Experts stunned by swan 'divorce' at Slimbridge wetland

Staff were initially concerned when Sarindi arrived with a new mate

Experts have told of their surprise after witnessing a rare "divorce" between a pair of swans at a Gloucestershire wildfowl sanctuary.

The Bewick's swans have returned to winter at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust centre at Slimbridge - but both have brought new partners.

It is only the second time in more than 40 years that a "separation" has been recorded at the centre.

Staff have described the new couplings as "bizarre".

It is not unheard of for the birds, which usually mate for life, to find a new mate but it tends to be because one of the pair has died, they said.

During the past four decades 4,000 pairs of Bewick's swans have been studied at Slimbridge, with only one previous couple moving on to find new partners.

Normally loyal

First suspicions of the rare event were raised when male swan Sarindi turned up in the annual migration from Arctic Russia without his partner of two years Saruni and with a new female - newly-named Sarind - in tow.

The pair's arrival led conservationists to fear the worst for Saruni.

But shortly afterwards Saruni arrived at the wetlands site - also with a new mate, Surune.

And after observing them, the experts discovered the old relationship had ended and new ones had begun.

Julia Newth, wildlife health research officer at Slimbridge, said the situation had taken staff by surprise.

She said swans tended to have "real loyalties to one another" and long partnerships.

"As long as they are both still alive, they will try to stay together. If they have a change of mate it is perhaps because of mortality, not necessarily through choice," she said.

In this case, however, both swans and their new partners are now over-wintering in close proximity on the lake at Slimbridge.

Ms Newth said the old pair had not acknowledged each other with any signs of recognition or greeting - even though they are occupying the same part of the small lake.

As for why they may have split, she said: "Failure to breed could be a possible reason, as they had been together for a couple of years but had never brought back a cygnet, but it is difficult to say for sure."

Bewick's swans are the smallest and rarest of the three species found in the UK and each individual can be identified by their unique bill pattern.

Fight to save dying plant species

Last chance to see: the tree is the last of its kind

A botanist from Kew Gardens is fighting to save one of the rarest plant species in the world, the Bastard Gumwood tree.

The last tree of this species is found on the tiny South Atlantic island of St Helena, and it is dying.

To keep the Bastard Gumwood in existence, it needs to be pollinated so it will produce a fertile seed from which to grow new seedlings.

Obtaining a pure seed from the tree is no easy task.

The tree (Commidendrum rotundifolium) is enclosed in netting to prevent insects cross-pollinating with its near neighbour, the False Gumwood.

But even then because there are no other individuals in existence, the tree must self-pollinate, which it stubbornly resists.

And so it needs some help.

Every day, botanist Phil Lambdon visits the site along with local conservationists. The team delicately uses small paint brushes to collect pollen grains, which they spread from one flower to another.

But the odds are still against the Bastard Gumwood.

"The tree just doesn't want to pollinate itself," said Dr Lambdon, the botanist visiting from Kew Gardens who is in charge of the effort.

"Only around 1 in 10,000 pollen grains have the small genetic mutation which will allow self-pollination to take place.

"It's like a needle in a haystack. The work is painstaking and very slow."

The Gumwood tree is now enclosed in netting

The only way of knowing whether the seeds produced are fertile is to plant them.

"99.99% will be infertile and not grow, but it's the only way of finding out," said Dr Lambdon.

"It's not called the Bastard Gumwood because of this, incidentally," he added.

In fact there are a number of species beginning with the word on the island - the Bastard Cabbage tree, the Bastard Bell flower and the Small Bastard Cabbage tree.

Phil Lambdon is in charge of the conservation effort

They were named in by botanist John Burchell who was on St Helena between 1806 and1810.

Some think he may have been simply reporting the names given to the species by the locals.

Whatever the truth behind the tree's name, the island hopes these efforts will be more successful than with the St Helena Olive, which was also only found here, but which died out in 2003.

"Many of the tourists who come to the island want to see the island's unique wildlife. Another extinction would be very bad publicity," said St Helena National Trust Director Jamie Roberts.

Light shed on fish gill mystery

Freshwater fish take up chemicals from the surrounding water through their gills

Biologists have cast doubt on the long-held theory that fish gills evolved primarily for the purpose of breathing.

The researchers studied the development of gills in rainbow trout larvae.

Their experiment suggests that it is likely that fish evolved gills for the primary purpose of regulating the chemicals in their bodies.

The team reports in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B that this developmental study gives an insight into the evolution of fish gills.

Clarice Fu, a zoologist from the University of British Columbia in Canada, led the study.

She and her colleagues found, as the larvae matured, their gills developed the ability to regulate the chemicals in their blood earlier than they began to take up oxygen.

To discover this, the team measured the uptake of ions, which are charged chemical particles, such as sodium.

These ions are necessary for the body's cells to function, but they become toxic if their levels in the blood become too high.

Ms Fu explained that fish take up these ions from the surrounding water, to "maintain this delicate ion balance in their blood".

"In freshwater fish, like rainbow trout, they tend to lose ions from their blood to the water, because the ion concentration in blood is greater than that of freshwater," she said.

The team took measurements from the gills of young, developing rainbow trout to find out what functions they were performing.

"When the gills are still immature, a significant portion of ion uptake occurs at the skin. As the fish get older and the gills mature, [this] can gradually shift to... the gills," said Ms Fu.

"We found that ion uptake shifted from the skin to the gills earlier than oxygen uptake. This led us to propose that the gills are needed for ion regulation earlier than they are needed for oxygen uptake."

Watching evolution

Ms Fu told BBC News that the "pressures" on developing larvae are similar to evolutionary pressures.

"Some of these pressures include an increasingly active lifestyle, greater body size, increasingly thicker skin," she said.

Scientists often study larval development to investigate evolution.

Ms Fu explained that, as the larvae developed, the pressures drove ion exchange to the gills before the animals started to breathe through their gills, so the same thing may have happened as the fish evolved.

Professor Rick Gonzalez, from the University of San Diego in the US, studies the physiology of aquatic animals.

He described the study as a "very interesting first step", but said it wasn't clear if it answered the question of why fish evolved gills.

"Gills combine some of the functions of the lungs and kidneys in mammals, which leads to interesting interactions of function," he told BBC News.

"The physical and chemical nature of the water can play an important role in their function. So how these all work together to get the various jobs done is very interesting and offers insight into how natural selection works."

Arctic tern's epic journey mapped

The study adds surprising new detail to the Arctic tern's epic migration

The Arctic tern's extraordinary pole-to-pole migration has been detailed by an international team of scientists.

The researchers fitted the birds with tiny tracking devices to see precisely which routes the animals took on their 70,000km (43,000 miles) round trip.

The study reveals they fly down either the African or Brazilian coasts but then return in an "S"-shaped path up the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The long-distance adventure is described in the US journal PNAS.

"From ringing, we knew where the Arctic tern travelled," said Carsten Egevang of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.

After setting out (yellow line) the birds pause in the North Atlantic (red circle) to feed. Going home (orange line), they follow the winds Total distance travelled 70,900km On southbound leg: 34,600km Daily progress south: 330km On northbound leg: 25,700km Daily progress north: 520km Within Winter grounds: 10,900km

"The new thing is that we've now been able to track the bird during a full year of migration, all the way from the breeding grounds to the wintering grounds and back again."

The avian world is known for its great migrations.

Albatrosses, godwits, and sooty shearwaters all undertake epic journeys. But none can quite match the Arctic tern's colossal trip.

Starting in August and September, this small bird - which weighs little more than 100g (3.5oz) - will head away from Greenland with the intention of getting to the Weddell Sea, on the shores of Antarctica.

It will spend about four or five months in the deep south before heading back to the far north, arriving home in May or June.

A team from Greenland, Denmark, the US, the UK and Iceland attached small (1.4g/0.05oz) "geolocators" to the animals to find out exactly where they went on this polar round trip.

The devices record light intensity. This gives an estimate of the local day length, and the times of sunrise and sunset; and from this information it is possible to work out a geographical position of the birds.

The geolocators were provided by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

"The use of these devices on seabirds is not only revolutionising our understanding of migration patterns, but the resulting data on distribution also help address the requirement to identify important biological hotspots," said Richard Phillips from BAS, a co-author of the PNAS paper.

With such a small bird, the trackers also need to be tiny

The first surprise is that the terns do not make straight for the Antarctic when they leave the Arctic, but make a lengthy stop-over in the middle of the North Atlantic, about 1,000km (620 miles) north of the Azores.

Here, they feed on zooplankton and fish to fuel themselves for the long journey ahead.

"We were able to compare biological productivity in the ocean from satellite imagery and we could see a high productive area that the birds will spend time in," said Mr Egevang.

"Even more importantly, it's the last high productive area before they enter tropical waters where we know productivity is low."

THE LONG DISTANCE FLIER Scientific name: Sterna paradisaea Average wingspan of 75-85cm Breeds in Arctic and sub-Arctic Lays eggs in small ground scrape Feeds on fish and crustaceans Birds live more than 30 years

The birds then head south along the coast of western Europe and western Africa before making a choice, either to continue hugging Africa or sweep across the Atlantic from the Cape Verde Islands to continue the journey along the Brazilian coast.

About half the birds that were tracked decided to take the South American path. It is not clear why, but the researchers believe wind might make either route seem favourable to the terns.

After spending their northern winter months in Antarctic waters, the terns then fly back towards the Arctic.

But rather than retracing their southward flight paths, the birds follow a gigantic "S" pattern up the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

"This is completely new knowledge," Mr Egevang told BBC News.

"They make a detour of several thousand km but once we start comparing the route to the prevailing wind system, it makes perfect sense - moving in a counter-clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere, and clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.

"It's just more energy-efficient for them to do that even though they are travelling several thousand more km than if they flew in a straight line."

Biodiversity loss is 'wake-up call', warns UN

The Giant Jewel of West Africa is threatened by loss of forest

The UN launches the International Year of Biodiversity on Monday, warning that the on-going loss of species affects human well-being around the world.

Eight years ago, governments pledged to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, but already it is clear that the pledge will not be met.

The expansion of human cities, farming and infrastructure is the main reason.

Dignitaries including UN chief Ban Ki-moon and German premier Angela Merkel will speak at the launch in Berlin.

Mr Ban is due to say that human expansion is wiping out species at about 1,000 times the "natural" or "background" rate, and that "business as usual is not an option".

The Secretary-General is expected to argue that the failure to protect biodiversity "should be a wake-up call", leading to effective ways of protecting forests, watersheds, coral reefs and other ecosystems.

The UN argues that as natural systems such as forests and wetlands disappear, humanity loses the services they currently provide for free, such as the purification of air and water, protection from extreme weather events and the provision of materials for shelter and fire.

The rate of species loss leads some biologists to say that we are in the middle of the Earth's sixth great extinction, the previous five stemming from natural events as asteroid impacts.

Cash log

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was agreed at the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, alongside the climate change convention.

But it acquired its key global pledge during the Johannesburg summit of 2002, when governments agreed to achieve a "significant reduction" in the rate of biological diversity by 2010.

Conservation organisations acknowledge that despite some regional successes, the target is not going to be met; some analyses suggest that nature loss is accelerating rather than decelerating.

Nature loss 'dwarfs bank crisis'

"We are facing an extinction crisis," said Jane Smart, director of the biodiversity conservation group with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"The loss of this beautiful and complex natural diversity that underpins all life on the planet is a serious threat to humankind now and in the future."

A large on-going UN-sponsored study into the economics of biodiversity suggests that deforestation alone costs the global economy $2-5 trillion each year.

In his speech at Monday's event, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director Achim Steiner is due to highlight problems caused by invasive species, and the potential for ecosystems such as forests and wetlands to absorb and store carbon from the air.

The UN hopes some kind of legally-binding treaty to curb biodiversity loss can be agreed at the CBD summit, held in Japan in October.

One element is due to be a long-awaited protocol under which the genetic resources of financially-poor but biodiversity-rich nations can be exploited in a way that brings benefits to all.

However, given the lack of appetite for legally-binding environmental agreements that key countries displayed at last month's climate summit in Copenhagen, it is unclear just what kind of deal might materialise on biodiversity.

Political football

The UN has been pursuing new ways of raising public awareness on the issue, including a collaboration with the Cameroon football team taking part in the African Nations Cup finals.

Many environment organisations will be running special programmes and mounting events during the year.

"The big opportunity during the International Year of Biodiversity is for governments to do for biodiversity what they failed to do for climate change in Copenhagen," said Simon Stuart, a senior science advisor to Conservation International and chair of IUCN's Species Survival Commission.

"They have the chance to make a major difference; and key to this will be halting species extinctions, the most irreversible aspect of biodiversity loss."

WWF is highlighting 10 species it considers especially threatened, ranging from commercially significant ones such as bluefin tuna to the Pacific walrus and the monarch butterfly.

In the UK, the Natural History Museum (NHM) is asking every citizen to "do one thing for biodiversity" in 2010.

Wildlife huddles down to beat the cold

Manatees in Florida enjoy moving into warmer waters when temperatures drop

As temperatures plummet and heavy snow blankets the northern hemisphere, it is not just people who are feeling the effects. The wildlife too has been forced to find new ways to keep warm, as Penny Spiller reports.

It may not be an obvious choice as a wildlife destination, but waterways close to power stations can become quite busy places when the frosts hit.

An inland waterway close to the Riviera Power Plant in Florida found itself hosting a large number of unusual guests in recent days, as temperatures fell close to freezing.

Nearly 400 manatees moved from the cooling coastal waters to enjoy the 33C (92F) temperatures being discharged from the plant. Giant eagle rays and spinner sharks were also spotted in another Florida canal.

Such sites are also likely to be sought out by water birds that normally forage for fish when their usual habitats of freshwater rivers and lakes become frozen over.

"Kingfishers, particularly, are having a tough time finding food at the moment," says Grahame Madge of the UK-based Royal Society of the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

"Their strategy in weather likes this tends to be to move a short distance to the warmer waters near power stations or in city centres. It's quite possible we will see higher numbers of kingfishers in London and other metropolitan centres".

Stunned sea turtles

Mr Madge says such cold temperatures force many birds to make a tough choice at this time of year - whether to stay put and see out the worst of the weather or use their last energy reserves to fly to warmer climes.

To fly or not to fly: A dilemma for birds in such cold weather

But with freezing temperatures affecting much of Britain and northern Europe, those who do fly south hoping to find some ice-free conditions could be out of luck, he says.

"Birds will generally make short-distance movements when their energy levels are low," he says.

"But those birds that fly even as far as southern Ireland at the moment aren't going to find what they are looking for. They may have to go further into southern Europe."

The RSPB has also noticed that Britain this year has become a refuge for higher numbers of bitterns, owls and other birds flying in from Scandinavia and northern Europe, hoping to find warmer temperatures.

But it is not just birds that are feeling the effects of the cold weather.

Iguanas - lizards commonly associated with tropical climes - have been seen falling out of trees in southern Florida, having lost their grip in the cold.

Elsewhere in Florida, hundreds of sea turtles were found floating in a lagoon, having been stunned into a state of shock by the cold. They have been taken to a special rehabilitation centre to be warmed up.

Tropical fish are also giving cause for concern.

Huddling together

At London Zoo, however, the animals are enjoying some well thought-out protection from their keepers.

Snow is a bit of a novelty for the younger zoo animals

Those that need it have heaters, increased levels of food and - if you are a kinkajou (a member of the racoon family) - a sleeping bag.

The cold weather has created some unlikely bedfellows, senior keeper Jim Mackie explains.

The zoo's two Aardvarks, who arrived this year, like to snuggle up together under the heater. They share the meerkats' enclosure, and around five meerkats have worked out that by sleeping on top of the Aardvarks they can get even closer to the heat, Mr Mackie explained.

"We'd noticed quite a lot of interaction between the two species in the summer, but we didn't see anything like this," he said.

"It's been quite an exciting sight to see. We don't think there would be this much interaction between the two in the wild."

While the zoo's tropical animals have preferred to stay close to the heaters in recent days, some of the inhabitants have been enjoying the snow - particularly the young ones who have never seen it before.

"The coati [another member of the racoon family] had a brilliant time, charging around in the snow and trying to find the food we'd buried," Mr Mackie said.

"The ferrets have also had a great time digging through the snow. But they soon get tired of it, once they get cold."

One animal that is not getting tired of the snow is Mercedes, the new polar bear at Scotland's Highland Wildlife Park, where temperatures have been as low as minus 20C.

"A lot of the wildlife here are huddling together right now and cutting down on their activity to stop burning energy," explained the park's Douglas Richardson.

"It's quite the opposite with Mercedes. Right now, she's spinning round on the pond and generally having a great time."

Grey squirrels 'do not harm woodland birds in England'

Eating eggs does no long term harm to birds

Grey squirrels do not have a significant impact on the populations of many of England's woodland bird species, a study has found.

Researchers from the British Trust for Ornithology and Natural England examined the impact of grey squirrels on 38 bird species across the country.

They found some evidence that grey squirrels may locally suppress the populations of some species.

But they do not appear to cause the birds any widespread or lasting harm.

The findings of the study, which contradict the view that grey squirrels have caused declines in British bird numbers over the past 40 years, are published in the Journal of Ornithology.

It has long been known that grey squirrels, an invasive species to the UK, predate on bird eggs and will also kill and eat fledglings. Red squirrels, the UK's native squirrel species, do the same.

Over the past four decades, many wild bird species have declined in abundance in the UK.

Many of these declines have been associated with changes to agricultural practice.

But it has often been argued that predators, such as grey squirrels, are also killing off native birds.

This threat - combined with the damage that grey squirrels can do to native trees, and the impact that grey squirrels may be having on the remaining populations of red squirrels - had led to calls last year, backed by Prince Charles, to cull the invasive species.

Blackbirds thrive despite the grey squirrels' taste for their eggs

However, firm evidence that predation by grey squirrels has caused national declines in the numbers of native bird species has been lacking.

So researchers at the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Natural England (NE) reviewed a wealth of data on bird and grey squirrel numbers in England to search for evidence that greys were having an impact.

BTO ecologists Dr Stuart Newson, Dr David Leech and Dr Chris Hewson and NE's Dr Humphrey Crick and Mr Phil Grice examined 38 bird species associated with woodland, including common starlings, wood pigeons, wrens, woodpeckers, thrushes, warblers, tits and finches.

Data on their population sizes and that of grey squirrels was gathered by the Breeding Bird Survey.

Around 160,000 red squirrels remain in the UK, compared to 2.5 million grey squirrels Over 2 million of these grey squirrels live in England In the past, grey squirrels have been blamed for significant declines in now rare birds such as lesser spotted woodpeckers, common nightingales, tree pipits, willow warblers, song thrushes, willow and marsh tits and hawfinches

They found very little evidence that grey squirrels were suppressing bird numbers.

"Grey squirrels are very unlikely to have driven observed declines in woodland birds in recent years," Dr Newson told the BBC.

Of the 38 bird species, a statistically significant relationship between grey squirrel and bird population sizes was found for 12 species.

Of those, squirrels appeared to have a positive impact on seven bird species, a correlation probably caused by both mammal and bird species benefiting from similar changes to their habitat.

Grey squirrels had a negative impact on just five: the common blackbird, Eurasian collared dove, green woodpecker, long-tailed tit and Eurasian jay.

"Of these species, the most convincing evidence is for blackbird and collared dove," says Dr Newson.

For these two species, the researchers found a weak but significant relationship between the abundance of grey squirrels and a failure of the birds' nests.

However, while grey squirrels may be predating on these two species, the overall number of blackbirds and collared doves has gone up nationally, and even locally where grey squirrels are common.

The giant Amazon arapaima fish is 'under threat'

A harvested fish is a huge catch

The arapaima, a giant species of fish that lurks in the Amazon river, may be threatened by overfishing.

Studies reveal that errors in the classification of the species could mean that it is being pushed closer to the edge of extinction than thought.

The arapaima is the largest freshwater fish with scales in the world.

But there may actually be four species rather than one, say scientists, and a lack of research and management may allow some to be fished to extinction.

The threat to the future of these fish has been revealed in research conducted by Dr Leandro Castello of the Woods Hole Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, US, and Professor Donald Stewart of the State University of New York in Syracuse, US.

They have reviewed what is known about populations of the arapaima, and conducted detailed investigations into the status of the fish in the wild.

Previously, it was thought there was one species of arapaima (Arapaima gigas), which also goes by the common names pirarucu or paiche.

This perspective is based on a taxonomic review done over 160 years ago.

Adults grow to almost 3m in length and can weigh more than 200kg, making the fish the largest with scales living in freshwater anywhere in the world.

They are also air-breathers, coming to the surface every 5 to 15 minutes to gulp air, a behaviour which allows them to colonise muddy oxygen-poor rivers and lakes within the Amazonian basin and prey on other fish that find it difficult to move in such conditions.

However, in an ongoing study, Prof Stewart has analysed nearly all preserved specimens of supposed arapaima available in museums in the world.

So far he has only found one specimen of Arapaima gigas.

The others are suspected to be closely related species, including some as yet unreported.

"Our new analyses indicate that there are at least four species of arapaima," says Dr Castello.

"So, until further field surveys of appropriate areas are completed, we will not know if Arapaima gigas is extinct or still swimming about."

Concern about the fish's numbers comes from other work done by Dr Castello and Prof Stewart.

For a split second, an arapaima surfaces to gulp air

That suggests that arapaima sexually mature relatively late, and need very specific habitats to both live and reproduce.

Their research also shows that populations of the fish are being put under severe pressure by fishermen.

Because of the fish's huge size and habit of coming to the surface, it has long been a favoured fish to catch, with fisherman using harpoons and gill nets to land their prey.

"They have the curse of being tasty and of having to breathe air," says Dr Castello.

Fishermen have been catching large numbers of arapaima in this way since the 1800s.

But now, while a few populations are increasing, others are being overfished, say the researchers, who have published a paper warning of the fish's fate in the Journal of Applied Ichthyology.

And while Brazil implemented regulations to manage arapaima fisheries some 20 years ago, most fishermen do not follow the regulations, say the authors.

Fishermen capture a young arapaima for ecological studies

"Arapaima can be viewed as badly overexploited and under some level of threat of extinction," says Dr Castello.

One solution, they say, is to encourage community-based schemes for fisheries, and there is much need for additional action on the part of the government.

For example, their research shows that fishermen who specialise in hunting arapaima with harpoons can accurately count the fish, due to the fish's habit of breaching the surface for air.

The fishermen can then select a sustainable proportion of the population to hunt.

"Populations of arapaima managed with this system increased about 50% annually, while yielding increasing catches and hence economic profits to the fishermen," says Dr Castello.

Around 100 such community schemes are in place, and some previously overexploited populations have recovered.

"Such results are extremely rare in wildlife conservation, especially in tropical countries where wildlife conservation challenges are greater than elsewhere," says Dr Castello.

But much more needs to be done to research these fish in more detail and prevent overfishing, the scientists warn.

In particular, "the present situation may be one in which one species of arapaima is recovering in certain areas, while unrecognised species are going extinct," they say.

Sweden culls its resurgent wolves

Grey wolves have made a comeback since hunting was banned

Sweden is to launch its first wolf cull in 45 years, following a decision by parliament to control the species' numbers.

Some 10,000 hunters are reported to be planning to take part - hoping to get a rare opportunity to bag a wolf.

But it is thought there are only about 180-220 wolves in Sweden, and the Environmental Protection Agency has said only 27 can be shot.

Hunters insist there are measures to prevent them shooting too many.

"There's a lot of regulation, hunters have to check the quota every hour," Gunnar Gloersson, of the Swedish Hunters Association, told Radio Sweden.

Nevertheless, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation is critical of the decision, claiming it is against EU legislation as the Swedish wolf population has not reached a healthy level.

A formal complaint will be issued to the EU Commission, Radio Sweden says.

The hunt will start on 2 January and end before the mating season begins in mid-February.

Snow vital

Wolves were hunted to near extinction in southern Scandinavia until a hunting ban was imposed in the 1970s.

Sweden and Norway have worked together to reintroduce the species to the forests along their border. When Norway culled some wolves in 2001, saying the population had spread too far, Sweden lodged a protest.

But the Swedish parliament recently decided there should be at most 210 wolves in Sweden.

Michael Schneider of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency says that was the level last year, and since then more than 20 pairs of wolves have had pups.

"We have to remove this increase to keep the population at this level," he said.

Mr Gloersson, of the hunting association, said: "We have a lot of problems with wolves - in reindeer areas, with livestock, and for hunters they kill our valuable dogs."

"Since they came back we have to live with them, but we have to keep their numbers down."

He said the success of the cull would depend on the weather.

"The only easy way to hunt wolves is if we have snow, so the hunters can track them on the snow. If we don't have snow I don't think we'll even be able to reach the quota of 27 wolves," he said.

Clever Nature: Class of 2009

Albatross cam for bird's eye view

A bird's eye view of another flying albatross and killer whale (indicated)

Albatrosses are smart enough to associate with killer whales out in the open ocean, tiny cameras attached to the birds revealed.

The discovery may explain how black-browed albatrosses find their prey in an apparently featureless open ocean, said the researchers.

 

Chimps mentally map fruit trees

Where next?

A chimpanzee's spatial memory is so precise that it can find a single tree among thousands in a forest.

More than that, the chimps also recall how productive each tree is, and decide to travel farther to eat from those they know will yield the most fruit.

 

Octopus snatches coconut and runs

The octopuses use the coconuts as a shelter

An octopus and its coconut-carrying antics surprised scientists.

Underwater footage revealed that the creatures scoop up halved coconut shells before scampering away with them so they can later use them as shelters.

Researchers said it is the first example of tool use in octopuses.

One of the researchers, Dr Julian Finn from Australia's Museum Victoria, told BBC News: "I almost drowned laughing when I saw this the first time."

 

 

 

 

Bird brains prove to be very sexy

Showing off his bird brain

Male bowerbirds that show superior intelligence are more sexually attractive to female birds, scientists discovered.

Researchers gave male bowerbirds a set of cognitive tests to evaluate their problem solving ability.

Bowerbirds that performed well in the tests also mated with the most females, when compared with their more stupid rivals.

 

 

Spider builds life-sized decoys

An adult C. mulmeinensis alongside decoy prey pellets (L) and decoy egg sacs (R)

A species of spider builds a life-like model of its own body to distract predators, scientists found.

The spider may be the first example of an animal building a life-size replica of its own body.

The arachnid's behaviour also offers one explanation for why many spiders like to decorate their webs with strange-looking ornaments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clever rooks repeat ancient fable

Rooks are a member of the corvid family of birds

Footage of clever rooks

revealed that one of Aesop's fables may be based on fact.

In the fable, written more than 2,000 years ago, a crow uses stones to raise the water level in a pitcher so it can reach the liquid to quench its thirst.

A study published in Current Biology revealed that rooks, a close relative of the crow, do just the same when presented with a similar situation.

The researcher said the study shows rooks are innovative tool-users, even though they do not use tools in the wild.

Eagles filmed hunting reindeer

Extraordinary camera footage taken by a BBC crew proved that golden eagles are smart enough to hunt and kill reindeer.

 One eagle was filmed swooping down and grabbing a calf, while another pulled out of an attack at the last minute.

It finally proved this eagle species does occasionally hunt reindeer, something suggested by forensic evidence and the local Sami people.

 

The plant that pretends to be ill

A leaf damaged by mining moths (left) compared to one faking it (right).

It is not just animals that show clever ways to adapt to life.

This year a plant that pretends to be ill was found growing in the rainforests of Ecuador.

The plant feigns sickness to stop it being attacked by insect pests known as mining moths, which would otherwise eat its healthy leaves.

It was the first known example of a plant that mimics being ill.

 

Chimps born to appreciate music

Chimpanzees were found to be biologically programmed to appreciate pleasant music.

Infant chimpanzees innately prefer consonant over dissonant music, suggesting an appreciation of music is not a uniquely human trait.

 

Blue tits embrace 'aromatherapy'

Looking for a health boost

Finally in 2009, we learnt that it is not just humans that use aromatherapy. Blue tits were found to line and disinfect their nests with bacteria-killing aromatic medicinal plants such as mint and lavender, scientists discovered.

That creates a more sterile environment for chicks, which in turn grow faster and have a better chance of survival.

'Back to nature' cuts flood risks

The annual cost of flooding is rising in the US, the study say

Reconnecting flood-plains to rivers will help reduce the risk of future flooding, suggest US scientists.

A study by US researchers said allowing these areas to be submerged during storms would reduce the risk of flood damage in nearby urban areas.

Pressure to build new homes has led to many flood-prone areas being developed.

Writing in Science, they said the risks of flooding were likely to increase in the future as a result of climate change and shifts in land use.

"We are advocating very large-scale shifts in land use," said co-author Jeffrey Opperman, a member of The Nature Conservancy's Global Freshwater Team.

"There is simply no way economically or politically that this could be accomplished by turning large areas of flood-plains into parks," he told the Science podcast.

"What we are proposing in this paper is a way that this strategy can be compatible, and even supportive, with vibrant agricultural economies and private land ownership."

For example, the authors explained, the flood season and growing season in California did not occur at the same time.

This meant that allowing the land to be submerged by floodwater would not result in a permanent loss of farmland or crops being destroyed.

In their paper, they said that man-made flood management systems, such as levees, also had an ecological impact.

"Control infrastructure prevents high flows from entering flood-plains, thus diminishing both natural flood storage capacity and the processes that sustain healthy riverside forests and wetlands," they observed.

"As a result, flood-plains are among the planet's most threatened ecosystems."

'Ecosystem services'

The reconnection programmes would deliver three benefits, they added:

• Reduce the risk of flooding

• Increase in flood-plain goods and services

• Greater resilience to potential climate change impacts

In other parts of the world, Dr Opperman said that there was a range of agricultural strategies for private landowners that would be compatible with allowing areas to be flooded.

"There are emerging markets for ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and nutrient sequestration," he explained.

"These are services that flood-plains do provide, so with various climate policies there will be a price for carbon."

The researchers cited the Yolo By-pass, in California, US, in their paper as a successful demonstration of the idea they were advocating.

The scheme absorbed 80% of floodwater during heavy storms, they said, protecting the nearby city of Sacramento.

"During a March 1986 flood, the by-pass conveyed [about] 12.5bn cubic metres of water, more than three times the total flood-control storage volume in all Sacramento basin reservoirs.

"Without the by-pass flood-plain, California would need to build massive additional flood-control infrastructure," they observed.

The Yolo by-pass was created back in the 1930s, when a 24,000 hectare flood-plain was reconnected to the Sacramento River.

The scheme was introduced when it became apparent that a "levees only" approach would not offer the required flood protection.

"It's connected in an engineered way, which mean that when the river reaches a certain volume it flows over a weir and enters the flood-plain," Dr Opperman explained.

He added that the scheme also had numerous additional ecological benefits: "In recent decades, people began to notice that this area was a phenomenal habitat for birds.

"In the past 10 years, people recognised that native fish were moving from the river on to the flood-plain, and deriving all of the benefits that fish get from natural flood-plains.

"It was an excellent place for fish to spawn, and for juvenile fish to be reared."

Mystery of Amazon manatee migration solved

On the run, the gentle manatee migrates away from harm

The mystery of why Amazonian manatees migrate has been solved.

Only in recent years did scientists find that the secretive aquatic mammal migrates from shallow to deep water.

Now researchers can reveal that the manatees make this perilous journey to avoid being exposed to attack by predators during the low-water season.

That means the species may be at greater risk than thought, say scientists, as migration and low water levels make them vulnerable to hunters.

The international team of researchers from Brazil and the UK publish their findings in the Journal of Zoology.

Great escape

The elusive Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis) is a large plant-eating mammal that lives in freshwater.

Due to its peculiar shape it has been described as a cross between a seal and a hippo.

The species is only found in the Amazon River basin from the river mouth to the upper reaches of tributaries of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, and Peru.

The researchers studied manatees that live within the Mamiraua and Amana Sustainable Development Reserves in the north west of Brazil.

To obtain their results, the researchers asked local inhabitants about the animals' movements, studied the shapes and depths of the local rivers and lakes and then used radio tracking tags to follow the movements of 10 manatees.

During the high-water season, between mid May and the end of June, manatees live in quiet lakes called varzeas that form within river flood plains, the scientists found.

Here the manatees consume 8% of their body weight in aquatic plants each day.

Then during the low-water season, between October and November, the animals start to migrate as the water level drops.

They journey to deeper water within long narrow lakes called rias, which are submerged river valleys.

They do this because it becomes too dangerous to remain in shallow water, the scientists say.

If the manatees do not move, they become stranded and exposed to hunters such as caimans, jaguars and humans who stalk the water margins.

Close to 200 crocodiles captured in Australia

A saltwater crocodile cruises around his enclosure at the Sydney Wildlife World.

SYDNEY: Almost 200 predatory saltwater crocodiles have been removed from waterways around Australia’s northern city of Darwin this year for the safety of residents, an official said Wednesday.

Rangers picked up 196 of the deadly reptiles in Darwin and elsewhere in the Northern Territory, with the largest a 4.9 metre male, regional director of Conservation and Wildlife Brett Easton told AFP.

‘Once captured they are taken to a crocodile farm where they live a long and lazy life,’ Easton said.

As part of its crocodile management programme, the government has been removing the ‘salties’ from waterways near residential, recreation and swimming areas. Last year 190 were removed.

Easton said some of the animals were found close to where people live, including in stormwater drains and swimming areas.

‘In the Northern Territory we all live fairly close to water and saltwater crocodiles are not unusual in our waters,’ he said.

He said heavy rainfall and flooding in the wet season allowed the crocodiles, believed to number 80,000 in the country’s north, to move more freely and inhabit areas they would otherwise avoid.

Two people, including a young girl, were killed in crocodile attacks in the Northern Territory this year.

Chimps use cleavers and anvils as tools to chop food

 Poni, a chimp who likes to chop his food

For the first time, chimpanzees have been seen using tools to chop up and reduce food into smaller bite-sized portions.

Chimps in the Nimba Mountains of Guinea, Africa, use both stone and wooden cleavers, as well as stone anvils, to process Treculia fruits.

The apes are not simply cracking into the Treculia to get to otherwise unobtainable food, say researchers.

Instead, they are actively chopping up the food into more manageable portions.

Observations of the behaviour are published in the journal Primates.

PhD student Kathelijne Koops and Professor William McGrew of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK, studied a group of chimps living wild in the Nimba Mountains.

Ms Koops research is focused on the use by the chimps of elementary technology, such as the use of tools while foraging.

"Chimpanzees across Africa vary greatly in the types of tools they use to obtain food. Some groups use stones as hammers and anvils to crack open nuts, whereas others use twigs to fish for termites," she says.

The apes' use of such tools can be surprisingly sophisticated.

Cleaver and smashed fruit (shown by arrow)

"For example, nut-cracking in the Bossou chimpanzee community in Guinea involves the use of a movable hammer and anvil, and sometimes the additional use of stabilising wedges to make the anvil more level and so more efficient," explains Ms Koops.

"Termite fishing in some chimpanzee communities in the Republic of Congo involves the use of a tool set, i.e. different tool components used sequentially to achieve the same goal.

"These chimpanzees were found to deliberately modify termite fishing probes by creating a brush-end, before using them to fish for termites."

Chimps use cleavers and anvils as tools to chop food

 Poni, a chimp who likes to chop his food

For the first time, chimpanzees have been seen using tools to chop up and reduce food into smaller bite-sized portions.

Chimps in the Nimba Mountains of Guinea, Africa, use both stone and wooden cleavers, as well as stone anvils, to process Treculia fruits.

The apes are not simply cracking into the Treculia to get to otherwise unobtainable food, say researchers.

Instead, they are actively chopping up the food into more manageable portions.

Observations of the behaviour are published in the journal Primates.

PhD student Kathelijne Koops and Professor William McGrew of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK, studied a group of chimps living wild in the Nimba Mountains.

Ms Koops research is focused on the use by the chimps of elementary technology, such as the use of tools while foraging.

"Chimpanzees across Africa vary greatly in the types of tools they use to obtain food. Some groups use stones as hammers and anvils to crack open nuts, whereas others use twigs to fish for termites," she says.

The apes' use of such tools can be surprisingly sophisticated.

Cleaver and smashed fruit (shown by arrow)

"For example, nut-cracking in the Bossou chimpanzee community in Guinea involves the use of a movable hammer and anvil, and sometimes the additional use of stabilising wedges to make the anvil more level and so more efficient," explains Ms Koops.

"Termite fishing in some chimpanzee communities in the Republic of Congo involves the use of a tool set, i.e. different tool components used sequentially to achieve the same goal.

"These chimpanzees were found to deliberately modify termite fishing probes by creating a brush-end, before using them to fish for termites."

'Bumper year' for botanical finds

The flower of the Berlinia korupensis, the largest plant in the list of new finds

Giant rainforest trees, tiny fungi and wild coffee plants are among almost 300 species that have been described by UK botanists for the first time in 2009.

The finds were recorded by researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who carried out surveys involving teams in 100 countries around the world.

The discoveries showed how little of the world's plant species had been documented, the researchers said.

They warned that nearly a third of the finds were in danger of extinction.

"These new discoveries highlight the fact that there is so much of the plant world yet to be discovered and documented," said Stephen Hopper, director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew).

"Without knowing what's out there and where it occurs, we have no scientific basis for effective conservation."

Kew's botanists have described 2009 as a "bumper year" in which they described 292 new species, compared with 200 in an average year.

Exploding pods

The largest of the new finds was a previously unknown giant of Cameroon's rainforest, stretching more than 42m (138ft) into the canopy of the Korup National Park.

The Berlinia korupensis pods explode, spreading seeds over a wide area

The Berlinia korupensis - a member of the pea family - has a one-metre-wide buttressed trunk, and produces white flowers that then give rise to massive seed pods, which can reach 30cm (1ft) in length.

When fully ripened, the pods explode, sending the seeds flying away from the tree, ensuring the best possible chance of survival.

"We found just 17 trees in our survey," explained Xander van der Burgt, who led the team that found the tree.

"Even though the Korup (National Park) is protected, Berlinia korupensis is critically endangered due to human pressures on the park," he added.

At the other end of the scale, the smallest finds were wood-rotting fungi, which were less than 1mm thick and covered their hosts "like a lick of paint".

Coffea ambongensis "bean" (left) and the commercial Arabica variety

Seven wild coffee species also feature on the list of new species, most of which were discovered in the mountains of northern Madagascar.

Two of the plants - Coffea ambongensis and Coffea boinensis - have the largest seeds of any coffee species, whose "beans" are more than twice the size of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica), the main species used in commercial coffee production.

"Coffee is the world's second most traded commodity, after oil, with at least 25 million farming families dependent on its production for their livelihoods," explained RBG Kew's coffee expert Aaron Davis.

"Yet, we still have much to learn about its wild relatives."

Dr Davis estimated that almost three-quarters of the world's wild coffee species were threatened, as a result of habitat loss and climate change.

"Conserving the genetic diversity within this genus has implications for the sustainability of our daily cup, particularly as coffee plantations are highly susceptible to climate change," he added.

Professor Hopper said that, around the globe, about 2,000 species were described for the first time each year, adding that it was "vital" that these areas of botanical sciences were adequately funded and supported.

Kew Gardens has published profiles of the new species on its website, and added the information to Google Earth.

'Bumper year' for botanical finds

The flower of the Berlinia korupensis, the largest plant in the list of new finds

Giant rainforest trees, tiny fungi and wild coffee plants are among almost 300 species that have been described by UK botanists for the first time in 2009.

The finds were recorded by researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who carried out surveys involving teams in 100 countries around the world.

The discoveries showed how little of the world's plant species had been documented, the researchers said.

They warned that nearly a third of the finds were in danger of extinction.

"These new discoveries highlight the fact that there is so much of the plant world yet to be discovered and documented," said Stephen Hopper, director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew).

"Without knowing what's out there and where it occurs, we have no scientific basis for effective conservation."

Kew's botanists have described 2009 as a "bumper year" in which they described 292 new species, compared with 200 in an average year.

Exploding pods

The largest of the new finds was a previously unknown giant of Cameroon's rainforest, stretching more than 42m (138ft) into the canopy of the Korup National Park.

The Berlinia korupensis pods explode, spreading seeds over a wide area

The Berlinia korupensis - a member of the pea family - has a one-metre-wide buttressed trunk, and produces white flowers that then give rise to massive seed pods, which can reach 30cm (1ft) in length.

When fully ripened, the pods explode, sending the seeds flying away from the tree, ensuring the best possible chance of survival.

"We found just 17 trees in our survey," explained Xander van der Burgt, who led the team that found the tree.

"Even though the Korup (National Park) is protected, Berlinia korupensis is critically endangered due to human pressures on the park," he added.

At the other end of the scale, the smallest finds were wood-rotting fungi, which were less than 1mm thick and covered their hosts "like a lick of paint".

Coffea ambongensis "bean" (left) and the commercial Arabica variety

Seven wild coffee species also feature on the list of new species, most of which were discovered in the mountains of northern Madagascar.

Two of the plants - Coffea ambongensis and Coffea boinensis - have the largest seeds of any coffee species, whose "beans" are more than twice the size of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica), the main species used in commercial coffee production.

"Coffee is the world's second most traded commodity, after oil, with at least 25 million farming families dependent on its production for their livelihoods," explained RBG Kew's coffee expert Aaron Davis.

"Yet, we still have much to learn about its wild relatives."

Dr Davis estimated that almost three-quarters of the world's wild coffee species were threatened, as a result of habitat loss and climate change.

"Conserving the genetic diversity within this genus has implications for the sustainability of our daily cup, particularly as coffee plantations are highly susceptible to climate change," he added.

Professor Hopper said that, around the globe, about 2,000 species were described for the first time each year, adding that it was "vital" that these areas of botanical sciences were adequately funded and supported.

Kew Gardens has published profiles of the new species on its website, and added the information to Google Earth.