Here is some exciting news that was announced this morning. China is very close to approving the first non-animal test method for cosmetics ingredients.

Thanks to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and its grant funding the research, the 3T3 Neutral Red Uptake Phototoxicity Assay is in its final stages.

How does the method differentiate from the normal testing methods? First of all, no animals will be harmed, which is great since until most recently cosmetic companies in China tested ingredients and their products only on animals. Secondly, the method “tests chemicals for their potential toxicity when they come into contact with sunlight [which] is already in widespread use in the U.S. and the E.U.”

“We’re delighted that this grant has helped jump-start the acceptance of non-animal tests in China and grateful to Chinese officials for being so open to these discussions,” says PETA Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo. “We congratulate them for acting swiftly to implement the first of several available non-animal tests.”

The new and approved cosmetic test method is expected to be accepted in China by late summer.

Photo Credit: Flickr/Robobobobo

Combining his love for the sea and for pets of all kinds, Captain Dave, founder of Island Time Pet Toys, created the “Pigtails” 100 percent organic cotton cat toy when he got requests from cat owners who could not find all-natural toys for their beloved felines.

The enticing Pigtails is cat tested and approved. A six-strand monkey’s fist, hand-tied of all-natural cotton string around a one-inch jingle bell, the toy combines just the tactile qualities cats love with strong hand-made construction that withstands tough kitty claws with ease.

“This toy is so well-made, so well knotted, despite my justifiable cat/string phobia, I would not hesitate to let my guys play with it at any time,” comments Dusty Rainbolt, vice president of Cat Writers Association. “This toy appeals to many of your cat’s senses. The monkey fist creates an intriguing tactile texture and an interesting pattern for humans to ponder and the bell inside the knot jingles a “come-and-get-me” sound.”

Captain Dave also offers the Cat’s Paw, which is similar to the Pigtails but features a 30-inch lanyard that can be hung from a door knob or used for fun human/feline interaction.

The Pigtails and the Cat’s Paw both retail for $8.99 and can be purchased at http://www.islandtimepets.com, along with a variety of all-natural toys for dogs and handmade nautical collars and leashes.

Photo Credit: Island Time Pet Toys

Bird song

Urban birds sing differently and at a higher frequency than woodland birds in an effort to penetrate the wall of constant noise produced by traffic, machines and human activity. However, architecture also has a profound affect on their songs. The study findings have recently been published in the esteemed scientific journal “PLoS One.”

A new explanation
“Urban architecture is a crucial determinant of how urban birds sing.” Noise amidst the urban landscape is typically composed of lower frequencies. Thus, one might jump to the conclusion that it would be smart for birds to distinguish their song by singing louder in order to drown out the competing noise. However, the recent study demonstrates that the noise explanation is incomplete, according to Professor Torben Dabelsteen of the Section for Ecology and Evolution at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Biology, one of the authors of the study.

The city’s role in the song
Some researchers have never really bought into the idea that urban noise alone caused birds in the city to sing at higher frequencies. Either directly, because birds tried to sing at a higher tone and away from noise or indirectly, by the birds singing louder to drown out anthropogenic noise.

“Now, with the help of controlled sound recordings, we have shown that the higher frequencies in urban birds’ songs are also transmitted across cities when there isn’t any noise from traffic. This shows that the physical structure of cities must play a considerable role in the heightened frequencies,” explains Torben Dabelsteen.

Structures and variations in the cityscape – houses, streets, open spaces and alleys – all serve to reflect and distort noise in differing ways, things that birds must take into account. Birds in the urban environment can easily spot one another, but must do what they can to reduce echoes from buildings and narrow streets in order to penetrate and communicate effectively.

High-pitched urban birds
Birds living beyond the urban landscape need not tweet away with full force. While the woodland’s trees and abundant foliage also distort sound through reflection, they also serve to obstruct clear lines of sight. Therefore, rural birds may utilize these distortions to help judge distances and locate one another.

“City-dwellers can look forward to the lively song of birds in the coming spring, and even though a side effect of the urban birds’ more powerful song is that they sing at a higher pitch, this is something that we are not typically able to hear,” explains Dabelsteen.

-Via University of Copenhagen

Photo Credit: Flickr/Don DeBold

Sometimes we forget animals also live under water and not just on land. Dolphins, sharks, seals and turtles, to name a few, are remarkable beings and can be taken for granted. These amazing creatures can seem rare, as not everyone has  seen one up close. Well, we’ve put together a slideshow of some of the most beautiful creatures living under the sea so you can at least see one through the computer screen and become appreciative of nature!

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-Allyson Koerner

Photo Credit: Flickr/Ken Traub

If you love to rescue animals, but big pets may interfere with your housing, you can still make a significant contribution to the animal and plant world. Cardinal tetras are not only beautiful small fish, but also heroes of the Brazilian Rainforest.

The Amazon’s preservation lies in the fins of a one-inch ornamental fish. Traveling thousands of miles from Río Negro, Brazil, the Cardinal tetra not only makes a beautiful, cheap and easy-to-keep pet, but also promotes a healthier environment and a happier community.

Between 20 million and 50 million Cardinal tetras are harvested in the Amazon by the Barcelos community of Río Negro, and then exported to the U.S. and other countries. This market brings in more than 60 percent of Barcelos’ income, according to Project Piaba, a conservation organization dedicated to raise awareness about the fish and its impact on the Amazon.

The residents’ livelihood depends on selling the fish, which not only contributes to two-thirds of the area’s economy, but also allows and encourages locals to step away from ecologically destructive jobs, such as timber or torching.

Around 62 percent of U.S. households own pets, and 11.9 million own fresh-water fish, according to the American Pet Products Association 2011-2012 survey. Most of these fish are considered ornamental, and are commonly sold in pet shops for decorative purposes.

The Cardinal tetra is found in almost every pet shop in the Boston area, and is considered one of the “greenest fish” out there. Its rapid and abundant reproduction allows for it to be caught in the wild without depleting the species.

“Getting wild-caught fish is raping the wild,” said Jim Gentille, 61, owner of The Pet Shop located in Harvard Avenue, Allston-Brighton. “But this is not the case with the Cardinal tetra.”

Environmentalists would argue that catching any species from the wild is ecologically harmful, but the Cardinal tetra may be the rare exception. If the fish’s habitat is kept unaltered by human hands and timber free, the Cardinal tetra multiplies by the millions during the rainy season. This habitat preservation and the resulting abundance of available fish is a priority of area fishermen.

According to a survey carried out by Imperial University of London and Cambridge University in 2009, deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have averaged more than 1.8 million hectares per year, almost the size of Kuwait. Contributing to Barcelos’ economy helps local communities to get involved and profit from aiding the environment instead of exploiting it.

“Up until a few years ago, everything was wild-caught,” said Gentille, who has been selling Cardinal tetras for 40 years now – along with other animals, of course. Recently, some distributors have been getting their fish from a farm in Florida, but most available in shops or aquariums come from the wild.

“It is not more expensive, it’s actually pretty close price-wise,” said Gentille. “You get less loss with a farmed fish, but you don’t get as pretty a fish.”

Each Cardinal tetra costs between $2.99 and $3.99, a small price to pay for the world’s lungs. “I probably go through two-to-three dozen per week,” said Gentille. “They are a schooling fish, so we recommend getting five or six (at a time). For most small fish like that there is safety in numbers.”

According to Project Piaba’s website, the trade of Cardinal tetras involves 80 percent of Barcelos’ population, and generated $100 million in worldwide retail sales. The project itself began in 1989, and continues to work toward a globalized result. There is still a lot to be done.

Project Piaba reported in their site, “Since 1989, fish collectors have received $4 to $5 per 1,000 Cardinal tetras. In 208, collectors receive $8 to $9 per thousand, but still cannot compensate inflation.”

With the slogan, ‘Buy a fish, Save a Tree,” Project Piaba hopes to continue making a difference in the Amazon. It extends their hands inviting anyone to participate and be part of the change.

-Alexandra Gyarfas

Photo Credit: Alexandra Gyarfas, Flickr/Leino88

Photo Credit: University of Oregon

Read about this interesting study at the University of Oregon conducted by an eight-member research team who discovered genetic facts about rainbow trout and its influence on the environment.

Two distinct populations of rainbow trout — one in Alaska, the other in Idaho — share a genetic trait that could have huge implications for fisheries conservation and management, report an eight-member research team.

The common trait is a similar rapid rate of development that has allowed these different salmomid subspecies to adapt to their native rivers in Alaska and Idaho. The researchers, in a paper put online ahead of publication in the journal Molecular Ecology, say the similarity, a gene variant, resides in a specific portion of their genomes from where this local adaptation is triggered.

Understanding and applying that knowledge could help guide current and future efforts to save species on the brink of extinction and help rejuvenate dwindling populations, especially as changing conditions alter fish environments, says lead author Michael R. Miller, a National Science Foundation-funded doctoral student in the University of Oregon lab of co-author Chris Doe, a UO biologist and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

Audio with Michael Miller:

1) Overview of the findings

2) The implications

3) Brief take-home message

The research employed two technologies developed at the UO: the cloning technology pioneered on zebra fish 35 years ago by molecular biologist George Streisinger and a speedy genome-analysis tool known as RAD (restriction-site associated DNA markers). Miller and UO biologist Eric Johnson, with input from William Cresko, also a UO biologist, published their initial RAD-tagging technique in 2005.

The clone lines of rainbow trout used in the study were provided by co-author Gary H. Thorgaard, a fish geneticist at Washington State University. He had worked briefly as a postdoctoral researcher with Streisinger in 1978 to learn about a then-developing zebra-fish cloning technique later detailed in a 1981 Nature paper.

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are members of the salmon family. They have a natal homing instinct in which they return to their native streams or rivers to spawn. Occasionally, some end up in other locations and have to adapt, or evolve, to survive in a new habitat. In studying the genetics of populations in the North Fork Clearwater River in north-central Idaho and in the Swanson River of south-central Alaska, researchers noted similar, speedy rates of development — a conserved trait that generally is not the case in rainbow trout, Thorgaard noted.

“We found that these two very distinct populations are using the same conserved variant of the same gene sequence to achieve this adaptation,” Miller said. “We have not identified the exact gene or gene mutations, but we have identified a region of the genome that is very similar.”

RAD gene-sequencing technology allowed the researchers to sort through the fish genomes — rainbow trout populations have between 58 and 64 chromosomes —until they isolated the gene variants, also known as mutations or alleles. “RAD gives us much better details with a much higher resolution on genetic markers than what we could ever see before,” Thorgaard said.

“RAD is being applied widely in the field of fisheries genetics,” Miller said. “This technology is having a huge impact on salmon genetics, for conservation, management and restoration.”

The findings suggest that the same genetic method of adaptation may be used by other salmonids, which includes salmon, steelhead trout, char, freshwater whitefish and graylings. The gene variant found in the study may have arrived just in time for struggling fish populations, researchers said.

“The study suggests that the same genetic types that are associated with adaptation in one population may also be used by another experiencing similar conditions in another area,” Thorgaard said. “This increases our understanding of how adaptation occurs and could help in characterizing populations for conservation purposes.”

Potentially, Miller said, matching fish with the same genetic variants could prove beneficial in increasing populations in distressed areas. “Many southern populations, in California, for instance, are already extinct or depressed, and these populations likely contain gene variants that may become important for the future adaptation of more northern populations as the environment changes,” he said. “If these populations go extinct, we are potentially hindering the future adaptability of other populations.”

Co-authors on the paper with Miller, Doe and Thorgaard were Joseph P. Brunelli and Paul A. Wheeler, both colleagues of Thorgaard at Washington State, and Sixin Liu, Caird E. Rexroad III and Yniv Palti, all of the National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture, Agricultural Research Service-USDA, in Kearneysville, W.Va.

The National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Agriculture supported the research.

Photo Credit: Farm Sanctuary

Eco News Network presents our favorite eco-celeb of the week. Each week we will post an article on our favorite actor, actress, musician, etc. who is not only an exceptional artist, but someone who contributes greatly to the environment. We hope you enjoy! This week, we are changing it up and giving you a Thanksgiving inspired celebrity . . . the turkey! Here are some fun facts about Mother Earth’s beautiful creature thanks to Farm Sanctuary.

1. Turkeys express their feelings through color changes on their necks, faces and snoods (the flap of skin under the neck).

2. The bird’s snood turns to bright red when he is upset or during courtship.

3. Turkeys can learn specific details of an area of more than 1,000 acres. Seems like they have a great sense of direction!

4. The feathered creature can recognize his fellow species by their unique voices.

5. Did you know turkeys are not protected by the federal Humane Slaughter Act and are often killed without first being stunned?

6. Every year, more than 46 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving holiday dinners.

This year, if you want to save a life, then visit the Adopt-A-Turkey Project and see how you can prevent a turkey from being slaughtered this year and start a new tradition! We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

-Allyson Koerner

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, that only means Christmas is right around the corner, along with shopping! To get ahead of the gift buying game, we will be providing tips on eco-friendly holiday gifts to make your season that much more enjoyable. To start off, here are some eco-pet gifts that your dog and/or cat will truly love!

Hopefully, these pet products provide a fun, yet eco-conscious idea for you and your pets this holiday season. Trust us when we say your pet won’t be able to take their teeth, claws and paws off of these sustainable toys and accessories!

-Allyson Koerner

Credit: Rene Rivers

Scientists and wildlife experts are calling for koalas to be listed as an endangered species amidst fears that climate change is killing off the dwindling population.

Koalas are notoriously poor at adapting. Despite being native to sunny Australia, they don’t fare well in times of droughts and heat waves. Throw in the fact that the population has been ravaged by disease and threatened by habitat loss and it’s not a stretch to see that koalas need protection.

According to Kathy Marks of the Independent, however, koalas could be slowly slipping into extinction. The effects of climate change are placing more environmental pressures on koala numbers.

“This species is supposed to be common,” said Christine Hosking, a nature conservationist at the University of Queensland, when speaking to the Independent. “Yet it’s slipping into extinction under our noses.”

The situation is so dire that several experts, including Hosking, recently presented evidence to a parliamentary committee that was set up to investigate koala health and status.

Koalas are typically difficult to view in the wild, as they hide in the high canopies of tall trees and camouflage with the branches on which they perch.

But if the animal that prides itself on hiding seems to be disappearing, its population is probably doing well, you might think.

Wrong.

According to the Independent, Clive McAlpine, a landscape ecologist at the University of Queensland, believes that there are between just 50,000 and 100,000 koalas left in the wild.

Urban development, agriculture and industry have eaten away at the koalas’ traditional habitat – gum trees. Furthermore, diseases such as chlamydia, cancer and leukemia also affect the koala population.

In fact, Hosking has data that shows that temperatures above 37 degrees Celsius, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, are intolerable for koalas – a strange twist since koalas are native to a country that is known for hot, steamy, summertime sunshine.

One problem koala-lovers and conservation experts face is that koalas are still quite numerous in certain regions of Eastern Australia, which provides a false sense of security for those against listing the animal as endangered. But experts say that the population in these areas are genetically limited and devastated by disease.

“There’s a lot of evidence to support the case for action,” McAlpine told the Independent. ”We can’t afford to wait until the population is down to 10,000 before we do something, because by then it will be too late.”

- Kane Carpenter

The BowTie is a 100 percent cotton, all-natural continuous loop joined by a traditional handmade short splice. The toy, handmade in New England, is available only from The Black Dog in Large (8” diameter) and Small (5 1/2” diameter) sizes.

Captain Dave Bill, founder of Island Time Pet Toys and a nautical science instructor at Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass., began making these nautically inspired pet toys after realizing that most of what is available today is made overseas. And, that none of them are hand constructed with natural, non-toxic materials. Captain Bill combines his Boy Scout background and love for the sea to create these organic pet toys using traditional nautical rope methods and 100 percent cotton, American-made, non-toxic rope.

Although the BowTie is exclusively offered through the Black Dog, Island Time Pets’ offers other dog and cat toys and leashes at www.islandtimepets.com.