Wildlife News Roundup - November 2007

In this issue of Wildlife News Round-Up, we find out about a much-celebrated pair of Kirtland's Warblers that have bred in Canada. In other bird news, the publication of WatchList 2007 (a list of the imperiled bird species throughout the US) has been announced. There is news of the devastation wrought by oil spills along the California coast and in the Kerch Strait. And there are a number of articles reporting on the alarmingly persistent mismanagement of bluefin and bigeye tuna populations by short-sighted fishing industry regulators.

• Conservationists 'Thrilled' as Kirtland’s Warbler Returns to Canada (Birdlife International) — November 30, 2007. A pair of rare Kirtland’s Warblers have bred in Canada for the first time in over six decades. The species normally only breeds in Michigan due to extensive habitat destruction in other parts of its former range.
• American WatchList Revealed (Birdlife International) — November 28, 2007. Audubon and American Bird Conservancy have joined forces to create WatchList 2007, a report that identifies the bird species in greatest need of immediate conservation help in the US.
• Clean-Up Continues After California Oil Spill (Birdlife International) — November 22, 2007. In the aftermath of the Cosco Busan Oil Spill in which a cargo tanker collided with California’s Bay Bridge, conservationists have been working tirelessly to rescue thousands of oil-covered birds and to monitor the impact the spill has had on the areas four Important Bird Areas.
• Turning a Blind Eye to Bigeye Tuna (WWF) — November 21, 2007. Bigeye tuna are suffering from extensive overfishing, yet the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission continues to condone high catch quotas that will likely result in the extinction of the species.
• Black Sea to Take Years to Recover from Oil Spill (WWF) — November 16, 2007. An oil spill in the Kerch Strait has devastated the local fishing industry and is expected to have long-lasting effects on the region's marine environment for as much as ten years.
• 'Mesozoic Cow' Rises from the Sahara Desert (NPR) — November 16, 2007. A very strange dinosaur with a wide, box-shaped jawbone has been unearthed from the Sahara Desert.
• Huge Hedgehog Goes on Atkins Diet (BBC News) — November 14, 2007. Wildlife rehabilitators in Leatherhead, England are looking after a rather hefty hedgehog who weighs nearly five pounds, almost four times the normal weight of a hedgehog.
• Fishing Ban Needed to Save Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna (WWF) — November 9, 2007. Bluefin tuna populations in the Mediterranean Sea face inevitable collapse unless a moratorium is put in place halting fishing of the critically endangered species.
• How Do You Count Tigers? (BBC News) — November 7, 2007. Wildlife experts from India share some of the techniques they use for counting the rare Bengal Tigers they are working hard to protect.
• Gliding Mammal Linked to Humans (BBC News) — November 2, 2007. Colugos or flying lemurs may bear suprisingly close relation to humans, according to a recent study.

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.

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Photo courtesy NOAA. Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna.