For the first time, scientists have successfully used satellite cameras coupled with deep learning to count animals in complex geographical landscapes, taking conservationists an important step forward in monitoring populations of endangered species.
Tag: Wildlife
CLIMATE CONFLICT: Rare Footage Captured of Jaguar Killing Ocelot at Waterhole
In what may be a sign of climate-change-induced conflict, researchers have captured rare photographic evidence of a jaguar killing another predatory wild cat at an isolated waterhole in Guatemala.
Lurking, invasive hammerhead worm unearthed by digital platform
A new kind of invasive species — a hammerhead worm that can grow to a foot, eats earthworms and produces tetrodotoxin — has been sighted over 100 times by citizen scientists in Georgia using the social networking service iNaturalist. David…
Big cats and small dogs: solving the mystery of canine distemper in wild tigers
Canine distemper virus (CDV) causes a serious disease in domestic dogs, and also infects other carnivores, including threatened species like the Amur (Siberian) tiger, which numbers fewer than 550 individuals in the Russian Far East and neighbouring China. A new Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine study has revealed that vaccination of endangered Amur tigers is the only practical strategy to protect them from a dangerous disease in their natural habitat in the Russian Far East.
The secret social lives of giant poisonous rats
A new study confirmed that the rabbit-sized rodent sequesters poison from the bark of Acokanthera schimperi, known as the poison arrow tree, into specialized fur for defense. The researchers also discovered an unexpected social life—the rats appear to be monogamous and may even form small family units with their offspring.
Rutgers Bat Researcher Can Discuss Iconic Halloween Animals
New Brunswick, N.J. (Oct. 20, 2020) – Evan Drake, a bat researcher and doctoral student at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, is available for interviews on iconic Halloween animals and misunderstood wildlife, as well as bats and COVID-19. Halloween is known for…
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss How to Avoid Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions
New Brunswick, N.J. (Oct. 7, 2020) – With deer breeding season underway, Kathleen Kerwin, a wildlife expert at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, is available for interviews on defensive driving to avoid wildlife-vehicle collisions, what to do if you see wildlife crossing…
Migrations research highlights human impacts on environment
Cornell University ecologists Aaron Rice and Amanda Rodewald are part of a cross-disciplinary effort to understand how human impacts and activities affect animals – from small birds to the largest whales – and the ecosystems we all share.
Land Development in New Jersey Continues to Slow
Land development in New Jersey has slowed dramatically since the 2008 Great Recession, but it’s unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to fight societal and housing inequality will affect future trends, according to a Rutgers co-authored report. Between 2012 and 2015, 10,392 acres in the Garden State became urban land. That’s 3,464 acres a year – far lower than the 16,852 acres per year in the late 1990s and continuing the trend of decreasing urban development that began in the 2008 Great Recession.
Hots Dogs, Chicken Wings and City Living Helped Wetland Wood Storks Thrive
Using the Wood Stork, researchers compared city storks with natural wetland storks to gauge their success in urban environments based on their diet and food opportunities. Results provide evidence of how a wetland species persists and even thrives in an urban environment by switching to human foods like chicken wings and hots dogs when natural marshes are in bad shape. These findings indicate that urban areas can buffer a species from the unpredictability of natural food sources.
New Device Can Measure Toxic Lead Within Minutes
Rutgers researchers have created a miniature device for measuring trace levels of toxic lead in sediments at the bottom of harbors, rivers and other waterways within minutes – far faster than currently available laboratory-based tests, which take days. The affordable lab-on-a-chip device could also allow municipalities, water companies, universities, K-12 schools, daycares and homeowners to easily and swiftly test their water supplies. The research is published in the IEEE Sensors Journal.
Understanding how birds respond to extreme weather can inform conservation efforts
How do different bird species respond to extreme weather events that occur for different amounts of time, ranging from weekly events like heat waves to seasonal events like drought? And how do traits unique to different species — for example, how far they migrate or how commonly they occur — predict their vulnerability to extreme weather?
Zebra stripes and their role in dazzling flies
The mystery of why zebras have their characteristic stripes has perplexed researchers for over a century.
Over the last decade, Professor Tim Caro at the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences has examined and discredited many popular theories such as their use as camouflage from predators, a cooling mechanism through the formation of convection currents and a role in social interactions.
Indigenous People Vital for Understanding Environmental Change
Grassroots knowledge from indigenous people can help to map and monitor ecological changes and improve scientific studies, according to Rutgers-led research. The study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows the importance of indigenous and local knowledge for monitoring ecosystem changes and managing ecosystems. The team collected more than 300 indicators developed by indigenous people to monitor ecosystem change, and most revealed negative trends, such as increased invasive species or changes in the health of wild animals. Such local knowledge influences decisions about where and how to hunt, benefits ecosystem management and is important for scientific monitoring at a global scale.
No evidence that predator control will save mountain caribou, study says
Addressing potential threats from predators has not slowed the dramatic decline of mountain caribou in British Columbia and Alberta, according to a new study by scientists from the University of Alberta and two other western Canadian universities.
Global wildlife surveillance could provide early warning for next pandemic
In a perspective article published July 9 in Science, a team of wildlife biologists, infectious disease experts, and others propose a decentralized, global wildlife biosurveillance system to identify – before the next pandemic emerges – animal viruses that have the potential to cause human disease.
Where Did the Asian Longhorned Ticks in the U.S. Come From?
The invasive population of Asian longhorned ticks in the United States likely began with three or more self-cloning females from northeastern Asia, according to a Rutgers-led study. Asian longhorned ticks outside the U.S. can carry debilitating diseases. In the United States and elsewhere they can threaten livestock and pets. The new study, published in the journal Zoonoses and Public Health, sheds new light on the origin of these exotic ticks and how they are spreading across the United States.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Could Serve as “Smokescreen” for Further Environmental Destruction
A team of scientists warn that the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were designed to reconcile environmental protection with socioeconomic development, are failing to protect biodiversity at their current of implementation.
Human interactions with wild and farmed animals must change dramatically to reduce risk of another deadly pandemic
Humans interact with animals in a huge variety of ways, including wildlife trade, livestock farming and keeping pets
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Soil Compaction, Healthy Yards
New Brunswick, N.J. (June 23, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Steven Yergeau is available to discuss the causes of soil compaction and how to correct it to foster healthy yards. Soil compaction can impact lawns and gardens and cause…
Expanding protected areas is not likely to safeguard biodiversity in the long-term due to climate change
A new WCS co-authored study in Science Advances assesses how climatic conditions within global terrestrial protected areas (PAs) may change over time and the resulting impacts on species protection.
Wildlife Supply Chains for Human Consumption Increase Coronaviruses’ Spillover Risk to People
A new study found that animals sampled in the wildlife-trade supply chain bound for human consumption had high proportions of coronaviruses, and that the proportion of positives significantly increases as animals travel from traders, to large markets, to restaurants.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Creating Wildlife Habitat in Your Yard
New Brunswick, N.J. (June 15, 2020) – Kathleen Kerwin, a wildlife expert at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, is available for interviews on how to create wildlife habitat in your yard. “Creating backyard habitat for wildlife is a relatively easy way homeowners…
Cameras reveal possible uptick in urban wildlife
In late March, as communities began to issue shelter-in-place orders, it seemed animals came out of hiding.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Invasive Plants in N.J. and Alternatives
New Brunswick, N.J. (June 10, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Michele Bakacs is available for interviews on invasive exotic plants in New Jersey that are growing out of control, overrunning forests and other natural areas. She can discuss why this…
SCIENTISTS LAMENT “HUMPTY DUMPTY” EFFECT ON WORLD’S MOST SPECTACULAR, RARE WILDLIFE:
A new study reveals how runaway human population growth collapses the role of wildlife in the world’s ecosystems.
RIGS TO REEFS
Oil platforms along the coast of California are being taken offline. Research conducted by CSU faculty and students brings to light the value of these artificial reefs.
Good Night? Satellite Data Uncovers Dolphins on the Move at Nighttime
More than 1,000 bottlenose dolphins live in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon year-round. Although extensively studied, what they do at nighttime is still a mystery. Using satellite telemetry, scientists provide the first documentation that these dolphins have a larger range that encompasses more habitats than previously thought. They regularly leave the brackish waters of the estuarine system and, not only travel into the ocean, but swim substantial distances – up to 20 kilometers – up freshwater rivers, creeks, and canals.
What’s being done to restore wetlands?
Restoration projects bring back the ecological and societal benefits of wetland ecosystems
Share the Planet: Protecting California’s Wildlife
See how the CSU is helping preserve California’s wildlife as threats to their habitats continue to grow.
Climate Surprise: Climate Change May Push Some Species to Higher Elevations – and Out of Harm’s Way
A new WCS-led study reveals that mountain-dwelling species fleeing warming temperatures by retreating to higher elevations may find refuge from reduced human pressure.
Rutgers Experts Available to Discuss Gardening During COVID-19 Crisis
New Brunswick, N.J. (April 7, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Michelle Infante-Casella and other Rutgers faculty and staff are available for interviews on home gardening during the COVID-19 pandemic. In each county in New Jersey, the Agriculture and Natural…
Feeding wildlife can disrupt animal social structures
A team of researchers from the University of Georgia and San Diego State University has found that the practice of feeding wildlife could be more detrimental to animals than previously thought.
How new data can make ecological forecasts as good as weather forecasts
Soon, University of Wisconsin–Madison ecologist Ben Zuckerberg thinks we’ll be able to pull off the same forecasting feat for bird migrations and wildlife populations as for climate forecasts. That’s because just as those recurring changes in climate have predictable consequences for humans, they also have predictable effects on plants and animals.
I spy with my digital eye … a tiger’s breathing, a lion’s pulse
A pilot study undertaken by researchers from the University of South Australia at Adelaide Zoo, has developed a new way to undertake basic health checks of exotic wildlife using a digital camera, saving them the stress of an anaesthetic.
Wuhan coronavirus links origin to wild animals, says wildlife epidemiology expert
The consumption of wildlife in China may be the main driver of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, says a Virginia Tech expert. “It’s not surprising that the coronavirus first identified in Wuhan has linkages with animals, especially wildlife,” said wildlife epidemiology…
The Wuhan #coronavirus has been tracked to eating wild animals. Global veterinarian, Dr. Christian Walzer, based in New York at the Wildlife Conservation Society, is available for interview. Email [email protected] for more info
The Wuhan coronavirus has been tracked to eating wild animals. Global veterinarian, Dr. Christian Walzer, based in New York at the Wildlife Conservation Society Center for Global Conservation, is available to do interviews. He has been calling for the closure of markets…
The color of your clothing can impact wildlife
Your choice of clothing could affect the behavioral habits of wildlife around you, according to a study conducted by a team of researchers, including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
Study shows animal life thriving around Fukushima
Nearly a decade after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, researchers from the University of Georgia have found that wildlife populations are abundant in areas void of human life.
NAU team expands the answers we can get from bat guano from New research
Geneticist Faith Walker and wildlife ecologist Carol Chambers wanted a better look at the 1,406 known species of bats, so after years of trying to meet the bats where they were, the two Northern Arizona University researchers instead turned to what the bats left behind: feces. Research into bat guano led to the creation of the Species from Feces assay, which can test DNA from bat guano and tell the researchers which species of bats live in a particular area.
You spot a land-crawling “Frankenfish,” now what?
While orders to “kill it immediately” have been making headlines recently in Georgia and South Carolina, the Northern Snakehead fish has been in the United States for more than a decade. Virginia Tech fish and wildlife experts who have been…
Newly discovered virus infects bald eagles across America
Researchers have discovered a previously unknown virus infecting nearly a third of America’s bald eagle population. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, USGS and the Wisconsin DNR found the virus while searching for the cause of Wisconsin River Eagle Syndrome, an enigmatic disease endemic to bald eagles near the Lower Wisconsin River. The newly identified bald eagle hepacivirus, or BeHV, may contribute to the fatal disease, which causes eagles to stumble and have seizures.
Online tool helps guide wildlife repopulation efforts
A multidisciplinary team with the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab has created StaPOPd, an interactive online tool that tells users exactly how many plants or animals they need to introduce into a habitat in order to establish a stable population.
MSU CONSERVATION AND BUSINESS RESEARCHERS PARTNER TO DISRUPT WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING
A team of conservation and supply chain experts will merge datasets, comb through logistical networks, leverage local partnerships and use advanced analytics to predict and respond to weaknesses in illegally trafficked wildlife supply chains.
Wild Camels Not so Wild
Each year, WCS scientists author or co-author nearly 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3 Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet – in bite sized helpings – of some of this published work. 1. Researchers investigated male lineages of both wild and…
Penguins are not Eating Your Lunch
Each year, WCS scientists author or co-author nearly 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3 Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet – in bite sized helpings – of some of this published work. 1. Researchers examined the diets of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus…
Helping Wildlife Prepare for a Warming Planet
Each year, WCS scientists author or co-author nearly 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3 Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet – in bite sized helpings – of some of this published work. 1. A team of researchers identified priorities for securing…
Reef Fisheries Get a Scorecard
Each year, WCS scientists author or co-author nearly 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3 Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet – in bite sized helpings – of some of this published work. 1. Researchers used ten “ecosystem approach indicators” to assess…