Global News Post: Wildlife

U.S. Praises Putin’s Participation in Crane Saving Project

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">WASHINGTON (RIA Novosti) --- The U.S. State Department has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s participation in a project to save white cranes, which are on the verge of extinction.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“The Russian Government and President Putin himself are very committed to wildlife conservation. I don’t know if all of you know this, but Siberian cranes are a critically endangered species,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said on Thursday. “And so President Putin has personal involvement in the issue.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On his way to the APEC summit in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, Putin stopped by in the city of Salekhard. From there, he flew on board a helicopter to the Kushevat ornithological station/sanctuary, where he took part on Wednesday in a project to save a rare bird species, flying in an ultralight with a flock of migrating Siberian white cranes who took him for their leader.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ventrell also told journalists: “We, as the United States, remain dedicated to conservation, to ending illicit traffic in endangered species, and we look forward to continued cooperation with Russia to conserve a number of endangered species, including tigers, leopards, and polar bears.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He added that Putin’s “personal involvement focuses much needed international attention on the plight of these iconic migratory birds.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Flight of Hope project that Putin took part in aims to save the Red List crane species, which is under the threat of extinction.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Putin steered a specially outfitted motorized hang glider, flying with the birds to show them the way to warmer places. He made three flights: one test flight to get hands-on experience with the machine and two more together with the cranes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Under the project, young cranes are shown the way to fly from the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District via West Siberia and Kazakhstan to southern Uzbekistan, where "alternative" wintering grounds - the world’s first - are being created.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

U.S. Praises Putin’s Participation in Crane Saving Project

WASHINGTON (RIA Novosti) --- The U.S. State Department has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s participation in a project to save wh...

INDIA: Mobile Towers Affect Wildlife

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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NEW DELHI, India (NNN-BERNAMA) -- The Environment Ministry feels radiation emitted by mobile towers has ill effects on wildlife, especially birds and bees, and has asked the Department of Telcommunication not to permit such structures within one-km radius of each other, reports Press Trust of India (PTI). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In an advisory, the Ministry has said that there is an "urgent need" to refine the Indian standard on safe limits of exposure to electro-magnetic radiations (EMR). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Till it is reformed, "a precautionary approach shall be preferred to minimise the exposure levels and adopt stricter norms possible, without compromising on optimum performance of the networks," it said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It noted that the radiations could be having varying negative impact on wildlife, particularly birds and bees. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Accordingly, it asked the DoT to ensure that new mobile towers are not constructed within one-km radius of the existing ones "so as not to obstruct flight path of birds, and also not to increase the combined radiations from all towers" in the area. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"To prevent overlapping of high radiation fields, new towers should not be permitted within a radius of one kilometre of the existing towers. Sharing of passive infrastructure if made mandatory for Telecom Service Providers can minimise need of having additional towers," it said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Ministry asked the DoT that location and frequencies of cellphone towers and other towers emitting EMR, should be made available in public domain. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"This can be at city/district/village level. Location- wise GIS mapping of all cellphone towers should be maintained which would, inter alia, help in monitoring the population of birds and bees in and around the mobile towers and also in and/or around wildlife protection areas," the advisory said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The advisory has been issued on the basis of an expert committee study on the possible impacts of communication towers on wildlife and bees. The panel was constituted by the Environment Ministry in 2010. -- NNN-BERNAMA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
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INDIA: Mobile Towers Affect Wildlife

NEW DELHI, India (NNN-BERNAMA) -- The Environment Ministry feels radiation emitted by mobile towers has ill effects on wildlife, especiall...

Rare Rafflesia Flowers Bloom

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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4gQCAAPRjLSPKYmhWGc7Ub2vTfpiVwS53xb-SSBtN0dFBnkcsil4G1KBym4kmR1trn4aSob90OS7K8JZadlZ_HEe2Q4yXsxVhX9jGvdVmg18K7Iiiv7XIQ7TFZBk9YdwuRCKzFO5lKc/s1600/2012072514325444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4gQCAAPRjLSPKYmhWGc7Ub2vTfpiVwS53xb-SSBtN0dFBnkcsil4G1KBym4kmR1trn4aSob90OS7K8JZadlZ_HEe2Q4yXsxVhX9jGvdVmg18K7Iiiv7XIQ7TFZBk9YdwuRCKzFO5lKc/s1600/2012072514325444.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; direction: ltr; line-height: 12.75pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; direction: ltr; line-height: 12.75pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; direction: ltr; line-height: 12.75pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The blossoming of two Rafflesia flowers at the same time was a rare occurrence and the two flowers bloomed just 2 metres away from each other in Taba Penanjung natural sanctuary in Central Bengkulu Regency, Indonesia on 24 July 2012. Visitors donated funds to buy a tent for the flower so that it can be preserved for at least 24 hours. However no visitor can touch the flowers as it is extremly delicate, said Juanda, the keeper of the Rafflesia flowers. Photo courtesy antara---NNN<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
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Rare Rafflesia Flowers Bloom

The blossoming of two Rafflesia flowers at the same time was a rare occurrence and the two flowers bloomed just 2 metres away from each o...

Captured Crocodile World’s Largest

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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUBc8WjKKhsQp4wQ4xBOZeGKXmMeK-vH5hr7KRN67ZO3eWsjUz5qRijOZY0B2TtaBj-1EpCDKGC4D_VXfTuSTTTMgTKxnNPkDduFxQKnaUHtYgoqvIyzvBvSTrlbrHYM0N5MFp143FLw/s1600/2012070214183988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUBc8WjKKhsQp4wQ4xBOZeGKXmMeK-vH5hr7KRN67ZO3eWsjUz5qRijOZY0B2TtaBj-1EpCDKGC4D_VXfTuSTTTMgTKxnNPkDduFxQKnaUHtYgoqvIyzvBvSTrlbrHYM0N5MFp143FLw/s1600/2012070214183988.jpg" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 22.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 22.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 22.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 22.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">NNN--- Resident looking at the largest crocodile captured along a creek in Bunawan town in Agusan del Sur province, southern Philippines on 1 July 2012. Guinness World Records has declared that the huge crocodile blamed for deadly attacks in the southern Philippines township is the largest in captivity in the world. The giant reptile has brought pride, fear, tourism revenues and attention to the remote town where it was captured. The saltwater crocodile named Lolong, measures 20.24 feet (6.17 meters) and weighs more than a ton, Guinness World Records spokeswoman Anne-Lise Rouse said. The reptile took the top spot from an Australian crocodile which measured more than 17 feet (5 meters) and weighed nearly a ton. Bunawan Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said the news sparked celebrations in his farming town of 37,000 but also fostered concerns that more giant crocodiles might be lurking in a nearby marshland and creek where villagers fish. Photo courtesy thejakartapost---NNN<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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Captured Crocodile World’s Largest

NNN--- Resident looking at the largest crocodile captured along a creek in Bunawan town in Agusan del Sur province, southern Philippines...

India: Supreme Court Halts Plans to Import African Cheetahs

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">By Anjana Pasricha from New Delhi<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">India’s Supreme Court has suspended an ambitious project to import cheetahs from Africa to an Indian wildlife sanctuary and revive a species which became extinct in the South Asian country nearly a quarter of a century ago. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">A popular target with hunters, the Asiatic cheetah disappeared from the forests of India in the 1950s.The last of the three cheetahs in the country are said to have been hunted down by a former king in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">The government drew up a plan to revive the species by shipping African cheetahs from Namibia and introducing them to a wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. Fifteen cheetahs were to be brought in during the first phase of the project.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">But the Supreme Court this week put the $56 million plan on hold, after wildlife experts called it “totally misconceived.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Court-appointed adviser P.S. Narasimha said the African cheetah is not native to India and completely different from its Asian counterpart. He said  introducing the African cheetah here goes against guidelines set by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Conservationists also pointed out that the cost of the plan exceeded that of India’s most high-profile wildlife conservation project - saving the tiger.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India is among those who raised concerns with the government.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">“Since we have so many problems protecting and securing a future for our other big cats and endangered species, we don’t need another very expensive headache,” said Wright. "It is not worth going through this whole thing when we can't even look after what we have in the wild.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">The African cheetahs were to be introduced to a sanctuary also earmarked as a new home for the Asiatic Lion. These lions were to be brought from another sanctuary in the western Indian state of Gujarat, where the last remaining population of this species lives. But state authorities have apparently been reluctant to send the animals.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Wright said that should be the priority for India. “It is much more important to secure a second stronghold for our lions, which already exist in the wild in India, and to sacrifice that for another species is very questionable,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Until the 20th century, the Asiatic cheetah was quite common and roamed from Iran to Afghanistan and India. But now there are believed to be fewer than 100 left in Iran. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

India: Supreme Court Halts Plans to Import African Cheetahs

By Anjana Pasricha from New Delhi India’s Supreme Court has suspended an ambitious project to import cheetahs from Africa to an Indian wi...

Easter Born Ducklings in Madagascar

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</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhYedGT4x7O-tWB8efCdihN-rj0ZW3fYZtb5nva7jK8vU77CvFmXEIEl_oM5QcX2PGDIqRMcjam3ka-Rv91SPUWgzxbk2iKNr94rvrlvy0HrQhgqbePz0NrR_MkdZK0PpDEkq_fZwtGM/s1600/2012040616485222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhYedGT4x7O-tWB8efCdihN-rj0ZW3fYZtb5nva7jK8vU77CvFmXEIEl_oM5QcX2PGDIqRMcjam3ka-Rv91SPUWgzxbk2iKNr94rvrlvy0HrQhgqbePz0NrR_MkdZK0PpDEkq_fZwtGM/s320/2012040616485222.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">NNN--- Africa signal hope for world’s rarest bird. The Madagascar pochard – arguably the world’s rarest bird – has bred successfully in captivity building hope that it can be saved from extinction. The pochard was believed to be extinct until its rediscovery in 2006 on a single small lake, Lake Matsaborimena (or Red Lake), in northern Madagascar. Two years ago an emergency expedition was held to take the eggs into captivity. It is the ducks from those eggs that have now bred for the first time. --- courtesy of Holy Meadows<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Easter Born Ducklings in Madagascar

NNN--- Africa signal hope for world’s rarest bird. The Madagascar pochard – arguably the world’s rarest bird – has bred successfully in ca...

New Snake Species Disocvered in Tanzania

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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">NNN--- This stunning black-and-yellow viper with horn-like scales above its eyes, was discovered from a remote area of Tanzania two years ago and was introduced recently as the world's newest known snake species in an issue of Zootaxa. The reptile has been named after the 7-year old daughter of Tim Davenport, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tanzania</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Matilda’s Horned Viper is one of the three new vipers to have been discovered across <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place> the last three decades, thus making the find rare and important. Fearing poaching, the WCS is keeping the exact location of the new species a secret.Photo courtesy zmescience.com--- NNN<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

New Snake Species Disocvered in Tanzania

NNN--- This stunning black-and-yellow viper with horn-like scales above its eyes, was discovered from a remote area of Tanzania two years ...