able to protect seahorses in the wild here in England and Wales.

Thanks to volunteers and others submitting their sightings, The Seahorse Trust had both British seahorses - the spiny seahorse and the short-snouted seahorse - added to the Wildlife and Countryside Act where they have the same protection as otters, great crested newts and water voles.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/seahorse-fry.html

Rare sea creature and slimy surprise found in Cornwall

Violet sea snail spotted near Polzeath

July 20l1. A rare and beautiful sea snail has been found by a Cornwall Wildlife Trust volunteer in Polzeath, North Cornwall. This is the first sighting of such an unusual creature in over 3 years, according to the Environmental Records Centre of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Violet sea snail
A violet sea snail, which gets its name from its vivid colour, is an oceanic drifter with a mucus bubble raft which supports them on the ocean surface. They travel with their prey in tropical and semi tropical ocean drifts therefore arriving in Cornish waters must be quite a shock! Once in a while they wash up in this part of the world, often with other exciting drifters such as goose barnacles and the infamous Portuguese Man-of -War jellyfish.

Abby Crosby, Marine Conservation Officer for Cornwall Wildlife Trust says "Finds like this rare sea snail are exciting and incredibly interesting to marine biologists as they inform us about the processes occurring in the ocean. What is also fantastic is that our volunteer Steve Hearnshaw, who has been supporting the Trust and helping with marine events and activities around Polzeath through our ‘Your Shore' project, has learnt so much through his volunteering that he has the knowledge to spot these exciting things!'

Cornwall Wildlife Trust is the county's leading wildlife conservation charity and has 14,000 members and over 85 Business Members. The Trust supports the Polzeath Voluntary Marine Conservation Area and its Marine Centre through the Your Shore Project.

If you would like to volunteer like Steve please www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/yourshore or contact Your Shore Project Officer Abby Crosby on abby.crosby@cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk and find out more.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/violet-sea-snail.htmlsea

Rare croc lays dozens of eggs at St. Augustine Alligator Farm

Fertile ones will hatch in a few months; fewer than 1,000 exist now.
Posted: April 15, 2011 - 12:00am

By Marcia Lane

St. Augustine Record

ST. AUGUSTINE - Officials at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park know just how those women feel who deliver babies all the while protesting they weren't even aware they were expecting.

"We didn't know she was pregnant," said John Brueggen, director of the popular tourist exhibit.

"She" is a 15-year-old gharial crocodilian named Karma, an India native who on Thursday presented the zoological park with a clutch of 41 eggs. Those eggs are the first since a group of juvenile gharials was brought into the United States about 15 years ago in an effort to help preserve the critically endangered species. There are fewer than 1,000 in the world.

The eggs count as "a very big deal," Brueggen said.

Keepers found 30 eggs in the pond that's part of an exhibit housing two females and one male gharial, a species losing its habitat and lives to habitat destruction and over-fishing. As the day progressed, Karma laid another 11 in the pond.

Normally the mother would have dug a hole in a sandbank in which to lay her eggs; the pond delivery was her way of telling the staff they hadn't provided a good place for her to give birth.

"We thought we had years," Brueggen said of the gharials, who at 15 are still considered juveniles.

Normally when the male is sexually mature a large node grows on the tip of its long narrow snout. That node is known as a ghara, and the source of the animal's name. The male at the Alligator Farm has developed a small ghara, but nothing like that found on gharials in the wild.

Then those eggs appeared. Keepers rescued the eggs from the water. If they had left them, water would have seeped inside drowning the embryo. The thick mucus around each egg protected them.

Jen Walkowich, a reptile keeper at the facility, cleaned off the eggs, measured them and marked them with a pencil. From there they were put in plastic containers filled with a vermiculite mix (yes, like the stuff used in gardening).

"It keeps the moisture. You need close to 100 percent humidity," Brueggen said.

One of the eggs was broken during the transfers from outside to inside.

The remaining eggs are now divided among three incubators in order to eliminate the risk of mechanical failure. The gharials are temperature dependent for sex determination, and the incubators are set at 89 to 92 degrees.

Within a few days, park officials should know which of the eggs are fertile.

The clue will be a dark band that develops around the egg. After that happens the eggs can't be turned since the young develop from the top down and turning could kill them.

"Once we know they're fertile, everything is in our hands," Brueggen said.

In about two months the gharials should hatch, and then the Alligator Farm can start handing out the cigars.

Protecting the species

Fifteen years ago the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park joined with others to help the Indian gharial.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the number of gharials has declined 96 to 98 percent since 1946. In the 1970s the gharial was considered on the brink of extinction and is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN.

It's estimated the wild population is now down to several hundred and the total population including captive animals is less than 1,000.

These days 15 of the animals are in six institutions in the United States.

"We knew we had to start breeding some sort of as an insurance colony," said Brueggen. "They're a very rare species in the wild."

The facility's three gharials - Raj, Karma and Sutra - came to the facility 15 years ago as young animals only a couple of feet long.

These days they're 11 feet plus in length. Raj is one of only three males in the United States.

"What's endangering [the species] the most is mostly habitat destruction, polluted rivers, over fishing and, oddly enough, the mafia in India. They steal sand for construction purposes. The animals need pristine sand beaches along the river to lay their eggs," Brueggen said.

Unlike alligators that mound their nests out of vegetation and lay their eggs, the gharials are like sea turtles and dig holes in the sand in which to lay their eggs. They don't lay where the sand is disturbed.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-04-15/story/rare-croc-lays-dozens-eggs-st-augustine-alligator-farm

Rare Giant Goby found in the Helford River

The Giant Goby found in the Helford River

9:10am Saturday 16th April 2011

A rare fish has been uncovered in the Helford River by rockpoolers from Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

The Giant Goby is a southern European fish, and is not usually found in colder northern waters.

But the volunteers, led by fish expert Doug Herdson, came across the rare find while taking part in a training programme put together as part of the Your Shore project.

“It was fantastic end to an inspiring and exciting day out on the shore,” said Abby Cross, Marine Conservation Officer for Cornwall Wildlife Trust “Giant Gobies are protected under schedule five of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 so, after the group had confirmed its identification, the leader Doug Herdson, was quick to ensure that the fish was returned immediately to the rock pool that it was found in.”

The Your Shore project is part of Cornwall Wildlife Trust's Marine Conservation programme, and runs events and activities which aim to engage people with the marine environment.

It runs for three years and is based within the Voluntary Marine Conservation areas of St Agnes and Polzeath on the north coast, and Helford, Fowey and Looe on the south.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/8978040.Rare_fish_found_in_the_Helford_River/?ref=mr
(Via Liz R)

Romney Marsh & Dungeness the last refuge of rare species

Monday, 31 January 2011

An area of Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay has been identified as one of the ten most important wildlife sites in the country by Natural England, the government’s advisor on the natural environment.

The sites, registered as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) which mark the best examples of wildlife and geology that the UK can offer, are the last refuge of some of England’s rarest species. The Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay SSSI being the last place in the South East were the Sussex Emerald moth is found.

The larvae of the moth loves the Dungeness peninsular, where the caterpillar's favoured food – wild carrot – thrives on the free-draining, vegetated shingle.

Helen Phillips, Natural England’s Chief Executive, said: "SSSIs are often all that stand between some of our most threatened species and extinction. By providing essential habitat that may not be found elsewhere, they represent a life support system whose importance cannot be overstated. It’s important that we celebrate these last refuges and the species they sustain, so that we can ensure they receive the attention and support they need."

The Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay SSSI was one of 10 sites highlighted by Natural England without which the organisation says a number of fragile species clinging to survival would disappear from the UK and some would become globally extinct.

The other sites identified are:

• Avon Gorge SSSI in Bristol/Somerset,
• Derbyshire Cressbrook Dale SSSI,
• Cranmore SSSI on the Isle of Wight,
• Lindisfarne SSSI in Northumberland,
• Windsor Forest and Great Park SSSI,
• Upper Teesdale SSSI in Co. Durham.

Two sites Dorset and Cambridgeshire were also identified but remained undisclosed.

The ten SSSIs are among 4,119 across England, ranging from a 4.5 sq m barn in Gloucestershire (home to lesser horseshoe bats) to huge areas such as 37,000 hectares of the Humber estuary (where a colony of grey seals and 50,000 golden plovers are found) which in total cover more than 8 per cent of England.

http://www.romneymarshtimes.com/2011/01/romney-marsh-dungeness-last-refuge-of.html

Romney Marsh & Dungeness the last refuge of rare species

Monday, 31 January 2011

An area of Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay has been identified as one of the ten most important wildlife sites in the country by Natural England, the government’s advisor on the natural environment.

The sites, registered as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) which mark the best examples of wildlife and geology that the UK can offer, are the last refuge of some of England’s rarest species. The Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay SSSI being the last place in the South East were the Sussex Emerald moth is found.

The larvae of the moth loves the Dungeness peninsular, where the caterpillar's favoured food – wild carrot – thrives on the free-draining, vegetated shingle.

Helen Phillips, Natural England’s Chief Executive, said: "SSSIs are often all that stand between some of our most threatened species and extinction. By providing essential habitat that may not be found elsewhere, they represent a life support system whose importance cannot be overstated. It’s important that we celebrate these last refuges and the species they sustain, so that we can ensure they receive the attention and support they need."

The Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay SSSI was one of 10 sites highlighted by Natural England without which the organisation says a number of fragile species clinging to survival would disappear from the UK and some would become globally extinct.

The other sites identified are:

• Avon Gorge SSSI in Bristol/Somerset,
• Derbyshire Cressbrook Dale SSSI,
• Cranmore SSSI on the Isle of Wight,
• Lindisfarne SSSI in Northumberland,
• Windsor Forest and Great Park SSSI,
• Upper Teesdale SSSI in Co. Durham.

Two sites Dorset and Cambridgeshire were also identified but remained undisclosed.

The ten SSSIs are among 4,119 across England, ranging from a 4.5 sq m barn in Gloucestershire (home to lesser horseshoe bats) to huge areas such as 37,000 hectares of the Humber estuary (where a colony of grey seals and 50,000 golden plovers are found) which in total cover more than 8 per cent of England.

http://www.romneymarshtimes.com/2011/01/romney-marsh-dungeness-last-refuge-of.html

Rare species vulture rescued

This rare species vulture, rescued by locals after its electrocution near Srimongal upazila town in
Moulviabazar district on Thursday, is kept for treatment at the mini zoo owned by Sitesh Ranjan Dev,
a wildlife expert in Srimongal. Photo: STAR

Sunday, January 23, 2011
Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar

A rare species vulture was rescued by locals when it was hit by a full voltage electricity wire near Srimongal upazila town on Thursday. The near extinct vulture is now under treatment at the mini zoo of Sitesh Ranjan Deb at Srimongal town. Every day a large number of people are visiting the zoo to see the vulture. Zoo owner Sitesh Ranjan Deb, also an eminent wild life expert said, the right wing of the 10-kg vulture was seriously injured after being hit by a full voltage electricity wire at Uttarsur village near Srimongal town on Thursday. Instantly the vulture fell down the ground. Local people caught the injured vulture. Later, Sitesh brought it to his zoo. The zoo owner is giving treatment to the near extinct bird which is rarely seen in our country. Sitesh said about 15 to 20 days will be needed for complete cure of the bird. Afterwards, the vulture will be freed, Sitesh said.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=171186

Rare species vulture rescued

This rare species vulture, rescued by locals after its electrocution near Srimongal upazila town in
Moulviabazar district on Thursday, is kept for treatment at the mini zoo owned by Sitesh Ranjan Dev,
a wildlife expert in Srimongal. Photo: STAR

Sunday, January 23, 2011
Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar

A rare species vulture was rescued by locals when it was hit by a full voltage electricity wire near Srimongal upazila town on Thursday. The near extinct vulture is now under treatment at the mini zoo of Sitesh Ranjan Deb at Srimongal town. Every day a large number of people are visiting the zoo to see the vulture. Zoo owner Sitesh Ranjan Deb, also an eminent wild life expert said, the right wing of the 10-kg vulture was seriously injured after being hit by a full voltage electricity wire at Uttarsur village near Srimongal town on Thursday. Instantly the vulture fell down the ground. Local people caught the injured vulture. Later, Sitesh brought it to his zoo. The zoo owner is giving treatment to the near extinct bird which is rarely seen in our country. Sitesh said about 15 to 20 days will be needed for complete cure of the bird. Afterwards, the vulture will be freed, Sitesh said.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=171186

Rare panda cow born on farm near Campion

Reporter-Herald/Tom Hacker

Chris Jessen holds Ben, a newborn miniature panda calf, on Friday as its mother, Bella, alowline Angus cow, stands by in her stall on Jessen’s farm east of Campion.

Publish Date: 1/1/2011

It is safe to say that Ben is the last miniature panda cow born anywhere in 2010.

In fact, he has few peers, being a calf and one of only 24 of the scarce breed in the world.

At just after 8 a.m. Friday, on a farm east of Campion, Ben entered the world after mother Bella, a lowline Angus cow, spent a zero-degree night in labor in her stall.

Two hours later, still wet and shivering, the tiny calf snuggled against his diminutive mother.

“We’ll get him bundled up pretty soon,” said Chris Jessen, who has miniature donkeys, other miniature cattle breeds and even a wallaby — a miniature kangaroo — on his hobby farm.

“We’ve got a regular petting zoo, here,” wife Pam Jessen said.

It could have been even more so, with the Jessens having explored the idea of raising reindeer, and even camels, on their acreage.

Ben’s namesake is Chris Jessen’s brother, also born on New Year’s Eve.

“He was the first person I called this morning,” he said.

The miniature panda cow is the result of 44 years of genetic manipulation by Richard Gradwohl, a farmer in Covington, Wash., about 20 miles southeast of Seattle.

A white belt encircling the animal’s midsection, and the white face with black ovals around the eyes, give the cow an appearance that is very much panda-like.

“We had a Chinese delegation visit our farm, and they were fascinated,” Gradwohl said in a telephone interview Friday. “They want them in China, so we’re going to be exporting.”

He describes the breed that he has trademarked as an eight-breed composite, drawing on previous strains of miniature cattle that he also developed.

“There are 26 breeds of miniature cattle in the world, and we developed 18 of them,” said Gradwohl who has seven of the existing 24 panda cows on his Happy Mountain Farm.

Miniature panda calves sell for as much as $30,000 from Gradwohl’s online clearinghouse for mini-cow aficionados. While Chris Jessen said he’ll likely sell Ben, his price has not been set.

As a small entourage cleared the gate leading to the stall where Ben and Bella were recovering from their ordeal, Molly and Bacco, the two miniature donkeys, greeted them.

“They get a little nippy,” Jessen said. “They like to tug at you.”

Right on cue, one of the donkeys grabbed a sleeve and gave it a gentle pull.

Bella and Ben stood together while the sire, a miniature panda bull named Donovan, watched from an adjacent stall.

“They’re so small that they don’t fit in a calf blanket, so we had to get him a lamb blanket,” Jessen said, preparing to outfit Ben for another frigid day and night.

The mini-cattle are bred solely as pets and can be welcomed into owners’ homes without causing any mayhem.

“Once he feeds, I’ll start working with him,” he said. “Cows are very social animals. They like people. He’ll come into the house eventually.”

In fact, by Friday afternoon, Ben was snug in the Jessens’ laundry room, still drying out.

“He’s good,” Pam Jessen said. “He’s going to be just fine.”

http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=30617

Rare panda cow born on farm near Campion

Reporter-Herald/Tom Hacker

Chris Jessen holds Ben, a newborn miniature panda calf, on Friday as its mother, Bella, alowline Angus cow, stands by in her stall on Jessen’s farm east of Campion.

Publish Date: 1/1/2011

It is safe to say that Ben is the last miniature panda cow born anywhere in 2010.

In fact, he has few peers, being a calf and one of only 24 of the scarce breed in the world.

At just after 8 a.m. Friday, on a farm east of Campion, Ben entered the world after mother Bella, a lowline Angus cow, spent a zero-degree night in labor in her stall.

Two hours later, still wet and shivering, the tiny calf snuggled against his diminutive mother.

“We’ll get him bundled up pretty soon,” said Chris Jessen, who has miniature donkeys, other miniature cattle breeds and even a wallaby — a miniature kangaroo — on his hobby farm.

“We’ve got a regular petting zoo, here,” wife Pam Jessen said.

It could have been even more so, with the Jessens having explored the idea of raising reindeer, and even camels, on their acreage.

Ben’s namesake is Chris Jessen’s brother, also born on New Year’s Eve.

“He was the first person I called this morning,” he said.

The miniature panda cow is the result of 44 years of genetic manipulation by Richard Gradwohl, a farmer in Covington, Wash., about 20 miles southeast of Seattle.

A white belt encircling the animal’s midsection, and the white face with black ovals around the eyes, give the cow an appearance that is very much panda-like.

“We had a Chinese delegation visit our farm, and they were fascinated,” Gradwohl said in a telephone interview Friday. “They want them in China, so we’re going to be exporting.”

He describes the breed that he has trademarked as an eight-breed composite, drawing on previous strains of miniature cattle that he also developed.

“There are 26 breeds of miniature cattle in the world, and we developed 18 of them,” said Gradwohl who has seven of the existing 24 panda cows on his Happy Mountain Farm.

Miniature panda calves sell for as much as $30,000 from Gradwohl’s online clearinghouse for mini-cow aficionados. While Chris Jessen said he’ll likely sell Ben, his price has not been set.

As a small entourage cleared the gate leading to the stall where Ben and Bella were recovering from their ordeal, Molly and Bacco, the two miniature donkeys, greeted them.

“They get a little nippy,” Jessen said. “They like to tug at you.”

Right on cue, one of the donkeys grabbed a sleeve and gave it a gentle pull.

Bella and Ben stood together while the sire, a miniature panda bull named Donovan, watched from an adjacent stall.

“They’re so small that they don’t fit in a calf blanket, so we had to get him a lamb blanket,” Jessen said, preparing to outfit Ben for another frigid day and night.

The mini-cattle are bred solely as pets and can be welcomed into owners’ homes without causing any mayhem.

“Once he feeds, I’ll start working with him,” he said. “Cows are very social animals. They like people. He’ll come into the house eventually.”

In fact, by Friday afternoon, Ben was snug in the Jessens’ laundry room, still drying out.

“He’s good,” Pam Jessen said. “He’s going to be just fine.”

http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=30617

Rare albino brown hare caught on camera

IT is a sight so rare that they have been given special Government protection.

This adult albino brown hare was caught on camera in Hampshire at the weekend after surviving in the wild against all the odds.

They seldom live beyond the leveret stage because their pure white colouring makes them targets for foxes and other predators.

Brown hares have suffered a 75 per cent decline since the 1960s and were one of the first species to be given special conservation status under the Government’s biodiversity action plan programme.

Peter Thompson, farmland biodiversity advisor with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, based in Fordingbridge, spent many hours tracking down this rare mammal.

He said: “The last survey of hares suggested that their wintering numbers in Britain had dropped to around 800,000 animals.

“The action plan proposed that our countryside should support at least two million animals in winter and our recent records suggest that we might be halfway to achieving this target.

“In the eastern side of the country, including Yorkshire, they have been doing particularly well.

“However, in the western side of the country, including Wales, they are still showing a worrying decline.”

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8446532.Rare_albino_brown_hare_caught_on_camera/

Rare albino brown hare caught on camera

IT is a sight so rare that they have been given special Government protection.

This adult albino brown hare was caught on camera in Hampshire at the weekend after surviving in the wild against all the odds.

They seldom live beyond the leveret stage because their pure white colouring makes them targets for foxes and other predators.

Brown hares have suffered a 75 per cent decline since the 1960s and were one of the first species to be given special conservation status under the Government’s biodiversity action plan programme.

Peter Thompson, farmland biodiversity advisor with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, based in Fordingbridge, spent many hours tracking down this rare mammal.

He said: “The last survey of hares suggested that their wintering numbers in Britain had dropped to around 800,000 animals.

“The action plan proposed that our countryside should support at least two million animals in winter and our recent records suggest that we might be halfway to achieving this target.

“In the eastern side of the country, including Yorkshire, they have been doing particularly well.

“However, in the western side of the country, including Wales, they are still showing a worrying decline.”

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8446532.Rare_albino_brown_hare_caught_on_camera/

Dorset skipper nets a whopper from Mediterranean

Saturday, August 14, 2010

A full scale bidding war erupted after a fisherman hauled in this rare 'meagre' fish – which is bigger than him.

The whopping sea beast measures an incredible 6ft 6ins and is the largest of its species ever caught off the British coast.

It was netted by fishing skipper Dave Wilson on board his boat Propitious off Portland Bill in Dorset.

Dave – who is under 6ft – showed it to experts who identified it as a meagre – normally found in the Mediterranean.

The massive fish was then taken to Brixham Fish Market in Devon where stunned merchants all tried to out bid each other.

It was eventually snapped up by fishmonger Robert Simonetti, who sold it on to a specialist restaurant in the north of England.

Robert, of Brixham-based Roberts fisheries, fought off six rival bidders and eventually paid £150 for the meagre.

He said: ''It's a very rare fish that's usually found in the Mediterranean. I think it must have got lost and luckily found its way to me.

''Only three of these have been caught in Britain since records began and this is by far the biggest so we're delighted.

''It's a white fish, a bit like sea bass, and I asked the merchant to cut it up so I could taste a bit because I had never actually tried it. It's great that it was caught by a local fisherman – we always like to see something different.

''I think it's quite a pretty fish. It's got silvery coloured big scales. It was difficult to say what it would be worth because we haven't got a track record.

''A few people bid for it. I probably would have paid up to £300 for it, even if I had to sell it on at cost price. It would have been worth it."

The whopping meagre is only the third caught off the UK since records began and the biggest ever snared off the UK.

It was so unusual that the Marine Management Organisation stepped in and asked for a day to enable them to establish the exact species.

Marine officer Beshlie Pool said: ''Dave phoned our office to see if it was something he could sell or not because it's a huge fish and he'd never seen one before. 'We were 90 per cent sure it was a meagre fish but we wanted a final identification from an expert.

"Meagre are rare in these waters although they're quite common in the Med. We think it was just randomly out of its range. Apparently, they taste really nice. They're quite a big thing in Turkey so next time I go, I'll make sure I have one."

The meagre fish – Latin name Argyrosomus regius – looks similar to a European seabass. They are silver with a yellow-coloured mouth and live near to coastal areas in the Mediterranean and Red Sea.

http://www.thisisdorset.co.uk/news/Dorset-skipper-nets-whopper-Med/article-2527118-detail/article.html
(Via Dark Dorset)

The cave of bones: A story of solenodon survival

Tuesday, 1 June 2010
By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News, Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic

Conservationists are in the Dominican Republic attempting to save one of the world's most strange and ancient mammals - the Hispaniolan solenodon.

While trying to track down one of these creatures, The Last Survivors team is also trying to find out exactly how this animal has been able to survive for a remarkable 76 million years.

It is pitch black.

Splashes of light from our torches illuminate patches of the vast cavern we are standing in, every now and then highlighting bats as they swoop above.

Fine dust swirls, coating everything.

The last few remains of a human skeleton sit ominously close to the entrance - but that is not why the scientists are here.

It is the piles of tiny bones poking out, here and there, on the sediment and bat dropping caked floor that are attracting all the attention.

We are in a cave nestled in a cliff face in the Dominican Republic's tropical forests. It is reached by a startlingly steep ascent, then a deep drop into darkness.

Scientists think it could hold one of the keys to finding out how the Hispaniolan solenodon has been able to survive for so long, while nearly all other life around it has died out.

'Living fossil'

But before we get to the cave, we need to rewind a little.

Seventy-six million years, in fact. To the time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

This is when a hunk of land attached to the great landmass that today forms North America broke away, taking with it some insectivorous mammals - the ancestors of the solenodon.

These creatures might not have looked much different to the animal we are hoping to spot on this expedition.

Conservation palaeontologist Sam Turvey, from the Zoological Society of London who is working on The Last Survivors project and the Edge of Existence Programme, says: "There is this concept of the solenodon being a 'living fossil', because it does seem to have retained certain, potentially ancient, features."

One of these is the groove in its teeth, which allows it to inject venom into passing insect prey - a unique feature, among today's mammals.

Dino-disaster

This lump of land carrying these strange animals, would later, after a few more breaks and fractures, become the island of Hispaniola, which contains the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

But just 11 million years after it slowly began to drift away from the supercontinent, devastation hit nearby.

A colossal space rock, 10-15km across, smashed into the Earth at the northern edge of what is now the Yucatan Peninsula, wiping out the dinosaurs that had dominated the world until that point.

Dr Turvey says: "The Caribbean islands were much closer to the mainland then, and this would have been close to 'ground zero'."

In the immediate aftermath, the impact would have caused massive rises in temperature and giant tsumamis. Later, the planet would have been shrouded in darkness, casting a devastating shadow over any animal hoping to survive.

Yet, while the dinosaurs and much other prehistoric life perished, somehow - and theories abound that it might have been because it burrowed - the solenodon survived.

Skip forward a few more tens of millions of years, and the solenodon proves itself a champion survivor once again. First, by coping with the super-hot "greenhouse Earth" of the Eocene Period, then major changes in global ecosystems, and later, the Ice Age.

But stop the clock at 6,000 years ago, and suddenly the plucky mammal had to contend with one of the biggest threats to Caribbean fauna to date - humans.

Before humans arrived, there were about 25 land mammals on the island. But one by one they died out, leaving only the solenodon and a rodent called the The Last Survivors Hispaniolan hutia as the last mammals standing.

What had happened?

Dr Turvey says: "If you want to find the smoking gun responsible for these extinctions, you need to find out exactly when these animals actually disappeared."

And so, back to the cave.

Within just a few moments of entering the dusty tomb, hidden away in a dark corner, we stumble across a fossil treasure trove.

As the layers of dust are carefully swept away, tiny bones begin to emerge.

"A giant hutia… That's a pygmy sloth… Here's a spiny rat," exclaims Dr Turvey

All several thousand years old. And all now extinct.

Finds like this provide a window into the past: through carbon dating, the researchers can find out exactly when the different species died out.

And then they can see whether the extinctions can be linked to humans or other changes on the island.

No bones?

In his extensive trawls through caves like this one, Dr Turvey has noticed a strange anomaly - a lack of solenodon bones.

He has only found a couple of tiny fragments of ancient solenodons, despite months and months of searching. But fossil finds of now-extinct species have been much more common.

Dr Turvey says: "This raises a lot of important questions - and rightfully so.

"Why did these species die out while the solenodons survived? What were the key ecological differences between these species?"

In their more recent history, solenodons have faced greater threats still.

When Christopher Columbus arrived in Hispaniola in 1492, rats began to leap off his ships onto the island, causing havoc.

But, while others perished, the solenodon survived the rat onslaught.

Dr Turvey thinks the venomous beasts may have been so resilient thanks to what he describes as the "Goldilocks hypothesis".

Very small mammals, such as the now-extinct pygmy shrew, could have easily have become the victims of the black rats.

Whereas the solenodon, which is close to rabbit-sized, probably had fewer problems with rats thanks to its heftier bulk.

But while the solenodon is bigger, it is not too big, which according to Dr Turvey, means it probably escaped the attention of hungry humans.

He explains: "If you are hunting something for dinner, you're more likely to go for something like a sloth or a monkey."

So, he says, it is possible that solenodon is a sort of "halfway house" - not too small and not too big.

He adds: "Like in Goldilocks, they're just right."

Ultimate survivors

Whatever happened to make the solenodon the ultimate survivor, allowing it to hang on against all the odds, the researchers fear that more modern problems like deforestation and the threats from very recent introductions, such as mongoose and dogs, could put a stop to its 76-million-year story.

But researchers say that delving into the solenodon's history could help to ensure its future.

As we emerge from the darkness of the cave and begin to prepare for our next night-trek into the forest, where we will try to come face to face with one of these fanged furballs, Dr Turvey takes a last look back into the cave.

Trying to piece together the puzzle of what happened to Hispaniola's mammals in the past, he says, might just help us to figure out how to save these last survivors today.

The Last Survivors project involves Jersey's Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Hispaniolan Ornithological Society (SOH) and the Dominican Republic's national zoo and environment ministry. It is funded by a grant from the UK Government's Darwin Initiative.

See video and illustrations at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/10147688.stm
(Submitted by Dawn Holloway)

Rare pair of passenger pigeons arrive at Bruce Museum

9 October 2009
By Anne W. Semmes

There's no more powerful example of how a species can be brought to extinction than that of the once abundant, and exclusively North American, passenger pigeon. It is said that no other bird has ever approached its fantastic numbers. And now they are gone.

However, a rare pair of passenger pigeons, or as Linnaeus would say, Ectopistes migratorius, are on display at the Bruce Museum. The two birds (both male) are mounted in a position similar to that in a painting by John James Audubon, who had an in-depth knowledge of the birds.

In the display, one bird is offering an acorn to the other. Alongside the birds is a fine and newly acquired reproduction print of Audubon's Plate LXII, "Passenger Pigeon, Columba Migratoria," from his double elephant folio edition, "The Birds of America" (London, 1827-1838).

The Bruce acquired the two male passenger pigeons five years ago in a specimen exchange between the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Ornithology and the Bruce's Science Department. This year, the Bruce purchased the companion Audubon print from a set of newly created high-resolution digital images -- full size at 26 by 38 inches -- of the original works of art as scanned by the University of Pittsburgh's Digital Research Library.

As its Latin name denotes, the passenger pigeon was a migratory bird, moving across America in search of food, numbering in the billions and living in large colonies of hundreds of thousands. The birds There's no more powerful example of how a species can be brought to extinction than that of the once abundant, and exclusively North American, passenger pigeon. It is said that no other bird has ever approached its fantastic numbers. And now they are gone.

However, a rare pair of passenger pigeons, or as Linnaeus would say, Ectopistes migratorius, are on display at the Bruce Museum. The two birds (both male) are mounted in a position similar to that in a painting by John James Audubon, who had an in-depth knowledge of the birds.

In the display, one bird is offering an acorn to the other. Alongside the birds is a fine and newly acquired reproduction print of Audubon's Plate LXII, "Passenger Pigeon, Columba Migratoria," from his double elephant folio edition, "The Birds of America" (London, 1827-1838).

The Bruce acquired the two male passenger pigeons five years ago in a specimen exchange between the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Ornithology and the Bruce's Science Department. This year, the Bruce purchased the companion Audubon print from a set of newly created high-resolution digital images -- full size at 26 by 38 inches -- of the original works of art as scanned by the University of Pittsburgh's Digital Research Library.

As its Latin name denotes, the passenger pigeon was a migratory bird, moving across America in search of food, numbering in the billions and living in large colonies of hundreds of thousands. The birds traditionally nested east of the Rockies, northward into the hardwood forests of eastern Canada, with nesting colonies 20-miles across.

Beginning in the mid-19th century, the passenger pigeon, however abundant, was being shot out of the sky, while their forests were falling to the axe.

The last passenger pigeon alive in captivity, named Martha after Martha Washington, died at 29 years old in the Cincinnati Zoological Garden -- in 1914.

http://www.connpost.com/brooks/ci_13520389

Rare pair of passenger pigeons arrive at Bruce Museum

9 October 2009
By Anne W. Semmes

There's no more powerful example of how a species can be brought to extinction than that of the once abundant, and exclusively North American, passenger pigeon. It is said that no other bird has ever approached its fantastic numbers. And now they are gone.

However, a rare pair of passenger pigeons, or as Linnaeus would say, Ectopistes migratorius, are on display at the Bruce Museum. The two birds (both male) are mounted in a position similar to that in a painting by John James Audubon, who had an in-depth knowledge of the birds.

In the display, one bird is offering an acorn to the other. Alongside the birds is a fine and newly acquired reproduction print of Audubon's Plate LXII, "Passenger Pigeon, Columba Migratoria," from his double elephant folio edition, "The Birds of America" (London, 1827-1838).

The Bruce acquired the two male passenger pigeons five years ago in a specimen exchange between the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Ornithology and the Bruce's Science Department. This year, the Bruce purchased the companion Audubon print from a set of newly created high-resolution digital images -- full size at 26 by 38 inches -- of the original works of art as scanned by the University of Pittsburgh's Digital Research Library.

As its Latin name denotes, the passenger pigeon was a migratory bird, moving across America in search of food, numbering in the billions and living in large colonies of hundreds of thousands. The birds There's no more powerful example of how a species can be brought to extinction than that of the once abundant, and exclusively North American, passenger pigeon. It is said that no other bird has ever approached its fantastic numbers. And now they are gone.

However, a rare pair of passenger pigeons, or as Linnaeus would say, Ectopistes migratorius, are on display at the Bruce Museum. The two birds (both male) are mounted in a position similar to that in a painting by John James Audubon, who had an in-depth knowledge of the birds.

In the display, one bird is offering an acorn to the other. Alongside the birds is a fine and newly acquired reproduction print of Audubon's Plate LXII, "Passenger Pigeon, Columba Migratoria," from his double elephant folio edition, "The Birds of America" (London, 1827-1838).

The Bruce acquired the two male passenger pigeons five years ago in a specimen exchange between the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Ornithology and the Bruce's Science Department. This year, the Bruce purchased the companion Audubon print from a set of newly created high-resolution digital images -- full size at 26 by 38 inches -- of the original works of art as scanned by the University of Pittsburgh's Digital Research Library.

As its Latin name denotes, the passenger pigeon was a migratory bird, moving across America in search of food, numbering in the billions and living in large colonies of hundreds of thousands. The birds traditionally nested east of the Rockies, northward into the hardwood forests of eastern Canada, with nesting colonies 20-miles across.

Beginning in the mid-19th century, the passenger pigeon, however abundant, was being shot out of the sky, while their forests were falling to the axe.

The last passenger pigeon alive in captivity, named Martha after Martha Washington, died at 29 years old in the Cincinnati Zoological Garden -- in 1914.

http://www.connpost.com/brooks/ci_13520389

Battle To Save Penguins Facing Extinction

Conservationists are warning that a rare species of penguin could face extinction unless urgent action is taken to protect it.

African penguins which nest around the southern coastline of the continent are under threat from commercial fishing and oil spills.
In the past century the population of the birds has declined by 90%, leaving just 26,000 breeding pairs left in the wild.
If the current rate of decline continues the African penguin, also known as the jackass penguin because of its donkey-like bray, could be extinct by 2024.

In South Africa, researchers are closely monitoring every penguin colony to gather data to present to the government as part of a campaign for fishing exclusion zones.

On the remote Dyer Island, off the coast of Cape Town, Lauren Waller and her colleague Deon Geldenhuys spend each day measuring and weighing the penguin chicks.

Their condition reckoned to be a good indicator of the availability of fish around the island because they are totally dependent on their parents' ability to find food.

"We're finding more underweight chicks, and more chicks that have been abandoned," Lauren said.

Dyer Island - uninhabited by humans - is a protected site for sea birds. But the protection does not extend out to sea.

Fishing of sardines and other pelagic fish in the area is unrestricted which means that the penguins have to compete with the trawlers for food.

The researchers have attached small GPS devices to some of the adult birds to see how far they are travelling.

"We've found that the Dyer Island birds are swimming 40 kilometres to fish, and that is at the very limit of the distance they can travel when they have chicks," Lauren said.

Penguins mate for life and the breeding pairs take it in turns to find food while the other stays with the chicks.

The distances involved mean the adult penguins are increasingly vulnerable to seal attacks and oil spills out at sea, while their young go hungry back in the nest.

At the Southern African Foundation For The Conservation Of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) in Cape Town hundreds of injured and oiled penguins are rescued every year.

"Most of the time the oil spills aren't even reported, but every day we get penguins in here who are close to death because they have been covered in oil," said Venessa Strauss, the centre's CEO.

Saving the birds is labour-intensive. It takes four people to clean each bird, and they then have to be fed three times a day - by hand.

The penguins are eventually returned to the wild in the hope that they will help boost the falling numbers.

Climate change is exacerbating the problem, shifting the location of the fish and also making the penguins vulnerable to over-heating on the land.

Around the Western Cape researchers are experimenting with artificial nests made of fibre glass to try to keep the chicks out of the sun.

On Dyer Island the penguins have been quick to move into the burrow shaped structures, each pair closely guarding their new homes.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090626/twl-battle-to-save-penguins-facing-extin-3fd0ae9.html

Rare moth is sighted on Skye estate

A rare moth has been recorded on the John Muir Trust’s Strathaird estate on Skye for the first time in 30 years.

Wild Land ranger Lester Standen saw the argent and sable moth in a stable on the estate. The last sighting of the species was recorded before 1980, and may have been as long ago as 1961.
Mr Standen said: “Seeing scarce species like these moths shows you how important it is to cut down on grazing in sensitive areas.

“Existing populations of these insects can only be maintained if we protect their habitats.”
The argent and sable moth is classified as “nationally scarce” in the United Kingdom. It occurs throughout the Hebrides and the far north-west of Scotland.

It is a priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, and is also listed on the Scottish Biodiversity list, as well as the Skye and Lochalsh Local Biodiversity Action plan.

The moth breeds in woodland with birch regrowth and in open moorland and bogs, particularly those at higher altitudes or in coastal areas. Larvae feed on birches and bog myrtle.

John Muir Trust biodiversity officer Liz Auty said: “This species is probably under recorded so we would like to hear of any other sightings.

“The work our rangers do is extremely important because species are being monitored that wouldn’t be observed otherwise. It shows very clearly the range of wildlife that will benefit from reducing deer numbers on our estates.”

John Muir Trust’s Wild Land project aims to monitor wildlife and habitat on trust estates so accurate species records can be built up. Members of the public are invited to contribute their sightings to the project.

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1279677?UserKey=

Return of the royal Barbary lion

A royal stud book could help return the majestic Barbary lion to the wild.
Conservationists have created a stud book detailing every descendant of a group of lions once owned by the Sultan of Morocco.

These blue-blooded royal lions, all captive, are suspected to be the last Barbary lions in existence.

The stud book will help establish a breeding programme, and could also settle a controversy over whether the Barbary lion was a unique subspecies.

The Barbary lion is one of the most enigmatic of all large predators, both due to its impressive appearance and uncertainty over its fate.

Once numerous across north Africa, the Barbary lion was the most physically distinctive type of lion, including those living elsewhere in Africa and Asia.

It had an extensive mane, and differences in the shape of its head included a more pointed crown and narrow muzzle. People at the time also talked of it being larger, with different coloured eyes to other lions, though it is unclear whether either difference was real.

"Historical records suggest that certain behaviours in Barbary lions were also distinctive, for example, they tended to live in pairs or small family groups rather than the prides familiar in Africa," says Simon Black, of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK.

The last firm record of a Barbary lion is an animal shot in Morocco in 1927, though there is circumstantial evidence that Barbary lions may have survived in the wild in the Atlas Mountains till 1942.

However, even by 1899, the lions were becoming rare in the wild, with those seen most often belonging to the Sultan of Morocco.

In 1912, these lions were moved from an original captive location near the Atlas Mountains to a lion garden at the Royal Palace in Rabat.

When the last Sultan was forced to abdicate in 1953, the lions were moved to two zoos, but on his return in 1955, 17 were returned to the Palace.

In 1973, their descendants were moved to Rabat zoo at Temara. Later, further examinations suggested that these zoo lions shared the characteristics of Barbary lions.

"There is strong circumstantial evidence, therefore, that the animals at Rabat zoo were a relic from the original Barbary lions collected from the wild," says Black.

However, the possibility that some Barbary lions survive, and they may be the last remnants of a lost subspecies of lion, has become an extremely marketable concept.

"It is not uncommon for zoos to advertise [that they possess a Barbary lion] when there is little or no evidence to back up the fact," Black says.

Worse, those lions that are true descendants of the original Moroccan royal lions are in danger of dying out.

Breeding exchanges
To prevent this, Black and colleagues Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, Adrian Harland and Jim Groombridge have created a Barbary lion stud book, that identifies the surviving individuals, their locations, their interrelatedness and their line of descent from the original captive Moroccan population as far back as records are known.

The researchers based the stud book on a review of the handwritten zoo records in Rabat kept from 1969 to 1998, plus a detailed review of breeding records across zoos worldwide kept from 1974 onwards.

Alongside details of the stud book, published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research, Black's team also calls for a managed and co-ordinated breeding approach to optimise the overall captive population of Moroccan royal Lions.

"Now that we have this information, zoos can come together and plan breeding exchanges to avoid inbreeding, ensure genetic diversity is maintained and with it animal health and population viability," says Black.

"In this way, if the opportunity exists to re-establish the population in the future, it is not lost by the lions dying out in captivity now," he says.

"Several zoos are still keen to continue breeding the animals. They deserve the constructive support of the scientific community."

Also that will allow time to perform genetic tests on the lions and "buy time" for scientists to further examine evidence to support whether or not these animals are true representatives of the now extinct subspecies, he says.

Matt Walker Editor, Earth News


http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8109000/8109945.stm

Java leopard released back into the wild after release from snare

Rare Javan leopard is returned to the wild amid rejoicing by local villagers in Western Java. June 2009.

A rare Javan leopard is being released back into the wild almost a year after it was found trapped in a snare in West Java. A team from UK charity International Animal Rescue (IAR) and the Animal Sanctuary Trust Indonesia (ASTI) rescued the highly endangered animal and restored it to health.

99% support from local villagers

Before permission was granted for the release, the authorities insisted on a survey of local people to gauge support for the leopard's reintroduction. Perhaps surprisingly, nearly everyone from Saninten village in Banten province was very positive about his return, with 99% voting in favour. In spite of this enthusiastic response, it still took more than seven months to get the permission.

During this time the leopard, named Aceng by his rescuers, was kept at a local sanctuary and contact with people was kept to a minimum: this prevented him becoming habituated to humans and would minimise the chances of any conflict with local people in the future. Finally, on 18 June 2009, almost 10 months after the call for his rescue, Aceng began his journey back to Saninten village and his return to freedom.

After release, camera traps will be used to follow Aceng to study his behaviour and monitor him after such a long time in captivity. International Animal Rescue's team in Indonesia is also preparing an educational programme to teach local people about endangered species and about the risks snares pose for wild animals. It is hoped they can be persuaded to use other more humane methods of trapping in future.

Alan Knight OBE, Chief Executive of International Animal Rescue, said: "We are all greatly relieved that Aceng is finally going back to the wild after such a long wait. His is a real success story and everyone involved in his rescue, rehabilitation and release can be justifiably proud of the part they played in saving such a rare and beautiful animal."

Medical checks

Before his journey Aceng was sedated so that the vets could take blood, give him a final medical check-up and insert a microchip for identification. Then he was put in his transport crate and his weight of 18 kilograms was recorded. The release team set off in the early hours and arrived at Saninten village at dawn to find preparations underway for welcoming the leopard. Banners had been put up in the town and t-shirts had been specially printed. When the vehicle arrived several hundred people had gathered to see Aceng. After a speech from the head of the village - and a delay to encourage the large crowds to disperse - the two hour journey up the hill began. Many of the villagers were keen to follow Aceng up the hill to his habituation enclosure where he would spend the next few days.

Half way to their destination a group of local villagers gathered to say a prayer for Aceng to wish him a safe return to his home and a long and healthy life.

A large black canvas was put around the cage so that Aceng would not be stressed when he left the transport crate and during his few days being habituated to the area. The release team of five people from IAR and ASTI will stay with the leopard while he gets used to the forest again. It is hoped that after three to four days in the habituation enclosure, he can be quietly released back into his forest home.

Photo Credit IAR

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/java-leopard009.html