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Today, the Austin Animal Services Office launched a community survey to gather feedback on what we, as Austinites, prioritize for our animals.
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Tag: Animals
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Webcam monitors hundreds of rattlesnakes at a Colorado ‘mega den’ for citizen science
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FORT COLLINS, Colo. — They creep, slither and slide over and around each other by the dozen and now there’s a webcam so that anybody can watch them online at any time, even at night.
A “mega den” with as many as 2,000 rattlesnakes isn’t top binge-watching for many people. But it’s a viewing bonanza for scientists and other snake enthusiasts whose observations are helping to broaden understanding of these unusual — and undeservedly maligned — reptiles.
The remote site on private land in northern Colorado is on a hillside full of rock crevices where the snakes can keep warm and hide from predators.
“This is a big, big den for rattlesnakes. This is one of the biggest ones we know of,” Emily Taylor, a California Polytechnic State University biology professor leading the Project RattleCam research, said Tuesday.
The Cal Poly researchers set up the webcam in May, working off their knowledge from a previous webcam they set up at a rattlesnake den in California. The exact location in Colorado is kept secret to discourage snake lovers — or haters — from messing with the snakes, Taylor said.
The high-elevation Colorado rattlesnakes take refuge in the den for winter and emerge in the spring for a short season of activity compared to rattlesnakes in the Southwest. This time of year, only pregnant female snakes are at the den while males and not-pregnant females move into the lower country nearby.
In August, the babies will be born. They’re called pups and, unlike nearly all other reptiles, they do not hatch from eggs but are born alive.
Also unlike other snakes, rattlesnake mothers care for their young, protecting them against predators and shielding them with their bodies. Sometimes rattlesnakes even care for the young of others.
“Rattlesnakes are actually really good mothers. People don’t know that,” Taylor said.
A webcam helps scientists observe snake behavior without interfering. Meanwhile, people watching online tip off scientists to events they miss, or clue them in with their own knowledge about the local environment.
“It truly is a group effort, a community science effort, that we couldn’t do on our own as scientists,” Taylor said.
Now and then, there’s drama.
Red-tailed hawks circle above, awaiting a chance to swoop in for a meal. Once a magpie — a relative of crows with black, white and blue coloring and a long tail — caught a baby rattlesnake.
When it rains, the rattlesnakes coil up and catch water to drink from the cups formed by their bodies.
Taylor expects a surge in activity after the pups are born — then even more in September as snakes return from surrounding areas in preparation for winter.
Rattlesnakes get a bum rap as creepy and threatening. But the webcam shows they’re social animals that don’t go out of their way to be aggressive, Taylor pointed out.
“I try to speak up for the underdog and to show people that rattlesnakes have this other side that’s really worthy of our admiration,” said Taylor.
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LaFleur reported from Dallas.
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Lab-Grown Meat for Pets Was Just Approved in the UK
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In a laboratory in west London, Helder Cruz reaches into a fridge and takes out a small plastic tub. The container holds 280 grams of an off-white paste with the consistency of pâté. These are real chicken cells, taken from a fertilized chicken egg and painstakingly grown in the bioreactors opposite.
The paste does not look particularly appetizing, but I am not the target audience. These cells are intended as a slaughter-free ingredient for pet food, and the company growing them, Meatly, has just been approved by UK regulators to produce its chicken cells for pet food. It’s the first approval of a lab-grown pet food ingredient anywhere in the world.
The approval was granted by the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) on July 2. In the UK, cultivated animal cells intended for use in pet food are classified as an animal byproduct. The approval allows Meatly to sell its chicken cells to approved pet food manufacturers as an ingredient.
“We’ve been very proactive in engaging the regulators. We want to be very transparent, we want to bring everyone on this journey,” says Meatly CEO Owen Ensor. He says that the startup has already shipped some of its chicken cells to pet food manufacturers so they can run their own nutritional tests and trial different formulations of pet food made using Meatly’s cells as an ingredient.
Ensor says the first pet food to contain Meatly cells will be dog food, and that it might be on UK shelves before the end of the year, but that releasing products is not a big priority for the company right now. “What needs to get done is cost reduction and scale-up,” he says, “Although, releasing products is useful, so we get feedback from customers.”
The entire cultivated meat industry is still minuscule compared to the trillion-dollar meat industry, and cultivated pet food is a niche within a niche with some unique challenges. Brewing animal cells in bioreactors is still extremely expensive, in large part because of the finely balanced brew of proteins and nutrients that the cells need to grow. And since meat that goes into pet food is a lot cheaper than meat for humans, the cost of cultivated meat needs to dramatically drop until it’s a viable replacement pet food.
There are a few ways Meatly is trying to cut costs. Chief scientific officer Helder Cruz says that any end product could be composed of as little as 4 or 5 percent animal cells mixed with cereals and other plant-based ingredients, as most dog foods on the market already blend real meat with a hefty portion of cheaper filler ingredients. The company is also trying to reduce production costs by replacing some of the expensive proteins in the liquid used to grow cells with small molecules from cheaper sources.
The cells that end up in Meatly’s chicken pâté came from commercially available cells sourced from a fertilized chicken egg. The cells are spontaneously immortalized, which means that they have the capacity to duplicate indefinitely, unlike non-immortalized cells, which stop growing after a certain number of duplications.
“One of our philosophies is to be very focused and very fast,” says Ensor. That means simplifying the production by starting with off-the-shelf cell lines, and focusing mostly on chicken rather than trying lots of different species. “The less we do, the more we can progress on that objective.”
There are a handful of companies trying to make cultivated pet food. Austrian company BioCraft Pet Nutrition is making cultivated mouse meat, while Czech firm Bene Meat Technologies has produced some samples of its cultivated meat for pet food. But these startups have raised tiny amounts compared to the companies hoping to commercialize cultivated meat for humans.
“What’s most impressive is that not only did Meatly receive the first approval, but it also got there in only two years and with just £3.5 million [$4.55 million]” in investment, says Anthony Chow, cofounder of Agronomics, an early investor in Meatly.
According to Ensor, the finished ingredient is currently costing “double figures” in pounds sterling per kilo, but that is before it is mixed with other ingredients in pet food. “It will be a premium product, because the prices are still high,” he says.
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Matt Reynolds
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Mind the mangroves! Some Kenyans combat the threat of logging with hidden beehives
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MOMBASA, Kenya — Dressed in protective clothing and armed with a smoker, Peter Nyongesa walked through the mangroves to monitor his beehives along the Indian Ocean coastline.
The 69-year-old Nyongesa recalled how he would plead unsuccessfully with loggers to spare the mangroves or cut only the mature ones while leaving the younger ones intact.
“But they would retort that the trees do not belong to anyone but God,” he said.
So he has turned to deterring the loggers with bees, hidden in the mangroves and ready to sting.
Their hives now dot a section of coastline in Kenya’s main port city of Mombasa in an effort to deter people who chop mangroves for firewood or home construction. It’s part of a local conservation initiative.
“When people realize that something is beneficial to them, they do not consider the harm that comes with it,” Nyongesa said of the loggers.
Mangroves, which thrive in salty water, help in preventing erosion and absorbing the impact of severe weather events such as cyclones.
But more than half of the world’s mangrove ecosystems are at risk of collapse, according to the first global mangrove assessment for the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Ecosystems released in May.
Mangroves are threatened by illegal logging, climate change and rising seas, pollution and urban development. According to a Kenya environment ministry report in 2018, about 40% of mangroves along the Indian Ocean coast are degraded.
In Mombasa county, it’s estimated that almost 50% of the total mangrove area there — 1,850 hectares (4,570 acres) — is degraded.
Such overall degradation has slowed in Kenya, which in 2017 developed a 10-year plan to have community conservation efforts manage mangroves. But the efforts have been incomplete because of inadequate resources.
Communities are doing what they can. James Kairo, a research scientist at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, said initiatives such as beekeeping are helping. Their honey also brings in community income.
“Mangrove honey is also classified as top quality and medicinal,” he added. “This could be due to the environment that mangroves thrives in” and what they absorb from their surroundings.
Nyongesa now has 11 beehives and harvests about 8 liters (2 gallons) of honey per hive every three months. Each liter earns him $6, a valuable source of income.
When Nyongesa started beekeeping 25 years ago, he didn’t know anything about the threat to mangroves or how his bees could help.
He became involved in 2019, when he joined a local conservation group called Tulinde Mikoko, Swahili for Let’s Protect Mangroves. The group adopted his beekeeping as a community initiative along with mangrove planting. Members also serve as custodians of the mangroves and try to stop loggers.
The group has concealed beehives in the top branches of mangroves as silent guardians. The bees are meant to attack unsuspecting loggers.
“We positioned them at the peak where they can’t be spotted with ease,” said Bibiana Nanjilula, the Tulinde Mikoko founder. “As such, when the loggers start cutting down whichever tree, the bees will attack due to the noise.”
The group hopes the tactic is working but has found it hard to measure its effects in the relatively difficult to access areas.
The bees also play a crucial role as pollinators. As they forage among the mangrove flowers, they transfer pollen from one flower to another, facilitating plants’ reproduction.
“The healthier the mangroves are, probably the more productive the honey production will be,” said Jared Bosire, project manager for the UNEP-Nairobi Convention, who said they encourage the integration of livelihoods with conservation. The office is a project of the United Nations Environment Program, based in Nairobi.
Kenya has 54,430 hectares (134,500 acres) of mangroves remaining, and they contribute $85 million per year to the national economy, according to a report by the Global Mangrove Alliance in 2022.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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By Zelipha Kirobi | Associated Press
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As a new scam targets owners of lost pets, a local shelter offers a heads up – WTOP News
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The Fairfax County Animal Shelter wants pet owners to know that someone is posing as shelter staff in an attempt to get money from owners of lost pets.
The Fairfax County Animal Shelter wants pet owners to know that someone is posing as shelter staff in an attempt to get money from owners of lost pets.
Reasa Currier, director of Fairfax County’s Department of Animal Sheltering, told WTOP how the scam works.
When a pet owner posts about their lost pet on social media, they are then contacted by the scammers who claim to be from the Fairfax County Animal Shelter, and that the pet owner’s lost pet has been found.
Just as a pet owner might be overjoyed to hear their pet is in safe hands, said Currier, the scammers tell the pet owner that the pet requires emergency surgery, “and the scammers are then demanding, over the phone, to save the pet’s life.”
Currier said it’s all a ruse. The scammers are using a spoofed phone number that appears to be from the shelter. She said the demand for payment should be a “red flag” because, “We’re never going to ask for financial information to be provided to us over the phone.”
Currier suggests if you get a call like this, hang up and call the shelter at either facility to inquire about your pet.
She suggests you can also call the Fairfax County Police non-emergency number to report the attempted fraud.
“There are times when pet owners are asked to provide financial reimbursement to us when we have provided care, but again, that would not be done over the phone,” Currier explained.
According to Currier, this scam is “happening nationwide.”
If your pet does become lost, she said, be sure to reach out to shelters in your area. At the Fairfax County Animal Shelter, you can report a lost pet “and we can share that information — we always put it on our website.”
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© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
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Kate Ryan
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What to Do if You Come in Contact With a Shark
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In the past two months, multiple people have been attacked by sharks in Florida, Hawaii and Texas. And while some of these occurrences may not be out of the ordinary, they still create an element of fear for those wanting to take to the beach during the hotter months of the year.
In early June, two separate shark attacks left three people hurt along Florida’s Gulf Coast, leading authorities to warn citizens about shark danger in the water, and urging them to tread carefully when swimming in the ocean. A few weeks ago, there was another shark attack in Hawaii, which killed a lifeguard who was surfing off the island of Oahu. And, throughout the Fourth of July festivities, at least four people were bitten by sharks in Texas and Florida.
Shark attack instances, trends, and interactive maps for those curious are logged with the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) at the Florida Museum of Natural History—a comprehensive database of all known shark attacks initiated in 1958.
So what do you do if you encounter a shark? An expert shares with TIME what to do in the event you spot a shark and how to best prepare for avoiding injury.
Read More: Are Shark Attacks Increasing? Here Are What the Data Say
Bait fish offer warning for evacuation
According to Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research and of ISAF, people can very often be in close proximity to sharks, though swimmers are often unaware since sharks are swimming roughly 100 yards to 200 yards offshore. Sharks do typically try to avoid people and keep to themselves, according to Naylor.
But, when they come closer to shore—usually, looking for food in bait fish— there are multiple ways people can “encounter” a shark in the water, and each of these instances require different approaches. If people see bait fish jumping out of the water, that is a good indication that a shark is near, and they should evacuate, Naylor says, especially if the waters are not clear.
“If water is very murky, and [the sharks are] fishing, and they’re, looking for bait fish, and they’re going through a morass of people, then obviously more likely to make a mistake,” Naylor tells TIME.
If a shark charges, fight back
It’s important to pay attention to the shark’s behavior, and see if its movements are erratic, if it’s moving backwards and forwards, circling, or just has a swimmer at the center of its attention.
If the shark does manage to charge you, Naylor says hitting the shark in the snout very hard will usually spook the animal off.
“They have a lot of receptors on the snout, so if they’re really quite alarmed, it’ll turn and it’ll go away,” Naylor continues. “That happens nine times out of 10.”
If that does not work, and a shark tries to bite a swimmer—or even has a limb in its mouth—Naylor says the best course of action is to poke the shark hard in the eyes. Then, one should reverse out of the water, keeping eye contact with the shark and making sure to never leave their back towards the animal until they are back up onto the beach.
Different bodies of waters, different shark threats
In terms of prevention and preparation, Naylor says this often depends on the waters one is in, and thus the sharks that swim in those waters.
“People say ‘Don’t watch your shiny jewelry.’ Well, sure that that helps if you’re worried about Blacktip sharks, because they feed on schooling fishes,” Naylor said. “But if you’re in Australia, whether you’re wearing jewelry or not, will make a blind bit of difference to a white shark, because they feed on seals.”
According to Naylor, this year’s attacks in Florida specifically are not out of the ordinary, with thousands of sharks and millions of tourists in the summers. Still, in 2023, the ISAF confirmed only 69 unprovoked shark bites on humans and 22 provoked shark bites, a slight uptick from the most recent five-year average of 63 incidents annually, but a number they still categorize as “extremely low,” since fluctuation is expected.
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Rebecca Schneid
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On NYC beaches, angry birds are fighting drones on patrol for sharks and swimmers
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NEW YORK — A fleet of drones patrolling New York City’s beaches for signs of sharks and struggling swimmers is drawing backlash from an aggressive group of seaside residents: local shorebirds.
Since the drones began flying in May, flocks of birds have repeatedly swarmed the devices, forcing the police department and other city agencies to adjust their flight plans. While the attacks have slowed, they have not stopped completely, fueling concern from wildlife experts about the impact on threatened species nesting along the coast.
Veronica Welsh, a wildlife coordinator at the Parks Department, said the birds were “very annoyed by the drones” from the moment they arrived on the beach.
“They will fly at it, they’ll swoop at it, they’ll be vocalizing,” Welsh said. “They think they’re defending their chicks from a predator.”
No birds have been harmed, but officials say there have been several close calls. The drones, which come equipped with inflatable life rafts that can be dropped on distressed swimmers, have yet to conduct any rescues. They spotted their first shark on Thursday, resulting in a closure of most of the beach.
City officials said the “swarming incidents” have been primarily carried out by American oystercatchers. The shorebird, known for its striking orange bill, lays its eggs this time of year in the sand on Rockaway Beach. While its population has improved in recent decades, federal authorities consider the species a “high conservation concern.”
The birds eventually may grow habituated to the devices, which can stretch over 3 feet (nearly a meter) long and emit a loud hum as they take flight, said David Bird, a professor of wildlife biology at McGill University.
But he was quick to raise a far more dire possibility: that the drones could prompt a stress response in some birds that causes them to flee the beach and abandon their eggs, as several thousand elegant terns did following a recent drone crash in San Diego.
“We don’t know a lot about what sort of distance is required to protect the birds,” he said. “But we do know there are birds on this beach that are highly endangered. If they abandon their nests because of the drones, that would be a disaster.”
On Rockaway Beach, a popular summertime destination for New Yorkers, American oystercatchers share their habitat with multiple tern species of waterbirds, as well as piping plovers, a small, sand-colored bird that is the city’s only federally designated endangered species. Local officials closely monitor the plovers each summer, barring beachgoers — and drones — from the stretches of sand where they primarily nest.
After the city’s Emergency Management Department flagged the coastal conflict last month, drone operators, largely drawn from the police and fire department, agreed to fly the devices further from oystercatcher nesting areas.
“We pointed out that there’s a nest here and there’s two angry parents who don’t want you anywhere near their eggs or their babies,” said Natalie Grybauskas, the agency’s assistant commissioner.
Since then, agencies have been holding briefings on the issue, a departure from their usual work on disasters like fires and building collapses.
“It’s rare that you have to learn about the life cycles of baby birds,” Grybauskas said.
But even after the city adjusted its flight range, beachgoers said they witnessed groups of birds rushing at the drones.
New York City is not alone turning to drones to patrol its waters. Following a spate of shark bites last summer, a similar effort was launched by officials on Long Island. Those devices are smaller and quieter and do not have flotation devices. In recent years, lifeguards in Australia also have used drones to monitor sharks and to conduct rescue operations.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a devoted drone enthusiast, has touted the new drone program as a “great addition to saving the lives of those that we lose over the summer,” especially as the city struggles to hire lifeguards to staff its beaches.
Four people have drowned off city beaches this summer, matching the total number of swimming deaths from last year.
After two teenagers disappeared while swimming off a beach adjacent to Rockaway, the NYPD flew its drones as part of the search mission. Both bodies eventually washed up on the shoreline.
The fire department’s drones also have captured footage of lifeguards assisting swimmers on Rockaway Beach struggling in a rip tide.
Christopher Allieri, founder of the NYC Plover Project, a bird protection group, praised the city for taking an innovative approach to water safety. But he stressed additional precautions were necessary to ensure the drones weren’t harming the shorebird population.
“Wildlife in New York is often an afterthought,” he said. “We should be asking ourselves how we can use this technology in a way that works for all New Yorkers, and that includes those with feathers.”
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On NYC beaches, angry birds are fighting drones on patrol for sharks and swimmers
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NEW YORK — A fleet of drones patrolling New York City’s beaches for signs of sharks and struggling swimmers is drawing backlash from an aggressive group of seaside residents: local shorebirds.
Since the drones began flying in May, flocks of birds have repeatedly swarmed the devices, forcing the police department and other city agencies to adjust their flight plans. While the attacks have slowed, they have not stopped completely, fueling concern from wildlife experts about the impact on threatened species nesting along the coast.
Veronica Welsh, a wildlife coordinator at the Parks Department, said the birds were “very annoyed by the drones” from the moment they arrived on the beach.
“They will fly at it, they’ll swoop at it, they’ll be vocalizing,” Welsh said. “They think they’re defending their chicks from a predator.”
No birds have been harmed, but officials say there have been several close calls. The drones, which come equipped with inflatable life rafts that can be dropped on distressed swimmers, have yet to conduct any rescues. They spotted their first shark on Thursday, resulting in a closure of most of the beach.
City officials said the “swarming incidents” have been primarily carried out by American oystercatchers. The shorebird, known for its striking orange bill, lays its eggs this time of year in the sand on Rockaway Beach. While its population has improved in recent decades, federal authorities consider the species a “high conservation concern.”
The birds eventually may grow habituated to the devices, which can stretch over 3 feet (nearly a meter) long and emit a loud hum as they take flight, said David Bird, a professor of wildlife biology at McGill University.
But he was quick to raise a far more dire possibility: that the drones could prompt a stress response in some birds that causes them to flee the beach and abandon their eggs, as several thousand elegant terns did following a recent drone crash in San Diego.
“We don’t know a lot about what sort of distance is required to protect the birds,” he said. “But we do know there are birds on this beach that are highly endangered. If they abandon their nests because of the drones, that would be a disaster.”
On Rockaway Beach, a popular summertime destination for New Yorkers, American oystercatchers share their habitat with multiple tern species of waterbirds, as well as piping plovers, a small, sand-colored bird that is the city’s only federally designated endangered species. Local officials closely monitor the plovers each summer, barring beachgoers — and drones — from the stretches of sand where they primarily nest.
After the city’s Emergency Management Department flagged the coastal conflict last month, drone operators, largely drawn from the police and fire department, agreed to fly the devices further from oystercatcher nesting areas.
“We pointed out that there’s a nest here and there’s two angry parents who don’t want you anywhere near their eggs or their babies,” said Natalie Grybauskas, the agency’s assistant commissioner.
Since then, agencies have been holding briefings on the issue, a departure from their usual work on disasters like fires and building collapses.
“It’s rare that you have to learn about the life cycles of baby birds,” Grybauskas said.
But even after the city adjusted its flight range, beachgoers said they witnessed groups of birds rushing at the drones.
New York City is not alone turning to drones to patrol its waters. Following a spate of shark bites last summer, a similar effort was launched by officials on Long Island. Those devices are smaller and quieter and do not have flotation devices. In recent years, lifeguards in Australia also have used drones to monitor sharks and to conduct rescue operations.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a devoted drone enthusiast, has touted the new drone program as a “great addition to saving the lives of those that we lose over the summer,” especially as the city struggles to hire lifeguards to staff its beaches.
Four people have drowned off city beaches this summer, matching the total number of swimming deaths from last year.
After two teenagers disappeared while swimming off a beach adjacent to Rockaway, the NYPD flew its drones as part of the search mission. Both bodies eventually washed up on the shoreline.
The fire department’s drones also have captured footage of lifeguards assisting swimmers on Rockaway Beach struggling in a rip tide.
Christopher Allieri, founder of the NYC Plover Project, a bird protection group, praised the city for taking an innovative approach to water safety. But he stressed additional precautions were necessary to ensure the drones weren’t harming the shorebird population.
“Wildlife in New York is often an afterthought,” he said. “We should be asking ourselves how we can use this technology in a way that works for all New Yorkers, and that includes those with feathers.”
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Philadelphia Zoo welcomes birth of Sumatran orangutan, a critically endangered species
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For the first time in 15 years, the Philadelphia Zoo welcomed the birth of a Sumatran orangutan. The critically endangered species is part of a breeding program among zoos intended to ensure the survival of species at risk of extinction.
The infant orangutan was born in late June to 31-year-old female Tua and 28-year-old male Sugi, who live at the zoo’s primate preserve. Zoo staff said they haven’t yet determined the gender of the baby, who’s unnamed for the time being.
MORE: John Dougherty, former Philly labor union boss, sentenced to 6 years in prison
“It is a joy to be able to share this wonderful news with the greater Philadelphia region and the world,” Rachel Metz, the zoo’s vice president of animal well-being and conservation, said Thursday. “This critically endangered species is rapidly losing habitat largely due to deforestation as a result of an increased demand for logging, palm oil, and other natural resources located in their habitats.”
The species is native to the forests of Sumatra, part of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. They’re one of three species of orangutans, who are the only members of the great ape family to spend most of their time off the ground. They use their long and muscular arms to scale trees and have a diet that consists mainly of fruit, bark and vegetation. They are considered among the planet’s most intelligent non-human species, with recent research suggesting they’re capable of communicating about past experiences to warn each other about predators.
It’s estimated that fewer than 14,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild. The birth of the orangutan in Philadelphia is part of the Species Survival Plan of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which strives to maintain genetically diverse populations of threatened animals.
![Zoo Orangutan Two]()
Provided Image/Philadelphia Zoo
Tua, a Sumatran orangutan, is shown carrying her baby at the Philadelphia Zoo after giving birth in late June.
The Philadelphia Zoo was the world’s first to successfully breed orangutans in 1928. There have been 20 born at the zoo since then.
Tua last gave birth in 2009 to a female, Batu, who remained with her parents at the Philadelphia Zoo through 2021. She has since been paired with a male at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and is now expecting a baby of her own. Orangutans have an eight-month gestation period. Babies nurse from their mothers for up to six years, but often start to eat solid food at around four months. They reach adolescence between the ages of 7 and 10.
Tua is now bonding with her baby in their indoor habitat at the primate preserve, where they have the choice to enter an area visible to guests or spend time alone in their bedroom. Sugi will be given a chance in the future to reunite with the pair. In the wild, males typically don’t raise their young. Orangutans are usually solitary in the wild but can be social with their peers.
The zoo is planning to hold a dedicated public debut for the baby orangutan in August. Details on the celebration will be released in the near future.
“Our entire zoo community and those that work closest with our orangutans are thrilled to watch Tua become a mother again and watch this baby grow,” said Michael Stern, the zoo’s curator of primates and small mammals.
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Michael Tanenbaum
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Abandoned German shepherd found in Malibu with mouth zip-tied shut
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After a group of hikers found an abandoned German shepherd wandering the Malibu wilderness with its mouth zip-tied shut, an animal protection group is offering a $2,500 reward to find and hold accountable the person responsible.
Just before 8 p.m. on July 3, two hikers found the pup near Malibu Creek Canyon, according to a news release from In Defense of Animals. The dog had a zip tie around his mouth and another around his neck.
The hikers quickly called 911 and removed one of the zip ties before police and animal control arrived. Together, they removed the second zip tie and carried him to safety, the group said.
“Someone did this intentionally. They left him stranded, down a hill in the middle of nowhere off the side of the road,” one of the hikers who found the dog told KTLA. “Something needs to be done to find the person who did it.”
The dog, which In Defense of Animals said was described as “sweet and gentle,” warmed up to his rescuers and eventually let them pet him. He was later taken to the Agoura Animal Care Center.
“We are grateful for the quick actions of these hikers and law enforcement, but our efforts must continue,” said Fleur Dawes, spokesperson for In Defense of Animals. “We are determined to find the person responsible for this horrific abuse and hold them accountable since they are a danger to others.”
Anyone with information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of a suspect is asked to call In Defense of Animals at (415) 879-6879.
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Keri Blakinger
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RETRO FIND: Chicken with four legs who beat the odds
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RETRO FIND: Chicken with four legs who beat the odds
The chicken was aptly named 4Runner.
12121212. Hey, how come none of these chickens have got four legs. Chickens don’t have four legs. Oh, yes, they do. You want me to take him out? All right. He probably won’t like this real well. Matt Duncan owns *** living example. His £7 broiler really has four legs. 123, the bird’s name 4runner. And he really can run two legs, do the work, the others just sort of get in the way. I was thinking maybe the circus could take him. It’s in town now, you know, Duncan and his brother run *** chicken processing operation for runner was on the fast track to, you know what? That’s when his extra legs saved him. He was spared. The ax for runner is from the Fort Calhoun area. So there are plenty of jokes about how he may have taken *** radiation hit. But the real reason for the extra appendages, I don’t know for sure. Could have been *** double yoke bag or something weird. Most of four runners buddies only live *** few months before they end up on someone’s dinner table. His extra limbs have bought him some extra time from the news. Watch seven live. I’m.
RETRO FIND: Chicken with four legs who beat the odds
The chicken was aptly named 4Runner.
Updated: 9:10 AM PDT Jul 8, 2024
Farm animals born with abnormalities often have a bleak future. This chicken’s unique traits ensured its survival.In 1995, a chicken was born with four legs near Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. It was aptly named 4Runner. 4Runner was owned by two brothers who ran a chicken processing operation. His extra legs bought him some extra time. “He was spared the ax,” his owner said.The persistent bird didn’t waste that time. True to his name, he often dashed around his home in an endearing shuffle, becoming a local curiosity and a family favorite.WATCH the video to see the amazing 4Runner going about his day!If you liked this story, here are a few more blasts from the past:
FORT CALHOUN, Neb. —Farm animals born with abnormalities often have a bleak future. This chicken’s unique traits ensured its survival.
In 1995, a chicken was born with four legs near Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. It was aptly named 4Runner.
4Runner was owned by two brothers who ran a chicken processing operation. His extra legs bought him some extra time. “He was spared the ax,” his owner said.
The persistent bird didn’t waste that time. True to his name, he often dashed around his home in an endearing shuffle, becoming a local curiosity and a family favorite.
WATCH the video to see the amazing 4Runner going about his day!
If you liked this story, here are a few more blasts from the past:
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What to stream this week: ‘Descendants,’ Megan Moroney, ‘Sunny’ and new HARDY album
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Country sensation HARDY’s new album and a new “Descendants” movie are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: and “Faye,” an authorized but candid portrait of the singular screen legend Faye Dunaway and Megan Moroney’s sophomore album release.
— Underestimate the popularity of the “Descendants” films at your own peril. Since the 2015 original debuted on the Disney Channel, the subsequent trilogy of movies have proved a huge hit with kids. When the trailer for the upcoming fourth movie, “Descendants: The Rise of Red,” debuted earlier this year, it generated 86 million views within 10 days. This time, the new “Descendants” movie is launching first on Disney+, on Friday, before arriving on the Disney Channel next month. “The Rise of Red” centers on Red (Kylie Cantrall), the rebellious daughter of the Queen of Hearts, and Chloe (Malia Baker), kin to Cinderella.
— Laurent Bouzereau’s “Faye” (streaming beginning 8 p.m. Saturday on Max) is an authorized but candid portrait of the singular screen legend Faye Dunaway. In it, the 83-year-old Dunaway, frankly discusses her bipolar disorder diagnosis and her history of alcoholism, along with her long string of classic films including “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Chinatown” and “Network.”
— Not many films come with instructions to wear headphones while watching, but Sam Green’s “32 Sounds” is not your average documentary, either. Green’s movie, which was shortlisted for best documentary by the Academy Awards earlier this year, explores 32 wildly disparate auditory experiences — the heartbeat of a fetus, a whoopee cushion at work, Phil Collins “In the Air Tonight” — to contemplate all the many ways that sound resonates in our lives. The movie, which was first a “live documentary” experience that handed out headphones to its audience members, is streaming on the Criterion Channel.
— Last year, country musician Megan Moroney’s debut album, “Lucky,” was named one of AP’s top albums for 2023, for its sharp writing and congenial delivery — a Gen Z songwriter I previously described as possessing Taylor Swift-level acuity. Her pen continues to be her weapon on “Am I Okay?” a heartbreak-filled rollercoaster ride of a sophomore album, filled with quotable kiss-offs and evolved compositions. It releases Friday.
— HARDY (real name Michael Wilson Hardy) has been celebrated for his hybrid approach to country music, weaving elements of anthemic rock and even nu-metal into his compositions. ( Kid Rock has left a pretty massive vacancy, it could be pointed out.) On his third studio album, “QUIT!!,” HARDY continues to push the boundaries of his chosen genres. “ROCKSTAR” sounds like something that would’ve found a home on the Van’s Warped Tour, delivered through his signature twang; the line between rock and country has never been thinner.
— On Friday, R&B talent Tink will release the fifth installment in her popular mixtape series, “Winter’s Diary 5.” If the previously released singles are evidence of what’s to come, the tape will build off what she’s become known for — sultry melodies about every relationship experience imaginable. That means frustration from poor communication and disloyalty, this time atop soft guitar riffs (“Huh”), backsliding and maybe not feeling so bad about it sometimes with smooth harmonies (“Songs About U,” featuring Summer Walker ) and beyond.
— We’re living in a rich period of music documentaries about Memphis (and no, we’re not only including HBO and MAX’s “Stax: Soulsville U.S.A” in that statement, but it is certainly up there.) On Tuesday, a new documentary will become available via video-on-demand: “The Blue Society,” which gleans new insight into the Memphis Country Blues Festival, held between 1966 and 1970. This film examines the relationship between the fest and ’60s counterculture, Memphis blues, and race — particularly looking at the white organizers who put it on, and the Black musicians who played it. It’s appointment viewing for music and American history fans alike.
— Also on Tuesday: Paramount+ will release a new, two-part docu-series, “Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken.” It follows the Grammy-award winning Etheridge, as she organizes a special concert at a women’s prison in Kansas, the Topeka Correctional Facility. Five women incarcerated there wrote letters to Etheridge, inspiring her to compose an original song for them, and throw the event. Throughout is also an addiction narrative, which Etheridge can relate to: In 2020, her son Beckett Cypher died at age 21, from causes related to opioid addiction.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
— Jenn Tran, who competed for Joey Graziadei’s heart on last season of “The Bachelor,” is ABC’s new “Bachelorette.” Tran, a physician’s assistant student, is the first Asian American to lead the series. Watch her meet her suitors on Monday on ABC. Episodes also stream on Hulu.
— A new docuseries looks back at Serena Williams’ tennis career, from her own perspective. “In the Arena: Serena Williams” examines her rise to greatness to her retirement announcement in 2022. The eight-episode series debuts Wednesday on ESPN+.
— Rashida Jones stars in a new mystery for Apple TV+ centering around one of the hottest topics of late, artificial intelligence. In “Sunny,” premiering Wednesday, Jones plays a woman living in Japan whose husband and son go missing after a plane crash. She’s gifted with a domestic robot to keep her company and help her through her grief.
— Dakota and Elle Fanning are behind a new true crime docuseries for Hulu. “Mastermind: To Think Like A Killer” introduces viewers to Dr. Ann Burgess, a pioneer in the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, who changed the way authorities investigate serial killers. Burgess’ story isn’t just fascinating but inspiring as well, as she earned respect in the male-dominated FBI. The three-part series drops Thursday.
— With the success of “Love Island USA” and “The Traitors,” Peacock has two hit reality competition shows on its roster. Next, hungry bears are the stars of a new non-scripted series for the streamer. “The Hungry Games: Alaska’s Big Bear Challenge” tracks Alaskan brown bears as they seek to eat enough food (approximately three-million calories) to sustain them through their winter slumber. To do so, the hangry bears must battle mother nature and each other. As the title suggests, “The Hungry Games” is presented like a competition show. The games begin Thursday.
— Not to be outdone, the godfather of natural history programs, Sir David Attenborough, has a new wildlife docuseries dedicated to a variety of mammals. “Planet Earth: Mammals” looks at, you guessed it, mammals big and small adapting to their evolving natural habitat due to human activity and the effects of climate change. The six-part series premieres Saturday on BBC America and AMC+.
— A new original for MGM+ explores the world of politics and academia against the backdrop of Martha’s Vineyard. “Emperor of Ocean Park ″ is a thriller mystery series based on a novel of the same name and debuts Sunday. Oscar winner Forest Whitaker and Grantham Coleman star.
— There really aren’t enough games where you get to kick your enemies, so thank goodness for Devolver Digital’s Anger Foot. Sure, it lets you arm yourself with standard weapons like rifles and crossbows, but for up-close brawling nothing beats a shoe to the face. The visuals look like something you might see after too many Red Bulls, the bass-heavy soundtrack will wake up your neighbors, and the shoe collection should satisfy any sneakerhead. South African developer Free Lives is known for raunchy, ultraviolent comedy, and it doesn’t take the foot off the gas pedal here. Kick out the jams Thursday on PC.
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New animal rescue to open in Pinellas Park
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PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A new animal shelter is opening in Pinellas Park on July 9. It’s called FLUFF Animal Rescue.
Founder and CEO Kimmy Chandler said they’ll be focusing on bringing in dogs and cats that would be euthanized at other shelters and then help to find them homes.
With 23 employees, more than 200 volunteers, and 120 people who foster these animals at their homes, Chandler said they’re doing everything they can to protect animals in our region.
“We rescue these animals from high-kill shelters,” she said. “That is our primary goal. Our primary concern is to get them out before they run out of time.”
In recent years, Chandler said pet owners have struggled with the cost of caring for their pets, making the need for shelters like hers even more important.
“This is as bad as I’ve seen it in the eight years that I’ve been actively working in animal rescue,” she said.
It’s not the career Chandler pictured for herself. A teacher for years, she said everything changed after learning more about how some animal shelters operate.
“There is a very high euthanasia rate in Florida, which is sad,” Chandler said. “On two-and-a-half acres of land, you can save a lot of wiggle butts.”
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), each year more than 900,000 dogs and cats are euthanized in the United States.
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Matt Lackritz
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To save spotted owls, US officials plan to kill hundreds of thousands of another owl species
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To save the imperiled spotted owl from potential extinction, U.S. wildlife officials are embracing a contentious plan to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests to kill almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding out their cousins.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service strategy released Wednesday is meant to prop up declining spotted owl populations in Oregon, Washington state and California. The Associated Press obtained details in advance.
Documents released by the agency show up to about 450,000 barred owls would be shot over three decades after the birds from the eastern U.S. encroached into the West Coast territory of two owls: northern spotted owls and California spotted owls. The smaller spotted owls have been unable to compete with the invaders, which have large broods and need less room to survive than spotted owls.
Past efforts to save spotted owls focused on protecting the forests where they live, sparking bitter fights over logging but also helping slow the birds’ decline. The proliferation of barred owls in recent years is undermining that earlier work, officials said.
“Without actively managing barred owls, northern spotted owls will likely go extinct in all or the majority of their range, despite decades of collaborative conservation efforts,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Oregon state supervisor Kessina Lee.
The notion of killing one bird species to save another has divided wildlife advocates and conservationists. It’s reminiscent of past government efforts to save West Coast salmon by killing sea lions and cormorants that prey on the fish, and to preserve warblers by killing cowbirds that lay eggs in warbler nests.
Some advocates grudgingly accepted the barred owl removal strategy; others said it’s reckless diversion from needed forest preservation.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service is turning from protector of wildlife to persecutor of wildlife,” said Wayne Pacelle, founder of the advocacy group Animal Wellness Action. He predicted the program would fail because the agency won’t be able to keep more barred owls from migrating into areas where others have been killed.
The shootings would likely begin next spring, officials said. Barred owls would be lured using megaphones to broadcast recorded owl calls, then shot with shotguns. Carcasses would be buried on site.
The birds already are being killed by researchers in some spotted owl habitats, with about 4,500 removed since 2009, said Robin Bown, barred owl strategy leader for the Fish and Wildlife Service. Those targeted included barred owls in California’s Sierra Nevada region, where the animals have only recently arrived and officials want to stop populations from taking hold.
In other areas where barred owls are more established, officials aim to reduce their numbers but acknowledge shooting owls is unlikely to eliminate them entirely.
Supporters include the American Bird Conservancy and other conservation groups.
Barred owls don’t belong in the West, said American Bird Conservancy Vice President Steve Holmer. Killing them is unfortunate, he added, but reducing their numbers could allow them to live alongside spotted owls over the long term.
“As the old forests are allowed to regrow, hopefully coexistence is possible and maybe we don’t need to do as much” shooting, Holmer said.
The killings would reduce North American barred owl numbers by less than 1% annually, officials said. That compares with potential extinction for spotted owls, should the problem go unaddressed.
Because barred owls are aggressive hunters, removing them also could help other West Coast species that they’ve been preying on such as salamanders and crayfish, said Tom Wheeler, director of the Environmental Protection Information Center, a California-based conservation group.
Public hunting of barred owls wouldn’t be allowed. The wildlife service would designate government agencies, landowners, American Indian tribes or companies to carry out the killings. Shooters would have to provide documentation of training or experience in owl identification and firearm skills.
The publishing in the coming days of a final environmental study on the proposal will open a 30-day comment period before a final decision is made.
The barred owl plan follows decades of conflict between conservationists and timber companies, which cut down vast areas of older forests where spotted owls reside.
Early efforts to save the birds culminated in logging bans in the 1990s that roiled the timber industry and its political supporters in Congress.
Yet spotted owl populations continued declining after barred owls started showing up on the West Coast several decades ago. Across the region at least half of spotted owls have been lost, with declines of 75% or more in some study areas, said Katherine Fitzgerald, who leads the wildlife service’s northern spotted owl recovery program.
Opponents say the mass killing of barred owls would cause severe disruption to forest ecosystems and could lead to other species — including spotted owls — being mistakenly shot. They’ve also challenged the notion that barred owls don’t belong on the West Coast, characterizing their expanding range as a natural ecological phenomenon.
Researchers say barred owls moved westward by one of two routes: across the Great Plains, where trees planted by settlers gave them a foothold in new areas; or via Canada’s boreal forests, which have become more hospitable as temperatures rise because of climate change.
Northern spotted owls are federally protected as a threatened species. Federal officials determined in 2020 that their continued decline merited an upgrade to the more critical designation of “endangered.” But the Fish and Wildlife Service refused to do so at the time, saying other species took priority.
California spotted owls were proposed for federal protections last year. A decision is pending.
Under former President Donald Trump, government officials stripped habitat protections for spotted owls at the behest of the timber industry. Those were reinstated under President Joe Biden after the Interior Department said political appointees under Trump relied on faulty science to justify their weakening of protections.
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By Matthew Brown | Associated Press
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US Government Awards Moderna $176 Million for mRNA Bird Flu Vaccine
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The US government will pay Moderna $176 million to develop an mRNA vaccine against a pandemic influenza—an award given as the highly pathogenic bird flu virus H5N1 continues to spread widely among US dairy cattle.
The funding flows through BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, as part of a new Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle (RRPV) Consortium. The program is intended to set up partnerships with industry to help the country better prepare for pandemic threats and develop medical countermeasures, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a press announcement Tuesday.
In its own announcement on Tuesday, Moderna noted that it began a Phase 1/2 trial of a pandemic influenza virus vaccine last year, which included versions targeting H5 and H7 varieties of bird flu viruses. The company said it expects to release the results of that trial this year and that those results will direct the design of a Phase 3 trial, anticipated to begin in 2025.
The funding deal will support late-stage development of a “prepandemic vaccine against H5 influenza virus,” Moderna said. But the deal also includes options for additional vaccine development in case other public health threats arise.
“mRNA vaccine technology offers advantages in efficacy, speed of development, and production scalability and reliability in addressing infectious disease outbreaks, as demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in the announcement. “We are pleased to continue our collaboration with BARDA to expedite our development efforts for mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines and support the global public health community in preparedness against potential outbreaks.”
US health officials have said previously that they were in talks with Moderna and Pfizer about the development of a pandemic bird flu vaccine. The future vaccine will be in addition to standard protein-based bird flu vaccines that are already developed. In recent weeks, the health department has said it is working to manufacture 4.8 million vials of H5 influenza vaccine in the coming months. The plans come three months into the H5N1 dairy outbreak, which is very far from the initial hopes of containment.
Botched Response
The US is badly fumbling its response to the unprecedented outbreak, drawing criticism from US-based and international experts alike. Genetic analyses suggest that the virus has been spreading among the country’s dairy cattle since late last year. But it wasn’t until months later, on March 25, that the US Department of Agriculture confirmed the first four infected herds in two states (Texas and Kansas). Since then, the outbreak has spread to around 140 herds in 12 states—at least.
Some farms are refusing to test, and experts expect that there is a significant number of undocumented herd infections, particularly given the widespread detection of inactivated H5N1 in the commercial milk supply. Furthermore, of the 140 herds with documented infections, federal officials do not know how many are still actively infected rather than recovered. It is unclear whether infected cows can become reinfected, and if so, how quickly after an infection.
While the risk to the general public is considered to be low currently, farm workers are at higher risk of contracting the infection. To date, there have been three confirmed infections among dairy farm workers—one in Texas and two in Michigan, which has had a uniquely robust response to the outbreak. Still, with hundreds to thousands of farm workers at risk of contracting the virus, only 53 people in the country to date have been tested for H5 influenza.
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Beth Mole, Ars Technica
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These oldest inhabited termite mounds have been active for 34,000 years
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CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are more than 30,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active termite hills.
Some of the mounds near the Buffels River in Namaqualand were estimated by radiocarbon dating to be 34,000 years old, according to the researchers from Stellenbosch University.
“We knew they were old, but not that old,” said Michele Francis, senior lecturer in the university’s department of soil science who led the study. Her paper was published in May.
Francis said the mounds existed while saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths roamed other parts of the Earth and large swathes of Europe and Asia were covered in ice. They predate some of the earliest cave paintings in Europe.
Some fossilized termite mounds have been discovered dating back millions of years. The oldest inhabited mounds before this study were found in Brazil and are around 4,000 years old. They are visible from space.
Francis said the Namaqualand mounds are a termite version of an “apartment complex” and the evidence shows they have been consistently inhabited by termite colonies.
Termite mounds are a famous feature of the Namaqualand landscape, but no one suspected their age until samples of them were taken to experts in Hungary for radiocarbon dating.
“People don’t know that these are special, ancient landscapes that are preserved there,” Francis said.
Some of the biggest mounds — known locally as “heuweltjies,” which means little hills in the Afrikaans language — measure around 100 feet (30 meters) across. The termite nests are as deep as 10 feet underground.
Researchers needed to carefully excavate parts of the mounds to take samples, and the termites went into “emergency mode” and started filling in the holes, Francis said.
The team fully reconstructed the mounds to keep the termites safe from predators like aardvarks.
Francis said the project was more than just a fascinating look at ancient structures. It also offered a peek into a prehistoric climate that showed Namaqualand was a much wetter place when the mounds were formed.
The southern harvester termites are experts at capturing and storing carbon by collecting twigs and other dead wood and putting it back deep into the soil. That has benefits in offsetting climate change by reducing the amount of carbon emitted into the atmosphere.
It’s also good for the soil. Masses of wildflowers bloom on top of the termite mounds in a region that receives little rain.
Francis called for more research on termite mounds given the lessons they offer on climate change, sustaining ecosystems and maybe even for improving agricultural practices.
“We will do well to study what the termites have done in the mounds. They were thought to be very boring,” she said.
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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
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To save spotted owls, US officials plan to kill hundreds of thousands of another owl species
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To save the imperiled spotted owl from potential extinction, U.S. wildlife officials are embracing a contentious plan to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests to kill almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding out their cousins.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service strategy released Wednesday is meant to prop up declining spotted owl populations in Oregon, Washington state and California. The Associated Press obtained details in advance.
Documents released by the agency show up to about 450,000 barred owls would be shot over three decades after the birds from the eastern U.S. encroached into the West Coast territory of two owls: northern spotted owls and California spotted owls. The smaller spotted owls have been unable to compete with the invaders, which have large broods and need less room to survive than spotted owls.
Past efforts to save spotted owls focused on protecting the forests where they live, sparking bitter fights over logging but also helping slow the birds’ decline. The proliferation of barred owls in recent years is undermining that earlier work, officials said.
“Without actively managing barred owls, northern spotted owls will likely go extinct in all or the majority of their range, despite decades of collaborative conservation efforts,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Oregon state supervisor Kessina Lee.
The notion of killing one bird species to save another has divided wildlife advocates and conservationists. It’s reminiscent of past government efforts to save West Coast salmon by killing sea lions and cormorants that prey on the fish, and to preserve warblers by killing cowbirds that lay eggs in warbler nests.
Some advocates grudgingly accepted the barred owl removal strategy; others said it’s reckless diversion from needed forest preservation.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service is turning from protector of wildlife to persecutor of wildlife,” said Wayne Pacelle, founder of the advocacy group Animal Wellness Action. He predicted the program would fail because the agency won’t be able to keep more barred owls from migrating into areas where others have been killed.
The shootings would likely begin next spring, officials said. Barred owls would be lured using megaphones to broadcast recorded owl calls, then shot with shotguns. Carcasses would be buried on site.
The birds already are being killed by researchers in some spotted owl habitats, with about 4,500 removed since 2009, said Robin Bown, barred owl strategy leader for the Fish and Wildlife Service. Those targeted included barred owls in California’s Sierra Nevada region, where the animals have only recently arrived and officials want to stop populations from taking hold.
In other areas where barred owls are more established, officials aim to reduce their numbers but acknowledge shooting owls is unlikely to eliminate them entirely.
Supporters include the American Bird Conservancy and other conservation groups.
Barred owls don’t belong in the West, said American Bird Conservancy Vice President Steve Holmer. Killing them is unfortunate, he added, but reducing their numbers could allow them to live alongside spotted owls over the long term.
“As the old forests are allowed to regrow, hopefully coexistence is possible and maybe we don’t need to do as much” shooting, Holmer said.
The killings would reduce North American barred owl numbers by less than 1% annually, officials said. That compares with potential extinction for spotted owls, should the problem go unaddressed.
Because barred owls are aggressive hunters, removing them also could help other West Coast species that they’ve been preying on such as salamanders and crayfish, said Tom Wheeler, director of the Environmental Protection Information Center, a California-based conservation group.
Public hunting of barred owls wouldn’t be allowed. The wildlife service would designate government agencies, landowners, American Indian tribes or companies to carry out the killings. Shooters would have to provide documentation of training or experience in owl identification and firearm skills.
The publishing in the coming days of a final environmental study on the proposal will open a 30-day comment period before a final decision is made.
The barred owl plan follows decades of conflict between conservationists and timber companies, which cut down vast areas of older forests where spotted owls reside.
Early efforts to save the birds culminated in logging bans in the 1990s that roiled the timber industry and its political supporters in Congress.
Yet spotted owl populations continued declining after barred owls started showing up on the West Coast several decades ago. Across the region at least half of spotted owls have been lost, with declines of 75% or more in some study areas, said Katherine Fitzgerald, who leads the wildlife service’s northern spotted owl recovery program.
Opponents say the mass killing of barred owls would cause severe disruption to forest ecosystems and could lead to other species — including spotted owls — being mistakenly shot. They’ve also challenged the notion that barred owls don’t belong on the West Coast, characterizing their expanding range as a natural ecological phenomenon.
Researchers say barred owls moved westward by one of two routes: across the Great Plains, where trees planted by settlers gave them a foothold in new areas; or via Canada’s boreal forests, which have become more hospitable as temperatures rise because of climate change.
Northern spotted owls are federally protected as a threatened species. Federal officials determined in 2020 that their continued decline merited an upgrade to the more critical designation of “endangered.” But the Fish and Wildlife Service refused to do so at the time, saying other species took priority.
California spotted owls were proposed for federal protections last year. A decision is pending.
Under former President Donald Trump, government officials stripped habitat protections for spotted owls at the behest of the timber industry. Those were reinstated under President Joe Biden after the Interior Department said political appointees under Trump relied on faulty science to justify their weakening of protections.
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Yes, some animals can have babies without a mate. Here’s how
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A boa constrictor in the U.K. gave birth to 14 babies — without a mate.
Is it a miracle? The result of a secret rendezvous? Probably not. Females of species have the ability to reproduce asexually, without sperm from a male. The process is called parthenogenesis, from the Greek words for “virgin” and “birth.”
Some plants and insects can do it, as well as some amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish. A stingray named Charlotte that was thought to have become pregnant by this method died this week at an aquarium in North Carolina, though she never delivered and it is unclear if she was ever pregnant.
Some wasps, crustaceans and lizards reproduce only through parthenogenesis. But in other species it’s rare and usually only observed in captivity. Scientists have a good idea how it happens, though they aren’t clear why it happens, according to Kady Lyons, a research scientist at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.
A female’s egg fuses with another cell, often a cell leftover from a process that allows the female to create the egg. That cell, known as a polar body, gives the egg the genetic information it would normally get from sperm. The cell starts dividing and that leads to the creation of an embryo.
The snake, a 6-foot, 13-year-old Brazilian Rainbow Boa named Ronaldo, gave birth last week after having no contact with any other snakes for at least nine years, according to the City of Portsmouth College, which kept the snake.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Where to Cuddle & Play with Goats Near Greenville
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Do you love goats and want to see and/or play with them around the Upstate, SC? Lucky for you, if you’re looking for goat farms near Greenville, SC to visit, Kristina is sharing where to play with them.
This story is a long time coming. We should have written a kidding around with goats in Greenville a long time ago but whatever, today’s the day. There are few things I love more than goats, especially baby goats. Obsessed may be accurate. They are so darn cute and cuddly and playful and they make me ridiculously happy. I hope, that since you’re reading this story, you agree.
Let’s stop kidding around and get to the list.
Playing with goats at Carl Sandburg Home Where to See & Play with Goats in or near the Upstate
Split Creek Farm
Not only will you get to see baby goats and little goats and a whole herd full of amazing goats, but Split Creek Farm is an award-winning goat dairy farm which means they also sell delicious goat cheese and goat fudge. Don’t leave there without getting some. In the spring, they have an event where you can play with baby goats called Spring Means Babies. You are welcome to visit the farm to see the goats all year and self-guided tours are available Friday and Saturday 10 am – 6 pm. The farm store is open Monday-Saturday 10 am – 6 pm and is where you can buy goat milk products. There is no admission charge. No pets allowed.
3806 Centerville Road, Anderson
864.287.3921
Split Creek Farm Website
Split Creek Farms Goats Ballyhoo Petting Zoo
Ballyhoo Petting Zoo Website is the Upstate’s only dedicated petting zoo and they have a lot of animals, including goats! The owners are really kind as well and they often have family-friendly events to enjoy. They are open Thursday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm and Sundays from 1 pm to 6 pm. Tickets are $10/adults, $9/Seniors & students, $8/kids, free for ages 2 and under. Ballyhoo Petting Zoo also offers memberships starting at $48.
849 Norris Road, Anderson
706.436.7249
Ballyhoo Petting Zoo WebsiteCarl Sandburg Estate
You can play with the goats at the estate for free and some months during the year, they have events where you can read to the goats, which is adorable. I love this place because if I need a quick goat fix, they are always open and it’s an easy drive up to Flat Rock. In the spring, there are baby goats! Plus at the Carl Sandburg Estate Website, you’ll also find hiking trails to enjoy, a fish pond, and so much more. There is no admission charge to the estate, goat barn, or hiking trails.
81 Carl Sandburg Lane, Flat Rock, NC
828.693.4178
Carl Sandburg Estate WebsiteLucky Acres Farm
Lucky Acres alpaca farm has goats and chickens. Gloria, the owner, makes hats, scarves, mittens, and blankets from the alpacas fleece and gives great tours on the property. When I was there, Gloria had fainting goats, which basically pass out as a defense mechanism. None of us scared them apparently since they remained on all fours. Tours are free but donations are accepted. You will want to call ahead.
1024 Milford Road, Townville, SC
864.287.2339
Lucky Acres Farm WebsiteRed Clay Soap
Red Clay Soap in Travelers Rest makes soap from the milk of the goats raised on the farm. They offer field trips, events on the farm, and “goats to go”, which is a party package where the farm brings goats to you. Honestly, I don’t even need a party. I just want them to bring goats to me.
2310 Tigerville Rd., Travelers Rest
864.834.9317
Red Clay Soap WebsiteHidden Pastures Farm
While primarily known as a unicorn farm, Hidden Pastures in Fountain Inn also has baby bunnies, goats, and chicks. They are open Saturday and Sunday only from 11 am to 4 pm. Admission is $12/person, under 2 are free.
245 Little Virginia Road, Fountain Inn, SC
864.477.9284
Hidden Pastures Farm WebsiteWinchester Creek Farm
A beautiful drive from Greenville through the mountains to Waynesville in Western, NC, this farm has alpacas and lots of miniature animals like horses, cows, and donkeys – and goats! They let us play with the baby goats when we were there last and it was great. You can feed and interact with some of the animals. Tours are by appointment only and tickets are $15/adults and teens over age 13, $13/ kids 3-12, kids under 3 free. Seniors, Active Duty Military, and Law Enforcement Personnel tickets are $13.
386 Walker Road, Waynesville, NC
828.246.9486
Winchester Creek Farm Website
Antler Hill Village at the Biltmore
This is the furthest, and most expensive, place to see goats on our list. The goats are at the farm at Antler Hill Village, which is included in your admission to the beautiful Biltmore Estate Website. Admission starts around $80. Children are free over the summer with an adult ticket.
One Lodge Street, Asheville, NC
800.411.3812
Antler Hill Village at the Biltmore WebsiteWhat are your favorite goat farms near Greenville, SC to visit?
Greenville Zoo: Everything YOU Need to Know for a Perfect Visit
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Kristina Hernandez
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Newborn white rhino Silverio takes his giant first steps in a Chilean zoo in a boost to his species
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SANTIAGO, Chile — Hannah, a 13-year-old white rhinoceros, has delivered a newborn calf in a rare zoo birth for the almost endangered species.
The arrival of the male calf, named Silverio, two weeks ago marked the third time that a white rhino had ever been born in South America. The Buin Zoo in Chile’s capital of Santiago unveiled Silverio to the public on Tuesday as he took his first giant-footed steps after 12 days of medical care in confinement.
The zoo hailed his birth as a “big achievement” for conservationists worldwide. Over the past year, only eight other southern white rhinos have been born.
The director of Buin Zoo explained that a recent string of failed rhino romances had dashed the hopes of conservationists attempting to breed the species across the continent. But Hannah and Oliver — a pair of southern white rhinos shipped to Santiago all the way from sub-Saharan Africa just over a decade ago — have hit it off, producing three calves in this one zoo.
“There are several zoos in Latin America that have a rhino pair and did not manage to reproduce,” said zoo director Ignacio Idalsoaga. “We are contributing with a ninth calf to a species that has only a few left in the wild.”
A team of veterinarians closely monitoring Silverio declared him healthy on Tuesday.
The success story comes as fewer and fewer white rhinos roam the African plains. Northern white rhinos have effectively gone extinct, although the international scientific community has started to revive the species through assisted reproduction and stem cell research.
Southern white rhinos, the northern’s close cousin and a more common species, have been classified as “nearly endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the world’s main scientific authority on the status of species. There are just over 10,000 individual southern white rhinos left in the world, the vast majority of them in zoos.
That’s still a major improvement from the turn of the 19th century, when the species was hunted to near oblivion. Intensive conservation efforts in the last few decades pulled southern white rhinos away from the brink of extinction, a rare example of robust reocovery in the face of peril.
But that could change, conservationists say, as hunters continue to kill rhinos for their horns and the mammals can struggle to reproduce in captivity, with a gestation period of 18 months and often more than one male needed to stimulate reproduction.
Humans are the only predators to rhinos, reports the international conservation union, with hunters killing an estimated 1,000 rhinos a year. It says that roughly 17 rhinos are born each year.
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