Author: Olivia Judson
Birds do it. Bees do it. Beetles, bats and light summer breezes do it. I refer, of course, to that raunchiest of sex acts: the pollination of flowers.
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© Arkive
Most wanted – ARKive needs you!
ARKive is on the hunt for the planet’’s most wanted. We have compiled a hit list of 17,000 plants and animals that are clinging precariously to their own particular branch in the tree of life. These species may be concealed in the canopy of a dwindling rainforest, marooned on a tiny tropical island, hidden in a coral reef *or* confined to a remote mountain peak, but they all have two things in common. Firstly, they are desperately in need of protection. Secondly, they are camera shy.
Author: Jody Bourton
The chameleon’’s lightning fast tongue is literally one of nature’’s most striking adaptations. However, the elastic mechanism that powers the tongue has only relatively recently been fully explained. Now new research has revealed that the chameleon’’s spring-loaded tongue can also beat the cold and work at low temperatures. This makes the cold-blooded lizard an effective hunter even in cooler temperatures, say scientists.
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Author: Will Knocker of the Silole Sanctuary
Black rhinos in the Nairobi National Park, right on the dge of Nairobi. Photo by Dave McKelvie
February 2010. After a two year drought, The Nairobi National Park finally received some decent rain in December and early January and the effects have been dramatic. Before the rains came, every last blade of grass had been grazed to dust by the 6000 *or* so resident herbivores &, a similar number of illegal cattle. However the surviving cattle have now moved away to grazing lands in Maasailand.
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How can accidental captures of loggerhead turtles be reduced?
February 2010. Spanish scientists have studied how loggerhead turtle are caught in fishing gear, such as longline hooks, mass beachings and the effects of climate change on these rare turtles. In order to reduce captures of loggerheads without causing economic losses for fishermen, the scientists are proposing that fishing in the summer should only be carried out by night and in areas more than 35 nautical miles from land.
Farewell Shadow
Author: Cindy
It was with great sorrow that Cheetah Outreach said goodbye to its first founding cheetah ambassador, Shadow, on the 4th March. Shadow, at 14 years old, was an integral part of the Cheetah Outreach family, being an important partner in the Cheetah Outreach education outreach programme.
Huge increase in elephant poaching sparked by demand from Asia
March 2010. Thai officials have seized two tons of ivory at Bangkok Airport. The packing cases containing the ivory, said to have arrived on an Emirates flight from Nairobi via Dubai, were labelled as mobile phone parts and appear to have been destined for Laos. This is thought to be Thailand’’s largest seizure of ivory. Thai officials valued the haul as being worth some $3.6 million. This seizure provides further confirmation, not that any was needed, that Bangkok has become a major hub for the illegal ivory trade.
Hammerhead shark mystery solved
Author: Cindy
© Suneko
Author: Jody Bourton
Why do hammerhead sharks have such a famously strange-shaped head?
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Author: Samuel Turvey
Once species disappear from the face of the Earth, they are quickly forgotten, says Samuel Turvey. In this week’’s Green Room, he warns that extinctions must be treated as a warning that human activities, such as overhunting and agriculture, are making the planet a poorer place to live.
The 2010 World Wetlands Day celebrations in Tanzania focussed on a meeting to support the conservation of Lesser Flamingo, Phoenicopterus minor, (Near Threatened) through the completion of a National Single Species Action Plan.
“This is an important step in ensuring the protection of this important species not only for Tanzania but also for the world”, said Lota Melamari – CEO of Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST, BirdLife Partner). “This action plan provides Tanzania with an opportunity to ensure that threats facing Lesser Flamingo are thoroughly addressed”, he added.
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