KATHMANDU — Long ago, in the ancient kingdom of Kapilavastu, young prince Siddhartha Gautama, who would later become the Buddha, and his cousin Devadatta were honing their archery skills when Devdatta spotted a magnificent sarus crane (Antigone antigone). With a swift motion, he released his arrow and hit the bird. The crane fell to the […]
Tag: cranes
The stork and the farmer: A conservation parable with lessons from Nepal
KATHMANDU — Growing up in the southwestern plains of Nepal, Prashant Ghimire was always fascinated to observe birds roam the fertile farmlands. “I especially liked to watch storks and cranes fly. I would throw pebbles at them to make them fly,” remembers Ghimire, whose interest in birds led him to study forestry and then ornithology. […]
Beaver baffle maintenance enables larch trees in Appalachian swamp to be regenerated
Deborah Landau, an environmentalist, gently goes into the waist-deep dark water, gripping a long branch of a speckled alder tree. As she makes her way through the frigid labyrinth of Maryland’s Finzel marsh preserve, she says, “You can’t see anything, so watch your step.” The pleasant perfume of red spruce, the call of the regionally […]
The highly infectious avian flu is killing raptors, ducks, geese, seabirds and even foxes
Peter Stronach, an ecologist and wildlife photographer, couldn’t believe what he was witnessing as he went along the coastline of a Highland lake on a beautiful May evening. Male eider ducks, numerous species of gulls, a gannet, a puffin, and no fewer than 26 pink-footed geese, all of which should have been on their way […]
Thousands of Cranes Killed by Bird Flu in Israel
Northern Israel is experiencing a severe bird flu breakout that has resulted in the death of at least 5,200 migratory cranes. Experts believe that the outbreak started once cranes made contact with infected smaller birds kept by farmers. This outbreak has resulted in farmers being required to slaughter thousands of chickens in an attempt to […]
Farmers tempt endangered cranes back – by growing their favourite food
“Several years ago, I counted more than 300 cranes in the wetlands near my rice field,” says farmer Khean Khoay, as he reminisces about the regal-looking eastern sarus crane. Khoay’s village, Koh Chamkar in Kampot province, lies on the outskirts of the Anlung Pring protected landscape in south-west Cambodia, in the fertile and biodiverse Mekong […]
How Many Birds Are Killed By Wind Turbines?
Renewable energy development is a critically important part of the fight against climate change. Unfortunately, we also know that wind energy development has a substantial negative impact on birds. But just how many birds are killed by wind turbines? A Google search can turn up a wide array of answers to this question, with a […]
Trump Administration Proposes Allowing GE Crops on Thousands of Acres of National Wildlife Refuges
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration has proposed to approve genetically engineered crops on national wildlife refuges throughout the southeastern United States, a step likely to increase use of glyphosate and other pesticides known to harm wildlife. The Obama administration acted in 2014 to phase out GE crops on all national wildlife refuges following a successful decade-long […]