View record salmon at WA state dam

The Wenatchee World via USA Today reports on the record number of sockeye salmon now making their way through Washington State's Rocky Reach Dam to their Canadian spawning grounds.

This year at Rocky Reach, the numbers of returning adult sockeye have surged past 271,000, said Steve Hemstrom, Chelan County PUD senior fisheries biologist. More than 247,000 of those swam through the dam's viewing windows in the last 22 days. The peak run for one 24-hour period occurred July 5 when 23,705 sockeye were counted. That's an average of about 1,000 per hour.

Many of the returning sockeye, now fighting their way up the Columbia River, will likely make a left turn at the Okanogan River and swim north to spawn in Lake Osoyoos, Hemstrom said. Curious observers at a high vantage point — say, the Okanogan River bridge in Omak — could likely see hundreds, maybe thousands of these fish making their way to Canadian home waters, he added.

Read the full story: Record number of sockeye salmon on view at Washington dam

Photo from Don Seabrook / The Wenatchee World / AP

10 Gulf oil spill animals could go extinct

Mother Nature Network has a slide show of 10 animals they say are "at risk for extinction" from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

For a handful of species, however, the spill may be the final nail in the coffin. The situation is so dire that one major online gambling site has begun allowing bets on which Gulf animals are most likely to be declared extinct first.

Among the list are:

- Great Lakes Piping Plover (picture): their foraging areas are coastlines that washed up oil now covers.

- Smalltooth and Largetooth Sawfish: while the largetooth "may already be extinct in the region," the smalltooth nursery areas are in the oil spill's path.

- Manatees: the oil is spilling into these endangered animals' summer habitat off Florida which could prompt a "massive" rescue and removal effort.

Read the full story: 10 animals at risk of extinction from Gulf oil spill

Photo from Steven Senne / AP

Rare Sri Lanka primate caught on camera

Agence France-Press reports on the sighting and photograph of an extremely rare and thought-to-be extinct Sri Lankan primate.

The nocturnal loris, a 6 inch primate with small ears and large eyes, was last sighted on the island-nation in 2002 and scientists thought it had since died out. Its interior Sri Lanka jungle habitat is being razed in favor of tea plantations. This has created divisions of the shy mammals territory making it difficult for them to seek out mates and breed.

[Field] researchers, working with the Zoological Society of London, managed to track down the mysterious creature in the forests of central Sri Lanka.

In a world first, they were able to take pictures of an adult male slender loris sitting on a tree branch.

The field team was able to capture one of the creatures and give it a physical examination, the first time that has ever been done, before releasing it back into the wild.

Read the full story: Wide-eyed primate caught on camera for first time

Photo from France 24

Swim with whale sharks in Baja, Mexico

MSNBC reports on the adventure of swimming with whale sharks, "the world's largest fish," in the Mexico's Sea of Cortez.

Whale sharks grow up to 40 feet but have very small teeth and aren't predatory. That means they won't try to eat you. Gentle giants, they gather each fall at Bahia de Los Angeles — almost halfway down the Baja Peninsula on the Sea of Cortez — to filter-feed on microscopic organisms called plankton.

The Mexican government also seems concerned about whale sharks, marking off with buoys the part of Bahia de los Angeles where whale sharks congregate and enforcing rules for interacting with the animals. Chasing or herding sharks isn't allowed. No more than three people per boat may be in the water at any time. Touching sharks is prohibited.

Read the full story: Swim with the world's largest fish in Mexico

Photo from Baja Airventures Inc.

Russia expands conservation areas

Environmental News Network reports that Russia will expand their wildlife protected areas 3 percent by 2020.

The new conservation space will be almost the size of the country of Switzerland.

The Russian government's decision establishes 9 new nature reserves and 13 national parks covering a total area of over 3.8 million [hectares] by 2020. Russia is also introducing marine buffer zones of over 1 million ha.

An existing 9 reserves and 1 national park will see their areas increased by 500 thousand ha.

The decision was based on an analysis of WWF in cooperation with The Nature Coservancy and MAVA Foundation, carried out between 2006-2008, and is aimed at fulfilling Russia's commitment under the Convention on Biodiversity to establish effective protected area systems that safeguard biodiversity.

Read the full story: Russia to create national parks and reserves nearly size of Switzerland

Photo from ENN

Global search for temp panda handlers

Agence France-Press reports on the Chinese panda center's search for six temporary panda handlers.

The Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base in the southwest of China says it will have a worldwide contest to pick six panda enthusiasts who will then help look after the black and white mammals for a month. The winners will get to blog their experiences and bring awareness to the pandas' plight.

Huang Xiangming, head of the animal management department at the base, says that when it first opened in 1987, the centre only had six pandas, rescued starving from the wild. It now counts 84 permanent residents.

He says panda keepers are especially needed at times of mating in spring and birthing, which starts during the summer. These rituals are vital, as the animals' notoriously low libido has frustrated efforts to boost their numbers.

Details on the search have not yet been released.

Read the full story: China launches global search for panda keepers

Photo from France 24

Oil-affected sea turtles won't be "incinerated alive"; BP, enviro groups, US Coast Guard

Reuters reports that an agreement between BP, environmental groups and the U.S. Coast Guard to burn off oil in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill won't burn sea turtles caught up in the oil.

Under the accord reached in talks on Thursday evening and Friday morning, the parties agreed to a plan allowing biologists or other trained wildlife observers to accompany oil-incineration vessels at sea to remove as many turtles as possible from designated areas before burning starts.

Private boat captains chartered for wildlife rescue missions in the Gulf said in affidavits filed with the lawsuit that young sea turtles tend to congregate among oil blobs floating in the water, apparently unable to distinguish between the oil and mats of seaweed that provide natural shelter on the surface of the Gulf.

The turtles are then presumably swept up and unable to escape when shrimp boats contracted for cleanup operations are used to drag fire-resistant booms to encircle the floating oil before it is set ablaze.

Read the full story: Deal struck to save turtles from Gulf oil burns

Photo from Tour de Turtles

Name the baby gorillas in Rwanda

Global Post reports on the sixth annual baby gorilla naming event in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park.

In a country home to roughly a third of the world’s 700 remaining mountain gorillas, the annual event, known as Kwita Izina, is a celebrity-laden affair designed to draw attention to global awareness of biodiversity and conservation.

Names for the 14 infant gorillas included "Kinyarwanda-language monikers such as "Igihembo" (Prize), "Ubuhamya" (Testimony) and "Umurage" (Legacy) and "Waka Waka," meaning "Do It" in Cameroon’s Fang language."

Read the full story: Rwanda where there are baby gorillas to name

Photo by Jon Rosen / GlobalPost

Take these 7 environmentally friendly safaris

Tree Hugger reports on seven safaris with an environmental focus.

Kenya: Eco-Resorts' 11-day,10-night tour of Kenya singles out the country's ecotourism hotspots by booking stays at properties owned by residents of the communities you'll pass through

Rwanda: Rwanda Eco-Tours' Inside Nyungwe tour is a six-day trip takes you into Nyungwe Forest National Park, home to more than a dozen different primate species.

South Africa: The Earth Organization's safaris are practically a mini-course in conservation under the direction of Lawrence Anthony, best known for saving the animals in residence at the Baghdad Zoo at the beginning of the Iraq War.

Read the full story: 7 eco safaris around the globe

Photo from Rwanda Tourism

Guns vs grizzly bears - new federal law allows guns in national parks

The AP via USA Today reports on a new federal law that allows people to carry guns into national parks.

The law was focused on Second Amendment rights to bear arms as opposed to warding off attacking grizzly bears.

Proponents claim that the guns will help protect them against the advent of a bear attack. Park service biologists claim that guns and grizzlies together equal dead grizzlies and that less deadly methods to ward of bears should be used. Other park service workers say that only time will tell about the consequences of the new law.

Grizzlies are the undisputed bosses of the backcountry in [Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks]. They've killed 10 people in Glacier and five in Yellowstone in the past century. Those parks average one grizzly attack with injuries a year. Grand Teton has had only a handful of attacks, and no deaths, but it's only had substantial numbers of grizzlies for the past decade or so.

Wyoming, Idaho and Montana are home to roughly 1,300 grizzlies. Their numbers have rebounded since the 1970s and, although grizzlies still are listed as a threatened species, it's no longer rare for one lolling roadside to jam up tourist traffic in Grand Teton, Yellowstone or Glacier.

Park rangers in [the three parks] are still telling visitors that a pressurized can of hot-pepper oil — bear spray — is their best defense.

Their reasoning? Studies show that in most cases, putting a cloud of bear spray in a grizzly's face works better than trying to stop a moving 400-pound animal with a perfectly placed bullet.

"You've got to be a really good shot with a gun," said Yellowstone bear biologist Kerry Gunther. "That's the beauty of bear spray. You don't really have to aim it. All you have to do is pull it and pull the trigger."

Read the full story: New law pits guns against grizzlies in national parks

Photo by David Grubbs / AP

Lead poisoning threatens rare wild condor chick

In April National Parks Traveler reported on the first condor chick to hatch in the wild in 100 years.

Now they report that toxic levels of lead is threatening the 50-day-old hatchling. Initially treated with chelation - a calcium EDTA injection that binds with heavy metals to avoid tissue retention - the chick's health continued to decline and biologists evacuated it to a special treatment facility.

Lead poisoning has been an on-going problem for condor populations. Condors are exclusively scavengers, feeding on a wide range of dead mammals. Research has established that the principle source of lead exposure among condors is lead ammunition.

Lead Ammunition has been banned for the taking of big game in a wide region of central and southern California, although that move has been a controversial one for some hunters. Park officials note that shooters who have made the switch to non-lead ammunition have made an invaluable contribution to the health of scavenging wildlife.

Lead levels were also found to be toxic in the condor father and he was also given chelation at the Los Angeles Zoo. Biologists are also trying to trap the mother condor to determine is she also has been exposed to lead.

Read the full story: Bad news for condor chick at Pinnacles National Monument

Photo by Gavin Emmons / National Park Service

Crow management on Cape Cod Seashore

National Parks Traveler reports on the dilemma Cape Cod National Seashore officials have with managing crows that are killing endangered piping plovers.

The crows like eating the plovers' eggs which are plentiful around the March through May nesting season. One-third of all plover eggs are eaten by crows. A solution was to place wire cages around the nests (picture above), but the intelligent black birds realized that if they landed fast and loud on the top of the cages, the plovers would run out in fright thus leaving their eggs unattended.

Poisoning the crows was a plan that had been thought up but became controversial.

While seashore officials go over their shorebird management plan and continue to invite public comments on how best to deal with crows and plovers, shorebird management activities will continue as in previous years with the use of enclosures to protect nesting plovers from predators. In addition, the seashore will implement a flexible shorebird management approach this summer on several high visitation beaches.

Read the full story: Cape Cod National Seashore officials revisit plan to kill crows to help piping plovers

Photo from Sidney Maddock / NPS

Rare condor chick hatches in CA NP

National Parks Traveler reports on the first condor chick in over a century to hatch in California's Pinnacles National Monument.

Condors were put on the federal endangered species list in 1967, captive breeding programs began in the 80s to ward off complete extinction and reintroduction to Southern California began in the 90s.

The parents of this newly hatched chick were released into the wild and were seen doing courtship rituals last winter.

National Park Service Wildlife Biologist Daniel George reports that the first-time parent condors have been exhibiting normal behavior, regularly feeding and incubating the new nestling. He notes, "The milestone highlights regional efforts to bring the condor back from the brink of extinction."

The park has some tips for anyone interested in coming to view the birds:

Although the areas directly around the nest cliff will be closed to public use for the duration of the nesting period, public viewing is still possible. The strenuous hike to the viewing area is approximately two miles from the closest East or West Side parking areas. From the west, the elevation gain is approximately 1100 feet, and from the east it is over 1200 feet. Please ask in park Visitor Centers for more complete directions to the viewing area.

Read the full story: Condor chick is first to hatch in over a century at Pinnacles National Monument

Photo from NPS

Tourist mosquitoes threaten Galapagos animals

Buenos Aires Herald reports that stowaway mosquitoes are threatening the once isolated wildlife on the Galapagos Islands.

The invasive insects are believed to be transported by planes and tourist boats, ferried to the island by the increasing number of tourists.

Experts fear the spread of the southern house mosquito, or Culex quinquefasciatus, could have the same devastating effect in the Galapagos as in Hawaii during the late 19th century, when disease wiped out many indigenous birds.

The government of Ecuador recently introduced a requirement for insecticide spraying on aircraft flying to the Galapagos, but the scientists said the scheme's effectiveness was not being monitored and the rules did not apply to cargo ships.

Mosquitoes are the latest in a string of invaders - including rats, wild pigs, flies and invasive plants - that have colonized the Pacific islands, located about 600 miles off South America's coast along the equator.

Read the full story: Stowaway mosquitoes threaten Galapagos wildlife

Photo from BA Herald

London Zoo exhibits S American rainforest life

The Guardian reports on London Zoo's South American rainforest exhibit.

David Field, zoological director of London zoo, said: "Rainforest Life will transport people to other corners of the world by coming through the gates of London zoo. It is a dynamic, living ecosystem and you won't see the same exhibit twice. It will give people a real taste of these priceless forests that are disappearing fast."

The zoo hopes [the exhibit] will become a breeding centre for the endangered species it houses. Visitors to the exhibit will have the chance to experience the heat and humidity of the jungle from elevated walkways where they can view the canopy teeming with wildlife.

Read the full story: London zoo exhibit recreates living South American rainforest

Photo from London Zoo

Save orcas or salmon?

McClatchy reports on the dilemma of endangered species eating another endangered species.

A new study on endangered animals shows that killer whales, also called orcas, in the Pacific Northwest are primarily eating endangered Chinook salmon in Canada.

Though the dietary habits of killer whales may not seem like a big deal, the orcas and various salmon species are protected on both sides of the border. Efforts to revive endangered species that share the same ecosystem can become intertwined.

"It is fascinating the whales specialize in a particular species, and the species they focus on is one of the rarer ones and in some case protected," said Michael Ford, the director of the conservation biology division at the National Marine Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. "Recovery of the whales could be dependent on the recovery of salmon. It is all related."

Read the full story: Wildlife dilemma: protect killer whales or the fish they eat?

Photo by Jeff Lorton / West Coast Wildlife Adventures

Orphaned gorillas could return to wild

The Guardian reports on the plans to release two orphaned young gorillas back into the wild.

Ndeze and Ndakasi (picture left) were orphaned after their parents were killed during the 2007 massacres in Congo's Virunga National Park that left 10 gorillas dead.

Negotiations are under way to bring two adult gorillas from Rwanda to become their adoptive parents, with a view to returning the babies to the wild.

The return of the gorillas from Rwanda depends on the completion of the Senkwekwe Centre, a specially designed sanctuary for Ndeze and Ndakasi in a lush forest habitat in Virunga park. The pair, each two and a half years old, moved there last December from a makeshift shelter in the city of Goma.

Besides the threat of poaching, the gorillas habitat is being slowly cut down as people seeking wood for fuel encroach more and more into the forests.

Read the full story: New hope for mountain gorillas

Photo from Virunga National Park

Desert eagles to lose endangered protections

Treehugger reports on the desert bald eagles imminent removal from endangered protection.

48 breeding pairs of bald eagle survive along the rivers of the otherwise hot and dry Sonoran Desert. Currently, this small group of eagles is listed on the federal list of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife but, if a new petition from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is approved, they would lose that protection.

It is not the first time the department has motioned to eliminate endangered-species protections from the desert-nesting eagles. The agency has been fighting conservationists in court over the issue since as early as 2006 and, in 2007, a judge threw out their motion to strip the desert eagles of their endangered species protections.

Read the full story: Desert nesting bald eagles set to lose protected status

Photo by Carl Chapman / Flickr

Canadian grizzlies vs. polar bears

Discovery News reports that Canadian grizzly bears are encroaching on polar bear territory.

A Canadian Field Nationalist study shows that the grizzlies are moving into territory in northern Manitoba traditionally thought as polar bear territory. The study claims that this grizzly encroachment could inflict damage on the polar bear population.

Before 1996, there was no evidence that grizzly bears encroached on polar bear territory. From that year on, however, there have been at least 12 sightings, negating the prior theory that the barren landscape north of the Hudson Bay was impassable, in terms of resources, for migrating grizzly bears. But the flexible bears, which can eat everything from meat to berries, have crossed the gap and likely won't look back much, since the polar bear region is known for its abundant caribou, moose, fish and berries.

Read the full story: Grizzly bears enter polar bear territory

Photo by Linda Gormezano

Half of world's primates face "imminent extinction": report

The Guardian reports on the "imminent extinction" of half the world's primates. Habitat destruction is the main problem say the report's scientists

In a report highlighting the 25 most endangered primate species, conservationists have outlined the desperate plight of primates from Madagascar, Africa, Asia and Central and South America, with some populations down to just a few dozen in number.

Of the world's 634 primate species, 48% are classified as threatened with extinction on the IUCN's "red list" of threatened species. The latest report was compiled by 85 primatologists working in the field and will be launched today at Bristol zoo by a coalition of conservation groups including the IUCN and Conservation International and the International Primatological Society.

Read the full story: Almost half of all primates face 'imminent extinction'

Photo by Nora Schwitzer/Bristol Conservation and Science Foundation