Daily Dose of Animal Stories from the News

lastr

Starting a new thread to showcase some animal stories from the news that highlight our relationship with them. The story will be linked and quoted (some online newspapers go into archive after a day or two).

Carol
 

lastr

DD: Thunder Bay therapy dog 130 pounds of love

Chronicle Journal

More therapy dog teams needed to brighten others' days

By Stephanie MacLellan - The Chronicle-Journal

September 08, 2004

For many residents at Pioneer Ridge Home for the Aged, Simon is like a shaggy, black ray of sunshine.

The 130-pound Newfoundland dog and his owner, Mary Clare Courtland, visit the home every week as part of the St. John Ambulance therapy dog program.

“People really respond so well to dogs,” Courtland said. “It’s so satisfying for the (dog and handler) teams.”

The therapy dog program has been active in Thunder Bay since 2001, following a long absence from the community. Courtland, the program’s co-ordinator, said there are 10 dogs in the program, with breeds ranging from Newfoundlands to a dachshund.

The dogs make regular visits to seniors and people in hospitals, Alzheimer centres and palliative care units to spread cheer.

Rita Ewing, a resident at Thunder Bay’s Jasper Place seniors’ residence, said she looks forward to Simon’s visits.

“I love dogs, but he’s such a good dog,” she said. “He’s such a beautiful dog. I just love him.”

Ewing used to own dogs before her husband, who lives in Pioneer Ridge, had a stroke and she lost most of her vision to macular degeneration. She said she enjoys visits from Simon because it’s almost like having her own dog again.

Courtland said reactions like Ewing’s are common, and they can be even more dramatic with patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

“Sometimes it’s almost like miracles happen, when a person responds to a dog when they haven’t been communicating with human beings for a while,” she said. “Sometimes when people retreat into their self, when they see a dog, it evokes a different reaction.”

St. John Ambulance is looking for more therapy dog teams to join the program. Courtland said a dog will be a good candidate if it’s friendly, outgoing and well-behaved.

Interested volunteers must attend a one-hour seminar, then take a test with the dog to assess how well it would cope in a hospital or seniors’ home setting.

The next seminars will be held Sept. 18 at 10 a.m. and Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. Tests will be held Sept. 25. For more information, call St. John Ambulance volunteer co-ordinator Pam Fortune at 345-1712.
 

lastr

DD: Cool for Cats Cafe

UK News is amazed at this one:

First Cool-For-Cats Cafe To Open
An experimental cafe opens in New York this week, catering exclusively to cat owners - and their cats. In an unconventional marketing drive to launch its first wet cat food, the Meow Mix (dry cat food) company will operate the feline cafe, on Fifth Avenue in Manhatten, for a week long trial from tomorrow.

The project is said to be costing the company about $200,000 (£109,000). Based on how it fares, Richard Thompson, CEO Meow Mix, has suggested that the company may reopen it again at another site in New York, or possibly create a mobile cafe which would tour the country.

The menu for cats will be restricted to Meow Mix in its various flavours. Dubiously, the menu for humans is expected to reflect the Meow Mix range.

As an unusual promotion, this launch is part of a growing trend in experimental marketing, designed to capture the attention of the media and public imagination. Richard Thompson is no stranger to the genre. Previously his company sponsored a television show called Meow TV.

Invitations have been sent out to celebrities to attend the launch of the new cafe. Non-celebs are invited to find out more from the company's website www.meowmix.com, though it might be worth waiting for the reviews before booking a flight.
 

lastr

Re: Three cheer for this puppy.

Thank you for this one, it was good - I am glad to see the puppy getting the upper hand for a change and that they are going to prosecute the man.
 

awatkins

Re: DD: Red bellied parrot

Fun puzzle of an African grey! Thanks for the link, Carol. :)
 

lastr

DD: Anyone remember Jessica and her suitor Bullwinkle?

Moose and Horse Bond
Horse, moose become friends in Vermont
GROTON, Vt. (AP) — A yearling female moose and a 20-year-old horse have become pals at a farm just outside Groton village. The two docile animals have apparently bonded, much to the delight of scads of tourists who come by to observe or yell, clap, honk horns and sing.
Such activity has prompted the landowners where the animals now romp to post their pasture against trespassers.

The family agreed to the Caledonian-Record speak about the wild moose and their domestic horse on the condition that their name or exact property location not be specified.

For weeks, a young moose was seen wandering around the Groton village area and on July 12 ended up in a field adjacent to Route 302 outside the village. The moose enjoyed the pleasure of having the clear-running Wells River at her back and plenty to eat from nearby hayfields, especially at the farm location that would serve as her new summer home.

And in a hayfield close to that farm, a horse was paddocked. The two animals came together and before long, the moose was following the horse back to the farm yards and barn. They romped together, trotted together and could be seen peering out the barn window or standing side-by-side at the fence just outside the farm's kitchen door.

After more than seven weeks, the two female animals are still attracted to each other. They are both brown, the moose taller and longer. The horse is the leader and the moose follows wherever they go. The moose is about a year old, according to neighbors who have spoken with a Vermont game biologist. The farm children named her "Mary."

Mary the Moose and Little Bit, a Welch Cob, enjoy the coolness of the interior in a huge barn located on the property and frequently walk the pasture together, much to the delight of passing motorists. The host family is very careful not to feed Mary, requiring her to live off the land instead of their handouts.

A moose coming in from the wild to visit with a farm animal reminded the host family and visitors of the classic events of Jessica the Hereford cow and a huge male moose dubbed Bullwinkle, who in October 1986 entertained thousands of visitors at the Larry Carrara farm in Shrewsbury for 76 days.
 

lastr

DD: Where the Bison Roam

vent1.jpg


Gazette Times

Where the bison roam
Round-up necessary to keep animals healthy and in check

Sue Hansen
Venture Contributor

The cloud of brown dust billows up at the top of the hill, then quickly descends the fenced-in slope.

Silent at first, the sound of bovine hooves pounding solid ground soon fills the air as well, along with the excited whoops of riders on horseback. It's a scene straight from the Wild West, with emphasis on "wild."

For the animals being herded down the hillside by horses aren't cattle, but bison. And the riders aren't cowboys, but U. S. Fish and Wildlife employees, with local ranchers and college students volunteering to help out at the annual round-up held at the National Bison Range in Montana.

It's a round-up that corrals every bison to check the health of the herd and cull their numbers to meet the carrying capacity of this federal refuge.

Opened for public viewing, the Bison Round-up takes place every October on the refuge at the corral complex featuring cutting and sales pens, tally shack and electronic scales, squeeze and loading chutes. Constructed in 1993, it sports steel I-beams, 10-foot-tall highway guardrails and catwalks where spectators can look down on the action-packed process of humans handling brawny beasts.

"This is real refuge work that people get to see," said Pat Jamieson, outdoor recreation planner for the National Bison Range.

The round-up begins behind the scenes when around 500 bison are first gathered from across the 18,799-acre refuge and put in pens beyond the corrals. Then, volunteers arrive to man various crews in and around the complex, ready to face the untamed calves, cows and bulls coming through.

It starts with four or five horse riders slowly heading up the hill, spreading out to position themselves for cutting out a group from the herd. It takes precision and patience to prevent a bison stampede. As one rider takes the left flank to separate some of the animals, the other riders move in alongside the selected group to keep them together along the fence line.

"When we start closing in on the bison, they move back and forth, and we have to really watch what they're doing," said Rachel Sykes, who has ridden among the bison for seven years. "They're faster and more agile than cattle, with bigger attitudes. Especially the bulls."

Maneuvering their galloping mounts parallel to the bison's humped shoulders n too far forward and bison will veer behind the riders, too far back and bison will cut in front of the horses n it's a well-rehearsed race of captor and captive. Once confined in the "round corral" where they're counted, it's a symphony of ear-splitting sounds. Massive bodies banging against metal bars. Angry snorts of adult bison and bawling calves. Hand-held cans clanging along a catwalk to keep animals moving toward certain enclosures.

After each bison is weighed, volunteer vets and refuge staff scramble at the "squeeze chutes." As the bison struggles to escape the clamped cage, blood and hair samples are collected from its tail for DNA and genetic information along with testing for tuberculosis and brucellosis on adult animals chosen to be culled from the refuge herd. Depending on the number of calves born each spring, between 80 and 120, a similar number of adults are removed from the refuge.

"Since the bison share this range with antelope, elk, deer and bighorn sheep, we like to keep the bison population around 380," Jamieson said. "This keeps the refuge's grasslands healthy as well."

Some surplus bison, mostly young males picked at random, are donated to other public herds and the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC) for release on tribal lands.

"The reason this refuge was established in the first place in 1908 was to help re-populate the bison into other areas," Jamieson said.

Still other adults of mixed ages and gender are sold to the public, via sealed bids, to be put into private herds or used for food.

As for calves, they remain at home on the range. Each calf is branded with the last digit of the current year to help determine age. (The lifespan of a refuge bison is between 15 and 20 years.) A microchip is also implanted with a hypodermic needle into the cartilage behind one ear. This gives an individual calf its own identity number for ongoing research at the refuge.

One study being conducted at the National Bison Range is determining what a bison would eat in case a vaccine is developed for brucellosis, a disease transmitted from cattle. Though this disease is non-existent in the refuge herd, biologists are testing bait samples to see which ones tempt a bison's taste buds.

"The research bison like a mixture with vanilla flavor and we're testing it on the refuge's free-roaming bison to see if they choose to eat it, too," Jamieson said.

Bison genetics are also a big concern among all animals in public herds. At the start of the 20th century, when the few remaining wild bison (less than 100) were finally placed under federal protection, bison blood couldn't be tested for cattle genes. Since the bison at the refuge first came from private ranch herds 100 years ago, any bison with positive results for cattle genetics have been removed from the refuge, keeping bloodlines pure.

So those rounded up at the National Bison Range are true remnants that once roamed freely across fenceless prairies. Though restricted today, the round-up offers the chance to see the same wild traits that made the bison America's symbol of strength. At day's end, as the dust settles around the corrals, those bison remaining are released back onto refuge land, still rulers of their national range.
 

lastr

DD: Giant Snake Crawls Up Drain Vent, Eats Entire Family

Giant Snake Crawls Up Dryer Vent, Eats Entire Family*

Written by susan allen-rosario

"Looks like they were swallowed whole, tennis shoes and all".

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - An entire family has apparently gone missing, seemingly swallowed up by a giant African Congo snake that somehow entered their home by way of a dryer vent. Neighbors called police after the family failed to take in their newspaper for over a week.

"We are not sure exactly what happened or how many of them the snake ate. But it looks like they were swallowed whole, tennis shoes and all. We're going to take the snake back to the station and squeeze it to see just how many people pop out", police said. "The snake was easy to catch because it was so full of bodies that it could hardly move. It seemed to be a little sick to its stomach, when we put it into the truck. But after it belched a few times, it looked much better. The snake probably belongs to some neighborhood nut-job who thought "what a nice pet". Nice pets don't normally eat the neighbors".

Dr. Neman Nsimba, veterinarian and expert in exotic African wildlife, was consulted regarding the snake’s origin. "This snake is from central Africa. These migratory snakes travel in packs and have been known to eat entire villages. It's illegal to own one in the United States. So how this one got here is a mystery to me", Dr. Nsimba explained.

Police have warned relatives of the missing family to expect the worst. "Unless the family went on vacation without telling anyone and the snake simply swallowed the living room sofa, we are pretty sure our initial theory is the correct one".

Relatives say the family is not prone to impromptu vacations. "They usually brag for six months before they go anywhere. This is not like them at all".

Neighbors think that the family cat may also be missing. "We know when he is around, because he wears a large bell on his collar. We haven't heard it in a while". Officers recalled, "When we moved the snake, we heard a tingling sound that could have very well been a bell. But we won't know for sure until we are done

The Spoof

* The story as represented above is written as a satire or parody. It is fictitious.


www.thespoof.com/about/index.cfm
 

awatkins

Re: DD: Giant Snake Crawls Up Drain Vent, Eats Entire Family

:ack

:rofl
 

Writing Again

Re: DD: Giant Snake Crawls Up Drain Vent, Eats Entire Family

Actually had me wondering until I hit
These migratory snakes travel in packs

Now that would be interesing.
 

ChunkyC

Re: DD: Giant Snake Crawls Up Drain Vent, Eats Entire Family

:rofl :ha
 

ChunkyC

The North American House Hippo

Here's one -- it's a quicktime video, you may have to click play to get it to start. Volume is a bit loud.

House Hippo
 

lastr

Re: The North American House Hippo

That is wonderful! Thank you CC. :jump
 

lastr

DD: Bill the Black Sheep of the Family

bill.jpg


It’s bad enough being the black sheep of the family, but to come out looking more like a calf is just plain bad luck.
Bill, an Ashburton-born lamb, could be easily mistaken for a friesian calf thanks to his unusual collection of black markings.
He even has a wavy coat more like that of a calf than a woolly lamb. He plays all day with his fellow lambs on a Seafield Road property oblivious to his distinctive black and white coat and the stares of passers-by.

Humans may mistake him at first glance for a little calf, but the cows on the Dormers’ lifestyle block are not so easily fooled and take no notice of Bill.

Alannah and Talor Dormer, who feed Bill each day, said they thought one of his parents could have been a Chatham Island sheep.

Other than that the family is completely mystified as to why the lamb is patterned with such cow-like markings.

“We don’t know why Bill looks like this,” said their mother Linda.

It is not the only funny things to occur on the Dormers’ lifestyle block this year. Their hens are also producing green eggs.

Ashburton Guardian New Zealand
 

lastr

DD: Errant cranes finally find the exit from Michigan

Lost Cranes

Three wandering whooping cranes finally found their way home to a Wisconsin nature refuge after a two-month tour of Michigan, but five other directionally challenged birds have stayed in the state this summer.


Another crane that flew to Michigan fell victim to the laws of nature -- attacked and killed by another animal, probably a coyote.


"It's tough to lose one, but the other animal was just doing what it's meant to do -- and that's survive," said Heather Ray, administrative director for Operation Migration, a nonprofit company that is working to increase the number of the endangered species in the United States.


Hatched in incubators, raised by humans wearing crane costumes and taught their migration route by following ultralights, these birds are among the progeny of a four-year effort to establish a whooping crane population east of the Mississippi River.


A combination of bad weather and human interference caused a number of the latest batch of cranes to stray off course when they migrated from the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. Their intended destination was the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin.


Eight cranes ended up in Michigan in two groups. Three of the birds started making their way back to Wisconsin around the southern end of Lake Michigan -- the birds don't fly over large bodies of water because they can't see land. They landed at the Necedah refuge July 28.


But five cranes made their home in a wetlands in Newaygo County north of Grand Rapids. Sometime between July 23 and 27, one of the birds was killed. The remaining cranes have since moved to a wetlands in Gladwin County, west of Midland.


Another whooping crane, a female who has been missing since the flock left Florida in April, turned up in Michigan on July 30 and has been living a solitary life in Kalamazoo County.


"This is a 2-year-old bird who summered in Minnesota last summer," Ray said. "We think she just likes to travel. It's normal for unattached females to wander a little bit."


Their exact locations are kept secret to protect the cranes. The species was within 15 birds of extinction in the 1940s.There now are 433 whooping cranes in the United States and Canada. Even though the other four cranes are moving east, Ray said she is confident they'll find they're way home to Florida and end up in Wisconsin next summer.


The birds will begin their migration to Florida when the first major cold front moves through the state, said Ray. Their flight to the wildlife refuge about 60 miles north of Tampa could take as few as six days.


"We don't know when that will be for sure," Ray said. "The weather has been so weird this summer."


Another batch of 16 chicks was taken to Necedah earlier this summer to learn how to forage and fly south for the winter. They will begin their ultralight-guided flight to Florida in early October.
 

ChunkyC

Re: DD: Errant cranes finally find the exit from Michigan

directionally challenged
Many women would claim their husbands suffer from this. :grin
 

lastr

DD: Llama on the Lam

Llama on the lam

By TIM MOWRY, Staff Writer

There's a llama loose on the Chena Dome Trail in the Chena River State Recreation Area east of Fairbanks and nobody knows where it came from or what will become of it.
Hikers George Carroll and Lisa Dick encountered the llama on the trail Monday, about two miles from the trailhead at 49.1 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road.

A family of hikers coming down the trail warned Carroll and Dick that there was a llama ahead so they weren't as shocked as they might have been, he said.

"It was standing in the middle of the trail with no bridle or anything," said Carroll. "We tried to herd it back down the trail but it took off into the woods and came back out on the trail ahead of us.

"We weren't going to catch it," he said. "It was really skittish."

He described the animal as "a big, white llama."

When he got home, Carroll called both the Fairbanks North Star Borough Animal Control Shelter and the Alaska State Troopers. Neither agency immediately responded to the report.

Troopers notified the Alaska Department of Fish and Game but Fairbanks area biologist Don Young said the state doesn't deal with llamas because they are considered a domesticated animal, no matter how skittish they are.

On Wednesday, acting manager April Barnes at Animal Control had heard only second-hand reports of the llama and hadn't talked to anyone who had actually seen it.

"I haven't received a complaint call regarding it," she said.

Not that Barnes is eager to dispatch animal control officers on a wild llama chase. It would take at least two of the borough's three animal control officers to catch the animal and even then there is no guarantee they could corral it.

"That's a lot of man time to dedicate somebody to drive 50 miles and hike a couple miles in on a trail to look for an animal they might not even see," she said. "If it's pretty wild it's going to be a big challenge."

Just how the llama ended up on the 28-mile Chena Dome Trail is a mystery, but it was first reported Sunday when a woman posted a "lost llama" sign at Valley Center Store at 23.5 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road after seeing the animal on the trail, said Becky Alexander at the store.

The ad said there was a "big, white, fluffy" llama on the Chena Dome Trail that needed to be rescued and provided the location of where it had been seen.

"We've had three people since then come in and tell us the llama is still there," said Alexander.

Whether the llama was abandoned or ran away is unclear. People often use llamas as pack animals but Alaska State Parks officials had not received any reports of a lost llama on the Chena Dome Trail, according to northern region parks superintendent Anna Plager, who learned of the llama on Wednesday when notified by the News-Miner.

"That is too weird," said Plager.

At this point, nobody knows what will become of the llama. Barnes was still checking into the situation on Wednesday and wasn't sure what Animal Control would do.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
 

lastr

DD: Pint-sized cows shake milk farms

newspic4146b087c6409


South African Independant News

San Juan Y Martinez, Cuba - Rancher Raul Hernandez's cows look just like any other breed - only they are no larger than big dogs. They're a perfect source of milk for Cuban families, he says.

Standing 58cm to 71cm tall, the mini-cows can be kept in a small area and they feed on simple grasses and weeds, Hernandez says.

"They are patio cows, easy to work," the 74-year-old says, smiling under the broad hat he wears to keep off the tropical sun.

"They give up less meat, but they can deliver four or five litres of top quality milk to a family," he says.

After retiring from a state ranch where he worked for more than 30 years, Hernandez decided he wanted to keep working to remain busy and useful.

He acquired the Santa Isabel Farm in the tobacco-growing region of western Pinar del Rio province, about 200 kilometres west of Havana.

Amid the rolling hills surrounded by towering palm trees, Hernandez worked with local agriculture labourers to plant food crops. Then he decided to try breeding miniature cows.

Hernandez started out with a tiny bull, which neighbours had ridiculed because of its small size, and began breeding it with the littlest cows he could find. Five years and several generations later, he had a herd of cows that reach no higher than his waist.

He says his success has ranchers throughout the area pursuing breeding experiments of their own to come up with their own tiny cows. And Hernandez is training local teenagers to help care for the little animals.

"Now the neighbours are excited by the idea," he says. - Sapa-AP
 

awatkins

Re: DD: Pint-sized cows shake milk farms

"Patio cows."

Now, that's just cute. :lol
 

lastr

DD: Robotic Cockroaches

roachrobot.jpg


A Cockroach Inspired Robot
CLEVELAND — While cockroaches are public enemy No.1 for many pest management professionals, this pest has proven to be an ideal model for cutting-edge research being performed at leading universities.

Cockroaches are an integral part of the research performed at the Biologically Inspired Robotics Lab at Case Western Reserve University (CASE) under the direction of Dr. Roger Quinn and in collaboration with Dr. Roy Ritzmann. This lab uses data from biological organisms such as the deathhead cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis) and crickets, to create robots that can flexibly traverse irregular terrain.

VIDEO
CASE robotic researcher Dan Kingsley explains why cockroaches make such outstanding robotic models. “A cockroach uses its legs for different purposes — the front legs are dexterous like our arms and are used for sensing, reaching, climbing and turning and the rear legs are used for propulsion,” he says. “We wanted to model a robot after something robust and agile. Insects are remarkable creatures.”

CASE robotic researchers’ most recent creation is Robot V (Ajax), a robot based on the deathhead cockroach, which has six legs, two small front legs, two larger middle legs, and two large, powerful back legs. It also has the cockroach's shoulder motion, and artificial muscles that work using compressed air. Unlike cockroaches, which have 42 joints, Robot V has only 24 joints chosen based on studies in Ritzmann’s lab that indicate these are the most important for locomotion.

Robotic cockroaches also serve as models for understanding the mechanics of biological systems. For example, biologists in Ritzmann’s lab wanted to find out if and how cockroaches used a joint between their trochanter and femur segments. Modeling indicated that this joint could be used for climbing and subsequent high speed video analysis showed that this is the case. A 25:1 mechanical model of a cockroach front leg was constructed that included all of its joints and segments. This model has been used to understand and explain how the cockroach front leg functions.

Funding for this project comes from a variety of sources, notably Ohio Aerospace Institute, NASA and the United States Air Force and Navy. Kingsley says the ultimate goal of CASE’s research is to develop robots that can be used to explore rough terrains like planets, and also to create robots that can be used for purposes such as search and rescue and mine disposal
 

lastr

DD: Planes douse fire ants

The Facts

Planes douse fire ants

By Michael Wright
The Facts

Published September 1, 2004

DANBURY — Brutally efficient, merciless and rugged, fire ants have marched through the South wreaking havoc not seen since General Sherman, another redhead associated with fire, burned a path to the sea in the Civil War.

They established a beachhead in Mobile, Ala., in the 1930s, transported from South America on ships, and by the 1950s the first of their now ubiquitous mounds were spotted in Houston.

Now researchers are hoping these efficient invaders, who have marched over water and land, will prove vulnerable to air attack.

Wayne Thompson, Brazoria County’s agricultural extension agent, is using crop dusters to spread bait on pastures in Brazoria County.

Paul Nester with the state extension agency’s Imported Fire Ant Research and Management Project said aerial spraying should be effective for large tracts of land, though they won’t use it in neighborhoods.

“Maybe in some of those areas that have five- to 10-acre ranchettes,” Nester said. “We will use ground equipment in urban areas.”

Thompson was encouraged by Tuesday’s test in planes from Garrett’s Flying Service to make sure the finely ground bait will come out and is evenly distributed, about a pound-and-a-half an acre.

The next step is to spray four fields, three in Brazoria County and one in Needville, and see if they get a reduction. If that works, then pasture owners may contract with flying services to get their fields sprayed.

The extension agency is concerned with more than the painful bites these tiny terrors deliver.

“This spring was very wet so the mounds became very tall,” Thompson said.

That presents a problem for farm equipment, which has to wait for the mounds to be knocked down or risk damage in going over them.

Worker ants will carry baits back to the mound to feed other ants. Those ants secrete food for the queen, so if a feeder ant passes the bait to the queen, the mound can be destroyed.

It sounds simple, but fire ants are a hardy breed. Getting them to take the bait requires finesse.

“They’re connoisseurs,” Thompson said. “They’re not going to go after nasty bait.”

The bait is good for about 48 hours, after which it begins to decompose.

Complicating matters further, one mound might have several queens, all of whom can reproduce at a rapid pace.

To top it off, fire ants are mobile. Anyone who’s been out in a Brazoria County flood has seen giant balls of the insects floating downstream.

The extension agency recommends a coordinated effort in neighborhoods because mounds often will move to the nearest untreated area.
 

lastr

DD: Fancy of the overflow: platypuses returning

The Australian

THE locals first noticed the platypuses, four plump resident pairs frolicking in a 200m stretch. Then came the reeds and, later, a channel carving a new course through the broad, dry bed.

They were only small steps, but in the rebirth of the once mighty Snowy River they were groundbreaking.

Over the past two years, signs of life have returned to the waterway that has lain mostly dormant since its headwaters were steered westward in 1952 to irrigate the nation's bread basket.

Already it is a recovery story that seems to have defied the meagre contributions made so far -- a doubling of flows from 2 per cent to a mere 4 per cent of original volumes.

More water will be reintroduced next June and a total of 21 per cent in seven years will follow.

"Look there along the ledge at the thick reed growth," said Jo Garland, a local of the tiny town of Dalgety, about 20km downstream from the Jindabyne Dam. "The flow level has changed and the edge of the river is getting bedded down. Slowly but surely it's building back up."

Ms Garland has been campaigning for the river's future for the past two years, since Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and his NSW counterpart Bob Carr turned on a new tap for the Snowy in April 2002 with a release of water at a weir on the Mowambah River.

Brian Henderson and his wife Anne moved into the lower stretch of the Mowambah around the same time. They say the quality and quantity of water running past their property has sharply improved.

"The number one thing is we are noticing more platypus," Mr Henderson said. "The river itself has definitely cleared up. The bottom of the river, which used to be dirty, is going back more to granite and stones.

"We have also noticed more fish over the past summer period in the 20-30cm range."

Among all the river's stakeholders, there is no dispute that the 21 per cent target will be reached. But where the water will come from is undecided.

The Snowy Hydro scheme, which is responsible for ensuring the environmental flows, two months ago started a $69 million overhaul of the Jindabyne Dam to build two large slits into the dam wall, which will release targeted flows. Before that happens, the Mowambah Weir will once again be redirected to Lake Jindabyne, starving the Snowy of water that comes straight from the alps.

It is a move that locals are resisting.

"The water coming down the Snowy now is alive and has all the macro-invertebrates needed to reinvigorate the river," Jo Garland said.