The Chinese 'miracle' elixir that threatens donkeys around the world

Chinese demand for donkey gelatine is hammering the Chinese and African donkey populations, putting the price of donkeys out of reach for subsistence farmers

Kimon de Greef

Tuesday 31 October 2017 11.00 GMTLast modified on Tuesday 31 October 2017 13.54 GMT

It was a bout of period pain that led to Liu Yanan’s first taste of donkey gelatine. The 13-year-old was visiting family in Beijing when her cramps started for the first time. Her aunt took out an ornate box filled with smooth chocolate-brown slabs, broke off a small piece, and stirred it into a pot of sweetened rice porridge.

The medicine was ejiao, a Chinese medicine made from donkey skins and used for over 2,500 years. Yanan hesitated before eating the mixture, but she trusted her aunt and wanted relief from the pain. “I felt comfortable afterwards. My body was warm,” she says. “I took it for a month and the trouble went away.”

That was back in 2004, and since then China’s ejiao industry has turned into a global megabusiness. What was once a humble blood tonic for conditions like anemia – a claim supported by no clinical evidence – has been rebranded as a wellness product for China’s ascendant middle class, and now features in face creams, sweets and liqueurs, as well as a wide variety of medicinal preparations. There are claims it will help with anemia and acne, boost your energy, improve your sleep, nourish your yin, prevent cancer, make you look better and even improve your libido. It is billed, in short, as a miracle elixir.

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Reintroduced marsupials may pose new threat to ground–dwelling birds

October 24, 2017

Native marsupials reintroduced in south-western Australia are a threat to ground-dwelling birds, a University of Queensland study has found.

Researcher Graham Fulton said ground-nesting and ground-dwelling birds had generally declined at a greater rate than other Australian bird groups, with the loss of eggs believed to be an important factor.

"We don't know a lot about the identity of ground-nest predators," he said.

Mr Fulton, a PhD student in the UQ School of Biological Sciences, said his research at Dryandra, south-east of Perth, highlighted the need for a greater understanding of the impacts of reintroducing native marsupials.

"Marsupials are not generally regarded as potential nest-predators of these birds, partly because the biology of rare Australian marsupials is not fully understood due to their rarity," he said.

The study found that three marsupials – boodie and woylie bettongs (Australian rat kangaroos) and brushtail possums (pictured right and left) – took eggs from artificial nests similar to those of the threatened painted button quail (pictured below right).

"Approximately one-third of the eggs were taken by the two bettongs and another third by brushtail possums," Mr Fulton said.

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'Biblical' moth influx threatens to devastate crops

By Pallab GhoshScience correspondent, BBC News

14 June 2016

Scientists have learned that cabbage and cauliflower crops could potentially be "devastated" by a species of moth arriving from continental Europe.

BBC News understands that tens of millions of diamondback moths are thought to have come to the UK in the past week.

This is 100 times the number that arrive in the entire year.

Researchers describe the species as a "super pest" because it is thought to be resistant to several insecticides.

An alert has been issued by researchers at the Rothamsted Research in Harpenden in Hertfordshire.

The Twitter feed @migrantmothUK reported a two mile cloud of moths on Saturday night near Leominster. One subscriber to the feed reported that it was like "driving through rain".

Steve Nash, who administers the feed, said much worse was yet to come.

"Once the progeny of this influx arrives in mid-July, numbers could be biblical," he said.

Dr Steve Foster, who works at Rothamsted Research described how they devastate crops.

"There are swarms of them, a bit like plagues of locusts - there are so many of them that they seem like a brown cloud."

Dr Foster and his colleagues learned of the infestation on Friday. They will study the moths to see if they can identify an insecticide that can be used against them as a matter of urgency.

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Roads 'a serious threat' to rare bats

Date: June 6, 2016

Source: University of Exeter

Roads present a serious threat to bat populations, indicating that protection policies are failing.

The University of Exeter experts studied data collected across Europe and concluded that roads present "a real and growing danger" to protected bat populations. The research, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), concluded bats were often reluctant to cross roads, disrupting their ability to reach feeding and roosting areas. The group also identified more than 1,000 bat fatalities caused by collisions with cars.

Dr Fiona Mathews, Associate Professor of Mammalian Biology at the University of Exeter, said: "There has already been concern about roads severing the commuting routes of bats. Our research has now shown that road fatalities are also an important issue, particularly when rarer species such as barbastelle and horseshoe bats are affected.

"Because bats and their habitat are now highly protected throughout Europe, we might think that there is no cause for concern and there has been widespread media interest in the public money spent on 'bat bridges' and acoustic surveys for bats. Unfortunately these measures are often more of a box-ticking exercise than a means of offering real protection. We know from our research that bat casualties are extremely difficult to find on roads because of their small size: the true collision rate will therefore be at least an order of magnitude larger than that actually observed."

Interestingly, the study found that male bats were considerably more likely to be killed in collisions than females. Dr Mathews, who is who is also chair of The Mammal Society said: "The males may be forced into less favourable habitats near roads, as females tend to stick together in breeding grounds in prime habitat. "

The study, the first of its kind, has just been published in the academic journal Mammal Review.

Dr Mathews said that the findings are particularly pertinent given the rate of new road building planned for the UK. "The UK Government currently has plans in the pipeline to spend more than £15 billion on new roads, including more than 400 miles of new motorway and road-widening schemes," she said. "Across Europe as a whole, an average of 70,000 km [43,500 miles] of new roads are built every year."

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Britain's beekeepers told to be alert for arrival of Asian hornets

Vespa velutina, which preys on honey bees, is already spreading rapidly across mainland Europe and could pose a serious risk to the UK’s apiculture

Damien Gayle

Tuesday 21 April 2015 14.04 BSTLast modified on Tuesday 21 April 201518.31 BST

Beekeepers have been told to be alert for invading hornets that have killed six people in France and could pose to serious risk to Britain’s honey bees.

The Asian hornet, which preys on honey bees, is spreading rapidly across France and other parts of mainland Europe, and there are fears its arrival in Britain is only a matter of time – particularly in light of the unusually warm spring weather.

The hornets’ sting can cause deadly allergic reactions in humans but officials are particularly worried about their impact on the crucial ecological role played by honeybees, and the possibility they could permanently affect Britain’s biodiversity.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “It’s not great news for bees because they are not a friend to the humble honey bee, and that’s why we don’t want them here.”

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Tourism poses a threat to dolphins in the Balearic Islands

Date:
December 11, 2014

Source:
Plataforma SINC

Summary:
The rise in tourism, fishing and sea transport between the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands is compromising the wellbeing of a small population of common bottlenose dolphins living in coastal waters off the Pityusic Islands. This is the conclusion of a study which has, for the first time, counted these mammals in summer and spring, which are crucial seasons for them.


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Dam threatens survival of Mekong dolphins

February 2014: The Laos government’s decision to forge ahead with the Don Sahong hydropower project in southern Laos, could be dire for the population of Mekong dolphins living in the Mekong River, warns a WWF report.

The dam is to be located just one kilometre upstream of the core habitat for Mekong dolphins of which it is thought just 85 remain, restricted to a 190km stretch of the river between southern Laos and north-east Cambodia.

According to the WWF paper, the dam builders intend to excavate millions of tonnes of rock using explosives, creating strong sound waves that could potentially kill dolphins which have highly sensitive hearing structures. Increased boat traffic, changes in water quality, and habitat degradation represent other major direct risks to the dolphins, along with the cumulative indirect effects of disturbance and stress.

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Deer 'pose biggest threat' to Scotland's native woodlands

Deer represent the biggest threat to Scotland's native woodlands, according to an eight-year study by Forestry Commission scientists.

The publication of the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland has renewed debate over whether to cull deer.

Researchers said ancient woodland was being lost due to "excessive browsing and grazing", mainly by deer.

The findings of an inquiry into deer control by a Holyrood committee are due to be revealed later this week.

The report from Forestry Commission Scotland said 22.5% (311,153 ha) of Scotland's forests was native woodland. That equates to 4% of the land area of Scotland.

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Burmese Long-Tailed Macaques' Use of Stone Tools Is Being Threatened by Human Activity in Thailand

Aug. 14, 2013 — Human farming and the introduction of domestic dogs are posing a threat to the ability of Burmese long-tailed macaques to use stone tools. This was found in a study led by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) carried out at Thailand's Laem Son National Park. The research team has advised Thailand's authorities that in the management of their marine national parks they should pay closer attention to macaques' use of stones as tools.

Burmese long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis aurea) are a rare variety of the common long-tailed macaques of Southeast Asia, found only in Myanmar and bordering areas of Thailand. In a few locations, these monkeys use stone tools along the coasts to crack hard-shelled invertebrate prey, such as rock oysters, sea snails, and crabs.

The research team, comprising Assistant Professor Michael D. Gumert from Nanyang Technological University's Division of Psychology, Professor Yuzuru Hamada of Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute, and Professor Suchinda Malaivijitnond of Chulalongkorn University' Primate Research Unit, discovered that human activities are showing signs that the persistence of the macaques' stone-use tradition may be in jeopardy at Laem Son National Park, a marine national park along the western coast of Thailand.

"Macaques easily change their feeding behaviour when influenced by humans, and we are concerned stone-using macaques will lose their traditional feeding behaviour if illegitimate development continues within the protected park," said Assistant Professor Gumert, who is based at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

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Pebble Mine: A Threat to Alaska's Salmon, People and Economy (Op-Ed)

Taryn Kiekow, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Date: 21 June 2013 Time: 02:05 PM ET

Taryn Kiekow is a senior policy analyst for NRDC's marine mammal protection project;she contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Bristol Bay is located in the remote wildlands of southwest Alaska and supports the largest runs of wild salmon on the planet — over half of the world's supply of sockeye.

Every year, some 40 million salmon return to spawnin the pristine rivers and streams of the Bristol Bay watershed. But right now, the future of this little-known natural jewel is caught up in a frenzied political fight, part of what the Washington Post calls President Barack Obama's biggest environmental decision that "you've never heard of."

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Climate Change Severe Threat to Sea Turtles – via Herp Digest

Time of India, SYDNEY: 2/19/13 Scientists have sounded the alarm over the mounting threat to marine turtle populations worldwide from climate change and coastal development.

The scientists have made a strong pitch for protecting key nesting grounds, and areas that may be suitable for the purpose in the future, to ensure that the marine reptiles have a better chance of withstanding climate change. 

Turtles play a significant role in seed dispersal and ecology. They act as scavengers of the marine ecosystem, cleaning up a lot of dying, dead and decaying plant and animal matter. 

"We have to protect their nesting sites and to address threats such as by catch and coastal development," said Mariana Fuentes from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) and James Cook University, the journal Global Change Biology reports. 

"We have seen sea turtle populations decline dramatically in recent decades, and it is likely to get worse due to climate change, as they're particularly vulnerable to it," said Fuentes, who led the study, according to a CoERCS statement. 

Reportedly, some turtle populations in the West Indian Ocean, Northeast Indian Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, East Atlantic Ocean and the East Pacific Ocean are among the least likely to recover from the impacts of climate change. 

"Climate change can affect their nesting beaches through sea level rise, stronger cyclones and storms; high temperatures can cause their eggs to die before they hatch, or produce an unnatural sex ratio and adversely affect their food sources," added Fuentes.