Category Archives: Wildlife

Latin American countries join reserves to create vast marine protected area

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‘Mega-MPA’ in Pacific will link waters of Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica to protect migratory turtles, whales and sharks from fishing fleets

Four Pacific-facing Latin American nations have committed to joining their marine reserves to form one interconnected area, creating one of the world’s richest pockets of ocean biodiversity.

Panama, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica announced on Tuesday the creation of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) initiative, which would both join and increase the size of their protected territorial waters to create a fishing-free corridor covering more than 500,000 sq km (200,000 sq miles) in one of the world’s most important migratory routes for sea turtles, whales, sharks and rays.

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Best bird a bat: tiny flying mammal wins New Zealand bird of the year competition

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No stunt, say organisers, who wanted to raise awareness of the pekapeka-tou-roa, which faces the same threats as native birds

In a huge upset to New Zealand birds, but a win for one of the country’s only native land mammals, a bat has swooped in “by a long way” to take out the annual bird of the year competition.

Forest and Bird, which runs the election, thew the bat among the pigeons as a surprise entry this year. The pekapeka-tou-roa, or long tailed bat, is one of two bats in the country and one of the rarest mammals in the world. It is as small as a thumb, and the size of a bumblebee when it is born.

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Boom time for Cape Verde’s sea turtles as conservation pays off

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The number of nesting sites on the archipelago has risen dramatically, but global heating sees male population plummet

It’s nearly midnight as Delvis Semedo strolls along an empty beach on the Cape Verdean island of Maio. Overhead, the dense Milky Way pierces the darkness. A sea turtle emerges from the crashing waves and lumbers up the shore. Then another. And another.

Semedo is one of about 100 local people who patrol Maio’s beaches each night during nesting season to collect data on the turtles and protect them from poachers. This year has been busier than usual. Sea turtle nests on the islands of Sal, Maio and Boa Vista – the primary nesting grounds for loggerheads in Cape Verde – have soared in the last five years. Cape Verde’s environment ministry puts nest numbers in 2020 across all 10 islands at almost 200,000, up from 10,725 in 2015.

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Pablo Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’ are people too, US court rules

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Recognition as ‘interested persons’ is a legal first in the US, allowing animals to have their interests heard in court

The offspring of hippos once owned by Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar can be recognized as people or “interested persons” with legal rights in the US following a federal court order.

The case involves a lawsuit against the Colombian government over whether to kill or sterilize the hippos, whose numbers are growing at a fast pace and pose a threat to biodiversity.

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Current approach to wildfires risks lives and wastes money, say experts

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Researchers call for new firefighting techniques that focus on managing landscapes, as global heating sees increase in blazes

A new approach is urgently needed to tackle global wildfires as current methods are no longer working, draining the public purse and placing lives at risk, according to experts.

This summer saw some of the worst wildfires in history and underscored the destructive impacts of global heating. As Cop26 approaches and is expected to shine a light on the importance of protecting ecosystems and building defences to avoid loss of homes and lives, experts say a lack of foresight and funding worldwide means harmful wildfires will continue to rage, putting communities and firefighters in danger.

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Stop overfishing or we’ll buy elsewhere, top UK fish firm warns European states

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Young’s Seafood joins calls for sustainable quotas of mackerel, herring and blue whiting to be agreed in line with scientific advice

The UK’s largest seafood processor is threatening to stop sourcing fish from the north-east Atlantic unless coastal states, including the UK and countries in the EU, reach a suitable agreement on managing populations this month.

Young’s Seafood has joined Tesco, Co-op, Princes, Aldi, Asda, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and other retailers and suppliers in calling for urgent action from ministers to manage populations of mackerel, herring and blue whiting more sustainably.

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Eldest of world’s last two northern white rhinos retired from breeding programme

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Retirement of Najin, 32, leaves her daughter Fatu as the only egg donor in embryo implantation scheme

One of the world’s last two northern white rhinos is being retired from a breeding programme aimed at saving the species from extinction.

Najin, 32, is the mother of Fatu, who is now the only donor left in the programme, which aims to implant artificially developed embryos into another more abundant species of rhino in Kenya.

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‘Overlooked’: 14,000 invertebrate species lost habitat in Black Summer bushfires, study finds

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Scientists say the animals are vital to ecosystem and true number affected is probably far higher

More than 14,000 species of invertebrate lost habitat during Australia’s 2019-20 bushfires, according to a post-fire analysis that has recommended a doubling of the number of species listed as threatened.

The research, prepared for the federal government by scientists with the national environmental science program (NESP), found the number of insects, spiders, worms and other invertebrates affected by the disaster was much greater than the tally of vertebrates impacted.

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‘Toilet of Europe’: Spain’s pig farms blamed for mass fish die-offs

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Exclusive: pork industry’s role in pollution of one of Europe’s largest saltwater lagoons may be greater than publicly acknowledged, investigation reveals

Pollution from hundreds of intensive pig farms may have played a bigger role than publicly acknowledged in the collapse of one of Europe’s largest saltwater lagoons, according to a new investigation.

Residents in Spain’s south-eastern region of Murcia sounded the alarm in August after scores of dead fish began washing up on the shores of the Mar Menor lagoon. Within days, the toll had climbed to more than five tonnes of rotting carcasses littering beaches that were once a top tourist draw.

Images of the lagoon’s cloudy waters and complaints over its foul stench dominated media coverage across Spain for days, as scientists blamed decades of nitrate-laden runoffs for triggering vast blooms of algae that had depleted the water of oxygen – essentially leaving the fish suffocating underwater.

A four-month investigation by Lighthouse Reports and reporters from elDiario.es and La Marea examined how intensive pork farming may have contributed to one of Spain’s worst environmental disasters of recent years.

This summer, as lifeless fish continued to wash up on the shores of Mar Menor, the regional government banned the use of fertilisers within 1.5km (0.9 miles) of the lagoon, hinting that blame for the crisis lay solely with the wide expanse of agricultural fields that border the lagoon. The central government was more direct, accusing local officials of lax oversight when it came to irrigation in the fields.

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How tracking grizzly bears is helping veterans find way back from trauma

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A project in western Canada lets former military service members put their skills to use tracking bears with wildlife experts and helps both groups overcome mental and physical wounds

On a recent crisp sunny morning, a small group of wildlife guides and British and Canadian military veterans, reached a ridge in the mountains of British Columbia and found themselves within 15 metres of a grizzly bear.

“He knew we were there. He could smell us but he was just doing his thing,” said Joe Humphrey, a former Royal Marine. The bear walked past them and ambled further up the valley.

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How biodiversity loss is jeopardising the drugs of the future

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From willow bark to mosquitoes, nature has been a source of vital medications for centuries. But species die-off caused by human activity is putting this at risk

What will biodiversity loss mean for drug discovery?
Traditionally used as a painkiller for headaches, snowdrops are now known to slow the onset of dementia. In the 1950s, a natural alkaloid called galantamine was extracted from the bulbs. Today, a synthesised version of this is used to treat Alzheimer’s disease and scientists are investigating further to see if snowdrops might also be effective in the treatment of HIV.

However, over-harvesting has resulted in many snowdrop species becoming threatened. The snowdrop isn’t alone – plants are an abundant source of potential new medicines, often providing us with chemical templates for the design of novel drugs. Yet scientists across the globe say unsustainable use of wild medicinal plants is contributing to biodiversity loss and could limit opportunities to source medicines from nature in the future.

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‘Volcanoes are life’: how the ocean is enriched by eruptions devastating on land

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Lava is destroying much of La Palma but the last eruption in the Canaries appears to have ‘fertilised’ the surrounding seas

The eruption of the volcano on La Palma in the Canary Islands is a vivid reminder of the destructive power of nature but, as it lays waste all before it on land, for marine life it is likely to be a blessing.

When the lava reached the sea near the La Palma marine reserve on Tuesday night, every marine organism that was unable to swim out of danger was instantly killed. However, unlike on land, which lava renders lifeless for decades (and with forest not returning for more than a century), marine life returns quickly and in better shape, research shows.

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Global vaccine rollout vital to securing deal for nature, warns UN biodiversity chief

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Elizabeth Maruma Mrema says access to Covid jabs for developing world will be critical to the success of in-person Kunming Cop15 summit

Governments hoping for a global agreement to halt biodiversity loss must put more effort into access to Covid-19 vaccines for developing countries, the UN’s biodiversity chief has warned.

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said the Kunming Cop15 summit, at which governments will try to forge a “Paris agreement for nature”, was vital for halting the global crisis of species loss.

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10 great city projects for nature – from vertical forests to a ‘gangsta garden’

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Around the world, architects, activists and communities are finding ways to bring wildlife into urban areas

Many readers have noticed wildflowers thriving in urban areas as city councils decide to let grass grow wild. These colourful little patches may seem like window dressing in the face of vast decline, but across the world people are welcoming wildlife into cities, where more than half of us live. Here is a look at 10 of the most exciting and innovative urban biodiversity projects popping up.

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‘Roar, roar, roar!’ Japan rolls out rock music against bear attacks

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Authorities hope rock’n’roll song will help people of Iwate prefecture stay safe as number of bear sightings rises

Can rock’n’roll keep people safe from bear attacks? One Japanese region is hoping so, and has commissioned a cautionary anthem warning residents about the threat of its ursine inhabitants.

Bears are common across Japan and regularly spark frantic hunts when they venture into towns, where they have attacked and even killed residents.

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‘The sharks are hiding’: locals claim deep-sea mining off Papua New Guinea has stirred up trouble

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‘Shark calling’, an ancient custom of hunters singing to sharks then catching them by hand, is under threat and locals blame deep-sea disturbances

More in this series
• Race to the bottom: the disastrous, blindfolded rush to mine the deep sea
• ‘False choice’ – is deep sea mining required for an electric vehicle revolution?
• Covid tests and superbug killers: how the deep sea is key to fighting pandemics

To catch a shark in the waters off Papua New Guinea, first the men sing.

They sing the names of their ancestors and their respects to the shark. They shake a coconut rattle into the sea, luring the animals from the deep, and then catch them by hand.

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Sweden’s green dilemma: can cutting down ancient trees be good for the Earth?

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The country’s model for managing its trees is bad for biodiversity… and political unity

Forest-owner Lars-Erik Levin doesn’t seem like an environmental villain. As he walks through his 80 hectares (198 acres) of woodland in southern Sweden, he identifies goldcrests by their song, points out a cauliflower fungus and shows off the aspen in his wood that grouse feed on. This year he’s picked more than 100kg of chanterelles, and even more bilberries.

But this is the part of the property he manages by so-called continuous cover forestry, where he claims he only fells trees with trunks so thick his arms no longer reach around them. On the other side of his farmhouse is a wide-open space the size of two football pitches, where, five years ago, he cut the forest to the stumps. Little now remains but grass, brambles and young, waist-high spruce. “Animals and birds have legs and wings, they can move a little,” he protests when asked what happened to the wildlife.

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Vast area of Scottish Highlands to be rewilded in ambitious 30-year project

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Affric Highlands initiative to restore nature will involve tree planting, restoring peat bogs and connecting wildlife habitats

A large swathe of the Scottish Highlands stretching between the west coast and Loch Ness is to be rewilded as part of a 30-year project to restore nature.

The Affric Highlands initiative aims to increase connected habitats and species diversity over an area of 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres), incorporating Kintail mountain range, and glens Cannich, Moriston and Shiel. Plans include planting trees, enhancing river corridors, restoring peat bogs and creating nature-friendly farming practices.

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Country diary: my swim with a bloodthirsty hanger-on

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Hartsop, Cumbria: I look down and notice a slug-sized, dark brown invertebrate clinging to my leg

A good September day can feel more like true summer than any other time of year, and this sunny, sultry Sunday in the Patterdale valley is an excellent example. The landscape has eased into a settled maturity: the hedgerows are full of dark fruits, the rowans are full of lipstick-red berries, and juvenile sparrowhawks call out from woods of deep, well-aged green. This late-summer lull feels like the equivalent of a piece of music resolving on a satisfying chord, the culmination of everything the year has been building towards.

I am on holiday here with my girlfriend and some of her family and friends, staying above the village of Hartsop, close to Brothers Water. This small, shallow lake is home to rare species such as the schelly (Coregonus stigmaticus) – a relic whitefish endemic to just four Lake District lakes – and a community of bottom-rooted plant species, some of which brush slimily against my legs as I go in for a quick dip. My companions are fazed by the reeds, but I wave away their concerns with the haughty confidence of a seasoned wild swimmer.

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