National Geographic Society

The Lower Keys marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri) was named for Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy magazine and the organization famous for its "Playboy Bunny" hostesses.

Rosanna Tursi, a master's student and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Central Florida, is using population genetics to aid in the conservation of the rabbits, which were declared endangered in 1990, according to a UCF news release. It is estimated that there are less than 300 of the Hefneri rabbits left in the wild.

Photo of "Playboy Bunny" Sylvilagus palustris hefneri courtesy Rosanna Tursi

Hefneri, the most recently recognized subspecies of the marsh rabbit, is small with short, dark brown fur and a grayish-white belly.

"Discovered in 1984, the subspecies was named in honor of Hefner after his organization donated money to support fieldwork on the rabbits," UCF says in a news release.

"Hefneri live in an island environment and are dependent on specific grasses and plants for feeding, nesting and shelter. Population growth and development in the [Florida] Lower Keys has led to the death of the bunnies at the hands of vehicles or domestic animals. Their natural habitat also is being destroyed."

"The loss of genetic diversity can have long-term repercussions by affecting the evolutionary potential of the species," Tursi said.

Photo courtesy Rosanna Tursi

UCF Assistant Professor Eric Hoffman and Philip Hughes, an endangered species biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) in Big Pine Key, landed a grant to study the bunnies, the university release says. "Tursi joined the team and is conducting fieldwork this summer in the Everglades and Florida Keys. The USFWS is interested in Tursi's finding because it wants to prevent the bunnies' from becoming extinct."

Plans to Relocate the Bunnies

The FWS hopes to identify rabbits from the most genetically diverse populations, relocate them and create a new population in a habitat where the bunnies are less likely to be disturbed, the university added.

The project was a perfect thesis subject for Tursi, who earned a degree in Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Biotechnology from Florida Atlantic University before enrolling at UCF, the university added.

"Nature and conservation of wildlife have always been my passion, and I wanted to use my molecular and genetic knowledge to help endangered species," Tursi said.

Hoffman said Tursi's work could certainly help keep the species viable.

"Our hope is to both characterize the amount of diversity in the Keys populations and determine which rabbit populations would provide the best rabbits to found new translocated populations set up by the USFWS," Hoffman said.

Tursi is currently working with another marsh rabbit subspecies, Sylvilagus palustris paludicola, which is native to South Florida and the Everglades.

"She is using hair follicles gathered from mainland rabbits to extract DNA," UCF says. "Once sample collection is finished, Tursi will conduct DNA analysis and compare the diversities of the paludicola and hefneri over the next four or five months."

The most complete map of the Earth's terrain, showing highly detailed elevations for more than nine tenths of the planet's surface, has been released for free public use.

NASA and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and industry (METI) released the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) to the worldwide public yesterday.

1,300,000 Images

The GDEM was created by processing and stereo-correlating 1,300,000 optical images, covering Earth's land surface between 83 degrees North and 83 degrees South latitudes, according to a news statement about the map.

The GDEM is produced with 30-meter (98-feet) postings, and is formatted as 23,000 one-by-one-degree tiles. It is available for download from NASA's Earth Observing System data archive and Japan's Ground Data System.

Los Angeles Basin Image: The Los Angeles Basin is bordered on the north by the San Gabriel Mountains. Other smaller basins are separated by smaller mountain ranges, like the Verdugo Hills, and the Santa Monica Mountains.

Death Valley Image: Death Valley, California, has the lowest point in North America, Badwater at 85.5 meters (282 feet) below sea level. It is also the driest and hottest location in North America.

Located in eastern California and western Nevada, Death Valley forms part of Death Valley National Park. The region is characterized by deep valleys and high mountain ranges, located in the large Basin and Range province of the western United States. This view looks towards the northwest.

Furnace Creek ranch in the right foreground is the only place on the valley floor where vegetation grows year-round due to water channeled through Furnace Creek.

Himalayan Glaciers in Bhutan Image: In the Bhutan Himalayas, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer data have revealed significant spatial variability in glacier flow, such that the glacier velocities in the end zones on the south side exhibit significantly lower velocities (9 to 18 meters, or 30 to 60 feet per year), versus much higher flow velocities on the north side (18 to 183 meters, or 60 to 600 feet per year).

The higher velocity for the northern glaciers suggests that the southern glaciers have substantially stagnated ice. This view looks towards the northwest.

All images and captions courtesy NASA/METI

Pacu fish, cousins to the piranha and known as "frugivores," have human-like teeth that can crack nuts and fruits.

They and many other kinds of species of fish with weird teeth are featured in "Hooked," a new National Geographic Channel series that premieres on U.S. cable television tonight.

Also known as the "Vampire Fish," The Payara earns its "vampire" nickname with a set of two-inch daggers thrusting up from its bottom jaw.

Photos © Julia Dorn/courtesy National Geographic Channel

Maldives has created three new marine protected areas, including important feeding grounds for manta rays and whale sharks.

Photo by Thomas P. Peschak/Save Our Seas Foundation

The Indian Ocean archipelago country is famous as a destination for tourists seeking exotic island getaways. But it is also one of the planet's most important hotspots for many species, including whale sharks and manta rays, two of the largest and most charismatic fish.

At least 120 individual whale sharks, the world's largest fish, live in the ocean around the Maldives. The country is one of the few places in the world where whale sharks can be encountered all year round.

Mohamed Aslam, the Environment Minister of the Maldives, announced the protection of coral reefs and waters in and around Baa atoll Hanifaru, Baa atoll An'gafaru and South Ari atoll Maamigili to commemorate World Oceans Day on June 8.

Maldives image by NASA/ GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./ Japan ASTER Science Team

"The government is committed to protecting and preserving the Maldives' exceptional biodiversity," Aslam said in a statement announcing the proclamation.

"The marine environment is the bedrock of our economy, supporting our largest industries, tourism and fisheries.

"Not only will this initiative protect whale sharks and manta rays, but also other important megafauna, including reef sharks.

"The marine protected area sites are globally significant. By protecting them we are helping to protect manta rays and sharks throughout the Maldives."

Photo by Thomas P. Peschak/Save Our Seas Foundation

Apart from restrictions on fishing, the marine protected areas will permit diving and snorkeling only under strict guidelines. Speed limits will be imposed on boats to prevent lacerations to the giant fish from boat hulls and propellers, and waste management programs will be run on local islands to prevent pollution.

The initiative is spearheaded by the government, the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme and the communities of Baa atoll and South Ari atoll, according to the Maldives Environment Ministry.

NGS illustration of Hanifaru by Caitlin Sargent

The new protected areas are "one of the last places on the planet where rays and whale sharks still roam in numbers reminiscent of times gone by," said Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) Marine Biologist Guy Stevens, who has been doing manta ray research in the Maldives for the past five years. The National Geographic article "Feeding Frenzy" covers the work of Stevens and features photographs by SOSF chief photographer Thomas Peschak.

See photographs by Thomas P. Peschak of manta rays as they converge to feed in a spectacular coral-reef ballet:
Mantas in the Maldives >>

"Each year between May and November the tide works its magic to suck krill and other plankton into Hanifaru Bay," SOSF said in a separate statement about the new marine protected areas (MPAs). "The tiny creatures then become trapped and form an irresistibly thick soup. This delightful offering attracts manta rays from all over the Maldives and they converge here to feed in the hundreds."

Photo by Thomas P. Peschak/Save Our Seas Foundation

SOSF said the proclamation of waters around Hanifaru in the Baa atoll as a marine protected area (in the map above) was a giant step towards protecting the threatened manta rays. "This and the creation of two other MPAs, An'gafaru in the Baa atoll and Maamigili in the South Ari atoll, demonstrates the new government's forward thinking in marine conservation."

The marine protected areas are the latest in a series of environmental initiatives by President Mohamed Nasheed's administration, which assumed office after the country's first multiparty presidential election by popular vote, in November last year.

"President Nasheed deserves much praise for his push to protect these ecologically valuable marine areas in the Indian Ocean," said SOSF Director Chris Clarke. "His action protects one of the world's most vital populations of manta rays by prohibiting all forms of commercial fishing, only permitting traditional bait-fishing by local fishermen."

Earlier this year Maldives banned reef shark hunting, and Nasheed announced in March that the Maldives will become the world's first carbon-neutral country by 2020.

Photo by Thomas P. Peschak/Save Our Seas Foundation

This photo, by John Tolsma, is of a Berber guide rounding up camels in the morning in the Moroccan Erg Chebbi, near the Algerian border. Tolsma has the chance to win trips (Tanzania! St. Lucia! A windjammer in Maine!), gear, and other prizes.

Click here to find out how you can enter your photo for a chance to win one of these prizes yourself.

Are pollutants causing a surge in cancers in wildlife, threatening the conservation and even survival of some species? And is their fate a flashing light for the health of humans?"

"Cancer is one of the leading health concerns for humans, accounting for more than 10 percent of human deaths," said Denise McAloose, chief pathologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society's Global Health Program.

"But we now understand that cancer can kill wild animals at similar rates."

Photo by Sharon Deem

McAloose is the lead author of an article published in the July issue the journal Nature Reviews Cancer, which makes the point that some wild animal species suffer from cancer at the same rates that humans and some species serve as early-warning sentinels for animal and human health.

Many species living within polluted aquatic environments suffer high rates of cancerous tumors, and studies strongly suggest links between wildlife cancers and human pollutants, says the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, in a statement about the research.

"These whales have an extraordinarily high rate of intestinal cancer, which is their second leading cause of death.

"One type of pollutant in these waters--polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (or PAHs)--is a well-known carcinogen in humans, and PAHs are suspected carcinogens for beluga whales as well."

A beluga whale in New York Aquarium. Wild belugas in the nearby St. Lawrence River system suffer from intestinal cancer.

NGS photo by Winfield Parks

Fish in other industrialized waterways, including brown bullhead catfish and English sole, also exhibit high levels of cancer.

Virus-induced cancers can affect the ability of some wildlife populations to reproduce.

"Genital tumors in California sea lions on North America's western coast occur at much higher rates than previously documented. Oceanic dolphin species, such as the dusky dolphin and Burmeister's porpoise (both found in the coastal waters of South America), are also showing higher rates of genital carcinomas."

Other virus-induced cancers can affect the feeding ability or eyesight of wildlife.

"Green sea turtles--a migratory species in oceans across the globe--suffer from fibropapillomatosis, a disease that causes skin and internal organ tumors. A virus is suspected as the cause these tumors, and environmental factors such as human-manufactured carcinogens might exacerbate their severity or prevalence."

Green turtle with a tumor.

Photo by Cynthia Lagueux

In certain situations, cancer threatens the survival of entire species.

"The Tasmanian devil, the world's largest carnivorous marsupial, is at risk of extinction due to a cancer known as devil facial tumor disease. This form of contagious cancer spreads between individual Tasmanian devils through direct contact (primarily fighting and biting).

The authors highlight the critical need to protect both animals and people through increased health monitoring.

"Monitoring the health of wildlife can illuminate the causes of cancer in animal populations; thereby, better safeguarding animals and humans against possible disease.

"Evaluating cancer threats in wildlife populations requires the collaborative efforts of biologists, veterinarians, and pathologists as well as the earnest engagement of governments and international agencies."

The paper concludes that more resources are necessary to support wildlife health monitoring.

"Examining the impact of cancer in wildlife, in particular those instances when human activities are identified as the cause, can contribute to more effective conservation and fits within the One World-One Health approach of reducing threats to both human and animal health," said William Karesh, vice president and director of WCS's Global Health Program.

Hammerhead sharks and giant devil rays are becoming globally edangered, largely because of serious overfishing driven by the voracious human appetite for shark fin soup and other seafood, a comprehensive survey by experts from 90 countries has determined. Many other sharks and rays--one third of all their species--are also in trouble.

NGS illustration by Shawn Gould

The first study to determine the global conservation status of 64 species of open ocean (pelagic) sharks and rays reveals that 32 percent are threatened with extinction, primarily due to overfishing, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group.

The percentage of open ocean shark species threatened with extinction is higher for the sharks taken in high-seas fisheries (52 percent), than for the group as a whole, the organization said in a news statement today.

"Despite mounting threats, sharks remain virtually unprotected on the high seas," said Sonja Fordham, deputy chair of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group and policy director for the Shark Alliance.

"The vulnerability and lengthy migrations of most open ocean sharks call for coordinated, international conservation plans. Our report documents serious overfishing of these species, in national and international waters, and demonstrates a clear need for immediate action on a global scale."

The report was released ahead of an international gathering next week in Spain of managers responsible for high-seas tuna fisheries in which sharks are taken without limit. It also coincides with an international group of scientists meeting in Denmark to formulate management advice for Atlantic porbeagle sharks.

A shark head is left behind by an Uruguayan fisherman.

NGS photo by Bruce Dale

IUCN experts classify great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) and scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) sharks, as well as giant devil rays (Mobula mobular), as globally Endangered, the statement said.

Smooth hammerheads (Sphyrna zygaena), great white (Carcharodon carcharias), basking (Cetorhinus maximus) and oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus) sharks are classed as globally Vulnerable to extinction, along with two species of makos (Isurus spp.) and three species of threshers (Alopias spp.).

Porbeagle sharks (Lamna nasus) are classified as globally Vulnerable, but Critically Endangered and Endangered in the Northeast and Northwest Atlantic, respectively.

The blue shark (Prionace glauca), "the world's most abundant and heavily fished open ocean shark," is classified as Near Threatened.

"Species are increasingly targeted due to new markets for shark meat and high demand for their valuable fins."

"Many open ocean sharks are taken mainly in high-seas tuna and swordfish fisheries," IUCN said. "Once considered only incidental 'bycatch,' these species are increasingly targeted due to new markets for shark meat and high demand for their valuable fins, used in the Asian delicacy shark fin soup. To source this demand, the fins are often cut off sharks and the rest of the body is thrown back in the water, a process known as 'finning.'

Sharks are particularly sensitive to overfishing due to their tendency to take many years to mature and have relatively few young, IUCN continued.

"In most cases, pelagic shark catches are unregulated or unsustainable. Twenty-four percent of the species examined are categorized as Near Threatened, while information is insufficient to assess another 25 percent."

NOAA Office of Law Enforcement agent counting shark fins.
Photo courtesy NOAA

Fifteen experts from government agencies, universities, non-governmental organizations, and institutions around the world took part in the preparation of the report.

The IUCN Shark Specialist Group called on governments to set catch limits for sharks and rays based on scientific advice and the precautionary approach.

Full Protection Urged

"It further urges governments to fully protect Critically Endangered and Endangered species of sharks and rays, ensure an end to shark finning and improve the monitoring of fisheries taking sharks and rays.

"Governments should invest in shark and ray research and population assessment, minimize incidental bycatch of sharks and rays, employ wildlife treaties to complement fisheries management and facilitate cooperation among countries to conserve shared populations," according to the group.

This week scientists from the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) are meeting in Copenhagen to assess all Atlantic porbeagle populations and formulate recommendations for fishery managers.

Next week, San Sebastian, Spain will be the site of the second Joint Meeting of the five Regional Fishery Management Organizations (RFMOs) for tuna.

Photo courtesy NOAA

The IUCN Shark Specialist Group (SSG) is a network of 180 experts from 90 countries who are involved in research, fisheries management, marine conservation or policy development and implementation for chondrichthyan fishes (sharks and their relatives; the skates, rays and chimaeras).

The group's mission is to promote the long-term conservation of these species, effective management of their fisheries and habitats and, where necessary, the recovery of their populations.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the most comprehensive conservation inventory of the world's plant and animal species and a widely used tool for focusing attention on species of conservation concern. The assessments evaluate the conservation status of individual species, identify threatening processes affecting them and, if necessary, propose recovery objectives for their populations.

Ever since Monday's announcement by Kodak that they're discontinuing production of Kodachrome film, professional and amateur photographers this week have been busy discussing its demise, writes National Geographic Traveler Senior Photo Editor Dan Westergren.

Read the entire entry and see more Kodachrome moments at The Legend of Kodachrome Flat >>

Photo by Dan Westergren from the September 1949 National Geographic magazine, "First Motor Sortie into Escalante Land." 

Breaking news:

KODACHROME: First Great Color Film Remembered in Photo

Today is the second Father's Day celebration for a male rhea at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, Washington, D.C.

Rhea chicks are raised by their fathers, who incubate their eggs and rear the chicks once they are hatched, the zoo said in a caption accompanying these pictures. Rheas are large, flightless birds native to South America and are part of the ratite family, which also includes the ostrich, emu, kiwi, and cassowary.

Six weeks after they hatched, the rhea chicks continue to sleep nestled in their father's feathers on his back.

The father rhea is more relaxed with this second brood, according to the zoo, making it easier for keepers to care for and examine the chicks.

"The babies enjoy wandering, but Dad watches out for their safety, guarding them from any potential threat, including humans and even female rheas.

"When his chicks meander too far away, a rapid clacking of his bill will bring them all running.

"Despite the babies' penchant for eating everything in sight--including rocks--this father is raising a healthy brood of lively chicks."

This year's hatch is the second flock of rhea chicks born at the Zoo in thirty years.

Smithsonian's National Zoo photos by Mehgan Murphy

Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy

Bo Obama

Bo is the Obama family's dog.

Breed: Portuguese water dog

Family: President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha Obama

Unofficial title: First Dog of the United States

Birth: Bo was born in the fall of 2008 in Texas.

First Day at the White House: April 14, 2009

Hobbies: Playing on the White House lawn and going on walks with the Obama family

Goal as First Dog: Make friends with foreign dognitaries

Favorite exercise: Running (and then napping near the Obama girls)

Favorite food: Tomatoes - or toys

Did you know?

• Bo's name came from two different places: Mrs. Obama's father's nickname was "Diddley" and Malia and Sasha's cousins have a cat named Bo - and another cat named Diddley.
• Bo was a gift to the Obama family from Senator Ted Kennedy and his wife, Vicki.
• Even though Bo is a Portuguese water dog, he doesn't know how to swim.

Baseball card information courtesy of the White House

"Please don't turn away. Refugees are the most vulnerable people on Earth. Every day, they are fighting to survive. They deserve our respect. Please do not forget them. Remember them on this day. World Refugee Day." -- Angelina Jolie

This video is a public service announcement by Angelina Jolie for World Refugee Day 2009

Movie star Angelina Jolie and NBC news anchor Ann Curry joined hands with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres and others at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. today, to mark World Refugee Day 2009.

Hosting this event has become something of a tradition for National Geographic. The Society has also backed the production of films, books, and articles that illustrate the sometines tragic, sometimes triumphant stories of refugees.

Jolie and Curry are among a number of high-profile celebrities who have lent their names to draw attention to refugees. They have traveled to refugee camps in a number of countries to see and hear firsthand the stories of people who have lost families, jobs, homes, and countries.

NGS photo of Angelina Jolie at National Geographic by Rebecca Hale

"Refugees have profoundly changed my life," Jolie told the gathering at National Geographic today. "They have taught me what it is to be brave ... to be a mother ... to have strength of character."

This next video is of Angelina Jolie at today's event:

Jolie has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commisioner for Refugees since 2001. Over the years she has visited nearly 30 refugee camps.

"There are millions of desperate families, so cut off from civilization that they don't even know [World Refugee Day] exists," Jolie told us.

We waved at the children in Chad; they responded immediately with a big wave back. Two groups of humanity separated by an unfathomable gulf of distance and circumstances. 

A 13-year-old boy who spoke for the group told us across cyberspace of his wishes for a change of government and the opportunity to leave Djabal and go home.

NGS photo of Ann Curry by Rebecca Hale

Ann Curry told us that the Djabal children had named their school after President Obama because they hoped and believed that the American leader was going to rescue them and enable them to go home.

It may not be possible for Obama to do that, but America, it turns out, does a fair amount for refugees, who, by the broadest definition of refugee, now number 42 million worldwide.

Generous as this is, it's clearly not enough to deal with the world's refugee crisis. Many people remain penned up in refugee camps more or less indefinitely. Even more chilling is the growing number of people displaced within their own countries, where they remain at the mercies of their governments and essentially out of reach of international assistance.

It's not every day that a humble house fly makes world headlines:

But that's what a pesky fly buzzing around President Obama did yesterday -- after the President swatted and killed it during the taping of a television interview with CNBC.

The President's impressive eye-hand-coordination was aired worldwide on television and made headlines across the Internet. The screen grab above shows it was even the top story on Google News, surfacing above news about the street protests in Iran, U.S. banking reform, and the latest missile crisis in North Korea.

In case you missed the fly's moment of fame, here is the video on YouTube:

This light-footed clapper rail, an endangered species endemic to Southern California marshlands, was fitted with an identification band yesterday in preparation for its release into the San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve in San Diego County.

Sixteen clapper rails that were hatched at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld San Diego and the Chula Vista Nature Center earlier this year were introduced into the marshland as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service clapper rail recovery program, San Diego Zoo said in a statement.

The decade-old program has now released more than 220 light-footed clapper rails into Southern California marshlands between Santa Barbara and San Diego, the zoo added.

Photo by Tammy Spratt, San Diego Zoo

Five or six miles up in the atmosphere, near where airliners reach cruising altitude, very strong winds blow incessantly over many densely populated regions of the world.

Researchers at the Carnegie Institution and California State University believe that, if the technical challenges can be resolved, large metropolises like New York, Seoul, and Tokyo may be able to tap into the high-altitude winds for abundant energy.

One possible way to do this could be by using giant tethered kitelike wind turbines, like the one imagined in this illustration.

Illustration of four-rotor flying generator by Ben Shepard

"There is a huge amount of energy available in high-altitude winds," said study coauthor Ken Caldeira. "These winds blow much more strongly and steadily than near-surface winds, but you need to go get up miles to get a big advantage. Ideally, you would like to be up near the jet streams, around 30,000 feet."

The study identifies New York as a prime location for exploiting high-altitude winds, which globally contain enough energy to meet world demand 100 times over.

"The researchers found that the regions best suited for harvesting this energy match with population centers in the eastern U.S. and East Asia, but fluctuating wind strength still presents a challenge for exploiting this energy source on a large scale," says a Carnegie Institution statement.

Using 28 years of data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction and the U.S. Department of Energy, Ken Caldeira, of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology, and Cristina Archer, of California State University, Chico, compiled the first-ever global survey of wind energy available at high altitudes in the atmosphere.

The researchers assessed potential for wind power in terms of "wind power density," which takes into account both wind speed and air density at different altitudes.

     "A potentially vast and dependable source of energy"

"Jet streams are meandering belts of fast winds at altitudes between 20,000 and 50,000 feet that shift seasonally, but otherwise are persistent features in the atmosphere," the Carnegie Institution said. "Jet stream winds are generally steadier and 10 times faster than winds near the ground, making them a potentially vast and dependable source of energy."

Jet stream clouds picture courtesy NASA

"We found the highest wind power densities over Japan and eastern China, the eastern coast of the United States, southern Australia, and north-eastern Africa," said lead author Cristina Archer. "The median values in these areas are greater than 10 kilowatts per square meter. This is unthinkable near the ground, where even the best locations have usually less than one kilowatt per square meter."

Included in the analysis were assessments of high-altitude wind energy for the world's five largest cities: Tokyo, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, and Mexico City. "For cities that are affected by polar jet streams such as Tokyo, Seoul, and New York, the high-altitude resource is phenomenal," Archer said. "New York, which has the highest average high-altitude wind power density of any U.S. city, has an average wind power density of up to 16 kilowatts per square meter."

Tokyo and Seoul also have high wind power density because they are both affected by the East Asian jet stream.

Challenges

Mexico City and Sao Paulo are located at tropical latitudes, so they are rarely affected by the polar jet streams and just occasionally by the weaker sub-tropical jets. As a result they have lower wind power densities than the other three cities.

"While there is enough power in these high-altitude winds to power all of modern civilization, at any specific location there are still times when the winds do not blow," Caldeira said. "Even over the best areas, the wind can be expected to fail about five percent of the time. This means that you either need back-up power, massive amounts of energy storage, or a continental or even global scale electricity grid to assure power availability.

"So, while high-altitude wind may ultimately prove to be a major energy source, it requires substantial infrastructure."

In the world of round goby fish there are females and males ... and males.

Scientists have found the existence of two types of males of the fiercely invasive fish spreading through the Great Lakes, which may provide answers as to how they rapidly reproduce, McMaster University announced.

"Researchers ... discovered evidence that in addition to round goby males which guard the nest from predators and look after their offspring, there exists what scientists call 'sneaker' males--little males that look like females and sneak into the nests of the larger males," the Canadian university said in a statement.

The parental male is the big fish in this picture and the sneaker male is the small fish.
Photo courtesy McMaster University

The study, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, looks at the aggressive round goby, a bottom-dwelling fish which infested the Great Lakes watersheds around 1990."Presently, they are working their way inland through rivers and canal systems and can lead to the decline of native species through competition and predation," McMaster said.

"The existence of these two kinds of males will help scientists understand how round gobies reproduce, how quickly their populations grow, and track how these populations change over the course of invasion," said Julie Marentette, lead author and a Ph.D. student in the department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University. "This has the potential to have a significant impact on how researchers tackle what has become a very difficult problem in the Great Lakes."

Sneakier Way to Mate

Because males expend lots of energy or eat less while guarding their nests, and attracting females while providing care can be difficult, males in some species have found a sneakier way to mate, Marentette explained. "Instead of courting females and protecting the young, some males will parasitize the courtship--and sometimes the parenting duties--of conventional males. They do this by sneaking into the nests of big males or pretending to be females."

"Prior to our findings, only one type of male reproductive behaviour would have been incorporated into projections and modeling analyses of the population dynamics of round goby invasive capacities", said Sigal Balshine, associate professor in the department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour and academic advisor on the study. "Our results will shed light on how populations of this invasive species are likely to grow and spread through time and space."

Sneakers produced more sperm ... and had bigger testes

The McMaster scientists compared the physical, hormonal and sperm traits of hundreds of males, and found that the nest-guarding, parental males were big, black and had wide heads. The small female-like sneaker males were tiny, mottled brown and had narrow heads.

Both types of males produced sperm, but sneakers produced more sperm than the parental males, and had bigger testes.

By contrast, parental males have bigger glands used to produce pheromones that attract females.

Funding for the research was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Fund for Innovation, the Ministry of Research and Innovation and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The Geography of Swine Flu and Other Pandemics

The United Kingdom is the country most at risk to the spread of a swine flu epidemic, reports Maplecroft, a research organization that focuses on global risks to business.

The UK-based company released three maps and indices revealing the countries most at risk from an influenza pandemic, including swine flu and bird (avian) flu.

Maplecroft also created the Influenza Pandemic Risk Index (IPRI), which consists of three categories: Risk of Emergence, Risk of Spread, and Capacity to Contain. "Each index generates a list of countries most at risk and that require a tailored policy response on the part of government and business," Maplecroft said in a statement.

The map of Risk of Spread shows the United Kingdom most at risk to the spread of an influenza pandemic, ranking number 1 out of 213 countries. The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Russia, Canada and Japan are also categorized as extreme risk because of their high population density, urbanization and busy airports.

Sub-Saharan Africa stands out as the area least able to contain pandemic influenza with 27 out of the 30 most extreme risk countries.

"The capacity of a country to contain the spread of human influenza depends on factors of wealth, health infrastructure, education resources, information and communication networks, and governance."

Countries most prone to risk of emergence of swine or avian flu in humans are poorer countries that have dense rural populations, with living quarters in close proximity to livestock, Maplecroft said. This is compounded by poor hygiene, lack of access to clean water and sanitation and poor public health education.

Newly Emerging Set of Global Risks

"It is important to see a newly emerging set of global risks--whether pandemics, conflict and terrorism, resource security including water stress, or climate change as inter-related," said Alyson Warhurst, Chair of Strategy and International Development at Warwick Business School and one of the founding directors of Maplecroft.

"Climate change is causing drought and flooding which in turn leads to crop failures and the destruction of livelihoods which in turn lead to poverty and the conditions that we see increase vulnerability to pandemic flu."

Sources used to compile the Influenza Pandemic Risk Index include: WHO, UNESCO, FAO, World Organisation for Animal Health, World Bank, Environmental Research Group Oxford, World Resources Institute and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The three IPRI maps and risk categories may be accessed on the Maplecroft Web site.

Photo courtesy the White House

"The Obama family loves maps. I like the tactile feel of maps," the President added, as he admired the cabinet that was leaning against the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. 

Photo courtesy the White House

The presentation in the Oval Office Wednesday, June 10, was by National Geographic President and CEO John M. Fahey, Jr., (seen on the left in the picture above), Global Media President Tim Kelly (on the right), and Executive Vice President Terry Adamson (next to President Obama).

National Geographic Tradition

Fahey told Obama that the presentation of the map cabinet specially constructed for the U.S. President has been a National Geographic tradition that goes back to Franklin D. Roosevelt. "The President said he had previously seen and admired a National Geographic map cabinet that has long been mounted in the Map Room of the White House," Adamson reported after the meeting.

"The President said he had inspected the map cabinet thoroughly when it was brought into the Oval Office before the meeting," Adamson said. "He had already spotted some of the special features relating to his personal background, including the prominence or markings concerning Hawaii, Indonesia, Illinois, and Kenya."

President Obama told the group that he would likely mount the cabinet in his study adjacent to the Oval Office, or in his study in the Residence, the two places he said he did most of his work.  He also said that he might mount the cabinet in the Treaty Room of the White House. 

Photo courtesy the White House

The President also received a specially constructed and personalized National Geographic World Atlas.  He said of the atlas as he laid it on top of the Resolute Desk, "That will remain in the Oval Office."

National Geographic also presented personalized children's atlases for Malia and Sasha. "The girls definitely need an atlas," the President told the National Geographic executives.

The "Obama Family Atlas" 

A National Geographic Family Reference Atlas, which was inscribed "The Obama Family Atlas," was given for Mrs Michelle Obama. 

President Obama was also given a personally inscribed copy of Reza's "War and Peace," a recent National Geographic publication.

Photo courtesy the White House

Constructed in National Geographic's carpenter shop, the map cabinet is like a piece of fine furniture, Terry Adamson noted.

The wooden front panel contains a World Executive Map. The inside front panel is a World Political Map, followed by rollers, marked with distinctive brass plates, of the following maps: U.S. Political, Hawaii, Africa, Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean (including Israel and Lebanon at large scales), India, Japan and Korea, Australia, Europe, British Isles, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, North America, Mexico and Central America, South America, and a World Satellite Map.

Nat Geo Maps Used by FDR, Churchill for War Strategy

Gilbert H. Grosvenor, then President and Editor of the National Geographic Society, presented the first map cabinet to President Roosevelt a few weeks after the start of the Second World War.

Impressed by the cabinet, Roosevelt asked National Geographic to give a second map cabinet to Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain. Churchill's cabinet now is displayed at Chartwell, Sir Winston's family estate in England. Roosevelt's cabinet is now at Hyde Park, his home in New York (today a National Historic Site.)

Undated photo of National Geographic map cabinet from the NGS archive

Roosevelt and Churchill used National Geographic maps to plan Allied war strategy. On one map of Germany, Roosevelt sketched proposed zone boundaries for the supervision of Germany after the war. Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower is said to have carried a set of National Geographic maps with him as his armies moved into Germany.

The brass plaque on the front of the cabinet presented to President Obama stated: "Presented to Barack H. Obama, President of the United States, the National Geographic Society, 2009."

This blog entry was based largely on notes provided by Terry Adamson.

Photo courtesy the White House

National Geographic Presents Map Case to President Bush (National Geographic News, 2002)

American Presidency Is Celebrated by National Geographic

Obama Inauguration Photographed From Space

Hunted to near extinction by the invasive brown tree snake on the Pacific Ocean Island Guam, the Micronesian kingfisher exists today only in captivity. The Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago was excited to announce today that the world population of this bird was boosted with a successful hatching on June 2.

Photo of Micronesian kingfisher courtesy Lincoln Park Zoo

A Guam Micronesian kingfisher--a critically endangered bird that has become extinct in the wild--hatched at Chicago's Lincoln park Zoo earlier this month.

"There are only approximately 100 individuals left in the world and reside within accredited North American zoos and a facility operated by the Guam Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources as part of the Species Survival Program," the zoo said in a statement accompanying images released to the media.

The kingfisher chick, which has yet to be sexed or named, is developing tiny pin feathers and a darkened beak, the zoo added.

"Kingfishers use their beaks to drill holes into trees and rotting wood to create their nests. Males and females work together to hollow out their nest and they develop a stronger bond through the teamwork."

The last individual birds were removed from the island and placed in a recovery breeding program. The goal of the program is to one day return kingfishers to their native home once the snakes have been eradicated, Lincoln park Zoo said.

Illustration of Guam's Micronesian Kingfisher courtesy USGS

Lincoln Park Zoo is an active participant in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival plan to help preserve the species.

Additional information:

Extinctions and Loss of Species from Guam: Birds (US Geological Survey)

Good news about gorillas:

The world's least known gorilla--the eastern lowland gorilla or Grauer's gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri)--survives in previously unexplored forests of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced.

An eastern lowland gorilla from Kahuzi-Biega National Park, to the north of Itombwe.

Wildlife Conservation Society photo by Deo Kujirakwinja

"Specifically, researchers from WCS working in the forests of DR Congo's Itombwe region found signs (nests) of eastern lowland gorillas in areas where they previously were not known to occur," the New York-based conservation charity said in a statement.

The announcement was made yesterday at the Gorilla Symposium, an event convened by the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals, the German Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Frankfurt Zoological Society at the Frankfurt Zoo in Germany.

"Today's announcement that Grauer's gorillas inhabit forests in Itombwe more than 50 kilometers (more than 30 miles) south of their previously known range gives hope for the survival of the subspecies and a renewed impetus for protecting this extraordinary biodiversity area in the Albertine Rift of Africa," said James Deutsch, director of WCS's Africa Programs.

Map courtesy WCS

Researchers also found indications of a wider range for chimpanzees in Itombwe than previously known, WCS added.

"The forests of Itombwe are poorly documented because of the frequent presence of rebel groups, which makes them dangerous places in which to work. A period of relative calm enabled the survey team to reach these formerly inaccessible areas to determine if gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, and other wildlife had persisted through the area's conflicts.

"The new gorilla areas were identified between June 2008 and January 2009 by a survey team that included four mammal experts, two ornithologists, two botanists, and one herpetologist. These forests had been sporadically surveyed for wildlife in 1996 and between 2003 and 2007."

Eastern lowland gorillas are listed as "Endangered" on the IUCN's Red List and may number as few as 8,000 individuals.

The forests of Itombwe are recognized by conservationists as an important center of biodiversity, covering some 14,000 square kilometers (more than 5,400 square miles), WCS said. Along with the findings that indicate a larger range for eastern lowland gorillas, researchers have also discovered frog and toad species that are new to science and in the process of being named.

The area also contains minerals and as a result of its remoteness, rebel groups and others have sought to exploit the natural resources there.

"The findings of our survey will be important to conservation efforts for eastern lowland gorillas and their habitat, primarily because so little is known about this subspecies." said Andrew Plumptre, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Albertine Rift Program. "In particular it will help us in the development of plans for the demarcation of boundaries for the Itombwe Reserve, which is in the process of being created."

The new findings will factor into discussions with local communities, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and all interested parties about how best to protect the region's natural resources for the benefit of both wildlife and people, WCS said.

Aerial displays of the latest fighter jets wow crowds at air shows. Few symbols of power stoke national pride as much as much as the power and might of technology capable of such speed, agility, and intimidation.

In the world of birds some species adopt similar aerial displays to woo their mates.

Clark filmed diving male Anna's Hummingbirds at California's East Shore State Park between 2006 and 2008 with a combination of high-speed and conventional video cameras.

After powering the initial stage of the dive by flapping, males folded their wings by their sides, at which point they reached an average maximum velocity of 385 body lengths a swecond (90 feet a second). "This is the highest known length-specif velocity attained by any vertebrate," the scientist noted.

Clark's videos also documented that the hummingbirds spread their wings to pull up, "and experienced centripetal accelerations nearly nine times greater than gravitational acceleration. This acceleration is the highest reported for any vertebrate undergoing a voluntary aerial maneuver, except jet fighter pilots, Clark said.

Why does this hummingbird do this?

Female animals utilize diverse male signals to select a mate, including various body ornaments and behavioural displays, Clark notes in his research paper.

"Male mating success based on these signals can place them under directional selection for exaggeration, resulting
in the classic examples of exaggerated male morphological characters, such as the long tails of birds.

Just as male morphological traits can become exaggerated, female preferences could also place behavioral displays
under directional selection, causing them to become exaggerated in some way, until physiological, neurobiological
or other performance limits are reached.

"Performance, broadly defined, could include any aspect of locomotion that stimulates the sensory systems of a
female."

This phenomenon is also of great interest to biologists like Clark, who test and study animal power output, endurance, velocity, acceleration, maneuverability, coordination and more. As Clark observed in his research paper, "Understanding locomotor performance limits is a is a goal of the fields of animal behaviou and biomechanics."

Snakes have bodies and methods of locomotion perfect for situations where limbs would be a disadvantage. They can glide in and out of rubble, penetrate crevices, and navigate situations that most other animals would find impassable.

This is what makes them so attractive to robot engineers, who envisage many applications for agile and stealthy "snake bots."

Much of the quest to build a better snake bot has focused on trying to understand exactly how a snake moves.

Video of snake robot developed by Scandinavia's SINTEF Group and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology:

Using a type of locomotion known as lateral undulation, snakes drive their flanks against rocks and branches along the ground, scientists have long believed. some snake bots have been designed to move accordingly.

Now, research published today reveals that, for certain types of locomotion, snakes use the friction created by their skin. Wide overlapping scales on their bellies snag rough surfaces and help the reptiles propel themselves. Speed and direction can be controlled by lifting their bodies and changing the weight and force applied by their scales on the surface they are on.

"The physical mechanisms that snakes use to slither have been the subject of much debate. Previous analyses have assumed that snakes push against rocks and trees to propel themselves forward," a team of researchers led by David Hu said of their research published in PNAS Online Early Edition.

NPS photo of milk snake by Jack O'Brien

Their experiments suggest that friction caused by the snake's skin also plays a critical role in a snake's ability to propel itself along a flat surface.

Hu's team focused on lateral undulation, in which the snake presses its belly against an object to propel forward.

The researchers used 10 juvenile pueblan milk snakes in their experiments.

The snakes were given a general anesthetic and, when they were unconscious, were arranged in nine orientations on an inclined plane covered with two materials, a cloth of a roughness comparable with the thickness of the snake's belly scales, and a smooth fiberboard, with a scale of roughness much less than that of the snake's scales.

By comparing how the snakes slid along an inclined surface covered like this, the researchers showed that the belly scales perform a vital function: they snag on the irregularities on rough surfaces, which helps the snake slither laterally. There was no snagging of the scales on the smooth surface.

Conscious snakes were also observed and filmed slithering along a plank covered with either cloth or fiberboard, set at differing angles of inclination.

Photo courtesy David Hu

The scientists found that by lifting their bodies as they moved, snakes were able to adjust their weight distribution and direction that provides optimal friction.

Snakes are likely to also be able to dynamically change their frictional interactions with a surface by adjusting the attitude of their scales, the researchers said. But this theory could not be tested.

Snake Bots Could Cross Sand

The findings could lead to development of robotic snakelike organisms that can slither across flat surfaces such as sand, which lack obvious push points, the researchers said.

Snake robots designed on the basis of earlier research by others focused on the notion that snakes slither by driving their flanks laterally against neighboring rocks and branches found along the ground.

"This key assumption has informed numerous theoretical analyses and facilitated the design of snake robots for search-and-rescue operations ... Snake robots have been generally built to slither over flat surfaces by using passive wheels fixed to the body that resist lateral motion," Hu and colleagues said.

"We present a theory for how snakes slither, or how wheelless snake robots can be designed to slither, on relatively featureless terrain such as sand or bare rock, which do not provide obvious push points."

The United Nations has declared today, June 8, as World Oceans Day. Are you ready to take part in it?

"While official U.N. designation is not going to change things overnight it is an important step in improving the health of our world's ocean," says The Ocean Project, a network in 75 countries of more than 900 partner zoos, aquariums, and museums, plus conservation and education organizations, agencies, and institutions.

The Ocean Project worked closely with the World Ocean Network for the last six years to promote and coordinate World Ocean Day events and activities with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations and agencies, universities, schools, and businesses. "Each year an increasing number of countries and organizations have been marking June 8 as opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea," says The Ocean Project's Web site.

With the World Ocean Network, The Ocean Project also developed and widely circulated a petition to the United Nations urging the U.N. to recognize World Ocean Day officially .

World Oceans Day was declared by the United Nations as June 8 each year beginning in 2009. The official theme for 2009 is: "Our Oceans, Our Responsibility."

Here is the official message for World Oceans Day 2009 from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:

"The first observance of World Oceans Day allows us to highlight the many ways in which oceans contribute to society. It is also an opportunity to recognize the considerable challenges we face in maintaining their capacity to regulate the global climate, supply essential ecosystem services and provide sustainable livelihoods and safe recreation.

"Indeed, human activities are taking a terrible toll on the world's oceans and seas. Vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as corals, and important fisheries are being damaged by over-exploitation, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, destructive fishing practices, invasive alien species and marine pollution, especially from land-based sources. Increased sea temperatures, sea-level rise and ocean acidification caused by climate change pose a further threat to marine life, coastal and island communities and national economies.

NGS illustrations by Else Bostelmann

"Oceans are also affected by criminal activity. Piracy and armed robbery against ships threaten the lives of seafarers and the safety of international shipping, which transports 90 per cent of the world's goods. Smuggling of illegal drugs and the trafficking of persons by sea are further examples of how criminal activities threaten lives and the peace and security of the oceans.

"Several international instruments drawn up under the auspices of the United Nations address these numerous challenges. At their centre lies the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It provides the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out, and is the basis for international cooperation at all levels. In addition to aiming at universal participation, the world must do more to implement this Convention and to uphold the rule of law on the seas and oceans.

"The theme of World Oceans Day, "Our oceans, our responsibility", emphasizes our individual and collective duty to protect the marine environment and carefully manage its resources. Safe, healthy and productive seas and oceans are integral to human well-being, economic security and sustainable development."

A rare white-naped crane has hatched at the Smithsonian's National Zoo Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia.

A female white-naped crane chick, hatched May 23 at the Smithsonian's National Zoo's Conservation and Research Center, is being raised by its grandparents. The chick's mother, a 20-year-old first-time parent, has been hand-reared by humans and is unable to care for the chick.

Photo by Chris Crowe, Smithsonian's National Zoo

"The two-week-old female chick is the most genetically important hatchling in the North American White-Naped Crane Species Survival Program," the zoo said in a statement. "The population has suffered from a lack of female hatchlings over the past few years, putting the population at risk of stagnation without adequate females to produce more offspring. This hatching gives a much needed boost to the captive population of the endangered species."

The chick's mother was sent to the Conservation and Research Center (CRC) earlier this year to breed. Neither the 20-year-old female crane nor her new mate had ever produced offspring and the CRC's bird staff have had great success in the past in breeding previously unsuccessful pairs of cranes, the zoo said.

"The Species Survival Plan---a cooperative breeding program among zoos that pairs animals in order to maintain genetically healthy populations---had determined from the birds' genetics that they were the perfect match.

"At first the birds seemed compatible, but when breeding season arrived, instead of displaying the elaborate courtship behavior that cranes exhibit before mating, they fought. Keepers suspect that the female crane imprinted on humans at an early age, causing her to exhibit inappropriate behavior and inciting aggression from the male.

A female white-naped crane socializes with her keeper, Chris Crowe. The 20-year-old female was brought to the Zoo's Conservation and Research Center to breed with the Zoo's male. When the birds failed to get along, Crowe slowly earned the female crane's trust---playing with her, sitting with her, adapting her to his presence and touch---and was eventually able to successfully artificially inseminate her without using restraint or anesthesia.

Photo by Mehgan Murphy, Smithsonian's National Zoo

"Since natural mating was not possible, staff decided to perform artificial insemination. Bird keeper Chris Crowe slowly earned the female crane's trust--playing with her, sitting with her, adapting her to his presence and touch--and was eventually able to successfully artificially inseminate her without using restraint or anesthesia.

"A few weeks later the female laid a fertile egg. But staff still had an additional obstacle to surmount. The breeding program currently contains more than enough male cranes and greatly needs female offspring to prevent the population from stagnating. Hence, they needed to determine the sex of a chick before it hatched."

The CRC has developed a technique that allows staff to penetrate the eggshell and extract blood without killing the embryo or introducing microorganisms that would later kill the embryo, the zoo explained. Genetic testing from the blood sample revealed the chick inside the shell was a female. She hatched successfully and is now being raised by the parents of her biological father.

White-naped cranes are large birds that typically stand 4 feet high and weigh about 12 pounds. They are mostly dark-grey with a white hind neck

Destruction of its native wetland habitat in northeast China has dramatically decreased white-naped crane populations in the wild to an estimated 5,000.

The CRC currently has 10 cranes; there are an additional 60 animals in the White-Naped Crane Species Survival Program.

The Florida panther has made a dramatic recovery. Whether it will continue to survive now depends on whether we protect its shrinking habitat.

Photo by Stuart L. Pimm

By Stuart L. Pimm
Special Contributor to NatGeo News Watch

There's a small plane circling me a thousand feet up and its annoying noise makes it difficult for me to hear the Cape Sable sparrows I'm trying to census for my research. On these April mornings at sunrise, there's usually nothing but bird songs here in the middle of the Everglades.

Then I understand why the plane is there: its crew are tracking a Florida panther carrying a transmitter and the animal must be close to me. What a thrill! This big cat almost went extinct, and did go extinct in Everglades National Park. It's presence near me is wonderful---it's back, testimony to a very successful and unusual conservation effort.

Whether the panther can survive in the long term is now the subject of a battle over a key provision of the law that has kept it alive--the Endangered Species Act.

NGS illustration of Florida panther by Walter A. Weber

Florida panthers once occurred across the southeastern U.S., but their range shrank as human settlement expanded. By the time it was declared a Federally Endangered species in 1967, only a few individuals remained in southwest Florida.

With such few individuals, soon every cat was related to each other. And with inbreeding came a variety of genetic problems that reduced the animals' ability to reproduce. "The only solution was to bring in 'new blood'--female panthers from Texas," Sonny Bass of Everglades National Park told me. "It was very controversial, but it worked very well indeed."

Bass and colleagues released eight Texas females in 1995. "Five bred, and now most of the panthers have a Texas ancestor," Bass said. Their offspring spread more widely and recolonized Everglades National Park, including the animal near me as I did my survey. [Read the National Geographic News story about this: Texas Cats Help Triple Florida Panther Population.]

Bass should know. "In the early days of my panther work, I was in a small plane seven days a week tracking animals," he said. Before and after the Texas introductions there was a major effort to find and radio-collar every cat and to follow its movements.

Photo courtesy FWS

A lot of panthers--especially males--die on roads and at night. Five have been killed on the roads this year, a couple of dozen in each of 2007 and 2008.

As cats disperse looking for new territories they cross roads. Nothing in their evolution prepares them for cars traveling at high speed.

While some of the cats moved back into the National Park, most live in the western Everglades, in the region known as Big Cypress. They are generally more wooded.

Panthers in Immediate Jeopardy

It's these cats that are in immediate jeopardy. There are many new towns planned--one to be called "Big Cypress"--part of the sprawl of new housing developers plan to build inland from Florida's southwest coast.

Joe Browder is the long-term environmental leader who brought the land now called Big Cypress National Preserve back into the U.S. National Park system. He explained to me the reason why Sierra Club, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, and other groups have recently asked the Secretary of the Interior to assure that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service does not reject the groups' petition to designate key areas in southwestern Florida as "critical habitat" under the Endangered Species Act.

"Secretary of Interior Salazar should designate critical habitat for the panther because designation not only defines those areas needed for the species to survive, but also provides some later opportunity to discourage developers from building in the wrong places. Designation is an essential first step to make the planning process effective," Browder told me.

"Without designation, there's a much higher probability that developers will build their roads and cities on lands the panthers need, so the open space in the planned development may make the real estate more attractive, but won't protect the panther from traffic deaths and loss of prey."

    "To escape extinction, the panther needs the right lands protected."

As someone who studies species extinction--and how to prevent them--I share Browder's concerns. The panthers in south Florida have had a miraculous initial recovery, with the help of some sexy Texans. But to escape extinction the panther needs the right lands protected, something that can be done and still leave developers room to build new communities.

The Florida panther is now the only large cat east of the Mississippi. The wild areas of Florida would be somehow just so much tamer were the last one to die in a head-on collision with a car on a Federal highway.

Professor Stuart L. Pimm is a conservation biologist at Duke University, North Carolina. A former member of the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration, Pimm is the author of dozens of books and research papers, including the book "The World According to Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth."

Earlier NatGeo News Watch posting by Stuart Pimm:

Many Mammal Migrations Are at Risk of Extinction, Research Finds

Additional information about the Florida panther:

The Genetic Rescue of the Florida Panther (Stuart Pimm's research)

Florida Panther Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge (FWS)

Everglades National Park

Florida Panther Net  (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)

Florida Panther (National Wildlife Federation)

The Florida Panther Society

The Florida State Animal: Florida Panther

Florida Panther (Defenders of Wildlife)

Florida panther poster courtesy FWS

Shanthi, a 33-year-old Asian elephant at Washington, D.C.s's National Zoo, was inseminated artificially this week.

"A successful pregnancy is an important milestone in the Zoo's commitment to Asian elephant conservation," the Zoo said in a statement released today.

Photo by Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian's National Zoo.

Zoo staff worked alongside veterinarians Robert Hermes and Frank Goeritz from the Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, who conducted the insemination procedures June 3 and 4.

Scientists will now monitor the level of the hormone progesterone in Shanthi's blood. If concentrations remain elevated past 10 weeks after insemination, it most likely means she is pregnant, which will be confirmed by an ultrasound. An Asian elephant's gestation period ranges from 20 to 22 months.

Challenging Procedure

Artificially inseminating an elephant is a challenging and difficult medical procedure, and in order for it to be successful, several things have to take place, the Zoo said.

"First, the elephant must have a healthy reproductive tract. Also, the semen used for the procedure must be of good quality and needs to be placed correctly in the cervix and/or uterus. Finally, the artificial insemination must be timed properly: Elephants have two surges of luteinizing hormone in about a three-week period. Using blood samples, scientists are able to detect when the first surge, which does not induce ovulation, occurs. The second luteinizing hormone surge, which does induce ovulation, follows about 20 days later, and that is when the artificial insemination is done."

Santhi was not sedated for the procedure, according to a Zoo official. "Our elephants are trained for this procedure and our animal-care staff works routinely on training just for this purpose."

Shanthi gave birth to Kandula in 2001. He was the fifth elephant in the world conceived by artificial insemination, the Zoo said.

Understanding Elephant Reproduction

"Through past artificial insemination procedures done with Shanthi, National Zoo scientists collected information that led to a greater understanding of elephant reproduction.

"For example, National Zoo reproductive physiologist Janine Brown discovered that elephants have a double luteinizing hormone surge, which turned out to be vital for the proper timing of the artificial insemination."

"An elephant birth would bolster the decreasing population of Asian elephants in North America."

An elephant birth would bolster the decreasing population of Asian elephants in North America and is an significant step toward creating a multigenerational herd at the National Zoo.

The Zoo is expanding its elephant exhibit to accommodate such a social grouping. Elephant Trails, scheduled to open in 2011, will feature additional space and a walking trail for the elephants, in addition to a large indoor habitat with soft flooring.

"National Zoo scientists have studied Asian elephants in the wild for nearly 40 years in an effort to prevent their extinction," the Zoo said. "Fewer than 30,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild. Another 15,000 domesticated elephants are found in Asian range countries, many of them living in substandard conditions in logging camps, temples, tourist resorts and other facilities."

Snow leopards, wolves, Marco Polo sheep, and brown bears are among 33 endangered and threatened species that have gained the protection of the Afghanistan Government, the country's National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA) has announced.

Snow Leopard photo by Julie Larsen Maher/WCS

The listing of protected species--20 mammals, seven birds, four plants, an amphibian, and an insect--provides legal protection to Afghanistan's wildlife, which have been devastated by more than 30 years of conflict, said the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

NEPA, WCS (with funding from USAID), Kabul University, and Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, created the Afghanistan Wildlife Executive Committee (AWEC) to facilitate the listing, the first of its kind in Afghanistan.

Marco Polo sheep Photo by Stephane Ostrowski/WCS

"In July 2008, AWEC began evaluations of species such as the snow leopard, Marco Polo sheep, and Asiatic black bear," WCS said in a statement. "To make status determinations, AWEC and WCS worked with world experts to obtain the most recent and accurate information available for Afghanistan and the region, and then evaluated those data using scientific criteria established by the global authority on species listing: the IUCN Red List."

The list of protected Afghanistan wildlife may be expanded to as many as 70 species by the end of the year, WCS added.

Asiatic Black bear Photo by WCS

"The Wildlife Conservation Society commends the Afghanistan's National Environment Protection Agency for showing a continued commitment to conserving its natural heritage--even during these challenging times," said Steven E. Sanderson, President and CEO of WCS.

"WCS believes that conservation can often serve as diplomacy, and we are optimistic that this commitment to conservation will benefit all of Afghanistan's people."

Pallas Cat photo by Julie Larsen Maher/WCS

The snow leopard and other species are under pressure from excessive hunting, loss of key habitat and illegal trade.

Snow leopard pelts for sale in tourist shops sell for as much as $1,500 each, WCS said."International trade in species like the snow leopard is illegal under international law because it is globally endangered. Now that the snow leopard is protected under Afghan law, it is also illegal for Afghan nationals or internationals to hunt or trade the species within Afghanistan."

Greater Flamingo Photo by Mark Anderson

NEPA will be responsible for managing Afghanistan's protected species, including writing recovery plans for species designated as threatened.

Species will be re-evaluated every five years to determine whether populations have recovered to the extent where they may be removed from the protected list.

Eurasian Lynx photo by George Schaller

Last month Afghanistan announced the creation of its first national park: Band-e-Amir, six deep-blue lakes separated by natural dams made of travertine, a mineral deposit.

WCS, the only organization conducting ongoing scientific conservation studies in Afghanistan in the past 30 years, is working with the Afghan government to establish a network of parks and protected areas.

Markhor Photo by Graham Jones

Asiatic Cheetah (photographed in Iran) by Iran DOE/WCS/CACP/UNDP

Persian Leopard (photographed in Iran) by Iran DOE/WCS/CACP/UNDP

Urial Photo by George Schaller

Saker Falcon Photo by Mark Thomas

More than a century after being transported to New Zealand to pollinate crops of red clover, the short-haired bumblebee is set to make a return to its mother country, England, where it has been extinct for 20 years.

Photo of short-haired bumblebee by Dave Goulson, courtesy Natural England

The short-haired bumblebee was last seen in England in 1988--and declared officially extinct 12 years later when it could not be found in an intensive search.

But for over a century a small number of the original English population has clung on in New Zealand. The bee was transported to the Pacific Ocean island country in the late Nineteenth Century to pollinate crops of red clover. New Zealand had no native species of bumblebees to help propagate crops introduced from England.

A project to reintroduce the short-haired bumblebee to England, from the New Zealand population, was announced earlier this week by a consortium of conservation organizations: Natural England, the  Bumblebee Conservation Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and Hymettus, a charity that promotes conservation of bees, wasps and ants in the UK.

Natural England is an independent public body whose purpose is to protect and improve England's natural environment and encourage people to enjoy and get involved in their surroundings.

The consortium's bumblebee repatriation plan is to air-freight hibernating bees to England some time next year and release them in sites where their natural habitat of wild flowers has been restored in Kent County, in the southeast part of the country.

Farmers Maintain Bumblebee Habitat

Local farmers have been recruited to help create and maintain the appropriate habitat. Gardeners are encouraged to pitch in by growing wild flowers preferred by the bumblebees.

Unlike their cousins who became extinct in England, the New Zealand settlers are thought to have been able to survive because introduced English flowers have continued to grow in some abundance on South Island. Over the last 70 years the UK has lost 98 percent of its wild flowers meadows, causing a serious decline in the numbers of bumblebees.

The reintroduction project aims to develop a captive breeding program through which populations could be re-introduced onto selected sites in southern England, Natural England said.

NGS photo of Emperor penguins by W. Edward Roscher

Emperor penguin colony at Halley Research Station
Photo courtesy British Antarctic Survey

Penguin poop (guano) stains, visible from space, have helped British scientists locate emperor penguin breeding colonies in Antarctica, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said today.

Knowing the location of the penguins provides a baseline for monitoring their response to environmental change.

In a study published this week in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography, BAS scientists describe how they used satellite images to survey the sea ice around 90 percent of Antarctica's coast to search for emperor penguin colonies.

Ten New Emperor Penguin Colonies Found

"The survey identified a total of 38. Ten of those were new. Of the previously known colonies six had re-located and six were not found," BAS said.

"Because emperor penguins breed on sea-ice during the Antarctic winter little is known about their colonies. Reddish brown patches of guano on the ice, visible in satellite images, provide a reliable indication of their location."

"We can't see actual penguins on the satellite maps because the resolution isn't good enough,"
BAS Mapping expert Peter Fretwell explains in a BAS news release. "But during the breeding season the birds stay at a colony for eight months. The ice gets pretty dirty and it's the guano stains that we can see."

© 2009 National Geographic (AP); Video courtesy British Antarctic Survey

Satellite image showing guano stains of an emperor penguin colony in Halley Bay, Antarctica

Image courtesy British Antarctic Survey

Emperor penguins spend a large part of their lives at sea. During the Antarctic winter when temperatures drop to minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 50 degrees Celsius). they return to their colonies to breed on sea ice, but this is a time when it is most difficult for scientists to monitor them.

"Now we know exactly where the penguins are."

-- BAS Penguin Ecologist Phil Trathan

"This is a very exciting development," BAS Penguin Ecologist Phil Trathan says. "Now we know exactly where the penguins are, the next step will be to count each colony so we can get a much better picture of population size. Using satellite images combined with counts of penguin numbers puts us in a much better position to monitor future population changes over time."

This research builds on work by French scientists who extensively studied one colony and found the population was at significant risk from climate change. The six colonies not found in this study were at a similar latitude suggesting that emperor penguins may be at risk all around Antarctica, BAS said.

Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarcitca (LIMA) image courtesy USGS

How It Was Done

From the abstract of the research paper in Global Ecology and Biogeography:

"Using Landsat ETM satellite images downloaded from the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA), we detect fecal staining of ice by emperor penguins associated with their colony locations.

"Emperor penguins breed on sea ice, and their colonies exist in situ between May and December each year.

"Fecal staining at these colony locations shows on Landsat imagery as brown patches, the only staining of this colour on sea ice. This staining can therefore be used as an analogue for colony locations.

"The whole continental coastline has been analyzed, and each possible signal has been identified visually and checked by spectral analysis. In areas where LIMA data are unsuitable, freely available Landsat imagery has been supplemented."

Results: "We have identified colony locations of emperor penguins at a total of 38 sites. Of these, 10 are new locations, and six previously known colony locations have been repositioned (by over 10 km) due to poor geographical information in old records. Six colony locations, all from old or unconfirmed records, were not found or have disappeared."

Map of locations of Emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica courtesy British Antarctic Survey

Main conclusions:  "We present a new pan-Antarctic species distribution of emperor penguins mapped from space. In one synoptic survey we locate extant emperor penguin colonies, a species previously poorly mapped due to its unique breeding habits, and provide a vital geographical resource for future studies of an iconic species believed to be vulnerable to future climate change."

Why are emperor penguin population numbers important?

From the British Antarctic Survey Web site

Emperor penguins on the sea ice close to Halley Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf. The young Emperor chicks are moulting.

Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) breed in colonies on the sea ice that surrounds much of the coast of Antarctica.

These colonies can range in size from a few hundred to many thousands of pairs, however, scientists have been unable to estimate the total number of emperor penguins in Antarctica.

The colonies generally only exist in the most inaccessible of locations and access during the harshest weather conditions is extremely difficult.

In addition, we don't know where all the colonies are located.

Estimates of the total number of penguins range between 200,000 and 400,000 pairs, but changes in the sea ice on which they breed can affect their breeding success and the size of the colony.

We therefore need a more accurate assessment of their numbers to help us monitor future penguin population changes, and in particular, their response to climate change.

Read more about this research on the BAS Web site >>

More from NatGeo News Watch: Antarctica Imaged From Space

Photo courtesy Scottish Wildlife Trust

Beavers are a familiar sight to millions of people across North America. The tree-felling rodent is a common resident (some would say nuisance) in wetlands, ponds, and waterways.

But in the UK, beavers have not been seen in the wild since they were extirpated four centuries ago, about the time King Henry VIII of England was still married to the first of his eight wives. Scotland was a separate state, under its own monarch.

After four long event-filled centuries, all that may be changing. In what has been described as the first formal reintroduction of a mammal to the UK, the first beavers to live in Scotland for over 400 years were released into the wild last Friday.

The Scottish Beaver Trial (SBT), a partnership project run by Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT), the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), and host partner Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS), launched officially on May 29.

Three European beaver families of eleven animals were released at carefully selected sites in Scotland's Knapdale Forest. The beavers, originally from Norway, were chosen because they are considered to be the closest type to those once found in the UK and have all completed a six-month statutory quarantine period, according to a news statement published on the Scottish Beaver Trial Web site.

Photo of beaver waiting for release courtesy Scottish Wildlife Trust

"Welcoming beavers back to Scotland marks a historic day for conservation," said Scotland's Minister for the Environment, Roseanna Cunningham. "These charismatic creatures are not only likely to create interest in Scotland from further afield but crucially can play a key role in providing good habitat for a wide range of wetland species.

"And while a great deal of research has already gone into the reintroduction this work is far from over. Observations and data collection over the next five years will play a crucial role in assessing the long-term future for beavers in the Scottish landscape."

The release is for a limited trial period and comes after years of lobbying by ecologists and conservation experts who believe that the beaver has been a missing part of Scotland's wetland ecosystems since being hunted to extinction in the 16th Century, the news statement said.

The project, funded mostly by private donations and grants, has popular support. Public consultation showed that 73 percent of respondents were in favour of the trial.

"Our critics worry that beavers might pose a risk to migratory fish numbers, including salmon. This has not been found to be the case anywhere else in Europe."

-- Allan Bantick, chairman of the Scottish Beaver Trial partnership

But not everyone is happy about the reintroduction of beavers.

"Our critics worry that beavers might pose a risk to migratory fish numbers, including salmon," said Allan Bantick, chairman of both SWT of the Scottish Beaver Trial partnership. "This has not been found to be the case anywhere else in Europe.

"However, the notion cannot be tested with this trial because there is no Atlantic salmon present in the trial site. Our beavers will be released within a designated trial area, which should be large enough to sustain the natural expansion of their population over the next five years."

Watch this Scottish Government video about the reintroduction of beavers to Scotland:

Beavers are a species worth having in any ecosystem as their presence is known to bring a vast number of benefits to other native Scottish wildlife as well as wetland and waterside habitats, Bantick elaborated. "Our reintroduction follows in the footsteps of 24 other European countries, who have already reintroduced beavers to over 150 different sites."

It is vital that the project is recognised as a time-limited trial with the purpose of assessing the effect beavers have on the local environment and how well they settle into their new habitat here in Scotland, Bantick stressed.

Release Went "Extremely Well"

The release of the beaver families went extremely well, said Scottish Beaver Trial Project Manager Simon Jones. "They were placed into purpose-built artificial lodges at carefully selected points around the trial site. They will now gradually gnaw their way out of the lodge at a pace that is comfortable for them before exploring their new surroundings.

"Now that our beavers have been released into the wild, the real work of our trial can begin. First and foremost, this is a scientific study of how the beavers cope naturally in the Scottish environment and what effect they have upon it. We will be closely tracking the beavers' activities and collecting data over the next five years to help inform the independent scientific monitoring, co-ordinated by Scottish Natural Heritage. This will help the Scottish Government in making any final decisions on the future of beavers in Knapdale Forest or elsewhere in Scotland.

"We will also be continuing to engage with the local community as well as trying to inspire Scots to support this exciting conservation project. We hope to see many people visiting the trial site over time, but the beavers do need time to settle in before meeting the neighbours."