Squirrel stalls car with 6 lbs of peanuts; Why not to try “suicide by bear”

Ambitious English squirrel used Kia as stash. Killer, buying the grizzly attack myth, tried to commit suicide by bear by ODing in Yellowstone. Yellowstone bison saved by public. More animal news

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Was the Antarctic tour boat rescue slowed by running out of pre-paid sat phone minutes?

Nat Geo crew to the rescue

A nearby boat run by National Geographic came to the rescue, but was the situation made worse because the cruise ship ran out of pre-paid satellite phone minutes?

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Record 17% of Alaska Crows Deformed; Worse on Kenai

A stunning 17% of crows studied in Alaska have deformed beaks, a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey says. No one has ever recorded so many crows with deformed beaks before; it’s reached Chernobyl-like levels on the Kenai Penninsula, where 36% of beaks are misshapen.

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Manatees Not Showing Oil, But Dying a Lot

Manatee, by Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

So far no manatee has turned up oiled after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill earlier this year. But 656 of the goofy, endangered marine mammals have turned up dead, according to the latest statistics from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. That’s a devastating 13% of the population. The biggest problem was a cold spell last winter, but we may never know if or what role the oil had.

Cathy Beck, who manages the Manatee Individual Photo-identification System (MIPS),  says the oil spill was “extremely worrisome,” but so far no oiled manatees in the area where the oil spread. Their next concern is that the remaining oil will seep into the seagrass manatees eat. They’ll be on the lookout for any oil or dispersant residue this winter when they capture 10 or so (as they do each year) and give them a physical, including testing blood and tissue samples.

Defenders of Wildlife, Save the Manatees and other wildlife groups sued BP saying they violated the Endangered Species Act by harming the 27 threatened or  endangered species that live in the gulf.

Save the Manatees says that the big problem was the cold weather at the beginning of the year, which also lead to spectacular photos and record manatees counts (5,076) as the manatees crowded around natural springs and power plants to stay warm. “In total, more than 300 manatees are believed to have died from this lingering event, shattering the previous

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How is the Money BP Pledged to Help Turtles Being Spent?

BP is funding recovery of the endangered sea turtles “I think the consensus in the turtle community is that there’s no harm keeping healthy animals safe. That was the emphasis of our request for funding. I think that was by far the most important thing in our mind,” says George.

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AL Gulf Water Safe Enough for Baby Turtles

Loggerhead Hatchling

Loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings are swimming off into Alabama’s gulf coast again. After the BP oil spill, they were moved to FL. Now the water’s safe enough.

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Does Whitebark Pine Decline = Increased Grizzly Attacks?

grizzly

The grizzly bear committee report mainly just takes on a strawman claim that whitebark pine decline=grizzly decline. That’s not what the Times said. The agency’s report really doesn’t refute the real claim, whitebark pine decline=grizzly conflict increase. It just says it’s not the biggest factor.

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NY Considers Capturing Bats to Save Them

little brown bat

“[New York state conservation officials] just held a summit and decided to pluck them out of the wild, but where to put them?” says Kasimoff, one of only a handful of people across the state that can care for bats, which require a special license because they can carry rabies. Kasimoff currently is minding 30 bats at the Bat World Big Apple, a shelter she runs out of her home on Long Island as part of Bat World International. New York state in particular wants to save the little brown bats–if any are left.

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BP To Have Biologist On Board (Looking for Sea Turtles) When They Resume Oil Burns This Week

BP oil  burns

When BP restarts burning off spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico (possibly as early as Friday), they’ll have to have a trained biologist on board to search for sea turtles entrapped in the muck, thanks to a deal struck with wildlife groups July 2.

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Turtle Volunteers’ Vast Map of Gulf Nests Aids in Emergency Transplant Out of BP Oil

trench

A network of turtle volunteer groups have the data to make decent map of every turtle nest in the gulf, including species and probable hatching time.

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