Discovery
‘Import restrictions’:
The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife is reminding hunters who travel outside the state about restrictions on the importation of deer and elk carcasses.
The restrictions are designed to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease. They are of particular importance for hunters traveling to Quebec because the alwaysfatal brain disease was discovered in the Canadian province last year.
The disease of the brain and nervous system is caused by abnormal prion proteins that produce lesions in the brain that cause disorientation, emaciation and other abnormal behaviors.
Hunters are also reminded that it is illegal to use deer urine lures in Vermont because they have the potential to bring the abnormal proteins to the state.
The Vermont Fish and Wildlife website has the details of the restrictions. (AP)
Hornbill chick delights staff:
A rare Palawan Hornbill chick has left its nest and is exploring its outdoor enclosure at Wroclaw Zoo in western Poland, delighting staff and members of the public.
The bird, identifiable by its distinctive beak and black and white plumage, hatched in May 2019 and is the fourth chick to be born in the zoo.
Palawan Hornbills are notoriously difficult to breed, the chairman of the zoo’s board, Radoslaw Ratajczak, said, adding that they need to have the right food and the right conditions.
Wroclaw Zoo’s six Palawan Hornbills now represent almost 90% of the world’s population living in captivity, according to information on its website.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classifies the birds, native to the island of Palawan in the Philippines, as ‘vulnerable’. (RTRS)
ESA blinks:
A European space probe has performed an evasive maneuver to avoid a possible collision with another satellite after its operator, private firm SpaceX, said it wouldn’t budge.
Officials at the European Space Agency said Tuesday that the maneuver didn’t affect operations of the Aeolus satellite, which was launched in August 2018 to