Carmen Rivero Colina

We want to play! Adorable polar bear cubs prove pester power pays off after finally getting the ball off mum

Carmen Rivero Colina — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:32:51 +0000

As any sportsman knows, there’s nothing more frustrating than having a ball hogger on the team.

So it is no surprise these adorable polar bear cubs looked a little peeved when their mum, Cora, got hold of a yellow ball and just wouldn’t let go at Brno Zoo in the Czech Republic.

Her skills may have been impressive as she demonstrated an impressive keepy-uppy technique, but the cubs, Kometa and Nanuk, evidently weren’t interested in being spectators.

And, after an agonising wait, it looks like Cora finally decided to have a rest and let them have a go, proving pester power isn’t just the preserve of human children.

The bears’ home was founded in the Eastern European country 1950 and is affiliated with the CITES Centre for animals from illegal international trade and the rescue station for injured and disabled wild animals.

Credits: Mail Online

3 programas de conservación para salvar a especies africanas

Carmen Rivero Colina — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:19:30 +0000

Cheetah Conservation Fund./Difusión

Por Victoria Bembibre

No es noticia que algunas de las especies más paradigmáticas del planeta se encuentran en serio peligro de extinción y que el riesgo crece exponencialmente cada año. Algunas de ellas sufren una combinación de factores de amenaza que incluyen el cambio climático y la reducción de su hábitat; la desaparición de otras especies que les sirven de alimento y la caza indiscriminada.

Esto es así principalmente en el continente africano, donde el retraso en el desarrollo social, económico y cultural, lejos de preservar al medio ambiente y a las especies características de la región, contribuye a situar a los animales en serio peligro.

Sin embargo, cada vez más esfuerzos de conservación en África apuntan a investigar, proteger y fomentar la reproducción de especies tan populares como amenazadas. En las líneas que siguen, te contamos acerca de tres programas que buscan paliar la crisis medioambiental en África.

El rinoceronte

En los últimos días, en el Taronga Western Plains Zoo de Australia, luego de una gestación de 14 meses, Mopani dio a luz a un rinoceronte bebé. Aunque esto sucede en otro continente, forma parte de los esfuerzos globales de conservación del rinoceronte africano.

Taronga Zoo/ Difusión

En el último año, más de 300 rinocerontes fueron asesinados en el planeta. Los especialistas consideran que, a este ritmo, los nacimientos en estado salvaje de la especie quedarán descartados para el 2015.

Los rinocerontes sufren la caza para la extracción de sus cuernos que, aunque no ha sido comprobado científicamente, se considera que contienen sustancias con poderes curativos.

De acuerdo con la International Rhino Foundation, más de dos mil rinocerontes africanos han sido masacrados desde 2006, lo cual ha contribuido a disminuir el número de la población a las tasas más bajas en décadas. De hecho, el mapa de la población de rinocerontes que esta organización presenta, indica que de algunas variedades, como el rinoceronte de Java, sólo quedan entre 30 y 40 miembros en todo el planeta.

La IRF responde a la caza indiscriminada con programas dedicados a cada tipo de rinoceronte, los cuales buscan individualizar a los miembros de la especie, darles seguimiento (en especial a aquellos ubicados en parques nacionales de África), desactivar trampas y sistemas de caza furtiva.

El elefante

Sólo en los últimos diez días, más de 26 elefantes fueron asesinados en el Parque Nacional Dzanga Ndoki de África Central. El objetivo: extraer el marfil de sus colmillos para venderlo en el mercado negro.

World Wild Life/ Difusión

Aunque el número parezca alto, hoy quedan en el mundo menos de 500 mil elefantes. De acuerdo con World Wildlife Fund, más de 10 mil son cazados cada año por su marfil.

Hoy, los elefantes africanos no sufren sólo la caza por sus colmillos, también son víctimas de la reducción de su hábitat y, en muchas regiones del continente, se los considera una fuente de alimento para paliar la hambruna.

WWF se concentra en cuatro ejes para preservar al mamífero más grande del planeta: mejorar la relación entre la comunidad y los elefantes al enseñar a los habitantes sobre la especie, fortalecer las técnicas anti-caza, creando zonas resguardadas y monitoreadas, luchar contra el tráfico ilegal de marfil y proteger el hábitat del elefante en coordinación con gobiernos e instituciones locales.

La cheetah

Durante los últimos cuatro años, la cheetah se convirtió en otra especie amenazada, considerada en peligro de extinción, según el programa de vida salvaje de la ONU.

Cheetah Conservation Fund./Difusión

Ser el animal más rápido del planeta – con velocidades de hasta 120 kilómetros por hora – no le sirvió de ayuda durante el último siglo, en el que esta especie sufrió una caída del 90 por ciento. Menos de 10 mil adultos hoy viven en África, hábitat casi exclusivo de este felino.

Para la cheetah, las mayores amenazas son la pérdida de hábitat y la caza indiscriminada en regiones del continente, donde muchas veces es considerado un peligro para los animales domésticos o el ganado.

Afortunadamente, el Cheetah Conservation Fund trabaja activamente en países como Namibia para monitorear y preservar la población restante de cheetahs en el continente. Una de sus iniciativas más exitosas es el Programa de Perros Guardianes, que fomenta el adiestramiento de perros domésticos para cuidar del ganado y, en consecuencia, proteger a las cheetahs de la caza preventiva.

Fuente: Animal Planet

Veterinários recorrem à acupuntura para recuperar tartarugas nos EUA

Carmen Rivero Colina — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:55:50 +0000

Agulhas de acupuntura tentam melhorar fluxo sanguíneo de tartaruga (Foto: AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

Veterinários norte-americanos recorreram à acupuntura na tentativa de salvar tartarugas marinhas de espécies ameaçadas que adoeceram na costa do país.

O objetivo da técnica é reduzir o estresse, melhorar o fluxo sanguíneo e fortalecer o sistema imunológico – efeitos que a acupuntura, comprovadamente, provoca nos humanos. No entanto, a acupunturista Claire McManus ainda não sabe se a técnica vai funcionar.

“Não há muita literatura disponível sobre acupuntura em tartarugas, então estou me baseando em como tratamos outros animais e humanos”, afirmou.

O problema das tartarugas começou quando elas chegaram a praias da região da Nova Inglaterra, no nordeste do país, em busca de comida. A temperatura caiu bruscamente e os animais, que não têm sangue aquecido como o dos mamíferos, ficaram imóveis durante dias.

Somente 242 animais puderam ser salvos, e foram levados para o Aquário da Nova Inglaterra para tratamento. Além da hipotermia, os répteis sofriam de problemas como pneumonia e desnutrição.

As tartarugas foram tratadas com as melhores tecnologias veterinárias disponíveis, que vão desde rações enriquecidas a antibióticos e tratamento com laser. Recuperadas, elas puderam ser devolvidas à natureza.

No entanto, 14 indivíduos não responderam bem ao tratamento e ainda apresentam dificuldades de mobilidade que não os permitiriam sobreviver na natureza. É para recuperar esses animais que os especialistas em acupuntura foram acionados.

Acupunturista Claire McManus observa as pacientes inusitadas (Foto: AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

Veterinários recorreram à acupuntura depois que técnicas mais comuns falharam (Foto: AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

Fonte: G1

Se busca persona con voz profunda para ahuyentar osos polares

Carmen Rivero Colina — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:45:09 +0000

“Si un oso polar agresivo lo ataca y no se asusta al oir disparos de advertencia, dispare para matarlo. Éste es el último recurso. Apúntele al pecho”, recomienda uno de los folletos del Instituto Polar Noruego

¿Es usted una de esas personas que habla tan alto que cada dos por tres alguien le hace un gesto con la mano para pedirle que baje el tono de voz?

Si es así, las autoridades del archipiélago de Svalbard tienen un trabajo para usted.

El gobernador de este archipiélago noruego en el Ártico sacó un aviso en el que se busca a una persona para mantenerse en guardia e informar -a viva voz- si se acerca un oso polar, mientras un equipo de científicos lleva a cabo sus tareas de investigación.

Y es que a diferencia de otras regiones del mundo, donde la población de osos polares está disminuyendo a consecuencia del cambio climático, en Svalbarg el número de osos está creciendo.

Se estima que hay unos 3.000 osos polares en la zona y sólo 2.400 habitantes.

Riesgos

La mayoría de los osos tratan de evitar el contacto humano.

Si uno se mueve dentro de los asentamientos humanos, es poco probable toparse con una de estas criaturas. Pero fuera de estos límites las posibilidades son mayores. Y, como explica uno de los folletos del Instituto Polar Noruego, estos imponentes animales que pesan entre 400 y 600 kilos, y que alcanza velocidades de hasta 30 km por hora, pueden llegar a ser peligrosos.

Por lo general los osos polares no nos ven como comida. Sin embargo, son naturalmente curiosos y revisan todo lo que está a su alcance en busca de alimento.

“Un oso verdaderamente hambriento, comerá lo que sea”, dice uno de los textos para los visitantes del Instituto Polar Noruego.

Quizá por eso no sorprende que si la idea es trabajar concentrados y en paz, los científicos necesiten que se alguien se ocupe de mirar si no hay osos a la vista, mientras ellos se dedican a lo suyo.

Los osos están protegidos por ley y sólo está permitido dispararles en defensa propia.

“Si un oso polar agresivo lo ataque y no se asusta al oír disparos de advertencia, dispare para matarlo. Este es el último recurso. Apúntele al pecho”, recomienda uno de los folletos del Instituto Polar Noruego.

Ollas y sartenes

El candidato elegido deberá empezar a trabajar el 8 de julio.

No es necesario que el candidato al puesto de “busca osos” sepa manejar armas, aunque el aviso aclara que este conocimiento nunca está demás. Lo que sí representa una ventaja, “es una voz lo suficientemente poderosa” como para espantar a los osos polares.

Otros métodos igualmente eficaces, señala Guri Tveito, director del Departamento de Protección Ambiental de Svalbard, son las pistolas de bengalas, “y también se puede hacer mucho ruido dando cacerolazos”.

Quien resulte elegido trabajará durante tres semanas a partir el 8 de julio, en plena época veraniega, con lo cual podrá disfrutar de temperaturas máximas de 6º.

Fuente: BBC Mundo

Oklahoma Tornado: Heartwarming Moment Residents Are Reunited With Their Pets

Carmen Rivero Colina — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:58:49 +0000

The devastating tornadoes that have ripped through the heart of Oklahoma, have so far claimed the lives of 24 people, including seven children and is believed to have been up to two miles wide.

Rescuers are on the scene searching for survivors on the ground, but there are also victims who are frantically searching for their precious pets.

One resident of the tornado-hit town of Moore, was being interviewed live by CBS news about surviving the natural disaster, when to her amazement her dog miraculously appeared from the rubble.

Alli Christian, left, returns Jessica Wilkinson’s dog Bella to her after finding the pet amid the wreckage of Wilkinson’s home.

Many animals have been found wandering the streets of Moore looking for shelter and are slowly being rounded up and treated.

A Facebook page has also been set up by Lost Pets From Oklahoma Tornado to help owners find their misplaced animals. The group are continuously posting images to their page in the hope of reuniting the owners with their beloved pets.

In every natural disaster you pray for a sliver lining, whether it’s survivors found alive or a family pet appearing for the rubble strewn across the county.

Take a look below at the heartwarming moments that animal owners are reunited with their pets.

Kay Taylor stands with her dog Bailey in front of her house that was destroyed after the tornado that hit the area near 149th and Drexel on Monday, May 20, 2013 in Oklahoma City, Okla. (AP Photo/ The Oklahoman, Chris Landsberger)

Rachel Hilton holds stray kittens she found in the debris of her parents’ home at SW 149th and Stone Meadows Dr. after a tornado struck south Oklahoma City and Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Nate Billings)

Rescuers recover a horse from the remains of a day care center and destroyed barns, Monday, May 20, 2013 in Moore, Okla. A monstrous tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs, flattening entire neighborhoods with winds up to 200 mph, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Steve Sisney)

Maeghan Hadley, right, of One Day Ranch pet rescue, reaches for a kitten pulled from underneath the rubble of a mobile home destroyed by Sunday’s tornado in the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park near Shawnee, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)

Members of the Chickasaw Nation search and rescue group dig through debris, Monday, May 20, 2013, to locate a kitten buried in the rubble of a mobile home destroyed in Sunday’s tornado, in the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park, near Shawnee, Okla. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)

Maeghan Hadley, of One Day Ranch pet rescue, checks over a kitten pulled from under the rubble of a mobile home destroyed by Sunday’s tornado in the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park, near Shawnee, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)

WATCH IT: Missing dog emerges from Oklahoma tornado rubble to reunite with owner – on live TV pix11.com/2013/05/21/misâ€¦

PHOTO: @MikeJenkinsTV says this dog survived the Moore, Oklahoma tornado with family in storm shelter:
PHOTO: @MikeJenkinsTV says this dog survived the Moore, Oklahoma tornado with family in storm shelter:

Credits: Huffigton Post UK

Fotógrafo capta ‘olhar triste’ de animais que vivem em cativeiro

Carmen Rivero Colina — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:10:17 +0000

O fotógrafo Oscar Ciutat, morador de Barcelona, na Espanha, desenvolve um projeto desde 2008 que tem objetivo de captar o olhar de animais que vivem aprisionados em cativeiros.

Segundo ele, sua atenção foi atraída ao observar quer os olhos de animais exibidos em zoológicos e outros locais pareciam tristes.

Desde então, tenta comprovar por meio de sua arte se a expressão humana “os olhos são a janela da alma” pode ser verdade também para os animais.

Nas imagens, há olhares de elefante, rinoceronte, zebra, girafa, vaca e outros animais.

Olhar de um hipopótamo, flagrado pelo espanhol Oscar Ciutat (Foto: Oscar Ciutat/Creative Commons)

O olhar de uma girafa que vive no zoológico de Barcelona, na Espanha (Foto: Oscar Ciutat/Creative Commons)

Olhar de uma zebra pela lente do fotógrafo espanhol Oscar Ciutat (Foto: Oscar Ciutat/Creative Commons)

Olhar de um rinoceronte (Foto: Oscar Ciutat/Creative Commons)

Olhar de uma anta captada pelo fotógrafo espanhol (Foto: Oscar Ciutat/Creative Commons)

Olhar de um camelo foi flagrado por Oscar Ciutat (Foto: Oscar Ciutat/Creative Commons)

Um clique que mostra o olhar de um bisão (Foto: Oscar Ciutat/Creative Commons)

Um uapiti, uma espécie de veado encontrado na Ásia (Foto: Oscar Ciutat/Creative Commons)

O olhar de uma vaca, que normalmente fica aprisionada em fazendas (Foto: Oscar Ciutat/Creative Commons)

O olhar de um guanaco, um parente próximo da lhama (Foto: Oscar Ciutat/Creative Commons)

Fonte: G1

Why Did Penguins Stop Flying? The Answer Is Evolutionary

Carmen Rivero Colina — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:01:11 +0000

Penguins’ swimming prowess cost them their ability to fly, a new study says.

An Adélie penguin flaps its wings, which help the bird to swim.
Photograph by John Eastcott and Yva Momatiuk, National Geographic

Brian Handwerk

for National Geographic

Penguins lost the ability to fly eons ago, and scientists may have finally figured out why. A new study suggests that getting off the ground eventually just took too much effort for birds that were becoming expert swimmers.

Flight might make some aspects of penguins’ Antarctic life much easier. The grueling march of the emperor penguins, for example, might take only a few easy hours rather than many deadly days. Escaping predators like leopard seals at the water’s edge would also be easier if penguins could take flight-so scientists have often wondered why and how the birds lost that ability.

A popular theory of biomechanics suggests that the birds’ once-flight-adapted wings simply became more and more efficient for swimming and eventually lost their ability to get penguins off the ground.

More efficient diving, on the other hand, increased the opportunities to forage for food at depth. A modern emperor penguin can hold its breath for more than 20 minutes and quickly dive to 1,500 feet (450 meters) to feast. (Related: “First Human Contact With Large Emperor Penguin Colony.“)

The new study of energy costs in living birds that both fly and dive provides critical evidence to back up this theory.

“Clearly, form constrains function in wild animals, and movement in one medium creates tradeoffs with movement in a second medium,” study co-author Kyle Elliott, of the University of Manitoba, said in a statement.

“Bottom line is that good flippers don’t fly very well.” (Related: “Giant Prehistoric Penguins Revealed: Big But Skinny.”)

Sit, Swim, and Fly

The thick-billed murre or Brünnich’s guillemot (Uria lomvia) uses its wings for diving much like penguins, but it also flies. Scientists theorized that its physiology and energy use may closely resemble those of the last flying penguin ancestors.

Other swimming birds, pelagic cormorants (Phalacrocorax pelagicus), propel themselves through the water with their feet. Elliott and colleagues assert that these birds can be considered biomechanical models for the lifestyle energy use of an ancient penguin ancestor that was the last of its line to take flight.

The thorough technical and isotope analysis of how guillemots burn energy reveals why today’s penguins are grounded. Guillemots dive more efficiently than any other flying bird and are bested in diving only by penguins themselves, according to the study.

Flight, however, costs them more energy than any other known bird or vertebrate and has become difficult to maintain.

The team examined thick-billed murres at a colony in Nunavut, Canada, and pelagic cormorants at Middleton Island, Alaska. They injected the birds with stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen to serve as tracers to mark the physical costs of their activities. The team also fitted them with time-budget devices that track those activities—recording movements, speeds, and other data much like pedometers do.

“Basically the birds do only three things: sit, swim, and fly. So by measuring lots of birds and combining their time budgets with the total costs of living from the isotope measures, it is possible to calculate how much each component of the budget costs,” explained study co-author John Speakman, who leads the Energetics Research Group at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

“The assumption is that [penguins] evolved from an auk-like ancestor,” Speakman continued.

“This would involve a progressive reduction in wing size, which makes diving more efficient and flying less so. Penguin bones also thickened over the ages, as lighter bones that make it easier for birds to fly gave way to more dense bones, which may have helped make them less buoyant for diving.” But Speakman believes the wing changes were the primary adaptation.

Elegant Explanation

“These results make a lot of sense,” said University of Texas at Austin’s Julia Clarke, who studies bird evolution and how the flight stroke was co-opted for underwater diving.

“There have been different scenarios explored for the origin of penguins but little relevant data. These new findings from other diving birds like murres provide an elegant explanation of a key step in the wing-to-flipper transition.”

Katsufumi Sato, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Tokyo’s Ocean Research Institute and a National Geographic Society Emerging Explorer, added that the work indicates an important reason why penguins stopped flying and evolved larger body sizes—they needed an edge in the water.

“An interesting example is the little penguin, which is smaller than some Alcidae [a family of penguins],” and weighs only about two pounds (one kilogram), said Sato. “[The] dive cost of the murre is similar to that of the little penguin, which means little penguins cannot survive against the murre, which can dive and fly.”

Bigger bodies boost dive efficiency and allow for longer dives, which may be why rapid evolution produced so many bigger-bodied penguins soon after the animals lost the ability to fly.

Penguins Grounded by Taste for Fish?

Comparing multiple species, in the way this study does, points to a compelling pattern, said Chris Thaxter, a seabird ecologist with the British Trust for Ornithology.

“When wings are used both above and below water, there may be an evolutionary tipping point beyond which flight is too costly and unsustainable.” Clarke, Sato, and Thaxter were not involved in the study, which was published in the May 20 edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists don’t have fossils of flighted penguin ancestors, and the earliest known penguin dates to just after the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (58 to 60 million years ago).

“It is tempting to speculate that the evolution of penguins happened in that explosive radiation [of mammal species] that happened just after the K-T event,” when many species went extinct, Speakman said. “However, there is no direct evidence to support this, and it could have happened any time during the late Cretaceous.”

In nature such adaptations happen for good reason, typically related to survival and reproduction. So a convincing case might be made for why penguins would have given up flight while taking to the seas.

“What we do know is that in the radiation of the mammals after the K-T event, there suddenly [in geological terms] appear a whole load of mammals that would have been serious competitors for aquatic resources [like] cetaceans and pinnipeds,” Speakman said.

“So this new competitive environment may have placed a greater benefit on being more efficient swimmers and divers for aquatic seabirds. That push toward being more efficient in the aquatic environment may have been enough to tip them over the edge into flightlessness.”

Zoológico australiano apresenta filhote de rinoceronte-branco

Carmen Rivero Colina — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:57:27 +0000

Filhote de rinoceronte branco, com apenas um dia de idade (Foto: Leonie Saville/Taronga Western Plains Zoo)

Um rinoceronte-branco, espécie ameaçada de extinção devido ao tráfico ilegal de seu chifre, nasceu na semana última no zoológico de Taronga Western Plains, na Austrália, informou nesta terça-feira (21) o centro.

O animal macho, que ainda não tem nome, se encontra em bom estado de saúde e sob os cuidados de sua principiante mãe, Mopani, no zoológico da cidade de Dubbo, situada a cerca de 400 quilômetros de Sydney.

“Parece que a primeira chuva em Dubbo após muitos meses contribuiu para o nascimento deste rinoceronte”, afirmou um dos responsáveis pelo zoológico, Pascale Benoit, citado em comunicado de imprensa.

Benoit destacou que durante sua gravidez, Mopani contraiu a mesma doença desconhecida que no último ano matou outros quatro rinocerontes-brancos no zoológico. No entanto, mesmo com a confirmação da doença, o filhote nasceu saudável.

A população de rinoceronte-branco está ameaçada, entre outros motivos, caça ilegal por causa da grande procura pelos seus chifres, sobretudo na China, onde são apreciados dentro da medicina tradicional.

A Fundação Internacional Rinocerontes indicou que, desde 2006, 2 mil animais da espécie morreram na África pelas mãos dos caçadores, enquanto o crescimento de sua população chegou os níveis mais baixos em várias décadas.

Segundo os analistas, a caça ilegal superará a taxa de natalidade dentro de pouco tempo se manter esse ritmo atual, com 300 animais mortos a cada ano.

O rinoceronte-branco foi catalogado como espécie “quase ameaçada” pela União Internacional para a Conservação da Natureza, embora a subespécie do norte possivelmente poderia ter sida extinta em estado selvagem, já que o último animal foi visto em 2006.

EFE/TARONGA ZOO

Fonte: G1

Green sea turtle swims underwater for first time in 11 years thanks to world’s first dive belt built for endangered sea creatures

Carmen Rivero Colina — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:04:27 +0000

A green sea turtle was today enjoying a new lease of life thanks to the world’s first dive belt built exclusively for endangered sea creatures.

Ali has managed to dive properly for the first time in 11 years, since she was hit by a boat which left an air bubble under her shell, stopping her from submerging and causing her to float bottom up.

The metre-long turtle, who weighs more than 10 stone, had found herself stranded on the surface.

Now a team at Weymouth Sea Life Adventure Park in Dorset have created a pioneering belt with 2.5lbs of removable lead weights that works just like those used by scuba divers.

The new invention is believed to be the first of its kind – and means Ali, named after boxer Muhammad Ali, can dive again.

Fiona Smith, curator at the Sea Life park, said: ‘The common thing to do is to stick weights to injured turtles’ shells to allow them to dive.

‘But where Ali’s shell was in slightly worse condition because of her accident it wasn’t that easy.

‘My team and I started thinking about how else we could attach the weights, and came up with the idea of a harness.

‘We took the idea to a nearby dive shop and they came back to us with a custom-built dive belt we could slip weights into. It needs a few tweaks but otherwise it is ideal.

‘It will take a little time for Ali to get used to wearing her new jacket but eventually we see her wearing it all the time. Poor Ali used to float like a butterfly and swim like a bee.

‘But this new invention will make life so much better for her. If the belt is successful it could pave the way for the other turtles.’

Ali’s giant shell was split open by an engine propeller and she was left for dead after being hit by a boat in her native Palm Beach in Florida.

Luckily she was rescued and nursed back to health at a special hospital for turtles – but when her injuries eventually healed an air pocket was left under the shell giving her unwanted buoyancy.

Thought to be 15 to 20 years old, Ali was one of five hospitalised green turtles transferred to Weymouth to ease numbers.

All five had weights glued to their shells to help them dive but her shell was so badly damaged the weights wouldn’t stick, prompting work to start on the special belt.

A protected endangered species, green turtles breathe oxygen but spend most of their lives under the water feeding and sleeping.

They can dive for up to five minutes and sleep underwater for more than an hour. In the wild, green turtles – known as chelonia mydas – can live for more than 80 years.

Credits: MailOnline

No wonder it’s called a kingfisher

Carmen Rivero Colina — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:43:08 +0000

There’s nothing anyone could teach this kingfisher about hunting for food.

The colourful bird caught up to 50 unsuspecting minnows a day, diving into the water and scooping them up with its dagger-like beak.

At one point it even snared a young frog from the pond and took it away for her dinner.

The action photographs were captured by eagle-eyed nature cameraman Manfred Delph near his home in Gudensberg, Germany.

He watched the white-throated kingfisher for days hidden under a camouflage tent so he could be close to it as she hunted her prey.

Delph said: ‘Kingfishers always come to this pond so they can hunt all the little fish in it.

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