Tag: wildlife

Canada’s Wild ‘Super Pigs’ Are About to Invade America

Canada’s wild hogs are apparently poised to invade America’s yard. In new research this month, scientists have found evidence that these invasive wild pigs have a “high potential” to cross over the Canadian border and establish new populations in mostly pig-free parts of the U.S., particularly South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Minnesota.

Despite once being mere fodder for a meme, the threat of feral and wild pigs has become larger over time. These animals have no natural predators in the areas where they’ve invaded, allowing them to quickly grow in numbers and voraciously consume a region’s native vegetation and small wildlife or farmed crops. They can also carry a variety of potentially dangerous germs and have been known to attack pets or even humans on occasion.

Feral swine have invaded much of the southern half of the U.S., and are typically a combination of escaped domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) and Eurasian wild boars (Sus scrofa). But Canada’s pig problem is uniquely terrifying. Hunters deliberately brought over wild boars to the area as livestock and controlled game during the 1980s and 1990s, but some were able to escape or were released and then mated with domestic pigs. The net result is that Canada’s wild pigs today tend to be larger and more resistant to cold than those down south, with scientists often referring to them as “super” pigs. Their size and hardiness likely also means that these pigs can easily expand their range further across North America.

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Climate Change ‘Solutions’ Are Harming the Environment

Big government environmental “fixes” often result in unintended environmental or human health consequences that are worse than the original problem the government solution was meant to solve.

Nowhere is this clearer than with government efforts to fight climate change, an effort in vain if ever there was one.

In Climate Change Weekly, I have detailed the high environmental costs and dangers to people that come with electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels — from fires, to the human and environmental impact of the mining and refining of the minerals necessary to produce and operate them, to the waste problems they create.

As whale deaths mount on the East Coast, The Heartland Institute along with our allies at CFACT and the National Legal and Policy Center have filed a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order on Dominion Energy’s plans to begin pile driving for construction of the base and tower portions of 176 giant offshore wind turbines it plans to erect at great economic and environmental costs off the coast of Virginia as part of President Biden’s “all of government” approach to fight climate change.

CFACT has established a great resource devoted to the myriad environmental problems — including the threat to the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) from the push for offshore wind along the East Coast. These turbines are being erected right in the middle of NARW and other protected marine mammals’ habitat and migration routes. In the rush to erect these turbines quickly, the federal government and Dominion played fast and loose with the rules and permits, in particular failing to follow the law and proper procedures in accounting for potential comprehensive, cumulative whale impacts.

Research released after Dominion had already received permission from the federal government to proceed, shows that, contrary to what Dominion and the Biden administration have claimed in their reports, the ships contracted to do the pile driving produce an amount of noise during operations that exceeds what federal biologists have determined to be safe for whales.

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NBC Animal Documentary Claims “This is a Queer Planet”

A documentary set to be broadcast by NBC asserts that we live on a “queer planet,” in which homosexuality is widespread in the animal kingdom and there are more than two genders.

Yes, really.

The documentary, set to be aired on June 6, features one “expert” stating, “Everything you were taught as a kid is wrong.”

“Gay penguins, bisexual lions, sex changing clown fish,” the narration, voiced by gay actor Andrew Rannells, claims are all evidence that “this is a queer planet.”

The trailer then shows two women, one with blue hair, asserting that “Queerness has always existed” and that “It’s only in humans that we have such a stigma about it.”

Apparently, this “stigma” revolves around having it shoved in your face 24/7 on television, TV commercials, within the education system, and publicly shaming or even arresting and prosecuting anyone who doesn’t embrace it.

“The idea of just having two fixed sexes is clearly out of style,” the narration continues, with another short haired woman with tattoos claiming, “Mother nature is pretty open minded.”

Nature is apparently “full of queer surprises,” according to the documentary.

I’m not sure that aspiring to behave like animals is quite the win that LGBT activists think it is.

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The Eastern American Puma is Officially Declared Extinct

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has officially declared the eastern American puma (scientifically named puma concolor cougar) extinct, one of the mountain lion subspecies, after removing it from the federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife of extinction.

“We determined that the eastern puma has become extinct, based on the best scientific and commercial information available. This information does not show evidence of the existence of an existing breeding population or of individuals of the eastern puma subspecies, “the official said. “It is very unlikely that an eastern puma population will remain undetected since the last confirmed sighting in 1938. Therefore, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 we eliminated this subspecies from the federal list of endangered fauna and in Danger of extinction”.

In 1973 the eastern puma of North America had been included in the list of endangered species, but in 2011 the US Fish and Wildlife Service opened an investigation into the status of this mountain lion. It was not until 2015 when experts concluded that there was no evidence that a living population of this feline remained, so that year the Federal Register published a request to exclude the animal from the list. Finally on January 23 the statement was issued where it was officially declared extinct.

Experts believe that the last population of eastern American cougars disappeared at the hands of hunters in the state of Maine in 1938. They were killed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and used to roam the forests, mountains and pastures in all US states east of Mississippi river, from Quebec (Canada) to South Carolina and from Manitoba (Canada) to Illinois. Its main prey used to be the white-tailed deer, but they also hunted eastern moose, now also extinct. In the eighty years that have passed since the last confirmed sighting, there have been some who claim to have seen them. But scientists say that it has probably been specimens from zoos and private collections.

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‘Environmental Pollutant’ – How A Key Climate Agenda Tool Harms Endangered Species

As the Biden administration expands its offshore wind projects as part of its goal to reach a carbon-free energy system, whales and other marine life may become collateral damage, according to new research.

Two independent studies measuring ocean wind turbine construction noise found that the sound emitted by vessels mapping the seafloor was significantly louder than estimated, and that noise protection for whales and other sea creatures during wind turbine pile driving doesn’t work.

Intense noise causes hearing loss in whales, other marine mammals, turtles, and fish, compromising their ability to navigate, avoid danger, detect predators, and find prey, according to scientific studies.

Robert Rand, an acoustics consultant with 44 years of experience, took underwater readings of the sonar survey vessel Miss Emma McCall off the coast of New Jersey. He also recorded acoustic readings of pile driving for Vineyards Wind 1, an offshore wind farm project under construction 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.

In his pile-driving report, published March 28, Mr. Rand found that even the most advanced sound-dampening technologies didn’t adequately control harmful noise. The pounding was just as loud as seismic air gun arrays used for oil and gas exploration, long known to cause injury, hearing loss, and behavioral changes in fish and marine mammals.

Furthermore, the noise made by the construction vessel itself, which is not monitored, was almost as loud as the pile driving. Mr. Rand found that the standard formula used by the National Marine Fisheries Service to calculate how noise, over a period of time, affects a mammal’s hearing, significantly underestimates the sound levels experienced by dolphins and whales.

“These are real data,” Mr. Rand, who testified at a Congressional field hearing on January 20, told The Epoch Times. “I measured it. This is not a computer model. This is not a political press release. These are data.”

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New York Suffers Record Rise in Potentially Deadly Disease Caused by Rat Urine

New York City has seen a record jump in the number of human leptospirosis, a disease caused by rat urine that can cause kidney damage, liver failure, and even death.

The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued an advisory on April 12, warning that the number of human leptospirosis cases continues to trend upward.

The agency said that 24 cases were reported in New York City in 2023, the highest number in a single year on record.

In fact, 6 cases have been reported so far in 2024, twice as high as the average annual number of cases between 2001 and 2020.

While human leptospirosis infections can be caused by contaminated soil and water during natural disasters like floods and hurricanes, in New York they’re mostly caused by rat urine.

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by several species of bacteria. In New York, it’s mostly associated with the Norway rat.

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Prominent LGBT activist faces humiliating reality check over suggestion that various animals are ‘biologically trans’

Aprominent LGBT activist took to X Sunday with the bold claim that there are at least 18 species of “biologically trans” animals. Australian leftist Peter Tatchell may have grown accustomed to passing off many of his radical views in the current political climate, but this particular suggestion died on arrival.

Tatchell has been roundly ridiculed over his post, which was also slapped with multiple community notes.

A history of bad takes

Tatchell has long courted controversy with his extreme views on sexuality. In the late 1990s, he argued that the United Kingdom should reduce the age of consent to 14.

The Critic reported that Tatchell wrote a letter to the Guardian in 1997, noting, “Ros Coward thinks that it is ‘shocking’ that Gay Men’s Press has published a book, ‘Dare to Speak,’ which challenges the assumption that all sex involving children and adults is abusive. I think it is courageous.”

Tatchell went on to reference “societies where consenting inter-generational sex is considered normal, beneficial and enjoyable by old and young alike.”

Later in the letter, Tatchell reportedly noted, “Several of my friends gay and straight male and female had sex with adults from the ages of 9 to 14. None feel they were abused.”

The activist apparently concluded the letter writing, “Whilst it may be impossible to condone paedophilia, it is time society acknowledged the truth that not all sex involving children is unwanted, abusive and harmful.”

In recent years, Tatchell has called for schools to teach kids “the whole truth about every kind of sex and relationship – including sexual practices that some people find distasteful, such as anal intercourse and sadomasochism” and to deny parents the ability to opt their kids out of such lessons.

Tatchell has also made clear he is not a single-issue leftist, having championed abortion; derided conservative lawmakers; embraced the Russian Collusion hoax; recommended a pause on eating meat; pushed climate alarmism; accused the monarchy of racism; and celebrated porn consumption.

There was an attempt in 2021 to rehabilitate Tatchell’s image in the form of Christopher Amos’ film, “Hating Peter Tatchell,” which stars Ian McKellan and counts Elton John as one of its executive producers. He may soon need a new Netflix special.

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Fukushima Area Overrun by Radioactive Wild Boars

Japanese farmers living near the Fukushima nuclear power plant are struggling to overcome an unexpected outcome from the disaster: a surge in radioactive wild boars!

In the last five years, the population of contaminated creatures has been inadvertently left to flourish in the area near the power plant that the Japanese government deemed to be an ‘exclusion zone.’

As such, experts say that their numbers have grown from a mere 3,000 to a whopping 13,000 wild boars.

And, as their numbers swell, the boars have begun expanding beyond the exclusion zone and into nearby farms, leading to devastation as the insatiable animals feast on the food found there.

The cruel irony of the problem is that the boars would normally be a fantastic food source, but the radioactivity of the area has rendered them completely inedible and, thus, an enormous nuisance.

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Dam removal in CA to save salmon causes mass fish die-off as eco-activists pursue similar projects

Environmental groups are celebrating extensive efforts to remove dams across the United States, some of which produce carbon-free electricity. According to American Rivers, an anti-dam advocacy group, 65 dams were removed in 2022, and another 80 were removed in 2023.

Groups like American Rivers argue the dams are killing salmon and steelhead trout populations, encroaching on indigenous cultures, and harming water quality for people and wildlife.

Eyes wide open

The largest dam removal project in the history of the U.S. began on Northern California’s Klamath River last summer, with the removal of Copco No. 2, the first of four hydroelectric dams to be removed, also called “breaching” or “drawdowns.”

In January, the state began draining reservoirs behind the three remaining dams. The draining is not going well, especially for the fish the projects are supposed to be protecting.

Large amounts of salmon have been stranded on mud that is also trapping deer, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports. Officials are warning people not to try to walk through it, as it can be very dangerous. According to California Globe, a two mile sediment plume extends into the Pacific Ocean.

“We’ve been told we’re the experiment,” Siskiyou County Supervisor Ray Haupt told Just The News. “Eyes wide open. It’s coming to a neighborhood near you.”

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Mutant wolves exposed to Chernobyl disaster have evolved a new superpower, scientists discover

Mutant wolves roaming the wasteland of Chernobyl have developed a new superpower that could have life-saving implications for humans. 

A team of researchers found the animals in the Chernobyl Evacuation Zone (CEZ) have genetically altered immune systems that show a resilience to cancer.

These findings gave researchers hope that the results can be used to find cures for human cancer patients.

Since the powerplant explosion in 1986, humans were evacuated from Chernobyl and the surrounding areas to avoid the extreme levels of radiation. 

The absence of humans allowed wildlife to flourish and thrive in the CEZ, which contains 11.28 millirem of radiation – six times the allowed exposure amount for human workers.

Grizzly bears and bison stroll among the trees, lynx and fox slink through the long grass. 

Beavers, boar, elk, deer, raccoons and more than 200 species of bird call the area home. 

In 2014, Cara Love, an evolutionary biologist at Princeton University, set out with a team of researchers to understand how animals have been able to survive the cancer-causing radiation.

Love and her team took blood samples from the wolves and placed GPS collars with radiation dosimeters on them to get real-time measurements of where they were and their radiation exposure levels.

‘We get real-time measurements of where they are and how much [radiation] they are exposed to,’ said Love.

The researchers examined the genetic differences between the DNA of mutated wolves in the 1,000-square-mile radius of the CEZ and those outside it.

The results showed that, despite receiving potentially deadly daily radiation doses, the wolves appeared remarkably resilient against its effects. 

Analysis showed that a number of their genes which are linked to cancer had new  mutations to them, suggesting they had evolved to protect against the radiation.

It is hoped that the discovery could pave the way for experts to identify mutations in humans that reduce the risk of cancer.

The new research was presented last month at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology’s Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington. 

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