The snow leopard is a mammal species of the cat family found at high altitudes in Nepal and other countries around the Himalayan range. However, it has been included in the vulnerable category of IUCN Red list of threatened species in recent years for various reasons.
A recent research article published in the journal Banko Janakari...
Gut bacteria can mean life or death for birds
In her upcoming thesis at Lund University in Sweden, biologist Elin Videvall shows that the composition of gut bacteria in birds has a major impact on whether their offspring will survive their first three months.
"My findings could be important for increasing survival rates," she says.
Microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi can cause diseases, but...
Animal nutrition: Excess phosphorus damages the kidney
A new study carried out by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich veterinarians shows that high phosphorus intake, comparable to the average level provided by prepared cat food, can be deleterious to kidney function in healthy cats.
An LMU study has found that phosphate concentrations that exceed the daily intake required for health maintenance by more than fivefold...
Conservation costs can be higher than bargained for
Sweeping policies that reward people in environmentally sensitive areas for returning their farmlands to nature have been lauded as ecological triumphs. But a new Michigan State University study shows that over time some participants may become conservation martyrs.
Payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs have been global darlings for decades, tapping into the combined benefits of...
US national parks increasingly important for bird conservation in face of climate change
U.S. National Parks could become even more important for the conservation of bird species in the face of climate change, according to a study published March 21, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Joanna Wu from the National Audubon Society, US, and colleagues.
The U.S. National Parks offer strong protection for birds from many...
Predators learn to identify prey from other species
Wolves purportedly raised Romulus and Remus, who went on to rule Rome. Is there good scientific evidence for learning across species? Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama wanted to know if predatory bats learn both from other members of their own species and from other predatory bat species.
"We wanted to know...