Wildlife – Guardians Of Life

Don’t Let Allegedly Neglectful and Spiteful Shelter Kill its Animals – Animal Petitions

Photo Credit: Emerald City American Bulldogs animalpetitions.org

Tiffany White

Target: Kristen Donmoyer, Director of Pennsylvania Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement

Goal: Investigate licensing of shelter that allegedly neglects and mishandles animals under its care.

Protests mounted, drawing national attention, as the planned death date of a Pennsylvania shelter dog neared. Community members, current and former volunteers at the Humane Society of Harrisburg, and even lawmakers urged the society to reverse its decision to euthanize Pursuit, its longest-standing canine. As the hour drew closer, word emerged that a volunteer had removed Pursuit from the shelter. A theft complaint was reportedly filed by the humane society a short time later. In the end, this animal’s life was saved, but his plight highlights what employees apparently say are still-lingering problems within the shelter.
Don’t Let Allegedly Neglectful and Spiteful Shelter Kill its Animals – Animal Petitions

29 Species Have Recovered Enough in Australia to be Taken Off Endangered List–a Milestone for Celebration

A large research project studying endangered species in Australia has tallied 29 recovered species—all animals that can be safely de-listed from the country’s endangered species list.

Australia’s Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act currently lists 446 species of animals in genuine need of protection, but 29 of those are no longer in need—15 mammals, 8 birds, 4 frogs, a reptile, and a fish.

Among these critters are the golden, Western barred, and Eastern barred bandicoots, Western quoll, sooty albatross, waterfall frog, Flinder’s Range worm-lizard, yellow-footed rock wallabies, greater bilby, humpback whale, growling grass frog, Murray’s cod, and others.
— Read on www.goodnewsnetwork.org/29-australian-animals-found-to-have-recovered-enough-for-delisting-in-milestone-for-celebration/

Ecological Mismatch’: Hot Winter Wreaking Havoc On PA Environment

PENNSYLVANIA — While the impacts of climate change are cumulative and sometimes incremental to the point of obscurity, there’s no escaping the realities of the warmest winter in the recorded history of eastern Pennsylvania.

Chief among those consequences: a phenomonom termed “ecological mismatch” by researchers that happens when plants and animals are no longer synchronous on their seasonal cycles.

Specifically, what is essentially the early arrival of spring changes when certain plants bloom. Some blooms will appear early in Pennsylvania this year, and could potentially have already died off by the time the pollinators think it’s time for them to arrive.

Rare Species of Feline Dubbed the ‘Original Grumpy Cat’ Found Living On Mount Everest

DNA analysis confirmed that the rare and little-known Pallas’ cat lives on the body of Mount Everest—three miles above sea level.

The discovery was made along Sagarmatha National Park on Mount Everest’s Southern Flank in Nepal after a month-long expedition collecting environmental samples.
— Read on www.goodnewsnetwork.org/rare-species-of-feline-dubbed-the-original-grumpy-cat-found-living-on-mount-everest/

Petition · Help Save Starving Manatees · Change.org

Manatees in Florida are dying off at record rates. More than 20% of the manatees—close to 2,000—have perished in the past two years.
More than 740 manatees died just last year, following a catastrophic 2021 for these gentle giants, when more than 1,100 perished.
These animals are starving to death due to loss of seagrass, and swimming through some of the worst pollution they’ve ever known.
Manatees are currently listed as “threatened,” but it’s clear they urgently need the full power of the Endangered Species Act.
Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to uplist Florida’s manatees to “endangered” to guarantee their survival.

— Read on www.change.org/corgi/assets/

World’s First Vaccine for Declining Honeybees Approved By the US for Conditional Use

A biotech company announced this week that the USDA (Department of Agriculture) granted them a conditional license for their honeybee vaccine.

The vaccine boosts the bee’s immune system to fight against American Foulbrood disease, a bacteria-based condition known to attack colonies that is caused by Paenibacillus larvae.

Critical to our food supplies, honeybees have been plagued by American Foulbrood, which until now had no safe or sustainable antidote. Previously, the only treatment method for the highly contagious disease was incinerating the bees, infected hives, and all the equipment.
— Read on www.goodnewsnetwork.org/honeybee-vaccine-gets-approval-from-usda/

Reward Grows to $25K in Nevada Probe of 5 Wild Horse Deaths

ELY, Nev. (AP) — The reward has grown to $25,000 in the investigation of the shooting deaths of five wild horses in eastern Nevada more than a year ago, the Bureau of Land Management said Tuesday.

The five mortally wounded horses were discovered Nov. 16, 2021 in Jakes Valley, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Ely.
— Read on www.usnews.com/news/best-states/nevada/articles/2023-01-24/reward-grows-to-25k-in-nevada-probe-of-5-wild-horse-deaths

Record Heat Means Only Female Sea Turtles Are Hatching in Florida

“Scientists that are studying sea turtle hatchlings and eggs have found no boy sea turtles, so only female sea turtles for the past four years,” Zirkelbach told Reuters.

The discovery is not limited to Florida. Zirkelbach told the news organization that researchers in Australia have also documented similar findings, with an estimated 99% of the country’s turtles born female over the past few years.
— Read on people.com/pets/only-female-sea-turtles-born-in-florida-due-to-hot-weather/

Biden Administration Restores Endangered Species Act

By Catrin Einhorn
June 23, 2022
Updated 12:43 p.m. ET
The Biden administration is throwing out the definition of “habitat” for endangered animals, returning to an understanding that existed before the government under President Donald J. Trump shrank the areas that could be protected for animals under threat of extinction.

By striking a single sentence from the regulations, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries could once again protect a “critical habitat” even if it had become unsuitable because of development or other changes but could be restored.

A rare two-headed turtle is alive and thriving, surprising scientists

A diamondback terrapin turtle hatched a couple weeks ago with two heads, a condition called bicephaly. The two-skulled, six-legged reptile was brought into a Massachusetts wildlife center, and while it currently seems healthy, veterinarians are continuing to closely monitor its health.

The hatchling looks like a pair of conjoined twins, with two independently moving heads poking out of its green shell. When the turtle splashes around in water, each skull comes up at different times to breathe, and each head controls its own set of three legs. X-rays also show that hidden inside the shell are two distinct gastrointestinal tracts—though they partially share a spine. The Birdsey Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable, MA, has a terrapin program, so the two-headed reptile was brought in on September 22, shortly after hatching at a protected terrapin nesting site in Barnstable.

The Center introduced the little guy in a recent Facebook post.

“When they came in, wow—it knocked us on our butts because we’ve never seen a bicephaly animal or turtle before,” Katrina Bergman, CEO of the New England Wildlife Centers, told The Washington Post.