Taiwan offers 'freeway' for butterflies Sat Mar 24, 6:16 AM ET
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan will cordon off part of a highway to create a safe passage for a massive seasonal butterfly migration in the coming days, an official said Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The milkweed butterflies — which are indigenous to the island off China and have distinct white dots on purple brown wings — migrate in late March from southern Taiwan to the north, where they lay eggs and die.
The young butterflies then fly south every November to a warm mountain valley near the southern city of Kaohsiung to escape the winter cold in the north.
Conservationists say Taiwan has about 2 million milkweed butterflies.
To protect the migrating butterflies, a 600-yard stretch of highway in southern Taiwan's Yunlin County will be sealed off in the coming days as the migration peaks, said Lee Tai-ming, head of the National Freeway Bureau.
Authorities will set up nets to make the butterflies fly higher and avoid passing cars, Lee said.
He said they will also install ultraviolet lights to guide the insects across a highway overpass.
Taiwan began the laborious task of tracking down the butterflies' 180-mile migration paths in recent years.
Taiwan originally had more types of milkweed butterflies, but the largest became extinct decades ago when they were routinely caught and made into specimens for sale, the newspaper said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070324/ap_on_sc/taiwan_butterfly_migration;_ylt=AjYIdbCm_vU9vT.hCMcbISrMWM0F
Showing posts with label Animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animals. Show all posts
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Knut the Polar Bear Cub "Comes Out"
"Knut Day" in Berlin as polar bear cub goes public By Madeline Chambers
Fri Mar 23, 10:26 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's youngest celebrity, Knut the polar bear cub, made his much-anticipated public debut at Berlin Zoo Friday and appeared unfazed by the media scrum surrounding his first excursion.
ADVERTISEMENT
The three-and-a-half-month old white cub padded gingerly round his new enclosure to the gasps and sighs of onlookers.
Fortified by a breakfast of porridge, the puppy-sized cub sniffed the grass and rolled in the dust before delighting the crowds by splashing in a pond.
"I want to take him home," said Daniel Wolff, five, whose mother had bought him a specially made "Knut" cuddly polar bear toy on sale on a stand outside the enclosure.
Knut stole the heart of Berliners after he was born in December but rejected by his mother Tosca. A bearded zookeeper moved into the enclosure to look after him round the clock.
But Knut's fate grabbed global attention after an animal rights campaigner said hand-rearing polar bears was a violation of animal rights. German media interpreted his comments as a call for Knut to be put to sleep.
"We are not worried about Knut's future," Berlin Zoo vet Andre Schuele told reporters. "As a male he will grow big and strong. Polar bears are loners and he will be fine -- it doesn't matter that he has been hand-reared."
At least 200 journalists from around the globe gathered at the zoo for "Knut Day," and his outing threatened to overshadow the start of a major EU summit taking place in the capital at the weekend, zoo official Ragnar Kuehne said.
"There is always something special about bringing up a baby polar bear on a bottle and with Knut, the added fear that he might die bolstered solidarity for the bear," said Kuehne.
Cameramen from Japan, the United States, Brazil and Finland jostled on ladders to take the best pictures. German television channels covered Knut's first public steps live and some newspaper journalists had to post live podcasts of the occasion.
Knut has also drawn attention to the plight of polar bears as worries grow that global warming is contributing to the melting of their habitat.
German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has adopted Knut and used his appearance to further the debate on climate change.
"Knut is in safe hands here but worldwide polar bears are in danger and if Knut can help the cause, then that is a good thing," said the minister as he accompanied Knut on his walk and tickled his chin for the cameras.
Reuters Photo: Polar bear cub Knut in Berlin zoo, March 23, 2007. (Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070323/wl_nm/germany_polarbear_dc
Fri Mar 23, 10:26 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's youngest celebrity, Knut the polar bear cub, made his much-anticipated public debut at Berlin Zoo Friday and appeared unfazed by the media scrum surrounding his first excursion.
ADVERTISEMENT
The three-and-a-half-month old white cub padded gingerly round his new enclosure to the gasps and sighs of onlookers.
Fortified by a breakfast of porridge, the puppy-sized cub sniffed the grass and rolled in the dust before delighting the crowds by splashing in a pond.
"I want to take him home," said Daniel Wolff, five, whose mother had bought him a specially made "Knut" cuddly polar bear toy on sale on a stand outside the enclosure.
Knut stole the heart of Berliners after he was born in December but rejected by his mother Tosca. A bearded zookeeper moved into the enclosure to look after him round the clock.
But Knut's fate grabbed global attention after an animal rights campaigner said hand-rearing polar bears was a violation of animal rights. German media interpreted his comments as a call for Knut to be put to sleep.
"We are not worried about Knut's future," Berlin Zoo vet Andre Schuele told reporters. "As a male he will grow big and strong. Polar bears are loners and he will be fine -- it doesn't matter that he has been hand-reared."
At least 200 journalists from around the globe gathered at the zoo for "Knut Day," and his outing threatened to overshadow the start of a major EU summit taking place in the capital at the weekend, zoo official Ragnar Kuehne said.
"There is always something special about bringing up a baby polar bear on a bottle and with Knut, the added fear that he might die bolstered solidarity for the bear," said Kuehne.
Cameramen from Japan, the United States, Brazil and Finland jostled on ladders to take the best pictures. German television channels covered Knut's first public steps live and some newspaper journalists had to post live podcasts of the occasion.
Knut has also drawn attention to the plight of polar bears as worries grow that global warming is contributing to the melting of their habitat.
German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has adopted Knut and used his appearance to further the debate on climate change.
"Knut is in safe hands here but worldwide polar bears are in danger and if Knut can help the cause, then that is a good thing," said the minister as he accompanied Knut on his walk and tickled his chin for the cameras.
Reuters Photo: Polar bear cub Knut in Berlin zoo, March 23, 2007. (Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070323/wl_nm/germany_polarbear_dc
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Rats Next to Your NY Fried Chicken and Tacos...Eeew!
Rats run wild in KFC-Taco Bell in N.Y.
By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer Sat Feb 24, 4:05 AM ET
NEW YORK - The parent company of KFC and Taco Bell — still smarting from last year's
E. coli scare — has been forced back into damage-control mode after television cameras caught rats scampering around a restaurant floor.
As health inspectors descended on a KFC and Taco Bell eatery in Manhattan's Greenwich Village on Friday, Yum Brands Inc. hastened to show that it also was taking the rodents seriously.
"Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our customers. This is completely unacceptable and is an absolute violation of our high standards," Yum Brands said in a statement.
The franchise owner "is actively addressing this issue," the statement said, adding that the restaurant will remain closed until the problem is "completely resolved."
A TV crew discovered the rat infestation and began filming through a window of the building early Friday. About a dozen rats were filmed racing around the restaurant's floors, playing with each other and sniffing for food as they dashed around tables and children's high chairs.
The restaurant was not open at the time, and the company later said construction in the basement on Thursday appeared to have stirred up the rats.
Onlookers could not keep their eyes away from the jaw-dropping sight — a gang of urban vermin invading a restaurant that had been taking people's chicken and taco orders just a day earlier. Video of the rats was seen around the world, disseminated on TV stations and the Internet.
"They should handcuff them and throw the dirty rats in jail," cabbie Wilson Paul said as he pulled over to gawk.
Rats have long been a problem in New York City, with such a dense population and such a large and readily available food supply for the rodents. They are frequently seen scampering through subway tunnels, rooting through trash, dashing across parks and burrowing into the walls of apartment buildings.
Greenwich Village tends to be a happy home for them because of its combination of older buildings and a tangle of subway lines converging just below street level.
Still, it is rare to see so many rats congregating in one place in such public view.
The city Department of Health had inspectors at the site on Friday for hours, and by midday had posted a sign that read "CLOSED."
"Today, this establishment had serious unsanitary conditions," said Carol Feracho, a senior health inspector. "There were issues with vermin throughout."
She said the infestation was "coming from the building," with "openings" that allowed the vermin to enter. She provided no other details.
There was no answer at the phone number displayed in neon on the store window below the words "We Deliver." Department of Health spokeswoman Sara Markt said agency records list the franchise owner as ADF Fifth Operating Corp. The owner could not be reached for comment, despite numerous efforts.
Joel Cohen, who lives in the building next to the restaurant, had a graphic view of the situation.
"I'm living over the place that is feeding the rats of New York City," said Cohen, who works in real estate. "This place is a disaster. They throw their rubbish in the doorways. It's loaded up with food in bags that are not tied, and the rats have eaten through the bags."
Gregory Moore, a retired city administrator who lives on a nearby street, called the situation "pretty horrendous. The rats have made a grand play here."
Last week, it was reported that Taco Bell sales had slumped after the widely publicized E. coli scare, but that international sales helped Yum Brands in the company's fourth quarter.
The E. coli outbreak late last year caused more than 70 Taco Bell customers to become ill. Federal officials said in December that the most likely source of the illnesses was lettuce. Taco Bell took precautions by changing its suppliers of lettuce and cheese in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Yum Brands stock closed Friday at $60.51, down 55 cents.
___
Associated Press Writer Pat Milton contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070224/ap_on_fe_st/restaurant_rats;_ylt=AqkeB7oX7bmr55XoCyZhqVouQE4F
By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer Sat Feb 24, 4:05 AM ET
NEW YORK - The parent company of KFC and Taco Bell — still smarting from last year's
E. coli scare — has been forced back into damage-control mode after television cameras caught rats scampering around a restaurant floor.
As health inspectors descended on a KFC and Taco Bell eatery in Manhattan's Greenwich Village on Friday, Yum Brands Inc. hastened to show that it also was taking the rodents seriously.
"Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our customers. This is completely unacceptable and is an absolute violation of our high standards," Yum Brands said in a statement.
The franchise owner "is actively addressing this issue," the statement said, adding that the restaurant will remain closed until the problem is "completely resolved."
A TV crew discovered the rat infestation and began filming through a window of the building early Friday. About a dozen rats were filmed racing around the restaurant's floors, playing with each other and sniffing for food as they dashed around tables and children's high chairs.
The restaurant was not open at the time, and the company later said construction in the basement on Thursday appeared to have stirred up the rats.
Onlookers could not keep their eyes away from the jaw-dropping sight — a gang of urban vermin invading a restaurant that had been taking people's chicken and taco orders just a day earlier. Video of the rats was seen around the world, disseminated on TV stations and the Internet.
"They should handcuff them and throw the dirty rats in jail," cabbie Wilson Paul said as he pulled over to gawk.
Rats have long been a problem in New York City, with such a dense population and such a large and readily available food supply for the rodents. They are frequently seen scampering through subway tunnels, rooting through trash, dashing across parks and burrowing into the walls of apartment buildings.
Greenwich Village tends to be a happy home for them because of its combination of older buildings and a tangle of subway lines converging just below street level.
Still, it is rare to see so many rats congregating in one place in such public view.
The city Department of Health had inspectors at the site on Friday for hours, and by midday had posted a sign that read "CLOSED."
"Today, this establishment had serious unsanitary conditions," said Carol Feracho, a senior health inspector. "There were issues with vermin throughout."
She said the infestation was "coming from the building," with "openings" that allowed the vermin to enter. She provided no other details.
There was no answer at the phone number displayed in neon on the store window below the words "We Deliver." Department of Health spokeswoman Sara Markt said agency records list the franchise owner as ADF Fifth Operating Corp. The owner could not be reached for comment, despite numerous efforts.
Joel Cohen, who lives in the building next to the restaurant, had a graphic view of the situation.
"I'm living over the place that is feeding the rats of New York City," said Cohen, who works in real estate. "This place is a disaster. They throw their rubbish in the doorways. It's loaded up with food in bags that are not tied, and the rats have eaten through the bags."
Gregory Moore, a retired city administrator who lives on a nearby street, called the situation "pretty horrendous. The rats have made a grand play here."
Last week, it was reported that Taco Bell sales had slumped after the widely publicized E. coli scare, but that international sales helped Yum Brands in the company's fourth quarter.
The E. coli outbreak late last year caused more than 70 Taco Bell customers to become ill. Federal officials said in December that the most likely source of the illnesses was lettuce. Taco Bell took precautions by changing its suppliers of lettuce and cheese in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Yum Brands stock closed Friday at $60.51, down 55 cents.
___
Associated Press Writer Pat Milton contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070224/ap_on_fe_st/restaurant_rats;_ylt=AqkeB7oX7bmr55XoCyZhqVouQE4F
Beaver Seen in NYC; First in Centuries
Beaver seen in NYC; first in centuries
Fri Feb 23, 5:49 PM ET
NEW YORK - Beavers grace New York City's official seal. But the industrious rodents haven't been spotted here for as many as 200 years — until this week.
Biologists videotaped a beaver swimming up the Bronx River on Wednesday. Its twig-and-mud lodge had been spotted earlier on the river bank, but the tape confirmed the presence of the animal.
"It had to happen because beaver populations are expanding, and their habitats are shrinking," said Dietland Muller-Schwarze, a beaver expert at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. "We're probably going to see more of them."
Beavers gnawed out a prominent place in the city's early days as a European settlement, attracting fur traders to a nascent Manhattan. The animal appears in the city seal to symbolize a Dutch trading company that factored in the city's colonial beginnings, according to the city's Web site.
But amid heavy trapping, beavers disappeared from the city in the early 1800s, according to the city Department of Parks & Recreation.
The beaver that has made its way to the Bronx appears to be a male, several feet long and 2 or 3 years old, said Patrick Thomas, the mammals curator at the nearby Bronx Zoo.
Biologists have nicknamed the animal Jose, as a tribute to Rep. Jose Serrano (news, bio, voting record)'s work to revive the river. The Bronx Democrat lined up federal money for a cleanup.
"But I don't know to what extent I imagined things living in it again," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070223/ap_on_fe_st/bronx_beaver;_ylt=AuUW_Lf0SyZ4tp8vyFPA45kuQE4F
A beaver swims in New York City's Bronx River, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007. After its twig-and-mud lodge had been spotted earlier on the river bank, biologists photographed New York's State Mammal in the river after a 200 year absence. Amid heavy trapping, beavers disappeared from the city in the early 1800s, according to the city Department of Parks & Recreation, but may become more common as their populations expand and development cause their habitats to shrink. (AP Photo/Wildlife Conservation Society, Julie Larsen Maher )
Fri Feb 23, 5:49 PM ET
NEW YORK - Beavers grace New York City's official seal. But the industrious rodents haven't been spotted here for as many as 200 years — until this week.
Biologists videotaped a beaver swimming up the Bronx River on Wednesday. Its twig-and-mud lodge had been spotted earlier on the river bank, but the tape confirmed the presence of the animal.
"It had to happen because beaver populations are expanding, and their habitats are shrinking," said Dietland Muller-Schwarze, a beaver expert at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. "We're probably going to see more of them."
Beavers gnawed out a prominent place in the city's early days as a European settlement, attracting fur traders to a nascent Manhattan. The animal appears in the city seal to symbolize a Dutch trading company that factored in the city's colonial beginnings, according to the city's Web site.
But amid heavy trapping, beavers disappeared from the city in the early 1800s, according to the city Department of Parks & Recreation.
The beaver that has made its way to the Bronx appears to be a male, several feet long and 2 or 3 years old, said Patrick Thomas, the mammals curator at the nearby Bronx Zoo.
Biologists have nicknamed the animal Jose, as a tribute to Rep. Jose Serrano (news, bio, voting record)'s work to revive the river. The Bronx Democrat lined up federal money for a cleanup.
"But I don't know to what extent I imagined things living in it again," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070223/ap_on_fe_st/bronx_beaver;_ylt=AuUW_Lf0SyZ4tp8vyFPA45kuQE4F
A beaver swims in New York City's Bronx River, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007. After its twig-and-mud lodge had been spotted earlier on the river bank, biologists photographed New York's State Mammal in the river after a 200 year absence. Amid heavy trapping, beavers disappeared from the city in the early 1800s, according to the city Department of Parks & Recreation, but may become more common as their populations expand and development cause their habitats to shrink. (AP Photo/Wildlife Conservation Society, Julie Larsen Maher )
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)