Professor Donald Quicke, the leading wasp expert at the Natural History Museum, has discovered 178 new species of wasp in Thailand, the result of collecting in many different habitats over the past few years.
Prof Quicke told the Today programme that, although they may be a nuisance at a picnic, wasps are "very important from an ecological point of view" because they "kill a large number of pests and insects".
Mr Quicke added that he expects there are more than a million more new wasp species to be discovered around the world.
Listen: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9755000/9755692.stm
Monday, 1 October 2012
India WWF report says four leopards killed every week
At least four leopards are poached every week in India, according to a new study by a group of conservationists.
The report by Traffic documented 420 seizures of leopard skins, bones and body parts between 2001 and 2010.
It says the northern state of Uttarakhand is the biggest source for leopard parts, while Delhi is the hub of illegal trade.
Leopards are a protected species in India and all international commercial trade in their body parts is banned.
Wildlife experts say there are no reliable population estimates of these big cats in India, but according to rough estimates, there are about 10,000 leopards in the country.
The report - Illuminating the Blind Spot: A study on illegal trade in Leopard parts in India - which was released on Friday, estimates that around 2,294 leopards have been trafficked in India during the 10-year span.
The study says that most of the leopard parts are smuggled to Asian countries like China, Burma and Laos through India's porous border with Nepal.
Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-19754587
The report by Traffic documented 420 seizures of leopard skins, bones and body parts between 2001 and 2010.
It says the northern state of Uttarakhand is the biggest source for leopard parts, while Delhi is the hub of illegal trade.
Leopards are a protected species in India and all international commercial trade in their body parts is banned.
Wildlife experts say there are no reliable population estimates of these big cats in India, but according to rough estimates, there are about 10,000 leopards in the country.
The report - Illuminating the Blind Spot: A study on illegal trade in Leopard parts in India - which was released on Friday, estimates that around 2,294 leopards have been trafficked in India during the 10-year span.
The study says that most of the leopard parts are smuggled to Asian countries like China, Burma and Laos through India's porous border with Nepal.
Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-19754587
Leopards can’t change their spots? Cheetahs can
How the cat got his blotches
September 2012. As any cat lover knows, distinct patterns of dark and light hair colour are apparent not only in housecats but also in their wild relatives, from cheetahs to tigers to snow leopards. Researchers at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and Stanford University, along with colleagues around the world, have reported new genetic findings that help to understand the molecular basis of these patterns in all felines.
A so-called "mackerel tabby" cat has dark tiger stripes, which coalesce into swirls and blotches in a "classic tabby" cat. Like other periodic natural patterns such as stripes on a zebra or spinal bones and vertebra, the origin of these repetitive structures is an unsolved mystery. "Until now, there's been no obvious biological explanation for cheetah spots or the stripes on tigers, zebras or even the ordinary house cat," said Gregory Barsh, M.D., Ph.D., faculty investigator at HudsonAlpha and emeritus professor of genetics at Stanford University, one of the senior authors of the study.
King cheetah
When comparing sequence differences between striped and blotched domestic cats, the researchers saw the evidence pointed to a gene that they named Taqpep. Blotched cats had specific mutations in both copies of this gene, while striped cats did not. Remarkably, the rare "king cheetah," once thought to be a unique species because of an unusual striped pattern rather than regular spots, also carried a mutation in Taqpep.
Continued: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/cheetah-spots.html
September 2012. As any cat lover knows, distinct patterns of dark and light hair colour are apparent not only in housecats but also in their wild relatives, from cheetahs to tigers to snow leopards. Researchers at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and Stanford University, along with colleagues around the world, have reported new genetic findings that help to understand the molecular basis of these patterns in all felines.
A so-called "mackerel tabby" cat has dark tiger stripes, which coalesce into swirls and blotches in a "classic tabby" cat. Like other periodic natural patterns such as stripes on a zebra or spinal bones and vertebra, the origin of these repetitive structures is an unsolved mystery. "Until now, there's been no obvious biological explanation for cheetah spots or the stripes on tigers, zebras or even the ordinary house cat," said Gregory Barsh, M.D., Ph.D., faculty investigator at HudsonAlpha and emeritus professor of genetics at Stanford University, one of the senior authors of the study.
King cheetah
When comparing sequence differences between striped and blotched domestic cats, the researchers saw the evidence pointed to a gene that they named Taqpep. Blotched cats had specific mutations in both copies of this gene, while striped cats did not. Remarkably, the rare "king cheetah," once thought to be a unique species because of an unusual striped pattern rather than regular spots, also carried a mutation in Taqpep.
Continued: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/cheetah-spots.html
Australian teenager bitten by most venomous snake
Police in Australia are investigating how a teenager near Sydney came to be bitten by the world's most venomous snake.
The 17-year-old boy was bitten on the hand by an Inland Taipan snake, which usually lives in desert areas.
The boy is in a serious but stable condition in hospital after being given anti-venom.
A drop of Inland Taipan venom is enough to kill 100 people and causes paralysis.
The snake is also more commonly known as the fierce snake, because of the venom's strength rather than the reptile's temperament.
"Police are now attempting to establish how the youth came to be bitten, and hope to speak to the young man once he is considered well enough,"New South Wales police said in a statement.
Officials at Mater hospital in Newcastle City, where the boy is being treated, said that the anti-venom was crucial to his survival.
Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19739656
The 17-year-old boy was bitten on the hand by an Inland Taipan snake, which usually lives in desert areas.
The boy is in a serious but stable condition in hospital after being given anti-venom.
A drop of Inland Taipan venom is enough to kill 100 people and causes paralysis.
The snake is also more commonly known as the fierce snake, because of the venom's strength rather than the reptile's temperament.
"Police are now attempting to establish how the youth came to be bitten, and hope to speak to the young man once he is considered well enough,"New South Wales police said in a statement.
Officials at Mater hospital in Newcastle City, where the boy is being treated, said that the anti-venom was crucial to his survival.
Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19739656
Hati the tiger gets a root canal at Zoo Miami
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A group of doctors got to the root of a problem to help a tiger at Zoo Miami restore his roar.
“Hati,” an endangered Malayan tiger, had a toothache that would make even the kindest tiger upset. The Malayan tiger is classified as endangered, they can only be found on the Malay Peninsula and there is estimated to be about 1,000 of them left
Hati was born at the Fort Worth Zoo and arrived at Zoo Miami in November of 2004 as part of a planned captive breeding program.
Click here to see a slideshow of the operation.
Now, 10 years later, Hati has received a top of the line root canal on his lower right canine tooth after zookeepers noticed that he had fractured it in an unknown manner.
Continued: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/09/26/root-canal-for-tigers-toothache/
Photos: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/26/3022520/hati-the-tiger-gets-a-root-canal.html
“Hati,” an endangered Malayan tiger, had a toothache that would make even the kindest tiger upset. The Malayan tiger is classified as endangered, they can only be found on the Malay Peninsula and there is estimated to be about 1,000 of them left
Hati was born at the Fort Worth Zoo and arrived at Zoo Miami in November of 2004 as part of a planned captive breeding program.
Click here to see a slideshow of the operation.
Now, 10 years later, Hati has received a top of the line root canal on his lower right canine tooth after zookeepers noticed that he had fractured it in an unknown manner.
Continued: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/09/26/root-canal-for-tigers-toothache/
Photos: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/26/3022520/hati-the-tiger-gets-a-root-canal.html
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