El Gobierno prohibirá «expresamente» experimentar con grandes simios
El Gobierno prohibirá "expresamente" la experimentación con fines científicos de grandes simios, según consta en el anteproyecto de Ley de modificación de la Ley 32/2007 para el cuidado de los animales en aspectos como la explotación, transporte, experimentación y sacrificio estudiado este viernes por el Consejo de Ministros. Así, la vicepresidenta primera del Gobierno, Soraya Saénz de Santamaría, ha explicado que esta nueva legislación promoverá medidas para garantizar el bienestar de animales y equilibrar la actividad investigadora y el bienestar animal, así como la calidad de la investigación con otros métodos alternativos. En este sentido, ha indicado que la nueva normativa se basará en la promoción y desarrollo de principios de reemplazo "siempre que sea posible" y minimizará el uso de animales en experimentación y que los procedimientos causen el menor sufrimiento. El nuevo texto, según Saénz de Santamaría, también fomentará métodos alternativos "con la debida justificación"; promoverá nuevas condiciones de alojamiento, con requisitos mínimos y normas estrictas, y ampliará el numero de animales para que no se experimente con ellos, con mención especial a los grandes simios, cuya experimentación quedará prohibida "expresamente". Además del anteproyecto, Saénz de Santamaría ha indicado que "en las próximas semanas" se aprobará un reglamento que modificará la legislación de 2007 sobre explotación, transporte, experimentación y sacrificio de animales "como consecuencia de la necesidad de transponer directivas comunitarias en esta materia". La vicepresidenta del Ejecutivo ha recordado que, en 2010, el Consejo del Parlamento Europeo, aprobó una directiva sobre protección de los animales usados para fines científicos, lo que supuso "un paso importante" porque "asegura la máxima protección de los animales en todos estos ámbitos y también en experimentación".
- Los seres vivos no deberían de ser privados de su libertad y en todo caso deberíamos pensar que la mayoría de seres vivos sufren con este tipo de experimentos.
- Hay muchas alternativas en la que se puede probar ciertos productos sin la necesidad de la tortura a los animales , porque los animales y los seres humanos tienen diferentes organismos y reaccionan diferente. Dicha experimentación es maltrato animal, cosa que es delito en la mayor parte de los países.
- Los derechos de los animales son imprescindibles. Pero igual de imprescindibles que son los animales de laboratorio para la ciencia, y para la vida de los seres humanos. Una cosa no tiene porqué contradecirse con la otra.
Scientists attack governmentclimbdown on marine protection
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/22/marine-scientists-government-marine-protection
The UK's top marine scientists have denounced government ministers for reneging on plans to protect marine life by banning the most destructivefishing and dredging in the seas around the British Isles.
Sealife, including fish, lobsters, oysters and seahorses, has been in rapid decline for years. A two-year, £8m consultation involving thousands of people and the government's own scientific advisers concluded that 127 marine protection zones (MPZs) were needed to halt the decline. But the environment minister, Richard Benyon rejected this advice,proposing instead to establish just 31 MPZs, none of which would be completely protected.
The issue is one of a series in which environment ministers have been attacked for rejecting scientific advice, including its proposed badger cull, described as "mindless" by the architect of a landmark £20m culling study, and its refusal to suspend the use of pesticides linked to serious harm in bees against the advice of the European Food Safety Authority.
Now 86 environmental academics have written to Benyon, David Cameron and the environment secretary, Owen Paterson urging them to beef up their plans for protection.
"We have seen spectacular devastation in the Irish sea in the last 20 years, for example, due to scallop dredging and prawn trawling. As fish stocks get ever more squeezed, the use of ever more destructive gear is spreading. This is happening now and protection is long overdue," said Professor Callum Roberts, at the University of York and one of the experts. "Even if all 31 MPZs were established, it will fall far short of what is needed to recover and safeguard English seas. The process has been seriously mishandled, potentially condemning the marine environment to many more years of overexploitation and degradation."
Roberts said: "There is a strong suspicion among my colleagues that the government has yielded to political pressure from the fishing industry, in effect handing them control over a process that was meant to be democratic and inclusive."
The letter was signed by five of the eight scientists on a panel set up by ministers that backed the 127 MPZs. But Benyon hit back directly, saying those scientists "actually sat on the panel that told us there was not enough evidence to designate all 127 sites. This is not a numbers game and it is not about just drawing lines on a map - it would have been easy for me to do that and we would have ended up sitting in an EU court room defending the fact we created MPZs without the science to back them up."
Previously, Benyon defended his decision by citing the economic importance of fisheries, sand and gravel dredging, and marine renewable energy, and saying: "It is proportionate and is not going to put anyone out of business."
But Roberts rejected Benyon's "spin", telling the Guardian that the scientific panel never said there was insufficient evidence. "Using the best available evidence is an essential element of the precautionary principle, whereby we should act now to prevent further harm and to begin the process of recovery rather than wait for better data, by which time it may be too late."
Jean-Luc Solandt, from the Marine Conservation Society, said: "In its cut-down form, there will be no real network and the opportunity to give English marine life the protection it desperately needs will be missed. In a time of economic gloom, we actually have an opportunity to bring back the wealth that productive, well cared-for seas have to offer." But ministers were being timid and failing to show any green credentials, he said.
Sea creatures at risk without new protection include native oysters, black bream, spiny lobsters, lagoon sand shrimps and short snouted seahorses, according to Solandt. The Wildlife Trusts are also "bitterly disappointed by the lack of ambition" from ministers. It warned that iconic sites such as Flamborough and Studland and a unique chalk reef at Cromer were missing from the government's list.
The letter from scientists, made public on Monday, said: "In 2010, your government committed to creating 'an ecologically coherent network' of areas [to] protect and recover the richness and productivity of our waters." It calls on ministers to re-commit to establishing all 127 MPZs.
Benyon said: "Rather than jumping on the bandwagon and lobbying government, I would ask these scientists to focus their attention on gathering more evidence so we can designate more sites in the future."
But Tom Harris, Labour's shadow environment minister said: "There is mounting frustration over the agonisingly slow pace of reform under this government. The minister has contradicted his own scientific advice by using the need for more evidence within a minority of sites to justify a drastic cut in the overall number of MPZs."
Paul Trebilcock, chairman of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, said: "We are very concerned that some nature conservation groups are lobbying for full implementation of all 127 sites, regardless of scientific evidence or the socio-economic impact. We are absolutely adamant that naive enthusiasm should not railroad the government into premature and hasty decisions."
- It is abundantly clear that this Countryside Alliance government regards living creatures as a resource to be exploited and abused for their own ends or entertainment.
- The article suggests that this "climbdown" applies to the British Isles, but in fact Scotland's Marine Protected Area process is still at the pre-consultation stage. The Scottish Government can avoid some of these problems.
- This government is wasting the one chance we have had to protect and improve the quality of our seas.
Freezing weather brings fresh perils for British wildlife
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/30/wildlife-suffering-freezing-weather
Britain's continued freezing weather is threatening ever greater numbers of wild animals, birds and insects across the country, experts have warned. The current cold spell – one of the longest on record – is particularly affecting creatures that are already struggling to survive the loss of their habitats and changes in climate.
Examples include the hedgehog, which has already suffered a devastating loss of numbers over the past three decades and is now badly affected by the cold weather. In addition, threatened reptiles such as the grass snake and slowworm require sunny, warm conditions when they emerge from hibernation. Such a prospect is still remote, say meteorologists.
Even birds such as the barn owl and tawny owl are facing problems. "Owls like the tawny and barn rely on hearing their prey – mainly voles, shrews and mice – as they scuttle across the ground. But in snow or hardened ground that is very difficult," said Ben Andrew of the RSPB. "As a result, owls need to hunt during the daytime, leaving them open to attacks by other birds or collisions with motor vehicles."
Wild animals can deal with harsh weather, experts acknowledge, but the length of the current cold spell is unprecedented, with forecasters warning that temperatures are unlikely to return to their average level until the end of April. By that time, a great deal of harm could have been done to the nation's wildlife. Frogs have spawned only for their ponds to have frozen over, while many plants and insects are emerging late, which has a knock-on effect on species that feed on them.
Storms are also having an unwelcome impact. "Seabirds along the east coast of the UK – in particular, puffins – are struggling to catch fish in the current conditions," said Andrew. "They become malnourished and weak and eventually die and are being washed up on shores in their hundreds. Guillemots, razorbills, cormorants and gulls are also affected. In addition, small birds such as goldcrests, long-tailed tits and wrens, which mainly feed on small insects, are finding the current cold weather particularly tricky."
For hedgehogs, the prolonged cold weather has had a particularly severe impact. "Many animals that went into hibernation in November or December last year are still sleeping," said Fay Vass, chief executive of the Hedgehog Preservation Society. "The weather is not yet warm enough to wake them. Usually they would be up and about by now."
The problem was that the longer a hedgehog remained asleep, the weaker it got and the less energy an animal had to restore itself to wakefulness, added Vass. "It depends just how healthy and well-fed an animal was when it went into hibernation. But in general, the longer the cold weather lasts, the greater the number of animals that will not wake up at all."
The problems facing those hedgehogs that had already woken up from hibernation were no better, said Vass. "They are having a hard time finding any food and we are getting increasing numbers of reports of animals appearing in gardens in daytime desperate for something to eat."
In the 1980s, there were estimated to be around 30m hedgehogs in the UK. Today, there are fewer than a million, thanks to major erosion of the animals' habitats. The impact of this year's long winter and the prospect of continued grim conditions only worsens prospects for this once ubiquitous mammal.
For the nation's butterflies the situation is less perilous, at least for now. However, continued icy weather could have serious implications. "April is wake-up time for butterflies," said Richard Fox, surveys manager at Butterfly Conservation. "If they do that when it is still freezing, that could have very serious consequences for their ability to get food. Many could starve if these conditions persist."
Species that will be the worst affected include the high brown fritillary (Fabriciana adippe). This is Britain's most threatened butterfly, found in only a few scattered locations in the south and west of England. "Persistent cold weather is only going to makes things even harder for the high brown," added Fox.
Other species of butterfly that are seriously threatened in the UK and are vulnerable to continued cold weather include the Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina) and the pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne).
Experts stress that the public can help. The RSPB has urged householders to keep bird feeders regularly topped up with high-energy, high-fat food and to keep water dishes filled. Similarly, the Hedgehog Preservation Society recommends leaving plentiful water supplies and also food, either meaty cat or dog meals or specialist hedgehog food.
- Habitat loss has been going on for generations, Hedgehogs have been killed everyday. Climate change is the latest threat. None of this stops you going and making small changes in your garden and hanging out some food, if everyone did this collectively then the impact is massive since there are a massive number of small gardens.
- Animal species numbers go up and down all the time and a spell of bad weather wouldn't normally mean a crisis for many, however our wildlife is under attack from more than just bad weather. The population of this cities is growing up and this is the principal factor of the death of this types of animals.
Revista "MUY INTERESANTE" Número 173- Octubre 1995
- El grillo es un insecto territorial muy agresivo contra sus congéneres con los cuales entabla combates, siendo frecuente encontrar ejemplares (sobre todo machos) a los que les falta una o varias patas o con las alas destrozadas por las mandíbulas de un rival. Esta costumbre territorial los ha hecho famosos en Tailandia donde los habitantes locales suelen realizar combates de grillos en pequeños recipientes e incluso realizan apuestas.
- La longitud de onda del canto de un grillo es similar a la distancia que hay entre los dos oídos humanos, razón por la cual resulta difícil establecer la localización de un grillo por su sonido.
Revista "MUY INTERESANTE" Número 178- Marzo 1996
- Se encuentra desde las costas del Canadá hasta Nueva York y Bermuda, y desde el norte del Golfo de México hasta el sur del Brasil. Pueden llegar alcanzar los 18 cm de longitud total.
- A diferencia de otros animales como el Oso polar o el Leopardo que basan su camuflaje en un pelaje de similitud cromática al medio en el que se mueven, el Lenguado adapta el color y patrón de su piel según lo requiera la ocasión, alterando los pigmentos de su costado superior para volverse a la práctica invisible. Lo mas curioso es que no se conforma con adquirir un color similar al del lecho marino, si no que además es capaz de imaginar la vista que quedaría del lugar sin él, haciendo una fotocopia del espacio que queda bajo su cuerpo.
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