Citizen science survey should aid knowledge of populations, including that of small tortoiseshell ‘missing’ from buddleias
The apparent alarming absence of butterflies feeding on buddleia flowers this summer will be tested by the launch of the world’s largest insect survey.
People are being urged to take part in the Big Butterfly Count today to help discover if anecdotal reports of a lack of butterflies reflect a wider reality across Britain this summer.
Continue reading...Boom lift, digger and resuscitation used in operation that took place in heavy rain in Khao Yai national park
Veterinarians and park staff have pulled off a dramatic rescue of a pair of elephants in Thailand that involved the use of a boom lift, a digger and the resuscitation of an unconscious mother by three people.
The rescue took place in the pouring rain in central Nakhon Nayok province on Wednesday when a one-year-old elephant fell into a roadside drainage hole. The distressed mother stood guard over her calf, according to national park staff, but also fell in shortly after she was sedated.
Continue reading...A TikTok clip showing the panicked frolickers running helter-skelter has nearly 10m views, but experts say it’s common behavior
A TikTok video showing dozens of San Diego beachgoers running and jumping out of the way of two fast-moving sea lions has generated nearly 10m views and sparked conversations about whether the mammals were going after people and reclaiming picturesque La Jolla Cove’s narrow strip of sand.
But sea lion expert Eric Otjen of SeaWorld San Diego said what he saw was normal sea lion behavior for this time of year, when males are sparring as breeding season gets underway.
Continue reading...The Spix macaw, a bird that had once vanished in the wild, is now thriving in its South American homeland after a successful breeding programme
Twenty years ago, the future of the Spix’s macaw could not have looked bleaker. The last member of this distinctive parrot species disappeared from the wild, leaving only a few dozen birds in collectors’ cages across the globe. The prospects for Cyanopsitta spixii were grim, to say the least.
But thanks to a remarkable international rescue project, Spix’s macaws – with their grey heads and vivid blue plumage – have made a stunning comeback. A flock now soars freely over its old homeland in Brazil after being released there a month ago. Later this year, conservationists plan to release more birds, and hope the parrots will start breeding in the wild next spring.
Continue reading...Biosecurity Queensland euthanised the horse in Mackay on Friday after it contracted the virus, which can be fatal in humans
Queensland has recorded its first case of Hendra virus since 2017 after a horse tested positive in Mackay.
Biosecurity Queensland said the result was confirmed on Friday and the horse was euthanised after its condition deteriorated rapidly.
Continue reading...Bears were stealing food from tents at campground in Anchorage that provides shelter but is also bear country
Alaska wildlife officials have killed four black bears in a campground recently reserved for people in Anchorage who are homeless after the city’s largest shelter was closed.
Employees from the Alaska department of fish and game on Tuesday killed a sow and her two cubs and another adult bear that was acting separately, stealing food from tents inside Centennial Park, which is managed by the city, officials said.
Continue reading...Animal welfare groups find sows in Europe forced to spend weeks in cages so small they can only stand and lie down
Animal welfare campaigners are calling on UK supermarkets to stop selling premium ham, including Parma, produced in “sow stalls” on EU farms.
An undercover investigation conducted by Compassion in World Farming (CWF), an animal welfare campaign group, found that sows are forced to spend many weeks in cages so small they can only stand up and lie down.
Continue reading...Simba the goat’s owner says kid’s ears are record-breaking and has contacted Guinness World Records
A kid goat with extraordinarily long ears has become a media star in Pakistan, with its owner claiming a world record that may or may not exist.
Simba is living a pampered existence in Karachi, where he was born last month with ears that were strikingly long – and have grown to reach 54cm (21in).
Continue reading...Hives along state’s central and mid-north coasts and in north-west destroyed as bee lockdown continues
More than 15 million bees have been euthanised across 31 infected premises in New South Wales as the fight to contain the varroa mite continues.
Bees from 1,533 hives have been destroyed between the NSW central and mid-north coasts, as well as at Narrabri in the state’s north-west, the state’s agriculture minister, Dugald Saunders, said. “It’s a significant number of bees,” he said.
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Continue reading...Ambitious $2.8m scheme hopes to eliminate damaging species from ecologically significant Rakiura/Stewart Island
New Zealand conservationists are embarking on the largest attempt ever made to eradicate introduced predators from an inhabited island.
Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, a crown research institute, has signed a $2.8m partnership with Rakiura/Stewart Island’s conservation group, Predator Free Rakiura, to eradicate predators including possums, rats, feral cats and hedgehogs over the next four years.
Continue reading...Addison Bethea, 17, insisted ‘I’m still going to do what I love’ as she faces amputation following Fourth of July incident
A teenager who was in hospital to have her right leg amputated on Tuesday after a shark bit her off Florida’s coast said she had no intention of abandoning her love for the water.
“Don’t be scared of the ocean,” Addison Bethea told Miami’s CBS affiliate from her bed when asked to send a message to the public. “I’m still going to do what I love – don’t just let fear overtake your life.”
Continue reading...A Romanian and an Austrian die within 600 metres of each other south of city of Hurghada
Two women have been killed in shark attacks in Egypt’s Red Sea, south of the city of Hurghada, the Egyptian environment ministry has said.
Two sources told Reuters that the body of a Romanian tourist in her late forties was discovered hours after an attack that left a 68-year-old Austrian woman dead. Both attacks happened within 600 metres of each other, off the coast of Sahl Hasheesh, according to the sources.
Continue reading...The girl was collecting scallops in 5ft deep water off Keaton Beach when she was attacked; her brother jumped in to save her
A teenager is facing the loss of one of her legs after a shark bit her while swimming off the coast of Florida, according to authorities.
Facebook posts shared by the Taylor county sheriff’s office and the girl’s father, Shane Bethea, recounted the nearly fatal attack Thursday.
Continue reading...Conservationists say exploitation of amphibians leading to depletion of native species abroad
A voracious appetite for frogs’ legs among the French and Belgians is driving species in Indonesia, Turkey and Albania to the brink of extinction, according to a report.
Europe imports as many as 200 million mostly wild frogs every year, contributing to a serious depletion of native species abroad.
Continue reading...Proposals – the first in 30 years to tackle catastrophic wildlife loss in Europe – include legally binding targets for land, rivers and sea
For the first time in 30 years, legislation has been put forward to address catastrophic wildlife loss in the EU. Legally binding targets for all member states to restore wildlife on land, rivers and the sea were announced today, alongside a crackdown on chemical pesticides.
In a boost for UN negotiations on halting and reversing biodiversity loss, targets released by the European Commission include reversing the decline of pollinator populations and restoring 20% of land and sea by 2030, with all ecosystems to be under restoration by 2050. The commission also proposed a target to cut the use of chemical pesticides in half by 2030 and eradicate their use near schools, hospitals and playgrounds.
Continue reading...Attlee follows in the steps of other parliamentary moggies such as Palmerston, Gladstone and Larry
For the past few months, Westminster has been abuzz with little else other than Boris Johnson and his nine lives. Now, however, he may have a rival in that particular field: Lindsay Hoyle’s new cat, Attlee.
The feline will follow in the steps of other parliamentary moggies including the Foreign Office’s Palmerston, Treasury’s Gladstone and Downing Street’s Larry.
Continue reading...Campaigners say nature in England faces ‘perfect storm of threats’ with eight promised bills yet to appear
Nature faces a “perfect storm of threats”, campaigners say, after eight wildlife bills promised by Boris Johnson since coming to power have so far failed to see the light of day.
The government has been accused of reneging on commitments by failing to deliver policies on nature-friendly farming, the use of peat and pesticides, reintroducing beavers and other lost species, and protecting rare marine life.
Post-Brexit farming reforms – The government has broken its promise to reform farming post-Brexit. In its national food strategy for England published earlier this month the government’s commitment to provide a third of its farming budget for landscape recovery has been abandoned.
Ban on horticultural peat use – The government has consulted on the ban on the sale of peat and products containing peat in England and Wales after the failure of voluntary targets. Over 12 weeks (the usual time limit for responding) have passed and the government has yet to respond to the consultation. There was also no clear legislative vehicle in the recent Queen’s speech to enact the ban.
Beaver reintroductions – Last year, the government consulted on further reintroductions of beavers in England following the successful River Otter beaver trial. The government has yet to publish its response to the consultation or announce its approach to the reintroduction of beavers in England. This was part of the secretary of state’s announcement at Delamere Forest in May 2021.
Species reintroduction taskforce – Also part of that announcement was the commitment to establish an England species reintroduction taskforce to consider reintroductions of lost species such as wildcats, as well as the release of declining species such as the curlew, into areas from which they have been lost to help populations recover.
National action plan on the sustainable use of pesticides – The UK government consulted on the draft national action plan in December 2020 but has yet to publish the final version of its plan to replace the 2013 version.
Landscapes review – Despite responding to the landscapes review, the government has yet to legislate for the recommendations it accepted, such as amending the statutory purpose to ensure the core function of protected landscapes should be to drive nature recovery in England.
Integrated pest management – The government has yet to confirm whether key components of the new agricultural system, such as integrated pest management, will be included in the new sustainable farming incentive from next year.
Bycatch mitigation initiative – A policy to protect rare marine life from being unintentionally caught by fishers was approved in March but has not come to fruition, after being expected in May.
Continue reading...Family found a Lamarckdromia beagle specimen washed up on the beach in Denmark in southern WA
A “fluffy” crab discovered off the coast of Western Australia has been named after the ship that carried Charles Darwin around the world.
The new species, Lamarckdromia beagle, belongs to the Dromiidae family, commonly known as sponge crabs.
Continue reading...Pushed northwards by global heating, exotic birds like the rainbow bee-eater seen nesting in Norfolk will likely become established summer visitors
Rainbow-hued bee-eaters breeding on the Norfolk coast this summer and three rare black-winged stilts fledglings in Yorkshire are an “unmissable sign” that the nature and climate emergency has reached Britain, according to conservationists.
Birdwatchers are flocking to north-east Norfolk to see the bee-eaters, a colourful rare visitor from Africa and southern Europe, after seven birds were spotted close to Cromer by a local birder.
Continue reading...Ecologists raise concern over chicks’ attempts to escape high temperatures during one of earliest heatwaves on record
Hundreds of baby swifts in southern Spain have died after leaving their nests prematurely, in what ecologists described as an attempt to escape the extreme temperatures during one of the country’s earliest heatwaves on record.
Concerns were raised for the protected species late last week after residents in Seville and Córdoba noticed dozens of recently hatched birds scattered across sidewalks.
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