This Castle’s Toilet Still Holds Parasites From Crusaders’ Feces

Cyprus, the Mediterranean island nation just south of Turkey, took centuries to gain its independence. The Greeks, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Romans, Ottomans, British and others all took their turns taking over the island, and each left their mark on the archeological record. But in a ruined chamber in a castle on the western corner of the island, it may be more apt to say the invaders left a smear.

In 1191, during the Third Crusade, King Richard I of England invaded Cyprus and ordered that a castle be built on the island’s western corner in order to defend the harbor there. Called Saranda Kolones, the castle’s name refers to its many monolithic columns. But in typical tumultuous Cyprus fashion, the medieval castle was only used for thirty years before it was destroyed by an earthquake. By then, King Richard had sold Cyprus to Guy de Lusignan, the King of Jerusalem. Lusignan and his successors had other plans for expanding the island. The wrecked port was abandoned and the castle never rebuilt. 

As castles go, Saranda Kolones had a pretty poor run. But two University of Cambridge researchers recently realized that, precisely thanks to the castle’s short use, a priceless treasure had been left behind in the Saranda Kolones’ bowels. One of the centuries-old castle latrines (read: ancient toilet), they found, was still full of dried-up poo. That feces, they thought, could provide valuable insight into what kind of parasites plagued the former residents’ guts. And because only 30 years’ worth of waste clogged the ancient sewage system, those parasites could provide specific insight into what ailed medieval crusaders. The researchers rolled up their sleeves and collected samples from the dessicated cesspool.

To rehydrate the ancient night soil, the team placed one gram of their sample into a chemical liquid solution. They used micro sieves, or tiny strainers to separate parasite eggs from the digested remains of the crusaders’ meals. They created 20 slides, and peeked into their microscopes to see what creatures the soldiers may have left behind.

Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/06/this-castles-toilet-still-holds-parasites-from-crusaders-feces/#ixzz2XDiwmeTF

2.8 million birds trapped in Cyprus in 2011 – Highest ever

Trappers ignoring rules
May 2012. BirdLife Cyprus has completed another year of monitoring of illegal bird trapping as part of its on-going anti-trapping campaign, with the overall picture revealing the magnitude of an ecological disaster. BirdLife undertook surveillance during spring, autumn and winter 2011 and the estimated death toll sums up to the shocking figure of 2.8 million birds, the highest estimate since year-round monitoring began five years ago. 

Trappers are no longer concerned with prosecution
BirdLife Cyprus has just finalized its winter trapping report for 2011. Trapping levels were similar to the previous winter season, with a small decrease of 8% in trapping activity recorded in winter 2011 compared to winter 2010. A total of 616 metres of active net rides were recorded during winter 2011, suggesting that over 400,000 wintering birds could have been caught in mist nets across the whole of Cyprus. An alarming number of mist nets in situ was recorded this winter, an increase of 300% compared to winter 2010, a clear indication that trappers are no longer concerned by the threat of prosecution.

Bird trapping is completely out of control"
‘Although these numbers are an estimate, they show that illegal bird trapping activity is getting completely out of control", said Dr Clairie Papazoglou, Executive Director of BirdLife Cyprus. "We have been recording a dramatic increase in trapping activity in the last few years. Too many people are still supporting this indiscriminate slaughter by eating ambelopoulia. People need to take on board what the ecological impact of eating ambelopoulia is and to stop demanding the illegal bird delicacies'" said Papazoglou.

"Also, the competent authorities need to re-double their efforts, implementing a strict ‘zero tolerance' approach across the entire bird crime chain, from the trapping sites to the restaurants offering birds", continued Papazoglou.

Targeting migratory birds
Illegal bird trappers are after migratory birds passing through Cyprus during spring and autumn or after wintering birds, mainly song thrushes (Turdus philomelos), during the winter season. The non-selectivity of mist nets and limesticks means that the catch is indiscriminate, with over 100 bird species recorded trapped, many of them considered rare and threatened. And as the death estimate suggests, bird trapping is nowadays extensive, run at an ‘industrial' level with huge profits to be made from selling the trapped birds to restaurants and for domestic consumption.

The ‘Larnaca Declaration'
The record annual death toll estimate of 2011 can only suggest that the ‘zero tolerance' approach that was pledged by all participants, including competent authorities, at the first Europe-wide conference on illegal killing of birds in Larnaca (Cyprus) in July (2011), has not materialized. The ‘Larnaca Declaration' and its recommendations outline the key tools to tackle this persistent illegality, including strengthening of enforcement and the development of a public awareness campaign. BirdLife Cyprus calls on the authorities to adopt the recommendations of the ‘Larnaca Declaration' and to draw up targeted action plans to stop illegal bird trapping.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/cyprus-burd-trap.html

2.8m birds slaughtered last year

AROUND 2.8 million birds were killed in 2011, this being the highest number since BirdLife Cyprus began monitoring five years ago, they said yesterday, describing it as an ‘ecological disaster.’

“Though these numbers are an estimate they show that bird trapping activity is getting completely out of control,” said Dr. Clairie Papazoglou, BirdLife’s executive director, adding that the competent authorities must re-double their efforts.

The figure is a result of BirdLife’s annual monitoring of illegal trapping.

According to their winter trapping report for 2011, trapping levels were similar to the previous winter season, with a slight decrease of eight per cent compared to winter 2010.

A total of 616 metres of net were found during the winter of 2011, suggesting that over 400,000 wintering birds could have been caught in mist nets islandwide.

Papazoglou explained that too many people are supporting this ‘indiscriminate slaughter’ by eating ‘ambelopoulia.’

Illegal bird trappers are usually after migratory birds passing through Cyprus in Spring and Autumn or after wintering birds, such as the Song Thrush. However the non-selectivity of limesticks and mist nets used to catch birds by poachers means that they catch a variety of species some of which are rare and protected. 

Papazoglou stressed that bird trapping nowadays is extensive and also run at industrial levels with huge profits to be made from selling the birds to restaurants.

BirdLife also called on authorities to implement the Larnaca Declaration that outlines the key tools to tackle poaching, including strengthening of enforcement, and the development of a public awareness campaign.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/birds/28m-birds-slaughtered-last-year/20120324 

Environment: migratory birds, ecological disaster in Cyprus

2.8 million birds killed or captured illegally in 2011

(ANSAmed) - NICOSIA - Deaf to appeals by local, international and EU ecologists, the Cypriot authorities are continuing to play a role in a serious environmental disaster. Last year, in the southern part of the island, 2.8 million migratory birds, many of them belonging to rare and protected species, were illegally captured and killed.

The slaughter of biblical proportions (last year's death toll was an estimated 1.4 million) has once again been condemned by the Cypriot environmentalist group BirdLifeCyprus, which has just published its latest report on the situation, which says that those mainly responsible for the killings are not only hunters but also poachers, with an illegal market now accounting for millions of euros per year. There is a merciless hunt for small migratory birds - mainly blackcaps, chaffinches, zitting cisticolas and hoopoes - which are illegally captured and then served as delicacies in restaurants on the island at a cost of 80 euros for a plate of 12. During the winter, hunters especially kill thrushes and robins, while summer is the season in which migratory birds are targeted. In Cyprus, where the birds pass between March and April and between August and October, their capture is forbidden by law but widely tolerated by the local authorities. Poachers are therefore able to act untroubled using wide nets with thin meshing spread among the trees or sticks infused with gluey substances hidden in bushes. The method causes the slow death of the trapped bird from hunger and thirst, and its use has increased by 300% compared to last year, a figure that suggests that poachers are far from dissuaded by potential legal penalties.

In July of last year, a major European conference on bird poaching was held in the city of Larnaca, the first time that Cyprus had staged such an event. The conference was attended by over 100 experts from a range of European countries, who underlined the need for a "zero tolerance" approach towards poaching and called on all of the competent European and local authorities to act to put an end to the slaughter. "Unfortunately, 2011 figures paint a picture that completely contradicts the decisions taken in the conference and measures must be adopted immediately to stop the illegal capture of the birds," said a Birdlife spokesperson.

In a joint statement from Germany, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) and the Cypriot section of Friends of the Earth (FOE) have announce that volunteers have found 3,817 traps in only 2 weeks, as well as 23 nets with invisible meshing and 32 electronic decoys in the island's south-eastern Famagusta area alone, which has one of the highest concentration of bird passage. "This is in stark contrast with the relatively weak efforts of the police in this critical area, where pressure on migratory birds through illegal capture is at its highest," say CABS and FOE.

The local hunting organisation and the anti-poaching division of the Cypriot police have significantly stepped up their efforts to tackle the illegal capture of birds, the two organisations say. The report by Birdlife, however, clearly shows that the efforts made by the authorities to tackle poaching in the eastern area of Larnaca, which includes the British military base in Dekelia and the Famagusta area, are significantly weaker than in other affected areas. "The only conclusion can be that political reasons have a role in this," say the CABS and the FOE, adding that this is why practical cooperation on the ground with police is very limited. "This is disappointing, as closer cooperation would have led to the seizure of a greater number of traps and more trials against poachers, and would have discouraged physical attacks on environmentalists searching for traps and nets across the island," the organisations say. (ANSAmed).

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/nations/cyprus/2012/03/01/visualizza_new.html_126300816.html 

Cyprus Bird death toll reaches one million

Birds illegally killed in Cyprus for local restaurant delicacy
October 2011: A million birds have been illegally trapped and killed already this autumn in Cyprus, one of the UK 's favourite holiday destinations.

BirdLife Cyprus, the RSPB's BirdLife partner on the island, estimates that more than a million birds have been slaughtered since the beginning of September, as the island's illegal bird-trapping season got under way.

The death toll has been estimated following BirdLife's field-monitoring of trapping activity as part of its ongoing systematic surveillance programme. The birds, including whitethroats and blackcaps, are killed to supply restaurants with the local delicacy ambelopoulia.

Autumn trappers target birds which are migrating between Europe and Africa.

One bird trapped every four secondsMartin Hellicar, campaigns manager of BirdLife Cyprus, said: ‘So far this autumn more than a million birds have been killed illegally using mist nets and limesticks in Cyprus and the toll continues to rise each day. We know that the autumn season is the main trapping period and this number is certain to become much bigger by the end of the month unless decisive action is taken now to back up enforcement efforts.'

Tim Stowe, the RSPB's international director commented: ‘An average of one bird every four seconds is being trapped and killed in Cyprus right now. Shocking as that statistic may be, the real surprise is that many of these birds have been killed within a short distance of the island's holiday hotspots, such as Ayia Napa, and a substantial number have been killed inside the UK administered Sovereign Base Areas, especially Dhekelia.

This island will become the shame of Europe‘This slaughter is completely illegal under European, Cyprus and Sovereign Base Area law. It beggars belief how Cyprus - a member of the European Union - and the Sovereign Base Area authorities can allow this massacre to continue year after year. It's time that Cyprus and the UK administrations got a grip of this problem before the island becomes the shame of Europe.'

BirdLife Cyprus has launched an appeal to gather signatures in a petition that will be sent to Cyprus ministers urging them to take action. The petition has already exceeded 11,000 names. The charity is also calling for decisive action against the restaurants serving the trapped birds, for targeted enforcement against big, organised trapping operations, and for tougher sentences for convicted trappers.

‘Such levels of trapping constitute an ecological disaster. Non-selective trapping is taking place on a large scale to feed the demand for banned ambelopoulia delicacies. We want to communicate the scale of this slaughter to the generally indifferent public in order to make them more aware of the issue and its ecological impact,' Martin Hellicar added.

89,225 birds slaughtered…so far! – Sign the petition to stop it now!

BirdLife Cyprus reveals online bird trapping death toll counter for the current autumn migration

BirdLife Cyprus has just published online (www.birdlifecyprus.org) an estimated death toll from the illegal bird trapping taking place in Cyprus during this autumn migration season. The toll has been estimated on the basis of field data from BirdLife’s ongoing field monitoring of trapping activity with mist nets and limesticks, part of a systematic surveillance programme. This first estimate -89,225 birds- represents the number of birds killed between Thursday 1st September and Sunday 11th September 2011. The estimate will be updated every Monday until the end of October. BirdLife Cyprus is posting this death toll on its website to highlight the urgency of the situation and as a call for action to halt this slaughter!

“We estimate that, so far this autumn, some 89,000 birds have been killed illegally using mist nets and limesticks in Cyprus. We know that the autumn season is the main trapping period and this number is certain to get much bigger over the next 2 months, unless decisive action is taken now to back up enforcement efforts”, said Martin Hellicar, Campaigns Manager of BirdLife Cyprus.

In July, the ‘European Conference on Illegal Killing of Birds’ that took place in Larnaca, concluded with a clear ‘zero tolerance’ message and an urgent call for appropriate measures to stop the bird slaughter. BirdLife Cyprus is now calling for words to be turned into action by all competent authorities at all levels. BirdLife Cyprus is once again calling for decisive action against the restaurants serving the trapped birds, for targeted enforcement against big, organised trapping operations and for tougher sentences for convicted trappers.

In autumn 2010 BirdLife Cyprus estimated that 1.4 million birds were killed by trappers in the Famagusta and Larnaca Districts, an unprecedented death toll resulting in the highest trapping levels recorded since 2002, when BirdLife Cyprus begun its systematic monitoring of trapping activity.

“Such levels of trapping constitute an ecological disaster. Non-selective trapping is taking place on a large scale to feed the demand for banned ambelopoulia delicacies. We want to communicate the scale of this slaughter to the generally indifferent public in order to make them more aware of the issue and its ecological impact”, Hellicar added.

The details of the death toll estimation and the methodology can be found on BirdLife Cyprus’ website, together with information on why bird trapping with mist nets and limesticks is such a big ecological issue.

TO SIGN THE PETITION PLEASE CLICK HERE!

http://www.birdlife.org/community/2011/09/89225-birds-slaughtered%e2%80%a6so-far-sign-the-petition-to-stop-it-now/?so-far-sign-the-petition-to-stop-it-now/

Cypriot bird trappers flock to British military base

As many songbirds, including robins, in Britain and northern Europe struggle with the icy blast of Arctic weather, many of their counterparts which have migrated to Cyprus to escape the harsh conditions are being killed by the island’s trappers in greater numbers than any year in the previous decade.


Shockingly, a report by BirdLife Cyprus reveals a large proportion of these birds are trapped at Dhekelia – a UK Sovereign Base Area in the south-east of the island.

Figures released by BirdLife Cyprus, the RSPB’s BirdLife International partner on the island, reveal that an estimated 1.4million songbirds have been trapped illegally this autumn to provide the main ingredient for a local delicacy: ambelopoulia. BirdLife Cyprus has described this level of slaughter as an ‘ecological disaster’
BirdLife Cyprus’s Martin Hellicar says the island has now lost significant ground in the battle against bird trapping. He added: “The picture emerging from this autumn is one of a bird-trapping disaster unseen since we began monitoring almost 10 years ago.”


Indiscriminate
He added: “Bird trapping is an illegal indiscriminate practice that threatens many birds of conservation concern, especially migratory ones.”

Tim Stowe is the RSPB’s International Director. Commenting on the rapidly worsening situation, he said: “The millions of Britons feeding songbirds in their gardens to help them survive this harsh spell will rightly be horrified at the level of slaughter that is happening in an area of Cyprus under direct British control.

“The fact that more than five times the level of netting activity were recorded on the UK’s Sovereign Base Area compared with the Cypriot Republic is a major embarrassment for the Ministry of Defence and the UK Government.

Annual carnage
“We know that some efforts have been made to clear trapping equipment from the Base Area, but this serious organised criminal activity and annual carnage will only be ended by increasing the level of arrests and convictions.”

Although trapping levels are thought to be lower than those experienced in the 1990s, the situation must be addressed urgently. Trappers are reportedly making hundreds of thousands of Euros by selling songbirds to restaurants to be served up as expensive delicacies.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/267412-cypriot-bird-trappers-flock-to-british-military-base

Cyprus wildlife experts on croc trail -- again

Wednesday August 18, 08:13 PM

NICOSIA (Reuters Life!) - Wildlife experts in Cyprus are trying to verify reports that a crocodile is on the loose after a farmer says she got the fright of her life with it staring her in the face.

The August 4 sighting at a mountain village some 50 km west of the capital Nicosia has prompted authorities to set traps and bait to catch the runaway reptile, which is not indigenous to the Mediterranean island. "We have not found anything that suggests there is something there, but we will keep on looking," said Constantinos Moustakas of the Cyprus Fisheries and Marine Research Department.

The woman, who keeps rabbits and owns a small vegetable patch, was apparently gardening when she came across the reptile. It is unclear if it was an alligator, or a crocodile.

"I had bent down to collect grass for the rabbits and I heard a ... sound and looked up. It was straight ahead..its mouth was open," Stavroulla Dikaiou was quoted as telling Politis newspaper.

"It was about 1.5 metres long and had a scaly body,"

It is not the first time speculation has surfaced on alligators or crocodiles on the prowl in Cyprus, without anything being found.

Authorities cannot dismiss the possibility that some may have been imported as exotic pets, then dumped when they got too large to handle.

Neither species breed in Cyprus, and its closest relative on the island is the much smaller, shy and innocuous chameleon.

Moustakas said it was unlikely that it was an over-sized chameleon. "She said it opened its mouth and growled at her. It looks like she got a good look at it."

(Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Steve Addison)

http://nz.entertainment.yahoo.com/100818/5/l077.html