Category: Uncategorized


The jaguars fishing in the sea to survive

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December 22, 2019

The Extinction Chronicles

 A jaguar on the Maracá-Jipioca Ecological Station island reserve, shortly after being fitted with a GPS collar by WWF conservationists. Photograph: André Dib/WWF Brazil

The big cats’ resourceful new behaviour was recorded by a WWF study on a remote island off the coast of Brazil

by Phoebe Weston

A thriving population of jaguars living on a small, unspoilt island off the coast of the Brazilian Amazon has learned to catch fish in the sea to survive, conservationists have found.

The Maracá-Jipioca Ecological Station island reserve, three miles off the northern state of Amapá, acts as a nursery for jaguars, according to WWF researchers who have collared three cats and set up 70 camera traps on the remote jungle island.

Although jaguars have previously been spotted catching fish in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands, this is believed to be the first evidence the elusive creatures…

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New hope: Yellow-legged frog listed as endangered by California commission

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The Extinction Chronicles

Associated Press
This Aug. 10, 2013 file photo shows a rare mountain yellow-legged frog in an alpine lake in Kings Canyon National Park, in California's Sierra Nevada.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – There’s new hope for an endangered California frog that has vanished from half of its habitat.

The state Fish and Game Commission on Wednesday approved protections for five of six populations of the foothill yellow-legged frog.

The Center for Biological Diversity had sought protection for the stream-dwelling amphibians under California’s Endangered Species Act.

The commission voted to list the frogs as endangered in the Southern Sierra, central and southern coasts. Populations in the Northern Sierra and the Feather River will be listed as threatened.

The commission determined that frogs on the state’s northern coast “do not currently warrant protection,” the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement.

This image provided by the Center for Biological Diversity shows a yellow-legged frog in February 2000.

The tiny, pebbly-skinned frogs were once found from Los Angeles County to the Oregon border but their populations have shrunk thanks to threats from human encroachment, dams, climate change, pollution and activities ranging from…

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New nature reserve for Bonaire island bats

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December 19, 2019

Dear Kitty. Some blog

This 5 September 2019 video says about itself:

Safeguarding Nature Projects – Bonaire – Caves & Karst Nature Reserve

Julianka Clarenda is visiting Fernando Simal of WILDCONSCIENCE and The Caribbean Speleological Society (CARIBSS) to see the Caves & Karst Nature Reserve.

This project of the Public Entity Bonaire in cooperation with WILDCONSCIENCE and The Caribbean Speleological Society (CARIBSS) is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV).

Movie commissioned by DCNA, on behalf of Ministry of LNV, produced by B-onair.

Local authorities of Bonaire island in the Caribbean reported, 17 December 2019 (translated):

Caves & Karst Reserve on Bonaire. The 31-hectare park that comprises a special cave system with a colony of bats is an initiative of the local organization Wild Conscience and the Caribbean Speleological Society. …

Bonaire has around 200 caves, some of which are delivery rooms for the 7 bat species…

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Reed Flute Cave (Ludi Yan), Guilin, Guangxi, China

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December 14, 2019

Where in the world is Riccardo?

The setting for Reed Flute Cave (Ludi Yan) along Peach Blossom River, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) northwest of downtown Guilin, Guangxi, China The setting for Reed Flute Cave (Ludi Yan) along Peach Blossom River, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) northwest of downtown Guilin, Guangxi, China

From the ship, a we joined a small group of fellow Residents for a four-day overland trip to the south-central province of Guangxi (located on the border of Vietnam), more properly called the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.  We had an early morning flight from Shanghai to Guilin, where we were met by a local guide who escorted us to a nice Chinese lunch downtown in the city of 4.75 million.  After lunch we were driven northwest of downtown Guilin about 5 kilometers (3 miles) to the Reed Flute Cave complex (Ludi Yan) where we had an extensive walking tour through the cave, estimated to be around 700,000 years old, having been forming for an estimated 180 million year.  The cave is also known as “the Palace of…

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Ontario cancels nearly-built $200M wind farm over threat to bat populations

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December 12, 2019

The Extinction Chronicles

KELLY EGAN
Updated: December 10, 2019
Ontario’s Environment Minister has cancelled a $200-million wind farm south of Ottawa — one almost fully constructed — because the giant turbines pose a threat to nearby bat populations. WAYNE CUDDINGTON / POSTMEDIA
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ontario-cancels-nearly-built-200m-wind-farm-over-threat-to-bat-populations?fbclid=IwAR2mF4O2fQ3Q5un8Pxm_sgrVIifRJx3gGaqEIy1mU6wOIPwdce7x9cIue7o

Ontario’s Environment Minister has cancelled a $200-million wind farm south of Ottawa — one almost fully constructed — because the giant turbines pose a threat to nearby bat populations.

In a Dec. 4 letter, Minister Jeff Yurek said he’s revoking the approval given to the Nation Rise Wind Farm, which has already erected a number of the 29 planned turbines in a rural area near the villages of Crysler and Finch in the Township of North Stormont.

The surprising decision comes about seven months after construction began on the 100-megawatt project, proposed by EDP Renewables, a subsidiary of a multinational with North American headquarters in Texas.

Yurek wrote to Margaret Benke, an…

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Poached green turtles set free again

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Dear Kitty. Some blog

This 11 December 2019 video says about itself:

Indonesia police released more than 20 adult green sea turtles on December 10, 2019, after the animals were reportedly rescued from poachers. The endangered turtles, which are a protected species in Indonesia, were found under the floorboards of a ship during a routine patrol of waters near the country.

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November Daylight Highlights

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Hethersett Birdlife

With the days counting down fast to the longest night, actually getting some daylight and the daytime wildlife highlights is challenging for those like me with busy jobs. But getting out is worth its weight in gold to revive any flagging wellbeing. Last weekend saw an early rise to help set out the mist nets on Cedar Grange on the west of the village. This area is now perfect as a place to take in the sights and sounds of farmland birds worthy of yesteryear. Aside from an early singing robin there wasn’t much moving before the nets went up.

DSC_0060 (2) Robin keen to get the early worm.

There was slight frost as the sun broke over the winter seed crop and lit up the Autumn oak trees and hedgerows and a lingering mist across the top of the millet stalks. slowly the small flocks of early linnets began to appear …

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Oldest storytelling art discovery in Indonesia

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Dear Kitty. Some blog

This part of a newly described ancient hunting scene includes a miniature buffalo, or anoa (right), facing five faint human-animal figures wielding spears or ropes, a study finds. M. Aubert et al/Nature 2019, R. SardiBy Bruce Bower, 11 December 2019:

A nearly 44,000-year-old hunting scene is the oldest known storytelling art

The panel was found in an island cave in Indonesia

An Indonesian cave painting that shows wild animals encountering otherworldly hunters represents the oldest known example of art depicting lifelike figures as well as of visual storytelling, researchers say.

Discovered in December 2017 on the island of Sulawesi, this roughly 4.5-meter-wide hunting scene was painted at least 43,900 years ago, says a team led by archaeologists Maxim Aubert and Adam Brumm, both of Griffith University in Gold Coast, Australia. Part-human, part-animal hunters depicted in the mural indicate that people at the time believed in supernatural beings, the scientists report December 11 in Nature.

“We assume these ancient artists were Homo sapiens and that spirituality and religious thinking were part of early human culture in Indonesia,” Brumm says.

Two pigs and four…

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Helping Botswana hippos with drones

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December 11, 2019

Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video is called Elephant, Giraffe, Hippo, Zebra, Wild Dog, Africa (part 3). Okavango Nature.

From the University of New South Wales in Australia:

Spying on hippos with drones to help conservation efforts

December 10, 2019

Summary: A new study has shown that using a drone to film hippos in Africa is an effective, affordable tool for conservationists to monitor the threatened species’ population from a safe distance, particularly in remote and aquatic areas.

Drones with cameras might be a nuisance to privacy in the suburbs, but in Southern Africa they are helping a UNSW Sydney research team to save a threatened species: the humble hippo.

Wild numbers of the vulnerable Hippopotamus amphibius are declining because of habitat loss and hunting for meat and ivory, so monitoring their population is crucial for conservation management.

“Even though hippos are a charismatic megafauna, they are surprisingly understudied, because…

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Photos of Tamil Temples, Where Gods Still Live!

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December 10, 2019

India Travel Blog - Indian Destination Experts

Temples of Tamilnadu Described With Images

Temples of Tamilnadu (Tamil Nadu is a South Indian state) are standing tall spanning centuries. They belong to an era where Gods ruled upon the earth. When you visit these temples, no one can prevent you from feeling the presence of Gods even today.

Hindu religion that had its origin 4000 years back is still the largest followed one in India. Though Hindu temples are spread throughout India, their dominance is South India especially Tamilnadu is undisputed. The state is a place to some of the most wonderful architectures that the world has ever seen and all such wonders can be witnessed on your temple tour of Tamil Nadu.

Photo of Thanjavur Temple, a 10 century old architectural marvel

Brihadishvara, Temple, Thanjavur

Thanjavur, a town with rich history is a house to a special architecture marvel of 10th Century AD. Temple named ‘Periya Kovil’ dedicated to…

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