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Forbes
10-06-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Drones Deliver Millions Of Mosquitos to Prevent Bird Extinctions In Hawai‘i
Mosquito 'birth control' delivery efforts mark a major technological advance for conserving critically endangered Hawai'ian honeycreepers. 'Ākohekohe (Palmeria dolei), or crested honeycreeper, is endemic to the island of Maui in Hawaiʻi. ... More The ʻākohekohe is susceptible to mosquito‐transmitted avian malaria and only breeds in high‐elevation wet forests. It is critically endangered with fewer than 2,000 individuals alive today. (Via USFWS / public domain.) In a brilliant demonstration of multidisciplinary collaboration, a conservation program to save Hawai'i's critically endangered native bird species has taken another step forward. After a team of scientists developed sterile male mosquitoes, the next challenge was to safely deliver them to where they would be most effective in Hawai'i. Sterile male mosquitoes are created by infecting them with the bacteria, Wolbachia. This bacteria, which naturally occurs in many wild insect species, interferes with reproduction in mosquitoes by 'sterilizing' the males when introduced into mosquito populations like Aedes aegypti. When sterile male Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes mate with invasive wild female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the resulting eggs cannot be fertilized and thus, cannot hatch, thereby reducing the mosquito population. Wolbachia is a maternally transmitted bacterium, where female Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti pass ... More the bacterium to their offspring, thus generating a stable line of Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes. Rearing this line of mosquitos in captivity allows humans to easily produce large numbers of incompatible male Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes for release. (Credit: The National Environment Agency of Singapore / Public Domain) Male mosquitoes (regardless of whether they carry Wolbachia) do not bite or transmit disease, and feed only on plant juices and nectar for survival and energy. On the other hand, female mosquitoes do bite because they need a fresh blood meal to produce eggs. Additionally, because Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes are not genetically modified, and because Wolbachia bacteria naturally occur in 60% or more wild insects, these mosquitoes are safe. Where did these 'sterile' male mosquitoes originate? 'These males are descendants of mosquitoes originally collected from Hawai'i and it has taken multiple mosquito generations to breed up enough IIT mosquitoes to supply the project's needs,' said scientific outreach specialist Emma Shelly, who works as the Outreach Manager with Birds, Not Mosquitoes. This is a multi-agency partnership, spearheaded by the American Bird Conservancy, that is working to protect native Hawaiian honeycreepers from extinction caused by avian diseases, particularly avian malaria, transmitted by invasive mosquitoes. The effort uses the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) as a biological 'birth control' method to reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases by reducing local mosquito populations by more than 80% (ref). It has been used successfully in a wide range of places and situations around the world to control a variety of mosquito-borne diseases, ranging from dengue fever to malaria. Do free-roaming female mosquitoes prefer to mate with these IIT male mosquitoes? 'So all things being equal, matings would occur at random,' Ms Shelly told me in email. 'But all things aren't equal because the project is heavily skewing the odds in favor of the incompatible males by releasing them in such large numbers that the wild male mosquitoes are overwhelmed. In this scenario, wild females have significantly more opportunities to encounter IIT males and mate with them.' This technique is known as 'overflooding' and the 'overflooding ratio' (how many IIT males it takes to overwhelm wild males in a given area) is a key component of the project. In Hawai'i, that ratio is 10:1. Not only can drones deliver missiles to protect beleaguered civilians from Russian terrorists, but drones can also deliver pods full of IIT male mosquitoes to protect critically endangered Hawai'ian honeycreepers from avian malaria. But the drones used in these biological battles are not the same as those used against Russia, as you might have guessed. 'The drones we use are more common for activities requiring a moderate payload for a drone, like LiDAR, magnetometers, or cinema cameras. They are usually somewhat larger and fly much slower,' Adam Knox, drone pilot and Aerial Deployment of Mosquitoes Project Manager for American Bird Conservancy, told me in email. 'One of the drones we use, the Freefly AltaX is used for movies (can carry a RED Epic or similar) as well as aerial ignition deployment for controlled wildfire burns.' What makes these particular drones particularly well-designed to carry out their mosquito-delivery job? 'The drones needed to have adequate range and endurance to reach the 3000 acre site that extends over mountainous terrain carrying the payload system and then return home, so much of the testing has been focused on demonstrating this,' Mr Knox explained in email. Are these drones guided by autopilot or by humans? 'Both,' Mr Knox replied in email. 'A human pilot flies the aircraft manually during takeoffs and landings to precisely navigate around hazards in the forest, then once above the tree canopy, the aircraft is switched into an autopilot mode which allows it to carry out the preplanned mission as the pilot monitors the flight.' The male mosquitoes are delivered in biodegradable pods. Each drone carries up to 23 mosquito pods in one flight, and each pod contains about 1,000 insects. 'The pods are made of a sterilized biodegradable paper pulp and are not reusable,' Mr Knox explained in email. 'Once released from the air, they fall to the forest floor where they provide protection to the mosquitoes until they're ready to fly away. The pods then begin to break down once exposed to the elements.' A drone carrying a biodegradable mosquito pod, loaded and ready to deliver. (Credit: Adam Knox, ... More image appears here courtesy of the American Bird Conservancy.) This effort is the first known instance of specially-designed mosquito pods being dropped by drones. One of several pod design challenges that had to be met before the drone delivery service could be launched was the pods needed to maintain a controlled temperature. Unlike other insect species that have been released directly from drones in other parts of the world, these male mosquitoes are fragile and require containment in temperature-controlled pods. 'It's extremely exciting to have reached this project milestone,' Mr Knox remarked in email. 'The first drone deployments took place in April 2025. It took a lot of hard work and reliance on strong partnerships to reach the point where we could successfully demonstrate the utility and potential of drone aircraft as a tool for this important work, especially in one of the more challenging environments in the world.' The mosquito deliveries occur over thousands of acres of remote, mountainous terrain that have significant elevational changes, strong winds, and frequent rain. The drones and their release systems had to be tested in these demanding conditions to validate their ability to carry out the basic components of the mission. Can you imagine dropping mosquitoes in this landscape without falling to your death? Aerial view of ... More the rugged terrain, steep walls and waterfalls at Koolau Forest Reserve East Maui, Hawaii. (Credit: Forest and Kim Starr / CC BY 3.0 US) Originally, mosquito deliveries began in 2023 with twice weekly helicopter deployments into remote forests on Maui and Kaua'i, but drone deployments are so much safer for the humans delivering the mosquitoes. 'This opens up a lot of possibilities now and into the future,' Mr Knox pointed out. 'With a drone, we have more flexibility with deployment timing in areas that generally have very unpredictable weather, and it's safer because no humans need to ride in the aircraft as pilot and crew to deploy the mosquitoes.' Your job looks like it's fun. Is it? 'My parents got me a Tyco Wild Thing as my first RC car when I was probably 5 or 6 years old and since then I have been into the RC hobby on and off throughout my life, spanning cars, planes, helicopters and drones,' Mr Knox replied in email. 'To be able to have my professional pursuits overlap with a hobby that brings me joy is something many only dream about so I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to apply this skillset and knowledge toward helping some of the most endangered wildlife on the planet.' "What we're doing is difficult and it has required a lot of long days for dozens of people scattered across the country working together over multiple years now,' Mr Knox replied in email. 'It's been worth every ounce of effort with what we've been able to learn while getting these specialized IIT mosquitoes out into some of the most challenging landscapes imaginable in order to give these birds a fighting chance at recovery.' Even as these IIT mosquitoes are being delivered to their targets, are there other conservation efforts ongoing? 'Yes, there are,' Mr Knox replied in email. 'The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has two facilities in Hawai'i where small populations of several endangered bird species are being kept and captively bred. The sooner mosquitoes are suppressed, the sooner these critically endangered birds can be returned to the wild and begin to re-establish themselves.' Whilst the IIT mosquito effort is currently the best tool we have for controlling invasive disease-carrying mosquitoes, it works hand in hand with other conservation efforts being led on the ground by Birds, Not Mosquitoes partners, including habitat restoration and invasive species and predator control. A critially endangered Hawai'ian Kiwikiu (Pseudonestor xanthophrys) or hookbilled honeycreeper. ... More There are fewer than 200 of these birds remaining. (Credit: Robby Kohley, image appears here courtesy of the American Bird Conservancy.) The mosquito, Aedes aegypti, was initially introduced to the Hawaiian Islands sometime after 1882 by whaling ships, so any ecological role these insects may fill either as prey or pollinators is a recent development. Which is another way to say that it is extremely unlikely that any native bird species has become dependent upon them as a critical food resource. But this invasive mosquito species is quite efficient at transmitting a variety of debilitating diseases to humans, such as dengue, chikugunya, Zika virus, and malaria, just to name a few. Originally, the Aedes aegypti mosquito was restricted to Hawai'i's lower elevations, which allowed some of Hawai'i's honeycreepers to live at higher elevations and thus survive. However, climate change has allowed mosquitoes to expand their range upwards, so now all of Hawai'i's remaining native bird species are in danger of vanishing forever. 'Without significantly reducing invasive mosquito populations, multiple native bird species will disappear forever in the near future,' said Chris Farmer, the American Bird Conservancy's Hawai'i Program Director. How many native Hawai'ian bird species have been driven extinct by avian malaria so far? 'At least 33 species of honeycreeper are now extinct, and many of the 17 that remain, including the Kiwikiu and ʻĀkohekohe on Maui, and ʻAkekeʻe on Kauaʻi, are highly endangered,' Dr Farmer replied. 'Last year, the ʻAkikiki became functionally extinct in the wild, and mosquitoes could cause other species to quickly decline and vanish if no action is taken.' The ʻakikiki (Oreomystis bairdi), also called the Kauaʻi creeper, is now functionally extinct, ... More thanks to avian malaria spread by invasive mosquitoes. (Credit: Robby Kohley, image appears here courtesy of American Bird Conservancy.) 'Reducing invasive mosquito populations is absolutely critical in preventing the extinction of Hawai'i's vulnerable honeycreepers,' Dr Farmer continued. 'We have the technology to break the avian disease cycle in Hawai'i, and a fighting chance to restore populations. We are the generation that can save honeycreepers like Maui's Kiwikiu, and with a population of less than 150 individuals, these drone and mosquito suppression advancements have come just in time.' I highly recommend that you watch this moving video, Vanishing Voices, which shows how ABC is working with its Birds, Not Mosquitoes partners to prevent the extinction of the iconic native bird species in Hawai'i. This wonderful, hopeful video shares the gorgeous songs of these vanishing birds. © Copyright by GrrlScientist | hosted by Forbes | Socials: Bluesky | CounterSocial | LinkedIn | Mastodon Science | MeWe | Spoutible | SubStack | Threads | Tumblr | Twitter
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Black Hills beaver trapping moratorium advances as population tumbles
A beaver at Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin. (Larry Palmer/USFWS) Citing a population decline and degraded habitat, South Dakota officials have advanced a plan to halt beaver trapping in the Black Hills for two years. The plan will block trapping during the 2025 and 2026 seasons in the Black Hills Fire Protection District. Trapping would remain open in the rest of the state. The state legislature's Rules Review Committee will need to approve the moratorium. In 2012, biologists saw 60 food caches — piles of woody vegetation built by beavers for winter — in the Black Hills. By 2023, they recorded only 16. Beavers occupied 52% of Black Hills watersheds in 2012, but just 23% in 2023. Rodent or riparian restorer: East-west views diverge as state considers beaver protections Beavers once numbered in the thousands in the Black Hills and the millions nationwide, but their numbers began to decline with the onset of fur trapping by European settlers. Officials said habitat loss, not modern trapping, is to blame for current population declines. But they also said they don't want trapping to contribute to the problem. 'The limiting factor is habitat degradation,' said John Kanta, section chief with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Only one beaver trapping was reported in the Black Hills last season. Without beaver dams, faster-flowing water cuts stream channels too deep for beavers to work with. Cattle also trample streambanks, leaving fewer willow and aspen for beavers to feed on. A closed trapping season will help protect the beavers that are being reintroduced, officials say. Game, Fish and Parks is working with the U.S. Forest Service and volunteer groups to restore habitat through tree planting and manmade dams, and nuisance beavers from urban areas are being relocated to the improved habitats. 'It's a wonderful step,' said Hans Stephenson, owner of Dakota Angler & Outfitter in Rapid City and a volunteer for the restoration efforts. Beaver dams raise the water table, slow water flow, and create habitat that supports everything from aquatic insects to the brown and rainbow trout favored by anglers, Stephenson said. Alex Solem, senior wildlife biologist with Game, Fish and Parks, emphasized the broader ecological role beavers play. 'Any time there's beaver around, usually, it signals a really healthy ecosystem,' Solem said. If more Black Hills streams had beaver dams, he said, floodplain soils would hold more water, support grazing, mitigate flooding and lessen the dangers of drought and wildfires. In addition to the moratorium, officials adopted a new threshold-based framework to guide future decisions. Under that framework, trapping season would reopen if beaver occupancy in monitored watersheds rose above 80%, Occupancy between 50% and 79% would open the door to resident-only, private-land trapping. Levels below 50%, like now, would trigger automatic closure. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Sunday hunting is up for debate again in the state House
A white-tailed deer is seen at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming on Aug. 8, 2015. (Tom Koerner/USFWS/CC BY 2.0) The latest effort to expand hunting on Sundays in Pennsylvania passed a key House committee with bipartisan support Tuesday. State Rep. Mandy Steele (D-Allegheny), sponsor of House Bill 1431, described the effort to repeal Pennsylvania's Sunday prohibition on hunting as a 'groundbreaking collaboration' of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Game Commission, and multiple advocacy groups. The bill passed by a 18-8 vote in the House Game & Fisheries Committee, with every Democrat voting in favor and four Republicans supporting. It will next be considered by the full House. 'In my busy family with four active kids, Sundays are often our only free day of the week,' Steele said. 'Sunday could be an opportunity to educate our children about the great American tradition of protecting wild places and the deep connection to the land that comes through responsible and respectful hunting, a core value among hunters.' Steele said when delving into the issue, she learned that farmers and wildlife biologists think expanding hunting on Sundays would reduce crop damage and help the state's woods by better managing the deer herd. 'We must heed this call from so many so intimately connected with the land,' Steele said, while asking for support to end what she described as the state's 'archaic and harmful prohibition on Sunday hunting.' Gov. Tom Wolf signed a law in 2019 to allow deer hunting on three Sundays: One during archery season, one during rifle season, and one selected by the Game Commission. That law was sponsored by Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-Erie), who authored Senate Bill 67, a companion bill to Steele's proposal. Both Steele and Laughlin's bills would require at least one member of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Board of Commissioners to have an agriculture background. For years, Pennsylvania's 'blue law' prohibition of hunting on Sundays has been a hot-button issue. Supporters argue that expanding hunting on Sundays could help grow the sport, while organizations representing hikers and horseback riders have made the case that Sundays are best left without it, so they can enjoy the outdoors without concerns for their own safety from those hunting. The House passed Steele's proposal to repeal Pennsylvania's Sunday hunting ban last June by a 129-73 vote, although it did not pass the Senate. Laughlin and Steele told the Capital-Star earlier this year they're optimistic this is the session the bill could get across the finish line. State Rep. David Maloney (R-Berks), minority chair of the House Game and Fisheries Committee, voted against the proposal on Tuesday and spoke at-length about his concerns. He discussed his issues with the language about trespassing penalties, the requirement for a member of the agriculture community to be on the Game Commission Board, questioned the effectiveness of the law combatting crop damage and protecting forests, and free time. 'I don't really buy into this idea that another weekend day is going to clear up all the woes of the sportsmen and the Game Commission,' Maloney said. He added that he has never taken a position about whether or not he'd hunt on Sunday, but asked for a no-vote, believing the legislation 'complicates the issue.' In response to Maloney's concerns, Steele emphasized that the bill is being backed by a wide variety of organizations that include the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists, and Hunter Nation. The committee also unanimously approved House Bill 1507, authored by Steele, to allow out-of-state college students living in Pennsylvania to purchase a hunting license for the same price as residents. Steele argued it could boost hunting participation in Pennsylvania. The Game Commission, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists support the bill. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission also offers fishing licenses to out-of-state college students for the same price as residents, but Game Commission license fees must be approved by the General Assembly, according to a co-sponsorship memo. 'For a student surviving on ramen noodles … this could be a deciding factor between participating in the great American outdoor tradition or being priced out entirely,' she added.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Rare Nevada fish 'staring down the barrel of extinction' could earn endangered species protections
An olive-colored minnow only found in southwestern Nevada is one step closer to life-saving federal protection after years of advocacy. The Fish Lake Valley Tui Chub, which gets its name from its threatened habitat in Esmeralda County, Nevada, is an olive-brass fish only found in a single spring and a pond outside its native range, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) says the fish species' historic range included other bodies of water near Dyer, Nevada, but other populations have all expired. Changes in the Earth's climate dried up the Fish Lake Valley Tui Chub's larger habitat more than 500,000 years ago, isolating them to a small spring on the valley floor. Cut The Head Off This Invasive Python-looking Fish If You See It, Conservationists Say On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service filed a petition to list the fish as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. This milestone is years in the making. In March 2021, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the fish as an endangered species. A 2022 study by the USFWS found the petition warranted further action. According to the USFWS petition, experts have determined that the small fish is threatened by agricultural production and land management practices, the effects of climate change on its habitat, and competition with invasive species. Great Basin Director for the Center for Biological Diversity Patrick Donnelly said in a statement that the rare fish could become extinct because of groundwater pumping for agriculture, including alfalfa for livestock. Arctic Sets Record For Smallest Winter Ice Coverage "The Fish Lake Valley Tui Chub is staring down the barrel of extinction, and only the Endangered Species Act can save it now," Donnelly said. "We're going to keep fighting to save it and the remarkable biodiversity of Fish Lake Valley." The Center for Biological Diversity said impending mining and energy projects in the area will only worsen matters. The center filed a lawsuit to stop the Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine from moving forward because of its threats to biodiversity. "The Fish Lake Valley Tui Chub is barely clinging to existence. I'm thrilled these fish are poised to get the life-saving protections they urgently need," said Donnelly. "Nevada has already lost so many native fish species. We can't afford any more extinction."The petition from the USFWS opens a 60-day comment period before further article source: Rare Nevada fish 'staring down the barrel of extinction' could earn endangered species protections
CBS News
16-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirms death of female gray wolf in northwest Colorado
On Friday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the death of the fourth gray wolf this year. Officials said the female gray wolf, 2512-BC, died in northwest Colorado on May 15. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating her death. She was part of a group taken from British Columbia to Colorado. Wolf 2512-BC is the fourth Colorado wolf to pass away this year, including a male wolf that died in Wyoming and a female that died in Rocky Mountain National Park. CPW said the final determination of her cause of death will be made once a necropsy and investigation have been completed.
