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sidd

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #250 on: June 30, 2019, 09:31:54 AM »
Thanks for that article on Arctic foxes. There are so many things in this world that are not dreamed of by my understanding. The world is full of marvellous things waiting for our senses to get sharper.

sidd

ArcticMelt2

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #251 on: July 03, 2019, 07:31:54 PM »
Everywhere warming kills the biosphere - from the Amazon River to the Arctic Circle.

https://twitter.com/m_parrington/status/1146084205727801344

Quote
Unprecedented #wildfire activity in the #Arctic Circle in June 2019, with notable widespread fires in Sakha Republic, Russia for much of the last 3 weeks, as estimated with #Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service GFAS data based on MODIS 🛰️obs








ArcticMelt2

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #252 on: July 03, 2019, 07:33:26 PM »
The total energy of forest fires in the Arctic in the past month is equal to a 200-gigawatt coal-fired power station, which emitted 50 million tons of carbon dioxide per month.

Niall Dollard

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #253 on: July 04, 2019, 09:38:10 AM »
Under the category of amazing animal feats, a radio collared  arctic fox left Svalbard on March 26th, heading for Ellesmere, and arrived on June 10. It  detoured north around open water, crossed the Greenland sea, then took a look at the Greenland ice cap in winter, because, you know, bored, picked its way across the Nares- after the arch had collapsed and arrived at Ellesmere on June 10th!


What an amazing journey !

You say after the arch collapsed Sebastian, however the arch was still intact up to the very end of June last year. The same route could hardly have been chosen this year because we had no arch in the Kane Basin and would have been very tricky !

Here's the timelapse:

https://giphy.com/gifs/Q67UV1IkG36cGlz1dd

vox_mundi

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #254 on: July 05, 2019, 06:40:48 PM »
Surge in Sick, Hungry Sea Lions Off California Coast
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-surge-sick-hungry-sea-lions.html

A rise in the number of ailing and malnourished sea lions along the California coastline has marine experts somewhat puzzled, KNTV reports.

Some of the adult California sea lions may be suffering from domoic acid poisoning, related to toxic algae blooms in the ocean, according to the station. But experts aren't sure why they're also seeing more malnourished pups.

"Whether there is some underlying condition, we haven't been able to determine," Frankfurter said, KNTV reported. It may be related to the domoic acid poisoning cases in adults.

The upswing follows a similar surge in sea lion strandings in spring 2018 as well as a rise in California gray whale deaths in early 2019, KRON reported.

"We're seeing a lot of different animals being impacted from the gray whales that are coming in thin to the issues that we are seeing with Guadalupe animals and the sea lions up and down the coast," Frankfurter said, according to the station. "It's definitely a sign of the ocean overall. All of it might (connect) to climate change, relating to warming oceans."
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

wdmn

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #255 on: July 10, 2019, 07:23:54 AM »
More on the dead gray whales:

3 more gray whale carcasses found in Alaska amid spike in deaths along West Coast

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/wildlife/2019/06/20/3-more-gray-whale-carcasses-found-in-alaska-amid-spike-in-deaths-along-west-coast/

Three more gray whales were found dead along the coasts of Alaska this week as scientists continue to investigate why so many of the marine mammals are dying as they migrate up the West Coast.

So far this year, 167 dead gray whales have been found dead from Mexico to Alaska, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The number of the carcasses found on U.S. shores, 81, is the most since 2000.

Many of the dead whales were skinny, NOAA said. Some scientists think it’s likely the whales didn’t get enough to eat last summer in the Bering and Chukchi seas.

By Thursday, the tally of dead gray whales in Alaska had climbed to 10. Normally by this time of year, just three or four carcasses are reported, according to NOAA data from 2016 to 2018.

And more...

Alaska up to 22 dead gray whales this season with 7 reported over holiday weekend

https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Alaska-up-to-22-dead-gray-whales-7-reported-holiday-weekend-512502861.html

The state of Alaska is up to 22 confirmed gray whale deaths this season, according to NOAA spokesperson Julie Speegle. Seven additional sightings were confirmed over the long holiday weekend, Speegle said, with one necropsy having been completed.

As of June 27, the site reported 14 Alaska whales, and 85 total for the U.S. The total for the U.S., Canada and Mexico this season was reported at 171 by that date.

*****

If my math is correct, then these additional dead whales would bring the total to at least 179, not counting any whales that may have been found in Mexico, contiguous U.S. or Canada since June 27th.

kassy

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #256 on: July 10, 2019, 05:53:03 PM »
The total population is estimated 26k?
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

wdmn

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #257 on: July 10, 2019, 06:14:38 PM »
The total population is estimated 26k?

Yes, so not a crisis at this point (though of course the number of confirmed dead are only a fraction of the total deaths, since not all whales end up on shore).

But if this is related to lack of ice and warming of the Bering and Chukchi seas last year, then we will likely see an even higher number of mortalities next year...

kassy

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #258 on: July 10, 2019, 06:59:14 PM »
The 179 are 0,69% of the population.

Are those all returning or do they include reports from the start of the season migrating south?

I will dig through this thread a bit to see if i can find some more numbers for the other areas.
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

ArcticMelt2

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #259 on: July 10, 2019, 07:09:19 PM »
Also note that the indigenous peoples of the Arctic (the Chukchi and the Eskimos) are allowed to kill several hundred gray whales every year.

Whales, like elephants, are prime candidates for extinction because of their size. Like once dinosaurs that could not compete with smaller mammals.

And they say that with warming a tropical paradise will come on the entire planet - a repeat of the era of dinosaurs. And in fact, the planet turns into a lifeless wasteland.

wdmn

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #260 on: July 10, 2019, 08:19:44 PM »
The 179 are 0,69% of the population.

Are those all returning or do they include reports from the start of the season migrating south?

I will dig through this thread a bit to see if i can find some more numbers for the other areas.

Taken from reply 240:

"Gray whales spend the summer in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas, where they consume nearly a year’s worth of nourishment so they can migrate south to Mexico for the winter. Sea ice has been at or near record lows off Alaska, with rising temperatures likely impacting the population of amphipods crustaceans that are the whales’ primary source of food, according to NOAA.

The emaciated whales, now migrating north, are likely showing the impact of poor feeding last summer, according to officials."

The data just says mortalities from 2019. Most of them would be from the migration northwards.

If there are a number of whales already weak now arriving in the Bering and Chukchi, and if warming waters effecting availability of food really is the main factor, then I am guessing there will be moralities on the trip south this year as well as the trip north next year.

kassy

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #261 on: July 10, 2019, 09:21:23 PM »
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/2019-gray-whale-unusual-mortality-event-along-west-coast

Gray Whale Strandings (as of June 27, 2019)

U.S. State       2019
Alaska       14
Washington    29
Oregon       5
California       37
Total               85
 
Country   2019
Canada     8
U.S.           85
Mexico   78
Total         171

I think this is the breakdown? So that would include the whole route.

 
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

vox_mundi

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #262 on: July 18, 2019, 05:28:41 PM »
Tiger, Rhinos Flee to Higher Ground in India's Flood-Hit Assam
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-tiger-rhinos-higher-ground-india.html



... Wild buffalos running in floodwaters, exhausted rhinos resting on patches of land and elephants crossing a road were some of the unusual sights as World Heritage-listed Kaziranga National Park rangers raced to reach animals struggling in the waters.

The UNESCO-recognised Kaziranga is home to two-thirds of the world's remaining one-horned rhinos and several have been spotted basking in the sun on a patches of high ground surrounded by water.

More than 50 wild animals have died so far, including some in traffic accidents, as they tried to cross a busy highway outside the park and reach the nearby Karbi hills, local media reported.

... The floods, which are in their second week, have so far killed at least 27 people in Assam, sweeping away houses and boats. Across South Asia, including Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, the death toll has risen above 300 with millions of residents affected and hundreds of thousands displaced.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #263 on: July 22, 2019, 05:00:34 PM »
Animals' Body Sizes Shrinking from Climate Change
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-animals-body-sizes-climate.html

University of Cape Town (UCT) researchers have collected clear evidence—over a 23 year period between 1976 and 1999—that climate change is shrinking animals' body sizes.

From the fossil record, it is known that during past periods of global warming, both marine and land-based animals have become smaller. And scientists have proposed that contemporary warming could lead to smaller animals, but so far, evidence supporting this has been scarce.

To investigate this idea and whether it could be true, the research team looked at a group of wagtails living along the Palmiet River. What they found supports the idea that climate change can shrink Earth's animals.

"All else being equal, larger animals can tolerate cold conditions better than smaller animals, so one could expect that a warming climate is relatively more advantageous for smaller animals," said Professor Altwegg.

"A lot of other factors also affect body size, though, so we weren't expecting to find clear temperature effects over a quarter of a century. Yet, the results clearly supported the idea that climate change was the reason why these birds became smaller over time," he added.

... The ramifications of this potential impact would extend beyond the organisms themselves, though. This effect of climate change could result in changes across ecosystems. Body size is an important indicator of an animal's fertility, lifespan and ability to survive times of stress, such as food shortages or drought. Body size also affects how much food an animal needs, how vulnerable it is to predators and what type of food it can eat.

Jorinde Prokosch et al. Are animals shrinking due to climate change? Temperature-mediated selection on body mass in mountain wagtails, Oecologia (2019)
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Tor Bejnar

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #264 on: July 22, 2019, 08:45:13 PM »
Study shows saving elephants helps us fight climate change
Quote
What elephants eat and how they eat contribute significantly to forest biomass, research has shown.

The key novelty of the new study, by the ecologist Fabio Berzaghi and colleagues, is they include, for the first time, the effect of elephant feeding disturbances in a computer model that simulates demographic processes in forest ecosystems. They found that “elephant disturbance” – all that messy eating – results in forests having fewer, larger trees. Elephants filter out small early-succession (i.e. low wood density) trees, promoting the dominance of late-succession (high wood density) trees, which ultimately leads to long-term increases in the total biomass. Berzaghi and colleagues were able to validate their model predictions with data from real forest plots in the Congo Basin.

By promoting these larger, woodier trees, elephant feeding disturbances therefore mean the forest stores more carbon. ...
Arctic ice is healthy for children and other living things because "we cannot negotiate with the melting point of ice"

blumenkraft

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #265 on: August 27, 2019, 09:11:57 PM »
North Slope Alaska Mosquitoes – Humans Versus Trillions

https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/north-slope-alaska-mosquitoes-trillions/

DrTskoul

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #266 on: August 28, 2019, 01:10:52 AM »
Have you seen northern boreal mosquitoes?? Giant !!!

sidd

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #267 on: September 06, 2019, 07:31:38 AM »
Nice paper on whales and song sharing. Guess they dont respect copyright ... more power to them.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.190337

open access. audio in the supplementary. beautiful.

sidd

Sigmetnow

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #268 on: September 17, 2019, 05:59:49 PM »
Sea World is stepping back from captive animal exhibits and is now emphasizing amusement rides and food (let’s hope it’s vegan).

CEOs Are Also Endangered at SeaWorld Entertainment
https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/09/17/ceos-are-also-endangered-at-seaworld-entertainment.aspx
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #269 on: November 08, 2019, 01:50:05 PM »
Quote
Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill)11/7/19, 6:51 PM
No big deal; just a guy playing fetch with a beluga whale...  :o
https://twitter.com/stevestuwill/status/1192590475909140481
Image below; video at the link.
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

vox_mundi

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #270 on: November 08, 2019, 05:43:57 PM »
Emperor Penguins Could March to Extinction If Nations Fail to Halt Climate Change
https://phys.org/news/2019-11-emperor-penguins-extinction-nations-halt.html





“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

ivica

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #271 on: December 08, 2019, 04:23:30 PM »
We have to protect whales from us so that whales can help diversity and sustainability of life, our lives included!

The Sea Shepherds Protecting Humpbacks From Whaling! | The Blue Realm | Real Wild Documentary, Published Feb 7, 2019



"Humpback whales were hunted to the brink of extinction until a moratorium was implemented in the 1980s. After finally rebounding in numbers, whaling nations are exploring ways to re-open the hunt. In Antarctica, Japan is targeting minke, fin and now...humpbacks. We explore how The Sea Shepherd Society is protecting Humpbacks from these attacks!"


ivica

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #272 on: December 10, 2019, 11:09:32 AM »
Karnataka WildLife and Nature Video


by Ricky Kej et al.

nanning

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #273 on: December 10, 2019, 05:28:21 PM »
I think you may like this ivica:


Orca grandmothers babysit young whales, study finds
Research on 378 killer whales finds those with grandmothers live longer and the older females help them when food is scarce.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/10/orca-grandmothers-babysit-young-whales-study-finds

First paragraphs:

Doting killer whale grandmothers help their grand calves survive, particularly in times of food scarcity, scientists reported in a paper that sheds new light on the evolutionary role of menopause.

Orca females stop reproducing in their thirties or forties but can continue to live for decades more, a phenomenon known only to exist in humans and four other mammal species, all of which are whales.


edit: in a living nature environment older males have better sperm because dna changes with experience throughout a males' life. But only in the natural world. i.e. Paradise, because it's everything you're made for.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2019, 05:44:44 PM by nanning »
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ivica

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #274 on: December 10, 2019, 05:54:49 PM »
Thanks for the post  nanning.
Short remark on "We also suspect babysitting": Even sparrows do babysitting - kindergarten style, i witnessed it many times. (and, a crow not only babysitting juvenile rook but also teaching it to fly...)

sidd

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #275 on: February 23, 2020, 12:13:55 AM »
Leakey is pessimistic: Anderson interview at new yorker

" I am not persuaded of the prospects for wildlife unless something gives, and I don’t see it."

“Our population is growing too fast; our resource base isn’t growing with it, and, with the crisis of climate change ... the fact is that the mean temperature is getting warmer, the rainfall is getting less, the snowmelt is increasing, the ice formation is less, oceans are rising. It’s a strangulation grip on the environment ... if you take the change in climate and you take the impact of temperature and the unavailability of land to grow viable crops on, your animal husbandry is getting squeezed out because there isn’t the open-range land on which you can raise cattle which you can sell in markets, so there’s a narrowing down of the options for humanity, and how you fit people and animals into that has to be a big question mark.”

"The fact is that the problems we all face now are far beyond the power of individual conservationists to cope with."

"my time frame is only fifty years to look for some really positive change. I think the potential’s there. I don’t see the signs that it’s started yet, but I have been an ardent believer that the elephants must live and the rhinos shouldn’t be destroyed"

"It may not be possible to recover the environment sufficiently for wildlife in the next thirty or forty years ... I think you could probably sustain enough biodiversity and genetic material to bring back the ecosystems with the range of species that once lived there, but you can’t do it unless you recognize that for a while you may go through some very bleak times"

"in the longer term, say, in a timescale of several hundred years, I can be very optimistic."

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/can-the-wildlife-of-east-africa-be-saved-a-visit-with-richard-leakey

sidd
« Last Edit: February 23, 2020, 12:23:55 AM by sidd »

sidd

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #276 on: February 23, 2020, 12:27:42 AM »
Self medicating animals: Motivans at ZME

"Michael Huffman saw a sick chimp ridden with parasites that chewed on leaves of a noxious plant and recovered by the next day. Other researchers have observed bonobos take leaves that cause itchy skin and layer many of them on their tongues, carefully avoiding touching their skin. They use saliva to stick a whole ball of leaves together that they then swallow whole. The reason that they layer the leaves is so that it becomes a sort of time-release medication that acts over a longer period of time."

"There’s a special type of anti-parasitic milkweed and only infected butterflies lay their eggs on it; healthy butterflies don’t look twice at it. However, by laying their eggs on it, infected butterflies ensure that their offspring are protected from infection. "

"the woolly bear caterpillar, which ingests plants that are toxic to parasites, and fruit flies, which lay their eggs in the alcohol from fermented fruit to keep parasitic wasps away from their offspring."

"Some birds have started stuffing an unlikely material into their nests: cigarette butts. No, they’re not ne’er-do-well parents. On the contrary, they could actually be using the chemicals in the butts as medicine against parasitic mites,"

"Honey bees often collect resins produced by plants and stick them onto their hive. In particular, they use resins as medication after a fungal infection."

"lizards that eat a particular root after being bitten by a venomous snake, baboons with flatworms that cause schistosomiasis eat the leaves from a particular plant to get rid of those nasty parasites, and pregnant elephants in Kenya that eat tree leaves to induce delivery"

https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/animals-ecology/animals-take-medicine-when-they-are-sick-a-few-striking-cases/

sidd

sidd

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #277 on: February 23, 2020, 12:30:06 AM »
Kill your lawn: Breyer at treehugger

"Each one of us can work to bring back those populations by collaborating on what I call the 'Homegrown National Park,' a collective preserve built in and out of our own private yards,"

"if every landowner converted just half of their lawn to productive native plant communities, we could transform more than 20 million acres of "ecological wasteland" into insect-supporting habitat."

"Homeowners in all but the driest areas of the country should plant oaks, Those who want meadows should be sure to have goldenrod, asters, and sunflowers. In general, native plants support the life cycles of 10 to 100 times more insect species than nonnative plants, and a few plants (such as native cherries and willows) serve as hosts for 10 to 100 times more insects than most other native varieties."

"homeowners use more insecticides per acre than farms do."

https://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/please-kill-your-lawn.html

sidd

sidd

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #278 on: March 03, 2020, 07:39:23 AM »
Deep voices, deep thoughts: Lieff on the lives, deaths, and discourse of giants

"Three million years ago elephants took their current form at the time of the early human ancestors in Africa ...  Elephant’s brain size appeared to increase at the same time as humans (the past million years)."

"The elephant’s primary social unit is a mother, related females and children."

"It was once thought that males are loners because they wander by themselves much of the time. But, it is now known that they, also, form an elaborate network of friends and relations that last their entire life."

"Elephant communication is elaborate involving many different verbalizations—trumpets, low deep sounds, and chirps—and many different gestures—taps, nudges, kicks, caresses of the trunk, flapping ears, head movements, leaning and posturing."

"Elephants can communicate in low deep rumbles that humans cannot hear. These sounds can travel up to five miles. "

"elephants can distinguish between different human languages and the sex and age of the speaker by just hearing human speech."

"Elephants hold a council to make decisions. "

"Elephants pay special attention to any elephant bones they find—not other species. They walk very carefully to the bones, systematically investigate and caress them with their trunk, and then try to cover them with dirt and leaves. "

"Elephants mourn loved ones by returning to the body and bones of the deceased for years to place leaves and sticks on the site."

"In one incident, a group of elephants walked on a long journey to mourn a lost human friend."

"elephants are extremely aware and compassionate—frequently consoling each other."

"elephants use primarily touch, smell and sound. Sight is not as significant. "

"Elephants have an internal sense of self, an advanced sense of family, social interactions and loyalty that extends for many decades. "

" Some elephants have learned to paint—holding the brush with their trunks and dipping the brush into a variety of paint colors in bowls. "

" the way that elephants are kept in most zoos is equivalent to a prison sentence."

"Of the 300 in accredited zoos in US, 80% have behavioral ticks and most are physically ill. Studies show they live much longer when not in captivity."

"It doesn’t seem possible to keep an elephant healthy in a zoo. Most spend 80% of their time cramped indoors. They can’t sleep because they don’t like concrete. "

"It is time to protect them and release them from prisons."

http://jonlieffmd.com/blog/elephant-culture

I like elephants. As a child i spent summer holidays around a bunch of them. They were very kind to me.

sidd

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #279 on: March 03, 2020, 09:11:47 AM »
The honey badger that is smarter than his owner:

nanning

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #280 on: March 03, 2020, 09:29:32 AM »
It is not funny to imprison an elephant.

It is not funny to imprison a badger.
"It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly" - Bertrand Russell
"It is preoccupation with what other people from your groups think of you, that prevents you from living freely and nobly" - Nanning
Why do you keep accumulating stuff?

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #281 on: March 03, 2020, 11:28:50 AM »
It is not funny to imprison an elephant.

It is not funny to imprison a badger.
Stoffle is in a wildlife rehabilitation center. He was injured as a cub and imprinted on his human caregivers in the center. He cannot be released to the wild.
He was injured by one of the center's lions, and tried to go back to them. The center is doing the best it can.

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #282 on: March 05, 2020, 05:23:30 PM »
I know ferrets are domesticated, not wildlife, but this is too adorable.

blumenkraft

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #283 on: March 23, 2020, 10:42:14 AM »
Starvation death looms as huge amount of snow piles up over icy crust

Quote
“It’s a serious crisis,” says Elisabeth Aspaker, County Governor of Norway’s northernmost region. She calls on everyone not to disturb the reindeer as “they need all their energy to find food.”

Link >> https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/ecology/2020/03/starvation-death-looms-reindeer-huge-amount-snow-pile-over-icy-crust

blumenkraft

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #284 on: March 31, 2020, 12:03:19 PM »
Climate refugees: Kittiwakes flee bird cliffs to resettle in urban spaces

Quote
For humans they are noisy and messy neighbours, but they come for a reason. Stronger storms and wilder weather by the coast give fewer surviving chicks in their natural bird cliff habitat.

Link >> https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/ecology/2020/03/climate-refugees-kittiwakes-flee-bird-cliffs-resettle-urban-space

Sigmetnow

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #285 on: April 07, 2020, 01:08:43 AM »
”Somewhere in China there's a bat getting high-fives from every other animal he sees.”


https://twitter.com/thetweetofgod/status/1243234026002870272
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Tor Bejnar

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #286 on: June 01, 2020, 06:47:22 PM »
For India’s Wildlife, the [Covid-19] Lockdown Isn’t the Good News Many Think It Is
Quote
... The skies are bluer, the birds are chirping, and deer, peacock and elephants are reclaiming the streets.

A different story, however, is unfolding for wildlife in India’s national parks.
...
... in reality, wildlife tourism – with its many additional eyes and income streams – keeps illegal hunting and excessive resource extraction at bay.
...
Not surprising, but sad.
Arctic ice is healthy for children and other living things because "we cannot negotiate with the melting point of ice"

blumenkraft

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #287 on: June 07, 2020, 07:11:36 PM »
A bacterium common to farm animals is threatening the Arctic’s muskoxen

Link >> https://www.arctictoday.com/a-bacterium-common-to-farm-animals-is-threatening-the-arctics-muskoxen

Freegrass

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #288 on: June 14, 2020, 04:33:48 AM »
Want to hear something magical?  Experimental director, composer and playwright Jim Wilson recorded the sound of crickets and then slowed down the recording, revealing something so amazing. The crickets sound like they are singing the most angelic chorus in perfect harmony. Though it sounds like human voices, everything you hear is the crickets themselves.  There are two tracks, one is played at regular speed and the other is the slowed version. The singing you hear are the crickets only. No instruments or voices were added. 


90% of the world is religious, but somehow "love thy neighbour" became "fuck thy neighbours", if they don't agree with your point of view.

WTF happened?

kassy

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #289 on: June 15, 2020, 03:28:29 PM »
That is so cool.  :)

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Freegrass

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #290 on: June 15, 2020, 04:32:39 PM »
That is so cool.  :)
I love it when the chant comes in after 55 seconds. It truly is "angelic". Amazing nature. :)
90% of the world is religious, but somehow "love thy neighbour" became "fuck thy neighbours", if they don't agree with your point of view.

WTF happened?

Sigmetnow

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #291 on: July 01, 2020, 08:06:04 PM »
Hundreds of elephants dead in mysterious mass die-off
Wed 1 Jul 2020
Quote
More than 350 elephants have died in northern Botswana in a mysterious mass die-off described by scientists as a “conservation disaster”.

A cluster of elephant deaths was first reported in the Okavango Delta in early May, with 169 individuals dead by the end of the month. By mid June, the number had more than doubled, with 70% of the deaths clustered around waterholes, according to local sources who wish to remain anonymous.

“This is a mass die-off on a level that hasn’t been seen in a very, very long time. Outside of drought, I don’t know of a die-off that has been this significant,” said Dr Niall McCann, the director of conservation at UK-based charity National Park Rescue.
...
Local witnesses say some elephants were seen walking around in circles, which is an indication of neurological impairment. “If you look at the carcasses, some of them have fallen straight on their face, indicating they died very quickly. Others are obviously dying more slowly, like the ones that are wandering around. So it’s very difficult to say what this toxin is,” said McCann.

Elephants of all ages and both sexes have been dying, local reports found. Several live elephants appeared weak and emaciated, suggesting more will die in the coming weeks. The true number of deaths is likely to be even higher because carcasses can be difficult to spot, say conservationists. ...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/01/more-than-350-elephants-dead-in-mysterious-mass-die-off-botswana-aoe
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

wdmn

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #292 on: July 02, 2020, 11:14:34 PM »
This could also go in Oceans, Agriculture and FOOD, but the impacts are extensive on non-food species too.

Warming temperatures threaten hundreds of fish species the world relies on, study finds

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/weather/fish-vulnerable-ocean-warming-climate-change-scn/index.html

"As the planet's oceans and rivers warm, increased heat could pose a grave threat to the fish populations the world depends on by the end of this century.

That's the alarming conclusion of a new study published Thursday in the journal Science.
Among the species the authors said are at risk are some of the most commercially important species on Earth -- including grocery store staples like Atlantic cod, Alaska pollock and sockeye salmon, and sport fishing favorites like swordfish, barracuda and brown trout.

In fact, 60% of the fish species examined could struggle to reproduce in their current habitat ranges by the year 2100 if the climate crisis continues unchecked, according to the researchers.

If governments recommit themselves to holding global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, however, the scientists found the number of species threatened could be far less -- just 10%.

...

The study was conducted by a team of researchers based in Germany, who analyzed temperature tolerance data for nearly 700 species of marine and freshwater fish from climate zones around the world."

Link to (paywalled) journal article:
Thermal bottlenecks in the life cycle define climate vulnerability of fish

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6499/65

Abstract: Species’ vulnerability to climate change depends on the most temperature-sensitive life stages, but for major animal groups such as fish, life cycle bottlenecks are often not clearly defined. We used observational, experimental, and phylogenetic data to assess stage-specific thermal tolerance metrics for 694 marine and freshwater fish species from all climate zones. Our analysis shows that spawning adults and embryos consistently have narrower tolerance ranges than larvae and nonreproductive adults and are most vulnerable to climate warming. The sequence of stage-specific thermal tolerance corresponds with the oxygen-limitation hypothesis, suggesting a mechanistic link between ontogenetic changes in cardiorespiratory (aerobic) capacity and tolerance to temperature extremes. A logarithmic inverse correlation between the temperature dependence of physiological rates (development and oxygen consumption) and thermal tolerance range is proposed to reflect a fundamental, energetic trade-off in thermal adaptation. Scenario-based climate projections considering the most critical life stages (spawners and embryos) clearly identify the temperature requirements for reproduction as a critical bottleneck in the life cycle of fish. By 2100, depending on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenario followed, the percentages of species potentially affected by water temperatures exceeding their tolerance limit for reproduction range from ~10% (SSP 1–1.9) to ~60% (SSP 5–8.5). Efforts to meet ambitious climate targets (SSP 1–1.9) could therefore benefit many fish species and people who depend on healthy fish stocks.

kassy

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #293 on: July 03, 2020, 01:38:48 PM »
Another good candidate would be The Holocene Extinction thread.  ;)
https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,2305.msg271508.html#new
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sidd

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #294 on: July 03, 2020, 11:35:14 PM »

kassy

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #295 on: July 15, 2020, 09:28:46 AM »
The Infinitesimal Life Aboard Sea Turtles


Migrating sea turtles carry entire worlds on their backs—ones teeming with life forms small enough to fit between grains of sand. Life on such a scale is easy to overlook, but these miniature communities hold clues that could help protect the living islands they call home.

It’s been known for years that sea turtles harbor metropolises composed, in part, of such visible organisms as barnacles, algae, and tiny crustaceans. But new research on loggerhead turtles in the Gulf of Mexico suggests the populations they ferry are far more diverse than scientists ever imagined.

Loggerheads transport a vast array of meiofauna, a group of animals that are bigger than bacteria but still too small to see with the unaided eye. Creatures on the meiofauna roster, including mud dragons and water bears, range from under a millimeter to just 20 micrometers in length. That means 100 of the smallest meiofauna could cuddle comfortably on a pinhead. A swimming reptile, by comparison, provides plenty of real estate.

Jeroen Ingels, a marine ecologist at Florida State University and lead author of the study, says his team found an average of 33,000 hitchhikers per turtle, with one loggerhead hosting nearly 150,000 passengers. “The numbers were a shock,” he says. “We expected to find thousands, but not hundreds of thousands.”

More surprising still was the scope of different species, particularly among nematodes—worm-like animals found in sediments the world over. Nearly 7,000 nematodes representing 111 genera were found on the turtles.

“We’d expect the shells to be dominated by certain species that are well-adapted to this kind of lifestyle,” says Ingels. So, to discover the same variety as might turn up in a bustling seafloor was extraordinary, he says. “It means there are so many microhabitats and niches on the back of this turtle. [They allow] all these species to be there in fully functioning communities.”

continues on:
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/the-infinitesimal-life-aboard-sea-turtles/
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Aporia_filia

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #296 on: July 23, 2020, 01:08:37 PM »
IMHO, is very important to change the way we look at animals, specially about their minds.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mila.12302


Abstract

In this article, we analyze and reject two versions of the content‐argument against animal beliefs, namely, the ontological argument from Davidson and the epistemological argument from Stich. One of the main defects of the strongest version of the argument is that it over‐intellectualizes belief ascriptions in humans and thus sets the comparative bar for belief ascriptions in animals too high. In the second part of the article, we develop a gradualist notion of belief which captures basic beliefs as well as Davidsonian linguistic beliefs, and we specify the conditions under which belief ascriptions to nonlinguistic animals are justified.

kassy

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #297 on: July 25, 2020, 07:04:22 PM »
Where are arctic mosquitoes most abundant in Greenland and why?
Examining the population dynamics during the larval life stage of these pests

...

As larvae, Arctic mosquitoes feed on microbial biofilms that are attached to detritus, dead organic matter in the ponds. Using a food web approach, in May and June 2018, Dartmouth researchers investigated how variation in the food quality (bottom up approach), the predaceous diving beetle (C. dolabratus) (top down approach) and other conditions such as temperature and nutrients, affected the larval population. The study sample was comprised of eight different ponds between Kangerlussuaq, Greenland and the margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

To measure biofilm productivity, the team used "biofilm samplers," which were left in the ponds for the microbial material to accumulate. Arctic mosquito larvae had access to some of the devices as a food source while others were intentionally blocked off, so that the biofilm could not be eaten. The researchers looked at how much biofilm the larvae consumed and conducted a lab analysis of what the microbial community was composed of.

The researchers had hypothesized that Arctic mosquitoes do not make it to the larva stage because they either do not have enough to eat or they are consumed by the diving beetle. They were surprised by the results. The ponds with the best food quality had the lowest population growth rates, as the mosquitoes tended to overcrowd these sites. These sites had the highest hatching mosquitoes, resulting in intense competition for food and poor survival. In contrast, ponds with lower food quality had higher population growth rates. "Arctic mosquito populations appear to be driven by what they are eating rather than who is eating them," explained first author, Melissa H. DeSiervo, a graduate student in the Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society program at Dartmouth.

...

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/dc-waa072320.php
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Sebastian Jones

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #298 on: July 26, 2020, 06:01:37 AM »
IMHO, is very important to change the way we look at animals, specially about their minds.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mila.12302

....

Cybernetics explores this question as well. In my opinion, very few of the scientists have lived and worked with animals in a natural (as opposed to lab or other controlled) environment. It is obvious to those who regularly work with animals that there is no sharp difference between how human minds and other minds work. Even second order thinking (thinking about thinking) which is horribly difficult to rule in or out in animals occurs on a spectrum, as we regularly observe in people.

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Wildlife
« Reply #299 on: July 26, 2020, 11:49:58 AM »
There are exceptions SB. The three lady scientists who worked with great apes, or Anne Rasa with dwarf mongooses. Treasure these jewels.