Wildlife News Roundup - July 2007

In this issue of Wildlife News Round-Up, there is news of the impact noise pollution is having on critically endangered Western Gray Whales off the coast of Russia's Far East, the ill effects salmon farming is having on Chile's Patagonian lakes, and the threats posed by an invasive squid off the coast of California. There have also been numerous discoveries including the ability of queen bees to chemically control the brain activity of her workers, a fast-adapting butterfly that in 10 generations developed resistance to a lethal bacteria, and further evidence that human origins lie within Africa.

• Action to Stop Illegal Expressway Construction in Poland (Birdlife International) — July 30, 2007. Conservation organizations are banding together to call for a suspension of the Polish government's plans to construct the Via Baltica expressway through the ecologically sensitive Rospuda Wetlands.
• Giant Bugs a Thing of the Past (National Geographic) — July 30, 2007. Present day oxygen levels in the Earth's atmosphere are lower than they were 300 million years ago. Scientists from Arizona State University believe that this means giant insects are a thing of the past.
• California Squid Invasion Threatening 'Fish Stick' Species (National Geographic) — July 27, 2007. The Humbolt Squid is a newcomer to California coastal waters but this predatory squid is nonetheless having severe impact on Pacific Whiting fish populations in the region.
• Limpets Reveal Possible Fate of Cold-Blooded Antarctic Animals (Science Daily) — July 24, 2007. Scientists studying the metabolism of cold-blooded limpets native to seas surrounding Antarctica have discovered that the Antarctic limpets organisms are far less efficient at producing proteins than their tropical counterparts.
• A Movable Beast: Asian Pythons Thrive in Florida (New York Times) — July 24, 2007. Invasive Burmese pythons, South Asian snakes that can grow to 200 pounds and 20 feet, are wreeking havoc in the Everglades where they are decimating populations of native birds, mammals, and other small animals.
• Queen Bees 'Brainwash' Workers With Chemicals (National Geographic) — July 19, 2007. New research reveals that pheromones secreted by the queen bee regulates the brain activity of the bees around her.
• Salmon Farming Threatens Chile's Patagonian Lakes (WWF) — July 19, 2007. The WWF has released a study which reveals that salmon farming in Chile's Patagonian lakes has left them polluted and teaming wiht invasive species.
• Skulls Add to 'Out of Africa' Theory of Human Origins (Scientific American) — July 18, 2007. Scientists compared data from 4,666 male skulls from specimens that were all less than 2,000 years old. They found that similarities among the skulls supported the theory that modern humans spread outward from Africa 50,000 years ago.
• But Madame Butterfly, Where Are All the Males? (Scientific American) — July 13, 2007. In just 10 generations and less than one year, Blue Moon Butterflies on the Samoan island of Savaii developed a resistance to a lethal bacteria.
• New Nature Reserve for Russian Arctic (WWF) — July 5, 2007. A new 243,000-hectare nature refuge has been established on the island of Vaigach Island, located in the western Russian arctic. The reserve is set to protect a range of species including polar bears, walrus, and many species of birds.
• Endangered Whales Vanishing from Russian Waters (WWF) — July 5, 2007. A construction project led by Shell off the coast of Russia's Far East is producing high levels of noise pollution and is thought to be causing critically endangered Western Gray Whales to abandon their feeding grounds.

About Wildlife News Round-Up

Wildlife News Round-Up is a monthly digest featuring animals and wildlife headlines from around the web. It includes headlines from well-established sources such as the World Wildlife Fund, BBC News, New York Times, National Public Radio, National Geographic, and Birdlife International. The sources are selected with care and include only those that archive articles for many years, offer top-notch science writing, and follow stories as they develop over time.

← Wildlife News Round-Up #44 | Wildlife News Round-Up #46 →

Photo courtesy NOAA / Wikipedia.