NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS - First step to test tube rhinos

PhysOrg.com has an interesting article on a new breakthrough by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin. They have succeeded in harvesting egg cells from a black rhino for the purpose of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

This is the team who were instrumental in getting Lulu pregnant. Lulu is the Northern White Rhino at Budapest Zoo, but very sadly Lulu had a miscarriage in 2005.

The collected ova were matured in a test tube and were successfully fertilised with rhino sperm but they did not continue to grow into embryos. Nevertheless, the result is a major breakthrough.
[...]
Supported by the veterinary surgeons Benn Bryant and Tim Portas from the Western Plains Zoo [Australia], the Berlin team took egg cells from a black rhino called “Muzi”. The animal had become infertile. Thomas Hildebrandt from the IZW says: “Our method can be applied to all rhino species and subspecies.” That is particularly interesting for those rhino cows that can no longer bear calves. If embryos were produced by IVF, surrogate mothers could deliver them. “Using IVF, we could increase the genetic diversity of rhino populations as well as help preserve the acutely threatened northern white rhino”, says [IZW-veterinarian Robert] Hermes.

LAST CHANCE TO BE - Jonathan Barratt heads for Ghana

In July 2006, Jonathan Barratt gave up his UK life of car and big TV to go and work for Voluntary Service Overseas. He leaves for Ghana on 26th Nov 2006, and will be recording a journal of his experiences at "...the change you want to see..." (LastChanceToBe.com). Yes, Jon's favourite book is Last Chance To See by Douglas Adams.

He is running a fundraiser, and has already raised £230.00 for the VSO.

Very best of luck Jon! I'll be adding a permanent link to your site very soon, and I will be following your adventures with interest.

BLOG THEFT - AnotherChanceToSee is being stolen

I regret to inform my loyal readers that this Another Chance To See blog (http://anotherchancetosee.blogspot.com) is being stolen and reformatted by an unknown Blogspot user in India. I have found two blogs that are using my template, republishing my full RSS feed and hotlinking to my webspace images. I have contacted Blogspot etc to report the violation, and get his accounts shutdown.

Please bear with me while I try and get this situation rectified. I will be making some image modifications to my webspace in the next day or so, so please stand by until normal service is resumed.

**UPDATE 1** (Monday)
The two offending sites have been removed, presumably by the perpetrator. I assume he saw that I was on to him. For the time being, I have truncated my RSS feed. Apologies for any inconvenience.

**UPDATE 2** (Monday)
I have received an email apology from the perpetrator. I consider the matter closed.

**UPDATE 3** (Wednesday)
This site is still receiving some strange traffic relating to this incident, but all relevant organizations have been notified of this atypical behaviour.

EXTINCT - William Hill opens book for endangered species TV show

CasinoTimes reports that the bookmaker William Hill has opened the betting on ITV's new endangered animals show "Extinct" (see yesterday's post). The Giant Panda (to be visited by Poirot's David Suchet) is the current favourite at 15/8.

"We think the public hold the Giant Panda in huge affection and are confident they will receive a huge percentage of the votes." said William Hill's spokesman Rupert Adams.

Animal With Most Votes - Extinct: 15/8 Giant Panda, 7/2 Polar Bear, 5/1 Bengal Tiger, 5/1 Orang-utan, 8/1 Asian Elephant, 9/1 Mountain Gorilla, 10/1 Hyacinth Macaw, 14/1 Leatherback Turtle.

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS - Time to see some boobies

Georgina Guedes is a South African woman travelling the world. She is beside herself with excitement at the prospect of seeing a blue-footed booby, and writes about her experiences for News24.com.

When I was a child, at the time when other little girls were sticking up posters of Tom Cruise in Cocktail, I harboured a deep and abiding passion for Gerald Durrell, the famous naturalist who wrote "My Family and Other Animals".

Aside from finding his long, English face handsome, and enjoying his quirky sense of humour, I thought that we would have lots to talk about. I come from an interesting family, and so did he, and we both have an interest in the wildlife with which we share this planet.

At around the same time as I was fantasising about walking on the sun-soaked beaches of Corfu with Mr Durrell, I also happened to watch a television program on the Galapagos Islands, although at the time I mistakenly called them The Archipelago Islands.

Read on at News24.com.

EXTINCT - Reality TV show to save endangered animals?

Well I've heard of everything now. The Times Online has news of new TV show called "Extinct", to be broadcast by ITV during their Christmas schedules. It looks like another version of Sky One's "Final Chance To Save", which was highly derivative of "Last Chance To See" to begin with!

"Extinct" will use a phone and internet vote by the public to decide which endangered animal gets helped. This strikes me as a very weird concept indeed, but anything which highlights the plight of endangered animals in a prime-time slot has to be a good thing.

The animals and "animal champions" featured in the programme will be...

• The Bengal tiger [Pauline Collins]
• The Mountain Gorilla [Graeme Le Saux]
• The Giant Panda [David Suchet]
• The Asian elephant [Sue Johnston]
• The Polar Bear [Anneka Rice]
• The Orang-Utan [TBA]
• The Leatherback Turtle [TBA]
• The Hyacinth Macaw [Michael Portillo]

Having voted off Big Brother contestants and decided which crumbling ancient buildings should be restored, television viewers are now being asked to choose which animal to save from extinction.

Eight of the world’s most endangered animals are to feature in a Restoration-style programme hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald and Zoë Ball.
[...]
Suggestions that there was an element of sick purience to the show were shrugged off amid promises that all the animals would gain from the broadcasts and not just the winning species.

Charlie Gardner of Endemol, which is making the show for ITV, said: "The programme is putting popular spin on a serious topic. It’s not something to be ashamed of."

Endemol link - "Extinct"
ITV link - "Extinct"

MARK CARWARDINE - Illustrated lecture, Tuesday November 7th

Quick note from Dave Haddock at the Douglas Adams fan club ZZ9.

Mark is teaming up with David Shepherd, the wildlife artist, to give an illustrated lecture at the Royal Geographic Society in London, as part of an evening of tiger conservation on Tuesday 7th November.

Details at http://www.davidshepherd.org
Tickets are £15 from www.ticketzone.co.uk

Mark's segment of the "Save The Tiger" lecture is entitled "In search of endangered mammals".