Pink geranium originally uploaded by Red Wolf
A new approach to target and kill destructive feral cats is being developed in South Australia, in a bid to help save threatened native animals.
The task of reducing the feral cat population has been difficult due to the lack of effective and humane broad-scale control techniques.
In a lab at the University of South Australia, researchers have created a rice-sized implant that can be injected into native animals, making them toxic to feral cats.
Anton Blencowe, polymer chemistry expert at the university, said it was a unique approach that could help safeguard a range of endangered species.
It’s got a toxin in the middle, and then it’s got a special coating around the outside so that we can make the animals toxic to cats,
he said.
But at the same time make sure the implant is not toxic to native animals.
The implant contains a natural poison from seeds of native plants and is covered by protective coating.
It remains inert until it comes into contact with the feral cat, and while it’s harmless to the native animal, to the predator it’s highly deadly once ingested — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A Mishmi Takin calf, named Nanook, was born on 19 February at Kolmården Wildlife Park. Mother to the handsome male calf is Aisha, and his father is Hobbit.
Nanook is the first successful Takin birth for the Swedish zoo. He was born in the early morning of a cold, snowy day. The name Nanook was chosen by the keepers, in honour of his day of birth, and means polar bear
in Inuit. At birth, Nanook weighed-in at a healthy 7 kilos — via ZooBorns
Denver Zoo is excited to announce its first successful birth of a Fishing Cat. The cub, whose sex is not yet known, is named Miso-Chi and was born on 25 January — via ZooBorns
Bengals, Savannahs, and Toygers, explained.
By breeding house cats with wild animals, humans developed hybrid cats that look like little leopards. Bengal cats are a breed that was developed by breeding domestic cats with Asian Leopard Cats. The first American Bengal breeder is a woman named Jean Mill, but her work has continued through other breeders. We met one of those breeders, Anthony Hutcherson, when we went to film the cats at the Westminster Dog Show. Besides Bengals, we also saw another hybrid breed: Savannahs. Instead of Asian Leopard Cats, Savannahs were developed by breeding house cats with Servals. Unlike the other two breeds, the last breed we met, Toygers, are not hybrid cats. Breeder Judy Sugden created the breed by carefully breeding domestic cats with qualities that resemble wild tigers — via Youtube
Happy pod! and Smile originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Bromeliad (Aechmea Fasciata) originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Orange bracket fungi (Pycnoporus coccineus) originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila edulis) originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Wink Wink, Concerned and Go Away Now, Nail Art: Red White Black originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Burrito Pod and Get Your Own Lounge originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Orphaned grizzly bear sisters have found a home at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore — via Youtube
Orange bracket fungi (Pycnoporus coccineus) and Pink geranium originally uploaded by Red Wolf
A 14-week-old Polar Bear dub at Munich Zoo goes outdoors for the first time after spending the winter with its mother in the den — via Youtube
A group of four birdwatchers from Broome has photographed Australia’s most mysterious bird, the night parrot, in Western Australia.
The sighting is all that more remarkable when you consider that the night parrot was not confirmed as still alive in Australia until three years ago, and that the photograph was taken in a patch of spinifex 2,000 kilometres from where the bird was rediscovered in Western Queensland.
While the group described the parrot as a fat budgerigar
, the sighting was the equivalent of winning the bird watching lotto — via redwolf.newsvine.com
This is Rachel and Jun’s cat Poki. They found Poki about a year ago. What a year it’s been — via Youtube
White Mushroom (Lepiotaceae) and Deer Shield Mushrooms (Pluteus cervinus) originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Moreton bay fig (Ficus macrophylla) and Moreton bay fig (Ficus macrophylla) originally uploaded by Red Wolf
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