A mysterious neurological disease is afflicting endangered Florida panthers
A disease known as feline leukomyelopathy has likely stricken 48 panthers and bobcats, leading to concerns about the impact on Florida’s state animal.
A Florida panther kitten born to a mother with feline leukomyelopathy (FLM), a newly discovered neurological disorder, is examined at Zoo Tampa by veterinarian Lauren Smith. This kitten and its sibling were deemed healthy but the mother didn’t recover from the disease.
ByDouglas Main
Email
Once ranging throughout the U.S. Southeast, Florida panthers nearly went extinct due to widespread hunting. By the 1970s there were fewer than 30 left. Though the endangered cats have rebounded significantly in the last couple decades, with a total population around 200, their future remains tenuous.
Pythons from Florida Everglades could help produce vaccines, researcher says
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Pythons from Florida Everglades could help produce vaccines
EVERGLADES, Fla. – A python hunter and a researcher believe the help in the fight against COVID-19 is hiding in the Florida Everglades.
Dustin Crum and Daryl Thompson, a researcher, and entrepreneur with Global Research and Discovery Group out of Winter Haven, said the invasive Burmese python contains squalene, a compound that’s commonly used in vaccines.
Scientists say squalene can stimulate a stronger immune response when used in vaccines. It’s usually found in sharks, but animal advocates oppose harvesting the fat molecule from the shark’s liver.
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Jim Wellehan
The Maine Climate Council released its plan to achieve an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. It may sound like an ambitious plan, but one that Maine – and the world – will have a very damaged and difficult future without; a world that you would not want to inflict on your children and grandchildren.
As both an individual and a business owner, I have worked to cut carbon emissions since the Copenhagen Conference in 2009, committing to cutting our carbon emissions 50% in 10 years. It was an ambitious goal, but fun to work to achieve. We moved to LED bulbs in most applications, Low E windows in every remodel, vestibule entrances to provide an extra door, heavier insulation, including two R-50 roofs, lower temperature settings in the winter, and higher in the summer, signing up for clean energy providers, and having all company vehicles be either hybrid or designed to cut exhaust pollution dramatically.