TIger conservation can be bad for your health

Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 month 3 days (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

There's good news and bad news. The good news is that villagers in Nepal restored damaged tiger habitats as part of an international buffer zone initiative and that the big cats are recovering. The bad news is that they are eating the Nepalese villagers.

University of Minnesota experts recommend educating the villagers about tiger behavior (read: "Stop gathering firewood right where the tigers live.") and fitting "problem animals" with radio collars.

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U.S.-Mexico border fence may trap jaguars as well as immigrants

Darkfrog submitted, created time 11 months 3 weeks (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

This is fascinating. I never knew that any jaguars at all lived in the United States, let alone as far northeast as North Carolina!

Now this isn't a message of doom for all jaguars everywhere, just the eleven males who've been spotted in the Southwest over the past few years. Now, while the government's decision to not implement a recovery plan technically violates the Endangered Species Act, I find that I can see their point. For so few animals, any efforts toward the conservation of jaguars would be better spent elsewhere.

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Green roofs offer energy savings, storm-water control

zibba submitted, created time 1 year 2 months (www.eurekalert.org)

An article in the November 2007 issue of BioScience describes green roofs -- roofs with a vegetated surface and substrate. Although more expensive to construct than a typical roof, a green roof can reduce energy costs during a building's lifetime and control storm-water runoff. Green roofs also provide havens for wildlife. Further research into their ecology and improved cost-benefit models could spur more widespread adoption of the technology.

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: wildlife conservation economics botany architecture green technology conservation energy energy conservation