The Animal Files

Fewer Caribou Born as Warming Causes Missed Meals (May 13, 2008) Greenland's caribou work up quite a hunger during their long migrations. But global warming now has the animals arriving late for dinner—and paying a heavy price. Fewer caribou calves are being born in the western part of the Danish island, and those that are born have slimmer chances of surviving, a new study reports.
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Source: National Geographic

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Many Asian Vultures Close to Extinction, Survey Finds
(May 04, 2008) Several species of Asian vulture will be extinct within a decade, new research warns. The carrion-eating birds have been on the decline due to exposure to a common livestock drug. Now a survey of vultures in northern and central India has found the birds' populations have plunged to near-extinction levels—one species is down 99.9 percent since surveys began in the 1990s.
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Source: National Geographic

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Lizards Rapidly Evolve after Introduction to Island (Apr 26, 2008) Italian wall lizards introduced to a tiny island off the coast of Croatia are evolving in ways that would normally take millions of years to play out, new research shows. In just a few decades the 5-inch-long (13-centimeter-long) lizards have developed a completely new gut structure, larger heads, and a harder bite, researchers say.
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Source: National Geographic

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Diseases Threat to Rare Wild Cats (Apr 16, 2008) A vet has urged cat owners to neuter and vaccinate their pets against diseases in an effort to help protect Scotland's rare wildcat population. Jane Harley, who is based in the Cairngorms National Park, said the species was at risk from picking up highly contagious conditions.
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Source: BBC

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World's Largest Catfish Species Threatened by Dam (Apr 11, 2008)
In the swift currents of the Mekong River in northern Cambodia, fishers expertly navigate their longboats past rock outcroppings and fallen logs. But soon these wild waters may be tamed. Plans for the construction of a large hydroelectric dam just across the border, at Khone Falls in Laos, would permanently alter one of the most pristine areas in Southeast Asia.
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Source: National Geographic

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Wildlife Park Official Arrested in Gorilla Killings (Mar 27, 2008)
Congolese authorities have arrested a senior park official in connection to the recent execution-style killings of several mountain gorillas, a move that conservationists have praised as a crucial step toward saving the rare primates. Ten mountain gorillas were slaughtered in separate incidents in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Virunga National Park in 2007.
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Source: National Geographic

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Nets Threaten Rare New Zealand Dolphins (Mar 24, 2008)
The deaths of 22 dolphins in trawler nets prompted fresh calls Wednesday for the New Zealand government to ban two types of fishing nets from the habitats of two critically endangered species of dolphin. The World Wildlife Fund said that Maui's dolphins, which are found only along North Island's west coast and are on the brink of extinction, urgently need protection from set nets and trawler nets if they are to survive.
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Source: National Geographic

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Tail "Key" for Gecko Acrobatics
(Mar 18, 2008) A gecko's tail is as crucial to the animal's acrobatic ability as its "sticky" feet, scientists report. High-speed video reveals that the creature uses its tail as a "fifth leg" to prevent it from slipping as it climbs wet surfaces. And the footage shows that if it does fall, a flick of the tail is all it takes for the gecko to land feet-down.
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Source: BBC

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Rare Leatherback Turtles Gain Protection in Costa Rica
(Mar 14, 2008) As dawn breaks on Playa Grande, the light reveals shallow sand pits where leatherbacksea turtles laid their eggs the night before. This Costa Rican beach, a 2-mile-long (3.2-kilometer-long) stretch of sand popular with surfers, is guarded around the clock by a small army of biologists and volunteers from the Leatherback Trust, a nonprofit group working to save the world's largest sea turtles from extinction.
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Source: National Geographic

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