Eel slips off the shelves to save it from extinction

THE STAR – SOUTH AFRICA
AMSTERDAM: Smoked eel on toast looks set to become an even rarer treat at Dutch parties, as the main supermarket group in the Netherlands plans to stop selling the endangered fish from 2010.
Following moves by smaller competitors, Albert Heijn said it would phase out all eel products on its shelves next [...]

Europe’s flora becoming more homogeneous

THAINDIAN.COM
Washington, December 13 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have determined that due to more plant introductions than extinctions, plant communities of many European regions are becoming more homogeneous, and thereby losing the ability to react to environmental changes. According to the findings, the same species are occurring more frequently, whereas rare species are becoming [...]

Hong Kong shark fin traders criticise US report

AFP
HONG KONG — Hong Kong shark fin merchants on Wednesday reacted angrily to a US study that said meat from endangered species was being sold in the city’s markets to make a popular soup.
In the new study for the journal Endangered Species Research, US scientists said they had used DNA testing to trace the geographic [...]

Scientist: Extinction threatens Coral Reefs unless CO2 limited to 350ppm

TAKVER – AUSTRALIAN INDYMEDIA
COPENHAGEN. Dec 9, 2009. Extinction of Coral reefs and 10-20% of marine species is likely if greehouse gases aren’t brought down to 350ppm, warned Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg from the University of Queensland. He gave a presentation at the US Pavilion at the COP15 climate negotiations in Copenhagen about the threat of climate [...]

Killer Fungus Threatening Amphibians

PRESS RELEASE
ScienceDaily (Nov. 24, 2009) — Amphibians like frogs and toads have existed for 360 million years and survived when the dinosaurs didn’t, but a new aquatic fungus is threatening to make many of them extinct, according to an article in the November issue of Microbiology Today.
The fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd),was found to be associated [...]

Grey nurse sharks close to extinction

ABC AUSTRALIA
A new survey of grey nurse sharks shows the species is still in severe danger of becoming extinct.
The study, commissioned by the Federal Government, found just over 1,000 of the sharks along the east coast of Australia.
That figure is significantly lower than the 5,000 needed to sustain the population.
Accidental hooking is one of the [...]

House Sparrows Move Towards Extinction

ONE INDIA
Ornithologists and forest officers in Punjab have expressed concern over the dwindling population of some popular birds, including the very common house sparrows. Disappearance of the common house sparrow from the urban areas is not something new.
A few years ago, alarm bells rang when the population count of the house sparrows decreased in London. [...]

Drop in endangered bird numbers sparks worries

ABC AUSTRALIA
Concerns have been raised about a dramatic decrease in endangered bird numbers in Tasmania.
Experts say drought, wildfires and the spread of urban development have contributed to the decline in numbers of the 40-spotted pardelote and the swift parrot.
Conservationist, Sally Bryant, says pardelote, or 40-spot, numbers in the state have dropped significantly over the last [...]

Schwarzenegger Greenwashes Way Across Europe As Salmon Face Extinction

DAN BACHER – INDYBAY
As Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was shamelessly greenwashing his way across Europe and the Middle East to meet with political leaders about “fighting climate change” and “creating green jobs,” a coalition of environmental groups sent a notice of intent to sue over the Schwarzenegger’s administration’s failure to protect imperiled salmon and steelhead in [...]

Mislabelling drives skate to brink of extinction

AFP
PARIS — Due to an 83-year-old error of classification, a species of European skate could become the first marine fish driven to extinction by commercial fishing, according to a study released on Wednesday.
In the 19th century, scientists identified two separate species of the once-widespread European skate, the flapper skate (Dipturus intermedia) and the blue skate [...]