UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Sea lions depart Fisherman's Wharf

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Nearly 1,700 sea lions have disappeared within weeks after living for nearly two decades at San Francisco's Fisherman''s Wharf, authorities said.

"It's hard to say why they've departed," said Joe Cordero, a biologist with the U.S. Marine Fisheries Service. "As to when and if they come back, no one can say. It's puzzling."

On Oct. 23, about 1,700 of the federally protected sea lions were counted on the docks of Pier 39, barking and shoving each other to the amusement of tourists. On Nov. 21, volunteers counted 927 sea lions at Pier 39 and a week later there were just 20, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.

Scientists have found no fluctuation in food supply or water temperature -- two factors that would make the sea lions relocate, said Jeff Boehm, executive director of the California Marine Mammal Center.

While tourists are unhappy about the departure, many others are not. The big beasts had been known to bite swimmers, bump kayakers and climb on to docks and harass fishermen and dock workers.

Geologists turn to unmanned aircraft

LAKEWOOD, Colo., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Geological Survey is turning to unmanned aircraft for a closer look at volcanoes, wildfires and remote areas of the world, officials said.

The new Unmanned Aircraft Systems program will keep the survey up to date about myriad environmental conditions and natural resources, said Barbara Ryan, the survey's associate director for geography.

The program will allow scientists "to look longer, closer, and more frequently at some of the most remote areas of the Earth, places that were previously too dangerous or too expensive to monitor in detail," she said.

Unmanned aircraft systems cost less than pilot-operated aircraft and will provide clearer and closer images than satellite photos, she said in a release Tuesday.

From a home base at the center's facility in Lakewood, Colo., the program will be used to manage federal lands, investigate climate change, conduct environmental risk assessments and respond to disasters.

Schizophrenic mouse developed

AUGUSTA, Ga., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The development of schizophrenic mice should improve understanding and treatment of the disorder in humans, scientists in Georgia said.

Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia have bred a strain of schizophrenic mice by reducing the inhibition of brain cells involved in complex reasoning and social behavior.

To create the mice, the scientists altered a gene for schizophrenia, ErbB4.

"We believe the mouse, which exhibits some of the same aberrant behavior as patients with this disorder, will help identify better therapies," said Dr. Lin Mei, a developmental neurobiologist.

Anti-psychotic drugs already on the market are to be used on the mice to determine more effective treatments, Mei said in a release Tuesday.

It is the first time that scientists have been able to develop an animal model for the disorder, which affects about 1 percent of the U.S. population.

Rare leopard captured in Japan

TSUSHIMA CITY, Japan, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- An endangered Tsushima leopard cat is recovering at a wildlife center in Japan after being captured in Tsushima City, officials said.

The cat, which was weak when captured, was being treated at the Tsushima Wildlife Conservation Center, the Mainichi Daily News reported Wednesday.

It had been several decades since a living Tsushima leopard had been taken into protection, center officials said.

The male leopard was captured on the grounds of the Kyudenko Co. in Tsushima City and was believed to have been born this past spring, the center said.

The cat was eating and center officials said they would wait until it recovered to decide whether to return it to the wild. Tsushima's leopard cat population has declined to between 80 and 110, the center said.