Rwanda to name baby gorilla's for World Environment Day

The development board of Rwanda will name 11 rare baby gorillas as part of a traditional World Environmental Day.

The ceremony, called kwita izina, will take place on 5 June at the foot of the volcanoes deVirunga mountains in Rwanda's Northern Province.

The event will hopefully raise awareness for the conservation protecting endangered mountain gorillas.

Anette Tamara Mbabazi, Rwanda Development Board's media and events officer, said that the international year of the biodiversity would focus on raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity and its protection from underlying threats as well as the significance of establishing interconnections between biodiversity, conservation and climate change.

Climate change could cause lizards to die out

According to a scientific study, climate change could cause 20% of the worlds lizard species to die out by 2080.

Data was collected from 200 sites in Mexico by international researchers. After comparing with other data from around the world it was proven that Earth's temperature was rising faster than the lizard could adapt. As reptiles and amphibians are cold blooded, temperature is a big issue and is detected fast. It plays an major part in their daily activities and also how long they can search for food.

These results are very different from previous estimates and provides a warning for humans as scientists often consider reptiles to be the indicators of the overall health of our ecosystem.

Barry Sinervo, a researcher from the Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California described how lowland species had moved to higher areas for cooler temperatures. This has also caused existing high land species to go extinct.

The study, which measured carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, concluded that in 2050 6 percent of the worlds lizards will be extinct and it's to late to do anything about that, however, if changes were made now it could save the remaining species.

Sinervo said "if the governments of the world can implement a concerted change to limit our carbon dioxide emissions, then we could bend the curve and hold levels of extinction to the 2050 scenarios, but it has to be a global push."

Open season threatens bluefin tuna

Fishing continues to wreak havoc on the bluefin tuna population.

The WWF has asked all fishing countries to keep their fishery's closed until a scientific plan can be put in place to stop destructive industrial fishing.

Over 150 members of CITES met in Doha, Qatar in March where proposals were rejected to list bluefin tuna in the Appendix I of the convention despite meeting the requirements amply. It was mostly rejected on political grounds and overwhelming lobbying from Japan.

Some major members such as the EU did agree to put in radical measures to protect the species by the next meeting in Paris at the end of this year.

Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean, said "Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks cannot resist for much longer - by all accounts the species is endangered, with current populations dwindling at less than 15 percent of what they once were."

International scientists have said that even an annual catch of 8,000 tonnes would only give at best a 50 percent chance of recovery of Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Such a quota would mean the closure of all Mediterranean fisheries and for them to adapt more traditional methods of fishing such as the tuna traps used around the Straits of Gibraltar that have supported many fishing families for over 3,000 years.

"WWF calls in particular on the EU and Japan - the main catchers and consumers of this endangered species - to lead in honouring their Doha commitments to respect science in fisheries management" said Dr Tudela.

High-tech purse seine fishing vessels with vast sack-like nets which encircle the tuna, are causing the most decline. The WWF has welcomed the decision of Italy to impose a moratorium on its large seine fishing fleet this year and scrap most of the vessels. The WWF also urges other Mediterranean countries to keep their fleets in port.

Butterflies face extinction

A new study has suggested a third of European butterflies are in decline with one in ten threatened with extinction.

Britain could face losing two species of butterfly, the Duke of Burgundy (pictured above) and the Lulworth Skipper, if urgent action isn't taken. Both butterflies have declined in recent years and are now at threat of extinction according to the European Red List assessment of species at risk.

The Lulworth Skipper (pictured right) can now only be found along the south coast of Dorset having declined by 87% since 1980. The Duke of Burgundy have dropped from 200 to just 80 colonies in the last 20 years.

The Large Blue is also showing cause for concern. It is endangered throughout the continent and disappeared from the British countryside in 1979. It has since been successfully reintroduced into Somerset and Dorset.

The chief executive of UK charity Butterfly Conservation, Dr Martin Warren, blamed the decline on habitat loss due to intensive farming practices.

He said "we need to see much greater efforts for farmers to adopt environmentally sensitive agriculture."

A study conducted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has highlighted concerns for 22 species of butterfly, 29 species of beetle and 5 types of dragonfly.

Hotels for bees!

Brussels is planning on spending £1 million to build non-pesticide 'hotels' for French bees in an attempt to curb their decline in population.

Scientists believe the project, which has begun in Lyons, will e very helpful for the European bee population and could also save vegetables, fruit, flowers and billions of Euros.

The five-year programme will cost around £2 million and will include building 48 4m by 2m 'hotels' made from earth, brick and plant stalks.

Frederic Vyghen, of Arthropology, an environmental association running the project, said that the bee population has declined mainly due to the large amount of pesticides used in farming areas. In theory bees would be safer living in urban communities such as towns.

France generated sales of £100 million last year thanks to it's 1.3 million hives. My Vyghen says "if they died out, we'd have no vegetables, fruit - nothing."

Poachers could be to blame for rare Javan rhino death

An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of death of one of the world's rarest large mammals after it was found in a Vietnamese national park.

A scientific examination carried out by WWF indicates poachers were at fault as the rhino had been shot and a horn had been removed. Rhino horns are incredibly valuable in the illegal wildlife trade and are allegedly used in medicine.

Under Vietnam law it is illegal to trade, use or consume parts of an endangered animal and if caught offenders could face imprisonment or large fines.

The body was first discovered by local people in Cat Tien National Park on April 29. A patrol team was dispatched to the scene where the body was confirmed to be that of a Javan rhino.

Vietnamese Javan rhinos are one of two populations of the species left on Earth with an estimated fewer than 60 Javan rhino left. The other population can be found in Ujung kuloN National park in Indonesia with an estimated 40-60 left. There are no Javan rhinos in captivity.

National Policy Coordinator off WWF Vietnam Dung Huynh Tien said "the loss of this rhino is symbolic of the grim situation facing endangered species like the rhino and tiger across Vietnam."

He continues "WWF urges the Vietnamese Government to launch an urgent and extensive criminal investigation into this animal's death."

Rhino poaching met a 15 year high last year with Asia's rising demand for rhino horns and an increase in poachers.

Campaign for 'Animal Relief'

A campaign has been launched to urge the BBC to hold an 'Animal Relief' event just like Comic or Sports Relief.

Barbara Nock, a trustee at Willows Animal Sanctuary in Scotland, told me why she decided to launch the campaign and why it is so important to all of us.

"With 10 million UK pet owners, a vast percentage keeping them as companions thus making them family members, as licence payers it would be fair to redress this imbalance by adding a third event in support of our non-human relatives, be it animal sanctuaries or others caring for animals, unwanted or abused pets, ex-race dogs, ex-race horses, unwanted farm animals, injured wildlife and more. We need our country to show we care by supporting this."

Barbara funds the care of around 300 unwanted animals and other charities and believes a country wide campaign was needed to help support the continual assistance given to these vulnerable animals.

The BBC has so far replied that they have to remain biased and cannot distribute funds but Barbara and her supporters are not giving up.

In addition to a successful ongoing campaign on social networking giant Facebook, Nock has also written many letters to companies in support of animal welfare including The Body Shop, Viva and PDSA to raise awareness of the campaign.

If you would like more information contact campaignbbcforanimalrelief@googlemail.com or joing the campaign on facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=108673725833441&v