The Associated Press, December 15, 2009

Aussie scientists find coconut-carrying octopus
By Kristen Gelineau

SYDNEY – Australian scientists have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter — unusually sophisticated behavior that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal.
Video courtesy Julian Finn, Museum Victoria.

The scientists filmed the veined octopus, Amphioctopus marginatus, selecting halved coconut shells from the sea floor, emptying them out, carrying them under their bodies up to 65 feet (20 meters), and assembling two shells together to make a spherical hiding spot.

Julian Finn and Mark Norman of Museum Victoria in Melbourne observed the odd activity in four of the creatures during a series of dive trips to North Sulawesi and Bali in Indonesia between 1998 and 2008. Their findings were published Tuesday in the journal Current Biology.

"I was gobsmacked," said Finn, a research biologist at the museum who specializes in cephalopods. "I mean, I've seen a lot of octopuses hiding in shells, but I've never seen one that grabs it up and jogs across the sea floor. I was trying hard not to laugh."

Octopuses often use foreign objects as shelter. But the scientists found the veined octopus going a step further by preparing the shells, carrying them long distances and reassembling them as shelter elsewhere.

That's an example of tool use, which has never been recorded in invertebrates before, Finn said.

"What makes it different from a hermit crab is this octopus collects shells for later use, so when it's transporting it, it's not getting any protection from it," Finn said. "It's that collecting it to use it later that is unusual."

The researchers think the creatures probably once used shells in the same way. But once humans began cutting coconuts in half and discarding the shells into the ocean, the octopuses discovered an even better kind of shelter, Finn said.

The findings are significant, in that they reveal just how capable the creatures are of complex behavior, said Simon Robson, associate professor of tropical biology at James Cook University in Townsville.

"Octopuses have always stood out as appearing to be particularly intelligent invertebrates," Robson said. "They have a fairly well-developed sense of vision and they have a fairly intelligent brain. So I think it shows the behavioral capabilities that these organisms have."

There is always debate in the scientific community about how to define tool use in the animal kingdom, Robson said. The Australian researchers defined a tool as an object carried or maintained for future use. But other scientists could define it differently, which means it's difficult to say for certain whether this is the first evidence of such behavior in invertebrates, Robson said.

Still, the findings are interesting, he said.

"It's another example where we can think about how similar humans are to the rest of the world," Robson said. "We are just a continuum of the entire planet."

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press.

A Must See: Echo, Queen of Elephants

"Echo: Queen of the Elephants" airs December 3, 2009 8-10 pm (Pacific Time) and at midnight-2 AM December 4, 2009 on Animal Planet and Animal Planet HD. This documentary tracks the daily challenges faced by a wild African elepant named Echo as she nears her final days as the most distinguished matriarch in Kenya's Amboseli National Park.

"Echo has been invaluable in teaching us about the social interactions, communication and leadership of elephants," says Moss. "But to those who have studied Echo for all these years--she is much more than a research subject. Echo is a powerful presence in our lives and the lives of her family. She's been a companion; she's given us joy and filled us with wonder on a daily basis, and for that, I will always be grateful."

African Elephants Adopting Surrogate Relatives to Replace Those Killed by Poachers

Telegraph.co.uk
July 15, 2009
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent

Elephant Families
A study of 900 elephants in the Samburu game reserve in north Kenya by scientists
who observed them for five years identified the phenomenon. Photo: AP

Elephants have historically lived in separate herds and do not mix with others that have no genetic link to them – but for the first time different herds have been seen to be joining together.

The unlikely alliance is helping them survive after decades of illegal killings have threatened the existence of the species.

A study of 900 elephants in the Samburu game reserve in north Kenya by scientists who observed them for five years identified the phenomenon.

The biologist Dr George Wittemyer, whose findings are published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, said: "The maintenance of elephant social complexity in the face of human pressures speaks to the importance of both family and friends in this species."

Wild elephants form matriarchal family groups which travel, forage for food, and socialise together, producing one of the most complex social organisations found among animals.

They maintain a hierarchical structure similar to that of humans with families nested within extended families, within clans.

Dr Wittemyer, of Colorado State University, said: "Such relationships are typically genetically based. Among the Samburu elephants, however, the genetic underpinnings have been eroded by high degrees of illegal killing.

"Despite this human driven pruning of their social tree, these elephants formed novel bonds with non-relatives to rebuild the nested structure."

Dr Wittemyer says elephant society is organised as a matriarchy, with a core group of maybe ten animals led by the eldest resident female.

That core group is together virtually all the time, travelling over considerable distances, stopping to dig water holes, looking for fresh foliage to uproot and devour.

"This hierarchical complexity is rare among animals and, as such, an examination of the factors driving its emergence offers unique insight into the evolution of social behaviour," said Dr Wittemyer.

The Samburu elephant population suffered exceptionally high rates of poaching during the 1970s, when the population is purported to have fallen by about 85 per cent.

Dr Wittemyer said: "The well defined hierarchical structure found in Samburu was not strictly genetically based, with non relatives comprising groups across social tiers.

"As the maintenance of elephant hierarchical sociality does not necessitate genetic underpinnings, direct benefits can be surmised to be substantive forces driving the formation of complex, hierarchical social structure among elephants."

44 elephants now safely moved in Malawi

Great news! IFAW is...

"...back in action and the capture team is in high spirits and working hard to make up for lost time in capturing and translocating the elephants. Since Saturday we have captured a further 26 elephants, making a total of 44 elephants safely moved to their new home at Majete Wildlife Reserve.

While the conditions have been challenging the team has had great success in finding and capturing family groups of elephants – a group of 10 on Saturday, nine on Sunday and seven yesterday. Every capture and translocation has attracted a huge amount of attention from the local community and several hundred people turn out every day to cheer and sing as the elephant pass by on the recovery vehicles.

On Sunday we loaded a cow elephant of about 50 plus years old into the wake-up crate for her move down to the reserve, her sunken temples telling of a grand old lady who has seen it all. I felt a great sense of satisfaction and achievement in knowing that she will be able to spend her golden years in the safety of a protected area.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the relocation of the Phirilongwe elephants is the only realistic option for protecting the Phirilongwe elephants. The project will not only benefit the lives of the elephants but also those of the greater community. ~ Neil Greenwood, IFAW

YOU can help IFAW. To donate, go HERE.

IFAW's operation "Ele Move"

The IFAW rescue mission is underway to save the last free-roaming wild African elephants in Malawi from a government-planned slaughter, and has already begun to move them to a protected reserve over a hundred miles away.

That's right, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, in the midst of this massive translocation, has built a hundred miles of access roads, imported super sized livestock trailers, lifting cranes, helicoptors and spotter planes from South Africa.

Presently, they are sedating and capturing between 60 to 100 elephants, careful to keep family groups together.

To read their blog and view their videos go HERE.

This map (courtesy of IFAW) shows the route operation Ele Move will make translocating a herd of elephants from the the northeastern Phirilongwe region to the animal preserve in the southwest.

The herd is made up of several family groups and individual bulls.

Don't think you have money to spare? Think again. No amount is too small. Give the gift of life PLEASE DONATE.

Of Polar Bears and Seals

To help prevent the sea-ice habitat of three Arctic pinnipeds from becoming a slushy, polluted industrial zone, late last week the Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for delaying Endangered Species Act protections for the bearded, ringed, and spotted seals. In May 2008 we petitioned to protect the seals from global warming, increasing oil development in their habitat, and other threats, and while the agency has since found that all three seals may deserve federal protection, it failed to make a decision on that protection before its one-year legal deadline. "Unfortunately," said Center lawyer Rebecca Noblin, "the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has shown the same disregard for the law under the Obama administration as it did under Bush. Federal officials should not be allowed to view compliance with legal deadlines as optional."

The bearded, ringed, and spotted seals all need sea ice to survive, but global warming is rapidly depleting that ice -- also critical to the famous polar bear, for which the Center is still working at full tilt. To educate the public about the polar bear's plight, we created two heartbreaking TV ads showing warming's devastating effect on the bears (and the planet). Polar bears are dying, but it's not too late to help them and the entire Arctic ecosystem.

Watch these gripping TV ads, share them with everyone you know, and take action for polar bears now. Then read the latest on the Arctic seals in USA Today. So SAVE THE SPECIES, SAVE THE WORLD!.

Of Tule Elk and Red-Legged Frogs

"It's a good deal for wildlife and a boon for conservation and restoration projects in the area for the next half-century," said the Center for Biological Diversity's conser-vation director, Peter Gavin. In what is being hailed as a model for cooperative con-servation planning between environmental groups and private companies, a landmark agreement was reached last week between the Center for Biological Diversity and the Alameda Creek Alliance with a mining company that will help protect species and habitat around the Apperson Ridge Quarry and the Sunol Valley Quarry. Both quarries are located in the Sunol area near the San Francisco Bay. The quarries will now protect and enhance more than 600 acres of habitat for endangered species like Tule elk, California red-legged frog. The mining company will also fund monitoring, reintroduction and critical habitat upgrade for Tule elk and California Red-Legged Frog, and will work to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

This 8 ½ minute National Geographic film clip about Tule elk can be seen here.

Of Dormice and Pika

Image: Sleeping Dormouse

British conservationists are encouraged by research which suggests a slow down in the decline in the numbers of dormice. Numbers fell by 9% between 2002 and 2008, compared with 31% from 1992 to 2002. The People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) said there was "reason to be optimistic". Well, let's hope this is true.

Image: Pika

On the other side of the Big Puddle, the cold climate loving American Pika has little choice but to scurry farther upslope to beat the heat and find food - a difficult thing to do as global warming deprives its habitat of food sources. In some places, pikas have run out of room to run. If the Pika go, then so will every hawk, eagle, owl, lynx, wolf, badger, wolverine or bear that relies on the Pika as a food source.