BES Facebook groupBES in the News: Recent Press Cuttings
ABC news, 18 February 2010
Scientists up ante to give toads a caning
Sarah Collerton
Native meat ants and cat food can help control the spread of cane toads, scientists have found. University of Sydney biology professor Rick Shine and his colleagues, Georgia Ward-Fear and Greg Brown, used cat food to help lure the native meat ants to kill baby cane toads ... Professor Shine says the cat-food bait research, funded by the Australian Research Council and published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, is one way scientists are trying to curtail the cane toad population.
Press & Journal, 17 Februrary 2010
Raven unfairly blamed for drop in wading birds
Joanna Skailes
It is associated with death, superstition and the security of the British Crown - but now the reputation of the much-maligned raven has been given a boost. The portentous bird's cunning and wily nature has led to it becoming steeped in myth, legend and folklore but concerns that it is responsible for dramatic declines in the numbers of wading birds are unfair, says a new report ... The research, published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology and funded by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), found little evidence of an association and that changes to habitat, and increases in other predators, could be responsible instead.
BBC Online, 16 February 2010
Ravens 'not behind' wader decline
A large crow considered one of the most intelligent native British birds has been ruled out as the cause for a decline in the number of wading birds ... The new study, published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, will help SNH when considering applications to legally kill ravens to protect other species.
