Government research shows dramatic decline in numbers in western Hudson Bay stronghold
Polar bears are disappearing fast from the western part of Hudson Bay on the southern tip of the Canadian Arctic, according to a government survey.
The report said there had been a dramatic decline in the of number of female bears and cubs in particular.
Continue reading...Environment Agency under fire for extending schedule for tackling pollution in rivers, lakes and coastal waters to 2063
Targets to clean up the majority of England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters suffering from a cocktail of agricultural and sewage pollution have been pushed back from 2027 to 2063.
Not one English waterway, including rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters is in good ecological and chemical health at present, with pollution from water treatment plants and agriculture the key sources of the damage. The Environment Agency said on Thursday £5.3bn was being invested for the next five years to stop the further deterioration of waterways.
Continue reading...Farmers’ lobby welcomes move by Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, claiming animals are getting ‘ever closer’ to homes
Italy’s ruling right-wing coalition is set to loosen hunting rules to deal with what the country’s farming lobby has called an “invasion” of wild boars.
The boars are common in the countryside, but have recently also been spotted in central parts of Rome, attracted by the Eternal City’s chronically overflowing rubbish skips.
Continue reading...The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s last-minute bid for additional funds was dismissed on a legal technicality
It was almost a special moment in the early hours of Monday morning in the Palais des congrès in Montreal. China and Canada, two squabbling adversaries, had united for the good of the planet to help the world at Cop15 forge a once-in-a-decade deal to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems.
From the emphasis on indigenous rights to conserving 30% of Earth for nature, there is good reason to believe the Kunming-Montreal agreement could be a truly historic, hopeful turning point in humanity’s relationship with nature after decades of destruction and warnings of mass extinctions.
Continue reading...Democratic Republic of the Congo’s environment minister says country has not agreed to ‘30 by 30’ deal
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s environment minister has said her country has not agreed to a deal to halt the destruction of the Earth’s ecosystems, prompting behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to keep the agreement alive just hours after it was adopted.
Ève Bazaiba, the DRC’s environment minister, said her country would be writing to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, and the Convention on Biological Diversity to express the DRC’s position on the final text. It comes after the Chinese Cop15 president, Huang Runqiu, appeared to force through the agreement in the final plenary just moments after the DRC negotiator had said did not support the deal, which is typically negotiated by consensus. His interventions prompted further objections from Uganda and Cameroon.
Continue reading...Father able to stop the attack on the five-year-old boy, who was bitten multiple times while playing on a beach
A young boy who is in hospital after being attacked by a dingo in Queensland is stable and “doing well”, a spokesperson from Hervey Bay hospital has said.
The child, aged five, was bitten on the head, arm, and buttocks at the remote Ocean Lake camping area in K’gari (Fraser Island) on Sunday afternoon.
Continue reading...Final agreement could bring better protection for vital ecosystems and big reforms to agriculture
A potentially transformational agreement for nature is close to being reached at Cop15 in Montreal, which could bring better protection for Earth’s vital ecosystems such as the Amazon and Congo basin rainforests, big reforms to agriculture, and better protection of indigenous territories and rights – but there are concerns that key issues are being overlooked.
After four years of negotiations and 12 years since the last biodiversity targets were agreed in Japan, the Chinese president of Cop15 put forward its recommendations for a final agreement after two weeks of intense negotiations at the UN biodiversity summit in Canada.
Continue reading...Wildlife TV presenter tipped for success after capturing country’s heart on path to Strictly victory
He may have come from relative obscurity but 2023 is predicted to be a big year for the Strictly Come Dancing champion Hamza Yassin, who lifted the glitterball trophy with his dance partner Jowita Przystał on Saturday night.
He pipped fellow finalists Helen Skelton, Fleur East and Molly Rainford to the title in a tense final and insiders are now predicting big things for the wildlife expert, who said he was “over the moon” to win.
Continue reading...Experts and officials mourn cougar who became ‘an iconic ambassador for wildlife’ in the city
The reign of Los Angeles’s most famous mountain lion – hailed as an “ambassador for wildlife” in the city – has come to an end, after health and behavioral concerns led to P-22’s euthanization.
The cougar, who became another LA celebrity after making his home in the city a decade ago, “went to sleep” on Saturday morning, according to state wildlife officials.
Continue reading...Decimated by relentless drought, the population of the common Australian insect is recovering but remains fragile
The bogong moth population has started to bounce back after nearing extinction but the insect’s future remains fragile, a new report has found.
The Australian Conservation Foundation interviewed a number of scientists who collect data on bogong moth populations, finding that experts agree the numbers have increased this season, likely thanks to the deluge brought on by three consecutive La Niña years.
Continue reading...Post-pandemic relaxation of restrictions could weaken animal protection and pose a hazard to public health, say experts
China appears to be weakening its post-Covid restrictions on the farming of wildlife such as porcupines, civets and bamboo rats, which raises a new risk to public health and biodiversity, warn NGOs and experts.
Before the pandemic, wildlife farming was promoted by government agencies as an easy way for rural Chinese people to get rich. But China issued an outright ban on hunting, trading and transporting wildlife, as well as the consumption as food, after public health experts suggested the virus could have originated from the supply chain.
Continue reading...Wildlife experts assessed the big cat’s health and said he will not be released back into the wild, with euthanization also an option
The famous Hollywood-roaming mountain lion known as P-22 is drastically underweight and was probably struck and injured by a car, wildlife experts who conducted a health examination on the big cat said on Tuesday.
The male cougar, whose killing of a leashed dog has raised concerns about its behavior, probably will not be released back into the wild and could be sent to an animal sanctuary or euthanized, depending on its health, the California department of fish and wildlife said.
Continue reading...Negotiators say divisions mean risk is growing of a weak final agreement similar to Denmark summit in 2009
Talks to halt the destruction of nature “very much hang in the balance”, sources have said, as environment ministers from around the world begin to arrive in Montreal amid concerns about a lack of Chinese leadership of the Cop15 talks.
At the halfway stage of the summit in Canada, negotiators at the UN biodiversity summit have said divisions are contributing to the growing risk of a “Copenhagen moment”, referring to the 2009 UN climate summit when talks ended with a weak final agreement in the Danish capital, not the “Paris moment for nature” leading environmental figures had been calling for.
Continue reading...Experts describe it as a ‘beautiful endemic rainforest species’, one of several that have not been seen for decades
The mountain mist frog, a species once found across two-thirds of Australia’s wet tropics, has been declared extinct on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list.
The last recorded sighting of the frog, most commonly found near Thornton Peak, north-west of Cairns, was in April 1990. It is believed to have been wiped out by chytrid fungus, a disease that attacks the skin and has destroyed amphibian populations across the globe, though a reduction in its natural habitat due to rising temperatures driven by greenhouse gas emissions may have also played a role.
Continue reading...Los Angeles’ resident big cat will have his health assessed after recent attacks on two chihuahuas and roaming too close to homes
Los Angeles’s most famous mountain lion, known as P22, will be captured and studied in order to assess his health following recent attacks on two small dogs and close encounters with people near the park he calls home.
Wildlife officials made the announcement on Thursday and said in a statement that, following the evaluation, California department of fish and wildlife veterinarians and National Park Service biologists will determine the best next steps for the animal while also prioritizing the safety of the surrounding communities.
Continue reading...Female calf named Nessa will help efforts to protect species, of which fewer than 2,500 remain in the wild
An endangered Malayan tapir has been born at a UK zoo, in what the zoo said was an “important moment” for conservation.
The female calf, which zookeepers have named Nessa, was born weighing 9kg on Wednesday at Chester zoo, one of only two places in the country to keep tapirs, a species related to the horse and the rhinoceros.
Continue reading...Experts create guide to help save seabirds from bleak future caused by global heating
The majority of puffin nesting sites in western Europe are likely to be lost by the end of the century due to climate breakdown, a report has warned.
Other seabirds will also be affected unless urgent action to limit global heating is taken, with razorbills and arctic terns forecast to lose 80% and 87% of their breeding grounds respectively owing to reduced food accessibility and prolonged periods of stormy weather.
Continue reading...António Guterres calls for end to destruction of nature as Canada pushes proposal to protect 30% of Earth
Humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction and governments must end the “orgy of destruction”, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said at the beginning of the biodiversity Cop15.
“We are out of harmony with nature. In fact, we are playing an entirely different song. Around the world, for hundreds of years, we have conducted a cacophony of chaos, played with instruments of destruction. Deforestation and desertification are creating wastelands of once-thriving ecosystems,” he said.
Continue reading...Lack of funding identified as biggest obstacle to planting and maintaining hedgerows
Farmers are urging the government to include hedge creation in its nature-friendly farming subsidy scheme in an attempt to increase biodiversity.
Details about the post-Brexit replacement for the EU’s common agricultural policy have been scarce, with land managers simply told they would get payments for providing “public goods” such as protecting nature.
Continue reading...Protests against oil and mining have been planned, as thousands of delegates arrive for UN biodiversity summit
Police in Montreal are bracing for their biggest operation in two decades, as thousands of visitors – including frustrated demonstrators – begin to arrive for the Cop15 global biodiversity summit.
Officials are expecting more than 10,000 people, including scientists and senior bureaucrats, to attend Cop15 in the Canadian city.
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