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Hunters surpass 200,000 deer during gun hunt
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Tag: Animals
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Australia argues against ‘endangered’ Barrier Reef status
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CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s environment minister said Tuesday her government will lobby against UNESCO adding the Great Barrier Reef to a list of endangered World Heritage sites.
Officials from the U.N. cultural agency and the International Union for Conservation of Nature released a report on Monday warning that without “ambitious, rapid and sustained” climate action, the world’s largest coral reef is in peril.
The report, which recommended shifting the Great Barrier Reef to endangered status, followed a 10-day mission in March to the famed reef system off Australia’s northeast coast that was added to the World Heritage list in 1981.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the report was a reflection on Australia’s previous conservative government, which was voted out of office in May elections after nine years in power.
She said the new center-left Labor Party government has already addressed several of the report’s concerns, including action on climate change.
“We’ll very clearly make the point to UNESCO that there is no need to single the Great Barrier Reef out in this way” with an endangered listing, Plibersek told reporters.
“The reason that UNESCO in the past has singled out a place as at risk is because they wanted to see greater government investment or greater government action and, since the change of government, both of those things have happened,” she added.
The new government has legislated to commit Australia to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below the 2005 level by 2030.
The previous government only committed to a reduction of 26% to 28% by the end of the decade.
Plibersek said her government has also committed 1.2 billion Australian dollars ($798 million) to caring for the reef and has canceled the previous government’s plans to build two major dams in Queensland state that would have affected the reef’s water quality.
“If the Great Barrier Reef is in danger, then every coral reef in the world is in danger,” Plibersek said. “If this World Heritage site is in danger, then most World Heritage sites around the world are in danger from climate change.”
The report said Australia’s federal government and Queensland authorities should adopt more ambitious emission reduction targets in line with international efforts to limit future warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.
The minor Greens party, which wants Australia to slash its emissions by 75% by the end of the decade, called for the government to do more to fight climate change in light of the report.
Jodie Rummer, a marine biologist at James Cook University in Townville who has worked on the reef for more than a decade, supported calls for Australia to aim for a 75% emissions reduction.
“We are taking action, but that action needs to be much more rapid and much more urgent,” Rummer told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“We cannot claim to be doing all we can for the reef at this point. We aren’t. We need to be sending that message to the rest of the world that we are doing everything that we possibly can for the reef and that means we need to take urgent action on emissions immediately,” she added.
Feedback from Australian officials, both at the federal and state level, will be reviewed before Paris-based UNESCO makes any official proposal to the World Heritage committee.
In July last year, the previous Australian government garnered enough international support to defer an attempt by UNESCO to downgrade the reef’s status to “in danger” because of damage caused by climate change.
The Great Barrier Reef accounts for around 10% of the world’s coral reef ecosystems. The network of more than 2,500 reefs covers 348,000 square kilometers (134,000 square miles).
Australian government scientists reported in May that more than 90% of Great Barrier Reef coral surveyed in the latest year was bleached, in the fourth such mass event in seven years.
Bleaching is caused by global warming, but this is the reef’s first bleaching event during a La Niña weather pattern, which is associated with cooler Pacific Ocean temperatures, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority said in its annual report.
Bleaching in 2016, 2017 and 2020 damaged two-thirds of the coral.
Coral bleaches as a response to heat stress and scientists hope most of the coral will recover from the latest event.
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Monkeys in central Thailand city mark their day with feast
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LOPBURI, Thailand — A meal fit for monkeys was served on Sunday at the annual Monkey Feast Festival in central Thailand.
Amid the morning traffic, rows of monkey statues holding trays were lined up outside the compound of the Ancient Three Pagodas, while volunteers prepared food across the road for real monkeys — the symbol of the province around 150 kilometers (93 miles) north of Bangkok.
Throngs of macaque monkeys ran around, at times fighting with each other, while the crowds of visitors and locals grew.
As the carefully prepared feast was brought toward the temple, the ravenous creatures began to pounce and were soon devouring the largely vegetarian spread.
While the entertainment value of the festival is high, organizers are quick to point out that it is not just monkey business.
“This monkey feast festival is a successful event that helps promote Lopburi’s tourism among international tourists every year,” said Yongyuth Kitwatanusont, the festival’s founder.
“Previously, there were around 300 monkeys in Lopburi before increasing to nearly 4,000 nowadays. But Lopburi is known as a monkey city, which means monkeys and people can live in harmony.”
Such harmony could be seen in the lack of shyness exhibited by the monkeys, which climbed on to visitors, vehicles and lampposts. At times the curious animals looked beyond the abundant feast and took an interest in other items.
“There was a monkey on my back as I was trying to take a selfie. He grabbed the sunglasses right off my face and ran off on to the top of a lamppost and was trying to eat them for a while,” said Ayisha Bhatt, an English teacher from California working in Thailand.
The delighted onlookers were largely undeterred by the risk of petty theft, although some were content to exercise caution.
“We have to take care with them, better leave them to it. Not too near is better,” said Carlos Rodway, a tourist from Cadiz, Spain, having previously been unceremoniously treated as a climbing frame by one audacious monkey.
The festival is an annual tradition in Lopburi and held as a way to show gratitude to the monkeys for bringing in tourism. This year’s theme is “monkeys feeding monkeys,” an antidote to previous years where monkey participation had decreased due to high numbers of tourists, which intimidated the animals.
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Depressed Cat Fishtopher Has Been Adopted After People Lined Up To Meet Him
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Fishtopher, a chunky tabby cat found as a stray and estimated to be about 5 years old, became a social media star this week after his adoption listing went viral. The animal shelter described him as “very sad and depressed” but craving affection, noting that he would “only eat when he has company.” The accompanying photos showed Fishtopher crouched down with a pitiful-looking expression.
After Twitter user Molly Clarke tweeted screenshots of the listing, the cat rapidly became a social media star, with many new Fishtopher fanatics proclaiming their love for him.
His online popularity translated to real-world results. Hundreds of people expressed interest in adopting Fishtopher. On Saturday morning, people were lined up in front of the adoption center, hoping to meet him, according to the shelter’s Facebook post.
“We’re super happy for him, but if you were interested in him, have no fear,” the shelter added. “We have hundreds of other kitties who are just as wonderful and are wishing that people would come and stand in line for them.”
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Menacing Wild Turkeys, Led By Kevin, Are Taking A New England City For Themselves
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A flock of feathered hooligans has been intimidating residents of Woburn, Massachusetts, and their leader is one especially tough turkey: Kevin.
The five wild birds spend a lot of time in particular on the lawn of a woman named Meaghan Tolson, according to a new report from The Guardian, appropriately published on Thanksgiving.
Tolson, who gave Kevin his name, characterizes him as the bad egg among the otherwise all-female turkey crew. (The hens she calls Gladys, Ester, Monica and Patricia.)
“The women are more mellow and not so territorial. But I think he kind of amps them up to get them going to chase people,” she told The Guardian.
Not Kevin, but a bird who fits the general profile. “They don’t let you out of your house,” she said.
While The Guardian brought national attention to Kevin and his band of rogues, local media has also covered their antics in recent months.
“They’re up at 6 a.m. in my lawn and start chasing us, trying to pop the tires,” Woburn resident Devin Farren told NBC Boston in September. “It’s wild!”
David Scarpitti, a turkey expert with the state’s wildlife department, told CBS Boston that these kinds of problems arise when turkeys become too habituated to humans. Typically this happens due to people feeding them directly, or from the turkeys freeloading off of bird feeders intended for other kinds of birds.
“Turkeys are just kind of acting out what they do amongst themselves,” he said, adding that running away can fuel the problem because they’ll begin to see you as “subdominant” to them.
Instead, he recommends carrying an umbrella and opening it in front of you to frighten off the birds.
Meanwhile, Tolson is taking the situation in stride and has even developed some affection for Kevin and co.
“They kind of grow on you a little bit,” she told CBS Boston.
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FDA warns against consuming certain raw oysters distributed to 13 states after reported illnesses | CNN
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CNN
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The Food and Drug Administration is advising people in 13 states not to eat certain raw oysters from South Korea after at least one person in Las Vegas got sick with a virus that can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
The Southern Nevada Health District informed officials of two clusters of illnesses from a restaurant in Las Vegas, the FDA said. At least one person was confirmed to have sapovirus illness and nine others potentially had the same sickness. The oysters were served October 28 and November 5.
According to the FDA news release, sapoviruses cause a sporadic gastroenteritis and the most common symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain.
Symptoms usually show up within 48 hours, the FDA said.
“Consumers, especially those who are or could become pregnant, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems, who have recently consumed raw oysters in (13 states) and suspect they have food poisoning should seek medical care immediately,” officials said in the news release.
In addition to Nevada, the FDA advisory applied to consumers and sellers in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
The oysters were harvested February 6 and were exported by Dai One Food Company, the FDA said.
“The Korean firm has recalled frozen half shell oysters, frozen oyster IQF (individually quick freezing), and frozen oyster block harvested from the same harvest area” on February 6, FDA officials said.
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French Bulldog wins top prize at National Dog Show | CNN
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CNN
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Who’s a good boy? This year, it’s Winston.
Winston the French Bulldog won Best in Show, the top spot, at this year’s 21st Annual National Dog Show presented by Purina. Winston is the first French Bulldog to ever win the competition’s top prize.
“They have cornered the market on energy, enthusiasm and just pure spunk,” show host John O’Hurley said of Winston and his handler, Perry Payson.
Winston beat out hundreds of dogs to win Thursday’s prize. The Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s dog show airs every Thanksgiving following the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and is the most-watched dog show in the country. The dogs sometimes train for years in an effort to win the national title.
Last year, Claire – a Scottish Deerhound – made history as the first dog to win the top title two years in a row.
Every year, the dogs compete against other dogs in their breed to determine the best in breed. Then, all those winners compete against each other at the group stage – Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding. The seven very best dogs in their group then compete to win best in show.
This year is the first to feature the Mudi and Russian Toy, two newly recognized breeds.
But this isn’t Winston’s first bout with fame: He also competed in the Westminster Dog show earlier this year.
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Lawsuit looms over tiny rare fish in drought-stricken West
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RENO, Nev. — Conservationists have notified U.S. wildlife officials that they will sue over delinquent decisions related to protections for two rare fish species that are threatened by groundwater pumping in the drought-stricken West.
The Center for Biological Diversity sent a formal notice of intent to sue the Fish and Wildlife Service last week over the Fish Lake Valley tui chub near the California-Nevada line and the least chub in southwest Utah.
Utah and Nevada are the driest states in the country, and the planned lawsuits are among the many fronts on which conservationists are battling water districts and the users they cater to over plans to siphon water to either maintain or expand consumption.
The outcome of the court fights will likely have major implications for states’ parched valleys and the people and species that inhabit them.
The group seeking federal listings under the Endangered Species Act says the high-desert springs where the minnows live are threatened by water allocations for traditional agricultural use as well as urban development plans.
The Fish and Wildlife Service belatedly concluded in August there was enough evidence the tui chub in Nevada was at risk of extinction — primarily due to over-pumping of water for farms and ranches — to warrant a yearlong review to determine if it should be listed.
The so-called 90-day finding had been due in June 2021, three months after the center petitioned for the listing. The center also noted in its Nov. 15 letter to the agency that the yearlong review should have been done in March.
“The Fish Lake Valley tui chub is staring extinction in the face because of the catastrophic overuse of groundwater in its native range,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Service spokesperson Laury Marshall said in an email Wednesday to The Associated Press that the agency doesn’t comment on litigation. Agency officials referred AP to the August finding that concluded the initial listing petition “presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the Fish Lake Valley tui chub as an endangered or threatened species may be warranted.”
The only place in the world that the 5-inch-long, olive-colored tui chub still exists is in a basin in Esmeralda County between Reno and Las Vegas.
Lake Valley’s groundwater levels have declined as much as 2.5 feet (76 centimeters) per year over the past half-century, causing a cumulative drawdown of more than 75 feet (23 meters) since 1973, the listing petition said.
Donnelly said active geothermal leases and lithium claims nearby, if developed, also could put the springs at risk.
In Utah, more than half the remaining wild populations of the least chub are jeopardized by proposed groundwater pumping to support growth in Cedar City, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) northeast of Las Vegas.
The group petitioned to list that 2-inch-long, gold-colored minnow in September 2021, citing threats posed by the Pine Valley Water Supply Project. An initial finding and 12-month review for that species also are past due, the group said.
Once widely distributed in Utah’s Bonneville Basin, the least chub has only seven remaining wild populations and about a dozen refuge populations where it’s been reintroduced.
“Significant habitat loss and alteration, as well as competition and predation from non-native species, have driven this species close to extinction,” the center wrote.
Officials from Utah’s Central Iron County Water Conservancy District want to spend roughly $260 million to lay about 70 miles (110 kilometers) of buried pipes to transport water from an aquifer below the Pine Valley, an undeveloped, rural swath north of the district’s population center in Cedar City. They say limits on their local groundwater supply and an influx of new residents require they diversify their water supply to prepare for the future.
District General Manager Paul Monroe said a review of groundwater assessments found any impacts on the springs would be “less than significant.”
The project has been opposed for decades by neighboring Beaver County, Native American tribes, some ranchers and Nevada counties worried that siphoning water from Pine Valley will affect nearby aquifers.
“Endangered Species Act protection would ensure the Pine Valley water grab doesn’t jeopardize the survival of this tiny native Utah fish,” said Krista Kemppinen, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity.
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Associated Press writer Sam Metz in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
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Salt, drought decimate buffaloes in Iraq’s southern marshes
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CHIBAYISH, Iraq (AP) — Abbas Hashem fixed his worried gaze on the horizon — the day was almost gone and still, there was no sign of the last of his water buffaloes. He knows that when his animals don’t come back from roaming the marshes of this part of Iraq, they must be dead.
The dry earth is cracked beneath his feet and thick layers of salt coat shriveled reeds in the Chibayish wetlands amid this year’s dire shortages in fresh water flows from the Tigris River.
Hashem already lost five buffaloes from his herd of 20 since May, weakened with hunger and poisoned by the salty water seeping into the low-lying marshes. Other buffalo herders in the area say their animals have died too, or produce milk that’s unfit to sell.
“This place used to be full of life,” he said. “Now it’s a desert, a graveyard.”
The wetlands — a lush remnant of the cradle of civilization and a sharp contrast to the desert that prevails elsewhere in the Middle East — were reborn after the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein, when dams he had built to drain the area and root out Shiite rebels were dismantled.
But today, drought that experts believe is spurred by climate change and invading salt, coupled with lack of political agreement between Iraq and Turkey, are endangering the marshes, which surround the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southern Iraq.
This year, acute water shortages — the worst in 40 years, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization — have driven buffalo herders deeper into poverty and debt, forcing many to leave their homes and migrate to nearby cities to look for work.
The rural communities that rely on farming and herding have long been alienated from officials in Baghdad, perpetually engaged in political crises. And when the government this year introduced harsh water rationing policies, the people in the region only became more desperate.
Oil-rich Iraq has not rebuilt the country’s antiquated water supply and irrigation infrastructure and hopes for a water-sharing agreement for Tigris with upstream neighbor Turkey have dwindled, hampered by intransigence and often conflicting political allegiances in Iraq.
In the marshes, where rearing of water buffaloes has been the way of life for generations, the anger toward the government is palpable.
Hamza Noor found a patch where a trickle of fresh water flows. The 33-year-old sets out five times a day in his small boat across the marshes, filling up canisters with water and bringing it back for his animals.
Between Noor and his two brothers, the family lost 20 buffaloes since May, he said. But unlike other herders who left for the city, he is staying.
“I don’t know any other job,” he said.
Ahmed Mutliq, feels the same way. The 30-year-old grew up in the marshes and says he’s seen dry periods years before.
“But nothing compares to this year,” he said. He urged the authorities to release more water from upstream reservoirs, blaming provinces to the north and neighboring countries for “taking water from us.”
Provincial officials, disempowered in Iraq’s highly centralized government, have no answers.
“We feel embarrassed,” said Salah Farhad, the head of Dhi Qar province’s agriculture directorate. “Farmers ask us for more water, and we can’t do anything.”
Iraq relies on the Tigris-Euphrates river basin for drinking water, irrigation and sanitation for its entire population of 40 million. Competing claims over the basin, which stretches from Turkey and cuts across Syria and Iran before reaching Iraq, have complicated Baghdad’s ability to make a water plan.
Ankara and Baghdad have not been able to agree on a fixed amount of flow rate for the Tigris. Turkey is bound by a 1987 agreement to release 500 cubic meters per second toward Syria, which then divides the water with Iraq.
But Ankara has failed to meet its obligation in recent years due to declining water levels, and rejects any future sharing agreements that forces it to release a fixed number.
Iraq’s annual water plan prioritizes setting aside enough drinking water for the nation first, then supplying the agriculture sector and also discharging enough fresh water to the marshes to minimize salinity there. This year, the amounts were cut by half.
The salinity in the marshes has further spiked with water-stressed Iran diverting water from its Karkheh River, which also feeds into Iraq’s marshes.
Iraq has made even less headway on sharing water resources with Iran.
“With Turkey, there is dialogue, but many delays,” said Hatem Hamid, who heads the Iraqi Water Ministry’s key department responsible for formulating the water plan. “With Iran, there is nothing.”
Two officials at the legal department in Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, which deals with complaints against other countries, said attempts to engage with Iran over water-sharing were halted by higher-ups, including the office of then-Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
“They told us not to speak to Iran about it,” said one of the officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss legal issues.
Iraq’s needs are so dire that several Western countries and aid organizations are trying to provide development assistance for Iraq to upgrade its aging water infrastructure and modernize ancient farming practices.
The U.S. Geological Survey has trained Iraqi officials in reading satellite imagery to “strengthen Iraq’s hand in negotiations with Turkey,” one U.S. diplomat said, also speaking anonymously because of the ongoing negotiations.
As the sun set over Chibayish, Hashem’s water buffalo never returned — the sixth animal he lost.
“I have nothing without my buffaloes,” he said.
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Salt, drought decimate buffaloes in Iraq’s southern marshes
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CHIBAYISH, Iraq — Abbas Hashem fixed his worried gaze on the horizon — the day was almost gone and still, there was no sign of the last of his water buffaloes. He knows that when his animals don’t come back from roaming the marshes of this part of Iraq, they must be dead.
The dry earth is cracked beneath his feet and thick layers of salt coat shriveled reeds in the Chibayish wetlands amid this year’s dire shortages in fresh water flows from the Tigris River.
Hashem already lost five buffaloes from his herd of 20 since May, weakened with hunger and poisoned by the salty water seeping into the low-lying marshes. Other buffalo herders in the area say their animals have died too, or produce milk that’s unfit to sell.
“This place used to be full of life,” he said. “Now it’s a desert, a graveyard.”
The wetlands — a lush remnant of the cradle of civilization and a sharp contrast to the desert that prevails elsewhere in the Middle East — were reborn after the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein, when dams he had built to drain the area and root out Shiite rebels were dismantled.
But today, drought that experts believe is spurred by climate change and invading salt, coupled with lack of political agreement between Iraq and Turkey, are endangering the marshes, which surround the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southern Iraq.
This year, acute water shortages — the worst in 40 years, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization — have driven buffalo herders deeper into poverty and debt, forcing many to leave their homes and migrate to nearby cities to look for work.
The rural communities that rely on farming and herding have long been alienated from officials in Baghdad, perpetually engaged in political crises. And when the government this year introduced harsh water rationing policies, the people in the region only became more desperate.
Oil-rich Iraq has not rebuilt the country’s antiquated water supply and irrigation infrastructure and hopes for a water-sharing agreement for Tigris with upstream neighbor Turkey have dwindled, hampered by intransigence and often conflicting political allegiances in Iraq.
In the marshes, where rearing of water buffaloes has been the way of life for generations, the anger toward the government is palpable.
Hamza Noor found a patch where a trickle of fresh water flows. The 33-year-old sets out five times a day in his small boat across the marshes, filling up canisters with water and bringing it back for his animals.
Between Noor and his two brothers, the family lost 20 buffaloes since May, he said. But unlike other herders who left for the city, he is staying.
“I don’t know any other job,” he said.
Ahmed Mutliq, feels the same way. The 30-year-old grew up in the marshes and says he’s seen dry periods years before.
“But nothing compares to this year,” he said. He urged the authorities to release more water from upstream reservoirs, blaming provinces to the north and neighboring countries for “taking water from us.”
Provincial officials, disempowered in Iraq’s highly centralized government, have no answers.
“We feel embarrassed,” said Salah Farhad, the head of Dhi Qar province’s agriculture directorate. “Farmers ask us for more water, and we can’t do anything.”
Iraq relies on the Tigris-Euphrates river basin for drinking water, irrigation and sanitation for its entire population of 40 million. Competing claims over the basin, which stretches from Turkey and cuts across Syria and Iran before reaching Iraq, have complicated Baghdad’s ability to make a water plan.
Ankara and Baghdad have not been able to agree on a fixed amount of flow rate for the Tigris. Turkey is bound by a 1987 agreement to release 500 cubic meters per second toward Syria, which then divides the water with Iraq.
But Ankara has failed to meet its obligation in recent years due to declining water levels, and rejects any future sharing agreements that forces it to release a fixed number.
Iraq’s annual water plan prioritizes setting aside enough drinking water for the nation first, then supplying the agriculture sector and also discharging enough fresh water to the marshes to minimize salinity there. This year, the amounts were cut by half.
The salinity in the marshes has further spiked with water-stressed Iran diverting water from its Karkheh River, which also feeds into Iraq’s marshes.
Iraq has made even less headway on sharing water resources with Iran.
“With Turkey, there is dialogue, but many delays,” said Hatem Hamid, who heads the Iraqi Water Ministry’s key department responsible for formulating the water plan. “With Iran, there is nothing.”
Two officials at the legal department in Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, which deals with complaints against other countries, said attempts to engage with Iran over water-sharing were halted by higher-ups, including the office of then-Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
“They told us not to speak to Iran about it,” said one of the officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss legal issues.
Iraq’s needs are so dire that several Western countries and aid organizations are trying to provide development assistance for Iraq to upgrade its aging water infrastructure and modernize ancient farming practices.
The U.S. Geological Survey has trained Iraqi officials in reading satellite imagery to “strengthen Iraq’s hand in negotiations with Turkey,” one U.S. diplomat said, also speaking anonymously because of the ongoing negotiations.
As the sun set over Chibayish, Hashem’s water buffalo never returned — the sixth animal he lost.
“I have nothing without my buffaloes,” he said.
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Neanderthals cooked meals with pulses 70,000 years ago | CNN
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CNN
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Stone Age cooks were surprisingly sophisticated, combining an array of ingredients and using different techniques to prepare and flavor their meals, analysis of some the earliest charred food remains has suggested.
Plant material found at the Shanidar Cave in northern Iraq — which is famous for its burial of a Neanderthal surrounded by flowers — and Franchthi Cave in Greece revealed prehistoric cooking by Neanderthals and early modern humans was complex, involving several steps, and that the foods used were diverse, according to a new study published in the journal Antiquity.
Wild nuts, peas, vetch, a legume which had edible seed pods, and grasses were often combined with pulses like beans or lentils, the most commonly identified ingredient, and at times, wild mustard. To make the plants more palatable, pulses, which have a naturally bitter taste, were soaked, coarsely ground or pounded with stones to remove their husk.
At Shanidar Cave, the researchers studied plant remains from 70,000 years ago, when the space was inhabited by Neanderthals, an extinct species of human, and 40,000 years ago, when it was home to early modern humans (Homo sapiens).
The charred food remains from Franchthi Cave dated from 12,000 years ago, when it was also occupied by hunter-gatherer Homo sapiens.
Despite the distance in time and space, similar plants and cooking techniques were identified at both sites — possibly suggesting a shared culinary tradition, said the study’s lead author Dr. Ceren Kabukcu, an archaeobotanical scientist at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom.
Based on the food remains researchers analyzed, Neanderthals, the heavy-browed hominins who disappeared about 40,000 years ago, and Homo sapiens appeared to use similar ingredients and techniques, she added, although wild mustard was only found at Shanidar Cave dating back to when it was occupied by Homo sapiens.
A breadlike substance was found at the Greek cave, although it wasn’t clear what it was made from. The evidence that ancient humans pounded and soaked pulses at Shanidar Cave 70,000 years ago is the earliest direct evidence outside Africa of the processing of plants for food, according to Kabukcu.
Kabukcu said she was surprised to find that prehistoric people were combining plant ingredients in this way, an indication that flavor was clearly important. She had expected to find only starchy plants like roots and tubers, which on face value appear to be more nutritious and are easier to prepare.
Much research on prehistoric diets has focused on whether early humans were predominantly meat eaters, but Kabukcu said it was clear they weren’t just chomping on woolly mammoth steaks. Our ancient ancestors ate a varied diet depending on where they lived, and this likely included a wide range of plants.
Such creative cooking techniques were once thought to have emerged only with the shift from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle to humans’ focus on agriculture — known as the Neolithic transition — that took place between 6,000 to 10,000 years ago.
What’s more, she said, the research suggested life in the Stone Age was not just a brutal fight to survive, at least at these two sites, and that prehistoric humans selectively foraged a variety of different plants and understood their different flavor profiles.
John McNabb, a professor at the Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins at the University of Southampton in the UK said that scientific understanding of the Neanderthal diet has changed significantly “as we move away from the idea of them just consuming huge quantities of hunted game meat.”
“More data is needed from Shanidar, but if these results are supported then Neanderthals were eating pulses and some species from the grass family that required careful preparation before consumption. Sophisticated techniques of food preparation had a much deeper history than previously thought,” McNabb, who wasn’t involved in the research, said via email.
“Even more intriguing is the possibility that they did not deliberately extract all the unpalatable toxins. Some were left in the food, as the presence of seed coatings suggests — that part of the seed where the bitterness is especially located. A Neanderthal flavor of choice.”
A separate study into prehistoric diets that also published Tuesday analyzed ancient humans’ oral microbiome — fungi, bacteria and viruses that reside in the mouth — by using ancient DNA from dental plaque.
Researchers led by Andrea Quagliariello, a postdoctoral research fellow in comparative biomedicine and food at the University of Padua in Italy, examined the oral microbiomes of 76 individuals who lived in prehistoric Italy over a period of 30,000 years, as well as microscopic food remains found in calcified plaque.
Quagliariello and his team were able to identify trends in diet and cooking techniques, such as the introduction of fermentation and milk, and a shift to a greater reliance on carbohydrates associated with an agriculture-based diet.
McNabb said it was impressive that researchers had been able chart changes over such a long period of time.
“What the study also does is support the growing idea that the Neolithic was not the sudden arrival of new subsistence practices and new cultures as it was once thought to be. It appears to be a slower transition,” McNabb, who wasn’t involved in the study, said via email.
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Bison’s relocation to Native lands revives a spiritual bond
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BULL HOLLOW, Okla. (AP) — Ryan Mackey quietly sang a sacred Cherokee verse as he pulled a handful of tobacco out of a zip-close bag. Reaching over a barbed wire fence, he scattered the leaves onto the pasture where a growing herd of bison — popularly known as American buffalo — grazed in northeastern Oklahoma.
The offering represented a reverent act of thanksgiving, the 45-year-old explained, and a desire to forge a divine connection with the animals, his ancestors and the Creator.
“When tobacco is used in the right way, it’s almost like a contract is made between you and the spirit — the spirit of our Creator, the spirit of these bison,” Mackey said as a strong wind rumbled across the grassy field. “Everything, they say, has a spiritual aspect. Just like this wind, we can feel it in our hands, but we can’t see it.”
Decades after the last bison vanished from their tribal lands, the Cherokee Nation is part of a nationwide resurgence of Indigenous people seeking to reconnect with the humpbacked, shaggy-haired animals that occupy a crucial place in centuries-old tradition and belief.
Since 1992 the federally chartered InterTribal Buffalo Council has helped relocate surplus bison from locations such as Badlands National Park in South Dakota, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona to 82 member tribes in 20 states.
“Collectively those tribes manage over 20,000 buffalo on tribal lands,” said Troy Heinert, a Rosebud Sioux Tribe member who serves as executive director of the InterTribal Buffalo Council, based in Rapid City, South Dakota. “Our goal and mission is to restore buffalo back to Indian country for that cultural and spiritual connection that Indigenous people have with the buffalo.”
Centuries ago, an estimated 30 million to 60 million bison roamed the vast Great Plains of North America, from Canada to Texas. But by 1900, European settlers had driven the species to near extinction, hunting them en masse for their prized skins and often leaving the carcasses to rot on the prairie.
“It’s important to recognize the history that Native people had with buffalo and how buffalo were nearly decimated. … Now with the resurgence of the buffalo, often led by Native nations, we’re seeing that spiritual and cultural awakening as well that comes with it,” said Heinert, who is a South Dakota state senator.
Historically, Indigenous people hunted and used every part of the bison: for food, clothing, shelter, tools and ceremonial purposes. They did not regard the bison as a mere commodity, however, but rather as beings closely linked to people.
“Many tribes viewed them as a relative,” Heinert said. “You’ll find that in the ceremonies and language and songs.”
Rosalyn LaPier, an Indigenous writer and scholar who grew up on the Blackfeet Nation’s reservation in Montana, said there are different mythological origin stories for bison among the various peoples of the Great Plains.
“Depending on what Indigenous group you’re talking to, the bison originated in the supernatural realm and ended up on Earth for humans to use,” said LaPier, an environmental historian and ethnobotanist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “And there’s usually some sort of story of how humans were taught to hunt bison and kill bison and harvest them.”
Her Blackfeet tribe, for example, believes there are three realms: the sky world, the below world — that is, Earth — and the underwater world. Tribal lore, LaPier says, holds that the Blackfeet were vegetarians until an orphaned bison slipped out of the underwater world in human form and was taken in by two caring humans. As a result, the underwater bison’s divine leader allowed more to come to Earth to be hunted and eaten.
In Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation, one of the largest Native American tribes with 437,000 registered members, had a few bison on its land in the 1970s. But they disappeared.
It wasn’t until 40 years later that the tribe’s contemporary herd was begun, when a large cattle trailer — driven by Heinert — arrived in fall 2014 with 38 bison from Badlands National Park. It was greeted by emotional songs and prayers from tribe’s people.
“I can still remember the dew that was on the grass and the songs of the birds that were in the trees. … I could feel the hope and the pride in the Cherokee people that day,” Heinert said.
Since then, births and additional bison transplants from various locations have boosted the population to about 215. The herd roams a 500-acre (2-square kilometer) pasture in Bull Hollow, an unincorporated area of Delaware County about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northeast of Tulsa, near the small town of Kenwood.
For now, the Cherokee are not harvesting the animals, whose bulls can weigh up to 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) and stand 6 feet tall (nearly 2 meters), as leaders focus on growing the herd. But bison, a lean protein, could serve in the future as a food source for Cherokee schools and nutrition centers, said Bryan Warner, the tribe’s deputy principal chief.
“Our hope is really not just for food sovereignty’s sake but to really reconnect our citizens back in a spiritual way,” said Warner, a member of a United Methodist church.
That reconnection in turn leads to discussions about other fauna, he added, from rabbits and turtles to quail and doves.
“All these different animals — it puts you more in tune with nature,” he said as bison sauntered through a nearby pond. “And then essentially it puts you more in tune with yourself, because we all come from the same dirt that these animals are formed from — from our Creator.”
Originally from the southeastern United States, the Cherokee were forced to relocate to present-day Oklahoma in 1838 after gold was discovered in their ancestral lands. The 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) removal, known as the Trail of Tears, claimed nearly 4,000 lives through sickness and harsh travel conditions.
While bison are more associated with Great Plains tribes than those with roots on the East Coast, the newly arrived Cherokee had connections with a slightly smaller subspecies, according to Mackey. The animals on the tribe’s lands today are not direct descendants, he explained, but close cousins with which the tribe is able to have a spiritual bond.
“We don’t speak the same language as the bison,” Mackey said. “But when you sit with them and spend time with them, relationships can be built on … other means than just language alone: sharing experiences, sharing that same space and just having a feeling of respect. Your body language changes when you have respect for someone or something.”
Mackey grew up with Pentecostal roots on his father’s side and Baptist on his mother’s. He still occasionally attends church, but finds more meaning in Cherokee ceremonial practices.
“Even if (tribal members) are raised in church or in synagogue or wherever they choose to worship, their elders are Cherokee elders,” he said. “And this idea of relationship and respect and guardianship — with the land, with the Earth, with all those things that reside on it — it’s passed down. It still pervades our identity as Cherokee people.”
That’s why he believes the bison’s return to Cherokee lands is so important.
“The bison aren’t just meat,” he said. “They represent abundance and health and strength.”
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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Hard-working Colombian beetles clean garbage, retire as pets
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TUNJA, Colombia — Three yellow-and-black beetles clung to the shirt of Germán Viasus Tibamoso, a Colombian environmental engineer who uses beetle larvae to transform food waste into fertilizers.
As he encouraged them to move along, he murmured to them in Japanese — trying to get them accustomed, he said, to the sounds of their future homes.
The not-so-little bugs — which can grow up to 17 centimeters (6.5 inches) long — have a remarkably productive and complicated life among the humans who breed and collect them.
Viasus operates a company called Tierra Viva in a rural area around the city of Tunja, a city some 150 kilometers (95 miles) northwest of the Colombian capital of Bogota.
An attempt as a postgraduate student to produce organic fertilizer with worms failed, Viasus said, but he found beetle larvae in the bags of earth that remained. He tried using them instead. And it worked.
Tons of food scraps collected from nearby communities are spread in concrete ditches and covered with earth. Then beetle larvae — the stage between egg and adulthood — are introduced.
They chew through the refuse and their digestive microorganisms transform it into a fertilizer rich in nitrogen and phosphorous.
After four months or so, the product passes through a filter that separates the fertilizer from the larvae, who are at the point of becoming adult beetles.
They mate, and their eggs are used to start the process anew. The adults, however, go on very different journeys. Some are headed for scientific labs. And a lucky few embark on a future across the Pacific in Japan, where beetles are popular as pets, and are even sold over online emporiums such as Amazon.
Tierra Viva has been exporting the bugs — largely Hercules beetles — since 2004, and Viasus said they can bring as much as $150 each.
This year the company sent 100 beetles to Tokyo — down from 300 last year — held in little plastic cases with air holes and food.
The sales are often in the company’s variant of cryptocurrency, called “Kmushicoin” — a variant on a Japanese word for beetle.
Viasus, 52, said he hopes the project can grow and prosper for another century — perhaps with its fertilizer used in reforestation projects.
“It’s very difficult in Colombia … because we do it without any help from the state or any other entity. In any other country of the world, a project like this would get a lot of help,” he said.
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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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Texas woman arrested after smuggling endangered spider monkey in box she claimed held beer | CNN
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CNN
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Talk about monkey business.
A Texas woman entering the US told border officials the wooden box in her car was filled with beer. In reality, it was an endangered spider monkey she planned to sell.
The 20-year-old woman pleaded guilty to smuggling wildlife into the US without first declaring and invoicing it, and fleeing an immigration checkpoint, after a monthslong investigation, according to a news release from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
She attempted to enter the US from Mexico through the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas, on March 21, the release stated. Officers noticed a wooden box with holes inside her car, which she claimed contained beer she had bought in Mexico.
However, when officers opened the box, they discovered a live spider monkey. Officers then referred the woman to a second inspection, but she sped off instead.
Later that day, officers discovered online sales listings for the spider monkey with the woman’s phone number, according to the release.
The woman turned herself in on March 28, according to the release. The monkey was recovered and placed in an animal shelter in Central Florida.
The woman will be sentenced on January 25, 2023, the release noted.
“Smuggling in endangered species for commercial gain is a tragic crime against nature’s precious resources,” said Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge at Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio, in the release. “HSI takes every opportunity to join our federal, private sector and international partners to share our knowledge, experience and investigative techniques designed to protect and preserve threatened and endangered species.”
There are seven species of spider monkeys found across Central and South America, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Officials did not specify to which species the recovered spider monkey belonged.
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This bird hadn’t been documented by scientists since 1882. Then they captured video of it in Papua New Guinea | CNN
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CNN
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A bird thought to be extinct for 140 years has been rediscovered in the forests of Papua New Guinea.
The black-naped pheasant-pigeon was documented by scientists for the first and last time in 1882, according to a news release from nonprofit Re:wild, which helped fund the search effort.
Rediscovering the bird required an expedition team to spend a grueling month on Fergusson, a rugged island in the D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago off eastern Papua New Guinea where the bird was originally documented. The team consisted of local staff at the Papua New Guinea National Museum as well as international scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the American Bird Conservancy.
Fergusson Island is covered in rugged, mountainous terrain – making the expedition especially challenging for the scientists. Many members of the community told the team that they hadn’t seen the black-naped pheasant-pigeon in decades, says the news release.
But just two days before the researchers were scheduled to leave the island, a camera trap captured footage of the exceptionally rare bird.
“After a month of searching, seeing those first photos of the pheasant-pigeon felt like finding a unicorn,” John C. Mittermeier, director of the lost birds program at American Bird Conservancy and co-leader of the expedition, said in the release. “It is the kind of moment you dream about your entire life as a conservationist and birdwatcher.”
The black-naped pheasant-pigeon is a large, ground-dwelling pigeon with a broad tail, according to the release. Scientists still know little about the species and believe the population is small and decreasing.
Insight from local residents was crucial for the scientists to track down the elusive bird.
“It wasn’t until we reached villages on the western slope of Mt. Kilkerran that we started meeting hunters who had seen and heard the pheasant-pigeon,” Jason Gregg, a conservation biologist and co-leader of the expedition team, said in the release. “We became more confident about the local name of the bird, which is ‘Auwo,’ and felt like we were getting closer to the core habitat of where the black-naped pheasant-pigeon lives.”
They placed a total of 12 camera traps on the slopes of Mt. Kilkerran, which is the island’s highest mountain. And they placed another eight cameras in locations where local hunters reported seeing the bird in the past.
A hunter named Augustin Gregory, based in the mountain village Duda Ununa, provided the final breakthrough that helped scientists locate the pheasant-pigeon.
Gregory told the team that he had seen the black-naped pheasant-pigeon in an area with “steep ridges and valleys,” says the news release. And he had heard the bird’s distinctive calls.
So the expedition team placed a camera on a 3,200-foot high ridge near the Kwama River above Duda Ununa, according to the release. And finally, just as their trip was ending, they captured footage of the bird walking on the forest floor.
The discovery was a shock for the scientists and the local community alike.
“The communities were very excited when they saw the survey results, because many people hadn’t seen or heard of the bird until we began our project and got the camera trap photos,” said Serena Ketaloya, a conservationist from Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, in the news release. “They are now looking forward to working with us to try to protect the pheasant-pigeon.”
It’s still not clear just how many of the black-naped pheasant-pigeon are left, and the rugged terrain will make identifying the population difficult. A two-week survey in 2019 failed to find any proof of the bird, although it did discover some reports from hunters that helped determine the locations for the 2022 expedition.
And the discovery might provide hope that other bird species thought extinct are still out there somewhere.
“This rediscovery is an incredible beacon of hope for other birds that have been lost for a half century or more,” said Christina Biggs, the manager for the Search for Lost Species at Re:wild, in the release. “The terrain the team searched was incredibly difficult, but their determination never wavered, even though so few people could remember seeing the pheasant-pigeon in recent decades.”
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Symbol of reunion with China, panda Tuan Tuan dies in Taipei
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Tuan Tuan, one of two giant pandas gifted to Taiwan from China as a symbol of hoped-for reunion between the sides, has died
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Tuan Tuan, one of two giant pandas gifted to Taiwan from China, died Saturday after a brief illness, the Taipei Zoo said.
No cause of death was immediately given, but earlier reports said the panda was believed to have a malignant brain tumor, prompting China to send a pair of experts to Taiwan earlier this month to help with his treatment.
Tuan Tuan did not respond and after a series of seizures Saturday was placed in an induced coma, according to Taiwanese news reports.
Tuan Tuan and his mate, Yuan Yuan, were gifted to the zoo in 2008 during a time of warming relations between China and Taiwan, which split amid civil war in 1949. Both were born in China in 2004 and succeeded in having a pair of cubs in Taiwan.
The average life span for pandas in the wild is 15-20 years, while they can live for 30 years or more under human care.
Ties between Beijing and Taipei have declined sharply in the year’s since the pair’s arrival, with China cutting off contacts in 2016 following the election of independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen, who was reelected in 2020.
China sends pandas abroad as a sign of goodwill but maintains ownership over the animals and any cubs they produce. An unofficial national mascot, the animals are native to southwestern China, reproduce rarely and rely almost exclusively on a diet of bamboo.
An estimated 1,800 pandas live in the wild, while another 500 are in zoos or reserves, mostly in Sichuan, where they are a protected species but remain under threat from habitat loss.
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The Goodness Exchange Encourages Holiday Shopping That Gives Back
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Press Release
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Nov 16, 2022 13:00 EST
SAINT ALBANS, Vt., November 16, 2022 (Newswire.com)
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The Goodness Exchange released their 2022 holiday gift guide of gifts that do good. This year’s curated guide includes products from companies that are committed to supporting people, animals, and the environment.The Goodness Exchange was created to cut through today’s negative noise, saving readers time and sanity by giving them instant access to positive news. This holiday season, they encourage readers to make a difference by purchasing from companies that are making the world a better place while doing good business.
“We celebrate goodness in all aspects of life including gift-giving. As supporters of others who do good in the world, we are turning to the companies listed in our gift guide when searching for a perfect gift,” said Liesl Ulrich-Verderber, CEO of the Goodness Exchange. “People always enjoy receiving gifts that give back, so it’s a win-win for everyone! We wanted to share some of our favorites to give our like-minded readers inspiration this holiday season.”
This season, give gifts with pride by finding gifts that people are proud to receive. 72% of Gen Z is more likely to buy from a company that contributes to social causes. Show understanding of what loved ones value most by shopping from businesses that support causes they care about.
For those who love animals, the Goodness Exchange gift guide suggests companies focused on producing natural ingredient dog treats, preventing the mistreatment of elephants, protecting endangered species, and cleaning ocean pollution. For eco-friendly organizations, the guide has products made from plants and recycled materials, sustainably manufactured goods, and low-waste alternatives to everyday essentials from companies that give back to the planet. The third category covered by the guide is supporting people. Gifts included are from companies owned by or serving underrepresented communities, companies that ethically source and produce goods, and companies that give back to social causes. View the full gift guide here.
About Goodness Exchange: The Goodness Exchange (formerly Ever Widening Circles) is a media outlet helping people cut through today’s negative noise by giving them instant access to good news, fresh ideas, and positive perspectives; without politics or obnoxious ads. A Vermont-based company, they are celebrating the wave of goodness and progress, well underway around the world that almost no one knows enough about … yet. Goodness Exchange champions people who are solving the world’s problems, small and large. Learn more at goodness-exchange.com
Source: Goodness Exchange
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Famous Mexican search and rescue dog Frida dies
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FILE – Frida, one of three Marine dogs specially trained to search for people trapped inside collapsed buildings, wears her protective gear during a press event in Mexico City, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017. Mexico’s navy announced Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, that the yellow Labrador retriever that gained fame in the days following Mexico’s Sept. 19, 2017 earthquake even without rescuing anyone from the rubble, has died. Over the course of her career, she was credited with finding at least 41 bodies and a dozen people alive. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
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It feels like dogs know just when we need them most. Well, they might, experts say | CNN
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Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Stress, But Less newsletter. Our six-part mindfulness guide will inform and inspire you to reduce stress while learning how to harness it.
CNN
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When a family arrived at Koch Funeral Home in State College, Pennsylvania, to identify a loved one before cremation, Monroe took note — staying back to maintain the people’s privacy but ready to offer comfort if asked.
Monroe isn’t a grief counselor or therapist. She’s an Australian Shepherd and resident therapy dog at the funeral home, said Jackie Naginey Hook, a celebrant and end-of-life doula there.
“She has this affinity toward people who might be experiencing grief,” Hook said. “She is drawn to them.”
Sure enough, when members of the family came out, they saw Monroe and asked to say hello, Hook said. Petting her opened them up to telling others about their loss.
Some research has suggested that dogs — whether trained therapy and service animals or just friends in our homes — have a positive impact on human lives, said Colleen Dell, the research chair in One Health and Wellness and professor at the University of Saskatchewan.
Just 10 minutes spent with a dog helped reduce patients’ pain, according to a March study for which Dell served as lead author.
People often don’t talk about what they’re going through when grieving, Hook said. The process of mourning is as unique to a person as a fingerprint, and many don’t know how to be there for others who are going through it, she added.
For many people, dogs can offer intuitive, unconditional and loving support in times of grief, Dell said.
“We don’t give them the credit that’s due,” Dell said of the animals that provide needed support. “We don’t understand them to the extent that we should. When you start to pull it apart, there’s just so much going on there.”
There are nuances to what people need when mourning a loved one, but generally family and friends should be present, offer hugs and listen without saying too much, Hook said.
It sounds like a perfect job for a dog.
“Healthy healing is really about giving yourself permission to feel what you’re feeling,” Hook said. “Our bodies know how to heal from a cut, and we know how to deal with this, too.”
Luckily for us, dogs don’t judge or have expectations, Dell said.
If someone has developed a strong bond and relationship with a dog, the animal is often able to intuit the emotions of those it loves, Dell said. It can mean the dog knows when to offer a gentle cuddle, she said.
“When we lose a significant other … so many people say that coming home at the end of the day, coming home to an empty house is just hard,” Hook said. “Having a dog there to greet you can make a difference.”
Or a dog can bring a little distraction with a bid for a game of fetch or a walk outside.
“Getting up and going on a walk when you are grieving is incredibly difficult,” Dell said. “They are really good at living in the moment. That takes us away from thinking in the past or even too much in the future.
“They want to go on a walk now; they want to play now.”
When grieving and considering a dog, it’s important to think about how the animal would fit into your life and vice versa, Dell said.
“The relationship we have with an animal is different than that which we have with a human,” Dell said. There are more benefits in some ways but also more drawbacks, she added.
It’s a win-win situation when a dog can provide support and the owner can give the proper amount of care and attention, Dell said. But it helps to do your homework to find the right match and be prepared to make a long-term commitment.
Having a dog can sometimes cause extra stress if it is going to be an added strain on time or financial resources to get veterinary care, a sitter for when you are away and training, Dell said.
Dedicating time to learn how to train your dog can help it get the attention it wants and help you get more insight into building a solid bond that benefits you both, she added.
If you are looking for a dog to keep you outside and active, look for a breed with a lot of energy. If you are busy but want a companion, maybe find a canine more inclined toward naps. If you travel, a carry-on size pooch is the way to go, Dell said.
Often people grieving may find their patience lower — in which case consider a dog two years or older to avoid puppy antics, she added.
Often dogs become available through foster care after the death of an owner, Dell said. “What a beautiful thing that would be,” she said about fostering an animal. “You’d really be helping each other.”
But there are still ways to get the benefits from a furry friend without taking on any responsibility, Dell said.
A pet belonging to a neighbor or family member can offer cuddles and play, she added. Or you can spend time in parks where dogs play or venues where therapy dogs might visit.
“(Grieving people) need to feel loved,” Dell said. “These dogs (are) able to provide that in ways that have no strings attached.”
Volunteering with a shelter or rescue group can also bring joy, she said. Just spending time caring for dogs or taking them on a walk can make a huge difference, Dell added.
“You’re doing those things that are normal, that you never, ever think will feel normal again,” she said. “But they do.”
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Emily Blunt and James Corden can’t lead ‘The English’ and ‘Mammals’ out of the woods | CNN
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CNN
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It’s a streaming jungle out there, which might explain why Amazon offers up a couple of odd series featuring the stars of “Into the Woods” this weekend: “Mammals,” in which James Corden prepares for life beyond latenight, and “The English,” with Emily Blunt, which gives a lot of prestige British actors the chance to play cowboy.
Both run six episodes, with “The English” structured as a limited series, and “Mammals” paving the way for future seasons, while incorporating too many twists in its dramedy format to discuss much about what happens.
As for “The English,” Blunt’s Cornelia Locke, an English aristocrat, narrates the show by thinking back to 1890, when she was led on a mission of revenge in the American west by Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer), a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout who leaves the Army to pursue a land claim in Nebraska, before getting sidetracked along the way.
A man of few words, Eli speaks in terse tough-guy dialogue, saying things like, “I’ve seen Hell, and I’ve made Hell.” Yet he and Cornelia are brought together by a tragic event from the past, one that takes them across treacherous country and includes a lot of fine actors for relatively short periods, among them Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones and Stephen Rea.
Created by Hugo Blick (“The Honourable Woman”), and counting Blunt among its producers, the series features gorgeous cloud-specked skies and sweeping horizons in what feels like an homage to John Ford westerns. But most of those elements (including the aforementioned dialogue) feel assembled in such a self-conscious and heavy handed way as to blunt the tribute, making it difficult to discern for whom this exercise is intended, other than creating a TV vehicle to bring Blunt’s marquee name to Amazon’s content-hungry shelves.
“Mammals” fares a bit better, with Corden’s Jamie and his wife Amandine (“Tyrant’s” Melia Kreiling) expecting a child and seemingly hopelessly in love when the series begins. When tragedy strikes, the ensuing grief gradually opens not only wounds but secrets, before flashing back to fill in gaps about how the two met, and why he might not be entirely inclined to trust her.
Series creator Jez Butterworth (whose writing credits include “Ford v. Ferrari”) incorporates lots of quirky moments, such as singer Tom Jones popping in as, um, Tom Jones. The supporting cast features Sally Hawkins, a classy addition to anything, as Jamie’s sister, although in this case playing a character whose arc feels highly peripheral to the central plot.
US audiences might not be completely familiar with Corden’s TV work (he starred in the well-regarded UK series “Gavin & Stacey”) before he became CBS’ later-night host, while continuing to dabble in musicals like “The Prom,” “Cats” and the aforementioned “Into the Woods.” “Mammals” gives him an opportunity to show off his acting chops, though the bigger revelation might be Kreiling, who more than holds her own.
While both series should help bring attention to Amazon Prime, neither completely works. “The English’s” main advantage is that it represents a relatively brief, closed-ended commitment, whereas “Mammals” (a poor title, incidentally) is a bit more enticing with its ruminations on dealing with loss and the vagaries of relationships.
Granted, when it comes to premium TV, attracting promotable stars can be half the battle, and Blunt and Corden fit the bill, with the latter recently contributing a fair amount of unintended publicity for his off-screen behavior as a restaurant patron.
That said, there’s probably not enough strictly on their respective merits to lead either of these Amazon shows through the jungle and out of the woods.
“Mammals” and “The English” premiere November 11 on Amazon Prime.
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