Page 28 - aruba-today-20200120

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 20 January 2020
Study: Spotted lanternfly costing Pennsylvania $50M annually

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM said.
Associated Press Spotted lanternfly is be-
The spotted lanternfly, an lieved to weaken, though
invasive pest from Asia not necessarily kill, trees like
that is wreaking havoc on maple, oak and black wal-
valuable trees and vines, nut. A greater economic
is costing the Pennsylvania threat than tree mortality
economy about $50 million is the prospect that states
and eliminating nearly 500 and nations could limit im-
jobs each year, according ports from Pennsylvania
to a Penn State study re- in an effort to prevent the
leased Thursday. bugs' spread, according
The study represents re- to Wayne Bender, who
searchers' first attempt to leads the Pennsylvania
quantify the destruction Hardwoods Development
caused by the large, col- Council, part of the state
orful planthopper. First de- agriculture department.
tected in the U.S. in 2014, in "The industry is taking it very
Pennsylvania's Berks Coun- seriously and has taken pro-
ty, it has since overrun the active ... measures to mini-
state's southeastern corner mize the threat and move-
and spread into nearby ment of spotted lanternfly,"
states including New Jer- he said.
sey, Delaware and Virginia. Elsewhere, scientists have
Economists in Penn State's been testing chemical and
College of Agricultural Sci- biological methods of lan-
ences estimated the finan- ternfly control. Government
cial impact on industries This Sept. 19, 2019, file photo, shows a spotted lanternfly at a vineyard in Kutztown, Pa. contractors are removing
most susceptible to spotted Associated Press tree of heaven — an inva-
lanternfly, including nurser- sive tree that is the lantern-
ies, vineyards, Christmas including reduced business mate. The state's $19 bil- going on out in the forest. flies' preferred host — from
tree growers and hard- and household spending, lion forest products industry This thing is feeding on trees public property. Pennsylva-
wood producers. represent another $21 mil- would be especially vulner- and those trees are worth nia has also established a
In the state's hard-hit south- lion each year. able. Pennsylvania, with its a lot of money," said Jay quarantine meant to limit
east, spotted lanternfly im- If the insect were to ex- vast unbroken stretches of Harper, a study co-author the bugs' spread.
poses $29 million in direct pand statewide, it could forest, is the nation's No. 1 and director of Penn State's The Penn State study was
costs on growers and forest cause $325 million in dam- producer of hardwoods. Fruit Research and Exten- funded by the Center for
landowners, according to age and wipe out 2,800 "The part that we're really sion Center. Rural Pennsylvania, a legis-
the study. Secondary costs, jobs, the researchers esti- concerned about is what's "This is a call to arms," he lative agency.q

'Amazing': New embryo made of nearly extinct rhino species

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — and conservationists from male southern white rhinos
Researchers say they have Kenya, the Czech Repub- among those at Kenya's
successfully created an- lic, Germany and Italy. Ol Pejeta Conservancy to
other embryo of the nearly The ultimate goal is to cre- serve as a surrogate moth-
extinct northern white rhino ate a herd of at least five er, Kenya's wildlife minister
in a global effort to keep animals that could be re- said.
the species alive. Just two turned to their natural habi- Decades of poaching
animals remain, and both tat in Africa. That could have taken a heavy toll on
are female. take decades. rhino species. The animals
The viable embryo is just The two remaining female are killed for their horns,
the third to be created in northern white rhinos, Na- which have long been
a lab with eggs taken from jin and Fatu, are hosted used as carving mate-
the females and insemi- by Kenya. The three viable rial and prized in traditional
In this Friday, Aug. 23, 2019 file photo, female northern white rhi-
nos Fatu, 19, right, and Najin, 30, left, the last two northern white nated with frozen sperm embryos have been cre- Chinese medicine for their
rhinos on the planet, are fed some carrots by a ranger in their from dead males, accord- ated with eggs from Fatu. supposed healing proper-
enclosure at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya. ing to Wednesday's state- "Now the team will make ties.
Associated Press ment. The embryos are every effort to achieve the The last male northern
stored in liquid nitrogen to same result for the 30-year- white rhino was a 45-year-
be transferred into a surro- old Najin before it is too old named Sudan, who
gate mother — a southern late for her," said Thomas gained fame in 2017 when
white rhino — in the com- Hildebrandt with the Leib- he was listed as "The Most
ing months. niz Institute for Zoo & Wild- Eligible Bachelor in the
"It's amazing to see that we life Research in Germany. World" on the Tinder dating
will be able to reverse the The procedure has proven app as part of a fundraising
tragic loss of this subspecies to be safe and can be per- effort. Sudan, named for
through science," said Ke- formed regularly before the the country where he was
nya's wildlife minister, Najib animals become too old, born in the wild, was eutha-
Balala, in the statement by the new statement said. nized in 2018 because of
the Kenya Wildlife Service The next step is to select fe- age-related ills.q