Australian raptors start fires to flush out prey

Australian raptors start fires to flush out prey

Australian Aboriginal lore is replete with references to birds carrying fire, and some traditional ceremonies even depict the behaviour. Now ornithologists have collected accounts from witnesses across the savannas of Australia’s far north, known as the Top End, suggesting three Australian birds of prey species use smouldering branches to spread fires and scare prey into […]

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Scientist: Australia taking ‘calculated actions’ to push Leadbeater’s possum to extinction

Scientist: Australia taking ‘calculated actions’ to push Leadbeater’s possum to extinction

Australia’s leading scientific expert on the endangered Leadbeater’s possum has publicly lambasted the Victorian state government, claiming it is the first ever domestic administration to take “calculated actions” that it knew could wipe out a threatened species. In a letter published in the respected journal Science, Prof David Lindenmayer, of the Australian National University, states […]

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