The territorial waters of Maldives which spreads over 90,000 square kilometers will become shark sanctuary. By that Maldives is joining Palau to become the first two nations to forbid shark fishing where both of them are regarded as top scuba-diving destinations.
Read the full story (NYtimes)
Sultan Ibrahim, the ruler of Johor state of Malaysia, bans hunting of wildlife in the state including tigers, bears, deer, mousedeer, tapir and porcupines. In addition the state has breeding program with the intention of releasing animals into the jungle.
Read the full story (The Star)
The yellow-spotted bell frog which considered to have been extinct for 30 years has been discovered on a remote farmland in Australia. A colony of around 100 frogs of this special species was identified and this gives hope to find more animals that we thought were extinct.
Read the full story (Telegraph)
A girl from US, Arizona was saved by her dog by keeping her from freezing during night at -30 degree. They were found the morning after about 1km from home by helicopter crew that spotted them.
Read the full story (msnbc)
Recently, scientists have discovered in mountainous region of Papua New Guinea over fifty new animal species. The new species which were discovered there are 50 spider species, three frogs and a gecko, all were never mentioned on scientific literature before.
Read the full story (Independent)
About 631 Asian elephants observed in Malaysia’s biggest national park named Taman Negara. A new method for counting the animals was used which follows their dung. The numbers found are surprisingly high which can be related to the size of the national park which is about 4343 square km.
Read the full story (Yahoo)
A large group of 44 North Atlantic right whales observed in the Gulf of Maine in recent days. This is a record number for the winter period and a very exiting sight. It is important to know the location of the whales in order to protect them by e.g. slowing ship speeds in near areas.
Read the full story (ScienceDaily)
Australian researchers found a way to make mosquitoes die younger ‘naturally’, and thus spreading fewer diseases. The way to achieve it is by infecting the mosquitoes with a bacterium named Wolbachia causing them to shorter their live span by half.
Read the full story (Yahoo)
Coral reefs of Indonesia that where damaged by a tsunami four years ago have shown surprising improvement and rapid growth of new corals. Also reefs damaged before the tsunami were recovering thanks to abandoning destructive fishing techniques and even transplanting corals.
Read the full story (BBC)
