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Record tourism in national parks comes with increasing threats – antsy humans
Yellowstone and other major parks grappling with illegal camping, vandalism, theft of resources, wildlife harassment and other misbehavior from visitors
On the edge of a meadow in Yellowstone National Park, tourist John Gleason crept through the grass, four small children close behind, inching toward a bull elk with antlers like small trees.
“They’re going to give me a heart attack,” said Gleason’s mother-in-law, Barbara Henry, as the group came within about a dozen yards of the massive animal.
Continue reading...FSA: 4,000 major breaches of animal welfare laws at UK abattoirs in two years
Data released by food watchdog reveals incidences of chickens being boiled alive and animals suffocating or freezing to death in trucks
There were more than 4,000 severe breaches of animal welfare regulations over the past two years at British slaughterhouses, according to data released by the government’s food watchdog under freedom of information laws.
The data, comprising reports by vets and hygiene inspectors, details instances of needless pain and distress that include chickens being boiled alive and trucks of animals suffocating or freezing to death.
Continue reading...Rare blue whales spotted off New England coast in 'unheard of' event
- ‘We’ve never seen two together,’ says co-founder of marine conservation
- The whales are the largest creatures on earth
Two blue whales have been seen off the New England coast, in a rare sighting of the largest creatures on earth.
Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conversation cofounder Dianna Schulte told WMUR-TV she was working aboard the Granite State off the coast of Rye Harbor, New Hampshire, on Friday when she spotted the whales.
Continue reading...The eco guide to gold
More nuggets of info on the stuff our Olympics medals were made of
Perhaps it’s all those Olympic medals, but our small preview of Fairtrade gold wedding bands from Argos several weeks ago has led to a rush of queries about clean gold. So here are some further nuggets.
Be led by the UK’s pioneer jewellery activists. Greg Valerio and cred- jewellery.com have fought to make the supply chain transparent. Critically, they have also put ethical gold into jewellery so we can buy it. Meanwhile, small-scale independent jewellers such as annaloucah.com and yumejewellery.com are part of Fairgold’s goldsmiths’ registration scheme.
Continue reading...'I was born to do this': national park rangers on their triumphs and tragedies
As the National Park Service turns 100, longtime rangers reflect on tasks ranging from teaching rescue missions – and the sexism many female rangers face
Andrea “Andy” Lankford often came close to death during her twelve years as a ranger for the National Park Service. But there was nothing quite as horrific as the time she ended up with parts of a human brain in her hand.
Continue reading...Tories’ failure to halt ivory trade ‘risks extinction of elephants’
The UK is putting elephants at risk of extinction through its broken promises on the ivory trade, according to campaigners. Before the last election, the Conservative party pledged to shut down the UK’s domestic ivory market: at the time 30,000 elephants a year were being slaughtered for their tusks. But no action has been taken.
While bans on the international trade in ivory exist, a failure to observe similar measures at a national level is being exploited by criminal gangs who smuggle ivory into the UK, where it can be passed off as antique. Now, in the run-up to a major conference, more than 1.6 million people have signed a petition on the Avaaz activist website calling for the world’s domestic ivory markets to be closed down for good.
Continue reading...Probe set for science pass of Jupiter
The 20 photographs of the week
From underwater military tanks to Spanish wildfires, the best photography in news, culture and sport from around the world this week
Continue reading...Large blue butterfly thriving in UK since reintroduction
Numbers of the endangered butterfly, once pronounced extinct in the UK, have reached their highest level in 80 years, according to conservationists
A butterfly once pronounced extinct in the UK has been seen in record numbers this year, according to conservationists.
There were over 10,000 adult large blue butterflies in Gloucestershire and Somerset – the largest concentration of the species known in the world.
Continue reading...Daylight encounter hungry pine marten
Strathnairn, Highlands Its rich chocolate fur looked luxuriant, and it was easy to see why it was so much prized in the middle ages as a trimming for robes of state
Mid-afternoon, and I watched the pine marten hunting a woodland bank, sniffing and listening for prey such as voles. Above it was ripening the rich crop of rowan berries that would augment its diet in late autumn.
It must have been hungry to be out hunting at this time of day, as pine martens are normally nocturnal. No doubt the poor weather of late had not helped. However, this one – a female, judging from its size – was in good condition, graceful and agile, with its slender body and long, bushy tail. Its rich chocolate fur looked luxuriant and it was easy to see why it was prized in the middle ages as a trimming for robes of state.
Continue reading...Beyond the coal rush part 1: The march of coal
Beyond the coal rush part 1: The march of coal
Plan bee: Minnesota sets broad limits on chemicals blamed for bee decline
But farmers are concerned they will not be able to protect crops from insects if they cannot use neonicotinoids
Minnesota’s governor on Friday ordered the broadest restrictions yet in a US state on the use of agricultural pesticides that have been blamed for hurting bees, fuelling concerns that farmers there will not be able to protect crops from insects.
Governor Mark Dayton issued an executive order that requires farmers to verify they face “an imminent threat of significant crop loss” before using the chemicals, called neonicotinoids.
Continue reading...The engineering mouse builds its dream house
World's largest marine reserve created off Hawaii
A Big Country
US national parks, badger cull and microplastics – green news roundup
The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
Soldier crabs, a family of brown bears and spotted hyenas are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
Continue reading...Vintage posters of America's national parks – in pictures
A collection of posters created to promote tourism to the national parks is part of the creative legacy of the New Deal developed by Franklin D Roosevelt. Between 1938 and 1941, the Works Progress Administration and its Federal Arts Project designed a series of artworks promoting, and inspired by, the landscapes and wildlife of the parks. The collection is housed in the Library of Congress
Continue reading...Synthetic prawns: a bid to make ‘seafood’ that’s sustainable and slavery-free
A California biotech company receives funding to commercialise algae-based prawns, in an attempt to get people switching to more sustainable diets
How do you describe the taste and texture of a prawn? Sort of rubbery; elastic, even. Like chicken, only better. These unappetising phrases hardly capture what makes it so good—the precise reason why prawns (called shrimp in the United States) are one of the most consumed seafoods globally. But now biotech startup New Wave Foods is on a mission to mimic the exact texture and taste of a prawn, in a product made entirely out of algae and plant ingredients.
The small, orangey-pink whorls they’ve created look uncannily like the real thing. But what do they taste like? That’s a question for Dominique Barnes, CEO of California-based New Wave Foods. “We’ve done a few blind taste tests—unofficially, you know—and until we tell people it’s made of plants and algae they can’t tell,” says Barnes, who comes from a background in marine conservation.
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