Tag: Animals

Right whale found entangled off New England in devastating year for the species

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PORTLAND, Maine — A North Atlantic right whale has been spotted entangled in rope off New England, worsening an already devastating year for the vanishing animals, federal authorities said.

The right whales number less than 360 and are vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships. The entangled whale was seen Tuesday about 50 miles south of Rhode Island’s Block Island, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The whale has rope coming out of both sides of its mouth and has been far from shore, making it difficult for rescuers to help, NOAA said in a statement.

“Given the long distance from shore, experts were unable to safely travel to the last known location of the whale during daylight to attempt a rescue,” the statement said. “NOAA Fisheries and our partners will monitor this whale and attempt to respond to the entanglement, if possible, as weather and safety conditions allow.”

Several right whales have died this year off Georgia and Massachusetts, and environmental groups fear the species could be headed for extinction. The animal’s population fell about 25% from 2010 to 2020.

Every effort will be made to free the entangled animal, said Scott Landry, director of the Marine Animal Entanglement Response Program at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

“The public can become very impatient with these entanglement cases,” Landry said. “These things can play out very slowly, and we simply ask the patience of the public when they are trying to understand these difficult events.”

A whale found dead off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, in January showed evidence of injury from entanglement in fishing gear. Environmental groups have called for stricter rules to protect the whales from entanglement in gear. However, a federal budget package passed in late 2022 included a six-year pause on new federal whale regulations.

“This is another example that entanglements are happening in U.S. waters,” said Gib Brogan, campaign director with environmental group Oceana. “We need stronger protection from entanglements in U.S. waters.”

The whales were once numerous off the East Coast, but they were decimated during the commercial whaling era and have been slow to recover. They have been federally protected for decades.

They migrate every year from calving grounds off Florida and Georgia to feeding grounds off New England and Canada. The journey has become perilous in recent years because their food sources appear to be moving as waters warm. That change causes the whales to stray from protected areas of ocean and become vulnerable to entanglements and collisions, scientists have said.

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Associated Press writer Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to show that the whale population fell about 25% from 2010 to 2020, not 2010 to 2010.

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April 13, 2024
$Dead whale in New Jersey had a fractured skull among numerous injuries, experts find$

Dead whale in New Jersey had a fractured skull among numerous injuries, experts find

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LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A post-mortem examination of a whale that washed ashore on New Jersey’s Long Beach Island found that the animal had sustained numerous blunt force injuries including a fractured skull and vertebrae.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center on Friday released observations from a necropsy done Thursday evening on the nearly 25-foot (7.6-meter) juvenile male humpback whale that was found dead in Long Beach Township.

Sheila Dean, director of the center, said the whale was found to have bruising around the head; multiple fractures of the skull and cervical vertebrae; numerous dislocated ribs, and a dislocated shoulder bone.

“These injuries are consistent with blunt force trauma,” she wrote in a posting on the group’s Facebook page.

Reached afterward, Dean would not attribute the injuries to any particular cause, noting that extensive testing as part of the necropsy remains to be done, with tissue samples sent to laboratories across the country.

“We only report what we see,” she said.

The animal’s cause of death is of intense interest to many amid an ongoing controversy involving a belief by opponents of offshore wind power that site preparation work for the projects is harming or killing whales along the U.S. East Coast.

Numerous scientific agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the Marine Mammal Commission; the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, say there is no evidence linking offshore wind preparation to whale deaths.

NOAA said Friday there have been 16 large whale deaths on the East Coast in 2024: 7 humpbacks between Massachusetts and North Carolina; 4 North Atlantic right whales, which are critically endangered, in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Georgia; two sperm whales in South Carolina and Florida; two minke whales in North Carolina and Virginia, and one fin whale in Rhode Island.

In 2023, there were 82 large whale deaths along the East Coast, the agency said.

The stranding center’s website said this was New Jersey’s first whale death of the year, following 14 in 2023.

Leading Light Wind is one of three wind farms proposed off the New Jersey coast. It said in a statement issued late Thursday that “our community should guard against misinformation campaigns in response to these incidents,” noting that many of the previous whale deaths have been attributed by scientists to vessel strikes or entanglement with fishing gear.

Protect Our Coast NJ, one of the most staunchly anti-offshore wind groups, voiced renewed skepticism of official pronouncements on the whale deaths, referencing similar distrust from some quarters of official information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Blaming all of the cetacean deaths on entanglements and ship strikes is reminiscent of the phenomenon four years ago in which seemingly every death was a COVID death, no matter how old or how sick the patient was prior to contracting the virus,” the group said in a statement Thursday.

Leading Light, whose project would be built about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off Long Beach Island, said it is committed to building the project in a way that minimizes risks to wildlife.

“Minimizing impacts to the marine environment is of the utmost importance to Leading Light Wind,” leaders of the project said. “Along with providing advance notices about our survey activity and facilitating active engagement with maritime stakeholders, Leading Light Wind is investing in monitoring and mitigation initiatives to ensure the offshore wind industry can thrive alongside a healthy marine environment.”

The post-mortem examination of the whale also showed evidence of past entanglement with fishing gear, although none was present when the whale washed ashore. Scars from a previous entanglement unrelated to the stranding event were found around the peduncle, which is the muscular area where the tail connects to the body; on the tail itself, and on the right front pectoral flipper.

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Follow Wayne Parry on the social platform X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

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April 12, 2024
What to know about the latest bird flu outbreaks

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Recent U.S. outbreaks of avian influenza and the first known case of a human contracting bird flu from a mammal have ignited concerns that bird flu will be the next pandemic.

Some social media users are claiming bird flu will be worse than COVID-19, which caused more than 1.2 million U.S. deaths since 2020.

“GET READY because the fabled ‘Disease X’ COVID PLANDEMIC 2.0 IS on the horizon, and it looks like it’s the ‘Avian Influenza’ Bird Flu H5N1 variant,” an April 4 X post said.

Another X post, featuring butchered grammar, said, “Here we go …. Again. Scientists says Bird Flu pandemic could be ‘100 times worse’ than COVID.”

Other X users said public health authorities are “already working” on a bird flu vaccine for humans, suggesting the disease outbreak was planned.

Public health experts in the U.S. and worldwide say avian flu poses a low risk to humans, and there have been no signs of human-to-human spread of the disease. Developing a bird flu vaccine is part of the federal government’s pandemic preparedness.

What is bird flu?

Avian influenza is a naturally occurring disease among wild birds, including ducks and geese, that can also infect domesticated birds, such as chickens and turkeys. Highly pathogenic strains of bird flu can cause severe infection and high fatality in birds. Low pathogenic strains trigger mild infections, but can turn highly pathogenic.

Domesticated birds can contract avian flu through contact with infected birds, or through contact with surfaces contaminated with the virus. Because avian flu spreads quickly and is untreatable in animals, infected flocks are culled to prevent further infection.

How widespread is the bird flu outbreak in the U.S.?

This strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, H5N1, was discovered in wild birds in the U.S. and Canada in late 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. In 2022, the virus began causing outbreaks in commercial and backyard poultry.

Since 2022, H5N1 bird flu has affected more than 82 million birds across almost every state, the CDC said. That means they live on premises where the flu has been detected. Sporadic infections of other wild animals, including bears, foxes and skunks, have also been reported.

Recently, the virus spread to livestock for the first time. In March, U.S. officials reported that goats on a Minnesota farm tested positive for H5N1. Since then, the avian flu has also been detected in dairy cows in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas.

At the beginning of April, the country’s largest egg producer, Cal-Maine Foods Inc., said it was temporarily halting production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in its chickens. A Michigan poultry plant also reported bird flu infections.

As of April 10, the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said avian flu affected more than 3.85 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks in Michigan, South Dakota and Texas over the past 30 days.

How often do people get infected with bird flu?

It’s unusual for people to contract avian flu, but rare cases have occurred globally for nearly three decades, the CDC said. Infections can happen when the bird flu virus gets into a person’s eyes, nose or mouth, or is inhaled.

The first bird flu outbreak among humans happened in 1997 in Hong Kong, and about 20 people were infected, the CDC said.

No human cases were reported between 1998 and 2002, the CDC said. And since 2003, the World Health Organization said, there have been 889 cases of humans infected with bird flu across 23 countries, including the U.S., where two people have been diagnosed with the disease.

The first U.S. case occurred in 2022 when a prison inmate caught the disease while killing infected poultry on a Colorado farm as part of a prerelease program. The person’s only symptom was fatigue and he recovered.

On April 1, the second U.S. case of bird flu infection in a human was reported. The person who tested positive with the virus had been exposed to infected cows in Texas. The person, whose only reported symptom is eye redness, is being treated with an antiviral drug.

Officials say public health risk remains low

Many social media users have raised alarm about the avian flu’s fatality rate for humans, with some citing “scientists” who said a bird flu pandemic could be “100 times worse” than COVID-19.

This prediction appears to come from an April 3 Daily Mail article in which John Fulton, founder of Canada-based pharmaceutical company BioNiagara, said, “This appears to be 100 times worse than Covid, or it could be if it mutates and maintains its high case fatality rate.”

PolitiFact reached out to Fulton for comment, but didn’t hear back before publication.

Of the people diagnosed with H5N1 avian flu worldwide since 1997, about 470, or 52%, have died, the WHO said. Bird flu infection numbers and fatality rates differ from country to country.

Most of these bird flu infections were reported in Egypt and Indonesia before 2020, according to the WHO. The fatality rate for bird flu in Egypt is about 33%; in Indonesia, it’s 84%. The lower fatality rate in Egypt may be because the infections were less severe, detected early and treated better, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said.

Claire Standley, an associate research professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Science and Security who specializes in zoonotic diseases, said the severity of a disease depends on a myriad of factors, including a person’s previous exposure to the disease, underlying health conditions, age, access and quality of health care and exposure to the pathogen.

It’s possible that mild or asymptomatic cases of bird flu in humans are not being detected or reported as well in low- and middle-income countries, “so only those cases who are getting very sick are being picked up, along with their contacts — this is going to bias the case fatality data upwards, most likely,” Standley said.

“My sense is that the claim of being ‘100 times worse’ than COVID is just an expression and is not based on a quantitative analysis,” Standley said.

Bird flu remains primarily an animal health issue and the risk to the general public remains low, the CDC said. The WHO also said the public health risk posed by this virus is low.

Is there a bird flu vaccine?

Yes, there are bird flu vaccines in the federal government’s stockpile, but they are not available for sale.

The CDC said vaccine manufacturers could use two candidate vaccine viruses to produce a H5N1 avian flu vaccine, if one was needed in an emergency. The current bird flu strain causing outbreaks in the U.S. is “very closely related” to these candidate vaccine viruses, the agency said.

Viruses can change when they replicate after infection. The CDC has been monitoring the virus as outbreaks have occurred across the country. The agency’s preliminary analysis found that the virus remains “primarily avian” and “not well adapted to people.”

“There were no changes that would make these viruses resistant to current FDA-approved and recommended flu antiviral medications,” the CDC said.

Is it safe to eat poultry and dairy products?

The Agriculture Department said poultry and eggs that are properly prepared and cooked to an internal temperature of 165° Fahrenheit are safe to eat.

The chance of poultry affected by the avian flu entering the food supply is minuscule. The department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service personnel inspect poultry products intended for human consumption for signs of disease before the products enter the market.

The department said it’s not concerned about the commercial milk supply’s safety because these products must be pasteurized before entering the market. Pasteurization heats dairy products to destroy any bacteria and viruses in them.

Additionally, dairies must send only milk from healthy animals into processing for human consumption. Milk from avian flu-infected animals is diverted or destroyed so that it stays out of the human food supply, the department said.

The FDA warns against consuming raw milk or unpasteurized dairy products because they can harbor dangerous microorganisms that can seriously threaten health.

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April 12, 2024
Rescuers search off Northern California coast for young gray whale entangled in gill net

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By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ | Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Rescuers were searching Wednesday for a gray whale last spotted off Northern California’s coast with its tail entangled in a massive gill net.

The 30-foot (9-meter) whale was spotted Tuesday near San Francisco swimming north as part of gray whales’ annual migration from Mexico to Alaska. It was dragging the net with two bright red buoys that rescuers attached to it on March 22, when the animal was first spotted off Laguna Beach in Southern California.

In this aerial photo provided by Tony Corso Images, a 30-foot-long gray whale with its tail entangled in a massive gill net is seen off the coast of Pacifica, Calif., Tuesday, April 9, 2024. A team with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries is working on a rescue effort Wednesday with the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. (Tony Corso Images via AP)

Justin Viezbicke, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries’ California marine mammal stranding response, said the rescue team pulled up behind the animal on Tuesday but could not cut the net because it became aggressive.

“The team went out there yesterday and made some attempts but as the team approached, the animal became very reactive,” Viezbicke said.

NOAA’s team, which is working on the rescue effort with the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California, was searching Wednesday for the whale north of San Francisco.

Kathi George, director of cetacean conservation biology at the Marine Mammal Center, said a rescue crew in Southern California couldn’t disentangle the whale last month but the team was able to attach a satellite tag to the net to track it and two buoys to make it easier to spot the animal. But the tracker is no longer attached, she said.

George said that if the rescue team spots the whale on Wednesday they will attempt to cut the net or at least attach another satellite tag.

“Our goal is to retrieve the gear that’s on the whale, so we can learn more about the entanglement and how it happened so, we could use that to inform risk reduction efforts,” she said.

Every spring, Gray whales migrate 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) from birthing waters off Baja California, Mexico to feeding grounds in the Arctic.

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Associated Press

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April 11, 2024
Famous spider monkeys of Historic Monkey Island make grand return home
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HOMOSASSA, Fla. — A few big tourist attractions have made their grand return to Citrus County. The monkeys of Historic Monkey Island are finally home after recent renovations.
What You Need To Know

The famous spider monkeys of Historic Monkey Island have returned to their island

Renovations were being made to the monkey’s home, including air conditioning, heating and perimeter polls to prevent unauthorized guests from getting too close

Those with Historic Monkey Island will be holding a special fundraiser Thursday night, with funds helping maintain the island and the monkeys
Hundreds — if not thousands — of visitors gather to catch a glimpse of the little celebrities on the island along the Homosassa River each year. It’s an attraction that is helping the local economy.

“They’ve settled in nicely and they seem to be enjoying it, almost like they never left,” says Blake Lowman, caretaker at the Florida Cracker Riverside Resort.

Historic Monkey Island is probably known by no one better than Blake Lowman, who works not only at the resort but is also the island’s caretaker.

“The community just absolutely loves and adores this island. It’s a piece of history here,” he said. “People have grown up with it. It was here before I was born, and it’s just cool to be a part of that legacy and keep it going forward for future generations.”

The island’s long-term guests — known as Ralph, Emily and Ebony — were moved so that renovations could be made to their home.

“Basically, the whole island got redone,” said Lowman. “The biggest thing is these perimeter polls here to keep unauthorized, unwanted boaters and kayakers out from getting too close.”

And just like most Floridians, they now have air conditioning. A requirement, Lowman says, by the USDA and FWC.

“The A/C has to come on if it’s above 85 degrees for a consecutive of four hours and vice versa on the heat,” said Lowman. “If the temperature drops below 45 for a consecutive of four hours, the heat has to be turned on and that is a requirement.”

It took some time to finish, but an improvement that was mandatory for the island’s longevity.

“Tourism, now, is a huge draw basically because of the location,” Lowman says. “Having the springs, having the river, easy access to the gulf is really a fishing destination and starting to pick up on the tourism side of it.”

Ensuring future generations can enjoy the island, too.

Those with Historic Monkey Island will be holding a special fundraiser Thursday night. Funds will help maintain the island and the monkeys — including food and upkeep.
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Calvin Lewis

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April 10, 2024
Wild animals and domesticated pets making the world howl with laughter! (52 Photos)

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Bob

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April 10, 2024
How Will the Solar Eclipse Affect Animals? NASA Needs Your Help to Find Out

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In other anecdotes, onlookers have reported birds that stop singing, crickets that stopped chirping, or bees that return to their hive, reduce their foraging, or suspend their flight during total darkness. But there are also studies that deny that some of these behaviors occur or can be attributed to the eclipse.

Therefore, NASA scientists plan not only to systematize observations but also to document what people hear and see under the shadow of the moon.

“The Great North American Eclipse”

NASA has created the Eclipse Soundscapes citizen science project to collect the experiences of volunteers. It was inspired by a study conducted nearly 100 years ago by William M. Wheeler and a team of collaborators. At that time, the Boston Natural History Society invited citizens, park rangers, and naturalists to report on the activities of birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, and fish during the summer eclipse of 1932. They collected nearly 500 reports. In their final report they note that some animals exhibited nocturnal behaviors such as returning to their nests and hives or making nighttime vocalizations.

The current NASA study will add observations made during the annular solar eclipse of October 14, 2023 and the total solar eclipse of April 8. The latter will be visible first in Mexico in Mazatlan, then in Nazas, Torreon, Monclova, and Piedras Negras. These localities will be located directly in the umbra of the eclipse and, therefore, their inhabitants will perceive it as total. In nearby regions it will be experienced as a partial eclipse, with less darkness. It will then enter the United States through Texas, passing through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Finally, it will travel across Canada from southern Ontario and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. Astronomical estimates point to the Mexican port of Mazatlan as the best place to observe the 2024 event, which will experience totality at about 11:07 am local time.

A sparrow experiencing a partial solar eclipse in Jize Country, Hebei Province, China, June 21, 2020.Future Publishing/Getty Images

How You Can Help

In the United States, 30 million people live in the area where the eclipse will be perceived as total. If you add in the Mexican and Canadian public, the potential for collecting experiences is immense. That’s what NASA wants to take advantage of.

The project foresees several levels of volunteering: apprentice, observer, data collector, data analyst, and facilitator.

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Geraldine Castro

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April 6, 2024
He Got a Pig Kidney Transplant. Now Doctors Need to Keep It Working

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Other than rejection of the organ, one of the most common transplant complications is infection. Doctors have to strike a balance when prescribing immunosuppressive drugs: too low a dose can lead to rejection, while too much can make a patient vulnerable to infection. Immunosuppressants are powerful drugs that can cause a range of side effects, including fatigue, nausea, and vomiting.

Despite the deaths of the two pig heart recipients, Riella is optimistic about Slayman’s transplant. For one, he says, Slayman was relatively healthy when he underwent the surgery. He qualified for a human kidney but because of his rare blood type he would likely need to wait six to seven years to get one. The two individuals who received pig heart transplants were so ill that they didn’t qualify for a human organ.

In addition to close monitoring and traditional immunosuppressants, Slayman’s medical team is treating him with an experimental drug called tegoprubart, developed by Eledon Pharmaceuticals of Irvine, California. Given every three weeks via an IV, tegoprubart blocks crosstalk between two key immune cells in the body, T cells and B cells, which helps suppress the immune response against the donor organ. The drug has been used in monkeys that have received gene-edited pig organs.

Photograph: Massachusetts General Hospital

“It’s pretty miraculous this man’s out of the hospital a couple of weeks after putting in a pig kidney,” says Steven Perrin, Eledon’s president and chief scientific officer. “I didn’t think we would be here as quickly as we are.”

Riella is also hopeful that the 69 genetic alterations made to the pig that supplied the donor organ will help Slayman’s kidney keep functioning. Pig organs aren’t naturally compatible in the human body. The company that supplied the pig, eGenesis, used Crispr to add certain human genes, remove some pig genes, and inactivate latent viruses in the pig genome that could hypothetically infect a human recipient. The pigs are produced using cloning; scientists make the edits to a single pig cell and use that cell to form an embryo. The embryos are cloned and transferred to the womb of a female pig so that her offspring end up with the edits.

“We hope that this combination will be the secret sauce to getting this kidney to a longer graft survival,” Riella says.

There’s debate among scientists over how many edits pig organs need to last in people. In the pig heart transplants, researchers used donor animals with 10 edits developed by United Therapeutics subsidiary Revivicor.

There’s another big difference between this procedure and the heart surgeries: If Slayman’s kidney did stop working, Riella says, he could resume dialysis. The pig heart recipients had no back-up options. He says even if pig organs aren’t a long-term alternative, they could provide a bridge to transplant for patients like Slayman who would otherwise spend years suffering on dialysis.

“We’ve gotten so many letters, emails, and messages from people volunteering to be candidates for the xenotransplants, even with all the unknowns,” Riella says. “Many of them are struggling so much on dialysis that they’re looking for an alternative.”

The Mass General team plans to launch a formal clinical trial to transplant edited pig kidneys in more patients. They received special approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for just one procedure. For now, though, their main focus is on keeping Slayman healthy.

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Emily Mullin

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April 5, 2024
License-free freshwater fishing weekend kicks off in Florida

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INVERNESS, Fla. — License-free freshwater fishing weekend kicks off across Florida on Saturday.

For two days, residents and visitors are invited to try freshwater fishing without the added cost of getting a license. Any dock, lake, river or bank with public fishing access is free to use for fishing throughout the license-free weekend.

Other fishing rules including restrictions on seasons, size, bags and quantities will still be in effect.

George Kapiton, who worked as a professional bass fisherman for many years, says the freshwater lakes in Citrus County are the perfect spot to fish and experience old Florida charm. The Tsala Apopa chain of lakes pulls water from the Withlacoochee River and is separated into three main pools named after nearby towns: Inverness, Floral City and Hernando.

Kapiton says this license-free weekend is the perfect time to expose a child to fishing in the beautiful, serene spots in the state without having to spend a bunch of money upfront.

“When you turn that passion on in a kid you never know what it’ll grow to and how many people that’ll impact in a positive way for the outdoors,” he said.

Bass fishing is a great option this weekend, as Kapiton says bass nest in the springtime closer to shore.

Watch the video above for an inside look at some of the best freshwater fishing spots in the Tampa Bay area.

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Angie Angers

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April 5, 2024
Austin Pets Alive! | “Pawth of Totality” Adoption Special

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All pet adoption fees will be 50% off between April 5-8, 2024

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April 5, 2024
Who knew the nosiest neighbors of all were pets? (34 Photos)

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Camry

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April 4, 2024
Unprecedented Research: Houston Zoo to study animal reactions to total solar eclipse
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HOUSTON – The total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, will be a historical and rare event. Humans are generally excited to see this natural phenomenon, but it’s also important to consider how animals will be impacted by the unprecedented event. That’s what the Houston Zoo is hoping to do.
The Houston Zoo is welcoming visitors to come witness the eclipse and see firsthand how a variety of different animals react to the experience.

“Have you ever wondered how animals react during an eclipse? Now’s your chance to witness it firsthand,” the Houston Zoo’s website reads.

Since a total solar eclipse creates fairly unique environmental conditions, the current data on how animals respond to them is spotty. KPRC 2 meteorologist Anthony Yanez sat down with Adam Rose, a biomedical science professor at North Carolina State University, to discuss his work with this under-researched topic.

Rose is part of a team that he calls the “Solar Eclipse Safari Research Team.” As the name would suggest, Rose’s unit looks to study how animals in different areas and climates react to these conditions.

“For humans, we feel like an eclipse is about the sun getting dimmed, but also during an eclipse, the temperature drops, the pressure changes, and a lot of species are more perceptive to that shift than we are.”

Rose conducted a study at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina, during the 2017 solar eclipse, and he was shocked by how dramatically many of the animals reacted to the event.

A group of gorillas walked in unison towards the typical night area of their enclosure. Giraffes reacted with behaviors that convey anxiety, like galloping. Galapagos Tortoises, typically slow-moving animals, began moving around their enclosure quickly, and two of them began mating at the point of totality.

“I don’t know if [the tortoises’ reaction] is a normal reaction, and no one does, because no one had ever witnessed these animals during an eclipse,” Rose said.

Rose and his team will be watching the 2024 eclipse from a zoo in Fort Worth, Texas. His team is asking everyone to observe animals before, during and after the eclipse, by submitting their findings to his team’s official site.

Jessica Reyes, the manager of public relations and communications at Houston Zoo, said many members of their staff are excited to observe this rare information.

“We don’t know how animals will react, but our animal teams will be monitoring animal behaviors for any changes. If it gets dark enough, animals may believe there has been a disruption to their routine (i.e. feeding schedules) and begin to vocalize. Our zookeepers will monitor the animals and take notes of any behavioral changes.”

For more information about visiting the Houston Zoo for the eclipse, click here.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.

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Michael Horton

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April 3, 2024
What to know about the latest bird flu outbreak in the US

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A poultry facility in Michigan and egg producer in Texas both reported outbreaks of avian flu this week. The latest developments on the virus also include infected dairy cows and the first known instance of a human catching bird flu from a mammal.

Although health officials say the risk to the public remains low, there is rising concern, emerging in part from news that the largest producer of fresh eggs in the U.S. reported an outbreak.

Here are some key things to know about the disease.

What are experts saying?

Dr. Mandy Cohen, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the agency is taking bird flu seriously, but stressed that the virus has already been well studied.

“The fact that it is in cattle now definitely raises our concern level,” Cohen said, noting that it means farmworkers who work with cattle — and not just those working with birds — may need to take precautions.

The good news is that “it’s not a new strain of the virus,” Cohen added. “This is known to us and we’ve been studying it, and frankly, we’ve been preparing for avian flu for 20 years.”

What is bird flu?

Some flu viruses mainly affect people, but others chiefly occur in animals. Avian viruses spread naturally in wild aquatic birds like ducks and geese, and then to chickens and other domesticated poultry.

The bird flu virus drawing attention today — Type A H5N1 — was first identified in 1959. Like other viruses, it has evolved over time, spawning newer versions of itself.

Since 2020, the virus has been spreading among more animal species — including dogs, cats, skunks, bears and even seals and porpoises — in scores of countries.

In the U.S., this version of the bird flu has been detected in wild birds in every state, as well as commercial poultry operations and backyard flocks. Nationwide, tens of millions of chickens have died from the virus or been killed to stop outbreaks from spreading.

Last week, U.S. officials said it had been found in livestock. As of Tuesday, it had been discovered in dairy herds in five states — Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico and Texas — according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

How often do people get bird flu?

This bird flu was first identified as a threat to people during a 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong. In the past two decades, nearly 900 people have been diagnosed globally with bird flu and more than 460 people have died, according to the World Health Organization.

There have been only two cases in the U.S., and neither were fatal.

In 2022, a prison inmate in a work program caught it while killing infected birds at a poultry farm in Montrose County, Colorado. His only symptom was fatigue, and he recovered.

This week, Texas health officials announced that a person who had been in contact with cows had been diagnosed with bird flu. Their only reported symptom was eye redness.

Avian influenza or bird flu is a disease that naturally spreads among wild aquatic birds worldwide, as well as domestic poultry and other bird and animal species.

What are the symptoms of bird flu?

Symptoms are similar to that of other flus, including cough, body aches and fever. Some people don’t have noticeable symptoms, but others develop severe, life-threatening pneumonia.

Can it spread between people?

The vast majority of infected people have gotten it directly from birds, but scientists are on guard for any sign of spread among people.

There have been a few instances when that apparently happened — most recently in 2007 in Asia. In each cluster, it spread within families from a sick person in the home.

U.S. health officials have stressed that the current public health risk is low and that there is no sign that bird flu is spreading person to person.

Associated Press reporters Jonathan Poet in Philadelphia and Mike Stobbe and videojournalist Sharon Johnson in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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Sean Murphy | Associated Press

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April 3, 2024
Austin Pets Alive! | Austin Needs To Rebuild Its Model, Not Kill For…

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Shelters all over the United States are struggling, including Austin Animal Center and us right here at Austin Pets Alive!. In 2011, Austin became a No Kill community and has remained so with increasing save rates year over year. With the recent city ordinance changes and AAC’s latest announcement stating that hard decisions may need to be made for 20+ dogs who volunteers say should never be at risk, it’s safe to say that we’re facing the real chance that Austin is dangerously close to stepping into the wrong side of history.

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April 3, 2024
How To Draw a Dog (Free Printable + Video)

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If you have pet lovers in your classroom who like to draw, then you’re barking up the right tree! Our free printable has step-by-step instructions for teaching kids how to draw a dog. Make it a fun Friday group activity or keep it on hand for your fast finishers.

If you’re ready to create some beautiful art of man’s best friend, check out our easy-to-follow steps below. There’s a video tutorial and images with step-by-step instructions. Plus, be sure to download the free printable instructions so kids can easily follow along.

How To Draw a Dog Video

There are six easy steps for teaching kids how to draw a dog. They are easy for kids of all ages and abilities.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1

Once you have your paper laid out and your Sharpie in hand, you can begin by drawing two upside-down triangles spaced about an inch apart. Next, connect them with a single line.

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Step 2

Next, we’re going to draw the outline of the dog’s body. Draw two lines extending from each ear and pointing inward to create the dog’s neck. Then draw two longer lines extending from those. The line on the left should go almost straight down, while the line on the right should slant outward. Finally, connect the two longer lines with a slightly curved line. Be sure to include a little bump for the dog’s foot on the left side.

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Step 3

Now we’re going to add an oh-so adorable doggy face. Draw two black dots for eyes spaced out about half an inch apart. Next, draw a circle just above the dog’s neck, but below the eyes. Inside the circle, draw a small black oval with two hooks extending down from that for the dog’s mouth. Finally add a few little dots as whiskers.

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Step 4

Now we’re going to add three straight lines from the bottom curved line going about three-quarters of the way up the dog’s body. These will make up the dog’s front legs. Next we’re going to add a half circle to the right of those lines to serve as the dog’s back leg. Once you have your legs drawn, add little markings to make the paws. Next, add a curved tail at the back of the dog. Finally, draw a few movement lines to show that your little dog is happy and wagging his tail.

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Step 5

Now it’s time to draw a collar. Draw two horizontal lines connecting the dog’s neck and shade it in. Finally, add a little dog tag in a shape of your choosing.

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Step 6

Now to add a little detail around your doggie. Draw some grass to the left and right of your dog by making some jagged lines. Then add a little bone in front of him.

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Get your free How To Draw a Dog printable with step-by-step instructions

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Are you ready to save and print your free dog drawing printable? All you need to do is fill out the form at the top of this page.

Do you have more ideas for animal drawing activities? Come and share them in our We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, check out more of our favorite Directed Drawing Activities for Kids.

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Kristy Zamagni-Twomey

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March 29, 2024
Activists sue US National Park Service over plan to remove Puerto Rico’s famous stray cats

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A nonprofit organization said Thursday that it sued the U.S. National Park Service over a plan to remove Puerto Rico’s famous stray cats from a historic district in the U.S. territory.

The lawsuit filed by Maryland-based Alley Cat Allies comes four months after the federal agency announced it would contract an animal welfare organization to remove an estimated 200 cats that live in an area surrounding a historic seaside fortress in Old San Juan.

The organization would decide whether the trapped cats would be adopted, placed in foster homes, kept in a shelter or face other options. It wasn’t immediately clear if an organization has been hired.

At the time, the National Park Service said it would hire a removal agency if the organization it contracted failed to remove the cats within six months.

The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tourists and locals have long considered the cats both a delight and a nuisance, with the National Park Service stating in 2022 that the population had grown too much as it noted the smell of urine and feces in the area.

Activists have decried the plan, saying six months is insufficient time to remove so many cats and worried they would be killed.

In its lawsuit, Alley Cat Allies requested additional environmental statements from the federal agency and asked that a judge finds its actions allegedly violate acts including the National Environmental Protection Act.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

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March 28, 2024
Baby gorilla cuddled by mother at London Zoo remains nameless

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LONDON — The newest endangered baby gorilla at the London Zoo is more than six weeks old but doesn’t yet have a name. Zookeepers aren’t even sure if it’s a male or female because they haven’t been able to get close enough to examine it.

A photo taken Monday by The Associated Press shows why: The gorilla’s mother, Effie, has the baby in her loving cuddle.

“It’s actually quite tricky to sex a young gorilla without a close-up examination,” said Rebecca Blanchard, a zoo spokesperson. “The infant is still held closely by its mum most of the time, and here at London Zoo, we leave the baby in mum’s capable hands.”

The tiny ape that arrived Feb. 8 is one of two baby western lowland gorillas born at the zoo this winter. Another mother, Mjukuu, gave birth to a little one almost a month earlier.

Both babies were sired by Kiburi, a 19-year-old silverback brought to the zoo from Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands as part of a conservation breeding program to help preserve the critically endangered gorilla subspecies.

The birth of Effie’s baby wasn’t simple. The gorilla arrived wrapped in its umbilical cord, posing a possible threat to its life.

Zookeepers watched over it for the first three days, making sure it continued to feed and move around until the cord finally detached.

London Zoo, located within Regent’s Park, is opening a new habitat to the public on Friday called The Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians to replace its old Reptile House.

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March 25, 2024
Chick-Fil-A backtracks from its no-antibiotics-in-chicken pledge, blames projected supply shortages

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ATLANTA — The fast-food chain Chick-Fil-A backtracked from its decade-old “no antibiotics ever” pledge intended to help prevent human antibiotic resistance linked to the rampant use of the drugs in livestock production.

Instead, the company said in a statement that it will embrace a standard known as “no antibiotics important to human medicine,” often abbreviated as NAIHM, which entails the avoidance of medications commonly used to treat people and limits the use of animal antibiotics to cases of actual animal illness.

Livestock producers have long used antibiotics to boost rapid weight gain in animals such as chickens, pigs, cows and sheep, improving the profitability of their businesses. Over the past decade, however, many nations, including the United States, have begun to restrict the practice as evidence mounted that it was contributing to drug resistance and reducing the effectiveness of antibiotics against disease in humans.

Chick-Fil-A said it will begin shifting to the new policy in the spring of 2024. A company spokesman added that the move reflects company concerns about its ability to acquire sufficient supplies of antibiotic-free chicken. One of the poultry industry’s largest companies, Tyson Foods, said last year that it was reintroducing some antibiotics to its chicken production and removing its “No Antibiotics Ever” package labeling. It began to eliminate antibiotics from some of its poultry production in 2015.

In a May 2023 video featured on the Tyson Foods YouTube channel, Tyson’s senior director of animal welfare, Karen Christensen, described the shift as “based on scientific research and industry learnings.” She noted that Tyson planned to begin using antibiotics known as ionophores, which don’t play a role in human medicine, to “improve the overall health and welfare of the birds in our care.” Ionophores have long been used to promote growth in livestock.

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March 24, 2024
Nevada’s first big-game moose hunt will be tiny as unusual southern expansion defies climate change

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RENO, Nev. — In what will be a tiny big-game hunt for some of the largest animals in North America, Nevada is planning its first-ever moose hunting season this fall.

Wildlife managers say explosive growth in Nevada moose numbers over the past five years, increasing to a population of more than 100, justifies the handful of harvests planned.

Scientists say the experiment of sorts should also provide a real-time peek at how the complexities of climate change affect wildlife, and why these majestic — some say goofy-looking — mammals the size of a horse have unexpectedly expanded their range into warmer territory.

“Moose are newcomers to North America,” said Cody McKee, a Nevada Department of Wildlife specialist.

The last deer species to cross the Bering Sea land bridge into Alaska and Canada, McKee said the movement of moose into the Lower 48 has occurred almost exclusively in the past 150 years.

“Their post-glacial range expansion isn’t really complete,” McKee said. “And that’s what we’re currently seeing in Nevada right now, is those moose are moving into the state and finding suitable habitat.”

Only a few Nevada moose, perhaps just one, will be killed across an area larger than Massachusetts and New Jersey combined. But state officials expect thousands of applications for the handful of hunting tags, and it’s already controversial.

“Why a moose hunt at all?” Stephanie Myers of Las Vegas asked at a recent wildlife commission meeting. “We want to see moose, view moose. Not kill moose.”

The first moose was spotted in Nevada in the 1950s, not long before the dim-witted cartoon character “Bullwinkle” made his television debut. Only a handful of sightings followed for decades, but started increasing about 10 years ago.

By 2018, officials estimated there were 30 to 50, all in Nevada’s northeast corner. But the population has more than doubled and experts believe there’s enough habitat to sustain about 200, a level that could be reached in three years.

Bryan Bird, Defenders of Wildlife’s Southwest program director, is among the skeptics who suspect it’s a short-lived phenomenon.

“I believe the moose story is one of `ghost’ habitat or `ghost’ range expansion. By that I mean, these animals are expanding into habitat that may not be suitable in 50 years due to climate change,” Bird said.

Government biologists admit they don’t fully understand why the moose have moved so far south, where seasonal conditions are warmer and drier than they traditionally prefer.

“It seems to be opposite of where we would expect to see moose expansion given their ecology,” said Marcus Blum, a Texas A&M University researcher hired to help assess future movement. He analyzed aerial surveys, individual sightings and habitat to project growth trends.

Six feet (1.8 meters) tall at the shoulder and up to 1,000 pounds (453.5 kilograms), moose live in riparian areas where they munch on berry bushes and aspen leaves along the edges of mountain forests native to the northern half of Nevada.

They usually avoid places where temperatures regularly exceed 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 Celsius).

The Nevada study documented moose spending nearly half their time in areas where that “thermal threshold” was exceeded about 150 days a year, while climate change models suggest the threshold will be surpassed by another 14 days annually by 2050, Blum said.

To be clear, the valleys beneath the snow-capped winter mountain ranges with moose are 500 miles (805 kilometers) from the Las Vegas Strip in the desert many people picture as Nevada.

Researchers have more questions than answers about why moose continue to expand their range into Nevada where extended drought has taken a toll on other wildlife, McKee said.

“There’s a lot of speculation and questions about why they are here, given concerns about the changing environment and how it’s probably getting warmer and dryer,” McKee said. “Why is it that our extensive drought cycles haven’t seemed to be affecting the moose population?”

Populations along the U.S.-Canada border have oscillated for more than a century. Several states, from Idaho to Minnesota and Maine, have dramatically reduced hunting quotas at times to allow populations to recover.

Alaska is home to the vast majority of U.S. moose, upwards of 200,000, with about 7,000 harvests annually. Maine has nearly 70,000, which is five times more than any other Lower 48 state, and issued 4,100 permits last year. Neighboring New Hampshire offered only 35 for 3,000-plus moose and Idaho issued about 500 for its 10,000 to 12,000.

No moose were observed in Washington state before the 1960s but its growing population now exceeds 5,000. The state issued three hunting permits in 1977 and now tops 100 annually.

Nevada’s research suggests its population could sustain more harvests than planned, McKee said, but “conservative is the name of the game here.”

Aerial surveys are now backed by radio-tracking collars biologists have fitted on four bull moose and nine cows since 2020. In some spots, males significantly outnumber females. Removing a bull or two might improve herd dynamics, he said.

The exact number of permits will be determined in the coming weeks, but McKee anticipates no more than three. Only Nevadans can apply for the inaugural hunt, which will help guide decisions about future endeavors.

Successful hunters must present the skull and antlers for state inspection within five days. That will give scientists more insight into herd health, body conditions, disease and parasites.

Bill Nolan of Sparks, who first hunted ducks at age 12, says he intends to apply for a chance he describes as “slim and none” to draw a moose tag.

“For hunters, it would be like hitting the lottery,” he said.

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March 23, 2024
Mountain lion kills 1, injures another in California

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GEORGETOWN, Calif. — A mountain lion in Northern California killed one man and injured another while the two were out hunting for shed antlers, authorities said Saturday.

An 18-year-old male called the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office Saturday afternoon, reporting that he and his 21-year-old brother were attacked by a mountain lion in a remote part of the county, the office said in a news release.

Deputies arrived around 1:30 p.m. to find the younger brother with “traumatic injuries” to his face. Minutes later, deputies saw a crouched mountain lion next to the older brother on the ground, according to the statement.

They fired their guns and scared off the mountain lion, but the older brother was deceased.

Wardens with California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife are searching for the mountain lion. The department did not immediately respond to emails and a phone message seeking more details.

Georgetown is a small, historic town about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento.

Mountain lions have attacked humans previously, but the last fatal encounter was in 2004 in Orange County, according to a verified list kept by the fish and wildlife department.

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March 23, 2024