Latest Fauna of Ireland Stories
HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania's only unofficial holiday -- the Monday after Thanksgiving -- marks the opening day of the two-week general deer season, and will feature nearly 750,000 individuals sporting fluorescent orange throughout Penn's Woods, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe. New antler restrictions are in place this year for the five Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) in western Pennsylvania previously...
Traces of radioactive caesium have been found by Japanese whale hunters in two cetaceans recently harpooned off its shores in the Pacific Ocean, a fisheries agency official told AFP on Wednesday.Culled off the northern island of Hokkaido, the two minke whales showed readings of 31 becquerels and 24.3 becquerels of caesium per kilogram, the fisheries official claimed, adding that the cause may be related to the recent radiation leak from the Fukushima nuclear plant.Despite a worldwide ban on...
The bodies of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), which live in estuaries or along coastlines where industrial activities take place, are highly contaminated. This is the result of a European study, involving Spanish participation, which warns of the danger to these mammals from ports throughout Europe, even in the Mediterranean."Although there are no seals in Spanish waters, these species can be used as biomonitors of global pollution", Octavio Pérez Luzardo, one of the authors of...
Trained rescuers from the Center will offer new "I Helped Save a Seal "“ U Can Too!" bumper stickers to those who notify them of a seal in need of help. Sausalito, Calif. (PRWEB) March 17, 2011 The arrival of the pupping season's first patient, an elephant seal nicknamed Second Day, is a timely reminder to Leave Seals Be and give them a second chance at life. Leave Seals Be is The Marine Mammal Center's public education campaign to remind people along the California coast not to pick...
SWINDON, England, Jan. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Trust has announced that three young grey seal pups born on the National Trust's Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast have been discovered hundreds of miles away on a Dutch beach. The first of the Farne Island three was found on the 13 December 2010 and was less than three weeks old when it made the 350 mile journey. After being found by a member of the public it was taken to a seal rescue centre in Holland. Pups two and...
HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A Dec. 11 poaching incident has two Lebanon County brothers facing possible prison sentences, including one who has the unfortunate distinction of being the first individual to be charged with felony counts under a new Game and Wildlife Code penalty structure that took effect in September, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission officials. Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer Derek Daly charged William M. Kirkwood, 50, of...
A giant red stag believed to be the UK's biggest wild animal was killed for its antlers, according to reports on Tuesday. "The Emperor of Exmoor," as the beast has been dubbed, was named after the southwestern area where the stag frequented. The deer, which was about 12 years old, weighed more than 300 pounds, and stood more than 9 feet tall was found close to the road dead in the county of Devon. It is believed that a licensed hunter is responsible for legally killing the stag. But the...
The vocalizations or "˜groans' of male fallow deer provide rivals and potential mates with an honest account of the emitting animal's competitive abilities. A study, published in the open access journal BMC Biology, describes how the acoustic qualities of a deer's call change year by year and reflect changes in status and age.Alan McElligott and Elodie Briefer from Queen Mary, University of London together with Elisabetta Vannoni, University of Zurich, studied fallow deer, during four...
Genetic Testing Sheds Light on International Debate to Cull MinkesGenetic analyses refute the hypothesis that an overly abundant population of minke whales is creating too much competition over food for populations of other whale species to rebound, according to a new study supported by the Lenfest Ocean Program and published this week in the journal Molecular Ecology. The study's findings indicate that the Southern Ocean minke whale population around Antarctica has not grown unnaturally...
Genetic Testing Sheds Light on International Debate to Cull Minkes WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Genetic analyses refute the hypothesis that an overly abundant population of minke whales is creating too much competition over food for populations of other whale species to rebound, according to a new study supported by the Lenfest Ocean Program and published this week in the journal Molecular Ecology. The study's findings indicate that the Southern Ocean minke whale...
Latest Fauna of Ireland Reference Libraries
The grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), known as the gray seal in the United States is a species that can be found on shores on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean. Its other common names include the Atlantic grey seal and the horsehead seal, because of its elongated nose. It has a large range on the shores of Ireland and Great Britain, with larger populations residing in areas including the Farne Islands near the Northumberland Coast, North Rona near northern Scotland, and Ramsey Island near...
The pine marten (Martes martes) is an animal in the weasel family, native to Northern Europe. It's around the size of a domestic cat. Its body is up to 20.87 in (53 cm) long; its bushy tail can be 9.84 in (25 cm). Males are slightly larger than females. On average a marten weighs 3.3 lb (1.5 kg). Their fur is usually light to dark brown and grows longer and silkier during the winter months. They have a cream to yellow colored "bib" marking on their throats. Their habitat is usually...
The greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula) is a small shrew found in Europe and North Africa. Its preferred habitats are grassland and woodland. It is slightly larger than the lesser white-toothed shrew but otherwise very similar. It can often be distinguished only by close inspection of its teeth.
The Fallow Deer (Dama dama) is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. The male is a buck, the female is a doe, and the young a fawn. Bucks are 4.5 to 5.2 ft (140-160 cm long) and 3 to 3.3 ft (90-100 cm) shoulder height, and 60-85 kg in weight; does are 130-150 cm long and 75-85 cm shoulder height, and 66 to 110 pounds (30-50 kg) in weight. Fawns are born in spring at about 1 ft (30 cm) and weigh around 10 pounds (4.5 kg). The life span is around 12 years. The first ever Fallow...
The Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) is a typical member of the family Cervidae that is closely related to the Red Deer and Wapiti and inhabit mixed coniferous and deciduous forests to the north, and mixed subtropical evergreen forests to the south. It is native to much of East Asia (absent from Hainan Island and the Ussuri Region of Siberia (also known as the Russian Far East), ranging from The Ussuri Region of Siberia southwards towards Korea, Manchuria and Northern and Southern China, with a...
