This sure is one lucky buzzard

Lucky , the endangered black breasted buzzard with Anita Turton who nursed the bird back to good health. Picture: Matt Turner  Source:   AdelaideNow

AN unlikely combination of freakish circumstance, chance meetings and the goodwill of Outback workers and wildlife lovers will return one of Australia's rare birds to the skies this week.

This endangered black-breasted buzzard, named Lucky by her rescuers, has been nursed back to health over the past three months at Williamstown after being discovered, near death, on the Strzelecki Track at Moomba.

The plan is to release her back at the track, but she will have to undergo one final procedure to ensure she survives. Four tail feathers taken from road kill will be glued to existing feather stumps so Lucky can fly away.

Grounded by a broken wing bone and unable to feed herself for at least three weeks, Lucky was found by an ornithologist conducting research on a part of the track usually closed to the public. Recognising how important she was, the scientist phoned the local ranger, who contacted Santos workers, who built a crate for the bird and organised for her to be flown to Adelaide.

Read on:  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/this-sure-is-one-lucky-buzzard/story-fndo471r-1226448263284

Aquarium officials trying to rehab shark found on Seaside beach

SEASIDE, Ore. -- Shells and logs are common sights on the beaches of the Oregon coast. 

But a shark? That's exactly what was on the shore Wednesday.

A five-and-a-half foot Soupfin shark was on the beach for about an hour before a crew with the Seaside Aquarium could get to it. The shark was found by Seaside police officers who were on beach patrol Wednesday morning.

Seaside Aquarium officials weren't sure at first what kind of shark it was and had to pull out a reference manual to be completely sure because Soupfin sharks are typically found in subtropical waters. 

Keith Chandler, the general manager of Seaside Aquarium, monitored the shark's condition all day long. He said the odds of the shark's survival aren't great because it's in critical condition. 

"It came on the beach this morning the police called me it took me an hour to get to it," he said. "It was laying on the beach for an hour still alive ... We got it back to the aquarium and got it some water and were trying to remove it. It had been without oxygen for a long time so the odds aren't that great."

Officials said the bottom of the shark's belly was red -- a sign the shark was oxygen-deprived.

For a good part of the day, Chandler monitored the shark, making sure it was getting plenty of food as it swam around in a small tank before a crew from the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport drove to Seaside to pick the shark up. Once the shark makes it to Newport, a crew will work with it in order to try to rehabilitate it.


video:  http://www.katu.com/news/local/Aquarium-officials-trying-to-rehab-shark-found-on-Seaside-beach-162987146.html

Paralyzed Rats Regain Strut In Lab

After severe spinal cord damage, paralyzed rats are able to walk again with the help of a robot to hold them up and stimulate their nerves, a new study shows.

After the rats are trained on the machine for about two months, they gained the ability to control their hind legs — which had previously been cut off from communicating with the brain — with enough dexterity to climb stairs and navigate around objects. This control means that the brain has forged new connections to get around the spinal cord injury.

"We expected they would recover to some degree, but the extent was amazing. They were able to avoid obstacles and walk up stairs," study researcher Janine Heutschi, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland, told LiveScience. "Not only that, but the consistency was really amazing. Every single animal we trained in this robot was able to perform these tasks."

What this means for humans is unclear, but the team is working to adapt the procedure for clinical trials.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/20672-paralyzed-rat-leg-rehabilitation.html

Baby bears learn to fend for themselves at cub orphanage

Every year, illegal bear-hunting in Russia leaves a large number of cubs orphaned. One scientist was so touched by the baby bears' plight, he decided to do something about it.

When Dr. Pazhetnov started his work in the early 1970s, Russia’s “winter den hunt” was largely responsible for the orphan problem. Using dogs to frighten hibernating bears out of dens in late winter, hunters shot the mothers. New babies, just weeks old, were left behind to die, or worse, turned into pets and abused.

“The work was started in 1974 with three orphaned bear cubs,” Pazhetnov told RT. “I was like a surrogate mother. With my wife, we found out that the bear cubs didn’t need to be trained by the mother for the formation of normal animal behavior which would allow them to survive in the wild.”

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) joined Pazhetnov and his family 16 years ago, turning his practice into a world-renowned rehabilitation center. Together they have saved hundreds of cubs.

The Pazhetnov methods mimic the natural process. The handlers wear the same clothes to feed the cubs in the den house, so they smell just like a bear. They cannot cuddle and kiss, no matter how tempting it may be. 

“The main thing is to put bears back into the wild,” Dr. Ian Robinson, director of Emergency Relief at IFAW, told RT.“They don’t try and associate with humans, and they don’t cause problems with humans afterwards.”

In April, the cubs are let outside and are then taken into a large enclosure in the forest with a shelter for bad weather. Porridge is gradually restricted, forcing them to become resourceful when finding food and adventurous regarding new tastes.

The main problem, scientists say, is that Russia does not have its own animal welfare law or anti-cruelty law.

“It is very difficult to get a federal ban, because a lot of important people and officials are hunters themselves,” Maria Vorontsova, IFAW Russia’s director, told RT. “Frankly, it is ridiculous that in Russia, there is hunting for female mothers in the den when they have tiny cubs.”

The fund’s most important aim now is to try and push for new legislation. Until such a law is in place, bear cubs are in grave danger , with only one fund to fend for them all.

Video:  http://rt.com/news/prime-time/bear-cubs-orphanage-russia-636/

Rescued Turkey dolphins ready for release into the wild

Rescued dolphins make great leap towards freedom

March 2012. The Born Free Foundation have announced that two bottlenose dolphins, Tom and Misha, that were rescued from the brink of death in September 2010, are now entering their final but crucial stages of rehabilitation. The dolphins are on schedule for release into the Aegean - and back to the wild - in late Spring.

Rescued form a squalid pool
The dolphins were rescued by the Born Free Foundation and Turkish NGO Underwater Research Society from a squalid pool in the tourist town of Hisaronu (South West Turkey) after a major campaign against their incarceration in the Summer of 2010. 

Following a challenging but rewarding eighteen months and despite some of the coldest and roughest weather conditions in recent history (that saw a tornado, gale force winds and heavy storms batter the Aegean coast and rehabilitation site), the pair are making steady progress on a journey taking them ever closer to freedom. 

The dedicated international rehabilitation team, headed up by US cetacean expert, Jeff Foster, who worked on the rehabilitation and release programmes for the orcas (killer whales) Keiko and Springer, has remained focused on the complex task in hand. 

Building up stamina
Jeff explains; "We have had and still do have many obstacles to overcome but, throughout, Tom and Misha have proven to be willing participants. We have been working hard to prepare them for life outside their sea-pen. Building up their fitness and stamina has been a crucial component. Their muscle strength was very weak when they first arrived and they were desperately underweight and lethargic as they had been confined to a ridiculously small and inadequate captive environment. They have since gained weight, their bodies are toned and they are clearly much fitter and stronger". 

Some of the techniques adopted by the team were first tested during the rehabilitation of the orca Keiko, star of the Hollywood hit ‘Free Willy'. Jeff recalled, "We ‘cut our teeth' on Keiko, which was a hugely expensive and ambitious project. We learned from that experience and this enabled us to go on and successfully release Springer, another orca."

Jeff added, "Tom and Misha are different again, not only because they are a different species but because they have spent years in captivity and have lost a lot of their natural instincts. That's what makes this project so unique and pioneering. One of the challenges has been to change their focus from ‘above water' and people, to below water and their natural habitat. If we can get Tom and Misha back to the wild, in my view, it will be one of the great release projects of all time."

Change of diet
The other significant challenge faced by the team has been changing their diet from frozen fish to fresh fish and then live fish. During their long period in captivity, Tom and Misha lost the ability to catch and eat live fish. They had become so reliant on their keepers that when they first came to the rehabilitation centre they refused to eat fish unless it was put directly into their mouths. But now, after months of expert husbandry and conditioning, Tom and Misha are once again catching and eating live fish. This is slowly being integrated into their diet, a technique that requires patience and an understanding of each individual dolphins' behaviour.

John Knight, Born Free's senior wildlife veterinary consultant has been monitoring the dolphins throughout and is pleased with their progress; "The difference in these two dolphins since the time of their rescue is incredible. Their muscle tone is much improved and they have gained weight. Their fitness levels are improving and their latest blood tests are looking good. Hopefully now we are on schedule for the release later in the Spring". 

Tom and Misha's story made international news and is followed by thousands, including many on Facebook and the Born Free Foundation website. To make a donation and be part of their amazing journey back to the wild - visit www.bornfree.org.uk/dolphins 

Born Free would like to thank Dolphin Angels and British Divers Marine Life Rescue for their support with the ‘Back to the Blue' project.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/turkey-dolphin.html

At home in the wild – rehabilitated bear spotted safe and well

Another success for India's orphaned cub rescue programme

February 2012: A hand-reared two-year-old Asiatic black bear has been found thriving in the wild in north-east India. The discovery marks another success for the Wildlife Trust of India's (WTI) Asiatic black bear rehabilitiation programme.

The programme has seen 26 orphaned cubs raised and then released into the wild, with the latest sub-adult tracked to the Khari area of Pakke TR in Arunachal Pradesh.

Cub was brought in aged just five months‘This animal was brought to the Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation in April 2010 from Donchimagre, Meghalya at the age of five months,' says WTI's chief vet Dr NVK Ashraf. ‘It was shifted to Khari for acclimatisation as part of a soft-release programme. The team has been monitoring it since its release.'

The team first located the bear on at the beginning of the month, tracking the signal from his radio-collar. They were aiming to tranquillise the animal, examine it and remove the collar if all was fine. The bear was, however, moving on the edge of a high, steep hill so tranquillising was not feasible until the following morning, when the animal was cornered and tranquillised using a dart.

'This is a good sign...'Dr Jahan Ahmed, the IFAW-WTI vet who led the team, said: ‘There were no external wounds, the mucus membrane was pink, the coat was lustrous, skin was soft and pliable and the body weight was normal.'

The animal was seen returning to its den after revival. Dr Sathyakumar, of WTI, said: ‘This is a good sign and normal behaviour. Black bears use caves and other natural crevices for resting. They may also use very dense undergrowth or thickets in undisturbed densely forested habitats.'