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endangered species

Okayama man arrested for catching butterflies in central Japan

It’s becoming a regular Gotham City out there.

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Johnnys’ Jr. group leader makes breakthrough discovery in marine biology in downtown Osaka

You don’t get much more Japanese than an idol fishing for eel on the Dotonbori.

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Strange bird outside Shinjuku Station looks like a reincarnated salaryman

Endangered species decides to freak people out at the busiest train station in the world.

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Japanese netizens are abuzz about the way a power company dealt with an unwanted bird’s nest

An Oriental Stork that made its home on an electricity pole caused a lot of trouble, but no one really minded.

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Tuna born from mackerel: Japanese scientists develop surrogate tech to save threatened species

Last November the sushi world was struck with some bitter news: the Pacific bluefin tuna was placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources’ (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. While not considered endangered like its close relatives, the Atlantic and Southern bluefin tuna, it has been proclaimed as a vulnerable species.

Bluefin tuna is considered the best of the best, its tender red meat is coveted by sushi chefs and sushi consumers alike. But what will happen if the Pacific bluefin becomes extinct? Foreseeing a future of sushi connoisseurs being forced to eat tuna-shaped cakes or playing with tuna models to try to get their bluefin fix, scientists have come up with a radical new idea: use mackerel to breed bluefin tuna. 

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Fishermen (illegally) save endangered Japanese fish species

In a somewhat complicated story we’re not sure is heartwarming or kind of devastating, three middle-aged Tokyo fishermen have accomplished what experts thought was impossible by single (triple?)-handedly bringing an area fish species back from the brink of extinction by illegally catching them.

The three men, according to their accounts, caught the fish and, upon learning that they were on the endangered species list, contacted experts and aquariums for advice on breeding them – either for the sake of fishkind or for the sake of tons of delicious illicit fish meat.

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Man cautioned for keeping endangered leopard cat at home for 15 years, then asked for his advice

There are few things quite like the bond between a human and their pet, and most of the staff here at RocketNews24 can’t even begin to imagine life without their respective pups and feline overlords, but there are some animals that we definitely wouldn’t recommend keeping at home–particularly those on the endangered species list.

According to a recent NHK news report, a man living on the Japanese island of Tsushima narrowly avoided prosecution after it became clear that he had secretly kept a wild Japanese leopard cat in his home for 15 years before he was forced to seek assistance. As angered as the authorities were, however, they ultimately decided that they might learn from the man’s experiences and are due to talk to him about how he managed to keep the animal alive for such a length of time.

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