PLANET IN PERIL

CBC news A rufus hummingbird, one of the kinds in decline. Dean E. Biggins 'No one has ever measured pesticides in hummingbirds before. So we decided to try it,' says scientist. Story here. RELATED:  "Will New Research Nudge Canada Toward a 'Neonic" Ban?" " Environmental groups back in court over pollinator-killing pesticides "

Royal Society Open Science  We're only beginning to find out all the ways in which industrial activity disrupts the ecosystem, and a new bird study gives yet another example of the unexpected ways in which human activity affects the local fauna. Researchers at the University of Manitoba have found that the presence of oil and natural gas infrastructure—such as fences, power lines, and transmitters around oil wells—in Canada's Northern Great Plains helped boost the number of brown-headed cowbirds by four times. Cowbirds are a parasitic species who lay their eggs in other birds' nests, forcing others to raise their brood. The parasitic species uses oil and gas infrastructures as perches, and the availability of perches makes it easier for these birds to find their brood hosts.  Savannah sparrow. Photo by  D. Gordon E. Robertson Cowbirds' abundance in the area could hurt another grassland bird species, the Savannah sparrow, which often falls victim to the parasitic

Nature Much research has been dedicated to studying the effects of climate   change and global warming on the Antarctic ice sheet and sea levels; but  t he same can't be said about the ice-free parts of the region, which cover  l ess than 1% of the continent.  Australian researchers modelled the potential effect of climate change   under two Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change climate-forcing   scenarios. Their findings suggest that under the more radical of the two   scenarios, the ice-free areas in the Antarctic can expand by as much as   25% by the end of the 21st century.  Such a drastic increase in surface area   can bring about a homogenization of the biome, the extinction of less- competitive species and the spread of invasive species. Though the   expansion of habitat space can be viewed as a positive outcome,  r esearchers say that sticking to the protocol that aims to reduce global   temperature increases will help maintain the current biodiversity

The Washington Post Albatross. Photo by JJ Harrison KAPA‘A, Hawaii — The first of the bodies was discovered by a hiker who snapped a photo of the suspicious scene with his cellphone. Buried in a nest on the westernmost spit of the Hawaiian island of Oahu was a dead bird the size of a human child. On the ground next to it was a large stick. More Here.

CNW a CISION company Some populations of Lake Sturgeon (above), a large, very long-lived species affected by historical  overfishing, are now on the endangered list (COSEWIC). US Fish & Wildlife photo. Atlantic Walrus and Eastern Migratory Caribou are at risk of extinction. So concluded the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), which met recently in Whitehorse. The number of Canadian northern wildlife species considered to be at risk now stands at 62. Details here.

SumOfUs Greenpeace and Stand.Earth (formerly Forest Ethics) are getting sued for $300 million by Canada’s largest logging company  to make them shut up. Details here.

The Washington Post A rose-breasted grosbeak, one of the species-at-risk due to global warming. PinP photo. In 1962, Rachel Carson warned that pesticides, particularly DDT, would lead to springs without birdsong, as she wrote in her book “ Silent Spring .” Carson's forecast kick-started an environmental movement and was instrumental in the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to  ban the pesticides 10 years later, so her descriptions of deathly quiet did not come to pass. Story here.

UN News Centre Applauding the Chinese Government’s closure of many of its ivory factories and retail outlets, the United Nations environment wing has called on other countries and territories to follow China’s example and improve the survival prospects for elephants across the world. Story here.  An Asian elephant in a park in India. Photo credit - Wikipedia.

theguardian Three recent studies point to just how broad, bizarre, and potentially devastating climate change is to life on Earth. And we’ve only seen one degree Celsius of warming so far.  Story here. Some moose populations in Canada are doing well while others  are threatened by habitat loss & degradation.  PinP  photo.

Winnipeg Free Press On Wednesday, Carl Brown Jr. of South Carolina was found guilty of killing an animal that is protected under The Endangered Species and Ecosystems Act. Story here. Photo by Brocken Inaglory.

NATIONAL OBSERVER News this week that there are no more than 15 caribou left in a threatened herd near Val d’Or, Que. is giving new urgency to the fight to protect caribou in the neighbouring Broadback River valley.  Story here.                                               An Alaskan caribou. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

The Globe & Mail Federal and provincial governments are being urged to increase protection for the boreal forest and its imperilled woodland caribou herds from resource-company activity, as environment ministers prepare to meet in Ottawa this week to devise plans for greater conservation efforts. Story here.

UN News Centre The international pledge to eradicate a devastating livestock disease affecting mostly sheep and goats has taken on new urgency in the wake of a mass die-off of a rare Mongolian antelope, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ). Story here. Mongolian antelope.  Image from Wikipedia.

ScienceAdvances The endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey ( Oreonax flavicauda ) Photo by  Platyrrhinus Nonhuman primates, our closest biological relatives, play important roles and offer unique insights into  many human societies .  Story here.

The Washington Post Your morning cup of joe, the must-have chair purchased at that trendy furniture store and the palm oil that’s key to a favourite family recipe, all have elements ripped from the habitat of a threatened or endangered animal somewhere in the world. Story here. Burrowing owl. PinP photo.

The Washington Post As the Arctic warms faster than any other place on the planet and sea ice declines, there is only one sure way to save polar bears from extinction, the government announced Monday: decisive action on climate change. Story here. Wikipedia photo.

Nation of Change More than 20,000 elephants were killed for their ivory last year, leaving only about 415,000 remaining. Story here.

CommonDreams Just 7,100 cheetahs remain around the world. Story here. U.S. Fish & Wildlife photo.

Bloomberg Kinder Morgan Inc. will have to address the fate of one more group before completing its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion: killer whales. Story here. A pod of killer whales off Vancouver Island. Photo by Winky.

New Scientist The habitat of one of the world’s rarest and most elusive big cats is shrinking fast, with the latest pressure coming from frankincense collectors. Story here.