TOP STORIES 
Killer Mice Bring Albatross Population Closer To Extinction
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com (Source: BirdLife International)
28 Dec 2008
Photo credit: Copyright Ross Wanless/Image courtesy of BirdLife International
Area: Gough Island, United Kingdom
The Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena, has suffered its worst breeding season ever, according to research by the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK). The number of chicks making it through to fledging has decreased rapidly and it is now five times lower than it should be because introduced predatory mice are eating the chicks alive on Gough island - the bird’s only home and a South Atlantic territory of the United Kingdom. The mice are also affecting Gough Island’s other Critically Endangered endemic species, Gough Bunting Rowettia goughensis. A recent survey of the bunting’s population revealed that the population has halved within the last two decades. Now there are only an estimated 400-500 pairs left.
2 eagles die in Oregon, victims of gunshots
KGW News 8 - www.kgw.com (Source: Associated Press)
31 Dec 2008
Area: Pendleton, Oregon, USA - Map It
The first eagle was found in the snow, its wings spread far and wide, feathers scattered about its body. Jennifer Merritt and her boyfriend T.O. Farwell saw the bird, just off the side of the road, while they were driving from Heppner to Pendleton last week. "He was shot pretty bad," Merritt said. Farwell scooped up the broken raptor into the car and took it to Lynn Tompkins at the Blue Mountain Wildlife rehabilitation center in Pendleton. Somebody, Tompkins figures, shot the bird with a high-powered rifle, most likely while it was perching.
Dead Dolphin Washes Up On Beach
KIII News 3 - www.kiiitv.com
30 Dec 2008
Area: Padre Island, Texas, USA - Map It
Marine biologist are trying to figure out what killed a dolphin discovered on padre island this afternoon. We must warn you, some of the video you are about to see is graphic. The dolphin washed ashore just south of bob hall pier near Beach Marker 244. A crew with the the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network spent time taking samples and pictures of the dead animal. They say it's death could have been caused by anything from old age, to disease.
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Clockwork That Drives Powerful Virus Nanomotor DiscoveredScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com (Source: National Science Foundation)
31 Dec 2008
Photo credit: T4:2 - Motor Packing, Copyright 2008 Seyet LLC
Peering at structures only atoms across, researchers have identified the clockwork that drives a powerful virus nanomotor. Because of the motor's strength--to scale, twice that of an automobile--the new findings could inspire engineers designing sophisticated nanomachines. In addition, because a number of virus types may possess a similar motor, including the virus that causes herpes, the results may also assist pharmaceutical companies developing methods to sabotage virus machinery. Researchers from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., collaborated on the study that appears in the Dec. 26, 2008, issue of the journal Cell.
Cited Journal Article
>>>The Structure of the Phage T4 DNA Packaging Motor Suggests a Mechanism Dependent on Electrostatic Forces. Cell. 2008 Dec 26; 135(7): 1251-1262.
>>>Video
OTHER WILDLIFE RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Guardian - www.www.guardian.co.uk
Pictured: The best of the week in wildlife- Good news for elk? Agency finds no further chronic wasting disease in Star Valley [Wyoming]
- Amnesic shellfish toxin - Chile: (ATA), alert
- The year's weirdest animals
- Court Decision Banning Trout Plants Will Have Wide Ranging Impact [California]
- Newcastle Disease Continue to Spread [Belize]
- Woman and Dog Infected with Bovine Tuberculosis [UK]
- 3-year-old ostrich dies at Woodland Park Zoo - Seattle, King County, Washington, USA - Map It
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