Paths have eroded and wildlife at risk as crowds jostle for space amid social distancing
It was in the Lake District where William Wordsworth “wander’d lonely as a cloud” and the only crowd he saw was “a host of golden daffodils”.
Two centuries later, the park’s natural beauty is being eroded faster than ever before, ecologists are warning, as a result of the climate emergency and a huge influx of pandemic walkers.
Continue reading...Shopper Helaina Alati, who happens to be a former snake catcher, was luckily on hand to return the three-metre python to nearby bushland
A three-metre-long python has surprised shoppers in a Sydney supermarket by slithering along a shelf in the spice section with a Woolworths spokesperson saying it was a “slippery and rare customer”.
“Only in Australia!” Hilary Leigh wrote in a Facebook post when sharing a video of the large snake at the Glenorie supermarket in Sydney’s north-west.
Continue reading...Protected area delivered a tenfold return on investment, with benefits for fishing, biodiversity and tourism
A marine protection area established off the coast of Mallorca is proving beneficial not just for the environment but for business, too, according to a study that appears to confirm the long-term benefits of MPAs for both habitats and economies.
According to the study, carried out by the non-profit Marilles Foundation, the protected area has generated €10 in benefits for each euro of the €473,137 (£402,000) invested in the scheme.
Continue reading...• Hunters killed double limit during February breeding season
• State wildlife officials recommended a 130-kill limit
Wisconsin wildlife officials have authorized the killing of 300 wolves for the 2021 fall hunting season, more than doubling biologists’ recommendation of a 130-wolf kill limit.
Scientists with the state department of natural resources (DNR) recommended the 130 limit after the four-day hunting season in February saw hunters kill almost twice as many wolves as allotted during the wolves’ breeding season, raising concerns over potential long-term ramifications for the population.
Continue reading...Asian giant hornet spotted about two miles from where first US nest was found last year
Washington state has confirmed its second “murder hornet” sighting of 2021 – the first glimpse of a live one, officials reported.
A statement released by the Washington state department of agriculture (WSDA) confirms the first report of a live Asian giant hornet in the state this year.
Continue reading...Established in 2016, the Reteti sanctuary rescues and rehabilitates young elephants so that they can be reintroduced to the wild. It is the first to be owned and run by an indigenous community
In the mountains of northern Kenya, a Samburu community has built a sanctuary for orphaned elephants. Reteti is the first indigenously owned and run sanctuary, which rescues and raises the orphaned elephants, and has the ultimate goal of reintroducing them to the wild.
The sanctuary isn’t just about saving elephants but about breaking down stereotypes and redefining wildlife management. It is the beginning of a transformation in the way the Samburu people relate to wild animals. This oasis where orphans grow up, learning to be wild so that one day they can rejoin their herds, is as much about the people as it is about the elephants.
Continue reading...The call of New Zealand's iconic kiwi has been captured in sites that were previously silent five years ago. The recordings come after the threatened bird has begun to return to patches of forest where the population had dropped.
Kiwi watchers have recorded the sound of the bird’s song at many sites that were silent just five years ago
It’s a frigid, early-winter night, and across the forests and farmlands of Northland, people are crouching in the dark. They’ve timed this night for the waning moon, so moonlight doesn’t disturb any visitors. Scattered through the night, they sit, silently, and listen.
The sound they’re all hoping for is a high-pitched, piercing cry, or guttural croak – a sign that Aotearoa’s threatened, iconic kiwi has returned to patches of forests that had fallen silent.
Continue reading...A juvenile black bear was filmed on video by stunned shoppers after it wandered into a Los Angeles area supermarket. The bear was spotted inside the Ralphs supermarket in Porter Ranch before it was shooed out. It was later seen outside and was tranquillised and relocated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service
Continue reading...Five-month-old Mia suffered critical injuries after her mother fell while trying to avoid the bird
The devastated aunts of a baby who died after her mother tried to protect her from a swooping magpie have described the feelings of torture the parents have been left with.
Mia was in her mother’s arms when a magpie swooped at them at a Brisbane park on Sunday.
Continue reading...A famous elephant herd wandering in south-west China is finally heading towards home.
The herd of 14 wild Asian elephants crossed the Yuanjiang River in Yuxi City, Yunnan province, on Sunday night, a progress that the provincial government described as significant. As of Sunday night, the herd was still in Yuanjiang County, about 200km away from their original habitat in south-west Yunnan's Xishuangbanna.
The elephants attracted worldwide attention after they left the reserve in Yunnan province last year and walked more than 500km north. They reached the outskirts of Kunming, a major city, in early June, before turning south again.
Continue reading...Two-week order on coast between Cape Trafalgar and Barbate is second time authorities have taken action
Spain has ordered small boats to steer clear of a stretch of the country’s southern coast after reports of more than 50 encounters with boisterous orcas, including as many as 25 incidents in which boats had to be towed to shore.
A two-week prohibition bars most vessels of 15 metres or less from sailing near the coast between Cape Trafalgar and the small town of Barbate. It is the second time in 13 months that Spain’s ministry of transport has taken action to address a spate of extraordinary orca encounters that have baffled scientists.
Continue reading...The birds exist in a pest-control grey area, with no agency taking the lead, allowing the population to boom
They are aggressive, territorial, noisy and excrete more than a kilogram of faeces a day. Now huge flocks of Canada geese have made parts of rural New Zealand their home, bringing havoc in their wake.
The introduced birds are polluting waterways, damaging pasture and are so numerous in some places that they pose a threat to aircrafts, but little is being done to curb the problem.
Continue reading...Trees, grasses and wildlife are returning as Lord Randal Plunkett recreates a vanished landscape in County Meath
Lord Randal Plunkett strides through the hip-high grass of Dunsany, a 650-hectare (1,600-acre) estate in the middle of Ireland, trailed by an invisible swarm of midges and his four jack russell terriers: Tiny, Lumpy, Chow and Beavis & Butt-Head.
The cattle and sheep are long gone, so too are the lawns and many of the crops. In their place is a riot of shrubs, flowers and trees, along with insects and creatures that call this fledgling wilderness their home.
Continue reading...It can’t claim to be native to Grand Prairie, Texas, but a 6ft west African banded cobra was believed on Friday still to be roaming through the city of almost 200,000 on the outskirts of Dallas after escaping from its owner’s house.
Related: No 10 refuses stay of execution for alpaca Geronimo who tested positive for bovine TB
Continue reading...This summer will have highest number of fledged chicks since 2002, according to Moorland Association
The endangered hen harrier is continuing its recovery from near extinction in England with this summer set to have the highest number of chicks fledging since 2002.
Of 24 successful nests producing at least 77 fledged chicks this summer, 19 were on moors managed for red grouse, according to the Moorland Association.
Continue reading...These fragile ecosystems are where the impacts of the climate crisis are often felt first, say experts
The Ebro delta appears to be in robust health, to a casual observer. There is water gurgling in the canals and irrigation channels, and what appears to be a mighty river flowing into the sea. The dazzling green rice fields are dotted with ibis, egrets and redshanks.
However, all is not what it seems. The Ebro, the only one of Spain’s three great rivers that flows into the Mediterranean, is one of the most abused and exploited in Europe.
Continue reading...Researchers find fragments in innards of species that have adapted to develop in open ocean, which has highly polluted areas
Young marine turtles are swallowing large quantities of plastic, with ocean pollution changing habitats that were once ideal for their development into a risk, researchers have found.
The impact of plastic on wildlife is a growing area of research, and studies have revealed harrowing cases of marine animals sustaining injuries or dying after ingesting such material or becoming entangled in it.
Continue reading...More than a billion sea creatures across the Pacific north-west perished in this year’s heatwave. And it’s just a taste of what’s to come
When forecasts foreshadowed the Pacific north-west’s devastating heatwave at the end of June, marine biologist Christopher Harley was alarmed and intrigued.
Then came the smell, and his feelings somberly shifted.
Continue reading...2021 is already the deadliest year on record for Florida manatees. Scientists and activists are scrambling to avert further disaster
On a bright morning in July, a crowd gathered on a boat ramp in St Augustine, Florida, awaiting the arrival of a young male manatee named Gerard. The marshy Matanzas River gently flowed around oyster beds and sawgrass islands as biologists organized their equipment. Nearby about a dozen onlookers paced by the shore, waiting to catch a glimpse of Gerard’s return to the wild following weeks of captivity.
Earlier in spring, beachgoers discovered Gerard stranded and sunbaked in Palm Coast, about 25 miles south of St Augustine, on the Atlantic Ocean. Samaritans draped wet towels over the feeble marine mammal, keeping him cool and shaded from the subtropical sun, as a rescue team raced to the scene. Gravely thin, Gerard was transported to Jacksonville Zoo, where he spent the next 10 weeks in critical care until he was plump enough to re-enter the wild.
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