invasive species

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200K Mice Plagued the Islands. Amazingly, There Are Now None

A seeming victory for biodiversity on New Zealand's Antipodes Islands

(Newser) - A subantarctic archipelago is making "huge news": The New Zealand Herald reports there are officially no more mice on the country's Antipodes Islands, which once housed up to 200,000 of the rodents. They caused a big threat to the World Heritage Site by preying on native birds,...

Scientists Are Bashing Iguanas&#39; Heads in Florida
Method of Killing Questioned
in Florida Iguana Cull
in case you missed it
Mar 17, 2018 5:41 PM CDT

Method of Killing Questioned in Florida Iguana Cull

Scientists say blunt force trauma is humane

(Newser) - Scientists are sometimes tasked with saving animals from extinction. But in Florida, extinction, at least locally, is the goal. As part of a three-month project aimed at culling high numbers of invasive iguanas in the Sunshine State, researchers at the University of Florida are killing the animals with blunt force...

The Turtle Was Allegedly Fed a Puppy. Now It's Dead

Idaho State Department of Agriculture said animal was euthanized

(Newser) - A sick puppy reportedly met an unfortunate fate in Idaho, and now a snapping turtle has too. The Idaho State Department of Agriculture on Friday said that the turtle, who was allegedly fed the puppy by a Preston Junior High School science teacher as students watched, was euthanized "humanely,...

In Wake of Tsunami, the Unprecedented Happened in Pacific

At least 289 species made it across the ocean

(Newser) - Every spring, "pulses" of floating garbage from the Pacific trash vortex arrive on the US West Coast—and every year since 2011, more unwanted visitors from Japan arrive. Researchers say that the devastating Japanese tsunami sent an armada of debris across the ocean, with "mega-rafts" carrying a horde...

Tiny Invader Threatens Food Staple in Africa

Fall armyworm is wiping out maize crops

(Newser) - Still reeling from a severe drought, Zimbabwe is now on the brink of going hungry as an invasive pest wreaks havoc on the staple crop maize. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports that seven of the country's eight provinces have been hit by the fall armyworm, and as...

India Tribesmen Tackle Florida's Python Problem

They found 13 in first 8 days at it

(Newser) - After years of inviting the American public to try to help with its invasive python problem, Florida has brought in some experts from the snake's original territory. Two Irula tribesmen from India are working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to catch Burmese pythons in areas including the...

Stink Bugs Can Change the Taste of Your Wine

Especially if you drink pinot noir

(Newser) - Bugs wind up in most things we consume, organic and otherwise. It's so common and hard to avoid that the FDA sets allowable levels, notes the American Council on Science and Health . It's no surprise, then, that stink bugs , which have a fondness for grapes, can end up...

Bacteria May Be Weapon Against Cheatgrass Invading the West

Cheatgrass now 'dominates' the Great Basin

(Newser) - Cheatgrass is about as bad as it sounds. The invasive plant sends out roots in the spring that deprive nearby plants of water, then dries out in the summer as it transforms into extremely effective tinder for wildfires to then kill competing nearby native plants, not to mention the habitat...

Toad-Hunting Boy Hit by Golf Club, Killed

The 13-year-old immediately went into cardiac arrest

(Newser) - The poisonous cane toad has plagued Australia for the past several years, and while authorities recommend getting rid of the pests as humanely as possibly, i.e. by placing them in refrigerators and then freezers, kids sometimes go hunting for them with golf clubs. Such was the context when tragedy...

Beetle Destroying Trees Used to Make Iconic Baseball Bats

Nation's ash trees are being wiped out by Emerald Ash Borer

(Newser) - When the Emerald Ash Borer first made its way to US soil from Asia in the 1990s, it hardly registered among scientists or in the news—where it came from, after all, it only feasted on weak and dying ash trees. But the tiny beetle smaller than a penny quickly...

Florida Brings Back Python Challenge

Last time, 1.6K hunters killed just 68 snakes

(Newser) - Three years after a month-long hunt involving 1,600 hunters bagged a grand total of 68 pythons , Florida is bringing back the "Python Challenge." The hunt, part of efforts to get rid of the invasive species that is squeezing native wildlife like opossums out of the Everglades, kicks...

Look Out, New England: Invasive Asian Turtles Spotted

Chinese soft-shelled turtles 'could cause major changes in the ecosystem'

(Newser) - Chinese soft-shelled turtles are just little guys, between 7 and 15 inches long, but they're making waves in New England, where two of their number have been spotted recently on Massachusetts beaches, reports CBS Boston . Though considered endangered in their native eastern Asia, the "extraordinary-looking" critters are widely...

Canadians Told to Stop Flushing Their Goldfish

They're breeding quickly in the wild, and getting big

(Newser) - It sounds like a tabloid concoction: goldfish the size of dinner plates! But Canadian media outlets such as the National Post are trumpeting headlines of that variety—and they happen to be true. Biologists in Alberta are asking people to stop flushing their cute little goldfish, because they're apparently...

Snail-Devouring Worm Has Invaded Florida

Invasive New Guinea flatworm will even chase its prey up trees

(Newser) - It's considered one of the " world's worst invasive alien species ," sucks snails into a ravenous mouth located in the middle of its belly, and has now invaded US shores for the first time. "It" is the New Guinea flatworm, and researchers are afraid that now...

Lake's Goldfish Invasion Comes to Unexpected End

No need to drain or zap Colorado lake thanks to hungry birds

(Newser) - Biologists worried about a goldfish infestation at a Colorado lake discovered a bunch of well-fed pelicans where the problem used to be. Colorado Parks and Wildlife personnel went to Boulder's 12-acre Teller Lake No. 5 this week for a fish survey and found just four live goldfish and a...

Colorado Lake Overrun With Thousands of Pet Goldfish
Colorado Lake Overrun With Thousands of Pet Goldfish
in case you missed it
Apr 11, 2015 7:00 PM CDT

Colorado Lake Overrun With Thousands of Pet Goldfish

Well, the first few were pets; now they're invasive

(Newser) - Keeping a few goldfish alive in a bowl can seem tough enough. Boulder is facing a very different problem. A press release put out by Colorado Parks and Wildlife explains that goldfish have multiplied into the thousands in the 12-acre Teller Lake #5. ABC News reports that they may now...

Invasive Asian Crickets May Well Live in Your House

They could be squeezing out native bugs: researcher

(Newser) - Asian camel crickets are now so common in the US, they may even be beating out their native cousins. Hundreds or thousands of the striped creatures may very well be sharing your house, a study from North Carolina State finds; indeed, 90% of scientists responding to a census found them...

Marine Biologist: 6th-Grader Stole My Idea

Her science fair project had originally astounded scientists

(Newser) - Using only six fish and six tanks, a 6th-grade science fair entrant was able to demonstrate last year what is being hailed as a remarkable discovery : Lionfish, an invasive species found up and down the Florida coast, can also survive in nearly fresh water. There's just one catch: That...

6th-Grader's Fish Project Blows Away Scientists

She says experts were making a silly assumption

(Newser) - Sometimes it takes a kid to truly think outside the box. Such is the case of 12-year-old science fair entrant Lauren Arrington, who decided to investigate lionfish, which the Florida native had observed up close while snorkeling and fishing in the ocean. "Scientists were doing plenty of tests on...

Wisconsin's New Scourge: 'Crazy Worms'?

Invasive species has done what locals hoped it wouldn't—survive winter

(Newser) - With 5,000 or so species of earthworms wriggling about the planet, a few are bound to be nastier than the rest. So is the case with Amynthas agrestis, aka the "Asian crazy worm" or "Alabama jumper," an invasive pest found in Japan, Korea, and—for five...

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