EU report says species, habitats at risk in Europe; calls for more land for conservation

September 29th, 2009 SYDNEY - A report has found that one in five species of Australian mammals are at risk of extinction. According to www.news.co.au, of the 388 species of mammals found naturally in Australia, 78 are listed as vulnerable, endangered or extinct in the wild.

September 24th, 2009 LONDON - Reports indicate that a rare species of lotus is on the verge of disappearing from India. According to a report by BBC News, leading botanist Pramod Tandon said that efforts to save Nymphaea tetragona, found only in a small private pond in India, have not been effective.

September 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study by biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, has determined that if the climate is not quite right, birds will move rather than stick around and sweat it out. The findings reveal that 48 out of 53 bird species studied in California's Sierra Nevada mountains have adjusted to climate change over the last century by moving to sites with the temperature and precipitation conditions they favored.

August 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, a team of Brazilian researchers has defined global conservation priorities that encompass socioeconomic and life-history factors for endangered carnivores. The team, led by Dr.

August 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Some Aussie frogs often raise their pitch as they serenade their partners, in order to counter traffic sounds, according to a study. Kirsten Parris, an ecologist at the University of Melbourne, says that one species of frog in Melbourne is changing the pitch of its love song to be heard above the roar of the road.

August 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Central Zoo Authority has initiated a coordinated conservation breeding programme for 70 critically endangered species in Indian zoos, an official statement Saturday said. "The Central Zoo Authority has initiated a planned coordinated conservation breeding programme for critically endangered species in Indian zoos.

July 29th, 2009 LONDON - A new study has found that the Earth is in the throes of its "sixth great extinction event" and Australia and the Pacific are becoming the worst regions for the destruction of animals and plants. According to a report in the Telegraph, the study, published in the journal Conservation Biology, said that since records began, Australian agriculture had changed or destroyed half the woodlands and forests of the country.

July 28th, 2009 LONDON - A new survey has indicated that two thirds of all species of freshwater crab maybe at risk of going extinct, with one in six species particularly vulnerable. According to a report by BBC News, the study, which is the first global assessment of the extinction risk for any group of freshwater invertebrates, makes freshwater crabs among the most threatened of all groups of animals assessed so far.

July 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Humans can help in saving the world's most threatened bird species, called the white-shouldered ibis or waterbirds, from extinction, according to new findings by the University of East Anglia (UEA). The study by UEA conservation experts explores the exact reasons behind the decline of the critically endangered white-shouldered ibis.

July 23rd, 2009 LONDON - A team of conservationists in Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo, is planning to join forces with the palm oil industry to figure out how to protect the world's last orangutans. According to a report in New Scientist, many believe that if the orangutan is to have a chance of surviving anywhere, it will be in Sabah.

July 2nd, 2009 Group: World failing to halt biodiversity declineGENEVA — Governments are failing to stem a rapid decline in biodiversity that is now threatening extinction for almost half the world's coral reef species, a third of amphibians and a quarter of mammals, a leading environmental group warned Thursday. "Life on Earth is under serious threat," the International Union for Conservation of Nature said in a 155-page report that describes the past five years of a losing battle to protect species, natural habitats and geographical regions from the devastating effects of man.

June 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a bid to save wild tigers from extinction, the Smithsonian Institution and the World Bank Group plan to link relevant institutions in India, China, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand and other tiger range countries with global conservation science and professional training centres. The National Zoo's Conservation and Research Centre located in the Shenandoah Mountains in Front Royal, Virginia, will serve as one of the initial launch-pads for development of the proposed conservation and development network.

June 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has indicated that African bird species could struggle to relocate to survive global warming because natural features of the landscape will limit where they can move to. As the global climate changes, some land bird species will be forced to move to new habitats, expanding and shifting their natural geographical 'range', in order to maintain suitable living conditions.

June 2nd, 2009 LONDON - A network of wildlife conservation areas can help save up to 90 percent of bird species in Africa, affected by climate change, according to scientists. The research team, led by Durham University (DU) and including BirdLife International looked at the effects of climate change on 815 bird species of conservation concern in sub-Saharan Africa.

June 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has demonstrated that a network of wildlife areas can be a crucial tool to help biodiversity survive future climate change. The research team, led by Durham University, including BirdLife International and the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) looked at the effects of climate change on 815 bird species of conservation concern in sub-Saharan Africa and on the network of sites designated for them (termed Important Bird Areas).