Four of the world’s only known Northern white rhinos have arrived in Kenya to begin new lives at Ol Pejeta Conservancy - the last hope to save this critically endangered rhino subspecies.
Good news - and a sigh of relief! Sudan, Suni, Najin and Fatu have landed safely in Kenya after being flown from ZOO Dvůr Králové to their new home. The return of the rhinos to Africa is considered the last chance at preserving the genetic material of the Northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), a rhino subspecies poached to extinction in the wild.

Rhino experts believe that the change to the rhinos’ natural environment at Ol Pejeta Conservancy will induce hormonal changes to make the females Najin and Fatu receptive to breeding. Producing hybrid calves with the the more numerous Southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum) is acknowledged as one of the best chances at saving NWR genes. Ongoing AI efforts are also in reportedly in progress.

A new report published in the journal Global Change Biology shows that 45 species of the Galapagos Islands have become extinct or are facing extinction largely due to human activities.
The main causes are the 1982 El Nino and overfishing. The results show the great vulnerability of this diverse area to significant climate change and human activities.

The El Nino event of 1982 destroyed many coral reefs in the Galapagos, some of which had been living for 400 years. Following that event, overfishing in the area (of large predatory fish and lobsters) caused the sea urchin population to explode and overgraze the coral. This further harmed and killed the coral reefs that survived El Nino.

An international team of scientists has determined that the Atlantic Ocean rose faster in the 20th century than at any time in the last 4,000 years, but not uniformly along the coast.
One of the researchers, assistant professor Benjamin Horton in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, says: “There is universal agreement that sea level will rise as a result of global warming but by how much, when and where it will have the most effect is unclear.” He and other researchers have now started to tackle this issue.

Interestingly, the rate of sea level rise in recent years varies according to how far north or south you are on the coast.The researchers’ findings show a sea level rise 2 millimeters higher than the background rate of the last 4,000 years. They also show that it was greater the further south you went, from Maine to South Carolina, on the Atlantic coast of the United States. This is, apparently, the first “demonstrated evidence of this phenomenon from observational data alone.”

New Zealand Custom officials at the Christchurch International Airport got quite the surprise Sunday evening.  A 58-year-old man from Germany was attempting to board a flight when he was searched by Customs officials. 

When searched, officials discovered a small package concealed in Hans Kurt Kubus underwear.  The package contained eight separate hand-sewn compartments that held 24 geckos from five different species and 20 live skinks from two species. One single gecko, rolled up in a sock, was also found in the man’s luggage. Most of the adult females that were confiscated are pregnant and are expected to give birth to multiple offspring within the next few weeks.

Thousands of feral camels, in search of water, are reportedly wreaking havoc on the small Australian town of Docker River.  The dromedaries are destroying property and infrastructure and have reportedly overtaken the airstrip.   Some of the thirsty camels have been killed in stampedes at watering holes, contaminating the town’s water supply.  Authorities call the situation critical. 

Camels were brought to Australia in the 1880s and used for transportation and exploration purposes.  Over the years, the camel population exploded.   With no natural predators, it is estimated nearly 1 million feral camels now roam the deserts.    Today, they are considered a pest and cause an estimated $14 million in damage each year.

Shrinking sea ice may be to blame for recent polar bear cannibalism incidents in Canada. Eight cases of adult polar bears eating bear cubs and other bears near Churchill, Manitoba, have been reported. Four of the cases were reported to Environment Canada and four to Manitoba Conservation.

While adult male polar bears, Ursus maritimus, have been known to kill and cannibalize cubs, most cases occur in the spring when the male can impregnate the female.   Due to the timing of the incidents, some believe hunger may be the reason for this year’s incidents.

While changes in Earth ecosystems from predicted warming have been reported in nearly all biomes (biological communities), recent climate change seems to be impacting the Arctic region the most.

As Arctic temperatures rise, precipitation rates, and snow/ice cover volumes, begin to change as well. In some cases, this has lead to an increase in vegetation (shrubs and grasses), which can have the beneficial effect of reducing atmospheric CO2, but which can also cause a disruption in the trace gas exchange (such as with methane, CH4) between earth and atmosphere. Also, many of these climate change impacts produce imbalances within ecosystems (the web of interactions between species, and between species and their environments) and these can and do jeopardize long-term species survival; some species (such as reindeer) gain advantage (at least in the short term) from these alterations, while others (like the ringed seal) are threatened by them.

Fishing and refuse disposal are to be banned in the 1st high seas Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Southern Ocean, an area of the ocean that contains more species than the Galapagos Islands.
This will allow scientists to monitor the effects of climate change in this region. This is only the first of possibly twelve such areas.

This new MPA is in the Antarctic Peninsula Region south of the South Orkney Islands and was approved by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) at its recent meeting. It is slightly larger than Portugal, about 94,000 square km, and is the result of 4 years of development work. The ban starts in May 2010.

A snake in Tanzania was enjoying a leisurely bite to eat, when a scientist walked nearby.  The startled twig snake spit out the undigested meal and sped off, leaving the dead lizard at the feet of Dr. Andrew R. Marshall, a scientist from the University of York’s Environment Department. 

Fearing the creature may be venomous, Marshall, who was in the forest surveying monkeys at the time, first photographed the chameleon. The specimen was then collected the next day. The chameleon, identified as a previously unknown species, was named Magombera chameleon, Kinyongia magomberae.   The little lizard measured about 6 inches in length, had blue dots on its limbs and sported a short and scaly horn-like structure on its snout.

Oceans regulate our climate. They play a key role in keeping the world’s “homeostasis” in tact. However, their ability to absorb carbon & keep the climate in balance is dwindling, a new report shows.
In a year-by-year study from 1765 to 2008, researchers found that the oceans are struggling to meet increasing emissions demands. They cannot take in as much carbon as they used to.

While many people enjoy eating a nice lobster or crab dinner, the methods often used to kill the crustaceans are sometimes seen as barbaric and cruel.   It can take live lobsters up to three minutes to die when plunged into a pot of boiling hot water.   It takes even longer for the crab – up to five minutes when boiled alive.

British entrepreneur Simon Buckhaven of Studham Technologies has invented a more humane way to kill crustaceans.  The new CrustaStun delivers a lethal electric shock which stuns and electrocutes the shellfish to death in seconds.

More data show that ‘Yes, climate change is happening, ice is melting at alarming rates, and the time for action is now.’
Independent research using state-of-the-art modeling and satellite observations shows that melting of the Greenland ice sheet is speeding up.

Four months ago, new research showed that Arctic sea ice was at its lowest point in about 800 years, another study a couple months ago showed suprisingly fast melting in Greenland and Antarctica. Now, research from other scientists in Bristol (UK) published in Science confirms that ice sheets in Greenland are melting at an unprecedented rate.