A dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) surfaces in the oil soaked Gulf of Mexico. A new study has linked a spate of dolphin illnesses with the oil spill of 2010. Scientists believe the health effects are significant and will lead to reduced survival and ability to reproduce. (Credit: NOAA)
Study: Dolphins Suffering From Lung Disease Due to Gulf Oil Spill
(The Wall Street Journal)
Dolphins in an area hard hit by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 are suffering from lung diseases and other abnormalities that are consistent with toxic exposure to oil, according to a study backed by the federal government. The peer-reviewed paper, which was disputed by BP, was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The paper makes the strongest connection to date between the BP spill and dolphin deaths, which jumped in the Gulf of Mexico after the spill. More
NEWS FROM NORTH AMERICA
1 Million Protest Stripping Wolves of Endangered Listing
(Environment News Service)
The public comment period closed on a proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove federal protections for all gray wolves across the country. Close to one million Americans stated their opposition to the plan — the largest number of comments ever submitted on a federal decision involving endangered species. Also, conservation groups challenged as “premature” the Service’s removal of federal Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in Wyoming. More
Ontario’s Caribou Faring Poorly, Parks Report Finds
(The Star)
Rudolph’s cousins are in trouble, especially in Ontario. A new report says caribou conservation is failing across the country and gives middling to poor grades to nine provinces and territories, blaming industrial development within caribou ranges for a sharp decline in their population. “We are really discouraged with Ontario because the province has had over four years to actually do something for the caribou population and hasn’t,” said Baggio, director conservation planning for Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. More
Study: Bison Birth Control Working on Catalina Island
(KCET-TV)
It may seem an unusual proposal for a dwindling wildlife species, whose numbers we usually want to increase. But a study just published in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine reveals that artificial contraception can work to keep American bison from reproducing, apparently with no ill effects on the bison. Most biologists working on bison want the critters to be fruitful and multiply as much as they can healthily: the species’ numbers are down by about 99.5 percent from their historic levels. More
New York’s Prospect Park Zoo Welcomes 5 Baby Chinese Big-Headed Turtles
(New York Daily News)
Slow and steady wins the race. Aesop’s fabled tale held true for Prospect Park Zoo, which welcomed the birth of five Chinese big-headed turtles in November. It marked the first time this species of turtle — an endangered species native to Southeast Asia — has successfully reproduced at a zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The success is sweeter still for the zoo, considering the months of hard work it took to create the perfect environmental and climatic conditions for the turtles to breed. More
WILDLIFE HEALTH AND DISEASE NEWS
Deadly MERS Virus Detected in Camels
(HealthDay News via U.S. News & World Report)
Scientists say they have the first definitive proof that a deadly respiratory virus in the Middle East infects camels in addition to humans. The finding may help researchers find ways to control the spread of the virus. Using gene sequencing, the research team found that three camels from a site where two people contracted Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus were also infected with the virus. More
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A Silent Crisis: Vietnam’s Elephants on Verge of Extinction
(The Huffington Post)
Victim of an intensely and increasingly fragmented habitat, weak environmental laws, human-elephant conflicts, logging, and poaching, elephants in Vietnam are teetering on extinction. According to some reports, there were approximately 1,500 to 2,000 elephants in 1980. Today they may number as few as 70. “The situation is extremely grim,” says Barney Long, Director of the Species Program at World Wildlife Fund. More
Apprehending Ivory Traffickers: A Conservation Fairy Tale?
(National Geographic)
In December 2012, Malaysia announced the discovery and confiscation of the largest illegal ivory shipment ever — six tons of raw tusks hidden among teak planks in a shipping container from Togo (alternative news reports talked of 24 tons). In July of this year, another two ton shipment of tusks of baby and teenage elephants was intercepted in Hong Kong, also coming from Togo. More
Once A Quaint Custom, China’s Bird Markets Threatening Wildlife
(The Wall Street Journal)
On a recent weekend at the bird market near Fuchengmen on Beijing’s west side, dozens of older men sit in the sun surrounded by bird cages. One is jammed with a dozen small wild Common Redpoll birds — which sell for as little as 10 yuan ($1.65) for two — scrambling over one another, pushing against the bars of the cage. Another holds a large, brown-striped Mongolian lark singing a piercing song for 150 yuan. More