“The yellow-crested cockatoo is critically endangered. But they’ve found an unexpected sanctuary among Hong Kong’s towering skyscrapers,” notes the Associated Press:
Native to Indonesia and East Timor, the snow-white birds, their crests flashing like yellow crowns, squawk through the urban parks of the Asian financial hub. They make up roughly 10% of the species’ global wild population, which numbers only up to 2,000 mature birds.
Research shows the city’s cockatoo population has stagnated as the birds, which live in tree cavities, are losing natural nesting spaces in old trees due to typhoons and government tree trimming for public safety…One urban legend says they descended from pet birds released by a British governor before he surrendered to invading Japanese troops in 1941….Hong Kong’s conservationists have stepped in with a solution: installing artificial nest boxes that mimic these natural hollows.
Corals recover faster on artificial structures than on natural reefs.
A very healthy coral reef is nestled among offshore oil platforms.
Fish species rebounded off the coast of California due to their young finding a sanctuary in abandoned oil rigs.
The world’s coral reefs are more plentiful than previously thought. “High-resolution satellite maps show that coral reefs cover an area of ocean larger than New Mexico,” reported Bloomberg News. That’s about twice the size of some prior estimates.
Brazil’s rarest parrots have made a comeback.
