https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A rescue effort can take many forms—a life raft, a firehose, an airlift. For animals whose populations are in decline from inbreeding, genetics itself can be a lifesaver. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-genetic-rare-red-foxes-uncovers.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:12:07 EDT news646571521 For many, urban red foxes are a familiar sight in back gardens or city streets. Often, people delight in seeing them and the connection to wildlife they bring. Others find them a nuisance, whether because of their smell, poo or loud screaming noises during the breeding season. Some anecdotal reports indicate that foxes could be becoming bolder within cities—even riding on buses, stealing shoes or taking naps on someone's garden shed. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-urban-foxes-bolder-people-persecute.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 26 Sep 2024 11:17:13 EDT news646568226 In a rare opportunity to study carnivores before and after wolves were reintroduced to their ranges, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison found that the effects of wolves on Isle Royale have been only temporary. And even in the least-visited national park, humans had a more significant impact on carnivores' lives. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-wolves-reintroduced-isle-royale-temporarily.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 26 Jun 2024 13:06:56 EDT news638626011 When hunting for mice in winter, red and Arctic fox are known to plunge headfirst at speeds of 2–4 meters per second, but their sharp noses reduce the impact force in snow and protect them from injury, according to a new Cornell University study. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-snouts-foxes-headfirst.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 29 Apr 2024 16:03:03 EDT news633625381 High sensitivity radio observations have discovered a cloud of magnetized plasma in the Hydra galaxy cluster. The odd location and shape of this plasma defy all conventional explanations. Dubbed the Flying Fox based on its silhouette, this plasma will remain a mystery until additional observations can provide more insight. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-inexplicable-cloud-magnetized-plasma-hydra.html Astronomy Mon, 08 Apr 2024 12:31:28 EDT news631798286 Flying foxes, or fruit bats, are familiar to many Australians. So it may come as a surprise to learn two of the four mainland species, both gray-headed and spectacled flying foxes, are threatened with extinction. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-gray-flying-fox-population-stable.html Plants & Animals Ecology Sun, 24 Mar 2024 13:00:01 EDT news630327375 A new study reveals how Livestock Guardian Dogs change predator behavior in ways that both protect livestock and support conservation efforts. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-livestock-guardian-dogs-landscape-predators.html Plants & Animals Ecology Fri, 01 Mar 2024 07:00:01 EST news628498735 Foxes and cats kill about 2.6 billion mammals, birds and reptiles across Australia, every year. To save native species from extinction, we need to protect them from these introduced predators. But land managers tend to focus on foxes, which are easier to control. Unfortunately this may have unintended consequences. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-baiting-foxes-feral-cats-brazen.html Ecology Fri, 01 Mar 2024 06:58:47 EST news628498714 Australia is home to some of the most spectacular and enigmatic wildlife on Earth. Much of it, however, is being eaten by two incredibly damaging invasive predators: the feral cat and the red fox. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-native-animals-easy-prey-artificial.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 26 Feb 2024 10:58:44 EST news628167520 With thousands of strategically placed cameras covering more than 27,000 square miles in central and western New York, biologists have obtained evidence that bobcat populations remain critically low in central and western New York state. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-trail-cameras-track-critically-york.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 13 Feb 2024 17:08:06 EST news627066481 A team of biologists, life scientists and animal researchers affiliated with several institutions across Europe and one in the U.S., has conducted a meta-analysis of dog tail wagging to find out if the combined efforts of multiple research efforts might explain the behavior. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the group describes several theories that have been developed and which they see as the most likely possibilities. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-meta-analysis-dogs-wag-tails.html Evolution Veterinary medicine Wed, 17 Jan 2024 11:02:53 EST news624711770 It might seem astounding that a wild animal could survive a limb amputation and still thrive in the wild but videos from social media and research show this may be more common than people realize. Many wild animals not only survive the health risks of amputation, but go on to learn how to adapt to their new bodies, whether by themselves or with the help of others in their family. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-wild-animals-survive-limb-loss.html Ecology Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:20:01 EDT news617542836 Police are trying to find out who has been setting illegal animal traps, which recently caught and injured foxes in the Boston-area. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-foxes-massachusetts-caught-illegal-animal.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 05 Oct 2023 13:20:01 EDT news615729476 Ever since their colonization of British cities sometime during the last century, urban red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) have become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon. Some people love them for their striking marmalade coats but others, including former prime minister Boris Johnson, think of them as a menace. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-urban-foxes-bin-raiding-reputation.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 04 Sep 2023 13:15:18 EDT news613052115 National news coverage from the two largest broadcast outlets, CNN and Fox News, not only reflects growing political polarization in America, but in a recent publication, researchers at Virginia Tech have shown that partisan and inflammatory broadcast coverage has increased over time and can exacerbate growing divides in the new public square of social media. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-networks-realities-big-problem.html Political science Mon, 28 Aug 2023 17:31:04 EDT news612462661 Introduced foxes, dogs, cats, rats, and other predators kill millions of native animals every year, but what if they were conditioned to associate this prey with food that made them ill? https://phys.org/news/2023-08-nauseous-territory-outfoxing-predators-baits.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 17 Aug 2023 14:19:03 EDT news611500741 Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the latest scion of the Kennedy clan to seek the presidency, has a set of unusual fans: some of the most influential tech executives and investors in America. Kennedy's strong anti-vaccine views are, for this group, a sideshow. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-tech-luminaries-rfk-jr-anti-vaccine.html Political science Mon, 19 Jun 2023 14:36:04 EDT news606404161 Genomic research led by the University of California at Berkeley has looked to uncover the origins and history of desert adaptation in foxes. In a paper, "North African fox genomes show signatures of repeated introgression and adaptation to life in deserts," published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, the researchers reveal what the fox genes say about their evolutionary path. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-genetic-variation-hybridization-contribute-foxes.html Evolution Ecology Wed, 14 Jun 2023 10:11:10 EDT news605956267 Conservation efforts for the rare Sierra Nevada red fox can be strengthened through new computer modeling based on a 12-year data gathering partnership led by scientists at Oregon State University's Institute for Natural Resources, says a researcher who helped direct the project. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-foundation-rare-fox-cascades-sierra.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 29 May 2023 10:12:51 EDT news604573968 A startling number of Americans are in "partisan echo chambers," where they only consume TV news that reinforces their existing political and social biases, according to new research co-authored at UC Berkeley. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-fox-msnbc-partisan-echo-chamber.html Political science Mon, 24 Apr 2023 13:03:23 EDT news601560196 Observations and mathematical models generally show climate change spreading animal diseases north, since host species tend to expand their territory to wherever the climate allows them to live. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-climate-diseases-south-north.html Ecology Veterinary medicine Wed, 05 Apr 2023 09:59:18 EDT news599907554 Bald eagles are often touted as a massive conservation success story due to their rebound from near extinction in the 1960s. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-bald-eagles-fledging-chicks-due.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 02 Mar 2023 11:26:01 EST news596978757 The sleek and tenacious Sierra Nevada red fox—once thought to have disappeared from the mountain range that bears its name—has been detected near the eastern boundary of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-threatened-red-fox-south-yosemite.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 26 Jan 2023 16:23:03 EST news593972581 A camera-trap study of two ecosystems—one with pumas and one without—adds to scientists' understanding of the many ways apex predators influence the abundance, diversity and habits of other animals, including smaller carnivores. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-camera-trap-evidence-pumas-ecological-impact.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 24 Jan 2023 12:46:13 EST news593786769 Researchers at Hokkaido University have revealed the effects of high pathogenicity avian influenza virus infection on an Ezo red fox and a Japanese raccoon dog, linking their infection to a recorded die-off of crows. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-effects-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 05 Jan 2023 07:52:49 EST news592127566 The next time you crack your backdoor to let your cat outside for its daily adventure, you may want to think again. For a cat, the outdoors is filled with undesirable potential. Like the risks of catching and transmitting diseases, and the uncontrollable drive to hunt and kill wildlife, which has been shown to reduce native animal populations and degrade biodiversity. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-cats-sake-health-environment.html Ecology Veterinary medicine Mon, 21 Nov 2022 14:20:58 EST news588262853 A black bear cub in southeast Alaska was euthanized after it became ill with avian influenza, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-bird-flu-southeast-alaska-black.html Veterinary medicine Sat, 19 Nov 2022 05:55:08 EST news588059701 Researchers used artificial nests to test two methods for reducing the nest predation of vulnerable and endangered ground-nesting birds. The study showed that red foxes can be more easily deceived into not eating bird eggs than raccoon dogs. The methods could be used alongside hunting and offer an alternative, non-lethal solution for creating protection for vulnerable prey. https://phys.org/news/2022-10-endangered-birds-predators-chemical-camouflage.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Oct 2022 11:49:49 EDT news585485382 A porpoise found stranded on a Swedish beach in June died of bird flu, the first time the virus has been detected in a porpoise, Sweden's National Veterinary Institute said Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-world-case-bird-flu-porpoise.html Ecology Veterinary medicine Wed, 31 Aug 2022 05:37:48 EDT news581143060 Australia's wildlife is increasingly threatened with extinction. One key driver of this is habitat clearing and fragmentation. An associated factor is the expansion of our road network, particularly the upgrade and duplication of our highways. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-good-news-highway-underpasses-wildlife.html Ecology Mon, 01 Aug 2022 09:11:01 EDT news578563855