Import Restriction on Salamanders in Canada - via Herp Digest

From Canada Gazette’s “Canadian Wildlife and Climate Change page’

In order to protect wild Canadian salamander species from a harmful disease-causing fungus, the Government of Canada has prohibited the importation of all species of the order Caudata (such as salamanders, newts and mudpuppies) for a period of one year unless accompanied by a permit. This import restriction includes living or dead specimens, as well as their eggs, sperm, tissue culture and embryos, or any part or derivative of such specimens or species of the order Caudata. This prohibition is implemented under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA) and Wild Animal and Plant Trade Regulations (WAPTR).

To learn more about the regulation, visit the following links:

http://bit.ly/2qGIp6o

FDA finds rodent hair and wood slivers in your imported spices

Here’s a short list of SOME of the stuff the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found in your spices: insects (live and dead whole insects and insect parts), excrement (animal, bird, and insect), hair (human, rodent, bat, cow, sheep, dog, cat and others), and other materials (decomposed parts, bird barbs, bird barbules, bird feathers, stones, twigs, staples, wood slivers, plastic, synthetic fibers, and rubber bands). Are you still holding your lunch?

According to a report released on Wednesday by the FDA, approximately 12 percent of the spices imported to the U.S. are adulterated with any number of items found in the aforementioned list. The New York Times notes almost seven percent of spice imports analyzed by the FDA were adulterated with salmonella.

So, what’s the good news?

“The bug parts aren’t going to harm you, but no one wants to eat those,” said Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News’ chief health and medical editor, according to ABC News. “The salmonella can cause disease, but probably less than you might think, because we tend to cook the spices. We tend to not use very many of them.”

Read more:

http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/fda-bird-excrement-live-insects-found-in-your-imported-spices/#ixzz2jVNG9mzg

Imported Tortoises Could Replace Madagascar's Extinct Ones

Two millennia ago, millions of giant tortoises roamed Madagascar, an island nation off the southeastern coast of Africa that is rich in species found nowhere else on Earth. Those tortoises kept Madagascar's unique ecosystem in check by munching on low-lying foliage, trampling vegetation and dispersing large seeds from native trees like the baobab.

When humans began settling on the island about 2,300 years ago, Madagascar's large vertebrate populations were the first casualties. Dozens of species disappeared altogether, including 17 giant lemurs, three pygmy hippopotamuses, two aardvark like mammals, a giant fossa (a catlike carnivore), eight elephant birds, a giant crocodile and two giant tortoises. With their demise, the composition of Madagascar's ecosystems changed, shrubs and vegetation clogged the forest floor and wildfires became more frequent and intense.

Now, researchers think they've found a way to replace Madagascar's lost giant tortoise species: Bring in some relatives, says Miguel Pedrono, a Madagascar-based conservation biologist with the French agricultural research center CIRAD.

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