Latest news with #southwest
SBS Australia
7 hours ago
- Science
- SBS Australia
Gone fishing: DNA tech helps Traditional Owners map species at Budj Bim
Budj Bim is home to the oldest dated aquaculture system on earth. Comprised of channels, dams and weirs that control water flow, the aquaculture system has been used to contain floodwaters and trap, store and harvest eels for millennia. The World Heritage-listed landscape in southwest Victoria has been cared for by Gunditjmara people for generations. Now, traditional knowledge is being combined with western science to continue safeguarding the important cultural and environmental landscape at Budj Bim. Traditional Owners are using environmental DNA sampling to map fish populations and track ecological changes in the waterways. The surveys have already detected 53 species. Gunitj Mirring Traditional Owner Corporation Aboriginal water officer Nicole Hudson has been monitoring waterways at Budj Bim in Victoria. "We are able to trace where the Kooyang (short-finned eel) are travelling through our system, identify key endangered species and invasive species that are threatening our native cultural species," Ms Hudson told AAP. The technology, developed by EnviroDNA, takes a sample of particles left by living organisms in an ecosystem. "We're able to pick up the presence of that DNA that's left behind and take it to our laboratory and assign that to different taxonomic groups to tell you what animals are absent or present," EnviroDNA chief executive Jim Stuart said. Mr Stuart said the technology was a more powerful tool than observational techniques, as it provided definitive evidence on whether a particular species was present. The technology enables users to hone in on just one species or map the biodiversity of the entire ecosystem. For Ms Hudson, being able to map the biodiversity at Budj Bim helps fulfil a cultural responsibility thousands of years old. "It's our obligation to protect what our ancestors left for us," she said. "They planted the seeds and paved the path for us to walk in harmony with Country. "We read Country. It tells us what it needs, and when to step in to help it heal from pollution and unnatural changes. "Our connection is ongoing. We'll always care for our Country." EnviroDNA's technology has been employed in 25 projects involving 19 Traditional Owner groups across Victoria, NSW, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland. The projects have already covered more than 21,000 square kilometres of land and sea, and Mr Stuart said it was hoped the program could be further expanded to become national. "If we want to make lasting impact, we need to back Indigenous-led programs that are already working," he said.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Several injured as tram derails and crashes into pizzeria in Sweden
A tram derailed in southwestern Sweden on Thursday night and crashed into a pizzeria, injuring several people, according to local police.
Times
18 hours ago
- Times
Chinese hotel ordered to stop red panda ‘wake-up call' service
A hotel in southwestern China that allowed residents to wake up to the pitter-patter of a red panda's footsteps has been told to stop its unusual wake-up call offer on safety grounds. The Lehe Ledu Liangjiang Holiday Hotel, which is situated in mountainous countryside near the metropolis of Chongqing, advertised 'red panda-themed holidays'. At many safari experiences in China, close contact with the animals is promised. At the hotel, staff went one step further, allowing a red panda to visit tourists in their room, at least until its publicity proved too successful. After an article in a Chinese magazine and consequent social media discussion of the ethics of the 'red panda wake-up call', the local forestry bureau stepped in, sending inspectors to find out what was going on. In a statement the bureau said it had ordered an immediate halt to all 'close contact' activities with animals, and would report back on any further findings it made — often a threat of prosecution or fines. The red panda, despite its name, is part of the extended raccoon family. It is not a bear and its only relationship to the giant panda is that it lives in the same part of China and is similarly photogenic. Close-contact activities — paying to be photographed holding a cub — has been banned in giant panda breeding centres in China since 2018. Before that, it was a regular form of income. That seems to have been interpreted by the Liangjiang Hotel as a special case. Since it started the practice of taking a red panda, one of four kept at the hotel for the purpose, around the rooms last year it has become a popular feature. A British couple, Ben and Reanne Ridger from Portsmouth, who are keeping a YouTube video blog of their tour of China's provinces, enthused about the red panda experience two months ago. 'Everyone watching at home, they've never had anything like this,' Ben Ridger said, almost certainly correctly. The panda was brought to the room by staff. How long it stayed, they said, 'depended on the red panda's mood that day', China Newsweek reported. The Global Times, a Communist Party newspaper, issued a severe warning that the practice might be an abuse of animal rights. The hotel responded to concerns that the pandas might be unhygienic or dangerous to children by insisting that they had all been vaccinated, and that children were not allowed to enjoy the experience without the presence of an adult.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Di abandoned community wey still dey live wit wetin remain of di Nigeria-Biafra war
Odukoya Akinmeje dey veri young wen e experience di Nigeria-Biafra war wey enta dia community, Foriku for 1967. Like oda young boys for di community, e no sabi how war take enta Foriku, but one tin wey pain am na wetin e and im papa and mama go through during di period of di war. Di sounds of bullets, di presence of sojas and di constant need of food by di pipo, na one of di memorable experience of Odukoya wen di war dey go on. Howeva, dis na ova 54 years afta di Nigeria-Biafra war bin happun and end, but Foriku neva recova finish as tins wey still remain from di war don destroy dia farmlands according to di residents. Foriku-Boridele dey located near di Ore, present day Ondo state southwest Nigeria, and na one of di battleground during di Nigeria-Biafra war wey also dey known as di civil war. BBC Pidgin enta di town to see wetin di sojas leave behind, di pain of di residents of Foriku as dem live wit wetin remain from di Nigeria civil war and wetin di war cost dem till now. Di civil war bin start for January 1967 between di military forces of di Nigerian govment and di Biafra sojas. Di fight na sake of request wey Biafra say dem wan get dia own territory and stand alone but di Nigerian govment no gree. Dat war wey happun between 1967 to 1970, millions of pipo wey include sojas and civilians, many of dose wey be women and children bin die. "E get one man wey get one leg, e run come our community to tell us say war don reach Ore. By dat Saturday, di road don full wey pipo dey carry food so dem fit run comot," Odukoya recall how e witness wen di war enta dia community. "We run comot but dem tell us say di war don end. E no reach one week wey we return wen anoda war begin again and we begin see sojas dey march by di roadside. Around 2 o clock for night na im di battle start." Odukoya don become di head of Foriku community and di trauma of di war experience still dey fresh for im mind. Foriku get abandoned war equipments wey di sojas leave behind afta di war, several residents wey we speak to tell BBC Pidgin say di war really destroy dia land. Some explain say wen dem cut bush and wan burn am, different tins go dey explode sake of say some of di chemicals wey dem use during di war dat time still dey ground. 'Different tins go dey explode' Johnson Danjuma na one of di resident for Foriku community, im papa settle for di community plenti years ago as a farmer. E bin hope say di farmland go yield and dey fertile like how im papa tell am many years ago, but since afta di war, e say dia farmlands don destroy and di fear of bullets neva comot for dia minds. Ova 54 years afta di war, Danjuma sleep and wake near di armoured tank left behind by di sojas. E dey always remind am of how e and im family bin struggle during di war, even though im bin dey veri small dat time. "My papa carry us go hide for one place. We just dey bush, no be wia papa dey di children dey. Biafra sojas dey, Nigerian sojas dey. Danjuma say some pregnant women born pikin for bush during dat time of war, and e no pray to experience dat kain war again. Meanwhile, Gbenga Adeyemi wey be di youth leader for Foriku community say afta di war, plenti of dia youths bin die sake of say dem drink water wey di chemical wey dem use during di war don enta. "According to history wey I hear, some of our youths here, during di time wey di war end, dem drink di water and dem die prematurely becos of di chemical. Our land don spoil, di land no good again and dem no rememba us," Gbenga tok. 'Na fear our pikin take dey go school' Foriku community dey live witout any social infrastructures and di aftermath dey impact di children, as dem travel long distance to get education. As we waka di community, no visible site of drinkable water, no health facility and no school. Elizabeth Iwam wey grow up for di community bin narrate to us how she dey trek long distance to go school. She say she go school reach form 3 bifor she drop comot. Now, di chidlren for Foriku travel as far as Ore, a neighbouring town wit about 11km distance to access education. Coupled wit dat is the fear of di war wey once invade dia community. "Since wen di war don finish, we dey suffer for here, no school, no evritin, notin wey dem do for here, especially dat education." "Wen I dey small, wey di war don happun finish, na fear we dey take go school, na di same fear our pikin dey take go school". Elizabeth wit oda women for di community dey hope say one day, dem fit get help to access basic social amenities like oda communities.
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- South China Morning Post
1 dead, 4 injured in Chongqing after driver runs into crowd: district police
One person is dead and four others injured after a driver allegedly drove into a crowd in Chongqing, a city in southwestern China, on Saturday after onlookers reportedly criticised him for repeatedly sounding the horn on his car. A police statement issued on Sunday by the Banan district branch of the Chongqing Public Security Bureau alleged the driver, surnamed Xiong, repeatedly sounded the horn after finding his path blocked by another vehicle in Banan, a district in southern Chongqing. The driver of the other vehicle was unloading goods in front of a residential community, it said. The police statement said Xiong was a 38-year-old male but provided no further personal details about the suspect. It said his behaviour 'triggered strong dissatisfaction' among nearby residents and prompted many people to approach and confront him. 01:09 Sinkhole in China swallows cars, injuring 3 people Sinkhole in China swallows cars, injuring 3 people As the incident escalated into a dispute between Xiong and the residents, Xiong tried to force his way out by driving away, injuring people who tried to stop him from leaving, according to the statement.
