SOUTH KOREA

Is it not ironical that the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), where two rival armies from North and South Korea snarl at each other, endangered migratory birds stop in for a peaceful rest? The 242 km long strap of land has become Asia's most hospitable homes for rare plants and animals. The endangered Manchurian crane and nearly 140 other kinds of wildlife are found here.

Nature strikes back

from killer algae to mind-altering microbes, coastal areas worldwide are facing an assault of some of the strangest micro-organisms known to humankind. While scientists have yet to establish the cause of this phenomenon, it is highly likely that human-induced changes to the coastal environment and pollution have disturbed the natural balance. This has favoured growth of these microbes (International Herald Tribune , September 24, 1997)

Skyscrapers: bird's bane

the brightly lit skyscrapers of North American cities attract migrating birds. But these skyscrapers are also the cause of their death, as every year hundreds die after crashing into them. But in Toronto their prospects are being made worse by local seagulls, which have learnt to guide the birds towards the buildings so that they collide with them. The gulls then feed off the corpses.

Mother of all birds

Scientists in Australia have claimed to have found the fossilised skeleton of what might have been the biggest bird that ever lived. The existence of the ostrich-like Dromornis stritone has been known for years, but the specimen found at Alcoota near Alice Springs, Australia, would be as heavy as a bullock and as tall as an elephant.

Silence of the birds

deforestation in the tropics is causing massive extinction of bird species. Many of these species, endemic to insular Southeast Asia, may soon be lost if rapid and effective conservation measures are not undertaken, claim ecologists.

Penguins in peril

the midwinter warming of the western Antarctic peninsula is taking its toll on Adelie penguins, say ecologists. A 4 c to 5 c increase in temperature in midwinter is being observed in the region for the past five decades. Ecologists had said that a decrease in sea ice cover due to the warming might be responsible for the recent decline in the number of penguins ( Science , Vol 276, No 5320).

Birds under threat

The capital city of Himalayan kingdom of Nepal, Kathmandu, has become a hub of South Asian bird traffickers. Flourishing illegal trade and transit of birds from India and Nepal to Pakistan and other destination in the Gulf states has led to the depletion of natural biodiversity in the Himalayan kingdom.

Dreams in dust

Thanks to the lethargy of the Bihar state government and its preoccupation with the politi-cal turmoil in the state, world-renowned ornithologist Salim Ali's dream project, the Kaber wetland bird sanctuary development scheme is yet to take off. The first instalment of Rs 31 lakh released for this Centre-sponsored project, lying in the Bihar government's coffers, is yet to see the light of day.

Bird calls

Following efforts by the Game Conservancy Trust based at Sussex Downs, farmers in the British countryside have adopted a new method of conserving bird species. A six metre-wide outer strip is left unsprayed with pesticidesin farms. Insects in the protected strip provide larder to birds. The populations of birds like grey partridges, turtle doves, bullfinches and lapwings have fallen drastically over the last 25 years.

Flight of the poisoned

Antarctic seabirds are accumulating dangerously high levels of toxic organic chemicals in their bodies, according to Nico van den Brink of the Institute for Forestry and Nature Research in Wageningen, the Netherlands. He says the culprit is pollution produced by industrial plants thousands of kilometres away. He focused in particular on hexachlorobenzene (HCB), which is released into the air from industrial incinerators and other plants. HCB can interfere with birds' ability to transport oxygen around their bodies. Van den Brink believes that HCB accumulates in cold parts of