South Korea culls animals on huge scale in response to foot-and-mouth disease, avian flu outbreaks

South Korea's ongoing epidemics of foot-and-mouth disease and avian flu have led the country's government to call for the culling of animals -- pigs and cows because of foot-and-mouth, chickens and ducks because of avian flu, as well as smaller numbers of other animals like goats -- on an enormous scale.

Reports list the number of slaughtered pigs at well over a million; the total number of all animals killed seems to be several million and growing. Worse still, a large percentage of those -- representing virtually all the culled pigs, according to the group Korea Animal Rights Advocates (KARA) -- were buried alive, in part because the country doesn't have enough euthanasia drugs to go around and a large dose is required to kill a pig.

The situation has also led to nightmarish reports about water quality in the affected regions.

According to the Guardian, nearly 70,000 soldiers have been tasked with helping regional forces conduct the livestock culls. Many of the killed animals appeared to be healthy, but came from farms in close proximity to confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth.

One bright spot is that the country, which began to vaccinate large numbers of cows against the disease last month, has recently begun to vaccinate pigs as well. But, KARA cautioned in a statement on its website, "mass vaccination does not include piglets. It is likely that pigs will remain the least protected animals" from the dangers of foot-and-mouth.

Researchers say penguins are harmed by the tracking bands used to study them

Some scientists studying penguins may be inadvertently harming them with the metal bands they use to keep track of the tuxedo-clad seabirds, a new study says. The survival rate of king penguins with metal bands on their flippers was 44% lower than those without bands and banded birds produced far fewer chicks, according to new research published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The theory is that the metal bands -- either aluminum or stainless steel -- increase drag on the penguins when they swim, making them work harder, the study's authors said.

Author Yvon Le Maho of the University of Strasbourg in France said the banded penguins looked haggard, appearing older than their actual age.

Consequently, studies that use banded penguins -- including ones about the effects of global warming on the seabirds -- may be inaccurate, mixing up other changes in penguin life with the effects from banding, said Le Maho and colleague Claire Saraux.

Le Maho said this is the first study showing a long-term harm from banding penguins.

Your morning adorable: Penguin jumps in the snow

We've seen some cute penguins in our time, but we're not sure we've ever seen one quite as adorable as this energetic little fellow. (Well ... perhaps he's tied for Cutest Penguin with the gentoo penguin chick who hasn't yet been told that he's a flightless bird and the group of Humboldt penguins who try, but fail, to catch a butterfly. Picking the cutest penguin is like picking the cutest kitten: difficult.)

This video, filmed in a Japanese zoo, has racked up hundreds of thousands of views and earned its star countless comparisons to Mumble, the animated dancing penguin from the movie "Happy Feet."

"Or maybe he's a fan of penguin-suited dance legend Fred Astaire, who often went through his paces wearing a top hat and  tails," the Daily Mail muses. But this little penguin's dance moves more closely resemble the youthful exuberance of Kris Kross than the elegance of Astaire, don't you think?

RELATED CUTE PENGUINS:

• Your morning adorable: Little penguins North and South are released in Australia

• Your morning adorable: Penguins stroll in winter wear at Japanese aquarium

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: smz200x via YouTube

Caption this: Palm cockatoo chick is naked as a jaybird

The sight of a baby bird, to one who's not used to seeing them, can be a bit jarring. Take this little guy, a palm cockatoo chick born in late November at the Jurong Bird Park in Singapore.

Palm cockatoos are native to parts of Australia and New Guinea and are known for their impressive bills, which are larger than those of most cockatoos and other birds their size. When this featherless little fellow grows up, he'll have beautiful black feathers, a crest atop his head and bright red patches on his cheeks. He'll be quite an impressive sight, though you wouldn't know it to look at him now!

The Jurong Bird Park is the biggest facility of its kind in the world, featuring about 8,000 different birds representing 600 species. (Most of them, we'd wager, are fully feathered, unlike this little guy.)

RELATED STRANGE-LOOKING BIRDS:

• Two unusual albino blue-winged kookaburra chicks found in Queensland, Australia

• Reader photo of the day: A lilac-breasted roller on the hunt in Africa

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Roslan Rahman / AFP/Getty Images

Concerns over golden eagles may put a damper on wind farm development

APPLE VALLEY, Calif. — Fears that whirling wind turbines could slaughter protected golden eagles have halted progress on a key piece of the federal government's push to increase renewable energy on public lands, stalling plans for billions of dollars in wind farm developments.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management suspended issuing wind permits on public land indefinitely this summer after wildlife officials invoked a decades-old law for protecting eagles, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Associated Press.

The restriction has stymied efforts to "fast-track" approvals for four of the seven most promising wind energy proposals in the nation, including all three in California.

Now, these and other projects appear unlikely to make the year-end deadline to potentially qualify for hundreds of millions of dollars in stimulus funds. If extensions aren't granted in the lame duck session of Congress, the future of many of these plans could be in doubt.

"[Companies] are waiting to know the criteria to get a permit," said Larry LaPre, a wildlife biologist for BLM's California desert district, of the companies hoping federal agencies will begin permitting again soon. LaPre said he expects it to be "at least a year or longer" before permitting resumes.

Two unusual albino blue-winged kookaburra chicks found in Queensland, Australia

A pair of extremely unusual albino blue-winged kookaburra chicks have been found in Queensland, Australia, where they are being cared for at a wildlife hospital after apparently falling out of their nest in a storm.

The two birds, believed to be sisters about 6 weeks old, are the first known albino specimens of their species in Australia.

"Luckily, this farmer found and saved them; they're the real heroes, because probably within the next day they would be dead," Harry Kunz, founder of the Eagle's Nest Wildlife Hospital in Ravenshoe, Queensland, told Agence France-Presse. Their bright coloring would make them an easy target for predators in the wild.

The birds are reportedly in good health and have been hand-fed a diet of mice and chicken, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Kunz said they will be taught how to hunt for their own food -- a typical diet for a blue-winged kookaburra includes insects, small reptiles and even small birds and mammals -- when they are old enough, but they'll never leave the Queensland sanctuary because life in the wild would be too dangerous for them.

See more photos of the albino kookaburras after the jump!

University of Nebraska study on feral cats stirs controversy

LINCOLN, Neb. — A report that recommends killing feral cats as a way to control the animals, including a primer on how to shoot a cat, is stirring emotions among bird and cat lovers.

The University of Nebraska at Lincoln's study (PDF) found that neutering or spaying is ineffective at eliminating feral-cat colonies, though useful in reducing colonies' expansion.

One official from the American Bird Conservancy calls the report "a must read" for communities with a feral-cat problem.

But critics note that the wild cats help control rodent populations, and say habitat destruction, herbicides and other issues are a bigger threat to birds.

They also question the report's finding that feral cats' killing of birds costs the U.S. $17 billion, when accounting for how much bird watchers, hunters and others spend on the hobbies.

RELATED:
Pennsylvania airport with feral-cat problem announces plans to trap, neuter and release cats
A catfight over neutering program (January story by Times reporter Kimi Yoshino)

-- Margery A. Beck, Associated Press

Photo: Feral cats eat in a Torrance parking lot in 2008. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

Critics say Obama administration is lagging on protecting endangered species

WASHINGTON — Environmental groups are criticizing the Obama administration for what they say is a continuing backlog of plants and animals in need of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The Fish and Wildlife Service says 251 species are candidates for endangered species protection, four more than a similar review last year found.

Environmental groups say that shows the Obama administration has done little to improve on what they consider a dismal record on endangered species under President George W. Bush.

Nearly two years after taking office, Obama has provided Endangered Species Act protection to 51 plants and animals, an average of 25 a year. By comparison, the Clinton administration protected an average of 65 species per year, and the Bush administration listed about eight species a year.

"Like the Bush administration, the Obama administration is failing to provide prompt protection to wildlife desperately in need of protection," including the plains bison, sage grouse and hundreds of other species, said Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based group that has filed lawsuits seeking greater protection for those and other species.

Groups sue Environmental Protection Agency over lead ammunition and fishing tackle

WASHINGTON — Three environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday to force it to prevent lead poisoning of wildlife from spent ammunition and lost fishing tackle.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by the Center for Biological Diversity, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the hunters group Project Gutpile. It comes after the EPA denied their petition to ban lead ammunition and lead fishing tackle, which the groups say kills 10 million to 20 million birds and other animals a year by lead poisoning.

"The EPA has the ability to protect America's wildlife from ongoing preventable lead poisoning, but continues to shirk its responsibility," said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.

The lawsuit asks a judge to order the EPA to develop rules to prevent wildlife poisoning from spent lead ammunition and fishing tackle.

Royal starlings at English zoo are named for Prince William and Kate Middleton

In honor of the recently announced engagement of Prince William and longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton, an English zoo has named its young pair of royal starlings (get it?) after the couple. The birds are a few months old and have been hand-raised by a keeper at the Chester Zoo in northwest England.

Royal starlings, also known as golden-breasted starlings, are native to parts of east Africa, where the couple were traveling when they became engaged. "As William proposed during a visit to Kenya it would be nice to think that, as they became engaged to be married, royal starlings may have been there to witness the special event," keeper Andrew Woolham said.

Royal starlings, like other starling species, are known for their tendency to make loud vocalizations. They live in small family groupings, and often entire families help with the rearing of chicks, with adult birds dividing chores like feeding young and building nests.

Though the species is not considered vulnerable to extinction in the wild, zoos have had limited success with breeding royal starlings in captivity.

RELATED BIRD NEWS:
Six thick-billed parrot chicks at New York's Queens Zoo are a big deal for their endangered species
Your morning adorable: Chilean flamingo chick already knows how to stand on one leg

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Royal starlings William, left, and Kate sit on a branch in their enclosure at the Chester Zoo on Nov. 18. Credit: Phil Noble / Reuters