Nature News #5

Bird News

Researchers with the Canadian Wildlife Service say migratory birds may face new challenges when they return to The Arctic, due to unpredictable climate changes.

After being alerted by the distress cries of its mother, bird watchers in Ottawa came to the rescue of a great-horned owl chick that was blown out of its nest during a storm.

Point Pelee National Park has instituted a program of using social media, particularly Twitter, to get the word out on rare bird sightings.

Coordinators of the Breeding Bird Atlas of British Columbia are seeking bird watchers to help gather data in the West Kootenay Region of the province.

The culling of thousands of nesting double-crested cormorants has begun on Middle Island, Ontario in an effort to restore the ecological balance of the island.

Mammal News

New research by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has increased the estimated number of narhwals in the High Arctic.

Fish and Wildlife officials in Alberta are investigating 37 coyote carcasses with their paws cut off, found near the Saskatchewan border in southeastern Alberta.

The government of Nova Scotia has initiated a bounty on coyotes in the province, paying trappers $20.00 for each pelt collected.

The University of Victoria has looked into dozens of options for dealing with the estimated 2,000 rabbits on its campus, and is now considering a cull of the population.

Herptile News

To cut down on the road kill of Western Painted Turtles, the District of Saanich on Vancouver Island has erected orange hazard signs on a popular rural road, urging people to slow down and watch out.

Insect News

Low-flying aircraft are expected to start spraying parts of Richmond, BC., this week in an attempt to kill off an infestation of gypsy moths. According to the Ministry of Forests and Range, the spray is not harmful to people, pets, fish, birds, or insects, and is approved for use on organic farms.

Ecosystem News

The Yukon has some of the fastest-melting glaciers in the world, which have raised global sea levels by one millimetre over the last 50 years.

The New Brunswick government has permanently opened the gates on the Petitcodiac River causeway, allowing the river to flow naturally for the first time since 1968.

A semi-retired doctor in Vancouver has been single-handedly restoring a small 29 hectare island in the Fraser River by replacing invasive species with native BC trees.

Community meetings in seven Nunavut hamlets are set to begin this week to set terms for an environmental review of yet another proposed uranium mine on the tundra.

The U.S. Coast Guard is attempting a recovery technique on a sunken Canadian cruise ship in Alaska. The ship went down in 1952, and there are fears its huge fuel tanks are rusting out and could soon collapse, releasing tens of thousands of litres of oil into the ocean.

A proposal to expand a coal mine on Vancouver Island has raised concerns that existing arsenic and sulphate levels already in a local watershed will only get worse.

The provincial government of Saskatchewan is proposing to remove nearly 3 million acres of Crown Land from the Wildlife Protection Act and sell it to private owners.

The Canadian government has taken a major step to create a new 5,700 square kilometre  national park in the High Arctic around the north end of uninhabited Bathurst Island.

One Comment

  1. Great Breakdown Pat! You’ve covered all the bases…especially since I need to do a little catching up right now in the world of wildlife news.

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