Category Archives: Wildlife

‘A hugely significant sighting’: red goshawk photographed for first time in central Australia

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Bird snapped by Newhaven wildlife sanctuary ecologist is likely a juvenile on risky 1,500km journey away from parents, expert says

Recent wet weather in the arid plains of central Australia prompted the wildlife ecologist and bird enthusiast Dr Tim Henderson to stop last week at a small lake to see if any waterbirds had shown up.

While there, above his head came a sight many birdwatchers wait a lifetime for: the red goshawk, Australia’s rarest bird of prey. It had a throat full of food, and was in a location it had never been photographed and had not been recorded at for about 30 years.

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Campaigners call for action as jellyfish threaten Scottish salmon farms

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String jellyfish species that has killed millions of salmon in Norwegian sea farms reported in Scotland

A jellyfish species that has been wreaking havoc on Norway’s salmon industry has made its way to Scotland, causing significant damage and prompting calls for urgent action.

The string jellyfish has killed millions of salmon in Norwegian sea farms with officials urging an extermination of affected stocks.

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Colombian tree frog found by Sheffield florist highlights invasive species threat

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Scientists say frog’s journey shows difficulty of spotting insects or fungi spread by global plant trade

A tiny tree frog hitchhiking in a bunch of roses to Sheffield from Colombia has inspired a study into invasive species reaching the UK’s shores.

Dr Silviu Petrovan, a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s zoology department and a senior author of a paper published today in the journal BioScience, had his interest piqued when he was asked to identify a live frog found in roses in a florist’s shop in Sheffield.

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Calls to halt kangaroo culling in Victoria’s Grampians after bushfires

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Australian mainland states permit killing of nearly 5 million annually as part of industry supplying meat and leather products

Wildlife advocates are calling for a halt to the commercial harvesting of kangaroos in Victoria’s Grampians region after bushfires there.

Wildlife Victoria warned of “long-term impacts” on native plants and animals due to the fires, which burned through 76,000 hectares of national park and farmland, and called for a stop to the controversial practice until the impact on kangaroo populations could be fully assessed.

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Mystery syndrome killing rainbow lorikeets and flying foxes leaves scientists baffled

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‘The animals that don’t die need total nursing care,’ wildlife rescuer says, ahead of a potential spike in cases in coming weeks

Thousands of rainbow lorikeets and hundreds of flying foxes have been hospitalised in Queensland in the past year with a mysterious paralysis that can affect the animals’ ability to fly, swallow and even breathe.

Lorikeet paralysis syndrome has struck birds in Queensland and New South Wales since at least 2012, and a similar syndrome was identified in flying foxes five years ago.

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Logging in forest earmarked for koala national park increasing under NSW Labor, analysis finds

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More than 7,000 hectares logged in planned park area since Chris Minns won 2023 election with commitment to deliver new sanctuary, conservationists say

Logging of native forest in the proposed great koala national park (GKNP) in northern New South Wales has intensified since the Minns government took office, according to new analysis by conservation advocates.

The report, which the state’s forestry corporation disputes, found 7,185 hectares (17,700 acres) were logged within the promised park in the 21 months since the March 2023 state election.

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Giant pink slug makes a comeback on extinct volcano in NSW national park

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Exclusive: The kaputar slug, which can grow longer than a human hand, was almost wiped out in the black summer bushfires of 2019-20

A giant, fluorescent pink slug’s comeback on Mount Kaputar has been mapped by eager citizen scientists.

The kaputar slug grows up to 20cm long – outstripping the average human hand – and 6cm wide. The only place it exists in the entire world is on an extinct volcano in NSW’s Mount Kaputar national park.

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Record-breaking Sydney funnel-web spider dubbed ‘Hemsworth’ to be milked for venom

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Step aside, Colossus. Be gone, Hercules. The Australian Reptile Park has recorded its largest male specimen so far

First there was Colossus, then Hercules … now, Thor.

Among the Australian Reptile Park’s tributes to the gods, one is newly pre-eminent, bearing the title of “Hemsworth”.

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Grieving killer whale who carried calf’s body spotted again with dead baby

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Experts say sighting of orca in Puget Sound with second deceased calf is ‘devastating’ for ailing population

An apparently grieving killer whale who swam more than 1,000 miles pushing the body of her dead newborn has lost another calf and is again carrying the body, a development researchers say is a “devastating” loss for the ailing population.

The Washington state-based Center for Whale Research said the orca, known as Tahlequah, or J35, was spotted in the Puget Sound area with her deceased calf.

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Sweden begins wolf hunt as it aims to halve endangered animal’s population

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Five entire families can be killed, totalling 30 wolves, in move campaigners say is illegal under EU law

Sweden’s wolf hunt starts on Thursday, with the country aiming to halve the population of the endangered predator.

The Swedish government has given the green light for five entire wolf families, a total of 30 wolves, to be killed in a hunt campaigners say is illegal under EU law. Under the Berne convention, protected species cannot be caused to have their populations fall under a sustainable level.

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Phew! Turtle doves shoot ban triggers bird species recovery

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Western European population has risen 25% with ban and some UK sites have seen promising increases

There are signs of hope for the turtle dove, one of the most endangered birds that has been plummeting towards extinction in Britain.

After a temporary ban on the annual shoot of the migratory birds as they pass through France, Spain and Portugal, which began in 2021, there has been a remarkable 25% increase in its western European population, which includes the 2,000 individuals clinging on in England.

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Police seize 6,000 illegal wild birds’ eggs as raids net largest haul in UK history

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Part of an international initiative to combat organised wildlife crime, similar seizures in Australia and Norway have recovered more than 50,000 eggs

More than 6,000 eggs have been seized in the biggest haul of its kind in UK history, after police carried out raids in Scotland, South Yorkshire, Essex, Wales and Gloucester. Thousands of eggs were found secreted in attics, offices and drawers.

The UK raids took place in November as part of Operation Pulka, an international effort to tackle organised wildlife crime – specifically the taking, possessing and trading of wild birds’ eggs. The raids began in June 2023 in Norway, and resulted in 16 arrests and the seizure of 50,000 eggs. In Australia, an estimated 3,500 eggs have been seized, worth up to A$500,000 (£250,000).

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‘We have to change our attitude’: wildlife expert says rhino horn trade must be legalised

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Call for illicit market to be taken out of hands of criminals as numbers continue to fall drastically due to poaching

International trade in rhino horns should be legalised, a leading wildlife expert has urged.

Writing in the research journal Science, Martin Wikelski argues only carefully monitored, legitimate transactions in horns can save the world’s remaining species of rhinoceros.

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Wolves to lose protection, as EU lowers bar for shooting wildlife

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Downgrading species’ protection status for political gain puts decades of conservation efforts at risk, says WWF

Europe’s wolves will lose their “strict protection” status, alarming conservationists who fear for the survival of an animal brought back from the brink of local extinction.

A committee charged with saving wildlife took the wolf’s protection status down a notch on Tuesday after members voted through a proposal from the European Union that lowers the bar for shooting a wolf.

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Bear snared after three day supermarket standoff with Japan police

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Authorities in Akita prefecture had struggled to locate the animal, which attacked a man and has eaten large quantities of meat

A bear that attacked a supermarket employee in northern Japan at the weekend before apparently holing up inside for three days has been exterminated after being found in a trap local authorities had laid near the store’s entrance.

A 47-year-old man was taken to hospital suffering from facial and other injuries after the attack in the northern prefecture of Akita on Saturday morning. His injuries are not life-threatening, according to local media.

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Venomous tiger snake slithers up driver’s leg on Melbourne freeway

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Woman weaves through traffic at 80km/h before fleeing from snake in car barefoot and attempting to flag down passing motorists

Victoria police have carried out one of the “more bizarre welfare checks” after a deadly tiger snake slithered up a driver’s leg as she was travelling at 80km/h on a major freeway.

Police said they were called to Monash Freeway near the Toorak Rd exit in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs on Saturday morning after receiving reports of a barefoot woman trying to flag down passing traffic.

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Cornish tourist spot unveils spider-related haiku spun by Simon Armitage

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Work first in a series from poet laureate about wildlife that exists in the Lost Gardens of Heligan

A new haiku by the poet laureate Simon Armitage has appeared on a garden wall in Cornwall, the first of a series of pieces celebrating the creatures that make their home among the woods, meadows and ferns there.

Armitage’s haiku, Web, celebrates the silky but deadly threads that spiders “darn” in the hedges at the Lost Gardens of Heligan and was unveiled together with an illuminated 2-metre recreation of a walnut orb-weaver spider as part of a midwinter night trail.

Web can be seen at Heligan Night Garden, which is open on select dates, until 4 January and Dwell will be published by Faber.

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Bark detective: dog trained to sniff out UK tree disease

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Six-year-old spanador called Ivor taught to identify tree fungal-like organism killing trees and shrubs around UK

Sniffer dogs are usually found looking for contraband at airports and train stations, but the UK government is now dispatching trained hounds to find forest-harming pests.

A dog has been used for the first time in the UK to successfully identify tree disease. Researchers from Forest Research used a trained spanador – a cocker spaniel labrador cross – to find the tree pathogen Phytophthora ramorum.

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Mysterious mass elephant die-off ‘probably caused by toxic water’

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Satellite data analysis suggests climate-induced algal blooms could be behind hundreds of deaths in Botswana that sparked flurry of theories in 2020

More than 350 elephants that died in mysterious circumstances probably drank toxic water, according to a new paper that warns of an “alarming trend” in climate-induced poisoning.

The deaths in Botswana’s Okavango delta were described by scientists as a “conservation disaster”. Elephants of all ages were seen walking in circles before collapsing and dying. Carcasses were first spotted in north-eastern Botswana in May and June 2020, with many theories circulating about the cause of death, including cyanide poisoning or an unknown disease.

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Western Australia’s endangered cockatoo among world’s longest-living birds

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Oldest Carnaby’s cockatoo in wild lived to 35, with eight recorded living beyond 21, researchers find

Western Australia’s endangered Carnaby’s cockatoos can live up to 35 years in the wild, making them one of the longest-lived bird species, according to a study that began in 1969.

Eight Carnaby’s cockatoos aged between 21 and 35 years have been recorded, according to research published in Pacific Conservation Biology.

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