Species' extinction threat grows
on Nov 3, 2009 in Animal Extinction More than a third of species assessed in a major international biodiversity study are threatened with extinction, scientists have warned. Out of the 47,677 species in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 17,291 were deemed to be at serious risk.

Foam from ocean algae bloom killing thousands of birds
on Oct 27, 2009 in Endangered Animals/Birds A slimy foam churning up from the ocean has killed thousands seabirds and washed many others ashore, stripped of their waterproofing and struggling for life. The birds have been clobbered by an unusual algae bloom stretching from the northern Orego...

Hailstones kill 90 percent of wild game in parts of Austria
on Oct 22, 2009 in Hailstorms Hundreds of deer were discovered either dead or so badly injured they had to be put down by wildlife experts. In the country's rural Salzburg province, 90 per cent of pheasants and 80 per cent of hares were killed in the hail storms. Sepp Ede...

New Armageddon-Worthy Cloud
on Oct 16, 2009 in Unexplained Earth Phenomena/Events In hill country from Iowa to the Scottish Highlands, sky-gazers have reported some strange, ominous-looking clouds of late. Dubbed undulatus asperatus (turbulent undulation), the atmospheric anomaly could be headed where only 80-odd clouds have gone...

Killer whales leave porpoises for dead
on Oct 12, 2009 in Animal Behavior Scientists are grasping for answers to explain why southern resident killer whales — a group of fish eaters that prefer chinook salmon — have also been observed toying with harbour porpoises before leaving them dead, including two cases in the pa...

Fanged frog, 162 other new species found in Mekong
on Sep 25, 2009 in Earth/Science A gecko with leopard-like spots on its body and a fanged frog that eats birds are among 163 new species discovered last year in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia, an environmental group said Friday. WWF International said that scientists in...

Rare giant squid netted in Gulf of Mexico
on Sep 24, 2009 in Earth/Science NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A giant squid has been netted in the Gulf of Mexico, the first of its kind to be landed in 55 years, scientists say. U.S. government scientists caught the 20-foot-long, 103-pound giant squid while trawling 1,500 feet do...

Bee deaths set apiculture congress abuzz
on Sep 20, 2009 in Animal Behavior MONTPELLIER, France — Pesticides, viruses, industrialised farming, fungus... what on Earth is killing our bees? That's the big question being asked at Apimondia, the 41st world apiculture congress, where 10,000 beekeepers, entomologists and other a...

Sierra Nevada birds move in response to warmer, wetter climate
on Sep 15, 2009The findings, to be published the week of Sept. 14 in an online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveal that 48 out of 53 bird species studied in California's Sierra Nevada mountains have adjusted to clima...

'Death Stench' Is A Universal Ancient Warning Signal
on Sep 14, 2009 in Animal Behavior The smell of recent death or injury that repels living relatives of insects has been identified as a truly ancient signal that functions to avoid disease or predators, biologists have discovered.  David Rollo, professor of biology at McMaster Un...