(Press-News.org) NEW YORK (September 18, 2013) — A camera trap set out for endangered Siberian (Amur) tigers in the Russian Far East photographed something far more rare: a golden eagle capturing a young sika deer.
The three images only cover a two-second period, but show an adult golden eagle clinging to the deer's back. Its carcass was found two weeks later, just a few yards from the camera, initially puzzling researchers.
The paper and images appear in the September issue of the Journal of Raptor Research. Authors include Linda Kerley of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Jonathan Slaght of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
"I saw the deer carcass first as I approached the trap on a routine check to switch out memory cards and change batteries, but something felt wrong about it. There were no large carnivore tracks in the snow, and it looked like the deer had been running and then just stopped and died." said lead author Dr. Linda Kerley of ZSL, who runs the camera trap project. "It was only after we got back to camp that I checked the images from the camera and pieced everything together. I couldn't believe what I was seeing."
Co-author Dr. Jonathan Slaght of WCS noted that golden eagles have a long history of eyebrow-raising predation attempts. "The scientific literature is full of references to golden eagle attacks on different animals from around the world, from things as small as rabbits—their regular prey—to coyote and deer, and even one record in 2004 of an eagle taking a brown bear cub."
Researchers from ZSL have been using camera traps for six years to monitor Amur tigers in the Lazovskii State Nature Reserve in Primorye in the southern Russian Far East. The images from these traps usually record common prey species, and occasionally a resident or transient tiger—information important to understanding tiger population structure.
The scientists underscore that golden eagles do not regularly attack deer, and there is no evidence that such attacks have any impact on deer populations.
Dr. Kerley said, "I've been assessing deer causes of death in Russia for 18 years—this is the first time I've seen anything like this."
Dr. Slaght added, "In this case I think Linda just got really lucky and was able to document a very rare, opportunistic predation event."
ZSL and WCS have been partnering on monitoring tigers and their prey in the Russian Far East since 2007, and are collaborating across the landscape to improve efficiency of anti-poaching teams. Both organizations have been working on Amur tiger conservation for approximately two decades (since 1995 and 1993, respectively).
INFORMATION:
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth. Visit http://www.wcs.org.
Special Note to the Media: If you would like to guide your readers or viewers to a Web link where they can make donations in support of helping save wildlife and wild places, please direct them to wcs.org.
CONTACT: STEPHEN SAUTNER: (1-718-220-3682; ssautner@wcs.org)
JOHN DELANEY: (1-718-220-3275; jdelaney@wcs.org)
PHOTOS: Eagle vs. Deer
(Spoiler Alert: Eagle Wins)
Amazing camera trap photos from Russian Far East show
predation of sika deer by a golden eagle
Photos released in paper by Zoological Society of London
and Wildlife Conservation Society
Eagle vs. deer
2013-09-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
How 'bad' cholesterol causes atherosclerosis in humans: Stem cells play a key role
2013-09-23
BUFFALO, N. Y. -- University at Buffalo translational researchers are developing a richer understanding of atherosclerosis in humans, revealing a key role for stem cells that promote inflammation.
The research was published last month in PLOS One. It extends to humans previous findings in lab animals by researchers at Columbia University that revealed that high levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol promote atherosclerosis by stimulating production of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC's).
"Our research opens up a potential new approach to preventing heart attack and ...
Protein explains increased asthma severity in children exposed to diesel exhaust from traffic
2013-09-23
A new study shows that exposure to diesel exhaust particles from traffic pollution leads to increased asthma severity in children. Moreover, the study finds that this is due to increased blood levels of IL-17A, a protein associated with several chronic inflammatory diseases, in children with high diesel exposure.
The study by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
The research, conducted in mice and in humans, showed that neutralizing IL-17A prevented airway inflammation. Neutralization ...
Rising rates of severe and fatal sepsis during labor and delivery
2013-09-23
San Francisco, CA. (September 23, 2013) – Rates of severe sepsis and deaths from sepsis among U.S. women hospitalized for delivery have risen sharply over the last decade, reports a study in the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
"Maternal severe sepsis and sepsis-related deaths are increasing in the United States," concludes the report by Dr Melissa E. Bauer of University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, and colleagues. Although the study identifies certain groups of women at increased ...
The fish and the egg: Towards a new strategy for fattening up red drum in Texas
2013-09-23
It's not the chicken or the egg, but marine scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have answered a basic question about red drum fish and their eggs that may eventually help save the state of Texas a great deal of money in hatcheries management and make fish farming more environmentally friendly.
Every year the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department spends millions of dollars breeding red drum, a popular game fish, releasing between 20 and 30 million hatchery-raised fingerlings into eight different bays and estuaries along the coast. In order to maximize the numbers ...
Public says childhood cancer should be top children's health research priority
2013-09-23
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Adults across the U.S. rate childhood cancer as their top priority for research into improving children's health, according to a new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.
September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month, and in this latest poll, 76 percent of adults rated research into childhood cancers as "very important." That was followed by diabetes, with 70 percent rating it "very important" and birth defects or other genetic problems with 68 percent.
"So many people know a child or family ...
It takes a(n academic) village to determine an enzyme's function
2013-09-23
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have sequenced the genomes of nearly 6,900 organisms, but they know the functions of only about half of the protein-coding genes thus far discovered. Now a multidisciplinary effort involving 15 scientists from three institutions has begun chipping away at this mystery – in a big way. Their work to identify the function of one bacterial protein and the biochemical pathway in which it operates will also help identify the functions of hundreds of other proteins.
A report of their new approach and findings appears in the journal Nature.
The ...
Putting the spring back in broken hearts
2013-09-23
The threat from a heart attack doesn't end with the event itself. Blockage of blood flow to the heart can cause irreversible cell death and scarring. With transplants scarce, half the people who live through a heart attack die within five years. Scientists are trying to address this problem by engineering cardiac tissue to patch up damaged areas.
Now doctoral students Sharon Fleischer and Ron Feiner — under the supervision of Dr. Tal Dvir of Tel Aviv University's Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology — ...
Long-term hormonal therapy in intermediate-risk PCa patients does not improve overall survival
2013-09-23
Atlanta, September 23, 2013 -- A secondary analysis of the historic RTOG 9202 prostate cancer trial examined results of men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer who had received long-term hormonal therapy after radiation therapy, and concluded that there were no additional benefits when compared to short-term hormonal therapy, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting.
Men with advanced prostate cancer typically receive hormonal therapy to reduce the level of androgens, or male hormones, in ...
Can mild hypothermia treatment improve neuron survival after traumatic brain injury?
2013-09-23
New Rochelle, NY, September 23, 2013–Moderate reductions in body temperature can improve outcomes after a person suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI). New research that identifies positive effects of mild hypothermia on brain tissue is presented in an article published in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management website at http://www.liebertpub.com/ther.
The article "Effects of Mild Hypothermia Treatment ...
NASA sees deadly typhoon usagi hit southern China
2013-09-23
Southeastern China was hit by the most powerful typhoon of 2013 on Sept. 22, when Typhoon Usagi came ashore landfall in the Guangdong Province during the evening. NASA's TRMM satellite observed very heavy rainfall just south of the eye as the center was landfalling.
When Typhoon Usagi, the Japanese word for "rabbit," made landfall it had maximum sustained winds near 95.6 knots (~110 mph). According to Xinhuanet.com news, 25 people were killed by the storm. Over 310,000 residents were displaced due to the storm. Xinhuanet reported economic losses totaled as much as ...