An animal considered a Canadian icon has resurfaced in Italy after an absence of more than 500 years.

A beaver was captured on camera in northeast Italy, marking the first sighting of the animal in that country since 1471.

Scientists were observing otters last week when the male beaver was seen walking into frame.

While the beaver was valued in Canada for its pelt, the animal was widely hunted and eaten in Italy and other parts of Europe during the Middle Ages and considered white meat — the same as fish — so Catholics could eat them on Fridays.

The animal didn't make a return to Central Europe until the 1980s, when conservationists reintroduced the species with beavers from northern Russia.

Scientists believe the beaver caught on camera is likely a descendant of a group that was introduced by conservationists to the Danube river, which runs through a large swath of Eastern and Central Europe. The European beavers are a distinct species, different from Canadian beavers. </s> CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Rangers have successfully reintroduced a herd of plains bison to Canada's oldest national park, officials said on Monday, more than 130 years after the iconic North American animal last grazed the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies.

Parks Canada moved 16 bison from a protected herd in central Alberta into an enclosed pasture in Banff National Park in the west of the province last week.

The herd will stay under observation in an enclosure in the remote Panther Valley until summer 2018, when the animals will be released into the full 1,189 square kilometers (459 square miles) re-introduction zone in the park's eastern valleys.

Parks Canada said bison were once dominant grazers and a "keystone species," and bringing them back to Banff will restore their missing role in the ecosystem.

Bison also have great spiritual meaning for Canada's aboriginal groups, having once provided an important source of food, clothing and shelter.

The re-introduction coincides with the 150th anniversary of Canada's confederation.

"This is a historic moment and a perfect way to mark Canada's 150," Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said in a statement. "Not only are bison a keystone species and an icon of Canada's history, they are an integral part of the lives of indigenous peoples."

Vast bison herds up to 30 million animals strong once migrated freely across the plains of North America, including the montane and sub-alpine meadows where the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains meet western Canada's rolling prairies.

The animal was nearly hunted to extinction by humans, and rangers estimate bison have not grazed in the valleys of Banff National Park since before the park was established in 1885. (Editing by Dan Grebler) </s> CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Parks Canada has reintroduced a herd of plains bison to the country's oldest national park in Banff, Alberta, officials said on Monday, more than 130 years after the iconic North American animal last grazed the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies.

The conservation team moved 16 bison from a protected herd in central Alberta into an enclosed pasture in Banff National Park in the west of the province last week.

The herd will stay under observation in the remote Panther Valley until summer 2018, when the animals will be released into the full 1,189-square-km (460-square-mile) reintroduction zone in the park's eastern valleys.

Parks Canada said bison were once dominant grazers and that bringing them back would restore their missing role in Banff's ecosystem.

"This would be one of only four plains bison herds in North America that would be fully interacting with their predators and shaping the ecosystem as they did over a hundred years ago," said Kasper Heuer, the bison reintroduction project manager.

Those predators will include wolves and bears native to the park.

Ten pregnant female bison and six young bulls were disease tested and radio collared before being herded into five shipping containers and driven 400 km (250 miles) cross Alberta by truck. The conservation team taped rubber hoses to their horns to prevent the animals injuring each other while in transit.

Since the Panther Valley is not accessible by road, officials attached the shipping containers by long line to a helicopter and flew them in one at a time for the last 25 km (16 miles).

Vast bison herds of up to 30 million animals once migrated freely across North America. The animal was nearly hunted to extinction, and rangers estimate bison have not grazed in Banff National Park since before it was established in 1885.

Bison have great spiritual meaning for North America's aboriginal groups, having once provided an important source of food, clothing and shelter. The reintroduction also coincides with the 150th anniversary of Canada's 1867 confederation into a federal union.

"This is a historic moment and a perfect way to mark Canada's 150," Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said in a statement. "Not only are bison a keystone species and an icon of Canada's history, they are an integral part of the lives of indigenous peoples." </s> Image copyright Parks Canada via Reuters Image caption Bison returned to Banff last week after an absence of more than 100 years

A herd of plains bison have been successfully reintroduced to Canada's oldest national park, more than 100 years after they were nearly hunted out of existence.

The 16 bison were moved to the Banff National Park in Alberta last week.

On Monday officials said the transfer had gone smoothly and the animals were adapting well to their new home.

The move will restore their role in the park's ecosystem, officials say, and has been welcomed by indigenous groups.

The bison will be kept under observation in an enclosed pasture of the park in the foothills of the Rockies until the summer of 2018, Parks Canada officials say.

Image copyright Parks Canada via Reuters Image caption The animals were prized by aboriginal Canadians for the food and clothing they supply

Image copyright Parks Canada via Reuters Image caption If the phased release goes according to plan, the bison will be allowed further into the park next year

Image copyright Parks Canada via Reuters Image caption The bison have been arriving at Banff since the end of January

The animals were once the dominant grazers in the park, in addition to being spiritually significant to Canada's aboriginal groups, supplying them with food, clothing and shelter.

The herd will eventually be released into a far wider area of the park where they will be at liberty to interact with other native animals and search for food, The Calgary Herald reported.

It said the hope is that natural barriers and wildlife fencing will stop the bison from wandering astray.

BBC Nature - Bison facts

"By returning plains bison to Banff National Park, Parks Canada is taking an important step toward restoring the full diversity of species and natural processes to the park's ecosystems while providing new opportunities for Canadians and visitors to connect with the story of this iconic species," Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said.

At one time, there were as many as 30 million bison on the plains but they were hunted almost to extinction with only a handful remaining in government-controlled areas. </s> Wild bison have returned to Banff National Park after a 140-year absence.

Last week, Parks Canada successfully relocated 16 wild plains bison from Elk Island National Park to a 1,200 square-kilometre reintroduction zone in the Panther Valley at Windy Cabin, roughly 40 kilometres north of the Banff townsite.

“It's a great event to have a keystone species return to one of our nation's most iconic places,” said Banff National Park superintendent Dave McDonough at an official announcement in the town on Monday. “It's a perfect way to mark Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation.

“I'm proud to say that history has come full circle and wild bison are once again in Banff National Park.”

More than a century ago, bison grazed on the land that is now Banff National Park. Bringing them back to the area restores a keystone species to the landscape and provides a cultural connection to First Nations who once hunted the animal. At one time, there were thought to be as many as 30-million bison on the plains but they nearly became extinct due to overhunting. The Canadian government bought one of the last surviving herds in the early 1900s and they were protected in a paddock at the base of Cascade Mountain for almost 100 years. They were removed in 1997 to facilitate wildlife movement around the town of Banff.

The $6.5-million five-year trial project is part of a Parks Canada-led conservation effort to restore the wild bison population to Banff. Reintroducing a breeding population of plains bison to Banff was introduced to Canadians in the 2010 Banff National Park Management Plan.

Karsten Heuer, the bison reintroduction project manager, said last week's successful translocation was emotional for him and his team.

“If it works, we are actually setting the seeds for just one of four plains bison populations in North America that are actually interacting with their environment,” he said. “That will be a first in over 140 years in Banff National Park, and that's really why we're doing this is to make them wild again.

“They've been absent from this landscape for too long and so I think today is the hooves on the ground beginning of trying to bring that back.”

Ten pregnant females and six young bulls were trucked in five modified 10-foot-long shipping containers from Elk Island to the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch on the eastern slopes of Banff in late January. They were then airlifted by heavy-lift helicopter to a soft-release paddock in the Panther Valley on Feb. 1, where they will be held for the next 16 months.

Parks Canada staff will monitor the herd and after two calving seasons they will be released freely into the surrounding reintroduction zone. The holding period is intended to allow the bison to anchor to the landscape.

“That really is the one thing we want to try and facilitate right now is for them to accept this as their new home,” said Heuer.

Parks Canada used innovative techniques while moving the bison, such as placing cylindrical rubber tubes over the animals' horns to ensure they did not hurt each other during the transfer phase.

“There were a few animals that didn't really settle down in those crates during the road trip and came out of the crates a little bruised up, and you could actually see where their crate mates had been ramming them with their horns as they had little cylindrical impressions on their furry coats. It would have been a lot worse damage if they didn't have those on,” Heuer said.

When the bison were released into their enclosure, Heuer said they galloped out of the shipping containers in a panic but were soon grazing, drinking water and getting comfortable in their adopted home.

“Within a few hours they were feeding, they were drinking out of the trough. The next morning a couple of the bulls were rubbing horns and bucking, which is a good sign that they were feeling calm and settled,” he said.

By the time they are released from the paddock in June 2018, the population of the herd is expected to have roughly doubled in size.

Over the next five years, the health of the herd, as well as their movements, survival and reproductive rates, how well they adapt to the environment and predation will be monitored to determine whether the trial project is successful.

Heuer said that it's hard to predict how predation will impact the bison once they are released, stating it took wolves in Yellowstone National Park two years to start using bison as a food source, whereas in Yukon it took wolves 20 years before they keyed in on bison.

“We do have wolves in the landscape. We actually have one pack already being monitored with a radio collar in the heart of the reintroduction zone, and it's one of the many things that we'll be keeping track of in the initial five years of the project,” he said, adding that bears could also potentially prey on calves. “Bison are also pretty formidable animals and will probably put up more of a defensive effort against potential predators than elk.”

Bison are known as “ecosystem engineers” due to their importance in strengthening the long-term health of ecosystems.

The meadow habitats in which they reside prevent the encroachment of trees and are important to grassland species of birds, while bison also support insect life, amphibians and certain species of grasses.

Predators and scavengers also benefit from the presence of bison on the landscape.

Parks Canada will evaluate the project in five years with stakeholders and a First Nations advisory circle and examine whether the project is successful. If it is deemed the project is not working, the herd will be removed and the fencing will be pulled from the landscape.

The bison have been fitted with radio collars and will be monitored during the free-roaming phase. Short stretches of wildlife-friendly fencing and hazing will encourage the herd to remain in the reintroduction zone.

Backcountry travellers are able to access the remote reintroduction zone by a two-day hike, ski or horseback trip, but require a backcountry camping permit to do so.

Bill Hunt, resource conservation manager with Banff National Park, said messaging will be given to visitors on how to interact with bison in the 16 months leading up to their release from the paddock.

“They rut in the middle of the summer, so we want to make sure that people understand that it's not like elk who rut in the fall,” he said. “When they calve and when they rut are often when ungulates are more dangerous, and so we'll be getting those messages out, just as we do for grizzly bears or cougars or wolves — making sure people know how to interact with them safely.”

Hunt added Parks has the opportunity to reach visitors directly who attempt to obtain a backcountry camping permit.

Harvey Locke, a long-time Banff resident who has been working on bison reintroduction for 20 years, says that Canadians are seeing the restoration of an animal which was close to being entirely wiped out.

“Today, we're bringing it back to the natural world to function as a part of it, in our oldest and most famous national park, which was hugely involved in saving the animal from extinction in the first place,” he said. “Now there will be wild buffalo again in the park. It's very exiciting.”

The public is invited to a bison homecoming celebration on March 3, which will be held at the Cave and Basin National Historic Site. </s> After more than 100 years, plains bison are once again roaming their historical range in Banff's Eastern Slopes.

Parks Canada has successfully relocated 16 bison from Elk Island National Park to the remote Panther Valley in Banff National Park.

For 16 months, the bison will remain in an enclosed pasture in the valley, monitored by Parks Canada. In summer 2018, the herd will be released to explore a 1,200-square-kilometre zone in the Red Deer and Cascade river valleys where they will be free to interact with other native species and forage for food. Natural barriers and stretches of wildlife fencing will hopefully discourage the bison from leaving the zone.

"By returning plains bison to Banff National Park, Parks Canada is taking an important step toward restoring the full diversity of species and natural processes to the park’s ecosystems while providing new opportunities for Canadians and visitors to connect with the story of this iconic species," said Catherine McKenna, federal minister of environment and climate change.

More than a century ago, bison grazed on the land that is now Banff National Park. Bringing them back to Banff restores a keystone species to the landscape and provides a cultural connection to First Nations who once hunted the animal. At one time, there were as many as 30 million bison on the plains but they nearly became extinct due to overhunting. The Canadian government bought one of the last surviving herds in the early 1900s and they were protected in a paddock at the base of Cascade Mountain for almost 100 years. They were removed in 1997.

This release is part of a five-year reintroduction plan that will evaluate whether it's feasible to manage a wild herd in the park over the long term. At the end of the term, Parks Canada will decide whether to maintain the project, expand it or end it. </s> A herd of plains bison has been reintroduced to Canada’s oldest national park, more than a century after the iconic North American animal roamed the Great Plains and eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

The government agency Parks Canada, released 16 selected bison in the Banff National Park in central Alberta. The herd will be monitored in an enclosed pasture for about 16 months before being released into the 460-square-mile (about 1,200-square-km) reintroduction zone in the remote eastern slopes of the park.

Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said that bison were an icon of the country’s history, as well as integral part of the lives of indigenous peoples.

“By returning plains bison to Banff National Park, Parks Canada is taking an important step towards restoring the full diversity of species and natural processes to the park’s ecosystems while providing new opportunities for Canadians and visitors to connect with the story of this iconic species,” she said.

Environmental historian John Sandlos, of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, said plains bison were exterminated in Canada in the late 19th century, mostly to provide a supply of dried meat to fuel the fur trade.

Mr Sandlos said the current reintroduction of plains bison to Banff National Park was significant because it restored a keystone species that will maintain the ecological integrity of the park through interactions with other species.

While there have been other bison reintroductions in the Grasslands and Prince Albert National Parks, he said, this project “has the potential to create a large free-roaming herd of bison in southern Canada, a wildlife assemblage that has not existed in the region since the late 19th century.”

“In a broad sense, the reintroduction program is a small but significant step toward restoring a species that is ecologically extinct across most of its former range,” Mr Sandlos told The Independent.

Theodore Binnema, an environmental history professor at the University of Northern British Columbia, said that the reintroduction of the plains bison to Banff was a complicated issue.

Mr Binnema said the bison population during the pre-settlement era was actually relatively small, and that the herd has the potential to grow far larger that it would have been during that time.

“This could produce an ecosystem in the park very unlike it ever was in the past,” Mr Binnema said, bringing into question whether reintroducing the bison actually fulfils Parks Canada’s mandate to protect the ecological integrity of park spaces. </s> The death toll from violent rainstorms battering Italy has risen to nine, officials said Tuesday.

Most of the country’s northern region remains under a red alert after catastrophic rains and severe winds pounded much of the country, resulting in downed trees, tidal flooding, and thousands left without power.

Venice has been inundated by floodwaters — the worst seen in the Italian city for at least a decade.

On Monday, the water rose to more than five feet above sea level at high tide, bringing three-quarters of the canal city under water.

“The exceptional wave of bad weather leaves us with a dramatic toll: nine dead, four serious injuries and one person missing,” said Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

The national fire brigade said it had intervened in 7,000 cases across the country and that one of its members died after being crushed by a tree during a rescue operation in a small town in the northeast Italian province of South Tyrol.

Authorities said Tuesday that a woman died in the north region of Trentino when her home was overcome by a mudslide and that a man was killed by a falling tree in the northeastern region of Veneto.

Two young people died in the south of Rome when a tree hit their car, and another person was killed in the nearby town of Terracina as winds brought down throngs of pine trees, according to CNN.

Among the victims, according to the news outlet, was a 21-year-old man who was struck by a falling tree while walking in Naples and a woman who died after being hit by debris blown off a building in the northern region of Liguria.

A man was also killed Monday while kite-surfing near the town of Cattolica on the Adriatic coast.

According to Italian media, nearly 200 people, tourists and hotel staff were stranded by heavy snowfall at Stelvio Pass, a mountain pass in northern Italy bordering Switzerland.

The weather was expected to improve Tuesday, “giving the country a truce,” according to an official from Italy’s Civil Protection Service.

Meanwhile, heavy snowfall in France has caused travel chaos and left hundreds of motorists stranded as winter arrived early on Monday.

Nearly 200,000 homes remained without power across the country Tuesday after snowstorms struck central regions Monday evening. </s> Authorities are struggling to contain the infection with three areas already testing positive for the virus - Jesolo, Caorle and Ceggia. All three had already been decontaminated, meaning the outbreaks are moving faster than tests and disinfestations. A 77-year-old man died yesterday after he contracted an infected mosquito bite in Cento, near Bologna in northern Italy. He had originally been admitted to hospital for a fall on Tuesday, July 24, but his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to a specialist hospital 60 miles away in Cona, where he was diagnosed with West Nile meningoencephalitis.

The West Nile virus has no symptoms in 75 percent of cases. But those who do show signs suffer flu-like symptoms, with a fever, headache, vomiting and a rash. In the worst of cases, the virus can develop into meningitis or encephalitis causes seizures and confusion. If the infection reaches the nervous system, it can cause death in 10 percent of cases. The twelfth person to be infected by the virus, in the eastern Veneto region, saw small bubbles erupt all over her body, as well as a headache and joint pains, two days ago.

The mayor of Fossalta di Piave, in the Venice area, has ordered a “massive disinfestation” throughout the area, after the 53-year-old woman tested positive for the infection. The woman managed to stop the infection becoming any more dangerous by spotting symptoms early. Pier Giorgio Scotton said: "She went to the doctor and said, ‘Could it be the West Nile?’ And she was immediately tested. Their suspicion was founded.” She was taken to hospital immediately, where she is now out of danger and recovering. Mr Scotton said: “She was always lucid and present. She will still need a few days to say that the most difficult phase is over.” It is not known where the infected mosquito was as the woman had travelled in the Jesolo and Eraclea areas. It is also difficult to identify where infected mosquitos are as incubation periods can vary from person to person from two days to two weeks. And mosquitos travel between towns within just a few hours. </s> The Mexican government has announced new efforts to save the critically endangered vaquita from extinction, following a widespread advocacy campaign by groups including the World Wildlife Fund and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and billionaire Carlos Slim met Wednesday to mark the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding that will spark new efforts to save the animal, which researchers worry could become extinct by next year. Last month DiCaprio launched a Twitter campaign aimed at Mexican officials to encourage them to take action, an effort that led Peña Nieto to declare the country was focusing “all its efforts to prevent the extinction of the species.”

“Now more than ever, the world is looking for bold leadership at every level to tackle climate change and environmental conservation issues,” DiCaprio said in a statement after Wednesday’s meeting. “This action is a critical step towards ensuring that the Gulf of California continues to be both vibrant and productive, especially for species like the critically-endangered vaquita.”

The memorandum includes a permanent ban on fishing nets that often unintentionally trap the animals and an increase in enforcement for such an effort.

“Mexico understands its responsibility as one of the countries with greatest biodiversity,” Peña Nieto said in a statement. “That is why we have implemented an historic effort to avoid the extinction of a unique species in the world.”

The news was praised by groups including the WWF, which, alongside DiCaprio, began a signature campaign last month to urge increased protections for the vaquita. More than 200,000 people joined the call.

“Today’s agreement marks a key step forward in the fight to save the critically endangered vaquita and ensure a sustainable future for the people and wildlife of Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California,” the group said in a statement.

Populations of vaquitas, small, elusive porpoises nicknamed “pandas of the sea,” have plummeted in recent years following a spate of illegal fishing operations in their habitat, Mexico’s Gulf of California. It’s estimated there are fewer than 30 vaquitas left in the wild.

The animals are often caught in large gillnets used to catch a critically endangered species of fish called the totoaba, whose swim bladders are prized on the black market in parts of Asia. Called “aquatic cocaine,” the bladders can sell for $10,000 a kilogram.

In recent months, scientists, conservationists and the Mexican government have waged a desperate battle to save the vaquita, including an increase in patrols and the outsourcing of some policing efforts to the activist group Sea Shepherd. Some researchers are preparing efforts to trap the few vaquitas that remain and breed them in captivity; however, such efforts have never been undertaken before, and some fear it could kill more vaquitas in the process.

While such plans have remained controversial, the WWF said any efforts to sequester the animals must include attempts to return them to the wild once populations recover, like initiatives to protect the California condor.

“WWF believes that any effort to capture and provide sanctuary for the remaining vaquita and breed them in captivity must be explicitly linked to a plan to return vaquita to the wild once their habitat is secure,” the group said.
A beaver is seen in Northern Italy on camera, a species that has not been seen in the country since 1471.