National Sep 20, 2019
In bid to contain swine fever outbreak, Japan's farm ministry announces plan to vaccinate pigs
The ministry saw the move as inevitable after the first outbreak in the country in 26 years was confirmed in September last year.
World / Science & Health Sep 20, 2019
North American bird population has fallen by a third in 50 years
The number of birds in the United States and Canada has fallen by an astonishing 29 percent — almost 3 billion — since 1970, scientists have reported, saying their findings signal a widespread ecological crisis. Grassland birds are the most affected because of the disappearance ...
Asia Pacific / Science & Health Sep 17, 2019
South Korea culls 4,000 pigs after confirming first case of African swine fever
South Korea is culling thousands of pigs after confirming African swine fever at a farm near its border with North Korea, which had an outbreak in May. Kim Hyun-soo, South Korea's agricultural minister, said the country's first case of the highly contagious disease was confirmed ...
World Sep 17, 2019
Rescuers save six of seven orcas stranded on Argentine beach
Rescue workers and volunteers have saved six of seven orcas that became stranded on an Argentine beach. A person spotted the orcas in the beach town of Mar Chiquita and called authorities early Monday. City workers, firefighters and marine biologists came to help and managed ...
World Sep 14, 2019
The CIA's secret Cold War animal spies included cats, dolphins and one smart raven
In early 1974, Do Da was top in espionage class, on the way to becoming a high-flying CIA agent: He handled himself better in the rough, carried heavier loads and could brush off attackers. But on his toughest test, he disappeared, done in by some ...
National / Science & Health Sep 14, 2019
Swine fever spreads to eastern Japan one year after outbreak
Pigs at a farm in Saitama Prefecture have been infected with the swine fever virus, the agriculture ministry has said, as authorities continue to struggle to contain the highly contagious disease one year since it first emerged. The case reported Friday in the Kanto region ...
Environment Sep 13, 2019
Debate over Japan's extinct wolf grows
by Alex Martin
An unidentified animal howl recorded in the Okuchichibu mountains bears a strong resemblance to a wolf howl, according to an analysis of audio samples provided by Hiroshi Yagi, an independent researcher who has been working to prove the existence of the officially extinct Japanese ...
World / Science & Health Sep 13, 2019
Scientists studying a widely used pesticide say even small doses of the chemical can have crippling health effects on migrating birds, and it might be contributing to declines in their overall populations. The researchers with the University of Saskatchewan are set to publish their research ...
World Sep 11, 2019
Conservationists have successfully created two northern white rhino embryos in a key step towards pulling the species back from the brink of extinction, scientists in Italy said Wednesday. There are only two survivors in the world, and both are female and unable to carry calves. ...
World / Science & Health Sep 7, 2019
Norwegian authorities have not yet been able to pinpoint the cause behind an unexplained disease that is estimated to have killed dozens of dogs in the country in recent days, officials said Saturday. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority that it had been informed of another ...
Asia Pacific / Offbeat Sep 6, 2019
Researchers say 'extreme mating' killing tiny Australian marsupials en masse
A tiny marsupial found only in northwest Australia mates so intensely that an entire generation of males can die off during a single breeding season, researchers reported Friday. Biologists studying kalutas — a mouse-size marsupial found in the arid Pilbara region — believe they die ...
World / Science & Health Sep 5, 2019
The worm that turned: Fossil sheds light on early animal movement
More than half a billion years ago, a worm-like creature wriggled its last, creating a groove that became a fossil offering new insights into some of the earliest animal movement. The origins of animal movement remain fairly murky, though there is evidence of "directional movement" ...