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TheJapanesecapitaland three nearby prefectures have asked the national government to declare a state of emergency to curtail the surging spread of thecoronavirus pandemic.
“In the name of valuing life, we made this plea together,” said Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike after meeting for three hours on Saturday with the minister in charge of coronavirus measures, along with the governors of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.
image captionThe world is not on track to meet its goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C
Countries only have only a limited time in which to act if the world is to stave off the worst effects of climate change. Here are five reasons why 2021 could be a crucial year in the fight against global warming.
Covid-19 was the big issue of 2020, there is no question about that.
But I’m hoping that, by the end of 2021, the vaccines will have kicked in and we’ll be talking more about climate than the coronavirus.
2021 will certainly be a crunch year for tackling climate change.
Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, told me he thinks it is a “make or break” moment for the issue.
So, in the spirit of New Year’s optimism, here’s why I believe…
While humans are still awaiting a jab with a coronavirus vaccine, endangered black-footed ferrets in Colorado have already gotten their shots.
One hundred and twenty of the ferrets (Mustela nigripes) — once thought completely extinct — have been vaccinated with an experimental veterinary COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Associated Press.
Ferrets are highly susceptible to dying from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Minks, a close cousin of ferrets, have already been found to contract coronavirus in fur farms and, alarmingly, in the wild. This is dangerous because any time the virus transmits between humans and animals, it has more opportunities to develop mutations. RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU…CLOSEhttps://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.432.0_en.html#goog_35698303700:00 of 02:09Volume 0% PLAY SOUND
“For highly contagious respiratory viruses, it’s really important to be mindful of the animal reservoir,” Corey Casper, a vaccinologist and chief executive of the Infectious Disease Research Institute in Seattle, told Colorado Public Radio (CPR). “If the virus returns to the animal host and mutates, or changes, in such a way that it could be reintroduced to humans, then the humans would no longer have that immunity. That makes me very concerned.”
Black-footed ferrets are native to grasslands on the northern Great Plains. They were once believed to be extinct, but a few individuals were rediscovered in Wyoming in 1981, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Thanks to a captive breeding and release program, an estimated 370 black-footed ferrets exist in the wild.
Due to these low numbers and ferrets’ susceptibility to coronaviruses, conservationists feared the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic would threaten this fragile recovery. Scientists at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center near Fort Collins, Colorado, began injecting their captive breeding population with an experimental vaccine in late summer. The vaccine is different from the ones thus far approved in humans. It uses a purified segment of the vaccine — the spike protein — and an adjuvant chemical that promotes immune response rather than the mRNA platform used by the human coronavirus vaccines.
The center has now completed the inoculations, leaving 60 ferrets unvaccinated in case something goes wrong with the vaccine, according to CPR.
So far, the vaccinated ferrets appear healthy, and tests show SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in their blood. However, it’s not yet clear whether the vaccine actually protects against the disease, because those efficacy trials have not yet been completed in the ferrets. Efficacy trials are the equivalent of the Phase 3 trials in humans that recently enabled Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines to receive emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“We can do these sorts of things experimentally in animals that we can’t do in humans,” Rocke told CPR.
Hundreds of dead birds have appeared on the streets of Rome, Italy on New Year’s Day, with an animal rights group blaming the deaths on fireworks the previous night.
Footage recorded by Diego Fenicchia showed the lifeless birds scattered across the roads near Rome’s main train station. In the video, Fenicchia called the situation “embarrassing” and “sad.”
Although it remains unclear exactly how the birds died, animal rights group the International Animal Protection Organization (OIPA) attributed the fatalities to fireworks.CLICK: REMEMBER THESE? OUR TOP STORIES OF 2020
OIPA spokeswoman Loredana Diglio said the birds could have died several different ways in reaction to the fireworks.
“It could be that they died from fear. They can fly up together and knock against each other, or hit windows or electric power lines. Let’s not forget they can also die of heart attacks,” she said.
Rome’s mayor had banned all fireworks from December 31 to January 6 in a bid to prevent gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but thousands were still set off on New Year’s Eve.
The Italian branch of the OIPA has called for a nationwide ban on selling fireworks and firecrackers for personal use, saying they threaten the lives of animals.
Although many think the fireworks were the cause, the birds’ deaths remain a mystery.
Authorities in Belgium say a 27th elderly person has died in an outbreak at a nursing home from a super-spreading St. Nick party last month.
An exterior view of WZC Hemelrijck, an elderly home where an outbreak of coronavirus (Covid-19) has taken place, in Mol, Belgium on Dec. 14, 2020.Eric Lalmand / BELGA/AFP – Getty Images fileJan. 1, 2021, 11:14 AM PST / Source: Associated PressBy The Associated Press
BRUSSELS — Authorities in Belgium say a 27th elderly person has diedin a coronavirus outbreakat a nursing home from a super-spreading St. Nick party last month but they hope the situation is now under control.
The Hemelrijck home in the northern Belgium city of Mol had organized a Dec. 4 visit from a troupe playing the beloved saint who usually spreads mirth and presents. But the city and families of some of the deceased have complained that the nursing home should never…
Coronavirus brought a swift end to the author’s hunting season.John Hafner
I was fishing for crappies last April, doing well with a small jig under a bobber. Another angler, who hadn’t caught a fish, walked over and asked what I was using. When I raised the jig, he held it in his hand for a closer look. After he left I squirted the jig with sanitizer.
Was I being paranoid? The coronavirus had recently debuted in our town in northwest Wyoming. I’m well into my golden years. I survived open heart surgery five years ago, and my cardiologist told me to be extra careful. I followed all the Covid guidelines, and my outdoor activities were severely curtailed.
Spring turkey season was the first big disappointment. I cancelled three hunts…
Avitrol is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Currently, the EPA is reviewing Avitrol’s registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act as part of a process that occurs only every 15 years or so. If the agency decides not to renew Avitrol’s registration, “pest”-control operators will no longer legally be able to use this hideous poison!
The EPA is accepting public comment regarding Avitrol until Monday, January 4, and your voice is urgently needed. Please follow these instructions carefully to submit a comment.
Visit the comment page and be sure to begin your comment with this text: “This comment pertains to 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), Case 0015, in Docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2016-0030, also known as Avitrol.”
Make sure the rest of your comment is personalized. The reviewers give less consideration to comments that appear to be copied and pasted from another source. You can draw ideas from our bullet points below, but be sure to use your own words, and feel free to do some additional research into the topic!
Click “Continue” to submit your comment.
Below are some talking points to consider for your personalized comment:
“Pest”-control companies often tell potential customers that Avitrol is a humane flock-dispersing agent that scares birds away from areas where they aren’t wanted. But Avitrol is acutely toxic and causes birds and other animals to suffer immensely.
“Nontarget” species, such as protected songbirds, often die from ingesting Avitrol, and predators such as raptors, foxes, hawks, cats, and dogs die from secondary poisoning after feeding on the dead or dying birds.
Wildlife pathologists have demonstrated repeatedly that protected and endangered birds, including red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons, die as a result of ingesting the remains of pigeons and other birds poisoned with Avitrol. For these reasons, several cities have banned its use.
Poisoning birds does not resolve perceived problems with them. As long as areas remain attractive or accessible to birds, more will simply move in from surrounding areas to fill the newly vacant niches. However, the Avitrol Corporation, nuisance wildlife control operators, and “pest”-control companies refuse to reveal this fact to potential customers because the only thing that the use of poison guarantees is repeat business.
Once you’ve submitted your comment, please share this alert with all of your contacts. Thank you for taking action to protect birds and other animals imperiled by Avitrol!
This month witnessed the launch of the first-ever “Gas Index”, which ranks American metropolitan areas on the leakiness of the gas supply chains that service their cities. This new index — which Burlington, Vt., ranks in the middle of — takes into account methane leakage across the full life cycle of fossil gas, from oil and gas…
THANK YOU for every single thing you did to make a difference for animals in 2020!
We know there are many more victories and many more good news items for animals in 2020 and we know there are LOTS of opinions of what “victory” or “good news” mean.
These are good news/victories posted in our All-Creatures.org 2020weekly Newsletters[subscribeHERE].
If you have articles/stories to share, please send anemail.
clever, really kind of funny birds,” said Stanley Senner, vice president for bird conservation for the National Audubon Society. “Here in the United States, they have gone through several real bottlenecks. One was the use of DDT for several decades that really greatly reduced cormorant populations.”
“There have been periods of great persecution where they were getting shot all over the place. Yet, somehow this bird has managed not only to survive, but to thrive,” Senner said. “I admire their spunky nature and their ability to come back from these low points in their populations. As a Native American bird, they deserve an enormous amount of respect.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service is seeking comments after the agency “received 161 requests for assistance with managing double-crested cormorant damage in Ohio. Those requests for assistance came from both private and public entities, including other governmental agencies,” Gail Keirn, a spokeswoman for USDA, said in an emailed response to questions.
A 74-page environmental assessment was issued outlining the scope of the problems which range from posing a threat to aircrafts to the birds’ acidic feces killing off vegetation where they nest. The cormorants compete with other birds for resources. The cormorants are also often labeled as culprits when it comes to raiding aquaculture producers of fish.
The agency is considering authorizing the killing of the birds or destruction of nests to lower the population in Ohio. Another common technique is oiling the eggs in cormorant nests to prevent the eggs from hatching. The embryos are effectively suffocated and the nesting cormorants won’t lay new eggs, believing the eggs are still viable. https://2f178d57a87bcea45e3631ede495ae9a.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
In Ohio, the cormorants are known to reside near the western basin of Lake Erie. Ohio’s breeding population of cormorants peaked at 5,296 breeding pairs in 2011 but has fluctuated between 2,400 to 4,300 pairs in the last several years, according to the assessment.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife estimated the birds were responsible for taking 273,386 fish valued at nearly $200,000, according to the assessment. The birds can eat about a pound of fish per day. On average, they live to be six years old.
“It is with sadness that I am reading this draft environmental assessment, which proports to condone the use of violent measures to kill these birds. I cannot envision any scenario where these birds are becoming a nuisance other than fisherman claiming they are taking their fish. There are enough fish in the sea for everyone!” Virginia Frati, in submitted comments.
The birds, by their very nature, will hunt for fish.
There are plenty of nonlethal methods to prevent cormorants from feeding on fish at hatcheries, he said.
“I think it’s unconscionable to build a hatchery and not built into it, a proper netting or other deterrence for birds. I’ve seen hatcheries that are set up to prevent bird depredations,” Senner said. “If the solution is just to go out and shoot cormorants, that’ll be a never-ending job.”
Under the rule, a new special permit for interested states add to existing measures to address conflicts with cormorants “to protect human health and safety, personal property and threatened and endangered species,” according to a released statement from the agency.
“The Trump Administration is providing tools under this coordinated approach for managing conflicts and economic damage associated with double-created cormorants while minimizing the regulatory burden on federal, tribal and state agencies and individual citizens,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aurelia Skipwith said in the release. “This special permit will help minimize human-wildlife conflicts while maintaining sustainable cormorant populations as required by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.”
“If the birds are heavily persecuted, it could result in population declines at the state or even regional level,” Senner said.
Even though there have been no reports of aircraft strikes involving double-crested cormorants in Ohio from 1990 to 2018, that is still listed as a potential risk of plane crash and reason for why the birds should be destroyed.
“That doesn’t sound like the double-breasted cormorant is having a ‘significant impact on the human environment’ and since that is our only metric under the current administration the cost to taxpayers to help out businesses in controlling this problem is not necessary and should not be undertaken,” said Constance Jones, who submitted a comment to USDA.
After the Jan. 15 comment deadline passes, USDA will respond to the comments and those will be included in a final environmental assessment before the federal agency issues a final decision, Keirn said.
Here, black-footed ferrets are being bred in captivity in northern Colorado.(Image: © Kathryn Scott Osler/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Exposing the Big Game 